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This is a list of characters and associated tropes from Yu-Gi-Oh 5 Ds, the second sequel to the original Yu-Gi-Oh! anime and manga series. Characters are referred to by their names in the original Japanese version with alternative spellings/meanings with the Dub equivalent in brackets next to them.
As with on the main page, please be careful when using Fanon-related tropes to edit this page.
WARNING! There are unmarked Spoilers ahead. Beware.
Multiple Character Tropes[]
Here are some common tropes associated with various characters:
- Chosen One: Both for the Signers chosen by the Crimson Dragon, and the Dark Signers chosen by the Earthbound Gods.
- Facial Markings: Applies to anyone with a Criminal Marker, as well as the Dark Signers.
- Orphan's Plot Trinket: Yusei, Jack, Crow, and most people from Satellite. West and Nico as well, following the death of their father.
- Out of Focus: Many characters, whether Demoted to Extra or suffering from Chuck Cunningham Syndrome.
- Power Tattoo: Signers and Dark Signers, in the form of a birthmark. Doubles as Mark of the Beast as well.
- Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: The Signers and Team Ragnarok
- Grey and Grey Morality: The majority of the villains are Well Intentioned Extremists, and while some of them Kick the Dog, they still ultimately have understandable motivations for what they're doing. The only ones who aren't are the Dark Signers, who suffer from With Great Power Comes Great Insanity, and some still held onto their humanity in the end. In contrast, the heroes are still good people, though the majority of them have participated in criminal activity, or sold people out.
Team 5D's[]
The main protagonists, consisting of the Signers and their closest allies. Their teamname comes from the 5 Dragon's Birthmarks which helped bring them together.
- Badass Abnormal
- Blessed with Suck: Signers.
- Blonde, Brunette, Redhead: Jack, Yusei, and Crow.
- Brought Down to Normal: Aki briefly in season 3 with her psychic powers, all of the Signers at the end of the series when they lose their Signer marks (although Aki and Ruka should still retain their separate powers.)
- Made of Iron: Yusei, Jack and Crow are quite resilient.
- Averted with Aki; she spends several episodes unconscious after crashing her D-Wheel.
- My Significance Sense Is Tingling: The Dragon's Birthmark responds to other sources of mystical energy, including but not limited to other Birthmarks, Dark Signers, Rune Eyes, and more.
- Power Trio: Yusei, Jack, Crow.
- During the Dark Signer arc Yusei, Jack, and Aki seemed to be shaping up as the three primary duelists of the show, until Crow is elevated to main character status. In Season 3, Aki, Rua, and Ruka form a secondary Power Trio.
- Three Plus Two: Yusei, Jack and Crow are the three, Aki, Rua and Ruka are the 'two'.
- Played straighter in the Dark Signer arc before Crow showed up, with Yusei, Jack, and Aki as the three, and Rua and Ruka as the two.
Yusei Fudo[]
The main character of 5D's and one of the Signers, bearing the Crimson Dragon's Tail ( this is replaced with the Dragon Head at the end of Season 2). He is much more calm and serious than the previous Yu-Gi-Oh! protagonists before him, but he is just as protective of his friends and his cards. This and his considerable skills, earn him a great deal of respect and admiration from his friends.
At first, he lives a slum named Satellite, although he escapes, looking to retrieve his rarest card from his old friend Jack, in Neo Domino City. He spends a brief stint in jail for his trouble, attaining a Criminal Marker, although he is later released. He participates in, and later wins, the Fortune Cup tournament held by Rex Godwin for the purpose of gathering the Signers.
Once all the Signers are gathered, he returns to Satellite to hold a battle with the Dark Signers. He eventually defeats three of the Dark Signers, helping to unite Neo Domino City and Satellite in the process.
In the W.R.G.P. arc, he works as a mechanic, living in Neo Domino City with his friends. He participates in the W.R.G.P. with his friends as Team 5D's. At the same time he works to attain a state of Clear Mind so that he can perform Accel Synchro to defeat the Three Emperors of Yliaster. After winning the tournament he goes up onto the Ark Cradle to prevent the destruction of his hometown for the second time.
At the end of the series, Yusei remains in Neo Domino City, becoming a scientist like his father, and making sure the bad future Yliaster spoke of never comes to pass.
- A Friend in Need: Aki, and then Kiryu.
- Actor Allusion: Thinking back to when Yusei ordered milk at a bar, guess who else did the same in the music video of RUN&GUN's "Believe"?
- Badass
- Bar Code Tattoo
- Big Brother Mentor
- Catch Phrase: "Is that so?" in the Japanese version, usually before making his game winning move.
- "Let's rev it up" in the English dub, typically when summoning Junk Warrior.
- Celebrity Voice Actor: In the Japanese version, Yusei was voiced by Yuya Miyashita, a stage actor and a member from the J-pop group RUN&GUN.
- The Chosen One
- Determinator
- First-Name Basis: He calls Aki by her first name in their second duel to get her attention, a move typically considered disrespectful in Japan except under a few conditions.
- Genius Bruiser
- Golden Super Mode: LIMIT OVER ACCEL SYNCHRO!!
- The Hero
- Heroic Resolve
- Hey, It's That Voice!: His dubbed voice actor did the voice of Hiroto Honda/Tristan Taylor from the original series.
- Hot Scientist: Post timeskip
- If You Kill Him You Will Be Just Like Him: Says this when Bommer attempts to kill Godwin.
- I Know Karate: Shown in Episode 25 when he dispatches several guards with a Shoryuken.
- Improbable Hairstyle: Believe it or not, it's actually inherited.
- It's All My Fault: He blames himself for what happened to everyone after Zero Reverse, which was caused by the Old Momentum designed by his father.
- Limited Wardrobe
- Magnetic Hero
- Made of Iron
- Mark of Shame
- Meaningful Name: He is named after the Planetary Particle (Yuusei Ryuushi) which his father discovered. Like the particle, which joined every other particle together, his father wanted Yusei to be someone who could join other people together through bonds - which is exactly what he became.
- The Messiah
- Moses in the Bulrushes: His father saved him from Zero Reverse Superman-style.
- Mr. Fixit: He did build his own D-Wheel after all. Fixing things is his trade after the Time Skip.
- Power Glows
- The Quiet One
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Jack's red.
- Sins of Our Fathers: He feels guilty about the Zero Reverse, seeing as it was caused by his father's invention, and Placido exploited it, causing his first Accel Synchro attempt to fail. Team Ragnarok also refuse to work with Team 5D's because they believe Yusei's fate to be cursed due to this.
- The Stoic
- Not So Stoic: In his earlier days.
- Technician Versus Performer: Appears to be the technician, being cool and calculated, but he is the performer because he mixes up his strategies and uses his cards in creative entertaining ways.
- This Is Unforgivable!: Almost a secondary Catch Phrase of his.
- Tragic Keepsake: He finds Antinomy/Bruno's glasses after the end of their duel.
- True Companions: He is very fond of this, which leads to.
- Weak but Skilled: Only his Synchro monsters are truly powerful in terms of attack, so he relies on his various monster effects for protection.
- A major gimmick of his deck is that he uses so=called "weak" cards that were discarded as trash by the residents of Neo Domino City.
- Why Did It Have To Be Bugs?: Dub-only.
- Informed Flaw, at that, since's he barely shown actually being afraid.
Jack Atlas[]
Yusei's rival and a Signer with the Wings of the Crimson Dragon. Two years before the series began, he stole Yusei's 1st D-Wheel and Stardust Dragon card, and relocated to Neo Domino City, becoming the 'King of Riding Duels'. Initially very arrogant and self-centered, caring little for others. However, after losing to Yusei in the Fortune Cup and meeting a special friend, he begins to realize where he went wrong and decides to take a different road than the one he took before.
Being a Signer, Jack helps defeat the Dark Signers, including his special friend-turned-lover Carly, and former mentor Rex Godwin.
In the W.R.G.P. arc, Jack lives in Neo Domino City with Yusei and Crow, with a spectacular inability to hold a job. He participates in the W.R.G.P. under Team 5D's as well, gaining a new power, Burning Soul, at the same time. After winning the tournmaent, he also goes onto Ark Cradle to fight Yliaster.
At the end of the series, Jack attempts to defeat his rival Yusei, but fails. He leaves Neo Domino City, traveling around the world to become a true Dueling King.
- A Friend in Need: Carly
- Always Someone Better: By the end of the series, he's acknowledged as the strongest Signer... except for Yusei.
- Anti-Hero: Type III.
- The Atoner
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: He definitely isn't stupid, but his deck focuses on offense and packs several anti-defense strategies. He also has a tendency to accuse defensive players of being cowards.
- Given that his deck is built around being nearly relentless in assault, it would probably be classified as the best defense is a good offense. The logic in it is that you can't really do anything to him if you have no cards to put up defense against his gigantic demons of terror. Then he steamrolls you in style while maintaining his flashy deck.
- Also since he is a showman, he really is not going to impress anyone by using the turtling strategy.
- Given that his deck is built around being nearly relentless in assault, it would probably be classified as the best defense is a good offense. The logic in it is that you can't really do anything to him if you have no cards to put up defense against his gigantic demons of terror. Then he steamrolls you in style while maintaining his flashy deck.
- Badass Biker
- Badass Longcoat
- Berserk Button: An easy way to annoy him is to refer to him as 'former king' or something similar. Oh, and eating his cup ramen.
- Big Damn Heroes: Gets to do this when several kids' souls are about to be absorbed for Uru's summoning and Yusei has his hands tied.
- Character Development: Becomes significantly less haughty and selfish during the course of the series.
- Color Coded for Your Convenience: He wears white and blue. It was a subversion during the first season when he was the main antagonist, but played straight in subsequent seasons.
- Crippling Overspecialization: He doesn't have many skills outside dueling and fighting, and his Deck doesn't have many strategies other than offensive ones.
- Deal with the Devil: As of episode 112 with the Crimson Devil's servant, with the Crimson Devil being the most powerful Earthbound God. However, when he awakens his 'Burning Soul' in the next episode, he steals its power instead to make his new ace card.
- Defeat Means Friendship: With Yusei, though in his case it was more like "Defeat Means Reconciliation".
- Determinator
- Et Tu, Brute?: Betrayed his True Companions to get out of Satellite.
- Evil Laugh: In Episode 76 after knocking out the leader of some D-Wheel thieves, before beating up the entire gang singlehandedly.
- Expy: Of the original series' Seto Kaiba, as most YGO franchise rivals tend to be. However, Jack is a lot more over-the-top, and is rather more open about his friendship with the other protagonists.
- Final Boss: Of the Fortune Cup arc. And also of the anime itself, depending on how you see it.
- Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: He uses this on Yusei in Episode 43.
- Harem Hero: With Carly, Mina and Stephanie.
- Heartbroken Badass: When he finds out something bad has happened to Carly and he wasn't there to protect her from it, and then when they have to face each other as enemies.
- Heel Face Turn
- Hot-Blooded
- Incendiary Exponent: When he invokes 'Burning Soul' for the first time in Episode 113, his hand catches fire.
- Jerk with a Heart of Gold: This Jerkass who treats other people like dirt cries Manly Tears after he hears Yeager's story of only eating ramen because he was so dirt poor. He even offered him boxes and boxes of it.
- The Lancer
- Land Down Under: Has an Australian accent in the English dub.
- Latex Space Suit
- Large Ham: After all, the king's duel must be entertainment for all! In addition, there's only one king, and IT'S HIM!
- Ore no TUUUUUUUUUURN!
- Lonely at the Top: Revealed by episode 25, which is titled "The Lonely King: Jack Atlas"
- Lotus Eater Machine: Fall victim to one in Episode 58 but snaps out it due to Carly's glasses.
- Made of Iron: Taken several D-Wheel spills that should have broken his neck in two by name. Two of those instances do land him in the hospital, though.
- Mirror Match: When he faces an impostor who has a replica of his Deck (Red Daemon's Dragon included).
- Monowheel Mayhem: His D-Wheel, the Wheel of Fortune (Phoenix Whirlwind in the dub).
- No Indoor Voice: Maybe speaking very, very loudly is a requirement to be a king?
