Characters / Zero Hour (ARC-V): Siren Girls

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Ray and Zarc | The Siren Girls | The Dragon Boys | Standard Dimension | Xyz Dimension | Synchro Dimension | Fusion Dimension | Original Dimension

The Siren Girls

All four

• Action Girl: They are all very skilled Duelists, capable of being equal to their respective Dragon Boy, and can kick ass if the situation calls for it.
• Adaptation Expansion: The fic delves more into the individual Siren Girl's lives than in canon.
• Adaptation Name Change: Since their original incarnation doesn't use the Natural Energy Cards, they're known as the "Siren Girls" here instead. Although they are still called the "Bracelet Girls" outside of the fic.
• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul: A downplayed example, since all four of them are shown to get along well in openings and endings of the anime, but only Yuzu and Serena are seen to develop a close bond as Rin and Ruri were already Brainwashed and Crazy before the start of the show. In the fic, however, all four of them met in Ray's Mental World through Twin Telepathy and later bond with each other to the point of calling the other a "sister".
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: When learning the Awful Truth of the Dimensional War and what Leo Akaba plans to do with them, none of the Siren Girls took the news well at all. What keeps their sanity together was the emotional support from Ray, Zarc, each other, and their friends and family.
• Adaptational Badass: In the canon anime, the girls were capable Duelists in their own right, but were limited to their native Extra Deck Summonings; Yuzu only knew Tribute Summoning before learning Fusion from Sora, Serena for Fusion, Rin for Synchro, and Ruri for Xyz. And while the latter two do know Fusion Summon, it's only due to them being Brainwashed and Crazy by Academia, with their respective Fusion Monsters being "relatively mediocre" at best according to Word of God. Zero Hour has each of the Siren Girl learning all known Extra Deck Summoning mechanics, allowing them to become more powerful and skilled as Duelists, and the ability of Reality Warpers.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: Unlike canon, Serena, Rin, and Ruri all made their first on-screen appearance in the first chapter.
• Adaptational Nice Girl: Except for Ruri and Yuzu (to a certain degree), Serena and Rin are much kinder and cooperative due to their sisterly bonds than in canon.
• Adaptational Skill: In canon, the Bracelet Girls are only shown to use one or two methods of the Extra Deck Summonings. Here, the Siren Girls learn to use all known Extra Deck Summoning methods (Fusion, Synchro, Xyz, and Pendulum).
• Adaptational Superpower Change: Due to their original incarnation using the Natural Energy Cards to stop Zarc in canon, each of the girls is born with the purpose to keep their respective Dragon Boy from becoming one again, with Yuzu's bracelet causing random teleportation whenever a Dragon Boy gets too close to another with the pink-haired girl around, while every other bracelet was completely useless never protecting the girl herself from any harm. Here, since Ray joins Zarc in destroying the Original Dimension by fusing with her Siren monsters, the Siren Girls instead have the powers of a Reality Warper. Furthermore, it has been hinted that the girls have some Siren powers when they hum or sing. That had been most shown with Ruri as when she hums Yuto falls into a trance. The first hint of it was during chapter 19 'Family' where he was brushing her hair and entered a trance, his fangs growing without him noticing and almost bit Ruri.
• Adaptational Villainy: In canon, the Bracelet Girls were the Barrier Maiden to Ray's Greater-Scope Paragon. Since Ray is one of the Greater-Scope Villains here, this would make them an Apocalypse Maiden instead.
• All Amazons Want Hercules: While platonic on Serena's end for Yuri, all of the Siren Girls have this attraction towards their respective Dragon Boys' inner strength and ability to overcome the odds just as much for their kindness and supportive behavior.
• Amazon Brigade: All of them uses decks composed of female monsters.
• Anime Hair: All of them have two strands of different colored hair.
• Ascended Extra: In canon, the Bracelet Girls were important to the plans of Leo Akaba, thus making them important characters to the series plot-wise; Yuzu is the Deuteragonist, Serena is a secondary supporting character, and Rin and Ruri were Satellite Characters who was mentioned early on, but was Out of Focus before appearing later on in Season 3. Here, the Siren Girls are the central protagonists of the fic, and they each get an individual focus in the story.
• Badass Adorable: All of them are very capable Duelists, and look very cute in appearance to boot.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: Averted. Word of God states that they won't be infected by the Fusion Parasite like in canon.
• Clones Are People, Too: Well... they're technically four Living MacGuffins of Ray, but she and Zarc treat them as their own individuals and act as a supportive older sibling/parental figure to them.
• Conveniently an Orphan: This applies to all of them as the Four Dimensions have only existed for over a decade and being living MacGuffins of a godlike being.
• Corrupt the Cutie: The girls were originally portrayed (or meant to be portrayed) as innocent and sweet pure maidens, being loved or cared for in the dimension, however with Ray's influence the girls become much more assertive and dark, willing to do a lot and compromise morals in order to reach their goals.
• Daddy's Girl:
  • Subverted with Leo, as he only cares about them in order to resurrect his daughter Ray.
  • Played straight to Zarc, as Ray tells them that they're his "little princesses".
• Family of Choice: Despite being counterparts of each other in different dimensions, the Siren Girls treat each other as sisters.
• Girly Bruiser: All of them are feminine in their own unique ways, can kick ass if needed, and are capable Duelists with monsters that are overtly feminine in appearance.
• Good Is Not Soft: For a given value of good, the Siren Girls are kind girls in their own ways. That being said, if you mess with them in any way, be prepared for a thorough ass-kicking at best, or an outright death at the very worst.
• Lady Macbeth: Each of the Siren Girls serves as this to their respective Dragon Boys, as they slowly confide in them to bring out their inner Darkness for Zarc's revival.
• Living Emotional Crutch:
  • After meeting together with Ray in a shared mindscape, each of the girls became this to each other by providing emotional support to the other.
  • All of them are this to their respective Dragon Boys, and vice versa.
• Only One Name: Besides Yuzu and Ruri, Serena and Rin don't have last names.
• Reincarnation: They're this to Ray Akaba of the Original Dimension.
• Relationship Upgrade: They become much closer to their respective Dragon Boy; Ruri and Yuto become more openly affectionate, Yuzu and Rin started dating Yuya and Yugo respectively, and Serena and Yuri become Platonic Life-Partners.
• Rotating Protagonist: Each of them gets the spotlight in the narrative whenever the chapters focus on them.
• Single Woman Seeks Good Man: While platonic for Serena, all of them care for their respective Dragon Boy due to their kindness, which is a trait they inherited from their origin.
• Spared by the Adaptation: Unlike canon, the Siren Girls won't stay merged together into Ray, and neither exist as Yuzu Hiiragi from the ending of the anime.
• Took a Level in Badass: All of them were already capable Duelists by the start of the story, but they become more powerful as they gain more upgrades to their playstyle.
• Twin Telepathy: They somewhat have that, especially when they enter the mindscape that belongs to Ray where they can talk to each other, and spend time together.While Rin's out

