Yu Yu Hakusho

"This boy's name is Yusuke. He's 14 years old, and is supposed to be the hero of our story...but oddly enough, he's dead."

Originally a manga by Yoshihiro Togashi, Yu Yu Hakusho tells the story of Yusuke Urameshi, a bitter, beleaguered (and legendary street fighter) junior high punk. One particularly bad day gets worse for Yusuke after he dies saving the life of a small boy from a car accident. He discovers that the forces of the Spirit World were expecting the boy to miraculously survive the accident but did not expect Yusuke to even be a part of it. Because of this surprising (if ultimately useless) Heroic Sacrifice, they offer Yusuke a chance to return from the dead. With the help of Botan (a perky female shinigami "Angel of Death" or essentially "Grim Reaper") and the approval of Koenma (the snarky son of King Enma, the judge of the dead in Buddhist belief system, and the part-time stand-in for his father) Yusuke returns to the living world.

But Koenma has other plans for Yusuke, as both his fighting ability and new found spirit awareness makes him a prime candidate to be a Spirit Detective, an agent of the spirit world hunting down renegade demons who threaten peace on Earth. With much reluctance, Yusuke takes on the job, and finds himself facing all manner of supernatural baddies. Lucky for him, he has the help of Botan as a liaison and tactical support. Early on in his career they send him to the Old Master Genkai, a short, crotchety old woman who nevertheless is a highly capable spiritual guru and martial artist.

Among his closest teammates he also got some more-than-capable fighting partners in the form of Kazuma Kuwabara, his old school rival; Kurama, a benevolent reformed fox-spirit trapped in a human body; and Hiei, a not-so-benevolent, not-so-reformed demon who reluctantly tags along with Yusuke and his entourage as part of his sentence.

During Yu Yu Hakusho's initial run in Japan, it was one of the few shows to compete at all with Dragon Ball Z during the early 90's. It is a classic Shonen anime featuring colorful characters, lots of humor, and very clever fights. It wasn't as popular in the States as other series, but was one of the first anime to air (mostly uncut) on Adult Swim, until it migrated to Toonami with an edited weekday version. However, its fans are very hardcore. It was among FUNimation's earliest shows to dub alongside Dragon Ball Z, and therefore, starred some of its earliest regular cast members and kickstarted their reputation- Justin Cook, who played the lead role, is now the chief producer at the studio.

Tropes used in Yu Yu Hakusho include:
  • The Abridged Series: Yu Yu Hakusho Abridged is one of the more popular and well known ones.
  • Abusive Parents: Yusuke's mother loves him, but she's also an alcoholic party girl with all the associated problems. Mukuro's father is a more direct example of downright evil treatment.
  • Accidental Hug: Between Yusuke and Kuwabara in episode nine.
  • Adaptive Ability: Kuro Momotaro.
  • All Just a Dream: Some of the Eizou Hakusho shorts.
  • And I Must Scream: Kurama's Cool and Unusual Punishment of Elder Toguro. He totally deserved it too.
  • And This Is For: Invoked by Yusuke in the Dark Tournament Arc, while pummeling a particularly odious doctor who has beat the snot out of Kuwabara and enslaved innocent martial artists.
  • Another Dimension: Itsuki traps Kuwabara, Kurama, Hiei, and Kiyoshi Mitarai in a pocket dimension while Yusuke was fighting Sensui.
  • Antagonist in Mourning: Twice.
  • Anti-Hero: Yusuke (Type III), Kuwabara (Type II) and Hiei (Type V).
    • Also Kurama, though he rapidly becomes a normal hero, albeit one who occasionally (not often) gets very pissed.
  • Arc Number: Seven for the Sensui arc.
  • Armor-Piercing Slap: Keiko's usual punishment for Yusuke acting up.
    • Slight subversion in that she's actually rather strong...
  • Artifact of Death: The forlorn hope can grant the user a wish but only at the cost of their life.
  • Asskicking Equals Authority: Invoked by Yusuke and played straight by the entire demon world during the Demon World Unification Tournament arc.
  • Authority Equals Asskicking: All three leaders of the Demon World are all S+ Class demons.
  • Axe Crazy: A great deal of demons most notably Elder Toguro.
  • Back-to-Back Badasses: Kurama and Hiei in the Short Anime Movie.
  • Badass: Pretty much almost every fighter in the series.
  • Badass Crew: The four main characters.
  • Badass Long Hair Yusuke when possessed by Raizen, Kurama, Sakyo, Elder Toguro, Shishiwakamaru, Raizen himself, and Yomi all abuse this trope.
    • Also Genkai
  • Bad Boss: While nicer than most examples, Koenma's treatment of Ogre is less than benevolent.
  • Barehanded Blade Block: Yusuke was able catch Hiei's sword with two fingers when he was testing how strong Yusuke was after his training for the Dark Tournament.
  • Bash Brothers: Yusuke and Kuwabara do this most often. Toguro and Genkai long ago might have been something between this and a Battle Couple.
  • Batman Gambit: The reason Sensui set it up so that the tunnel to Makai would be opened and the events that came afterward would happen is so that he could die in Makai at the hands of a powerful demon, since that would be nobler than to die of the terminal illness he already had. Said strong demon happened to be Yusuke, possessed by the spirit of his ancestor, Raizen.
    • This is also Kurama's modus operandi of choice.
  • Battle Aura Seen several times in the Dark Tournament arc. Arc Villain Toguro at the higher reaches of his strength produces an aura which dissolves weaker demons. Of special note is Toguro's unwilling subordinate Bui, whose major power is literally and explicitly called Battle Aura; he uses it to fly and shoots pieces of it for attacks. The reason for Bui's insanely heavy armor is Bui's raw power is greater than his fine control, and he can't turn the aura off. The armor acts a Power Limiter to keep his aura restrained until he decides to take his armor off.
  • Battle of Wits
  • Beam-O-War: Yusuke and Rando's Rei/Spirit Guns colliding with each other, Yusuke's Rei/Spirit Gun colliding with Chu's Suiken yoki orbs twice, Yusuke's full power Rei/Spirit Gun being canceled out by Sensui's puny yet just as powerful Resshuu Kou Kyu Ha.
  • Beam Spam: Yusuke against Yomi, firing his near infinite amount of Yo/Demon Gun at Yomi's Demon Energy Barrier before finally breaking the barrier with Yin-Yang Bomb shots.
    • His Shotgun attack counts too.
  • Belligerent Sexual Tension: Yusuke and Keiko. And later, Hiei and Mukuro.
  • Berserk Button: Despite being a foul-mouthed delinquent who loves to fight and has trouble with authority figures, Yusuke can generally be nice to very young children (seen as early as Episode 1). Which is why he gets so royally pissed when Gouki eats a young child's soul that he'd stolen with the Orb of Baast (one of the three treasures stolen from Spirit World).

Yusuke: SPIT IT OUT! (hits Gouki in the stomach, forcing him to regurgitate the soul)

