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Fixing grammar and tropes and moving Word of God entry of Yuya\'s to Trivia.
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** WordOfGod has said that this is a main point of his character. Yuya unlike the other protagonists doesn't have confidence or extreme skill to back him. He's a timid child who struggles, but no matter how many mistakes he'll make, he'll keep on standing up and try again.
* AdaptationalBadass: Sawatari is a complete joke of a character and though at times he is able to duel somewhat competently, he ends up being seen as a [[TheLoad hindrance by others]]. In the Arc-V's manga, however, Sawatari plays with a Monarch deck and is able to completely wreck ''Yuto'' in a duel; it gets so bad that Yuya had to take over their shared body to prevent them from losing the duel.
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* GenreSavvy: [[spoiler: In Episode 58, he begins to realize something is not right about Dennis. He's proven correct to the cast in Episode 74, when Dennis reveals his Ancient Gear monsters.]]
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* GenreSavvy: [[spoiler: In Episode 58, he begins to realize something is not right about Dennis. He's proven correct to the cast in Episode 74, when Dennis reveals his Ancient Antique Gear monsters.]]
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Dennis is supposedly an exchange student from the LDS Broadway branch who takes the Xyz Summon course. After saving Yuya from Ryozanpaku's duel school students, he tells the young entertainer that he's an admirer of his father Yusho's dueling style, hence the flamboyancy in his duels. Later becomes one of the top 16 Junior Youth participants and uses an Entermage deck, focusing on effects that negate effect damage. After joining the Lancers, he adds Pendulum monsters to his deck, helping to Xyz summon monsters much faster. He's later revealed shortly afterwards to be a mole for the main antagonists of the series: Duel Academia, working directly with Yuri and spying on the Lancers. He plays a balanced Performage/Ancient Gear hybrid deck, which fully brings out the potential of Pendulum, Xyz and Fusion Summoning.
to:
Dennis is supposedly an exchange student from the LDS Broadway branch who takes the Xyz Summon course. After saving Yuya from Ryozanpaku's duel school students, he tells the young entertainer that he's an admirer of his father Yusho's dueling style, hence the flamboyancy in his duels. Later becomes one of the top 16 Junior Youth participants and uses an Entermage deck, focusing on effects that negate effect damage. After joining the Lancers, he adds Pendulum monsters to his deck, helping to Xyz summon monsters much faster. He's later revealed shortly afterwards to be a mole for the main antagonists of the series: Duel Academia, working directly with Yuri and spying on the Lancers. He plays a balanced Performage/Ancient Performage/Antique Gear hybrid deck, which fully brings out the potential of Pendulum, Xyz and Fusion Summoning.
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* AncientGrome and ClockPunk: [[spoiler:After his true colors are revealed, he starts playing Ancient Gear monsters.]]
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* AncientGrome and ClockPunk: [[spoiler:After his true colors are revealed, he starts playing Ancient Antique Gear monsters.]]
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* BeneathTheMask: Underneath the wacky entertainer persona is the appearance of a [[spoiler: sadistic duel soldier. Invoked by Entermage Trapeze Magician's destruction, where the mask is the last piece to fall...and he is exposed.]]
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* BeneathTheMask: Underneath the wacky entertainer persona is the appearance of is a [[spoiler: sadistic duel soldier. Invoked by Entermage Trapeze Magician's destruction, where the mask is the last piece to fall...and he is exposed.]]
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* ChickMagnet: He has admirers in the [[spoiler: Synchro Dimension,]]... and {{CrowningMomentOfFunny Yuya's Mother}}.
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* ChickMagnet: He has admirers in the [[spoiler: Synchro Dimension,]]... and {{CrowningMomentOfFunny [[CrowningMomentOfFunny Yuya's Mother}}.Mother]].
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* ColorFailure: Subject to this after faceplanting as a result of his penalty for helping Yuya, and for drawing Polymerization.
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* ColorFailure: Subject to this after faceplanting face planting as a result of his penalty for helping Yuya, and for drawing Polymerization.
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* CyberCyclops: [[spoiler:His true ace monster, Ancient Gear Chaos Giant, sports a very [[Franchise/Gundam Zaku-like]] glowing monoeye.]]
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* CyberCyclops: [[spoiler:His true ace monster, Ancient Antique Gear Chaos Giant, sports a very [[Franchise/Gundam Zaku-like]] Zaku-like glowing monoeye.mono-eye.]]
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* DishingOutDirt: [[spoiler: His Ancient Gear monsters.]]
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* DishingOutDirt: [[spoiler: His Ancient Antique Gear monsters.]]
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* EvilSorcerer: He uses the Performage archetype, and is TheMole to Academia. [[spoiler:Subverted in that, once he reveals his true colors, he drops the Performages for Ancient Gear monsters.]]
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* EvilSorcerer: He uses the Performage archetype, and is TheMole to Academia. [[spoiler:Subverted in that, once he reveals his true colors, he drops the Performages for Ancient Antique Gear monsters.]]
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* LightIsNotGood: While the Entermages vary in attribute, his Xyz ace, Performage Trapeze Magician is LIGHT-attribute, and he is TheMole. [[spoiler:Later abandons the light when he starts using the EARTH-attribute Ancient Gear monsters.]]
to:
* LightIsNotGood: While the Entermages vary in attribute, his Xyz ace, Performage Trapeze Magician is LIGHT-attribute, and he is TheMole. [[spoiler:Later abandons the light when he starts using the EARTH-attribute Ancient Antique Gear monsters.]]
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* MonstrousHumanoid: [[spoiler: Dennis' true ace monster is not some silly creepy Xyz clown but a ''giant, horrifying mechanized Fusion abomination''. The fact that it looks humanoid makes it worse since its joints are made up of Ancient Gear Hound ''heads''.]]
to:
* MonstrousHumanoid: [[spoiler: Dennis' true ace monster is not some silly creepy Xyz clown but a ''giant, horrifying mechanized Fusion abomination''. The fact that it looks humanoid makes it worse since its joints are made up of Ancient Antique Gear Hound ''heads''.]]
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* OhCrap: He gets one in Episode 50 when faced with the possibily that his status as TheMole may have been blown, and that there may be witnesses of him talking to Yuri, or of the later taking Yuzu thanks to Reiji's SinisterSurveillance.
to:
* OhCrap: He gets one in Episode 50 when faced with the possibily possibility that his status as TheMole may have been blown, and that there may be witnesses of him talking to Yuri, or of the later taking Yuzu thanks to Reiji's SinisterSurveillance.
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** Episode 74: InUniverse, when he shows [[spoiler:Polymerization in his hand to Kurosaki.]] This reveal gets blown out of the water a few moments later when he [[spoiler:sends it to his Graveyard to activate an ''Antique Gear'' Fusion card that lets him Summon multiple Ancient Gear Hounds, up to and including what was previously considered the Hounds' ace, Ultimate Bite Hound Dog. But a few moments later, Dennis summons the ''real'' ace: Ancient Gear Chaos Giant, a ''Level 10, 4500 ATK '''behemoth''''' of a monster.]]
to:
** Episode 74: InUniverse, when he shows [[spoiler:Polymerization in his hand to Kurosaki.]] This reveal gets blown out of the water a few moments later when he [[spoiler:sends it to his Graveyard to activate an ''Antique Gear'' Fusion card that lets him Summon multiple Ancient Antique Gear Hounds, up to and including what was previously considered the Hounds' ace, Ultimate Bite Hound Dog. But a few moments later, Dennis summons the ''real'' ace: Ancient Antique Gear Chaos Giant, a ''Level 10, 4500 ATK '''behemoth''''' of a monster.]]
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** In his second Duel with Yuya, he tributes summon Mayosenju Daibak instead of Pendulum summoning it. Had he not done so, he would have been able to attack with three monsters instead of one and possibly been able to defeat Yuya.
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* {{Determinator}}: Thanks to his father's advice to smile and laugh whenever he feels sad or in trouble, Yuya manages to gather the courage to get himself out of any pinch he finds himself in.
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* {{Determinator}}: {{Determinator}}:
** Thanks to his father's advice to smile and laugh whenever he feels sad or in trouble, Yuya manages to gather the courage to get himself out of any pinch he finds himself in.
** Thanks to his father's advice to smile and laugh whenever he feels sad or in trouble, Yuya manages to gather the courage to get himself out of any pinch he finds himself in.
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** WordOfGod has said that this is a main point of his character. Yuya unlike the other protagonists doesn't have confidence or extreme skill to back him. He's a timid child who struggles, but no matter how many mistakes he'll make, he'll keep on standing up and try again.
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** [[spoiler:In the Synchro Dimension arc, Yuya attempts to use his Entertainment Dueling to peacefully end conflicts like his father, but continually fails due to the different values the City has from him. Eventually he is forced to see the different values the City has and that the only way to make them listen to him is to make them accept him, he resolves to no longer hesitate as that's the only way he can do anything]]
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* CyberCyclops: [[spoiler:His true ace monster, Ancient Gear Chaos Giant, sports a very [[Franchise/MobileSuitGundam Zaku-like]] glowing monoeye.]]
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* CyberCyclops: [[spoiler:His true ace monster, Ancient Gear Chaos Giant, sports a very [[Franchise/MobileSuitGundam [[Franchise/Gundam Zaku-like]] glowing monoeye.]]
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* CyberCyclops: [[spoiler:His true ace monster, Ancient Gear Chaos Giant, sports a very [[Franchise/MobileSuitGundam Zaku-like]] glowing monoeye.]]
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* TheSmartGuy: While the Leader of the Lancers, he is also TheStrategist and the most intelligent member.
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* TrueCompanions: Subverted. While Yuya sees them as this, most of the members don't agree. Kurosaki and Serena have a tendency of working alone, Sawatari is in his own little world, Dennis is the mole, Reiji, Reira and Tsukikage act their own little group isolated from the rest. Leaving Yuya and Gongenzaka trying to get the rest of the members to work together.
to:
* TrueCompanions: Subverted. While Yuya sees them as this, most of the members don't agree. Kurosaki and Serena have a tendency of working alone, Sawatari is in his own little world, Dennis is the mole, Reiji, Reira and Tsukikage act their own little group isolated from the rest. Leaving Yuya [[TeamMom Yuya]] and Gongenzaka [[TeamDad Gongenzaka]] trying to get the rest of the members to work together.
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** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He becomes a little nicer after his loss to Yuya in their second duel. Later, he even shows sympathy to Yuya over Yuzu's disappearance.
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'''Beware of major spoilers, {{Late Arrival Spoiler}}s and {{Walking Spoiler}}s!'''
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* CassandraTruth: In the synchro dimension, very few believe that they came from different dimensions and that are invaders from another dimension coming.
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* CassandraTruth: In the synchro dimension, very few believe that they came from different dimensions and that there are invaders from another dimension coming.
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* CassandraTruth: In the synchro dimension, very few believe that they came from different dimensions and that are invaders from another dimension coming.
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* BigGood: They as a whole represent this. They are the only force currently going against the Academia with the Resistance all but dead and the City is fully ignorant of the threat. Reiji himself is this to the Lancers as their leader but as stated on his page, he's one of the more morally ambiguous characters on the team.
to:
* BigGood: They as a whole represent this. They are the only force currently going against the Academia with the Resistance all but dead and the City is fully ignorant of the threat. Reiji himself is this to the Lancers as their leader but as stated on his page, he's one of the more morally ambiguous characters on the team.
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* TrueCompanions: Subverted. While Yuya sees them as this, most of the member's don't agree. Kurosaki and Serena have a tendency of working alone, Sawatari is in his own little world, Dennis is the mole, Reiji, Reira and Tsukikage act their own little group isolated from the rest. Leaving Yuya and Gongenzaka trying to get the rest of the members to work together.
* WorldsBestWarrior: The team is this, due to their use of Pendulum Summoning, they are currently the strongest Duelists Standard has to offer.
* WorldsBestWarrior: The team is this, due to their use of Pendulum Summoning, they are currently the strongest Duelists Standard has to offer.
to:
* TrueCompanions: Subverted. While Yuya sees them as this, most of the member's members don't agree. Kurosaki and Serena have a tendency of working alone, Sawatari is in his own little world, Dennis is the mole, Reiji, Reira and Tsukikage act their own little group isolated from the rest. Leaving Yuya and Gongenzaka trying to get the rest of the members to work together.
* WorldsBestWarrior: The team isthis, due this. Due to their use of Pendulum Summoning, they are currently the strongest Duelists Standard has to offer.
* WorldsBestWarrior: The team is
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fixing some of my grammar
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* TrueCompanions: Subverted. While Yuya seems them as this, most of the member's don't agree. Kurosaki and Serena have a tendency of working alone, Sawatari is in his own little world, Dennis is the mole, Reiji, Reira and Tsukikage act their own little group isolated from the rest. Leaving Yuya and Gongenzaka trying to get the rest of the members to work together.
to:
* TrueCompanions: Subverted. While Yuya seems sees them as this, most of the member's don't agree. Kurosaki and Serena have a tendency of working alone, Sawatari is in his own little world, Dennis is the mole, Reiji, Reira and Tsukikage act their own little group isolated from the rest. Leaving Yuya and Gongenzaka trying to get the rest of the members to work together.
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* TrueCompanions: Subverted. While Yuya seems them as this, most of the member's don't agree. Kurosaki and Serena have a tendency of working alone, Sawatari is in his own little world, Dennis is the mole, Reiji, Reira and Tsukikage act their own little group isolated from the rest. Leaving Yuya and Gongenzaka trying to get the rest of the members to work together.
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* StealthExpert: [[spoiler: Tsukikage is this for the Lancers, infiltrating the Underground to bring information to Reiji.]]
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* StealthExpert: [[spoiler: Tsukikage is this for the Lancers, infiltrating easily able to enter and leave the Underground Facility to bring information to Reiji.]]
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[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/lancers.png]]
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[[folder:The Lancers (General)]]
The Lancers or Lance Defense Soldiers are the brain child of Reiji Akaba. They were created to oppose the Academia and protect all other dimensions. There were two incarnations of the Lancers, with this page detailing the members of the second.
* BigGood: They as a whole represent this. They are the only force currently going against the Academia with the Resistance all but dead and the City is fully ignorant of the threat. Reiji himself is this to the Lancers as their leader but as stated on his page, he's one of the more morally ambiguous characters on the team.
* ItsUpToYou: At the point of the story when they were created, they were the best Reiji could do. The Xyz Dimension was defeated, the Synchro Dimension was unknown and the members that would be the Lancers were the strongest duelists around due to their mastery of Pendulum Summoning. But it is downplayed as in Standard, LDS is teaching the public to create more Lancers.
* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: To the extreme, the team is made up of either teenagers or children who most of them barely even know or even like each other and they're the ones only ones that can save multiverse.
* SixthRanger: Yuzu counts as this. While she isn't technically part of the Lancers, she has close ties to Yuya and Gongenzaka, is from Standard, has the same goal as them and Reiji himself says her skill is up to par with the Lancers. The Executive Council at least think she is part of them.
* SpringtimeForHitler: The first Lancer team was sent out by Reiji against the Obelisk Force to protect Serena and were crushed. Reiji later revealed he knew they didn't stand a chance and were deployed to give Tsukikage and Hikage time to rescue and escape with Yuzu and Serena.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: My god. There is plenty of tension in the group due to their different ideals and upbringings. But they are willing to work together.
* WorldsBestWarrior: The team is this, due to their use of Pendulum Summoning, they are currently the strongest Duelists Standard has to offer.
[[/folder]]
The Lancers or Lance Defense Soldiers are the brain child of Reiji Akaba. They were created to oppose the Academia and protect all other dimensions. There were two incarnations of the Lancers, with this page detailing the members of the second.
* BigGood: They as a whole represent this. They are the only force currently going against the Academia with the Resistance all but dead and the City is fully ignorant of the threat. Reiji himself is this to the Lancers as their leader but as stated on his page, he's one of the more morally ambiguous characters on the team.
* ItsUpToYou: At the point of the story when they were created, they were the best Reiji could do. The Xyz Dimension was defeated, the Synchro Dimension was unknown and the members that would be the Lancers were the strongest duelists around due to their mastery of Pendulum Summoning. But it is downplayed as in Standard, LDS is teaching the public to create more Lancers.
* RagtagBunchOfMisfits: To the extreme, the team is made up of either teenagers or children who most of them barely even know or even like each other and they're the ones only ones that can save multiverse.
* SixthRanger: Yuzu counts as this. While she isn't technically part of the Lancers, she has close ties to Yuya and Gongenzaka, is from Standard, has the same goal as them and Reiji himself says her skill is up to par with the Lancers. The Executive Council at least think she is part of them.
* SpringtimeForHitler: The first Lancer team was sent out by Reiji against the Obelisk Force to protect Serena and were crushed. Reiji later revealed he knew they didn't stand a chance and were deployed to give Tsukikage and Hikage time to rescue and escape with Yuzu and Serena.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: My god. There is plenty of tension in the group due to their different ideals and upbringings. But they are willing to work together.
* WorldsBestWarrior: The team is this, due to their use of Pendulum Summoning, they are currently the strongest Duelists Standard has to offer.
[[/folder]]
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Tsukikage is Hikage's twin brother and fellow participant in the Junior Youth class of the Maiami Championship. After losing his brother to Acedemia, he joined the Lancers.
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Tsukikage is Hikage's twin brother and fellow participant in the Junior Youth class of the Maiami Championship. After losing his brother to Acedemia, Academia, he joined the Lancers.
Lancers. For tropes shared with his brother, see their folder in [[Characters/YuGiOhArcVMaiamiCity Maiami City.]]
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Tsukikage is Hikage's twiin brother and fellow participant in the Junior Youth class of the Maiami Championship. After losing his brother to Acedemia, he joined the Lancers.
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Tsukikage is Hikage's twiin twin brother and fellow participant in the Junior Youth class of the Maiami Championship. After losing his brother to Acedemia, he joined the Lancers.
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Tsukikage is Hikage's twiin brother and participants in the Junior Youth class of the Maiami Championship. After losing his brother to Acedemia, he joined the Lancers.
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Tsukikage is Hikage's twiin brother and participants fellow participant in the Junior Youth class of the Maiami Championship. After losing his brother to Acedemia, he joined the Lancers.
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Tsukikage and Hikage are brothers and participants in the Junior Youth class of the Maiami Championship. Tsukikage uses a stalling strategy while his older brother Hikage uses an offensive strategy. Both go to Fuuma Duel School and use Twilight Ninja decks.
to:
Tsukikage and Hikage are brothers is Hikage's twiin brother and participants in the Junior Youth class of the Maiami Championship. Tsukikage uses a stalling strategy while After losing his older brother Hikage uses an offensive strategy. Both go to Fuuma Duel School and use Twilight Ninja decks.
Acedemia, he joined the Lancers.
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[[folder: Dennis Mackfield]]
!!Dennis Mackfield
!!Voiced by: Creator/TetsuyaKakihara
[[quoteright:133:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/736dc1ec3f517109b21f87eeed37bd9f.png]]
Dennis is supposedly an exchange student from the LDS Broadway branch who takes the Xyz Summon course. After saving Yuya from Ryozanpaku's duel school students, he tells the young entertainer that he's an admirer of his father Yusho's dueling style, hence the flamboyancy in his duels. Later becomes one of the top 16 Junior Youth participants and uses an Entermage deck, focusing on effects that negate effect damage. After joining the Lancers, he adds Pendulum monsters to his deck, helping to Xyz summon monsters much faster. He's later revealed shortly afterwards to be a mole for the main antagonists of the series: Duel Academia, working directly with Yuri and spying on the Lancers. He plays a balanced Performage/Ancient Gear hybrid deck, which fully brings out the potential of Pendulum, Xyz and Fusion Summoning.
----
!!Tropes associated with Dennis:
* ArchEnemy: Similar to [[spoiler:Sora, Dennis now considers Kurosaki this, since an already hostile rivalry between the two has devolved into outright hate for one another when Dennis' identity has been revealed thanks to the Xyz rebel. For exposing his mission, Dennis intends to ''fully'' pay back Kurosaki for tearing off his "mask".]]
* AnimeAccentAbsence: He and Olga don't speak with an accent like Halil.
* AffablyEvil: It's hard to tell just how much that goofy Broadway showman personality is a front, but while pretending to be a friend of the Lancers, he's pretty good at faking it.
* AncientGrome and ClockPunk: [[spoiler:After his true colors are revealed, he starts playing Ancient Gear monsters.]]
* {{Badass}}: He's immediately introduced as a better entertainer than Yuya, and a better Duelist than Yuzu. In all his Duels thus far, he seems to be toying with his opponents and always maintains control.
* BadassBiker: Becomes one in Episode 58, alongside Kurosaki.
* BaitTheDog: It looks like he will be the Johan to Yuya's Judai, as a kindred spirit with similar mannerisms and views on life. Then he turns out to be TheMole.
* BeautyMark: Under his right eye.
* BeneathTheMask: Underneath the wacky entertainer persona is the appearance of a [[spoiler: sadistic duel soldier. Invoked by Entermage Trapeze Magician's destruction, where the mask is the last piece to fall...and he is exposed.]]
* BigBadFriend: [[spoiler:Though the audience at home already knew his allegiance, his outing as an Academia spy comes as a huge shock to all the Lancers. Yuya and Yuzu are especially horrified, though Kurosaki had his suspicions since their first duel and Reiji [[CrazyPrepared wasn't surprised that a spy somehow managed to make it on their team]]]].
* BigDamnHeroes: He joins Yuya's duel against Takeda and Umesugi by saving Yuya. He receives 2000 damage as a penalty because he wasn't part of the duel yet when Takeda's Fuujin was about to inflict effect damage to Yuya. Sadly he only did this to get into Yuya's good graces; his actual personality is pretty rotten.
* BirdsOfAFeather: He's also an Entertainer duelist and idolizes Yusho Sasaki and his style. This helps him to connect with Yuya and show him how to overcome his fear towards Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon by showing him how to use it to give a great show. This personality is a front he put up in order to get Yuya to trust him.
* BishieSparkle: Sparkles are all over him and his monsters for the sake of being flashy.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: He's introduced as a kind and silly character, but that was an act to find Yuzu for Yuri. This is shown clearly in Episode 47 where he pretends to help Yuya and Gongenzaka find Yuzu, when he's really leading them into a trap.
* CallBack: Yuya notes that the duel taking place between Dennis and Kurosaki in the Synchro Dimension has similar traits to the duel between Sora and Kurosaki in the Standard Dimension: [[spoiler:a duel taking place in a tournament like setting that starts innocently enough but then devolves into violence and hate, complete with shocking revelations about the "friendly" duelist.]]
* CastingAShadow: Performage Shadow Maker is DARK.
* {{Catchphrase}}: "The show must go on!" [[spoiler:After being exposed, he falls back to what the Academia students love saying: "Shall we begin the hunting game?"]]
* ChickMagnet: He has admirers in the [[spoiler: Synchro Dimension,]]... and {{CrowningMomentOfFunny Yuya's Mother}}.
* CircusOfFear: Although his Performages look nice, him being evil makes it this.
* ColorFailure: Subject to this after faceplanting as a result of his penalty for helping Yuya, and for drawing Polymerization.
* CoverIdentityAnomaly: Downplayed, he didn't knew that Reiji was able to use all Summoning Types and as [[ButtMonkey Sawatari]] of all people points out, this is common knowledge for LDS Students but doesn't comment on it any further, possibly justified in that he probably didn't plan on staying too long on Standard, only until he could confirm that Yuzu had been successfully abducted by Yuri, and later to try retrieve [[SpannerintheWorks Serena]] himself.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: He seems to think so, saying he and Yuzu are friends after he beats her. Subverted, because in reality he was just tracking her for Yuri.
* DishingOutDirt: [[spoiler: His Ancient Gear monsters.]]
* DubNameChange: His Performage monsters were called Entermage in the original version.
* EvilAllAlong: He was always TheMole for Academia. PlayedForLaughs in his duel against Gongenzaka, where he switches from the role of {{Face}} to {{Heel}} because Gongenzaka didn't want to be the villain.
* EvilRedhead: See his image, and he's evil.
* EvilSorcerer: He uses the Performage archetype, and is TheMole to Academia. [[spoiler:Subverted in that, once he reveals his true colors, he drops the Performages for Ancient Gear monsters.]]
* EvilSoundsDeep: [[spoiler:After being forced to reveal himself to Kurosaki, unlike Sora whose voice becomes higher and more deranged, complete with his [[NightmareFace leering smiles]], Dennis' voice drops a few octaves and he abandons his entertaining persona.]]
* {{Expy}}: Seems to be another one to [[Anime/YuGiOhGX Johan]], sharing some similarities with Yuya and both being in good terms with each other in a very short time. And [[Anime/YuGiOhZexal Shingetsu]], being a false Johan, even more so than Sora.
* FashionableAsymmetry: Wears a glove on one hand and is missing a sleeve on the other.
* {{Foil}}:
** He's one to fellow Lancer, Tsukikage. Dennis is a flashy mole who hides his vicious personality with kindness and smiles. While Tsukikage is a silent stoic that is absolutely loyal to his mission and is benevolent. They are both much more plot important than expected.
** He's also one to Yuya. Both are entertainers and have "Enter-"/[[DubNameChange "Performa-"]] decks. While Yuya's entertainer personality is an act, Dennis is a mole and is probably acting the whole time.
* GratuitousEnglish: He has a tendency to add English to his speech. Like Halil's, it is not [[SurprisinglyGoodEnglish bad]]. However, unlike Halil, Dennis does not pronounce the monsters' names in English, but with a Japanese accent.
* HarmlessElectrocution: He suffers this in Episode 43 as a penalty when helped Yuya.
* HiddenDepths: After initially seeming to just be a goofy and friendly entertainer, he's revealed as a mole for Academia and is much more intelligent and sinister than he lets on.
* JapanesePronouns: He uses the male pronoun ''boku''.
** Uses the villainous ''wagahai'' when acting as the {{Heel}} during a street performance.
* {{Keet}}: In a different vein than Halil. He's not overcheerful, but rather overdramatic, and likes to perform acrobatic stunts with his monsters.
* LargeHam: ''Oh boy''. He's even more dramatic and over-the-top than ''Yuya's Entertainer persona''.
* LightIsNotGood: While the Entermages vary in attribute, his Xyz ace, Performage Trapeze Magician is LIGHT-attribute, and he is TheMole. [[spoiler:Later abandons the light when he starts using the EARTH-attribute Ancient Gear monsters.]]
* LoudGulp: In Episode 50 he gives one (either out of fear or awe) when he was told (and watched himself) that [[TheAce Reiji]] specialized in all types of Summon (Fusion, Synchro, Xyz and Pendulum).
* TheMole: In reality, he's an agent of Academia, particularly Yuri, and is only pretending to be friendly to Yuya and company to better let their guard down; he's just as bad as his companions.
* MonsterClown: His Performages are a combo of this and StageMagician, since he is actually evil.
* MonstrousHumanoid: [[spoiler: Dennis' true ace monster is not some silly creepy Xyz clown but a ''giant, horrifying mechanized Fusion abomination''. The fact that it looks humanoid makes it worse since its joints are made up of Ancient Gear Hound ''heads''.]]
* MulticoloredHair: Red on the front part of his hair, and brown/dark red on the back part of his hair.
* NegatedMomentOfAwesome: Downplayed; his BigDamnHero moment was cool, but the 2000 life point penalty detracts from the awesomeness.
* NiceGuy: He willingly decided to help Yuya in the 2 vs 1 duel, and treated Yuzu with a great deal of respect during their Duel, including teaching her some tactics. Subverted in that it's all an act.
* NiceHat: Pulls a top hat out of nowhere to be a StageMagician.
* NoSell: The Entermages do this to effect damage. Trapeze Magician can negate both effect damage and battle damage lower than its ATK.
* ObfuscatingStupidity: He pretended to be a silly foreigner to get info about Yuya and Yuzu. He actively pretends to be ignorant of the interdimensional war.
* OhCrap: He gets one in Episode 50 when faced with the possibily that his status as TheMole may have been blown, and that there may be witnesses of him talking to Yuri, or of the later taking Yuzu thanks to Reiji's SinisterSurveillance.
** He gets another one in episode 53 after Serena forces Reiji to reveal that Yuri didn't take Yuzu to the Academia, and instead disappeared with Yugo.
* PragmaticVillainy: He uses Xyz monsters instead of Fusion, since his cover would be blown if he did. Notable since most Fusion Dimension agents look down on Xyz users.
* ShipTease: Maybe it was just an act, but there's plenty of it in his duel against Yuzu; from him introducing himself to her while [[NoSenseOfPersonalSpace getting really close]] and offering her a rose, to the end of the duel when he saved her, all while talking suave to her.
* SlasherSmile: He had one in Episode 45 during his duel with Serena. Later he has a few internal ones as he goes about spying on Yuya and his friends. In Episode 74 and 75, Dennis starts letting more and more of these out after [[spoiler:his cover has been blown by Kurosaki.]]
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: An official site gives us Dennis Mackfield. Fan spellings leave the K out.
* SpottingTheThread: Kurosaki notices something is up about him due to him being a little too good of a duelist for Standard, being more akin to a battle tested duelist.
* StageMagician: His Performages and he himself, though a few are circus clowns.
* StreetPerformer: When he and Gongenzaka are separated from the others in the Synchro Dimension, he puts on shows for children, to try to make enough of a scene so the others find him.
* SuicidalGotcha: He did this in Episode 43 as part of his performance while dueling. He does it again in Episode 44 to save Yuzu from falling.
* SurprisinglyGoodEnglish: His [[Creator/TetsuyaKakihara seiyuu]] speaks fluent English, so Dennis's English is anything but bad.
* TermsOfEndangerment: Refers to Gongenzaka as Gon-chan, just like Sora did.
* TookALevelInJerkass: [[spoiler:With his identity revealed to the world, he drops the nice guy act and reveals his true personality: a psychotic soldier who revels in the despair of his victims. Episode 75's preview has him taunting Kurosaki relentlessly, saying that if he had more resolve and power, his dimension would still be in one piece.]]
* VillainousRescue: See BigDamnHeroes above.
* WalkingSpoiler: His status as TheMole makes it hard to speak about his role in the series at length, since it adds an extra layer to everything known about him.
* WhamShot: A few of them. ''Two of them in quick succession.''
** Episode 45: Dennis, who is from the Xyz Summon Course, has ''Polymerization'' in his Deck.
** Episode 46: He welcomes ''Yuri'' to the Standard Dimension.
** Episode 74: InUniverse, when he shows [[spoiler:Polymerization in his hand to Kurosaki.]] This reveal gets blown out of the water a few moments later when he [[spoiler:sends it to his Graveyard to activate an ''Antique Gear'' Fusion card that lets him Summon multiple Ancient Gear Hounds, up to and including what was previously considered the Hounds' ace, Ultimate Bite Hound Dog. But a few moments later, Dennis summons the ''real'' ace: Ancient Gear Chaos Giant, a ''Level 10, 4500 ATK '''behemoth''''' of a monster.]]
* WorfEffect: In Episode 45, he loses against Serena to show how powerful and hellbent she is.
* WorfHadTheFlu: It turns out that the only reason he lost was to ensure that he did not blow his cover as an agent of Academia; Dennis deliberately did not go through with Xyz summoning and despite getting lousy cards at the start, Dennis looked as though he had a backup plan to turn the duel around but was distracted by the arrival of the Obelisk Force, thus preventing himself from stopping Serena's direct attack.
* WorthyOpponent: He respects Yuya because he respects Yusho and has the same dueling style. He feels the same way towards Yuzu. Later found to be a lie, as he works for Academia, and they are known to look down on ''everyone''.
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[[Tsukikage]]
!!Tsukikage
!!Voiced by: Manabu Sakamaki
Tsukikage and Hikage are brothers and participants in the Junior Youth class of the Maiami Championship. Tsukikage uses a stalling strategy while his older brother Hikage uses an offensive strategy. Both go to Fuuma Duel School and use Twilight Ninja decks.
* AngstySurvivingTwin: While not twins (maybe, Hikage was referred to as the older brother), [[spoiler: Although downplayed, in a NotSoStoic moment Tsukikage shows how deeply hurt he is by his brother's loss.]]
* AscendedExtra: Tsukikage appeared as another duel school rival, [[spoiler: and became a member of both groups of the Lancers.]]
* {{Badass}}: Tsukikage worfs Mieru in their duel. [[spoiler:Both ninjas were also selected by Reiji to be Lancers.]]
* BadassBiker: [[spoiler: He becomes a riding duelist in the Friendship Cup]]
* BadassNormal: No Extra Deck or Pendulum Monsters, just normal Effect monsters. It doesn't prevent him from being any less of a {{Badass}}.
* BerserkButton: Don't insult his clan. [[spoiler:Shinji saying that Tsukikage is no better than Security ''really'' riles him up, especially since his brother got carded doing his duty.]]
* BodyguardingABadass: [[spoiler: His role around Reiji besides stealth. He's a capable duelist in his own right though Reiji is of course Reiji. Though considering his abilities and sword, he appears to be for non-dueling defense as well.]]
* CastFromHitPoints: Tsukikage's Trap Card "Barrier Ninjitsu, Art of Gathering Shadows" can skip the opponent's battle phase, but Tsukikage must pay half his LP.
* EscapeArtist: He's a ninja so [[spoiler: escaping the underground isn't hard for him.]]
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:Tsukikage was ready to do this against the Obelisk Force, but Sawatari saves him.]]
* {{Foil}}: Tsukikage is one to [[spoiler:fellow Lancer,]] Dennis. Dennis is [[spoiler:a flashy mole who hides his vicious personality with kindness and smiles. While Tsukikage is a silent stoic that is absolutely loyal to his mission and is benevolent. They are both much more plot important than expected. ]]
* {{Heel}}: Unlike when Yuzu, Shouzou and Dennis invoked this, [[spoiler: Shinji tragically forces him into this role for their duel.]]
* InformedAbility: Initially. Tsukikage's supposedly a really good duelist, enough to one-shot Mieru and [[spoiler:be chosen as a Lancer.]] Except his win against Mieru was off-screen and his second fight almost had him lose through his own lack of action and poor choice to act as a shield for others. Later is revealed that [[spoiler:his offensive strategy is inflicting effect damage anytime he discards spell cards. Taking into consideration that an Action Field is full of them and his speed, of course he would easily drain Mieru's LP in one turn.]]
* ILetYouWin: During his duel with [[spoiler:Shinji, Tsukikage manages to pick up an action card called "Evasion", which would've negated Shinji's strongest monster from attacking, thus saving him from losing the rest of his life points. He chooses to not use it, however, and loses on purpose, most likely on Reiji's orders, in order to possibly infiltrate the hidden Underground Facility. Confirmed in episode 73.]]
* LeftHandedMirror: Tsukikage is the blue, left-handed Ninja with a stalling strategy, while Hikage is the red, right-handed Ninja with an offensive strategy.
* MadeASlave: [[spoiler: Gets sent to the Underground, though Episode 73 shows escape isn't that difficult for a {{Ninja}}.]]
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Subverted, while it initially seems he has UndyingLoyalty, he makes it clear to Yuya he would have abandoned Reiji long ago if he was as cruel as Academia.
* NiceGuy: Tsukikage is loyal to the Lancers, and kind, if a bit stoic. [[spoiler: Though insulting his clan makes him angry.]]
* OneHitKill: Tsukikage pulled one of these, [[TheWorfEffect worfing]] Mieru.
* TheSouthpaw: In a rarity for this series, Tsukikage's left-handed. However he uses his Right Hand in a [[spoiler: Turbo Duel.]]
* StealthExpert: [[spoiler: Tsukikage is this for the Lancers, infiltrating the Underground to bring information to Reiji.]]
* StoneWall: His deck is defensive, and his [[spoiler: offensive strategy sacrifices action cards to inflict scratch damage, using his speed to collect all the action cards.]]
* TheWorfEffect: He loses to [[spoiler: Shinji to prove his power. Though he had Action Magic - Evasion in his hand, so it is possible he lost so he would be positioned to rescue the other Lancers that get sent to the Underground Facility.]]
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Tsukikage has dark blue hair.
[[folder:Shun Kurosaki (Shay)]]
!!Shun Kurosaki (Shay)
!!Voiced by: Yamato Kinjo (JP), Matt Shipman (EN)
[[quoteright:320:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shun_kurosaki_5398.png]]
Kurosaki is along with Yuto one of the survivors of the invasion on the Xyz Dimension and he's a member of Resistance. His younger sister Ruri was captured by Academia, the invaders who attacked Heartland City, and he's desperately trying to save her, no matter what cost. In Standard, he mistakenly assumes that LDS is connected with Academia, and he seals some members of LDS into cards. However, as Reiji figures out that this was caused by a misunderstanding, he convinces Kurosaki to join him to fight Professor Leo Akaba and wrangles him into the Maiami Championship as a LDS student, becoming one of the first Lancer candidates. He beats Sora during the tournament, thus their rivalry has been born. Now he's one of the nine Lancers.
Despite his very harsh and cynical character and him often showing the cold shoulder towards other people, he deeply cares for his comrades, particularly his best friend Yuto.
Kurosaki uses a Raidraptor deck, which is made for swarming Winged-Beast-Type monsters to Xyz Summon monsters with low base-ATK, but powerful effects. He also has many Spell and Trap Cards that can counter various situations.
----
!!Tropes associated with Kurosaki:
* AntiHero: Almost to the point of NominalHero. He'll do anything to rescue his comrades and stop Academia, but his current actions include attacking innocents for going to LDS, showing a disregard for the safety of his own allies, and he has no hesitation about fighting anyone in his way regardless of their own moral standing. This also doesn't get into his intensely antisocial behavior and general {{Jerkass}}-ness.
* AnimeHair: Bluish and a little spiky, but it is more subdued than the Yuto's.
* {{Badass}}: Beats two of LDS' aces, and later three employees at the same time. Then he defeats the LDS trio with a 16,400 ATK beatstick.
** He becomes even more so in his duel with Sora, where he Ranks-Up his ace monster ''twice''.
* BadassBiker: In the Synchro Dimension, he, along with the other Lancers, become [[spoiler:Riding Duelists.]]
* BadassBoast:
** Makes quite a fierce one to the LDS trio.
--> "That's right, because we were always badly beaten and fighting on the edge. But, [[{{Determinator}} we always had to stand up again]]! Then, we finally overwhelmed and eradicated our enemies!"
** His summon chant for Rise Falcon comes across as one too:
--> "Obscured falcon, from adversity, raise your sharpened claws! Spread your wings of rebellion! Xyz Summon! Come forth! Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon!"
** When he faces Sora in a rematch.
--> "I'm always serious when I duel, even when I'm facing a worthless opponent!"
* BadassInDistress: [[spoiler:Suffers his first on-screen loss against Sora in their rematch and is injured because of it. Serena of all people has to save him from Sora and Obelisk Force and keep him safe.]]
* BadassLongcoat: Wear a long blue-purple coat and looks tough with it. In episode 62, it gets shadowed nicely during his DeathFromAbove moment.
* BatmanGambit: He attacked LDS to lure out Reiji, so he can use him as a bartering chip against Leo Akaba.
* BeamSpam: One of Raid Raptors - Blaze Falcon's effects.
* BerserkButton:
** Mentioning his enemies, whoever they may be, severely pisses him off. Before he learned that they were the wrong target, any mention of the name LDS makes him nearly foam at the mouth. But it's Fusion Summoning that really hits his button. He first goes against LDS' Fusion teacher and his eyes react when anyone fuses when he doesn't know that they could. Academia, who captured Ruri, is from the Fusion Dimension.
** Heartland, his hometown, is one to him. This is taken to its logical extreme when the Action Field selected for his duel with Sora is Future Metropolis Heartland. You can tell by the look on his face he is NOT happy with this choice. The second time it happens, he's so disturbed that he doesn't even go into one of his famous monologues.
** Another smaller one is to say that his monsters are weak because they have low attack points. During duels, he typically responds with proving the person who said that wrong.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Kurosaki is so intent on attacking LDS because he believes his little sister Ruri was captured by them. He's later shown to be protective and more open to persuasion when talking to [[spoiler:Serena]] due to her resemblance to Ruri.
* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Literally leaps into the duel against the Arrest Corps in episode 63 after they had taken control of all the Lancers' remaining monsters and proceeds to use those captured monsters to summon Rise Falcon, a monster which they couldn't take control of due to not possessing a level, and defeat all 3 of their opponents at the same time.]]
