Hunter x Hunter: Gon's Jajanken, Explained (2024)

Gon Freecss is the protagonist of Yoshihiro Togashi's Hunter x Hunter series. Known to be a prodigy as a Hunter, Gon showed his talents from a very young age. Even before he learned the concept of nen, he was quite a capable boy, strong enough to pull off ridiculous feats that were largely unexpected of someone his age. His determination has always been a strong character trait of his, as seen during the Hunter Exam arc, where he officially obtained his license as a Hunter.

Shortly after the arc, Gon was taught the basics of nen by Wing, and given the talent that he possesses, it was only a matter of time before he mastered this ability to a decent degree. His nen type is Enhancement, meaning he possesses tremendous physical strength and a higher than normal recuperative rate. Enhancers are known to be tremendous in physical combat and their bodies carry outrageous amounts of strength which are further strengthened by their nen. Under Bisky's guidance, his nen bloomed even further to a point where she considered him to be a one-in-a-million genius. Gon ended up developing his own nen technique, which he later named Jajanken.

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Hunter x Hunter: Gon's Jajanken, Explained (1)

Known to be an Enhancement type of nen user, it was only natural for Gon to build his abilities around this nen type. Under the rigorous training that he went through, Gon learned how to use techniques, such as Ko, masterfully and incorporate them with the refined physical strength that he had developed over the years. As such, Gon came up with a clever technique based around these pillars, known as Jajanken. The word Jajanken comes from "Janken," which means rock-paper-scissors, and also "Jajan" which is an interjection similar to "Ta-dah." As such, the name is exceedingly clever and displays Gon's strength and his overly creative nature as a hunter very well, which is fitting to his character. This technique was developed by him after he found out about how Jajanken was deeply rooted in martial arts. As a parent technique, Jajanken sees Gon make use of his aura and accumulate it into his fist, which is then strengthened to a tremendous degree by using Ko.

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Jajanken has three subtypes that Gon has developed over the years. The main type is known as Jajanken: Rock, which is also something that he refers to while making use of this technique. Jajanken: Rock is an Enhancement type of ability that sees him use all of his aura and accumulate it into his fist. Once fully charged using Ko, Gon then unleashes a tremendously powerful strike that is capable of taking down even the most seasoned Hunters in a single blow. Its strength was such that Genthru stood absolutely no chance against it during the Greed Island arc. What's more, a seasoned Hunter such as Morel was sure that he would die if he was to take the brunt of the technique head-on.

When Gon builds up his Ren, this technique becomes even more powerful, making it one of the strongest techniques seen in Hunter x Hunter so far. During his fight against Knuckle, it was stated that Jajanken is as powerful as it is because, in order to raise his attack power, Gon completely lowers his defense which makes his aura output go even higher for a short period of time. Consequently, this technique becomes a double-edged sword. Gon is open to counterattacks while charging this technique, however, if it lands, it will most certainly knock out, if not kill, most enemies.

Hunter x Hunter: Gon's Jajanken, Explained (2)

While Jajanken is quite powerful, it has its limitations. For one, Gon needs quite some time to charge it up using Ko and, sometimes, Ren. During this time, he is completely open to attacks and the fact that he significantly increases his aura output using Ko means that his defense is even lower. So far, Gon hasn't figured out a way to bring out the maximum power of Jajanken without taking extra time to charge it up. Furthermore, this technique is also a close-ranged one, meaning its usability is very limited. Against enemies who are careful enough, Jajanken: Rock doesn't always work. As such, Gon came up with alternatives for this and ended up creating two more versions of this power. With them, he developed a long-ranged technique and another mid-range technique. Since these techniques are not rooted in his affinity, that is Enhancement, they are not nearly as powerful as Jajanken: Rock. Nonetheless, they are still quite dangerous, as seen during the Chimera Ant arc of the series.

Jajanken: Paper is Gon's long-ranged attack that he based around the usage of his Emission skills. When using this technique, Gon charges up his fist with all his aura and then uses emission to hurl it towards his enemies as a projectile. The overall power of this technique, however, is just 1/4th of the power of Jajanken: Rock. Nonetheless, even that much power is enough to take down most average nen users, as demonstrated by Gon upon various applications of this technique. In time, he is sure to make it even stronger. At the same time, he has developed a Jajanken: Scissors as his mid-ranged attack and demonstrated it during the Chimera Ant arc of Hunter x Hunter.

This technique is known to be based on the transmutation type of nen, meaning after using Jajanken, Gon transmutes his aura into an extended scissor from his pointer and middle finger. It is believed that this technique is a bit stronger than Paper, as it was able to cut through a defense that was calculated to be powerful enough to tank a Rock attack. Gon's skills with nen were ever-growing. Sadly, he lost the power to use nen after the events of the Chimera Ant arc. In the future, if he does gain this ability once again, he is sure to improve its usage even further.

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Hunter x Hunter: Gon's Jajanken, Explained (2024)
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