    • As well, Keiko serves as another Berserk Button for Yusuke.
    • A minor one with Mr. Takenaka with anyone trying to misrecord any correct answers for their own purpose since the reputation of Sarayashiki Junior High is in danger.
    • If you harm or otherwise threaten Yukina's safety, be grateful if Hiei lets you live.
    • Threatening Kurama's human mother and family, or forcing him to take an innocent life will end in a very, very unpleasant fate for the perpetrator. In fact, don't threaten to harm his friends' souls and ABSOLUTELY do not defile the memory of his dead friend. And smoking a cigarette while possessing Kurama's little stepbrother is not a good idea either.
    • Let's not forget Kuwabara and his whole never hit a woman thing, you try touching a woman in front of him and see the state of your face afterwards (especially if it's Yukina. You better hope Kuwabara gets to you before Hiei does.), dishonor is another button of his.
  • Better Than New: Yusuke appears to be dead, however he eventually wakes up Better Than New as his demonic half awakens.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: It's generally not a good idea to get Kurama mad. And while Kurama acts nicest, Kuwabara is probably the friendliest in the group, and he's not to be trifled with, either, if you don't want a Jigen-tou through your chest...
    • The fact the merciless and brutal Blood Knight didn't want to make enemies with Kurama says a lot about him.
    • Sensui's main personality, Shinobu, is also fairly nice, even talking respectfully to Yusuke as if they were having tea and crumpets together. Just make sure you shake his hand when he asks you to.
    • Yukina, of all people, when she reveals she was searching for her brother to remind him he promised to exterminate all the Koorime.
  • Beyond the Impossible: Many, MANY times. Toguro-otouto maxing his power to 120% is a good one to cite.
  • BFG: Yusuke's Rei/Spirit Gun.
  • Big Brother Instinct: Threatening and later possessing Kurama's little stepbrother was a very, very stupid move.
  • Bilingual Bonus Stealth Pun: The dub is littered with these for people who speak both Japanese and English. To sub fans who are monolingual in English, these lines sound like straight-up Bowdlerisation- the most infamous being "A mulberry (kuwa) is a tree, and Kuywabara's a man!"
    • As for the original Japanese, is it an accident that Yusuke's "Rei Gun" is, well... a ray gun?
  • Bishonen Line: Sensui manifesting his Seikoki (Sacred Energy) into a Powered Armor.
  • Black and Gray Morality: Chapter Black Arc
  • Bland-Name Product: "Megallica" and "Narlboro," at least.
  • Blondes Are Evil: Karasu once his Power Limiter slips. Plenty of Dragonball Z jokes involved too.
  • Blood Bath: It's revealed in a flashback that the Black Book Club bathed in the blood of the innocent demons they had slaughtered, mostly For the Evulz.
  • Blood From the Mouth: The Dark Tournament is loaded with it.
  • Bloodbath Villain Origin: Sensui.
  • Bloody Murder: Mitarai's and Gama's powers.
  • Blow You Away: Jin
  • Board to Death: What happens during the Dark Tournament when Sakyo reveals his plan to open a gateway to the Spirit World to the rest of the Black Book Club, and then has Toguro kill them when they object.
  • Body to Jewel: Yukina's tears.
  • Boisterous Bruiser: Chu and Jin are the best examples, though Kuwabara counts as well.
  • Bound and Gagged: Kuwabara when Sensui captures him to use his Jigen-tou.
    • In the anime, though, it's just ropes...
  • Bowdlerise: Mukuro's back story went from being her father's sex slave who disfigured herself to keep herself from being molested by him in the manga to being an already cybernetic slave who couldn't remove the shackles from her arms even after she escaped and had to pay for her freedom with the flesh from half her body. Still badass either way.
    • Oddly, the English dub is a lot snappier and better-written than the straight translation of the Japanese dialogue. It has a lot less stating the obvious and a lot more one-liners, and it's, in general, better about referring to what's happening. For example, Yusuke fought an opponent who shrouded the area in mist and used that to conceal his approach. The Japanese subtitles have him say "Damn! Where is he?" and then "Over there!" When he sees an attack coming. The English equivalent is "I can't see a thing. I'll stay put and wait for something...LIKE THAT!" as he jumps out of the way.
      • This is especially obvious on the season one boxed set's episodes sixteen onward; where previously the subtitles matched the English dub, this one matches the Japanese dialogue, and nearly every line is completely different. Even the song lyrics are completely different.
    • In the process, the English dub actually punches up the maturity level a bit, when almost every other anime has to tone it down. While the arena's collapsing at the end of the Dark Tournament, Juri originally proclaims she doesn't want to die unmarried, and Koto signs off her broadcast. In English, Juri proclaims she doesn't want to die a virgin, and Koto seizes on this shocking revelation from someone so popular around the workplace... then signs off her broadcast. Also, Chu's "as useful as tits on a bull" comment.
    • When Cartoon Network aired this as part of Toonami (as opposed to Adult Swim, which had this series more or less uncut), the episode that had Yusuke fighting a woman demon who was actually a man had it changed to a manipulative bitch who faked her injuries so she can weaken any male fighters who have qualms about beating up women. Also, Chu (the drunken fighter) was changed to a boisterous Australian who acted like a fool to mask the fact that he was a powerful fighter.
  • Breakfast Club: Sensui's Seven.
  • Breaking the Fourth Wall: In the manga, characters verbally refer to previous chapters and their appearance rates.
    • Not to mention Yusuke predicting two page spreads in the next chapter.
  • Brown Note: Chapter Black.
  • Bury Your Gays: Played with. Yes, Sensui (Killed Off for Real) and Itsuki (implied to at the end of the arc) die, but it's more of a Redemption Equals Death scenario. Plus, Itsuki, being who he is, tells off Team Urameshi (prompting a moment of Not So Different and/or Sympathy for the Devil) before he takes Sensui's corpse and spirit into his own little dimension to spend eternity with him. Because the antagonists got what they wanted all along, Yusuke and co. feel as if they're the ones who have lost.
  • Bus Crash: Murota. He's also a literal Mauve Shirt, so it's understandable if you have no clue who he is...
    • He gets eaten, goddamnit. That isn't cool.
  • Calling Your Attacks: "Spirit Gun!"
  • Can't Catch Up: Even Yusuke suffers this after the Dark Tournament.
  • Cannot Spit It Out: Subverted, of all couples, by Yusuke and Keiko! According to Keiko's dad, Yusuke's favorite way to make up with Keiko after a fight is to propose marriage.
  • Carnivore Confusion: After Yusuke becomes a demon, he no longer regards the casual eating of innocent human beings as an atrocity, and now can hold happy and friendly conversations with man eating demons about their dietary habits as if they are discussing the latest tasy dish at a popular restaurant; RIGHT AFTER, mind you, spending quality time with a happy family of humans.
    • He goes further down the spiral of evil when he casually tells his ancestor that if eating humans is what will restore his strength, he will GLADLY kidnap a few innocent human beings to feed him if that's what it takes to get a good fight out of him.
  • Cast Full of Pretty Boys: The central Nakama's gender ratio is pretty much 50/50 — somewhat skewed by Atsuko and George Saotome, though — but the only girls who really get any spotlight and character development are Genkai and Mukuro. The others have their moments, but the guys are pretty much the focus of the show. There aren't many female villains, either.
  • Celestial Bureaucracy: Koenma and Enma.
  • Cerebus Syndrome: The manga starts out as an episodic comedy about Yusuke and Botan as ghosts trying to help the living with their problems. After a couple volumes of this, it abruptly shifts into Shonen action mode. This gets far fewer complaints from fans than many Cerebus Syndrome victims, however, because most fans know the series from the anime adaption, which skips the comedic stories from the manga and rushes ahead to the action portion.
    • During the final arc the show suddenly becomes less action-oriented and for the first time focuses on how the events actually affect Yusuke and the gang's everyday lives, suddenly showing several episodes filled with lots character development, and quiet drama as opposed to high-speed punching and explosions.
