Yakumo

Yakumo
Kana	耶雲
Romaji	Yakumo
Characteristics
Race	Demon
Eye Color	Purple
Hair Color	White
Information
Status	Deceased
Appearance
Voice	Japanese: Hirotaka Suzuoki English: Bruce Winant

Yakumo is the king of the Netherrealm (冥界, dark world) and the primary antagonist of Yu Yu Hakusho The Movie: Poltergeist Report.  

Appearance

Yakumo's visage commands the loyalty and respect of all who serve him. When he first appears in the film, most of his body is shrouded in a glossy black cloak with red lining. Underneath it, he wears dark pants and gloves, as well as a green sleeveless shirt with a high collar.

Yakumo has a triangular face, and thick white hair which stands in stark contrast to his dark skin tone; his hair sticks upward in multiple directions, and has a well-kept appearance. This is characteristic of someone of his physical and social stature. His eyebrows are spiky with hair protruding onto his forehead like the quills of a porcupine. Much of the time he wears a smug, toothy grin, one that expresses confidence and self-assuredness.

His shadowed eyes, with their purple irises, are cold and calculating: his expression being one of pure evil and determination.

Personality

Sinister sneer

Although much of his past history is unknown, Yakumo maintains the countenance of a distinguished and effective leader. He is seen to have a very controlling and self-righteous personality, which allows him to work toward a goal efficiently, calmly assessing his tactical situation and having confidence in his ability to succeed.

Overall, he remains very calm and mysterious throughout his appearances, presumably deep in thought about ensuring his plan to gain possession of the different worlds comes to fruition. He is somewhat aloof, having torn apart large areas of the Human World nonchalantly, indifferent to other opinions on the moral basis of his actions. As his goal of restoring the Netherworld on new territory progressed as he had planned, Yakumo seems proud, and pleased, relieved that after so many years, he can know complete control.

He is extremely arrogant, to the point that "Know your rightful place!" is a catchphrase of his.

History

Thousands of years before his appearance in Poltergeist Report, Yakumo led the Netherrealm to war against the Spirit World, in order to gain possession of the Human World. In an unknown sequence of events, the Netherrealm was defeated and King Enma banished King Yakumo and his men to the cold darkness of void space.

Staring down Yusuke

The Netherrealm somehow comes back into existence and upsets the balance between worlds. After summoning his three demon gods from the plane of the Netherrealm, Yakumo states that his plan has moved to the second stage and that the time has come to make the power of the elemental sites his. The plan includes destroying and thereby gaining control over the five elemental sites of Spirit World which serve as "storage tanks" for spiritual energy. This action allows them to stream the power of the Netherrealm. If the Netherrealm is able to gain power from the five elemental sites, Spirit World will be forever inaccessible.

After dispatching his three demons, he makes it clear that there is a certain girl he must seek out if he is to proceed with his plans. It becomes obvious that he wants what Koenma gave to Botan at the beginning of the movie, making her the one he needs to find. It is during his search that he first encounters Yusuke in an underground structure and easily kicks him into a parked car; he then destroys the Elemental Site of Fire. After instinctively recognizing Yusuke as one of Spirit World's lackeys, he fires an energy wave at the Detective, leaving Yusuke unconscious, before quietly skulking away.

Next, King Yakumo is seen standing on a rock at the sea, reminiscing about the Power Sphere, the source of the Underworld's energy which was taken in ancient times by Spirit World. He surmises that the leaders of Spirit World must have hidden it well, and his frustration shows as he prepares to continue his search for it. Meanwhile, after activating all five elemental sites, with the help of the three despised demon gods, Yakumo appears before Yusuke and his friends possibly before they are teleported away from the epicenter of the new Netherworld. He releases a maniacal laugh, impassioned anew, because the Netherworld's return is nearly complete.

Continuing his search for the Power Sphere, Yakumo journeys to Genkai's Mountain compound with one of his subordinates, confident that his search will at last bear fruit as Botan is the only Spirit World girl he has not accounted for. Upon sensing his approach, Genkai voices the magnitude of the energy Yakumo is giving off, presumably aware of her inability to deter him from his goal. She tries anyway, though her efforts were in vain. Yakumo identifies Botan's body as the container for the Sphere, lifts her telekinetically into the air, and proceeds with the extraction just as Yusuke shows up. After disabling Keiko with a mere flex of his power, he goes on the attack against Yusuke, sending him flying like a rag doll into Genkai's Temple. In a show of confidence, he departs the scene with Botan and the Power Sphere captive, seemingly unconcerned about Yusuke's attempts to stop him.