- Purple Eyes
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: When he uses his 'Burning Soul' powers and robs the strongest Earthbound God of its power, melding it with Red Daemons' Dragon to create Scar-Red Nova Dragon.
- Red Herring Twist: The preview for episode 58 made it seem like Jack was going to become a Dark Signer, but it was actually a case of Carly's Lotus Eater Machine.
- Red Oni, Blue Oni: The red to Yusei's blue.
- He's also the Blue Oni to Crow's Red Oni.
- The Rival
- Scannable Man: Averted, as he's the only member of Team Satisfaction not to have a Criminal Mark.
- Screw Destiny: Lampshaded by his card, Change Destiny.
- Serious Business: Besides the obvious dueling, don't get between Jack and his cup ramen.
- Technician Versus Performer: Appears to be the performer, but he rarely deviates from tried-and-true methods and he lacks Yusei's creativity, making Jack the technician.
- Ted Lewis: Dub voice.
- Together in Death: Attempted. When is forced to defeat a possessed Carly during their Dark Duel where the loser perishes, he intended to use "Shockwave" to end the Duel in a tie so she wouldn't go down alone. However she realized this and quickly triggers "Earthbound Release" to ensure only she dies.
- Took a Level in Badass: Taking only two episodes to turn the devil into his new ace card counts.
- Trademark Favourite Food: Blue-Eyes Mountain coffee and cup ramen.
- Tragic Keepsake: After she dies (and unknown to him, becomes a Dark Signer), he carries around Carly's glasses (until she is revived).
- Unwanted Harem: Has Carly, Mina and Meido Stephanie chasing after him like lovesick puppies.
- Unexplained Accent: Dub only.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: With Crow.
Aki Izayoi (Akiza Izinski)[]
A Signer bearing the Dragon's Foreclaw and incredible psychic powers, which enable her to manifest her cards in reality. In the past, her uncontrolled powers caused people to fear and reject her, leading to her becoming isolated from the rest of humanity. She initially hated her "wretched mark", believing it to be the cause of her powers and her suffering. When Yusei first met her, she was extremely unstable and violent, having developed a destructive split-personality, and was being manipulated by Divine, who intended to abuse her power. However, through Yusei's efforts, she gradually begins to open her heart to others again, reconciles with her parents who regretted rejecting her, and learns to control her psychic powers.
In the W.R.G.P. arc, Aki re-enrolls in the local Duel Academia, quickly rising to become the best student in her year. She uses her Psychic powers several times over to save herself and others from harm. She learns how to ride a D-Wheel, becoming part of Team 5D's pit crew and also serving as a benchwarmer, or substitute, for the team. Staying true to this role, Aki briefly substitutes for Crow when the latter crashes and is injury-stricken. She crashes herself on her D-Wheel and temporarily goes into a coma courtesy of Team Catastrophe. She gets better, although she appears to have lost her Psychic powers. She later comes to peace with this, saying she no longer needs them, although her powers re-manifest to save herself, Crow, and Sherry from harm, and discovers she can use them to heal.At the end of the series, Aki leaves Japan to study and become a doctor, in Germany.
- A Friend in Need: Yusei considers her one of these when he first helps her.
- Action Girl: Begins as one of the franchise's biggest. And then... (see Chickification)
- Actor Allusion: Whether done intentionally or not, Aki is a possible case of this for her Seiyuu, Ayumi Kinoshita. Look her up on The Other Wiki and one of her few other roles is Jasmine of Tokusou Sentai Dekaranger, who also has psychic powers.
- All Girls Want Bad Boys
- Ax Crazy: While in her Black Rose Witch persona.
- Broken Bird: She starts off in the series as lonely and angry for the world shunning him off it only took a while for Yusei to get her back
- Biker Babe: As of Episode 75
- Bad Powers, Good People: Post Heel Face Turn.
- Brought Down to Normal: She lost her powers while being attacked by Hidden Knight - Hook. The exact reason why has yet to be explained.
- Subverted, she gets them back.
- Captain Ersatz: Of Code Geass' Kallen. Similar hairstyles, prestigious background, becomes a top student in school.
- Celebrity Voice Actor: In the Japanese version, she was voiced by model/actress Ayumi Kinoshita.
- Character Development: She makes peace with her two primary sources of suffering in her life and mellows out, although there is much debate about how well this was handled, including....
- Chickification: Watch Episode 22 and 72 in succession. You might be surprised to learn that the Axe Crazy Dark Magical Girl who leaves her opponent in a smoldering crater over some personal insults of the former, and the Smitten Teenage Girl Tsundere who spends the entire episode fawning over Yusei and thinking about how awesome Riding Duels are of the latter, are actually the same person.
- The Chick: In Season 3, natch.
- Cool Big Sis: Rua refers to her as 'Big Sis Aki' (Aki-nee-chan).
- Dark Action Girl: As the Black Rose Witch.
- Dark Magical Girl: When she first appeared.
- Defeat Means Friendship: It took two defeats and some of Yusei's Battle Therapy.
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Gradually, after meeting Yusei in the Fortune Cup.
- Demoted to Extra: Aki was initially the third-billed character of the series behind Yusei and Jack, appearing in such a role in the opening, ending, and being almost as important in the plot of the first season. Come Season 2 however Crow was the third hero, and Aki spent much of her time pre-occupied by school and/or convenient plot injuries. As a result her character arc for the season is only glossed over, and once Team Unicorn is defeated she's pretty much forgotten entirely.
- Drama-Preserving Handicap
- Expy: Puh-lease, its so easy you should not need to read this.
- Fingerless Gloves
- Heel Face Turn
- I Just Want to Be Normal: She eventually comes to accept and control her powers, using them for good though. She appears to actually lose her powers, but later gets them back, and is revealed to be able to heal.
- Kill It with Fire: Black Rose Dragon. It's attack is named "Black Rose Flare."
- Latex Space Suit: Her riding outfit is rather form-fitting, as is pretty much mandatory for female characters.
- Letting Her Hair Down: Her Power Limiter is also her hairband, so when she goes all out in the first season, her bangs fall over to partially cover her face.
- Of Corsets Sexy
- Parental Abandonment: After her powers awakened, Aki's parents couldn't accept her anymore. It takes a while, but they eventually make up.
- Power Incontinence: Like many Psychic duelists, she wasn't able to turn her manifestation power off, until her 2nd Duel with Yusei when her father was in danger.
- Power Limiter: Aki's hairband supposedly acts as a restraint for her powers. It's not known whether it is a Magic Feather or not.
- Psychic Powers: Can manifest her cards in reality.
- The Smart Guy
- Smitten Teenage Girl
- Something About a Rose: Roses are a major part of both her and her deck's motif.
- Split Personality: She developed one of these when she couldn't handle the guilt of hurting people anymore.
- Tentacle Rope: A power of her 'Rose Tentacles' monster card. Use gratuitously during her first duel with Yusei.
- White Mask of Doom: She wore one of these as the Black Rose Witch. It was broken after her first duel with Yusei.
- Whip It Good: Another part of her deck. A particular example is Black Rose Dragon when equipped with Thorn of Hatred/Thorn of Malice.
- You Go, Girl!: Season 3
- Episode 75 in particular, where she is discriminated against for being an aspiring female D-Wheeler.
Rua and Ruka (Leo and Luna)[]
Two twins hailing from the Tops, an especially luxurious area of Neo Domino City. They met Yusei after he recovered his D-Wheel from Security, giving him shelter and since then, they have supported him in every way they can. Since their parents were usually at work, they were usually alone together, educated via the Internet and spending most of their time indoors.
Rua is the lively and blundering older twin. He is generally overconfident (though this changes slightly after an incident at the Arcadia Movement) and is prone to crying when he loses. Ruka is more calm and collected of the two. She is a Signer, bearing the Rear Claw Birthmark. She has had the ability to speak to spirits since an incident at the age of 3, where she fell into a coma and her mind lived in the Spirit Realm for a month. This power peaks when she duels but it also tires her out.
Ruka has a tendency to point out the flaws in her brother's plans, which gets on his nerves, but despite this they both deeply care for one another - Rua was always by her side while she was comatose, and gave himself the task of protecting her, even going so far as to face a Dark Signer so she didn't have to get hurt. It's through this Dark Signer that Ruka finally receives her Signer dragon, Ancient Fairy Dragon.
In the W.R.G.P. arc, Rua and Ruka are more social, spending more time outdoors and attending the local Duel Academia. Both twins learn to ride the D-Boards, dueling boards equivalent to the D-Wheel being a dueling motorcycle. The twins become part of Team 5D's pit crew, mostly staying by the sidelines. They later go up upon the Ark Cradle, dueling Aporia with Jack. Despite his best efforts, every action Rua takes is thrown back up in his face, hurting Ruka and Jack, as Aporia attempts to visit upon him his own despair. Rua is briefly killed by Aporia, but manages to be revived with the help of Ancient Fairy Dragon and the Crimson Dragon, giving him a new birthmark bonded to the Rear claw, the "Heart" of the Crimson Dragon. Rua also receives a Signer Dragon, "Life Stream Dragon", which is the true form of Rua's Power Tool Dragon.
At the end of the series, Rua and Ruka leave Neo Domino City to live with their parents. Eight years later, Rua is working his way up to be Riding Duel Champion, and Ruka attends a university in London.
- Action Girl: Though she doesn't really get any spotlight duels, and she's got fewer duels than the others, out of the duels she has had, so far Ruka has only lost a single duel, and that to one of Illiaster.
- Ascended Fanboy: Rua was completely burg-a-durg over Jack for a long time.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Rua (and possibly Ruka) is being influenced by a Card of Darkness in the manga.
- Break the Cutie: Aporia towards Rua during their battle in the Ark Cradle.
- Brother-Sister Team: They finally get to be one of these in Episode 50.
- The Chick: Ruka
- Chick Magnet: Rua & Ruka after the second post-time skip.
- Creepy Child: For those mindrape moments when Ruka is skirted off to Narnia.
- They both count in the manga, especially Rua while they're dueling Yusei.
- The Determinator: Rua is even brought up to Signer status by the Crimson Dragon because of his refusal to give in to despair and his Heroic Sacrifice.
- Different As Night and Day: Ruka is down to earth and very logical, and Rua is..., well. "SHA-KIN!"
- Disguised in Drag: Rua impersonates Ruka to take part in the Fortune Cup.
- Half-Identical Twins
- Heroic Second Wind: Rua, during the battle with Aporia
- Hero Worshipper: Rua and Jack.
- In the Hood: Ruka in the manga.
- Mind Control Eyes: In the manga.
- Mouthy Kid: Rua
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: Rua, becoming the Sixth Signer
- Reading the Stage Directions Out Loud: Rua/Leo (only in the american version).
- Seventh Ranger: Rua becomes one.
- They Are All Grown Up: After the third timeskip.
- Spell My Name with an "S": Lua? Luka? Luca? Not helped by the anime itself flip-flopping on the issue or the dubs altering the names.
- Tagalong Kid: Rua
- This Is Unforgivable!: Done by Ruka, directed at Demak, who had been corrupting the Spirit Realm and **had hurt Rua during the course of their Dark Duel.
- Took a Level in Badass: Rua in Episode 142. Two words: Sixth Signer.
- Even more in the manga for both of them from Tagalong Kid to Player Killers hired by Rex.
- Transforming Mecha: Rua's decktype, Deformers/Morphtronics, are household items (Cell Phone, Lighter/USB Drive, Radio) that transform into humanoid robots.
- Trapped in Another World
- Waif Prophet: Ruka's a textbook example.
- What Could Have Been: It was originally planned for Rua to get his Signer Dragon during the Dark Signer arc.
Crow Hogan[]
A friend of Yusei and Jack, who takes care of a group of children and steals in order to provide for them. Orphaned when his parents were killed during the Zero Reverse, he wandered Satellite alone for a long time, never receiving any care or a formal education. However that all changed after discovering some cards in a dump - from those he gained knowledge and skills as well as friends. Reckless and daring, he will rise to any challenge. He is a formidable duelist and rides a Custom D-Wheel, Blackbird, with various modifications (including wings inspired by the legend of the Daedalus Bridge, and an anti-theft shocker). During the climax of the Dark Signer Arc, he inherits Yusei's Dragon Tail, becoming a new Signer whilst Yusei gains the Dragon Head.