  • Changed My Mind, Kid: Hiei leaves the rest of the team during the Chapter Black arc, claiming he has no loyalty to the human world. Yusuke assures everyone else that "he'll come and rescue us in the end when we need him the most". He does.
  • Character-Magnetic Team
  • Charles Atlas Superpower
  • Chekhov's Gun: Many. Probably the biggest one is when Koenma describes the difference between spirit and life energy to Yusuke in the fifth episode, and when drained of spirit energy in the climax of the Spirit Detective saga Yusuke taps into his life energy for a Heroic Sacrifice.
    • There was also "Goblin City" in the Chapter Black saga, a video game Yusuke plays at the arcade during the time Kuwabara is fighting Seaman. About six episodes later, guess what the team has to play against Game Master?
      • And of course, the Mafuukan ( Koenmna's pacifier. Now it makes sense why he wouldn't let Ogre remove it during the Dark tournament)
      • Remember that egg Yusuke throws into the fire to save Keiko early in the series? ( It's Puu!)
  • Circles of Hell
  • Clark Kenting: The "mysterious" masked fighter that comes to the Dark Tournament as the gang's fifth member is obviously Genkai, even wearing the same robes as her and having her characteristically short stature. Despite this, nobody notices until unmasking time comes.
    • Sort of. Kuwabara flat-out asks Yusuke if Mask is Genkai, and Yusuke pretty much tells him, "That's what I thought, but s/he said no." Kuwabara is pretty firm in thinking this, until the mask gets ripped and young!Genkai is shown beneath it. Genkai's fighting style has the body's cells rejuvenated to the time they were strongest when it's used. It's... really something of a Double Subversion.
    • Right after Yusuke comes back from the dead he explores the town in sunglasses and messed up hair. And goes unnoticed.
    • In that same episode there's also a certain blue-haired fortune teller with a fake sounding accent who knows about Yusuke so you can understand why he couldn't tell it was Botan in disguise.
  • Clear My Name: After coming back to school, Yusuke was framed by one of the teachers in hopes getting him expelled. This was quickly cleared up after Yusuke received his first case.
  • Clothing Damage: Yusuke pretty much loses his upper clothing in almost all of his major fights.
    • Taken to its logical extreme in his fight against Yomi, where after taking a volley of energy blasts, his shirt explodes off his body. Not a fiery one, mind you, but still.
      • This is flat out pointed out in the actor's commentary for the episode where Justin Cook and co. discuss the characters' tendency to loose their shirts right before the aforementioned shirt explosion. They then wonder what the characters' pants are made of to prevent them from being destroyed as well.
    • Why is Hiei not on here already? His shirt usually is either ripped off or thrown off in the first five seconds of battle.
    • Lampshaded by Koto: "Well, they've burned their skin, shortened their breath, and somehow lost their shirts. All in all, I'd call this a successful fight."
  • Cold Sniper: This role is fulfilled by the character of...Sniper. Subverted, in that he's not a sniper in a traditional sense. He can attach his spiritual energy to both his target as well as any random objects, resulting in said objects homing in on the target at incredible speeds. From dice, to rocks, to knives and forks, to even gasoline tankers. Later in the fight, however he opts for a good old fashioned pistol.
    • Actually, it is played straight. It was mentioned that Sniper can hit a target with those said objects with a distance of over 500 yards, or 5 football fields. Hell if I know what qualifies for good professional sniping, but hitting something over 500 yards with something not meant for sniping is good.
  • Coming of Age Story: The ending to the second-to-last episode and essentially the main point to the whole Three Kings Arc is this, as Jorge/the Narrator so explains. Supposedly, now that Yusuke is done kicking ass in Demon World, his next adventure is to allow himself to "grow up". There are also other sprinklings and hints of the "coming of age" theme throughout the series. Though mainly adhering to Yusuke, this applies to Kuwabara and Keiko as well, and arguably to Kurama/Shuichi.
  • Containment Field: The Kekkai barrier is used to separate the Human World from the Demon World. Unfortunately, this Containment Field only sort of acts like a net to only filter and keep out A and S Class ranked demons.
    • L/Ruka tries it on Hiei. She somehow manages to live through it.
  • Cool Old Gal: Genkai, of course.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: Sakyou and the Black Black Club.
  • Counter Attack: Sensui's Reshuuken fight style.
  • Cruel Mercy: Why did Hiei spare the Ice Maidens? Because he realized they were dead inside and exterminating them would have put them out of their misery. He also does the same in the Black Tournament: when a defeated Bui asks to finish him, Hiei just tells him to kill himself and go away.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: The first time Hiei fights on the good guys' side, he slashes up the guy that pissed him off before his opponent could even start to attack.
    • Most of Hiei battles are like that: Hiei's first battle in the Black Tournament takes a few minutes because he doesn't attack, then he incinerates his FIRE USER foe; later in the Black Tournament, Hiei faces Makintaro and cuts his arm the very moment the referee starts the match, and when Makintaro insists in fighting Hiei finishes him with a blade in the brain; against Bui, the two play a little, then, after Bui apparently wins by throwing his Death or Glory Attack back at him, Hiei unveils that such an action only powered him up and defeats Bui with a POKE and a punch; Hiei's 'battle' with Sniper consists in Hiei appearing from nowhere and piercing him with his blade; also, Hiei's battle with Sensui, only this time Hiei is on the receiving side.
    • How about when Bakken beats the absolute shit out of an unconscious/already badly injured Kurama? Followed by Yusuke going on to Curb Stomp Battle Bakken in response.
    • Sensui vs. Yusuke (round one, anyway), then Sensui proceeding to kick the collective asses of Youko Kurama, Hiei AND Kuwabara.
    • How about when Yusuke, after awakening his demon half, kicks the ever loving piss out of Sensui?
    • Yusuke's fight against Sniper was so very much this. In all his experience, Yusuke was always used to fighting enemies head on, but never against somebody who methodically kept his distance and chipped away at him. If it wasn't for Hiei's big damn heroic moment, Yusuke would've been dead a second time.
    • The battle of Shura vs his father Yomi also counts. Shura even tricks Yomi into getting in close, only to blast him point black in the face with an energy blast that resembled a nuke. Yomi didn't feel a thing. Kid never had a chance.
  • Custom Uniform: Yusuke's school 'uniform' is one of these.
  • Cute Monster Girl: Koto and Juri especially.
  • Dangerous Forbidden Technique: The Spirit Wave.
  • Dark Action Girl: Mukuro.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: At worst, most demons play pranks on humans.) At least in the manga. For most of the series, they do seem extremely bloodthirsty. It's explained away in the manga by King Yama brainwashing demons in order to set up cases, but in the anime just has Enki "change the system" and the way demons act once he becomes King of Demon World.
  • Darker and Edgier: Many fans profess that the Chapter Black arc is a stark contrast with most episodes before it - and usually for the better. Included, but not limited to are some serious moral dilemas for the characters, considerably different kinds of adversaries where simple fisticuffs won't win any fights, a deranged and disturbed villain who's not in it for the good fight, but the absolute succession of his agenda, and an overall creepier and more ominous atmosphere. Most fans would cite Chapter Black as the series at its most mature and at its peak.
  • David Versus Goliath: Every.Single.One. of Hiei's fights and most of Yusuke's fights.
    • He is only 4'11.
  • Dead Sidekick: Played with during the Dark Tournament arc, where Yusuke's friends exploit the trope by faking Kuwabara's death at the hands of Toguro so that Yusuke's anger and grief will give him the power needed to defeat Toguro.
  • Dead to Begin With