Yuzu Hiiragi

Yuzu Hiiragi

Archetype: Melodious

One of the protagonists of Zero Hour and Yuya's childhood friend, she is the daughter of You Show Duel School's headmaster. Where Yuya is energetic and upbeat, she is more rational, though rather quick to lose her temper. She has a habit of whacking people, particularly her father and Yuya, with a paper fan whenever she's annoyed with them. She is a "piece" of her original incarnation named Ray, a young woman who joins her beloved, Zarc, into destroying the world.

Yuzu plays a Melodious deck which largely relies on Special Summoning multiple smaller monsters to Tribute Summon her ace, Prodigy Mozart, which Special Summons more Melodious monsters, continuing the chain.

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• Adaptation Relationship Overhaul:
  • Yuzu and Sora never developed the mentor-and-mentee relationship as the former learn Fusion from Ray instead. Furthermore, Sora is currently Locked Out of the Loop about Yuzu's identity as being the one he's sent along to help Serena and Yuri to "capture" for The Professor.
    • Furthermore, her canon rivalry with Masumi Kotsu is also Adapted Out in the fic as confirmed by Word of God.
• Adaptational Intelligence: Downplayed. When she first met Yuri in chapter 1, Yuzu could immediately tell that he wasn't Yuya despite being an Identical Stranger in contrast to how she spends 21 episodes still confused about Yuto, along with a certain degree of Sanity Slippage in canon before learning the truth. Although this is justified due to the "circumstances" of their first meeting.
• Awesomeness by Analysis: As seen in her first meeting with Yuri, she could already tell that he isn't Yuya just by his expressions and the malevolent feeling he gives off.
• Big Damn Kiss: She gives one to Yuya in chapter 9, much to the surprise of everyone around them, especially to the shock of her father Shuzo.
• Childhood Friend Romance: She knew Yuya when they were kids, and the two of them have feelings for each other before her Big Damn Kiss in chapter 9.
• Cool Big Sis: She acts this way to the younger students of You Show Duel School.
• Daddy's Girl: She and her father Shuzo shares a very close bond.
• Feminine Women Can Cook: She usually cooks for her father at times, and in chapter 10, she once stated that she would cook a big meal for the other girls when they crossover to the Standard Dimension.
• Gaslighting: A very rare positive example. In order for Yuzu to be able to show and use the Pendulum cards that were already in her possession, she tricks Yuya into believing that he was able to conjure them up after asking if he could make some for her. Cue the hilarity as she and Yuya shared a couple of kisses and then revealed said Pendulum Cards.
• Girlish Pigtails: She wears her hair in this style, complete with blue barrettes.
• Happily Adopted: She is perfectly happy being Shuzo's daughter.
• The Heart: She acts as this whenever certain conflicts arise with her counterparts in Ray's Mental World.
• Ms. Exposition: She acts like this in chapter 9, using her newfound knowledge of the Extra Deck Summoning methods from Ray and her counterparts to explain to Yuya and Gongenzaka why she intends to shop for new cards.
• Ms. Fanservice: Discussed and ultimately subverted. In chapter 17, she thought about being this like how Rin does with Yugo while mulling over what to wear for her first date with Yuya, only to feel quite scandalized when Ray asks her if she could imagine herself walking around in public wearing a small top and short shorts.
• Pink Is Feminine: She has pink hair, pink in her clothing design, and most of her monsters have pink in their designs, making Yuzu quite feminine among her counterparts, second only to Ruri Kurosaki and tied with her original incarnation, Ray Akaba.
• Relationship Upgrade: She and Yuya become a couple after his victory against Strong Ishijima.
• Straight Man and Wise Guy: This is her dynamic with Yuya, being the straight guy to his wise guy.
• Took a Level in Badass: As she learns the other Extra Deck Summoning methods from Ray and her counterparts, she grows into a stronger Duelist. A good example is by the time where she gets her first on-screen duel in chapter 11, she's already capable of Fusion and Xyz Summoning, and manages to whittle down Yuya's LP to 2700.
• Tsundere: Yuzu is generally kind, but Yuya's messing around annoys her. This goes away as the latter becomes less goofy and the two started dating.

