Yuuri Katsuki

General Plot Gallery

Yuuri Katsuki
Kanji	勝生 勇利 (かつき ゆうり)
Romaji	Katsuki Yūri
Nickname	Debu / Fatso (by young Takeshi) Katsudon / Pork Cutlet Bowl (by Yuri) Buta / Pig (by Yuri) Kobuta-chan / Piglet / Little Piggy (by Victor)
General Information
Country	Japan
Gender	Male
Birthday	November 29 (♐️), 1993
Age	23 24 (after Episode 9) 25 (Current)
Height	173 cm (5'8)
Blood Type	A
Family	Hiroko Katsuki (Mother) Toshiya Katsuki (Father) Mari Katsuki (Older Sister) Victor Nikiforov (Fiancé)
Coach	Victor Nikiforov (Current) Celestino Cialdini (Former)
Debut
Anime	Episode 1
Character Voice
Japanese	Toshiyuki Toyonaga
English	Joshua "Josh" Grelle

Yuuri Katsuki (official spelling: Yuri Katsuki; Japanese: 勝生 勇利, Katsuki Yūri) is a competitive figure skater and one of the main characters of Yuri!!! on Ice.

Background

Yuuri as a child.

Yuuri was born in Hasetsu, Saga Prefecture, Kyushu, Japan, where his family owns and operates the last bathhouse inn remaining in the town.

Yuuri began figure skating as a child at Ice Castle with his childhood friends, Yuuko Nishigori and Takeshi Nishigori. His ballet teacher, Minako Okukawa, was the one who had recommended him to learn figure skating.

Currently, Yuuri is a top figure skater certified by JSF (Japan Skating Federation).

When he was 18, Yuuri moved to Detroit to train under Coach Celestino Cialdini, and ended up staying there for five years. While there, he became friends with his roommate, Phichit Chulanont.

Appearance

Yuuri has short, messy black hair and brown eyes. Yuuri wears half-rimmed blue glasses, but while he is skating he removes them. He combs his hair backwards when performing his programs before a crowd.

Yuuri wore layers of clothing to hide his weight gain from binge eating. His warm-up outfit is usually a jacket and black pants with a stripe down the side. He wears gloves while skating and uses skates with standard blades.

Yuuri gains weight easily, but when he is in top form, he also has slight muscle due to his exercise and ice skating. Nonetheless, his body, especially his face, maintains a soft appearance, regardless of physical form.

Following Yuuri's engagement to Victor Nikiforov in Spain, he wears a golden engagement ring on the ring finger of his right hand. Victor has a matching ring worn on the same hand and same finger.

Short Program

During his short program, Yuuri wears a black outfit decorated with crystal-like embellishments on his shoulder and waist, and a swath of fabric on one hip.

Free Skate

During his free skate, Yuuri wears a dark blue suit-like outfit that is fastened by a gray belt and is decorated with shimmering embellishments.

Personality

Yuuri is known to be "the figure skater with the world's biggest glass heart." He is soft hearted and easily devastated in the face of failureーso much so that he can slip into a depression for months at a time. He is quiet, kind and easily embarrassed, but is also shown to be stubborn and extremely competitive.

After being taken under Victor's wing as a student, Yuuri begins to steadily develop more confidence in himself. He becomes determined to chase his dreams, and even brushes off most of Yuri Plisetsky's attempts to insult or humiliate him. However, he still becomes easily discouraged and anxious, and doesn't know how to deal with being the person to beat.

During competitions, he tends to be a bit colder and more self-centered due to his anxiety and competitive nature, but is learning to pay more attention to those around him thanks to Victor.

Skills

Step Sequence/Spins

Yuuri has a very well-developed, unique step technique that has been fine-tuned due to the amount of time he spends on the ice. He is also known for his spin sequence more than his jumps, which both Minako and Yuri acknowledge. It was only his performance in Skate China where his technical score eclipsed that of his presentation score.

Jumps

Initially, Yuuri was only able to land a quad toe-loop in competitions. Under the tutelage of Victor, he has become a more well-rounded skater. Yuuri's repertoire of quads eventually increases, first learning to successfully land a quad Salchow thanks to Yuri's brief stay in Japan, and was eventually able land a quad Flip, which is Victor's signature move.

Stamina

Yuuri has a lot of stamina, which is especially useful for the free skate, and for planning jumps in the second half of the program, and netting the 1.1x point bonus that comes with them.

Dance

Yuuri has been taking ballet lessons for even longer than he's been a figure skater. In addition, he has also been shown to be skilled in other dance disciplines, like break-dancing, interpretive and ballroom dance, and pole dancing, although it is unknown where he had learnt them.

Relationships

Victor Nikiforov

Yuuri was a huge fan of Victor's ever since he was a child, and it has greatly inspired him to skate. An early wish of Yuuri's is to be able to meet Victor on the ice at a similar level, and to one day surpass the Russian. Yuuri's admiration of Victor led him to get a poodle, similar to the one Victor owned, and named it after him as well.