Narrator: This is our hero, Yusuke Urameshi. There's only one problem: he's dead.

  • Death by Irony: Gouki who eats souls for a living dies by taking a blast of spirit energy into the mouth.
  • Defeat Means Friendship: Played straight and subverted.
  • Deflector Shields: Yomi's Demon Energy Barrier.
  • Demoted to Extra: After the Chapter Black Saga, Kuwabara only sits around and studies. Atsuko is another example.
  • Depraved Homosexual: Subverted, played around with, possibly averted and inverted with Sensui.) Played straight with Karasu.
  • Deus Ex Machina: During Yusuke's fight with Yomi in the Demon World Tournament, Yusuke gains the upper hand when he spontaneously generates a new kind of energy. Everyone at first thinks it's sacred energy, but then Hiei exclaims that "No! It's something completely different!"
  • Disappeared Dad: Yusuke and Kuwabara's dads, but they are both Back for the Finale. Kurama's human father is also dead, although he does later acquire a stepfather when his mother remarries.
  • Dishing Out Dirt: Risho
  • Dude in Distress: Happens to both Yusuke and Kuwabara. In the latter case... well, see Bound and Gagged.
  • Does This Remind You of Anything?: Goki's soul-eating tastes (that of little children) is rather close to the edge of pedophilia.
  • Drunken Master: Chu. AND HOW.
  • Dub Text: Mostly with Itsuki. Some of his lines are completely made up. The bit about stalking Sensui(etc.) was neither in the manga nor in the Japanese version of the anime.
    • Also, Toguro and Genkai's relationship 50 years ago got a Relationship Upgrade from the manga and original Japanese in the dub.
  • Dude Looks Like a Lady: In one of the earlier chapters, Yusuke fights a bewitching Femme Fatale who tries to use her femininity to make opponents underestimate her, trying to play on an opponent's Wouldn't Hit a Girl sense of chivalry. After a Crotch Grab Sex Check, Yusuke finds out it's just a regular guy fighter dressing like a girl to trick opponents Yusuke even berates him for not being a real transvestite, in one of the series' odder moments of open-mindedness on Yusuke's part.
    • If you watch the uncut version that is. In the Edited for Syndication American dub that aired on Cartoon Network, all the references to the female fighter actually being a man were changed to the fighter being a Manipulative Bitch who fakes her injuries so she can make her male fighters feel guilty about beating up a woman — and uses that moment of weakness to strike back).
    • During the final chapters of the manga, the usually calm Kurama is mistaken as a girl (more exactly, everyone thinks he's Kuwabara's girlfriend), which really gets under his skin. Later, Keiko and Yusuke ask him to infiltrate a girls-only school to help them solve a case, and he nearly snaps on them.
  • Earn Your Happy Ending: And how.
  • Empathy Pet: Puu.
  • Esoteric Motifs: The Artifacts of Darkness, a Mirror, Sword, and Jewel.
  • Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: Kurama's relationship with his human mother, Shiori, is what turned him into a decent person.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: Toguro refuses his elder brother's offer for assistance prior to his match with Yusuke in the Dark Tournament finals, right before smacking the crap out of him. When elder Toguro gets angry and remarks that they sold their souls together, younger Toguro responds, "That may be. But I never sold my standards.")
    • Earlier, he openly condemned Botajiri's attempts to rig the match against Team Masho. He specifically wanted Yusuke to level up and give him a good challenge. He didn't care if Yusuke died before that fight, but he didn't want him out of the tournament based on a technicality.
      • Also, the usually amoral and even sadistic referee Koto seriously objects to two of Team Masho's member's dirty methods of fighting and Botajiri's rigging of the matches.
    • Before his Morality Pet little sister Yukina showed up, Hiei played the Token Evil Teammate role pretty straight. However, he was so disgusted with Seiryuu killing his teammate that he chooses to be the one to take him on, instead of fighting the Big Bad on the next floor, leaving them for Yusuke.
  • Even the Guys Want Him: Kurama and Hiei have always been the series' most popular characters.
    • Yusuke's pretty much neck-deep in Foe Yay with all of his male enemies.
  • Everybody Was Kung-Fu Fighting: Though it starts off different, it very quickly becomes about the unusual martial arts the protagonists and antagonists use in battle, especially coming into play during the Demon Tournament arc.
  • Evil Counterpart: Sensui, who's also a Nietzsche Wannabe, a Fallen Hero, and a Dark Messiah... along with being Dangerously Genre Savvy.
  • Excited Episode Title: Including Excited Chapter Titles in the manga, where Volume 9, for instance, was composed entirely of titles that ended in 3 exclamation points.
  • Explaining Your Power to the Enemy: Yusuke is forced to fight someone in complete darkness. His opponent has a helmet-type device that allows him to perceive and alter the flow of energy around and inside him, a) letting him see in the dark (which Yusuke has no way of doing), and b) strengthening parts of his body temporarily. He explains all of this during the fight. The viewer is left screaming at the television for the opponent to just beat the shit out of Yusuke, which he can do with impunity thanks to the Night Vision Helmet.
  • Extremity Extremist: The fighting style of the Evil Counterpart listed above.
  • Eyes of Gold: Kurama may look like a red-haired, green-eyed young man in his human form, but as soon as he drops the human disguise and turns into his real White-Haired Pretty Boy demonic form, his eyes change to this color. Itsuki also has this type of eyes, and they are a hint that he isn't exactly a human psychic. Elder Toguro has them too.
  • Face Death with Dignity: Sakyou.
  • Face Heel Turn: Toguro-otouto and Sensui.
  • Facial Markings: Sensui's bindi, Yusuke's tattoos in his demon form, along with longer hair.
  • Fan Service: Ruka, oh my god, Ruka! ♥
    • Koto and Juri, anyone? Koto was popular enough to make a return during the anime's final arc.
  • Fate Worse Than Death: Elder Toguro, forever bound to the branches of a tree that saps him of his Life Energy and tortured with Kurama-related hallucinations. The demon who blinded Yomi spent 500 years painfully nailed to a wall of Yomi's palace. Then there's what Hiei did to Mukuro's father in the manga....
    • Somewhat averted with Sensui. His fate: having his soul never leave his body even after death and thus being confined to eternal sleep and no afterlife, would seem like a Fate Worse Than Death to most, but apparently Sensui actually finds this preferable to being judged by Spirit World in the afterlife.
  • Faux Paw: Botan does this when behaving "catty".
  • Filler Villain: Yakumo.
  • Final Battle: The final arc is the Three Kings saga, and the last fight the main characters are involved in is Yusuke vs. Yomi in the Demon World Tournament. Yomi wins but loses the fight after that.
  • Finger Gun: The Spirit Gun is one that actually fires. Several characters do the regular version.
  • First-Episode Resurrection
  • Five-Man Band
  • Flexible Tourney Rules: Boy, are they ever — and intentionally. The Dark Tournament is done as a commercial gig, so teams are allowed to negotiate their own rules and conditions for a match, which adds some variety to the proceedings and makes for a better show.
  • Flight: Sensui's Seikoki (Sacred Energy) allows him to fly as an angel, which is also why he's also called "Black Angel".
    • Earlier in the series, there's Jin, who controls and shapes wind to make whirlwinds and other various tricks. Flight is as natural to him as walking.
  • Floating Continent: The Koorime's island.
  • Foot Focus: In the final episode, Keiko, Yukina, Botan, and Kuwabara are barefoot on a beach, with a scene of Botan slipping off her pumps and tossing them aside for good measure. In fact, the show closes out with all of them still in bare feet, with Keiko's getting sharp focus.
  • The Four Gods: The Four Saint Beasts are based on them.
  • Four Is Death
  • Free Sample Plot Coupon: After being revived, Yusuke helps Kuwabara get rid of a bully who was threatening him. It turns out that said bully was possessed by a little demon, so when Yusuke grabs it, Botan tells him about it and its crimes, and takes the opportunity to tell him that Koenma hired him to work as a Detective Spirit, making that little demon the first supernatural criminal he captures. Of course, the subsequent ones are a lot harder to defeat.
  • Friend to All Living Things: Yukina, except in regards to the rest of the Ice Maidens, but it's arguable whether their continued existence counts as "living".
    • I'd call her a subversion of the trope, if anything.
  • Friendly Target: Averted and taken advantage of.
  • From a Single Cell: Elder Toguro.
  • Genius Cripple: Yomi, although blind, didn't let that stop him from being the first person in the series to manipulate Kurama, who's known for being the Batman of YYH. And not only that, Yomi gets away with it.
  • Gentle Giant: Both Kuwabara and Kurama are the tallest members of Team Urameshi but are very compassionate.
    • Shinobu Sensui stands at least 6' and it would be hard to believe someone like him would ever consider destroying humanity.
  • Glowing Eyes of Doom
  • A God Am I: Yusuke had a moment like this when it turned out that he's really an uber-powerful Youkai, shouting "KNEEL DOWN AND WORSHIP ME, YOU INSECTS!!". Subverted in that he immediately reveals it to be an immature prank and says that they should have seen their faces.
  • Going to Give It More Energy: In his fight with Byakko, Kuwabara follows this trope to the letter. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite work.
  • Gonk: Gonzo Tarukane. As Yu Yu Hakusho Abridged puts it, he looks like a walking ballsack.
  • Good Hair, Evil Hair: Kuwabara and Yusuke's pompadours signify their delinquents anti-hero status; Sensui's slicked-back hair clues us in to his Face Heel Turn and the fact he's the Big Bad of that arc.
    • Averted with Younger Toguro and his pompadour.
  • Good Is Not Nice: Yusuke and Hiei can be real jerks sometimes, though they are not without their redeeming qualities. Kurama is the same way, but more outwardly pleasant and more subtle with his snarking. Kuwabara is a nice guy, though.
  • Good Scars, Evil Scars: Subverted. Sensui's scars are multiple, as you'd expect of a villain; however, they are entirely covered by his shirt, as you'd expect of a good guy (because he used to be one). Itsuki becomes scarred over his eye from taking Kuwabara's Rei-ken: a simple heroic scar. Mukuro's scars are also "bad guy" scars that cover half of her body; however, seeing how she got them (by pouring acid over herself to prevent her "father" from raping her as a child), as well as her usual hiding of them, makes them "good guy" markings.)
  • Green Thumb: Kurama's abilities.
  • The Grim Reaper: Botan.
  • "Growing Muscles" Sequence: Toguro undergoes different ones, depending on the percentage of his power he unleashes. Byakko has one every time he absorbs Kuwabara's blows.
  • Hand Cannon: Yusuke's Spirit/Rei Gun.
  • Head Pet: Puu.
  • Healing Hands: Genkai and Botan, but mostly Yukina.
  • Heel Face Return: Hiei gets caught by Yusuke for stealing from his boss, but he returns a couple arcs later as an Anti-Hero Aloof Ally, and stays that way for the rest of the series.
  • Heel Face Turn: Kurama, Hiei, Chuu, Rinku, Jin, Touya, Suzuki, Shishiwakamaru, etc.
  • Hell Seeker: Younger Toguro is one of these, in addition to being a Death Seeker. He chooses to be punished in the deepest level of Hell, even though he could have gotten off with a lighter sentence, because he feels that he could never be punished enough for what he let happen to his old martial-arts pupils and the aftermath of such.
  • Hello, Nurse!: During the Dark Tournament, a "nurse" is brought out to inspect Hiei and the Masked Fighter after the fight with the Dr. Ichigaki Team. Koenma orders Ogre to hit him on the head so that he can go see the nurse.
  • Heroic BSOD: During the Dark Tournament final round, where Toguro pretends to kill Kuwabara in order to bring Yusuke's Power Level to his own level, becoming a Worthy Opponent. Interesting though at this time, his Battle Aura becomes the polar opposite of Toguro's own Battle Aura, which killed well over a quarter of the stadium's spectators.
  • Heroic Resolve
  • Heroic Sacrifice: Subverted and played straight multiple times.
    • Best example played straight is Kuwabara in the Dark Tournament, where he sacrifices himself to Toguro to unlock Yusuke's full power.

