History Characters / Yugioh5Ds

* WorthyOpponent: When Mukuro appears and steals Shira's place, Yusei still takes the challenge because Godwin found him a worthy enough match-up. And Yusei really enjoys the duel with him.

* LastWords: "I don't need people I can't use". [[TooDumbToLive Spoken to Misty, who had just learned that Divine was the one who had killed her brother. And who also had Ccarayhua in play.]]

* TrueCompanions: He deeply cares for his friends, and he risked his life to save Yusei during their time in Team Satisfaction. And Yusei tried to sell himself out as Team Satisfaction's leader to protect Kiryu, but he failed, which led to a big misunderstanding between Kiryu and Yusei. Yusei, Jack, and Crow still regarded him as their best friend even after he became a Dark Signer, and their friendship returned completely in the end of the Crash Town arc.

* IntrepidReporter: Her job. And apparently, she's not a good reporter either.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: She sees the 'shadow of death' about Carly, predicting her death in the near-future. And sure enough, 8 episodes later...

* {{Mook}}: He's just one of Rutger's pawns, and Dick is not even a real Dark Signer. And he doesn't have much personality either.

** 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 it's their task to make sure history stays on a predetermined course. As such they have a bone to pick with Yusei, because the discovery of Momentum by his father jacked up everything.

* GeniusBruiser: He's the strongest and smartest of all three of Yliaster's agents. Episode 110 cements him as this when he easily defeats Sherry in a "fist" fight. And just in case anyone doubted his dueling prowess, in Episodes 132 and 133 he {{Curb Stomp|Battle}}s Jack and takes out Crow without much trouble at all.

* RuleOfThree: ''Everywhere''. Three embodiments, three despairs, three Machine Emperors, three Machine Imperial Soldiers. He duels three times (and also loses three times). And Granel 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.

* SuperPowerLottery: 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! All of his monsters are totally indestructible and do varying types and levels of effect damage. One of them, Sandaion, does '''4000''' points of damage at the end of the Battle Phase. And that's not even his ace monster.

** Cusillu's unique effect is hard to use as well since it requires it to be destroyed by battle and for you to have another monster on the field. And since the Immortals cannot be targeted for an attack, you would have to let Cusillu attack a stronger monster on purpose just to use its effect when you could keep Cusillu on the field and keep attacking directly. Another way for it to happen would be for your opponent to negate Cusillu's effect and then attack it but that would require them letting you keep a monster on the field or using effects to make sure you still have a monster by the time Cusillu is destroyed.

* KnightOfCerebus: Any time an Earthbound God is summoned in a duel it's sign things will get bad. Unlike monsters made real in duels from the previous shows, being on the wrong of an attack by Earthbound God will actually kill you. If some tries to reason with a Dark Signer, the Earthbound Gods will pull a VillainOverride in order to make them keep fighting.

* OddNameOut: Infinity Cubic. And Asterisk.

[[folder:Yliaster]]

!!Ghost
->'''First Ghost Voiced by:''' Masahito Kawanago (Japanese), Creator/JasonGriffith (English)

A mysterious duelist who has been infecting and destroying D-Wheels. It's actually a prototype 'Riding Roid' which was developed by Security to assist in tackling D-Wheel related crimes. Unfortunately it 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, the Diablos, which he later unleashes upon the D-Wheelers at the [=WRGP=] in attempt to complete the Circuit sooner.

The first Ghost uses Placido's deck. The Diablos use Ally of Justice decks.

* BaldOfEvil: As seen in ''Tag Force 5'', Ghost is bald underneath his helmet.
* DarkIsEvil: Ghost wears black, rides a black D-Wheel, and has a grey "skin".
* EvilLaugh: A rather creepy one thanks to its robotic voice.
* EvilSoundsDeep: Inverted. The first Ghost has a creepy high-pitched voice.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Justified, since the Ghosts are robots.
* GratuitousSpanish: "Diablo" is Spanish for 'Devil'.
* {{Irony}}: Ghost's programmed personality was designed to express a hate for Synchro monsters. Its successor, the Diablos, use Ally of Justice cards, an archetype whose strongest monsters are Synchros.
* MechaMooks: The Diablos are mass-produced Ghosts with the same evil personality.
* RoboticReveal: After Yusei makes it crash and the lads come to help, Crow touches its shoulder and its arm falls off.
* ZergRush: The Diablos force people into Free For All Duels and then swarm them with monsters.

!!Fake Jack Atlas
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/TakanoriHoshino (Japanese), Creator/TedLewis (English)

A robot created by the three emperors who is disguised as Jack. His personality is based of the time when Jack was the King, but Fake Jack is much more ruthless. Fake Jack has his own Wheel of Fortune and has the same deck as Jack, with the only difference being that Fake Jack has three Red Dragon Archfiends. He commits several crimes on the highway and injures other D-Wheelers to hurt Jack's reputation, and to lure him out. Jack loses to him in their first match, but later he returns and destroys the imposter with Majestic Red Dragon.

He uses the same deck as the real Jack, but with three copies of Red Dragon Archfiend and no Majestic Dragon or Majestic Red Dragon

[[folder:WRGP]]
!!Sherry [=LeBlanc=]
[[quoteright:350: https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Sherry1_7248.jpg]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Erika Nakagawa (Japanese), Eileen Stevens (English)

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.

Her deck has a French theme. Her monsters are all knights, and her spell and trap cards are based on the French Revolution. Her signature card is Chevalier de Fleur.

* AnimeAccentAbsence: Played straight in the original, but averted in the English dub by giving her a thick French accent.
* BikerBabe: The most prominent female D-Wheeler of the series.
* BreakTheCutie: Finding her parents dead and being in a situation where people try to kill her broke the cute little Sherry.
* BrokenBird: Her parents were killed because of a single card (Z-One[[note]]the card, not the person[[/note]]) and she became a vigilante as a result. Hunted for years, she also developed a psychological issue regarding her parents, and is quite obsessed with avenging them. Z-One uses this to his advantage by promising to "revive" her parents if she joins him, and her obsession changed to this goal.
* CoolBike: Her D-Wheel "[[GratuitousGerman Sturm und Drang]]" resembles a horse.
* DealWithTheDevil: She agrees to help Z-One's plan in exchange for having her past rewritten, so that her parents will not have died.
* EvilCostumeSwitch: After joining up with Z-One.
* {{Expy}}: Very reminiscent of [[NamesTheSame Sherry]] from ''Manga/ZatchBell''.
* FaceHeelTurn: After Z-One promises to bring her parents back to life.
** HeelFaceTurn: After being defeated by Crow and Aki.
* JeanneDArchetype: Sherry is a French, blonde D-Wheeler, who invokes SamusIsAGirl and has a knight-themed deck based off of Joan of Arc. Her D-Wheel also resembles a horse, which contributes to her knight theme. After her FaceHeelTurn, she uses illusions and a witch monster.
* MsFanservice: Also just [[http://s591.photobucket.com/user/TheSpektrum/media/yugioh5D_sherry.jpg.html Episode 93]].
* TheOjou: Subverted; she ''was'' this until her parent's death, wherein she went into hiding with Mizoguchi and turned into a badass vigilante.
* OrphansPlotTrinket: The card hidden inside her childhood teddy bear, Z-One.
* RapunzelHair: To take full advantage of the SamusIsAGirl reveal.
* SamusIsAGirl: She initially disguises herself as a man during her duel with Yusei.
* ShockAndAwe: Her Duel Disk has a hidden stun gun.
* ShoutOut:
** Her cards reference Joan Of Arc and the UsefulNotes/HundredYearsWar.
** In Episode 117, after getting flung into a wormhole, Z-One 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. [[Manga/FullmetalAlchemist Doesn't sound familar at all, does it?]]
* UsedToBeASweetChild: Sherry used to be a sweet ojou girl before her parents were killed. Hunted by people for years, she became a vigilante and a tough woman. BreakTheCutie indeed.
* WhyDontYaJustShootHim: Seems to be more interested in beating the crap out of people than dueling them.
* WorthyOpponent: She and Yusei see each other as worthy opponents. She also describes their relationship in their duel as that of soul mates.
* [[YouKilledMyFather You Killed My Parents]]: The reason why she wants to get revenge on Yliaster.

!!Mizoguchi ''(Elsworth)''
[[quoteright:350: https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/300px-Mizoguchi1_2922.jpg]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Takashi Matsuyama (Japanese), Creator/EricStuart (English)

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.

He uses a defensive samurai deck.
-----
* AttackAttackAttack: Like Jack he's quite clever, with a deck that focuses on attacking relentlessly. He cites that samurai never hesitate or retreat.
* BadassNormal: One of the few characters who don't possess any special powers during the show, and yet he's equally or even ''more'' badass than them.
* BattleButler: He lays a bunch of thugs flat with no effort.
* CrazyPrepared: Seriously, a sword and a ''parachute'' in his Duel Disk?
* {{Determinator}}: He doesn't let a lot of things stop him, and even Sherry's disappearance doesn't prevent him from believing that she's out there.
* EverythingsBetterWithSamurai: His deck. He also cites lessons from Bushido.
* KnuckleCracking: As shown in the picture, when he's about to beat up the aforementioned thugs who had tried to drop a truck on Sherry, Yusei, and Aki.
* MyMasterRightOrWrong: Supports Sherry no matter what dangerous or illegal thing she does. Not hard to blame him, Yliaster are the real bad guys.
* PerpetualFrowner: He doesn't smile much.
* TheQuietOne: He is not a man of many words.
* {{Seppuku}}: Has a card, ''Resolve Of The Lord And Retainer'', that does this.
* SingleStrokeBattle: He's also got a card, ''Pause Of The Certain Kill'', that does this.
* ShoutOut: Several of his cards reference UsefulNotes/MiyamotoMusashi and UsefulNotes/SasakiKojiro.

!!Team Unicorn (Andore/Andre, Breo, and Jean)
[[quoteright:350: https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/300px-Team_Unicorn1_9157.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[-From left to right: Breo, Andore and Jean.-] ]]
->'''Andore voiced by:''' Rion Kako (Japanese), Darren Dunstan (English)
->'''Breo voiced by:''' Yuki Masuda (Japanese), Tom Wayland (English)
->'''Jean voiced by:''' Ryo Naito (Japanese), Gary Mack (English)

A strong Riding Team that were Team 5D's first opponents in the [=WRGP=].

All three used Beast-Type Control Decks. Andre's deck is based on banishing, and his signature card is Thunder Unicorn. Breo uses a mill deck, and his signature card is Voltic Bicorn. Jean has a hybrid aggo/stall deck, and his signature card is Lightning Tricorn.

