So one of my favorite characters introduced in the current arc of HxH–perhaps one of my favorite side characters in the entire series–is Queen Oito Hui Guo Rou. She’s a really interesting character to me, notably in how she foils several characters with long-running arcs, and through that foiling she carries great potential for thematic resonance not just for this arc, but for the arcs of Chrollo, Kurapika, and even Ging and the Zoldycks. I’m very excited to see what Togashi will do with her.

Oito, Kurapika, Chrollo, and Neon: Changing Fate

To start with, I want to mention that the Succession Contest Arc has a lot of blatant similarities to the Yorknew Arc in terms of set up. Oito is, after all, not the first woman Kurapika has been hired to protect in an arc that also focuses on Chrollo, the Phantom Troupe, and their inevitable interactions with Kurapika. Back in Yorknew, we meet Neon Nostrade, a girl who, just like Oito, is treated like a pawn by all the men in her life and who Kurapika and Chrollo don’t treat any differently: both of them, despite Kurapika being a protagonist and Chrollo an antagonist, treat her as a means to an end.

For Chrollo, that end is to steal her power, for Kurapika, it’s to collect the eyes. Clearly Kurapika is more sympathetic and did not intend to harm Neon, but the reality is he was still aiming to use her (and no, Neon was not a saint; collecting body parts is creepy). But, Oito is similarly treated like a pawn in a game by a King Man Child who marries her as his eighth wife and wants his offspring to kill each other. (It’s worth noting that there’s a faint parallel there between Nasubi and Neon’s father as well, in that both of them view their children as valuable by what they can do.)

Neither Chrollo nor Kurapika are willing to look deeper at Neon, to notice what she potentially had to teach them as @aspoonofsugar writes in her brilliant meta on Neon here. As a result, they both suffered for it and went down paths that led to their current predicaments, and to Neon’s own death, because she was treated as a pawn. Neon’s death is probably on both Chrollo and Kurapika because of the stealing of her powers and the thereafter ruination of her family finances to hire protection, regardless of whether it was Hisoka or a mafia enemy who killed her.

Oito herself describes her past as, well, exactly like Neon:

But Neon was not a pawn, and neither is Oito, as she’s making it clear. If the lesson Neon could offer Kurapika and Chrollo (both fatalists) is that life is not written, that fate can be changed, that choices do matter and that those choices affect other people as well (and that people are more than just their worst qualities) then it stands to reason that perhaps that is the lesson Oito offers as well. Of course, we haven’t seen Oito and Chrollo interact, but honestly I expect them to at some point.

Oito herself changed–she is essentially Neon changed–obviously, as she expresses. She also expresses remorse for her past actions, realizing that they’ve led to her daughter being in extreme danger–yet at the same time, she has her precious daughter. She has the capability to offer the same lesson Chrollo and Kurapika missed from Neon: people can change. The future isn’t written.

And Oito is changing her future specifically to protect the one she loves. It mirrors Kurapika’s decision back in the Yorknew Arc, because he chose to save Killua and Gon above revenge and as a result the future Neon predicted changed.

I do think it’s entirely possible that both Chrollo and Kurapika this arc will have to choose whether to protect someone they care about, or to continue their selfish path. Chrollo is the one most directly at risk, as I do suspect he’ll have to choose between his Spiders and revenge on Hisoka/Tserriednich/s treasure, but I can see Kurapika having to choose between saving Oito and Woble like he promised and Tserriednich’s treasure/the eyes as well. (Which is what @aspoonofsugar theorized the other day in her own Oito meta!)

Oito and Tserriednich: Human Value

Neon’s body collecting also has a parallel in this arc, and this character also foils Oito: Tserriednich Hui Guo Rou. Interestingly, look at the description of the women he says he hates (and presumably kills after sexually abusing):

He dehumanizes them and says their humanity comes down to what they know. Tserriednich doesn’t even seem to think change is part of the equation; all that matters is if a person can satisfy him and if they can’t, they are worthless. He’s an even darker reflection of his father.

But back to Oito. Unlike both Tserriednich and Neon, Oito is not prodigiously talented in nen.

In this sense she is also unlike Kurapika, and unlike Chrollo–both of whom are noted to be talents for their ages. Again, this returns to the idea that the lesson Oito has to offer is not in nen or her abilities, but in her ideals and her ability to change, which is necessary to keep living (something Neon originally pointed out).

If Oito is symbolic of life, as a mother, Tserriednich is symbolic of  death–he’s the fourth prince and four is associated with death in Japanese culture, collecting the dead’s eyes, murdering women, the water turning into some kind of putrid mixture during the nen type test, etc. I’d also expect this foiling to continue.

Which leads me to my next foiling/theme I want to discuss, about how Oito’s influence could spread beyond just this arc and beyond just Chrollo and Kurapika’s long running arcs.

Oito: A Good Mom.

Besides Mito Freecss (who while lovely isn’t fleshed out), she’s like, the only good parent we see in HxH. She’s willing to do whatever it takes for her child, which sets her up as a sharp contrast to Ging, who abandoned his son (and will presumably have a role on the Dark Continent), as well as Kikyo and Silva Zoldyck, and of course Nasubi.

Nasubi,  Light Nostrade, Kikyo and Silva, and Ging as well, seem to value their children and their relationship with them solely by what they can do. Can they gather the wits and strength to kill their siblings? Are they talented enough to propel the Zoldyck name forward? Are they good enough at being a hunter to find their father?

Woble can do nothing at all. She’s a prince, yes, but a baby. She’s helpless in a Succession War. She’s helpless in the world as a whole. And Oito loves her daughter and will risk anything for her anyways.

If the Succession War continues to be a deconstruction (which every arc in HxH has been and which it already is so far in Kurapika’s abilities being revealed to be killing him, etc) I’m going to venture a guess that however this ends (and I do expect Oito to make it out alive), it won’t be through abilities or powers or even shrewd strategy, but through connections, through the things Oito identifies as being “what really matters”: friendship, family, love, all those good things HxH likes exploring the limits of, but also the beauty of. Oito is symbolic of the beauty and good in the world that makes it so exciting. The journey matters, but it’s the people you love along the way, the relationships you cultivate, that make it worthwhile, not the power struggles and fights. That’s at the very core, I think, of what makes Hunter x Hunter such a great story.