Gon Freecss

Gon Freecss (Gon Furīkusu) is the protagonist from Yoshihiro Togashi's manga series Hunter × Hunter. A young boy, Gon discovers that his father, who left him at a young age, is actually a world-renowned Hunter, a licensed professional who specializes in fantastical pursuits such as locating rare or unidentified animal species, treasure hunting, surveying unexplored enclaves, or hunting down lawless individuals. Gon departs on a journey to become a Hunter and eventually find his father. Along the way, Gon meets various other Hunters and encounters the paranormal.

Togashi originally created Gon as an ideal son. However, the way he saw his backstory in retrospect made him change his characterization as Gon instead comes across as a selfish teenager for the way he starts his quest. Several voice actors have voiced Gon across his appearances in animated adaptations of Hunter × Hunter and has often appeared in film adaptations. Critical response to Gon's character has been well received with critics praising his character development, design and several actions across the series that made him unique.

Creation and development
In creating the protagonist of the Hunter × Hunter manga series, Yoshihiro Togashi initially thought that Gon's characterization should be that of an ideal son who would easily become the series' most popular character. However, the more he elaborated on the series' story, his idea of Gon changed as he did not see Gon as a nice person as he originally envisioned; The fact that Gon abandons his foster mother Mito just to learn to be a Hunter like his father Ging. Gon and Ging were meant to be similar characters with Gon often sharing a nervous feeling when developing in the story. This led to a major change in of the main character of the series and leave his scrapped nature to another unspecified member from the series.

Gon's personality was kept addressed by Togashi during fight scenes where Togashi scrapped his sensitive side and give the manga a more entertaining side. Togashi feels glad with how he transformed Gon into the series' protagonist due to the fact he could deal with his personality that much. Instead, the original calm personality Togashi aimed to give Gon was given to fellow character Leorio. In dealing with Gon's abilities, Togashi had the idea of having the cast's abilities connect with their personalities such as Kurapika's chains which are connected with his tragic backstory. Gon's abilities were also connected with his abilities with his instinct. Originally, the series' plot would involve the usage of trading cards as main weapons. However, similarities with Kazuki Takahashi's Yu-Gi-Oh led to this being scrapped. Nevertheless, examples of fights using cards can be seen during the Greed Island story arc, where Gon and Killua often use cards.

Casting
Gon was first voiced by Rica Matsumoto in the 1998 Japanese film, and Junko Takeuchi in the 1999 series. Elinor Holt voices him in the 1999 series in English.

In the Madhouse adaptation of the series, Gon is voiced by Megumi Han who found it as a unique experience when compared with other works most notably Sumire from Chihayafuru. Voice actress Erica Mendez originally read for Gon, Killua, Kurapika, and Menchi during casting of the series by Madhouse. The actress enjoyed Gon's personality and how well he judges others. However, she still did not like how Gon often put himself in dangerous situations like a common hero and does not care for his own well-being. In voicing the character, Mendez adds raspyness to sound more believable to the audience, but because of the way they set him, he does not have a lot of rasp unless he is in a tense situation so sometimes he comes across as feminine, naïve and happy.

In the Hunter × Hunter manga
Gon Freecss is an athletic, naïve, and friendly boy, raised on Whale Island by his aunt Mito. Gon spent much time in the woods as a child, endowing him with heightened senses and an affinity for animals. A chance encounter with the Hunter Kite, the disciple of Gon's father Ging, inspires him to become a Hunter himself in order to find Ging. During the Hunter Exam, Gon befriends Killua Zoldyck, Kurapika and Leorio Paradinight while being antagonised by the magician Hisoka. After successfully becoming a licensed Hunter, Gon and Killua learn about Nen from Wing and later train and competes in a tournament test his new powers against Hisoka. Gon's Nen type is Enhancement, which gives him his great strength and recuperative abilities. Although Gon loses the match, he repays a debt to Hisoka for helping him pass the Hunter Exam. Both Gon and Killua return to the former's homeland to greet Mito, who reveals to him a recorded message from Ging that interests Gon in trying his Greed Island video game. However, while searching for copies of Greed Island in Yorknew City, he and Killua are sidetracked helping Kurapika fight the criminal Phantom Troupe to avenge his massacred clan. After helping Kurapika seal the Nen powers of Troupe leader Chrollo Lucilfer, Gon and Killua enter Greed Island where they further train under Biscuit Krueger. Gon develops his Hatsu, Ja Jan Ken (ジャジャン拳), a play on "Janken", the Japanese word for rock-paper-scissors. When Gon throws out "Rock" it enhances his punch, "Scissors" transmutes a sword from his fingers for mid-ranged attacks, and "Paper" emits a ball of aura for long-ranged attacks.

