'Hunter x Hunter' Creator Reveals Original Gon Freecs Plans

Hunter x Hunter may have gotten its start in 1998, but the series has yet to reach its end. Yoshihiro Togashi has expanded the shonen title with hiatuses over the years, but its intricate plot has also added to its length. But, if the creator went ahead with his original plans for Gon Freecs, the story might have ended years ago.

Recently, Togashi did an interview with Sheuisha in honor of a recent Shonen Jump exhibition. It was there the creator revealed he originally planned for Gon to be more of a goody-goody.

"At first I wanted to make Gon into a 'good boy' sort of character, who would rank in high as someone you'd want as your own son. But, I guess from the setting phase of the first volume to be serialized," Togashi explained.

"I knew he was different. As soon as he declares he'll abandon the one who raised him to work as a hunter, we realize he's not such a good boy after all."

"I thought, 'Man, this guy is really edgy.' (laughs) But since he has the blood of his father, a man who abandoned his child and became a hunter himself, I thought it was fitting for him to declare this. I thought he was a very natural character," the artist continued.

According to Togashi, the decision to ditch Gon's careful personality was done because of Hunter x Hunter's shonen status. The genre necessitated a protagonist who could fight without qualms, and a gun-shy personality did not drive that action forward. So, the artist chose to revamp Gon's character and pass off his tentative nature to another Hunter.

"If he was level-headed character instead of an edge one, I'd have to deal with the aspect of hesitation when it comes to fighting battles. I suppose going in that direction could be fun in its own way, but I didn't want that trait to take the forefront of this manga," Togashi explained.

"I'm glad I decided to make a character like Gon into the protagonist, since I didn't have to deal with that hesitation aspect. But at the same time, I couldn't leave out the calm, level-headed character either, so that's the personality I have to Leorio."

Are you glad Gon ended up the way he did? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!

For those unfamiliar with Hunter x Hunter, the series was originally created by Yoshihiro Togashi. The story follows a young boy named Gon Freecss, who discovers that his previously thought to be dead father is in fact alive. Not only is he alive, he is a famous Hunter, a professional traveler who specializes in finding rare treasures, exploring unidentified lands, and hunting down dangerous individuals. Gon then decides that in order to meet his father he has to become a licensed Hunter, but in that journey, gets wrapped up in way more strangeness than he ever could have anticipated.

The series first ran in Shuiesha's Weekly Shonen Jump in March 1998. Unfortunately, the series has gone on a number of hiatuses ever since 2006 which were most likely incurred by bouts of illness Togashi experienced when publishing his last work, Yu Yu Hakusho.