Chrollo Lucilfer embodies both Jesus and the devil.
And yet at the bottom of his, at first glance paradoxical view on life and people, there
is an incredibly strong and surprisingly un-religious message about power and how it tends to warp
good intentions and love into cruelty and inhumanity. This makes Chrollo a case study
of extremist human behavior and given all the deep concepts explored in his character,
it is no wonder that its easy to misunderstand what his character is actually about.
Is he a a higher being with a higher purpose, as his power and determination suggests, or
simply a fanatic that uses his beliefs as justification for his horrendous deeds? Because
to me, belonging to the trinity of godly villains that Togashi has created, each of them explores
a different aspect of power and evil.
As you'll remember from his video, Hisoka is an exploration of hedonism and sociopathy.
Meruem deconstructs the idea that humanity is special as well as the dark implications
of pride and arrogance. And effortlessly continuing that pattern, I think that Chrollo explores
the themes of power and evil from a very unique perspective as well: Religion. Or to be more
precise, the believe into a higher purpose.
To me, Chrollo highlights both the best and the worst in religious practice and believe.
In a story exploring human morality, with Chrollo Togashi makes the most direct statement
as to what it means to be morally good and bad. And no matter whether you are Cristian
or not, or actually religious or not, understanding Chrollo will show you why you love Hunter
x Hunter so much. Because as you'll find out, I'm a bit of a fan myself.
Now, One thing I noticed quickly after getting more and more into anime, was that religious
themes are not exactly a rarity in the genre and given Japan's own culture, it's no big
surprise that especially Zen Buddhism and Shintoism are part of many popular stories.
Hunter x Hunter is no exception to this rule, only that as usual, I believe it deals with
the associated ideas and concepts on a much more fundamental and at least for me, much
more interesting level.
However with Chrollo, it also explores a religion that I rarely see integrated into other stories,
at least at such a level of understanding. Christianity. You definitely already know
all the obvious connections that associate it with Chrollo. There is the reverse cross
tattooed in perfect post Malone fashion on his forehead, that is also stitched on the
back of his robe. It's associated both with saint Peter, but also with the anti-christ,
also known as the devil or Lucifer, which who would have thought, is just one letter
short of Chrollo's last name.
The phantom troupe, that as we will see is a big part of Chrollo's identity, consists
of 13 members, just as Jesus and his 12 apostles, with Hisoka representing Judas and his betrayal.
[...] And just like Jesus, Chrollo sees himself on a divine mission, even though he doesn't
seem to know what that mission is. And even if he knew at some point, he seems to have
forgotten it by now. Being willing to sacrifice himself for his followers and taking no real
interest in worldly possessions, he didn't follow my expectations of a typical bad guy,
but at the same time clearly does horrendous things.
And for me it was this atmosphere of higher purpose and moral ambiguity, that give Chrollo
his undeniably intriguing and mysterious presence. So it's fair to say I believe, that the religious
hints here aren't exactly subtle. The point however I think, is. Because in some ways
Togashi portrays Chrollo as Christ and in others as the anti christ. He can value the
lives of his comrades, but at the same time slaughter wholesale without the blink of an
eye. So let's talk about the deep message behind Chrollo's character.
But first: Ad break.
Real quick, I want to talk about PIA VPN, the sponsor of todays video. Thank you Pia
for sponsoring this video. In case you have been living under a rock or have been Amish
until last week, first of all congrats on making to the internet, but secondly you will
probably know that a VPN allows you to change your IP address and reroute all your internet
traffic through an encrypted tunnel.
This way you can hide your online activity from anyone who might want to get their hands
on your data, Or you might simply want to watch Netflix or Crunchyroll when certain
content is blocked in your country. Out of the many VPN providers out there PIA is definitely
one of the most transparent and reliable ones.
It's highly customizable, none of your data is stored and there is even a 30-day money
back guarantee should you change your mind. If you want to browse safely and support my
channel at the same time, use my link in the description below to get PIA VPN for 83% off.
That's less than $3 a month and 2 Extra Months for FREE.
Now, we don't really know much about Chrollo's childhood and why he relies so incredibly
on fate. All we know about him is that he’s from Meteor City, which has a lot of mystery
built up around it, and which we know is a place where people throw other people away.
A place so dark and terrible, some don’t even believe it exists.
Now even for me, it’s not too hard from a psychological lens to see why someone who
grew up in such an environment would tell themselves that fate governs everything and
look for a higher purpose in life. Growing up in a world of suffering and pain, this
can be a source of hope and stability. All you are going through has a reason and all
the morally questionable things you have to do in order to survive are not your fault,
but part of a greater plan.
And in this darkest of places, Chrollo forms the spiders, a sort of family, that shares
his beliefs and is a community of people who care for, protect and respect each other.
A chance to cast aside all their pain and hardship. The group and its cause become everyone's
purpose. I'm sure, no matter if you go to a service or not, this is a concept you'll
recognize from religion. In fact it's arguably the most important part for many believers,
having a community of people who share your believes and help you through times of darkness
and hardship.
It is also no surprise then, that CHrollo is so obsessed with Neon's ability to predict
one's fate. Seeking her out was the only time he ever diverted his attention from their
mission in York New city. Chrollo's belief that everything is pre-determined by fate,
leads to his Jesus like ability to forgive and accept. He doesn't see Judas in other
words Hisoka as a traitor, when he starts hunting down members of the Troupe and even
himself, because Hisoka has no control over his life.
