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Bit of a thread on why I find gon to be a compelling protagonist
I’ve heard togashi say that he intentionally made gon’s character very simplistic and predictable to make him a less interesting character and bring more attention to side characters; which is a very interesting writing technique
But I feel as though he’s actually made gon more interesting not only as a result of his personality but also because of his relationship with the other characters in the show and his role played
I think that chirlish headstrong mentality gon sharpens his dynamic between the characters and those characters are then able to use gon as a motivator to then inspire characters around them, the best example being killua
Gon’s impact on killua enabled him to then mold characters around himself which then warranted those characters to break from their inhibitions to then make the plot move with them as well, becoming stronger characters as a result
So essentially Gon is the centerpiece his impact on Killua, Knuckle, Shoot, Hisoka, and many other characters is able to create plot threads in a way that is advantageous to himself and his friends because his effect on others directly or indirectly...
causes them to take action in gon’s favor.
An easier way to explain this would be that Gon has the aura of a king, his charisma albeit childish, acts as a legitimate psychological stimulant for certain inclinations for characters to act a certain way.
As a direct result of this, during gon’s mental decline towards the eve of the chimera ant arc, the characters that he’s affected are forced to take action and accommodate for gon.
This is further reflected in Meruem, I’m not going to even get into all of the symbolisms between those two characters as it’s patently obvious at this point, but I feel a giant similarity between those characters that is largely ignored is their presence
Both have a king like aura around them, both lead and change the cast characteristically simply because of the actions that they take. Essentially characters are FORCED to act because of their respective effect on the plot.
So what you have for the most part is characters reacting to the plot rather than being proactive as a result of Gon and Meruem carrying the plot.
Even in instances such as the chairman election arc in which gon takes a back seat, his presence is still felt throughout the show and where our protagonist of the arc Killua takes on an active role
So to put it simply Gon’s ability to create connections and then harden them, would then in turn change the character that is associated with gon which would then cause that character to change characters around them which then turns into a snowball effect
Which would make me significantly more emotionally invested in the side characters and by virtue make me more invested in their relationship with gon and that would make me more invested in Gon himself.
