Leorio Paladiknight⁴

Gender - Male Age - 17 Height - 193 cm Weight - 85 kg Birthday - March 3 Blood type- O

Leorio is a tall, manly-looking, fairly muscular young man with small brown eyes, black hair, and a spiked crew cut. He typically wears a dark blue business suit, black shoes, and a pair of tea-shade sunglasses. Some of the characters, such as Killua near the beginning of the story, mistake Leorio for an old man, but he is actually a lot younger than he looks, being a teenager at the start of the series.

Leorio is initially introduced as a selfish narcissist who greatly emphasizes material wealth. Despite his assertions that he is only after money, he eventually reveals to Kurapika that his dream is to become a doctor to help the poor one day. He believes that all things in the world (lives, dreams, etc.) can be bought and that becoming a Hunter will provide him with the necessary funds for his medical education. Due to his first spat with Kurapika, as well as the test on the way to the navigator's cabin, he seems to be sensitive to those who do not take him seriously or treat him with disrespect. His real priorities seem to be friends first, then his dream of becoming a great doctor, with everything else afterward. Leorio is not one to balk and retreat when faced with overwhelming odds in battle. A loyal, trustworthy ally who greatly values ​​the ties of friendship, he acts like the 'big brother' of the group. He often provides comic relief; Killua sometimes ridicules him for his comparatively older age, although he swears that his appearance is that of a mere teenager. His impulsive and brash nature has sometimes caused more trouble for the people around him. Another flair he has is his ability to 'straight-talk' through many situations at hand. It could be seen that his closest relationship in the group is with Kurapika because they have spent the most time with each other.

Leorio once lost a close friend (a boy named Pietro) to a debilitating illness. Leorio feels deeply remorseful about being unable to save his friend, as the illness was entirely curable but required a surgery he could not afford. He aspires to become a doctor—one who not only cures the ill of their diseases, but also one who works pro-bono for people who cannot afford it. In this light, his outwardly superficial reason to join the Hunter Exams in the pursuit of great wealth gains a more noble justification—the money he earns is used not only to fund his medical school fees but also to pay for the medicine and other miscellaneous expenditures when treating those who can not afford it.

Leorio makes his first appearance onboard the ship that goes from Whale Island, Gon's hometown, to a testing site of the 287th Hunter Exam. He, Gon, and Kurapika are the only 3 candidates who are not affected by the brutal storm the night before. The Captain reveals that he is an examiner and asks them why they want to become Hunters. With some reluctance, Kurapika replies that he wants to capture the Phantom Troupe. Leorio, on the other hand, answers the Captain that he is attracted by the material possessions provided by being a Hunter. The two have a quarrel over their different opinions and decide to end it with a fight out on the deck while another storm is raging. When they are about to start, a crew member is knocked off the deck by a piece of wood broken off from a yard. Gon jumps off the deck to catch him and in turn, is kept from falling into the sea by Kurapika and Leorio. After the incident, they apologize to and makeup with each other. Seeing that the Captain laughs and decides to take the trio to the nearest testing place, Zaban City. In Zaban City, following Gon, Kurapika and Leorio head for a tree on a mountain that the Captain instructed them to go to. They encounter a group of people on the way, and a very old lady, who is also an examiner, asks them a question, which they only have 5 seconds to answer. The question is such a dilemma that none of them can give an answer before time is up. Getting annoyed, Leorio picks up a wooden stick and attacks her, but he is blocked by Kurapika, who explains to him that they have passed because keeping silent is the correct answer to this question.[8] The old lady then tells them to go to a house in the forest to find a couple, who will be their navigators if they consider the trio qualified. Upon entering the house, they see a wounded man lying on the floor and a woman being held captive by a Kiriko. The monster flees as soon as it sees them.

Telling Leorio to take care of the husband, Kurapika and Gon chase after it and force it to let go of the wife. Kurapika catches her and notices the strange tattoos on her hands and face. Leorio then shows up and says that there is nothing to worry about the husband. Kurapika suddenly hits Leorio in the face with his wooden sword. It turns out this Leorio is a Kiriko in disguise. After the monster runs away, he asks the wife who she really is, to which her answer is a strange smile. Meanwhile, Gon is able to tell 2 identical-looking Kirikos apart, which greatly surprises them. The 2 Kirikos and the husband and wife, who are actually their son and daughter, then explain to the trio how they have qualified for the next test—Kurapika for his vast knowledge, Leorio for his good medical skill and confidence, and Gon for his extraordinary movement and observation—and fly them to the next testing site. At the starting site of the First Phase, a large tunnel, Leorio, Kurapika, and Gon see a lot of experts. Beans gives him a badge numbered #403, and also gives badges to Gon (#405) and Kurapika (#404). Tonpa, nicknamed Rookie Crusher, offers each of them a can of his laxative-spiked drink, but Leorio pours it away after Gon claims that it has a bad taste.[10] An examiner, Satotz, then appears and tells the candidates to follow him through the tunnel. He runs faster and faster, and Leorio has difficulties keeping up with him. After 5 hours of nonstop running, he seems to be exhausted and about to give up. Gon calls out to him, and suddenly, Leorio starts to run really fast, shouting he will do anything to become a Hunter. However, he unintentionally leaves his suitcase behind, which is picked up by Gon right afterward.[11] While running, he reveals to Kurapika the story about his deceased friend and why he wants to become a Hunter—by being one he will have the money to pay for his expensive medical studies.

