Characters / Yuri!!! on Ice - Main Characters

Main Character Index | Main Characters (Yuri Katsuki) | Other Ice Skaters | Hasetsu Citizens and Other Characters

This page is for tropes relating to the three main characters of Yuri!!! on Ice: Yuri Katsuki, Victor Nikiforov and Yuri Plisetsky.

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General

• Animal Motifs:
  • Pigs are a recurring theme with Yuri — he has trouble managing his weight, his Trademark Favorite Food is pork cutlet bowls, Victor occasionally calls him a piglet, and Yurio's insult of choice for him seems to be “pig”. There's also official art of him wearing a pig costume◊.
  • Dogs for Victor. Besides having a poodle as a pet, the way Victor can be affectionate towards Yuri can be puppy-like, and just like with Yuri with his respective Animal Motif, there's official art of Victor in a poodle costume◊.
  • For Yurio, it's cats, though it can also extend to felines in general. He has a cat at home and often wears clothes that either have leopard print or pictures of big cats on them. It's even acknowledged In-Universe, since Victor compares him to a kitten and his fans wear cat-eared headbands.
• Color Motifs:
  • Blue for Yuri, and for the series as well. All of Yuri's skating outfits and almost everything else he owns and wears have the color blue in them. Needless to say, it's completely befitting for his character, since blue symbolizes serenity, alluding to the confidence he needs; sorrow, representing the anxiety he harbors; and devotion, referring to his admiration and eventual affection for Victor. Blue is also associated with both masculinity and femininity, as well as meditation, which identifies with Yuri's tendency to overthink things as well as him learning to better manage himself.
  • Victor has two: red and purple. Red and purple both symbolize love, as there is not one episode where he doesn't bring up love as a topic, what with most of his actions in the series being driven by his love for Yuri. Both colors also represent magic, due to his status as a Manic Pixie Dream Guy in Yuri's life by bringing him out of his slump and helping him skate on the rink one more time.
    • Red is also associated with strength and power, which symbolizes his prowess as an undefeated figure skating champion; impulsiveness, representing his whimsical attitude, and; enthusiasm and energy, perfectly encompassing his jovial (if somewhat silly) side.
    • Purple also stands for elegance, referring to his good looks and his public image as a skater and an idol in general; royalty and wealth, symbolizing his status as a Living Legend, along with the simple fact that he's as wealthy as a king, and; mystery, as he remains an enigma for almost three-fourth of the series' run. Most importantly, purple is a combination of the colors blue (which is Yuri's respective Color Motif) and red, making the color a subtle Foreshadowing to both Yuri and Victor eventually becoming an Official Couple.
  • Yurio tends to be associated with the color yellow, which is ironic since yellow represents happiness, friendliness, honor, caution, wisdom, and positivity — all the things Yurio severely lacks. On the other hand, yellow also represents confidence, impatience, impulsiveness, egotism, jealousy, instability, and emotional distance, which fits Yurio's character to a tee.
• Foil: All three of them are one to each other.
  • Yuri and Yurio — You can contrast the two down to their body types: Yuri is a naturally diffident person whose self-confidence issues and broodiness keep him from performing at his technical best; Yurio is brash, belligerent, and cocky about his own abilities on the ice. Yuri is a skater in the twilight of his career contending with a less-than-stellar track record and competitors who don't necessarily view him as a threat; Yurio is an up-and-coming athlete entering the prime of his career who's already considered a formidable presence in the skating world based on the strength of his performance as a junior alone. Yuri is prone to comfort-eating and easy weight-gain, and has to make a concerted effort to keep the pounds off for the season; Yurio is lithe and slender, but is aware that it's likely he'll lose his trademark thinness and androgyny by the time he hits his twenties. The list goes on and on.
  • Yuri and Victor — Similar with Yurio, Victor's career is full of nothing but successes and is the one every other male skater strives to defeat, while Yuri is a skater whose career isn't exactly stellar and tends to be looked down on because of it. In terms of skating, Victor is a natural prodigy whose skills blossomed at a young age, while Yuri already knew how to skate since his childhood but only decided to skate professionally some time later, and had to train hard for a few more years to be as good as he is. Their personalities are also the opposite; Yuri is reclusive, anxious, physically aversive, and sees the glass as half-empty, while Victor has a quirky attitude, is confident in himself, physically clingy, and sees the glass as half-full; though they're both realistic about their respective pessimistic and optimistic viewpoints. There is also the issue with their skating professions; Yuri struggles with his career because his insecurities hold him back from improving and skating at his absolute best, negatively affecting him due to his desire to be Victor's equal. On the other hand, Victor struggles with his own career due to the pressure of maintaining his winning streak while making sure to impress the audience every season, leaving him no time for himself to the point that it's draining him emotionally.
  • Victor and Yurio — They’re both Russian skaters who are recognized as skating prodigies since their younger years, but they’re vastly different from the other. Victor owns a pet dog; Yurio owns a pet cat. Victor is confident in his skills as a skater but is never arrogant to his competitors and trains diligently; Yurio looks down on many skaters and got so arrogant that he ditches practice (until he got a slice of Humble Pie served to him). Victor has effeminate traits and is associated with the opposite gender a few times but is never peeved or ashamed about it; Yurio despises the fact the public sees him as fragile and sweet from his androgynous looks and wishes to be perceived as masculine and tough instead. Victor deals with things in a diplomatic manner; Yurio handles situations aggressively and immaturely.
• Four-Temperament Ensemble:
  • Yuri is the Melancholic. On the bright side, Yuri is good-natured, deeply thoughtful, artistic, hard-working, eager to learn more, conscientious, loyal, and a perfectionist (almost to a fault). On the downside however, he's emotionally sensitive, self-deprecating, stubborn, introverted, and insecure.
  • Victor is both the Phlegmatic and the Sanguine, though because of this he could arguably qualify more as the Leukine; he's affable, confident, patient and understanding, kind and considerate (albeit with cases of Innocently Insensitive and Brutal Honesty), mysterious, almost always cheerful, and acts as a role model in Yuri's life to help him better himself.
  • Yurio is the Choleric; being competitive, confident, and pragmatic; but also domineering, confrontational, overachieving, disrespectful to his elders, temperamental, headstrong, arrogant, and doesn't think twice about what he says even if others are hurt by his words.
• Freudian Trio:
  • The Ego: Yuri is a balance of reason and emotion, given that he follows his mind as much as he follows his heart, even if it isn't always for the better.
  • The Superego: While Victor can also qualify as The Kirk, he fits this trope more since as the most experienced skater, he can make decisions the other two can't, and even serves as their mentor.
  • The Id: Yurio, due to being the most expressive and temperamental, along with his tendency to act before thinking.
• Nice, Mean, and In-Between: Yuri is the "Nice" to Yurio's "Mean" and Victor's "In-Between", although there are instances when he becomes the "In-Between" to Victor's "Nice" instead. And yes, Yurio is still the "Mean" even at his kinder moments and the other two's worst.