* TheAce: Andore is this out of the trio. Before dueling Team 5D's all of Team Unicorn's victories were achieved only by Andore, with Breo and Jean never getting their turn. They are also very skilled players though.
* AmbiguouslyGay: All three of them.
* BadassBoast:
-->'''Jean:''' "The more you try to defend against Breo, the more you'll be dragged into Hell with nowhere to escape."
* BadassCrew: Their teamwork is excellent, and they almost defeat Team 5D's with their strategy.
* BadassNormal: Some of the best in the whole series, as they managed to put Yusei in a situation in which he would unavoidably lose. Yusei, however, convinced Jean not to do it.
* BreakTheHaughty: Breo's backstory. He was an arrogant D-Wheeler who believed himself to be number one until he was defeated by Jean. Jean and Andore then convinced him to join their team after Jean noticed Breo's talent.
* TheChessmaster: Jean instructs his teammates on what they have to do, and he predicts most of Team 5D's moves. He's also capable of choosing the right decks for his teammates to properly enhance their skills, so that everything goes according to his plan. Team 5D's almost lose because of his strategy.
* CrazyPrepared:
** They extensively study their opponents and adjust their decks to counter them. They also like to fool their opponents into thinking that they'll use a particular strategy, only to use a different one.
** As part of their crazy preparation, Jean instructed Breo to crash into Crow so they could get an occasion to duel Yusei and see his strategies. And then trap Team 5D's by letting them think that Andore would stick with his Power deck.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: After losing to Team 5D's, though they were already pretty friendly to each other before.
* DidntSeeThatComing: Even though they analyzed Team 5D's, Yusei's actions were quite unpredictable. Well, even the viewers couldn't see it coming when Yusei gave his Stardust Dragon to Aki, or when he used a Fusion Monster.
* GratuitousSpanish: Andore's "Gracias".
* HeroAntagonist: They're friendly guys whose goal is to be the best team in the world, but they're not the heroes of the story.
* HiddenHeartOfGold: When Crow crashed with Breo, Jean acted like a jerk and taunted Jack for being the "former King". This was an act so that Andore could have a reason to duel Yusei.
* HornedHairdo: Andore.
* ILetYouWin: In Andore and Jean's backstory, they let other people win because they didn't want to make their opponents' upset. Jean suggested that he and Andore become a team so that both of them have a reason to win; not for the sake of themselves, but for the sake of the team.
* IgnoreTheFanservice: Jean in Breo's backstory, when Breo's girlfriend flirted with him after he defeated Breo. Jean doesn't like "foolish women".

** Even though they're proud of their teamwork, Andore alone won all of their duels by himself before they met Team 5D's. This actually works to their advantage, since neither there were no recorded data about Breo and Jean before the duel with 5D's. Although, if the way they approach team 5D's is of any indication, this isn't just due to Andore's impressive ability, but because Breo's data analysis and Jean strategies tailor his deck to the opponents' ones. It must be noted that, while team 5D's assumes that the fast power deck was a decoy was a decoy and the banishing one was Andore's real deck, Jean and Breo actually talk about them as interchangeable and possibly part of a wider array, and Jean also describes Andore's genius as being able to do the best with any given hand, something that would not tie him to a specific deck.
** Despite their perfect teamwork, they lost because Jean's last egoistic move. What makes it truly ironic is that Jean was actually putting the team first, but Breo and Andore went out of their way to encourage him to do otherwise, meaning that the close bonds that allowed them to work so well as a team ended up sabotaging their team strathegy.
*** Jean created the team because he was too concerned about his opponents' feeling and always let them win, so in order to win he needed someone else to fight for. But then loses because his teammates are more concerned about his feelings than about winning the duel.
* TheLeader: It's Jean, the strategist, despite Andore being both TheAce and TheFace of the team (with his horned unicorn-like hairdo).
* NearVillainVictory: To the point where all Jean had to do was end his turn to win.
* PersonalityPowers: Each of their signature monsters reflect their (main) owner's personality.
** Thunder Unicorn represents Andore because, despite it being the weakest of the three Unicorn Synchro monsters, Thunder Unicorn's effects makes it a very versatile card (especially in the anime), which is reminiscent of Andore's genius card playing sense.
** Voltic Bicorn represents Breo because, although its ATK strength allows it to be used in a Beatdown strategy with relative success, its true potential lies in Deck Destruction. This may reference Breo's change in duel strategy after joining Team Unicorn (Breo was originally focused on using Beatdown strategies in duels, but after losing to Jean and joining Team Unicorn his strategies were changed to focus on milling his opponent's deck until they run out of cards).
** Lightning Tricorn represents Jean due to it being the strongest Unicorn Synchro Monster in the game, which in turn references Jean being the leader of Team Unicorn. Its ability to Special Summon either Thunder Unicorn or Voltic Bicorn represents Jean's appreciation of teamwork and unity.
* PhotographicMemory: Breo.
* ShockAndAwe: Even though they're Beast-type monsters, Thunder Unicorn, Voltic Bicorn, and Lightning Tricorn are associated with this trope.
* SmugSnake: Jean is confident with his strategies, but he doesn't expect that Yusei is moving beyond his expectations.
* TrueCompanions: Their moves are all for the team, and they don't use moves that are done just for themselves. That is, until Yusei ignites Jean's fighting spirit.
* {{Unicorn}}: Their ace monsters are Thunder Unicorn, Voltic Bicorn, and Lightning Tricorn. They aren't named Team Unicorn for nothing.
* WhyDontYouJustShootHim: One of the most infamous cases of the IdiotBall in the franchise; if Jean had simply ended his turn and not made a move, Yusei would have lost by deck out. Instead they HandWave 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.
* WorthyOpponent: They acknowledge Team 5D's as their strongest rival even before the start of the WRPG, especially Yusei. That's why they go so far for their [[CrazyPrepared crazy preparation]].

!!Team Catastrophe (Nicolas, Hermann, Hans)
[[quoteright:350: https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/300px-Team_Catastrophe1_9462.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[-From left to right: Nicolas, Hermann and Hans.-] ]]
->'''Nicolas voiced by:''' Tsuyoshi Kurosawa (Japanese), Creator/MarcThompson (English)
->'''Hermann voiced by:''' Kiyoshi Katsunuma (Japanese), Frank Frankson (English)
->'''Hans voiced by:''' Yoshiyuki Shimozuma (Japanese), Creator/SeanSchemmel (English)

Team 5D's second opponents in the Preliminaries. They acquired a 'dark card' from Placido which they use to make their opponents crash.

Hermann uses an anime-only Hidden Knight deck built around stall and burn effects. His signature card is Hook the Hidden Knight, a 'dark card' received from Placido that uses dark magic to make opponents crash. Nicholas' deck is only seen briefly, and appears to be built on aggressive burn tactics. We never see Hans' deck.

* CombatPragmatist: They use cards that do real damage and attack the D-Wheels from the shadows.
* EmbarrassingRescue: Nicolas' attempt to destroy Jack's D-Wheel with Doom Ray backfires and almost kills himself, but he is lucky enough to be saved by Jack.
* EvilIsNotAToy: The Cards of Darkness are very dangerous. Nicolas' attempt to defeat Jack with the second card, Doom Ray, almost kills him, but Jack is nice enough to save him instead.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Nicolas attempts to make Jack crash with their second dark card. However, it causes damage to him as well, and Jack is protected by his Power Giant's effect. As a result, Nicolas' D-Wheel was destroyed and Team Catastrophe lost by default.
* InvisibleToNormals: Their monster's shadow hook (which attacks their opponents' wheels).
* TheLeader: Nicolas.
* LivingShadow: The majority of their cards, especially Hidden Knight - Hook.
* {{Mooks}}: They are Placido's mooks and {{Unwitting Pawn}}s, and they don't have much personality.
* NormalFishInATinyPond: Their undoing. Their abilities to deal real damage and attack their opponents' D-Wheeler (and the inclination to do so even if it's cheating) makes them able to defeat any muggle that doesn't see it coming, no matter how much of a BadassNormal they are. However, it's nothing than the Dark Signers didn't do before, and better. When facing someone who ''isn't'' surprised by their special powers, they aren't that much of a treath.
* ObviouslyEvil: They're not called Team ''Catastrophe'' for nothing.
* OutsideContextVillain: They are one to team Unicorn who, for all his great strategies, had no experience with the supernatural and was taken completely by surprise by what was effectively cheating. Team 5D's, however, proves to be one ''to them'', since they did not expect someone who wasn't taken by surprise by their exploits and that could actually deal with the supernatural far better than they could.
* SmugSnake: They consider themselves the greatest threat to team 5D's and how they will show them "true despair". [[spoiler: They end up being the less treathening challengers to team 5D's ''by far'', being the only one defeated without even making it to Yusei.]]
* TakingYouWithMe: Nicolas tries to defeat Jack with Doom Ray, which inflicts 4000 damage to both of them. However, Jack is protected by Power Giant's effect, and Jack saves Nicolas from the explosion that nearly kills him.
* TooDumbToLive: Nicolas [[HorribleJudgeOfCharacter trusting Placido]] and taking the Card of Darkness wasn't a good idea to begin with, but when he uses Doom Ray, that damages even himself, he realizes too late that the dark power works on him too.
* TheUnfought: Hans never gets the opportunity to duel, since Hermann and Nicolas are defeated first and the team lose because Nicolas isn't able to push his destroyed D-Wheel to the pit.
* UnwittingPawn: For Yliaster.

!!Team Taiyou (Taro Yamashita, Yoshizo Hayashi, and Jinbei Tanigawa)
[[quoteright:350: https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Team_Taiyo1_5403.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[-From left to right: Jinbei, Taro and Yoshizo.-] ]]
->'''Taro voiced by:''' Naru Kawamoto
->'''Yoshizo voiced by:''' Kotaro Atsushi
->'''Jinbei voiced by:''' Suguru Inoue

Team 5D's third opponent. They only have one D-Wheel that Yusei fixes prior to their match, and they have classic cards from the first Generation of Duel Monsters that Yusei seems to recognize as being similar to Yugi's deck.

All three use stall burn decks consisting primarily of low-level Normal monsters and common Spell and Trap cards from early sets, all based around summoning Zushin the Sleeping Giant.