Victor walks into Yuuri's life after watching Yuuri perfectly replicate his free skate, Stay Close to Me. As a coach, Victor initially only trained Yuuri physically, but noticing that Yuuri's emotion tended to affect Yuuri's skating, Victor made an effort to get to know Yuuri on a more personal level. Yuuri was first rather afraid and distant from Victor, but as the days went on, he became closer with the Russian. Yuuri's free skate, and eventually short program as well, are dedicated to Victor.

Victor surprises Yuuri with a kiss.

Yuuri grows close to Victor to the point where he becomes afraid that his actions would have consequences on Victor. He also becomes afraid that Victor would leave him, begging Victor to always remain by his side. Yuuri also spontaneously changes the final jump of his free skate into Victor's signature jump in a bid to surprise Victor. In response, Victor knocks Yuuri onto the ice with a kiss after the program was over, saying it was the only way Victor could surprise Yuuri more.

In Barcelona, before the Grand Prix Final, Yuuri presents Victor with a gold ring as a birthday/Christmas present for the Russian. Victor also places a gold ring on Yuuri's finger, and later confirms the pair rings to be engagement rings, stating that they would get married when Yuuri won gold at the GPF.

Victor's first true personal encounter of Yuuri was during the previous year's GPF, where they had danced together. Yuuri had also begged Victor to come to the family hot spring and to be Yuuri's coach. Yuuri, having being drunk at the time, has no memory of this first encounter.

After the Barcelona Grand Prix Final, Yuuri moves to Saint Petersburg, Russia, to be with Victor.

Yuri Plisetsky

Yuuri is aware of Yuri's reputation as the infamous "Russian Punk" and, despite Yuri being younger, Yuuri is still intimidated by him. Yuuri's first known meeting of Yuri is during the closing ceremony of the Grand Prix Final, where Yuri tries to threaten him into retiring.

Yuri gifts Yuuri a bag of Pirozhki stuffed with katsudon filling.

Yuuri admires Yuri for being so talented at such a young age, and for his jumping technique. He sees Yuri as much more confident than he is, and is jealous of how comfortable he is in his ability, as well as how relaxed he is around Victor. Nonetheless, Yuuri sees Yuri as a friend, watching out for his well-being and cheering for him during competitions, never once having ill-wishes towards the younger skater. Yuri, though usually hostile towards Yuuri, is also seen to show kindness to the older skater, teaching the latter how to properly land a quad Salchow, and offering katsudon Pirozhki to Yuuri for Yuuri's birthday. Yuri eventually sees Yuuri as a worthy rival and no longer wishes for Yuuri to quit competitive skating, becoming angry when it was rumoured that Yuuri would retire after the Barcelona GPF.

Yuuri's first true encounter of Yuri is during the Sochi GPF banquet, where he had drunkenly challenged Yuri to a dance off. Yuuri has no memory of the meeting, but Yuri remembers this, and keeps pictures of the banquet on his phone.

Minako Okukawa

Minako is Yuuri's ballet teacher and one of his biggest supporters. She often follows Yuuri to as many competitions as she can, whether local or international. The two share a relatively close relationship, and Minako cares for Yuuri much like she would a son. Yuuri used to spend more time at Minako's ballet studio than he would at home. Minako was the one who encouraged Yuuri to try figure skating in the first place.

Yuuko Nishigori

Yuuko introduces Yuuri to Victor's poodle.

Yuuko is Yuuri's childhood friend. She is the first to introduce Yuuri to Victor's skating, and the two of them practiced moves together. Yuuri's first replication of Victor's free skate Stay Close to Me was dedicated to Yuuko. Yuuko asks Yuuri to call her Yuu-chan considering how close they are, which Yuuri does at first, but later settles for calling her Yuuko-chan. Yuuko is highly supportive of Yuuri's skating career and hoped that she could see Yuuri compete against Victor one day.

Takeshi Nishigori

Takeshi is one of Yuuri's closest friends, and the one who keeps him linked to his hometown even after he pursues an international career. After Yuuri returns to Kyushu, Takeshi is the one who first has a proper talk with him. He is one of Yuuri's biggest supporters.

Phichit Chulanont

Yuuri and Phichit talking in their room while in Detroit.

Yuuri and Phichit were roommates and rink-mates during their time together in Detroit under Celestino's coaching. Phichit is shown to be familiar with Yuuri's skating style as a result. The two of them are very close, as Yuuri is comfortable with calling him at night and using basic Thai in their conversations. Phichit's flashbacks often show Phichit sharing his hopes and dreams with Yuuri. Victor reveals that Phichit is the only foreign skater that Yuuri truly regarded as a friend. Phichit also refers to Yuuri as his best friend and is supportive of Yuuri and Victor being together.

Celestino Cialdini

Celestino was Yuuri's former coach. Celestino always tried to encourage Yuuri to have more confident in himself, but it almost never seemed to be effective. Yuuri is slightly afraid of Celestino, especially after having left Celestino's coaching, but Celestino does not have any ill-feelings towards Yuuri, and still hopes Yuuri would do well in competitions.

