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Steal Chain Symbolism

One of my first thoughts when Steal Chain was revealed was, “a dolphin on a cross is a weirdly specific symbol, there must be some kinda meaning behind it”. I looked into it on and off, and found three areas where the symbolism of a dolphin in Christianity can be applied to Kurapika’s situation.

Persecuted Christians In Christianity, a dolphin on its own is comparable to the symbol of the fish which is commonly used today. During times when Christians were a persecuted group, symbols such as the fish or dolphin were used to safely profess one’s faith. We can see a parallel here between the early Christians and the Kurta, who were also a persecuted minority, forced to live in secrecy. Although Kurapika is shown to use Christian iconography in his shrine, there’s no way to know if this means anything to him personally or if it’s just a stylistic choice. The dolphin on the cross also carries a more applicable symbolism…

Carrier of Lost Souls In early myth (attributed to the Greeks, Romans, or pagans depending on the source), dolphins were given the role of carrying souls to the afterlife upon their backs. Christians adopted this mythology, leading to the symbol of a dolphin upon the cross – symbolizing Christ, who carries souls to heaven. This is probably the most important symbol in regards to Steal Chain. The ability allows Kurapika to suck out someone else’s nen ability and aura, to the extent of putting his target into zetsu (chp. 361). A person’s aura may be called their soul, and the hatsu they create even more so given its personal nature. Here too, the dolphin guards the soul when it is outside the owner’s body. It seems likely that the image of the dolphin as the ferryman of the soul is the reason behind Kurapika’s choice to include it as part of Steal Chain. However, there may be a more meta reason for the symbol as well…

St. Brendan’s Cross A cross adorned with dolphins is also a symbol commonly associated with the Irish Saint Brendan. St. Brendan is most famous for setting out on a great sea voyage to find the land of paradise, bringing 14 monks with him. Kurapika too is headed on a sea voyage toward the Dark Continent (portrayed by the king of Kakin to be a kind of paradise), and he is traveling with 14 princes. But there’s more – the legend goes that an angel told St. Brendan he would celebrate Easter on the back of a great whale. St. Brendan and his group had camped upon an island and started their celebrations when the island began to shake. They escaped to their boats just as the “island” sank into the sea – it had been a giant whale all along. We all know where Kurapika is right now, and I don’t think the similarities between the legend of St. Brendan and Kurapika’s voyage on the Black Whale are coincidental. It’s this kind of obscure symbolism that really has me shaking my head about the level of planning Togashi must put into things. Whether or not this legend will have more influence on the plot of the DC arc is yet to be seen.

Of course, this is just my analysis and you’re free to disagree! I’ve cited some sources below the cut.

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