* BreakTheHaughty: Does this to Sora, [[spoiler:and Sora does it back in turn in their second duel. Noticeable in that afterwards he actually shows appreciation for Tsukikage, Sawatari, Gongenzaka, and Serena helping him.]]
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Doesn't even remember who Marco is, until Masumi brings up Fusion Summoning. It is possible however that he just didn't ask for his name. He's never asked anyone he duels for their names.
* CharacterTic: He has a tendency to expand his eyes and point with his right index and middle fingers when ordering his Xyz monsters to attack.
* TheComicallySerious: When [[BunnyEarsLawyer Sora]] tries to do the "Action Duel" chanting, [[StraightMan Kurosaki]] doesn't even open his mouth to say he's not fooling around. He's especially this in the third ending, participating in all the crazy antics depicted without a single smile save on the cards at the end where all of them are smiling.
* CrazyPrepared: As shown during his duel against Sora, Kurosaki manages to counter basically ''everything'' against him. Especially his last card Rank-Up Magic Revolution Force only works in a specific situation, yet Kurosaki gets the chance to use it.
** Does it again in his rematch with [[spoiler:Sora]]. Not wanting to drag out the duel and fuel [[spoiler:Sora's]] prideful lust for revenge, Kurosaki prepares a complicated strategy before attacking: summons in his first turn three copies of a new Xyz monster and powers them up to a point where he could potentially [[OneHitKill OTK]] the kid. [[spoiler:It fails off-screen and Sora subsequently defeats him.]]
* CurbStompBattle: He annihilates Masumi, Hokuto and Yaiba in Episode 24. Later goes on to dominate Sora and the Knight duelists utterly.
* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: Metaphorically; his Raid Raptors monsters resemble robotic avian predators, which might also symbolize [[HeWhoFightsMonsters his desire to protect and rescue]] [[KnightTemplarBigBrother his sister slowly]] [[SlidingDownTheSlipperySlope sliding him down]] [[MoralEventHorizon the morality road]].
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Academia invaded Heartland City, turned it into an interdimensional battle ground, and carded most of its citizens. His sister, Ruri, was kidnapped as well.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Though morally ambiguous enough to steal the souls of LDS employees.
* DeathFromAbove: A recurring motif of his Raid Raptors, with Rise Falcon dive-bombing the enemy and Revolution Falcon burying them under a hail of bombs.
** Also does this without cards in episode 62, when [[IncrediblyLamePun "getting the drop"]] on [[spoiler: the guards.]]
* {{Determinator}}: He and his comrades had to get up again and again to defeat their enemies.
** This is to the point all of his summon chants describe this trait.
* TheDreaded: Both Yuya and Yuzu are nervous about him due to past experiences. In time, however, they both get over it.
* DubNameChange. To Shay.
* EnemyMine: With Reiji, to defeat Leo Akaba.
* {{Expy}}:
** Like his associate [[Characters/YuGiOhArcVLeoDuelSchool Reiji]], he takes some cues from Lelouch Lamperouge/vi Britannia from ''Anime/CodeGeass'', but with more emphasis on his dedication towards his younger sibling and brutality to his enemies. Additionally, he inherits [[InSeriesNickname Lulu]]'s tendency to dress primarily with dark-colored outfits, his trauma over watching the place where he lived[[labelnote:*]]Although Lelouch was born in Brittania, he'd already been living in Japan for more than a year when the invasion finally began[[/labelnote]] being plummeted to the ground by a supremacist empire heavily influenced by European aristocracy, and bird motifs[[labelnote:*]]particularly evident with [[http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140311192830/codegeass/images/7/7e/1295504746.jpg their]] [[http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20141115164440/yugioh/images/4/4f/Raidraptor-Crest.png emblems]][[/labelnote]].
** In-franchise, he seems to take after [[Anime/YuGiOhZexal Shark]]. They both prefer to work alone and both look after their younger sisters. Kurosaki acts coldly to Yuto sometimes, as Shark does to Yuma, but both ultimately care deeply for their friends. Interestingly, he does not share many characteristics with the character that Shark is an expy of, [[Anime/YuGiOh Jounouchi]].
* ExtraEyes[=/=]RedEyesTakeWarning:
** The aforementioned Rise Falcon has 6 red eyes. It's just one of the things that make it a creepy card.
** Blaze Falcon also has ExtraEyes, though green in color.
* FantasticRacism: He hates Fusion, and also considers LDS Xyz Summoning to be a sham.
* FirstNameBasis: Only Yuto calls him by his first name. The anime credits him by his last name.
* {{Foil}}: He's one to [[spoiler:fellow Lancer,]] Serena. Kurosaki is a survivor from the Xyz dimension that has lost everything and in his attempt to get it back has done so very brutal things and has shown no remorse for it. While Serena [[spoiler:was protected by the Academia in the Fusion dimension and threw away her home due to her moral code]].
* GenreSavvy: [[spoiler: In Episode 58, he begins to realize something is not right about Dennis. He's proven correct to the cast in Episode 74, when Dennis reveals his Ancient Gear monsters.]]
* GogglesDoNothing: Though considering what happened to Yuto, he might have the same reasoning.
* HadToBeSharp: His explanation for his strength. As of episode 62, this isn't limited to card-game skills.
* HeadButtingHeroes: Is a bit much, but he and Yuto argue about their methods.
* HeroicBSOD: Goes through this briefly when the Action Field chosen for his duel with Sora resembles his destroyed hometown, Heartland. Then the BSOD is replaced by rage and determination.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: He's KnightTemplar in defeating his enemies and finding Ruri, but his actions are taking him further into the MoralEventHorizon.
* HighSpeedMissileDodge: While riding Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon, he dodges Death-Toy Wheel Saw Lion's projectiles for enough time to grab an Action Card.
* {{Irony}}: He hates LDS, yet is put among their numbers for the Maiami Championship. [[spoiler:Later on in Episode 48, he's saved by Serena, an Academia Fusion user who looks like his sister.]]
* IWorkAlone: He dislikes tag-team dueling, [[spoiler:though he appreciates it when Serena, Tsukikage, Michio, Teppei, Sawatari, and Gongenzaka protect him from the Obelisk Force and make it possible for him to defeat them.]]
** [[spoiler:His attitude in the Synchro Dimension. He states he arrived alone and instead of attempting to find the rest of the Lancers, he just started looking for strong duelists instead.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: Is rude and demeaning to everyone in his interactions, even his own comrade, Yuto.
** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: However, despite their differing opinions, he still considers Yuto his best friend and was furious when he couldn't find him anywhere after his duel with Yuya and Sora. He was prepared to rough up Yuya for possibly doing ''something'' to Yuto and for having Yuto's trademark card, Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon.
* KickTheDog: Carding both Tio and Marco, who at least '''seemed''' like pretty nice guys, probably counts as this. He later insults Marco in front of Masumi, calling him weak and pathetic.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Him carding of the three random LDS employees chasing Yuya. His intended carding of Sora. Also how he likely views his KickTheDog moments, particularly before he learns that LDS is a potential ally.
* KnightOfCerebus: Like Yuto, his appearance has slowly darkened the series.
* KnightTemplar: Despite Yuto telling him LDS is not the enemy, he still attacks them, to the extent Yuto is forced to knock him out to get him away from Masumi, Yuzu, and Sora. It turns out that he attacked them because he wants to take Reiji hostage, because Leo Akaba seems to be the one holding Ruri hostage.
* KnightTemplarBigBrother: He's steals ''the souls'' of teachers and elite students, who may not be into the whole thing, and is willing to duel students just to bring out LDS' boss, Reiji, in order to duel some answers out of him.
* LaResistance: Reveals he is part of one fighting Academia from the Fusion Dimension during his duel with Sora.
* TheLancer: [[spoiler:He becomes this to Yuya as part of the Lancers.]]
* LastNameBasis: The anime itself refers to him by his last name via the sponsor announces or the VersusCharacterSplash. Other characters (aside from Yuto) also call him either only by his last name or by his full name.
* LateArrivalSpoiler: His current status as one of the heroes isn't a secret.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: [[spoiler:His love for his sister Ruri makes him very erratic in his willingness to get her back.]]
* LoveMakesYouEvil: [[spoiler:To get Ruri back, he is willing to do a lot of dark things.]]
* MacrossMissileMassacre: One of Raid Raptors - Blaze Falcon's effects.
* MagicKnight: A pretty good duelist in a world where duel monsters can be implemented with real magic, and eventually shown to be a skilled hand-to-hand fighter capable of taking down several enemies at once.
* MeaningfulName: The kanji in his name, éš¼, can be read as "hayabusa," meaning "falcon," referring to his monsters. "Kurosaki" means "black flower." In the dub, Shay is Gaelic for "hawk", but it can also allude to Shays' Rebellion, a famous historical uprising.
* MoralMyopia: States in Episode 34 that he'll do anything to protect his comrades... but when the LDS Trio went after him to do the same, he beat them down without even thinking about it.
* NoNonsenseNemesis: To him, duels are all about survival and winning. He has no interest in entertaining the crowd, making small talk, or having fun. He only talks when he has to.
** In Episode 34, it's strongly suggested he sees dueling as war, to the point his winning move is to raze the Action Duel field to the ground.
* NoOneGetsLeftBehind: Gives a speech to this effect after Sora takes his Raid Raptors - Blaze Falcon in Episode 34.
--> '''Kurosaki''': "We, the Resistance, have always fought with the worst case scenario in mind. While keeping in mind the friends we lost who used to fight alongside us. But even if they're taken from us, we will never abandon them. I WILL take back my friends!"
* NobleBirdOfPrey: His Raid Raptors are mechanical predatory birds and give off this vibe, ''especially'' his Xyz monsters, with an example being Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon.
* NotSoDifferent: Hinted at by his duel with Sora when you consider that Kurosaki has hunted people in much the same way as the Fusion faction, Academia, albeit for a different reason, and he finishes the duel by bombing the virtual Heartland to the ground, which is exactly what the Academia did to the real one. This is further emphasized when Sora revealed that Academia would seal their victims' souls in cards. Furthermore, he is also able to card people like Academia.
** He and Serena share a similar desire in working alone and believing that their strength and skills is enough to take on ''anyone''.
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Kurosaki believes that only he deserves to duel [[spoiler:Jack Atlas]] and that everyone else who tries otherwise are wasting their time; Dennis disagrees.
* OverTheShoulderCarry: Is subject to this after being rendered unconscious by Yuto in Episode 21.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: Has no qualms mercilessly bombing Sora into the ground during his duel after Sora taunted him, revealing his true sadistic nature of hunting Xyz Duelists and destroying their city. Kurosaki was also ready to take his soul, but was stopped only by Reiji.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: He repeatedly states that the LDS duelists he has dueled lack steeled resolve.
* SecondHourSuperpower: In only his second full on-screen duel, he uses a Rank-Up Magic Spell Card to upgrade his Rise Falcon to Blaze Falcon. And then again from Blaze Falcon into Revolution Falcon.
* ShellShockedVeteran: He definitely shows signs of this in Episode 33 when Heartland is used as the field for his duel against Sora.
** Taken even further in the next episode, where he is clearly reminded of his conflict with Academia.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: An official website spells his rarely used first name as "Syun", which is a common spelling for the "Shu" syllable in spelled out names by the Japanese.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: He has mysterious powers and gold eyes.
* TaughtByExperience: He says the reason for his strength is this.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Kurosaki does not work well with others, including his own best friend Yuto, and prefers to do everything alone. This is called out by Serena and Gongenzaka, since as skilled as he is, even ''he'' can't defeat everyone from Academia and needs all the help he can get. The most volatile partnership he has is with Reiji, since he gets pissed every time Reiji tells him to exercise caution or prevents him from following through on certain actions.
** Once in the Synchro Dimension, he doesn't even bother looking for the other [[spoiler:Lancers]] and just goes about doing what he feels like. Gongenzaka chews him out for this.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Defeats Hokuto, Masumi, and Yaiba in their 3-on-1 by attacking ''every single monster they have at once'' with Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon after raising it to 16,400 ATK.
** He goes even further in his duel with Sora by having Revolution Falcon ''bomb the Action Duel Field and drop the Heartland tower right on top of Sora''.
* ThisCannotBe: Kurosaki suffers his first loss when [[spoiler:Sora destroys the majority of his monsters and makes the winning move against him in their rematch.]]
* TranquilFury: Looked shaken after seeing Heartland, but then spent the entire duel calm and composed while he kicked [[spoiler: Sora's]] ass.
* TrueCompanions: For all of Kurosaki's [[KnightTemplar antics and craziness]], it is immensely clear that he values his comrades greatly, as shown by his speech to Sora in Episode 34, and his concern for Yuto. A talk with Yuto's [[spoiler:spirit, which is currently residing within Yuya]] was enough to convince him to set aside his pride and work together with the rest of the [[spoiler:Lancers.]]
* UnderestimatingBadassery: While he still takes the duel seriously, Kurosaki clearly doesn't think much of Sora during their rematch, having defeated him before. [[spoiler:He ends up losing when Sora summons a Death-toy monster he hadn't expected, mirroring their first battle.]]
* ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption: When [[spoiler:breaking out of prison]], Kurosaki doesn't have a Duel Disk on him, so he resorts to physically beating the crap out of [[spoiler:the guards]] until he can find a Duel Disk to arm himself with.
* WeakButSkilled:
** His ace, Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon only has 100 ATK. But its effect makes it deadly: it gains all the attack points of every monster that was Special Summoned. When he used it on his 3-on-1 duel, its attack was 16,400. This effect is nerfed in the real game.
** Blaze Falcon continues this idea by only having 1000 ATK, but can attack directly and has ''two'' monster destruction effects. Revolution Falcon has a modest 2000 ATK, and firstly can destroy a Special Summoned monster and inflict half its ATK as damage to the opponent, while secondly, it can reduce the ATK of a Special Summoned monster to zero when it battles it. It can also attack all of his opponent's monsters.
* WouldHitAGirl: He has no problem violently shoving Yuzu out of the way and knocking her down, and then was poised to seal Masumi within a card, had the duel not been interrupted before it could start. Later he almost does it again after he formally defeats her, along with Hokuto and Yaiba, but is interrupted again by the reinforcements of LDS.
* WouldHurtAChild: He shows absolutely no reservations about having Revolution Falcon bring down a tower on top of Sora. He was then poised to seal Sora away in a card, ''in front of a crowd no less'' but was told by Reiji not to make a scene at the last minute via radio.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: He has two different shades of teal.
* YourSoulIsMine: He sealed the souls of five LDS employees into cards with his Duel Disk.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Serena]]
!!Serena
!!Voiced by: Creator/YuunaInamura
[[quoteright:140:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2c706197c3746181bfd4d9872b009b93.png]]
Serena is a dimensional Fusion counterpart to Yuzu. She's been held against her will inside Academia for about three years despite being on their side. After learning that remnants from the Xyz Dimension refuged to Standard, she sees the chance of proving Professor Leo Akaba that she is worthy enough to be a front line soldier and she travels with Barrett to Maiami City without asking for permission and is hunting for Xyz users. However, after meeting Yuzu and hearing the truth about the true nature of her fellow comrades from Kurosaki, Serena changes sides and is currently one of Reiji's Lancers.
Serena uses a Moonlight deck, which features female, animal-like monsters with a moon theme. Unlike Yuzu's Melodious deck, Serena's deck is very offensive.
----
!!Tropes associated with Serena:
* AllegedLookalikes: She is mistaken for Yuzu a few times, despite having different eye colors and different hair. Although, she does look more similar to her than any of Yuya's counterparts resemble him.
** Yuzu mistakes her at first for Ruri because Yuzu was only aware of one IdenticalStranger, but she later concludes that Serena is her Fusion counterpart.
* AlmightyJanitor: In her first outfit she wore the alternate Duel Academy's version of the [[Anime/YuGiOhGX Osiris Red]] uniform, Osiris being the lowest dorm.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Delivered to her by Yuzu, she never considered there were non-duelists getting hurt in the Xyz Dimension.
* AttackAttackAttack: Her approach to any problem in life. When she duels, she focuses on dealing damage, ignoring her own defense. And in Episode 56, she refused to retreat declaring she'll defeat every member of Security even when they were literally surrounded.
* BikerBabe: [[spoiler:Becomes a Riding Duelist in the Synchro Dimension]].
* BerserkButton: [[UnderestimatingBadassery People not treating her seriously in a duel.]]
* BloodKnight: She is really combat happy, refusing to retreat or anything. [[spoiler: It's to the point that in episode 59, even Sawatari starts to get annoyed with her wasting time dueling people instead of looking for Yuzu.]]
* BrokenPedestal: The look on her face when she heard of the attack on the Heartland from Kurosaki told us all we need to know how she feels about the Academia.
* CatGirl: She has two of them in her deck, including her Fusion Monster Moonlight Cat Dancer. [[spoiler: Three with Moonlight Panther Dancer.]]
* TheChick: She's the only girl in the Lancers and was able to get them to listen to Reiji's plan. Though in the tournament the Council considered Yuzu to be a member as well.
* ClothingSwitch: With Yuzu, so she could talk to Kurosaki. This is the reason why Yuzu still wears her clothes.
* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Her hair, eye, and outfit colors are drawn from the [[http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060916014711/yugioh/images/2/2c/Polymerization-DB1-EN-C-UE.jpg Polymerization card]].
* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: She's not the least bit pleased that Tsukikage and Hikage rescued her and Yuzu from an attack by the Obelisk Force.
* ContraltoOfDanger: Her voice is deeper than Yuzu's, and Serena is willing to hurt Xyz duelists, regardless whether they are from the Xyz Dimension or not.
* DarkActionGirl: Serena really wants to be this and to be a front fighter of Academia, and she is willing to crush Xyz duelists to get Professor Leo Akaba's approval, even though he doesn't want to let her go from Academia.
* DarkChick: She's the only female named Academia duelist so far, and she believes that duelists are proud and honorable warriors who should accept defeat. Therefore, she didn't realize that most of the Duel Soldiers are lunatic guys who have fun for hunting people and is not aware of families with non-duelists.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Her Moonlight deck is DARK-attribute, but she herself proves to be a Well-Intentioned Extremist.
* DefectorFromDecadence: She does a HeelFaceTurn after seeing the actual methods Academia uses.
* EvilCounterpart: To Yuzu. Serena hunts Xyz duelists and seals them in cards, including Hokuto. Subverted when she learns about the Academia's evilness, she changes sides.
* EvilSoundsDeep: She and Yuzu share the same seiyuu, but Serena's voice is noticeably deeper. She's also not really "evil", unlike her dimensional counterpart of Yuya.
* FailedASpotCheck: She doesn't know how many refugees from the Resistance are in Standard or how they look, so she hunts for ''any person'' that can Xyz Summon... but always misses Kurosaki, her real prey, to the point of walking away from a TV screen after seeing Dennis's Trapeze Magician, right before it cuts to Kurosaki and his Rise Falcon.
* FantasticRacism: Like other members of her faction, she looks down on Xyz users. ''Unlike'' other members of her faction, it's because she honestly believes they're evil; when the Fusion forces was attacking Xyz Dimension, Serena was purposely prevented from going by Akaba Leo, and he seems to have misled her as to his actions and intentions.
* FashionableAsymmetry: Wears a glove on one hand, a bracelet on the other. After her outfit change, this is no longer the case.
* FingerlessGloves: The single left glove. After her outfit change, this is no longer the case.
* {{Foil}}: She's one to fellow Lancer, Kurosaki. Kurosaki is a survivor from the Xyz dimension that has lost everything and in his attempt to get it back has done so very brutal things and has shown no remorse for it. While Serena was protected by the Academia in the Fusion dimension and threw away her home when she was horrified by their actions.
* GildedCage: Implied. Serena is as much of a prisoner and vital part of his plan to Leo Akaba as Ruri and Rin are, but the difference is that she doesn't know it. She only thinks that Leo doesn't consider her strong enough to be in the front lines so she was kept inside the curiously castle-like Academia and never allowed to leave, with every attempt of escape failing. She only was able to escape this time thanks to Leo keeping an eye on Standard instead of her for once.
* GoodCostumeSwitch: After becoming a Lancer she changes her outfit to a set of casual clothes that resemble her old Academia uniform. It involves a less evil looking red-jacket and a [[LightIsGood white skirt]].
* GravityMaster: Her summon chants for her Fusion Monsters such as Moonlight Cat Dancer and [[spoiler: Moonlight Panther Dance]], invoke the Moon's Gravity.
* HairDecorations: A yellow ribbon in contrast to Yuzu's blue clips.
* HairTriggerTemper: Just like Yuzu, but for very different reasons. While Yuzu is normally [[OnlySaneMan calm and collected]] but [[SurroundedByIdiots easily pissed at people's idiocy]], Serena is bitter that her potential is getting wasted and hates that people are looking down at her or mocking her.
* HeroicResolve: She declares that she'll save Yuzu as Yuzu opened her eyes about the Academia and it was her fault that Yuzu was captured.
* HighHeelFaceTurn: She betrays Academia and ends up fighting side-by-side with Standard and Kurosaki. Serena also becomes one of Reiji's eight Lancers.
* HeelRealization: She's utterly horrified when Kurosaki tells her the truth about Academia's attacks on Heartland.
* {{Homage}}: Her Moonlight deck has several references to ''Manga/SailorMoon'', with her name being identical to Usagi's English dub name. Blue Cat is a reference to Luna, and Purple Butterfly is a reference to the Holy Grail and Super Sailor Moon. White Rabbit is reference to Usagi and the whole "rabbit on the moon" in general. Notably, the number of Cat Dancer's various attacks is unusually high for a monster, as most monsters have only one attack, rarely two, but Cat Dancers has shown to have at least five different attacks so far, with three of them resemble attacks from ''Sailor Moon''. They resemble Sailor Moon's ''Moon Tiara Boomerang'', the ''Sailor Kick'' and Sailor Venus's ''Crescent Beam''. Additionally, Blue Cat and Purple Butterfly are shown to fuse together and become Cat Dancer, who looks more humanoid and sexier than Blue Cat -- a parallel to Luna turning human with the power of the Holy Grail and Super Sailor Moon, as Luna wanted to become closer to the human she fell in love.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: With Barrett.
* IdenticalStranger: The Fusion Dimension's counterpart to Yuzu. And not only looks like her, she ''sounds'' like her too.
* IJustWantToBeFree: Despite her talent, the Professor keeps her cooped up in Academia and refuses to let her go out on the front lines. She hates this.
* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Doesn't think anything of stripping off her jacket when Yuzu suggests they switch clothes. She probably would have gone further had Yuzu not stopped her.
* InTheHood: Keeps a black hood over her face, so she can walk in Maiami City more freely.
* JapanesePronouns: She uses the gender neutral ''watashi'', in contrast to Yuzu's feminine ''atashi''.
* {{Jerkass}}: Rude to everyone she interacts with, such as Reiji and her own bodyguard, Barrett. Calls Dennis pathetic after she beats him in a duel that he wasn't going all out for.
** Later she calls Crow an incompetent coward for "staying in one place" and not producing answers about Yuzu's whereabouts...despite the fact [[UngratefulBastard that Crow gave them shelter in the first place]] and Security is essentially everywhere, with one wrong move leading to them getting arrested...[[spoiler:which does occur later.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
** She's grateful to Barrett for going with her to Standard. Drops the "gold" part when she coldly walks away from Barrett after he was beaten in his duel with Reiji, showing that she only really cares about herself, despite Barrett being the ''one'' decent Fusion user who doesn't take outward pleasure in attacking others nor did anything to prevent her from leaving Academia in the first place.
** She regains it later when she proves that she's not like her other companions from Academia, namely taking pleasure in the suffering of others. Yuzu makes her realize that the Xyz Dimension duelists had families as well and that Academia went around attacking EVERYONE, not just duelists, which she made the mistake of thinking that all citizens from the Xyz Dimension were. She later becomes disgusted and horrified when she witnesses Sora attacking Kurosaki, the guy that she was "hunting" all this time, and after Kurosaki relates the story of Academia's attack on Heartland.
* LateArrivalSpoiler: The third opening and upcoming official materials (such as posters or covers) reveal her HeelFaceTurn.
* LeeroyJenkins: During the Lancers' duel against Security, she refuses to flee the scene with Reira to get help after Yuya instructs her to do so, leading to their entire group being cornered by Security and almost getting arrested, [[spoiler:until Crow and his gang rescues them]].
* {{Lunacy}}: Uses a Moonlight Deck.
* MagneticPlotDevice: Her bracelet is one, just like Yuzu's.
* MeaningfulName: Her name is either derived from ''Selene'', the Greek Goddess of the Moon, or from ''Mare Serenitatis'' ("Sea of Serenity"), which is a lunar mare located to the east of Mare Imbrium on the moon.[[note]][[{{Homage}} Princess Serenity a.k.a. Sailor Moon is named after the latter.]][[/note]]
** Her name is actually a pun in Japanese since the [[SpellMyNameWithAnS letters "R" and "L"]] are interchangeable. With Serena being derived from the word Serenade, a form of musical performance, and the latter, Selena, as mentioned above, means Moon Goddess. It's shown in her deck as well, since it is a combination of both, a musical performance and the image of the moon.
* ModestyShorts: Is wearing what looks like black biking shorts under a red skirt in her first outfit.
* MsFanservice: Not her, but her ace Moonlight Cat Dancer.
* MultiColoredHair: Dark purple, with two blue strands, in the same fashion like Yuzu with her pink and bright pink hair.
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Academia tries to leave Standard away from the war, but Serena hunts ''everyone'' that can Xyz Summon in Standard, disregarding the troubles that can come from that. While she's just as arrogant and battle crazy as the rest of her dimension, she does not like the possibility of innocents getting hurt.
* MythologyGag: Wears a red jacket, similar to the ones worn by the [[Anime/YuGiOhGX Osiris Red dorm students]]. Her Duel Disk also resembles the ones from ''GX''. The fact that she appears to be an Osiris Red girl who holds her hair with a yellow ribbon make some think of Rei's first design.
* NeverHurtAnInnocent: She's appalled when Yuzu tells her that families were being hurt in the Xyz invasion.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: If Serena hadn't been so adamant about searching for Yuzu (and strong duelists) in a place where Security are constantly roaming the streets for them, she would have never [[spoiler:had lead them to where Yuya, Crow and the rest were. As a result, they were all arrested.]]
* NoNameGiven: Supplementary materials first gave her name as Mysterious Girl before her name was revealed.
* NoNonsenseNemesis: Doesn't give Dennis any chance to say who he is before challenging him to a duel. She is also unfazed at meeting Yuzu and completely ignores her attempts to stop the duel.
* NoSocialSkills: [[AllThereInTheManual Supplementary materials]] reveal that she has never left Academia prior to Episode 38 and that [[SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining she only learned how to duel, but at the cost of learning social skills]]. Which explains why she believed that every person is a duelist and also her not seeing anything wrong about [[InnocentFanserviceGirl stripping out in the open]].
* OverTheShoulderCarry: Hikage carries her in this manner after saving her from being attacked by the Obelisk Force, much to her displeasure.
* PerpetualFrowner: In contrast to Yuzu, Serena is usually seen with a scowl on her face.
* {{Pride}}: Believes her own skill in dueling to be so great that she gets pissed that Leo Akaba is keeping her secluded on Academia. However, this blinds her to the fact that by attacking anyone who's NOT a Fusion duelist (namely anyone who can Xyz Summon), she's causing more harm than good and doesn't think of the consequences her actions could potentially bring.
* PrecisionFStrike: When [[spoiler: Dennis's]] true colors are revealed, she comments, "That bastard."
* RefusalOfTheCall: She rejects Reiji's offer to join him. After seeing Academia for what it really is, she ends up as a Lancer.
* SmugSmiler: When not frowning, Serena loves doing this to her opponents whenever she gets the upper hand.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: The only girl shown in Academia, and later Reiji's Lancers.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The old R and L problem. The VersusCharacterSplash and and an official website gives us the R.
* StandardFemaleGrabArea: Averted like Yuzu. [[spoiler:When Security captures her, they hold both arms, and are also an adult overpowering a fourteen-year-old girl. Also Yuya was being held the same way.]]
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Similar to Kurosaki, Serena doesn't appreciate being saved from danger, stating that she has the situation "handled" and sees someone helping her out as someone who is underestimating her abilities, which she hates. In Episode 56, she, along with Yuya, Reira and Sawatari, are surrounded by [[spoiler:Security forces; when Yuya offers to distract them and begs her to take Reira to safety, Serena just screams back that she's no coward and she intends to wipe everyone out...despite being surrounded by at least ''thirteen'' duelists at once.]] However, she does at least acknowledge that she'll need to work in a group if she intends to save Yuzu and protect her from Academia.
* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: She's aggressive and nonsensical but her deck is very feminine. Though that's zig-zagged with the fact that, so far, the playstyle of her deck revolves around attacking as much as possible with the most possible strength while preventing the opponent from protecting themselves; fitting some of her [[BloodKnight tendencies]], so it might just be that she doesn't care for looks as long as what she is doing using works.
* TomboyishPonytail: To contrast Yuzu in appearance.
* TomboyishSideTails: Also has these like Yuzu.
* TookALevelInBadass: Her [[spoiler:Moonlight Panther Dancer is implied to be this for Cat Dancer, since the summon chanting states, be reborn with more power.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: Aside from being Yuzu's Fusion counterpart, she is also part of the Lancers, the heroes of the story, so it's pointless to hide these facts from people, especially since LateArrivalSpoiler is applied.
* WarForFunAndProfit: Subverted, she rejects Yuzu's claim that the Academia sees their invasion of the Xyz Dimension as a game.
* [[WellDoneSonGuy Well Done Daughter Gal]]: Wants to impress her mentor, Leo Akaba, and make him proud enough to let her fight.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Her talk with Yuzu paints her as this. She fully believes that what Leo wants to do is for the greater good. And even if the Xyz duelists lost, they still have their pride despite losing. She was shaken by the implication of the Xyz duelists having families and resolves to see Kurosaki to check if its true.
* YouFightLikeACow: In Episode 56, she completely made fun of Security from their similar decks and their decision to call back up against 4 people.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Her hair is primarily dark purple. She also has two blue strands.
[[/folder]]
[[Tsukikage]]
!!Tsukikage
!!Voiced by: Manabu Sakamaki
Tsukikage and Hikage are brothers and participants in the Junior Youth class of the Maiami Championship. Tsukikage uses a stalling strategy while his older brother Hikage uses an offensive strategy. Both go to Fuuma Duel School and use Twilight Ninja decks.
* AngstySurvivingTwin: While not twins (maybe, Hikage was referred to as the older brother), [[spoiler: Although downplayed, in a NotSoStoic moment Tsukikage shows how deeply hurt he is by his brother's loss.]]
* AscendedExtra: Tsukikage appeared as another duel school rival, [[spoiler: and became a member of both groups of the Lancers.]]
* {{Badass}}: Tsukikage worfs Mieru in their duel. [[spoiler:Both ninjas were also selected by Reiji to be Lancers.]]
* BadassBiker: [[spoiler: He becomes a riding duelist in the Friendship Cup]]
* BadassNormal: No Extra Deck or Pendulum Monsters, just normal Effect monsters. It doesn't prevent him from being any less of a {{Badass}}.
* BerserkButton: Don't insult his clan. [[spoiler:Shinji saying that Tsukikage is no better than Security ''really'' riles him up, especially since his brother got carded doing his duty.]]
* BodyguardingABadass: [[spoiler: His role around Reiji besides stealth. He's a capable duelist in his own right though Reiji is of course Reiji. Though considering his abilities and sword, he appears to be for non-dueling defense as well.]]
* CastFromHitPoints: Tsukikage's Trap Card "Barrier Ninjitsu, Art of Gathering Shadows" can skip the opponent's battle phase, but Tsukikage must pay half his LP.
* EscapeArtist: He's a ninja so [[spoiler: escaping the underground isn't hard for him.]]
* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:Tsukikage was ready to do this against the Obelisk Force, but Sawatari saves him.]]
* {{Foil}}: Tsukikage is one to [[spoiler:fellow Lancer,]] Dennis. Dennis is [[spoiler:a flashy mole who hides his vicious personality with kindness and smiles. While Tsukikage is a silent stoic that is absolutely loyal to his mission and is benevolent. They are both much more plot important than expected. ]]
* {{Heel}}: Unlike when Yuzu, Shouzou and Dennis invoked this, [[spoiler: Shinji tragically forces him into this role for their duel.]]
* InformedAbility: Initially. Tsukikage's supposedly a really good duelist, enough to one-shot Mieru and [[spoiler:be chosen as a Lancer.]] Except his win against Mieru was off-screen and his second fight almost had him lose through his own lack of action and poor choice to act as a shield for others. Later is revealed that [[spoiler:his offensive strategy is inflicting effect damage anytime he discards spell cards. Taking into consideration that an Action Field is full of them and his speed, of course he would easily drain Mieru's LP in one turn.]]
* ILetYouWin: During his duel with [[spoiler:Shinji, Tsukikage manages to pick up an action card called "Evasion", which would've negated Shinji's strongest monster from attacking, thus saving him from losing the rest of his life points. He chooses to not use it, however, and loses on purpose, most likely on Reiji's orders, in order to possibly infiltrate the hidden Underground Facility. Confirmed in episode 73.]]
* LeftHandedMirror: Tsukikage is the blue, left-handed Ninja with a stalling strategy, while Hikage is the red, right-handed Ninja with an offensive strategy.
* MadeASlave: [[spoiler: Gets sent to the Underground, though Episode 73 shows escape isn't that difficult for a {{Ninja}}.]]
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Subverted, while it initially seems he has UndyingLoyalty, he makes it clear to Yuya he would have abandoned Reiji long ago if he was as cruel as Academia.
* NiceGuy: Tsukikage is loyal to the Lancers, and kind, if a bit stoic. [[spoiler: Though insulting his clan makes him angry.]]
* OneHitKill: Tsukikage pulled one of these, [[TheWorfEffect worfing]] Mieru.
* TheSouthpaw: In a rarity for this series, Tsukikage's left-handed. However he uses his Right Hand in a [[spoiler: Turbo Duel.]]
* StealthExpert: [[spoiler: Tsukikage is this for the Lancers, infiltrating the Underground to bring information to Reiji.]]
* StoneWall: His deck is defensive, and his [[spoiler: offensive strategy sacrifices action cards to inflict scratch damage, using his speed to collect all the action cards.]]
* TheWorfEffect: He loses to [[spoiler: Shinji to prove his power. Though he had Action Magic - Evasion in his hand, so it is possible he lost so he would be positioned to rescue the other Lancers that get sent to the Underground Facility.]]
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Tsukikage has dark blue hair.
[[folder:Shun Kurosaki (Shay)]]
!!Shun Kurosaki (Shay)
!!Voiced by: Yamato Kinjo (JP), Matt Shipman (EN)
[[quoteright:320:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shun_kurosaki_5398.png]]
Kurosaki is along with Yuto one of the survivors of the invasion on the Xyz Dimension and he's a member of Resistance. His younger sister Ruri was captured by Academia, the invaders who attacked Heartland City, and he's desperately trying to save her, no matter what cost. In Standard, he mistakenly assumes that LDS is connected with Academia, and he seals some members of LDS into cards. However, as Reiji figures out that this was caused by a misunderstanding, he convinces Kurosaki to join him to fight Professor Leo Akaba and wrangles him into the Maiami Championship as a LDS student, becoming one of the first Lancer candidates. He beats Sora during the tournament, thus their rivalry has been born. Now he's one of the nine Lancers.
Despite his very harsh and cynical character and him often showing the cold shoulder towards other people, he deeply cares for his comrades, particularly his best friend Yuto.
Kurosaki uses a Raidraptor deck, which is made for swarming Winged-Beast-Type monsters to Xyz Summon monsters with low base-ATK, but powerful effects. He also has many Spell and Trap Cards that can counter various situations.
----
!!Tropes associated with Kurosaki:
* AntiHero: Almost to the point of NominalHero. He'll do anything to rescue his comrades and stop Academia, but his current actions include attacking innocents for going to LDS, showing a disregard for the safety of his own allies, and he has no hesitation about fighting anyone in his way regardless of their own moral standing. This also doesn't get into his intensely antisocial behavior and general {{Jerkass}}-ness.
* AnimeHair: Bluish and a little spiky, but it is more subdued than the Yuto's.
* {{Badass}}: Beats two of LDS' aces, and later three employees at the same time. Then he defeats the LDS trio with a 16,400 ATK beatstick.
** He becomes even more so in his duel with Sora, where he Ranks-Up his ace monster ''twice''.
* BadassBiker: In the Synchro Dimension, he, along with the other Lancers, become [[spoiler:Riding Duelists.]]
* BadassBoast:
** Makes quite a fierce one to the LDS trio.
--> "That's right, because we were always badly beaten and fighting on the edge. But, [[{{Determinator}} we always had to stand up again]]! Then, we finally overwhelmed and eradicated our enemies!"
** His summon chant for Rise Falcon comes across as one too:
--> "Obscured falcon, from adversity, raise your sharpened claws! Spread your wings of rebellion! Xyz Summon! Come forth! Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon!"
** When he faces Sora in a rematch.
--> "I'm always serious when I duel, even when I'm facing a worthless opponent!"
* BadassInDistress: [[spoiler:Suffers his first on-screen loss against Sora in their rematch and is injured because of it. Serena of all people has to save him from Sora and Obelisk Force and keep him safe.]]
* BadassLongcoat: Wear a long blue-purple coat and looks tough with it. In episode 62, it gets shadowed nicely during his DeathFromAbove moment.
* BatmanGambit: He attacked LDS to lure out Reiji, so he can use him as a bartering chip against Leo Akaba.
* BeamSpam: One of Raid Raptors - Blaze Falcon's effects.
* BerserkButton:
** Mentioning his enemies, whoever they may be, severely pisses him off. Before he learned that they were the wrong target, any mention of the name LDS makes him nearly foam at the mouth. But it's Fusion Summoning that really hits his button. He first goes against LDS' Fusion teacher and his eyes react when anyone fuses when he doesn't know that they could. Academia, who captured Ruri, is from the Fusion Dimension.
** Heartland, his hometown, is one to him. This is taken to its logical extreme when the Action Field selected for his duel with Sora is Future Metropolis Heartland. You can tell by the look on his face he is NOT happy with this choice. The second time it happens, he's so disturbed that he doesn't even go into one of his famous monologues.
** Another smaller one is to say that his monsters are weak because they have low attack points. During duels, he typically responds with proving the person who said that wrong.
* BigBrotherInstinct: Kurosaki is so intent on attacking LDS because he believes his little sister Ruri was captured by them. He's later shown to be protective and more open to persuasion when talking to [[spoiler:Serena]] due to her resemblance to Ruri.
* BigDamnHeroes: [[spoiler:Literally leaps into the duel against the Arrest Corps in episode 63 after they had taken control of all the Lancers' remaining monsters and proceeds to use those captured monsters to summon Rise Falcon, a monster which they couldn't take control of due to not possessing a level, and defeat all 3 of their opponents at the same time.]]
* BreakTheHaughty: Does this to Sora, [[spoiler:and Sora does it back in turn in their second duel. Noticeable in that afterwards he actually shows appreciation for Tsukikage, Sawatari, Gongenzaka, and Serena helping him.]]
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: Doesn't even remember who Marco is, until Masumi brings up Fusion Summoning. It is possible however that he just didn't ask for his name. He's never asked anyone he duels for their names.
* CharacterTic: He has a tendency to expand his eyes and point with his right index and middle fingers when ordering his Xyz monsters to attack.
* TheComicallySerious: When [[BunnyEarsLawyer Sora]] tries to do the "Action Duel" chanting, [[StraightMan Kurosaki]] doesn't even open his mouth to say he's not fooling around. He's especially this in the third ending, participating in all the crazy antics depicted without a single smile save on the cards at the end where all of them are smiling.
* CrazyPrepared: As shown during his duel against Sora, Kurosaki manages to counter basically ''everything'' against him. Especially his last card Rank-Up Magic Revolution Force only works in a specific situation, yet Kurosaki gets the chance to use it.
** Does it again in his rematch with [[spoiler:Sora]]. Not wanting to drag out the duel and fuel [[spoiler:Sora's]] prideful lust for revenge, Kurosaki prepares a complicated strategy before attacking: summons in his first turn three copies of a new Xyz monster and powers them up to a point where he could potentially [[OneHitKill OTK]] the kid. [[spoiler:It fails off-screen and Sora subsequently defeats him.]]
* CurbStompBattle: He annihilates Masumi, Hokuto and Yaiba in Episode 24. Later goes on to dominate Sora and the Knight duelists utterly.
* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: Metaphorically; his Raid Raptors monsters resemble robotic avian predators, which might also symbolize [[HeWhoFightsMonsters his desire to protect and rescue]] [[KnightTemplarBigBrother his sister slowly]] [[SlidingDownTheSlipperySlope sliding him down]] [[MoralEventHorizon the morality road]].
* DarkAndTroubledPast: Academia invaded Heartland City, turned it into an interdimensional battle ground, and carded most of its citizens. His sister, Ruri, was kidnapped as well.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Though morally ambiguous enough to steal the souls of LDS employees.
* DeathFromAbove: A recurring motif of his Raid Raptors, with Rise Falcon dive-bombing the enemy and Revolution Falcon burying them under a hail of bombs.
** Also does this without cards in episode 62, when [[IncrediblyLamePun "getting the drop"]] on [[spoiler: the guards.]]
* {{Determinator}}: He and his comrades had to get up again and again to defeat their enemies.
** This is to the point all of his summon chants describe this trait.
* TheDreaded: Both Yuya and Yuzu are nervous about him due to past experiences. In time, however, they both get over it.
* DubNameChange. To Shay.
* EnemyMine: With Reiji, to defeat Leo Akaba.
* {{Expy}}:
** Like his associate [[Characters/YuGiOhArcVLeoDuelSchool Reiji]], he takes some cues from Lelouch Lamperouge/vi Britannia from ''Anime/CodeGeass'', but with more emphasis on his dedication towards his younger sibling and brutality to his enemies. Additionally, he inherits [[InSeriesNickname Lulu]]'s tendency to dress primarily with dark-colored outfits, his trauma over watching the place where he lived[[labelnote:*]]Although Lelouch was born in Brittania, he'd already been living in Japan for more than a year when the invasion finally began[[/labelnote]] being plummeted to the ground by a supremacist empire heavily influenced by European aristocracy, and bird motifs[[labelnote:*]]particularly evident with [[http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140311192830/codegeass/images/7/7e/1295504746.jpg their]] [[http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20141115164440/yugioh/images/4/4f/Raidraptor-Crest.png emblems]][[/labelnote]].
** In-franchise, he seems to take after [[Anime/YuGiOhZexal Shark]]. They both prefer to work alone and both look after their younger sisters. Kurosaki acts coldly to Yuto sometimes, as Shark does to Yuma, but both ultimately care deeply for their friends. Interestingly, he does not share many characteristics with the character that Shark is an expy of, [[Anime/YuGiOh Jounouchi]].
* ExtraEyes[=/=]RedEyesTakeWarning:
** The aforementioned Rise Falcon has 6 red eyes. It's just one of the things that make it a creepy card.
** Blaze Falcon also has ExtraEyes, though green in color.
* FantasticRacism: He hates Fusion, and also considers LDS Xyz Summoning to be a sham.
* FirstNameBasis: Only Yuto calls him by his first name. The anime credits him by his last name.
* {{Foil}}: He's one to [[spoiler:fellow Lancer,]] Serena. Kurosaki is a survivor from the Xyz dimension that has lost everything and in his attempt to get it back has done so very brutal things and has shown no remorse for it. While Serena [[spoiler:was protected by the Academia in the Fusion dimension and threw away her home due to her moral code]].
* GenreSavvy: [[spoiler: In Episode 58, he begins to realize something is not right about Dennis. He's proven correct to the cast in Episode 74, when Dennis reveals his Ancient Gear monsters.]]
* GogglesDoNothing: Though considering what happened to Yuto, he might have the same reasoning.
* HadToBeSharp: His explanation for his strength. As of episode 62, this isn't limited to card-game skills.
* HeadButtingHeroes: Is a bit much, but he and Yuto argue about their methods.
* HeroicBSOD: Goes through this briefly when the Action Field chosen for his duel with Sora resembles his destroyed hometown, Heartland. Then the BSOD is replaced by rage and determination.
* HeWhoFightsMonsters: He's KnightTemplar in defeating his enemies and finding Ruri, but his actions are taking him further into the MoralEventHorizon.
* HighSpeedMissileDodge: While riding Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon, he dodges Death-Toy Wheel Saw Lion's projectiles for enough time to grab an Action Card.
* {{Irony}}: He hates LDS, yet is put among their numbers for the Maiami Championship. [[spoiler:Later on in Episode 48, he's saved by Serena, an Academia Fusion user who looks like his sister.]]
* IWorkAlone: He dislikes tag-team dueling, [[spoiler:though he appreciates it when Serena, Tsukikage, Michio, Teppei, Sawatari, and Gongenzaka protect him from the Obelisk Force and make it possible for him to defeat them.]]
** [[spoiler:His attitude in the Synchro Dimension. He states he arrived alone and instead of attempting to find the rest of the Lancers, he just started looking for strong duelists instead.]]
* {{Jerkass}}: Is rude and demeaning to everyone in his interactions, even his own comrade, Yuto.
** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: However, despite their differing opinions, he still considers Yuto his best friend and was furious when he couldn't find him anywhere after his duel with Yuya and Sora. He was prepared to rough up Yuya for possibly doing ''something'' to Yuto and for having Yuto's trademark card, Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon.
* KickTheDog: Carding both Tio and Marco, who at least '''seemed''' like pretty nice guys, probably counts as this. He later insults Marco in front of Masumi, calling him weak and pathetic.
* KickTheSonOfABitch: Him carding of the three random LDS employees chasing Yuya. His intended carding of Sora. Also how he likely views his KickTheDog moments, particularly before he learns that LDS is a potential ally.
* KnightOfCerebus: Like Yuto, his appearance has slowly darkened the series.
* KnightTemplar: Despite Yuto telling him LDS is not the enemy, he still attacks them, to the extent Yuto is forced to knock him out to get him away from Masumi, Yuzu, and Sora. It turns out that he attacked them because he wants to take Reiji hostage, because Leo Akaba seems to be the one holding Ruri hostage.
* KnightTemplarBigBrother: He's steals ''the souls'' of teachers and elite students, who may not be into the whole thing, and is willing to duel students just to bring out LDS' boss, Reiji, in order to duel some answers out of him.
* LaResistance: Reveals he is part of one fighting Academia from the Fusion Dimension during his duel with Sora.
* TheLancer: [[spoiler:He becomes this to Yuya as part of the Lancers.]]
* LastNameBasis: The anime itself refers to him by his last name via the sponsor announces or the VersusCharacterSplash. Other characters (aside from Yuto) also call him either only by his last name or by his full name.
* LateArrivalSpoiler: His current status as one of the heroes isn't a secret.
* LoveMakesYouCrazy: [[spoiler:His love for his sister Ruri makes him very erratic in his willingness to get her back.]]
* LoveMakesYouEvil: [[spoiler:To get Ruri back, he is willing to do a lot of dark things.]]
* MacrossMissileMassacre: One of Raid Raptors - Blaze Falcon's effects.
* MagicKnight: A pretty good duelist in a world where duel monsters can be implemented with real magic, and eventually shown to be a skilled hand-to-hand fighter capable of taking down several enemies at once.
* MeaningfulName: The kanji in his name, éš¼, can be read as "hayabusa," meaning "falcon," referring to his monsters. "Kurosaki" means "black flower." In the dub, Shay is Gaelic for "hawk", but it can also allude to Shays' Rebellion, a famous historical uprising.
* MoralMyopia: States in Episode 34 that he'll do anything to protect his comrades... but when the LDS Trio went after him to do the same, he beat them down without even thinking about it.
* NoNonsenseNemesis: To him, duels are all about survival and winning. He has no interest in entertaining the crowd, making small talk, or having fun. He only talks when he has to.
** In Episode 34, it's strongly suggested he sees dueling as war, to the point his winning move is to raze the Action Duel field to the ground.
* NoOneGetsLeftBehind: Gives a speech to this effect after Sora takes his Raid Raptors - Blaze Falcon in Episode 34.
--> '''Kurosaki''': "We, the Resistance, have always fought with the worst case scenario in mind. While keeping in mind the friends we lost who used to fight alongside us. But even if they're taken from us, we will never abandon them. I WILL take back my friends!"
* NobleBirdOfPrey: His Raid Raptors are mechanical predatory birds and give off this vibe, ''especially'' his Xyz monsters, with an example being Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon.
* NotSoDifferent: Hinted at by his duel with Sora when you consider that Kurosaki has hunted people in much the same way as the Fusion faction, Academia, albeit for a different reason, and he finishes the duel by bombing the virtual Heartland to the ground, which is exactly what the Academia did to the real one. This is further emphasized when Sora revealed that Academia would seal their victims' souls in cards. Furthermore, he is also able to card people like Academia.
** He and Serena share a similar desire in working alone and believing that their strength and skills is enough to take on ''anyone''.
* TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou: Kurosaki believes that only he deserves to duel [[spoiler:Jack Atlas]] and that everyone else who tries otherwise are wasting their time; Dennis disagrees.
* OverTheShoulderCarry: Is subject to this after being rendered unconscious by Yuto in Episode 21.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: Has no qualms mercilessly bombing Sora into the ground during his duel after Sora taunted him, revealing his true sadistic nature of hunting Xyz Duelists and destroying their city. Kurosaki was also ready to take his soul, but was stopped only by Reiji.
* TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: He repeatedly states that the LDS duelists he has dueled lack steeled resolve.
* SecondHourSuperpower: In only his second full on-screen duel, he uses a Rank-Up Magic Spell Card to upgrade his Rise Falcon to Blaze Falcon. And then again from Blaze Falcon into Revolution Falcon.
* ShellShockedVeteran: He definitely shows signs of this in Episode 33 when Heartland is used as the field for his duel against Sora.
** Taken even further in the next episode, where he is clearly reminded of his conflict with Academia.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: An official website spells his rarely used first name as "Syun", which is a common spelling for the "Shu" syllable in spelled out names by the Japanese.
* SupernaturalGoldEyes: He has mysterious powers and gold eyes.
* TaughtByExperience: He says the reason for his strength is this.
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Kurosaki does not work well with others, including his own best friend Yuto, and prefers to do everything alone. This is called out by Serena and Gongenzaka, since as skilled as he is, even ''he'' can't defeat everyone from Academia and needs all the help he can get. The most volatile partnership he has is with Reiji, since he gets pissed every time Reiji tells him to exercise caution or prevents him from following through on certain actions.
** Once in the Synchro Dimension, he doesn't even bother looking for the other [[spoiler:Lancers]] and just goes about doing what he feels like. Gongenzaka chews him out for this.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Defeats Hokuto, Masumi, and Yaiba in their 3-on-1 by attacking ''every single monster they have at once'' with Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon after raising it to 16,400 ATK.
** He goes even further in his duel with Sora by having Revolution Falcon ''bomb the Action Duel Field and drop the Heartland tower right on top of Sora''.
* ThisCannotBe: Kurosaki suffers his first loss when [[spoiler:Sora destroys the majority of his monsters and makes the winning move against him in their rematch.]]
* TranquilFury: Looked shaken after seeing Heartland, but then spent the entire duel calm and composed while he kicked [[spoiler: Sora's]] ass.
* TrueCompanions: For all of Kurosaki's [[KnightTemplar antics and craziness]], it is immensely clear that he values his comrades greatly, as shown by his speech to Sora in Episode 34, and his concern for Yuto. A talk with Yuto's [[spoiler:spirit, which is currently residing within Yuya]] was enough to convince him to set aside his pride and work together with the rest of the [[spoiler:Lancers.]]
* UnderestimatingBadassery: While he still takes the duel seriously, Kurosaki clearly doesn't think much of Sora during their rematch, having defeated him before. [[spoiler:He ends up losing when Sora summons a Death-toy monster he hadn't expected, mirroring their first battle.]]
* ViolenceIsTheOnlyOption: When [[spoiler:breaking out of prison]], Kurosaki doesn't have a Duel Disk on him, so he resorts to physically beating the crap out of [[spoiler:the guards]] until he can find a Duel Disk to arm himself with.
* WeakButSkilled:
** His ace, Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon only has 100 ATK. But its effect makes it deadly: it gains all the attack points of every monster that was Special Summoned. When he used it on his 3-on-1 duel, its attack was 16,400. This effect is nerfed in the real game.
** Blaze Falcon continues this idea by only having 1000 ATK, but can attack directly and has ''two'' monster destruction effects. Revolution Falcon has a modest 2000 ATK, and firstly can destroy a Special Summoned monster and inflict half its ATK as damage to the opponent, while secondly, it can reduce the ATK of a Special Summoned monster to zero when it battles it. It can also attack all of his opponent's monsters.
* WouldHitAGirl: He has no problem violently shoving Yuzu out of the way and knocking her down, and then was poised to seal Masumi within a card, had the duel not been interrupted before it could start. Later he almost does it again after he formally defeats her, along with Hokuto and Yaiba, but is interrupted again by the reinforcements of LDS.
* WouldHurtAChild: He shows absolutely no reservations about having Revolution Falcon bring down a tower on top of Sora. He was then poised to seal Sora away in a card, ''in front of a crowd no less'' but was told by Reiji not to make a scene at the last minute via radio.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: He has two different shades of teal.
* YourSoulIsMine: He sealed the souls of five LDS employees into cards with his Duel Disk.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Serena]]
!!Serena
!!Voiced by: Creator/YuunaInamura
[[quoteright:140:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2c706197c3746181bfd4d9872b009b93.png]]
Serena is a dimensional Fusion counterpart to Yuzu. She's been held against her will inside Academia for about three years despite being on their side. After learning that remnants from the Xyz Dimension refuged to Standard, she sees the chance of proving Professor Leo Akaba that she is worthy enough to be a front line soldier and she travels with Barrett to Maiami City without asking for permission and is hunting for Xyz users. However, after meeting Yuzu and hearing the truth about the true nature of her fellow comrades from Kurosaki, Serena changes sides and is currently one of Reiji's Lancers.
Serena uses a Moonlight deck, which features female, animal-like monsters with a moon theme. Unlike Yuzu's Melodious deck, Serena's deck is very offensive.
----
!!Tropes associated with Serena:
* AllegedLookalikes: She is mistaken for Yuzu a few times, despite having different eye colors and different hair. Although, she does look more similar to her than any of Yuya's counterparts resemble him.
** Yuzu mistakes her at first for Ruri because Yuzu was only aware of one IdenticalStranger, but she later concludes that Serena is her Fusion counterpart.
* AlmightyJanitor: In her first outfit she wore the alternate Duel Academy's version of the [[Anime/YuGiOhGX Osiris Red]] uniform, Osiris being the lowest dorm.
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: Delivered to her by Yuzu, she never considered there were non-duelists getting hurt in the Xyz Dimension.
* AttackAttackAttack: Her approach to any problem in life. When she duels, she focuses on dealing damage, ignoring her own defense. And in Episode 56, she refused to retreat declaring she'll defeat every member of Security even when they were literally surrounded.
* BikerBabe: [[spoiler:Becomes a Riding Duelist in the Synchro Dimension]].
* BerserkButton: [[UnderestimatingBadassery People not treating her seriously in a duel.]]
* BloodKnight: She is really combat happy, refusing to retreat or anything. [[spoiler: It's to the point that in episode 59, even Sawatari starts to get annoyed with her wasting time dueling people instead of looking for Yuzu.]]
* BrokenPedestal: The look on her face when she heard of the attack on the Heartland from Kurosaki told us all we need to know how she feels about the Academia.
* CatGirl: She has two of them in her deck, including her Fusion Monster Moonlight Cat Dancer. [[spoiler: Three with Moonlight Panther Dancer.]]
* TheChick: She's the only girl in the Lancers and was able to get them to listen to Reiji's plan. Though in the tournament the Council considered Yuzu to be a member as well.
* ClothingSwitch: With Yuzu, so she could talk to Kurosaki. This is the reason why Yuzu still wears her clothes.
* ColourCodedForYourConvenience: Her hair, eye, and outfit colors are drawn from the [[http://img2.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20060916014711/yugioh/images/2/2c/Polymerization-DB1-EN-C-UE.jpg Polymerization card]].
* ComplainingAboutRescuesTheyDontLike: She's not the least bit pleased that Tsukikage and Hikage rescued her and Yuzu from an attack by the Obelisk Force.
* ContraltoOfDanger: Her voice is deeper than Yuzu's, and Serena is willing to hurt Xyz duelists, regardless whether they are from the Xyz Dimension or not.
* DarkActionGirl: Serena really wants to be this and to be a front fighter of Academia, and she is willing to crush Xyz duelists to get Professor Leo Akaba's approval, even though he doesn't want to let her go from Academia.
* DarkChick: She's the only female named Academia duelist so far, and she believes that duelists are proud and honorable warriors who should accept defeat. Therefore, she didn't realize that most of the Duel Soldiers are lunatic guys who have fun for hunting people and is not aware of families with non-duelists.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Her Moonlight deck is DARK-attribute, but she herself proves to be a Well-Intentioned Extremist.
* DefectorFromDecadence: She does a HeelFaceTurn after seeing the actual methods Academia uses.
* EvilCounterpart: To Yuzu. Serena hunts Xyz duelists and seals them in cards, including Hokuto. Subverted when she learns about the Academia's evilness, she changes sides.
* EvilSoundsDeep: She and Yuzu share the same seiyuu, but Serena's voice is noticeably deeper. She's also not really "evil", unlike her dimensional counterpart of Yuya.
* FailedASpotCheck: She doesn't know how many refugees from the Resistance are in Standard or how they look, so she hunts for ''any person'' that can Xyz Summon... but always misses Kurosaki, her real prey, to the point of walking away from a TV screen after seeing Dennis's Trapeze Magician, right before it cuts to Kurosaki and his Rise Falcon.
* FantasticRacism: Like other members of her faction, she looks down on Xyz users. ''Unlike'' other members of her faction, it's because she honestly believes they're evil; when the Fusion forces was attacking Xyz Dimension, Serena was purposely prevented from going by Akaba Leo, and he seems to have misled her as to his actions and intentions.
* FashionableAsymmetry: Wears a glove on one hand, a bracelet on the other. After her outfit change, this is no longer the case.
* FingerlessGloves: The single left glove. After her outfit change, this is no longer the case.
* {{Foil}}: She's one to fellow Lancer, Kurosaki. Kurosaki is a survivor from the Xyz dimension that has lost everything and in his attempt to get it back has done so very brutal things and has shown no remorse for it. While Serena was protected by the Academia in the Fusion dimension and threw away her home when she was horrified by their actions.
* GildedCage: Implied. Serena is as much of a prisoner and vital part of his plan to Leo Akaba as Ruri and Rin are, but the difference is that she doesn't know it. She only thinks that Leo doesn't consider her strong enough to be in the front lines so she was kept inside the curiously castle-like Academia and never allowed to leave, with every attempt of escape failing. She only was able to escape this time thanks to Leo keeping an eye on Standard instead of her for once.
* GoodCostumeSwitch: After becoming a Lancer she changes her outfit to a set of casual clothes that resemble her old Academia uniform. It involves a less evil looking red-jacket and a [[LightIsGood white skirt]].
* GravityMaster: Her summon chants for her Fusion Monsters such as Moonlight Cat Dancer and [[spoiler: Moonlight Panther Dance]], invoke the Moon's Gravity.
* HairDecorations: A yellow ribbon in contrast to Yuzu's blue clips.
* HairTriggerTemper: Just like Yuzu, but for very different reasons. While Yuzu is normally [[OnlySaneMan calm and collected]] but [[SurroundedByIdiots easily pissed at people's idiocy]], Serena is bitter that her potential is getting wasted and hates that people are looking down at her or mocking her.
* HeroicResolve: She declares that she'll save Yuzu as Yuzu opened her eyes about the Academia and it was her fault that Yuzu was captured.
* HighHeelFaceTurn: She betrays Academia and ends up fighting side-by-side with Standard and Kurosaki. Serena also becomes one of Reiji's eight Lancers.
* HeelRealization: She's utterly horrified when Kurosaki tells her the truth about Academia's attacks on Heartland.
* {{Homage}}: Her Moonlight deck has several references to ''Manga/SailorMoon'', with her name being identical to Usagi's English dub name. Blue Cat is a reference to Luna, and Purple Butterfly is a reference to the Holy Grail and Super Sailor Moon. White Rabbit is reference to Usagi and the whole "rabbit on the moon" in general. Notably, the number of Cat Dancer's various attacks is unusually high for a monster, as most monsters have only one attack, rarely two, but Cat Dancers has shown to have at least five different attacks so far, with three of them resemble attacks from ''Sailor Moon''. They resemble Sailor Moon's ''Moon Tiara Boomerang'', the ''Sailor Kick'' and Sailor Venus's ''Crescent Beam''. Additionally, Blue Cat and Purple Butterfly are shown to fuse together and become Cat Dancer, who looks more humanoid and sexier than Blue Cat -- a parallel to Luna turning human with the power of the Holy Grail and Super Sailor Moon, as Luna wanted to become closer to the human she fell in love.
* HugeGuyTinyGirl: With Barrett.
* IdenticalStranger: The Fusion Dimension's counterpart to Yuzu. And not only looks like her, she ''sounds'' like her too.
* IJustWantToBeFree: Despite her talent, the Professor keeps her cooped up in Academia and refuses to let her go out on the front lines. She hates this.
* InnocentFanserviceGirl: Doesn't think anything of stripping off her jacket when Yuzu suggests they switch clothes. She probably would have gone further had Yuzu not stopped her.
* InTheHood: Keeps a black hood over her face, so she can walk in Maiami City more freely.
* JapanesePronouns: She uses the gender neutral ''watashi'', in contrast to Yuzu's feminine ''atashi''.
* {{Jerkass}}: Rude to everyone she interacts with, such as Reiji and her own bodyguard, Barrett. Calls Dennis pathetic after she beats him in a duel that he wasn't going all out for.
** Later she calls Crow an incompetent coward for "staying in one place" and not producing answers about Yuzu's whereabouts...despite the fact [[UngratefulBastard that Crow gave them shelter in the first place]] and Security is essentially everywhere, with one wrong move leading to them getting arrested...[[spoiler:which does occur later.]]
* JerkWithAHeartOfGold:
** She's grateful to Barrett for going with her to Standard. Drops the "gold" part when she coldly walks away from Barrett after he was beaten in his duel with Reiji, showing that she only really cares about herself, despite Barrett being the ''one'' decent Fusion user who doesn't take outward pleasure in attacking others nor did anything to prevent her from leaving Academia in the first place.
** She regains it later when she proves that she's not like her other companions from Academia, namely taking pleasure in the suffering of others. Yuzu makes her realize that the Xyz Dimension duelists had families as well and that Academia went around attacking EVERYONE, not just duelists, which she made the mistake of thinking that all citizens from the Xyz Dimension were. She later becomes disgusted and horrified when she witnesses Sora attacking Kurosaki, the guy that she was "hunting" all this time, and after Kurosaki relates the story of Academia's attack on Heartland.
* LateArrivalSpoiler: The third opening and upcoming official materials (such as posters or covers) reveal her HeelFaceTurn.
* LeeroyJenkins: During the Lancers' duel against Security, she refuses to flee the scene with Reira to get help after Yuya instructs her to do so, leading to their entire group being cornered by Security and almost getting arrested, [[spoiler:until Crow and his gang rescues them]].
* {{Lunacy}}: Uses a Moonlight Deck.
* MagneticPlotDevice: Her bracelet is one, just like Yuzu's.
* MeaningfulName: Her name is either derived from ''Selene'', the Greek Goddess of the Moon, or from ''Mare Serenitatis'' ("Sea of Serenity"), which is a lunar mare located to the east of Mare Imbrium on the moon.[[note]][[{{Homage}} Princess Serenity a.k.a. Sailor Moon is named after the latter.]][[/note]]
** Her name is actually a pun in Japanese since the [[SpellMyNameWithAnS letters "R" and "L"]] are interchangeable. With Serena being derived from the word Serenade, a form of musical performance, and the latter, Selena, as mentioned above, means Moon Goddess. It's shown in her deck as well, since it is a combination of both, a musical performance and the image of the moon.
* ModestyShorts: Is wearing what looks like black biking shorts under a red skirt in her first outfit.
* MsFanservice: Not her, but her ace Moonlight Cat Dancer.
* MultiColoredHair: Dark purple, with two blue strands, in the same fashion like Yuzu with her pink and bright pink hair.
* MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch: Academia tries to leave Standard away from the war, but Serena hunts ''everyone'' that can Xyz Summon in Standard, disregarding the troubles that can come from that. While she's just as arrogant and battle crazy as the rest of her dimension, she does not like the possibility of innocents getting hurt.
* MythologyGag: Wears a red jacket, similar to the ones worn by the [[Anime/YuGiOhGX Osiris Red dorm students]]. Her Duel Disk also resembles the ones from ''GX''. The fact that she appears to be an Osiris Red girl who holds her hair with a yellow ribbon make some think of Rei's first design.
* NeverHurtAnInnocent: She's appalled when Yuzu tells her that families were being hurt in the Xyz invasion.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: If Serena hadn't been so adamant about searching for Yuzu (and strong duelists) in a place where Security are constantly roaming the streets for them, she would have never [[spoiler:had lead them to where Yuya, Crow and the rest were. As a result, they were all arrested.]]
* NoNameGiven: Supplementary materials first gave her name as Mysterious Girl before her name was revealed.
* NoNonsenseNemesis: Doesn't give Dennis any chance to say who he is before challenging him to a duel. She is also unfazed at meeting Yuzu and completely ignores her attempts to stop the duel.
* NoSocialSkills: [[AllThereInTheManual Supplementary materials]] reveal that she has never left Academia prior to Episode 38 and that [[SacrificedBasicSkillForAwesomeTraining she only learned how to duel, but at the cost of learning social skills]]. Which explains why she believed that every person is a duelist and also her not seeing anything wrong about [[InnocentFanserviceGirl stripping out in the open]].
* OverTheShoulderCarry: Hikage carries her in this manner after saving her from being attacked by the Obelisk Force, much to her displeasure.
* PerpetualFrowner: In contrast to Yuzu, Serena is usually seen with a scowl on her face.
* {{Pride}}: Believes her own skill in dueling to be so great that she gets pissed that Leo Akaba is keeping her secluded on Academia. However, this blinds her to the fact that by attacking anyone who's NOT a Fusion duelist (namely anyone who can Xyz Summon), she's causing more harm than good and doesn't think of the consequences her actions could potentially bring.
* PrecisionFStrike: When [[spoiler: Dennis's]] true colors are revealed, she comments, "That bastard."
* RefusalOfTheCall: She rejects Reiji's offer to join him. After seeing Academia for what it really is, she ends up as a Lancer.
* SmugSmiler: When not frowning, Serena loves doing this to her opponents whenever she gets the upper hand.
* TheSmurfettePrinciple: The only girl shown in Academia, and later Reiji's Lancers.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The old R and L problem. The VersusCharacterSplash and and an official website gives us the R.
* StandardFemaleGrabArea: Averted like Yuzu. [[spoiler:When Security captures her, they hold both arms, and are also an adult overpowering a fourteen-year-old girl. Also Yuya was being held the same way.]]
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: Similar to Kurosaki, Serena doesn't appreciate being saved from danger, stating that she has the situation "handled" and sees someone helping her out as someone who is underestimating her abilities, which she hates. In Episode 56, she, along with Yuya, Reira and Sawatari, are surrounded by [[spoiler:Security forces; when Yuya offers to distract them and begs her to take Reira to safety, Serena just screams back that she's no coward and she intends to wipe everyone out...despite being surrounded by at least ''thirteen'' duelists at once.]] However, she does at least acknowledge that she'll need to work in a group if she intends to save Yuzu and protect her from Academia.
* TomboyWithAGirlyStreak: She's aggressive and nonsensical but her deck is very feminine. Though that's zig-zagged with the fact that, so far, the playstyle of her deck revolves around attacking as much as possible with the most possible strength while preventing the opponent from protecting themselves; fitting some of her [[BloodKnight tendencies]], so it might just be that she doesn't care for looks as long as what she is doing using works.
* TomboyishPonytail: To contrast Yuzu in appearance.
* TomboyishSideTails: Also has these like Yuzu.
* TookALevelInBadass: Her [[spoiler:Moonlight Panther Dancer is implied to be this for Cat Dancer, since the summon chanting states, be reborn with more power.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: Aside from being Yuzu's Fusion counterpart, she is also part of the Lancers, the heroes of the story, so it's pointless to hide these facts from people, especially since LateArrivalSpoiler is applied.
* WarForFunAndProfit: Subverted, she rejects Yuzu's claim that the Academia sees their invasion of the Xyz Dimension as a game.
* [[WellDoneSonGuy Well Done Daughter Gal]]: Wants to impress her mentor, Leo Akaba, and make him proud enough to let her fight.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: Her talk with Yuzu paints her as this. She fully believes that what Leo wants to do is for the greater good. And even if the Xyz duelists lost, they still have their pride despite losing. She was shaken by the implication of the Xyz duelists having families and resolves to see Kurosaki to check if its true.
* YouFightLikeACow: In Episode 56, she completely made fun of Security from their similar decks and their decision to call back up against 4 people.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Her hair is primarily dark purple. She also has two blue strands.
[[/folder]]
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''For more info, see [[Characters/YuGiOhArcVTheLancers this page]].''
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[[/folder]]
[[folder:Reira Akaba]]
!!Reira Akaba
!!Voiced by: Creator/YuiIshikawa
[[quoteright:146:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/846b72137cd677959f47f20a9abc83af.png]]
Reiji's little brother. He is introduced in the MCS arc as Ayu's first opponent. Reira is quiet to the point of no emotion, but seems to be constantly scared of something. He uses a CC deck, which revolves around copying the opponent's cards, and specializes in multiple types of Special Summonings, like Reiji. As his brother is confident about Reira's skills and power, he makes him as one of the Lancers.
''For more info, see [[Characters/YuGiOhArcVTheLancers this page]].''
----
!!Tropes associtated with Reira:
* {{Badass}}: He's a very skilled duelist, at least equal to Yuya and co. according to Reiji.
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Platonic version, but his actions in Episode 67 were because [[spoiler:both Yuya and Shinji were kind to him, so he refused to duel Shinji and ran to Yuya for comfort]].
* BigBrotherWorship[=/=]LivingEmotionalCrutch: Reiji seems to be the only person he cares about in the world. This is made clear when it's shown that Reira sees everything dark except of the little space where Reiji is and he manage to win his duel after seeing that Reiji is watching him.
** Reira seems more normal when his brother is with him. Being a shy kid compared to the emotionless creepy child he is when Reiji isn't around.
** [[spoiler:He gives his first smile when Tatsuya says he's similar to Reiji.]]
* BrokenBird: The card he used to nullify the effects of Ayu's cards on her side of the field show that he sees the world as a cold, grey place. [[spoiler:Later revealed due to his environment where he grew up.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: Although he was initially shaky after becoming an EmptyShell, [[spoiler: becoming a {{Yandere}} towards his brother and wanting Tsukikage to lose. After talking to Jack Atlas, he becomes a better person, wanting to become a brave duelist on his own, apologizes to Tsukikage and encourages Yuya to defeat Jack.]]
* CreepyChild: His emotionless behavior can make people uncomfortable around him. He also has his eyes constantly wide open and is always looking at the ground.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: [[spoiler:Reira isn't actually related to the Akabas, but a child from a country where a war has raged on for decades. He lost any sense of will and identity and learned to copy people perfectly to survive. He was adopted by Himika to be made into a duel soldier against the Academia.]]
* DittoFighter: His deck consists mostly of Spell Cards that allow him to copy an opponent's monster.
* EmotionlessBoy: He talks with a dull voice, and when Ayu tried to do the "Action Duel" speech, Reira's lines sounded very depressing. However, he's slowly come out of his shell as part of his CharacterDevelopment.
* EmptyShell: [[spoiler:Reira was this when he was adopted by Himika. He was all alone in a war-torn country, where he lost all his identity and will to survive.]]
* ExtremeDoormat: [[spoiler:Subverted, Himika thought that he would be one. But he has shown he's got a will of his own, from his desire to please and find Reiji to his refusal to duel Shinji.]]
* FamilyEyeResemblance: He has his mom's blue eyes. [[spoiler:Subverted, Reira isn't related to Himika at all.]]
* FamilyThemeNaming: Reira, like Reiji and Leo, have the the kanji of zero (零) in their names.
* InTheHood: Coupled with HiddenEyes to emphatize his creepiness and brokeness. He also wears a cap under his hood.
* JustAKid: Some characters who haven't seen him duel like Sawatari and Kurosaki are dismissive of him and find it hard to believe such a young boy could be a competent duelist. Skills aside, they are not completely wrong either. He's not as brave as the others and Yuya has to tell Reiji in his face that Reira is way too young to be a Lancer.
* MommyIssues: It's made obvious that this little boy is afraid of his own mother. [[spoiler:Might be due to the fact that Reira was experimented by her to become a Duel Soldier.]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: He feels terrible when he realizes Tsukikage was MadeASlave because of him.]]
* NervousWreck: Reira seems to be scared of people; he jumped when the public in the stadium started to cheer for Reiji and also when the news reporter tried to talk with him.
* NiceHat: He wears a cap under his hood.
* ParentalAbandonment: [[spoiler:We have no idea what happened to his biological family. Himika simply said he was all by himself, which leads to some very depressing or disturbing conclusions.]]
* PersonalityPowers: His deck relies on copying the opponent's cards. [[spoiler:It's because he has little sense of self from his DarkAndTroubledPast, and hasn't recovered to the point he can be his own person yet without copying someone else.]]
* PlayingCardMotifs: Reira's is the Club/Clover suit. Shown by his monster archetype starting with C and the clover pin he's wearing.
* {{Protectorate}}: [[spoiler:While in the Synchro Dimension, Yuya has taken the role of a protective big brother towards him. In a straighter example, the OP and ED imply he's this to Tsukikage, by Reiji's orders.]]
** Also appears to be one for Reiji in a different sort of way, as Reiji attempts to help Reira develop his own personality and apparently brought Reira into the [[spoiler:Synchro dimension]] because he honestly believes Reira is strong enough to handle it, even reassuring him and giving him slack when the kid refuses to duel.
* TheQuietOne: He rarely talks.
* RealityEnsues: The kid may be a good duelist on par of the other Lancers, but he's still just a little kid. He's scared stiff when he [[spoiler:arrives in the Synchro Dimension without Reiji]].
* SafetyInIndifference: Due to his DarkAndTroubledPast, the only way he knows to survive is by abandoning all free will and emotion.
* SecurityBlanket: He only separates of his teddy bear when it's time to duel.
* ShrinkingViolet: When around Reiji. Ironically this is when he's more emotional.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The VersusCharacterSplash shows his name as "Layra". His name is actually written in kanji, so it cannot be anything else than a Japanese name.
* TagAlongKid: To the Lancers.
* TraumaCongaLine: His entire life is one. [[spoiler:As stated in TheReveal, Reira has no sense of will or identity and is being used by the Akabas to defeat the Academia - putting him through even more pain despite being only a child.]]
* TykeBomb: [[spoiler:Reira was adopted by Himika for the sole purpose of defeating the Academia.]]
* WhenHeSmiles: He smiles rarily, but it's a heartwarming one.
* {{Yandere}}: [[spoiler: When he starts to get his own will, he is worried that Tsukikage is better liked by Reiji, and wants him to lose. However, he is horrified by how callous Reiji is towards the loss, and even more horrified when he realizes that Tsukikage was MadeASlave because of him.]]
[[folder:Reira Akaba]]
!!Reira Akaba
!!Voiced by: Creator/YuiIshikawa
[[quoteright:146:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/846b72137cd677959f47f20a9abc83af.png]]
Reiji's little brother. He is introduced in the MCS arc as Ayu's first opponent. Reira is quiet to the point of no emotion, but seems to be constantly scared of something. He uses a CC deck, which revolves around copying the opponent's cards, and specializes in multiple types of Special Summonings, like Reiji. As his brother is confident about Reira's skills and power, he makes him as one of the Lancers.
''For more info, see [[Characters/YuGiOhArcVTheLancers this page]].''
----
!!Tropes associtated with Reira:
* {{Badass}}: He's a very skilled duelist, at least equal to Yuya and co. according to Reiji.
* BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Platonic version, but his actions in Episode 67 were because [[spoiler:both Yuya and Shinji were kind to him, so he refused to duel Shinji and ran to Yuya for comfort]].
* BigBrotherWorship[=/=]LivingEmotionalCrutch: Reiji seems to be the only person he cares about in the world. This is made clear when it's shown that Reira sees everything dark except of the little space where Reiji is and he manage to win his duel after seeing that Reiji is watching him.
** Reira seems more normal when his brother is with him. Being a shy kid compared to the emotionless creepy child he is when Reiji isn't around.
** [[spoiler:He gives his first smile when Tatsuya says he's similar to Reiji.]]
* BrokenBird: The card he used to nullify the effects of Ayu's cards on her side of the field show that he sees the world as a cold, grey place. [[spoiler:Later revealed due to his environment where he grew up.]]
* CharacterDevelopment: Although he was initially shaky after becoming an EmptyShell, [[spoiler: becoming a {{Yandere}} towards his brother and wanting Tsukikage to lose. After talking to Jack Atlas, he becomes a better person, wanting to become a brave duelist on his own, apologizes to Tsukikage and encourages Yuya to defeat Jack.]]
* CreepyChild: His emotionless behavior can make people uncomfortable around him. He also has his eyes constantly wide open and is always looking at the ground.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: [[spoiler:Reira isn't actually related to the Akabas, but a child from a country where a war has raged on for decades. He lost any sense of will and identity and learned to copy people perfectly to survive. He was adopted by Himika to be made into a duel soldier against the Academia.]]
* DittoFighter: His deck consists mostly of Spell Cards that allow him to copy an opponent's monster.
* EmotionlessBoy: He talks with a dull voice, and when Ayu tried to do the "Action Duel" speech, Reira's lines sounded very depressing. However, he's slowly come out of his shell as part of his CharacterDevelopment.
* EmptyShell: [[spoiler:Reira was this when he was adopted by Himika. He was all alone in a war-torn country, where he lost all his identity and will to survive.]]
* ExtremeDoormat: [[spoiler:Subverted, Himika thought that he would be one. But he has shown he's got a will of his own, from his desire to please and find Reiji to his refusal to duel Shinji.]]
* FamilyEyeResemblance: He has his mom's blue eyes. [[spoiler:Subverted, Reira isn't related to Himika at all.]]
* FamilyThemeNaming: Reira, like Reiji and Leo, have the the kanji of zero (零) in their names.
* InTheHood: Coupled with HiddenEyes to emphatize his creepiness and brokeness. He also wears a cap under his hood.
* JustAKid: Some characters who haven't seen him duel like Sawatari and Kurosaki are dismissive of him and find it hard to believe such a young boy could be a competent duelist. Skills aside, they are not completely wrong either. He's not as brave as the others and Yuya has to tell Reiji in his face that Reira is way too young to be a Lancer.
* MommyIssues: It's made obvious that this little boy is afraid of his own mother. [[spoiler:Might be due to the fact that Reira was experimented by her to become a Duel Soldier.]]
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: [[spoiler: He feels terrible when he realizes Tsukikage was MadeASlave because of him.]]
* NervousWreck: Reira seems to be scared of people; he jumped when the public in the stadium started to cheer for Reiji and also when the news reporter tried to talk with him.
* NiceHat: He wears a cap under his hood.
* ParentalAbandonment: [[spoiler:We have no idea what happened to his biological family. Himika simply said he was all by himself, which leads to some very depressing or disturbing conclusions.]]
* PersonalityPowers: His deck relies on copying the opponent's cards. [[spoiler:It's because he has little sense of self from his DarkAndTroubledPast, and hasn't recovered to the point he can be his own person yet without copying someone else.]]
* PlayingCardMotifs: Reira's is the Club/Clover suit. Shown by his monster archetype starting with C and the clover pin he's wearing.
* {{Protectorate}}: [[spoiler:While in the Synchro Dimension, Yuya has taken the role of a protective big brother towards him. In a straighter example, the OP and ED imply he's this to Tsukikage, by Reiji's orders.]]
** Also appears to be one for Reiji in a different sort of way, as Reiji attempts to help Reira develop his own personality and apparently brought Reira into the [[spoiler:Synchro dimension]] because he honestly believes Reira is strong enough to handle it, even reassuring him and giving him slack when the kid refuses to duel.
* TheQuietOne: He rarely talks.
