Hunter x Hunter: 7 Worst Liars in Anime History Who’d Make the Strongest Manipulators

In Hunter x Hunter, overwhelming strength is not always what makes a character terrifying. Sometimes, the deadliest weapon is convincing someone to believe exactly what you want them to believe. Yoshihiro Togashi’s manga, serialized in Weekly Shonen Jump since 1998, has built its reputation on battles where information can matter as much as raw power. The 1999 and 2011 anime adaptations brought that mind-game-heavy storytelling to different generations of viewers, with the latter running for 148 episodes.

From false identities to carefully buried motives, Hunter x Hunter repeatedly proves that knowing what people think can be just as valuable as knowing Nen. These seven characters take that philosophy to particularly deceptive extremes.

1 Hisoka Morow Turns Deception Into His Most Dangerous Weapon

Hisoka does not simply lie; he makes uncertainty part of his strategy. During the Hunter Exam, he presents himself as a chaotic fighter whose interests are difficult to predict, while his later actions repeatedly reveal that he is perfectly capable of long-term planning. His fake membership in the Phantom Troupe is the clearest example: Hisoka used Texture Surprise to create a fake Spider tattoo, allowing him to masquerade as a Troupe member while secretly pursuing his own goal of fighting Chrollo.

Even his altered fortune in Yorknew was designed to manipulate the Spiders into believing that he could not safely leave the hideout.⁠ Hisoka earns No. 1 because his greatest deception is not any single lie. It is making everyone permanently unsure which version of Hisoka they are dealing with.

2 Illumi Zoldyck Can Lie While Hiding Behind Another Face

Illumi turns deception into something almost literal. During the Hunter Exam, he hides his identity behind the appearance of Gittarackur, using needles to radically alter his face, body and voice. But his manipulation goes far beyond impersonation. Illumi secretly implanted a Nen needle in Killua’s brain, conditioning his younger brother to retreat from battles he considered unwinnable. Killua eventually discovers and removes it during the Chimera Ant arc.

Illumi’s Needle People take the same principle to an even more disturbing level, allowing him to turn ordinary people into tools under his control. He lands at No. 2 because his deception attacks both perception and agency: people can be fooled by his face, then manipulated through their own bodies.

3 Genthru Built His Entire Greed Island Scheme on a Lie

Genthru’s greatest trick was making himself look like exactly the kind of player everyone wanted nearby. For years, he operated inside Nickes’ alliance while secretly building the foundation for his betrayal. He cultivated the image of an ordinary, relatively weak player while planting bombs on members of the alliance.

More cleverly, Genthru helped create the legend of the “Bomber” as a separate, murderous player. That gave him an identity he could discuss openly while hiding in plain sight. When he finally revealed himself, the alliance had already gathered the cards he needed, and Countdown gave him leverage over their live. No. 3 belongs to Genthru because his deception was not a last-minute trick. It was a five-year operation built around patience, trust and information control.

4 Tonpa’s Friendly Act Has Fooled Generations of Rookie Hunters

Tonpa is proof that manipulation does not require elite Nen or a grand conspiracy. His weapon is a friendly face. Nicknamed the “Rookie Crusher,” Tonpa repeatedly enters the Hunter Exam specifically to sabotage inexperienced applicants, earning their confidence before pushing them toward failure. His most famous manga tactic involves offering rookies a seemingly harmless drink containing a laxative, turning hospitality into sabotage.

The joke becomes darker when you remember that Tonpa has repeatedly returned to the notoriously dangerous exam without seriously intending to become a Hunter himself. He takes No. 4 because his lies are comparatively small-scale, yet remarkably sustainable. Tonpa understands one of manipulation’s oldest rules: people rarely suspect the person acting like their friend.

5 Shaiapouf Lies to the King to Control His Future

Shaiapouf’s deception is less about inventing a completely false reality and more about controlling which pieces of reality Meruem receives. His obsession with the King becomes so extreme that he begins serving an idealized version of Meruem rather than accepting the King as he actually develops. Komugi becomes Pouf’s greatest obstacle because her presence changes Meruem’s priorities, something Pouf desperately wants to reverse.

His willingness to conceal information, manipulate circumstances and act independently demonstrates how psychological warfare can operate even against an overwhelmingly powerful ruler. Pouf earns No. 5 because his manipulation comes from a dangerous assumption: that he understands what the King should become better than the King himself does. His deception is therefore ideological as much as tactical.

6 Pariston Hill Keeps Everyone Guessing About His Real Motives

Pariston’s greatest advantage is that nobody can confidently tell when he is being sincere. Ging describes him as someone who enjoys playing rather than simply winning or losing, while his cheerful demeanor makes his intentions notoriously difficult to calculate. His political maneuvering during the 13th Hunter Chairman Election demonstrates this perfectly. Pariston repeatedly participates in the process while apparently having little interest in simply claiming the prize.

Ging eventually reveals that Pariston’s real objective involves the remaining Chimera Ant cocoons, turning the election itself into another game. He takes No. 6 because his deception works through ambiguity rather than elaborate false identities. Pariston rarely needs everyone to believe one particular story. He only needs them to remain uncertain about which story is real.

7 Chrollo Lucilfer Hides His True Intentions Behind Calm Deception

Chrollo is not a conventional liar in the way Genthru or Illumi are. His specialty is controlled information. During his battle with Hisoka, Chrollo explains his stolen abilities while simultaneously using those explanations to construct a battlefield Hisoka cannot fully read. Convert Hands allows him to exchange appearances with another person, while Gallery Fake, Order Stamp and The Sun and Moon create layers of copies, puppets and delayed effects.

Chrollo even disguises himself among the fleeing audience while manipulating spectators to create openings. His No. 7 placement reflects the difference between deception and outright lying: Chrollo is terrifying because he can tell you the truth while still keeping the important truth out of reach.

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Hunter x Hunter is available on Crunchyroll and Netflix.