Why Become a Hunter?

Many people want to become hunter's for the numerous advantages.  One of them is the distinguished honor a hunter receives in public places, they don't have to pay for travel tickets and can get Visas to other countries easily.  Hunters also do not have to pay tuitions at schools (this is mainly why Leorio want to become a hunter). The hunters are also given a hunter card that they can use to access an exclusive hunter website where it contains hidden info on many different organizations and can be extremely useful at times.  You can also exchange your hunter card for a million dollar at any bank and then get you card back in 10 days when you pay the money back, no interest is charged.  (Gon did this in the later series)

How to Apply?

Anybody can apply for the hunter exam, the real difficulty is to find the exam location.  The actual exam starts the instant you wish to apply for the exam.  Since the Hunter Association has people all over the world providing leads to eligible people to the hunter exam location. This location changes from year to year.

The Different Stages

The stages and judges for the hunter exam changes from year to year as well.  This year when Gon, Killua, Kurapica and Leorio applied, there were  5 stages:

1. A marathon following the hunter judge, more than 50% of the contestants failed this exam.

2. A cooking exam where you are asked to cook exotic foods that you've never heard of. (Apparently, all of the contestants other than Hanzo did not know what "Sushi" is.) 

3. Escape from a top security prison, you will have to fight prisoners and get out of the prison in a week.

4. Hunter survival - where you go actually hunter for other hunters, other human beings.

5. A man vs. man fight.  All the contestants but one will pass. You are failed instantly if you kill your opponent.

The Hunter Judges (Profiles available in Character Profiles section)

1. Satotsu - first stage judge, he also appears to know Gon's father - Jin

2. Menchi - second stage judge (she's very picky about the contestants), she wanted them to cook sushi, then failed all of them, since the sushi weren't delicious.  Then she offered another exam: boil eagle eggs.

3. Buhara - second stage judge (he is a huge guy who can eat hundreds of pigs at one meal). He wanted the contestants to cook pigs and ate all of them, all of the contestants who got a pig and barbequed it passed.

4. Rippo - third stage judge (he likes to eat cookies and set the contestants to fight prisoners)

5. Neteru - the president of the Hunter Association, present at the final exam.  The old guy is a very good fighter, he once promised Killua and Gon that if they can grab a ball away from their hands, they can pass the exam right away. (Of course, Gon & Killua failed)

The True Exam

Many believe that if you can pass the final stage, you've passed the hunter exam and can live a luxury life, but that is not true.  The true exam actually starts after you've obtained your hunter card.  Since many people are after that hunter card, being a hunter is very dangerous, since you are exposed to thousands of killers and assassins.  True hunters are also Nen users, learning Nen is a big step in becoming a true hunter.  Some people take years to learn Nen, some people (like Killua & Gon) took 2 months.