Yusuke Urameshi

Yusuke Urameshi "In case you didn't know, I HAPPEN TO BE A SPIRIT DETECTIVE!" Gender: Male Type: Juvenile Delinquent turned Messiah Age: 14 18 (at the end of the series) Species: Human Demon Hybrid Portrayed by: Justin Cook (English) Nozomu Sasaki (Japanese) Status: Alive Media of origin: Yu Yu Hakusho First appearance: Surprised to be Dead Last appearance: To the Future

Yusuke Urameshi (aka Eugene in the Tagalog dub) is the main protagonist of Yoshihiro Tagashi's manga Yu Yu Hakusho and its anime adaptation.

Personality

Having a no-show for a father and with his mother always off somewhere else (getting drunk or partying), Yusuke has grown up in a very neglectful environment. He's short-tempered, impulsive, merciless, and likes to intimidate those who are afraid of him. Underneath his bold, cocky attitude, he has a joking and kind nature. Yusuke has also had the bad luck of having to deal with so many cruel and despicable people at such a young age, Iwamoto being among them.

One of his most notable traits is his desire to fight, which becomes more noticeable as the series progresses. Yusuke has been noted on many occasions to be rather unintelligent, and, at times, just plain stupid. However, as his teacher, Genkai later notes, he "can be a genius at fighting". Yusuke's desire to fight is more out of enjoyment of a good brawl, and surprisingly Yusuke doesn't like killing if he can avoid it. Another prominent trait of Yusuke's psyche is his sense of justice, as he doesn't tolerate evildoers and always has a firm resolve to capture or even beat them for the sake of doing the right thing.

Even though Yusuke is feared by most students and severely disliked by almost all of the teachers, he is generally misunderstood. Keiko Yukimura, one of his childhood friends (and later love interest), is one of the very few who knows Yusuke is actually very kind, and she sympathizes with his problems in life. Yusuke also becomes very protective of his friends, especially Keiko, Botan, Koenma, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei. Out of all the six mentioned, though, Younger Toguro notes that Yusuke is "the most protective" of Kuwabara, most likely because Yusuke knew him longer than Hiei and Kurama, and also because of the frailty of Kuwabara's human heritage. By extension, Yusuke can be mildly vengeful. When Dr. Ichigaki's test subjects were released, Yusuke beat him much more severely than he might have otherwise. Likewise, when Bakken of Team Mashotsukai finished beating Kurama, Yusuke took great time and pleasure beating him.

Why He's the Spirit Detective

1. He is one of the most beloved and memorable anime characters of all time.
   • He is also one of the hot-blooded anime characters, similar to Jaden Yuki later on in the decade.
2. Underneath his temperamental and cynical attitude, he has a humorous and compassionate personality.
3. He refuses to give up on a challenge, no matter how many odds are stacked against him.
4. He views his friends as his family and would do anything to protect them.
5. He has tremendous character growth, as he went from an angry teenager with a chip on his shoulder to fight for the sake of fighting to an altruistic savior of humanity with a stronger sense of purpose and willpower. He also grows wiser and makes better life choices and views demons as people rather than enemies.
6. He is not only not afraid to battle against demons, but also to stand up to corrupt authority figures at his school like Iwamoto.
7. Unlike many shonen protagonists who are known for being naive, Yusuke is very savvy and street-smart.
8. He is a great combatant due to his years of street-fighting.
9. Unlike Toguro and Sensui, Yusuke learns to accept fighting with time before dying and embrace the fact that there is always a gray area between right and wrong.
10. He is non-judgmental and open-minded, as he never discriminates against demons.

Bad Qualities

1. While he is much more sensible and street-smart than a typical shonen protagonist, he is not very book-smart and can be generally dense at times.
   • This factor is a result of his delinquent lifestyle, in which he frequently skips school on a daily basis.
2. He can be temperamental and impulsive.

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