Yuri Katsuki

See his page here

Victor Nikiforov

Victor Nikiforov

Voiced by: Jun'ichi Suwabe (Japanese), Jerry Jewell (English)

"You have to do the opposite of what people will expect. How else will you surprise them?"

A famous figure skating champion from Russia. At 27-years-old, he's close to retirement, and after seeing Yuri's video he decides to go to Japan to become his coach.

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• The Ace: He's seen as the best of the best among the male figure skating community. After all, one doesn't get to be known as a Living Legend for nothing; he's even the only skater with a perfect score in all parameters (skating, jumps, spins, and step sequences).
• Affectionate Nickname:
  • Like with "Yuratchka" for Yurio, Yakov would sometimes call him "Vitya", and in the English dub, Victor's fans call him that nickname too. It's the real world Russian diminutive of Victor, so this makes sense.
  • Hiroko calls him "Vicchan", after Yuri's deceased dog (who in turn was named after Victor).
• Always Someone Better: He has this effect on the other skaters, and it's because of this that they're determined to beat him.
• Awesome, but Impractical: His spending habits sometimes verge into this. When he lodges at Yuri's inn, he has dozens of huge boxes shipped from Russia to Japan. While some of the boxes contain his skating outfits, others are implied to contain things that Victor needs in order to feel at home. For example, if one examines the contents of his room at the inn, one can notice an enormous bust next to his bed.
• Beware the Silly Ones: He normally has a very casual attitude and can even be downright goofy at times, but it isn't a wise idea to get on his nerves.
• Beyond the Impossible: His championship free program has at least four quads. Most skaters would only put one or two in their program tops ^note For good reason, too — a quad, in any form, is considered the hardest move to pull off in figure skating., but here he is, popping them all cleanly like pills. Though, with recent figure skating advancements, it's been proven this isn't so much impossible as ridiculously hard, even in the women's division.
• The Big Damn Kiss: With Yuri, in Episode 7.
• Broken Ace: While intially established as The Ace of the figure skating world, Episode 10 implies that for the past twenty years, he's been sacrificing his personal life and relationships in order to focus solely on figure skating. It's also implied that his ideal of constantly surprising his audience has also put an extra strain on him, due to not only having to give up things he likes, but also having to work extra hard in order to keep being unpredictable (and face the realization that after a certain point, it's the unpredictability that stops surprising people). He managed to become a Living Legend by giving up on every other aspect of his life, something that living with Yuri makes him realize.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: A downplayed same-gender example, but Yuri's anxiety and shyness is a contrast to Victor's confidence and sunny attitude.
• Brutal Honesty: He has no qualms over calling Yuri out on the fact that he is fat (for a skater) and has been eating his "reward food" non-stop even without winning anything at all lately. Later, when he is with both Yuris, he mentions that in the eyes of the public, they aren't much more than a kitten and a piglet.
• Bunny-Ears Lawyer: He’s a very flirtatious oddball who has, apparently, no sense of shame in showing his naked body to Yuri, a man with whom he spent only one night dancing, even if said man was half-naked for much of the night and was hanging all over Victor, and declaring to Yuri that he will be his coach without even getting out of the bath. Nonetheless, he's one of the best male figure skaters in the world, and basically a Living Legend.
• Can't Act Perverted Toward a Love Interest: Inverted. Victor introduces himself to Yuri buck naked, asks to share a bed with him the first night they've ever known each other, and ties his robe juuuust loosely enough that it falls demurely off one shoulder. Episode 10 reveals that Yuri acted this way with Victor first, making all the times he acted overly flirtatious and affectionate with Yuri (physically or otherwise) and all their innuendo-laden (both in the romantic and sexual context) exchanges make a lot more sense, since he was under the impression that Yuri was already into him and open about it.
• Character Tics: Whenever he’s contemplating about something, he puts a finger on his lips or his chin.
• Chick Magnet: Played with. It's worth noting that Victor has a huge female and male fanbase (see Even the Guys Want Him below), though he's never seen being literally surrounded by them.
• Cloudcuckoolander: He has more than a few shades of this. He doesn't think anything of telling Yuri he'll be his coach while naked, in Episode 3 he dresses up in traditional Japanese clothes just so he can promote Hasetsu's hot springs instead of commenting on the "Hot Springs on Ice" event like he's supposed to, and also thinks it's a good idea to go out swimming during the winter. Admittedly, he's Russian, so Hasetsu's winter is probably nothing compared to how cold it'd get in St. Petersburg.
• Crowd Pleaser: As a skater, he lives to surprise his audience, and he enjoys hamming it up for an audience in Hasetsu. However, he's reached the point in his career where he's not happy with his performances, and the adulation of his fans isn't enough to keep him motivated. Subsequently, his public persona as a skater becomes more distant.
• Crush Blush: He gets this during his Forgotten First Meeting with Yuri (the forgotten part from Yuri's side).
• Cuddle Bug: Simply put, there's rarely an episode where he isn't touchy-feely with Yuri. With everyone else though, he generally keeps a respectable distance.
• Determinator: Curiously enough, not really with regard to his own skating, although he may have been this when he was younger. Instead, he meets the criteria when it comes to his love life. He became infatuated with a young man from another country (Yuri), risked his whole career to keep his promise to coach said man, upped the stakes and moved his whole life to Japan, and spent the next six months or so pursuing Yuri romantically while also getting him in shape for the Grand Prix. He's also very much a Determinator when it comes to Yuri's career.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: His younger self counts, especially since he was a Long-Haired Pretty Boy at the time and tended to play up his androgyny. There's also the fact that one of his old costumes (which Yuri uses for his Eros program) was designed to invoke both male and female genders.
• Eccentric Mentor: To Yuri; though he has a lot of experience as a figure skater, the goofy Cloudcuckoolander aspects of his personality and his tendency to be a Cuddle Bug towards Yuri make him this.
• Even the Guys Want Him: Aside from Yuri's Celebrity Crush which eventually turns into a genuine romance, when he winks to the public, men and women alike look absolutely smitten.
• Fan of the Underdog: Yuri spent the entirety of his career losing one competition after another, but Victor decides to stick with him anyway after seeing Yuri perform his gold-winning "Stay Close to Me" program.
• Fatal Flaw: He's a skating prodigy, and as a coach, he does well in improving Yuri's skills. However, being at the top for many years caused him to have little knowledge on how to deal with people when they're feeling down, leaving him with no idea on what to say or do. This shows when he unintentionally drives Yuri to tears in Episode 7. It comes back at full force when Victor is silent for most of the time even after he sees Yuri being visibly disappointed with his performance, and cheers on the other figure skaters while completely forgetting what kind of person he's currently engaged to.
• Female Gaze: The scene at the hot springs has a generous focus on his naked figure.