After he, Killua and Biscuit become the first players to beat Greed Island, Gon returns to the outside world with Killua and reunites with Kite. They soon discover the hostile Chimera Ants, who eat powerful creatures to gain their characteristics. When the Chimera Ant Neferpitou attacks them, Kite covers Gon and Killua's escape and goes missing in action. Gon trains with a group of Hunters to face the Ants, only to be horrified when Kite's body is recovered, reanimated as a puppet by Neferpitou. During the Hunters' raid on Chimera Ant King Meruem's palace, Gon confronts Neferpitou, who pleads for him to wait while they heal a human Meruem had grown fond of. Gon forces them to complete the surgery in as little time as possible and takes them to revive Kite, but Neferpitou reveals that they cannot and declares their intent to kill Gon. Gon is consumed by rage and enters into a Nen Contract to acquire "all the power [he]'ll ever have". This temporarily transforms him into an adult to kill Neferpitou, but leaves him near-death afterward. After being healed by Alluka Zoldyck's ability, Gon has lost the ability to use Nen as a consequence of his contract. Gon at last meets Ging, who informs him that Kite has been reincarnated as a Chimera Ant. A satisfied Gon returns to Whale Island and reunites with Mito.

In 2023, a planned ending that takes place after a time skip, years into the future, featured Gon's granddaughter, Gin. Togashi expressed a desire to create a satisfying enough conclusion so he would not have to resort to endings A, B, or C. Togashi stated that the readers' reactions would be 80% positive on ending A, even split on ending B, and 90% negative on ending C. While acknowledging ending A as a "safe", noncontroversial option, Togashi personally preferred ending C, despite expecting significant criticism from fans.

Other appearances
Besides reprising his role from the manga in the anime adaptations, Gon appears in two animated movies. in Hunter × Hunter: Phantom Rouge (2013) Gon and Killua search for Pairo's location to restore Kurapika's missing eyes. Gon ends up meeting and befriending a young puppeteer called Retsu and when Killua reunites with him, they realize that Retsu is a girl. Because of Killua's loyalty towards Gon, Killua quickly becomes jealous of her. When night falls, Leorio and Kurapika are approached by Hisoka while Gon and the others are attacked by Uvogin, who was presumed to be dead and saved by Nobunaga and Machi who defeat him. It is then revealed that Uvogin was revived as a puppet by Omokage, a former member of the Phantom Troupe who was defeated and replaced by Hisoka. In the next day, Retsu leads Gon and Killua to the mansion from Kurapika's vision and after leaving her behind for her safety, they meet another puppet, now based on Illumi who attacks them. Gon has his own eyes stolen. Omokage sends the Pairo and Illumi dolls to attack the Hunters, but Gon and Kurapika defeat them with Leorio and Killua's help and retrieve their eyes.

In Hunter × Hunter: The Last Mission, Gon and Killua take a break from their expeditions with Kite to pay another visit at Heaven's Arena and cheer for their friend Zushi in the Battle Olympia Tournament with Wing and Biscuit. Gon and Killua pay a visit to Netero, who is also at the building, but the Arena is taken over by the mysterious men, with one of them, Gaki, replacing Zushi's first opponent and defeating him, another one, Shura, taking over the security system and a third one, Rengoku, stabbing herself and putting a curse on Netero to seal his Nen and immobilizing him.

Gon has also appeared in several video games based on the anime. He is also playable in the crossover game Jump Ultimate Stars, and Jump Force.