- Badass Normal: Right from his introduction, and proven beyond doubt by bringing down a Dark Signer, while being a non-Signer.
- Badass Abnormal: After receiving the Dragon's Tail. The Crimson Dragon was probably wondering why the hell it didn't choose him in the first place.
- He still qualifies as the most "normal" among the 5D's teammates. As Crow himself notes while facing Jose, he doesn't have any ultimate trump cards like Jack and Yusei, and while the other four Signers have secondary special abilities ( Clear Mind, Burning Soul, psychic powers, seeing Duel Spirits), Crow does not.
- While he lacks any special abilities. He does gain a Signer dragon of his own and Armored Wing is still a powerful card and the trump card of many Blackfeather decks in real life.
- Big Brother Mentor
- Big Eater
- The Big Guy
- Broken Pedestal: After learning who the man from the legend of the Daedalus Bridge was.
- Butt Monkey
- Genius Bruiser: He's a lot smarter than he lets on.
- Hot-Blooded
- Irony: Crow of all people becomes a cop after the second timeskip
- It's All My Fault: When Ushio comes to request his, Jack's and Yusei's help in taking down Ghost, Crow turns his request down. Because of this, Ushio takes on Ghost himself and is seriously injured. Crow was quite upset when he found out.
- Just Like Robin Hood: He steals in order to provide for a group of children he takes care of.
- Large Ham
- Lovable Rogue
- Mark of Shame
- Papa Wolf
- Parental Substitute
- Scannable Man
- Sixth Ranger
- Take Care of the Kids: In his Backstory.
- What Could Have Been: Was originally supposed to be the Final Boss of the Dark Signer arc, until he became a Marketing Executive's Pet.
- You Killed My Father: Episodes 94-95
Bruno / Antinomy/ Johnny[]
An amnesiac young man whom Mikage and Ushio have Yusei, Jack, and Crow look after. Despite this handicap, he possesses exceptional mechanical skills. Interestingly, he shares many characteristics with Dark Glass, such as hair and eye color, voice, and left-handedness. They are one and the same.
- Amnesiac Dissonance
- Cute Kitten: Really likes them.
- Kindhearted Cat Lover: Crashed while saving one from being run over, which lead directly to his memory loss.
- Go Out with a Smile
- Mr. Fixit: Like Yusei, he's an exceptional mechanic, and is able to develop a new engine with him for the WRGP.
- Mysterious Protector
- Non-Action Guy: Unlike the others, he doesn't appear to be a duelist, despite his knowledge of the game mechanics. He's also not very assertive and claims to detest violence, so naturally he's been on the receiving end of physical abuse more than once. At least until he gets Glowing Eyes of Doom.
- Paper-Thin Disguise
- Really Dead Montage
- Ridiculously Human Robot
- Sixth Ranger
- The Smart Guy
- Stealth Mentor: He teaches Yusei Delta Accel Syncro under the guise of being on ZONE's side
- Transformation Sequence see "Dark Glass", below
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Has the same electric blue color as Dark Glass below.
Satellite Residents[]
Rally Dawson[]
A young boy who idolizes Yusei.
- Bar Code Tattoo: The first one shown.
- Expy: Of Mokuba.
- Heroic Sacrifice: During Yusei's first battle with Rudger, when things begin to go pear-shaped for the Dark Signer, he switches places with Rally. Rather than let Yusei be killed, he takes out Uru and his LP to ensure Yusei can continue.
- Not Quite Dead
- She's a Man In Japan: The Latin American dub switched his gender.
Saiga (Blister)[]
A friend of Jin Himuro and a "Jack of all Trades", who helped Yusei reclaim his Deck and D-Wheel from Security after he was freed from the Detention Center. He was once a Tag Riding Champion, but an accident led to his partner Yuji being severely injured. His only memento of his friend is their burnt "Machiner's Sniper" card, which Saiga initially believed was sent to him out of spite. However, Yusei convinces him otherwise. He later sneaks into Satellite to check up on Yusei's friends. After Neo Domino and Satellite are connected, he stays in the Satellite area rather than heading back to his old home.
Martha[]
Yusei's foster mother who runs an orphanage in Satellite and is regarded as a parental figure by abandoned children in Satellite. She took care of Yusei after he was injured during his first duel with Kiryu, and later encouraged him to go to help Aki (he was reluctant to do so as it probably meant fighting a friend again and the duel with Kiryu had left him with fear and doubt, but Martha knew that this was necessary to open his heart up again). She also played a major role in Ushio's Heel Face Turn.
Others[]
- Grumpy Old Man: Tetsuzo.
- The Hyena: Uryu's right-hand man, Shizaki.
- No Name Given: The two that hang out with Uryu aren't named in the anime itself. Instead, they're given names in the games and in Tag Force 4, one shares Uryu's English name.
- Posthumous Character: Robert Pearson.
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Uryu.
Neo-Domino Residents[]
Jin Himuro (Bolt Tanner)[]
A respected inmate at the Detention Center, who was a former Pro Duelist. However after being crushed by Jack, he spiraled into drink and depression, getting involved in underground duelling and eventually ending up at the Detention Center. Little more than a bully at first, he became one of Yusei's allies after Yusei defeated him using Yanagi's seemingly 'worthless' Deck, getting him fired up for the first time in ages.
Yanagi Tenzen (Tenzen Yanagi)[]
An eccentric and enthusiastic old man who befriends Yusei on the way to the Detention Center after seeing the Crimson Dragon's appearance. Having traveled extensively, he has some knowledge concerning ancient treasures and the legend of the People of the Stars.
- Badass Grandpa
- Dirty Old Man
- Cool Old Guy
- Fan Boy
- I Just Want to Be Special
- Smooch of Victory: He tries to give one to Yuusei early on.
- Too Dumb to Live: When it comes to playing the game. He doesn't even read the effects of his cards before playing them, and does not really understand the concept of Synchros.
Hideo/Setsuko Izayoi (Mr. and Mrs. Izinski)[]
The parents of Aki Izayoi. After an incident when she was young triggered her psychic power, they didn't know how to accept her anymore, eventually leading to her running away from home. After Aki was left in a coma after the attack on the Arcadia Movement, they visited her in hospital, blaming themselves for what had happened. With Yusei's help, they were able to reconcile with their daughter.
- Meddling Parents
- Parental Abandonment: They come to regret this.
- Tetsu Inada: Hideo's seiyuu.
Dr. Fudo[]
Yusei's father and the lead developer of Old Momentum. Rex and Rudger Godwin were his assistants. He had wanted to stop the project after realising the risks involved, but ended up being replaced by Rudger. He managed to reclaim 3 of the cards needed to seal Old Momentum's Safety Controllers and entrusted them to Rex Godwin. He was killed in the Zero Reverse shortly afterwards, but was able to ensure his son's survival beforehand.
- Get a Hold of Yourself, Man!: Delivered to Yusei when he intervenes during the battle with Zone.
- Improbable Hairstyle: One of the reasons for his son's hair.
- My God, What Have I Done?: The Momentum project.
- Posthumous Character
- Ignored Expert
Stephanie[]
A shy cafe waitress who has a crush on Jack, and is another rival for Carly and Mikage.
- All There in the Manual: Her name has never been shown or said onscreen until episode 137, but was revealed in the wiki.
- Cannot Spit It Out
- Clingy Jealous Girl
- Foe Yay: With Carly and Mikage. They all become Vitriolic Best Buds by the end.
- Muggle: She couldn't see the Hidden Knight - Hook that the heroes could. She is apparently not a duelist, either.
- Shrinking Violet
- When All You Have Is a Hammer: She got past a security guard with a coupon for her cafe.
Other[]
- Apron Matron: Zora (Yusei, Jack and Crow's landlady in the third arc).
- Combat Commentator: The Master of Ceremonies.
- Double Entendre: Dick Pitt. Probably the reason his name got changed in the dub.
- Gratuitous English: The Master of Ceremonies with his catchphrase; "EVERYBODY LISTEN!!!".
- The Remnant: Mukuro Enjo.
- Smarter Than They Look: Mukuro Enjo, in both anime and manga, finds ways to exploit format which haven't yet been repeated by others, with his Speed Accel Deck in the anime exploiting the Speed World Field card and Speed Counters, while in the manga he runs a Stall Attack Deck, having figured out that he can exploit the first-to-finish-wins rule by simply attacking, as even if no damage is done his Feel will slow down his opponent.
- What Could Have Been: In-universe. Apparently, in Z-One's original timeline, Enjo was not only a good friend of Aki and Yusei, but the three of them won the Pegasus J. Crawford Cup Trinidad Riding Duel Grand Prix.
- Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: Jill De Lancebeaux in the dub.
Duel Academy[]
- Darkskinned Blonde: Patty.
- Expy: Heitmann's attitude to low-level monsters and his Deck, are the same as Professor Chronos. In the dub, they also share the same voice actor.
- Hot Teacher: Maria, full stop
Public Security Maintenance Bureau[]
Rex Godwin (Rex Goodwin)[]
I am no more than a man who dreams of the evolution of Neo Domino City and peace for the world. However, I would not hesitate to sacrifice one side...to capitalize on another for existential necessities. |
See Dark Signers
Jeager (Lazar)[]
Godwin's right-hand man and the bureau's Head of Special Investigations in the first two arcs. Effeminate, slightly sadistic, and egotistical. His arrogance quickly gives way to cowardice when his life is in danger. He leaves his post after being left to die by Placido and goes into hiding with his family. However Yusei's group find him in order to find out what he knows about Yliaster. After the Three Emperors leave their post in the Bureau to compete in the WRGP finals, Jeager becomes the Bureau's director.
- Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking: In episode 80, he steals the engine program that Yusei and Bruno had been working on and while he's at it, he eats one of Jack's cup ramen.
- Balloonacy: Can quickly inflate a balloon and float into the sky with it.
- Compressed Vice: For episode 80, Jeager is given a insatiable weakness for cup ramen.
- Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Not exactly a moron, but you wouldn't guess from his appearance that he's a talented duelist.
- Dirty Coward
- Evil Laugh: Hi hi hi~
- Heel Face Turn: Season 2.
- Large Ham
- Monster Clown: It's even the theme of his deck.
- Ninja Log: Pulls a variation of this when Crow ties him up after mistaking him for a Dark Signer.
- Papa Wolf: He will do anything to protect his wife and son.
- Screw This, I'm Outta Here: After being used and left for dead by Placido, he disappears.
- Villainous Crossdresser
Mikage Sagiri (Mina Simington)[]
Godwin's meek secretary who watches over Jack. She does her best to be useful, but often unintentionally sparks her superiors' wrath. She has feelings towards Jack, and is jealous of Carly for the attention she receives. In Season 3, she is Head of Special Investigations.
- All Love Is Unrequited
- Cannot Spit It Out
- Clingy Jealous Girl
- Foe Yay: With Carly and Stephanie. They all become Vitriolic Best Buds by the end.
- Mrs Exposition
- Oblivious to Love
- Office Lady
- Sexy Secretary
- Triang Relations: Mikage likes Jack, Jack is oblivious and likes Carly, while Ushio likes Mikage and also goes unnoticed.
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair
Tetsu Ushio (Trudge)[]
A member of Security who operated within Satellite. After losing to Yusei in the first episode, he developed a grudge against him and vowed to crush him. He fought Yusei two more times, once when Yusei escaped Satellite via the pipeline between the cities (which gave him a scar on his cheek) and when Yusei attempted to reclaim his D-Wheel from a Security Warehouse - losing both times.
Later, he flew the Signers, Mikage and Rua to Satellite on Godwin's orders. While at Martha's place, he began to respect Satellite residents more after learning how one of the children, Takuya, admired Security for trying to save his father and wanted to become one someday (despite the fact that Satellite residents couldn't join Security). After Yusei's initial duel with Rudger, he became one of Yusei's allies and has accompanied his group during the fight against the Dark Signers. He has worked with Mikage on several occasions and has developed a crush on her, though he is aware of her feelings for Jack.
