u/Venus_Libra

Fr tho, Hunting Soul is a pretty good song

So, having just finished Season 5 of the HXH anime, I come to all of you with a query. Below are two of the characters that I find the most detestable in the series so far, but I can't decide which of them is the *most* detestable.

As an older sibling with two younger sisters, I find Illumi's behavior, and especially his treatment of Killua and Alluka, to be appalling. His desire to control and manipulate him, to destroy anyone that might get close to him, to isolate him from everyone and everything positive, goes against every single instinct I have as an older sibling. The whole Zoldyck family is pretty messed up, but in my opinion, he's one of the worst. And yet, he does show genuine protectiveness when Killua is threatened by others, leaving open the possibility that he might be doing the things he does to Killua because he's trying to protect him, in some messed up way. With Alluka, he simply doesn't see her as part of the family. But at the same time, he doesn't want to use her, like the rest of the Zoldycks do. They've convinced him that she's dangerous, but he sees no point in keeping her alive once she becomes a threat to the rest of his family. This, to me, also seems to imply a messed-up sort of care for her. She's a tool to the rest of the family, all except for him and Killua. While it's not exactly sibling-of-the-year behavior, I think it speaks volumes (if not quiet ones) if he *chooses* not to use her as a tool. Of course, if it's only under the order of his father that he stays away from her, that point is null and void.

And in the other corner, we have Shiapouf. Cold, heartless, devoid of empathy and care for anyone and anything besides Meruem and, to a lesser extent, the other royal guards. Delighting in slaughter and genocide, hiding his selfish and sadistic actions behind "it's for the good of the king," when the truth is that he had his own agenda he was trying to push, and his own way that he wanted to shape the ant king. Some of his twisted ideologies can be blamed on the manner and circumstance in which he was "born," being the remnants a dead psychopath that was birthed out of a giant ant for the sole purpose of being a hyped-up bodyguard. But then, what of Pitou's behavior in comparison, or even Youpi's? Both of them showed far more capability of compassion for others, and I would say that their behavior points to them caring for Meruem more, because they weren't actively trying to kill the only human that the ant king ever saw as...well, a person. But could Pouf's case be a testament to nature vs nurture? Was he a victim of his environment, more than he was the aggressor of those that stood between him and what he thought was best for the King?

I'm obviously crippled with indecision, so I need help deciding 😭 Out of these two Grinches, whose heart is bigger?