Popularity
Gon Freecss is a popular character with fans, coming in third place in the series' first two popularity polls. In a IGN article, Gon was listed as one of the best anime characters of all time with comments focused on how his characterization is marked by his absent father. In an Anitrendz poll, Gon was voted as one of the best male characters from the 2010s.

Analysis
Victoria University of Wellington noted that in the Chimera arc, Gon is put into one of the most complex situations shonen manga heroes after several story arcs that test his moral compass. In contrast to his innocent persona, Gon becomes angered when wanting to restore Kite's health to the point he hurts Killua's own feelings when interacting in his rage and later wanting revenge against Pitou in the most violent fashion. In retrospect, Gon's simplicity as the protagonist appears to be a test of how Togashi decided to write such an innocent hero until his mental breakdown in the Chimera arc. When it comes to Gon's and Hisoka's rivalry, the writer expressed commentary of how Togashi handles ideas involving the latter's apparent homosexual feelings whenever he faces the former but in a positive fashion. Despite such aggressive encounters, Gon comes to respect Hisoka as the story progresses, most notably in the Greed Island story arc which is highly notable in manga history for how quickly the early enemies becomes teammates.

Critical reception
Initial critical response to Gon was positive with Charles Solomon, a writer for The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, praising the moral seriousness of Gon, a quality that gives the protagonist "an appeal his relentlessly upbeat counterparts lack". On the other hand, DVD Talk said that Gon was one dimensional when compared to the rest of the protagonists as he does not have a deep reason to become a Hunter. Carl Kimlinger from Anime News Network found strange that the relationship between Gon and his nemesis Hisoka due to the latter's interest in him and comparing him with a fruit in needs of maturing. Kimlinger also praised the voice acting of Elinor Holt in the English dub. Digital Fox Media noted his bond with Killua engaging. The Madhouse adaptation of the series received praised for Erica Mendez's portrayal.

Initial reactions to Gon's characterization led to negative response to the protagonist due to coming across as a common archetype comparable to Goku, Naruto Uzumaki among others based on his young behaviour and simple design. However, in Anime News Network's article "Hunter x Hunter & Dragon Ball Z: the Fall of the Shounen Hero," Gon was instead compared more with Goku. Anime News Network noted that Goku feels like he has something that " prototypical not-Snyder Superman doesn't" through his more self-centered obsession with fighting and getting stronger. The drawbacks of Goku's obsession is something briefly explored in Dragon Ball. However, while sharing many similarities with Goku like that obsession, Gon comes across as a much darker character. While Gon's characterization was noted to make him fit to become Killua's best friend, Togashi realized that same characterization also made it possible for Gon to easily abandon Mito on his home island before starting off on his adventure to find his father. Anime News Network also found that Gon's characterization takes a further darker slide in the Chimera Ant arc when his mentor Kite is seemingly killed by the Chimera Ant Neferpitou. He suffers emotional outbursts that cause him to hurt Killua's feelings, and comes off looking more like a villain when he finds Pitou again, finding it frustrating and unfair that Pitou is trying to do something good like healing an innocent girl while having done something bad like hurting and delaying to treat Kite. Comic Book Resources shared several comments about Gon's darker characterization, most notably in the Chimera Ant arc where his obsession with Kite results in into ruthless revenge against Neferpitou, ruining his likable traits in the process. The Fandom Post praised his character design in the 2011 anime adaptation and his relationship with Killua through the whole series but lamented how inactive he became in the Chimera Ant arc.

There were also positive comments about Gon's friendship with Killua. Derrick L. Tucker of THEM Anime Reviews praised the writing of Gon due to his offbeat personality which contrasts with Killua's darker side and how his goals to improve himself rather than becoming the strongest character set him apart from other main characters of the series genre. However, when Gon's characterization took a darker tone, he was criticized for offending Killua's feelings in his emotional outbursts.

Hunter × Hunter manga
Entire series
 * Togashi, Yoshihiro. ハンター×ハンター [Hunter × Hunter] (in Japanese). 36 vols. Tokyo: Shueisha, 1998–present.
 * Togashi, Yoshihiro. Hunter × Hunter. 36 vols. San Francisco: Viz Media, 2005–present.

Individual volumes