By Season 3, he is working as Mikage's partner and has been promoted to the position of Assistant Chief of Special Investigations.
- Ascended Extra: He's the same bully Yugi faced in his first Dark Game.
- Big Ol' Eyebrows
- Cannot Spit It Out
- Character Development
- Cop Boyfriend
- Dan Green: Dub voice.
- False Start
- Good Scars, Evil Scars: A rare example of what could have been both. Ushio got his scar early on when he tried to stop Yuusei's gambit to escape to Neo Domino City.
- Heel Face Turn
- Implacable Man
- Inspector Javert
- Jerkass Facade: When acting as an examiner in Episode 75.
- Love Hurts: He has unrequited love for Mikage which isn't returned for far too long.
- Nice Guys Finish Last
- The Worf Effect
- You Rebel Scum: He initially refers to Yusei as "Satellite Scum" and his cards as "trash" on every possible occasion. He stops this later after his Heel Face Turn (and learning Yusei was born in the city).
Takasu (Armstrong)[]
A terrible prison Warden in the Alcatraz-esque prison facility. He was ordered to find out more about Yuusei's mark, resorting to various torture methods involving electrocution. Considering how he treats those who end up in his prison from Satellite, it's not too much of a stretch to imagine him as being pretty much the worst villain in the entire show for someone without powers. He's sick, twisted, and has a complete lack of care for his inmates, often cheating and scheming to get what he wants, having stripped the decks from all of the inmates. He challenges Yuusei to a Duel despite knowing he's confiscated Yuusei's deck, but Yuusei constructs a new one of cards saved by each inmate who offers him one. With a mixed matched deck, Yuusei challenges and defeats the cheating warden, sending currents of electricity through his body that nearly knock him down for good. He is later removed by Godwin.
- Electric Torture
- Establishing Character Moment
- Evil Laugh
- Fat Bastard
- The Fat Guy With the Big Lips And Pimply Nose
- Gross Up Close-Up: He blows. NOSE HAIR. on people.
- Kick the Dog
- Kouji Ishii: His seiyuu.
- Torture Cellar
- Villainous Glutton
- Scary Black Man
- You Rebel Scum
Others[]
- All Psychology Is Freudian: Professor Frank.
- Mad Scientist: Akutsu. It gets kind of creepy when he's too caught up enjoying all the momentum chaos and only calms down to reveal the Arc Cradle is slowly falling towards Neo-Domino. Then he goes back to spinning gleefully.
- Villainous Breakdown
Arcadia Movement[]
Divine (Sayer)[]
The leader of the Arcadia Movement. His organization offers refuge for psychic duelists rejected by society, but conducts experiments on people with psychic potential at the same time. One of his goals is to raise an army to wage war on the world to take revenge on all the people who reject and revile the psychic duelists and made him what he is. He was the first person who ever accepted Aki and gave her a home, even if only because of her strong psychic powers.
- Complete Monster: He's a terrible, terrible man.
- Engineered Public Confession: Falls victim to one of these in Episode 61, leading to his death.
- Evil Laugh
- Eyes of Gold
- Good Scars, Evil Scars
- Karmic Death: Twice.
- Kick the Dog: A lot.
- Killed Off for Real
- Last Words: "I don't need people I can't use". Spoken to Misty who had just learnt that Divine was the one who had killed her brother, and who also had Ccarayhua in play.
- Manipulative Bastard
- Masaya Matsukaze: His seiyuu.
- Never Found the Body / Not Quite Dead: After his first, supposed death.
- Obstructive Zealot
- Pet the Dog: MAJORLY subverted. Every seemingly kind action he takes is actually using others for his own gain.
- Psychic Powers: Can manifest his cards in reality.
- Trigger Phrase: He used one of these to trigger Aki's 'Black Rose Witch' persona.
- Unexplained Recovery: Seeing as he appears after being beaten in a shadow duel and No One Could Survive That, it certainly qualifies, especially since it was never explained.
Dark Signers[]
The antagonists for the second arc of 5D's. Just as the Crimson Dragon chose the Signers, the Jibakushin chose the Dark Signers. Dark Signers are people who have been revived by the Jibakushin upon their death, usually because they have died harboring revenge towards one of the Signers, hungered for power or in one case, displayed a great will to live. According to Rex Godwin, this transformation is irreversible as they are already dead ( he's wrong).
Here is a list of tropes that can be applied to all of the Dark Signers:
- Back from the Dead
- Black Cloak
- Black Eyes of Crazy
- Brainwashed and Crazy
- Came Back Wrong
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience
- Death Is Dramatic
- Disney Death
- Evil Laugh: All of them are rather prone to this, particular if their Earthbound Gods take over. Kiryu's takes the cake though.
- Evil Costume Switch
- Face Heel Turn
- Facial Markings / Mark of the Beast: Aside from their Birthmarks, they also have patterns on their face similar to the criminal markers.
- The Fatalist
- Instant Runes: When they duel, a huge flaming Geoglyph corresponding to their Earthbound God appears, tearing up the nearby scenery and trapping anyone who is too close.
- Eucatastrophe
- The Only One Allowed to Defeat You
- Redemption Equals Death
- Reset Button: After the Crimson Dragon destroys the King of the Underworld, most of the Dark Signers are brought back to life as they were before they were transformed.
- Undeath Always Ends: The eventual fate of every Dark Signer is to crumble to dust. However most of them got better.
- Villain Override: They can fall victim to this if they don't follow their Earthbound God's orders.
- With Great Power Comes Great Insanity
Rudger Godwin (Roman Goodwin)[]
By the time I even realized, my fate was in the hands of the Gods. I chose the darkness in my own heart. This world will soon be reborn! That is my answer! |
The leader of the Dark Signers, bearing the Spider's Birthmark. The older brother of Rex Godwin, and like him, the former assistant of Dr. Fudo, whom he replaced as lead developer on the Old Momentum Project just before the Zero Reverse occurred.
It is later revealed that he was the original bearer of the Dragon's Head (rather than his brother as many fans suspected) who was driven mad by the Jibakushin after looking into Momentum's light. While he still had a small bit of sanity left, he severed his arm and gave it to Rex, telling him to gather the Signers to stop him. He then let Old Momentum run out of control, dying in the resulting explosion and being reborn as a Dark Signer.
- Artificial Limbs: Like his brother, Rudger has a prosthetic left arm, after severing his own arm.
- Demonic Possession: The spiders he controls can do this.
- Disc One Final Boss
- Giant Spider: He has them as his superpower, his birthmark, and his decktype.
- Hades Shaded
- Taking You with Me: After losing to Yusei, he detonates his arm and destroys the bridge they were standing on, sending Yusei falling into the depths of Old Momentum.
- Temporary Bulk Change
- Together in Death: After Yusei defeats Rex, the two brothers pass on together.
Demak (Devack)[]
The Dark Signer with the Monkey's Birthmark. Nothing was revealed about his past, but he was supposed to bear hatred towards the Signers for unknown reasons. He was responsible for the corruption of the Spirit World through his servant Zeman and held control over the seal on Ruka's dragon. He was the first Dark Signer to fall, through the combined efforts of Rua and Ruka.
- Backstory: None whatsoever, though Word of God says he bore hatred for the Signers for some reason.
- Everything's Better with Monkeys
- Scary Black Man
Kyosuke Kiryu (Kalin Kessler)[]
The Dark Signer chosen to bear the Giant's Birthmark, Kiryu was once the leader of Team Satisfaction, a group consisting of himself, Yusei, Jack and Crow. Together they managed to defeat every other Duel Gang around and 'conquer' Satellite. However he wasn't satisfied with this and kept looking for more enemies to defeat, becoming more sadistic and eventually causing his teammates to desert him.
This culminated in him provoking Security, severely injuring an officer before being arrested. A misunderstanding led Kiryu to believe that Yusei betrayed him, when he was actually trying to take the fall for Kiryu. Kiryu later died in prison and became a Dark Signer to take revenge.
- Anti-Hero: Type III, post-Heel Face Turn.
- The Atoner: During the Crash Town arc.
- Ax Crazy
- Badass: He's the only person in the entire series to have ever beaten Yusei. In the manga, he's even more so, seeing as he has RED DEMONS DRAGON.
- Technically Jack has won against Yusei once, but Jack didn't nearly kill Yusei with Ccapac Apu.
- Badass Biker
- Badass Longcoat: He wears one of these during the Crash Town arc.
- Badass Long Hair
- Bare Your Midriff
- Beard of Sorrow: A variation: Kalin in the Crash Town arc is so depressed he's not bothering with cutting his hair; it's longer and his bangs nearly cover his eyes.
- Death Seeker: At the start of the Crash Town arc.
- Despair Event Horizon
- The Dragon: Helped by the 'Ryu' (Dragon) in his name.
- Evil Laugh
- Forgotten Childhood Friend
- Hero-Killer
- It's All My Fault
- My Hero Zero: Infernity Zero. Also, his Infernity monsters can only use their effects if he has zero cards in his hand.
- Eucatastrophe: During his first duel with Yusei, he would have killed him if Yusei's D-Wheel hadn't given out from the damage it had sustained.
- Normally I Would Be Dead Now: He possesses a special monster, Infernity Zero, that allows him to remain in a Duel even if his LP is zero. He uses it to survive Lotten's One Turn Kill.
- Promotion to Parent: At the end of the Crash Town Arc.
- Redemption Equals Death: He did get better though.
- The Rival
- Russian Roulette: His cards Infernity Randomizer and Infernity Death Gunman have damage effects that emulate this.
- Shinigami: What he is called by some of the people in Crash Town, and he calls himself this in the final duel of the arc as well.
Kiryu: I told you, I'm a God of Death. Gods of Death don't die. |
- Shout-Out: When using Infernity Death Gunman; "To be honest, I've forgotten how many monsters there are in my Deck."
- Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Shown in the manga to be caring towards the other kids trained under Godwin and even his stealing Red Demons was more for Jack's sake. Then it went and started corrupting him.
- White-Haired Pretty Boy
Carly Nagisa (Carly Carmine)[]
When I cheer on someone doing their best, I think I can do a little better myself. That alone makes me happy. |
An unsuccessful, clumsy and nervous reporter, who becomes tangled up in the events of the series after noticing the Dragon's Birthmark during Yusei and Jack's duel at the end of the Fortune Cup. In the process, she learns many secrets, but something usually prevents her from writing a story. She uses a Fortune-Telling Deck to read her own fortune and decide on her actions.
She meets Jack Atlas when he is attacked by a possessed Ushio and after helping Jack fend him off, safeguards him from the media at her home. During his stay with her, she learns about his past and how foolish he has been, and gives him some advice that helps him to find his way. As events become more dangerous, he leaves her behind for her own safety, but having developed feelings for him, she follows his trail - with disastrous consequences.
- A Friend in Need
- Action Girl: Surprisingly, yes.
- Bare Your Midriff: In her Dark Signer outfit.
- Beautiful All Along: Without her glasses on (as you already knew).
- Brainwashed and Crazy
- Break the Cutie: Who can blame her for breaking down in tears at the end of Episode 39. She thinks she's killed someone, seems doomed to a future of evil that will have her fight her beloved, and on top of that, she's dead.
- Character Development: One of the more fleshed-out characters in the series.
- Clingy Jealous Girl
- Cute Clumsy Girl
- Dark Action Girl: As a Dark Signer.
- The Dog Bites Back
- Dramatic Irony
- Died in Your Arms Tonight
- Expy: With her glasses on, she seems like a female version of Mousse from Ranma 1/2
- Foreshadowing: Though by then it was pretty obvious how screwed Divine was.
- Fan Nickname: Her Dark Signer self is commonly referred to as D-Carly.
- Fighting Your Friend
- Foe Yay: With Stephanie and Mikage. They all become Vitriolic Best Buds by the end.
- The Glasses Gotta Go
- Go Out with a Smile
- Intrepid Reporter
- Kill the Cutie
- Laser-Guided Amnesia
- Lotus Eater Machine: Inflicts this on Jack while in Dark Signer mindset, showing him a future where he loses, is turned into a Dark Signer and rules a world turned to hell with her at his side. He snaps out of it when he realizes that the Carly he knows wouldn't want that.