* AllYourPowersCombined: Holding-Hands Majin's effect allows it to combine the defense points of every monster on the player's field, which allows Taiyou to create a StoneWall with it.
* TheAllegedCar: Their home-made D-Wheel, Machine Day Breaker, was created using a junk D-Wheeler and a lot of spare parts. Lua and the WRGP crowd don't think much of it, but Yusei and Bruno are impressed with Taiyou's handiwork and end up patching it up for them.
* AscendedFanboy: Yoshizo is a fan of Team 5D's, and Yusei in particular. The reaction he gives when actually seeing Yusei in front of him can only be described as {{Squee}}.
* AwesomeButImpractical: Their ace card, Zushin the Sleeping Giant, is this in-universe, most likely as a dig against the real game's tendency to churn out powerful monsters with impossible summoning conditions. Zushin has incredibly powerful effects that have been compared to the God Cards, but it has a ridiculous summoning condition that makes it impossible to summon in a serious duel.[[note]]It's telling that the real-life verion of Zushin is ''buffed'' compared to the show's version, as its summoning condition has several loopholes that allow it to be somewhat expedited.[[/note]] Practically everyone has a copy of Zushin, at a Common rarity at that, shown when the audience members all whip out copies of the card from nowhere when Taiyou's copy is summoned. Even Team Taiyou themselves only managed to summon Zushin in their duel with Team 5Ds, having won their other matches with the burn effect of Speed World 2.
* BadassNormal: Even more so than Team Unicorn. They use a lot of very common cards without any sort of incredibly elaborate strategy, while riding a home made D-Wheel. Their ace card is ''extremely'' powerful, enough to contend with the 3 Egyptian God cards, but has such ridiculous summoning conditions that no one before them had ever gotten it onto the field. They came within spitting distance of actually winning, and unlike Team Unicorn they didn't do it with [[StopHavingFunGuys an incredibly cheap mill strategy]].
* BeyondTheImpossible: Summoning Zushin (i.e. keeping a Level One Normal Monster on the field for ten player turns) is thought to be near impossible for a regular duel. That Team Taiyou achieve it in the ''Grand Prix finals'', while facing Team 5D's no less, is a miracle that makes Duel Monsters history.
* BigOlEyebrows: Taro has a pair, which match his HotBloodedSideburns nicely.
* BoringButPractical: Their stall-burn strategy isn't flashy and earns them the ire of the crowd for being boring, but it got them into the semi-finals.
* ChekhovsGun: The Key Mace is summoned on the first turn of the duel, and seems to only be there to boost Majin's defense. ''Eighteen turns later'', its actual purpose in summoning Zushin is revealed.
* ChromaticArrangement: [[TheLeader Taro]] is red, [[TheLancer Jinbei]] is blue, and [[{{Fanboy}} Yoshizo]] is green.
* ComMons: Their deck is full of Normal Monsters and Trap Cards that can be found in any booster pack; even their ace card, Zushin, is owned by practically everyone in-universe.
* CountryMouse: Three unassuming guys from the countryside. Jinbei runs into some {{Upper Class Twit}}s and is amazed to see how casually they throw around rare cards that would be impossible to find back at his home.
* CrashIntoHello: Their introduction involves Yoshizo literally crashing their D-Wheel when Lua runs out in front of it.
* {{Determinator}}: ''Nothing'' was going to stop Taro once he set his eyes on the WRGP. Yoshizo and Jinbei are eventually persuaded too, and together they make it to the finals with nothing but their run-down bike, a deck full of common and weak cards, and their unwavering belief in their strategy.
* TheDreaded: Zushin is this for Team 5D's; they pull a collective OhCrap when they realise that Team Taiyou plans to summon it.
* FanDumb: In-universe example; the WRGP audience thinks that their outdated cards and StoneWall strategy is lame, even though they're undefeated and are giving Team 5D's a run for their money. Team Taiyou becomes an instant fan favorite when the audience realizes they are going to summon Sleeping Giant Zushin.
* FantasyForbiddingFather: The fathers of Jinbei and Yoshizo don't want them gallivanting off to the city for absurd reasons, and worry that their sons won't come back. They quickly change tune when they see Team Taiyou winning on national television, with the entire crowd cheering them on.
* FireballEyeballs: Taro gets these during his turn to duel, to show off his determination, which shocks Crow.
* {{Foil}}: To Team Satisfaction (and Yusei in particular). Both are groups of tight-knit friends from humble beginnings, using 'worthless' cards that others have thrown away. Despite their poor background, they have big ambitions to make a name for themselves. The main difference is that Team Satisfaction achieve their goal of being the best duelists in Satellite, but end up separating as a result. Team Taiyou, on the other hand, lose in their climatic duel but are still firm friends.
* FreudianTrio:
** Id: Taro, the leader, who wants to partake in the WRGP on a whim and won't let any number of disadvantages stop him.
** Superego: Jinbei, the more cynical one who (initially) decries the whole plan as an unachievable fantasy.
** Ego: Yoshizo, not as brave or pro-active as Taro, but more eager to believe in their chances than Jinbei.
* FriendlyEnemy: To Team 5D's, with the slight exception of Jinbei.
* GroupHug: A joyful, teary-eyed one after they lose to Yusei.
* GrumpyBear: Jinbei is the cynical one of the three.
* HeroAntagonist: They're just guys trying to prove their worth to the world. And they succeed.
* HoldTheLine: It turns out they're StoneWall strategy is just part one of their far more dangerous plan: to protect Key Mace for 10 player turns- 20 when you count the opponent's turns too- until they can use it to summon the super-powerful Zushin. And they ''succeed'', even when 5D's catches on and tries to destroy the Key Mace.
* ImpersonatingAnOfficer: In order to save Jinbei from an angry biker gang, Taro and Yoshizo use a fake siren and a speaker to pretend that Security is arriving on the scene. They get found out, and all three end up getting chased around until dawn.
* InSeriesNickname: Jinbei and Yoshizo are mostly referred as Jin and Yoshi, respectively.
* {{Keet}}: Yoshizo gets excited and happy very easily.
* LargeHam: Both Yoshizo and Jinbei have a variety of wonderfully over-the-top expressions.
* TheLeader: Taro.
* [[LethalJokeWeapon Lethal Joke Card]]: Their ultimate card, Sleeping Giant Zushin, [[MagikarpPower requires the sacrifice of a Level 1 Normal monster that has been on the field for 10 player turns (a nearly impossible condition to fulfill in today's game)]]. Once it hits the field, it can easily curb-stomp a God Card.
* LetsGetDangerous: For the first fifteen or so turns they're seen as nothing but a joke, mocked by the crowd for doing little else besides maintaining their defensive wall. Jack and Yusei start to get a bad hunch about it... and then Taiyou summon their ''god-tier'' card that KO's Crow in a single turn and forces Yusei into a corner.
* LineOfSightName: They name themselves Team Taiyou[=/=]Sun while watching the sun rise over their countryside home.
-->'''Taro''': "Team Taiyou... That's gonna be the name of our team! [[MeaningfulName It always rises with a bright and intense light every day. We are the sun!]]"
* LocationThemeNaming: Their last names contain at least one kanji of natural locations. Yamashita has the kanji of "mountain", Tanigawa has the kanji of "river", and Hayashi has the kanjis of "forest".
* LoopholeAbuse: How their Zushin is defeated by Yusei. Since Zushin cannot negate the effect of a monster that doesn't fight it, Yusei's uses Jack's Trap Card Monster Baton to use the effect of Crow's Blackwing -- Boreas the Sharp, which protects Yusei's Shooting Star Dragon from Zushin and destroys it after damage calculation.
* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Jinbei gets mad at the other two for thinking they can get to the WRGP with low-level monsters, then ditches them to try and find better cards by himself. He only realises how much of a jerk he's being when he [[{{Hypocrite}} criticises someone else for also abandoning their friends.]]
* NotSoDifferent: Like Yusei, they are poor and their decks are made of collected cards that others threw away.
* OpenMindedParent: Taro's father supported their dream and gave them his D-Wheel.
* PersonalityPowers: Holding-Hands Majin is a card that's relatively weak on its own, but can become an impenetrable wall if other monsters combine their powers with it (which is illustrated by them all holding hands). This fits Team Taiyou quite well, as they practically run on ThePowerOfFriendship.
* {{Pride}}: Jinbei's reason for initially refusing Team 5D's help; [[SelfMadeMan because Team Taiyou got to where they are through their own hard work, and don't need any help from pro-level duelists.]] He mellows out once he realises that Yusei is actually NotSoDifferent in that respect.
* ThePowerOfFriendship: How they managed to win all their duels until losing to Team 5D's.
* PurposefullyOverpowered: Zushin's attack stat is always +1000 of the monster it's battling, it can't be targeted by card effects, and it negates the special abilities of the monster it's fighting, making it nearly indestructible. In exchange, its summoning conditions are so ridiculous that Team Taiyou are the only people to ever manage to do it in a proper duel.
* SmallTownBoredom: Taro doesn't hate country life, but he does want to try something new and spectacular at least once.
* StoneWall: Their overall strategy. Using Holding-Hands Majin (which forces the opponent to target it while getting its defense boosted by Defense Position monsters) and Speed World 2's effect (using accumulated speed counters to deal small amounts of damage), they chip down at their opponent's health while adding onto their impressive defense.
* SpotlightStealingSquad: After Zushin is summoned, the spotlight goes to them. It's even lampshaded by Lua.
* TearsOfJoy: When they're able to summon Zushin, and again when the crowd cheers them on after the duel.
* TrueCompanions: Friendship is a very strong motif with them.
* WeakButSkilled: All they have are weak, common monsters (without even a single Synchro monster to their name) but their clever [=Stall/Burn=] strategy lands them in the finals. Even without Zushin they're able to take out Jack -- who attempts a TakingYouWithMe on Jinbei and fails -- and chip down half of Crow's life points.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair: Jinbei has literally blue hair.

!!Team Ragnarok: Dragan, Brave (''Broder''), and Harald (''Halldor'')
[[quoteright:350: https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Team_Ragnarok1_9043.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[-From left to right: Harald, Brave and Dragan.-] ]]
->'''Dragan voiced by:''' Kenichi Miya (Japanese), David Wills (English)
->'''Brave voiced by:''' Creator/RyoheiKimura (Japanese), Creator/MarcThompson (English)
->'''Harald voiced by:''' Creator/MasayaOnosaka (Japanese), Eli Jay (English)

Team 5D's fourth opponents. They were shown to be very important when they were immune to Yliaster's changes to history, due to having a new set of God Cards (the Aesir, based on Norse mythology). They're notable for being the very first Divine Type Monsters since the 3 Egyptian god cards from the [[Anime/YuGiOh very first series]], as well as the first Divine type of Synchro monsters.

All three use Nordic decks built around summoning Aesir. Dragan uses Nordic Beasts and swarming effects to summon Thor, Brave uses Nordic Alfars to Summon Loki supported by a large number of Trap cards, and Harald uses Nordic Ascendants to summon Odin coupled with a large number of burn effects.

