Honestly, most Hunter x Hunter fans remember Squala for exactly one thing: his head flying off in the middle of a Yorknew City street. It’s a brutal, blink-and-you-miss-it moment that serves as a cold reminder that the Phantom Troupe doesn't play around. But if you only see him as "the dog guy who got jobbed," you’re kinda missing the point of why Togashi put him there in the first place.
Squala wasn't just fodder. He was the emotional anchor of the Nostrade bodyguard recruitment arc, a guy who basically represented the "normal" side of a world filled with monsters. While Gon and Killua are out here being literal genetic freaks of nature, Squala was just a dude trying to make enough money to quit the mob and live in a house with his girlfriend and a bunch of dogs.
That’s what makes his story stick with you long after the Troupe has moved on to their next heist.
The Nen Ability Everyone Calls "Useless"
Let's talk about his Hatsu. Squala was a Manipulator. Specifically, he could control dogs. He didn't just whistle and hope they followed; he had a complex system where he'd take care of them, and in exchange, they’d do his bidding. They could act as spies, scouts, or even hold "conversations" through a bark-based Morse code.
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People love to dunk on this. They say, "Why waste a Nen ability on something you can do with a bag of treats?"
But here’s the thing: in the world of Hunter x Hunter, information is everything. During the auction chaos, Squala was the one providing the eyes and ears. His dogs were everywhere. They were basically a low-tech version of Flutter’s dragonflies from the Chimera Ant arc. For a support role in a mafia family, it was actually a pretty solid utility build. He wasn't a front-line fighter, and he knew it. He was a professional.
Why He Actually Died (It Wasn't Just Bad Luck)
Squala’s death is a masterclass in tension. He was stuck in a car with the fake Scarlet Eyes, trying to get away, when Nobunaga and Pakunoda caught up to him.
You've probably noticed that Nobunaga gives him a very specific warning: "Don't move."
Then Pakunoda starts digging.
This is where Squala’s character shines. He was a liar—Melody even says his heartbeat sounds like a liar—but he was lying for the right reasons. He lied to protect Kurapika's identity. He sat there, terrified, while Pakunoda read his memories. When she mentioned Eliza—his girlfriend, the light of his life—he snapped.
That flinch? That was it.
Nobunaga is a man of his word, even if his word is a death threat. Squala moved, and his head stayed in the car while the rest of him didn't. It’s a tragic end because, for a split second, you really thought he might make it. He was so close to that simple life he kept talking about.
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The Eliza Connection and the "Tragedy Factor"
We often forget that Hunter x Hunter doesn't do traditional romance. It’s usually just hinted at or played for laughs. But the relationship between Squala and Eliza was different. It felt real. They were both low-level employees in Neon Nostrade’s orbit, just trying to survive the whims of a spoiled brat and her power-hungry father.
When Eliza breaks down later in the arc, it’s one of the few times we see the collateral damage of the Phantom Troupe’s actions on a human level. Usually, we're watching them fight Zoldycks or outsmart the Shadow Beasts. With Squala, we see what happens when "normal" people get caught in the crossfire of high-level Nen users.
What We Can Learn From Squala’s Failure
- Self-awareness is key: Squala knew he wasn't a leader. When Dalzollene died, he flat-out refused the head bodyguard position. Knowing your limits is a survival skill, even if it didn't save him in the end.
- Utility over Power: His ability shows that not every Nen user is trying to blow up a mountain. Some people just want to be really, really good at scouting.
- The Price of Loyalty: He could have sold Kurapika out immediately. He didn't. In a world of mercenaries and assassins, Squala actually had a backbone when it counted.
How to Scale a Support Hatsu
If you're looking at Squala as a blueprint for a Nen user, the takeaway isn't that his ability was bad—it was that he lacked the combat stats to back it up. If he had paired his dog manipulation with some decent Shu (to protect the dogs) or better Zetsu (to stay hidden while his dogs did the work), he might have been a ghost that the Troupe never caught.
His mistake was being the one physically carrying the prize. In the world of high-stakes theft, the guy with the dogs shouldn't be the getaway driver.
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Your Next Step
If you're re-watching the Yorknew City arc, pay attention to the scenes where Squala is just in the background with his dogs. Look at how he treats them compared to how the other mobsters treat people. It'll make that final encounter on the road hit way harder. If you're feeling ambitious, try sketching out how a different Nen type—like an Emitter—might have used those same dogs to even greater effect.