* RealityEnsues: The kid may be a good duelist on par of the other Lancers, but he's still just a little kid. He's scared stiff when he [[spoiler:arrives in the Synchro Dimension without Reiji]].
* SafetyInIndifference: Due to his DarkAndTroubledPast, the only way he knows to survive is by abandoning all free will and emotion.
* SecurityBlanket: He only separates of his teddy bear when it's time to duel.
* ShrinkingViolet: When around Reiji. Ironically this is when he's more emotional.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: The VersusCharacterSplash shows his name as "Layra". His name is actually written in kanji, so it cannot be anything else than a Japanese name.
* TagAlongKid: To the Lancers.
* TraumaCongaLine: His entire life is one. [[spoiler:As stated in TheReveal, Reira has no sense of will or identity and is being used by the Akabas to defeat the Academia - putting him through even more pain despite being only a child.]]
* TykeBomb: [[spoiler:Reira was adopted by Himika for the sole purpose of defeating the Academia.]]
* WhenHeSmiles: He smiles rarily, but it's a heartwarming one.
* {{Yandere}}: [[spoiler: When he starts to get his own will, he is worried that Tsukikage is better liked by Reiji, and wants him to lose. However, he is horrified by how callous Reiji is towards the loss, and even more horrified when he realizes that Tsukikage was MadeASlave because of him.]]
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[[foldercontrol]]
[[folder:Yuya Sakaki]]
!!Yuya Sakaki
!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KenshoOno (JP), Michael Liscio Jr. (EN)
[[quoteright:296:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fullyuyasakaki_1778.png]]
The main protagonist of ''ARC-V'', an eighth-grader who attends You Show Duel School. He aspires to become an Entertainment Duelist and bring laughter to people through his duels like his father did before him, at least before Yusho's mysterious disappearance three years ago.
He owns a good-luck charm pendant his father gave him when he was younger, which mysteriously glows during his televised exhibition match against Strong Ishijima. This unlocks the power of an entirely new Summoning method, Pendulum Summoning, which quickly sets off a chain of events that may go well beyond his control.
He is currently one of the Lancers.
He uses a Entermate/[[DubNameChange Performapal]] Deck, which features animals in costume that focus on altering the ATK and DEF of monsters. His ace is his Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Backing them up are his Magicians; his first two enable Yuya's finishing moves, and his latter allowing Yuya to Xyz Summon powerful monsters. Like previous protagonists, Yuya's ace card keeps evolving, and Yuya learns the other Special Summoning methods through evolving his Odd-Eyes.
----
!!Tropes associated with Yuya:
* TheAce: He's the best duelist of the You Show Duel School, though there are only six students there.
* AccidentalPervert: In Episode 22, he felt down the stairs to then falling right with his head in the perfect position to [[PantyShot look up Mieru's skirt]]. Even though he didn't see anything, she still whacks him on the head. [[SarcasmMode What a great first impression]].
* AllTheOtherReindeer: Due to his dad disappearing, nearly every kid his age mocked him.
* AllYourPowersCombined: In Episode 46, by using the Pendulum effects of Magician of Destruction and Magician of Creation, Yuya is able to [[spoiler:turn Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon into a Level 7 monster, allowing him to overlay it with Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon to create Supreme King Black Dragon - Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon, the first Xyz Pendulum monster revealed.]]
* AnimalMotifs: The Dragon, made clear with the title of Episode 39. [[spoiler:"Reverse Scales": Gekirin (逆鱗), in Japanese and Chinese mythology, refers to one particular scale out of 81 scales covering the body of the dragon. This scale, unlike others, is inverted. It is said in Japanese legends that if one were to touch the dragon’s gekirin, it would result in the wrath of the dragon.]] Explained [[https://nyanpastique.wordpress.com/2015/01/19/reverse-scales-and-arc-vs-dragon-motif/ here.]]
* AnimeHair: Like his predecessors in other ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' installments, his hair is pretty out there. However, it's more subdued in comparison, and the "out there" part comes more from the hair colors; half red and half green.
* TheArtifact: His Discover Hippo was only really useful in his first duel. A monster with low ATK and DEF, and its effect (treated as two tributes for a Tribute Summon) is pretty much useless when Yuya starts using Pendulum Summoning. His purpose in Action Duels (a steed) is diminished by stronger monsters being able to fulfill transportation purposes. The monster itself is somewhat of a mascot for the series, so it appears more outside of duels than it does inside. In episode 26 however, his friends were surprised to see it summoned and be used as a tribute for Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon since the monsters he used for the Pendulum Scales did not have scales going that high.
* {{Badass}}: He nearly took down Strong Ishijima before he got his Pendulum cards, and his badassery has only increased since then. His moments include Fusion Summoning Rune-Eyes, then later using it to debut another Fusion monster, Beast-Eyes, making a comeback victory against Sawatari, [[spoiler:and his double OTK with Dark Rebellion with help from Dennis. His rematches against Sora and Reiji. And not to mention his SuperpoweredEvilSide.]]
* BadassBiker: [[spoiler:Yuya becomes a D-wheeler in Episode 64 where he duels against Jack Atlas.]]
* BerserkButton:
** Don't threaten the You Show Duel School around him. It's the school his father set up.
** Sora in general was one too, though its PlayedForLaughs.
** Making fun of his father or hurting his friends are big buttons as well. [[spoiler:Especially '''Yuzu''', Yuya will just ''punch'' you in the face.]]
** Using Dueling as a way to wage war, and [[spoiler:sealing your opponents in cards]] became major {{Berserk Button}}s, to the point of [[spoiler:involuntarily triggering Yuya's [[SuperpoweredEvilSide berserk mode]]]].
** Reiji has become one in the [[spoiler:Synchro Dimension arc]].
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He's one of the nicest guys in the series, and even without going into [[spoiler:his Berserk Mode]], he's still ''really scary'' when he's pissed off.
* BeyondTheImpossible: Making your own cards mid-duel is one thing. Inventing Pendulum cards and summons is another. [[spoiler:[[SerialEscalation But creating an Xyz Pendulum monster is mindblowing]].]]
* BigBrotherInstinct: [[spoiler:He has grow protective towards Reira while in the Synchro Dimension and uses his duels to both protect him from Security and in attempts to make him smile. In episode 59, he's more worried over Reira's dissapearance than he and the others being captured by Security. In episode 67, he questions Reiji's decision to allow Reira to join a dangerous battle and declares to him that if Reiji would not protect Reira, he will.]]
* BigDamnHeroes: In Episode 4, when Yuzu and the kids finally fall, Yuya has his newly returned Pendulum Monsters rescue them.
* BishieSparkle: What Mieru imagines Yuya has when he defeats her. Afterwards she's head over heels for the guy, much to Yuya's confusion and Yuzu's anger.
* BladeBrake: In Episode 9, Yuya uses his Entermate Sword Fish to catch himself when he falls.
* BookDumb: Yuya mentions in Episode 19 that he is bad at science and math.
* BorrowedCatchphrase: [[spoiler:In Episode 39, his SuperpoweredEvilSide borrows Yuto's summon chant for Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. Yuya later uses it himself whenever he summons it.]]
* BreakTheCutie: Yuya is a happy-go-lucky guy that wants to bring smiles and happiness to his audience, until those ideals seem to become more and more distant starting from Episode 34 where [[spoiler:Sora turns out to be a lot downright evil; he then realizes dueling is being used as a form of warfare. Afterwards, Sora disappears, shortly followed by Yuto, who TakesTheBullet for Yuya. This finally culminates in his own SuperPoweredEvilSide, which causes Yuya himself to breaking his own ideals of dueling for happiness. And as soon as he manages to get a grip on that, Yuzu ends up disappearing, and he presumes her captured or carded by Academia. Not to mention the City breaking his ideals again and Jack Atlas saying that his dueling is conceited. The kid needs a hug.]]
* BrokenPedestal: In Episode 2, after finding out that Pendulum Summoning requires special cards, most of his fans begin thinking of him as a cheater.
* ButtMonkey: Often. He sometimes uses it as a comedy routine.
** In Episode 20, he is unable to answer any question correct, gets electrocuted and frozen.
** In Episode 22, Yuya has terrible luck. He oversleeps, he hits his head under his desk, he trips and falls down the stairs, is accused of being a pervert, gets wrong coin side, has a dead opening hand, is glared by thirteen black cats, trips over nothing, finds an Action Trap named "Great Misfortune," and his two strongest monsters are switched to defense position before he could even attack.
* CatchPhrase: He has two during duels: "Ladies and gentlemen!" and "The fun's just getting started!" The latter also appears frequently in the opening and ending songs.
* CharacterDevelopment:
** Nico Smiley chose the four duelists Yuya needed to beat to qualify for the Junior Youth Championship [[InvokedTrope specifically to make Yuya become a better duelist all around]]. And it pays off too, with Yuya learning from the first three duels that there is no such thing as a perfect strategy and flexibility is important in dueling, that he can use disadvantages in his favour, that he can't be complacent in dueling, that a pro needs communication with their opponent and the audience to be entertaining and how to take Pendulum Summoning further. With the last duel, he takes the lessons from the previous three duels and applies it here as well as learning how to stand on his own two feet rather than constantly relying on other people for support.
** This really shows in Episode 31, when [[spoiler:Sawatari revealed his own Pendulum Cards, sent Odd-Eyes and his other cards back into in his deck and was overall cornered. Yuya, instead of falling in Heroic BSOD, smiled and enjoyed the challenge presented]].
** Yuya is now more eager to show his Entertainment Dueling to the audience ''and'' his opponents, after all the violence he has seen lately. Unfortunately, he kind of struggles, as he is not only unable to give Kachidoki a happy smile on his face, [[spoiler:but he gives him a brutal defeat instead when Yuya's SuperpoweredEvilSide shows up]]. This event has given him more angst. He has reached a point where his current mental state is basically a [[FridgeBrilliance pendulum]], going forth and back from happy and cheerful to a HeroicBSOD, to the point that he crossed the [[spoiler:DespairEventHorizon in the end of Episode 44]].
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: The first two episodes shows Yuya acting like a clown and he makes fun of everybody and everything. Since the third episode, he's much more serious and his entertainer persona only shows up when he is doing some of his combos. While it's stated by his mother that Yuya used his duel against Ishijima to reinvent himself out of his SadClown persona into a more serious Entertainer, it doesn't explain why all pre-series media treated this attitude as his only personality.
* ChekhovsGun:
** The first time he used Pendulum Summoning, Yuya used the phrase "Ide yo, waga shimobe no monster-tachi wo" ("Come forth, my monster servants) during his summon chant. Since then, he usually uses "Awarero, ore no monster-tachi" ("Appear, my monsters"). He does use the first variant again in Episode 39, when [[spoiler:his SuperpoweredEvilSide is revealed]].
** His split personality becomes a lot more relevant once [[spoiler:Yuto's and Yugo's are revealed, their blind rage and ruthlessness hinting that his split personality is just as dangerous. Which was proven in Episode 39, when his dark side was shown]].
* ChildhoodFriends: With Yuzu and Gongenzaka. He met Gongenzaka 3 years ago and has been friends with Yuzu at least since the opening of the You Show Duel school.
* CoatCape: He likes to wear his jacket this way. [[ImpossiblyCoolClothes It never seems to fall away from him, even in situations were it reasonably should, like when he's performing all his acrobatic stunts]].
* CombatPragmatist: His Dueling style is this. He summons a speedy animal and runs around to find Action Cards, allowing him to negate his opponent's attacks and such. His initial Pendulum Monsters, Stargazer and Timegazer also count, since they can shut down his opponent's Spell and Trap Cards.
* ConspicuousCG: Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon [[spoiler:and its evolutions]]. Yuya is also made in CG whenever he's riding this monster.
* ConvenientComa: [[spoiler:He was in one for two days after the events of Episode 37.]]
* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: Even though there are similarities to previous protagonists, Yuya is still very different to them in certain aspects. He is introduced as an average duelist, unlike Yugi, Judai and Yusei who were exceptionally skilled in dueling and Yuma who was exceptionally bad, is very famous in his hometown because of the bad reputation he got from his DisappearedDad (the other protagonists were unknown at the beginning of their respective series) and he has two [[spoiler:or more]] personas when dueling, with his entertainer persona being clearly an act. Outside of dueling, he's a rather quiet and a bit shy and is anything but hyperactive and he is more serious than Judai and Yuma in their first season. Yuya also suffers from some psychological issues that appear earlier than by other protagonists and he gets a more dynamic CharacterDevelopment. Like Judai, Yusei and Yuma, Yuya relies a lot on his ace card, but unlike the three and Yugi, Yuya doesn't have as many beatsticks as them. While the others have more options of powerful monsters, Yuya's only other beatstick besides Odd-Eyes and its evolutions is his Entermate Hammer Mammoth, which justifies Yuya's dependence on his ace monster better than Judai, Yusei and Yuma. [[spoiler:Notably after he gets Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, he actually uses it instead of Odd-Eyes a few times, and since it's an Extra Deck monster that's easy to Summon, it's quite logical for him to do so.]]
* CoolBigBro: To the kids from the You Show Duel School. [[spoiler:He attempts to be this to Reira when they enter the Synchro Dimension, and seems to have succeeded.]]
* CosmicPlaything: Dear God. As stated in BreakTheCutie and YankTheDogsChain, it seems like the universe is trying to break him at every turn. Every time Yuya tries to do what he believes in, the universe either tries to subvert it or take something from him.
* CreepyMonotone: [[spoiler:In Episode 39 when possessed.]]
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Perfectly demonstrated during his duel against Ishijima. Yuya acts like a clown and apparently makes a fool of him while riding Entermate Discover Hippo. Ishijima and the audience eventually realize that Yuya's ride helps him gathering Action Cards all over the place.
* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: He has red eyes, which match most of his hair.
* CustomUniform: Yuya uses the school's jacket as a CoatCape and different kind of pants than the rest of the males in the school.
* DarkIsNotEvil: His deck contains a number of DARK-Attribute Monsters, including the Magicians of Astromancy and Chronomancy, Entermate Trump Witch and Silver Claw, Odd-Eyes, Rune-Eyes, [[spoiler:and, as of Episode 37, Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, and later still, he combines it with Odd-Eyes in the form of Supreme King Black Dragon - Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon]]. This is not surprising, considering that his four predecessors also used DARK monsters.
* DespairEventHorizon: His mental state was already a messed up pendulum after the event of Episodes 34-37, but [[spoiler:seeing a group of duelists being sealed into cards in the end of Episode 44, he finally breaks, triggering his berserk side again]].
* {{Determinator}}: Thanks to his father's advice to smile and laugh whenever he feels sad or in trouble, Yuya manages to gather the courage to get himself out of any pinch he finds himself in.
-->'''Yuya:''' ''"That's right. If I keep my heart in Defense Mode, there's no way I'll be able to enjoy my duels!"''
* DisappearedDad: Yuya's father Yusho was a popular Duelist, but three years ago, he no-showed an event and hasn't been seen since. Mentioning anything about his father is one of the only times Yuya won't be smiling.
* DistressedDude: In Episode 30, Ankokuji does this to keep Gongenzaka distracted. Yuya proves to be a BadassInDistress and Yuya defeats four people who are supposed to keep him in busy at once.
* DragonRider: He can ride his dragons in Action Duels.
* DubNameChange: Not him, but several of his monsters:
** Entermate -> Performapal
** Discover Hippo -> Hip Hippo
** Whip Viper -> Whip Snake
** Plustartle -> Stamp Turtle
** Magician of Astromancy -> Stargazer Magician
** Magician of Chronomancy -> Timegazer Magician
* EvilSoundsDeep: [[spoiler:Yuya's SuperpoweredEvilSide has a noticeably lower pitch than his usual voice.]]
* {{Expy}}: Mostly of [[Anime/YuGiOhGX Judai]] with his surface personality and somehow of his appearance, and [[Anime/YuGiOhZexal Yuma]] with his backstory, with a dose of [[Anime/YuGiOh5Ds Yusei's]] dueling style, and his inner depression about what he thinks may be his fault. Also of [[Manga/MagicKaito Kaito Kuroba]]. [[spoiler:His SuperpoweredEvilSide gives him another parallel with Judai, and his dragon resonating like the Signer Dragons is another parallel with Yusei.]] That being said, see ContrastingSequelMainCharacter.
* FamedInStory: Yuya is very famous for defeating Strong Ishijima and debuting the Pendulum summon.
* FightingYourFriend:
** In Episode 25 he discovers that, in order to qualify in the Junior Youth and initiate his climb in professional dueling, he must defeat Gongenzaka.
** [[spoiler:A far more sober and darker version occurs when he duels a serious Sora in Episode 49 as he confronts his friend over his actions. It also ends with no resolution since the Battle Royale ended before the duel concluded and Sora escapes]].
* FlungClothing: Yuya does this in Episode 1 when he summons Odd-Eyes Dragon. How he took off a full body costume and keep his duel disk on is everyone's guess.
* FullNameBasis: He and Reiji refer to each other by their full names.
* {{Foil}}:
** With Gongenzaka, they are both heirs to their schools with unusual decks. Yuya having a Pendulum deck and Gongenzaka having a deck without Spells or Traps. While Yuya hides his emotions, Gongenzaka is instead very expressive about them. This is best shown in their dueling styles. Yuya during a duel, runs about looking for Action Cards, compared to Gongenzaka refusing to move.
** With Reiji they are both the aces of their schools and are Pendulum users. While Reiji is well respected as the head of the top duel school at the start of the series, Yuya is looked down upon because of his father and is a member of a duel school made up of only 5 people. They both hide their emotions, Yuya using laughter and smiles compared to Reiji's cold manners stoicism. Their relationships with their fathers are completely different as well. Yuya's father disappeared but Yuya still thinks very highly of him, while Reiji doubts his father even cares enough about him that he would be a useful hostage after Leo's abandonment of the family. [[spoiler:This is furthered in their methods dealing with the interdimensional war. Yuya still attempts to follow his ideals and compassion, while Reiji is ruthless, willing to sacrifice his men if needed. Also, Reira also sees both of them as brother figures and both Reiji and Yuya care about him in different ways]]
** He's also one with Atem from the original series, ironically making him similar to Yugi. Whereas Yuya is kind and finds the idea of hurting people disgusting to the point of hesitating to win a duel where his freedom was on the line, Atem started out the series, nearly a villain protagonist who would give incredibly cruel punishments to those that crossed Yugi and his friends and even after becoming nicer was willing to let Kaiba commit suicide to win a duel. Yuya is full of insecurities making him more defensive, while Atem is extremely confident to the point of being cocky and willing to take risks. Yuya is defined by how his past shaped him, while Atem is driven to find his missing memories and past.
* FreezeFrameBonus: After he bumps into Gongenzaka in the first episode and takes off his goggles, you can see tears in his eyes, hinting at his StepfordSmiler personality.
* FunPersonified: Yuya lives to entertain people and bring smiles to their faces.
* FunnyCharacterBoringActor: InUniverse example: Outside the Action Fields, Yuya's much more serious and introverted, hiding deep emotional scars from Yusho's disappearance and the traumatic events he's faced since acquiring his Pendulum Cards behind a warm smile. [[FridgeBrilliance Bonus points]] for being TruthInTelevision for a lot of real life comedians, who turn to humour in order to overcome their misery.
* FusionDance: [[spoiler: He fuses with Yuto, which is similar to the overlaying in Xyz.]]
* GenreSavvy: Despite being BookDumb, he's quite adept at dueling, being flexible enough to adapt to differing strategies by his various opponents. As the plot thickens, he also makes attempts to figure out what's going on, and succeeds.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: [[spoiler:Just like Yuto and Yugo during his SuperpoweredEvilSide. Also crosses into RedEyesTakeWarning, though his eyes are always red, this makes them terrifying.]]
* GogglesDoNothing: Averted. He uses them to hide his feeling and also logically uses them when riding his monsters. In Episode 64 he uses his goggles in place of a visor for a Riding Duel.
* HalfDressedCartoonAnimal: His deck's theme, bar Odd-Eyes and the Magicians.
* HarmlessElectrocution: He's fell victim to this a few times, in particular Episodes 16 and 20, and the Battle Royal penalty at one point.
* HarmlessFreezing: In Episode 20 he is frozen in a block of ice following his {{Humiliation Conga}}.
* HeirToTheDojo: In a fashion. His father set up the "You Show Duel School" that specializes in teaching Yusho's Entertainment Dueling sytle; Yuya is the ace of the school.
* HeroesLoveDogs: He loves his mom's pet dogs.
* HeroicBSOD:
** He is more prone to these than all the other protagonists, and it's perfectly justified as his loving personality also masks three years of emotional pain caused by his father's disappearance and his attempts to cope with it. Has a big one after learning that Reiji can Pendulum Summon and was needed Shuzou to [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan duel him out of it]].
** [[spoiler:Becomes depressed after his disturbing victory against Kachidoki in Episode 40. Fortunately, it took the audience's applause for Yuzu's duel and Yuto's words of wisdom that Yuya has gotten over it an episode later. Until Takeda and Umesugi remind him from that incident two episodes later, but Dennis helps him to get it out of it next episode later.]]
** Poor beggar has another one after [[spoiler:Yuzu's disappearance.]]
** [[spoiler:After his victory against Duel Chaser 227, Yuya took a few seconds to process the fact that he witnessed the blatant disregard for human life that everyone in the audience displayed during his duel.]]
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: [[spoiler:After Yuya lost his duel to Jack, he has wondered if he really can end the war peacefully and make everyone happy.]]
** [[spoiler: Yuya isn't exactly proud of how he won his duel against Duel Chaser 227]]
* HeroicResolve:
** After [[spoiler:learning that Yuto's soul and a darkness is inside of him. He remembers his father's words and decides to move forward, trusting himself and Yuto.]]
** Later on when he dueled Reiji [[spoiler:because he disregarded the people who got carded in the Battle Royale as necessary casualties and wanted him to repent for it]] and [[{{Troll}} Reiji]] just kept pushing at his buttons until he declared that he will definitely [[spoiler:[[IWillFindYou bring Yuzu back]]]] and keep the promise he made to Yuto.
** He later declares to win the [[spoiler:Friendship Cup and beat Jack to make the City accept the Lancers and change the City]]
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Him and Gongenzaka.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Sawatari uses Yuya's CombatPragmatist tendencies against him in their duel, by having all the Action Cards being traps instead. Afterwards, Yuya does the rest of the duel without Action Cards.
* HonorBeforeReason:
** A strange example. When given the opportunity to end his turn and win the duel against Reiji, he makes sure that he gives himself some defense just in case, and he turns out to be right. He admits that he wouldn't have liked to win the duel like that.
** He also doesn't want to get into the Junior Youth Championship without having all the requirements, even though his defeat of Ishijima had made the Maiami City Committee more than happy to let him in. Nico Smiley was GenreSavvy enough to give him tough opponents that make Yuya stronger, who gets Rune-Eyes and Beast-Eyes as a result.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Zig-zagged. Even though Yuya decides to help Sora because he is his friend, Yuya soon questions Sora's behaviour about [[spoiler:Xyz users being his prey. Later, despite hating what Sora has done, he challenges him to a duel to try to "bring back Sora's smile," who remains remorseless throughout the duel.]]
* HumiliationConga: Episode 20. He fails to answer any quiz questions correctly, getting him zapped, slapped around, dragged through the mud and frozen.
* IAmYourOpponent: He says this to [[spoiler:Yuto in Episode 35, while joining Sora's side.]]
* IJustWantToBeNormal: When given the opportunity to get a free pass into the Youth Dueling Circuit, he instead gets Nico Smiley to arrange the four Duels that Yuya needs to qualify.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Being the one who discovers Pendulum Summoning is a bigger deal to Yuya than other people think. When Sawatari used his Pendulum monsters against him, he was shocked but managed to put himself together by getting the cards back and winning. But when Reiji created his own Pendulum Monsters, Yuya went into a HeroicBSOD because he realized that now, Pendulum Summon wasn't ''his'' anymore.
* IWillFindYou: [[spoiler:After the Battle Royale, Yuya's main goal is to find and save Yuzu.]]
* IdenticalStranger: He has three. But the unique part is each of them, like himself, has a Dragon-Type monster as their ace, with 2500 ATK and 2000 DEF, with the naming pattern "X Y [Summon] Dragon."
** The first is Yuto, the Dark Duelist, a member of LaResistance who hails from [[spoiler:the battle scarred Xyz Dimension.]]
** The second is Yugo, the hotheaded D-Wheeler that destroyed Yuto's homeland, [[spoiler:[[UnreliableNarrator except not really]]; he, like Yuto, lost someone important to him.]]
** The final one is Yuri from the Academia, [[spoiler:who's TheDragon to Akaba Leo and the one personally responsible for capturing Yuzu's dimensional counterparts.]]
* IdiotBall: Yuya tends to do this a lot when he isn't thinking straight. If he doesn't Pendulum Summon, he'll leave a monster on the field with little protection whatsoever. Notably averted in his Duel against Reiji, where he does this, but makes sure to leave sufficient protection.
* IdiotHair: He has a green strand, to go hand to hand with his IdiotHero status.
* IdiotHero:
** Even accounting for unfamiliarity, there's no way it should have taken someone with average deductive abilities as long to replicate Pendulum Summoning as it took Yuya, especially not if they reviewed recordings of Yuya's duel as he himself did. Nonetheless, Yuya somehow takes nearly ''three hundred'' Duels to successfully perform another Pendulum Summon.[[note]] Some fans have suggested the 300 battles were also used to discover the ins and outs of how Pendulum Summoning works for all Yuya's Pendulum Monsters, though this practice did not reveal that they go to the Extra Deck when destroyed. However, again, this is fanon/fridge possible brilliance.[[/note]]
** He fails to correctly answer several Science and Math Questions on the Quiz Field.
** However, he does Fusion Summon correctly on his first try, something Yuzu did not do (mostly because she was confused about Yuto's resemblance to Yuya).
** Yuya generally averts this trope when he is related to the plot. He knows that Kurosaki isn't a normal guy and that the duel between him and Sora was more than a feud between two Duel Schools. Yuya also questions Sora's strange behaviour and he looks for people who can give him more [[MrExposition exposition]], i.e. Yuto and Kurosaki. And when confronted with the knowledge of [[spoiler:Berserk Mode and that he has Yuto and a darkness inside of him. He correctly deduces that it wasn't Yuto that caused Berserk Mode, but the darkness.]]
** Really, Yuya's being BookDumb and occasional holding of the IdiotBall (which in most cases there's a pretty decent reason for) aside, Yuya comes off a lot more as "Hero of average intelligence" than "Idiot Hero".
* ImpossiblyCoolClothes: Yuya's coat cape completely defies gravity.
* InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons: Yuya's ace, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Which is odd, as the Monster with the "X-Eyes Y Dragon" name format is usually the rival's ace, instead of the main character's. [[spoiler:He adds more Instant Awesome as he picks up more dragons as the series progresses.]]
* ItsAllMyFault: [[spoiler:He blames himself for being unable to protect Yuzu in the battle royale.]]
* JapanesePronouns: Yuya usually uses the informal "ore", but when he is using his entertainer persona, he switches to the formal "watashi".
* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler:Whenever he goes into Berserk Mode, he usually decimates his opponents and they deserve it.]]
* KindHeartedCatLover: He loves his mom's pet cats.
* LargeHam: He tends to treat Duels like a show, so he is very hammy and dramatic, although not all the time. He's much more normal outside of a duel though.
** IncomingHam: "LADIIIIIIIIIIIIES AAAAAAAAND GENTLEMEEEEEEN!!"
* LaserGuidedKarma: His teasing of Futoshi in the first ending earns him a quick smack from Yuzu's fan.
* LeParkour: Yuya uses it the most, always jumping around for Action Cards. [[spoiler:Taken to new heights in Berserk Mode, being able to jump over a large pool of lava.]]
* LetsGetDangerous: When he drops his PreAsskickingOneLiner, "The fun is just getting started" before executing his combo.
* LightEmUp: Magician of Astromancy's and Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon's manners of attacking. [[spoiler: [[UnexpectedCharacter Also Odd-Eyes Saber Dragon]]]]
* LightIsNotGood: While Yuya is a good guy, [[spoiler: he creates Odd-Eyes Saber while partially under the influence of Berserk Mode, and destroys DC 227.]]
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Well more like Dueling Emotional Crutch, but Odd-Eyes functions as this for Yuya. If Odd-Eyes is destroyed, Yuya is crushed.
** After his character development, this is no longer the case.
** In a more personal level Yuzu seems to have been this for him, as he said that after his father dissapeared and he was bullied because of it, Yuzu was the only one who stuck by his side and always helped him, and further more thanks to her wish to be stronger, he was able to see what laid beyond the Pendulum Summon, after [[spoiler:she goes missing]] he's absolutely pissed at Reiji when he disregarded his feelings for her as a weakness.
* LoopholeAbuse: Downplayed. During his duel with Tokumatsu, he's able to create an anti-damage loop using his Raingoat and Seesawhopper, essentially shutting down Tokumatsu's strategy and ensuring that he can draw cards safely. While not illegal in most cases, stable loops are something Konami tries to eliminate in the real game.
* LoserSonOfLoserDad: His father got a reputation as a DirtyCoward for his no-show and disappearance. Many people mock Yuya and declare that he must be a coward as well.
* MadeOfIron:
** Yuya has been thrown around like a rag doll on multiple occasions.
** Taken UpToEleven in episode 64 and 65 where [[spoiler:after Jack defeated him and he was sent flying and landed on his ''neck''. He was simply knocked unconscious and didn't suffer any injuries when he woke up.]]
* TheMagicPokerEquation: [[ZigzaggingTrope Goes all over the place with this]]. May be justified by how his Pendulum seems able to create new cards and transform others into new forms, a recurring power in the franchise.
** He always seems to have his two main Pendulum Monsters, Magician of Astromancy and Magician of Chronomancy, and his ace monster Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon in his opening hand or after his first few draws. However, in later episodes his two Magicians appear less (though still frequently) since he has many other Pendulum Monsters to use now. Odd-Eyes, however, remains omnipresent despite him only having one copy of it; you can count on one-hand the duels where he doesn't use it.
** Played straight in his second duel with Sawatari. Not only does he draw his three main cards in the early part of the duel, after a bunch of cards are shuffled to the deck, he draws three of the shuffled cards ''again'': Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Magician of Chronomancy, and Entermate Drumming Kong.
** Played straight in his [[spoiler:rematch with Sora. He opens with his original two Magicians and Odd-Eyes, and despite Sora wiping his field, manages to pull off Dark Rebellion in the next turn, reset his Scales with his new Magicians to revive Odd-Eyes, and overlay for Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon on his second turn, which may have allowed him to win had the Battle Royale not ended.]]
* MagneticPlotDevice: The Pendulum cards. The only known real ones are all in Yuya's Deck, with the chance that they're (initially) the ''only ones in existence'', and they allow a powerful way of summoning monsters. No wonder why everybody wants them.
** His Pendulum seems to be able to create new cards on the spot. Creating the Pendulum cards and Odd-Eyes' evolutions.
* MookHorrorShow: [[spoiler:His Berserk Mode self does this to the Obelisk Force.]]
* MulticoloredHair: His hair is both red and green. It mimics the Pendulum Card color scheme.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
** [[spoiler:After he recovers from his SuperPoweredEvilSide in Episode 39.]]
** [[spoiler:After beating DC 227 in episode 71]]
* MyGreatestFailure:
** [[spoiler:Yuto TakingTheBullet for him.]]
** Brutally defeating Kachidoki. In Episode 42, he got {{trigger}}ed pretty badly for Takeda and Umesugi making the same mocking gesture as Kachidoki.
** After learning that [[spoiler:Yuzu went missing]] he regrets not being there to help her, and later Reiji proving him that he still needed to be stronger to rescue her, he practically screams her name in frustration.
* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Yuya_Sakaki#Etymology Named after]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuya Yuya]] , a powerful courtier during Egypt's 18th dynasty who married [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tjuyu Tjuyu]], a noblewoman who is referred to as the "Singer of Hathor", and had a daughter named [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiye Tiye]], the "Great Royal Wife" of Amenhotep III.
* NextTierPowerUp: A ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' protagonist staple. Yuya's favorite monster (Odd-Eyes) gets several upgrades throughout the story. First, from Odd-Eyes Dragon to Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Then, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon gets two Fusion versions: Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. [[spoiler:Then Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon gets a Xyz version, Supreme King Black Dragon, Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon.]]
* NiceGuy: He's shown to be fun-loving and relatively easygoing.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Arguably, his interference in [[spoiler:Yuto and Yugo's]] Duel caused [[spoiler:Yuto]] to lose.
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: [[spoiler:'''Berserker Yuya'''. Going from [[CreepyMonotone creepily stoic]] to [[UnstoppableRage pissed off]] and [[SlasherSmile just disturbing]]]].
* NoGuyWantsToBeChased: He was freaked out by Mieru's sudden interest. To be fair to the guy, everyone would be creeped out when a 12-year-old girl you met today asks ''how many children you want''.
* NoSell: While fighting [[spoiler:Obelisk Force members, they activate their monster abilities which afflicts effect damage to their opponent. It's been established that characters from different dimensions can somehow make the damage real; in this case the effect damage was in the form of a flamethrower. While grinning at first, the members become shocked when Yuya is hit full-on with the fire and gets up with the air of being shoved slightly and looking ''annoyed''. This starts freaking them out and when they do it again, Yuya treats it ''with complete indifference, even brushing his shoulder off!!'' At this point, the members are sweating buckets, not helped when Yuya smiles at them [[SlasherSmile eerily.]]]]
* NotSoDifferent: Yuya finds that he's not too different from [[spoiler:public of the City. When forced in Episode 71, he dueled violently to win and not get sent to forced labor.]]
* ObviouslyEvil: [[spoiler:Berseker Yuya. This goes UpToEleven in Episodes 45 and 46 when he gets a constant dark aura around him.]]
* ObliviousToLove: Fortunately, not to the extent of previous protagonists. [[note]]Judai/Jaden, Mr. "I-don't-know-what-fiancé-means," we're looking at you.[[/note]]. Though in his defense, {{tsundere}}s can be confusing to deal with, with the mixed signals he gets.
* OffScreenMomentOfAwesome: Yuya duels four people at once in Episode 30. It's only shown that he's using his Hippo cards, but it is not shown how he defeated them.
* [[OneHitKill One-Turn-Kill]]: Like other protagonists, Yuya often uses combos that allow him to wipe out the Life Points of the opponent in one turn, which is given a big helping hand by his Pendulum Dragon monsters and his Magicians' Pendulum effects.
** After receiving [[spoiler:Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon]], Yuya is able to perform the same [=OTKs=] like [[spoiler:Yuto]]. With the help of Dennis, Yuya even manages to do a "One Turn Two Kill".
** In [[spoiler:Berserk Mode, Yuya was able to do a "One Turn Three Kill" using Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon]]
* OnlySaneMan: [[spoiler:He acts like this for his group in the Synchro Dimension. He's the only one that doesn't run into the City, realizing that it would only be dangerous and further spilt up the group. He's proved right when due to Serena and Sawatari's wandering around, Security was able to capture them.]]
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
** When Yuya drops his cheerful persona, it usually means something is ''wrong'' with him.
** In Episode 9, Yuya is noticeably angry in his Duel. This makes the main cast question why.
** In Episode 35, Yuya becomes angry at Yuto, and even Yuto is a bit stunned by that.
** In Episode 39, [[spoiler:he brutally defeats Isao Kachidoki by using Yuto's Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon]].
** In Episode 50, after hearing of [[spoiler:Reiji's actions. He is noticeably angry and aggressive, focused on defeating Reiji. He was even crying without his goggles on, showing he's finally had enough. He even attempts to sucker punch the guy.]]
** Yuya was pushed too far in [[spoiler:episode 71 and willingly dueled aggressively even ramming 227 off his bike.]]
* OutOfCharacterMoment: During his One-Turn Kill against Mieru, Yuya acts like a charming {{Bishounen}} guy. It is either this or it is part of his entertainer persona or it is just Mieru's imagination.
** His [[spoiler:SuperpoweredEvilSide-induced]] OneHitKill against Kachidoki also counts.
* PainfulTransformation: [[spoiler:Every time he goes berserk, he is shown to be in intense pain.]]
* PinballProtagonist: Yuya kickstarted the plot off with his Pendulum Cards, but in the first arc, most of the plot literally disappeared when he showed up. However, in Episode 33, he catches up with the part of the plot he has been missing.
** He completely averts this from Episode 35 on, where [[spoiler:he learns everything Yuzu knows and even personally duels Yuto]]. He also demands to know what's going on so that he isn't left behind, and succeeds quite nicely in that regard.
* PlayingWithFire: Despite being DARK- and EARTH-Attribute, respectively, Odd-Eyes and Beast-Eyes both utilize flame-based attacks. Entermate Fire Mufflion counts, too.
* {{Portmanteau}}: Several of the Entermates, such as Partnaga, Spikeagle, Lizardraw, Plustartle, and Friendonkey.
* ProtagonistPowerUpPrivileges: Subverted. While Yuya was the only one with Pendulum Cards, it's a plot point that others are making more and he won't be the only user, as proven in Episode 13 and later in the Maiami Championship arc. Played straight regarding the fact that he is the only duelist so far who can create new cards out of nowhere, on screen.
* RageBreakingPoint:
** In [[spoiler:In Episodes 50 and 51, Yuya, having suffered through the MCS, finds out that Reiji intentionally set up the Battle Royale as test to see how potential Lancers would fare against Academia. Reiji not only remains apathetic to the fallen duelists, but actively taunts Yuya. Yuya is livid.]]
** Happened again in episode 71 where [[spoiler:due to a large range of factors, Yuya completely loses his cool and starts dueling aggressively against DC 227, even having Odd-Eyes ram 227 off his bike.]]
* RedEyesTakeWarning: {{Averted}}, Yuya is a nice guy. [[spoiler:Except when he's in Berserk Mode, then just run.]]
* RedHeadedHero: Yuya is the protagonist and has half of his hair colored red.
* RedIsHeroic: He is the main character, he has red hair, red eyes, a red shirt, a red duel disk and his ace is a red dragon.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: His Entermates/Performapals. Discover Hippo/Hip Hippo stands out though.
* SadClown: Confirmed to be this by his mom in Episode 1. She states he makes fun of himself before others can. This might be lampshaded when Yuya enters his match against Strong Ishijima dressed as a clown.
* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: Inverted in his dynamic with Yuzu, with him as the energetic guy and her as the savvy girl. Although the energetic part is downplayed outside of duels.
* ScrewDestiny: Mieru says its his fate to lose to her. He tells her [[BadassBoast he'll simply have to change it]]. He does in fact do so. Later PlayedForLaughs when he says he'll change the destiny of being Mieru's "fated person."
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: With Yuzu. She agrees at first, but he takes it too far. He also says this in Episode 18 when Sora suggests someone else might take Yuzu away from him.
* ShellShockedVeteran: [[spoiler:Shows some signs of this after the events of Episodes 35 through 37.]]
* ShipTease:
** When Yuzu suddenly runs off in Episode 15, Tatsuya, Ayu, and Futoshi teasingly tell Yuya to treat Yuzu better.
** Happened again in 23, when they have a touching moment after Yuya gives her back her Fusion card. [[http://xbrain130.deviantart.com/art/ARC-V-Ep-23-FRUITSHIPPING-IS-HERE-483080761 There were hearts in the background]]!
** Happened again when [[spoiler:Yuzu's duel was able to bring him out of his BSOD]].
** As he's [[spoiler:transforming in Episode 48, he looks especially to Serena, thinking she was Yuzu and at the Obelisk Force. Hinting he is worried about Yuzu facing the Obelisk Force, fueling his rage.]]
** UpToEleven in Episode 50, [[spoiler:where he states Yuzu was always next to him, she always supported him even when he was mocked after his father disappeared. He cites her as the reason he was able to evolve Pendulum summoning. Reiji even exploits these feelings, telling Yuya to join him to save Yuzu.]]
** A lot of episodes in the [[spoiler:Synchro arc have shown that Yuya puts Yuzu's safety above everything. The thought of her in danger and him unable to do anything puts him in a HeroicBSOD.]]
** Doubling as a Genius Bonus, see Yuya's NamedAfterSomebodyFamous. That Yuya's wife was Tjuyu, the 'Singer of Hathor' and 'Chief of the Entertainers.' These are obvious nods to Yuzu, who is an entertainment duelist with a deck based on singing and music.
** Again in Episode 69 when he saw that [[spoiler:Yuzu was dueling, he tried to get out of his room. And after Yuzu won, he was so happy and inspired by her, he was crying.]]