* AnimeHair: The team with the most impressive, cool-looking and spikey hair styles, but all of them being impossible. Aside from Dragan and Brave's MultiColoredHair, Harald's hair is connected with his ''eyebrows''.
* ArrogantKungFuGuy: Basically every single word that comes out of their mouth is either talking shit about Yusei and the others, or about how great they and the Nordic Gods are.
* BackFromTheDead: Doubles as DeathIsCheap. This is the main effect of the three gods, which give a bonus when coming back. Brave, being the [[TricksterArchetype cunning duelist]] he is, exploits the hell out of Thor's effect in his duels with Jack and Crow.
* BackgroundBoss: Odin, who is so absurdly huge that he's forced to stay in the background.
* TheBerserker:
** When not dueling, Harald is perfectly calm and collected. During an actual duel... [[HotBlooded not so much]].
** Of course, that says nothing about Dragan's idea of pounding Jack into the dust with Thor, and Brave repeatedly mentioning getting 'god killed' over and over.
* BigOlEyebrows: Dragan, which is not quite obvious at first, since his eyebrows are also multi-colored like his hair.
* ColonelBadass: Before finding Dragan and Brave, Harald used to be a colonel and he was apparently part of the air force. He saved a subordinate and himself from crashing on a mountain by blowing the head up with missiles.
* ComplexityAddiction: Harald seems to have one of these, and it cost him his duel with Yusei. Already having gotten rid of Majestic Star Dragon and having a massive field advantage with his team's three Aesir, Harald keeps playing cards that he thinks will completely ensure his victory over Yusei rather than just using the Gods and their powerful effects to just crush Yusei underfoot. Yusei ends up turning all of those cards against him to not only bring out Shooting Star Dragon, but to depower all of the Aesir and banish them.
* DefeatMeansFriendship: After their defeat, they're a lot friendlier towards Team 5Ds and even help them invade Ark Cradle.
* DubNameChange: Brave to Broder, and Harald to Halldor in the English dub. [[OddNameOut Oddly enough, Dragan keeps his name from the Japanese version.]]
* {{Expy}}: Team Ragnarok resembles the Doma trio from ''Duel Monsters'' as a whole, since each member of them is a rival to Team 5D's three wheelers. Like Amelda hated Kaiba, Dragan has his own grudge on Jack. Like Varon had a similar backstory and personality like Jonouchi, Brave has a similar backstory and personality like Crow. And like Rafael believed that Atem was an evil king, Harald believes that Yusei is connected with the destiny of destruction.
* TheFatalist: To be fair, when you're associated with Norse mythology, this is kinda your schtick.
* FreudianTrio: Brave is the Id, Dragan is the Ego, and Harald is the Superego.
* GambitRoulette: Brave does this with Crow, [[CurbStompBattle thrashing him at every single turn for most of their match]].
* HeroAntagonist: 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).
* HeroOfAnotherStory: Harald especially, due to travelling across the world and being in the military.
* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Harald uses a card that will banish the Aesir in three turns and deal their ATK as effect damage to Yusei. Yusei uses a trap card to zero out their ATK and thus zero out the effect damage while Harald loses all three Aesir, leaving him a sitting duck.
* InformedAbility: Despite being named a genius on par with Yusei, Harald's strategies end up doing more damage to ''himself'' than to his opponent, including giving two very high-level monsters to a dedicated Synchro player, running lots of Traps that don't do anything, and using a DeathOrGloryAttack despite being in a much stronger position.
* LargeAndInCharge: The most powerful of the Aesir, Odin, is probably the third largest monster to date, towering over the city and easily dwarfing the other two. To put it in perspective, Odin is in the background during the entire duel and is ''still'' bigger than the other two. To put it in ''further'' perspective, Odin towers over the Egyptian Gods and the Sacred Beasts as well.
* LargeHam: Brave likes to pretend that his opponent is doing a serious threat to his strategies before activating his trap cards. He's also the only one [[IncrediblyLamePun brave enough]] to stand up in the middle of a Riding Duel. Harald even notes how audacious he gets in trolling his opponents.
* TheLeader: Harald.
* LongHairedPrettyBoy: Harald has very long hair and he's probably the most qualified {{bishounen}} among the cast. He used to have short hair, though.
* MagicalEye: Their left eyes have magical powers and are known as Rune Eyes. Not to be confuses with a certain monster from ''[[Anime/YuGiOhArcV ARC-V]]''.
* MeaningfulName: All three of them are meaningful in some way, but Brave stands out the most. He takes very bold actions in his duels, from standing on his D-Wheel to make a BadassBoast, to invoking an extremely reckless strategy that involves destroying Thor ''repeatedly'' and letting Crow take out large amounts of his life points to get part of his plan going.
* MultiColoredHair:
** Dragan has black and blond hair. Even his thick ''eyebrows'' are black and blond.
** Brave has red and orange hair.
* Myth/NorseMythology: Most of their cards are based on this.
* NotSoDifferent: Brave cares for a group of children and is a trickster duelist, just like Crow.
* NotSoStoic: Harald is usually very calm and has a very tranquil voice, but he suddenly becomes hammy and more emotional when he's dueling.
* ResurrectiveImmortality: The three Aesir revive themselves from the graveyard if destroyed, so at best they can only be neutralized for that turn. The exception is if they're banished.
* RippleEffectProofMemory: The Aesir cards they hold protect them from temporal distortions.
* ThrowingTheFight: 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), so when the WRGP pits them against one another again, both give it their all to settle their match for real.
* TreasureHunter: Brave's previous profession.
* TheTrickster: Brave and his Aesir Loki (who is the actual Trickster God of Myth/NorseMythology) are considered this. He even has a nickname in-universe because of it being his prominent dueling trait. He had Crow on his knees with nothing but well-placed traps and exploiting Thor's abilities
* UnexplainedAccent: Harald, with his dub-only British accent, is supposed to be Norwegian.
* WalkingTheEarth: Harald did a journey around the world to see it in a different perspective. After completing it, he received Odin.
* YouFightLikeACow: Brave does this ''a lot''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Crash Town[=/=]Satisfaction Town]]
!!Lotten ''(Lawton)''
[[quoteright:358:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5aa6dccf59b283d375226fa6596b0fbe.png]]
-> '''Voiced by:''' Creator/MasamiIwasaki (JP); David Wills (EN)

The younger brother of Malcolm, the head of the Malcolm Family. Lotten is a very skilled duelist who conquers Crash Town after Yusei defeats Kiryu of the Ramon Family. Despite that Yusei and Kiryu are sent to the mine and are doomed to work there for the rest of their lives, Lotten rides to the mine to ensure their death and ends up surprising them when they try to escape. Yusei challenges him to a Riding Duel, but in the end Lotten uses dynamite to try and kill Yusei and Kiryu.

Believing they died by falling into a canyon, he, Barbara, and Malcolm's subordinates betray Malcolm and take over Crash Town, renaming it Lotten Town. However, Yusei and Kiryu turn out to be alive, and they challenge him in a 2-on-1 Tag Duel. Lotten loses, and the town is saved by Team Satisfaction. He and Barbara are taken into custody by Security.

He uses an anime-only Ogre burn deck.

* [[AppealToForce Appeal To Dynamite]]: How Lotten ended his Riding Duel with Yusei.
* BadassBaritone: His voice is not only low, it sounds more impressive than any of the other guys from Crash Town.
* ChekhovsGunman: Lotten is first mentioned by Malcolm, and then appears right after Kiryu's defeat and Barbara's betrayal.
* CombatPragmatist: This guy throws dynamite at Yusei and Kiryu in the middle of his Riding Duel with Yusei to kill them. Later he tries to escape in the middle of the Tag Duel, but Kiryu follows him and defeats him.
* CoolBike: His D-Wheel is huge, it can stretch its limbs, and it's equipped with several Duel Disks.
* DragonInChief: He's working for his older brother Malcolm, but Lotten is the best duelist in the family, is very competent, and the FinalBoss in Crash Town. He eventually betrays Malcolm and takes Crash Town over.
* DirtyCoward: When Kiryu gains the upper hand in their duel, he uses his dynamite and runs the first chance he gets. Kiryu chases him down and forces him to continue the duel (or just has him arrested if you watched the English dub).
* EstablishingCharacterMoment: After the viewers are told that he's a skilled duelist who might be able to defeat Kiryu, Lotten defeats Ramon with a First Turn Kill during his first appearance.
* EvilLaugh: Sometimes.
* GatlingGood: Lotten's Gatling Ogre, which is able to perform a First Turn Kill.
* ItsAllAboutMe: He eventually betrays even Barbara in order to escape.
* {{Jerkass}}: He doesn't care for anyone, even his own brother, and he forces his own men to duel against each other when there's nobody from the Ramon Family left.
* MeaningfulName: Lotten (which sounds the same as "Rotton" in Japan) is the obvious one.
* NumerologicalMotif: 800. His Gatling Ogre has 800 ATK and DEF, and it inflicts 800 Effect Damage for each face-down card sent to the graveyard. Also, the ATK and DEF of his Full Armor Ogre and Big Cannon Ogre are twice and thrice as high as Gatling Ogre's.
* OneHitKill: Lotten's Gatling Ogre can perform a First/One Turn Kill, inflicting 800 Effect Damage for each face-down Spell/Trap Card that Lotten sends to the graveyard.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: Lotten/Rotten. The anime uses both variants, though it's only written as "Rotten" during the Riding Duel. The rest of the anime uses "Lotten". In the dub, it's written and pronounced as Lawton.
* TheStarscream: Not only does ''he'' betray his older brother to take over Crash Town, everybody else of the Malcolm Family joins Lotten's side too.
* StoneWall: His Longbarrel Ogre has 0 ATK and 3000 DEF. Despite this it's actually very destructive, since it can destroy the strongest monster on the opponent's field and inflicts Effect Damage equal to half of the destroyed monster's ATK. This effect can be used twice per turn.
* WeakButSkilled: His monsters are not very powerful -- his strongest has only 2400 ATK -- but he's very skilled and inflicts mostly Effect Damage.
* WhipItGood: Uses a whip to prevent Yusei from saving Nico and West in Episode 91.

!!Barbara ''(Barb)''
[[quoteright:358:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/beba92f35cfceac616a77d79c63d0704.png]]
-> '''Voiced by:''' Creator/AkemiOkamura (JP); Creator/LisaOrtiz (EN)

A florist who sent Yusei a letter so that he could come and save Kiryu from Crash Town, under the pretence of being his ally. However, she turns out to be a part of the Malcolm Family, and betrays Yusei right after he defeats Kiryu of the Ramon Family. Later, she betrays Malcolm with Lotten and takes over the town. After Lotten's defeat by Yusei and Kiryu, she and Lotten are taken into custody.

