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I watched the first few episodes of Yuri On Ice! and my girlfriend who
iceskates said that she thought that the character Yuri Plisetsky really
reminded her of [Yulia
Lipnitskaya](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yulia_Lipnitskaya) in that they
shared similar features and backgrounds.

Are they connected? What about the other characters?


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yuri-on-ice
Are the ice skaters in Yuri On Ice based on real life counterparts?


**Yes, most skaters in _Yuri!!! on Ice_ are based on real-life counterparts.**

There are some official sources regarding the model of _Yuri!!! on Ice_ 's
characters. According to [this article](https://tokyogirlsupdate.com/yuri-on-
ice-characters-201611111889.html),

> ### Yuri Plisetsky and Yulia Lipnitskaya
>
> Sharing the same name as the show’s protagonist, fifteen-year-old Yuri is a
> extremely talented and at times foul-mouthed Russian skater. He is making
> his senior debut during the series and is by far one of the youngest skaters
> in the Grand Prix.
>
> **_Yūri!!! on Ice_ 's storyboarder Kubo stated in an interview published in
> [the October issue of
> _PASH_](http://www.pashplus.jp/anime/staff_comment/31982/) that Yuri is
> modeled after Russian figure skater Yulia Lipnitskaya**. Currently eighteen
> years old, Lipnitskaya is also a young powerhouse skater and the youngest
> skater to ever win a gold at the Olympics at fifteen years old.
>
> ### Victor Nikiforov and Evgeni Plushenko and John Cameron Mitchell
>
> Victor, winner of five consecutive World Championships, Grand Prix, and many
> other competitions, is the rockstar-esque and legendary retired Russian
> figure skater who decided to coach Yūri. With that record, isn’t difficult
> to find discern Victor's potential real life counterpart.
>
> Plushenko, four-time Olympic medalist, three-time World Champion, and four-
> time Grand Prix Final champion, is a legend with an attitude in his own
> right. Notable as well is how Victor rests his forefinger like he is
> signaling "hush" that appears to be a nod to Plushenko hush of the crowd in
> Sochi 2014 Olympics. **However, Victor as Plushenko could be up for debate.
> According to[a tweet from Victor's voice actor Junichi
> Suwabe](https://twitter.com/MY_MURMUR/status/779935081628524544), Plushenko
> is not a model for Victor**. Is Victor so legendary no one in real life can
> touch him?
>
> **Victor is also partially based on American actor John Cameron Mitchell.
> In[a tweet from
> Kubo](https://twitter.com/kubo_3260/status/785169635129696256), when she
> first thought about Victor’s visual design last year, she thought of
> Mitchell, an actor she saw during a trip to New York**.
>
> ### Yūri Katsuki and ???
>
> Who is Yūri's real life counterpart? **[According to
> Kubo](http://www.pashplus.jp/anime/staff_comment/31982/), Yūri is not merely
> one Japanese figure skater. Rather, she wanted him to be a character that
> could reflect all Japanese figure skaters and also be appreciated as a
> character on his own**.
>
> However, it is easy to find bits and pieces of other skaters in Yūri. As
> seen in numerous fan made videos, Yūri's short program Eros matches Japanese
> figure skater Yuzuru Hanyū 2014 Sochi Olympic Short Program. Beyond Hanyū,
> figure skater Tatsuki Machida influenced the series and potentially Yūri.
> The retirement of figure skater Tatsuki Machida's retirement partially
> inspired Kubo to create the series and make it successful.
>
> (Emphasis mine)

From Topic Station (Japanese), regarding [Yuri Plisetsky's
model](http://topic-station.com/yuuri-modelrip/),

> When Kubo was interviewed regarding Yuri Plisetsky's voice actor, she
> mentioned a little bit about him,
>

>> Why Russian athletes are difficult to approach, it's because the appeal(?)
is great. When I saw (Yulia) Lipnitskaya, I thought " _If she was a man, it'd
be the best_ ", then directly used her as Yuri's image.

* * *

Nobunari Oda, a Japanese figure skater, requested to participate in the anime.
He appears as a commentator in episode 11 and voiced his own character.

