YuYu Hakusho Wiki

Stronger than we think?[]

I'm wondering if Nekobaba should be placed at a higher level. We have him listed in the C Class page and as a C- in the tier list, yet he was one of the fighters who passed the preliminaries, who were stated by Kurama to be formidable warriors. We have Zakuro, Toboso and Sasuga placed at A/A+ due to them passing the Makai tournament preliminaries, so why would Nekobaba, who did the same, be placed at any less than B/B+? Nubescout

Because we actually saw him fight, and he had nothing superior to...Dr. Ichigaki. His only perk was the nail extension. In the manga, he was only shown being beaten, so we can only go by what the anime showed. Still, idrm to me. I guess Yusuke could've just done him in, something awful, so that he was not able to show anything else. So, where do you think Nekoba should go? Cytpe

Given Kurama's statement, Nekobaba could be anywhere from a middle B to a middle A. Chapter 168, page 17 Kurama: Yusuke, stay on guard. The people who've made it this far are all powerful, capable fighters. Kurama sensed Yusuke's youki to be that of a S- during the battle with Sensui, and would've known that Yusuke had gotten far stronger since then. Kurama at this point was a A+/S- (middle S as Yoko Kurama) which provides further evidence of the power of all the fighters who passed the preliminaries to be incredibly strong. Even someone like Toguro wouldn't be considered powerful by an S Class' standards. Notice that Kurama said that All of the people who'd passed the preliminaries were powerful, capable fighters, meaning that Nekobaba would be included in this statement. Nubescout

Only your last statement directly involves Nekobaba; and even then, from B to A isn't strong. Not by the standards you had set up, by using Kurama and Yusuke, as examples. Do you have a definite class for him? I agree that he is too low. But we've seen him fail already. Cytpe

To be honest, I was only placing him as low as a B Class to be somewhat generous to weaker villains that were important to the plot like Toguro. I believe he could be as high as an A+ but i can't think of a definiate place to put him. He probably wouldn't be as high as a S- though, given he was practically just shown being beaten with one punch, although he may have just been unlucky being paired up against Yusuke and may have shown his capabilities as a warrior against a weaker opponent around the A+/S- level. It is still always possible for him to be as low as B+/A- as Kurama didn't really know much about all the contestants and mainly knew they were powerful to some degree due to them passing the preliminaries. Nubescout

It sucks that it's so hard to think of a placement for him. Just put him wherever you want, and I'll comment either way. Anything short of upper A could be believable to me, with upper A being improbable, though with a chance, I guess. Cytpe

I believe we should consult the admins about this debate before making a final descision, as not much is revealed about Nekobaba's strength. Nubescout

You can, if you want to. I don't really care about Neko, so long as he's not too high. Cytpe

For what the anime's worth, Koenma states that he didn't believe Yusuke would have an easy time with him despite having already stated that Yusuke had gotten considerably stronger than before, even going as far as to refer to him as one of the powerful warriors hiding within the Makai not directly trying to seize power, so (at least anime-wise) he would be stronger than the lowest S Classes such as Sensui, Hokushin and Shachi. Nubescout