* AdaptationalBadass: This is sort of zigzagged in the video game ''Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's World Championship 2011''. While not as evil in the game, she ''does'' duel the player. (With a Mai Valentine-ish deck.)
* BareYourMidriff: Part of her outfit.
* BitchInSheepsClothing: She pretends to be a nice woman who cares for Kiryu and Yusei, but is actually an egotistical woman who doesn't care for anyone.
* ChronicBackstabbingDisorder: Betrays Yusei and then Malcolm. As a part of her karma, she's later betrayed herself by Lotten.
* DecoyDamsel: She pretended to be a helpless woman who wasn't able to save Kiryu from his up-coming "death", and asks Yusei for help to save him. She actually wanted Yusei to defeat him, so that the Ramon Family would lose their best duelist.
* TheDragon: To Lotten.
* EvilLaugh: Together with Lotten in Episode 92.
* FemmeFatale: She seduces Malcolm to take over the town legally, then she gives her right as the owner to Lotten.
* GoldDigger: She says that she's only attracted to men with power. Of course, she prefers Lotten over Malcolm.
* ImpossiblyLowNeckline: Part of her outfit.
* InnocentFlowerGirl: She's a florist who uses her flowers to cover her real nature. She also hides explosives and a shock gun with her flower bouquets.
* {{Jerkass}}: Probably worse than Lotten.
* MeaningfulName: The dub shortens Barbara's name to Barb, which is a word for something spiky or prickly (as in barbed wire).
* MsFanservice: Her outfit is rather {{Stripperific}}, and she uses a whip during the climax.
* TheUnfought: Possibly the most dangerous villain in the franchise who never duels even once; it's not even known if she can. (She does in video games, however.)
* WhipItGood: She's skilled with the whip.
* WouldHurtAChild: She constantly reminds Yusei and Kiryu that she's holding Nico and West hostage. Thankfully, Jack arrives and hits/pushes her for this.

!!Others

* AllBikersAreHellsAngels: Both the Malcolm Family and Ramon Family. Though the members of the Ramon Family look more like actual bikers.
* {{Cowboy}}: Both the Malcolm Family and Ramon Family. Though the members of the Malcolm Family look and act more like cowboys.
* {{Determinator}}: The whole three-headed family (Sergei, Nico, and West) do not give up at any point.
* ForeHeadOfDoom: Malcolm has a large forehead.
* HeroicSacrifice: Nico and West's father, Sergei, falls to his death, but saves his children and Kiryu in the process.
* MarkOfShame: The members of the Malcolm Family have criminal markers, with the exception of Lotten and Barbara.
* ShockAndAwe: The mine workers wear collars that give them electric shocks when their slave-drivers play a card on their Duel Disks. There are also shock guns that look like shotguns.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Yliaster]]

!!Ghost
->'''First Ghost Voiced by:''' Masahito Kawanago (Japanese), Creator/JasonGriffith (English)

A mysterious duelist who has been infecting and destroying D-Wheels. It's actually a prototype 'Riding Roid' which was developed by Security to assist in tackling D-Wheel related crimes. Unfortunately it 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, the Diablos, which he later unleashes upon the D-Wheelers at the [=WRGP=] in attempt to complete the Circuit sooner.

The first Ghost uses Placido's deck. The Diablos use Ally of Justice decks.

* BaldOfEvil: As seen in ''Tag Force 5'', Ghost is bald underneath his helmet.
* DarkIsEvil: Ghost wears black, rides a black D-Wheel, and has a grey "skin".
* EvilLaugh: A rather creepy one thanks to its robotic voice.
* EvilSoundsDeep: Inverted. The first Ghost has a creepy high-pitched voice.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Justified, since the Ghosts are robots.
* GratuitousSpanish: "Diablo" is Spanish for 'Devil'.
* {{Irony}}: Ghost's programmed personality was designed to express a hate for Synchro monsters. Its successor, the Diablos, use Ally of Justice cards, an archetype whose strongest monsters are Synchros.
* MechaMooks: The Diablos are mass-produced Ghosts with the same evil personality.
* RoboticReveal: After Yusei makes it crash and the lads come to help, Crow touches its shoulder and its arm falls off.
* ZergRush: The Diablos force people into Free For All Duels and then swarm them with monsters.

!!Fake Jack Atlas
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/TakanoriHoshino (Japanese), Creator/TedLewis (English)

A robot created by the three emperors who is disguised as Jack. His personality is based of the time when Jack was the King, but Fake Jack is much more ruthless. Fake Jack has his own Wheel of Fortune and has the same deck as Jack, with the only difference being that Fake Jack has three Red Dragon Archfiends. He commits several crimes on the highway and injures other D-Wheelers to hurt Jack's reputation, and to lure him out. Jack loses to him in their first match, but later he returns and destroys the imposter with Majestic Red Dragon.

He uses the same deck as the real Jack, but with three copies of Red Dragon Archfiend and no Majestic Dragon or Majestic Red Dragon

* BadassBiker: Pretty much the only thing to describe his impossible maneuvers.
* CarFu: What he does with his Wheel of Fortune.
* DarkIsEvil: He has the same color scheme as the real Jack, only darker.
* EvilKnockoff: To Jack. His personality is based off of Jack from Season 1. (Jack even gives him a lengthy WorldOfCardboardSpeech on that to boot.)
* EvilSoundsDeep: Inverted in the dub, where his voice is higher than the real Jack.
* ImposterForgotOneDetail: His deck contains ''multiple'' copies of Red Dragon Archfiend, which is impossible in-universe. This is what ultimately clears Jack.
* {{Jerkass}}: He's based off the old Jack after all.
* LargeHam: He is surprisingly a bit less hammy than the real Jack, but he's hammy enough to scare him.
* MirrorMatch: With Jack, of course.
* NonIndicativeName: His three Red Demon's Dragons are purple, blue, and yellow instead of red.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: Fake Jack has red eyes instead of purple.
* RoboticReveal: When his body is destroyed by Savior Demon Dragon.
* RuleOfThree: He has three Red Demon's Dragons, which might be a nod to Kaiba's three Blue-Eyes White Dragons. However, his Red Demon's Dragons have different colors.

!!The Three Emperors of Yliaster
[[quoteright:350: https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/300px-Yliaster_No_Sankotei1_9776.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:[-From left to right: Lucciano, Jose and Placido.-] ]]

A mysterious trio from Yliaster who succeed Godwin as the Head of the Bureau, and the main antagonists of the third arc. Initially not much is known about them, but they apparently intend to use the 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 is revealed that they are, in fact, the same being divided into three, each of them representing a period of despair in the life of a man called Aporia.
-----
* BigBadTriumvirate: Later deposed in favor of a single BigBad, their true form Aporia.
* BigThinShortTrio: Jose is big, Placido is thin, and Lucciano is short.
* ButForMeItWasTuesday: They have "erased" so many people throughout the years that they can't recall any specifics, such as Sherry's parents.
* DespairEventHorizon: 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.
** Subverted when Aporia loses to Yusei. He believes this to be his "fourth despair", but after losing to Jack, Lua, and Luca he realizes that what he's feeling isn't despair, but [[HopeSpringsEternal hope]].
* DubNameChange: They are called Primo (Placido), Lester (Lucciano), and Jakob (Jose) in the dub, disrupting the ThemeNaming the Japanese version employed ([[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Three_Tenors the Three Tenors]]).
* {{Expy}}: The trio are wearing white clothing with hoods, which makes them appear to be the ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' version of the [[Series/KamenRiderBlack Gorgom High Priests]]. However, the Three Emperors later reveal themselves to be a single person during the final story arc.
* EyepatchOfPower: Sorta. Lucciano and Placido have metal plates with the Infinity symbol on them covering one of their eyes. Placido's covers his right eye while Lucciano's covers his left eye.
* FreudianTrio: Lucciano is the Id, being immature and overtly emotional. Placido is the Ego, prone to going rogue and doing his own thing simply because he wants to. Jose is the Superego, far more restrained and focusing on their objective rather than acting on his impulses.
* FusionDance: Jose and Placido can merge with their D-Wheels. It's also how Aporia was created. Even their D-Wheels and D-Board combine to a single D-Wheel when Aporia appears, following with him fusing with it.
* InTheHood: They wear white hoods most of the time.
* KnightTemplar: They're trying to prevent a worse catastrophe.
* [[KnightofCerebus Knights of Cerebus]]: The WRGP arc is a lot darker when they're around.
* MasterOfDisguise: Both Lucciano and Placido do this to trick Lua and Luca.
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: After losing to Shooting Star Dragon for the first time, Placido is HalfTheManHeUsedToBe. Jose and Lucciano don't see this as a big deal. Justified, since all of them are androids.
* AMillionIsAStatistic: What's one city compared to the entire world?
* NumerologicalMotif: Infinity.
* PowerCrystal: They each have one of these on their forehead.
* RoboticReveal: Turns out Placido is an android with the compatibility to merge with his D-Wheel. Lucciano and Jose are later revealed to be the same.
* ThemeNaming:
** The three of them are named after the Three Tenors: Jose Carreras, Placido Domingo and the late Luciano Pavarotti.
** Aporia breaks the theme but is part of another one with his peers, referring to a logical fallacy.
* TimeTravel: They can rewrite history to a certain extent due to this, such as erasing Momentum Express and Lucciano's time at Duel Academy, and inserting themselves into the W.R.G.P.
* YouCantFightFate:
** 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 it's their task to make sure history stays on a predetermined course. As such they have a bone to pick with Yusei, because the discovery of Momentum by his father jacked up everything.
* YouHaveFailedMe: They erase Clark from history after his failed attempt to dispose of Yusei.
* YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness: They leave Jeager and Team Catastrophe to die without blinking an eye once they stop being useful.

!!!Placido ''(Primo)''
[[quoteright:358:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5a85e61939b7dc015b3413bcee68a892.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Masakazu Nemoto (Japanese), Creator/JasonGriffith (English)

The emperor who received the first Machine Emperor, Wisel. He gives his deck to the original Ghost to let him assault D-Wheelers, until Yusei defeats Ghost. Since then, Placido develops a grudge towards Yusei and he starts to develop his own plan to complete the circuit. He sends an army of Ghosts, the Diablo, to attack the participants of the WRGP, but his plan is foiled when Yusei discovered the power of Accel Synchro, defeating Placido during their duel. After he erased Clark Smith, Placido and his fellow emperors enter the WRGP as Team New World.

Placido represents Aporia's despair of the time he lost his lover. He uses an anti-Synchro deck built around Meklord Emperor Wisel.