• Fiction 500: If the accessories, clothes, and all the other things he's seen with in the anime and the official scans are anything to go by, almost everything he owns is extremely expensive — meaning he must have a hell of a fortune. It doesn't mean he has an endless supply of cash though, since he mentions the euro exchange value when he goes out shopping with Yuri in Episode 10.
• Fool for Love: There are hints that Victor is this. The programs he had in mind for the upcoming seasons were centered around love, and the song he used for his free program in the previous season is basically a lover's serenade. Episode 10 eventually confirms this, given that he flew all the way from Russia to Japan to coach someone he didn't even personally know, just because that same person asked him to be his coach and because it was Love at First Sight for him when that person made said request.
• Friendly Rivalry: With Christophe. They have been fellow competitors for about ten years, although they are close friends off the ice.
• Gorgeous Gaijin: Actively known as a handsome man? Check. No Sense of Personal Space? Check. Has the bulk of the fanservice shots in the show? Check. Jun'ichi Suwabe's smooth, deep vocals? Check and check. And take note that he's one of the very few among the foreign cast that gets treated like this. Face it — he's sex on skates.
• Gratuitous Foreign Language: In two flavors: Gratuitous Russian (which makes sense, as he is Russian) and Gratuitous English (probably due to traveling a lot, as well as to reflect how he and Yuri speak to each other in English).
• The Hero's Idol: He's Yuri's favorite figure skater, whom he wants to skate on the same ice with and properly compete against. And then Victor becomes his coach, pushing Yuri to new heights in his skating.
• Hyper-Awareness: Downplayed, but he could immediately tell that Yurio taught Yuri the quadruple Salchow when he walked in on Yurio just as the latter was about to give Yuri another demonstration.
• Hypocrite: Victor never listened to what his coach would tell him, but when he gets a little miffed himself when Yuri ignores some of his advice in Episode 5.
• Iconic Outfit: His Stammi Vicino costume and his coach outfits are the first ones to come to mind, but he’s also surprisingly recognizable by the green robe he usually wears while in Yuuri’s house.
• I Kiss Your Hand: He does this to Yuri at their reunion in the airport.
• Implausible Hair Color: In a series where hair colors are generally rather realistic and any cases of multicolored hair are clearly due to hair dye, Victor’s hair color stands out as the strangest. Silver hair is not impossible in real life, but it’s nearly non-existent as a natural hair color, plus Victor isn’t an albino.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: A combination of this and Icy Blue Eyes. His eyes seem to be a case of purely the latter at first, given that Victor is introduced as mostly level-headed (if a bit eccentric) and serves as Yuri's mentor, although his true personality makes it a bit of both. He's not as scheming or manipulative by default, but he can be sneaky or asserting if needed, and keep in mind that he's already a fully-grown adult dealing with conflicts regarding his career and his relationship with Yuri.
• Innocently Insensitive:
  • His lack of experience as a coach causes him to be this, which results in him making Yuri cry by telling him that he'll resign being his coach if he doesn't place on the podium, which he only said to scare Yuri out of his anxiety.
  • In Episode 11, when Yurio subtly mocks Yuri's performance by saying that Otabek will score higher than him, Victor doesn't defend Yuri or even give him some reassurance and simply expresses awe at Otabek's performance, which hurts Yuri even further. In fact, he says nothing to comfort Yuri even after seeing how he's upset with the results of his short program, though it's likely he's unaware that Yuri's mood is getting worse.
• Insufferable Genius: Played with. He knows he's good, even smugly telling Yurio that he would definitely win the Grand Prix if he was the one skating the agape program. He's nowhere near the likes of either J.J. or Yurio however, as he doesn't rub his achievements in other's faces, let his successes get to his head, or look down on anyone.
• In Vino Veritas: Like Yuri, he can get really wild if inebriated enough. The only difference is that unlike Yuri, he doesn't need to be blackout drunk to do it, and doesn't seem all that ashamed of what he does when he's off the rails. In the stage event, when he and Yuri get drunk together, he gets so riled up that, believing Yuri's complimenting an ex named "Chihoko," he writes "Overcome Chihoko" in Russian on Yuri's back and immediately goes to the roof of Hasetsu Ice Castle naked to try and 'outshine' her. When Yuri reassures him that's not the case, he accepts it...if Yuri will come stretch naked up there with him.
• It's All About Me: Something of an endearing variation, as this is Played for Laughs; he literally threw everything in Russia away to go to Japan and coach Yuri. This is lampshaded by his coach, who mentions that Victor will always do what he wants anyway. That said, Celestino even seems to dig into him for this in Episode 4, expressing some confusion at him "playing coach" now, and Yakov is none too pleased about it either, refusing to acknowledge him as a real coach.
  • In Episode 12, he takes Yuri's decision to retire as a personal insult, rather than trying to find out Yuri's reasoning and talk it out. This is intensified by the fact that Yuri's timing is atrocious — Victor finally caught up with the man who'd made such an impression on him at the banquet, succeeded in winning his heart, and got engaged to him the day before, only to be told "let's end this." It's understandable why he's absolutely heartbroken at this pronouncement and lashes out accordingly, especially since Yuri had told Victor a single competition before that he wanted Victor to stay with him until he retired, to which Victor said he wished Yuri would never retire. In addition, Victor's belief that Yuri's decision involves Victor is not wrong — Yuri's decision to retire is all about Victor.
• Large Ham: Even more so than Georgi, whose melodramatic tendencies are already something to behold. He doesn't speak from the top of his lungs, but he's flaunts himself in the strangest ways and is larger-than-life most of the time. There's also the fact that he's very expressive regarding his affection for Yuri, as can be seen from him showing up in Yuri's hot springs stark naked to standing on top of a historical building and stretching while stark naked in an attempt to impress Yuri.
• Living Emotional Crutch: To Yuri, with Yuri also being one to him, after they get to know each other. Word of God even stated that the two — now that they’re in a relationship and are engaged to add — can’t stand to be apart and basically can’t live without each other, albeit this is explored in a healthy manner.
• Living Legend: One of, if not the, best figure skaters in the world. Yuri even uses this exact phrase to describe him.
• Long-Haired Pretty Boy: He wore his hair down to his waist as a teenager and in his early twenties. Now it's much shorter, but he's still quite pretty.
• Love at First Sight: It's heavily implied that after spending a night dancing with a wildly drunk Yuri, Victor became absolutely smitten with him. When Yuri hugs him and asks him to be his coach, along with having a Crush Blush, his pupils dilate and he lets out an audible gasp.
• Manic Pixie Dream Guy: The series heavily sets him up to be this to Yuri's melancholic depressive at the beginning and then gradually tears it down as the story progresses.