Serena

Serena

Archetype: Lunalight

Serena hails from the Fusion Dimension and has been held against her will inside Academia for about three years despite being on their side. After learning the Awful Truth of the true nature of her comrades and how she's nothing more but a sacrifice for The Professor, Serena joins Ray and her other counterparts in their efforts to revive Zarc.

Serena uses a Lunalight deck, which features female, animal-like monsters with a moon theme. Unlike Yuzu's Melodious deck, Serena's deck is very offensive.

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• Almighty Janitor: She wears the alternate Duel Academia's version of the Osiris Red uniform, with Osiris Red being the lowest ranking dorm.
• Big Damn Heroes: Alongside Sora, they both save Yuya from being assaulted by Gen Ankokuji and his flunkies in chapter 11.
• Big "WHAT?!": She says this when Ruri angrily accuses her and Academia of being nothing more than heartless monsters who want to destroy everything in her home, which would have almost escalated to a physical altercation between the two if Ray hadn't appeared.
• Blood Knight: She is really combatant happy, refusing to retreat or anything.
• Broken Pedestal: She looks up to Leo Akaba as a father figure, often acts rebellious to prove her worth as a Duel Warrior. She also believes in the cause of Academia, as it would mean to bring honor to oneself as a soldier and thought to bring peace to the other dimensions. However, when she learns the Awful Truth from Ray and her other three counterparts, it didn't take a week for whatever admiration she had for Leo and the Academia's cause to be dead.
• Chaste Heroine: Serena isn't really concerned or even knowledgeable of romantic relationships compared to her origin and counterparts (due to growing up in an environment where everyone is trained and indoctrinated to be a Duel Soldier, this lack of knowledge is justified), at least before she meets and bonds with them. After undergoing a significant Character Development through her positive familial relationship with Ray, her counterparts, Zarc, Yuri, and her Lunalight monsters, this trope gets played with as she shows curiosity about Yuzu and Yuya's romantic relationship in chapter 21. However, time will tell if the "chaste" part becomes averted or celibate, and Word of God states in chapter 22 that it's even possible for Serena to be asexual.
• Cute Bruiser: She's quite easy on the eyes, but don't think for a moment that she's fragile like a china doll. She's a capable Duelist, with her Lunalight monsters are basically "OTK enablers", according to Azure-Witch13, and is a great physical combatant.
• Cuteness Proximity: Her reaction to Mana's Kuribohs says it all.
  Serena: (while holding onto a Kuriboh and having sparkling eyes) "It's... so... FLUFFY! IT'S LIKE A FLUFFY LITTLE KITTY!"
• Death Glare: She usually shows a stern glare in addition to her Perpetual Frowner expressions.
• Defector from Decadence: She does this after seeing the actual methods Academia uses and what Leo intends to do with her, becoming The Mole for Ray and Zarc.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: After the results of her Broken Pedestal of Leo and Academia, she spends a brief amount of time wondering where to go from there, and soon resolves herself into helping Ray and Zarc to revive them.
• Easily Forgiven: Justified. After learning the Awful Truth, Yuzu, Rin, and even Ruri don't hold it against Serena for what Academia had done to the Xyz Dimension so far, knowing that she's completely unaware of their true goals along with her being a pawn for Leo as well.
• Everyone Has Standards: Even before she defected to Ray and Zarc's side, Serena fully believes in the idea of warrior's honor, as she would never hurt or card someone if they can't defend themselves or has nothing to do with Dueling. Furthermore, this also gives her a low tolerance of Zerg Rush, whether in the Battle Royal Format or in an actual fight, and seeing people who rely on it as bullies and cowards.
• Fantastic Racism: Like other members of her faction, she looked down on Xyz users. Unlike other members of her faction, it's because she honestly believed they're evil; when the Fusion forces were attacking Xyz Dimension, Serena was purposely prevented from going by the Professor, and he seems to have misled her as to his actions and intentions. This is fully averted after discovering the Awful Truth through Ray and her counterparts, leading to Serena eagerly wanting to learn the other Extra Deck Summoning methods, including Xyz.
• Forgotten First Meeting: According to herself, she mentions to had never met Yuri before, except that she did when accompanying Leo's first approach of the boy when the two were younger. Justified of course, as this was just a minute moment for her, and all she really knew of the latter is only by reputation.
