Blue Exorcist: Is Yukio a Traitor? Why Did He Join the Illuminati?

After many years, the third season of Blue Exorcist is finally back, and in this article, we have decided to start covering the series. Although Yukio Okumura has been present from the very beginning of the series and is a principal character, we haven’t written much about him. With him having a specific role in the Shimane Illuminati Arc, the time has come for us to tell you more about Yukio’s role in that arc, which is the focus of Season 3. Yukio will, at one point, join the Illuminati, and in this article, we are going to reveal whether he is a traitor in the series or not.

Lucifer tempted Yukio to join the Illuminati, and he later accepted – but it’s not that straightforward

The relationship between Yukio and the Illuminati was a very specific one. Initially, when they first became relevant to the story, Yukio dismissed them as evildoers whose actions put everyone in danger. He considered them to be villains, and he wasn’t really wrong in that aspect; despite their desire for a so-called peace, there was something dark behind them. On the other hand, later, when he found out about the Order’s background actions, he compared the two of them, as he seemingly became disillusioned with the Order as well. This, of course, created a rift inside him, and the author did quite well to portray that aspect of his development.

During the Shimane Illuminati Arc, Lucifer met Yukio for the first time, and he was immediately fascinated by him. He saw his talent and his intelligence, so the two of them had a brief chat in which Lucifer told him that he would like to have him in his organization. Of course, Yukio said nothing, and while it seemed that Yukio would never join the Illuminati, this actually changed in the later arcs. Namely, after growing disillusioned with the Order, Yukio actually decided to go to the Illuminati, seemingly betraying everyone, including Rin.

He never officially joined them, so he had the status of a “Visiting Researcher,” but he used his time well to find out more about them and their secrets. Of course, Yukio’s joining them was just a trick, and as he himself explained, he had always intended to betray them, and that is what he did, which brings us to our next section.

Is Yukio a villain and a traitor in Blue Exorcist?

Based on what we know, we can confirm that Yukio Okumura is not a traitor in the series. We have explained the circumstances of his joining the Illuminati in the series, and you can now clearly see that while it was a decision made of his own free will later in the series, Yukio never really switched sides in that aspect. Sure, the apparent betrayal and Rin’s disappointment were a shock, and it was a major narrative moment, but Yukio would never really betray his brother. Sure, he might not agree with the Order and their experiments – as the Order is not really much better than the Illuminati – but he would never betray his brother and their father, regardless of the other circumstances; he simply wouldn’t do that to the ideals they were raised with.

And that is why there is no chance that Yukio is actually a villain in the series. Sure, he was with the Illuminati for a while as a visiting researcher (he rejected joining them in an official capacity), but as it turned out, he had always planned to betray them and his joining them was simply because he wanted more information and because him seemingly betraying his friends and his brother was part of a larger plan. So no, Yukio is not a villain in the series, and we doubt that the author will actually change that in the future, so we can say this with a fair amount of certainty.

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