• Manipulative Bastard: He's too sweet and basically decent to qualify as a "bastard", but he definitely has a manipulative streak — after all, he's a coach, and he has to know how to hit Yuri's buttons in order to ensure that he skates well (although it takes him a while to figure out what crosses the line — see the disaster in Episode 7, compared to his successful prompting in Episode 12). Aside from that, he's been Yakov's student so long that he clearly knows how to handle his coach when other skaters would be intimidated into behaving, he practices Stealth Mentor techniques on Yurio, reckoning that this will be more useful to the younger skater, and he manages to wind fans and reporters around his little finger.
• Meaningful Name: Not only is Victor's given name an apt one for a Living Legend, his surname similarly comes from the Greek name "Nikephoros", which means "victory-bringer". Additionally, his whole name is a reference to the goddess of victory, who is aptly named Victoria in Roman mythology and Nike in Greek mythology.
• The Mentor: To Yuri.
• Motor Mouth: Victor sometimes slips into this whenever he lectures Yuri about his performances, most often immediately after they occur. Apparently, Victor's own coach is known for doing this in the kiss-and-cry, too.
• Mr. Fanservice: His body is given a lot of attention, especially in the first four episodes where he often uses Yu-Topia's hot springs.
• My God, What Have I Done?: He's horrified when he inadvertently makes Yuri cry, flinching back before hastily apologizing for his actions.
• Naked First Impression: The first time he and Yuri really meet and talk (from Yuri's perspective, anyway), Victor is completely naked and is not afraid to show it.
• Nobody Touches the Hair: Even though he's generally a very touchy-feely person, he gets upset when Yuri pokes at the crown of his head. His hair is a sensitive topic for him since he's worried about going bald, though Word of God has said that he's not actually balding at all. It makes the ending credits, where Yuri and Victor are shown playfully washing each other's hair, all the more heartwarming.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed:
  • He's heavily based on Evgeni Plushenko in terms of career.
  • Victor's physical features are inspired by American actor John Cameron Mitchell; Mitsurou Kubo stated in an interview that when she went to see the musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, she was inspired to base Victor's good looks on him, as well as his Sultry Bangs hairstyle.
• No Challenge Equals No Satisfaction: Victor has been facing a dilemma regarding the future of his career because of this; not from being undefeatable, but as Yurio puts it:
  Yurio: Surprising the audience has always been his top priority. He had the whole world in his hands. But now, no matter what he does, no one’s surprised anymore. He knows that better than anyone. If you don’t have any inspiration left, you’re as good as dead.
  • This gets deconstructed later on, since always having to meet the audience's expectations ended up becoming a burden — and in return for staying at his prime, he neglected all chances of living for himself, which he lampshades in Episode 10.
• No Sense of Personal Space: Interestingly, only to Yuri; other than hugging Yakov and Yurio once or twice, he appears to avoid touching everyone else. In the official art, he's even seen clinging to Yuri while they both are in the baths. In general, the official art has him very close and/or touching Yuri, and Yuri eventually becomes comfortable with it later in the series. As it turns out, he's actually been flirting with Yuri for all the times he's been trying to get close to him.
• Official Couple: As of Episode 10, he's now happily engaged to his protégé, Yuri Katsuki.
• Omniglot: According to Word of God, he's fluent in Russian, English and French. While he's not proficient in Japanese at first, a few scenes in the anime and some of the bonus content implies that he's slowly learning.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • He's normally calm during most situations, albeit in Episode 7, while trying to keep Yuri from having a panic attack, he temporarily breaks away from his cool-headed demeanor when he tells Yuri to block out the noise of the audience.
  • Despite Yurio's bratty attitude and insulting remarks towards either him or Yuri, Victor is indifferent or amused at best... until in Episode 10, where he reacts with thinly-veiled rage after Yurio makes disparaging comments about his engagement to Yuri, showing that his patience does have its limits.
  • In Episode 12, after Yuri expresses his intention to terminate their coach-student relationship, Victor cries and angrily snaps at Yuri for making such a decision.
• Open Mouth, Insert Foot: Even though he means well, Victor can often be tactless or unaware of the consequences his actions may bring. To be fair, if he knows he screwed up, he'll be careful to not commit the same mistake again.
• The Perils of Being the Best: He was constantly expected to surprise the audience with his programs and lost his inspiration as a result, to the point he felt like it was choking the life out of him.
• Pink Boy, Blue Girl: Another same-gender example; Victor is the pink (or red, since pink is a shade of red) to Yuri's blue.
• Pretty Boy: He was definitely this when he was a teenager, especially with his long hair. Even as an adult, he hasn't lost his pretty looks, since his body is long and slender and his features are quite delicate for a man in his late twenties.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: He's the red to Yuri's blue by fault, but oftentimes it can be zig-zagged, as Victor can be more rational than Yuri at some instances, but there are other times when Yuri handles a situation more maturely than him.
• Repetitive Name: As noted under Meaningful Name, both his first and last names are derived from the Classical goddess of victory, Victoria/Nike.
• Retired Badass: Victor is mentioned to be close to retirement ^note The skater who inspired his character, Evgeni Plushenko, retired at 32 after the Sochi Winter Olympics, and was plagued with health issues long before that — at his last stint at the Olympics, for example, he couldn't participate in the short singles because of a back problem, and carried the group stage basically on painkillers and willpower alone., so he decides to try coaching Yuri, as coaching is a common career for retired athletes.
• Running Gag:
  • Victor has a habit of forgetting the promises he makes.
  • He also has a habit of embarrassing Yuri... while naked.
• Secretly Selfish: A little bit, but not for the reasons suspected. He takes on a failing skater as his first student, putting his entire career on the back burner to do so, leaving his fans and peers absolutely baffled by this bizarre act of whimsical altruism. Most people who know him believe that he's doing it to entertain himself, use as an excuse to take a season off, or to get material for his own programs. As it turns out, it's a mixture of keeping his word and self-interest: Yuri asked him to become his coach, and he's keeping his word... but he also became intrigued (if not instantly smitten) with Yuri himself, and coaching him became a way of getting close to the object of his affections.
• Sex God: He has been described by his voice actor as "a natural sex bomb".
• Sex Sells: No doubt, a part of his huge popularity comes from his Wink "Ding!", teasing people and his good looks.
• Sexy Mentor: He coaches Yuri through his presumed final season and gives him the confidence and sex appeal needed to start becoming a better skater, and he's very attractive himself. It's honestly not that hard to say he's this.
• Ship Tease: With Yuri, naturally. As of Episode 7, they've now evolved out of that and into an Official Couple.
• Sickeningly Sweethearts: He becomes this with Yuri after their Relationship Upgrade into an Official Couple, much to Yurio's chagrin.
• Signature Move: According to the first episode, Victor's is a quadruple flip.