--Kuwabara: Hey Koenma, you risked your life on Urameshi's fight and now I'm gonna do the same. So make a place for me, and make sure my wake is as good as his.

    • Of course it turned out Toguro didn't kill him (and possibly never intended to), but Kuwabara didn't know that going into it. When he realized he wasn't going to die, he played along anyway.
  • Heroism Incentive: Botan bribes Urameshi with wrestling tickets to go train with Genkai, and stop a demon from learning her techniques.
  • Homoerotic Dream: When Yuusuke is trying to come back from the dead, but needs someone to kiss him in order to transfer a spark of life energy to "jump start" him, Kuwabara gets a dream in which he does just that.
    • It gets better: Yusuke had to provide the dream himself (as a ghost, he could communicate through the dreams of the living, and Kuwabara is extremely susceptible. Yusuke did this to help him study for a test once). The kiss has to be from one of the three people who care about him the most — who turn out to be his mother, his girlfriend Keiko, and Kuwabara, who was a big time Antagonist in Mourning. Yusuke was horrified, but he did it anyway. Kuwabara thought it was a hellish nightmare, kissing Yusuke's dead body.
  • Honest Advisor: Genkai to Yusuke, and Kurama to everyone, but mostly Hiei.
  • Hostage Situation: Roto tries doing this to Kurama by using his human mother as the hostage during their fight in the Dark Tournament. It doesn't work for long.
  • Hot Mom: Yusuke's mom...
  • How Dare You Die on Me!: Kuwabara, at Yusuke's wake.
  • Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: Kuwabara and Yukina, Younger Toguro and Genkai 50 years ago, Enki and Koko.
  • Humans Are the Real Monsters: Sensui is very hung up over this.
  • The Hunter: The "Spirit Detective" job description.
  • Hyper Awareness: Yomi has six ears, and they are so sensitive that he can hear every word being spoken within the confines of his kingdom, and can even "see" facial expressions based on a person's heart rate, and can even use this ability to tell what a person is doing!
  • I Am Your Opponent: Pretty much how almost every one on one fight is set up.
  • I Know Mortal Kombat: Game Master/Amanuma, in the most literal way possible.
  • I Resemble That Remark: In episode 27 Koenma complains that people treat him like a baby, then throws a fit on his desk including kicking paper work over.
  • I Was Quite a Looker: Genkai.
  • An Ice Person: Seiryu and Toya
  • Idiot Hero: Yusuke. He's basically a smartass version of Goku.
  • Image Song: Lots of them on the CDs. Each of the four main characters has around three or four songs by themselves, at least one song with other characters and most everyone else has at least one song by themselves.
  • Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Happens in the movie as a Karmic Death.
  • Incurable Cough of Death: The reason Toguro sold his soul to be a demon.
  • Instant Armor: Risho the demon-ninja used his power of rocks like this during the Dark Tournament. Sensui's Holy Light armor also qualifies.
  • Interspecies Romance: Kuwabara/Yukina, Sensui/Itsuki, Raizen/Lady Doctor, and, if you really want to stretch it for a technical half-breed or hybrid, Yusuke/Keiko.
  • Invincible Hero: Averted. Yusuke's victory is almost never a Foregone Conclusion, and he's always pushed to the limits of his ability. He actually DIES fighting Sensui, and he also loses early in the Demon World Tournament to Yomi.
    • Sniper also easily had him outclassed in every sense of the word. If it wasn't for Hiei, Yusuke would be Deader Than Dead. Again.
  • Invoked Trope: Toguro invokes Dead Sidekick on Yusuke, and Kuwabara appears to invoke Heroic Sacrifice but really went for Disney Death. Subverted later when Yusuke tries to pull a Heroic Sacrifice in order to inspire a Heroic Second Wind out of Kuwabara and the others — which isn't enough to defeat Sensui.
  • Ironic Echo: In the Dark Tournament Arc, Kurama gets into a fight with a demonic bomber named Karasu. Early on in the fight, Karasu seems to have the upper hand and as a result mimics putting a pistol to his head and saying, "Bang", indicating to Kurama that he should just simply shoot himself rather than continue fighting Karasu. About ten seconds later, Kurama transforms into his much more powerful White-Haired Pretty Boy true form, and suddenly it's Karasu who's on the ropes. Guess what gesture Kurama decides to make this time.
  • It Is Pronounced "Tro-PAY": Couple names in the dub: Urameshi = Yurameshi, Mitarai ('mee-tah-rye') = Mitari ('mih-tar-ee').
  • Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Yusuke and Kuwabara.
  • Kick Them While They Are Down: Though, Kurama wasn't technically down.
  • Kill All Humans: Sensui — subverted because he is a human, among other reasons.
  • Kiss of Life: Or, Kiss Of Transferred Life Energy, to facilitate Yusuke's resurrection.
  • Large Ham: Kuwabara.
  • Laser Blade: Kuwabara's Spirit Sword. Although it is technically made out of his ki, it still greatly resembles and even sounds like a real Laser Blade.
  • Left the Background Music On: George the ogre turns out to be the narrator.
  • Level Grinding: Hiei personally slaughtered hundreds of A class demons in order to get himself to an S Class demon.
  • Light Is Not Good: In the manga, it turns out the reports of demon attacks were not only greatly exaggerated, they were set up and the "evil" demons were brainwashed to behave that way, THEN were captured and executed before they could talk. When Yusuke wondered how many innocent demons he may have captured, Kurama advised him to "better not think about that". This plot element was cut out in the anime.
  • Limited Wardrobe: Played with. Most everyone has their regular attire for the average day, but they can and do change clothes often enough depending on the situation. But their clothes usually remain assigned by color: Yusuke — green, Kurama — red, Kuwabara — blue and Hiei — black.
  • Literary Agent Hypothesis: The entire show is the recordings of Yusuke's career that Koenma had edited as a documentary. His right hand ogre got the job as narrator.
  • Little Miss Badass: Genkai in her younger days.
  • Load-Bearing Hero
  • Look What I Can Do Now!: Yusuke shows off his new powers after Genkai's trainning, and Kwubara does the same a few episodes later.
  • Love Redeems: Raizen and his love for the lady doctor.
  • Made of Iron: This being a shounen series of course, practically every single character absorbs insane amounts of punishment, though usually offenses that produce cutting force seem much more effective at putting people down. Kuwabara however really takes the cake out of the main cast: being not as agile or as quick as Yusuke, Kurama and Hiei are, he tends to get hit a lot in his fights, which does little if anything to shorten them; no matter how many of his bones you break he just takes it and gets back up for more. He frequently deals out such nasty hits that one foe literally ran away from him as the prospect of pummeling him over and over again to no effect while attempting to dodge his Reiken for another thirty minutes.
    • A more literal example, Gouki almost literally claiming his skin is as hard as steel.
  • Magnificent Seven: Subverted and inverted with Sensui's group and, arguably, Sensui's own personalities.
  • The Man Behind the Man: In the manga King Enma is responsible for just about everything, in the name of keeping his public image as powerful as possible — after all, Team Urameshi work for him, so if they take out a criminal, he can take credit for it.
  • Meaningful Funeral: Yusuke's in the first episode. Seeing how much he truly meant to everybody convinced him to undergo the trials to regain his life.
  • Meaningful Name: "Urameshi" is what Japanese ghosts who are haunting a house wail; "Kuwabara kuwabara" is a charm against ghosts; "Kurama" and "Hiei" are Japanese mountains said to be sites of demon activity; all of the ferry girls have names associated with flowers and plants ("Botan" — peony, "Ayame" — iris, "Hinageshi" — poppy). This plant naming even goes for Sensui, whose name is a kanji anagram of "suisen", "daffodil") and Itsuki ("flowering tree"), perhaps to note the severity of their Face Heel Turn.
    • Mt. Hiei was forbidden to women until recent history; Hiei turned this on its head by being born on a floating mountain where men are the ones who are forbidden.
  • Meddling Parents: Raizen when he possesses Yusuke during his final fight with Sensui.
  • Megumi Hayashibara: Young Genkai, also sang her Image Song.
  • Mind Rape: Chapter Black is supposed to be watched along with Chapter White to get a balanced look on humanity's potential for great good and great evil. Watching just Chapter Black by itself will drive you nigh insane.
  • Monstrosity Equals Weakness: All over the place. Generally, humanoid enemies are real threats, while more monstrous ones are just cannon fodder.
    • Inverted by Younger Toguro, who is at his weakest' when he looks completely human.
  • Mook Chivalry: the big groups of monsters don't just all attack at the same time, but for drama's sake they always fight one on one.
  • The Movie: There's two - A half-hour one and a feature length one.
  • Mr. Exposition: Kurama and Hiei, sometimes Genkai or Koenma.
  • Muggle: Anyone without any or high enough spiritual awareness or sixth sense.
  • Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Itsuki and his shadow hands.
  • Mundane Made Awesome: Remember that Rock Paper Scissor game?
    • Also the quiz game between Kaito and Game Master. Sure it's a multiple choice test of general knowledge. But then they go to memorizing the whole question database to recognize a certain question with just the first word and press the buzzer or even memorizing the complex formulaic pattern the questions follow to hit the buzzer before even the first word to answer... correctly every time.
  • Muscles Are Meaningless: Played straight and subverted: Kurama and Genkai possess enormous strength but both are fairly thin, while each time Toguro powers up, his musculature increases, and each of his common levels — 20%, 30%, 45%, 60%, 80% — give him a relatively identifiable build.
