Warning: Contains MAJOR spoilers for Undead Unluck.The Union is the major force the heroes of Undead Unluck belong to. While initially presented as an antagonistic organization, it soon becomes apparent that they’re all meant to be heroic, and it’s only through their efforts that the world can escape the rules arbitrarily imposed on it by God.
Naturally, every member of the Union in Undead Unluck is a Negator, a person granted the ability to negate specific rules about the world. Negator abilities are classified into self-targeting types and external-targeting types, and a person’s abilities can be further enhanced by their perceptions of how the rules and limitations of their powers work.
When all of that is combined with a variety of weapons and fighting styles, every Negator both in and out of the Union ends up with an incredibly unique fighting style, and it makes the action in the series some of the most unique to come out of a Weekly Shonen Jump manga in years.
Fuko Izumo
Undead Unluck’s Hero
The first Union member to discuss is Fuko Izumo, Rank X in the Union and the protagonist of Undead Unluck. Fuko’s Negator ability, Unluck, causes misfortune to befall anyone who touches her, with the degree of misfortune changing depending on how much affection she holds for the target, and she eventually develops her Unluck to work on inanimate objects and manifest in ways specifically catered to her needs, as well. After entering the 101st loop, Fuko becomes the leader of the Union and eventually becomes the best fighter out of the main cast, even mastering Shen’s Shin Hakkyoku fighting style.
Andy
Undead Unluck’s Deuteragonist
Following Fuko is Andy, Rank IX in the Union and the deuteragonist of Undead Unluck. As implied by the title of the series, Andy’s Negator ability is Undead; Undead allows Andy to regenerate from any wound, and he’s able to use this in combat by using the force of his regeneration to fire off body parts as projectiles, fly with jets of blood, and harden his blood into weapons, among other things. It’s eventually revealed that Andy is the amnesiac alternate personality of Victor, one of the original co-founders of the Union and the former lover of its original leader, Juiz.
Juiz
The Original Leader Of The Union
The original Rank I in the Union is Juiz, who also first founded the Union alongside Victor to combat God. Juiz’s Negator ability is Unjustice, which forces a person to do things that act in direct opposition to their sense of justice, and she also wields a sword that’s been enhanced with fire powers by the UMA Burn. Juiz has used the artifact Ark to travel to new time loops whenever the Union fails to kill God, but circumstances force her to give her seat to Fuko for the 101st and—due to a lack of energy—final use of Ark near the end of the Ragnarok arc.
Shen Xiang
The Strongest In All Creation
Rank II in the Union is Shen Xiang, an eccentric martial artist who desires to be the “strongest in all creation” so he can defeat his former master, Feng Kowloon, and avenge his sister. In addition to being a master of the Shin Hakkyoku fighting style, Shen’s Negator ability, Untruth, forces anyone he looks at to move in the opposite manner to which they thought about moving, but only if the target is someone Shen is fond of. Shen dies during the Four Seasons arc, but he’s revived as a zombie, and Untruth, along with his position in the Union, is transferred over to his assistant and lover Mui.
Billy Alfred
The Kindhearted Traitor Of The Union
Rank III in the Union is Billy Alfred, a blind man with a jovial attitude who acts as a surrogate father to fellow Union member, Tatiana. While Billy’s Negator ability was originally thought to be Unbelievable, which gave him an incredible skill for ricocheting bullets, that was just natural talent, and his true ability is Unfair, which allows him to copy the Negator abilities of any Negator who hates him. Billy is also secretly the leader of Under, another organization of Negators who oppose the Union to enact their own goals, although Billy only formed it so the Union wouldn’t have to die fighting God.
Phil Hawkins
The Emotionless Child Of The Union
Rank IV in the Union is Phil Hawkins, an emotionless boy whose body appears to be entirely mechanical. Phil’s Negator ability, Unfeel, negates anything Phil might feel, including his own emotions, and with his body fused with the artifact Entruster, he’s able to fight with a variety of weaponry such as lasers and swords, with Phil suffering no drawbacks thanks to Unfeel circumventing the emotional toll of Entruster. Phil is largely out of focus for a lot of the story, but the 101st loop does give him a larger role in the overall plot, including an exploration of his backstory.
Tatiana
The Union’s Untouchable Juggernaut
Rank V in the Union is Tatiana, a young girl who was sold off by the mafia after her Negator abilities manifested and becomes something of a surrogate daughter to Billy. Tatiana’s Negator ability, Untouchable, projects an invisible barrier around her that pushes things away with incredible speed and force, and because it can’t be turned off, Tatiana needs to stay in a special suit of armor at all times to suppress her power that also acts as a fighting mech suit. At the time of writing, Tatiana is one of the few members of the Union to have not reappeared during the 101st loop and whose whereabouts are unknown.