• Significant Birth Date: Victor was born on December 25th. Episode 10 makes a point of noting that Russia doesn't make a fuss of Christmas Day, but it's an important date elsewhere in the world. Given Victor's often playful, occasionally childish nature and love of surprises, he fits the more "Western" ideas about Christmas, whereas taken from a Japanese perspective, he fits the more romantic connotations of the day, as love turns out to be one of his main motivations.
• Single-Target Sexuality: While Victor dated other people before, it's obvious that Yuri became the only one for him after their encounter at the Sochi Grand Prix banquet. He didn't forget about Yuri even though he didn't see or hear from him again for the next few months, immediately flew to Japan after seeing a video of him, then continuously flirted with him until they got together in Episode 7.
• Sleeps in the Nude: Heavily implied. The two times we see him sleep in Yuuri's house, he's always seen bare-chested. His blanket covers him from the waist down so we can't be sure, but seeing how Victor is quite comfortable with people seeing him without clothes, it's very likely that he goes to sleep nude.
• Spell My Name With An S: So is it Victor, or is it Viktor? The most culturally correct spelling for his name is "Viktor", but all official material and In-Universe has his name written "Victor".
• Stealth Mentor: His approach to coaching Yurio in Episode 3. He tells him to do things to clear his head to find his motivation for his program, didn't see a need to give him a pep talk before his performance, and in general was aloof to him.
• Stepford Smiler: The depressed type. He tends to smile through every situation, no matter how frustrated or miserable he is. It may have driven perception of him as the fickle and selfish emperor of the ice, when in actuality he felt like his skating career was a chain around his neck, strangling him. What's interesting is that once you've seen his real smiles, it's very easy to find where in the series he's only smiling out of obligation; he's not fooling anyone who knows him on more than a superficial level.
• Strange Minds Think Alike:
  • With the triplets; he usually goes on board with their fangirling over figure skating and eagerness for a competition.
  • With Christophe; they're both oddballs who are open about their sexuality and thus get along well off the ice.
• Strong, but Unskilled: As a coach. He knows how to create a great program, how to milk the best out of each skater and make Yuri shine on stage, but as Yakov mentions, he still has trouble helping Yuri off the ice and in Episode 7, Yuri is the one to has to console him, instead of the opposite.
• Suddenly Shouting: When Yuri tells Victor he plans to retire after the Grand Prix ends, Victor makes a morose remark in a calm, if shaken, tone... before abruptly raising his voice at Yuri when he expresses that he's also angry about it.
• Sultry Bangs: His hairstyle covers his left eye, which suits him given the emphasis on his good looks and his flirty behaviour towards Yuri.
• Take a Third Option: When Victor leaves for Japan to coach Yuri, Yurio follows him and reminds him that he promised to choreograph a program for him, and demands that he returns to Russia. Instead of rejecting him or acquiescing to his request, Victor holds a contest between the two Yuris and choreograph a different program for both of them, and agrees to become the coach of whoever wins. Yuri wins the competition, but Yurio got what he was promised.
• Teacher/Student Romance: He and Yuri started off as an figure skating teacher and student, respectively before becoming a couple and getting engaged.
• Tears of Joy: He sheds these when Yuri lands the quadruple flip in his free skate at the Grand Prix Final.
• The Tease: A rare male example, but apparently he likes being this to Yuri. He is also described as having a very flirtatious personality. In fact, in the first day of being around Yuri, he wanted them to sleep in the same room and when alone, he says he wants to talk about Yuri while holding Yuri by the chin and placing his hand over his.
  • This is eventually subverted, with the revelation in Episode 10 that Yuri had actually drunkenly hit on Victor at a banquet after the Sochi Grand Prix Final, it's likely Victor was not just teasing, but was seriously flirting with Yuri. Not that Yuri remembers anything about that night.
• Technically a Smile: Victor has quite a repertoire of these. The most commonly seen one is the tight-lipped smile with closed eyes that he gives when he's deeply annoyed or when he intends to take a verbal dig at someone else. In flashbacks, we see Victor on the podium showing off his medal... but the "smile" that he gives is empty and almost a grimace. It's a stark contrast to his goofy heart-shaped grin or his genuine smile, and one of the clues that Victor was deeply unhappy prior to the events of the show, and was just going through the motions of being a carefree, successful superstar.
• Teen Genius: He was already an ice-skating prodigy when he was a junior.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: According to the official fanbook, Victor's weakness is cooperation; and to drive this point home, his score is a complete zero, whereas the other skaters at least having a score above zero in their respective weaknesses. This is exemplified with Yakov's exasperation at the fact that Victor never listens to his advice and always plays by his own rules.
• Trademark Favorite Food: According to Word of God, it's sweet potato shōchū.
• Tranquil Fury: In Episode 10, he grabs Yurio's face after the latter talks about him, and then Yuri, in a derisive manner. Even though his expression shows a calm smile, his eyes give an insanely cold look, meaning he's barely containing his anger. The director even confirmed that he was pissed because Yurio called Yuri a "pig" one time too many.
• Urban Legend Love Life: Minako describes him as "worldly" and comments on his legions of fans, and Yuri certainly seems to have Victor in mind when he envisions a careless, selfish playboy for the eros program. However, we don't know if Victor lives up to this reputation, as Yuri cuts him off when he begins to talk about his love life, and from what the viewer sees Victor takes love and commitment very seriously indeed. His chronic loneliness also seems mismatched with the "player" image.
• Vodka Drunkenski: Not vodka, but he often gets wasted on beer. Like any good Russian, he can hold his liquor.
• Wacky Marriage Proposal: While they're already engaged, in Episode 12 Victor reiterates the proposal by saying that he wants to kiss Yuri's gold medal. As they promised each other to get married after Yuri wins a gold medal, the meaning doesn't escape him and they break down laughing and crying with joy, making up at the same time.
• White-Dwarf Starlet: Many of Victor's fans suspect that he may be heading for this fate. He may be a Living Legend, but he's already 27 years old, and sooner or later he will have to leave figure skating for good. Word of God confirms that Victor has some worries about this long before he made his decision to coach Yuri.
• White Hair, Black Heart: Subverted. Before his true motivations are revealed, because of Victor's status as a particularly cheerful Manipulative Bastard with Brutal Honesty, and his silver hair covering his eyes seemingly indicating duplicity, fandom ran amok with theories ranging from "he was secretly dying and wanted to coach a replacement", or "he's a Sabotutor". It was then revealed that he's just a dork prone to Poor Communication Kills and motivated by a Forgotten First Meeting.
• Wink "Ding!": Not only prone to this, but is also quite the flirtatious and charming variation of it. A single wink was enough to send a bunch of male and female reporters alike swooning with Heart Eyes.
  • He also does this to Yuri when they meet.
• Workaholic: His monologue on Episode 10 reveals that he never stopped to take vacations or to stop thinking about figure skating for the past twenty years. Deconstructed in which during his time off, he finally realizes what he is missing, especially after he met Yuri.