** In Episode 73, Yuya [[spoiler: writes Yuzu a letter. Reading it brings her to tears.]]
* ShrinkingViolet: Based on the flashback in Episode 25, he was this as a kid after his dad disappeared.
* SlasherSmile: In Episode 45, he gives out chilling smiles to [[spoiler:the Obelisk Force members, implying that they're screwed. They are.]]
* SplitPersonality:
** Very subtle, but this is implied to happen in Episode 1, when Yuya created the Pendulum Cards in the middle of his duel. He doesn't seem to remember what he did after the duel either. After getting [[spoiler:Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, it becomes an explicit SuperpoweredEvilSide]].
** [[spoiler:Mieru states he has two souls inside of him, his own and Yuto's. Beyond that there is a darkness trying to absorb both of them.]]
* SpiritedCompetitor: As a result of his character development, Yuya has become this. [[spoiler:Even smiling in excitement in his duel against Sawatari when Sawatari sealed his Pendulum summoning.]]
* StepfordSmiler: He's the "sad inside" type. According to Yuya's mother, he created his FunPersonified persona to cope with his father's disappearance and the negative stigma it brought him. It's the result of his father's advice to "laugh when you feel like crying". Episode 14 confirms that he has [[TheCynic a pessimistic streak]]. [[spoiler:He eventually drops this altogether, no longer hiding his tears in the face of the hell he's going through.]]
* StopHavingFunGuys: {{Invoked}} as an inversion. He argues that the point of Dueling is so people can have fun. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for him, this ideology continuously blows up in his face throughout the show, as the enemies he faces either don't care about fun at all or derive pleasure from horrible acts.]]
* SuperpoweredEvilSide: [[spoiler:Yuya's shows up in Episode 39. His [[GlowingEyesOfDoom eyes glow]] [[RedEyesTakeWarning red]], his hair stands spiked upright, and with TranquilFury he Xyz summons and brutally defeats Kaachidoki in an instant.]]
** [[spoiler:This side shows up again in Episode 45 but where the first time around Yuya came across as creepy and monotone, this time he's [[UnstoppableRage ''pissed and vengeful'']]. And he shows the superpowered part by doing the impossible and creating an Xyz Pendulum monster and Three Kill One Turning the Obelisk Force.]]
** [[spoiler:An interesting part is the super powered part of the trope is actually downplayed. While Yuya does either create new cards or use new skills in Berserk Mode. Afterwords he is able to consciously use those skills. As shown Yuya first used Xyz summoning and created Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon in Berserk Mode. But in his next duel, he was able to use them consciously.]]
* {{Synchronization}}: [[spoiler: He temporarily Sychronizes with Yugo after grabbing his deck.]]
* TeamMom: Male example for the [[spoiler:Lancers, as he is concerned if everyone is safe and all right]].
* TearsOfJoy: [[spoiler:He was so moved by Yuzu's duel in episode 69, he started crying]]
* TechnicalPacifist: Yuya loathes using dueling for combat and tries his best to solve conflict without violence. But if push comes to shove, he will fight back.
* ThemeNaming: Like other protagonists, Yuya's name has the Yu syllable in it.
* ThisIsUnforgivable: To him, Dueling is all about having fun and entertaining the audience. He'll never forgive anyone who would tarnish it by using it as a weapon for conflict and hurting people. [[spoiler:In the Episode 45 preview, he yells this in his berserk mode, which was triggered by Obelisk Force carding the Knight of Duels.]]
* TookALevelInBadass: Learning Fusion Summoning.
** And beyond that. Starting with his duel with Gongenzaka, he starts to Pendulum Summon without both his Magicians, and demonstrates more complex strategies. (Such as attacking an opponent with Odd-Eyes, then using Trump Witch's effect to summon Beast-Eyes and attack the enemy again.)
** [[spoiler:Learning Xyz summoning. Especially creating Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon.]]
** [[spoiler:This is shown in his second duel with Reiji, where he summons all of his dragons, brings Reiji down to 300 life points, compared to his first duel, where Reiji had near control the entire time. He doesn't even use a single Action Card.]]
* TrainingFromHell: Well, the card game version, but between Episode 2 and 3, Yuya and Gongenzaka dueled through the night and had at least 291 duels.
* TranquilFury:
** When Yuya's [[spoiler:SuperpoweredEvilSide first appears, he has a disturbingly calm demeanor in contrast with his frightening appearance.]]
** Yuya in his duel against [[spoiler:Sora in Episode 49]] is noticeably calm but still has plenty of anger against him.
* TraumaCongaLine: See BreakTheCutie above.
* {{Trigger}}: Kachidoki's taunt, as mentioned above, but more seriously, [[spoiler:witnessing duelists carding others prompts flashbacks of Yuto's memories of the Invasion of Heartland, as well as unleashing Yuya's SuperpoweredEvilSide.]]
* TwinTelepathy: Although they aren't technically twins, [[spoiler:Yuya mysteriously synced with Yugo after grabbing his deck as the latter was dueling, contributing to Yugo's victory.]]
* UnexpectedCharacter: [[spoiler:The preview for episode 71 shows that Yuya will use Odd-Eyes Saber Dragon, which no one expected for him to use considering Saber Dragon needs the original Odd-Eyes Dragon]]
* UnspokenPlanGuarantee:
** Shows up in Episode 13. Yuya outlines his combo to defeat Reiji in detail to the audience, only to have it fail after the first step because of an effect of Reiji's monsters he didn't know about.
** Happens again in Episode 23, when he has Trap Card that can negate a direct attack and allows him to add a card to his hand, which is then rendered unusable by Mieru's tactics.
* UnstoppableRage: [[spoiler:While Berserker Yuya was rather stoic before, in Episode 45, he is ''brutally'' pissed off.]]
* VitriolicBestBuds: He develops this with Sora eventually, getting him in a friendly headlock after explaining that no, they cannot celebrate Sora getting into the MCS, because Yuya still has to. [[spoiler:Sora throws it all away after his cover is blown, revealing his affiliation with Academia.]]
* WarriorTherapist: Yuya's Entertainment Dueling eventually catches his opponent in his performance and he changes them in a positive way. Characters like Michio and Sawatari eventually [[DefeatMeansFriendship become in better terms with him]]. Since Yuya's goal is to make people smile with his Entertainment Dueling, [[spoiler:it backfires when his SuperpoweredEvilSide enters the scene and ditches the Entertainment style for a dark OTK, following with Kachidoki becoming really pissed at Yuya after losing to him. It also fails to have any effect on Sora.]]
** He returns to this when dueling Tokumatsu.
** Seemingly Yuya's ability as a WarriorTherapist depends on the personality and goals of his opponent, as enemies who he cannot relate to or who cannot relate to him are unshaken in their views even after he beats them (such as security).
* WellDoneSonGuy: He wants to prove he's being worthy of being Yusho Sakaki's son, both to himself, common public and to his father (wherever he is), by being a great Entertainer duelist like him. A flashback shows that while Yusho was flattered by his son's devotion, he encourage him to [[BeYourself be himself]] instead of trying to emulate him. Yoko even comments that Yuya now is determinated in surpassing his father.
* WhatTheHellHero:
** He gives [[spoiler:Reiji an earful for his actions the last few episodes in Episode 50. Calling him out on forcing them to battle the Obelisk Force when he knew that they were coming and manipulating them.]]
** He gives Reiji another earful in Episode 67 [[spoiler:over his treatment of Reira, claiming that he sees Reira as a tool, when Reira has spent all his time trying to find him. And screaming what was the point of bringing him to a war when Reira obviously didn't decide that himself.]]
* WhamLine:
** Episode 39 has Yuya's [[spoiler:"Formed from pitch-black darkness, to fight those foolish enough to oppose its treacherous fangs! Descend now! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!"]]
** [[spoiler:"I overlay the two Level 7 Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!"]]
* WhipItGood: In Episode 3, Yuya spends the first few turns using Entermate Whip Viper [[BuildingSwing to swing across the field]] quicker than he can move on foot.
* WholeCostumeReference:
** With the plot important necklace, a collar, and a jacket he wears like a cape, Yuya is dressed almost exactly like Yugi did from Battle City onward. Only with his outfit being bright and cheerful as opposed to Yugi's dark and edgy. They also both have the starfish looking hair (though Yuya has a slightly more natural looking "starfish lying down" as opposed to Yugi's "starfish standing straight up").
** Yuya's [[spoiler:Riding outfit resembles Yusei's outfit. With both having [[BuffySpeak the back of their outfit defy gravity]], having orange spheres on their outfits. The difference is that Yuya's outfit is red and white compared to Yusei's dark blue and black. Making Yuya's look much brighter.]]
* WillfullyWeak: Despite being the only person able to use a never-before-seen method of summoning capable of opening his dueling to several abusive combos, high level monster spam, etc., Yuya sticks to using his weaker Entermate monsters, often for his one turn finishes. Partly justified in how the Entermate reflect Yuya's personality and due to the nature of duel schools in ''ARC-V'', all other advanced summoning methods that aren't Tribute Summoning do not appear to be available to the general public.
* WorfHadTheFlu:
** He started his duel with Michio while starving, which left him barely able to think straight and too weak to retrieve an Action Card. Once his mother passes him a snack, he easily retrieves the card and comes up with the winning strategy.
** And with Kyuando, he started exhausted after watching quiz shows all night, which made his IdiotHero problem much worse.
** His duel with Mieru comes in a time when he's feeling very uncertain about his future and he feels stuck. Mieru's speeches about how his future is bound to failure makes him take very bad decisions out of anger.
* TheWorfEffect: [[spoiler:He lost to Jack in Episode 64 to show how powerful Jack is despite Yuya Pendulum, Xyz and Fusion Summoning in one turn.]]
* WorthyOpponent: He sees Gongenzaka and Reiji as ones. And after [[spoiler:Episode 32, Sawatari]]
* WrongGenreSavvy: He initially presumes he can only Pendulum Summon when he's in a tight situation and about to lose. He's wrong, but given the franchise's history with these sorts of things, it's not hard to understand why he'd expect it.
* YankTheDogsChain: The show is rather brutal on him. Every single time he starts to make peace with his issues, the show finds new ways to traumatize him all over again.
[[folder:Reiji Akaba (Declan Akaba)]]
!!Reiji Akaba (Declan Akaba)
!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/YoshimasaHosoya (JP), Billy Bob Thompson (EN)
[[quoteright:212:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fullreijiakaba_5281.png]]
The 16-year-old CEO of Leo Corporation, Reiji quickly develops an interest in Yuya's Pendulum Summoning, working on finding out about it from behind the scenes. He uses a DD[[note]]not to be confused with D.D.[[/note]] deck based around looping through summons to bring out Extra Deck monsters quickly and utilizes Fusion, Synchro and Xyz Monsters, as well as his own manufactured Pendulum Monsters.
----
!!Tropes associated with Reiji:
* TheAce: He's a pro and runs the largest gaming business in the world, all at the age of 16. He's the only duelist to have used Fusion, Synchro, Xyz and Pendulum all at once.
* AdjustingYourGlasses: He adjusts his glasses by the bridge a lot in his duel with Yuya, showing that he has a well thought-out strategy and a few tricks up his sleeve.
* AllAccordingToPlan: [[spoiler: Says this very casually to losing Tsukikage in the Friendship Cup. Reira, and the Executive Council are disturbed.]]
* AllYourPowersCombined: His deck is based around performing every kind of summoning. So far he's displayed Fusion, Synchro and Xyz, and the elemental theme of his monsters makes it possible he's also got an EARTH Ritual monster we haven't seen yet. Not to mention his Pendulum Monsters.
* AloofBigBrother: Towards Reira; he may be a little distant with him, but it's clear that he cares for his little brother. He starts out as the only person Reira seems comfortable around.
* AmbiguouslyEvil: He's initially presented as an antagonist, then turns out to be a respectful and decent guy, then turns out to be engaging in shady activities behind the scenes. By the time of Episode 36 when he true motives are revealed, it's clear he has good intentions, but is willing to do ''very'' morally grey things for the greater good.
* AntiHero: Everything he does is to [[spoiler:stop his father, Leo Akaba who started a war between the Fusion and Xyz dimensions and does seem to honestly care for his town. But he has done a lot of morally gray actions in his quest, from manipulating his students and allies, to lying to his allies so he can experiment on their possibly dead ally's duel disk, willingly using teenagers as soldiers, and sacrificing them without reinforcements if it comes to it.]]
* ArchnemesisDad: [[spoiler:The MCS is actually a way to distillate the strongest duelists in order to fight his father. He also flat out calls Leo Akaba his enemy.]]
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: [[spoiler:In their second duel, Reiji asks Yuya if he is fine with leaving the other carded even if Yuzu is all right.]]
* AwesomeByAnalysis: He was able to create a [[spoiler:Pendulum counter deck based on his knowledge on Yuya's duels]].
* {{Badass}}: He's one of the best duelists in the world, and he proves it. To date, the only duel he lost is one where he forfeited to Yuya, at a time when it wasn't fully clear who would win or lose. Then in Episode 51, he deals Yuya his first defeat since the second episode.
* BadassBookworm: Being a CEO at age 16 and a professional duelist at age 15 certainly qualifies him even before we see what he can do.
** He proves it even more when he duels, having mastered ''EVERY'' form of summoning. He proceeds to show this by summoning a Fusion Monster, a Synchro Monster, AND an Xyz Monster in just ''two'' of his turns.
** It's pretty much explicitly stated that he managed to make his own Pendulum monsters. Granted, they malfunction, but that's still a pretty big achievement.
* BigBadDuumvirate: Though he and his mother ultimately have good intentions, they are still the conflict creators in the earlier arcs before Acadamia rears its head.
* BigGood: [[spoiler:In spite of his morally ambiguous ways, he's the closest thing the show has to one, as he's dedicated to protecting Maiami from the forces of the other dimensions, and is fundamentally opposing Leo Akaba, who's responsible for the war between Academia and the Resistance.]]
* BigShutUp: Shouts at Hokuto and Yaiba to make them stop trash talking Yuya's dad, declaring that he highly respects Yusho for being a pioneer in Action Duels.
* BlatantLies: He tells Serena that he has no idea about the whereabouts of duelists from the Xyz Dimension, despite his involvement with Kurosaki.
* CharacterTics: Primarily adjusting his glasses.
* TheChessmaster: He's implied to have spent the last three years preparing for the inevitable inter-dimensional war when it comes to the Standard Dimension, and likes to be aware of everything that happens in the city to make sure it doesn't interfere with his plans. [[spoiler:Episode 52 reveals that the Leo Duel Schools that have been set up around the world were a cover; they're actually Duel Monster-type military training camps where duelists learned the skills needed to prepare for the war with Academia, and with said war beginning the schools are opening to the public so everyone can learn to defend themselves in case of a second invasion.]]
* ChickMagnet: As seen in Episode 27, he has a lot of fangirls.
* ColdHam: Reiji is eternally calm and collected, but when he duels, ''especially'' when he summons his D/D/D monsters, his facial expressions and shouts are as hammy as anyone else.
* CynicismCatalyst: [[spoiler:Finding out that his father was the head of the Academia and that he intended on fusing dimensions together really messed with Reiji's head. Turning him from a nice guy to what he is today.]]
* DarkIsNotEvil: In spite of his Fiend-Type deck, Reiji is a polite and reasonable person [[spoiler:He does however have some more morally ambiguous qualities and is definitely a WellIntentionedExtremist]].
* DeathOrGloryAttack: His standard modus operandi. His Covenants are excellent searching cards that will wreck him if they stay on the field, and his Astronomer Pendulums have ridiculously good Scales, but degrade quickly and have the potential to wipe out his whole field in the process.
* DubNameChange: Reiji to Declan, and DD to D/D.
* ElementalPowers: His three ace monsters from the Extra Deck, who are each a different attribute.
** DDD Alexander the [[BlowYouAway King of Gales]], a Synchro Monster.
** DDD Caesar the [[MakingASplash Surging Waves King]], an Xyz Monster.
** DDD Temujin the [[PlayingWithFire Raging Inferno King]], a Fusion Monster.
* EpicFail: His first group of Lancers ends up [[spoiler:entirely defeated, except for one that [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere runs away]]]].
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: How "bad" he is is anyone's guess, but he's on very good terms with his mother Himika, though she's also bad and they're quite formal with one another (likely because of their positions within Leo Corporation, though).
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Though he is an antagonist [[spoiler:at first]], he's easily the nicest LDS associate so far, and yelled at Yaiba and Hokuto for badmouthing Yusho Sakaki.
* EveryoneHasStandards: Reiji might be a very morally ambiguous character but even he [[spoiler:was uncomfortable about using Reira, a very traumtized child, to battle against the Academia. He also seems fine with the idea that Reira is gaining a will unlike Himika.]]
* EvilLaugh: Delivers one in Episode 13 after he realizes the true potential of Pendulum Monsters.
* {{Expy}}:
** Sixteen year old CEO of a gaming corporation, eh? Kaiba called, he wants his gig back.
*** He takes one step further when his ''true'' ace monster is revealed: as with other previous rivals, it's a 3000 ATK Level 8 monster. Like Kaiba, and unlike the other rivals, though, he runs ''three'' copies of it in his Deck, and they are also the only ones that exist in the world. But unlike the others, it isn't a Dragon-type or something with "dragon" in the name.
*** Along with his CEO status and his Ace Monster, he also seems to [[spoiler:targeting his Dad as an enemy. And if the second opening is to be believed with a rocket launching with LEO Corps insignia on it. It could be for similar motivations as Kaiba, who fought for control of Kaiba Corp from his adopted father, Gozaburo who used the Corporation to produce weapons for war.]]
** He also mentions kings a lot in his summoning chants, and his monsters are named after famous conquerors. Jack Atlas, anyone? [[spoiler:Oh the irony...]]
** On the other hand, he lacks the characteristic arrogance of such characters, and is quite respectful.
** He also seems to be one for Rex [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Goodwin]], with his morally ambiguous actions for some unstated duel, and [[spoiler:keep an eye on duelists to bring out their potential]].
** He does have a little brother, drawing parallels to both Kaiba and [[DubNameChange Kaito/Kite]], and [[spoiler:hates his father like them too.]]
** Outside the YGO franchise, he takes some cues from [[Franchise/NeonGenesisEvangelion Gendo Ikari]], with his stoic demeanor, moral ambiguity, [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative nature]], [[HiddenAgendaVillain secrecy about his plans and motivations]], role as the head of a mysterious organization dedicated to protect the world from external menaces [[WellIntentionedExtremist through rather questionable methods]], a pair of (at times) ScaryShinyGlasses as his IconicItem - which he always adjusts by the bridge - and an [[OlderSidekick older right-hand man]]. The similarities even extend to their headquarters' structure: an enclosed room with a large screen from where they watch over the whole city and conduct their operations with their army of BridgeBunnies while comfortably sat on their huge desks, always with their most trusted subordinate standing by their side - they even have the same elevating work platform they use to move up and down through the various levels of the building! Reiji is also frequently seen doing the (in)famous [[MemeticMutation Gendo Pose]]. [[spoiler:Ironically enough, Reiji hates his neglectful - and ambitious - father, while Gendo IS one of these to his own son, Shinji.]]
** He's pretty similar to [[Anime/CodeGeass Lelouch Lamperouge]], both are leading figures in [[spoiler:a war despite their [[ImprobableAge young age]] at 17 and 16 for Lelouch and Reiji respectively against their disappeared dad that is attempting to change reality. They are more than a little manipulative and [[AntiHero morally ambiguous]], but despite that are the closest thing their shows have to a BigGood. Both started and lead an organization for said war that has a knight theme, The Black Knights and Lancers.]]
* FamilyThemeNaming: Reiji, like Reira and Leo, have the the kanji of zero (零) in their names. [[FridgeBrilliance Funnily enough]], it works as another parallel to Lelouch a.k.a. Zero, leader of the Black Knights.
* FlawedPrototype: Reiji created his own Pendulum monsters, with just the research he did on Yuya and his own experience with Pendulum Summoning [[TheManBehindTheMan through Sawatari]]. Still, these copies are not perfect and they sometime malfunction. [[spoiler:By the MCS battle royale, he finished them.]]
* {{Foil}}: To Yuya, they are both the aces of their schools and are Pendulum users. While Reiji is well respected as the head of the top duel school at the start of the series, Yuya is looked down upon because of his father and is a member of a duel school made up of only 5 people. They both hide their emotions, Yuya using laughter and smiles compared to Reiji's stoicism. Their relationships with their fathers are completely different as well. Yuya's father disappeared but Yuya still thinks very highly of him, while Reiji doubts his father even cares enough about him that he would be a useful hostage. [[spoiler:This is furthered in their methods in dealing with the interdimensional war. Yuya attempts to still bring smiles to his opponents, while Reiji is willing to do anything to gain the upper hand against the Academia, even willing to sacrifice his men. Also, Reira also sees both of them as brother figures and both Reiji and Yuya care about him in different ways]]
* FrontlineGeneral: In spite of having command of an entire corporation, Reiji has a habit of confronting enemy agents in person, doing so with Kurosaki and [[spoiler:Serena and Barrett]]. [[spoiler:Later going personally with the Lancers to the Synchro Dimension.]]
* FullNameBasis: He and Yuya refer to each other by their full names.
* FunWithAcronyms: His monsters, DD (Different Dimension) and DDD (Different Dimension Demon), which aren't technically named that due to archetype issues (on the actual cards, DD/DDD aren't considered acronyms) but are referred to as such in-universe.
* IOwnThisTown: Positive example: "This is my city. And I will decide how to protect it."
* IdiotBall: It may have been an important measure at the start of the Battle Royale, but [[spoiler:leaving on the 2000 life point penalty for interfering with a duel when Obelisk Force shows up is just stupid, as proven by how it harms the defenders like Sawatari, Teppei, and Michio.]]
* ImpossiblyCoolClothes: His scarf is just as gravity defying as Yuya's coat cape.
* ImprobableAge: In a stunning homage to Kaiba, Reiji is the head of a corporation which practically owns Maiami City at just ''16'', as well as being a pro duelist at the same time. [[spoiler:On top of that, he's basically leading the effort to deal with an interdimensional war]].
** This is deconstructed in [[spoiler:the Battle Royale mini-arc. While the Battle Royale plan is sound on paper, in reality it runs into problems. Underestimating how long the invasion would go on, he forces the town to stay in the stadium, causing some to question what is going on. His first bunch of Lancers' decks were mismatched, lowering their efficiency as a team, which leads to their defeat. And his attempt to keep the invasion under wraps puts the MCS duelists in danger. All these problems show that while he's intelligent, he's lacking in experience.]]
* JapanesePronouns: The CEO of Leo Corporation uses the formal pronoun ''watashi'', which also fits to his respectful character.
* TheLeader: Of the [[spoiler:Lancers. Most of them get captured in 3 days in the Synchro Dimension when he's not around.]]
* TheMagicPokerEquation: Reiji's deck usually averts this trope, as many of his cards allow him to tutor from his deck (add specific cards from deck to hand) or draw several cards, which is standard in the current ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' meta. It's only when he draws three of the same 3000 ATK monster and Pendulum Summons them that his draws look a little more than convenient. Fortunately, this has only happened once in his three duels.
* TheManBehindTheMan: It's quite clear that he's the one pulling Sawatari's strings.
* ManipulativeBastard:
** Oh yeah, [[spoiler:Reiji will do anything to keep his dimension safe, no matter what others may think. As shown when he sent his first group of Lancers to fight the Obelisk Force despite knowing they had no way in hell of winning simply to protect Serena.]]
** He purposefully chooses a particular Action Field, [[spoiler:Future Metropolis Heartland, to watch Kurosaki's reaction to it. And when Kurosaki does [[HeroicBSOD react]] he casually jokes that "He seems to have taken a liking". And right before the fight he tries to have Nakajima hand him a ''single'' Pendulum Card.]]
** Taken UpToEleven in his second duel with [[spoiler:Yuya. He mocks and angers Yuya for two reasons: to prove to Yuya that he lacks the strength to save Yuzu, forcing him to join the Lancers, and to learn more about Yuya's powers, including Berserk Mode. He even outright lies to Yuya when he asks if Yuzu is in danger, saying that she is despite fully knowing that she's not.]]
* NobleDemon: His DD deck contains Fiend-type monsters, but Reiji seems not to be evil or an actual villain, and his role as an antagonist starts to fade as well.
* NotSoDifferent:
** [[spoiler:From his father, they are both stoic men that run a school that is meant to train child soldiers. They have both done some horrible things to fulfill their goals and have shown no remorse for their actions. This is furthered in episode 52 when Reiji reveals he plans on turning LDS into military training centers for dueling soldiers just like the Academia.]]
** [[spoiler:He also this to Yuya. When Reiji was 13, roughly around Yuya's age, they were very similar. Both were kindhearted people whose fathers went missing leaving them confused and upset.]]
* NotSoStoic: His BigShutUp moment. He exploded. Again in Episode 13, where he performs an EvilLaugh and while his face is covered by his hand, his eyes look crazy. His backstory reveals that he wasn't stoic three years ago.
* OedipusComplex: Cares for his mother, not to a creepy extent, but [[spoiler:hates his father, Leo Akaba]].
* OrcusOnHisThrone: Two of his ace monsters, DDD Abyss Ragnarok and DDD Kali Yuga, are depicted seated on thrones.
* PaperThinDisguise: Subverted. His disguise using a [[InTheHood hooded sweatshirt]] is probably more to avert suspicion, as the people he's hiding from don't even know about him.
* ParentalNeglect: Not his mother, but [[spoiler:he seriously doubts his father, Leo Akaba, values him enough for him to be useful as a hostage.]]
* {{Pun}}: The kanji in DDD Hell Armageddon's name that makes the "Great Death Lord" part is read as "shi-i-ou," which sounds a lot like "CEO," Reiji's position in the Leo Corporation.
** DDD Abyss Ragnarok has a similar pun, with the kanji 壊薙王 (destroy, mow down, and king, respectively) being read as "kai-chi-ou," which sounds similar to "kaichou," or "chairman."
* PlayingCardMotifs: Has a motif based around the Diamond suit. Shown with his monster archetype being DD, wearing a pair of black diamond studded earrings and having a Diamond appear around him and the Lancers in the third ending.
* PunchCatch: Counters Yuya's sucker punch with this.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. While his Duel Disk is red and black, Reiji is morally ambiguous at worst.
* TheRival: He is Yuya's "Kaiba."
* ScarfOfAsskicking: His scarf is more badass when you learn that he's been a duelist with the potential needed to be a pro since he was ''15'', owns the famous Leo Duel School at ''16'' and he specializes in all types of summoning.
* ScaryShinyGlasses: Sometimes. Usually when he's doing something morally ambiguous.
* SheIsTheKing: His Fusion Monster "DDD Oracle King d'Arc", quite obviously based on the very female UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc.
* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: His attitude towards Yuya's kindness.
* SlasherSmile: He shows off a pretty nasty one in Episode 51 when [[spoiler:Yuya summons Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon]]
* SmugSmiler: A lot of the smiles he shows in Episode 50 are this.
* TheStoic: He's usually calm and collected and rarely shows emotions.
* ThemeNaming:
** Reiji's first set of DDD monsters are named after famous conquerors: Caesar, Alexander the Great, and Genghis Khan (by his birth name, Temujin), as well as Kaiser the Conqueror in the manga.[[note]]Unlike the others, though, this one is pretty vague, as there have been ''many'' people with the title of "Kaiser". Common guesses as to who this card is modeled after are Charlemagne, first ruler of the Carolingian Empire, or Otto I, creator and first ruler of the Holy Roman Empire.[[/note]] After he masters Pendulum Summon, his new ones are named after end of the world scenarios in various religions (Christianity's Armageddon, Norse's Ragnarok and Hinduism's Kali Yuga).
** In the manga, the two Pendulum Monsters he uses for Pendulum Summoning are both "Proud" monsters. In the anime, they are named after astronomers; Galilei and Kepler.
** His other monsters are named after demons, like Cerberus, Lilith, Baphomet, and Pandora. [[note]]In some versions, Pandora became a demon after releasing the horrors of the box.[[/note]]
* TookALevelInJerkass: Seemingly in his second duel with Yuya. He relentlessly taunts Yuya, and insults Kurosaki as well. [[spoiler: He is however, pissed the no one in the Synchro Dimension considers losers of the Friendship Cup being enslaved to be a problem.]]
* TranquilFury: He's visibly angry when [[spoiler: the Executive Council insults Yuya and none of the Synchro Dimension cares about what happens to the losers of the Friendship Cup.]]
* {{Tritagonist}}: After Yuya and Yuzu, he gets the most focus as he tries to [[spoiler:builds a defense against the Fusion Dimension]].
* {{Troll}}:
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Downplayed. He's 16, but honestly, his mindset is far more like a hardened veteran than a teenager. He has shown a shocking amount of ruthlessness in his quest to defend his hometown.
* [[TheUglyGuysHotDaughter The Ugly Guy's Handsome Son]]: Reiji really took after his mom if you compare him with his dad.
* UnexpectedCharacter: In Episode 40, he plays DD Proud Chevalier, which had previously appeared only in an one-shot manga chapter-- a rather rare occurrence in the franchise, and he later brought in the OCG debuted Abyss Ragnarok.
* TheUnreveal: We still don't know what Reiji's last card was in his duel with Yuya. In Episode 21, he's seen testing his cards, using the same hand from that time, and just when he's about to use the same last card, he's called out of the test for an news update.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Episode 41 showed him as a [[spoiler:nice guy three years ago who would willingly rescue a girl he didn't know. In the present, while he still has good intentions, he is a rather gray character.]]
* TheWatcher: After his duel with Yuya he has done little in the way of getting directly involved with the plot. Mostly observing Duels from his private room and having Nakajima run errands for him, such as giving Kurosaki a Pendulum Card and [[spoiler:having him take Yuto's duel disk.]] This is justified since he's running the tournament [[spoiler:and creating an army to defend against the Fusion Dimension]]. [[spoiler:He's finally got another duel as of episode 40 with Barrett from Academia and another one against Yuya in Episode 50.]]
* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:As stated in AntiHero, he just wants to protect his dimension but he has done some really dark things in his quest.]]
* WorthyOpponent: Considers Yuya one and doesn't even consider that he is the perpetrator attacking LDS students.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Aside from his silver hair color, it's actually fairly subdued.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Noboru Gongenzaka (Gong Strong)]]
!!Noboru Gongenzaka (Gong Strong)
!!'''Voiced by:''' Yohei Obayashi (JP), Billy Bob Thompson (EN)
[[quoteright:285:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fullnoborugongenzaka_8552.png]]
One of Yuya's friends; he isn't actually a You Show student due to being the heir to his family's dojo, but seems to hang around there a lot. He's an advocate of a method of Dueling he calls "Steadfast Dueling", which is taught by his family's dojo; basically the exact opposite of Action Dueling, it discourages unnecessary movement. Reflecting this, Gongenzaka's Superheavy Samurai deck has no Spell or Trap cards at all, and many of his monster effects can only be activated when he has no S/T in his Graveyard. They can also attack while in defense position, using their DEF points for damage calculation. Under the tutelage of Yaiba, he adds Synchro monsters to his deck. As a member of the Lancers, he adds the Superheavy General sub-archetype of Pendulum Monsters to his deck.
----
!!Tropes associated with Gongenzaka:
* {{Acrofatic}}: Well, he's more ''big'' than fat, but the sizeable guy goes on morning runs. Episode 30 shows that he's actually pretty muscular.
* AffectionateNickname: Sora calls him "Gon-chan", but Gongenzaka does not like it.
** [[spoiler:Dennis later picks it up as well, crossing into TermsOfEndangerment since Dennis is TheMole.]]
* AintTooProudToBeg: Begs Yaiba to teach him about Syncho summoning, with his face on the ground, in Episode 21. He actually references this trope in Episode 26, saying that if he can learn, he doesn't care if he has to beg.
* {{Badass}}: Karate-chopped through Battleguard Mad Shaman's spike without flinching. He also saves Yuya by holding up a stone pillar ''twice his size'' with no injury. Granted, it was Solid Vision, but still dangerous. Also, he fought his way halfway to Kurosaki's solitary confinement cell, ''without'' using duel-monster magic as weapons.
* BadassBack: In his duel against Ankokuji, he goes into the arena and gives him the back in order to show his dislike for him as well as to show his new black belt. And damn, he looked badass.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: See GoodIsNotSoft below.
* BadassBiker: [[spoiler:In Episode 66, he hilariously becomes a D-Wheeler.]]
* TheBigGuy: He is very definitely one of the bigger characters. His deck also runs a StoneWall strategy.
* BigOlEyebrows: Has very bushy eyebrows like [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Might Guy]].
* BlindfoldedVision: Wears his bandana over his eyes in order to defeat Yuzo Tanegashima, who was camouflaged with the scenery.
* BlushSticker: The manly Gongenzaka always has some blush on his cheeks, and it does not detract from said manliness one bit.
* BullyHunter: He protected Yuya when they were younger, from those who wanted to beat him up for being a coward's son.
* CatchPhrase:
** "Unforgivable, this is unforgivable, [person name]!"
** Also some variation of "The manly Gongenzaka!"
* ChildhoodFriends: With Yuya.
* CleopatraNose: His nose is bigger than the other characters', but not big enough to be a GagNose.
* ColorFailure: After Sora refers to him as an outsider.
* {{Determinator}}: He never gives up, believing in his deck to the end. And if he get's hit by an attack, he'll keep himself on his feet and get pushed backwards, unless it wipes him out.
* DoesNotLikeMagic: He doesn't have ''any'' Spell or Trap Cards in his StoneWall deck and just relies on his monster effects. This proves to be more CrazyAwesome than people give it credit for; most of his monster effects require a Graveyard free of Spells and Traps to work. This is the other reason why he never uses Action Cards. He does however gain a monster whose ability allows him to activate magic cards from his ''opponent's'' graveyard.
* DontYouDarePityMe: He doesn't want Yuya pitying him for fighting him, and inverted, because he feels the pity he held for Yuya after his dad went missing also made him weaker.
* DubNameChange: Gong. His monsters:
** Waka-O2 (Oni) -> Blue Brawler
** Sword-999 -> Swordsman
** [=TenB=]-N -> Scales
** Soul Great Wall -> Soulshield Wall
** Soul Fire Armor -> Soulfire Suit
** Soul Break Armor -> Soulbreaker Armor
** Soul Big Bang -> Soulbang Cannon
** Kagebo-C -> Flutist
** Horaga-E -> Trumpeter
** Koujin Susanowo-> Warlord Susanowo
** Soul Iwatooshi -> Soulpiercer
** Soul Makarugaeshi -> Soulbeads
** Shinki Shutendoji -> Ogre Shutendoji
* EverythingsBetterWithSamurai: His deck's motif.
* {{Foil}}:
** He's one to Yuya. They are both heirs to their schools with unusual decks, Yuya having a Pendulum deck and Gongenzaka uses a deck without Spells or Traps. Yuya is a StepfordSmiler, while Gongenzaka is very open about his emotions. Even their dueling styles are the exact opposite, Yuya runs about using Action Cards compared to the steady Gongenzaka that refuses to budge.
** On the [[spoiler:Lancers]] he and Sawatari are foils. Gongenzaka is steadfast and loyal friend that has willing let stepped out of the limelight to protect them while Sawatari is an egoistical glory hound who can't stand anyone badmouthing him. Gongenzaka understands the emotional effects of being a child soldier while Sawatari was giddy at being a [[spoiler:Lancer.]] Gongenzaka is loyal to his dueling style while Sawatari has changed his decks after each lost.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Since the beginning of the Junior Youth Championship's qualification mini arc, Nico has been bringing Gongenzaka's training up for some reason, because Gongenzaka is Yuya's last opponent for the qualifier.
* {{Fundoshi}}: Wears one while training under a waterfall.
* GentleGiant: He can be a bit stuffy, but he's a pretty nice guy.
* GoodIsNotSoft: One of the nicest, most morally upright characters on the show, and he's proven himself perfectly capable of kicking lots of ass.
* GracefulLoser: He didn't really mind losing to Yuya and was simply happy to force Yuya to pass his limits. [[spoiler:And again when he is defeated by Crow.]]
* HeirToTheDojo: And heir of said dojo's Dueling style that he uses with pride.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Him and Yuya.
* HonorBeforeReason:
** After he and Yuzu's tag duel against Olga and Halil, he refuses to take any of the [[spoiler:Pendulum]] cards they won except for the one he bet, because his life points technically hit zero and it was Yuzu who won.
** [[spoiler:When he and Dennis wind up in the Synchro Dimension together, he angrily berates Dennis for not immediately looking for Yuya and the others and instead trying to raise money and gather information, even when Dennis rightfully points out how important this is.]]
* HotBlooded: Odd example; he's a very staunch and enthusiastic proponent of his own family's Steadfast Dueling style, which means that he doesn't care for the other HotBlooded characters running around during Action Duels, as "real men don't make unnecessary movements."
* ItsPersonal: Against Ankokuji for bullying Yuya as a child and dissenting against the dojo.
* JapanesePronouns: The manly Gongenzaka uses the masculine pronoun ''ore.''
* LargeHam: The manly Gongenzaka is most definitely this.
* LastNameBasis: His family name is used to refer to him both when he references himself and by all his friends. His father is the only person who calls him by his first name.
* LetsFightLikeGentlemen: The manly Gongenzaka values honor and mutual respect in duels.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Had no idea that there was much going on until Sora dueled Kurosaki. After that, the resulting infodump and conflicting evidence (a result of this trope) quickly frustrates him. [[spoiler:Yuya fills him in on the plot in Episode 46.]]
* MadeASlave: [[spoiler: Like all who lose in the Friendship Cup.]]
* MadeOfIron: [[spoiler:Suffers no serious injury from a pillar falling on him.]]
* ManlyTears: The manly Gongenzaka is prone to crying when he's overflowing with happiness. [[spoiler:Especially when Yuya wakes up from his ConvenientComa.]]
* MechanicalLifeforms: His Superheavy Samurais are all Machine-Type.
* MythologyGag: He evolves his Steadfast Duel (''Fudo'' no Dyueru) with Synchro Summoning. Yusei ''Fudo'' was the protagonist of ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', which had major themes regarding evolution, although it's a bit ironic since Synchro Monsters were associated with D-Wheels and speed (especially with Accel Synchro), but Gongenzaka's dueling style involves standing still.
** [[spoiler:He ends up on a D-Wheel anyway.]]
** This is extended in ''Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Tag Force Special'', where his voice tracks includes the summon chants of Road Warrior and Formula Synchron, including calling them by their names.
* NiceGuy: The manly Gongenzaka is loyal to his friends and respectful to everyone.
* NoIndoorVoice: He's loud most of the time.
* NotSoAboveItAll: [[spoiler:He and Dennis end up together in Synchro dimension, and Dennis puts on shows to try to locate Yuya and the others. When Dennis tries to get him to duel, he indignantly refuses to be the {{Heel}}, and gets very worked up about it, despite telling Dennis off for doing so minutes earlier. Later he also gets mad at Dennis for using Yuya's CatchPhrase.]]
* OhCrap: His reaction to Yuya summoning Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon.
* OnceKilledAManWithANoodleImplement: Fights his way through waves of guards using his bare hands and his (admittedly heavy metal) sandals.
* OnlySaneMan: [[spoiler:He has to try to balance at Kurosaki's aggression and Dennis's apparent silliness, trying to get them to work together.]]
* PunnyName: Many of the Superheavy Samurai have puns involving parts of Japanese words replaced with English letters. However, several of these are LostInTranslation.
* TheReliableOne:
** Called this by both Yuzu and Yuya, for having always helped them out.
** Deconstructed in Episode 25. Yuya has relied on him since his father's disappearence, so Yuya needs to defeat Gongenzaka in order to stand in his own two feet.
** Perfectly demonstrated in Episode 43, when he protects Yuzu during their Tag Duel.
** [[spoiler:Shown again in Episode 49, on his turn, he took Sawatari's Pendulum Cards and gave them to Kurosaki, allowing Kurosaki to summon Revolution Falcon and win.]]
* SixthRanger: Gongenzaka isn't actually a member of You Show since he's going to inherit his family's dojo, but he hangs around a lot, and takes offense to being called an "outsider" by Sora (who only just transferred to the school himself).
* StoneWall: His deck, Superheavy Samurai, focuses on monsters with high DEF and other monsters that protect the monsters on the field. The manly Gongenzaka himself follows the same philosophy; he doesn't move an inch from wherever he stands during the duel. It's one of the reasons he never uses Action Cards.
