Dragon Ball Super Just Used Hunter x Hunters Horrific Transformation

The results of the villainous Heeters' wish on the Dragon Balls comes with a drawback that's right out of Hunter x Hunter, where Gon suffered greatly.

Chapter 78 of Dragon Ball Super has the villainous Heeter gang get their hands on the planet Cereal's dragon balls, and what they choose to do with them is strikingly reminiscent of Gon's very dangerous decision in Hunter x Hunter.

While Goku and Vegeta have been battling it out with the last survivor of the Cerealians, Granolah, the Heeter gang haven't been content to just sit on the sidelines and watch them beat each other to a pulp. Unfortunately for the heroes, it only takes two dragon balls to summon the dragon here, and their leader Elec intends to take out Granolah by using the very same move he did. Elec sends his youngest brother and minion, Gas, to go make a wish on the dragon balls asking to be the strongest in Universe 7, even knowing this comes at a high price.

When Granolah made his identical wish earlier on, the dragon suggested to him that he could grow beyond his limits if he were to condense his future life force into the present, shortening his remaining lifespan to a mere three years as a result. The wish was undeniably effective, allowing him to go toe to toe with Goku's Ultra Instinct and Vegeta's Ultra Ego, and Elec is hoping the same will be true if they make such a wish--except this time, it should even be able to outstrip what Granolah is capable of since they'll have made their wish after his. When Gas is revealed after the wish, it seems to be true, except that it's also caused him to age into an adult form in order to better handle that power.

This is strikingly similar to what occurs in Hunter X Hunter's famed Chimera Ant arc, when Gon faces off against Neferpitou. Out of sheer rage, Gon extracts every ounce of power from his Nen--the ability to interact with and manipulate one's own life energy. Without any concern for the future, this provides Gon with immeasurable strength and causes him to age into an adult form in an instant. After the fight, this naturally has some major consequences that must be dealt with, leaving him in a coma and on the verge of death, which partially forms the subject of the next story arc. Unfortunately for Gas, he's working for the bad guys, and there's no indication that Elec cares much for the consequences to his brother of obtaining this power. This also leads to both Gas and Gon exhibiting extraordinarily serious battle personas, as if they realize their newfound power isn't something to take lightly.

While Gon was eventually healed up and returned to normal, it took a fair bit of time and some of the most skilled minds on their planet to do it. It's not clear whether even the Eternal Dragons can reverse this kind of transformation, for Granolah or Gas, so Gon's Dragon Ball Super counterparts may be out of luck in that regard. And, of course, that presupposes that either of them survives their upcoming fight to worry about long-term consequences, which is far from a given at this stage.