The marathon finally ends when they reach the Milsy Wetlands, also known as the Swindler's Swamp. Satotz warns them of the grave dangers and tells them to follow him through the Swamp in another marathon. On the way, Leorio, Kurapika, and a number of other candidates are attacked by Hisoka, a man notorious for his murderous penchant. All of them are killed in a short time, except for him, Kurapika, and Cherry. Knowing that they have no chance of winning against Hisoka, they split up in 3 different directions. However, Leorio returns right away with a wooden stick to face Hisoka, saying he has lost his temper. Hisoka easily dodges Leorio's attack and is about to finish him when he is stopped by Gon with a fishing rod. Finding Gon interesting, Hisoka turns to him and ignores Leorio, who attempts to attack Hisoka once again but is immediately knocked unconscious by a punch to the face. Hisoka spares Gon's life, says he will not kill Leorio because he is qualified, then carries him to the site of the Second Phase, the Visca Forest Preserve. Second Phase At the site of the Second Phase, Leorio regains consciousness with a swollen right cheek and meets Kurapika, Killua, and Gon again, but he does not remember what happened. Two Gourmet Hunters, Menchi and Buhara, appear. The Second Phase starts with Buhara asking them to cook roast pork, even though the kind of pig that they need to catch, the Great Stamp, is the most dangerous pig in the world. However, Leorio, his three friends, and many of the other contestants have little difficulty passing the test after they discover that these pigs have a weak spot on their foreheads. The next test proves to be a real problem as the other examiner Menchi, asks them to make sushi. Leorio receives some pointers on making sushi from Kurapika, who has read some books about this dish. He is the first to finish and submit his sushi to Menchi, but he fails because the sushi he made looks terrible.

All the other candidates were subsequently failed by her as well. When the Second Phase is on the verge of having no qualifier, Chairman Netero of the Hunter Association arrives in an airship, criticizes Menchi for losing her temper as an examiner and tells her to give them another test, which she herself also has to take. This time around, Menchi asks them to cook boiled Spider Eagle eggs, which hang from strong strings connecting the two sides of a deep ravine. Even though they have to jump into a ravine to find the eggs, Leorio and 41 of the other examinees pass the test and are subsequently taken to the site of the Third Phase in the Chairman's airship.

Third Phase The Third Phase of the Hunter Exam starts atop the Trick Tower, which has numerous passages, and they have 72 hours to get to the bottom of it alive. Leorio, Kurapika, Killua, and Gon are forced to form a team of 5 with Tonpa to pass through the 1st door.[18] They advance, using the majority rule several times on the way, and their road leads them to a platform set up in the middle of a bottomless abyss where they have to participate in a best-of-five series consisting of 5 no-hold-barred one on one matches against a team of 5 hardened convicts. Tonpa is the first to fight, against Bendot, and he forfeits the match on purpose to make it harder for them to win.[19] Gon's match is the second and thanks to his quick thinking he manages a win to level the score at 1 - 1.[20] The 3rd match is Kurapika's and his opponent is Majtani, a serial killer and also an impostor who has a spider tattoo on his back and brags about his Phantom Troupe membership to Kurapika. Enraged, Kurapika's eyes turn scarlet and knocks Majtani down with a single punch, however the match is still going on because he refuses to kill his opponent, who seems to be unconscious. Seeing that, Leorio steps in, makes a bet that Majtani is still alive, and pretends to drop him into the abyss. Majtani is so scared that he stops playing possum and admits defeat. The score is now 2 - 1 in favor of Leorio's team, but they have lost 40 hours due to betting. Leorio's own match is the 4th, and he loses it after a rock-paper-scissors game along with a bet of 10 hours on the gender of his opponent, Leroute. It's 2 - 2 now and Killua quickly kills his opponent, Joness the Dissector, in the last match, putting the final score at 3 - 2 in their favor, but Leorio's team now have less than 10 hours to reach the bottom. As they advance, they have to use the majority rule some more times and face many other obstacles such as electric quizzes, multiple-choice labyrinth, mine camps, "Go", etc.

