I didn't know this needed to be done, until today :(

Here is a thread on Leorio, and why he is so amazing!

Let's start off with Leorio's goal.

Leorio's goal is to study medicine and become a doctor so he can help other people out.

Why is this?

When he was young, a friend of his died. It was a curable disease, but since he did not have enough money, his friend died.

Leorio realizes the world runs on money and thus wants to get as much of it as possible in order to become a doctor and help ppl free of charge.

What I find nice about this is how the concept of money is turned on its head.

Typically, people want to earn money to live a luxurious life and don't give a damn about the rest of the world.

However, Leorio wants to get money to become a doctor and help ppl free of charge.

It is ironic, but it makes perfect sense. Leorio is a realist and knows that the only way to help ppl who have no money, is to make money.

Leorio out of the main 4, is the character that looks the most "normal".

He does a great job representing the everyday man, and helps ground the series in reality as a result.

He is the most relatable out of the main 4. His goal is the easiest for us as viewers to feel for, and as a result, we find ourselves rallying behind him.

Leorio also has great dynamics with the other 3 members of the group, especially Kurapika.

He also does a great job providing moral support and keeping them in check, as I will provide examples of later.

There is a reason Hisoka chose to let him live.

He sensed his drive and how selfless he was as a person.

Hisoka knows that strength is not all that is required to become a great Hunter.

Leorio is weak relative to other characters in HxH, but it makes perfect sense.

He is just a simple everyday man, trying to go after a normal job. He has no reason to be strong.

The world of HxH is full of morally ambiguous people, including but not limited to, Gon, Killua, Kurapika, Hisoka, Netero, etc.

Leorio is one of the FEW ppl in this world that is pure, and it is not only refreshing to see but works as a nice contrast to the other members.

Now, I'm gonna dive into some of the more specific scenes involving Leorio from arc to arc.

He is a simple character by nature, but he is incredibly well crafted and executed.

I've said this before and I'll say it again: simple does NOT equate to bad, and complex does NOT equate to good.

I'll be back shortly! Just a couple of minutes :)

Alright, I'm back!

Let's go arc by arc, and see what Leorio contributed in each one :)

Hunter Exam:

Leorio's weak and "normal" nature is emphasized here a lot.

The other 3 help carry him through some of the phases.

Some ppl may say "Oh, useless!". No. Leorio was written to be an everyday man, and thus, his strength will be that of an everyday man.

On the way to the Exam, our main 3 encounter Magical Beasts. Leorio helps one of the humans out, showing his kind nature.

While Killua is enduring psychological damage, Leorio helps cheer him on, and tells him that he and Gon are already friends.

Leorio is very grateful to Gon for helping him out and admits being weak, showing his humble nature.

Leorio is one of the ppl that blocks the door to Gon to prevent Illumi from killing him, and tries to tell Netero that Killua was likely being manipulated.

Zoldyck Family:

Leorio decides to go along with Gon to Kukuroo Mountain to rescue Killua, trains to open the door open, which he does so by himself fyi :)

He doesn't lay a hand on Canary even when Gon is getting beat up, showing his faith and trust in Gon.

He is happy to see that Killua is coming back, and is excited to meet them again in Yorknew City.

Yorknew City:

Kurapika's mission becomes serious in this arc, and Leorio is one of the characters alongside Melody that provides moral support and helps keep Kurapika in check.

Leorio risks his life to give Gon and Killua a signal, tells Kurapika to not overdo it with Chrollo, and helps Kurapika for 2 days straight during his fever.

He cares deeply for the main 3, and will go to great lengths to help them.

Election Arc:

This arc is the arc where Leorio shined the brightest for me, and I'll explain why.

Leorio, during the 13th Chairman Election, comes to confront Ging about not seeing Gon.

Ging dodges his questions, and Leorio gets more and more enraged, which makes sense given he is an Emitter and Emitters have short tempers.

Leorio has had it with Ging, and decides to send him a warping punch to release his rage.

This is my fav moment of Leorio, and one of the highlights of the Election Arc for me.

This moment makes him a favorite among all of the Hunters in the audience.

He represents the raw kindness and truth that people desire, which contrasts beautifully with how cunning politicians are by nature.

