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I'm a leg!

—Hunk, in "The Rise of Voltron"


Hunk is a former engineering cadet at the Galaxy Garrison who functions as a Paladin of Voltron, piloting the Yellow Lion.

Appearance[]

Hunk has the appearance of a heavy-set older teenager with medium brown skin, black hair, and brown eyes with thick, square-shaped eyebrows. Distinguishing him from the other characters is his noticeably round face with a short, rounded nose, and a massive body full of muscle and fat; he has thick, muscular limbs and a large belly. Hunk wears an orange strip of cloth tied around his forehead, long enough to reach his mid-back, that keeps his hair out of the way but allows his bangs to frame his face. Hunk's hair is cut rather short, his bangs reaching just under his eyes, while the rest of his hair barely reaches his neck. Of the Paladins, Hunk is the second-tallest.[1][1]

In his Paladin armor, Hunk's uniform mirrors his fellow Paladins but with yellow accents to match his Lion.

When he is not in his Paladin armor, Hunk wears a bright yellow shirt line with black, with the sleeves cut to his forearms. He wears a green, orange, and gray vest with a tall collar and outwardly padded with thick shoulder pads over his shirt. His shirt line is cut to reach longest at the center and falls far over his pants' waistline, where he wears a gray and orange utility belt with a pouch on either hip.

Hunk's gray gloves are fingerless and lined at the wrist with a thick black cuff. He wears baggy tan pants, padded at the knees a darker brown, and tucked into his white boots accented with black and orange.

Personality[]

The Yellow Lion is caring and kind. Its pilot is one who puts the needs of others above his own. His heart must be mighty. As the leg of Voltron, you will lift the team up and hold them together.

Allura describing the Yellow Lion, in "The Rise of Voltron"

Initially nervous, cowardly, and prone to motion sickness, panic, and nausea, Hunk is shown to be a reluctant Paladin more concerned with food and safety than battling aliens from across the galaxy. He even admits his desire to return to his family and disinterest in fighting a war.[3] Hunk does not fully realize the dire situation he has the power to change until he meets Shay and learns she has no concept of what freedom is because the Galra Empire has ruled her people since before her birth.[4]

After witnessing her people's suffering and Shay's bravery to save his life at the risk of her own, Hunk quickly grows into a true Paladin intent on defending all good in the universe, not suffering any of his previous fear and unfortunate symptoms since. Along with his genius knowledge of mechanical equipment and science, Hunk's intuition is extraordinarily sharp. He is distrustful of those outside of Team Voltron after the Castle of Lions is nearly lost. However, his good heart and honest desire to assist others can dismiss his suspicions despite his good judgment.[5] He remains cautious, logical and can be head-strong in his beliefs, whether they be out of self-preservation or the need to do good.

Hunk may take his role and mission as a Paladin seriously, but he is still the lighthearted, comical joker of the team who enjoys making his friends laugh, teasing them, and will readily give hugs and cook up a delicious meal to satiate his appetite. As the "straight man" of the group with a sometimes morbid sense of humor, Hunk will question the lack of logic and the bountiful absurdity of their reality, such as being inside a "giant cat head" and how lions "turn into legs."[1] His presence brings about a sense of casual air amidst any number of the Voltron team's tense situations, in its own way supporting his team as much as when he is on the battlefield and fighting alongside them.

Abilities[]

Equipment[]

Apart from piloting the Yellow Lion, Hunk utilizes this equipment:

PaladinV
Bayard
Takes the form of a large single-barreled blaster cannon for powerful rapid-fire attacks.
Paladin Armor
Armor that allows for safe travel in space; it contains a highly advanced computer system, communication system, a laser gun, a grappling hook and tether, holographic capabilities, an energy shield for defense, breathable air, and a jetpack for brief sustained flight.[5]
Geiger Counter
A device Hunk built specifically to read the Fraunhofer Line of the Blue Lion so it can be located.[6]

Skill Set[]

Combat[]

Hunk is noted to have the strongest natural physical strength of all the human Paladins due to his body's larger size. However, he is also the least agile and slowest Paladin, who has not displayed much close-combat prowess and initially struggles with his Bayard's weight. He prefers to attack from a distance using his Bayard cannon but will use his body's size against his enemies to overpower and immobilize them, much like he does with his Lion.[7] This works to his disadvantage as well, as Hunk's weight can easily throw him off-balance.[8] His official strength stats are nearly maxed.[1]

Piloting[]

While not studying as a fighter pilot officially, largely due to suffering from motion sickness and a fear of heights, Hunk shows notable skill piloting the Yellow Lion. As he grows as a Paladin and his ailments subside, Hunk quickly becomes a proficient pilot who utilizes the Lion's high defense and massive body to his full advantage in battle, allowing him to perform daring attacks as high-speed spinning headbutts and tapping into his Lion's hidden abilities.[1][10][11] However, Hunk still suffers from bouts of nervousness during missions that can hinder his piloting.[7]

Other Abilities[]

PaladinV
Genius Engineer
Arguably one of the most technologically adept out of the Paladins, Hunk's aptitude with making data, mechanical parts, and equipment work in his favor as nonchalantly as he does is proof of both his training as an engineer cadet and his natural intelligence. His familiarity with science and the workings of mechanical equipment allows Hunk to easily hotwire alien technology and quickly determine the cause of a malfunction in alien spacecrafts, being so knowledgeable that he can detect when someone has lied about the cause.[6][8]
Gourmand
Hunk is passionate about food; he is a highly skilled and creative cook who can make culinary cuisines out of unfamiliar alien ingredients and uses this skill to calm himself, smooth over diplomatic relations, stabilize the team, and sometimes even win battles.[9][10][11][12]

Trivia[]

  • Hunk was originally only known to be in his late teens.[1][2] Tyler Labine described Hunk as being as young as 17.[3] His age was published as 17 in The Paladin's Handbook, which was not reviewed by executive series staff.[4][5] The Voltron Coalition Handbook states that a year has passed since Shiro's return to Earth, making Hunk 18 at the youngest by Season 7.
  • Tyler Labine also stated that Hunk is Samoan.[6] This was also published in The Paladin's Handbook.
  • Hunk and Pidge are two equally tech-savvy characters described as being "two sides of the same coin": while Pidge is the more creating, engineering, "figuring out" side, Hunk is the "build it and make it work" side.[7]
  • On Coran's height ranking for the Paladins of 1-5 (tallest to shortest), Lauren Montgomery approves that Hunk is ranked second-tallest at "Number Two."[23][8]
  • Hunk is based on the character Hunk of the previous Voltron franchises, which was based on the character Tsuyoshi Seidō of Beast King GoLion.

References[]

Navigation[]

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