Mira

Another instance of Chrollo's appreciation for eccentric shit is found in this panel

The man canonically reads (and evidently enjoys) Bo-Bobo. Which (from what the Internet tells me) is a surreal action comedy manga, known for its absurd and chaotic humor. It seems like a riot, tbh. Might have to check it out for myself hah

I love that Chrollo isn't some literature snob, but will happily read things like this in his downtime and not just books in the veins of, idk, King James Bible, Nietzsche's collected writings or Crime and Punishment. It adds to his appeal :) ♡ a sense of humor (in addition to not being a highbrow prick) is one of the most attractive traits a person can have, after all.

Speaking of sense of humor, Chrollo appreciates a good karmic joke, as seen here when he realizes that Hisoka's ass is now at the receiving end of it

He laughs even in the face of his own shitty situation. Which I think is quite telling of Chrollo's character. Chrollo is not the stonefaced 24/7 brooding edgelord he's sometimes accused of being.

I mean we've got a panel like this to show the exact opposite of a humorless (or emotionless for that matter) man

Crucially, Chrollo is completely alone here. He's not playing a part, or putting up a façade. He's authentically silly (and channeling his younger self a bit).

I headcanon that this is the type of guy Chrollo would have grown up to be had trauma and his giving his soul and self to the Spider not happened. He'd be openly expressive, not ashamed to be goofy or overall emotional. An endearing, friendly and approachable guy.

(We also have this scene of a playful Chrollo from the '99 anime. It's technically not canon but I'm including it anyway because it's cute... in a fucked up/manipulative way)

Anyway, back to canon timeline and a moment that can be interpreted as playful in a creepy way.

It's hard to tell though, but to me Chrollo's demeanor in his meeting with 'Assassin A' is indicative of him feeling some (dark) amusement and playfulness, or at least of being in the mood for some "fun".

In addition to being silly/weird on occassion, Chrollo can be a cocky/cheeky lil shit to his elders

(That fucking smirk. I love it)

Chrollo also seems to enjoy messing with and annoying his friends on occasion.

Like in this scene, where he provokes an already riled up Nobunaga

(Nobunaga also says in an earlier chapter that Chrollo has tricked him more than once. Likely it's often been for tactical reasons – such as when he secretly sends Paku and Phinks to tail Nobu and Machi – but since Chrollo does have a mischievous streak, it wouldn’t surprise me if he's done it for some shits and giggles as well on occasion, similar to in the above).

The topic of Chrollo liking to provoke others does inevitably lead ones thoughts to the infamous car scene with Kurapika, where Chrollo takes rage-baiting to some truly sick and messed up levels. It's impossible to say whether all of it was just pure cold calculated manipulation tactics by Chrollo, or if he actually got some additional cruel enjoyment out of taunting and riling the young man up. He does smirk and smile an awful lot throughout, but then he's a consummate actor, so idk if it was from genuine amusement/satisfaction or not. I'm personally leaning towards Chrollo getting some entertainment out of it like the sick fuck he can be. (Additionally Kurapika did just (no matter how justifiably) kill one of Chrollo's loved ones, so it's not far fetched that the latter would hold some resentment toward the Kurta and consequently feel at least a level of satisfaction at getting back at him this way.) Regardless, I'm including it as an instance of cruel and sadistic (if tactical) mischief.

I also personally believe the "I didn't think the chain dude would be a woman" moment was Chrollo being sarcastic rather than actually serious. As in, I think he called Kurapika's bluff.

Idk it just doesn’t fit Chrollo's known character to be surprised that the chain user would be a woman. Like why would he be? He's got women in his Troupe (one of whom can canonically beat his ass in arm wrestling), he knows they're capable and strong, and he also knows that women as well as men can be driven to kill for vengeance (Paku and Machi are right there). God knows the man's got massive moral failings, but he's just too smart for misogyny (and racism, or any prejudice really) to be among them. Or that's my feeling djdhd.

And lastly, to wrap up the post, I have to include this little scene of disrespect and 0 fucks so blatantly given by Chrollo. It's genuinely one of the funniest moments in the manga imo

He just does not care at alllll (T＿T) lmao

All the man wants is to infodump abilities and then get this over with so he can go rob some royals.

⸸ Machi's ability to stitch severed body parts back together

You know where I'm going with this. You know how crushingly sad the reason behind this ability is.

It all originates from this moment. From her empathy and her care for her friends. From her inability to do anything for Sarasa other than cradle her dismembered remains. From her wanting to be able to do for her remaining friends what she couldn't do for Sarasa, should a similar fate befall them.

Machi's ability stems from trauma, grief, and compassion.

Which ties into...

⸸ "Machi is a nice person at heart"

Shalnark's statement is relative ofc. By Phantom Troupe and mass murderer standards, it holds true enough. By her victims' (or most normal peoples) standards... not so much.

But I would argue that Machi is indeed likely the most compassionate and kindhearted of all the Troupe members (the bar is needless to say in hell). But that held true even in childhood (with the arguable exception of Chrollo, whose most outstanding personality traits as a child were compassion and kindness), before any of them had become horrible or even bad people. That is best seen in the panel above, where Machi hugs Sarasa's remains and apologizes to her, empathizing with the pain and fear she must have suffered in her final moments, as well as in her later desire to learn how to embalm as a direct result of this incident.

In addition of her Phantom Troupe job, she works as a medic (for a high payment, but still.) Unlike some other adult members, she doesn't express overt sadistic intent or glee in her murderous actions. It feels more like it's just part of the job to her. She is deeply devoted to Chrollo and is like Paku, Nobu and Kortopi determined to save his life even if it means potential danger to herself as well as betraying the Spider ideology (and Chrollo himself). She is seen guarding Pakunoda's grave. She wants no part in the Greed Island shenanigans. She honors the deal she made with Hisoka to stitch him up after his battle with Chrollo, even thanking him for helping to exorcise the latter.