- Love Makes You Evil: The possibility of a future with Jack is what caused her to slip into her Dark Signer persona for a 2nd time.
- Meganekko
- Official Couple: With Jack, one of the most canon-supported pairings.
- Though after she came back to life, the writers are acting as if Jack's and Carly's mutual love confession never happened.
- Opaque Nerd Glasses: Her trademark.
- Otaku: Hinted.
- She Knows Too Much: The reason Divine killed her.
- Slow Motion Fall: Both times.
- Sparkling Stream of Tears: Does this at the start of Episode 47 when Jack finds out what she's become.
- Super-Powered Evil Side
- Thinks Like a Romance Novel: Her Jack fantasies. Complete with roses, sparkles, and even a baby.
- Took a Level in Badass: Twice. First when she came back as a Dark Signer and gave Divine what was coming to him. Second when she became the first female D-Wheeler in the series. Now considering her introduction at the start of the season, who could have seen this coming?
- Veronica Taylor: Yep, Carly is played by the same actress that originally played Ash Ketchum and May.
- What Beautiful Eyes!
- What Have I Done / What Have I Become?: Happens in quick succession after she regains her senses after her battle with Divine.
Misty Lola (Misty Tredwell)[]
(to Aki) Nothing will make him come back now. But, I want you to apologize at the very least... by going to where he is and doing so! |
The Dark Signer with the Lizard Birthmark. She was a top model, and like Carly, practiced fortune-telling (though she read people by facial appearance rather than through cards). She became a Dark Signer after her brother was killed. Misty fell into depression following his death, leading to her losing focus and crashing her car in the ocean. While in hospital, she was spared by Ccarayhua and instructed to kill Aki - the one believed to be responsible.
- Dark Action Girl
- Dead Little Brother: Her younger brother, Toby, was a psychic duelist who admired Aki. About a year before the series began, he was found dead and barely recognizable in the Daimon Area, supposedly crushed by falling debris from one of Aki's duels ( in actuality, he had been taken for experimentation by Divine and suffered a heart attack while being electrocuted).
- Foreshadowing: She sees the 'shadow of death' about Carly, predicting her death in the near-future. And sure enough, 8 episodes later...
- Gorgeous Gorgon: She uses a gorgon deck.
- Hall of Mirrors: Made her last stand in one, and has a field spell called Mirror Labyrinth.
- Junko Minagawa: Her seiyuu.
- Taken for Granite: What her gorgon monsters like to do to her opponent's monsters.
Bommer (Greiger)[]
Bommer initially appeared as a participant in the Fortune Cup - an honorable duelist, proud yet stoic, who was perfectly willing to admonish the crowd at the Stadium when they started to speak ill of Yusei due to his marker. He comes from a destitute village, and like Crow, learned everything he knows from Duel Monsters Cards.
He was in a deal with Godwin to expose the Signers in the tournament in return for financial aid for his village. However before his duel with Yusei, Bommer learned that his village had been destroyed, apparently by one of Godwin's experiments to summon the Crimson Dragon. This led to him attacking Godwin after he was defeated, only to be stopped by Yusei. Afterwards, he was arrested by Security. During the attack on the Arcadia Movement, he was freed from custody by Demak who invited him to join the Dark Signers to get revenge on Yliaster for his village's destruction. Later, when Demak was defeated, Rudger hung Bommer over Old Momentum in order to make him a replacement Dark Signer, giving him the Killer Whale Birthmark and a second chance at revenge.
- Dead Little Siblings: Annie and Max, although they are not actually dead.
- Doomed Hometown
- Mr. Exposition: During the Crimson Devil sub-arc.
- Redemption Equals Death: After his battle with Crow, he rams into him into order to save him from falling debris. Like the others however, he gets better.
- Revenge
- Spiked Wheels: On his D-Wheel.
- What Have I Done: After he learns that his siblings are inside his Earthbound God and that the Dark Signers had a hand in his village's destruction.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Delivers a magnificent one to the crowd in the Fortune Cup when they start booing Yusei for being a Satellite citizen:
Bommer: This man is undoubtedly a duelist, selected under the same conditions as we were. If one has cards, marker or no marker, they are the same as everyone else, and the people standing here should be ashamed of nothing. It is all of you, looking at him through your trivial rose-colored glasses, who are nothing short of vicious. |
Rex Godwin/Goodwin[]
Friends, bonds, legends, love - What good have they done? Have they managed to even put a dent in destiny!? Destiny merely scoffs at us, unchanged! However, I shall proceed upon the remaining path... I shall create a new world!! |
The director of Neo Domino's Public Security Maintenance Bureau and the leader of Yliaster. He is responsible for transforming Neo Domino into it's current, hierarchical state, and for isolating Satellite (to act as the battleground for the war between the Signers and the Dark Signers, and as a decoy to protect Neo Domino). Cold, calm and calculating, he is perfectly willing to sacrifice innocent lives to achieve his goals and preserve his utopia.
It is later revealed that he was a former developer in M.I.D.S. and an assistant to Yusei's father along with his older brother, Rudger. Shortly before the Zero Reverse, he was entrusted with 3 of the cards necessary to operate Old Momentum's safety switches, his brother's severed arm bearing the Dragon's Head, and the mission to bring together the Signers to defeat Rudger. He is also the Legendary D-Wheeler from the legend of the Daedalus Bridge, having flown from Satellite to Neo Domino, losing his left arm in the process.
Acting on his promise to his brother, he gathered the Signers and sent them to defeat his brother, while thinking of a way to break the 5000 year cycle. He eventually came to the conclusion that only a God's power could change fate, and decided to acquire the powers of both the Crimson Dragon and the King of the Underworld to become the Ultimate God and create an 'ideal' world.
- Affably Evil: At least up until he acquires Wiraqocha Rasca, after which he loses it.
- A God Am I: Intends to acquire both the power of the Crimson Dragon and the King of the Underworld to become the Ultimate God and end the 5000 year cycle.
- A Love to Dismember: He worships his brother's severed arm, and 62 episodes in Rex forcefully removes his prosthetic left arm in order to make his brother's arm his own, becoming a Signer in the process.
- Artificial Limbs: He lost his arm when riding off the Daedalus Bridge. Coupled with the fact that he had the severed Dragon Head, it led some to believe that he was the 5th Signer.
- The Chessmaster
- Drunk on the Dark Side
- The End of the World as We Know It: Plans on causing this, then rebuilding the world sans the Signer-Dark Signer cycle.
- Expy: He is essentially this show's version of Pegasus.
- Foreshadowing: That emblem on his suit that he showcases from his very first appearance? Totally insignificant, really.
- Gambit Roulette
- Hannibal Lecture: His quote above is part of one which spans the Duel, with varying degrees of focus on each of his opponents, until Yusei finally shuts him up.
- Hidden Agenda Villain
- Hypocrite: A strange example. He claims that bonds have failed and everyone is ultimately strongest when alone, but Yusei points out in his Shut UP, Hannibal moment that both Godwin/Goodwin brothers were ultimately trying to fight fate, and:
Yusei: Isn't that what we call a bond? |
- Kick the Dog: He's the Legendary Man from Daedalus Bridge, and quite relishes in pointing out how he failed, with the result of absolutely hammering Crow, who held the Legendary Man as an idol.
- Large Ham: After his ascension to godhood, his previously affable personality is replaced by a much more grandiose and bombastic one.
- Maddie Blaustein: First voice of Rex in the dub, replaced by Pete Zarustica when she passed away in her sleep from natural causes (not that you'd be able to tell the difference anyway).
- Mr. Exposition: Initially.
- Robotic Reveal: His prosthetic was revealed when he caught a spike that broke off Bommer's D-Wheel and it shredded his glove.
- Together in Death: After he is defeated by Yusei, he walks into the afterlife with his brother.
- Utopia Justifies the Means: Both in his plan to create an 'ideal' world and in his isolation of Satellite to act as a battleground.
- Villainous Breakdown: After Yusei's will causes him to lose the Full Dragon's Birthmark.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Rather than risk an uncertain future in which the world is threatened with destruction every 5000 years, he decided to destroy the world and recreate one without the cycle of conflict between Signers and Dark Signers.
- White Gloves: Hides his prosthetic with these.
- Yin-Yang Bomb: Becomes a Signer and a Dark Signer at the same time.
WRGP-Related[]
Sherry Le Blanc[]
A new D-Wheeler introduced during the third arc who challenges Yusei, intending to recruit him for her team. She reveals that Yliaster is involved in the Grand Prix, and her motivation for entering it is to get revenge on Yliaster for killing her parents.
- Action Girl
- Anime Accent Absence: Played straight in the original, but averted in the English dub by giving her a thick French accent.
- Badass: Episode 93... just Episode 93.
- Biker Babe
- Deal with the Devil: She agrees to help Zone's plan in exchange for having her past rewritten so her parents are brought back to life.
- Evil Costume Switch
- Expy: Very reminiscent of Sherry from Zatch Bell.
- Face Heel Turn
- Ms. Fanservice: Also just Episode 93.
- The Ojou: Subverted, she was this until her parent's death, going in hiding with Mizoguchi and becoming a Badass.
- Orphan's Plot Trinket: The card hidden inside her childhood teddy bear, Z-One.
- Rapunzel Hair: To take full advantage of the Samus Is a Girl reveal.
- Samus Is a Girl
- Shout-Out: Her cards reference Joan Of Arc and the Hundred Years' War.
- In Episode 117, after getting flung into a wormhole, Zone confronts her in white space in the form of her father. He says that if she wants to know the truth, he will tell her, but she'll have to accept her fate being changed as a result. Doesn't sound familar at all, does it?
- Why Don't Ya Just Shoot Him: Seems to be more interested in beating the crap out of people than dueling them.
- You Killed My Parents
Mizoguchi (Elsworth)[]
Sherry's butler, who has protected and raised her from childhood ever since her parents were killed by Yliaster. He will follow her at all costs.
- Attack! Attack! Attack!: Like Jack, he is quite clever, with a deck that focuses on attacking relentlessly. He cites that samurai never hesitate or retreat.
- Badass
- Badass Normal: One of the few characters who doesn't poesses any special powers during the show and yet he's equally or more Badass than them.
- Battle Butler: He lays a bunch of thugs flat with no effort.
- Crazy Prepared: Seriously, a sword and a parachute in his duel disk?
- Determinator
- Everything's Better with Samurai: His deck. He also cites lessons from Bushido.
- Knuckle-Cracking: As shown in the picture, when he is about to beat up the afforementioned thugs who had tried to drop a truck on Sherry, Yusei and Aki.
- My Master, Right or Wrong: Supports Sherry no matter what dangerous or illegal thing she does. Not hard to blame him, Yliaster are the real bad guys.
- Perpetual Frowner
- The Quiet One
- Seppuku: Has a card, Resolve Of The Lord And Retainer, that does this.
- Single-Stroke Battle: Has a card, Pause Of The Certain Kill, that does this.
- Shout-Out: Several of his cards reference Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojiro.
"Dark Glass" ("Vizor") / Antinomy / Johnny[]
A mysterious rider who challenges Yusei when he is worrying about the incident concerning Ghost, telling him to "surpass his limit." He helps Yusei overcome his fears, and shows him an alternative way of fighting called Accel Synchro. He is the only D-Wheeler so far to be left-handed. Revealed to be Bruno as of Episode 107 (as many had suspected).
- All There in the Manual / Word of God: Series Director Katsumi Ono revealed on his Twitter account that "Antinomy" is actually just a codename, and that when he was still human, in the apocalyptic future, his real name was Johnny.
- Awesome but Impractical: His D-Wheel, which is one of the strangest designs to appear in the series. He must have a hard time keeping it balanced.
- Badass
- Big Damn Heroes: Saves Yusei from being overrun by the army of Ghost. Happens again in Episode 138, where he uses his suped-up D-Wheel to provide a slipstream for Yusei and Aki to accelerate enough to make it over the Bifrost Bridge before it collapses.
