Hunter x Hunter: Guardian Spirit Beasts Explained

Key Takeaways

• Guardian Spirit Beasts protect princes in the Kakin Empire’s Succession War with unique abilities.
• The Seed Urn ritual creates Guardian Spirit Beasts tied to the prince’s nature.
• Guardian Spirit Beasts are significant in the Succession War, serving as protectors and attackers.

In Hunter x Hunter, the Guardian Spirit beasts are parasitic-type Nen beasts that are specific to the Kakin Empire and are meant to protect the King and the Princes of the empire engaged in the Succession War, a brutal battle to decide who becomes the next ruler of the kingdom.

Once a prince decides to fight for the throne, he has to go through an ancient ritual that creates a Guardian Spirit Beast.

These Nen beasts are subconscious protectors acting on the princes’ behalf. Each Guardian Spirit Beast possesses a special ability tied to the very nature of its prince, affecting those who cannot see or wield Nen themselves. They serve both as protectors and attackers, eliminating threats without regard to alliances or even the expressed wishes of the prince, as long as it is in line with the prince’s heart desires. As a result, Spirit Beasts often play an important and unpredictable role in the dangerous game of royal succession in the Succession War arc of Hunter x Hunter.

The Origin

The Seed Urn

The Kakin Empire was originally a very small country in the midst of large countries in the clustered continent. As a result, they were in fear of being absorbed by other countries. To prevent this, the first ancient king of the Kakin Empire conjured with Nen, a jar of sorts known as the Seed Urn. The Seed Urn is an ancient object that stores a generational aura. The logic behind the Seed Urn stems from an ancient Japanese practice called worm toxins. In worm toxins, several poisonous bugs are placed in a jar and closed. After a couple of days, the lid of the jar is opened, and the bug seen alive is said to be the strongest, having absorbed the poison of the bugs it had eaten.

In this same manner, the first king had all his princes fight for the crown, an event that is now known as the Succession War. To participate in the Succession War, each prince has to add a drop of their blood to the Seed Urn while focusing on why they want the throne. After this, the urn emits a purple smoke out of which a sprite emerges, placing an egg in the mouth of the prince to incubate. Unless the prince is a user of Nen, they cannot see the sprite. The prince immediately becomes a part of the Succession contest once the egg hatches and turns into a Guardian Spirit Beast. Leaving the contest is also impossible, as it would result in death by countless dark hands, enforcing the purpose of the Seed Urn.

Guardian Spirit Beasts

The Princes’ Aids

The Guardian Spirit Beasts conjured up for each prince are made up from the aura of previous sacrifices, showing the difference between them and a regular Nen beast. When created, they feed off the aura of the person that they are protecting, which favors princes who already know Nen. As they do, they take the form and personality of the person they are protecting. Because of the need for aura, if their host should enter a state of Zetsu or extreme fatigue, they are unable to manifest themselves. However, even without this, their host and any other person in the succession contest can not see them. They can only be seen by other Nen users and the victors of the previous Succession War, that is, the king.

The Guardian Spirit Beasts also cannot be consciously controlled. Rather, they only follow the innate desires of their owners, disregarding any outwardly expressed desires. However, this does not mean they can do whatever they want. They are subject to two rules, one being that they can not cause direct harm to the Guardian Spirit Beast and the other being that they can not directly harm the people under the Guardian Spirit Beast’s protection. This further complicates the Succession War as the princes can not directly attack the other princes, forcing them to use outside means to kill each other and add their remains to the Seed Urn and feed the Kakin tree, so that their own Guardian Spirit Beasts can grow stronger.

Properties Of The Guardian Spirit Beasts

Conjuration Or Emission?

These Guardian Spirit Beasts are said to be conjured spirit beasts, as they are conjured from the urn. However, this does not mean that all of the princes are capable of using Nen. Some of them are able to use it, but their Nen abilities can be entirely different from the abilities of the Guardian Spirit beast that is protecting them. That is, the person being protected can be a specialist, and his Guardian Spirit Beast could be an emitter. However, the problem with this is that conjured Nen items are usually visible to everyone, Nen users or not. They can also phase through solid matter, which means they are actually formed using an emission technique. So which exactly are they?

Kurapika implies that these beasts are actually conjured, and because they can not be seen by non-Nen users, they exist in a low-risk state. However, the enormous amount of nen required to infuse 14 princes with one Guardian Spirit Beast each is impressive nonetheless. The ability of the Seed Urn to do this is likely tied to the many restrictions placed on it and the fact that after the succession war, only one true guardian spirit beast will remain. This ties into the more restrictions and more reward concept of nen.

Significance Of The Guardian Spirit Beasts

Power And Protection For The Kakin Empire

The Guardian Spirit Beasts are extremely significant in the world of Hunter x Hunter, particularly to the Kakin Empire. The Guardian Spirit Beasts are conjured as protectors, and due to the proceedings of the Succession War, only the strongest beast remains. This ensures that only the most formidable prince with the backing of an extremely strong Guardian Spirit Beast claims the throne while eradicating the weaker princes. This strengthens the royal bloodline and allows them to expand while maintaining stability. It was as a result of this that the Kakin Empire was able to rise from a country constantly in fear of being absorbed to an extremely large country in the Azian continent.

While the Guardian Spirit Beasts remain mysteries to the vast majority of individuals, to experienced and knowledgeable Nen users, they’re simply monsters conjured from Nen, with various pacts and restrictions guiding their existence. However, they remain a deadly force that is not to be underestimated. The Beasts serve as weapons for the royal family of Kakin and reflect the ambitious nature of the Kakin Empire to remain in existence, regardless of what it takes.

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