From Oricon News (Japanese), regarding [Nobunari
Oda](http://www.oricon.co.jp/news/2082587/full/),

> Oda, who watched the anime every week from episode 1, quickly pleaded, " _I
> want to appear as myself and commentating Yuuri's skate program even only
> for once!_ "

![Nobunari Oda in YoI](https://i.stack.imgur.com/jirbYm.png) ![Nobunari Oda at
recording place](https://i.stack.imgur.com/wpCoBm.jpg)

* * *

Stéphane Lambiel, a French commentator in episode 12, was also [a real-life
figure skater](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St%C3%A9phane_Lambiel). While he
was born in Switzerland, he also speaks French, English, German, and Portugal.
His outfit was also traced from 2016 NHK Trophy.

![Stéphane Lambiel in YoI](https://i.stack.imgur.com/MvTYjm.png) ![Stéphane
Lambiel at 2016 NHK Trophy](https://i.stack.imgur.com/fzkrXm.png)


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**Based on fans theory, the rest of the characters are:**

  * Yuri Katsuki: **Tatsuki Machida** (Kubo's fan), **Daisuke Takahashi** (high potential, weak mental; glass-hearted), _Yuzuru Hanyu_ , Takahiko Kozuka
  * Victor Nikiforov: **Evgeni Plushenko** (history), **John Cameron Mitchell** (appearance), Stéphane Lambiel (relation to Machida)

![Victor Nikiforov](https://i.stack.imgur.com/uE3C5m.png) ![John Cameron
Mitchell](https://i.stack.imgur.com/XxVpLm.png)

  * Yuri Plisetsky: **Yulia Lipnitskaya** , _Maya Plisetskaya_ (ballet, name), _Artur Gachinski_ (appearance, successor to Russia's top figure skater Plushenko), _Yuzuru Hanyu_ (skate's blade, body figure), Evgeni Plushenko (child figure) 
  * Guang-Hong Ji: **Boyang Jin** (young, shy), Yan Han (likes to take selfie)
  * Christophe Giacometti: **Stéphane Lambiel** (charming, slow-starter, own cats as pet)

![Christophe Giacometti](https://i.stack.imgur.com/xKPSsm.png) ![Stéphane
Lambiel](https://i.stack.imgur.com/37AaOm.png)

  * Jean-Jacques Leroy: **Patrick Chan** (big mouth)
  * Phichit Chulanont: **Michael Christian Martinez** (both South-East Asian skater), _Nobunari Oda_ (pose, likes SNS and taking selfie), Nam Nguyen

![Phichit Chulanont](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ZhrxUm.png) ![Nobunari
Oda](https://i.stack.imgur.com/rVZ8Rm.png)

  * Otabek Altin: **Denis Ten** (born and based in Almaty ,Kazakhstan; often receives teddy bear)

![Otabek Altin](https://i.stack.imgur.com/sMKWQm.png) ![Denis
Ten](https://i.stack.imgur.com/KmRdWm.png)

  * Michele Crispino: **Brian Joubert** (hairstyle, outfit), _Michal Březina_ (brother-sister relationship)

![Michele Crispino](https://i.stack.imgur.com/9L9Exm.png) ![Brian
Joubert](https://i.stack.imgur.com/N95TNm.png)

  * Sara Crispino: _Eliška Březinová_ (brother-sister relationship)
  * Kenjiro Minami: _Akio Sasaki_ (acting), Yamato Tamura (hairstyle)
  * Seung Gil Lee: _Kim Yuna_ (strict to other people, acting skill, own dogs as pet)
  * Emil Nekola: _Tomáš Verner_ (jump style)
  * Georgi Popovich: (none)
  * Leo de la Iglesia: **Jason Brown** (doesn't jump quads)
  * Mila Babicheva: Ashley Wagner (practice outfit, red hair)
  * Golden Spin's 2nd-place skater: **Ivan Righini** (hairstyle, beard, outfit)

![2nd-place skater](https://i.stack.imgur.com/g9flSm.png) ![Ivan
Righini](https://i.stack.imgur.com/bd1Iqm.png)

* * *

  * Yakov Feltsman (Victor's coach): **Alexei Mishin** (appearance, Plushenko's coach)

![Yakov Feltsman](https://i.stack.imgur.com/BQlr6m.png) ![Alexei
Mishin](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ucf8Nm.png)

  * Celestino Cialdini (Katsuki's coach): **Pasquale Camerlengo** (Detroit Skating Club, hairstyle)

![Celestino Cialdini](https://i.stack.imgur.com/mTPydm.png) ![Pasquale
Camerlengo](https://i.stack.imgur.com/lcoZRm.png)

  * Lilia Baranovskaya (Yuri's choreographer, Bolshoi Ballet's principal): **Maya Plisetskaya** (appearance, Bolshoi Ballet's leading soloist), **Ksenia Rumyantseva** (appearance), _Lyudmila Vlasova_ (Bolshoi Ballet's choreographer)