- Cool Shades
- Cute Kitten: Swerving to avoid a kitten caused him to crash.
- Mysterious Protector
- No Name Given: "Dark Glass" is only a nickname that's displayed on the duel scoreboard for the audience's benefit. In the show itself he's credited as "The Mysterious D-Wheeler." Later changed to Bruno.
- The dub uses Only Known by Their Nickname instead, as he told Yusei to call him "Vizor".
- Rule of Cool: His D-Wheel design is a monowheel talon that would be very hard to balance on. But who cares?
- Shout-Out: To Kamen Rider.
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair
Ghost[]
A mysterious duelist who has been infecting and destroying D-Wheels. It is actually a prototype 'Riding Roid' which was developed by Security to assist in tackling D-Wheel related crimes, but was purloined by Placido, who wanted to give his new cards a test drive, and programmed to hunt down any D-Wheelers holding Synchro monsters. Placido later uses Yusei's engine program to upgrade an army of Riding Roids similar to Ghost, which he later unleashes upon the D-Wheelers at the WRGP in attempt to complete the Circuit sooner.
- Evil Laugh
- Glowing Eyes of Doom
- Mecha-Mooks
- Robotic Reveal: After it crashes and the lads come to help, Crow touches it's shoulder, and it's arm falls off.
- Zerg Rush
Team Unicorn (Andore, Breo and Jean)[]
A strong Riding Team that were Team 5D's first opponents in the WRGP.
- Ambiguously Gay:
JeanAll three of them. - Badass Boast
Jean: The more you try to defend against Breo, the more you'll be dragged into Hell with nowhere to escape. |
- Break the Haughty: Breo's backstory.
- Crazy Prepared: They extensively study their opponents and adjust their decks to counter them. They also like to fool their opponents into thinking that they will use a particular strategy, only to use a different one.
- Defeat Means Friendship
- Gratuitous Spanish
- Hero Antagonist
- Horned Hairdo: Andore.
- Ignore the Fanservice: Jean.
- Eucatastrophe
- Photographic Memory: Breo.
- Smug Snake: Jean
- Why Don't You Just End Your Turn and Win: One of the most infamous cases of Plot Induced Stupidity in the franchise, if Jean had simply ended his turn and not made a move, Yusei would have lost by deck out. Instead they Hand Wave that he feels the need to attack (in the Japanese his "fighting spirit" has been ignited, in the dub he doesn't want to win by deck out), and in doing so causes himself to lose.
Team Catastrophe (Nicholas, Hans and Hermann)[]
Team 5D's second opponents in the Preliminaries. They acquired a 'dark card' from Placido which they use to make their opponents crash.
- Embarrassing Rescue
- Evil Is Not a Toy
- Hoist by His Own Petard: Nicholas attempts to make Jack crash with their second dark card. However it causes damage to him as well, and Jack was protected by his monster's effect. As a result, Nicholas's D-Wheel was destroyed and Team Catastrophe lost by default.
- Invisible to Normals: Their monster's shadow hook (which was attacking their opponent's wheels).
- Living Shadow: The majority of their cards, especially Hidden Knight - Hook.
- Obviously Evil
- Trying to Catch Me Fighting Dirty
- Unwitting Pawn
Team Ragnarok: Dragan, Brave (Broder) and Harald (Halldor)[]
Team 5D's newest rivals as of Episode 118, these 3 duelists were shown to be very important, and immune to Yliaster's changes to history due to having a new set of God Cards, the Tripolar gods, all 3 based on Norse mythology. They are notable for being the very first Divine Type Monsters since the 3 Egyptian god cards from the very first series, as well as the first Divine type of Synchro monsters.
- Back from the Dead: Doubles as Death Is Cheap. This is the main effect of the three gods, which give a bonus when coming back. Brave, being the cunning duelist he is, exploits the hell out of Thor's in his duels with Jack and Crow.
- Background Boss: Odin, who is so absurdly huge he has to stay on the background.
- The Berserker: When not dueling, Harald is perfectly calm and collected. During an actual duel... Not so much.
- British Accents: Harald, dub only.
- Dub Name Change: Brave to Broder, and Harald to Halldor in the English dub. Oddly enough, Dragan keeps his name from the Japanese version.
- The Fatalist
- Freudian Trio: Brave/Broder is the Id, Dragan is the Ego, and Harald/Halldor is the Superego.
- Hero Antagonist: They want to stop Team New World (The Three Emperors of Yliaster), but are unwilling to work together with the Signers, because of Yusei's father being the one who created Momentum (which led to Zero Reverse).
- Large and In Charge: The most powerful of the Polar Gods, Odin, wielded by Harald, is probably the largest monster to date, towering over the city and easily dwarfing the other two.
- To put it in perspective, the entire duel, Odin is in the background, and he's STILL bigger than the other two.
- Masaya Onosaka: Harald's seiyuu.
- Norse Mythology: Most of their cards are based on this.
- Not So Different: Brave cares for a group of children and is a trickster duelist, just like Crow.
- Ripple-Effect-Proof Memory: The Polar God cards they hold protect them from temporal distortions.
- Shout-Out: One is obvious, the 3 polar gods being based on Norse Mythology, with Thor, Loki, and Odin. Another is that when Dragan summons Thor, he gains a green mark in his eye similar to another certain eye power.
- Which the other two members share, having a different type of rune in each eye to represent their respective polar god.
- Talking to Himself: In the dub version, Harald and Jack are voiced by the same person, Ted Lewis, and spend pretty much the entire Ragnarok exposition episode like this.
- Throwing the Fight: During Jack's reign as King, Dragan participated in a fixed match against him in order to get financial aid for his injured father. He isn't happy about it (and neither is Jack when he finds out).
- The Trickster: Brave is considered one, as well as his Polar God, Loki, who is the Trickster God of Norse Mythology.
- Unexplained Accent: Harald with his British accent, dub only. Since he's supposed to be Norwegian.
Team Taiyou (Taro, Yoshizo, and Jinbe)[]
Another new team and Team 5Ds' third opponent. They only have one D-wheel that Yusei fixes and they have classic cards from the first Generation of Duel Monsters Yusei seems to recognize as being similar to Yugi's deck.
- Fan Dumb: In-universe example, the WRGP audience thinks that their outdated cards and Stone Wall strategy is lame, even though they are undefeated and are giving Team 5D's a run for their money.
- Seriously, the city is full of Jerk Asses with a serious mood swinging problem.
- Hero Antagonist: They are just guys trying to prove their worth to the world. They succeed.
- Lethal Joke Card: Their ultimate card, Sleeping Giant Thud, requires the sacrifice of a Level 1 Normal monster that has been on the field for 10 turns (a nearly impossible condition to fulfill in today's game). Once it hits the field, it can easily curb-stomp a God Card.
- Mighty Glacier: Sleeping Giant Thud. Almost impossible to take down, and a hard hitter the kind which would make Obelisk the Tormentor cry.
- Not So Different: Like Yusei, they are poor and their decks are made of collected cards that others threw away.
- Not So Harmless Villains: Everyone assumes that they are pushovers because most of their cards are outdated. They are extremely powerful.
- Powerful enough to be able to utilize a card strong enough to contend with the 3 Egyptian God cards, but is so hard to summon, no one before them has ever got it on the field due to the ridiculous summoning conditions the card has.
- The Power of Friendship: How they managed to win all their duels until losing to Team 5D's.
- Stone Wall / Death By a Thousand Cuts: Their overall strategy.
Crashtown[]
- Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: Barbara.
- Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Barbara.
- Combat Pragmatist: Lotten.
- Complete Monster: Lotten.
- Decoy Damsel: Barbara.
- Femme Fatale: Barbara again.
- Gatling Good: Lotten's Gatling Ogre, which is able to perform a First Turn Kill.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Nicko and West's father, Sergei.
- Meaningful Name: Lotten (which sounds the same as "Rotten" in Japan) is the obvious one. The dub also shortens Barbara's name to Barb, which is a word for something spiky or prickly (as in barbed wire).
- One-Hit Kill: Lotten's Gatling Ogre.
- Screw The Rules, I Have Dynamite: How Lotten ended his Riding Duel with Yusei.
- Spell My Name with an "S": Lotten/Rotten.
Yliaster[]
The Three Emperors of Yliaster[]
A mysterious trio from Yliaster who succeed Godwin as Head of the Bureau, and the main antagonists of the third arc. Not much is known about them, but they apparently intend to use power of the duelists competing in the WRGP to complete a "circuit" with which they can discover the 'location of god' and attain an even greater power. Their main goal, however, is to change the future by destroying Neo Domino City.
During Team 5D's confrontation with them in the W.R.G.P, it was revealed that they are, in fact, the same being divided into three, each of them representing a period of despair in the life of the man called Aporia.
- Big Bad Triumvirate
- Later deposed in favor of a single Big Bad, their true form Aporia.
- Big, Thin, Short Trio
- But for Me It Was Tuesday: They have "erased" a lot of people throughout the years, so many they don't recall specific people, such as Sherry's parents.
- Despair Event Horizon: Each of them represent the three different times Aporia crossed it.
- Lucciano represents the time when he lost his parents.
- Placido represents the time when he lost the one he loved.
- Jose represents the time when he was the only person left alive (actually one of the last four people alive), slowly driven mad by the loneliness.
- Dub Name Change: One of 4Kids most embarrasing ones yet. They are called Primo (Placido), Lester (Lucciano) and Jakob (Jose).
- Plus not to mention that the English version disrupts the Theme Naming the Japanese version employed.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Played straight with Jose and subverted with Luciano's shrill, nightmarish wail of a voice.
- Eyepatch of Power: Sorta. Luciano and Placido have metal plates with the Infinity symbol on them covering one of their eyes. Placido's covers his right eye while Luciano's covers his left eye.
- Fan Nickname: The Tenors, see Theme Naming.
- Fusion Dance: Jose and Placido can merge with their D-Wheels.
- Also, how Aporia was created.
- Gratuitous Spanish: "Diablo", the name of the Riding Roid army headed by Placido, is Spanish for 'Devil'. Also, Jose is about as stereotypically Spanish a name as it gets.
- Gratuitous Italian: Placido's upgraded form is called Placido Ripresa with Ripresa being Italian for recovery.
- Knight Templar
- Master of Disguise: Both Luciano and Placido do this to trick Rua and Ruka.
- A Million Is a Statistic
- Numerological Motif: Infinity.
- Power Crystal: They each have one of these on their forehead.
- Robotic Reveal: Turns out Placido is an android with the compatibility to merge with his D-Wheel. Luciano and Jose are later revealed to be the same.
- Technopath: Placido, to a certain extent. Justified in that he's an android.
- Theme Naming: The three of them are named after the Three Tenors: Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti (now deceased).
- Aporia breaks the theme. He's named after a record company, or a philosophical conundrum.
- Time Travel: They have access to this allowing them to rewrite history to a certain extent, such as erasing Momentum Express and Luciano's time at Duel Academy, and inserting themselves into the W.R.G.P.
- You Can't Fight Fate: They fiercely believe in this, and Placido even compares the humans' struggle to survive to the dance of worker bees. They don't dance because they want to, but because it is their role written by fate itself. And just to punch in some extra symbolism, the bee's dance describes the Infinity symbol. Jose also revealed that is their task to make sure history stays on a predetermined course, and as such they have a bone to pick with Yusei, because the discovery of Momentum by his father jacked up everything.
- You Have Failed Me...: They erase Clark from history after his attempt to dispose of Yusei.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: They leave Jeager and Team Catastrophe to die without blinking an eye once they stop being useful.
Placido (Primo)[]
- Arch Enemy: Placido feels Yusei is his, for defeating the first Ghost. Yusei doesn't even know he exists until Placido confronts him directly.
- Berserk Button: He gets a bit annoyed when his fellow Emperors suggest that he might not be able to defeat Yusei.
- Cool Sword: It also doubles as his duel disk. He also plugs it into his D-Wheel in order to fuse with it.
- Half the Man He Used To Be: He certainly came off worse for wear after his duel with Yusei. Fortunately for him, since he is an android, he gets better.
