Attempting to explain how Chrollo likely retrieved the antennae
This has been a pretty well debated topic in the fandom and it's a really intriguing mystery from the Chrollo vs Hisoka fight because we don't have a concrete answer to it. Some people use it as evidence that Machi secretly helped Chrollo during the fight (lol) but there's really no evidence for that. So I'd like to present one possibility that I think fits the manga well.
Shalnark's antennae are indeed real physical objects as confirmed by Shalnark in this panel so Hisoka wasn't wrong about that.
The part that throws people off is his mention of a "fishing line" here but Hisoka's deductions throughout the fight were accurate. In fact, Chrollo deliberately used Hisoka's intelligence against him by overwhelming him with information. So there's a reason why Togashi included that line and I don't think we're supposed to dismiss it.
But what I haven't really seen people talk about is how Shalnark's and Chrollo's antennae are noticeably different.
Well firstly, the angel wings on Chrollo's version are obviously a nod to his surname Lucilfer but the much more interesting change is the introduction of a spherical head on the antenna. This isn't a one drawing inconsistency either which can be passed off for error as throughout the entire fight, Togashi consistently draws Chrollo's antennae with this design. So what's the reason for this change?
Chrollo planned this fight meticulously and likely accounted for virtually every possible variable. With that in mind, it wouldn't be surprising if he had prepared modified antennae specifically for this battle. My theory is that the spherical head conceals some kind of fishing line or a similar retrieval mechanism which allows Chrollo to recover the antennae whenever necessary.
There's another detail that stood out to me as well, after Chrollo uses the antennae we never actually see them protruding from the victims.
So it's quite possible that whatever Chrollo has modified in the antenna was at working here.
If Hisoka's fishing line theory is correct, then Chrollo could have simply reeled the antennae back in using the string after detaching the head or whatever mechanism he put into place. This probably works on a one time use mechanism, so Chrollo likely snapped the string after retrieving them which would explain why he never used this tactic again during the fight. However, it also works on a reattachable principle which is why we see it normally here.
Obviously, this is just my theory but I do think it's significant that Togashi changed the design of the antennae. Since the antennae are established to be real physical objects and Chrollo is shown using a noticeably different model during (arguably) the most anticipated fight in the manga.
Posted Aug 3, 2026, 1:51 PM UTC