Nen X Discussions

Symbolism

This chapter is a little less informative on the techniques of Nen, but I still think it's a super interesting subject to go about. Sometimes you can show some really interesting sides of your character through Nen; a glimpse of their past or a foreshadowing of events.

Let's take Kurapika's chains for example. The reason why he wanted to conjure them was because he believes that "there is evil running amok that needs to be chained down to hell". Thus the chains were born. But as Mizuken, or Izunavi, said, Kurapika is really chaining himself down too, leading his life all for the sake of revenge.

But it doesn't have to be that dark. Like Gon's jajanken (for the majority of the series) reflects his simple but also flexible nature and liking for rock-paper-scissors.

(Paragraph contains slight to mild spoilers for Hunters X and X Heroes) Let's look at another example! Say, angel wings. A certain character from something I'm writing can conjure angel wings as a symbol of justice and judgement. As one of the moving forces in a rebellion against a criminal syndicate, the character is supposed to symbolize good rising up to strike down evil. It's supposed to be ironic as the story advances, since the character is soon shown to be nothing like an angel, and only someone who's seen and done too much and someone who can only take so much of that; human. The character is more like Icarus, because of her hot and prideful pursuit for a justice that she didn't truly understand, a power she thought too highly of, and her arrogance in her intelligence and strength, the character only ends up getting damaged, hurt, and reminded of her undeniable mortality. In addition, the wings are also a symbol of her sworn allegiance to an organization of Hunters.

Or perhaps, show through Nen that your character hasn't let go of or lives in the past and creates their ability based off of something and someone in said past. And maybe you can show how your character can't use that Nen so well, or there are times where that ability fails to pull through to paint the image of your character struggling with his or her past and can't move on fully forward to the future.

But sometimes, it's really hard to connect Nen down to all that stuff, so we can relate the Nen to the character or ourselves at a different lighter level. Let's look at Chrollo. His ability Skill Hunter, utilizes his conjured book called Bandit's Secret, and as most everyone knows, Chrollo can steal Nen abilities (under the correct and fulfilled conditions, of course) which is perfectly fitting for the head of the world's most dangerous group of thieves.

Meleoron's ability fits him pretty well too. A chameleon chimera ant with the Nen ability to blend in completely and perfectly with his surroundings, imagine that.

Now, a Nen ability doesn't always have to have some "hidden meaning" behind it or cleverly connect with the character, but it's pretty cool to have it! Just flip through a couple possibilities.

I'm not quite sure how to word this chapter's question... Your thoughts on this subject?