• Hair-Trigger Temper: Although she can keep a cool head in certain situations (she is a trained Duel Soldier after all), it won't take much for Serena to get riled up, especially if you annoyed her or questioned her strength.
• I Just Want to Be Free: Her true goal in life, and it's one of those reasons she had sided with Ray and her counterparts.
• Incompatible Orientation: Discussed and Reconstructed. Serena brings up the fact of whether or not she's capable of bonding with Yuri, as she doesn't really know him like how her other counterparts bond with theirs nor if she likes him in a romantic sense (and vice-versa). Ray assures Serena that even if she doesn't love him, he'll be there for her as a close companion.
• Innocently Insensitive: She casually replies to Ruri's shocked exclamation of her being from Academia with a "Yeah, what of it?", completely unaware of the turmoil and trauma that the latter went through since the invasion of Heartland. Justified as Serena was still under the impression of Duel Academia being a benevolent force to bring upon a "Utopia", only to be completely disgusted and horrified of their true motives.
• Never Hurt an Innocent: She's appalled when learning that innocents; people who didn't duel, children too small to even defend themselves were being hurt and carded in the Xyz invasion.
• No Social Skills: She never once left Academia and was practically raised there her whole life, making her very socially inept besides dueling. This starts to be subverted as she bonds with Ray and her counterparts, Yuri, Zarc, and her Lunalight monsters.
• Not a Morning Person: In chapter 21, it's revealed that she's more of a night person and in the mornings, she tends to be very irritable, which doesn't help due to her Hair-Trigger Temper.
• Odd Name Out: Compare to her other counterparts (while Rin's name is Italian in origin, it's popular in Japan for its consistent meaning), Serena's name is western in origin.
• Out-of-Character Alert: Played for Laughs. She's mainly known to be a No-Nonsense Nemesis of a soldier, with no indication of being "girly" in Duel Academia and can kick anyone's asses if she wanted to, leading Sora to be all the more shocked when he witnesses Serena's Cuteness Proximity with Mana's Kuribohs.
• Perpetual Frowner: In contrast to Ray and her counterparts, Serena is usually seen with a frown or scowl on her face. This becomes downplayed in her Character Development, but it still tends to be her usual expression.
• Platonic Life-Partners: With Yuri.
• Relationship Upgrade: A platonic example with Yuri.
• Sacrificed Basic Skill for Awesome Training: She's a great Duelist and physical combatant, but growing up in a place where Child Soldiers are molded to be Leo Akabas attack dogs doesn't prepare Serena for life outside of that, especially when it comes to socializing with others or domestic chores. In fact, learning to embrace a normal lifestyle for a girl her age in the Standard Dimension is part of her Character Development.
• Tomboy with a Girly Streak: Double Subverted. While her deck is very feminine, the play-style of her deck revolves around attacking as much as possible while preventing her opponent from protecting themselves; fitting given some of her tendencies, so it might just be that she doesn't care for looks as long as what she's using works. She's also the only "Yuzu" counterpart who hasn't shown any form of positive emotion towards her "Yuya" counterpart.^note However, given the fact that Serena is not sadistic and doesn't enjoy destruction as Yuri does, it's unlikely that she will EVER have any towards the guy. However, after she Took a Level in Cheerfulness through the emotional support of Ray, her counterparts, Yuri, Zarc, and her own monsters, she's much more open with her feminine side among friends as she absolutely coos when Mana introduces her to Kuribohs.
• Took a Level in Cheerfulness: As she spends time with Ray and her counterparts, Serena becomes much more outgoing than the aloof girl at the beginning of the story.
• Took a Level in Kindness: She becomes much kinder through her bonds with Ray and her counterparts, Yuri, Zarc, and her Lunalight monsters. A far cry from how she started in the story.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: She fully believed that what the Professor wants is for the greater good, and even if the Xyz duelists lost, they still had their pride despite losing. After she learns the Awful Truth, Serena was outright horrified and disgusted, leading to her becoming a Defector from Decadence.
• When She Smiles: She's the only Siren Girl who doesn't really smile due to her upbringing, but when she does, it's absolutely adorable.
• Worthy Opponent: She sees Mana as this due to her strength and competitiveness.

