Shadow Beasts — hunterxhunter

The Shadow Beasts (陰(いん)獣(じゅう)()()()()()()()(), Injū) were a special group consisting of ten of the most powerful Nen users within the Mafia Community.

Overview

The Shadow Beasts operated under the direct command of the Ten Dons, and executed orders given by them. Each member of the Ten Dons contributed their best man to the Shadow Beasts.^[1] Each Shadow Beast was named after an animal, and their Nen abilities seem to have been inspired by their respective animals.

The group effectively ceased to exist after the Phantom Troupe killed nine of them in a single night,^[2] and captured and tortured the final one.^[3]

Plot

Yorknew City arc

Owl leaving the vault after securing the auction items

Members of the mafia community and representatives of the mafia families attend the first day of the Underground Auction on September 1^st. Several members of the Phantom Troupe infiltrate the compound to try and steal the items up for auction and murder the attendees in the process.^[4] They realize that their efforts are in vain after they find the vault empty, confirming that the items had been moved several hours earlier by torturing the auctioneer. As they escape pursuit from the mafia by hot air balloon, they report their findings to Chrollo, who points to the absence of the Shadow Beasts as evidence that their plans had not been leaked. When Chrollo asks how the items were transported, Uvogin shares that one of the Shadow Beasts had showed up by himself. A flashback shows Owl turning up at the 25-square meter vault by himself, and emptied the vault without any tools. Chrollo instructs Uvogin and the others to make a big enough disturbance within the mafia community to draw out the Shadow Beasts.^[1]

Four Shadow Beasts prepare to engage Uvogin (Left -> Right; Leech, Porcupine, Worm, Rabid Dog)

While waiting for the Shadow Beasts to arrive, the mafia community follow the Phantom Troupe's hot air balloon to its landing destination within the Gordeau Desert and start a fight with Uvogin. As slaughters the crowd, Uvogin remarks that he wouldn't even be warmed up before the Shadow Beasts arrived. Kurapika and some other Nostrade Family guards observe the battle from a distance, when they suddenly notice a presence appear in the middle of them. They jump back as Worm appears from the ground, and gives them a warning to stay away after finding out who they were. Rabid Dog, Porcupine, and Leech make their presences known, and the four Shadow Beasts head towards the conflict.^[5]

Uvogin notices Rabid Dog, Porcupine, and Leech approach him, and correctly presuming that they are the Shadow Beasts, asks them where they put the auction loot. Rabid Dog ignores him and keeps distracting him, letting Worm sneak up on him and land a solid punch on him from behind. Worm finds his hand crushed from the impact of punching Uvogin, and is unable to react fast enough to Uvogin's counter, which crushes his face.^[5] Despite losing teeth and having his eye pop out of its socket, Worm grabs Uvogin by the arm and dives into the ground, locking Uvogin into position. As the three other Shadow Beasts jump toward Uvogin, he punches the ground with his Big Bang Impact, causing Worm's body to explode along with the surrounding ground. The remaining Shadow Beasts jump away and notice his spider tattoo, identifying him as a member of the Phantom Troupe. They act more seriously and jump at Uvogin together, attacking him together and managing to do some damage to him. When Leech sees that the paralyzing neurotoxins from Rabid Dog's attack have taken effect, he starts injecting parasitic leech eggs into Uvogin's body. Despite most of his body being paralyzed, Uvogin manages to turn his head, and bites off a large portion of Leech's head, killing him before he can react. He spits a piece of Leech's skull directly at Rabid Dog, killing him instantly when the skull fragment pierces through his head. Porcupine dies right after when his eardrums burst from an extremely loud shout from Uvogin.^[6]

After observing Uvogin's fight with the Shadow Beasts, Kurapika prepares to head over. Worm emerges from the ground, missing his right arm and everything below his torse, and asks the group to get everyone over.^[6] After making plans with his fellow guards, Kurapika heads over to capture Uvogin. The Spiders suddenly notice a chain appear around Uvogin before he is whisked away, and Nobunaga assumes that another Shadow Beast had captured Uvogin. Machi lets the Spiders know that she managed to attach a thread to Uvogin, and the Spiders guess that they might be able to get the rest of the Shadow Beasts if they catch up with Uvogin.^[7]

The Spiders get in a car and manage to close the distance with Uvogin, but Owl suddenly lands on the hood of their car, and uses his Fun Fun Cloth on the car, aiming to capture the Spiders. Four of the five occupants manage to get out in time, leaving Nobunaga, who had been sitting in the middle of the back seat, trapped in Owl's Fun Fun Cloth. Five more Shadow Beasts appear, and prepare to engage the Spiders. Shizuku notices that they had seen ten Shadow Beasts, and wonders if Uvogin's captor was not a Shadow Beast. Feitan decides to take the easy route by asking the Shadow Beasts in front of them to find out.^[7]

As the Nostrade bodyguards drive off, a guard notices that they had lost their pursuers, and another mentions that it looked like someone had landed on their car. Dalzollene concludes that the other Shadow Beasts had arrived, and instructs Kurapika to head back to the city.^[7] Uvogin wakes up and finds himself restrained, and tries to figure out where he is, ignoring Dalzollene's attempts at torturing him with a blade. As he offers to spare his captor's lives if they free him, he tells them that the Shadow Beasts had taken the auction goods away, and that the Spiders did not have the items. Dalzollene leaves to report that they had captured one of the Spiders, and hears the person on the phone react in surprise that they had managed to catch someone even the Shadow Beasts couldn't. Dalzollene asks him to elaborate, and the person on the phone tells him that the Shadow Beasts were all dead.^[2]

The next night, Shalnark returns to the Phantom Troupe's hideout to ask if Uvogin had returned, and hears from Feitan that he had not. Shalnark looks at a person tied up behind Feitan, and Feitan tells him not to worry, that the person he was torturing would not die so easily.^[3]

On the third day, Light Nostrade tells the Nostrade bodyguards that the auction would reopen that night. His men tell him that the Spider they had captured said that the Shadow Beasts had taken the items, and Light informs his men that all the Shadow Beasts are dead; nine bodies had been found and Owl, the tenth and in charge of transporting the goods, had probably been kidnapped by the Troupe. Light also tells his men that with the Shadow Beasts wiped out, the Ten Dons had hired professional assassins to eliminate the Phantom Troupe.^[8]

Chrollo revealing Owl's Fun Fun Cloth — Chrollo revealing Owl's **Fun Fun Cloth**

Later that night, Zeno and Silva Zoldyck engage Chrollo in battle. Chrollo pulls out Owl's Fun Fun Cloth, revealing that Chrollo had stolen it.^[9]