What Are The Dark Continent Calamities In HXH?

Hunter x Hunter boasts one of the most well-thought-out worlds in all of fiction. The story starts with a boy and his fishing rod beating up monsters on an isolated island, but quickly opens up to show how much bigger the world is, with the same Gon who never felt struggle continuing to face threats that he could never hope to overcome.

This theme of the world being too large for comfort continues even at the end of the 2011 adaptation of the anime with the introduction of the Dark Continent; the world seen so far is merely a drop in the ocean. Among the vast wilderness of the supposed New World, the only things that we know about for sure are the Five Threats brought back from there that are capable of humanity’s utter destruction.

What Is The Dark Continent?

At the end of the Chairman Elections arc that took place to decide who leads the Hunter Association after Isaac Netero, some confidential information about the world came out: the existence of the Dark Continent.

In the world of Hunter x Hunter, it turns out the world Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Leorio live in is merely an island in a lake called Lake Mobius.

Surrounding this lake in all directions is the true world, named the Dark Continent due to how little is known about it.

Many expeditions have gone to this magical, unknown world, partially due to sheer curiosity, but also due to the treasures the land holds.

What Are The Dark Continent Calamities?

To get to the Dark Continent, you have to consult a mythical beast that resides at the Dark Continent’s gates to work as a guide. In return for letting you pass, each expedition promises to bring back one calamity on their way back.

Five of these threats are from documented expeditions and are collectively called the Five Dark Continent Calamities or the Five Great Threats.

Each of these calamities is capable of wiping the entirety of humanity to extinction. While we haven’t seen exactly how they can do so, the lethality and mortality rate of each individual expedition shows that they’re at least capable of mass genocide.

Chimera Ants

This isn’t explicitly confirmed, but it’s heavily implied that the Chimera Ants were from the Dark Continent as well from an undocumented expedition. If they’re used as a basis to speculate on how quickly these entities can take over the world, we can figure out the danger they possess.

The total death toll from the Chimera Ants was 478,594 civilians, 12,905 soldiers, and then 46,613 further deaths as Pouf died. This totals to around roughly 500,000 deaths, not counting the entirety of NGO’s population that got wiped out without any documentation.

The Chimera Ants possessed a danger rank of B in the official Hunter x Hunter threat database, yet they were able to break the balance of the world to such an extent that it took the present strongest Hunter, Isaac Netero, as well as a nuclear warhead, to dispose of the threat. Most entries on this list are ranked higher than Chimera Ants.

What Is Ai (Nanika)?

Ai is a gaseous life form that can possess a living body as a host and function as a parasitical entity in a symbiotic relationship with the person they reside within.

Official documents within the Hunter x Hunter universe don’t give much information about Ai, but they’re the Dark Continent Calamity we know the most about. This is because an Ai is shown in action possessing Alluka, the youngest daughter of the Zoldyks, as well as Killua’s little sister.

From what was shown by Nanika, the specific Ai possessing Alluka, they seem to have wish-granting abilities, as seen by them recovering Gon from a state deemed irreparable. This ability is implied to have no limits, but is tied to a condition of doing Ai, or in this case Alluka, a favor.

These favors are usually quite destructive and violent in nature, as been by Alluka asking Tsubome to rip off her own nail, and asking Killua to die.

However, these favors can also go down in extremity depending on the person’s relationship with Alluka. For example, where most people see Alluka and in extension the Ai within her as an omnipotent wish-granting device, Killua instead sees her as an actual person, his little sister.

This lets Killua find loopholes in the requests and gain the benefit of the wishes without any drawbacks, as seen by Killua merely having to play dead rather than actually dying from her request, yet still getting his wish fulfilled.

Victims of Ai are seen either crushed to death or twisted into a spiral. The actual process behind this is unknown, but it’s implied to be tied to the Ai’s wish-granting abilities.

What Is Brion?

The United States of Saherta sent an expedition to the ruins of an ancient city known as Labyrinth City. This is home to a miracle all-curing herb, one that can instantaneously replenish one of all known diseases.

While searching for the drug, the forces met Brion, a weapon created supposedly to guard the place. The entire expedition was wiped out, and only two returned alive with Brion and its victims.

Brion usually manifests as a sphere on the target’s head. The remains of those afflicted with Brion are contained in large tubes and don’t seem to possess any sense of bodily autonomy or the capability to move. Whether they’re still alive or not isn’t disclosed.

