In Hunter x Hunter, Nen is the technique of controlling aura, and each user's natural affinity falls into one of six categories: Enhancement, Emission, Manipulation, Transmutation, Conjuration, and Specialization. A category is not a rigid class that forbids the others. It indicates where a user tends to learn and apply Nen most naturally, while the positions on the chart help explain which neighboring types are more compatible.
To identify an affinity, the series introduces Water Divination, taught by Wing. The effect produced when aura is applied to a glass of water with a leaf on top indicates the practitioner's natural category. Training can then prioritize abilities that fit that affinity without preventing the user from studying other types.
What are the six Nen types?
| Type | Basic principle | Canonical example |
|---|---|---|
| Enhancement | Strengthens the natural properties of the body or objects. | Gon |
| Emission | Makes it easier to separate aura from the body and maintain it at a distance. | Razor |
| Manipulation | Controls living beings, objects, or other targets according to an ability's rules. | Zushi |
| Transmutation | Changes the properties of aura so that it mimics particular characteristics. | Killua and Hisoka |
| Conjuration | Creates materialized objects or structures from aura. | Kurapika |
| Specialization | Covers abilities that do not properly fit the other five categories. | Neon |
How the affinity chart works
The chart arranges the six categories by proximity. For users who are not Specialists, the rule taught in the series is that the natural category offers the greatest potential mastery, while adjacent types are generally easier to learn than distant ones. Choosing an ability far from one's natural affinity can therefore require more training and produce less efficient results.
Wing uses Kastro as an example of this problem. Although his talent favored Enhancement, creating and controlling a double required skills associated with Conjuration and Manipulation, categories far from his affinity. The example shows that an impressive ability is not necessarily an efficient one for a particular user.
How Water Divination reveals a Nen type
The test uses a glass filled with water and a leaf floating on the surface. The practitioner places their hands around the glass and applies aura. The observed effect reveals the affinity:
- Enhancement: the amount of water changes.
- Transmutation: the taste of the water changes.
- Emission: the color of the water changes.
- Conjuration: impurities or matter appear in the water.
- Manipulation: the leaf moves.
- Specialization: an effect occurs that differs from the other five standard results.
When Wing applies the method, Gon makes the water overflow and is identified as an Enhancer; Killua changes its taste and is identified as a Transmuter; Zushi moves the leaf and is identified as a Manipulator. The test is used both to identify affinity and as Hatsu training.
Affinity does not mean a character uses only one type
A Nen ability can draw on more than one category. Natural affinity indicates the most favorable starting point, but training, conditions, and the design of a technique can combine different principles. This is why classifying a character only by the appearance of an attack can be misleading: the visible effect of an ability and the user's natural category are not necessarily the same thing.
It is also important to distinguish Transmutation from Conjuration. Transmutation changes the properties of aura itself, as when Killua gives his aura characteristics of electricity. Conjuration creates something material from aura, such as Kurapika's chains. Emission, meanwhile, concerns separating aura from the body and keeping it active at a distance.
What about Specialization?
Specialization covers effects that do not properly fit the other five categories. There is therefore no single visual mechanic that defines every Specialist. In Water Divination, the sign is precisely a result that does not match the five standardized reactions.
Specialization's position on the chart also has its own peculiarities. The series treats this category as an exception in several respects, so the simplified rules used to explain the other affinities should not automatically be applied to it without qualification.
How to classify a character without confusing ability and affinity
- First look for an explicit confirmation of the character's affinity in the source material.
- When Water Divination is shown, treat its result as direct evidence of the natural category.
- Separate the user's affinity from the categories used by a specific ability.
- Use the chart to understand why certain types are more or less compatible.
- Avoid assigning a category solely from personality or the look of a power when the series has not confirmed it.
Spoiler warning and sources
The basic categories and Water Divination appear relatively early, but advanced discussions of affinities and characters can reveal later abilities and events. For an introductory overview without going deeply into major revelations, Crunchyroll's beginner's guide describes Nen as a system with six types. The detailed affinity chart and Water Divination explanation are presented in Yoshihiro Togashi's manga, especially during Gon and Killua's training with Wing.