Yuri "Yurio" Plisetsky

Yuri "Yurio" Plisetsky

Voiced by: Kōki Uchiyama (Japanese), Micah Solusod (English)

"I only have a short window until my body changes. I'm going to take advantage of everything I can right now to win."

A 15-year-old Russian skater who is getting ready for his debut in the senior division. He is talented, but also very short-tempered and irritable.

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• Affectionate Nickname: "Yuratchka", which is an affectionate (if misspelled) Russian diminutive of his name. His grandfather, the members of his fan club, and even Yakov call him this (in Yakov's case, when Yurio breaks Victor's world record in the short program at the Grand Prix Final in Episode 11).
• Angrish: He verges onto this in Episode 8, growling through gritted teeth and heading for the rink in an huffy fit after Yuri and Victor cheer him on.
• Beauty Is Bad: His gentle and fae-like appearance earned him the moniker of the "Russian Fairy", but it highly contrasts with his volatile temper and antagonistic attitude, earning him his other moniker of the "Russian Punk".
• Big Ego, Hidden Depths: There is zero doubt about his arrogance and abrasiveness, but there's more to Yurio's character than just that.
• Chick Magnet: He has an entire fan-club of girls enamored with him. It annoys rather than flatters him.
• Culture Clash: When he arrives in Japan, he has some difficulties adjusting to local customs: he refuses to use the hot springs because he can't bathe in front of other people, and eats pork cutlet bowls with a fork instead of chopsticks. He adapts quickly, though.
• Dark and Troubled Past: According to the main screenwriter Mitsuro Kubo, Yurio's background and family weren't explored much because it would have clashed with the anime's positive and hopeful tone. In the audio commentary for the second Blu-ray volume, Kubo reveals that Yurio's mother was a former Russian idol who quit show business early and gave birth to him at a young age. Yurio, through what's assumed to be a combination of government athletic grants and various figure skating earnings, is the primary breadwinner of his family at this point (and is implied to have been for some time).
• Death Glare: He gives a lot of these, with most of them directed at Yuri.
• Determinator: His training regimen is brutal, and he's only fifteen. Nonetheless, he's prepared to do what it takes to win gold at the Grand Prix Final. When the Final itself rolls around, he finds even more determination to win, becoming hell-bent on getting the gold in order to prevent Yuri from retiring.
• Diving Kick: Played for Laughs. He "greets" Yuri with this twice in the series, though the second time is more heartwarming than the first.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: He's known as the "Russian Fairy" due to his fair and androgynous appearance and build, which he uses to his advantage when he's on the ice. J.J. also jokingly calls him a lady at one point.
• Establishing Character Moment: His first scene is him following Yuri to the bathroom just to scream to him that he should give up.
• Even Bad Men Love Their Mamas: More plain jerk than an outright bad guy, but he's really close to his grandfather, and Yuri even mentions that his expression seems to soften when he thinks of him. When his grandfather shows up in Episode 8, Yurio cheerfully greets him with a flying glomp.
• Fan of the Underdog: Episode 12 reveals that he was this for Yuri ever since the beginning.
• Fatal Flaw: During his performance of On Love: Agape, despite having found what makes him vulnerable and feel unconditional love, incorporating the emotions into his program was his downfall. He found himself focusing more on landing his techniques, almost ignoring the emotions completely. He is aware of it, however, and apologizes to his grandfather, saying he knows he can do better; Yurio looked particularly pained during and after the performance, hinting maybe he couldn't bring himself to fully commit to the emotions.
  • It happens again in Episode 8, where after he becomes irritated with watching Victor and Yuri cheer him on and once again can't focus on his agape. This causes him to flub his first leap, but he makes up for it in the second half.
• Foil: To Kenjiro. Both are seen as the stars among the younger skaters of their generation, and both see Yuri as an idol. However, that’s where their similarities end. Kenjiro is cheerful and excitable, friendly with his fellow skaters, and honest (but tactful) with his opinions of others, whereas Yurio is grouchy and oftentimes broody, isolated from his peers, and always hides his true feelings through a veneer of anger, along with being insensitive about his actions and words. Kenjiro is a Graceful Loser and treats his idol respectfully and adoringly, while Yurio is a Sore Loser and, for some reason, treats his idol in a rude and resentful manner.
• Forgotten First Meeting: With Otabek, whom he met back when he was ten on Yakov's summer camp.
• Friendly Rivalry:
  • Calling it friendly may be a stretch, but even though he and Georgi are competing in the Grand Prix, his attitude towards Georgi's performances is notably civil, in contrast to whenever he watches Yuri's programs.
  • He quickly forms one with Otabek, cheering for him before his performance and bragging about his friend's high score after it.
• Get a Room!: He doesn't say it out loud, but his reactions whenever he sees Yuri and Victor get a little too affectionate with each other scream this trope, although there's probably another reason why he reacts as such.
• Graceful Loser: In Episode 3, he already knew he lost to Yuri before he even finished his performance. Instead of throwing a fit as he had done prior, he silently slips away and heads back to Russia, telling Yuko he plans on winning the Grand Prix Final. He's still pretty bitter about it, however.
• Gratuitous Russian: Not as bad as Victor, but he angrily calls Isabella a ведьма (witch) when she was commenting on the Angels' behavior.
• Green-Eyed Monster:
  • He deeply resents how Victor favors the other Yuri more. In fact, Yurio isn't amused when Victor left Russia to train Yuri, and he immediately flies to Japan afterwards to confront Victor about it. Part of it is that he wants Victor to honor his promise to choreograph a program for Yurio, and part of it is that he wants Victor to be his coach.
  • It's also possible that he's this in the romantic sense too, but not because he's in love with Victor, but with Yuri.
  • A much pettier example: one of the motives for his choreography in his exhibition skate is to steal Victor and Yuri's thunder after seeing their program for the gala.
• Growing Up Sucks: Puberty can be a very a hard time for figure skaters, as their bodies change so drastically that it affects their skating. It's even worse for Yuri, because a great deal of his charm as a skater comes from his lithe, flexible body and androgynous looks, and he's very aware of the fact that he's going to lose them as he grows older.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: To not get on his nerves is easier said than done. It's one of the reasons why he's also known as the "Russian Punk".
• Hiding Behind Your Bangs: His long hair tends to fall over his right eye and he's a loner, with his rude and hot-tempered attitude keeping him from really becoming friends with anyone.
• Hopeless Suitor: If he does have a crush on Yuri, then Yurio never stood a chance from the start.
• Hot-Blooded: He's very fierce, and also passionate, extremely competitive, and outspoken.
• How Dare You Die on Me!: Replace "die" with "retire", and his reaction to Yuri's plans after the Grand Prix Final qualify.
• Humble Pie:
  • Downplayed. At first, he ignores anything his coach would tell him, and slacks off from practice due to his arrogance of being undefeated in the junior division. However, his loss to Yuri in Episode 3 caused him to become more diligent in practice and more willing to listen to his coach's advice, since it reminded him that he's now in the senior division with completely different and more seasoned competitors to face against. Despite all of this, he's still determined to win gold at the Grand Prix Final.
