Phichit Chulanont (Thai: พิชิต จุฬานนท์; Japanese: ピチット・チュラノン, Pichitto Churanon) is a Thai figure skater featured in Yuri!!! on Ice.
Background
Phichit was previously a part of a Detroit skating club, along with Yuuri Katsuki, with whom he had trained together under coach Celestino Cialdini. Currently his home rink is in Bangkok, as a skater under both Celestino and Satsuki Muramoto.[1][2]
It was shown that when Phichit was young, his talent had been discovered when he was skating at the local rink in a commercial district in Bangkok.[3]
Phichit placed third at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in the previous skating season.
Appearance
Phichit is a short young man with tan skin, black hair, and dark grey eyes. Usually, he has a fringe that reaches below his eyebrows. However, when skating, he tends to comb his hair out of his eyes. He is often seen with a smile on his face. He is also shown to wear winged eyeliner in episode 10.
Short Program
During his short program, Phichit wears a red costume with gold trim that is reminiscent of royal garments.
Free Skate
Phichit's free skate outfit consists of a white blazer with light blue trim and patterns. He wears a navy shirt under the blazer, which matches his navy trousers.
Personality
Phichit is a kind and cheerful young man, and a natural optimist. He was supposed to contrast with Yuuri, therefore he is always full of cheerfulness.[4] Phichit enjoys taking selfies of himself and his teammates, as shown when Yuuri looks through his social media page, though his love of posting to social media can sometimes cause him to get carried away and take embarrassing photos of people. Phichit is also very proud of his country, always wanting to showcase Thai media to his audience, and hopes to popularize figure skating back in Thailand.
Relationships
Yuuri Katsuki
Phichit chatting with Yuri in Detroit.
Phichit was one of Yuuri's rink-mates and his roommate during their time in Detroit. The two of them are close, to the point where it is fine for Yuuri to face-time him at random hours. Phichit refers to Yuuri as his best friend.[5] During their time in Detroit, Phichit taught Yuuri basic Thai.[1] He admires Yuuri and wants to catch up to him.[6] He is familiar with Yuuri's skating style and was able to recognize that Yuuri's performance in the Cup of China greatly differed from his previous skates.[7] Phichit is also highly supportive of Yuuri and Victor being together.
Guang Hong Ji
Guang Hong looks up to Phichit and the two are seen to be good friends. They both enjoy using SNS and Phichit is the reason Guang Hong got into social media. Guang Hong's status on the official website states that he "yearns" for Phichit a little, and that "In the result, he often uploads his selfie photos."
Celestino Cialdini
Celestino is Phichit's current coach. They get along well. Phichit sometimes asks him to take videos of his skating. Phichit nicknames him "Ciao-Ciao", which is Celestino's favorite phrase.
Satsuki Muramoto
Satsuki Muramoto is Phichit's second coach while in Bangkok. As a coach, she follows Celestino to all of Phichit's competitions in the Grand Prix series. She gets along well with Phichit, often seen happily cheering him on from behind the boards.
Programs
Short - Shall We Skate?
Shall We Skate is the theme song of The King and The Skater, a fictional movie in the Yuri!!! on ICE universe, and due to its popularity has become well-known in the skating world. According to Yuuri Katsuki, Phichit has wanted to skate to this music for a long time.
Free - Terra Incognita
"Terra Incognita" is a song from The King and The Skater II.
Quotes
- "I'm going to become Thailand's future!"[6] (CoC FS Monologue)
- "Chris and Yuuri are always ahead of me, with their two quads and higher scores on the five components. With only one quad under my belt, the only way I can stay ahead is to put all my quads in the second half for more points! The one who will advance to the Grand Prix Final is me!"[6] (CoC FS Monologue)
- "Until recently, I bet no one thought that a Thai skater would land a quad at a Grand Prix Series event! I've always believed in myself though!"[6] (CoC FS Monologue)
- "It's something only I can do, not copying anyone else."[6] (CoC FS Monologue)
- "I have no past accomplishments to defend. This is my new beginning! It's a waste if I'm not as excited as a child drawing art no one's ever seen before on a blank canvas!"[3] (GPF SP Monologue)
Etymology
- The name Phichit (พิชิต) means "to conquer".
- Phichit's surname Chulanont is shared with a long line of military leaders who lived in Thailand, most notably with Surayud Chulanont, who was the country's 24th prime minister.
Trivia
- According to SNS, Phichit is one of the Three Most Adorable Men's Figure Skaters in Asia.[8]
- Phichit is very active on SNS, and especially loves taking and posting selfies on Instagram. He also had no trouble uploading risqué photos of Victor being drunk.[7]
- Phichit's Instagram account is phichit+chu.
- The caption on his Instagram post in the ending credits reads 'Crepe❤😂'
- Phichit keeps 3 hamsters as pets, and has hamster plushies as gifts from the GP Final.[3] His phone case also features a hamster. His visual dream to put on an ice show in Thailand includes his friends wearing hamster-shaped hats.