As the Election continues, Leorio gives a speech to the audience about Gon and his state.

He tells the audience that once he becomes Chairman, he will do everything in his power to save Gon.

He then gives a speech about how he was having all sorts of fun, living an indulgent life, jerking off to women, etc. while Gon was fighting for his life.

This speech is one I find so powerful, and so fitting of his character.

Leorio does not care about his image that much.

He had no problem taking his shirt off during the Hunter Exam, and had no problem going into specific details about his college life, such as jerking off to women.

He represents the raw truth, the outright honesty, that so many politicians fail to do.

Many politicians try to hide what they do, but Leorio is straightforward and blunt about it.

This allows him to be the man of the people, and this is why so many ppl applaud him after his speech.

This speech also shows how deeply he cares about Gon, and how far he is willing to go to help him out.

When Gon is healed, Leorio JUMPS to Gon in joy and they share such a wonderful moment together, reaffirming their friendship.

He also agrees to not spoil anything about what happened with Killua, because he cares about the well being of both of them.

A few things I did not mention before.

Melody says that Leorio has the most pleasant heartbeat she has heard, which reinforces the fact that Leorio is pure.

Leorio screams on the phone with Gotoh because he cares about Killua so much.

Also, another thing I missed. There is this cool moment of Leorio beating a dude at arm wrestling in Yorknew that was omitted from the anime :)

It is revealed in the DC arc that Leorio is the most popular Hunter in the association, which is really fitting as he is the man of the people.

He decides to go with Cheadle and the rest of the Zodiacs to DC, as an indefinite term "abroad" to help himself improve in medicine.

This thread is NOT over yet, just give me a bit of time LMAO

Alright, I'm back :)

Leorio is valued highly by the Zodiacs and Kurapika as seen here.

This concludes the specific examples. There are a lot of other ones, but I would kill myself going through them all LMAO

Now, let's talk about Leorio in general terms.

I've said this before. Leorio is relatively weak and is similar to an everyday man.

Even with this, he has so many great and badass moments that make logical sense for his character:

Opening the Testing Gate, Beating A Man So Badly in Arm Wrestling, Punching Ging, Giving a Speech to the Audience, Becoming the Most Popular Person in the Hunter Association, etc.

We will likely see him do more awesome stuff onboard the Black Whale and in the DC arc :)

People complain about him not being used that much compared to the other 3, but it makes perfect sense.

1) There was NO reason for him to be at Heaven's Arena, Greed Island, or Chimera Ant.

HxH stays true and consistent with its characters, and Leorio has no reason to be there.

2) His goal.

Leorio is studying to be a doctor, and while that lends itself to some awesome moments and some cool slice of life stuff potentially, it is not as compelling as the goals of the other 3.

Togashi is aware of that, which is why he is prioritized less.

Also, there is a clear overarching goal when it comes to the main 4 in HxH.

Kurapika took a front seat in Yorknew, with the other 3 as supporting characters.

Greed Island and Chimera Ant focused a LOT on Gon and Killua.

The Election Arc had Gon and Killua accomplish their goals and conclude their arcs.

Gon found his dad, and Killua found a purpose in life (taking care of Alluka).

Leorio was important in that arc as well, and helped with the transition into the DC arc.

Now, the current arc in the manga (DC arc) is about Kurapika and Leorio.

Kurapika is the main MC, and Leorio is onboard the Black Whale helping with medicine.

Gon and Killua are out of the picture.

We do see that Gon has lost his Nen and returned to "normal", and he goes back to Aunt Mito, catches up on his studies, and thinks what he wants to do now.

This not only is fitting of Gon's character, but is also a great way to move him out of the story for the time being.

By shifting the main characters from arc to arc, along with the alternating tone shifts, how every arc is unique concept and tackles distinct themes, Togashi manages to keep HxH consistently fresh and interesting, without ever getting stale.

Leorio also has some very cool doctor techinques that Ging demonstrates, and we will likely get to see Leorio do some of this badass stuff in the future!

This concludes my analysis for why Leorio is an amazing character!

Lmk what you thought about it, along with stuff I may have missed!

I may add more to this in the future if I remember anything more, but for now, this is it :)

Hope you enjoyed!

I'm so exhausted after writing this LMAO