  • Another case of this comes from the same loss. In the earlier episodes, his behavior towards Yuri is completely condescending, and he would smirk when Yuri's flaws and past slip-ups are mentioned or when he brought up the time when Yuri cried from his loss at the previous Grand Prix. However, seeing his performance in the "Hot Springs on Ice" event led Yurio to realize that he underestimated him big-time, to the point that Yuri became the one he strove to defeat the most for the rest of the series. While his treatment of him doesn't get any nicer, he no longer looks down on him. It gets a little more complicated after Episode 12 reveals what he really thinks of Yuri.
• Icy Blue Eyes: He has blue-green eyes that fit his cold attitude. Otabek likens them to "the eyes of a soldier."
• Identical Stranger: According to Yuri's sister, he looks exactly like the blond in a Boy Band she follows; which is why she nicknames him "Yurio" as a portmanteau of his own name and Takao, the band member's.
• In-Series Nickname: He has several:
  • In Episode 2, he gets the nickname of "Yurio" from Mari to avoid confusion between him and her brother. Victor and Yuri (along with Yuri's friends and family in Hasetsu) continually refer to him as this throughout the rest of the series (though IRL fans typically opt for spelling Katsuki's name Yuuri to give him back his own).
  • He's known by his fans as the "Russian Fairy" for his graceful movements and androgynous looks, and by other skaters as the "Russian Punk" due to his brash and rude attitude.
  • In Episode 8, he calls himself the "Ice Tiger of Russia", though it isn't clear if other people call him that.
• Insufferable Genius: He is a huge Jerk Jock whose jerkassery comes from, in no small part, his talent in figure skating.
• Intergenerational Friendship: He's developed a pretty close friendship with Yuko, who's ten years his senior.
• In Touch with His Feminine Side: Downplayed; Lilia trains him and choreographs his free program with the idea of channeling the image of a prima ballerina, and he's good at acting the part on the ice, but it's often implied that Yurio isn't actually happy with this image. His exhibition skate "Welcome to the Madness", with its heavy metal-style song and his outfit looking like something you'd wear to a rock concert, gives a better indication of what Yurio is really like as a person.
• Irrational Hatred: He antagonized Yuri simply because they share the same first name, and it only gets worse from there. Although in Episode 12, it's revealed that he was interested in Yuri because they share the same name.
• Japanese Delinquents: Despite being Russian, his fashion sense is described by Word of God as being similar to a yankii style of dress. He also has the personality fitting of a yankii (in fact, one of his nicknames, the "Russian Punk", is actually the "Russian Yankii" in Japanese).
• Jerkass: At his worst, Yurio is surly, callous, and definitely the meanest character in the series, especially to Yuri.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's rude and bratty, but he also helps Yuri improve his quadruple Salchow for the "Hot Springs on Ice" competition, even though they are rivals and he would have a bigger chance of winning if the latter messed up. He also cares a great deal about his grandfather, using his feelings of familial love for him as the basis of his agape program and greeting him enthusiastically in Episode 8.
• Kick the Dog:
  • You have to admit, storming into the bathroom just to yell at Yuri and tell him to give up already, when he knows that Yuri was not in the best emotional state at the time, is an extremely low blow. He even goes as far as to needle Yuri about his crying the next time they meet. Episode 12 slightly downplays this; Yurio intended to simply talk to Yuri to see what kind of person he was, although ended up talking him down instead after hearing him cry.
  • In Episode 10, the day after Yuri and Victor's engagement, he insults said engagement to Victor's face, even saying that "the ring [Victor] got from [Yuri] is garbage".
• Kick Them While They Are Down: An awful habit of his; he doesn't seem to pick up, let alone care, when someone is in a situation in which any more of Kicking The Dog just crosses the line into plain and unnecessary cruelty:
  • In the very first episode, while Yuri is having a breakdown in the bathroom, he follows him there just to scream at him and break him some more, as if Yuri needed that to add to his self-loathing. Episode 12 reveals that it was more of an impulsive outburst and not his original intention, but it still wasn't helping Yuri.
  • Again in Episode 11, when Yuri cried on the ice over fumbling his final jump, even if he seems to have put himself together, Yurio still finds it appropriate to make comments over how he thinks Otabek will rank higher than him anyway. Though in Yurio's defense, it's likely he couldn't have known about Yuri breaking down after his performance as he was warming up in the backstage when it happened.
• Light Feminine and Dark Feminine: Gender-Inverted and invoked in his and Yuri's short programs, with him being the former. Besides the color of their costumes in said programs (black for Yuri and white/silver for Yurio), Yurio gets the more innocent and angelic agape program while Yuri gets the sensual and nearly-devilish eros program.
• Lost in Translation: The nicknames he gives Yuuri are puns on his last name, for example "Katsudon" (pork cutlet bowl) or "Kachuki" (pig). Unless an English viewer is paying very close attention to the voice audio, they're probably not going to notice this, and the nicknames seem a bit nonsensical or even cruel without context.
• Master of the Mixed Message: To Yuri. At times Yurio acts if he has a venomous hatred towards Yuri, but then there are other times when he acts nice — or at least not as cruel — to him. Most often, he's nice when they're alone and pretty angry when Victor's around. Even after Episode 12 clears up a thing or two, it's still hard to pinpoint what Yurio really thinks about Yuri.
• Moment Killer: He doesn't hide the fact that he does not like Yuri and Victor getting too emotional (or affectionate) when he's around, so this is probably deliberate. The most obvious example is in Episode 3, where he interrupts a particularly intense moment between Yuri and Victor to demand that Victor focus on him, but he also gatecrashes a quiet moment where Victor contemplates his new engagement ring. It's not certain whether it's because it simply makes him uncomfortable, or because he's envious of their relationship.
• The Napoleon: His slightly-lower-than-average height is partially justified by his age, but even then he's extremely violent, hostile, competitive to a fault, and is one negative trait away from being a certified Jerk Jock.
• No Celebrities Were Harmed: In an unusual Gender Flip example, he's based off of female Russian figure skater Yulia Lipnitskaya, and it shows. The anime's writer and original character designer Mitsurou Kubo thought Yulia looked quite fierce for someone so young and saw her covered in leopard print clothing after a skate, which resulted in Yuri's design.
• No Social Skills: It's not surprising, given his personality. One has to be reminded that it took him until the age of fifteen to have his first genuine friend. And even then, it's because the other person voluntarily offered said friendship, not because Yurio made an effort to be more sociable.
• Odd Friendship:
  • With The Stoic and composed Otabek. They might be a little more than friends.
  • He also strikes up a friendship with Yuko, who's a kind and supportive Nice Girl and also a mother of three who's ten years older than him.
• One Sided Rivalry: Towards Yuri, who is seemingly uninterested in having this kind of relationship.
• One-Steve Limit: Invoked; he tells Yuri to retire, so there won't be two Yuris on the next competition. Yuri's sister Mari later dubs him "Yurio" to avoid confusion, which he isn't too fond of at first (especially since Victor, who's known Yuuri Katsuki for a matter of months and Yuri Plisetsky for a matter of years, goes along with this instead of nicknaming Yuuri.)