* TeamDad: [[spoiler:He's this for the Lancers, trying to keep them on track and from doing stupid things that will hurt them. Creates HoYay due to Yuya being the TeamMom.]]
* ThirdPersonPerson: Not only does he refer to himself by his last name, but adds "the manly" onto the front.
* ThisIsUnforgivable: [[spoiler:He says this to Sora in Episode 48 about his actions.]]
* TookALevelInBadass: Asks Yaiba to teach him Synchro Summoning for the purpose of invoking this trope. He finally learned it and shows it in Episode 25.
** Taken UpToEleven when he [[spoiler:becomes the first person to pull off a Pendulum-Synchro Summon, beating both Yuya and Reiji in doing it]].
* UnderestimatingBadassery: Is the victim of this from both Sora and Yaiba (though maybe "victim" isn't the right word...), but he surprises them with his unique strategy and manages to get a draw. Then he's a victim of it from everyone when he Synchro Summons.
* UndyingLoyalty: Without any knowledge of the circumstances, he refuses to believe that Yuya attacked Shingo Sawatari, and encourages the other students to do the same.
** He's also irritated with Yuzu later for doubting Yuya about that.
** He shows this to Yuzu to [[spoiler:taking the hit for her in their tag match and willing went to back her up in when she was against the Obelisk Force when it was really Serena, not that he knew.]]
* WhatTheHellHero: He gives one to Yuzu for not [[spoiler:standing up for Yuya during the LDS vs You Show arc when she met the real attacker. and later for not believing in Yuya]].
* TheWorfEffect: [[spoiler:Despite debuting the first Pendulum-Synchro Summon, he loses to Crow, showing off the power of the Assault Blackwings.]]
* WorthyOpponent: He sees Yuya as one, and later [[spoiler:Crow after the latter gets over his distracting issues]].
* YoungerThanHeLooks: Because of his heavy build, result of training in his family dojo since his early childhood, Gongenzaka looks older than other guys his age.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Shingo Sawatari (Silvio Sawatari)]]
!!Shingo Sawatari (Silvio Sawatari)
!!'''Voiced by:''' Shogo Yano (JP), Michael Crouch (EN)
[[quoteright:122:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fullshingosawatari_6217.png]]
An egotistical LDS student and TheRival to Yuya. At the start he equates rarity with power, filling his deck with the rarest cards in the game and attempting to steal Yuya's one-of-a-kind Pendulum Summoning monsters for his own use. After meeting Yuya, he is inspired by the "Entertainment Dueling" style and begins to incorporate showmanship into his duels, becoming a better person for it.
He frequently changes decks throughout the show. His first one is a Darts Shooter deck; his second is a WATER Monarch deck; his third is a Yosenju deck; his fourth is an Abyss Actor deck.
----
!!Tropes associated with Sawatari:
* AdvertisedExtra: He's introduced as one of the main rivals of Yuya and is prominently shown in the first opening and promotional materials, indicating that he's a main character. However, he rarely shows up and he is quickly forgotten for most of the time. He finally returns as a main character in episode 48 and he still appears from there, [[spoiler:being one of the nine Lancers]].
* AntiMagic: Mobius and Mega Mobius are able to destroy Spell and Trap cards. Since Pendulum Monsters are recognized as Spell cards, it's likely he made his new deck with the purpose of destroying them as well.
* AmbulanceCut: Inverted. [[BlatantLies After being stated to be in great pain by his friends]], we cut to Sawatari happily chowing down on melons in his hospital bed.
* AscendedExtra: He's one of the five ''ARC-V'' main characters in ''Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Tag Force Special'', probably as a nod to his early status in the series. Sawatari basically took ''Reiji's'' spot, of all people.
* AttackBackfire: His duel with Yuto. The latter starts off by setting five Spell/Trap Cards. Sawatari takes the bait and, using a new Deck he made, sends all of them to the Graveyard. This allows Yuto to win the duel, via Spell Cards with effects that activate from the Graveyard.
* AttentionWhore: He loved having the crowd cheering his name in Episode 31. Also in Episode 32, when he got the spotlight of Pendulum Summoning. And in episode 72, [[spoiler: he got over his loss against Yugo the moment when people started chanting his name.]]
** However, this trait is one of his biggest flaws, as Sawatari needs to be in the spotlight to satisfy his ego. Anyone else he perceives to be "stealing" his spotlight, he blows a casket.
* {{Badass}}: [[spoiler: He manages to corner Yugo without any Action cards, and only lost because Yugo synchronizing with Yuya allowed him to grab an Action Card.]]
** BadassBiker: Largely by accident, such as doing a wheelie to take the first turn.
* BigDamnHeroes: He rushes in to save [[spoiler:Tsukikage]] in Episode 48.
* BishieSparkle: In episode 15, while handing a napkin to Yuzu. Just look at [[http://38.media.tumblr.com/7f454b5ee5dd60543ef7230cb96531dc/tumblr_n90ni9U3vc1t5crs3o1_500.gif him.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Tricks Yuya into letting him see the Pendulum Cards, and then steals them by pretending to be his friend.
* BlowYouAway: His Yosenju monsters are all WIND Attribute.
* BorrowedCatchphrase: In his MCS duel against Yuya, Sawatari performs a counter that manages to put him into a corner. All proud of managing to leave the audience speechless for putting Pendulum summon against the wall, Sawatari shouts "[[PreAsskickingOneLiner The fun has just started!]]". Ayu [[{{Lampshaded}} then says]] that's one of Yuya's lines.
* ButtMonkey: Sawatari has lost all his on-screen duels despite painting himself as a great duelist. Whenever he tries to brag, people either don't listen to him, cut him off, or chew him out for his small talk being used to cover his incompetence whilst acting like a brat for losing. Even his loyal friends notice this sometimes. [[spoiler:He however, does get to be a Lancer. But even then, the first thing that happened to him was he lost in an OTK and was arrested.]]
* CastingAShadow: The Abyss Actor monsters are all DARK-Attribute.
* CatchPhrase: "I'll put you (all) in your place!"
* CharacterDevelopment: Noticable in the second duel with Yuya, he starts as an AttentionWhore for the crowds attention, but has so much fun that he prompts Yuya to wow the crowd as well. Finally he takes his loss gracefully, and tells Yuya he'll duel him anytime. [[spoiler:This is shown again in the Synchro Dimension Arc when Sawatari engages in an Entertainment duel with Yuya and Tokumatsu and his camaraderie with Yugo in their duel]]
** [[spoiler:Later an annoying trend has started during the Synchro Dimension saga where whenever someone does anything to offend him, Sawatari bitches about it and threatens to tell his dad, the Mayor, on the culprit. What he fails to realize is that 1) his father isn't in the dimension, 2) his dad is not officially the "Mayor", 3) even if he was there, given Mr. Sawatari's personality, no one would take him seriously.]]
* CircusOfFear: His deck during the Synchro Dimension saga, the Abyss Actor deck, is one, though it [[DarkIsNotEvil isn't evil]] since he is fully good while using it.
* CoolBoard: He rides his [[ShockAndAwe Lightning Board]] in his first Action Duel with Yuya.
* DarkIsNotEvil: After a bit of CharacterDevelopment, he comes back with a DARK Fiend deck, the [[CircusOfFear Abyss Actor]].
* DeliberateInjuryGambit: Well, kinda. Whether he actually had any plans after playing up his injuries from his duel with Yuto isn't disclosed.
* DiscardAndDraw: He seems to have the tendency to replace his Deck anytime he loses with it.
** [[spoiler:This may happen again with the Yosenjus, but against his will as Reiji has ordered their retrieval. Of course, this is so they can be mass-produced, so it's not impossible he'll end up with a copy after his performance with them. He ends up with an Abyss Actor deck instead.]]
* {{Expy}}:
** Of pre-CharacterDevelopment [[Anime/YuGiOhGX Manjoume]]. Both Duelists are arrogant and believe that strong and rare cards can win Duels. They swore revenge on the main protagonists of their respective series after being defeated by them. Both were at one point also accompanied by a few toadies. Both lost in episode 4 of their respective series to the respective protagonists by cards they considered weak. They also both almost completely altered their decks with stronger cards the next time they dueled, only to also both lose these next said duels in turn. He also uses nothing but Parallel Rare cards (not counting his Yosenju cards), similar to Manjoume's brothers. He and Manjoume use new decks with WIND-attributed ace monsters (Mayosenju Daibakaze and Armed Dragon [=LV7=], respectively) during their rematch with their rival, however, they lose to them, but they take their defeat better.
*** His new ace monster Mayosenju Daibakaze is not only a WIND monster, but has also 3000 ATK like Manjoume's Armed Dragon [=LV10=]. They also share the same Level.
** Seems to also share some characteristics of [[Anime/YuGiOh Jounouchi]]. Both being hotheaded idiots, who are underestimated by a lot of characters in the show. Also start the show as a a bully of the main character and eventually becoming a friend.
** During his first appearance, he acts like a friendly guy just to steal Yuya's two Pendulum Magician cards and then he puts Yuya's friends in danger. Pre-''Duelist Kingdom'' [[Manga/YuGiOh Kaiba]], anyone?
** And his appearance looks very similar to Mamoru Jinguji/[[DubNameChange Carlyle Chesterton]], one of the [=CXyz=] users from ''ZEXAL''.
** His tendency to lose duels while claiming to be a great duelist makes him similar to [[Anime/CardfightVanguard Katsumi Morikawa]] from Cardfight Vanguard. He's also similiar to [[Anime/CardfightVanguard Shingo Komoi]] from the same series, as both their names are the same, they often underestimate their opponents, and when they lose their duels, they tend to change decks.
* FlungClothing: In Episode 31, he flings away his samurai outfit to reveal his regular uniform underneath. Amusingly, he even has his shoes, even though he was wearing sandals just seconds before.
* {{Foil}}: On the [[spoiler:Lancers]], he and Gongenzaka are foils. Sawatari is an egotistical glory hound that can't stand anyone badmouthing him while Gongenzaka is a steadfast and loyal friend that has willingly stepped out of the limelight to protect them. Gongenzaka understands the emotional effects of being a child soldier while Sawatari was giddy at being a [[spoiler:Lancer]]. Gongenzaka is loyal to his dueling style while Sawatari has changed his decks after each loss.[[spoiler:Though not anymore and fully embraces Entertainment Dueling]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In episode 15, he tells Yuya that other people will perform Pendulum Summons as well, foreshadowing that he will be using Pendulum Monster as well. Not only is this confirmed in Episode 31, he with his lackeys were the narrators for the OCG Special Pack ''Tribe Force'' which introduced the Yosenju archetype, which was a much bigger foreshadowing.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Given Sawatari's personality, he is this to everyone he interacts to, with the exception of his dad. His three "best friends" are more like minions if anything, given that they grudgingly follow his orders and even call out Sawatari's hypocrisy at times. As part of the [[spoiler:Lancers]], the rest of the group either ignore him (Serena, Kurosaki, and Reira), tolerate him (Yuya, Reiji, and Tsukikage), humors him (Dennis) or outright puts him in his place (Gongenzaka).
* GotMeDoingIt: After being defeated by Yuya, Sawatari seems to have adopted some of his hamminess; even as his minions [[LampshadeHanging comment on it]], he can be heard in the background saying [[BorrowedCatchphrase "Ladies and Gentlemen!"]] while making a bunch of dramatic gestures.
* GracefulLoser: After his second loss to Yuya, he takes it a lot better...sort of.[[spoiler: He does it again in Episode 72 after his loss to Yugo.]]
* GratuitousEnglish: When Kurosaki wins the duel against [[spoiler:the Obelisk Force in Episode 49, he says a hammy "Oh yes!" in celebration.]]
* GratuitousFrench: The English dub has him occasionally saying French phrases.
* GreenEyedMonster: He was initially jealous of Yuya being the only person who knew how to Pendulum Summon.
** Later he gets jealous of ''anyone'' upstaging him in a duel or stealing attention away from him.
* HarmlessElectrocution: [[spoiler:As a result of his BigDamnHeroes moment during the Obelisk Force duel, he was electrocuted by the 2000 Life Point duel penalty.]]
* HiddenDepths: He's actually a skilled entertainer who enjoys putting on a good show for people.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: ''Twice.''
** In his Duel against Yuya, he lost due to Yuya using Block Spider, a card Sawatari gave him as an insult.
** Against Yuto, Sawatari's new Mobius strategy ended up giving his opponent both the materials needed to summon Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon and the card that dealt the final batch of damage.
* HunterOfHisOwnKind: His Yosenju deck is a Pendulum deck that counters Pendulum Summoning.
* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: Yuzu calls Sawatari a "coward, sore-loser, and second-rate duelist". The last one is what causes Sawatari to react, especially when Yuzu says that he's not even on that level and calls him a "hundredth-rate" duelist.
* AnIcePerson: In Episode 7, he starts running Monarchs, specifically Mobius the Frost Monarch and its upgraded form. He quickly switched decks soon.
* IdiotBall: It's shown very clearly that Sawatari has a copy of "Breakthrough Skill" in his hand, which would have negated at least one of the effects Yuya used throughout the Duel, particularly at points where Yuya could have lost or where Sawatari could have lost. Pride is Sawatari's FatalFlaw though, and he's later insulted by Yuto for bad dueling skills.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: His dueling skills may be in question, but he is really accurate with darts, able to get all three he threw to stick to Yuya's nose.
* IncomingHam: In Episode 31, even Yuya is driven to speechlessness.
* InsaneTrollLogic: When Sawatari learns that [[spoiler:Serena isn't Yuzu,]] he accuses her of being a spy, which would be fine...if she didn't just willingly reveal she was from [[spoiler:the Academia.]]
* ItsAllAboutMe: Mostly played for laughs. In the Friendship Cup arc he spends most of his appearances complaining about how he's not getting to duel.
* JapanesePronouns: Uses the informal ''ore'', but when he tries to get people's sympathy, he uses the less informal ''boku''. He also uses the more informal ''oresama'' to show [[SmugSnake how proud he is about his skills]].
* {{Jerkass}}: Sawatari steals Yuya's Pendulum Monsters and then forces Yuzu and the kids into danger so he can test the cards out. And after he loses, he tries to get his friends to help him steal the cards by force.
** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He becomes a little nicer after his loss to Yuya in their second duel. Later, he even shows sympathy to Yuya over Yuzu's disappearance.
* LargeHam: After Yuya [[GotMeDoingIt Gets Him Doing It]], Sawatari ups his hamminess.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Sawatari was defeated by a card he threw away and called trash.
* LastNameBasis: With the exception of his father, everyone refers to him as Sawatari; even the Vs screen does, which usually refers most duelists by their first name. To the point when he was called as Shingo it took him a second to realize he was called.
* LaughablyEvil: Not really a villain past his first appearance, but he always remains incredibly fun to watch.
* TheLoad: [[spoiler:In episode 56, he doesn't help at all but in fact makes things worse. First he loses off-screen and then tells Security about the Action Cards, allowing them to bring Yuya down to 400 life points.]]
* LooseLips:
** [[spoiler:In episode 52, he reveals the existence of the Lancers before Himika can because people badmouthed him.]]
** In [[spoiler:episode 56, he tells Security about the Action Cards, allowing them to bring Yuya's life points down to 400.]]
* MadeASlave: [[spoiler: Like all Friendship Cup losers.]]
* NegatedMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:Like Dennis, his rushing in a duel was awesome, but him losing 2000 points and his reaction slightly negated the cool of it.]]
* NeverMyFault: He calls Yuya an idiot for letting Security bring down his life points to a measly 400 when he used the Action Card that Sawatari just explained to them for no reason.
* OurDemonsAreDifferent: Known as Fiend-type in the TCG, they comprise Sawatari's Abyss Actor deck.
* OutOfFocus: He's usually completely out of the picture when he's not dueling. [[spoiler:This changes in the Synchro Dimension arc, as he's a Lancer.]]
* PetTheDog: Warns Yuya and Yuzu that someone assumed to be either the Dark Duelist or the equally enigmatic Shun Kurosaki had attacked an LDS professor, and doesn't believe Yuya to be responsible anymore.
** BaitTheDog: He lied, he still blames Yuya for Yuto's actions, until he's defeated by Yuya a second time.
** He pets the dog again by being concerned about Yuzu, [[spoiler: and reminding Serena they should be looking for her, not dueling a bunch of people.]]
** He does it again by encouraging Yuya to show the strength of the Lancers, when Roger selects the latter to duel Jack Atlas in an exhibition match.
* PowerEqualsRarity: Firmly believes this. Eagle-eyed viewers will note that he plays nothing but Parallel Rares (a type of rarity where the whole card is shiny). This doesn't actually make them any stronger, so it serves no purpose other than to make his deck a lot more expensive. Just the way he likes it.
* RealityEnsues:
** After Sawatari loses to Yuya, he just tries to steal the Pendulum cards by force.
** Sawatari often switches decks to find one that might be perfect, something that most meta players do.
* {{Revenge}}: Wants revenge on Yuya for defeating and humiliating him last time, which leads us to...
** RevengeMyopia: Since Yuya only beat him because Sawatari stole his cards and put Yuzu and the children in danger. And he still blames Yuya for what Yuto did to him, and Yuya has to remind him that wasn't his fault. Then Sawatari tries to accuse him for attacking his father, only for Yuya to respond that it wasn't him either.
* {{Samurai}}: He wears a samurai-like outfit during his entrance in Episode 31.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: He likes to use his father's status to get what he wants. Incidentally it does work during the Battle Royale, as it gets him out of the arena to go talk to Reiji. [[spoiler: Though it does nothing in the Synchro Dimension as no one knows who his father even is; Sawatari ''himself'' doesn't realize this simple fact.]]
* SmallNameBigEgo: Big time. Even after his character development, he's still extremely arrogant and probably doesn't fit his bragging just yet.
* SmugSnake: He images himself the best duelist in the world, but even with his Pendulum deck, he's just a test subject for the Pendulum cards and their counter strategy made by Reiji. [[spoiler:Averted after his CharacterDevelopment...sort of. He's still arrogant, but he is overall nicer.]]
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: In episode 59, his first name is spelled as "Singo".
* Technically a Smile: His weird smile before his last attack on Yugo
* ThrowTheDogABone: He still loses to [[spoiler: Yugo and gets sent to the Underground]], but the crowd cheers for him despite his loss, enjoying his entertainment duel.
* TookALevelInBadass: Subverted every single time Sawatari comes in with a new deck. After getting his new Monarch cards, he claims that he's can triumph over anyone, and given that the cards are fairly strong in the real game, it seems like he's actually right...until he gets curb-stomped in the next duel, almost ''immediately'' afterward. And when he duels Yuya again, he comes back with a Pendulum archetype of his own, Yosenju...which still fails to take down Yuya. It finally seems as though he's taken one when he becomes one of [[spoiler:the Lancers but is generally seen as TheLoad by the audience.]]
** [[spoiler: He finally shows he did take one by doing well in his duel with Yugo.]]
* TookALevelInKindness: By the end of his second duel with Yuya, only time will tell if it sticks. It does...kinda.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Sweet Milk Apple-Berry Pie with honey. And he chokes at the moment he bites it.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: Sawatari with his lackeys was narrating the commercial for the ''OCG Booster SP: Tribe Force'', which introduced the Yosenju. The commercial was first aired at the end of September 2014, while the episode where Sawatari first used the Yosenju cards was aired in 9th November 2014.
* UglyGuysHotDaughter: Gender inverted. But Sawatari looks nothing like his dad.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: He looks down on low Level and low ATK monsters and calls them trash, and never seems to consider their effects. Also does this to Yuya and Yuto. He gets over this mentality and ironically [[spoiler: almost defeats Yugo with two level monsters after Yugo underestimates them.]]
* WickedWeasel: His previous Yosenju deck, the majority of them being based of the Kamaitachi ("Sickle Weasel")[[note]]one of them is even called Kamaitachi, but with a different meaning[[/note]]. His new ace monster is Mayosenju Daibakaze, a gigantic weasel creature made of green/turquoise fire and wind. However, he actually becomes nicer while dueling Yuya with it.
* WorthyOpponent: After his second duel with Yuya, he recognizes him as a friendly rival rather than someone to exact revenge upon. [[spoiler: And Yugo recognizes him as one in their duel, even lamenting he'll have to send him to the Underground.]]
* {{Yokai}}: His Yosenju (often translated as "Hermit Yokai") deck is based on the Kamaitachi, the wind-sickle weasels of Japanese mythology.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Yuya Sakaki]]
!!Yuya Sakaki
!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/KenshoOno (JP), Michael Liscio Jr. (EN)
[[quoteright:296:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fullyuyasakaki_1778.png]]
The main protagonist of ''ARC-V'', an eighth-grader who attends You Show Duel School. He aspires to become an Entertainment Duelist and bring laughter to people through his duels like his father did before him, at least before Yusho's mysterious disappearance three years ago.
He owns a good-luck charm pendant his father gave him when he was younger, which mysteriously glows during his televised exhibition match against Strong Ishijima. This unlocks the power of an entirely new Summoning method, Pendulum Summoning, which quickly sets off a chain of events that may go well beyond his control.
He is currently one of the Lancers.
He uses a Entermate/[[DubNameChange Performapal]] Deck, which features animals in costume that focus on altering the ATK and DEF of monsters. His ace is his Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Backing them up are his Magicians; his first two enable Yuya's finishing moves, and his latter allowing Yuya to Xyz Summon powerful monsters. Like previous protagonists, Yuya's ace card keeps evolving, and Yuya learns the other Special Summoning methods through evolving his Odd-Eyes.
----
!!Tropes associated with Yuya:
* TheAce: He's the best duelist of the You Show Duel School, though there are only six students there.
* AccidentalPervert: In Episode 22, he felt down the stairs to then falling right with his head in the perfect position to [[PantyShot look up Mieru's skirt]]. Even though he didn't see anything, she still whacks him on the head. [[SarcasmMode What a great first impression]].
* AllTheOtherReindeer: Due to his dad disappearing, nearly every kid his age mocked him.
* AllYourPowersCombined: In Episode 46, by using the Pendulum effects of Magician of Destruction and Magician of Creation, Yuya is able to [[spoiler:turn Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon into a Level 7 monster, allowing him to overlay it with Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon to create Supreme King Black Dragon - Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon, the first Xyz Pendulum monster revealed.]]
* AnimalMotifs: The Dragon, made clear with the title of Episode 39. [[spoiler:"Reverse Scales": Gekirin (逆鱗), in Japanese and Chinese mythology, refers to one particular scale out of 81 scales covering the body of the dragon. This scale, unlike others, is inverted. It is said in Japanese legends that if one were to touch the dragon’s gekirin, it would result in the wrath of the dragon.]] Explained [[https://nyanpastique.wordpress.com/2015/01/19/reverse-scales-and-arc-vs-dragon-motif/ here.]]
* AnimeHair: Like his predecessors in other ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' installments, his hair is pretty out there. However, it's more subdued in comparison, and the "out there" part comes more from the hair colors; half red and half green.
* TheArtifact: His Discover Hippo was only really useful in his first duel. A monster with low ATK and DEF, and its effect (treated as two tributes for a Tribute Summon) is pretty much useless when Yuya starts using Pendulum Summoning. His purpose in Action Duels (a steed) is diminished by stronger monsters being able to fulfill transportation purposes. The monster itself is somewhat of a mascot for the series, so it appears more outside of duels than it does inside. In episode 26 however, his friends were surprised to see it summoned and be used as a tribute for Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon since the monsters he used for the Pendulum Scales did not have scales going that high.
* {{Badass}}: He nearly took down Strong Ishijima before he got his Pendulum cards, and his badassery has only increased since then. His moments include Fusion Summoning Rune-Eyes, then later using it to debut another Fusion monster, Beast-Eyes, making a comeback victory against Sawatari, [[spoiler:and his double OTK with Dark Rebellion with help from Dennis. His rematches against Sora and Reiji. And not to mention his SuperpoweredEvilSide.]]
* BadassBiker: [[spoiler:Yuya becomes a D-wheeler in Episode 64 where he duels against Jack Atlas.]]
* BerserkButton:
** Don't threaten the You Show Duel School around him. It's the school his father set up.
** Sora in general was one too, though its PlayedForLaughs.
** Making fun of his father or hurting his friends are big buttons as well. [[spoiler:Especially '''Yuzu''', Yuya will just ''punch'' you in the face.]]
** Using Dueling as a way to wage war, and [[spoiler:sealing your opponents in cards]] became major {{Berserk Button}}s, to the point of [[spoiler:involuntarily triggering Yuya's [[SuperpoweredEvilSide berserk mode]]]].
** Reiji has become one in the [[spoiler:Synchro Dimension arc]].
* BewareTheNiceOnes: He's one of the nicest guys in the series, and even without going into [[spoiler:his Berserk Mode]], he's still ''really scary'' when he's pissed off.
* BeyondTheImpossible: Making your own cards mid-duel is one thing. Inventing Pendulum cards and summons is another. [[spoiler:[[SerialEscalation But creating an Xyz Pendulum monster is mindblowing]].]]
* BigBrotherInstinct: [[spoiler:He has grow protective towards Reira while in the Synchro Dimension and uses his duels to both protect him from Security and in attempts to make him smile. In episode 59, he's more worried over Reira's dissapearance than he and the others being captured by Security. In episode 67, he questions Reiji's decision to allow Reira to join a dangerous battle and declares to him that if Reiji would not protect Reira, he will.]]
* BigDamnHeroes: In Episode 4, when Yuzu and the kids finally fall, Yuya has his newly returned Pendulum Monsters rescue them.
* BishieSparkle: What Mieru imagines Yuya has when he defeats her. Afterwards she's head over heels for the guy, much to Yuya's confusion and Yuzu's anger.
* BladeBrake: In Episode 9, Yuya uses his Entermate Sword Fish to catch himself when he falls.
* BookDumb: Yuya mentions in Episode 19 that he is bad at science and math.
* BorrowedCatchphrase: [[spoiler:In Episode 39, his SuperpoweredEvilSide borrows Yuto's summon chant for Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. Yuya later uses it himself whenever he summons it.]]
* BreakTheCutie: Yuya is a happy-go-lucky guy that wants to bring smiles and happiness to his audience, until those ideals seem to become more and more distant starting from Episode 34 where [[spoiler:Sora turns out to be a lot downright evil; he then realizes dueling is being used as a form of warfare. Afterwards, Sora disappears, shortly followed by Yuto, who TakesTheBullet for Yuya. This finally culminates in his own SuperPoweredEvilSide, which causes Yuya himself to breaking his own ideals of dueling for happiness. And as soon as he manages to get a grip on that, Yuzu ends up disappearing, and he presumes her captured or carded by Academia. Not to mention the City breaking his ideals again and Jack Atlas saying that his dueling is conceited. The kid needs a hug.]]
* BrokenPedestal: In Episode 2, after finding out that Pendulum Summoning requires special cards, most of his fans begin thinking of him as a cheater.
* ButtMonkey: Often. He sometimes uses it as a comedy routine.
** In Episode 20, he is unable to answer any question correct, gets electrocuted and frozen.
** In Episode 22, Yuya has terrible luck. He oversleeps, he hits his head under his desk, he trips and falls down the stairs, is accused of being a pervert, gets wrong coin side, has a dead opening hand, is glared by thirteen black cats, trips over nothing, finds an Action Trap named "Great Misfortune," and his two strongest monsters are switched to defense position before he could even attack.
* CatchPhrase: He has two during duels: "Ladies and gentlemen!" and "The fun's just getting started!" The latter also appears frequently in the opening and ending songs.
* CharacterDevelopment:
** Nico Smiley chose the four duelists Yuya needed to beat to qualify for the Junior Youth Championship [[InvokedTrope specifically to make Yuya become a better duelist all around]]. And it pays off too, with Yuya learning from the first three duels that there is no such thing as a perfect strategy and flexibility is important in dueling, that he can use disadvantages in his favour, that he can't be complacent in dueling, that a pro needs communication with their opponent and the audience to be entertaining and how to take Pendulum Summoning further. With the last duel, he takes the lessons from the previous three duels and applies it here as well as learning how to stand on his own two feet rather than constantly relying on other people for support.
** This really shows in Episode 31, when [[spoiler:Sawatari revealed his own Pendulum Cards, sent Odd-Eyes and his other cards back into in his deck and was overall cornered. Yuya, instead of falling in Heroic BSOD, smiled and enjoyed the challenge presented]].
** Yuya is now more eager to show his Entertainment Dueling to the audience ''and'' his opponents, after all the violence he has seen lately. Unfortunately, he kind of struggles, as he is not only unable to give Kachidoki a happy smile on his face, [[spoiler:but he gives him a brutal defeat instead when Yuya's SuperpoweredEvilSide shows up]]. This event has given him more angst. He has reached a point where his current mental state is basically a [[FridgeBrilliance pendulum]], going forth and back from happy and cheerful to a HeroicBSOD, to the point that he crossed the [[spoiler:DespairEventHorizon in the end of Episode 44]].
* CharacterizationMarchesOn: The first two episodes shows Yuya acting like a clown and he makes fun of everybody and everything. Since the third episode, he's much more serious and his entertainer persona only shows up when he is doing some of his combos. While it's stated by his mother that Yuya used his duel against Ishijima to reinvent himself out of his SadClown persona into a more serious Entertainer, it doesn't explain why all pre-series media treated this attitude as his only personality.
* ChekhovsGun:
** The first time he used Pendulum Summoning, Yuya used the phrase "Ide yo, waga shimobe no monster-tachi wo" ("Come forth, my monster servants) during his summon chant. Since then, he usually uses "Awarero, ore no monster-tachi" ("Appear, my monsters"). He does use the first variant again in Episode 39, when [[spoiler:his SuperpoweredEvilSide is revealed]].
** His split personality becomes a lot more relevant once [[spoiler:Yuto's and Yugo's are revealed, their blind rage and ruthlessness hinting that his split personality is just as dangerous. Which was proven in Episode 39, when his dark side was shown]].
* ChildhoodFriends: With Yuzu and Gongenzaka. He met Gongenzaka 3 years ago and has been friends with Yuzu at least since the opening of the You Show Duel school.
* CoatCape: He likes to wear his jacket this way. [[ImpossiblyCoolClothes It never seems to fall away from him, even in situations were it reasonably should, like when he's performing all his acrobatic stunts]].
* CombatPragmatist: His Dueling style is this. He summons a speedy animal and runs around to find Action Cards, allowing him to negate his opponent's attacks and such. His initial Pendulum Monsters, Stargazer and Timegazer also count, since they can shut down his opponent's Spell and Trap Cards.
* ConspicuousCG: Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon [[spoiler:and its evolutions]]. Yuya is also made in CG whenever he's riding this monster.
* ConvenientComa: [[spoiler:He was in one for two days after the events of Episode 37.]]
* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: Even though there are similarities to previous protagonists, Yuya is still very different to them in certain aspects. He is introduced as an average duelist, unlike Yugi, Judai and Yusei who were exceptionally skilled in dueling and Yuma who was exceptionally bad, is very famous in his hometown because of the bad reputation he got from his DisappearedDad (the other protagonists were unknown at the beginning of their respective series) and he has two [[spoiler:or more]] personas when dueling, with his entertainer persona being clearly an act. Outside of dueling, he's a rather quiet and a bit shy and is anything but hyperactive and he is more serious than Judai and Yuma in their first season. Yuya also suffers from some psychological issues that appear earlier than by other protagonists and he gets a more dynamic CharacterDevelopment. Like Judai, Yusei and Yuma, Yuya relies a lot on his ace card, but unlike the three and Yugi, Yuya doesn't have as many beatsticks as them. While the others have more options of powerful monsters, Yuya's only other beatstick besides Odd-Eyes and its evolutions is his Entermate Hammer Mammoth, which justifies Yuya's dependence on his ace monster better than Judai, Yusei and Yuma. [[spoiler:Notably after he gets Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, he actually uses it instead of Odd-Eyes a few times, and since it's an Extra Deck monster that's easy to Summon, it's quite logical for him to do so.]]
* CoolBigBro: To the kids from the You Show Duel School. [[spoiler:He attempts to be this to Reira when they enter the Synchro Dimension, and seems to have succeeded.]]
* CosmicPlaything: Dear God. As stated in BreakTheCutie and YankTheDogsChain, it seems like the universe is trying to break him at every turn. Every time Yuya tries to do what he believes in, the universe either tries to subvert it or take something from him.
* CreepyMonotone: [[spoiler:In Episode 39 when possessed.]]
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Perfectly demonstrated during his duel against Ishijima. Yuya acts like a clown and apparently makes a fool of him while riding Entermate Discover Hippo. Ishijima and the audience eventually realize that Yuya's ride helps him gathering Action Cards all over the place.
* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: He has red eyes, which match most of his hair.
* CustomUniform: Yuya uses the school's jacket as a CoatCape and different kind of pants than the rest of the males in the school.
* DarkIsNotEvil: His deck contains a number of DARK-Attribute Monsters, including the Magicians of Astromancy and Chronomancy, Entermate Trump Witch and Silver Claw, Odd-Eyes, Rune-Eyes, [[spoiler:and, as of Episode 37, Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, and later still, he combines it with Odd-Eyes in the form of Supreme King Black Dragon - Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon]]. This is not surprising, considering that his four predecessors also used DARK monsters.
* DespairEventHorizon: His mental state was already a messed up pendulum after the event of Episodes 34-37, but [[spoiler:seeing a group of duelists being sealed into cards in the end of Episode 44, he finally breaks, triggering his berserk side again]].
* {{Determinator}}: Thanks to his father's advice to smile and laugh whenever he feels sad or in trouble, Yuya manages to gather the courage to get himself out of any pinch he finds himself in.
-->'''Yuya:''' ''"That's right. If I keep my heart in Defense Mode, there's no way I'll be able to enjoy my duels!"''
* DisappearedDad: Yuya's father Yusho was a popular Duelist, but three years ago, he no-showed an event and hasn't been seen since. Mentioning anything about his father is one of the only times Yuya won't be smiling.
* DistressedDude: In Episode 30, Ankokuji does this to keep Gongenzaka distracted. Yuya proves to be a BadassInDistress and Yuya defeats four people who are supposed to keep him in busy at once.
* DragonRider: He can ride his dragons in Action Duels.
* DubNameChange: Not him, but several of his monsters:
** Entermate -> Performapal
** Discover Hippo -> Hip Hippo
** Whip Viper -> Whip Snake
** Plustartle -> Stamp Turtle
** Magician of Astromancy -> Stargazer Magician
** Magician of Chronomancy -> Timegazer Magician
* EvilSoundsDeep: [[spoiler:Yuya's SuperpoweredEvilSide has a noticeably lower pitch than his usual voice.]]
* {{Expy}}: Mostly of [[Anime/YuGiOhGX Judai]] with his surface personality and somehow of his appearance, and [[Anime/YuGiOhZexal Yuma]] with his backstory, with a dose of [[Anime/YuGiOh5Ds Yusei's]] dueling style, and his inner depression about what he thinks may be his fault. Also of [[Manga/MagicKaito Kaito Kuroba]]. [[spoiler:His SuperpoweredEvilSide gives him another parallel with Judai, and his dragon resonating like the Signer Dragons is another parallel with Yusei.]] That being said, see ContrastingSequelMainCharacter.
* FamedInStory: Yuya is very famous for defeating Strong Ishijima and debuting the Pendulum summon.
* FightingYourFriend:
** In Episode 25 he discovers that, in order to qualify in the Junior Youth and initiate his climb in professional dueling, he must defeat Gongenzaka.
** [[spoiler:A far more sober and darker version occurs when he duels a serious Sora in Episode 49 as he confronts his friend over his actions. It also ends with no resolution since the Battle Royale ended before the duel concluded and Sora escapes]].
* FlungClothing: Yuya does this in Episode 1 when he summons Odd-Eyes Dragon. How he took off a full body costume and keep his duel disk on is everyone's guess.
* FullNameBasis: He and Reiji refer to each other by their full names.
* {{Foil}}:
** With Gongenzaka, they are both heirs to their schools with unusual decks. Yuya having a Pendulum deck and Gongenzaka having a deck without Spells or Traps. While Yuya hides his emotions, Gongenzaka is instead very expressive about them. This is best shown in their dueling styles. Yuya during a duel, runs about looking for Action Cards, compared to Gongenzaka refusing to move.
** With Reiji they are both the aces of their schools and are Pendulum users. While Reiji is well respected as the head of the top duel school at the start of the series, Yuya is looked down upon because of his father and is a member of a duel school made up of only 5 people. They both hide their emotions, Yuya using laughter and smiles compared to Reiji's cold manners stoicism. Their relationships with their fathers are completely different as well. Yuya's father disappeared but Yuya still thinks very highly of him, while Reiji doubts his father even cares enough about him that he would be a useful hostage after Leo's abandonment of the family. [[spoiler:This is furthered in their methods dealing with the interdimensional war. Yuya still attempts to follow his ideals and compassion, while Reiji is ruthless, willing to sacrifice his men if needed. Also, Reira also sees both of them as brother figures and both Reiji and Yuya care about him in different ways]]
** He's also one with Atem from the original series, ironically making him similar to Yugi. Whereas Yuya is kind and finds the idea of hurting people disgusting to the point of hesitating to win a duel where his freedom was on the line, Atem started out the series, nearly a villain protagonist who would give incredibly cruel punishments to those that crossed Yugi and his friends and even after becoming nicer was willing to let Kaiba commit suicide to win a duel. Yuya is full of insecurities making him more defensive, while Atem is extremely confident to the point of being cocky and willing to take risks. Yuya is defined by how his past shaped him, while Atem is driven to find his missing memories and past.
* FreezeFrameBonus: After he bumps into Gongenzaka in the first episode and takes off his goggles, you can see tears in his eyes, hinting at his StepfordSmiler personality.
* FunPersonified: Yuya lives to entertain people and bring smiles to their faces.
* FunnyCharacterBoringActor: InUniverse example: Outside the Action Fields, Yuya's much more serious and introverted, hiding deep emotional scars from Yusho's disappearance and the traumatic events he's faced since acquiring his Pendulum Cards behind a warm smile. [[FridgeBrilliance Bonus points]] for being TruthInTelevision for a lot of real life comedians, who turn to humour in order to overcome their misery.
* FusionDance: [[spoiler: He fuses with Yuto, which is similar to the overlaying in Xyz.]]
* GenreSavvy: Despite being BookDumb, he's quite adept at dueling, being flexible enough to adapt to differing strategies by his various opponents. As the plot thickens, he also makes attempts to figure out what's going on, and succeeds.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: [[spoiler:Just like Yuto and Yugo during his SuperpoweredEvilSide. Also crosses into RedEyesTakeWarning, though his eyes are always red, this makes them terrifying.]]
* GogglesDoNothing: Averted. He uses them to hide his feeling and also logically uses them when riding his monsters. In Episode 64 he uses his goggles in place of a visor for a Riding Duel.
* HalfDressedCartoonAnimal: His deck's theme, bar Odd-Eyes and the Magicians.
* HarmlessElectrocution: He's fell victim to this a few times, in particular Episodes 16 and 20, and the Battle Royal penalty at one point.
* HarmlessFreezing: In Episode 20 he is frozen in a block of ice following his {{Humiliation Conga}}.
* HeirToTheDojo: In a fashion. His father set up the "You Show Duel School" that specializes in teaching Yusho's Entertainment Dueling sytle; Yuya is the ace of the school.
* HeroesLoveDogs: He loves his mom's pet dogs.
* HeroicBSOD:
** He is more prone to these than all the other protagonists, and it's perfectly justified as his loving personality also masks three years of emotional pain caused by his father's disappearance and his attempts to cope with it. Has a big one after learning that Reiji can Pendulum Summon and was needed Shuzou to [[GetAHoldOfYourselfMan duel him out of it]].
** [[spoiler:Becomes depressed after his disturbing victory against Kachidoki in Episode 40. Fortunately, it took the audience's applause for Yuzu's duel and Yuto's words of wisdom that Yuya has gotten over it an episode later. Until Takeda and Umesugi remind him from that incident two episodes later, but Dennis helps him to get it out of it next episode later.]]
** Poor beggar has another one after [[spoiler:Yuzu's disappearance.]]
** [[spoiler:After his victory against Duel Chaser 227, Yuya took a few seconds to process the fact that he witnessed the blatant disregard for human life that everyone in the audience displayed during his duel.]]
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: [[spoiler:After Yuya lost his duel to Jack, he has wondered if he really can end the war peacefully and make everyone happy.]]
