open/close all folders
Yuya Ryuga
Yuya Ryuga
Archetype: Odd-Eyes
Click here to see his demonic form
The main protagonist of ARC-V, an eighth-grader who attends You Show Duel School. He initially stepped away from Dueling due to Yusho's disappearance, but after unlocking Pendulum Summoning gets back in the game. He soon learns about an ongoing interdimensional war and about his true origins. In spite of the hardships he's gone through, Yuya hopes to end the war while staying true to his own dueling philoshiphy.
Yuya uses an Odd Eyes deck which is spearheaded by Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon.
- The Ace: He is the strongest duelist of You Show, having mastery over all the Extra Deck summon methods.
- Adaptational Badass: In canon, Yuya was an average Duelist who later learns the other Extra Deck Summoning methods throughout the anime. Here, it's revealed during his duel against Reiji that he had already known Fusion, Synchro and Xyz Summoning prior to the discovery of Pendulum Summoning. Furthermore, he was able to duel Reiji to the point where the latter is forced to end their duel in a DRAW, AND is the chosen wielder of Osiris.
- Adaptational Seriousness: In canon, Yuya tried to be like his father, all smiles and entertainment. Here, following Yusho abandoning the family, Yuya steps up, takes more responsibility and ultimately chooses to follow a Dueling style and philosophy of his very own.
- Be Yourself: Yuya's new philosophy revolves around this. Rather than try to make everyone smile like Yusho, he chooses to cherish the smiles of those who give him strength.
- Cool Big Bro: To the kids from the You Show Duel School.
- Famed In-Story: Yuya is very famous for defeating Strong Ishijima and debuting the Pendulum Summon, in Standard. Even moreso when it's revealed he was a Dragon Soldier alongside his brothers.
- Given Name Reveal: Initially introduced as Yuya Sakaki, but by the end of Part 2, his last name is revealed to be Ryuga, Zarc's last name.
- The Leader: Samejima gave Yuya this role in the Dragon Soldiers following the completion of their mission to end Professor Cobra's experiments.
- He later becomes this of the Dimension Guardians after meeting them in the Synchro Dimension, and keeps this role until Part 5 where he passes the leadership to Aoi/Blue Maiden.
- Polyamory: After defeating Leo Akaba, he begins a relationship with the Bracelet Girls.
- Protectorate: Lampshaded by Reiji during their first duel:Reiji: You seem like a kindhearted person, but you're not afraid to unleash your inner darkness when someone goes after your friends.
Reiji Akaba
Reiji Akaba
Archetype: D/D
The brilliant 16-year-old CEO of Leo Corporation. A talented duelist who is determined to stop his father, Reiji and his mother introduced the other Summoning Methods to the Standard Dimension and began building a program meant to train duelists for live combat, in the hopes that they would serve to defend their home from the Fusion Dimension.
- The Ace: He's a pro and runs the largest gaming business in the world, all at the age of 16. He's also has mastery over every Extra Deck summoning method, as demonstrated in his first duel with Yuya (who also reveals that same level of mastery).
- Adaptational Badass: Is chosen by Obelisk to wield his mighty power.
- Anti-Hero: Of the Pragmatic Hero variety. Everything he does is to 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, and willingly using teenagers as soldiers.
- Archnemesis Dad: 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.
- Character Development: Reiji starts out focusing on his goal of defeating Leo Akaba, gathering powerful duelists that he would dub the Lancers, and seeing them as tools rather than comrades. Upon being defeated by Yuya and Jack, however, he wises up and puts the well-being of others ahead of his own goals.
- The Leader: Initially arranges to be this as in canon, but following his major loss in the exhibition match, the position is given to Yuya.
- Like Father, Unlike Son: Reiji initially acted like his father, but after being defeated by Yuya and Jack, realized he shouldn't act like him.
Shingo Sawatari
Shingo Sawatari
Archetype: Abyss Actor
An egotistical LDS student from the composite course and The Rival to Yuya.
- Adaptational Badass: Becomes the chosen wielder of Ra.
- Ascended Extra: He is given a larger role in the remake, to the point that he joins Yuya and Reiji in the final stretch of the Dimensional War.
- Attention Whore: He acts likes this at the start, but once he becomes a Guardian, he mellows out of it somewhat.
- Butt-Monkey: For a majority of the Standard and Synchro arcs.
- Character Development: Goes from being a self-centered glory hog to showing respect and support to his allies.
The Bracelet Girls
All four
- Action Girl: All of them are very skilled duelists.
- Amazon Brigade: All of them use decks composed of female monsters.
- Connected All Along: It's revealed by Adam that they are the pieces of the Eve Factor.
- Iconic Item: Their bracelets.
- Magnetic Plot Device: Their bracelets serve as one, as Academia's agents are under specific order to track down the girls wearing the bracelets. It's because Leo saw the bracelets form on Ray's arm before the dimensions were split, so he knows the girls that have them carry the fragments of her soul.
Yuzu Hiiragi
Yuzu Hiiragi
Archetype: Melodious
Yuya's childhood friend and a student of You Show Duel School.
- Girly Bruiser: Both she and her deck are overtly feminine, and she's proven herself to be a capable duelist.
- Took a Level in Badass: During her duel against Sawatari, her bracelet grants her the ability to Pendulum Summon in a similar manner to Yuya.
Ruri Kurosaki
Ruri Kurosaki
Archetype: Lyrical Luscinia
A resident of the Xyz Dimension, friend of Yuto and Shun's younger sister. The three of them lived peacefully in Heartland before Yuto was taken in by Samejima without the Kurosaki siblings' knowledge. Their home was soon invaded by Academia, yet the two were able to survive.
- Animal Motif: Her deck is based on lusciniae, a genus of singing birds, completing the Kachou Fuugetsu theme of the Bracelet Girls with her bird-themed deck.
- Bilingual Bonus: "Luscinia" is Latin and has the feminine genus. The term doesn't refer only to the genus of birds the archetype is based on, but also to the fact that all members are female.
- Blow You Away: Ruri's Lyrical Luscinia deck is full of WIND Winged Beast-Type monsters, similar to Rin's Wind Witch deck being full of WIND Spellcaster-Type monsters. Both decks rely on swarming the field and using damage to whittle down the opponent's life points. Unlike the Wind Witches who use cold, magical wind, the Lyrical Lusciniae attack with Wind from Beneath Their Wings. However, the wind aspect of the Kachou Fuugetsu principle is not represented by Ruri, but by Rin.
- Cynicism Catalyst: Her being in the Standard Dimension for so long is what drives Kurosaki's crusade against Academia, which he mistakenly believes includes LDS.
Rin Hogan
Rin Hogan
Archetype: Wind Witch
A resident of the Synchro Dimension and Crow's adopted younger sister.
- Blow You Away: Rin's Wind Witch deck is full of WIND monsters and it represents the wind kanji fuu of the Kachou Fuugetsu principle. Her monsters attack with cold wind and several of her Spell and Trap Cards are related to wind.
- Team Mom: She sports a motherly attitude towards the Junior kids at You Show. And as mentioned by Crow in Part 2:Crow: As you grew up, I saw how caring you were towards the other kids, and how you looked after them.
Serena Andersen
Serena Andersen
Archetype: Moonlight
A resident of the Synchro Dimension and a former prisoner of Leo Akaba.
- Alleged Lookalikes: With Yuzu, Ruri, and Rin.