* ArchEnemy: Placido feels Yusei is his, for defeating the first Ghost. [[UnknownRival Yusei doesn't even know he exists until Placido confronts him directly.]]
* BerserkButton: He gets annoyed when his fellow Emperors suggest that he might not be able to defeat Yusei.
* CoolSword: It also doubles as his Duel Disk. He can plug it into his D-Wheel in order to fuse with it.
* DontYouDarePityMe: Appear to have this reaction to Yusei even just showing concern over his having been ripped in half.
* FacialMarkings: After being repaired, he has red markings on the left side of his face.
* GratuitousItalian: Placido's upgraded form is called Placido Ripresa, with Ripresa being Italian for "recovery".
* HalfTheManHeUsedToBe: He certainly came off worse for wear after his duel with Yusei. He's an android, so fortunately for him he gets better.
* HesGotLegs: Wears high-heeled boots that go nearly up to his crotch.
* IHatePastMe: Well, more like "I Have No Respect for Past Me", seeing as he'll even steal from Lucciano.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: This is later carried over by Aporia.
* RevengeBeforeReason: Placido is so obsessed with killing Yusei that Jose and Lucciano are worried that he'll screw up their plans.
* SpannerInTheWorks: Had Placido not messed with Antinomy, the latter would have not become Bruno and would have remained as an Z-One's ally and Team 5D's enemy and Bruno would have never taught Yusei Delta Accel Synchro or would have inspired him to surpass it.
* SpikyHair: Pretty common in this series.
* {{Technopath}}: To a certain extent. Justified in that he's an android.
* TheWorfEffect: In contrast to his fellow emperors, Placido never defeats a Signer; though he does lose his last duel on purpose. His losing streak seems to be carried over by Aporia.

!!!Lucciano ''(Lester)''
[[quoteright:358:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5da891af974944fd15b8856955750184.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Hitomi Yoshida (Japanese), Tom Wayland (English)

The second emperor to receive his Machine Emperor, Skiel. Lucciano infiltrates the Duel Academia to test Luca's strength. Soon he challenges Luca to a Riding Duel, with Lua joining in to help his sister. Despite Lucciano defeating both of them, he fails to kill them due to the Crimson Dragon and Luca's Duel Monsters spirits saving them. Along with his fellow emperors, he participates in the WRGP as a member of Team New World.

Lucciano represents Aporia's despair of the time when he lost his parents. He uses an anti-Synchro deck built around Meklord Emperor Skiel.

* TheBadGuyWins: He defeats Luca and Lua in their Riding Duel.
* ChickMagnet: As a transfer student he's pretty popular with the girls, especially Luca.
* EvilLaugh: Lucciano has a laugh very similar to Jeager's, only much crazier... and [[ChewingTheScenery hungrier]].
* EvilRedhead: Since he's modeled after Aporia's childhood, he has red hair. He also happens to be the craziest of the three.
* EvilSoundsDeep: Inverted. While it's justified that he hasn't got a deep voice due to being a kid, his evil voice is higher and shrill in comparison to his nice-guy voice.
* ForeHeadOfDoom: His forehead is rather big.
* GigglingVillain: ''Holy crap.''
* GratuitousEnglish: [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4Zmmw7TIJ0 "Bye, bye!"]]
* TheHyena: There are very few scenes where he ''isn't'' letting out some shrill laughter.
* LargeHam: Even '''Creator/BrianBlessed''' would tell the kid to tone down.
* LaughingMad: Does this when Jose reveals a vision of the future, which causes him to relive the moment of his parent's death. It makes his constant giggling a lot more [[SadClown tragic in hindsight]].
* LongHairedPrettyBoy: What the female elementary school students think about him.
* NearVillainVictory: A weird example. Despite the fact that he ''does'' defeat Lua and Luca, both of them are protected by PlotArmour when they are supposed to die.
* NewTransferStudent: Disguises himself as a transfer student in Episode 77.
* PrincelyYoungMan: As his transfer student disguise. He even has Placido as his butler.
* PyrrhicVictory: Despite winning aganist Lua and Luca, he leaves pissed as his goal was to capture Ancient Fairy Dragon.
* RollerbladeGood: Lucciano wears rollerblades for no reason. He uses a D-Board which is invented by himself. For some reason he's allowed to participate in the WRGP with it instead of using a D-Wheel.
* SignificantGreenEyedRedhead: He's certainly got the [[LargeHam passionate]] part of it down, and the Duel Academia girls think he's very attractive.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: His name is spelled with two [=Cs=] in the anime. Some fans spell his name with only one C.

!!!Jose ''(Jakob)''
[[quoteright:358:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/3f966d5d4db5635613fcb996676ef81f.png]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/TakayukiSugo (Japanese), Matt Hoverman (English)

The final emperor to receive his Machine Emperor, Granel. As the leader of three, he keeps the other two to stick with their main plan. Together with his fellow emperors, they participate in the WRGP as Team New World.

Jose represents Aporia's despair of the time when he was the only living (four) human(s) of the lonely world. He uses an anti-Synchro deck built around Meklord Emperor Granel.

* BaldOfEvil: He doesn't have a hair on his head, but it grows long everywhere else. His bald head could also reflect his wise character in comparison to the other evil emperors.
* BeardOfEvil: He's evil. He's got a long beard.
* BigOlEyebrows: That piece of hair sticking out from under Jose's hood? That's his eyebrow.
* EvilSoundsDeep: As the oldest of the three he has a deep and raspy voice, which sounds even more evil because of his mask.
* GeniusBruiser: He's the strongest and smartest of all three of Yliaster's agents. Episode 110 cements him as this when he easily defeats Sherry in a "fist" fight. And just in case anyone doubted his dueling prowess, in Episodes 132 and 133 he {{Curb Stomp|Battle}}s Jack and takes out Crow without much trouble at all.
* LargeAndInCharge: 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 Granel also easily towers over both Wisel and Skiel.
* MindOverMatter: Used to retrieve Placido's remains and to stop a meteor (the tablet containing his Machine Emperor) midfall.
* PeekABangs: His right eye is covered by his ''eyebrow''.
* PragmaticVillainy: He chastises Placido for trying to complete the circuit by forcing the city into a battle royale, stating that this plan wouldn't complete it properly. Instead, Jose would rather take the slower but guaranteed approach of completing the WRGP tournament.
* RefugeInAudacity: Started his Riding Duel by running on the track. Too bad he fused with his D-Wheel shortly later.
* SuperStrength: Displayed this when he and Lucciano were attacked by Sherry and Mizoguchi; he's able to effortlessly lift Sherry's D-Wheel with one hand. With her on it.
* ShoutOut: Combined with the above, Jose is one to ''Series/TheSixMillionDollarMan'' of all things, having a similar style of SuperSpeed and strength to said character.
* WouldHitAGirl: When Sherry attacked him physically, he punched her, chokes her and then threw her down from a tower. The last one would might not happen if Sherry wasn't trying to break his arm.

!!Aporia
[[quoteright:350: https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aporia_2480.jpg]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Masakazu Nemoto (Japanese), Creator/JasonGriffith (English)

->''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 when alive, and entrusted the task of putting the future right to him.

He uses a combined Meklord anti-Synchro deck with extensive burn and field control effects. His trump cards are Meklord Astro Mekanikle and Meklord Astro Dragon Asterisk.

* AllYourPowersCombined: Since he's the combined form of the Emperors, he naturally has all of their cards, not that it helps him against Z-One.
* AntiVillain: 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 felt through it all, can't help but give him immense sympathy points. Surprisingly, none of these qualities appeared in the emperors of Yliaster.
* BackFromTheDead Let's see. Z-One initially 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, Lua, and Luca, and appears to die then. ''But'', he returns again to challenge Z-One, although after losing that duel he dies for real. This is not even counting Placido, one of his three embodiments who returns good-as-new after being torn ''in half'' by Shooting Star Dragon.
* CatchPhrase: Uses the word "despair" about as much as Kiryu uses "satisfaction".
* ClimaxBoss: Of the 4Kids dub.
* DiscOneFinalBoss: Appeared to be the BigBad, but he is later revealed to be this when the Ark Cradle descends.
* DespairEventHorizon: Crossed it ''three times''.
* FinalBoss: Of the 4Kids dub of ''5D's'', due to that dub skipping the last seventeen episodes.
* FusionDance: He's the result of one.
* HeelFaceTurn: Makes one in Episode 146, and promptly challenges the BigBad Z-One, his own friend, to a duel for the sake of Team 5D's. He's aiming to show Z-One the hope he has discovered.
* HopeSpringsEternal: Comes to believe this after losing to Jack, Lua, and Luca, which triggers his aforementioned HeelFaceTurn.
* {{Irony}}:
** He duels Jack, Lua, and Luca at the same time, and loses to them. Those three were once defeated by Jose and Lucciano respectively.
** In his Duel with Z-One, the last card he draws, the one directly responsible for making him lose, is Machine Emperor Granel 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."
* KickTheDog: One very memorable one to Lua after laying waste to Luca and Jack in one turn, nearly defeating them.
--> '''Aporia''': "Young boy, ''this'' is despair." ''(shot of Lua in tears)'' "Turn end."
* LargeAndInCharge: He is the true form of the three Emperors, and he's so big that his cards look tiny in comparison. Even his D-Wheel resembles a giant car more than a motorcycle. Though in his human life, his height and build was average.
* LaserGuidedKarma: After all of his HopeCrusher actions against Yusei and Lua, Z-One crushes ''his'' hopes during their final duel.
* LightIsNotGood: His appearance is somewhat angelical, wearing all white, and with boosters on his back that sort of look like wings.
* MadeOfExplodium: Explodes ''magnificently'' after his defeat at the hands of Yusei.
* MeaningfulName. Aporia, referring to the issue of multiple pieces of evidence supporting different answers, reflecting his nature as three different takes on the same person.
* MultiColoredHair: His hair is a combination of his three embodiments' hairs.
* OneHitKill: Averted. He employs a self-milling strategy in his Duel against Z-one with intention to guarantee that he draws Afterglow during the Draw Phase and deplete all of Z-one's LP in one go, but it backfires on Aporia hard after his Graveyard is shuffled back into his Deck and doesn't draw the card he needs.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: Just merely being fused together causes him to give off [[RedSkyTakeWarning Red Storm Clouds]], and causes lightning to strike everywhere in the whole city.
* RedEyesTakeWarning: From Placido.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: After being defeated by Jack, Lua, and Luca, he has a HeelFaceTurn and duels Z-One to stop him. He loses and dies, but before his death, he gives his last power to Yusei's D-Wheel so that Yusei can duel Z-One.
* RuleOfThree: ''Everywhere''. Three embodiments, three despairs, three Machine Emperors, three Machine Imperial Soldiers. He duels three times (and also loses three times). And Granel 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.
* ThemeNaming: Like Paradox and Antinomy, Aporia's name refers to a logical fallacy.
* UnusualEyebrows: ''Absolutely''.
* VillainousBreakdown: Has one when he finally realizes Yusei is about to defeat him. Has a bigger one after Lua becomes a Signer, and things go downhill very quickly for him.
* WalkingSpoiler: The fact that the Emperors of Yliaster are one person is a pretty big reveal.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: He intends to destroy a city and its millions of inhabitants, yes, but in doing so he will avoid TheEndOfTheWorldAsWeKnowIt.
* WhamLine: "The three of us are one. My name is Aporia."
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Thanks to him repeatedly crossed the DespairEventHorizon.
* TheWorfEffect: He loses all three of his duels, despite being a very threatening duelist. Just like Placido. Let's face it, his duel with Z-One consists of him being curb-stomped by his boss' cards just to hype Z-One up for the Duel with Yusei.