** [[spoiler: Yuya isn't exactly proud of how he won his duel against Duel Chaser 227]]
* HeroicResolve:
** After [[spoiler:learning that Yuto's soul and a darkness is inside of him. He remembers his father's words and decides to move forward, trusting himself and Yuto.]]
** Later on when he dueled Reiji [[spoiler:because he disregarded the people who got carded in the Battle Royale as necessary casualties and wanted him to repent for it]] and [[{{Troll}} Reiji]] just kept pushing at his buttons until he declared that he will definitely [[spoiler:[[IWillFindYou bring Yuzu back]]]] and keep the promise he made to Yuto.
** He later declares to win the [[spoiler:Friendship Cup and beat Jack to make the City accept the Lancers and change the City]]
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Him and Gongenzaka.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Sawatari uses Yuya's CombatPragmatist tendencies against him in their duel, by having all the Action Cards being traps instead. Afterwards, Yuya does the rest of the duel without Action Cards.
* HonorBeforeReason:
** A strange example. When given the opportunity to end his turn and win the duel against Reiji, he makes sure that he gives himself some defense just in case, and he turns out to be right. He admits that he wouldn't have liked to win the duel like that.
** He also doesn't want to get into the Junior Youth Championship without having all the requirements, even though his defeat of Ishijima had made the Maiami City Committee more than happy to let him in. Nico Smiley was GenreSavvy enough to give him tough opponents that make Yuya stronger, who gets Rune-Eyes and Beast-Eyes as a result.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Zig-zagged. Even though Yuya decides to help Sora because he is his friend, Yuya soon questions Sora's behaviour about [[spoiler:Xyz users being his prey. Later, despite hating what Sora has done, he challenges him to a duel to try to "bring back Sora's smile," who remains remorseless throughout the duel.]]
* HumiliationConga: Episode 20. He fails to answer any quiz questions correctly, getting him zapped, slapped around, dragged through the mud and frozen.
* IAmYourOpponent: He says this to [[spoiler:Yuto in Episode 35, while joining Sora's side.]]
* IJustWantToBeNormal: When given the opportunity to get a free pass into the Youth Dueling Circuit, he instead gets Nico Smiley to arrange the four Duels that Yuya needs to qualify.
* IJustWantToBeSpecial: Being the one who discovers Pendulum Summoning is a bigger deal to Yuya than other people think. When Sawatari used his Pendulum monsters against him, he was shocked but managed to put himself together by getting the cards back and winning. But when Reiji created his own Pendulum Monsters, Yuya went into a HeroicBSOD because he realized that now, Pendulum Summon wasn't ''his'' anymore.
* IWillFindYou: [[spoiler:After the Battle Royale, Yuya's main goal is to find and save Yuzu.]]
* IdenticalStranger: He has three. But the unique part is each of them, like himself, has a Dragon-Type monster as their ace, with 2500 ATK and 2000 DEF, with the naming pattern "X Y [Summon] Dragon."
** The first is Yuto, the Dark Duelist, a member of LaResistance who hails from [[spoiler:the battle scarred Xyz Dimension.]]
** The second is Yugo, the hotheaded D-Wheeler that destroyed Yuto's homeland, [[spoiler:[[UnreliableNarrator except not really]]; he, like Yuto, lost someone important to him.]]
** The final one is Yuri from the Academia, [[spoiler:who's TheDragon to Akaba Leo and the one personally responsible for capturing Yuzu's dimensional counterparts.]]
* IdiotBall: Yuya tends to do this a lot when he isn't thinking straight. If he doesn't Pendulum Summon, he'll leave a monster on the field with little protection whatsoever. Notably averted in his Duel against Reiji, where he does this, but makes sure to leave sufficient protection.
* IdiotHair: He has a green strand, to go hand to hand with his IdiotHero status.
* IdiotHero:
** Even accounting for unfamiliarity, there's no way it should have taken someone with average deductive abilities as long to replicate Pendulum Summoning as it took Yuya, especially not if they reviewed recordings of Yuya's duel as he himself did. Nonetheless, Yuya somehow takes nearly ''three hundred'' Duels to successfully perform another Pendulum Summon.[[note]] Some fans have suggested the 300 battles were also used to discover the ins and outs of how Pendulum Summoning works for all Yuya's Pendulum Monsters, though this practice did not reveal that they go to the Extra Deck when destroyed. However, again, this is fanon/fridge possible brilliance.[[/note]]
** He fails to correctly answer several Science and Math Questions on the Quiz Field.
** However, he does Fusion Summon correctly on his first try, something Yuzu did not do (mostly because she was confused about Yuto's resemblance to Yuya).
** Yuya generally averts this trope when he is related to the plot. He knows that Kurosaki isn't a normal guy and that the duel between him and Sora was more than a feud between two Duel Schools. Yuya also questions Sora's strange behaviour and he looks for people who can give him more [[MrExposition exposition]], i.e. Yuto and Kurosaki. And when confronted with the knowledge of [[spoiler:Berserk Mode and that he has Yuto and a darkness inside of him. He correctly deduces that it wasn't Yuto that caused Berserk Mode, but the darkness.]]
** Really, Yuya's being BookDumb and occasional holding of the IdiotBall (which in most cases there's a pretty decent reason for) aside, Yuya comes off a lot more as "Hero of average intelligence" than "Idiot Hero".
* ImpossiblyCoolClothes: Yuya's coat cape completely defies gravity.
* InstantAwesomeJustAddDragons: Yuya's ace, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Which is odd, as the Monster with the "X-Eyes Y Dragon" name format is usually the rival's ace, instead of the main character's. [[spoiler:He adds more Instant Awesome as he picks up more dragons as the series progresses.]]
* ItsAllMyFault: [[spoiler:He blames himself for being unable to protect Yuzu in the battle royale.]]
* JapanesePronouns: Yuya usually uses the informal "ore", but when he is using his entertainer persona, he switches to the formal "watashi".
* KickTheSonOfABitch: [[spoiler:Whenever he goes into Berserk Mode, he usually decimates his opponents and they deserve it.]]
* KindHeartedCatLover: He loves his mom's pet cats.
* LargeHam: He tends to treat Duels like a show, so he is very hammy and dramatic, although not all the time. He's much more normal outside of a duel though.
** IncomingHam: "LADIIIIIIIIIIIIES AAAAAAAAND GENTLEMEEEEEEN!!"
* LaserGuidedKarma: His teasing of Futoshi in the first ending earns him a quick smack from Yuzu's fan.
* LeParkour: Yuya uses it the most, always jumping around for Action Cards. [[spoiler:Taken to new heights in Berserk Mode, being able to jump over a large pool of lava.]]
* LetsGetDangerous: When he drops his PreAsskickingOneLiner, "The fun is just getting started" before executing his combo.
* LightEmUp: Magician of Astromancy's and Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon's manners of attacking. [[spoiler: [[UnexpectedCharacter Also Odd-Eyes Saber Dragon]]]]
* LightIsNotGood: While Yuya is a good guy, [[spoiler: he creates Odd-Eyes Saber while partially under the influence of Berserk Mode, and destroys DC 227.]]
* LivingEmotionalCrutch: Well more like Dueling Emotional Crutch, but Odd-Eyes functions as this for Yuya. If Odd-Eyes is destroyed, Yuya is crushed.
** After his character development, this is no longer the case.
** In a more personal level Yuzu seems to have been this for him, as he said that after his father dissapeared and he was bullied because of it, Yuzu was the only one who stuck by his side and always helped him, and further more thanks to her wish to be stronger, he was able to see what laid beyond the Pendulum Summon, after [[spoiler:she goes missing]] he's absolutely pissed at Reiji when he disregarded his feelings for her as a weakness.
* LoopholeAbuse: Downplayed. During his duel with Tokumatsu, he's able to create an anti-damage loop using his Raingoat and Seesawhopper, essentially shutting down Tokumatsu's strategy and ensuring that he can draw cards safely. While not illegal in most cases, stable loops are something Konami tries to eliminate in the real game.
* LoserSonOfLoserDad: His father got a reputation as a DirtyCoward for his no-show and disappearance. Many people mock Yuya and declare that he must be a coward as well.
* MadeOfIron:
** Yuya has been thrown around like a rag doll on multiple occasions.
** Taken UpToEleven in episode 64 and 65 where [[spoiler:after Jack defeated him and he was sent flying and landed on his ''neck''. He was simply knocked unconscious and didn't suffer any injuries when he woke up.]]
* TheMagicPokerEquation: [[ZigzaggingTrope Goes all over the place with this]]. May be justified by how his Pendulum seems able to create new cards and transform others into new forms, a recurring power in the franchise.
** He always seems to have his two main Pendulum Monsters, Magician of Astromancy and Magician of Chronomancy, and his ace monster Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon in his opening hand or after his first few draws. However, in later episodes his two Magicians appear less (though still frequently) since he has many other Pendulum Monsters to use now. Odd-Eyes, however, remains omnipresent despite him only having one copy of it; you can count on one-hand the duels where he doesn't use it.
** Played straight in his second duel with Sawatari. Not only does he draw his three main cards in the early part of the duel, after a bunch of cards are shuffled to the deck, he draws three of the shuffled cards ''again'': Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon, Magician of Chronomancy, and Entermate Drumming Kong.
** Played straight in his [[spoiler:rematch with Sora. He opens with his original two Magicians and Odd-Eyes, and despite Sora wiping his field, manages to pull off Dark Rebellion in the next turn, reset his Scales with his new Magicians to revive Odd-Eyes, and overlay for Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon on his second turn, which may have allowed him to win had the Battle Royale not ended.]]
* MagneticPlotDevice: The Pendulum cards. The only known real ones are all in Yuya's Deck, with the chance that they're (initially) the ''only ones in existence'', and they allow a powerful way of summoning monsters. No wonder why everybody wants them.
** His Pendulum seems to be able to create new cards on the spot. Creating the Pendulum cards and Odd-Eyes' evolutions.
* MookHorrorShow: [[spoiler:His Berserk Mode self does this to the Obelisk Force.]]
* MulticoloredHair: His hair is both red and green. It mimics the Pendulum Card color scheme.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone:
** [[spoiler:After he recovers from his SuperPoweredEvilSide in Episode 39.]]
** [[spoiler:After beating DC 227 in episode 71]]
* MyGreatestFailure:
** [[spoiler:Yuto TakingTheBullet for him.]]
** Brutally defeating Kachidoki. In Episode 42, he got {{trigger}}ed pretty badly for Takeda and Umesugi making the same mocking gesture as Kachidoki.
** After learning that [[spoiler:Yuzu went missing]] he regrets not being there to help her, and later Reiji proving him that he still needed to be stronger to rescue her, he practically screams her name in frustration.
* NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Yuya_Sakaki#Etymology Named after]] [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuya Yuya]] , a powerful courtier during Egypt's 18th dynasty who married [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tjuyu Tjuyu]], a noblewoman who is referred to as the "Singer of Hathor", and had a daughter named [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiye Tiye]], the "Great Royal Wife" of Amenhotep III.
* NextTierPowerUp: A ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' protagonist staple. Yuya's favorite monster (Odd-Eyes) gets several upgrades throughout the story. First, from Odd-Eyes Dragon to Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. Then, Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon gets two Fusion versions: Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon. [[spoiler:Then Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon gets a Xyz version, Supreme King Black Dragon, Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon.]]
* NiceGuy: He's shown to be fun-loving and relatively easygoing.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Arguably, his interference in [[spoiler:Yuto and Yugo's]] Duel caused [[spoiler:Yuto]] to lose.
* NightmareFuelStationAttendant: [[spoiler:'''Berserker Yuya'''. Going from [[CreepyMonotone creepily stoic]] to [[UnstoppableRage pissed off]] and [[SlasherSmile just disturbing]]]].
* NoGuyWantsToBeChased: He was freaked out by Mieru's sudden interest. To be fair to the guy, everyone would be creeped out when a 12-year-old girl you met today asks ''how many children you want''.
* NoSell: While fighting [[spoiler:Obelisk Force members, they activate their monster abilities which afflicts effect damage to their opponent. It's been established that characters from different dimensions can somehow make the damage real; in this case the effect damage was in the form of a flamethrower. While grinning at first, the members become shocked when Yuya is hit full-on with the fire and gets up with the air of being shoved slightly and looking ''annoyed''. This starts freaking them out and when they do it again, Yuya treats it ''with complete indifference, even brushing his shoulder off!!'' At this point, the members are sweating buckets, not helped when Yuya smiles at them [[SlasherSmile eerily.]]]]
* NotSoDifferent: Yuya finds that he's not too different from [[spoiler:public of the City. When forced in Episode 71, he dueled violently to win and not get sent to forced labor.]]
* ObviouslyEvil: [[spoiler:Berseker Yuya. This goes UpToEleven in Episodes 45 and 46 when he gets a constant dark aura around him.]]
* ObliviousToLove: Fortunately, not to the extent of previous protagonists. [[note]]Judai/Jaden, Mr. "I-don't-know-what-fiancé-means," we're looking at you.[[/note]]. Though in his defense, {{tsundere}}s can be confusing to deal with, with the mixed signals he gets.
* OffScreenMomentOfAwesome: Yuya duels four people at once in Episode 30. It's only shown that he's using his Hippo cards, but it is not shown how he defeated them.
* [[OneHitKill One-Turn-Kill]]: Like other protagonists, Yuya often uses combos that allow him to wipe out the Life Points of the opponent in one turn, which is given a big helping hand by his Pendulum Dragon monsters and his Magicians' Pendulum effects.
** After receiving [[spoiler:Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon]], Yuya is able to perform the same [=OTKs=] like [[spoiler:Yuto]]. With the help of Dennis, Yuya even manages to do a "One Turn Two Kill".
** In [[spoiler:Berserk Mode, Yuya was able to do a "One Turn Three Kill" using Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon]]
* OnlySaneMan: [[spoiler:He acts like this for his group in the Synchro Dimension. He's the only one that doesn't run into the City, realizing that it would only be dangerous and further spilt up the group. He's proved right when due to Serena and Sawatari's wandering around, Security was able to capture them.]]
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
** When Yuya drops his cheerful persona, it usually means something is ''wrong'' with him.
** In Episode 9, Yuya is noticeably angry in his Duel. This makes the main cast question why.
** In Episode 35, Yuya becomes angry at Yuto, and even Yuto is a bit stunned by that.
** In Episode 39, [[spoiler:he brutally defeats Isao Kachidoki by using Yuto's Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon]].
** In Episode 50, after hearing of [[spoiler:Reiji's actions. He is noticeably angry and aggressive, focused on defeating Reiji. He was even crying without his goggles on, showing he's finally had enough. He even attempts to sucker punch the guy.]]
** Yuya was pushed too far in [[spoiler:episode 71 and willingly dueled aggressively even ramming 227 off his bike.]]
* OutOfCharacterMoment: During his One-Turn Kill against Mieru, Yuya acts like a charming {{Bishounen}} guy. It is either this or it is part of his entertainer persona or it is just Mieru's imagination.
** His [[spoiler:SuperpoweredEvilSide-induced]] OneHitKill against Kachidoki also counts.
* PainfulTransformation: [[spoiler:Every time he goes berserk, he is shown to be in intense pain.]]
* PinballProtagonist: Yuya kickstarted the plot off with his Pendulum Cards, but in the first arc, most of the plot literally disappeared when he showed up. However, in Episode 33, he catches up with the part of the plot he has been missing.
** He completely averts this from Episode 35 on, where [[spoiler:he learns everything Yuzu knows and even personally duels Yuto]]. He also demands to know what's going on so that he isn't left behind, and succeeds quite nicely in that regard.
* PlayingWithFire: Despite being DARK- and EARTH-Attribute, respectively, Odd-Eyes and Beast-Eyes both utilize flame-based attacks. Entermate Fire Mufflion counts, too.
* {{Portmanteau}}: Several of the Entermates, such as Partnaga, Spikeagle, Lizardraw, Plustartle, and Friendonkey.
* ProtagonistPowerUpPrivileges: Subverted. While Yuya was the only one with Pendulum Cards, it's a plot point that others are making more and he won't be the only user, as proven in Episode 13 and later in the Maiami Championship arc. Played straight regarding the fact that he is the only duelist so far who can create new cards out of nowhere, on screen.
* RageBreakingPoint:
** In [[spoiler:In Episodes 50 and 51, Yuya, having suffered through the MCS, finds out that Reiji intentionally set up the Battle Royale as test to see how potential Lancers would fare against Academia. Reiji not only remains apathetic to the fallen duelists, but actively taunts Yuya. Yuya is livid.]]
** Happened again in episode 71 where [[spoiler:due to a large range of factors, Yuya completely loses his cool and starts dueling aggressively against DC 227, even having Odd-Eyes ram 227 off his bike.]]
* RedEyesTakeWarning: {{Averted}}, Yuya is a nice guy. [[spoiler:Except when he's in Berserk Mode, then just run.]]
* RedHeadedHero: Yuya is the protagonist and has half of his hair colored red.
* RedIsHeroic: He is the main character, he has red hair, red eyes, a red shirt, a red duel disk and his ace is a red dragon.
* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: His Entermates/Performapals. Discover Hippo/Hip Hippo stands out though.
* SadClown: Confirmed to be this by his mom in Episode 1. She states he makes fun of himself before others can. This might be lampshaded when Yuya enters his match against Strong Ishijima dressed as a clown.
* SavvyGuyEnergeticGirl: Inverted in his dynamic with Yuzu, with him as the energetic guy and her as the savvy girl. Although the energetic part is downplayed outside of duels.
* ScrewDestiny: Mieru says its his fate to lose to her. He tells her [[BadassBoast he'll simply have to change it]]. He does in fact do so. Later PlayedForLaughs when he says he'll change the destiny of being Mieru's "fated person."
* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: With Yuzu. She agrees at first, but he takes it too far. He also says this in Episode 18 when Sora suggests someone else might take Yuzu away from him.
* ShellShockedVeteran: [[spoiler:Shows some signs of this after the events of Episodes 35 through 37.]]
* ShipTease:
** When Yuzu suddenly runs off in Episode 15, Tatsuya, Ayu, and Futoshi teasingly tell Yuya to treat Yuzu better.
** Happened again in 23, when they have a touching moment after Yuya gives her back her Fusion card. [[http://xbrain130.deviantart.com/art/ARC-V-Ep-23-FRUITSHIPPING-IS-HERE-483080761 There were hearts in the background]]!
** Happened again when [[spoiler:Yuzu's duel was able to bring him out of his BSOD]].
** As he's [[spoiler:transforming in Episode 48, he looks especially to Serena, thinking she was Yuzu and at the Obelisk Force. Hinting he is worried about Yuzu facing the Obelisk Force, fueling his rage.]]
** UpToEleven in Episode 50, [[spoiler:where he states Yuzu was always next to him, she always supported him even when he was mocked after his father disappeared. He cites her as the reason he was able to evolve Pendulum summoning. Reiji even exploits these feelings, telling Yuya to join him to save Yuzu.]]
** A lot of episodes in the [[spoiler:Synchro arc have shown that Yuya puts Yuzu's safety above everything. The thought of her in danger and him unable to do anything puts him in a HeroicBSOD.]]
** Doubling as a Genius Bonus, see Yuya's NamedAfterSomebodyFamous. That Yuya's wife was Tjuyu, the 'Singer of Hathor' and 'Chief of the Entertainers.' These are obvious nods to Yuzu, who is an entertainment duelist with a deck based on singing and music.
** Again in Episode 69 when he saw that [[spoiler:Yuzu was dueling, he tried to get out of his room. And after Yuzu won, he was so happy and inspired by her, he was crying.]]
** In Episode 73, Yuya [[spoiler: writes Yuzu a letter. Reading it brings her to tears.]]
* ShrinkingViolet: Based on the flashback in Episode 25, he was this as a kid after his dad disappeared.
* SlasherSmile: In Episode 45, he gives out chilling smiles to [[spoiler:the Obelisk Force members, implying that they're screwed. They are.]]
* SplitPersonality:
** Very subtle, but this is implied to happen in Episode 1, when Yuya created the Pendulum Cards in the middle of his duel. He doesn't seem to remember what he did after the duel either. After getting [[spoiler:Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon, it becomes an explicit SuperpoweredEvilSide]].
** [[spoiler:Mieru states he has two souls inside of him, his own and Yuto's. Beyond that there is a darkness trying to absorb both of them.]]
* SpiritedCompetitor: As a result of his character development, Yuya has become this. [[spoiler:Even smiling in excitement in his duel against Sawatari when Sawatari sealed his Pendulum summoning.]]
* StepfordSmiler: He's the "sad inside" type. According to Yuya's mother, he created his FunPersonified persona to cope with his father's disappearance and the negative stigma it brought him. It's the result of his father's advice to "laugh when you feel like crying". Episode 14 confirms that he has [[TheCynic a pessimistic streak]]. [[spoiler:He eventually drops this altogether, no longer hiding his tears in the face of the hell he's going through.]]
* StopHavingFunGuys: {{Invoked}} as an inversion. He argues that the point of Dueling is so people can have fun. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for him, this ideology continuously blows up in his face throughout the show, as the enemies he faces either don't care about fun at all or derive pleasure from horrible acts.]]
* SuperpoweredEvilSide: [[spoiler:Yuya's shows up in Episode 39. His [[GlowingEyesOfDoom eyes glow]] [[RedEyesTakeWarning red]], his hair stands spiked upright, and with TranquilFury he Xyz summons and brutally defeats Kaachidoki in an instant.]]
** [[spoiler:This side shows up again in Episode 45 but where the first time around Yuya came across as creepy and monotone, this time he's [[UnstoppableRage ''pissed and vengeful'']]. And he shows the superpowered part by doing the impossible and creating an Xyz Pendulum monster and Three Kill One Turning the Obelisk Force.]]
** [[spoiler:An interesting part is the super powered part of the trope is actually downplayed. While Yuya does either create new cards or use new skills in Berserk Mode. Afterwords he is able to consciously use those skills. As shown Yuya first used Xyz summoning and created Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon in Berserk Mode. But in his next duel, he was able to use them consciously.]]
* {{Synchronization}}: [[spoiler: He temporarily Sychronizes with Yugo after grabbing his deck.]]
* TeamMom: Male example for the [[spoiler:Lancers, as he is concerned if everyone is safe and all right]].
* TearsOfJoy: [[spoiler:He was so moved by Yuzu's duel in episode 69, he started crying]]
* TechnicalPacifist: Yuya loathes using dueling for combat and tries his best to solve conflict without violence. But if push comes to shove, he will fight back.
* ThemeNaming: Like other protagonists, Yuya's name has the Yu syllable in it.
* ThisIsUnforgivable: To him, Dueling is all about having fun and entertaining the audience. He'll never forgive anyone who would tarnish it by using it as a weapon for conflict and hurting people. [[spoiler:In the Episode 45 preview, he yells this in his berserk mode, which was triggered by Obelisk Force carding the Knight of Duels.]]
* TookALevelInBadass: Learning Fusion Summoning.
** And beyond that. Starting with his duel with Gongenzaka, he starts to Pendulum Summon without both his Magicians, and demonstrates more complex strategies. (Such as attacking an opponent with Odd-Eyes, then using Trump Witch's effect to summon Beast-Eyes and attack the enemy again.)
** [[spoiler:Learning Xyz summoning. Especially creating Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon.]]
** [[spoiler:This is shown in his second duel with Reiji, where he summons all of his dragons, brings Reiji down to 300 life points, compared to his first duel, where Reiji had near control the entire time. He doesn't even use a single Action Card.]]
* TrainingFromHell: Well, the card game version, but between Episode 2 and 3, Yuya and Gongenzaka dueled through the night and had at least 291 duels.
* TranquilFury:
** When Yuya's [[spoiler:SuperpoweredEvilSide first appears, he has a disturbingly calm demeanor in contrast with his frightening appearance.]]
** Yuya in his duel against [[spoiler:Sora in Episode 49]] is noticeably calm but still has plenty of anger against him.
* TraumaCongaLine: See BreakTheCutie above.
* {{Trigger}}: Kachidoki's taunt, as mentioned above, but more seriously, [[spoiler:witnessing duelists carding others prompts flashbacks of Yuto's memories of the Invasion of Heartland, as well as unleashing Yuya's SuperpoweredEvilSide.]]
* TwinTelepathy: Although they aren't technically twins, [[spoiler:Yuya mysteriously synced with Yugo after grabbing his deck as the latter was dueling, contributing to Yugo's victory.]]
* UnexpectedCharacter: [[spoiler:The preview for episode 71 shows that Yuya will use Odd-Eyes Saber Dragon, which no one expected for him to use considering Saber Dragon needs the original Odd-Eyes Dragon]]
* UnspokenPlanGuarantee:
** Shows up in Episode 13. Yuya outlines his combo to defeat Reiji in detail to the audience, only to have it fail after the first step because of an effect of Reiji's monsters he didn't know about.
** Happens again in Episode 23, when he has Trap Card that can negate a direct attack and allows him to add a card to his hand, which is then rendered unusable by Mieru's tactics.
* UnstoppableRage: [[spoiler:While Berserker Yuya was rather stoic before, in Episode 45, he is ''brutally'' pissed off.]]
* VitriolicBestBuds: He develops this with Sora eventually, getting him in a friendly headlock after explaining that no, they cannot celebrate Sora getting into the MCS, because Yuya still has to. [[spoiler:Sora throws it all away after his cover is blown, revealing his affiliation with Academia.]]
* WarriorTherapist: Yuya's Entertainment Dueling eventually catches his opponent in his performance and he changes them in a positive way. Characters like Michio and Sawatari eventually [[DefeatMeansFriendship become in better terms with him]]. Since Yuya's goal is to make people smile with his Entertainment Dueling, [[spoiler:it backfires when his SuperpoweredEvilSide enters the scene and ditches the Entertainment style for a dark OTK, following with Kachidoki becoming really pissed at Yuya after losing to him. It also fails to have any effect on Sora.]]
** He returns to this when dueling Tokumatsu.
** Seemingly Yuya's ability as a WarriorTherapist depends on the personality and goals of his opponent, as enemies who he cannot relate to or who cannot relate to him are unshaken in their views even after he beats them (such as security).
* WellDoneSonGuy: He wants to prove he's being worthy of being Yusho Sakaki's son, both to himself, common public and to his father (wherever he is), by being a great Entertainer duelist like him. A flashback shows that while Yusho was flattered by his son's devotion, he encourage him to [[BeYourself be himself]] instead of trying to emulate him. Yoko even comments that Yuya now is determinated in surpassing his father.
* WhatTheHellHero:
** He gives [[spoiler:Reiji an earful for his actions the last few episodes in Episode 50. Calling him out on forcing them to battle the Obelisk Force when he knew that they were coming and manipulating them.]]
** He gives Reiji another earful in Episode 67 [[spoiler:over his treatment of Reira, claiming that he sees Reira as a tool, when Reira has spent all his time trying to find him. And screaming what was the point of bringing him to a war when Reira obviously didn't decide that himself.]]
* WhamLine:
** Episode 39 has Yuya's [[spoiler:"Formed from pitch-black darkness, to fight those foolish enough to oppose its treacherous fangs! Descend now! Xyz Summon! Rank 4! Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!"]]
** [[spoiler:"I overlay the two Level 7 Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon and Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon!"]]
* WhipItGood: In Episode 3, Yuya spends the first few turns using Entermate Whip Viper [[BuildingSwing to swing across the field]] quicker than he can move on foot.
* WholeCostumeReference:
** With the plot important necklace, a collar, and a jacket he wears like a cape, Yuya is dressed almost exactly like Yugi did from Battle City onward. Only with his outfit being bright and cheerful as opposed to Yugi's dark and edgy. They also both have the starfish looking hair (though Yuya has a slightly more natural looking "starfish lying down" as opposed to Yugi's "starfish standing straight up").
** Yuya's [[spoiler:Riding outfit resembles Yusei's outfit. With both having [[BuffySpeak the back of their outfit defy gravity]], having orange spheres on their outfits. The difference is that Yuya's outfit is red and white compared to Yusei's dark blue and black. Making Yuya's look much brighter.]]
* WillfullyWeak: Despite being the only person able to use a never-before-seen method of summoning capable of opening his dueling to several abusive combos, high level monster spam, etc., Yuya sticks to using his weaker Entermate monsters, often for his one turn finishes. Partly justified in how the Entermate reflect Yuya's personality and due to the nature of duel schools in ''ARC-V'', all other advanced summoning methods that aren't Tribute Summoning do not appear to be available to the general public.
* WorfHadTheFlu:
** He started his duel with Michio while starving, which left him barely able to think straight and too weak to retrieve an Action Card. Once his mother passes him a snack, he easily retrieves the card and comes up with the winning strategy.
** And with Kyuando, he started exhausted after watching quiz shows all night, which made his IdiotHero problem much worse.
** His duel with Mieru comes in a time when he's feeling very uncertain about his future and he feels stuck. Mieru's speeches about how his future is bound to failure makes him take very bad decisions out of anger.
* TheWorfEffect: [[spoiler:He lost to Jack in Episode 64 to show how powerful Jack is despite Yuya Pendulum, Xyz and Fusion Summoning in one turn.]]
* WorthyOpponent: He sees Gongenzaka and Reiji as ones. And after [[spoiler:Episode 32, Sawatari]]
* WrongGenreSavvy: He initially presumes he can only Pendulum Summon when he's in a tight situation and about to lose. He's wrong, but given the franchise's history with these sorts of things, it's not hard to understand why he'd expect it.
* YankTheDogsChain: The show is rather brutal on him. Every single time he starts to make peace with his issues, the show finds new ways to traumatize him all over again.
[[folder:Reiji Akaba (Declan Akaba)]]
!!Reiji Akaba (Declan Akaba)
!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/YoshimasaHosoya (JP), Billy Bob Thompson (EN)
[[quoteright:212:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fullreijiakaba_5281.png]]
The 16-year-old CEO of Leo Corporation, Reiji quickly develops an interest in Yuya's Pendulum Summoning, working on finding out about it from behind the scenes. He uses a DD[[note]]not to be confused with D.D.[[/note]] deck based around looping through summons to bring out Extra Deck monsters quickly and utilizes Fusion, Synchro and Xyz Monsters, as well as his own manufactured Pendulum Monsters.
----
!!Tropes associated with Reiji:
* TheAce: He's a pro and runs the largest gaming business in the world, all at the age of 16. He's the only duelist to have used Fusion, Synchro, Xyz and Pendulum all at once.
* AdjustingYourGlasses: He adjusts his glasses by the bridge a lot in his duel with Yuya, showing that he has a well thought-out strategy and a few tricks up his sleeve.
* AllAccordingToPlan: [[spoiler: Says this very casually to losing Tsukikage in the Friendship Cup. Reira, and the Executive Council are disturbed.]]
* AllYourPowersCombined: His deck is based around performing every kind of summoning. So far he's displayed Fusion, Synchro and Xyz, and the elemental theme of his monsters makes it possible he's also got an EARTH Ritual monster we haven't seen yet. Not to mention his Pendulum Monsters.
* AloofBigBrother: Towards Reira; he may be a little distant with him, but it's clear that he cares for his little brother. He starts out as the only person Reira seems comfortable around.
* AmbiguouslyEvil: He's initially presented as an antagonist, then turns out to be a respectful and decent guy, then turns out to be engaging in shady activities behind the scenes. By the time of Episode 36 when he true motives are revealed, it's clear he has good intentions, but is willing to do ''very'' morally grey things for the greater good.
* AntiHero: Everything he does is to [[spoiler:stop his father, Leo Akaba who started a war between the Fusion and Xyz dimensions and does seem to honestly care for his town. But he has done a lot of morally gray actions in his quest, from manipulating his students and allies, to lying to his allies so he can experiment on their possibly dead ally's duel disk, willingly using teenagers as soldiers, and sacrificing them without reinforcements if it comes to it.]]
* ArchnemesisDad: [[spoiler:The MCS is actually a way to distillate the strongest duelists in order to fight his father. He also flat out calls Leo Akaba his enemy.]]
* ArmorPiercingQuestion: [[spoiler:In their second duel, Reiji asks Yuya if he is fine with leaving the other carded even if Yuzu is all right.]]
* AwesomeByAnalysis: He was able to create a [[spoiler:Pendulum counter deck based on his knowledge on Yuya's duels]].
* {{Badass}}: He's one of the best duelists in the world, and he proves it. To date, the only duel he lost is one where he forfeited to Yuya, at a time when it wasn't fully clear who would win or lose. Then in Episode 51, he deals Yuya his first defeat since the second episode.
* BadassBookworm: Being a CEO at age 16 and a professional duelist at age 15 certainly qualifies him even before we see what he can do.
** He proves it even more when he duels, having mastered ''EVERY'' form of summoning. He proceeds to show this by summoning a Fusion Monster, a Synchro Monster, AND an Xyz Monster in just ''two'' of his turns.
** It's pretty much explicitly stated that he managed to make his own Pendulum monsters. Granted, they malfunction, but that's still a pretty big achievement.
* BigBadDuumvirate: Though he and his mother ultimately have good intentions, they are still the conflict creators in the earlier arcs before Acadamia rears its head.
* BigGood: [[spoiler:In spite of his morally ambiguous ways, he's the closest thing the show has to one, as he's dedicated to protecting Maiami from the forces of the other dimensions, and is fundamentally opposing Leo Akaba, who's responsible for the war between Academia and the Resistance.]]
* BigShutUp: Shouts at Hokuto and Yaiba to make them stop trash talking Yuya's dad, declaring that he highly respects Yusho for being a pioneer in Action Duels.
* BlatantLies: He tells Serena that he has no idea about the whereabouts of duelists from the Xyz Dimension, despite his involvement with Kurosaki.
* CharacterTics: Primarily adjusting his glasses.
* TheChessmaster: He's implied to have spent the last three years preparing for the inevitable inter-dimensional war when it comes to the Standard Dimension, and likes to be aware of everything that happens in the city to make sure it doesn't interfere with his plans. [[spoiler:Episode 52 reveals that the Leo Duel Schools that have been set up around the world were a cover; they're actually Duel Monster-type military training camps where duelists learned the skills needed to prepare for the war with Academia, and with said war beginning the schools are opening to the public so everyone can learn to defend themselves in case of a second invasion.]]
* ChickMagnet: As seen in Episode 27, he has a lot of fangirls.
* ColdHam: Reiji is eternally calm and collected, but when he duels, ''especially'' when he summons his D/D/D monsters, his facial expressions and shouts are as hammy as anyone else.
* CynicismCatalyst: [[spoiler:Finding out that his father was the head of the Academia and that he intended on fusing dimensions together really messed with Reiji's head. Turning him from a nice guy to what he is today.]]
* DarkIsNotEvil: In spite of his Fiend-Type deck, Reiji is a polite and reasonable person [[spoiler:He does however have some more morally ambiguous qualities and is definitely a WellIntentionedExtremist]].
* DeathOrGloryAttack: His standard modus operandi. His Covenants are excellent searching cards that will wreck him if they stay on the field, and his Astronomer Pendulums have ridiculously good Scales, but degrade quickly and have the potential to wipe out his whole field in the process.
* DubNameChange: Reiji to Declan, and DD to D/D.
* ElementalPowers: His three ace monsters from the Extra Deck, who are each a different attribute.
** DDD Alexander the [[BlowYouAway King of Gales]], a Synchro Monster.
** DDD Caesar the [[MakingASplash Surging Waves King]], an Xyz Monster.
** DDD Temujin the [[PlayingWithFire Raging Inferno King]], a Fusion Monster.
* EpicFail: His first group of Lancers ends up [[spoiler:entirely defeated, except for one that [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere runs away]]]].
* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: How "bad" he is is anyone's guess, but he's on very good terms with his mother Himika, though she's also bad and they're quite formal with one another (likely because of their positions within Leo Corporation, though).
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Though he is an antagonist [[spoiler:at first]], he's easily the nicest LDS associate so far, and yelled at Yaiba and Hokuto for badmouthing Yusho Sakaki.
* EveryoneHasStandards: Reiji might be a very morally ambiguous character but even he [[spoiler:was uncomfortable about using Reira, a very traumtized child, to battle against the Academia. He also seems fine with the idea that Reira is gaining a will unlike Himika.]]
* EvilLaugh: Delivers one in Episode 13 after he realizes the true potential of Pendulum Monsters.
* {{Expy}}:
** Sixteen year old CEO of a gaming corporation, eh? Kaiba called, he wants his gig back.
*** He takes one step further when his ''true'' ace monster is revealed: as with other previous rivals, it's a 3000 ATK Level 8 monster. Like Kaiba, and unlike the other rivals, though, he runs ''three'' copies of it in his Deck, and they are also the only ones that exist in the world. But unlike the others, it isn't a Dragon-type or something with "dragon" in the name.
*** Along with his CEO status and his Ace Monster, he also seems to [[spoiler:targeting his Dad as an enemy. And if the second opening is to be believed with a rocket launching with LEO Corps insignia on it. It could be for similar motivations as Kaiba, who fought for control of Kaiba Corp from his adopted father, Gozaburo who used the Corporation to produce weapons for war.]]
** He also mentions kings a lot in his summoning chants, and his monsters are named after famous conquerors. Jack Atlas, anyone? [[spoiler:Oh the irony...]]
** On the other hand, he lacks the characteristic arrogance of such characters, and is quite respectful.
** He also seems to be one for Rex [[SpellMyNameWithAnS Goodwin]], with his morally ambiguous actions for some unstated duel, and [[spoiler:keep an eye on duelists to bring out their potential]].
** He does have a little brother, drawing parallels to both Kaiba and [[DubNameChange Kaito/Kite]], and [[spoiler:hates his father like them too.]]
** Outside the YGO franchise, he takes some cues from [[Franchise/NeonGenesisEvangelion Gendo Ikari]], with his stoic demeanor, moral ambiguity, [[ManipulativeBastard manipulative nature]], [[HiddenAgendaVillain secrecy about his plans and motivations]], role as the head of a mysterious organization dedicated to protect the world from external menaces [[WellIntentionedExtremist through rather questionable methods]], a pair of (at times) ScaryShinyGlasses as his IconicItem - which he always adjusts by the bridge - and an [[OlderSidekick older right-hand man]]. The similarities even extend to their headquarters' structure: an enclosed room with a large screen from where they watch over the whole city and conduct their operations with their army of BridgeBunnies while comfortably sat on their huge desks, always with their most trusted subordinate standing by their side - they even have the same elevating work platform they use to move up and down through the various levels of the building! Reiji is also frequently seen doing the (in)famous [[MemeticMutation Gendo Pose]]. [[spoiler:Ironically enough, Reiji hates his neglectful - and ambitious - father, while Gendo IS one of these to his own son, Shinji.]]
** He's pretty similar to [[Anime/CodeGeass Lelouch Lamperouge]], both are leading figures in [[spoiler:a war despite their [[ImprobableAge young age]] at 17 and 16 for Lelouch and Reiji respectively against their disappeared dad that is attempting to change reality. They are more than a little manipulative and [[AntiHero morally ambiguous]], but despite that are the closest thing their shows have to a BigGood. Both started and lead an organization for said war that has a knight theme, The Black Knights and Lancers.]]
* FamilyThemeNaming: Reiji, like Reira and Leo, have the the kanji of zero (零) in their names. [[FridgeBrilliance Funnily enough]], it works as another parallel to Lelouch a.k.a. Zero, leader of the Black Knights.
* FlawedPrototype: Reiji created his own Pendulum monsters, with just the research he did on Yuya and his own experience with Pendulum Summoning [[TheManBehindTheMan through Sawatari]]. Still, these copies are not perfect and they sometime malfunction. [[spoiler:By the MCS battle royale, he finished them.]]
* {{Foil}}: To Yuya, they are both the aces of their schools and are Pendulum users. While Reiji is well respected as the head of the top duel school at the start of the series, Yuya is looked down upon because of his father and is a member of a duel school made up of only 5 people. They both hide their emotions, Yuya using laughter and smiles compared to Reiji's stoicism. Their relationships with their fathers are completely different as well. Yuya's father disappeared but Yuya still thinks very highly of him, while Reiji doubts his father even cares enough about him that he would be a useful hostage. [[spoiler:This is furthered in their methods in dealing with the interdimensional war. Yuya attempts to still bring smiles to his opponents, while Reiji is willing to do anything to gain the upper hand against the Academia, even willing to sacrifice his men. Also, Reira also sees both of them as brother figures and both Reiji and Yuya care about him in different ways]]
* FrontlineGeneral: In spite of having command of an entire corporation, Reiji has a habit of confronting enemy agents in person, doing so with Kurosaki and [[spoiler:Serena and Barrett]]. [[spoiler:Later going personally with the Lancers to the Synchro Dimension.]]