![Lilia Baranovskaya](https://i.stack.imgur.com/zkW4Zm.png) ![Ksenia
Rumyantseva](https://i.stack.imgur.com/XxXxnl.png) ![Maya
Plisetskaya](https://i.stack.imgur.com/KG7mqm.png)

  * Kanako Odagaki (Kenjiro's coach): **Kanako Odagaki** (coach)
  * Leo's coach: **Rohene Ward** (hairstyle, Jason Brown's choreographer)

![Leo's coach](https://i.stack.imgur.com/cIinam.png) ![Rohene
Ward](https://i.stack.imgur.com/1p7k2m.png)

  * Christophe's coach: **Karel Fajfr** (appearance, red glasses)

![Christophe's coach](https://i.stack.imgur.com/SvukXm.png) ![Karel
Fajfr](https://i.stack.imgur.com/zUWfCm.png)

  * Pitchit's coach: **Satsuki Muramoto** (hairstyle, outfit, coaching in Thailand)

![Pitchit's coach](https://i.stack.imgur.com/WlWFsm.png) ![Satsuki
Muramoto](https://i.stack.imgur.com/8XxtLm.png)

* * *

  * Hisashi Morooka (reporter): **Taihei Katō** (figure skating reporter, voice actor, outfit)

![Hisashi Morooka](https://i.stack.imgur.com/ujoSgm.png) ![Taihei
Katō](https://i.stack.imgur.com/OwW71m.png)

  * Honda (commentator): **Takeshi Honda** (self-voice actor, commentator)

![Honda \(commentator\)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/VPmASm.png) ![Takeshi
Honda](https://i.stack.imgur.com/zBRjnm.png)

  * Nakaniwa (commentator): **Kensuke Nakaniwa** (commentator, appearance)

![Nakaniwa \(commentator\)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Jozf8m.png) ![Kensuke
Nakaniwa](https://i.stack.imgur.com/vuhO5m.png)

  * Stéphane Lambiel (reporter): **Stéphane Lambiel** (self-voice actor, outfit)
  * Nobunari Oda (commentator): **Nobunari Oda** (self-voice actor, commentator)

* * *

  * Axel, Lutz, Loop (Nishigori's children): **Type of jumps in figure skating**

* * *

Legends:

  * **Bolded names** are most probable theories
  * _Italic names_ are probable theories
  * Normal names are weak theories

* * *

References:

  * <http://yurionice.wikia.com/wiki/Characters>
  * <https://tokyogirlsupdate.com/yuri-on-ice-characters-201611111889.html>
  * <http://yoimeta.tumblr.com/post/155851034719/lilia-branovskaya-a-tribute-to-maya-plisetskaya>
  * <http://blog.livedoor.jp/kaigai_no/archives/49911536.html> (Japanese)
  * <http://harnoncourt.hatenablog.com/entry/20161030/1477832166> (Japanese)
  * <https://tsuiran.jp/pickup/20161208/10928> (Japanese)
  * <http://topic-station.com/victor-model/> (Japanese)
  * <https://matome.naver.jp/odai/2147159848951461901> (Japanese)
  * <http://siromama.com/yuri-on-ice-3388/2> (Japanese)
  * <http://www.umashika.xyz/entry/yu-ri/itirann/zukann> (Japanese)
  * <http://matomame.jp/user/FrenchToast/6a8ce791f2a6ac33e9fc> (Japanese)
  * <http://matomame.jp/user/FrenchToast/fa8be2d3a9753594e5cd> (Japanese)


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answer


I think Phichit Chulanont's career is based off of Javier Fernandez, as they
have similar backgrounds. Phichit is good friends with Yuri and they trained
together in Detroit under the same coach; Fernandez is good friends with
Hanyu, and they were training partners in Toronto, sharing the same coach.
Likewise, Fernandez is the first Spanish skater to achieve the career heights
that he did (2018 Olympic medalist, 2-time world champion, etc.). Phichit also
mentions that his dream is to bring ice shows/figure skating to Thailand,
which Fernandez achieved after his retirement with his Revolution on Ice
shows.

I think it's similar to Yuri where they pulled various Japanese skaters to
make him, Phichit stands for all skaters from non-winter countries that blazed
a trail for figure skating in their respective countries. Martinez is a match
for physical appearance, but his career seems a lot more like Fernandez.


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