I have to say, out of all the other possessions from animated shows I’ve seen, I personally feel like Hunters possession is probably morally the worst. Even though his possession is the one that lasted the shortest out of the others, his possession has the most psychological torture. There are just so many different layers of “fucked up” to it, that just add up and make his possession one of the worst things that could happen to someone.
Firstly, he was possessed by someone that’s been using him and hurting him his whole life. It’s not just some random villain that he only just met, it’s his uncle, his parental figure, the person he used to love and look up to. Even though this person has physically, emotionally, and psychologically abused Hunter for his whole life, he still manipulated Hunter into believing that he was in the right, that he was an amazing person that did what was best for humanity. Hunter had to treat his own uncle as if he were a god, but then he was betrayed by that person he practically worshipped, to find out he was only a tool, a replacement, another clone from a long line of previous clones that Belos has made and killed whenever one betrayed him. His whole life was a lie. To find out he was never loved by Belos, and he was just a replacement, manipulated into doing horrible things for Belos. Hunter was then possessed by this person that was lying and using him his whole life.
Secondly, Belos has been controlling Hunter his whole life without even the use of possession. He made him stay in the castle most times, isolated him from other people, and made him go on dangerous missions on weekends as The Golden Guard. He was never allowed to do anything, he was never allowed to meet people or just be a kid, he just had to constantly train, and study, and go on missions. Belos controlled everything in his life, but he needed more. He literally went inside of Hunters body, and took control of it. Turned his own body against him, because to Belos it’s his. He created Hunter so he should have total control over Hunter. He’s not a person, he was just a failure, a “lost cause” until he realized he could still use him in some way. He owns him, so he’s going to use his body to his advantage.
Thirdly, Hunter was totally mentally present when Belos was controlling him. He wasn’t in a dream state, or taken out of his body, he was fully presently there to see everything happen. To see all the damage Belos is doing with his body.
Fourthly, we have seen in many ways how Belos’ curse has personally affected Hunter. Hunter has had to deal with Belos’ curse for the majority of his life, he had to experience Belos’ outbursts, his extreme violence, and even had to be attacked by Belos’ curse. Belos made him kill innocent Palismen to help with his addiction. He burdened Hunter with the weight of his curse. We can see that Hunter seems to be afraid of the curse as well. When Belos turns into his beast form, all Hunter can do is look away as if he was afraid. We have also seen Belos use this curse to threaten Hunter, like with shooting a muddy spike towards his face. I think it’s safe to assume that this curse Belos suffers has physically hurt Hunter many times, rather it be in Belos’ normal form, or his beast form.
So with all that said, with Hunter terrified of Belos’ curse, imagine being possessed by Belos and having to feel and see your own body change into that curse. He had to feel his bones and arms break and rearrange into something horrid, see his own body turn into something unrecognizable. This curse he’s been so afraid of, now he has, and he has to see himself attack and hurt the people he cares about, in the same ways Belos has attacked him in the past. He just has to see all of this happen, he’s practically paralyzed in this moment, he can’t say or do anything, he just has to accept what is happening. To see your body covered in this green goo, the same goo your uncle has, to have his curse. To feel the pain of the curse and hurting your friends, to see yourself as some horrifying creature, to be someone you’re not. You’ve completely changed and morphed into the very thing that’s been haunting you for years.
Fifthly, he was forced to mutilate his closest friend Flapjack. He had to see his own body, totally out of control, severely injure his best friend, and totally disable him, where he can barely fly and he’s bleeding out. The guilt he must hold from that. The image of Flapjacks body destroyed in his very own hand, burned in his retina. Even if it didn’t fully kill him, the injuries later would’ve. He was bleeding out, and practically on the way to death. But to save Hunters life, Flapjack used what was left of his life to save Hunters. Flapjack would’ve died either way, but he chose to save Hunters life before he died. Hunters now gonna have to live with that, basically killing his best friend with his very own hands, and there was no way to save him.
Sixly… six of all(?), there is just gonna be a whole new level of identity crisis after this possession. Belos continues to call Hunter and refer to him as Caleb, the very person he’s a clone of. And what makes it worse is that now he looks even more like Caleb then he ever did. His eyes are brown like Caleb’s, and his hair has grown the same length as Caleb’s. When he looks in the mirror he’s only going to see Caleb.
Seventhly, the only way for him to stop the possession was literally having to kill himself. He drowned himself as an attempt to kill Belos. He didn’t care if that would kill him as well. Killing Belos was more important than his own life. Drowning is a horrible way to die. The need to breathe but you can’t, when you gasp for air all you feel is the water, burning your lungs. The terrifying feeling of drowning, where no matter how much you need to breathe you won’t find any air. This was the only way Belos was going to stop possessing Hunter. Hunter literally died in this moment, and what makes it worse is that Belos actually could’ve still possessed him since he can still possess dead creatures. But he chose not to. He got what he wanted, Flapjack and Hunter were dead. That’s why he leaves his body. It was time to move on back to his mission in the boiling isles. So that makes his death in vain as well, he drowned himself to kill Belos, but Belos got away anyways.
Lastly, the physical pain of the curse on Hunters skin. When Belos possessed other creatures, we can see that the possession was eating away the body until it was nothing but bones. That’s what he was doing to Hunters body. The curse was eating away the flesh on his skin, hence why there is so much scarring after the possession. If the possession lasted longer, Belos would’ve completely eaten away Hunters body. Imagine how painful that must’ve been, to be fully conscious while your skins getting eaten away. Not to mention every time he sees himself in the mirror he looks almost unrecognizable. He looks so scarred and messed up, and it will just be a constant reminder of what Belos did that day. Belos has beaten and practically tortured Hunter his whole life, so this possession is just the cherry on top of all of this physical pain he has caused him.
Overall, Belos possessing Hunter is one of the most fucked up things I’ve seen in a show, and that’s saying a lot. I don’t know how Hunters going to cope with this, it’s really too much for anyone.