Yakumo's Meikai God form

He eventually uses the sphere to power up to presumably his full Meikai God form, and fights a great battle easily outmatching Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama, and Hiei, but is defeated by Team Urameshi when they fuse the Spirit Gun, Darkness Flame, Rose Whip, and Spirit Sword into one giant attack through the Power Sphere after Hinageshi is able to take it away from Yakumo, and Yusuke is able to gain access to its power through a painful progress.

Yakumo fights with Yusuke

Yakumo survived, but was badly injured to the point that he resembled a zombie. He makes one last attempt to kill Yusuke, but he unleashes one last Spirit Gun bullet that engulfs Yakumo and also destroys the Power Sphere. While his death was never confirmed (assumed since he stopped coming back), Yusuke swears to Hinageshi that if he ever returns, he will be ready for him.

Techniques/Moves

Yakumo's telekinetic ability in action.

• Telekinesis: Yakumo has the ability to move objects with his mind. He is shown to be able to lift a human while searching for the girl required for the advancement of his plans. It has been speculated that he has the ability to scan and analyze a person's physical and spiritual energy. He also uses this ability to send Genkai crashing through the entrance of her own temple, rendering her unconscious.

Netherworld Demons.

• Mind Control: Yakumo is able to exert his will over any demons under the influence of the Netherworld, designated by the cross-shaped mark on their foreheads. With his being the King of the Netherworld, and his influence wiping away the last traces of free will, the affected demons essentially become slaves to his will.

Yakumo summons his three minions.

• Demon Summoning: Yakumo extends his palm into the air above his head and releases a blinding pinkish burst of concentrated energy which rockets in seemingly all directions, although presumably he intends to direct his energy upward. This blast causes massive damage to surrounding structures, ruptures the ground below his feet, and sets a good portion of the city ablaze. The blasts serves as a summons for the demon gods he wishes to gather for himself.

Yakumo's shield.

• Energy Deflector Shield: Yakumo has the ability to create a red shield of energy around his body. This energy takes the form of a sphere and shields him from energy-based attacks. He doesn't even need to move his body to call upon this power, as the shield seems to work by collapsing and dispersing the energy that comes in contact with it, leaving his body unharmed. It has been speculated that this ability is actually just a function of Yakumo's intense aura.

Yakumo prepares to fire.

• Electric Palm Blast: After taunting Yusuke, Yakumo raises his right arm and his hand begins to glow bright pink with energy. He then releases his energy in the form of an expanding pink cloud of electricity. Once this energy engulfs Yusuke, his body is overwhelmed by the pink electric current and as a result he is incapacitated. This technique seems to be a variation of his Summoning Blast ability which he utilizes earlier in the movie to call the Netherworld "gods" to his presence.

Yakumo converting spiritual energy to netherworld energy.

• Spiritual Energy Conversion: Yakumo uses this technique to convert other sources of spiritual energy into Netherworld power. He uses two variations of this technique. The first variation allows him to convert pure spiritual energy from the Elemental Sites into Netherworld power, which gave him enough power to control a portion of a city in order to start recreating the Netherworld.

• The second variation of this technique allowed him to use evil energy from human souls that he gathered when he was sealed away. He uses this technique to gain an immense amount of power, which allowed him to break the Spirit World seal. It was also this technique (presumably) that gave him enough control of the Spirit World to submerge the Gate of Judgement in the Spirit World.

Yakumo w/Power Sphere

• Power Sphere Manipulation: After obtaining the Power Sphere of the Netherworld, Yakumo demonstrated his ability to use it to achieve a variety of effects. In addition to increasing his power, the Power Sphere increased Yakumo's ability to manipulate the world around him. Yakumo was able to change the building where he was fighting into a Netherworldly arena. He even repaired the arena after Yusuke blew it up, proclaiming that he could remake it according to his thoughts. Yakumo even stated that the Power Sphere was capable of destroying the entire Human World, as well as being able to remake the Netherworld.
• Teleportation: Yakumo, along with Raigo, can teleport.

Trivia

• Yakumo was notably the only antagonist to fight against all four members of Team Urameshi at the same time.
• The symbols that make up Yakumo's name can mean "eight clouds" or "August cloud" (the term "August" implying an esteemed connotation).
• Yakumo is the only known character to have overpowered a Reikai seal with raw power. Given that even the strongest S Class demons were stated to be incapable of overpowering Reikai seals (such as the Kekkai barrier and the Mafuukan), it is possible that Yakumo is the strongest S Class character in the series (surpassing Raizen in his prime).

Quotes

• (to Yusuke) "A normal human you are not; therefore, you must be a tool of the Spirit World."

• (to Yusuke) "Your power is nothing...be gone."

• (to Yusuke) "Ah, you again. You can't stand the fact that I beat you like a whipped dog?"

• "The time has come. I have retrieved the power sphere of the Netherworld....The time of the Netherworld's restoration has finally arrived for us all (laughs)."