Machi was not born bad. The person she grew up to be came about not through amy inherent evil, but through circumstances. The same can be said for the other PT members too, but she is arguably the one who has managed to retain most of her childhood compassion, though of course it doesn’t extend far enough to show mercy for any of the Troupe's targets or victims.

⸸ Phinks lending Shizuku his clothes

You know, this cute little moment

It reminds me of Sarasa's words about him in chapter 396

Her words are further borne out by panels like this in 397, where his worry for her is palpable

Sarasa implies the same of Uvogin; that he too is a marshmallow on the inside.

Which leads me neatly to

⸸ "Uvo would never admit it... but he worked better when he was looking out for someone"

This insight from Franklin, plus moments like Uvogin kissing Shalnark on the cheek and panels in the backstory like this one below confirms Sarasa's belief.

She truly had a good understanding of her friends, didn't she ;_; that's partly why I think she was so protective of Chrollo; like Pakunoda, she was well aware of and treasured his kindness and light.

And speaking of Chrollo...

⸸ "How can you kill people who have nothing to do with you?"

I've spoken about this moment and how terrific it is before. His expression is so raw and so visceral and such a terrifying gut punch the first time you experience it (no wonder it made Gon unsettled—I would have shat my pants quite frankly).

But with the context of the backstory, his reflexive expression becomes more like a stab to the heart. To me it confirms the suspicion of triggered trauma that I had once I'd pondered over the panel after the first initial shock (prior to reading the backstory). It makes all too much sense for Chrollo to be triggered, because to ask this question is to dig right to the core of the childhood tragedy that changed the course of his life; to make him face it (and his own hypocrisy) in a way he likely never has since becoming an adult. I doubt anyone (whether stranger, foe, or friend/family) has ever posed this question to him before. Hence why his usually iron composure momentarily fractures and his buried emotions become visible after being directly confronted with the issue; with having to face that he's now become the mask that he put on all those years ago (that of a villain), and more than that, that he's become in a way like the people responsible for his trauma.

This similarity is underscored in the "people who have nothing to do with you" part of Gon's question. Like Sarasa's murderers, Chrollo too kills and brutalizes people that he doesn't know, and like them he does it without remorse or care. Gon's question might very well have been one that young Chrollo would have asked Sarasa's killers; and now here he is standing in their position.

The scene reveals just how far Chrollo has been twisted and how much of a hypocrite he is. I also sense lingering grief and fury in his expression, but this is of course just my personal take on the scene and might be me reading too much into it.

Anyway the visceral death glare vanishes quickly; Chollo is mature enough to recognize the genuine (and naïve) curiosity behind Gon's question, and he quickly composes himself, even smiling briefly and actually engaging with the question... if not very satisfactorily (Killua's valid reaction being "wtf is with this dude??" while Gon just stares in mute disbelief). Usually so eloquent, it's notable that Chrollo is unable to provide a straightforward or even particularly comprehensible answer. This is (in my belief) likely due to more than one factor. One being that at this stage, Chrollo's identity crisis is such that he lacks full knowledge of himself; but also I just don't think he has any wish to divulge the brutal torture, murder and dismemberment of his little sister, which was after all the catalyst for his transformation into a murderer. Hence his comment that "I don't much like to talk about my motives".

Speaking of...

⸸ "I don't much like to talk about my motives"

Chrollo not wanting to talk about his motives is reminiscent of his refusal ever to talk about what was written on those notes found with Sarasa's body

(Have I talked about how devastatingly brilliant Togashi is at drawing expressions of grief and despair before? If I haven't, I will slap myself as penance because good lord is his work masterful.)

Furthermore, it makes me think of the cover art of volume 11, where Chrollo covers his mouth with his hand, something he does more than once throughout the series.

This mannerism feels deeply meaningful and poignant now that we know that he's carried a traumatic secret in silence all these years; one that very likely plays a major part of why his psyche became so broken and warped, and why he was so hellbent on killing Risnorth and the others responsible. It also speaks to his care for his friends that he both wants to preserve Sarasa's dignity, and shield the others from all the horrific details of her death; but this is to the detriment of his own wellbeing, since it means he has had to keep the knowledge to himself with no way to work through the trauma of it. It's been locked exclusively inside his own mind since he was a child. It's easy to understand how that would fuck up a person, especially when you take all the other trauma and circumstance into account.

⸸ The particular way Shalnark and Kortopi's corpses were displayed

It made a spectacle and "art" of their deaths, which for any of the original PT members would be an especially sore spot, since this particular brand of brutalization and display is what created the Spider in the first place.

Hisoka unknowingly added salt to an already grievous wound.

This (I think) plays at least some part in why Chrollo is spiraling so badly, to the point of his almost suicidal tunnel visioned obsession with revenge.

(The similarity between these panels just struck me as I'm writing this. On the left is eleven year old Chrollo hellbent on vengeance, on the right present day Chrollo spiraling down the same path)

And (I think) it's also partly why his mask is finally beginning to crumble, leaving him emotionally fragile and raw; his childhood trauma and grief (which he's never resolved, instead focusing on vengeance and on embodying his lifelong role as villain) has been triggered in the most brutal way.

⸸ The massacre of the Mafia

Ending on a positive note with this.

This moment hits good. It's what they all deserved for exploiting Meteor City all those years (and also for simply being the Mafia).