Thanks to a brilliant idea of ​​Gon's in choosing ways, they manage to reach the bottom of the tower with just 30 seconds left, thus qualifying for the Fourth Phase. Fourth Phase During the Fourth Phase, the remaining examinees are taken to Zevil Island to take part in a 7-day manhunt among themselves to capture each other's number badges. Leorio is the assigned target of Tonpa, who in turn is Kurapika's assigned target. After he is tricked by Tonpa and Sommy and loses his badge, Kurapika appears, knocks Tonpa down and asks Leorio to team up with him, to which Leorio agrees. They take the badges #16 and #118 from Tonpa and Sommy. Even though Kurapika already has 6 points from his own and Tonpa's badges, he still helps Leorio find his target Ponzu, examinee #246. As they are looking for the target, they again encounter Hisoka, who tells them to give him their badges if they want to live. Kurapika says that he will give him the badge #118 which only means 1 point to them; as for the other 3 badges, they will fight to the death to protect them. Hisoka agrees, lets them go and takes the badge #118. At the end of the 6th day, he and Kurapika meet Gon and tell Gon about Ponzu. Gon helps them find her by tracking the smell of the medicine that she uses to defend herself. Finally, they find Ponzu, but together with her they are trapped in a cave full of snakes whose owner Bourbon, examinee #103, is already dead due to anaphylactic shock caused by Ponzu's bees. Thanks to Gon's bravery and ability to hold his breath for an extended period of time, all of them are able to get out of this situation by using a soporific gas of Ponzu's to make the snakes sleep. Before they go, Gon takes the badge #246 from a sleeping Ponzu and leaves her the badge #103. With this, Leorio and his 2 friends qualify for the next and also the Final Phase.

The Final Phase of the Hunter Exam is an elimination tournament with a twist—the winner of a match will be removed from the list and receive his very own Hunter License and the loser will be given more chance. During the match between Illumi Zoldyck and Killua, Leorio shouts out to Killua, encouraging him to stand up to his brother's psychological manipulation, and, together with Kurapika, Hanzo, and some examiners blocks Illumi when he wants to go murder Gon. As the tournament goes on, Leorio is eventually required to fight Bodoro in his first match. When they have just started, Killua suddenly interferes and kills Bodoro. Killua is immediately disqualified, which allows Leorio to obtain a Hunter License by default. Later, to help Killua, he and Kurapika request that the Hunter Association examine the nature of the murder of Bodoro, but to no avail. After the Hunter Exam is finished, he decides to go with Gon and Kurapika to Kukuroo Mountain to rescue Killua from the control of his family.

Leorio, Kurapika, and Gon arrive at the entrance of the Zoldyck Estate, the Testing Gate, on Kukuroo Mountain on the tour bus. They tell the old gatekeeper, Zebro, that they are Killua's friends but he says he can not let them enter until they can at least push open the 1st testing door which weighs 4 tons, because going into the estate via any other way will result in them getting killed by the huge guard dog named Mike.[35] The trio then accept Zebro's invitation to stay in his house to train, using his heavy equipment. After 20 days, they all can open the first gate, with Leorio opening up to the second door weighing 8 tons, and head for the Zoldyck Residence without any problem until they are stopped at another gate by a female attendant named Canary. She beats Gon up to prevent them from advancing but thanks to Gon's insistence, she becomes more and more reluctant to block their path and finally asks them to save Killua. Kikyo Zoldyck then appears with her son Kalluto, knocks Canary unconscious and tells them to leave, but after regaining consciousness Canary says she is going to lead them to the attendants room.

While staying in the servants' room, they are forced into playing a guessing game with Canary's life at stake with some butlers of the family, which they manage to win. Killua at last arrives and leaves the Zoldyck Estate together with them. Leorio then asks Kurapika what Hisoka told him during the Final Phase of the Hunter Exam, to which Kurapika tells his 3 friends what Hisoka whispered to him during the Final Phase. He would wait for Kurapika in Yorknew City, where the largest auction in the world takes place, on September 1st to tell him some interesting things about the Phantom Troupe. It is 6 months until that day so Kurapika says goodbye to his friends, after telling them he is going to look for some work as a Hunter and arranging to meet up with them later in Yorknew City in September. Leorio says he is going to study to prepare for the entrance exam of a private university and says goodbye to his friends too.

During Gon and Killua's training in the Heavens Arena, it is revealed by Wing that Leorio planned to begin learning Nen after he passes the entrance exam at his medical university.

Leorio meets Gon and Killua again in Yorknew City on September 1st, helping them bargain for two cell phones and telling them he's already learned Nen (in reality, having only learned the very basics, knowing little more than Ten). After they tell him about the Greed Island game, which is extremely expensive, he comes up with a plan to help them earn money—staging an arm-wrestling contest with a 3 million Jenny Symbol 2011 diamond as the prize and challengers paying 10,000 Jenny Symbol 2011 each.