* FullNameBasis: He and Yuya refer to each other by their full names.
* FunWithAcronyms: His monsters, DD (Different Dimension) and DDD (Different Dimension Demon), which aren't technically named that due to archetype issues (on the actual cards, DD/DDD aren't considered acronyms) but are referred to as such in-universe.
* IOwnThisTown: Positive example: "This is my city. And I will decide how to protect it."
* IdiotBall: It may have been an important measure at the start of the Battle Royale, but [[spoiler:leaving on the 2000 life point penalty for interfering with a duel when Obelisk Force shows up is just stupid, as proven by how it harms the defenders like Sawatari, Teppei, and Michio.]]
* ImpossiblyCoolClothes: His scarf is just as gravity defying as Yuya's coat cape.
* ImprobableAge: In a stunning homage to Kaiba, Reiji is the head of a corporation which practically owns Maiami City at just ''16'', as well as being a pro duelist at the same time. [[spoiler:On top of that, he's basically leading the effort to deal with an interdimensional war]].
** This is deconstructed in [[spoiler:the Battle Royale mini-arc. While the Battle Royale plan is sound on paper, in reality it runs into problems. Underestimating how long the invasion would go on, he forces the town to stay in the stadium, causing some to question what is going on. His first bunch of Lancers' decks were mismatched, lowering their efficiency as a team, which leads to their defeat. And his attempt to keep the invasion under wraps puts the MCS duelists in danger. All these problems show that while he's intelligent, he's lacking in experience.]]
* JapanesePronouns: The CEO of Leo Corporation uses the formal pronoun ''watashi'', which also fits to his respectful character.
* TheLeader: Of the [[spoiler:Lancers. Most of them get captured in 3 days in the Synchro Dimension when he's not around.]]
* TheMagicPokerEquation: Reiji's deck usually averts this trope, as many of his cards allow him to tutor from his deck (add specific cards from deck to hand) or draw several cards, which is standard in the current ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' meta. It's only when he draws three of the same 3000 ATK monster and Pendulum Summons them that his draws look a little more than convenient. Fortunately, this has only happened once in his three duels.
* TheManBehindTheMan: It's quite clear that he's the one pulling Sawatari's strings.
* ManipulativeBastard:
** Oh yeah, [[spoiler:Reiji will do anything to keep his dimension safe, no matter what others may think. As shown when he sent his first group of Lancers to fight the Obelisk Force despite knowing they had no way in hell of winning simply to protect Serena.]]
** He purposefully chooses a particular Action Field, [[spoiler:Future Metropolis Heartland, to watch Kurosaki's reaction to it. And when Kurosaki does [[HeroicBSOD react]] he casually jokes that "He seems to have taken a liking". And right before the fight he tries to have Nakajima hand him a ''single'' Pendulum Card.]]
** Taken UpToEleven in his second duel with [[spoiler:Yuya. He mocks and angers Yuya for two reasons: to prove to Yuya that he lacks the strength to save Yuzu, forcing him to join the Lancers, and to learn more about Yuya's powers, including Berserk Mode. He even outright lies to Yuya when he asks if Yuzu is in danger, saying that she is despite fully knowing that she's not.]]
* NobleDemon: His DD deck contains Fiend-type monsters, but Reiji seems not to be evil or an actual villain, and his role as an antagonist starts to fade as well.
* NotSoDifferent:
** [[spoiler:From his father, they are both stoic men that run a school that is meant to train child soldiers. They have both done some horrible things to fulfill their goals and have shown no remorse for their actions. This is furthered in episode 52 when Reiji reveals he plans on turning LDS into military training centers for dueling soldiers just like the Academia.]]
** [[spoiler:He also this to Yuya. When Reiji was 13, roughly around Yuya's age, they were very similar. Both were kindhearted people whose fathers went missing leaving them confused and upset.]]
* NotSoStoic: His BigShutUp moment. He exploded. Again in Episode 13, where he performs an EvilLaugh and while his face is covered by his hand, his eyes look crazy. His backstory reveals that he wasn't stoic three years ago.
* OedipusComplex: Cares for his mother, not to a creepy extent, but [[spoiler:hates his father, Leo Akaba]].
* OrcusOnHisThrone: Two of his ace monsters, DDD Abyss Ragnarok and DDD Kali Yuga, are depicted seated on thrones.
* PaperThinDisguise: Subverted. His disguise using a [[InTheHood hooded sweatshirt]] is probably more to avert suspicion, as the people he's hiding from don't even know about him.
* ParentalNeglect: Not his mother, but [[spoiler:he seriously doubts his father, Leo Akaba, values him enough for him to be useful as a hostage.]]
* {{Pun}}: The kanji in DDD Hell Armageddon's name that makes the "Great Death Lord" part is read as "shi-i-ou," which sounds a lot like "CEO," Reiji's position in the Leo Corporation.
** DDD Abyss Ragnarok has a similar pun, with the kanji 壊薙王 (destroy, mow down, and king, respectively) being read as "kai-chi-ou," which sounds similar to "kaichou," or "chairman."
* PlayingCardMotifs: Has a motif based around the Diamond suit. Shown with his monster archetype being DD, wearing a pair of black diamond studded earrings and having a Diamond appear around him and the Lancers in the third ending.
* PunchCatch: Counters Yuya's sucker punch with this.
* RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: [[SubvertedTrope Subverted]]. While his Duel Disk is red and black, Reiji is morally ambiguous at worst.
* TheRival: He is Yuya's "Kaiba."
* ScarfOfAsskicking: His scarf is more badass when you learn that he's been a duelist with the potential needed to be a pro since he was ''15'', owns the famous Leo Duel School at ''16'' and he specializes in all types of summoning.
* ScaryShinyGlasses: Sometimes. Usually when he's doing something morally ambiguous.
* SheIsTheKing: His Fusion Monster "DDD Oracle King d'Arc", quite obviously based on the very female UsefulNotes/JoanOfArc.
* SillyRabbitIdealismIsForKids: His attitude towards Yuya's kindness.
* SlasherSmile: He shows off a pretty nasty one in Episode 51 when [[spoiler:Yuya summons Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon]]
* SmugSmiler: A lot of the smiles he shows in Episode 50 are this.
* TheStoic: He's usually calm and collected and rarely shows emotions.
* ThemeNaming:
** Reiji's first set of DDD monsters are named after famous conquerors: Caesar, Alexander the Great, and Genghis Khan (by his birth name, Temujin), as well as Kaiser the Conqueror in the manga.[[note]]Unlike the others, though, this one is pretty vague, as there have been ''many'' people with the title of "Kaiser". Common guesses as to who this card is modeled after are Charlemagne, first ruler of the Carolingian Empire, or Otto I, creator and first ruler of the Holy Roman Empire.[[/note]] After he masters Pendulum Summon, his new ones are named after end of the world scenarios in various religions (Christianity's Armageddon, Norse's Ragnarok and Hinduism's Kali Yuga).
** In the manga, the two Pendulum Monsters he uses for Pendulum Summoning are both "Proud" monsters. In the anime, they are named after astronomers; Galilei and Kepler.
** His other monsters are named after demons, like Cerberus, Lilith, Baphomet, and Pandora. [[note]]In some versions, Pandora became a demon after releasing the horrors of the box.[[/note]]
* TookALevelInJerkass: Seemingly in his second duel with Yuya. He relentlessly taunts Yuya, and insults Kurosaki as well. [[spoiler: He is however, pissed the no one in the Synchro Dimension considers losers of the Friendship Cup being enslaved to be a problem.]]
* TranquilFury: He's visibly angry when [[spoiler: the Executive Council insults Yuya and none of the Synchro Dimension cares about what happens to the losers of the Friendship Cup.]]
* {{Tritagonist}}: After Yuya and Yuzu, he gets the most focus as he tries to [[spoiler:builds a defense against the Fusion Dimension]].
* {{Troll}}:
* TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: Downplayed. He's 16, but honestly, his mindset is far more like a hardened veteran than a teenager. He has shown a shocking amount of ruthlessness in his quest to defend his hometown.
* [[TheUglyGuysHotDaughter The Ugly Guy's Handsome Son]]: Reiji really took after his mom if you compare him with his dad.
* UnexpectedCharacter: In Episode 40, he plays DD Proud Chevalier, which had previously appeared only in an one-shot manga chapter-- a rather rare occurrence in the franchise, and he later brought in the OCG debuted Abyss Ragnarok.
* TheUnreveal: We still don't know what Reiji's last card was in his duel with Yuya. In Episode 21, he's seen testing his cards, using the same hand from that time, and just when he's about to use the same last card, he's called out of the test for an news update.
* UsedToBeASweetKid: Episode 41 showed him as a [[spoiler:nice guy three years ago who would willingly rescue a girl he didn't know. In the present, while he still has good intentions, he is a rather gray character.]]
* TheWatcher: After his duel with Yuya he has done little in the way of getting directly involved with the plot. Mostly observing Duels from his private room and having Nakajima run errands for him, such as giving Kurosaki a Pendulum Card and [[spoiler:having him take Yuto's duel disk.]] This is justified since he's running the tournament [[spoiler:and creating an army to defend against the Fusion Dimension]]. [[spoiler:He's finally got another duel as of episode 40 with Barrett from Academia and another one against Yuya in Episode 50.]]
* WellIntentionedExtremist: [[spoiler:As stated in AntiHero, he just wants to protect his dimension but he has done some really dark things in his quest.]]
* WorthyOpponent: Considers Yuya one and doesn't even consider that he is the perpetrator attacking LDS students.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Aside from his silver hair color, it's actually fairly subdued.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Noboru Gongenzaka (Gong Strong)]]
!!Noboru Gongenzaka (Gong Strong)
!!'''Voiced by:''' Yohei Obayashi (JP), Billy Bob Thompson (EN)
[[quoteright:285:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fullnoborugongenzaka_8552.png]]
One of Yuya's friends; he isn't actually a You Show student due to being the heir to his family's dojo, but seems to hang around there a lot. He's an advocate of a method of Dueling he calls "Steadfast Dueling", which is taught by his family's dojo; basically the exact opposite of Action Dueling, it discourages unnecessary movement. Reflecting this, Gongenzaka's Superheavy Samurai deck has no Spell or Trap cards at all, and many of his monster effects can only be activated when he has no S/T in his Graveyard. They can also attack while in defense position, using their DEF points for damage calculation. Under the tutelage of Yaiba, he adds Synchro monsters to his deck. As a member of the Lancers, he adds the Superheavy General sub-archetype of Pendulum Monsters to his deck.
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!!Tropes associated with Gongenzaka:
* {{Acrofatic}}: Well, he's more ''big'' than fat, but the sizeable guy goes on morning runs. Episode 30 shows that he's actually pretty muscular.
* AffectionateNickname: Sora calls him "Gon-chan", but Gongenzaka does not like it.
** [[spoiler:Dennis later picks it up as well, crossing into TermsOfEndangerment since Dennis is TheMole.]]
* AintTooProudToBeg: Begs Yaiba to teach him about Syncho summoning, with his face on the ground, in Episode 21. He actually references this trope in Episode 26, saying that if he can learn, he doesn't care if he has to beg.
* {{Badass}}: Karate-chopped through Battleguard Mad Shaman's spike without flinching. He also saves Yuya by holding up a stone pillar ''twice his size'' with no injury. Granted, it was Solid Vision, but still dangerous. Also, he fought his way halfway to Kurosaki's solitary confinement cell, ''without'' using duel-monster magic as weapons.
* BadassBack: In his duel against Ankokuji, he goes into the arena and gives him the back in order to show his dislike for him as well as to show his new black belt. And damn, he looked badass.
* BewareTheNiceOnes: See GoodIsNotSoft below.
* BadassBiker: [[spoiler:In Episode 66, he hilariously becomes a D-Wheeler.]]
* TheBigGuy: He is very definitely one of the bigger characters. His deck also runs a StoneWall strategy.
* BigOlEyebrows: Has very bushy eyebrows like [[Manga/{{Naruto}} Might Guy]].
* BlindfoldedVision: Wears his bandana over his eyes in order to defeat Yuzo Tanegashima, who was camouflaged with the scenery.
* BlushSticker: The manly Gongenzaka always has some blush on his cheeks, and it does not detract from said manliness one bit.
* BullyHunter: He protected Yuya when they were younger, from those who wanted to beat him up for being a coward's son.
* CatchPhrase:
** "Unforgivable, this is unforgivable, [person name]!"
** Also some variation of "The manly Gongenzaka!"
* ChildhoodFriends: With Yuya.
* CleopatraNose: His nose is bigger than the other characters', but not big enough to be a GagNose.
* ColorFailure: After Sora refers to him as an outsider.
* {{Determinator}}: He never gives up, believing in his deck to the end. And if he get's hit by an attack, he'll keep himself on his feet and get pushed backwards, unless it wipes him out.
* DoesNotLikeMagic: He doesn't have ''any'' Spell or Trap Cards in his StoneWall deck and just relies on his monster effects. This proves to be more CrazyAwesome than people give it credit for; most of his monster effects require a Graveyard free of Spells and Traps to work. This is the other reason why he never uses Action Cards. He does however gain a monster whose ability allows him to activate magic cards from his ''opponent's'' graveyard.
* DontYouDarePityMe: He doesn't want Yuya pitying him for fighting him, and inverted, because he feels the pity he held for Yuya after his dad went missing also made him weaker.
* DubNameChange: Gong. His monsters:
** Waka-O2 (Oni) -> Blue Brawler
** Sword-999 -> Swordsman
** [=TenB=]-N -> Scales
** Soul Great Wall -> Soulshield Wall
** Soul Fire Armor -> Soulfire Suit
** Soul Break Armor -> Soulbreaker Armor
** Soul Big Bang -> Soulbang Cannon
** Kagebo-C -> Flutist
** Horaga-E -> Trumpeter
** Koujin Susanowo-> Warlord Susanowo
** Soul Iwatooshi -> Soulpiercer
** Soul Makarugaeshi -> Soulbeads
** Shinki Shutendoji -> Ogre Shutendoji
* EverythingsBetterWithSamurai: His deck's motif.
* {{Foil}}:
** He's one to Yuya. They are both heirs to their schools with unusual decks, Yuya having a Pendulum deck and Gongenzaka uses a deck without Spells or Traps. Yuya is a StepfordSmiler, while Gongenzaka is very open about his emotions. Even their dueling styles are the exact opposite, Yuya runs about using Action Cards compared to the steady Gongenzaka that refuses to budge.
** On the [[spoiler:Lancers]] he and Sawatari are foils. Gongenzaka is steadfast and loyal friend that has willing let stepped out of the limelight to protect them while Sawatari is an egoistical glory hound who can't stand anyone badmouthing him. Gongenzaka understands the emotional effects of being a child soldier while Sawatari was giddy at being a [[spoiler:Lancer.]] Gongenzaka is loyal to his dueling style while Sawatari has changed his decks after each lost.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Since the beginning of the Junior Youth Championship's qualification mini arc, Nico has been bringing Gongenzaka's training up for some reason, because Gongenzaka is Yuya's last opponent for the qualifier.
* {{Fundoshi}}: Wears one while training under a waterfall.
* GentleGiant: He can be a bit stuffy, but he's a pretty nice guy.
* GoodIsNotSoft: One of the nicest, most morally upright characters on the show, and he's proven himself perfectly capable of kicking lots of ass.
* GracefulLoser: He didn't really mind losing to Yuya and was simply happy to force Yuya to pass his limits. [[spoiler:And again when he is defeated by Crow.]]
* HeirToTheDojo: And heir of said dojo's Dueling style that he uses with pride.
* HeterosexualLifePartners: Him and Yuya.
* HonorBeforeReason:
** After he and Yuzu's tag duel against Olga and Halil, he refuses to take any of the [[spoiler:Pendulum]] cards they won except for the one he bet, because his life points technically hit zero and it was Yuzu who won.
** [[spoiler:When he and Dennis wind up in the Synchro Dimension together, he angrily berates Dennis for not immediately looking for Yuya and the others and instead trying to raise money and gather information, even when Dennis rightfully points out how important this is.]]
* HotBlooded: Odd example; he's a very staunch and enthusiastic proponent of his own family's Steadfast Dueling style, which means that he doesn't care for the other HotBlooded characters running around during Action Duels, as "real men don't make unnecessary movements."
* ItsPersonal: Against Ankokuji for bullying Yuya as a child and dissenting against the dojo.
* JapanesePronouns: The manly Gongenzaka uses the masculine pronoun ''ore.''
* LargeHam: The manly Gongenzaka is most definitely this.
* LastNameBasis: His family name is used to refer to him both when he references himself and by all his friends. His father is the only person who calls him by his first name.
* LetsFightLikeGentlemen: The manly Gongenzaka values honor and mutual respect in duels.
* LockedOutOfTheLoop: Had no idea that there was much going on until Sora dueled Kurosaki. After that, the resulting infodump and conflicting evidence (a result of this trope) quickly frustrates him. [[spoiler:Yuya fills him in on the plot in Episode 46.]]
* MadeASlave: [[spoiler: Like all who lose in the Friendship Cup.]]
* MadeOfIron: [[spoiler:Suffers no serious injury from a pillar falling on him.]]
* ManlyTears: The manly Gongenzaka is prone to crying when he's overflowing with happiness. [[spoiler:Especially when Yuya wakes up from his ConvenientComa.]]
* MechanicalLifeforms: His Superheavy Samurais are all Machine-Type.
* MythologyGag: He evolves his Steadfast Duel (''Fudo'' no Dyueru) with Synchro Summoning. Yusei ''Fudo'' was the protagonist of ''Anime/YuGiOh5Ds'', which had major themes regarding evolution, although it's a bit ironic since Synchro Monsters were associated with D-Wheels and speed (especially with Accel Synchro), but Gongenzaka's dueling style involves standing still.
** [[spoiler:He ends up on a D-Wheel anyway.]]
** This is extended in ''Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Tag Force Special'', where his voice tracks includes the summon chants of Road Warrior and Formula Synchron, including calling them by their names.
* NiceGuy: The manly Gongenzaka is loyal to his friends and respectful to everyone.
* NoIndoorVoice: He's loud most of the time.
* NotSoAboveItAll: [[spoiler:He and Dennis end up together in Synchro dimension, and Dennis puts on shows to try to locate Yuya and the others. When Dennis tries to get him to duel, he indignantly refuses to be the {{Heel}}, and gets very worked up about it, despite telling Dennis off for doing so minutes earlier. Later he also gets mad at Dennis for using Yuya's CatchPhrase.]]
* OhCrap: His reaction to Yuya summoning Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon.
* OnceKilledAManWithANoodleImplement: Fights his way through waves of guards using his bare hands and his (admittedly heavy metal) sandals.
* OnlySaneMan: [[spoiler:He has to try to balance at Kurosaki's aggression and Dennis's apparent silliness, trying to get them to work together.]]
* PunnyName: Many of the Superheavy Samurai have puns involving parts of Japanese words replaced with English letters. However, several of these are LostInTranslation.
* TheReliableOne:
** Called this by both Yuzu and Yuya, for having always helped them out.
** Deconstructed in Episode 25. Yuya has relied on him since his father's disappearence, so Yuya needs to defeat Gongenzaka in order to stand in his own two feet.
** Perfectly demonstrated in Episode 43, when he protects Yuzu during their Tag Duel.
** [[spoiler:Shown again in Episode 49, on his turn, he took Sawatari's Pendulum Cards and gave them to Kurosaki, allowing Kurosaki to summon Revolution Falcon and win.]]
* SixthRanger: Gongenzaka isn't actually a member of You Show since he's going to inherit his family's dojo, but he hangs around a lot, and takes offense to being called an "outsider" by Sora (who only just transferred to the school himself).
* StoneWall: His deck, Superheavy Samurai, focuses on monsters with high DEF and other monsters that protect the monsters on the field. The manly Gongenzaka himself follows the same philosophy; he doesn't move an inch from wherever he stands during the duel. It's one of the reasons he never uses Action Cards.
* TeamDad: [[spoiler:He's this for the Lancers, trying to keep them on track and from doing stupid things that will hurt them. Creates HoYay due to Yuya being the TeamMom.]]
* ThirdPersonPerson: Not only does he refer to himself by his last name, but adds "the manly" onto the front.
* ThisIsUnforgivable: [[spoiler:He says this to Sora in Episode 48 about his actions.]]
* TookALevelInBadass: Asks Yaiba to teach him Synchro Summoning for the purpose of invoking this trope. He finally learned it and shows it in Episode 25.
** Taken UpToEleven when he [[spoiler:becomes the first person to pull off a Pendulum-Synchro Summon, beating both Yuya and Reiji in doing it]].
* UnderestimatingBadassery: Is the victim of this from both Sora and Yaiba (though maybe "victim" isn't the right word...), but he surprises them with his unique strategy and manages to get a draw. Then he's a victim of it from everyone when he Synchro Summons.
* UndyingLoyalty: Without any knowledge of the circumstances, he refuses to believe that Yuya attacked Shingo Sawatari, and encourages the other students to do the same.
** He's also irritated with Yuzu later for doubting Yuya about that.
** He shows this to Yuzu to [[spoiler:taking the hit for her in their tag match and willing went to back her up in when she was against the Obelisk Force when it was really Serena, not that he knew.]]
* WhatTheHellHero: He gives one to Yuzu for not [[spoiler:standing up for Yuya during the LDS vs You Show arc when she met the real attacker. and later for not believing in Yuya]].
* TheWorfEffect: [[spoiler:Despite debuting the first Pendulum-Synchro Summon, he loses to Crow, showing off the power of the Assault Blackwings.]]
* WorthyOpponent: He sees Yuya as one, and later [[spoiler:Crow after the latter gets over his distracting issues]].
* YoungerThanHeLooks: Because of his heavy build, result of training in his family dojo since his early childhood, Gongenzaka looks older than other guys his age.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Shingo Sawatari (Silvio Sawatari)]]
!!Shingo Sawatari (Silvio Sawatari)
!!'''Voiced by:''' Shogo Yano (JP), Michael Crouch (EN)
[[quoteright:122:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fullshingosawatari_6217.png]]
An egotistical LDS student and TheRival to Yuya. At the start he equates rarity with power, filling his deck with the rarest cards in the game and attempting to steal Yuya's one-of-a-kind Pendulum Summoning monsters for his own use. After meeting Yuya, he is inspired by the "Entertainment Dueling" style and begins to incorporate showmanship into his duels, becoming a better person for it.
He frequently changes decks throughout the show. His first one is a Darts Shooter deck; his second is a WATER Monarch deck; his third is a Yosenju deck; his fourth is an Abyss Actor deck.
----
!!Tropes associated with Sawatari:
* AdvertisedExtra: He's introduced as one of the main rivals of Yuya and is prominently shown in the first opening and promotional materials, indicating that he's a main character. However, he rarely shows up and he is quickly forgotten for most of the time. He finally returns as a main character in episode 48 and he still appears from there, [[spoiler:being one of the nine Lancers]].
* AntiMagic: Mobius and Mega Mobius are able to destroy Spell and Trap cards. Since Pendulum Monsters are recognized as Spell cards, it's likely he made his new deck with the purpose of destroying them as well.
* AmbulanceCut: Inverted. [[BlatantLies After being stated to be in great pain by his friends]], we cut to Sawatari happily chowing down on melons in his hospital bed.
* AscendedExtra: He's one of the five ''ARC-V'' main characters in ''Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V Tag Force Special'', probably as a nod to his early status in the series. Sawatari basically took ''Reiji's'' spot, of all people.
* AttackBackfire: His duel with Yuto. The latter starts off by setting five Spell/Trap Cards. Sawatari takes the bait and, using a new Deck he made, sends all of them to the Graveyard. This allows Yuto to win the duel, via Spell Cards with effects that activate from the Graveyard.
* AttentionWhore: He loved having the crowd cheering his name in Episode 31. Also in Episode 32, when he got the spotlight of Pendulum Summoning. And in episode 72, [[spoiler: he got over his loss against Yugo the moment when people started chanting his name.]]
** However, this trait is one of his biggest flaws, as Sawatari needs to be in the spotlight to satisfy his ego. Anyone else he perceives to be "stealing" his spotlight, he blows a casket.
* {{Badass}}: [[spoiler: He manages to corner Yugo without any Action cards, and only lost because Yugo synchronizing with Yuya allowed him to grab an Action Card.]]
** BadassBiker: Largely by accident, such as doing a wheelie to take the first turn.
* BigDamnHeroes: He rushes in to save [[spoiler:Tsukikage]] in Episode 48.
* BishieSparkle: In episode 15, while handing a napkin to Yuzu. Just look at [[http://38.media.tumblr.com/7f454b5ee5dd60543ef7230cb96531dc/tumblr_n90ni9U3vc1t5crs3o1_500.gif him.]]
* BitchInSheepsClothing: Tricks Yuya into letting him see the Pendulum Cards, and then steals them by pretending to be his friend.
* BlowYouAway: His Yosenju monsters are all WIND Attribute.
* BorrowedCatchphrase: In his MCS duel against Yuya, Sawatari performs a counter that manages to put him into a corner. All proud of managing to leave the audience speechless for putting Pendulum summon against the wall, Sawatari shouts "[[PreAsskickingOneLiner The fun has just started!]]". Ayu [[{{Lampshaded}} then says]] that's one of Yuya's lines.
* ButtMonkey: Sawatari has lost all his on-screen duels despite painting himself as a great duelist. Whenever he tries to brag, people either don't listen to him, cut him off, or chew him out for his small talk being used to cover his incompetence whilst acting like a brat for losing. Even his loyal friends notice this sometimes. [[spoiler:He however, does get to be a Lancer. But even then, the first thing that happened to him was he lost in an OTK and was arrested.]]
* CastingAShadow: The Abyss Actor monsters are all DARK-Attribute.
* CatchPhrase: "I'll put you (all) in your place!"
* CharacterDevelopment: Noticable in the second duel with Yuya, he starts as an AttentionWhore for the crowds attention, but has so much fun that he prompts Yuya to wow the crowd as well. Finally he takes his loss gracefully, and tells Yuya he'll duel him anytime. [[spoiler:This is shown again in the Synchro Dimension Arc when Sawatari engages in an Entertainment duel with Yuya and Tokumatsu and his camaraderie with Yugo in their duel]]
** [[spoiler:Later an annoying trend has started during the Synchro Dimension saga where whenever someone does anything to offend him, Sawatari bitches about it and threatens to tell his dad, the Mayor, on the culprit. What he fails to realize is that 1) his father isn't in the dimension, 2) his dad is not officially the "Mayor", 3) even if he was there, given Mr. Sawatari's personality, no one would take him seriously.]]
* CircusOfFear: His deck during the Synchro Dimension saga, the Abyss Actor deck, is one, though it [[DarkIsNotEvil isn't evil]] since he is fully good while using it.
* CoolBoard: He rides his [[ShockAndAwe Lightning Board]] in his first Action Duel with Yuya.
* DarkIsNotEvil: After a bit of CharacterDevelopment, he comes back with a DARK Fiend deck, the [[CircusOfFear Abyss Actor]].
* DeliberateInjuryGambit: Well, kinda. Whether he actually had any plans after playing up his injuries from his duel with Yuto isn't disclosed.
* DiscardAndDraw: He seems to have the tendency to replace his Deck anytime he loses with it.
** [[spoiler:This may happen again with the Yosenjus, but against his will as Reiji has ordered their retrieval. Of course, this is so they can be mass-produced, so it's not impossible he'll end up with a copy after his performance with them. He ends up with an Abyss Actor deck instead.]]
* {{Expy}}:
** Of pre-CharacterDevelopment [[Anime/YuGiOhGX Manjoume]]. Both Duelists are arrogant and believe that strong and rare cards can win Duels. They swore revenge on the main protagonists of their respective series after being defeated by them. Both were at one point also accompanied by a few toadies. Both lost in episode 4 of their respective series to the respective protagonists by cards they considered weak. They also both almost completely altered their decks with stronger cards the next time they dueled, only to also both lose these next said duels in turn. He also uses nothing but Parallel Rare cards (not counting his Yosenju cards), similar to Manjoume's brothers. He and Manjoume use new decks with WIND-attributed ace monsters (Mayosenju Daibakaze and Armed Dragon [=LV7=], respectively) during their rematch with their rival, however, they lose to them, but they take their defeat better.
*** His new ace monster Mayosenju Daibakaze is not only a WIND monster, but has also 3000 ATK like Manjoume's Armed Dragon [=LV10=]. They also share the same Level.
** Seems to also share some characteristics of [[Anime/YuGiOh Jounouchi]]. Both being hotheaded idiots, who are underestimated by a lot of characters in the show. Also start the show as a a bully of the main character and eventually becoming a friend.
** During his first appearance, he acts like a friendly guy just to steal Yuya's two Pendulum Magician cards and then he puts Yuya's friends in danger. Pre-''Duelist Kingdom'' [[Manga/YuGiOh Kaiba]], anyone?
** And his appearance looks very similar to Mamoru Jinguji/[[DubNameChange Carlyle Chesterton]], one of the [=CXyz=] users from ''ZEXAL''.
** His tendency to lose duels while claiming to be a great duelist makes him similar to [[Anime/CardfightVanguard Katsumi Morikawa]] from Cardfight Vanguard. He's also similiar to [[Anime/CardfightVanguard Shingo Komoi]] from the same series, as both their names are the same, they often underestimate their opponents, and when they lose their duels, they tend to change decks.
* FlungClothing: In Episode 31, he flings away his samurai outfit to reveal his regular uniform underneath. Amusingly, he even has his shoes, even though he was wearing sandals just seconds before.
* {{Foil}}: On the [[spoiler:Lancers]], he and Gongenzaka are foils. Sawatari is an egotistical glory hound that can't stand anyone badmouthing him while Gongenzaka is a steadfast and loyal friend that has willingly stepped out of the limelight to protect them. Gongenzaka understands the emotional effects of being a child soldier while Sawatari was giddy at being a [[spoiler:Lancer]]. Gongenzaka is loyal to his dueling style while Sawatari has changed his decks after each loss.[[spoiler:Though not anymore and fully embraces Entertainment Dueling]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In episode 15, he tells Yuya that other people will perform Pendulum Summons as well, foreshadowing that he will be using Pendulum Monster as well. Not only is this confirmed in Episode 31, he with his lackeys were the narrators for the OCG Special Pack ''Tribe Force'' which introduced the Yosenju archetype, which was a much bigger foreshadowing.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: Given Sawatari's personality, he is this to everyone he interacts to, with the exception of his dad. His three "best friends" are more like minions if anything, given that they grudgingly follow his orders and even call out Sawatari's hypocrisy at times. As part of the [[spoiler:Lancers]], the rest of the group either ignore him (Serena, Kurosaki, and Reira), tolerate him (Yuya, Reiji, and Tsukikage), humors him (Dennis) or outright puts him in his place (Gongenzaka).
* GotMeDoingIt: After being defeated by Yuya, Sawatari seems to have adopted some of his hamminess; even as his minions [[LampshadeHanging comment on it]], he can be heard in the background saying [[BorrowedCatchphrase "Ladies and Gentlemen!"]] while making a bunch of dramatic gestures.
* GracefulLoser: After his second loss to Yuya, he takes it a lot better...sort of.[[spoiler: He does it again in Episode 72 after his loss to Yugo.]]
* GratuitousEnglish: When Kurosaki wins the duel against [[spoiler:the Obelisk Force in Episode 49, he says a hammy "Oh yes!" in celebration.]]
* GratuitousFrench: The English dub has him occasionally saying French phrases.
* GreenEyedMonster: He was initially jealous of Yuya being the only person who knew how to Pendulum Summon.
** Later he gets jealous of ''anyone'' upstaging him in a duel or stealing attention away from him.
* HarmlessElectrocution: [[spoiler:As a result of his BigDamnHeroes moment during the Obelisk Force duel, he was electrocuted by the 2000 Life Point duel penalty.]]
* HiddenDepths: He's actually a skilled entertainer who enjoys putting on a good show for people.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: ''Twice.''
** In his Duel against Yuya, he lost due to Yuya using Block Spider, a card Sawatari gave him as an insult.
** Against Yuto, Sawatari's new Mobius strategy ended up giving his opponent both the materials needed to summon Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon and the card that dealt the final batch of damage.
* HunterOfHisOwnKind: His Yosenju deck is a Pendulum deck that counters Pendulum Summoning.
* ITakeOffenseToThatLastOne: Yuzu calls Sawatari a "coward, sore-loser, and second-rate duelist". The last one is what causes Sawatari to react, especially when Yuzu says that he's not even on that level and calls him a "hundredth-rate" duelist.
* AnIcePerson: In Episode 7, he starts running Monarchs, specifically Mobius the Frost Monarch and its upgraded form. He quickly switched decks soon.
* IdiotBall: It's shown very clearly that Sawatari has a copy of "Breakthrough Skill" in his hand, which would have negated at least one of the effects Yuya used throughout the Duel, particularly at points where Yuya could have lost or where Sawatari could have lost. Pride is Sawatari's FatalFlaw though, and he's later insulted by Yuto for bad dueling skills.
* ImprobableAimingSkills: His dueling skills may be in question, but he is really accurate with darts, able to get all three he threw to stick to Yuya's nose.
* IncomingHam: In Episode 31, even Yuya is driven to speechlessness.
* InsaneTrollLogic: When Sawatari learns that [[spoiler:Serena isn't Yuzu,]] he accuses her of being a spy, which would be fine...if she didn't just willingly reveal she was from [[spoiler:the Academia.]]
* ItsAllAboutMe: Mostly played for laughs. In the Friendship Cup arc he spends most of his appearances complaining about how he's not getting to duel.
* JapanesePronouns: Uses the informal ''ore'', but when he tries to get people's sympathy, he uses the less informal ''boku''. He also uses the more informal ''oresama'' to show [[SmugSnake how proud he is about his skills]].
* {{Jerkass}}: Sawatari steals Yuya's Pendulum Monsters and then forces Yuzu and the kids into danger so he can test the cards out. And after he loses, he tries to get his friends to help him steal the cards by force.
** JerkWithAHeartOfGold: He becomes a little nicer after his loss to Yuya in their second duel. Later, he even shows sympathy to Yuya over Yuzu's disappearance.
* LargeHam: After Yuya [[GotMeDoingIt Gets Him Doing It]], Sawatari ups his hamminess.
* LaserGuidedKarma: Sawatari was defeated by a card he threw away and called trash.
* LastNameBasis: With the exception of his father, everyone refers to him as Sawatari; even the Vs screen does, which usually refers most duelists by their first name. To the point when he was called as Shingo it took him a second to realize he was called.
* LaughablyEvil: Not really a villain past his first appearance, but he always remains incredibly fun to watch.
* TheLoad: [[spoiler:In episode 56, he doesn't help at all but in fact makes things worse. First he loses off-screen and then tells Security about the Action Cards, allowing them to bring Yuya down to 400 life points.]]
* LooseLips:
** [[spoiler:In episode 52, he reveals the existence of the Lancers before Himika can because people badmouthed him.]]
** In [[spoiler:episode 56, he tells Security about the Action Cards, allowing them to bring Yuya's life points down to 400.]]
* MadeASlave: [[spoiler: Like all Friendship Cup losers.]]
* NegatedMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:Like Dennis, his rushing in a duel was awesome, but him losing 2000 points and his reaction slightly negated the cool of it.]]
* NeverMyFault: He calls Yuya an idiot for letting Security bring down his life points to a measly 400 when he used the Action Card that Sawatari just explained to them for no reason.
* OurDemonsAreDifferent: Known as Fiend-type in the TCG, they comprise Sawatari's Abyss Actor deck.
* OutOfFocus: He's usually completely out of the picture when he's not dueling. [[spoiler:This changes in the Synchro Dimension arc, as he's a Lancer.]]
* PetTheDog: Warns Yuya and Yuzu that someone assumed to be either the Dark Duelist or the equally enigmatic Shun Kurosaki had attacked an LDS professor, and doesn't believe Yuya to be responsible anymore.
** BaitTheDog: He lied, he still blames Yuya for Yuto's actions, until he's defeated by Yuya a second time.
** He pets the dog again by being concerned about Yuzu, [[spoiler: and reminding Serena they should be looking for her, not dueling a bunch of people.]]
** He does it again by encouraging Yuya to show the strength of the Lancers, when Roger selects the latter to duel Jack Atlas in an exhibition match.
* PowerEqualsRarity: Firmly believes this. Eagle-eyed viewers will note that he plays nothing but Parallel Rares (a type of rarity where the whole card is shiny). This doesn't actually make them any stronger, so it serves no purpose other than to make his deck a lot more expensive. Just the way he likes it.
* RealityEnsues:
** After Sawatari loses to Yuya, he just tries to steal the Pendulum cards by force.
** Sawatari often switches decks to find one that might be perfect, something that most meta players do.
* {{Revenge}}: Wants revenge on Yuya for defeating and humiliating him last time, which leads us to...
** RevengeMyopia: Since Yuya only beat him because Sawatari stole his cards and put Yuzu and the children in danger. And he still blames Yuya for what Yuto did to him, and Yuya has to remind him that wasn't his fault. Then Sawatari tries to accuse him for attacking his father, only for Yuya to respond that it wasn't him either.
* {{Samurai}}: He wears a samurai-like outfit during his entrance in Episode 31.
* ScrewTheRulesIHaveConnections: He likes to use his father's status to get what he wants. Incidentally it does work during the Battle Royale, as it gets him out of the arena to go talk to Reiji. [[spoiler: Though it does nothing in the Synchro Dimension as no one knows who his father even is; Sawatari ''himself'' doesn't realize this simple fact.]]
* SmallNameBigEgo: Big time. Even after his character development, he's still extremely arrogant and probably doesn't fit his bragging just yet.
* SmugSnake: He images himself the best duelist in the world, but even with his Pendulum deck, he's just a test subject for the Pendulum cards and their counter strategy made by Reiji. [[spoiler:Averted after his CharacterDevelopment...sort of. He's still arrogant, but he is overall nicer.]]
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: In episode 59, his first name is spelled as "Singo".
* Technically a Smile: His weird smile before his last attack on Yugo
* ThrowTheDogABone: He still loses to [[spoiler: Yugo and gets sent to the Underground]], but the crowd cheers for him despite his loss, enjoying his entertainment duel.
* TookALevelInBadass: Subverted every single time Sawatari comes in with a new deck. After getting his new Monarch cards, he claims that he's can triumph over anyone, and given that the cards are fairly strong in the real game, it seems like he's actually right...until he gets curb-stomped in the next duel, almost ''immediately'' afterward. And when he duels Yuya again, he comes back with a Pendulum archetype of his own, Yosenju...which still fails to take down Yuya. It finally seems as though he's taken one when he becomes one of [[spoiler:the Lancers but is generally seen as TheLoad by the audience.]]
** [[spoiler: He finally shows he did take one by doing well in his duel with Yugo.]]
* TookALevelInKindness: By the end of his second duel with Yuya, only time will tell if it sticks. It does...kinda.
* TrademarkFavoriteFood: Sweet Milk Apple-Berry Pie with honey. And he chokes at the moment he bites it.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: Sawatari with his lackeys was narrating the commercial for the ''OCG Booster SP: Tribe Force'', which introduced the Yosenju. The commercial was first aired at the end of September 2014, while the episode where Sawatari first used the Yosenju cards was aired in 9th November 2014.
* UglyGuysHotDaughter: Gender inverted. But Sawatari looks nothing like his dad.
* UnderestimatingBadassery: He looks down on low Level and low ATK monsters and calls them trash, and never seems to consider their effects. Also does this to Yuya and Yuto. He gets over this mentality and ironically [[spoiler: almost defeats Yugo with two level monsters after Yugo underestimates them.]]
* WickedWeasel: His previous Yosenju deck, the majority of them being based of the Kamaitachi ("Sickle Weasel")[[note]]one of them is even called Kamaitachi, but with a different meaning[[/note]]. His new ace monster is Mayosenju Daibakaze, a gigantic weasel creature made of green/turquoise fire and wind. However, he actually becomes nicer while dueling Yuya with it.
* WorthyOpponent: After his second duel with Yuya, he recognizes him as a friendly rival rather than someone to exact revenge upon. [[spoiler: And Yugo recognizes him as one in their duel, even lamenting he'll have to send him to the Underground.]]
* {{Yokai}}: His Yosenju (often translated as "Hermit Yokai") deck is based on the Kamaitachi, the wind-sickle weasels of Japanese mythology.
[[/folder]]