The title Botanical Weapon implies two things. First, that it’s some sort of plant-based life form. Second, it possesses the potential for mass harm. The second point is quite evident, seeing the result of the expedition that made contact with Brion.

No further proof has been laid out for readers, but there are things we know from the various sightings of Brion victims. First, Brion seems to target its victims’ heads.

Whether it’s to possess their brain like a parasite or if it’s simply a matter of habit or taste, all Brion victims either have a sphere on their head, or they’re missing their head entirely.

Certain Brion victims also have their stomachs gouged out, implying that it causes some form of internal damage.

The last thing known about Brion is that its purpose is to be a guardian of sorts, protecting the ruins of the Labyrinth City from incoming life. Whether this is in its natural instincts or if it was engineered for this purpose remains unknown.

What Is The Zobae Disease?

The Zobae Disease, or the Immortality Disease, is an affliction that grants immortality under specific circumstances.

About 50 years before the events of current day Hunter x Hunter, when Beyond Netero was still allowed to roam the planet freely, the Kukan’yu Kingdom enlisted his help as a guide in an expedition to acquire Metallion, the Alchemical Plant, a herb capable of changing the chemical properties of any element.

This could let you turn worthless substances like copper to more worthy ones, such as gold.

It’s heavily implied that this getting lost was deliberate on Beyond Netero’s part, since a Hunter as great as him couldn’t make such a mistake.

The expedition was successful for the most part; they succeeded in getting the plant with Beyond’s help. Unfortunately, the group got lost on their way back and contacted the Zobae Disease, with only five Hunters, Beyond Netero, and a Hunter who had the Zobae Disease coming out alive.

As for the disease itself, the name both describes it aptly but also misintroduces it. The illness does give the person immortality, but the conditions aren’t worth the benefits.

Those suffering from Zobae lose the ability to process normal food; if you try forcing it down, your body simply rejects it. Instead, the victims get the ability of self-cannibalism, becoming capable of surviving on their flesh alone.

The only specimen of Zobae in the human world has been alive for 50 entire years without ever eating so much as a single grain of rice.

When someone afflicted with Zobae does consume part of themselves, they gain heightened regeneration, as well as immortality. So long as you continue eating your own body, the Zobae fulfills its promise of immortality.

However, constantly having to rip off your limbs and flesh to eat it isn’t something many can handle. As such, whether it’s a psychological effect from the pain and agony from eating your own body, or if it’s a symptom of the Zobae Disease itself, those suffering from it lose their sanity.

The only survivor of the disease within the human realm cannot converse with others, and merely looks at them with bloodshot eyes and a blank expression on his face.

What Is Pap?

Pap is the creature who cursed the Begerosse Union when it sent a thousand personnel to the North of Lake Mobius.

The purpose of the expedition was to find the Unmanned Rock, a mineral capable of providing enough electrical energy to sustain entire nations.

Of the 1,000 people that made up the expedition group, only seven came back unharmed.

Pap is one of the more sinister creatures even among the Dark Continent Calamities, with its title being the ‘Human-Keeping Beast.’ As the name suggests, Pap is an entity that keeps humans as pets. The way it does this is by connecting to them via some form of cable and then giving them pleasure in exchange for their Nen.

Victims of Pap exist in the normal world, with a number of them being kept alive and being researched by the International Permit Agency.

Pap’s victims appear as if all their blood and Aura have been leeched out of them, like withered husks of their former selves. They also appear to be smaller in stature than most humans, looking more like gnomes.

As for Pap themselves, nothing about how they look is known apart from their predator-like eyes and the ability to connect to living organisms via biological cables.

What Is Hellbell?

Hellbell, also known as the Twin Snake, is a snake with its lower half split into two ends. Apart from each end having a sharp needle-like point, Hellbell also possesses a black lump resembling a bell right above its face.

This creature came back alongside the Federal of Ochima’s expedition to southeast of Lake Mobius in search of Nitro Rice. These rice are known as the ultimate secret of longevity, greatly slowing down aging and the decay of all living things. The purpose behind this expedition was to save humanity from the fear of mortality and death.

Of the above 1,000 people that went to the Dark Continent at this time, 99 percent of them died to Hellbell before even reaching the place where Nitro Rice was thought to grow. The remaining 11 returned with Hellbell, never having reached the Nitro Rice.

We know the least about Hellbell apart from its lethality. The Hunter Association’s data states that Hellbell functions as a virus that can imbue homicidal tendencies into anyone it infects. There’s no further data currently available regarding what this means specifically, or how it functions.