Yu Yu Hakusho: Genkai (ENTJ)

Genkai from Yu Yu Hakusho is one of the lesser developed characters in the show. While she is a main character, her personality just isn’t extremely well expressed, and there isn’t a lot of material to work with, in spite of the fact that she is frequently present in some capacity. With all that being said, we believe that there is a reasonable case for Genkai being an ENTJ. I believe the common theory for Genkai is ESTJ, which we also considered, but ultimately landed here, on ENTJ.

Te:

“This is the world you’ve stuck yourself into, if you aren’t strong enough to lead, then you lose the privilege of getting what you want.”

“Anything goes as long as you can win the fight.”

“No, I fight to get what I need for myself, and always have. I attack whoever stands in my way.”

Genkai displays all the well-known traits of a Te dominant, like being commanding and task-focused. When the character is first introduced, Genkai’s goal is to choose the strongest, potential student to inherit her abilities. Genkai focuses purely on power when choosing a successor. She doesn’t take into account character, morality, or anything of that nature. Instead, she finds ways to objectively test their abilities, from a repurposed video game that measures spirit power to a series of life-threatening trials.

Ultimately, Genkai only cares about the reaching the conclusion (IE: determining the winner). She keeps the entire process structured and continually moving forward; she lashes out at anyone who causes delays. By the end, after Yusuke comes out on top, Genkai declares that Yusuke has no choice but to be trained by her. Essentially, she’d chosen her successor, so he no longer had the free will to refuse.

Genkai believes in doing whatever it takes to get what you want or achieve your goals. She makes statements to this affect multiple times. She’s the type to take control of a situation, fight for what she needs, and attack anyone who stands in her way. The younger version of her is shown to be determined and ambitious.

Genkai is harsh in her dealings with people. While she cares deeply about others, she’s not interested in pandering to their feelings. This is clear in the way she trains and mentors Yusuke. She usually only compliments Yusuke indirectly, whilst relaying a relevant fact about him that happens to be positive. Otherwise, she’s quick to insults him, order him to work harder, and etcetera.

Ni:

“Progress is what must prevail. It’s a story I cannot change.”

“I was such a foolish little girl. I should have been able to see from the start how you’d turn out. You had it written in ugly black letters all across your soul.”

Genkai doesn’t deal in specifics, but concerns herself more with the overall outcome. This is doubly so as a Te + Ni. She doesn’t have any specific requirements for who gets her ability, beyond them being powerful enough to earn it. She’s purely concerned with progress, ensuring that things moved forward, regardless of how.

Genkai is similar in the way she trains her students. When training Yusuke, Genkai often throws him into trials, not bothering to explain anything in advance. This frequently frustrates him, like when she slaps the spirit cuffs on him without any warning as to what they do. Likewise, during the Chapter Black Saga, Genkai orchestrates an elaborate ruse to show Yusuke and his team their weaknesses, and teach them not to be overconfident. She only bothers to explain her purpose in hindsight, while explaining how they’d failed. Of course, there are many other examples where she leaves out context, like never bothering to share her history with Toguro, ultimately resulting in Yusuke being blindsided.

Genkai does berate herself for failing to see certain things coming, for her past naivety. In regard to Toguro specifically, she also uses some abstract language, claiming that how he’d turn out had been written in ugly black letters all across his soul.

Se:

In an effort to achieve her goals, Genkai occasionally acts hastily, leading to regret. For example, fearing that Yusuke isn’t strong enough to defeat Toguro, she gives Yusuke her powers prematurely. She believes it’s the only way they can win the tournament. When she sees Yusuke near to death, she regrets her actions, fearing that she’d gotten the boy killed.

Genkai’s action-oriented teaching style also aligns with Se, which was touched on in the Ni section, due to her failure to explain anything in advance. The Se aspect specifically has to do with her expecting her student to learn in the moment, through the experience, assuming they can handle whatever trial she’s throwing at them.

Fi:

“I, for one, never had the urge to invent a purpose for my abilities. No heroics crap. There was just the sense that my power should always exist. As long as I pass it on, I don’t have any ridiculous regrets. Let the next bonehead do something noble with it.”

“My powers have to be carried forward, even if they must stay for a while in the hands of the wicked.”

Genkai prefers not to concern herself with heroics, instead on a personal level, she devalues that concept. She doesn’t vet her potential successors from a moral standpoint, nor does she try to find a deeper purpose for having the power that she has. Her only purpose or meaning is to pass it on, and if she’s done that, she claims that she’ll have no regrets. She makes a comment essentially saying that the next person can worry about doing something noble with it.

Genkai has no qualms about others knowing that she thinks this way. In fact, she’s extremely open about it. For instance, during the Dark Tournament, Shishi accuses her of not really fighting for justice, and Genkai readily confirms his statement, stating that she fights only for herself.

Lastly, Genkai is not good with emotions. She’s not great at expressing them, nor is she interested in dealing with other people’s emotions. While this is a fairly obvious character trait of hers, it’s demonstrated even further when Yusuke goes to her for counsel after defeating Sensui and returning to normal life. She basically says that she’s not a shrink, and can’t relate to him, so he needed to get counsel from a former spirit detective who would actually be relatable. (She directs him to this individual.)