There was a lot of uncertainty about choosing Ging Freecss to be on this list. We hear a lot about this extraordinary Hunter, but we do not get to see him fight and so it is difficult to truly judge his power. For all we know, he could simply be the cleverest of Hunters and have trap upon trap set for anyone who wishes to get close to him. So, it is slightly hard to claim him as being one of the most powerful.

Nonetheless, here are things we do know. He is a Hunter among Hunters, and he has been able to evade the prying eyes of other professional Hunters for years. He clearly has an extremely powerful control over Nen, as Netero states that Ging is one of the top five Nen users in the world. He personally trained Kite, who had enough power to truly excite Pitou in battle (pretty big feat). Oh, and he was able to capture Razor, an extremely strong character who was noted by the physically strongest of the Phantom Troupe to be exceptionally powerful. There are a lot of facts that point to Ging being an incredibly powerful person. We just never get to see him in the forefront.

Hisoka is everyone’s favorite…antagonist/anti-hero? It’s hard to tell what path Hisoka is walking, but any time he’s on screen people can expect something epic to happen. That’s because Hisoka is always looking for a good fight and his abilities and personality are some of the most entertaining to watch. Luckily for fans, his skills do match his arrogance and he can back up every single threat he throws. His Bungee Gum and Texture Surprise are simply perfect abilities for his personality type. They match so well with his complicated strategies as they provide plenty of options for feints and traps. Throughout the series, we see him antagonize main characters like Gon in order for that character to grow in strength. Admittedly, he does this so that he can kill them when they are at their prime.

It was very difficult to say that Chrollo is stronger than Hisoka. In many ways, they should share a spot, but Chrollo has proven himself to be considered a threat by some of the strongest people in the world, such as both Zeno and Silva Zoldyck. Besides being quite adept at fighting and coming up with strategies, his particular ability gives him an advantage over a ton of characters. If you haven’t really watched the show, his ability is essentially copying the abilities of others, and so he essentially has a massive arsenal of abilities. This makes him deadly in numerous ways, but most particularly in the fact that no one can truly guess what he will do next. He can consistently change up tactics to the point of overwhelming his opponents.

Silva Zoldyck is the current head of the Zoldyck clan, and it is debatable whether or not he is stronger than his father Zeno. While Zeno is quite old and has let his son succeed him as head of the house, we haven’t been able to see as much of Silva’s prowess. Nonetheless, Silva’s strength is made quite clear through his hostile relationship with Chrollo. Not only has Silva and Chrollo fought each other to what must have been a standstill, Silva has also killed one of the members of the Phantom Troupe. This already puts him at a very high level. We also get to see him destroy a Chimera Ant in one blow while going to pick up Zeno from the Chimera Ant fortress. It’s obvious that he is close to his father’s level of skill, but it is difficult to ascertain just how close.

Shaiapouf is one of the Royal Guards for the Chimera Ant family, and, outside of Meruem, he is the most intelligent of the Chimera Ants. What he lacks in strength, which is still considerable compared to most professional Hunters, he makes up for in tactics. As a fighter, we watch Shaiapouf essentially inflict a mental shutdown on the Hunter Knov and then proceed to outwit Merlon and his tricky smoke jail. From his abilities, which allow him to separate and reconstruct on the molecular level, it is obvious that he could prove troublesome to most fighters. He proves as much in the anime as he and he clones are running about the entire fortress causing chaos. Sadly, he dies due to him helping Meruem regain his strength and the poison from the Miniature Rose, and so we are unable to see him in a more decisive battle.

Zeno Zoldyck is the oldest member of the Zoldyck clan. For those just starting the show, this means he is the grandfather of Killua and was once the head of the most powerful clan of assassins in the world.

Despite being quite ancient, Zeno’s power, speed, and control of Nen is unbelievable. We really get a close up of his powers when he forces Chrollo, a considerably powerful user in his own right, into a corner. Admittedly, Zeno’s son, Silva, was present at the fight and definitely put Chrollo at a disadvantage (even though Silva never really attacked while his father was attacking).

