Summary

• The Union in Undead Unluck is initially portrayed as antagonistic but is actually a heroic force working to defy the rules imposed by God.
• Each member of the Union possesses a unique Negator ability that allows them to negate specific rules of the world and enhance their fighting style.
• Undead Unluck stands out as an inventive manga in Weekly Shonen Jump with creative fights that showcase the full potential of each character's abilities. The anime adaptation on Hulu is expected to highlight this creativity.

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.

Undead Unluck is a manga series written and illustrated by Yoshifumi Tozuka, serialized on Weekly Shonen Jump from January 2020. An anime adaptation started airing in October 2023 on Hulu.

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.

Fuuko Izumo is Undead Unluck's Hero

Debuted Chapter 1 of the Manga & Episode 1 of the Anime

The first Union member to discuss is Fuuko Izumo, Rank X in the Union and the protagonist of Undead Unluck. Fuuko’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, Fuuko 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 is Undead Unluck's Deuteragonist

Debuted Chapter 1 of the Manga & Episode 1 of the Anime

Following Fuuko 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.

Julia U. Stitia (Juiz) is The Original Leader Of The Union

Debuted Chapter 8 of the Manga & Episode 5 of the Anime

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 Fuuko for the 101st and—due to a lack of energy—final use of Ark near the end of the Ragnarok arc.

Shen Xiang is The Strongest In All Creation

Debuted Chapter 2 of the Manga & Episode 2 of the Anime

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 is The Kindhearted Traitor Of The Union

Debuted Chapter 8 of the Manga & Episode 5 of the Anime

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 is The Emotionless Child Of The Union

Debuted Chapter 8 of the Manga & Episode 5 of the Anime

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 is The Union's Untouchable Juggernaut

Debuted Chapter 8 of the Manga & Episode 5 of the Anime

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 the only member of the Union to have not reappeared during the 101st loop and whose whereabouts are unknown.

Isshin (Haruka Yamaoka) is The Union's Personal Blacksmith

Debuted Chapter 8 of the Manga & Episode 5 of the Anime

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 is inherited exclusively by the people in her family, with Haruka being the 13th Isshin in her introduction.

Haruka's role in the Union was taken by her grandfather, the 12th Isshin, in the 101st loop, but recent chapters had a teenage version of Haruka re the Union as the 13th Isshin, once more.

Top Bull Sparx is The Union's Speedster

Debuted Chapter 8 of the Manga & Episode 5 of the Anime

Rank VII in the Union is Top Bull Sparx, an energetic young boy with a surprising amount of maturity despite being younger than Fuuko. Top’s Negator ability, Unstoppable, allows him to run at super speed, but he can't 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.

While Top was initially absent from the 101st loop, he reappeared in recent chapters to help with the fight against UMA Beast.

Nico Vorgeil is The Union's Resident Mad Scientist

Debuted Chapter 4 of the Manga & Episode 5 of the Anime

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 Fuuko’s first recruits in the Union.