Rin

Rin

Archetype: Windwitch

Yugo's childhood friend, who also hails from the Synchro Dimension and grew up with Yugo as a part of the "Commons" in the slums of Neo Domino City. Like Yugo, she too dreamed of building a D-Wheel of her own and using her dueling skills to participate in the Friendship Cup to escape the hardships of her environment.

After coming into contact with Ray and her other counterparts, Rin joins them to revive Zarc and grew closer to Yugo in the process.

Her deck is a Windwitch deck, themed after winter, wind, and bells, which focuses on Burn Damage and copying effects from the Graveyard.

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• Adaptational Skimpiness: While Rin's outfits weren't esspecially conservative, her upgraded warsrope in the fic is a bit different, showing her midrifft, or clinging to her body perfectly.
• Affectionate Nickname:
  • "Rinrin" as Yugo calls her.
  • An old friend named Faith calls her "Frost".
• All Women Are Lustful: Compare to her other three counterparts, Rin proves herself to be much more sexually aggressive in her relationship with Yugo, especially how she's constantly seducing him with her body and new outfits, and her scenes with Yugo being intimate with each other are sexually arousing.
• An Ice Person: In addition to the wind, she can also conjure ice into reality and isn't really bothered by the colder atmosphere.
• Ascended Extra: Moreso than her counterparts, as she was basically a Satellite Character who gets the least focus out of them all in the canon anime. Here, she's the protagonist of the Synchro Dimension side of the fic and is getting involved in a greater conspiracy than Ray and Zarc's revival.

• Blow You Away: She uses the Windwitch archetype, which is full of WIND Spellcasters. She can also manifest cold winds into reality.
• Cleavage Window: She invokes this when showing off her new riding outfit to Yugo, and zipping it up fully as they join Akiza for the day.