- Revenge Before Reason: Placido is so obsessed with killing Yusei that Jose and Luciano are worried that he will screw up their plans.
- White-Haired Pretty Boy
Luciano (Lester)[]
- Evil Laugh: Luciano has a laugh very similar to Jeager's, only much crazier... And Hungrier.
- Giggling Villain: HOLY CRAP.
- Gratuitous English: "Bye, bye!"
- The Hyena
- Large Ham: Even Brian Blessed would tell the kid to tone down.
- Rollerblade Good
Jose (Jakob)[]
- Bald of Evil
- Badass Grandpa: Episode 110 cements him as this when he easily defeats Sherry in a fight and just in case anyone doubted his dueling prowess, in episodes 132 and 133 he Curb Stomps Jack and takes out Crow without much trouble at all.
- Large and In Charge: Jose is the largest and most senior member of the group, and has referred to himself as the leader of the Three Emperors. In parallel to that, his Machine Emperor Grannel also easily towers over both Wisel and Skiel.
- Mind Over Matter: Used to retrieve Placido's remains and to stop a meteor (the tablet containing his Machine Emperor) midfall.
- Really Long Beard of Evil
- Unusual Eyebrows: That piece of hair sticking out from under Jose's hood? That's his eyebrow.
- Super Strength: Displayed when he and Luciano are attacked by Sherry and Mizoguchi.
- Shout-Out: Combined with the above, Jose is one to The Six Million Dollar Man of all things, having a similar style of Super Speed along with his strength to said character.
- Takayuki Sugo: His seiyuu.
Aporia[]
I am Aporia, guardian of despair. |
The true combined form of the Emperors (who are based on three different stages in his life), revealed in the WRGP final. Aporia is one of the few survivors in the destroyed future.
As a child, he lost his parents during the Machine Emperors' invasion, and later fought in the war against them where he lost his lover as well. After civilization was destroyed by Momentum going out of control, he wandered the world in despair, desperately looking for any other survivors.
Eventually he found Z-One, Bruno/Antinomy and Paradox, and together they searched for a way to undo the destruction. However, Bruno/Antinomy and Paradox died of old age, and Aporia soon followed. Before dying, he spoke to Z-One of the three despairs he had felt and entrusted the task of putting the future right to him.
- Anti-Villain: hoo boy, where to begin? His goal to erase Neo Domino City will kill everyone. But the sheer hell he went through in the war between the Machine Emperors and Humans and the despair he has felt through it all can't help but give him immense sympathy points. Surprisingly, none of these qualities appeared in the emperors of Yliaster.
- Back from the Dead Let's see. Z-One intially revived him as an android. Then, he is reconstructed and returns good as new after losing to Yusei and exploding. Then, he loses to Jack, Rua, and Ruka, and appears to die then. But, he returns again to challenge Z-One, although after losing to Z-One he dies for real.
- This is not even counting Placido, one of his three embodiments, returning good-as-new after being torn in half by Shooting Star Dragon.
- Beyond the Impossible: As far as the ridicolousness of his design and D-Wheel goes. Just look at him!
- Climax Boss
- Disc One Final Boss: Appeared to be the Big Bad, but he is later revealed to be this when the Ark Cradle descends.
- Despair Event Horizon: Crossed it thrice. That sure will do some good to your sanity.
- Final Boss: Of the 4Kids dub of 5D's, due to that dub skipping the last seventeen episodes.
- Fusion Dance: He is the result.
- Heel Face Turn: Makes one in episode 146, and promptly challenges the Big Bad Z-One, his own friend, to a duel for the sake of Team 5D's.
- Irony: In his Duel with Z-One, the last card he draws, the one directly responsible for making him lose is Machine Emperor Grannel Infinity.
- Also, just this line from the dub. The trick is that the 'ending' of the dub is actually seventeen episodes before the actual conclusion of 5D's
Aporia: I can assure you that the ending is worth the wait. |
- Light Is Not Good: His apparence is somewhat angelical, wearing all white, and with boosters on his back that sort of look like wings.
- Made of Explodium: Explodes magnificently after his defeat at the hands of Yusei. After all, There's No Kill Like Overkill.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Just merely being fused together causes him to give off Red Storm Clouds and causes lightning to strike everywhere in the whole city.
- Kick the Dog: One very memorable one to Rua after laying waste to Ruka and Jack in one turn, nearly defeating them.
Aporia: Young boy, this is despair. (Shot of Rua in tears). Turn end. |
- Red Eyes, Take Warning
- Redemption Equals Death
- Rule of Three: Everywhere. Three embodiments, three despairs three Machine Emperors, three Machine Imperial Soldiers. And Grannel screws him over three times, first by killing his parents, second by killing 'the one he loved', and the third time when he draws it at the end of his Duel with Z-one, costing him the game and his life.
- Villainous Breakdown: Has one when he finally realizes Yusei is about to defeat him. Has a bigger one after Rua becomes a Signer, and things go downhill very quickly for him.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: He intends To destroy an entire city and its millions of habitants, yes, but in doing so he will avoid The End of the World as We Know It.
- Wham! Line: " The three of us are one. My name is Aporia."
- The Worf Effect: Let's face it, his entire Duel with Z-One consists of him being curbstomped by his boss's cards just to hype Z-one up for the Duel with Yusei. To be fair, on a level it is Justified, Aporia's Deck is Anti-Synchro most of all and Z-One doesn't use Synchros.
Zone[]
A mysterious mechanical being that dwells within a cyberspace area that has connections with Bruno and the Yliaster Trio (and possibly Yusei). It was first seen when Yusei, Sherry and Bruno were brought to it's world by the power of the 'Z-One' card. It later provided Yusei with a card with which to complete an Accel Synchro after he achieved the state of mind necessary to use it.
It is later revealed that Zone is the last known survivor of the destroyed future. Along with Bruno, Aporia and Paradox, he had tried to find a way to undoing the destruction, but his allies eventually died of old age. When Aporia was on his deathbed, Zone promised him that he would do everything he could to change the future.
- A God Am I: The Three Emperors and Antinomy have referred to him as a 'God of Destiny', and he says this to Yusei at the start of their battle.
ZONE: Yusei Fudo, though you may have come this far with the intention to cut open the future with your own power... everything has merely traveled along the rails that I have laid out. To you, I am the equivalent of a God. [...] In order to change the future, Zero Reverse was caused and your lives were changed dramatically. You were orphaned, living in Satellite, and then rose up to the challenges in the WRGP. However, that victory was only a means to call out the Ark Cradle. [...] Do you understand? The meaning of me being your God? And if a God decides to take a path of destruction, then no one shall defy it. |
- A Form You Are Comfortable With: Appears to Sherry alone as her father.
- Big Bad : Arguably, not just to 5D's, but due to the robot clone of Paradox he created that affected the time stream in the 10th anniversary movie, he is probably this for the entire franchise.
- Costume Copycat
- Cyborg
- Dead Person Impersonation: He underwent surgery to become Yusei all but literally long after he died. He even crammed data into a metal plate that he had attached to his head.
- Despair Event Horizon: He may not have run over the line three times, but his crossing was no less painful. Having tried to make himself Yusei, he was given a Hope Spot when it seemed he had discovered a way for people to get to safety without being slaughtered by the Machine Emperors. That all came crashing down when they went berserk and killed crowds of people quickly; people fell calling out for "Yusei" to help them and Zone could do nothing. When he realised that even with Yusei's form, he was as helpless as anyone else, he gave up on that plan and decided to work on a Plan B.
- Dramatic Unmask
- Fan Nickname: Robo-Shrimp.
- Fauxshadow: Despite the many hints, some more subtle than others, he is not Yusei from a Bad Future, rather just a normal man who assumed Yusei's appearance.
- Giant Hands of Doom
- God Is Evil
- Grandma, What Massive Hotness You Have!:For somebody who's at least eighty years old and may be a centenarian he's aged very gracefully.
- Grandpa God
- Heroic Sacrifice: While Yusei's heading to the Momentum core of the Ark Cradle, Zone, having just been beaten, grabs his D-Wheel and tosses it away, contributing to Yusei's getting out Just in Time and Zone smashing himself into the core.
- Hideo Ishikawa: His seiyuu.
- Just A Copy: His view on the androids he made using the memories of his deceased friends.
- Lack of Empathy: Has lost all hope in humanity and decides to exterminate Neo Domino City rather than to trust the people solve the problem by themselves.
- Last of His Kind: Following the deaths of his friends, he is the last human alive.
- Man Behind the Man: Directly behind Aporia and Paradox, and through Yliaster is behind the Godwin Brothers and the first Zero Reverse that split the city apart. Thus, pretty much every major disaster and villain can be traced back to him.
- Man in the Machine: His monsters also fit this trope, seeing as how those are angels inside the armor.
- Plot Twist: One of the most infamous in the entire franchise. After being hyped as a dark Yusei from the Bad Future, it instead turned out he was a random scientist who altered himself to look like Yusei. The fans were... not impressed.
- Shout-Out: Possibly to the Truth. It claims to be 'the one who knows the truth' and offers to tell Sherry the truth in exchange for her accepting her fate being changed.
- Superpower Lottery: His deck. Trap cards that can be activated directly from the hand. Any deck would get a big boost with just one of them, imagine a dozen or more!
- He has a card that is both indestructible and does a guaranteed 4000 points of damage at the end of the Battle Phase. And that's not even his ace monster.
- Tarot Motifs: The four Hand-Traps he has used are based on the first four Major Arcana.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist
- What Do You Mean Its Not Symbolic: His ten Temporal Machine Gods are based on the ten aspects of the Tree of Life used in Kabbalah.
- White Void Room: It resides in one of these.
- Your Days Are Numbered: He knows he doesn't have very long left to live.
Spirits and Monsters[]
Crimson Dragon[]
The embodiment of the Red Star worshiped by the People of the Stars 5000 years ago. After sealing the Jibakushin within the Nazca Lines, it's power was divided into 5 separate pieces and infused into the 5 individuals known as Signers as a Dragon's Birthmark. The 5 Dragons who protect the Signers are it's servants.
A sixth birthmark later appears, the Crimson Dragon's "heart", and is given to Rua, with a 6th Signer Dragon, Life Stream Dragon, to accompany it. At the very end of the series, once Neo Domino City is permanently at peace, the Crimson Dragon takes back the six birthmarks and disappears, its duties having been fulfilled.
- All Your Powers Combined: When a Signer is fighting with great determination, the Dragon's Birthmarks can unite onto their back, forming the Full Dragon's Birthmark and allowing them to draw Savior Dragon. Godwin later turns this on them when he gets the Dragon Head.
- Again with Shooting Quasar Dragon. It's summoned using the all the Synchro Monsters except Stardust Dragon as Synchro Material (although it is an evolution of Stardust Dragon anyway), its card artwork features tuning rings the same colors as all the Signer Dragons, and as noted here, it has effects somewhat reminiscent of all the Signer Dragons.
- Because Destiny Says So: The Signers having to come together and face the Dark Signers and Earthbound Gods, every 5000 years.
- Big Good: Indeed.
- Chekhov's Gun: Life Stream Dragon, appearing to Rua as the final Signer Dragon over two years after it initially cameoed in the second ED, Cross Game, and again in Ruka's vision in episde 30.
- Chekhov's Skill: Doubles with Chekhov's Gun above. At first, Rua's Life Stream Dragon being a Synchro Tuner monster, and having the effect to manipulate the levels of other monsters on the field (in the anime) seems fairly random and a waste. However, after Rua lends it to Yusei for the final battle with Z-One, Yusei tunes it to all the other Signer Dragons (minus Stardust Dragon) to Synchro Summon Shooting Quasar Dragon.
- Deus Ex Machina: Savior Dragon and the Synchro Monsters it summons, Savior Star Dragon and Savior Daemons' Dragon. Aside from the two Synchro monsters being incredibly powerful (although the real life card game Nerfs them to a degree), Savior Dragon only appears after the Crimson Dragon adds it on top a Signer (in this case Yusei and Jack's) decks. This means that Yusei and Jack are battling using a card not even in their decks.
- Awesome but Impractical: The Savior Dragons revert back to their original forms at the end of the turn, making them unfavorable in the actual card game.