Nonetheless, we come to realize that Zeno had not really unleashed his full power during this fight, because we get to see a deeper glimpse of his power as he invades the Chimera Ant’s fortress. Though he stops fighting after his initial assault on the castle (it’s his massive area attack that essentially causes enough distraction and destruction for Netero to take on Meruem) two things are revealed. One is that he is not afraid of Pitou and Pitou really wants to fight him (this speaks volumes). The second is that he considers Netero and himself to be a version of ‘yin and yang’. Thus, he is at the very least comparable to the strongest human that has been shown in the series. It’s a pity we don’t get to see him fight more, which also plays into why he isn’t right next to Netero on this list.

Youpi is a brazen warrior and is the only member of the Chimera Ant Royal Guard that has no human genes within him. Nope, he is Chimera Ant and Magical Beast, and in terms of simple physical strength, he is even stronger than Neferpitou. It’s really Neferpitou’s intellect and abilities that put her a level above. Back to Youpi though.

This Chimera Ant basically took on teams of professional Hunters and took them out with ease. This is especially notable when Youpi is taking on Knuckle and Shoot and those two Hunters are barely able to keep themselves alive against the relentless onslaught of Youpi. (SPOILER) Though Killua is a badass, especially for infusing his body with lightning, it is questionable if he would have been able to beat Youpi. This is because Youpi gave up a great amount of his strength in order to feed Meruem, who had just survived what was essentially a nuke.

Neferpitou is essentially the second-in-command for the Chimera Ants. She is insanely powerful and fast and her Nen abilities are particularly deadly. Even Netero had to wonder if he would be able to overcome her, but that match up was not meant to happen as he headed for the King.

Now, Neferpitou is essentially a puppet master and her abilities can let her control over 50 puppets, essentially creating a mini army. However, her most frightening strength comes from when she makes a puppet out of herself through Terpischora. This ability basically allows her to go beyond her limits and reach a level of speed and strength that is unimaginable. Her desire to serve is also one of the strongest aspects of her, which one can see in the final moments of her battle with Gon. (SPOILER) Despite being dead, her ability shoots her corpse as a projectile with enough force to tear off Gon’s arm while he is in his ultimate form. Good game, Pitou, good game.

Isaac Netero is the current chairman of the Hunter Association, and he was considered the strongest Hunter at one point in his life as he had claimed the title of the world’s strongest Nen user. To this day, it is arguable whether any Hunter’s power has quite come close to matching his, at his current age or when he was in his prime. He does admit that there are at least five who have better control of their Nen, but this statement hasn’t really been fleshed out with any examples.

His abilities are vast, with his particularly most impressive skill being his ability to summon. Though he is quite old, his strength is still quite commendable if not downright frightening. Viewers get a small dose early on when he challenges Killua and Gon to a game of steal the ball. Though Killua and Gon didn’t even know Nen at this point, Netero essentially toys with the two promising boys. Then we get to see all his glory in his fight with Meruem as he summons forth his 100-Type Guanyin Bodhisattva, an ability that perfectly captures both the compassion and intensity of this man.

At the head of the Chimera Ants we have the infamous Meruem. He is a being so impossibly powerful that essentially no one can beat him, and to add to his renown is the fact that he is essentially a newborn. Apparently Gon as an adult could possibly match Meruem’s ability, according to Pitou, but at the moment in the show, Gon cannot handle that future form. That aside, let’s discuss Meruem’s actual powers and why he is at the top of this list.

First off, he was born as a biological weapon meant to essentially conquer everything, and is shown capable of mastering any type of skill/strategy. We get glimpses of such power upon being introduced to him. However, his epic strength is shown in full with his battle against the strongest Hunter, Netero. Essentially, Netero’s supersonic speed and power cannot damage Mereum, and Meruem precedes to soundly defeat the strongest human alive. Case closed. Oh and he survived a nuke.