toguro younger

Younger Toguro is the younger of the two Toguro brothers and the most formidable member of Team Toguro. He serves as the primary antagonist in the Dark Tournament Saga, alongside Sakyo. Always calm and composed, he never removes his iconic sunglasses. His life lacks direction, and he spends much of the series under Sakyo's command, one of his key clients. Tall and muscular with a sleek black hairstyle, he is emotionally hollow, having sacrificed much of his life in pursuit of "absolute power." His goal in the tournament was to challenge Yusuke Urameshi, partly for the thrill of an uncertain victory and later to settle personal scores as Genkai’s apprentice. In Japan, the Toguro Brothers are often referred to as the Brokers of Darkness. Younger Toguro is almost always called just "Toguro," while Elder Toguro refers to him as "brother." In the first Japanese character popularity poll, the Toguro Brothers were 11th with 141 votes. In the American Shonen Jump poll, they ranked 7th with 203 votes, indicating higher popularity in America than Japan. In the second Japanese poll, Younger Toguro alone placed 10th with 447 votes. Fifty years before the series, Younger Toguro, his brother, and Genkai established a successful dojo. However, when a demon named Kairen massacred their students as a warning, Toguro withdrew into seclusion for three months. Upon returning, he seemed detached and different. Both teams made it to the final round, where Toguro killed Kairen, winning the tournament. As their prize, the brothers chose to become nearly indestructible demons that age slowly. Genkai, angered, vowed never to be involved with the tournament again. The Toguros later defeated Karasu and Bui, taking them as underlings instead of killing them. They caught Sakyo's attention, though it's unclear if this was before or after recruiting Karasu and Bui. Younger Toguro’s main ability involves increasing his muscle size, assigning percentage values to each level based on his power. For most enemies, he uses 1-30% of his power, but he has occasionally fought at up to 80%, primarily during his final fight with Genkai. Only once did he reach 100% power, which transformed his body grotesquely. Later, it was revealed that he had one more level—120% in the Japanese version, or closer to 85% in the English dub. At full power, his form became even more monstrous. In the series, Younger Toguro is introduced in episode 22, hired by Gonzo Tarukane as a bodyguard. The brothers infiltrated Tarukane's ranks under Sakyo's orders, faking their deaths to ruin Tarukane and enrich Sakyo. Toguro then approached Yusuke, threatening to kill everyone Yusuke cared about if he didn’t enter the Dark Tournament. Throughout the tournament, he made minor appearances, single-handedly winning matches and following Sakyo's orders, including killing several people like the tournament committee and the owner of Team Masho. Just after the semifinals, Toguro fought and killed Genkai at 80% power. The climax of Younger Toguro's role came in his lengthy battle against Yusuke. Before the fight, Elder Toguro offered to assist, but Younger Toguro refused, sending him flying out of the arena. During the fight, Toguro reached 100% power, killing several audience members. Genkai, possessing Puu, told Toguro to kill Kuwabara so Yusuke could unleash his full strength. After pretending to drive his hand through Kuwabara's heart, Yusuke gained the upper hand. Toguro, forced to go beyond his limits, entered his full power form. Both fighters released all their energy, with Yusuke forming a massive Spirit Gun blast and Toguro blocking it barehanded. Though unaffected by the attack, Toguro spent too much energy and shattered, dying where he stood. In the afterlife, Koenma offered Toguro a light punishment due to his noble past as a human martial artist and his regret. Toguro, however, chose the deepest level of hell, Limbo, to suffer for 10,000 cycles of 10,000 years each. On his way, he spoke briefly with Genkai, asking her to watch over Yusuke and apologizing for being "so much trouble" in life. Before entering hell, he expressed his regret, saying, "it would have been a beautiful life."