Isshin (Haruka Yamaoka)
The Union’s Personal Blacksmith
Rank VI in the Union is Isshin, a samurai-like person whose true identity is a shy, muscular woman named Haruka Yamaoka. Haruka’s Negator ability is Unbreakable, which makes anything she creates indestructible so long as she believes in herself, and Unbreakable is unique in that it, along with the name “Isshin”, is inherited exclusively by the people in her family upon the death of the previous wielder, with Haruka being the 13th Isshin in her introduction. Haruka is still a baby when she reappears in the 101st loop, so her role in the Union ends up being taken by her grandfather, the 12th Isshin.
Top Bull Sparx
The Union’s Speedster
Rank VII in the Union is Top Bull Sparx, an energetic young boy with a surprising amount of maturity despite being younger than Fuko. Top’s Negator ability, Unstoppable, allows him to run at super speed, but the drawback of it is that he’s unable to stop himself without first suffering an injury and making his body go through a dramatic change in shape, and he also has a special suit of armor that allows him to run thousands of kilometers per second without hurting himself. Like Tatiana, Top is one of the few members of the Union to have not reappeared in the 101st loop at the time of writing.
Nico Vorgeil
The Union’s Resident Mad Scientist
Rank VIII in the Union is Nico Vorgeil, who also heads the laboratory of the Union. Nico’s Negator ability, Unforgettable, makes it impossible for him to forget anything from the moment it manifests, and that, unfortunately, happened right at the moment his wife died, making him unable to forget every detail of her dead expression. Nico also uses his incredible intellect to fight with metal spheres that can do things like levitate and shoot lasers at people. Like Phil, Nico was initially a minor character, but he takes on a larger role in the 101st loop as one of Fuko’s first recruits in the Union.
Chikara Shigeno
The Union’s New Recruit
The last Negator to join the Union in the 100th loop, and Rank XI in the Union, is Chikara Shigeno. Chikara is initially encountered by Fuko and Andy when he tries to escape a black market auction of Negators and UMAs, and after working with them in a fight against Under, Chikara agrees to join the Union in their fight against God. Chikara’s Negator ability, Unmove, allows him to freeze anything in his line of sight in place so long as he stays perfectly still, and because of his skittish nature, it’s initially hard for him to make any use of his ability.
Gina Chamber
The Union’s Most Tragic Member
One of the deceased members of the Union is Gina Chamber, a woman who, despite looking and acting like a teenager, is well into her 60s. Gena’s Negator ability, Unchange, allows her to fix non-living things in place, and she uses her ability to create indestructible barriers and invisible weapons to attack people with. Gina was killed in the early stages of the story so Fuko and Andy could join the Union, but she ends up being one of Fuko’s first recruits in the 101st loop, with the Union now structured in a way where people can join even if there aren’t any open seats at the Roundtable.
Void Volks
The Union’s Heavyweight Champion
Another deceased member of the Union is Void Volks, a former heavyweight boxing champion who accidentally killed an opponent when his ability first manifested. Void’s Negator ability, Unavoidable, makes it impossible for an opponent to move out of the way when he takes a fighting stance, and he wears special armor to further increase his power, as well. Like Gena, Void was killed early in the story to make room for Fuko and Andy in the Union, but he reappears in the 101st loop with more characterization and an extended role, and just like Gena, he won’t need to die to make room for new recruits.
Ichico Nemuri
The Union’s Fallen Scientist
The last deceased member of the Union is Ichico Nemuri, a former member of the Union’s laboratory and Nico’s wife. Ichico’s Negator ability, Unsleep, forces her to be awake at all times, and while that might be useful for conducting research, the physical toll that took on Ichico eventually killed her sometime before the beginning of the story. In the 101st loop, however, the introduction of the UMA Ghost allows people to gain the ability to astral project their souls, and whenever Ichico does so, her body can receive rest, thus avoiding the circumstances that led to her death in the previous loop.
Many of the Negator abilities in Undead Unluck might appear simple on a surface level, but the story always takes the time to show just how far each power can be taken in a fight. Every fight is filled with creativity that never once devolves into someone simply overpowering their opponent, and while it might not have the biggest reception in the West, it still stands out as one of the most inventive manga in Weekly Shonen Jump. The Undead Unluck anime might not get to cover everything the Union is capable of, but it’s still bound to do a lot to show off the story’s creativity, nonetheless.
Undead Unluck releases new episodes Fridays on Hulu.
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