• Parental Abandonment: Implied. The only time his parents are brought up is during a flashback sequence, where a very tiny Yurio reassures his grandfather that he's alright "even if Mommy is not here". Word of God has also stated that Yurio is providing for himself and his family with the money he earns as a skater, and has been doing so since his junior days. In the audio commentary for the second Blu-ray volume, Word of God revealed that Yurio's mother quit show business early and gave birth to him at a young age.
• The Perfectionist: When it comes to competition, Yurio sets extremely high standards for himself and others. He can't be happy with his victory unless he has won by a landside, fair and square, against opponents who have done their best. Word of God states that the reason of his apparent disappointment with his victory at the Grand Prix Final is that, while he does have a higher overall score than Yuri's, Yuri's score in the free program still highly exceeds his, and there's the fact that he won by a very small margin of only 0.12 points.
• Personality Blood Types: Type B.
• Pet the Dog: In Episode 9, when he consoles Yuuri over placing fourth in the Rostelecom Cup. He even gives him pirozhki stuffed with his Trademark Favorite Food as an early birthday present.
• Pint-Sized Powerhouse: He's one of the shorter skaters in the cast, yet he can send people flying with a Diving Kick, even knocking two grown men off the bench with one kick as well.
• Pretty Boy: He's quite feminine in appearance, coupled with a lithe build and petite height (though, as he highlights, that probably won't last for much longer).
• Pyrrhic Victory: This is what Yurio thinks of placing first at the Grand Prix Final. Sure, he won the gold medal, but he won only by a technicality (questionable scores aside); he may have set a new record for the short program, but Yuuri did the same for the free program; and while he made an impact by winning the Grand Prix at his senior debut, Yuuri is commended for making a great comeback after a previously terrible and nearly career-ending season. All in all, his victory is a pointless one, though it did achieve his goal of refusing to allow Yuuri to retire satisfied on a high note.
• Rebuilt Pedestal: A possible case with Yuuri. Episode 12 reveals that Yuri admires Yuuri, although he seemed to have lost faith in him after hearing him cry, thinking of his Heroic Self-Deprecation as pathetic. However, Episode 3 hints that he still respects Yuuri to an extent, and after seeing Yuuri's performance in the "Hot Springs on Ice" event, he fully regained said respect for him, now that he sees Yuuri as his ultimate rival and always watches his performances. It's also quite telling that in the Grand Prix Final, he pushed himself past his limit to make sure Yuuri won't retire from figure skating — a far cry from when he told him off in Episode 1. In fact, most of his aggression with Yuuri after his initial outburst at the GPF seems to stem from Victor ditching him in Russia to go coach Yuuri. When Victor's not around — like when he teaches Yuuri the quad Salchow, when they meditate together under a waterfall, or when he cheers Yuuri up around his birthday — they actually seem to get on pretty well.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Yuri and Victor's blue.
• The Resenter:
  • To both Yuri and Victor, since he acts a lot more bitter towards them than he usually is, though the reason as to why is unknown.
  • He also hates J.J., given that he lost to him in both Skate Canada and the Rostelecom Cup. Yurio himself even states that J.J. is the only one who's more annoying than Yuri and Victor.
• Rubber Man: Downplayed; he has a high level of flexibility, especially for his age and gender. He's the only skater in the show who can pull off a Biellmann spin, a position that, in Real Life, is almost always performed by women due to the great flexibility it requires.
• Second Place Is for Losers: He's visibly sad and disappointed with his silver medal in Skate Canada, and again at the Rostelecom Cup. What makes it worse is that he lost to the same person twice.
• Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: A downplayed example, but he's the Manly Man to Yuri's Sensitive Guy.
• Ship Tease: With Otabek, especially in Yurio's exhibition skate "Welcome to the Madness" in a bonus OVA, where Otabek bites off Yurio's glove. There are also implications that he has or had a one-sided crush on Yuri.
• Signature Move: According to the announcer in Episode 3, his signature move is the combination spin.
• Significant Birth Date: He's born on March 1, which is World Cat Day in Russia.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: He is described by Word of God to have a potty mouth. The official fanbook even reveals his weakness to be "language". He even attempts to curse out his own fans to their face before being interrupted by Lilia.
• Social Media Before Reason: A case of this happens in Episode 2. When he arrives in Japan, he mentions knowing he can't post pictures or else his coach will find out where he is, but as soon as he finds a shirt he really likes, he takes a selfie with it and posts it anyway.
• Spoiled Brat: While his grandfather and his coaches certainly give him their undivided attention, nobody really spoils him, but he certainly has the unpleasant attitude to qualify as he doesn't really respect his elders, has a bad temper and doesn't react well when he doesn't get what he wants nor when someone bests him at skating.
• Teens Are Monsters: He's not as bad as some other examples, but he's a savage to Yuri, has little respect for his respective fellow skaters, all of whom are adults and is the most abrasive, somewhat callous character in the series. However, he is the youngest skater in the competition and preparing for his senior debut, so it makes some sense that he acts cold and distant as a means to have the other skaters take him seriously regardless of his age. However, nothing about his backstory or personality will justify him being mean to Yuri, who receives the brunt of his harshness despite doing absolutely nothing to deserve it.
• Teen Genius: At the beginning of the series, he's the 14-year-old gold medalist of both the Junior Grand Prix and the Junior Worlds Championship, and is preparing his debut in the senior division at the unlikely age of 15. During the course of the show, he goes on to get silver in both his Grand Prix qualifying events (securing himself a place in the Final), win the Golden Spin, and break a world record with his short program in his first senior Grand Prix Final — a world record set by Victor Nikiforov, before winning the gold medal.
• Trademark Favorite Food: He loves pirozhki, and his grandfather always bakes some for him every time they meet.
• Training from Hell: The tutelage of Lilia, a Russian ballet instructor who is not at all impressed by him and pushes him past his limits.
• Trash of the Titans: What we see of his bedroom in Episode 2 is a mess of scattered clothes and half-eaten candy.
• Troubled, but Cute: His Groupie Brigade doesn't seem to be bothered at all by his grumpy attitude. If anything, it only makes him cuter in their eyes.
• Tsundere: Episode 12 shows that he admires Yuri, although nothing but insults and condescending remarks come out from his mouth whenever he's near the guy.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: The few glimpses we get of Yuri's childhood with his grandfather show him to be an overall much nicer child than the short-tempered brat we know today.
• What Does He See In Him?: Wonders about this regarding Victor's relationship with his now fiance, Yuri.
• When He Smiles: Considering that he's usually in an unpleasant mood, his genuine smiles are a heartwarming sight. So far, said smiles have been given only to his grandfather, Yuri and Otabek.
• You Are Fat: He tends to resort to this kind of insult when confronting Yuri, often calling him fat, a pig, or a fat pig. However, Yuri isn't at all affected by these insults and just shrugs them off, since by Episode 2 he's already gotten back in shape.

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