How is the concept of aura in Hunter x Hunter? I have watched HxH 2011 around 1 year ago.

I still wonder how's the concept of aura in HxH? How many types of aura and what kind of each speciality?


  e.g. Enhancer, Manipulator, Specialist, etc.


Can someone explain it?
The concept of Nen in HxH is comparable to Aura, Chakra, Haki, Mana, Magic, etc. from different series. It directly translates to Mind Energy apparently. In this series, it is life energy of the wielder who can manipulate it in different ways.  

You can obtain Nen abilities by being exposed to Nen.  Otherwise it takes years of training.

The most basic Nen can be used by any type of Nen user.  These are:


Ten - put aura around body rather than let it leak out of the body. also protects from other's aura
Zetsu - stop flow of aura (make yourself less detectable)
Ren - generate a large amount of aura around oneself for offense
Hatsu - manifest aura to have special effects


There are other abilities similar the the above which most users can learn to perform but are not "typed": Gyo, In, En, Shu, Ko, Ken, and Ryu are the examples so far.

Some very special users are known as geniuses and learned to use their Nen abilities without mastering the above.  The main examples are the Apraiser and the Fortuneteller.

The form a user's Hatsu takes is controlled by that user.  While in theory any user can master a skill from any of the 5 basic types, they tend to have an affinity for one type and can master it much easier.  Unlike other series, the Nen type is about how you move your aura and not elemental.


Conjurors can turn their Nen into physical objects.  They often has special properties. (summon chains for instance)
Transmutors can change the properties of their Nen and then manipulate that. (turn Nen into electricity and vice versa for instance)
Enhancers apply their Nen to themselves to enhance their own physical abilities. (punch hard for instance)
Emitters push their Nen into projectiles of into other people causing special properties. Sometimes the Nen takes physical shapes such a gorillas, energy balls, mascots, or fists but are still composed of Nen.
Manipulators, finally, put their Nen into other objects and then manipulate that Nen to manipulate that object.


These are grouped so the most similar are near each other.  As Conjuration requires turning you Nen into something else, they find it easier to do Transmutor skills then Manipulator skills, for instance.  Enhancers find it much more difficult to do complex manipulation of Nen in other objects than just emit it as a projectile.


Specialists are special. Their Nen abilities cannot be described as any of the above and are rare.  No other group can learn a Specialist's ability, though a Conjuror or a Manipulator is more likely to become one than any other group.


Finally, very specific Nen abilites are somehow much more powerful than more general use abilities.  Putting restictings on its use, therefore, such as a ritual, target restictions, or delayed activation can make the Nen ability far more powerful.  For this reason, alot of power Nen abilities have complicated rules which must be followed.  Kuripika can only use some abilities on spiders. Gon's attacks have a long charging time and a chant. Chollo has several specific conditions which must be met before he can use his main ability.