    • Unlike a lot of Shonen, the general build of each character does not change as they become stronger. In fact, with the exception of Toguro the size of your muscles have no bearing on actual strength. Explained by Genkai that the physical body has its limitations, but the augmentation of spirit power to their body is crucial.
      • What's odd is that when Toguro powers up completely, Kurama even says, "The structure of those muscles...ingenious." And then absolutely no character around or above Toguro's level follows suit.
  • My Death Is Only the Beginning: Inverted. As it turned out, Yusuke's resurrection was only the beginning.
  • My Kung Fu Is Stronger Than Yours
  • Mysterious Ancestor: Raizen.
  • Never Mess with Granny: Genkai.
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Yusuke letting Sensui power up for their battle led directly to his second death.
  • Nice Job Fixing It, Villain: Of course, Yusuke's second death led to him being revived as an insanely-powerful demon hybrid that later defeated Sensui.
  • No Badass to His Valet: Kurama and Hiei. Raizen and the Lady Doctor.
  • No Good Deed Goes Unpunished: The one good thing the delinquent Yusuke does gets him killed.
  • Noble Demon: Hiei.
    • And probably a good half of the demons in the series, particularly in the Three Kings arc.
  • Normally I Would Be Dead Now: Kuwabara's fight against Rishu. He's tapping into his life energy just to be able to stand.
  • Not Just a Tournament: The Dark Tournament ark is already pretty, well, Dark, but then it is revealed that the true purpose is for betting and power brokering behind the scenes. The later Demon World Tournament is a complete aversion of this trope, especially considering where it takes place.
  • Not So Different: A major underlying theme of the series is that humans and demons and really Not So Different. At first it seems that demons are made out to be Exclusively Evil. But later we find many humans in the series who are actually worse and many demons who truly have a good heart at least deep down. The case is brought even further in chapter black. Then at end of the manga, it is revealed that in the past, spirit world residents actually made demons look evil so they can rule, not to mention, King Yama brainwashing them. This later became a norm so demons have no obligations of being good and usually turn out evil. But whether you are human or demon, you would have just as much potential in good or evil. Well at least in this show.
  • Oblivious Younger Sibling: Shuuichi, Kurama's little stepbrother, is completely oblivious to his brother's demonic heritage and supernatural activities.
  • Odd Friendship: Kuwabara and Hiei. Hiei constantly belittles how much of a dumbass Kuwabara is while Kuwabara keeps up with the short jokes. Kurama even jokes about how one day they might even become in-laws.
  • Oddly Small Organization: The underworld's cleanup squad for when things go wrong consists of one detective and any friends he might make along the way. Though this is rendered a bit moot by the manga's ending, where it was revealed that Yusuke might not have been needed as badly as we originally thought.
  • Official Couple - Yusuke and Keiko
    • Also Itsuki and Sensui, by Word of God.
    • In the final volume, Togashi pretty much pairs off EVERYBODY. A rundown:
    • Hiei and Mukuro is implied but still leaves room for speculation. Kuwabara and Yukina is made much more likely. Yusuke's dad comes back into the picture and gets back with his mom. Chu falls for a new character named Natsume, who eventually returns the sentiment. The trio of Juri, Koto and Ruka admit to loving the trio of Jin, Suzuki and Touya. Koenma and a female reaper also are implied to get together.
  • Oh Crap: Pretty much any time Toguro shows up is an "Oh crap!" for someone.
    • Bui gets a literal Oh Crap moment during his fight against Hiei.
  • Oireland: Jin, to a nauseating degree.
  • Old Master: Genkai.
  • "On the Next Episode of..." Catchphrase: Yusuke's "The other world's not watching for nothing!", which can only be heard in every Japanese voiced preview with subs. This is also his victory line in many Yu Yu Hakusho video games.
    • In the Latin American dub this line was replaced by Yusuke saying "Mi existencia ¡No será en vano!" (My existence won't be in vain!).
    • In the Brazilian dub it became "Não conheci o outro mundo por querer" (I never met the other world for wanting)
  • One-Gender Race: The Koorime..
    • Usually.
  • One of Us: The Gamemaster arc reveals many of the awesome characters we know to be really into videogames.
  • One Steve Limit: Averted. Kurama shares the same human name with his little stepbrother, Shuuichi.
  • One-Winged Angel: Younger Toguro, who gets repeatedly more monstrous as he increases his power to 100%, and then keeps going and subverted with Sensui who was also conveniently nicknamed "Black Angel".
  • The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Kuwabara proclaims this in the very first chapter of the manga and continues to for several arcs.
  • Opt Out: Kuwabara didn't participate in the final arc, instead deciding to focus on his academics.
  • Oral Fixation Fixation: Koenma's pacifier, not so out of place in his infant form but much more noticeable in his older and more Bishonen guise. Apparently, several centuries of soaking in a junior god's essence also makes it a potent magical object.
  • Orifice Evacuation: Jiaki, the first demon Yusuke caught.
  • Our Demons Are Different
  • Our Hero Is Dead: The very first freaking episode! (Lampshaded during Yusuke's fight with Sensui. Turns out he's part demon.)
    • Also during the fight with Toguro, when Kuwabara 'dies'.
  • Out-Gambitted: Roto.
  • Overshadowed by Awesome: Kuwabara, although he does develop some techniques that keep him useful despite his lack of power later in the series.
    • His powers made him the pivotal element during Sensui's saga.
  • Parental Abandonment
  • Passive-Aggressive Kombat: Kurama, at least twice; at the end of the Four Saint Beasts arc, Hiei mentions how he always has to have the last word; and more literally at the beginning of the Sensui Arc.
  • Personality Powers: The psychics after the tunnel to Makai is opened.
  • Petting Zoo People: Yoko Kurama, the two announcers in the Dark Tournament arc and a few others.
  • The Philosopher: Itsuki, Sensui's Minoru personality.
  • Physical God: Any S Class fighter. Sensui himself stated that he can't even use 1/5 of his full power because to would put too much stress on the planet. Thankfully the Demon World is much more bigger and durable.
    • According to Sensui, A Class demons have power roughly equivalent to the gods of various religions and myths (in the dub, he states that they are on par with the Titans of Greek mythology).
  • Physical Scars, Psychological Scars: Sensui is covered in scars to point out how utterly insane he is.
  • Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Hiei and Genkai.
    • Rinku counts, as well. He actually does beat Kuwabara, albeit by fighting dirty
  • Playing with Fire: Hiei and Zeru.
  • Post-Historical Trauma: The Black Chapter videotape.
  • Power Limiter: Younger Toguro's percentage strength, Karasu's mask, Bui's armor, Hiei's binding bandages on his right arm, Yusuke's Spirit Cuffs, Sensui's personalities, etc.
  • The Power of Love: Rather hilariously referenced when a half-dead Kuwabara went straight from being owned to knocking the other guy halfway out of the stadium with one punch and then quickly regenerating his injuries and refilling his spiritual power.
  • Power Tattoo: Hiei's Dragon of The Darkness Flame, tattooed on his arm.
  • Precision F-Strike: Kurama drops one right before subjecting Elder Toguro to a Fate Worse Than Death.
  • Psychic Static: Yusuke does this to Murota. It might be considered a slight subversion; he concentrates simply on exactly what he intends to do. Unfortunately for poor Murota, a straight jab from Yusuke is enough to put him through the wall even if he sees it coming.
  • Psycho for Hire: Karasu, among others that could be argued for.
  • The Psycho Rangers: Team Yusuke vs. Team Toguro.
    • Yusuke — Younger Toguro (Team leader, well balanced)
    • Kuwabara — Elder Toguro (Closest to the Leader, versatile abilities)
    • Kurama — Karasu (Intelligent and precision fighters)
    • Hiei — Bui (Brute force fighters)
  • Psycho Supporter: Itsuki. Happiness in Slavery, Subordinate Excuse, and Mad Love also apply to him.
  • Random Power Ranking: The classifications for power go from D, C, B, A, S and later SS and beyond.
    • S is actually the limit. Anything beyond that is actually a non existent English anime mistake.
  • Rasputinian Death: Byakko.
  • Real Men Wear Pink: Kurama doesn't look all that impressive at first glance. After all, he is an effeminate-looking red-haired pretty-boy that half the time wears a pink school uniform, is something of a mama's boy and has this thing for roses to boot. Guess which character is the biggest Badass in the Five-Man Band (to the point that Hiei is scared of him), rakes up the highest on-screen body count and regularly delivers beat-downs of epic proportions to anyone who pisses him off.
  • Really Seven Hundred Years Old: Koenma, who in fact is precisely seven hundred years old, also Kurama in his true form.
  • Redheaded Hero: Yusuke's little group has got two red heads on it: Kuwabara and Kurama. Kuwabara is blondish-red while Kurama has dark crimson hair (most of the time.)
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: Hiei and Kuwabara
  • Red String of Fate
  • Retired Badass: Genkai and Kuroko.
  • The Rival: Kuwabara, Hiei and Kurama.
  • Rock-Paper-Scissors: First appears as one of Genkai's tests and after that happens with Kuwabara throughout the series.
  • Running Gag: Several times Koenma has appeared right behind Yusuke, speaking to and startling him in the process. Botan does this to Yusuke once as well. The entire gag got subverted toward the final matches of the Dark Tournament arc, where Yusuke's spirit/reiki level became powerful enough to enable him to detect Koenma's presence as soon as he turns up.
    • Also Yukina being Hiei's sister. But Kuwabara doesn't know. The other characters like to poke fun at this.
  • Samus Is a Girl: Mukuro.
  • School Uniforms Are the New Black: Before the The Dark Tournament, Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Kurama would go everywhere in their school uniform. This includes joining a contest to become the pupil of an Genkai in the mountains, attacking the castle of demons intending to take over the human world, and raiding the mansion of a evil rich guy to rescue a Mysterious Waif.