!!Z-one
[[quoteright:350: https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/z-one_full_view_8344.jpg]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/HideoIshikawa (Japanese), Creator/MarcThompson (English)

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 its 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 Z-One is the last known survivor of the destroyed future. Along with Bruno, Aporia, and Paradox, he had tried to find a way of undoing the destruction, but his allies eventually died of old age. When Aporia was on his deathbed, Z-One promised him that he would do everything he could to change the future.

He uses a Timelord deck.

* AchillesHeel: Z-One's Timelord Deck may be a SuperpowerLottery, but ironically [[ClippedWingAngel his ultimate Timelord, Sephylon, is less indestructible than the lesser Timelords]][[labelnote: note]] All other Timelords have inherent protection, but Sephylon needs to banish other Timelords to protect itself, meaning it cannot protect itself when there are no other Timelords.[[/labelnote]], enabling Yusei to beat him when he managed to rise Stardust Dragon's ATK higher than it and continuously attack it until he had no other Timelords to sacrifice.
* AscendedFanboy: Z-One is a Yusei fanboy, to the point that he decided to ''become'' Yusei in order the save the world. [[{{Irony}} Then he becomes Yusei's archenemy.]]
* BigBad: 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 [[Anime/YuGiOh Duel Monsters]] and [[Anime/YuGiOhGX GX]] as well.
* BlatantLies: Yusei refuses to buy Z-one's claim that he is Yusei from the future. Thus, Z-one instead elaborates on how he came to be Yusei.
* BrokenFaceplate: His mask is cracked when Yusei manages to inflict some damage on him in their duel, and breaks away to reveal that his face is identical to Yusei's. The rest breaks away after Yusei deals the final blow and the device keeping Z-One alive shuts down, leaving him very little time left.
* CostumeCopycat: He changes his own face to look like Yusei's in an attempt to [[HopeBringer bring people hope]].
* CurbStompBattle: Effortlessly defeats Aporia while keeping his LP intact, after Aporia's self-milling strategy backfires hard.
* CyberneticsEatYourSoul: A flashback shows that a machine implanted in his head was damaged when he went through his DespairEventHorizon, which might have contributed to his extremism.
* {{Cyborg}}: Considering he's an old man, it's probably a life support system.
* DeadPersonImpersonation: He underwent surgery to become Yusei long after Yusei himself had passed away. He even crammed data into a metal plate that he had attached to his head.
* DespairEventHorizon: 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 HopeSpot 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 Z-One 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 [[TimeForPlanB Plan B]].
* DramaticUnmask: Part of his mask is destroyed during his duel, showing that he has the same face as Yusei.
* FauxShadow: Despite the many hints, some more subtle than others, he is ''not'' Yusei from a BadFuture, rather just a normal man who assumed Yusei's appearance.
* AFormYouAreComfortableWith: Appears to Sherry alone as her father.
* GiantHandsOfDoom: Z-One's mechanical arms and hands are so huge that even the cards he uses are too large to be played on a conventional Duel Disk.
* AGodAmI: 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:
--> '''Z-One:''' "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."
* GodIsEvil: He compares himself to God and is, if KnightTemplar-ish, definitely evil.
* GrandpaGod: He's an old man that certainly fancies himself a god.
* GreaterScopeVillain: The man behind Zero Reverse and the the entire Yliaster organization, and thus likely this show's answer to [[Manga/YuGiOh Zorc Necrophades]] and [[Anime/YuGiOhGX the Light of Destruction]].
* HeroicSacrifice: While Yusei's heading to the Momentum core of the Ark Cradle, Z-One, having just been beaten, grabs his D-Wheel and tosses it away, contributing to Yusei's getting out JustInTime and Z-One smashing himself into the core.
* HopeSpot: He deliberately invokes this trope in his duel with Aporia, who staked his strategy on drawing Afterglow from his deck (while deliberately depleting his deck to facilitate this), and using its effect to inflict 4000 damage to Z-One to win. Z-One thus decides to humor Aporia by opting to Summon Lazion, a monster with 0 ATK, when he could have easily chosen to Summon a monster with at least 500 ATK to deplete Aporia's remaining LP. Z-One then uses Lazion's effect to return every card in Aporia's Graveyard to his Deck, and then challenges the latter to pull off a miracle by drawing Afterglow under these circumstances. Aporia fails to do so and loses the duel as a result, leading Z-One to dismiss the notion of believing in hope and miracles as fallacious.
* IAmNotLeftHanded: The reason he so thoroughly trounced Aporia in their duel is because the latter believed that Metaion was his ace monster and had no idea that there were even other Timelords in existence. Z-One simply decided to play along with this and did nothing to dissaude that notion. As such, Aporia tailored his deck to getting around Metaion and was throughly blindsided when Z-One decided to Summon Lazion and use its effect to completely disrupt his strategy.
* JustAMachine: His view on the androids he made using the memories of his deceased friends.
* LackOfEmpathy: Has lost all hope in humanity and decides to exterminate Neo Domino City rather than to trust the people solve the problem by themselves.
* LastOfHisKind: Following the deaths of his friends, he is the last human alive.
* ManBehindTheMan: 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.
* ManInTheMachine: His monsters also fit this trope, seeing as how those are ''angels'' inside the armor.
* NiceJobFixingItVillain: While things luckily didn't go exactly as he planned, his actions did alert the people of the present that a BadFuture was just around the corner, giving them a chance to fix things.
* PlotTwist: One of the most infamous in the entire franchise. After being hyped as a [[FutureMeScaresMe dark Yusei]] from the BadFuture, it instead turned out he was a random scientist who altered himself to look like Yusei.
* ShoutOut: Possibly to [[Manga/FullMetalAlchemist the Truth]]. He 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.
* SuperPowerLottery: 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! All of his monsters are totally indestructible and do varying types and levels of effect damage. One of them, Sandaion, does '''4000''' points of damage at the end of the Battle Phase. And that's not even his ace monster.
* TarotMotifs: The four Hand-Traps he's used are based on the first four Major Arcana.
* VillainsDyingGrace: Sacrifices himself in Yusei's stead to stop the Ark Cradle so that the latter won't have to give up his own life.
* WalkingSpoiler: His ultimate motives, the fact that he is the BigBad, and the RedHerring plot twist surrounding his identity makes it very hard to talk about him.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: He's trying to prevent a worse future by destroying Domino City.
* WhiteVoidRoom: He resides in one of these.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Thanks to crossing the DespairEventHorizon.
* YourDaysAreNumbered: He knows he doesn't have very long left to live.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Spirits and Monsters]]
!!Crimson Dragon
[[quoteright:350: https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Crimson_dragon1_7226.jpg]]

The embodiment of the Red Star worshiped by the People of the Stars 5000 years ago. After sealing the Jibakushin within the Nazca Lines, its 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 its servants.

A sixth birthmark later appears as the Crimson Dragon's "heart", and is given to Lua alongside a 6th Signer Dragon, the Life Stream Dragon. 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.
-----
* AllYourPowersCombined:
** 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 [[DeusExMachina Savior Dragon.]] Godwin later turns this on them when he gets the Dragon Head.
** Again with Shooting Quasar Dragon. It's summoned using all of the Synchro Monsters except Stardust Dragon as Synchro Material (although it is an evolution of Stardust Dragon anyway), its [[http://images.wikia.com/yugioh/images/9/96/ShootingQuasarDragonMG03-JP-UR.jpg card artwork]] features tuning rings the same colors as all the Signer Dragons, and as noted [[http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Card_Trivia:Shooting_Quasar_Dragon here,]] it has effects somewhat reminiscent of all the Signer Dragons.
* BecauseDestinySaysSo: The Signers having to come together and face the Dark Signers and Earthbound Gods every 5000 years.
%%* BigGood: Indeed.
* ChekhovsGun: Life Stream Dragon, appearing to Lua as the final Signer Dragon ''over two years'' after it initially cameoed in the second ED, ''Cross Game'', and again in Luca's vision in Episode 30.
* ChekhovsSkill: Doubles with ChekhovsGun above. At first, Lua'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 Lua lends it to Yusei for the final battle with [[BigBad Z-One]], Yusei tunes it to all the other Signer Dragons (minus Stardust Dragon) to Synchro Summon [[AllYourPowersCombined Shooting Quasar Dragon.]]
* DeusExMachina: Savior Dragon and the Synchro Monsters it summons, Savior Star Dragon and Savior Demons' Dragon. Aside from the two Synchro monsters being incredibly powerful (although the real life card game {{Nerf}}s 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.''
** AwesomeButImpractical: The Savior Dragons revert back to their original forms at the end of the turn, making them unfavorable in the actual card game. This comes up In-Universe where Yusei is aware that he cannot use Savior Star Dragon because Placido's setup makes it useless and would cause Stardust to get absorbed.
* ElementalPowers: The Signer Dragons and their attributes.
** BlowYouAway: Yusei's Stardust Dragon
** CastingAShadow: Jack's Red Demons' Dragon, and Crow's Blackfeather Dragon.
** DishingOutDirt: Lua's Life Stream Dragon
** LightEmUp: Luca's Ancient Fairy Dragon
** PlayingWithFire: Aki's Black Rose Dragon
** MakingASplash: The only attribute not represented by a Signer Dragon.
* EverythingsBetterWithSparkles: The Savior Dragons, again.
* EvilCounterpart: The manga versions of Ancient Fairy and Power Tool look to be these. The Crimson Dragon gains one in Ultimaya Tzolkin.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: The Crimson Dragon showed the Signers a vision of Satellite being engulfed by the flames of the Spider Geoglyph.
* {{God}}: The Yu-Gi-Oh version of Quetzalcoatl to be precise. Its level of power is shown to be even stronger than the gods of the previous ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' franchise, especially in the 10th anniversary movie, where the Crimson Dragon is the being that allows Yusei to travel back to Judai and Yugi's time periods.
* JesusTaboo: Because of this, the 'Savior' in the Savior Dragons is replaced with 'Majestic' in the TCG and in the English dub, and Savior Demons' Dragon being renamed Majestic Red Dragon. Also a lesser example, "Red Demons' Dragon" being re-named "Red Dragon Archfiend" like other Archfiend monsters.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: When Rex Godwin grafts the head birthmark onto himself with the intent on abusing its powers, the Crimson Dragon simply takes it away from him without the protagonists having to do a thing.
* TheMagicGoesAway: The birthmarks, at the very end of the series. The Crimson Dragon itself also leaves, its duties having been fulfilled.
* {{Mayincatec}}: The Crimson Devil's mini-arc states that the Crimson Dragon is actually Quetzalcoatl.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: It's a gigantic red dragon that appears to be made of fire or light.