Yakov Feltsman

Yakov and Yuuri barely interacted until the Rostelecom Cup free skate, where Victor had to leave for Japan to watch over Makkachin's operation. Yuuri is rather afraid of Yakov and does not talk to the coach during practice for the free skate. However, after Yuuri finishes his performance, Yakov starts lecturing Yuuri at the kiss and cry, which Yuuri notes is very similar to Victor's behaviour. After the scores are announced, Yuuri hugs Yakov and thanks him in Russian.

Programs

Short - In Regards to Love: Eros

Yuuri during the Onsen on Ice.

The song is one of two different arrangements, written to encompass two different aspects of love. Eros is defined as romantic and/or sexual love.

The program itself is completely backloaded and consists of a step sequence in the first half, and three jumps (as per ISU regulation) in the second half. The first jump is a Triple Axel from a spread eagle, the second is a Quad Salchow, and the last is a Quad Toe-Triple Toe combination.

Free - Yuri on ICE

Yuuri's free program components

Yuri on ICE is an original composition written by Ketty Abelashvili, a friend of Yuuri's from his days in Detroit. It was originally written to represent his career in figure skating, but has since been redone to not only encompass that, but also Yuuri's journey in realizing what love means to him.

The program itself features twelve jumps in all, with seven of them being in combination (thus not violating the eight jump element rule). The first half of the program features a Quad Toe-Double Toe combination, a Quad Salchow, a Triple Loop, a Triple Axel, and a Triple Flip. There's a brief intermission period with additional figure skating elements, starting with a lunge, then a spread eagle, and then an Ina Bauer. The second half consists a Triple Axel-Single Loop-Triple Salchow combination, then a Triple Lutz-Triple Toe combination, then the step sequence. The last jump is a Quad Toe Loop

During the Cup of China, Yuuri spontaneously changes his last jump to a Quad Flip. He reverts to the Quad Toe Loop for the Rostelecom Cup. During the Grand Prix Final, Yuuri spontaneously changes his Triple Loop into a Triple Flip, and his Triple Flip into a Quad Toe Loop, in order to increase the difficulty of his free program. He also makes his final jump a Quad Flip, as previously performed in the Cup of China.

Quotes

• "He never fails to surprise me. Ever since I first saw his skating, it's been a never-ending chain of surprises." (About Victor)
• "I was a fool for thinking I could finally meet my idol on the same playing field..." (About Victor)
• "But I got bored of feeling depressed, so I got to thinking... I wanted to get my love for skating back." (To Yuuko)
• "I want to eat katsudon with you, Victor." (To Victor)
• "No! I want you to stay who you are, Victor! I've always looked up to you. I ignored you because I didn't want you to see my shortcomings. I'll make it all up to you through my skating!" (To Victor)
• "When I open up, he meets me where I am. I shouldn't be afraid to open up more!" (To himself about Victor)
• "I don't know how long Victor will stick around or how long my body will hold up. So please God...give me Victor's time, even if only just for now." (To himself)
• "Victor is the first person I've ever wanted to hold on to. I don't really have a name for that emotion, but I have decided to call it love." (In an interview)
• "I want to be hated as the man who took Victor from the world!" (To himself)
• "They can laugh at me all they want. They can say that it's not like me. But everyone really wants to know the new me, don't they?" (CoC SP Monologue)
• "I'm the only one who can satisfy Victor. I'm the only one in the world who knows Victor's love. I'll prove that now." (CoC SP Monologue)
• "Why would you say something like that, like you're trying to test me?" (To Victor)
• "You don't have to say anything. Just stay by my side!" (To Victor)
• "Don't suddenly start trying to sound like a coach now." (To Victor)
• "No tale is more compelling than one that never ends."" (To himself)
• "There's a place you just can't reach unless you have a dream too large to bear alone. We call everything on the ice "love."" (Ending Monologue)

Trivia

• The canon spelling of his name is "Yuri", as seen in various official art and on the official website, though "Yuuri" is a more accurate romanization for his name.
• Katsuki (勝生) can be read as "Born to win," while Yuuri (勇利) can be read as "Courage to win".
  • The toshi (利) in Toshiya (利也) is also the ri in Yuuri (勇利) and Mari (真利).
• Yuuri's favorite dish is a 900 kcal breaded pork cutlet bowl.
• Yuuri gains weight very easily because of his mood swings and love for katsudon (pork cutlet bowl), so he has to be especially vigilant concerning his weight.
• Yuuri owns a Macbook Air.
• Victor's love for poodles greatly rubbed off onto Yuuri. Yuuri's phone case features poodles and his lock screen as well as his phone profile picture is a picture of Vicchan. Yuuri owns a poodle soft toy that looks like Makkachin, and sometimes poodle soft toys are thrown for him during competitions.
• Mitsurou Kubo confirmed that Yuuri and Victor cannot live without each other and had to revise their initial plans. ^{[citation needed]}
• Yuuri became the ambassador of the Japanese city of Karatsu on the 29th of November 2017 as a birthday gift for bringing more than 40,000 overseas tourists to the town.
• Yuuri is seen to be representing the country of 'Jaran' in Episode 5, which was an accident.^{[citation for ep 5]}