    • Yusuke is an interesting example in that his 'uniform' is not in fact the school uniform since he specifically wears the wrong color as a form of rebellion.
  • Secret Test of Character: Played perfectly straight when Yusuke is faced with the dilemma of killing his mentor to learn her ultimate technique, he refuses, but not immediately. Good thing, too, because if he had refused without hesitating, he would have failed the test as it would have indicated a lack of desire to get stronger.
    • And early in the series when Keiko is caught in a fire, he was told that he could sacrifice the energy he was collecting in his spirit egg (the means by which he could return to life) in order to lead her to safety. He did so without hesitation, which impressed Koenma so much that he offered Yusuke another chance to return to life. Of course, he also had plans to make Yusuke the next Spirit Detective.
  • Sempai-Kohai: Yusuke was being sarcastic when he called post-Face Heel Turn Sensui 'sempai', but he's notably more respectful to happily retired Kuroko Sanada than he is to anyone, ever.
  • Senseless Sacrifice: The absolute worst part of Yusuke's (first) death is that the child he saved was supposed to miraculously survive anyway. Yusuke literally died for nothing.
    • Botan tells him that if Yusuke hadn't shoved the kid out of the way, the little boy would have gotten one less scrape. So Yusuke's sacrifice actually made things worse. Luckily for him, it's the thought that counts.
  • Shaggy Dog Story: The plot starts with Yusuke's completely useless sacrifice.
  • Shallow Love Interest/Satellite Character: Keiko, whose entire personality seems to be comprised of being angry at Yusuke, being worried about Yusuke, or crying over Yusuke.
    • To be fair, the other characters aren't too deep either; it's the interaction of their personalities that creates the plot, and spurs their development. Keiko never had a significant interaction with anyone but Yusuke.
  • Shipper on Deck: Kurama for Hiei and Mukuro. Botan for Koenma and the female reaper.
  • Shirtless Scene: Too many to count, with both protagonists and antagonists. However, Kurama, the most popular Bishonen, doesn't have any of these...
    • Though he does get to open his shirt and rub blood all over himself...
    • Except in the movie. But he has a big mid-chest to just-above-navel bandage on...
  • Shock and Awe: Suzaku
  • Shoot the Dog: Kurama killing Amanuma, but Sensui actually Xanatosed him.
  • Shoot the Shaggy Dog: The entire Chapter Black saga is an example of this, partially due to Sensui's Batman Gambit above, and partially because Team Urameshi put so much effort into stopping something that the SDF could have done on their own. And Yusuke died, but got better.
  • Shonen
  • Shout-Out (During the Dark Tournament, there was a shout out to Super Sentai of all things. Also in a manga-exclusive story, Kurama throws a rose in front of two rival gangs a la Tuxedo Mask.
    • There are actually quite a few Shout Outs, one of the biggest being how Yusuke dies in the beginning. He saves a child who ran out into the street with a soccer ball, only to later be told that the soccer ball would have cushioned the child, saving the boys life without leaving a scratch on him. This is a situation that would have, without Yusuke's unfortunate intervention, been exactly the same as what happened to Tsubasa in Captain Tsubasa.
    • Not to mention when Kuwabara goes to the 'Megallica' concert in episode 75.
    • When Yusuke and Kuwabara are arguing after their first arrival at Genki's house, several Street Fighter characters can be seen, including Dhalsim, E. Honda, Zangeif, and middle aged Ryu.
  • Single-Target Sexuality: Itsuki → Sensui.
  • Sinister Shades: Younger Toguro.
  • Sissy Villain: Suzuki starts out like this, but after having Genkai beat the crap out of him, he has a Heel Face Turn.
  • So What Do We Do Now?: Kuwabara smacked Yusuke for daring to feel this way after they all nearly died.
  • Something About a Rose: Kurama, with the addition of using it as a weapon.
  • Sorting Algorithm of Evil: Every new bad guy the heroes go up against is billed as really strong and evil, but after a while, the show makes you ask why Spirit World placed such top priority against nobodies like Kurama and Hiei in the first season.
    • The first case is actually excused, as these "nobodies" stole valued objects from King Enma's collection. Koenma states that, should his father find out, the consequences of his rage would be such that even the Human World would feel them.
      • It actually works with a bit of Fridge Logic. Because of the barrier, S class and A class demons can't cross over. So a high B (Toguro) IS the strongest force imaginable, but not someone you would send the new guy after (why Yusuke never heard of him). Sensui was an unknown threat (at least in the dub, Koenma thought he was just some crazy guy who disappeared) and all his forces were strong in different ways (the introduction of territories) and had only activated a few months prior. As for anything beyond Sensui: Those were A and S class demons who would never have been a problem because of the barrier. It is sort of like how a cop doesn't have to worry about someone with a nuke (for the most part).
    • The show is considered to have one of the most broken algorithms in anime because it started to follow the Dragon Ball Z pattern of being completely outclassed by the next Big Bad. The first few major fights Yusuke won by luck (i.e. having moss in his ears and making Rando Hoist by His Own Petard), but once he Took a Level in Badass there was no reason why each set of villains was more powerful than the last.
    • Lest we forgot, final season revealed that Toguro, the biggest Dragon the series had up to that point, was only a B-rank demon.
      • It's probably Toguro who really kills it. Up until that point, all of the antagonists were relatively equal, to the point that Hiei completely destroyed the penultimate Saint Beast. Then Toguro shows up and he's completely above and beyond anything they've faced, actually pretending to lose. Then he comes BACK and reveals that he was only at 20%. While the Dark Tournament competitors were probably on a steep power slope, there's no real indication. Yusuke goes through not one but two sudden power-ups to defeat Toguro, & he keeps those power-ups, so the other bad guys need to get stronger. Oddly enough, Sensui admits to being weaker, just more experienced until his seventh personality breaks out the sacred energy. Even Toguro only being a B demon isn't so bad, until they actually GO to Makai and A classes suddenly become red shirt armies while low-to-mid S-classes can take on hundreds at once & supposedly have planet-exploding power. It gets so bad that new characters have to come out of nowhere to claim the title of strongest.
  • Sparkling Stream of Tears: When Yukina cries, her tears literally become extremely expensive gems.
  • Spell My Name with an "S": Keiko/Kayko. The official romanization of her name is Keiko, but for whatever reason FUNimation chose to spell it Kayko.
  • Split Personality: Sensui.
    • Shishiwakamaru fits this trope as well. When you see him in the Dark Tournament, you see that bird boy is/can get crazy as hell.
  • Spirited Competitor: The biggest example would have to be Jin, but there are many others: Yusuke, Kuwabara, Chu, Younger Toguro...
  • Spiritual Successor: Considering the similar themes, and how they share the same anime director, some have stated this show is the unofficial proceeder to Bleach.
  • Spoiler Opening: Yes, Kurama and Hiei do become good guys.
  • Spontaneous Weapon Creation: At one point, Hiei uses his ability to create a sword made out of Dark Fire. He's reluctant to use this more than he can help though, since it reminds him too much of Kuwabara's Spirit Sword.
  • Stalker with a Crush: Karasu.
  • Star-Making Role: Megumi Ogata and Nobuyuki Hiyama brokeout thanks to Kurama and Hiei.
  • Stealth Mentor: Hiei and Younger Toguro have aspects of this.
  • Story Arc
  • Story-Breaker Power: Raizen is stated to have once been the most powerful demon in the entire series. His power was so great that the other Two Kings of Demon World could be easily defeated if he was currently in his prime. What is preventing Raizen from using this power? He's starving. Raizen's power comes from eating human flesh and he gave up the practice hundreds of years ago. Notably on his death bed Raizen still has S class demon power on par with Yusuke's current powers who as far as S class demons are concerned is a runt in the litter.
    • For perspective Kurama talks about how there are some demons that are so powerful that even the S Class ranking (the highest level of demon) doesn't properly describe their power level, these kind of demons are more accurately described as gods rather than demons. Raizen is said by everyone who knew him in his prime as the most powerful demon that had ever lived and that his power was so great that his enemies would "piss their pants" if they saw him in action. Definitely counts as story breaking power.
  • Invisible to Gaydar: By Word of God, and pretty much the only one in anime in existence, Sensui.
  • Strawman Fallacy: What the Chapter Black video is revealed to be
  • Summon Magic: Used by Rando, Kurama, and Hiei with the Dragon.
  • Supernatural Fiction
  • Super-Powered Evil Side: Subverted with Sensui's Kazuya personality which is still technically weaker than his main personality. Possessed Mazoku Yusuke.
  • Synchronization: Between Yusuke and Puu.
  • Team Shot
  • Ten Little Murder Victims: During the beginning of the Chapter Black arc, in the house of four dimensions.
  • Teen Pregnancy: Atsuko is 28 when Yusuke dies, meaning she was only 14 when he was born.
  • Teeth Flying: Happens off-screen in an early episode of the dub. Kuwabara is set upon by a group of thugs while he's taken a vow not to fight at all, even in his own defense. As Yusuke and Botan watch helplessly from the sidelines, Botan makes the horrified observation, "Is that a tooth?"
  • Third Eye: Hiei.
  • This Is for Emphasis, Bitch: In episode 80 of the English dub:

Hiei: You ready?!
Yusuke: Bring it on, bitch!!

  • To Serve Man: Demons (usually) eat humans for food. It doesn't say whether all species of demon have to eat human flesh to survive, though. This leads, later in the series, to a what measure is a human discussion, as well as Raizen's death via starvation for his medieval Japanese human lover, from whom Yusuke is descended...
  • Tournament Arc: Three of them: Genkai's Tournament, the Dark Tournament, and the Demon World Tournament.
  • Training from Hell
  • Tranquil Fury: Kurama's default angry-mode.
  • Transformation Sequence: Toguro going to full power 100%!!!.
    • There is something about someone's skin bulging all over with tendons and convulsing that is very creepy.
  • Transvestite: Miyuki. (see Dude Looks Like a Lady)
  • Truly Single Parent: Yomi clones his son Shura from his own genetic material, and most of the ice maidens except, of course, Hiei and, arguably, Yukina.)
  • Tsundere: Keiko is a Type B, aka "more deredere". She's a rather nice Girl Next Door unless provoked by Yusuke.
    • Not just Yusuke. A creepy gangster is bullying one of her friends and she slugs him so hard she knocks teeth out. Keiko can be a little bit of a Badass Normal in the strictly human arena.
  • Unknown Rival: Kuwabara to Yusuke for some time before the start of the comic. Kuwabara is gleeful the first time Yusuke remembers his name.
  • Updated Rerelease: The Blu-Ray version for the Funimation dub. As explained by Yusuke himself here.
  • Victorious Childhood Friend: Keiko.
  • Vitriolic Best Buds Yusuke and Kuwabara most prominently, but Koenma and the ogre are a very arguable example.
  • Villainous Glutton: Gonzo Tarukane, a fat, ugly Complete Monster, who has a satisfying death scene.
    • Also, Gourmet.
  • Wave Motion Gun: Hiei's Dragon of the Darkness Flame.
  • Wham! Line: That Toguro is only a B class Demon?!?!
  • What Happened to the Mouse?: We never do find out who set Yusuke's house on fire.
  • What Measure Is a Non-Human?: Played straight on multiple occasions, and also somewhat inverted — coupled with Carnivore Confusion — in the debate over whether demons have the right to eat humans.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: The only reason Toguro killed Kuwabara is because Genkai told him that making Yusuke watch him kill one of his friends would unlock his true power.
  • Whip It Good: Kurama's Rose Whip.
    • Miyuki's got one too.
  • White-Haired Pretty Boy: Yoko Kurama.
  • Wolf Man: Koro Momotaro using his one of his Steaming Spheres to transform into his last Beast Armor: the Armor of the Wolf, which resembles a werewolf.
  • World of Cardboard Speech: Yusuke gives one every few saga's as he learns what it means to have a sense of responsibility.
  • World's Strongest Man: Sensui.
    • After Sensui dies, Kuwabara is confirmed to be the World's Strongest Man. Possessing A-Class power and a sword that can cut through dimensions will do that to you.
      • Unfortunately, Kuwabara is in the same boat as Krillin. Being the World's Strongest Man is meaningless when you Can't Catch Up.
      • Slightly subverted in that, while it wasn't shown in actual combat, Kuwabara could have surpassed everyone's intelligence in the end and he happened to have the one super weapon that could slice through a class S armor that also didn't weaken as he stopped fighting since it's the in-universe equivalent of Muramasa the Demon Blade.
  • Wouldn't Hit a Girl: Kuwabara, when trying to beat up Miyuki, who, ironically, in the manga and uncensored anime, wasn't a girl.
  • Xanatos Gambit: Sensui, within his greater Batman Gambit: he sets up eleven-year-old Amanuma so that the only way the heroes can advance is to kill him. If they let him live, the Makai Tunnel opens without a hitch, and Sensui can die happily. If they kill him (which they do), Sensui knows that Koenma will feel guilty and drain his energy resurrecting the kid, thereby rendering him unable to defeat Sensui, and the Makai Tunnel still opens without a hitch and Sensui dies happily.
  • Xanatos Speed Chess: Just about all of Kurama's fights. While he usually has a vague plan going in, he almost always has to rely on a stroke of genius to save the day.
  • Yaoi Guys: Karasu, Itsuki. Sensui is debatable, since he's not very preoccupied with relationships beyond using people while trying to destroy humankind... but there are very subtle cues in his backstory and in the way he acts.
  • Yin-Yang Bomb: Toward the end of the series, one of the characters mixes human energy and demon energy. The resulting combination is far more powerful than the two were separately.
  • You Gotta Have Blue Hair

Koto (to Botan): Stick to what you're good at, honey, like dying your hair unnatural colors, for instance.

  • Youkai: Pretty much nearly 80% of all the antagonists in the series and 3/5 of the Nakama.
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