- Elemental Powers: The Signer Dragons and their attributes.
- Blow You Away: Yusei's Stardust Dragon
- Casting a Shadow: Jack's Red Daemons' Dragon, and Crow's Blackfeather Dragon.
- Dishing Out Dirt: Rua's Life Stream Dragon
- Light'Em Up: Ruka's Ancient Fairy Dragon
- Making a Splash: The only attribute not represented by a Signer Dragon.
- Playing with Fire: Aki's Black Rose Dragon
- Everything's Better with Sparkles: The Savior Dragons, again.
- Evil Counterpart: The manga versions of Ancient Fairy and Power Tool look to be these.
- Foreshadowing: The Crimson Dragon showed the Signers a vision of Satellite being engulfed by the flames of the Spider Geoglyph.
- God: Perhaps the most powerful god in the Franchise so far. Its level of power is shown to be even stronger than the other gods from the rest of the entire Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, especially in the 10th anniversary movie, where The Crimson Dragon is the main being that allows Yusei to travel back to Judai and Yugi's time periods.
- Jesus Taboo: Because of this, the 'Savior' in the Savior Dragons is replaced with 'Majestic' in the TCG and in the English dub, and Savior Daemons' Dragon being renamed Majestic Red Dragon. Also a lesser example, "Red Daemons' Dragon" being re-named "Red Dragon Archfiend."
- One of These Is Not Like the Others: Life Stream Dragon as a card is unique in several regards among the Signer Dragons. It's the only Signer Dragon to have a specific summoning condition (requiring another Synchro Monster, Power Tool Dragon), and it's the only Signer Dragon that is a Synchro Tuner monster.
- Our Dragons Are Different
- The Magic Goes Away: The birthmarks, at the very end of the series. The Crimson Dragon itself also leaves, its duties having been fulfilled.
Earthbound Gods (Jibakushin/Earthbound Immortals)[]
Embodiments of evil sealed within the Nazca Lines by the Crimson Dragon and it's servants. They were unleashed from the Underworld 17 years ago, after the Zero Reverse incident blew a hole between this world and theirs. They are the driving force behind the Dark Signers, and are as follows; Uru (Spider), Cusillu (Monkey), Ccapac Apu (Giant), Aslla Piscu (Hummingbird), Ccarayhua (Lizard), Chacu Challua (Killer Whale) and lastly Wiraqocha Rasca (Condor). Much like the 5 Dragons serve the Crimson Dragon, they serve the King of the Underworld (Meikai No Oh). There is another 'lost' Earthbound God, Scar-Red Nova, which was personally sealed by the Crimson Dragon 5000 years before the others, and was too violent for the Dark Signers to use. It's power was sealed by Jack to create Scar-Red Nova Dragon.
- A Million Is a Statistic: Earthbound God's sacrifices.
- Beat Still My Heart: When Earthbound Gods are summoned, a disembodied heart appears and starts beating as it absorbs people's souls.
- Big Badass Bird of Prey: Wiraqocha Rasca, particularly as it's the most powerful of the seven.
- Breath Weapon: Wiraqocha Rasca, and the King of the Underworld.
- Cherry Tapping: Wiraqocha Rosca's 1 ATK, meant to compliment its key anime effect.
- Demonic Possession: They will do this if they are not happy with their Dark Signer.
- Eldritch Abomination: All of them.
- Everythings Worse With Monkeys: Cusillu
- Gameplay and Story Segregation: They're extremely fearsome cards in the anime, but in real life they're rather poor decks, closer to E Heroes rather than something like Blackwings
- This is partly due to the practice of Nerfing cards on that sort of level to keep the game balanced, and also because they're harder to summon than Synchros. They're not particularly bad cards in themselves, given how fearsome they can be, but the fact they're not so easy to summon screws them over. Also, in real life they're not Physical Gods.
- Giant Eye of Doom: Ccarayhua.
- Giant Spider: Uru.
- HP to One: Wiraqocha Rasca's anime effect.
- Made of Evil: According to Bruno, they were manifested from the evil in people's hearts.
- Oh Crap: Prominent when they are summoned.
- Our Dragons Are Different: The King of the Underworld, which appears as an Evil Counterpart to Life Stream Dragon. It represents Death, while Life Stream represents Life. However, this has yet to be explained and probably never will be.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Old Momentum being the can-opener and the Nazca Lines of all things being the can.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill
- The Unpronounceable: The Earthbound God's names are in Quechuan.
Kikoutei (Machine Emperors)[]
A series of monsters used by the Three Emperors of Yliaster. They are Machine Emperor Wisel, owned by Placido, Machine Emperor Skiel, owned by Lucciano, and Machine Emperor Grannel, owned by Jose. Arriving on Earth one at a time via stone tablets, they have the ability to absorb Synchro monsters - and since most people in the series use them, this is a bit of a problem for anyone facing them. There is a fourth Machine Emperor, Aporia's, called Machine Emperor Infinity Cubic.
During the WRGP final, it is shown that an army of Machine Emperors attacked humanity at the height of it's development, before Momentum went out of control and destroyed the world.
- Combining Mecha: Each one is made up of 5 separate components with effects that support one another, and can be replaced or upgraded to make the Kikoutei more powerful.
- E=MC Hammer: The fourth Emperor is called Infinity Cubic, literally "∞�". It doesn't take a genius to see the problem with that.
- Everything's Better with Sparkles: Wisel has a pair of boosters on it's upper legs that emit a trail of sparkles.
- Humongous Mecha: While Machine Emperors Wisel and Skiel aren't that humongous, Jose's Emperor, Grannel, certainly is.
- And then there's the gigantic monstruosity that is Infinity Cubic.
- Killer Robot
- Momentum's Vengeance: They were created by Momentum to eliminate the cause of the system's instability, which was due to the human race becoming greedy, apathetic and conceited with progress.
- Man of Kryptonite: Designed to kill Synchro Monsters.
- Numerological Motif: They all have an infinity sign on their chest.
- Odd Name Out: Infinity Cubic. And Asterisk.
- Plot-Based Obfuscation: All of them appear in the opening credits, but until they have actually appeared in the show, they are mostly hidden by shadow.
- Shout-Out: The tablets that they arrive in are similar to the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Not to mention the Ka Tablets from the original show.
Other[]
- Maniac Monkeys: Zeman.
- Older Than They Look: Torunka due to the Minus Curse de-aging him. He's actually the Dark Sage monster.
10th Anniversary Movie[]
Paradox[]
If I let history be, the world will be destroyed. I've come here to change that hopeless future |
The main antagonist of the 10th Anniversary Movie who comes from a destroyed future. Believing Duel Monsters to be the cause, he traveled back in time to kill Pegasus before he could create the game, requiring the main protagonists of the three series to team up to stop him.
It is later shown that he was part of a group of survivors including himself, Aporia, Antinomy and Zone, who sought to change the future. However, he, Aporia and Antinomy eventually succumbed to old age and died, leaving only Zone left.
- A Million Is a Statistic
- Anti-Villain
- Big Bad: Of the movie.
- Cool Bike: It can transform into a flying machine and also travels through time.
- Cool Mask
- Detached Sleeves
- Evil Laugh
- Fusion Dance: When he summons Sin Truth Dragon, he combines with it in a manner similar to that of Yami Marik and Ra.
- High-Class Glass: His older self, as shown in Episode 135, wears a monocle.
- Make Wrong What Once Went Right: How the protagonists view his goal.
- Malevolent Masked Man
- Meaningful Name: He and his friends are all named after logical fallacies.
- Rummage Sale Reject
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: How he views his goal.
- Shoulders of Doom
- Spikes of Villainy
- Time Travel
- Unusual Eyebrows
- Watching the Sunset
- Well-Intentioned Extremist
Manga Only[]
Sect Injuin[]
- Brainwashed and Crazy: From the Card of Darkness the Skeleton Knight gave him.
- Meaningful Name: His Card of Darkness, Demon King Dragon Beelze, is named after Beelzebub, who is also known as the 'Lord of Flies'. Sect uses Insect-Type monsters
- Also, since family names are placed before given names in Japan, Sect's name is Injuin Sect.
- The Rival: Yusei has declared him this, although Jack kinda lives more up to the role.
The Skeleton Knight[]
- Big Bad: Apparently.
- Deal with the Devil: Duelists can call upon him to obtain powerful cards, but those Cards of Darkness corrupt them into his service.
- Evil Counterpart: His ace monster, Underworld Dragon Dragonecro, specializes in creating these of any monster it battles.
- Hellish Horse: Skeleton Knight rides a skeletal one in place of a D-Wheel.
- My Horse Is a Motorbike: Inverted as he uses a horse instead of a D-Wheel
- Won't Work On Me: A somewhat unusual example with Underworld Dragon Dragonecro, which cannot destroy monsters in battle.
- Urban Legend
Video Game Only[]
Surtr[]
- Artificial Human
- BFS: He has one as his Duel Disk.
- Cool Shades
- Facial Markings
- Good Hair, Evil Hair
- Norse Mythology: He is named after the fire giant that will set the world ablaze at Ragnarok.
- Tomato in the Mirror: He was unaware that he was actually a Transer-type robot.
- Turned Against Their Masters: He attacks Odin after learning the truth about him, breaking Odin's armour, but is promptly destroyed.
Odin[]
- Demonic Possession: He initially possessed one of the scientists who were investigating Yggdrasil. When he committed suicide in an unsuccessful attempt to take Odin with him, Odin possessed his daughter, Alina.
- Judging from a line after Surtr breaks his armour, there might be a little more to the second case.
- The Faceless: Until the end.
- Manipulative Bastard
- Norse Mythology: He is named after the king of the Norse Gods.
- Samus Is a Girl: Odin is possessing the body of Alina, the daughter of one of the scientists investigating Yggdrasil.
- Shoulders of Doom
- Taking You with Me: Odin attempts to bury the group with him at the bottom of the ocean after his loss
- Tin Tyrant: Apparently the armour is meant to prevent Odin's soul from escaping. Whether it is a Restraining Bolt or a Soul Anchour is unclear.
Transer (Transcender)[]
Player (World Championship 2009)[]
- I Am Who?: He is actually a fake signer created by Rex Godwin in an attempt to summon the Crimson Dragon. He succeds... But the Crimson Dragon quickly dissipates
- Purely Aesthetic Gender
- The Voiceless
Player (World Championship 2010)[]
- The Ace: of Team Satisfaction. Kiryu even mentions that he/she would make a better leader than him.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: From Chapter 1 to Chapter 4
- Eleventh-Hour Superpower: Gains his/her Mark of the Dragon before the final boss duel.
Player (World Championship 2011)[]
- The Ace: of Team Future Speed.
- Eleventh-Hour Ranger: Temporarily joins Team 5D's near the end of the game
- Eleventh-Hour Superpower: Before the final three duels, he/she gets three special cards: Ally of Justice Decisive Armor, Trident Dragion and Trishula, Dragon of the Ice Barrier. They'll promptly be ignored as by this point you'll have an archetype focused deck or an Exodia based one that none will fit into.
- Parental Abandonment: Later revealed that they both perished alongside Toru's parents on a D-Wheel accident.
Toru[]
- Boisterous Bruiser
- Dishing Out Dirt/ Extra Ore Dinary: (Uses a Scrap Deck)
- The Lancer
- My Rules Are Not Your Rules: A minor case; as his deck contains two "Pot of Avarice", a Limited Card.
- Parental Abandonment: Later reveled that they both perished alongside the player's parents on a D-Wheel accident.
Misaki[]
- Deadpan Snarker: Has her moments.
- Distaff Counterpart / Expy: Of Bruno.
- Shock and Awe: (Uses a Watt Deck)
- Shout-Out: Like Bruno/Dark Glass, one to Kamen Rider
- Sugar and Ice Personality
- Tsundere: Mostly to Toru
- When She Smiles
- Wrench Wench: Like Bruno she's good with machines.
- You Gotta Have Blue Hair
- Zettai Ryouiki
Klaus[]
- Badass Grandpa: The main characters.
- Cool Old Guy
- Parental Substitute
- Back to Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's