• Death Glare:
  • She first appears in the story having a severe expression, which makes Yuzu feel uneasy.
  • She gives a very, very deadly one to Professor Frank. Especially when he nearly succeeds in his Mind Rape of her.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?:
  • Her duel with Professor Frank and how she gets slowly hypnotize to the point of letting him into the depths of her mind is disturbingly filled with rape allegories, and throw in the latter's medical occupation in the mix only makes this creepier.
  • Her bond with Yugo on a whole is notably filled with analogies for romantic couples.
    • In chapter 16, Yugo's enraged Was It All a Lie? reaction to believing that Rin doesn't care for him romantically and that everything was an attempt to revive Zarc is reminiscent of someone finding out that their romantic partner was secretly cheating on them with someone else.
    • In the very same chapter after the two reconciled, Yugo bit Rin's shoulder, which according to Zarc it was a natural thing for a dragon to claim his loved ones in such a way. Rin let it happen, placing her full trust in Yugo, and in response, she let out a huge burst of ice spikes as she gasped in pleasure. Needless to say that that moment was as close to a show of PG-13 sex.
    • In chapter 24, their relationship and interactions have now reached the point of a couple undergoing a wedding engagement. Especially the scene where Yugo sat Rin down and showed her the ring he bought for her and her heartwarming tearful reaction to that gesture; never mind the evolution of Clear Wing Synchro Dragon to Crystal Wing Synchro Dragon by using Windwitch Snow Bell as the Tuner Monster.
• Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male: Prior to the story, she often scolds and hits Yugo a lot for his usual antics, especially when it's usually unnecessary. This becomes averted after her first meeting with Ray and realizing her own romantic feelings for Yugo, as she becomes quite gentle and affectionate to the latter after a few days.
• Good Thing You Can Heal: Rin's duel with Akiza was brutal, to say the least, Rin was wounded and bleeding to the point of almost not seeing straight, had it not been for Ray's help and her natural Siren powers Rin would have been worse for wear.
• Hidden Depths: Apparently, she had an interest in learning about witches and spellcasters, which involves reading short stories about them, looking through grimoires, making notes of them, trying to make her own spells, and believing that the power and potential of magic hold new possibilities.
• How Do I Shot Web?: Despite learning the process of Xyz Summoning from Ruri, she hadn't grasped the lesson and made the error by sending her monsters to the GY instead of stacking them together. When Ruri heard of this mistake, she can't help but laugh in amusement.
• Interclass Friendship: Being born at the poverty line, specifically in the lower-middle-class, any friendship she has other than Yugo or those of similar class is this by default.
  • A good example would be with Ray and her other three counterparts; Ray is from an upper-class background, Yuzu is the adoptive daughter of the You Show Duel School's principal, Ruri is, at least, from a middle-class background with her adopted family, and even Serena was living like a sheltered princess in Academia.
  • With Akiza, as the former is well off to the point of being able to shop at the mall district in the Tops.
• It Amused Me: The reason why she wasn't going to intervene when Serena and Ruri were about to fight was this.
• Mind Rape: She undergoes this from Professor Frank. When Zarc and Yugo manage to snap both her and Ray back to their senses, Rin really didn't take it well...at all.
• Ms. Fanservice: She knows how much Yugo is attracted to her, so Rin milks this trope for all its worth to him, and her new outfits show off her curves in all the right places. Safe to say, Yugo is certainly not complaining here.
• Nerves of Steel: It says a lot that she doesn't even flinch when interacting with Akiza, who's infamous as the Black Rose Witch. Justified from her own experiences with Ray and her other counterparts, along with her own personal hobby of witches.
• Only in It for the Money: It's one of the reasons why she and Yugo are participating in the Friendship Cup, so they could raise themselves out of poverty.
• Only One Name: Which is lampshaded with her counterparts.
  Ruri: Just Rin?
  Rin: Just Rin.
• Out-of-Character Alert: You would forgive Yugo for being a bit weirded out by Rin's change in behavior, as she usually tends to scold him for acting out in certain ways and even hitting him if she feels particularly annoyed or embarrassed. That being said, he really can't complain that she now reciprocates his feelings for her and is quite gentler and arousing towards him.
• Power Stereotype Flip: As Jack lampshades in their duel, Rin's wild, dangerous, and wrathful personality is pretty much the opposite of what people would assume of someone who uses Ice and Wind magic, being cold and unfeeling.
• Proud Beauty: Although this applies to all of the Siren Girls, as part of their inherent nature, Rin takes it further by her invoked Ms. Fanservice, and spends most of her interactions with Yugo wearing "certain" clothing to entice him. This lampshaded by Ray to Yuzu in chapter 17.
  Ray: "What Rin did requires a certain kind of self-confidence and a level of carelessness to own what she wore. I mean, could you see yourself in a small top and short shorts walking around the city?"
  Yuzu: (embarrassed at such a scandalized image of her) "Um… I…"
  Ray: "Exactly, you're not wired that way sweetheart, and that's okay.
• Relationship Upgrade: She reciprocates Yugo's feelings for her and the two became a couple in chapter 5.
• Sir Swears-a-Lot: She's the most foul-mouthed of her other three counterparts, and is most likely to shout profanity at times.
• The Tease: What she does with Yugo by invoking a Ms. Fanservice on him to awaken his inner darkness. It's working more than ever.
• Took a Level in Badass: Enough to the point where she catches the attention of Akiza and Divine, and it's possible that she could've given Yugo enough trouble in their own duel had she really learn how to use Xyz Summoning properly.
  • Gets taken a step further in Chapter 26, where she had Jack dead to rights during their duel. Had Jack not used Ring of Destruction, she would've won, especially since had activated one of the cards that had defeated Zarc and Ray before.
• Took a Level in Kindness: As she realizes her own romantic affections for Yugo, she becomes much more openly affectionate with him and practically drops her usual rough tendencies to hit and scold him for his antics. To show how much kinder she had become, Rin never so much as getting angry or violent when Yugo angrily accuses her of "pretending" to love him romantically in chapter 16.
• Trauma Button:
  • Her Duel with Frank, her Duel against a berserk Akiza and the knowledge of the Parasite have given her a PTSD response to the thought of being mind-controlled, and paranoia towards others. This is seen in her suspicion of one of her new teachers called Mark, and before that her own fearful monologue of being controled, losing all that she is and of hurting Yugo.
  • Due to her connection to Ray, the usage of the En Cards against her is enough to send Rin into a traumatic state, as seen in her duel against Jack Atlas.
• Working Class Heroine: In contrast to Ray and her other counterparts, Rin is a Common who lives in the lower class of Neo Domino City, and she aims to participate in the upcoming Friendship Cup to raise herself and her boyfriend out of poverty.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Says this during her duel against Yugo in chapter 8, when the latter uses a combo involving his Clear Wing Synchro Dragon and the Dragon's Bind Trap Card.
  Rin: "What! Are you kidding me? I can't Special Summon a monster unless they have more ATK points than Clear Wing, how is that fair?! I can't Special Summon anything from my main deck!"
  Yugo: "Hey I can't Special Summon either right now."
  Rin: "THAT'S NOT THE SAME WHEN YOU ALREADY HAVE CLEAR WING OUT!"