It's all been written beforehand. Hisoka is just playing his role. So why would Chrollo
hate him, if it's not his fault? And of course forgiveness and acceptance are universally
important concepts that are taught by many religions. So up to this point, in my mind,
Chrollo embodies some of the best things about faith: Finding an altruistic purpose in life,
gifting that purpose to others like him, forming a caring community looking for a better life
and being forgiving to others. The Jesus side of chrollo.
But given all that, there is no denying that THIS, is the person we're talking about here.
[...] Chrollo IS one of the major antagonists in the story, even though interestingly enough
he only touches with our main characters very scarcely. In fact Hisoka and Kurapika are
the only characters who's arcs are deeply involved with Chrollo, which is of course
intriguing, because Hisoka is a major antagonistic force himself.
And be honest, I know you love two great villains fighting each other, just as much as I do.
Even though they both fall on the murderous lunatic end of the chart, they vary quit a
bit in their motivations and values. Chrollo and Hisoka are Jesus and Judas. Unshakable
order versus deliberate chaos. No value to a single human life, so I might as well kill
them, vs. human life is the only thing that gives my actions value,... so I might as well
kill them. After all Hisoka is the embodiment of lust, one of the seven deadly sins.
And if Hisoka is lust, Chrollo is greed. He likes to give off the appearance of the selfless
leader that doesn't need anything. And yet he is greedy beyond limits. He wants the money,
he wants vast knowledge, he wants all the worldly things. Chrollo was a man with nothing
who now wants, everything.
Someone SO obsessed with human nature, To the point where he will use this obsession
to manipulate another person, to get what he wanted from them. He instilled himself
to read books and observe the people around him. Even using these books to pick certain
personality traits for himself.
Most telling however is of course his nen. As we all know, nen usually reflects the users
personality really well, and I was shocked to find out that Chrollo has the greediest
nen ability of them all, stealing others people's powers.
What turns Chrollo's good intentions and belief against themselves, is his complete and unquestioning
faith in them. Chrollo is convinced that everything is predetermined. Everyone has their fixed
role to play and thus it doesn't really matter what he does, since it is fate guiding his
hand anyways.
Fully subscribing to his believes, as you should be to my videos, means that to Chrollo
humans are nothing but puppets. And he uses this belief as a justification for all the
atrocities he commits. And since he has incredible power, he sees himself in a privileged position
above other humans, chosen by fate to fulfill the most special of roles. He thinks he's
Jesus.
Interestingly enough, what Chrollo really wants, just like Hisoka or Meruem, is fill
the hole in their heart. The deep dark emptiness within them, that threatens to drown them.
Hisoka fills this with kicks, looking for things that make him feel excited and alive
by risking his own life aaaannd by making others feel like shit as well, again more
on that in his video.
Meruem, actually meets Komugi, overcomes his pride and manages to fill this hole ...before
dying. And chrollo clings to his destined role in the world and the belief that everything
he does has a higher purpose. That there is reason for all the pain and suffering in the
world. And carrying out his role, he will be the savior of all.
The phantom troupe means so much to Chrollo, because these people actually are all that
really matters to him on a human level. They are his true family and purpose. [...] But
even though he acknowledges it himself, he still tries to push himself away from others
and cast aside his human side. Instead of embracing his humanity and be vulnerable,
he tries to make himself something more.
This approach to life represents the darkest side of religion and other doctrines in general.
When you follow a belief so radically and without question, that you lose side of the
original good intent. It's a striking critique by Togashi of all the violence that has been
committed in the name of gods and states and political systems throughout history. Seeing
oneself above others and believing oneself to be the only one that truly understands
how the world works. Or, borrowing from another popular franchise, doing it for the greater
good.
I'm sure you know in your gut, why Chrollo and extremists belief in any doctrine are
problematic. But, let me tell you anyway: It's objectively immoral. It's immoral to
murder in the name of a higher purpose or the belief that all is predetermined.
Hunter x Hunter is famous for exploring morality through characters, that feel real, because
they are morally grey. However, I think it would be a grave misconception to think that
Hunter x hunter beliefs that there is no such thing as morality. In fact the opposite is
true. What Togashi shows through the actions of all his characters is that there is many
ways to act good or badly, even within a character.
But in the end, what determines a moral action, is how it affects human well-being. You might
have heard the famous phrase: Cogito ergo sum. I think therefore I am. What this sentence
really means, is that we all have no idea to tell what is real. The world might be a
simulation, we could be a brain in a jar or like chrollo thinks, all is guided by fate.
We just don't know.
The only thing you can be sure of in this moment right now, is that it feels like something
to be you. The fact that you are experiencing something right now is the only thing you
know really exists. So whether you suffer right now or not is the only thing that matters.
Human well-being is what matters. The well-being of all conscious creatures is what matters,
even if we had no control over our lives.
So, treating humans as puppets and killing them for a higher purpose, goes against THE
highest purpose there is. An objective morality. And the fact that we had to go this deep to
solve why he is evil, is why Chrollo is one of my favorite villains ever.
However, to really understand how Togashi sees evil, you'll need to watch my video on
Hisoka here as well.