Ruri Kurosaki

Ruri Kurosaki

Archetype: Lyrilusc

A girl that comes from the same place Yuto and her brother Shun Kurosaki comes from, Heartland City. After being spied on by Dennis and having her home dimension be nearly destroyed by Academia.

One day during a mission, Ruri was contacted into the mindscape of where she meets Yuzu and her other counterparts. When learning of the Awful Truth of why her home was destroyed and her true purpose as a sacrifice for The Professor, Ruri became much more harden in her resolve to fight against the Academia Forces and aids Ray into reviving Zarc.

Ruri uses a Lyrilusc deck, a Luscinia-based archetype that utilizes Xyz Summoning.

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• Action Survivor: As she steels herself to protect those she loves, Ruri becomes one of the Resistance's strongest Duelist and proves just how deadly she can be.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: She gets this harder than her other counterparts. After learning the Awful Truth of why her home was invaded along with her own role in Leo's plans, Ruri becomes more distant and cynical in personality, no longer adhering to Yusho's philosophy and is only concerned with crushing the Obelisk Forces to save her friends and family.
• Beware the Nice Ones: As seen in her Establishing Character Moment. Ruri may be kinder and gentle than her other counterparts, she's still a Technical Pacifist who had her home invaded and is filled with hatred for the aggressors. Afterward, Ruri becomes a full-blown Action Survivor when learning the Awful Truth.
• Birds of a Feather: She, Yuto, and Shun are notably calm, quiet, and surprisingly relenting in each of their own ways, and all three of them are in a relationship.
• Broken Bird: She may be a gentle and kind girl, even after watching her home being invaded by Academia, but the war has truly taken a toll on her mental state, even more so when discovering the Awful Truth.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: The compassionate and gentle girl to Yuto's stoic and brooding boy. However, this becomes averted later on with the two becoming gender-inverted examples for a while before losing this dynamic entirely in chapter 13.
• Combat Pragmatist: Justified as she's fighting in a war, leading to her using any card advantages against the Obelisk Forces.
• Cynicism Catalyst: Like with everyone in the Xyz Dimension, the invasion of Heartland by the Academia forces causes a lot of trauma for Ruri, and learning the Awful Truth from Ray is the final push for her to become an Aloof Ally.
• Does This Remind You of Anything?: Whenever she and Yuto confide with each other in private, their intimate moments can be seen as a PG-13 Sex for Solace.
  Ruri sat up straighter and ran her hand through Yuto's hair and down his cheek, before pressing their foreheads together. "We're all in constant anxiety and fear, smiles are few and fleeting, so any happiness, any small comfort that we can take from each other... it's alright to ask," she whispered, giving Yuto's lips another kiss. Ruri broke the kiss slowly but Yuto pulled her in for another, the kiss became heated and Yuto's hand threaded through Ruri's hair, while the other one was placed between her shoulder blades. Yuto's lips kissed down Ruri's jaw and down her neck as she clung to him, placing her palm over the back of his neck and the other grabbed his shirt. After a while Ruri sat on Yuto's lap, as she buried her head in his neck, Yuto ran his hand through her hair, taking comfort in each others' arms, breathing each other in, so familiar and comforting, yet making the fear grow, the fear to lose all of this, the little happiness between them, the small sweet comfort, making them fight for a new day.
• Fantastic Racism: Beneath that kind and gentle exterior lie not only sadness but also an unrelenting hatred for Fusion Summoning, especially when Academia uses the Extra Deck Summoning mechanic to invade Heartland. However, this becomes downplayed after learning the Awful Truth and agreeing to learn Fusion Summoning, but Ruri is still very reluctant to use it.
• Friend to All Children: Even after her attitude changed to be more pessimistic and stoic, she still cares about the children who were suffering in Heartland. And she shows it more as she does well with Reira, and had gotten the little girl to trust her even sightly.
• Girly Girl with a Tomboy Streak: Before the Xyz invasion, Ruri tends to climb trees whenever she and Shun went to the park to hang out with friends.
• Happily Adopted: Like Yuzu, Ruri is happily part of Shun's family. Too bad it doesn't last long as their parents were both carded by the Academia Forces during the initial invasion.
• Hidden Depths:
  • She may be gentler and ladylike than her other three counterparts, but she isn't as mentally stable as she appears to be since the invasion of Heartland. The moment Ruri saw Serena in their mindscape and deduced that the latter was from Academia, she quickly flare-up in anger when Serena innocently replies "Yeah, what of it?".
    "What of it... WHAT OF IT?! I'll show you 'What of it' right now with a —" (Cue her Oh, Crap! moment when realizing her missing Duel Disk)
    • Even then, she goes on an angry rant by calling Serena and the Obelisk Forces "heartless monsters" for invading her home and making them live in fear, which almost leads to a physical altercation between the two had Ray didn't intervene with her introduction.
  • Before the invasion, Ruri loves to visit coffee shops and hang around with other girls, try on various new hairstyles, and would try to climb a tree whenever she and Shun go to the park.
• The Heart: She often serves as the gentle and reassuring member of the Resistance, and particularly to Yuto and her brother Shun.
• Irony: When compared to Yuzu, Rin, and Serena, Ruri is notably more gentle and ladylike than their Tsundere behavior. Then after the revelation of why Heartland's been invaded and her own role in The Professor's plans, she becomes much, much more ruthless and pragmatic than her counterparts (and not without good reason due to her living in a warzone). In chapter 10, she essentially had a mental breakdown when learning about the Fusion Parasites, leading to her spewing hate-filled rants of brutalizing Academia in tears as Ray and her other counterparts gave her a Cooldown Hug.
• Lethal Chef: Hilariously, she's a terrible cook compared to her other three counterparts (Yuzu regular cooks for her family, Rin can make meals from cheap ingredients, and Serena hasn't really learned how to cook yet^note When she actually tries in chapter 21, she accidentally burns her hand on the stove). In fact, she was forbidden from ever entering a kitchen again after burning water.
• Living Emotional Crutch:
  • If wasn't obvious, she serves as this to Yuto, the boy who she loves and is connected to on a spiritual level, and feeling is very mutual in return.
  • To her older brother Shun, the thought of living in a world without her in it is something he can't ever fathom or accept. So much as he was willing to become Ray's "knight" and help with reviving her and Zarc. If anything, Ruri only had Tears of Joy from her brother's conviction, and reciprocate their sibling bond with full force.
• Love at First Sight: She had this when meeting Yuto for the first time as her brother introduces her to him.
• Morality Chain: She serves as this towards her older brother and boyfriend, keeping them from going off the deep end despite the hopelessness of the war. Deconstructed, however, as it's also a case of Love Makes You Evil since she's helping Ray and Zarc to revive them.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: After she Took a Level in Cynic, all of her close friends were worried over this change of behavior, as she once strongly adhere to Yusho's Dueling philosophy and was overall gentle and pacifistic.
• Perpetual Frowner: Downplayed. She usually makes this expression after learning the Awful Truth, and only tends to smile when talking to Ray and her counterparts.
• Shared Family Quirks: After becoming more pessimistic and distant in her demeanor, Ruri acts much like her older brother.
• Stating the Simple Solution: When strategizing on how to take down Ancient Gear monsters used by the Obelisk Forces in chapter 2, she proposed that they used Trap Cards to destroy them upon their summoning, like Trap Hole and Widespread Ruin. It works as they also caused real explosions through the Solid Vision with Mass, making it easier to defeat the enemy Duelists and strip them of their decks and duel disks.
• Stay in the Kitchen: Somewhat Played for Laughs and Subverted. She accuses Yuto of suggesting this Double Standard of her because of her new change in demeanor, only for the latter to quickly state it's not.
• Suddenly Shouting: Any time she starts raising her voice, expect things to go wrong at that moment.
• Technical Pacifist: Due to her strongly believing in Yusho's Dueling Philosophy, Ruri was this during the invasion of Heartland, as she hated the idea of Dueling being used as a war tool but isn't above protecting herself or her loved ones if needed. Then later becomes subverted, as she rejects pacifism altogether and straight-up becomes a front-line Action Survivor in the Resistance.
• Took a Level in Cynic: After the revelation of the invasion of Heartland and her own role in Leo's plans, Ruri steels herself to focus more on keeping her friends, family, and allies safe from the Obelisk Forces; all while becoming more cynical and distant. Of course, she's much more lively with Ray and her counterparts whenever they get together in their shared Telepathy. This soon becomes inverted in chapter 13.
• Trauma Button:
  • Using the Fusion Summoning mechanic is one for her, and not unjustified due to what happened to Heartland. As she slowly learns to separate the tool and the user, this will gradually downplay into a subversion.
  • Learning about the Fusion Parasites becomes a very big one for her, leading to a horrific mental breakdown as she screams in grief and her hatred of Leo and Academia has hit the point of no return, shouting out threats of murdering them. It took Ray and her other counterparts to give a big Cooldown Hug for a long while, and even after Ruri wakes up from the Mental World, she's still a sobbing mess as Yuto found her alone.
• Worth It: As Ruri states to Shun when he brings up the possibility that Ray could just be manipulating her and not keep her promise about saving Heartland and herself existing, she would rather risk it than what Leo Akaba has planned for her, her counterparts, Yuto and his counterparts, and for the rest of the Four Dimensions.
• You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Says this when Yuri leaves Yuto's field devoided of monsters by using them as Fusion Materials.

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