!!Earthbound Gods/Jibakushin ''(Earthbound Immortals)''
[[quoteright:350: https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/300pxEarthboundimmortallsearthboundgods1_408.jpg]]

Embodiments of evil sealed within the Nazca Lines by the Crimson Dragon and its 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 Challhua (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. Its power was sealed by Jack to create Scar-Red Nova Dragon.
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* AchillesHeel: They're completely powerless without a Field Spell in play. Of course, when summoned in a Turbo Duel (as four of them were), this isn't an issue.
* AnimalMotifs: Most of them are based on animals.
** Uru is based on a spider.
** Aslla piscu vaguely resembles a hummingbird.
** Cusillu possesses the appearance of a monkey.
** Ccarayhua moderately resembles a reptile.
** Chacu Challhua looks like an orca.
** Wiraqocha Rasca is modeled after a condor.
* AttackOfThe50FootWhatever: They are ''absurdly'' large. Ccarayhua is about three-quarters to two-thirds the height of the Arcadia building.
* AwesomeButImpractical:
** Wiraqocha Rasca. It has 100 ATK and DEF and its effect is that when it's Normal Summoned, you can return up to three cards you control to your deck to have your opponent discard that many random cards from their hand and increase Wiraqocha Rasca's ATK by 1000 for each card discarded this way. Powerful, but it requires the player to have enough cards for both the Tribute Summoning and the effect and only works when Wiraqocha Rasca is Normal Summoned, so you can't use if you Special Summon Wiraqocha Rasca.
** Cusillu's unique effect is hard to use as well since it requires it to be destroyed by battle and for you to have another monster on the field. And since the Immortals cannot be targeted for an attack, you would have to let Cusillu attack a stronger monster on purpose just to use its effect when you could keep Cusillu on the field and keep attacking directly. Another way for it to happen would be for your opponent to negate Cusillu's effect and then attack it but that would require them letting you keep a monster on the field or using effects to make sure you still have a monster by the time Cusillu is destroyed.
* BeatStillMyHeart: When Earthbound Gods are summoned, a disembodied heart appears and starts beating as it absorbs people's souls.
* BreathWeapon: Wiraqocha Rasca, and the King of the Underworld.
* CherryTapping: Wiraqocha Rosca's 1 ATK, meant to compliment [[HPToOne its key anime effect]].
* DarkIsEvil: {{Kaiju}} sized [[EldritchAbomination embodiments]] [[MadeOfEvil of evil]] who are pitch black aside from the colored lines on them.
* DemonicPossession: They will do this if they are not happy with their Dark Signer.
* EarlyBirdCameo: They are first seen in episode 30 covered by a dark fog. Despite this you can make out which is which by their colored highlights. Also the condor geoglyph can be seen as well.
* EldritchAbomination: ''All'' of them are ginormous embodiments of evil that eat souls en masse just by being summoned. They also have effects that bend numerous rules of the game to make themselves nearly unassailable.
* EvilIsBigger: These things are {{Kaiju}}-sized in the anime and dwarf all of the Signer Dragons.
* EvilIsNotAToy: Dark Signers cut deals with Earthbound Gods upon death for whatever reason. If they start to have any second thoughts the Earthbound Gods will pull a VillainOverride on them. Once a deal is made they will, willingly or not, continue to serve the Earthbound Gods until death.
* EverythingsEvenWorseWithSharks: Chacu Challhua is a killer whale, but looks and moves in a shark like manner as well.
* [[EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys Everything's Worse With Monkeys]]: Cusillu.
* GenericDoomsdayVillain: They don't get any dialogue. They exist as embodiments of evil that must be defeated. Luckily the Dark Signers get enough characterization to make up for it.
* GiantEyeOfDoom: Ccarayhua, to the point of obscuring an entire full-floor window.
* GiantFlyer: Aslla piscu and Wiraqocha Rasca.
* GiantSpider: Uru.
* GodOfEvil: They are called Earthbound '''Gods''' in the Japanese variation.
* GreaterScopeVillain: The King of the Underworld is built up to be this until it is revealed that [[BigBad Rex Goodwin]] was using it the whole time.
* HPToOne: Wiraqocha Rasca's anime effect.
* {{Kaiju}}: They're an interesting variation - they cause plenty of destruction, but it's their geoglyphs rather than the monsters themselves most of the time.
* KnightOfCerebus: Any time an Earthbound God is summoned in a duel it's sign things will get bad. Unlike monsters made real in duels from the previous shows, being on the wrong of an attack by Earthbound God will actually kill you. If some tries to reason with a Dark Signer, the Earthbound Gods will pull a VillainOverride in order to make them keep fighting.
* MadeOfEvil: According to Bruno, they were manifested from the evil in people's hearts.
* {{Mayincatec}}: They are all based on Nazca Lines.
* MeaningfulName: Not only are their status as "Earthbound Gods/Immortals" references to their imprisonment in the Nazca Lines by the Crimson Dragon, but their individual names have rough definitions in the Quechua language[[note]]The Quechua language is spoken by people from the Peruvian Andes, and the Nazca Lines are located in Peru.[[/note]] (e.g. "Ccapac Apu" is derived from the Quechua words "Qhapaq", which can mean "King" or "mighty", and "Apu", powerful mountain spirits in Inca mythology).
* AMillionIsAStatistic: Earthbound Gods' sacrifices require the souls of other people.
* NobleBirdOfPrey: Wiraqocha Rasca, particularly as it's the most powerful of the seven.
* NoPronunciationGuide: The Earthbound Gods' names are in Quechuan, meaning that typical English pronunciation rules need not apply. Ccapac Apu and Ccarayhua in particular can throw viewers for a loop, as the double "C"s in their names are pronounced separately.
* OhCrap: Prominent when they are summoned.
* OlympusMons: They're utterly enormous monsters, in case you haven't figured it out yet.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The King of the Underworld, which appears as an EvilCounterpart to Life Stream Dragon. [[FridgeBrilliance It represents Death, while Life Stream represents Life.]]
* OurGiantsAreBigger: Ccapac Apu is a giant. Though it's not any bigger than the other Earthbound Gods.
* SealedEvilInACan: Old Momentum being the can-opener and the Nazca Lines, of all things, being the can.
* SpellMyNameWithAnS: No, that's not a typo, Aslla piscu really is spelt with a lowercase "p".
* TakingYouWithMe: In a flashback which Luca experiences as a dream, when the Earthbound Gods are destroyed by the Signer Dragons, the disembodied head of Uru uses its web strands to drag Ancient Fairy Dragon into the Nazca Lines causing her to be sealed alongside the Earthbound Gods.
* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Boy howdy. Firstly, when they debuted they were the biggest monsters in the franchise bar the Great Leviathan. Then there's their effects. Immunity to Spells and Traps are the norm for boss monsters in the franchise, but immunity to attacks and being able to flat-out direct attack is something else. Let's not even start around the brutal effect of Aslla piscu, which not only nukes the field, but also burns the opponent.

!!Machine Emperors/Kikoutei ''(Meklord Emperors)''
[[quoteright:350: https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Infinity31_3068.jpg]]

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 Granel, 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 Divine Emperor Machinicle Infinity Cubic. Related are the three Machine Imperial Soldiers and Machine Emperor Dragon Asterisk. During the WRGP final, it is shown that an army of Machine Emperors attacked humanity at the height of its development, before Momentum went out of control and destroyed the world.
-----
* AntiMagic: Their deck style is against the use of Synchro monsters, culminating in their signature emperors. Although it's less "killer" and more like "absorb them into their monsters". The first time Yusei encounters them, he has nightmares about Wisel until gaining Accel Synchro, which basically teleports them before they can be snagged. Of course, Granel and Machinicle can counteract that too.
** Wisel itself can negate Spell effects.
* TheAssimilator: All of them can absorb Synchro monsters.
* CognizantLimbs: Each Meklord Emperor card only represents the machine's central core, with its limbs, base, and head all represented by separate monsters that can be destroyed separately.
* CombiningMecha: 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, though only Placido used parts from another Emperor on his own.
* CyberCyclops: While some of them are more questionable cases, Granel & Infinity Cubic are definitely this.
* TheDreaded: Before Yusei got Shooting Star Dragon, he was ''terrified'' of them for their ability.
* EEqualsMCHammer: The fourth Emperor is called ''Infinity Cubic''. How one cubes infinity is anyone's guess.
* EverythingsBetterWithSparkles: Wisel has a pair of boosters on its upper legs that emit a trail of sparkles.
* FeatheredFiend: Skiel, which vaguely resembles some sort of winged creature.
* GaiasVengeance: 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.
* GreaterScopeVillain: Ultimately, they can be considered this for ''5Ds'' as a whole, being responsible for the cataclysmic event that started Z-one's whole scheme.
* HumongousMecha:
** While Machine Emperors Wisel and Skiel aren't ''that'' humongous, Jose's Emperor, Granel, certainly is.
** And then there's the gigantic monstrosity that is Machinicle Infinity Cubic. [[http://static3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20110116010337/yugioh/images/1/15/5Dx143_More_Machine_Imperials.jpg Look at its size compared to Machine Imperial Soldier Skiel Ein]].
* KillerRobot: They effectively wiped out humanity in the BadFuture.
* KnightOfCerebus: All of the Meklords are handled incredibly seriously, what with being TheDreaded and their terrifying presence. Granel in particular deserves special mention thanks to being directly responsible for at two of the biggest despairs in Aporia's past, and partially responsible for the third.
* ManofKryptonite: Designed to kill Synchro Monsters.
* MeaningfulName:
** Infinity Cubic attacks by shooting a stream of small energy cubes. Its attack is also called "The Cube of Despair".
** Machine Emperor Dragon Asterisk has an asterisk on it's head.
* MechanicalMonster: Good lord, ''yes.''
* NumerologicalMotif: They all have an infinity sign on their chest.
* OddNameOut: Infinity Cubic. And Asterisk.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: Asterisk looks more like an eastern dragon then the western dragons most dragon-type monster card resemble. Then again, it's a machine-type, not a dragon-type.
* PlotBasedPhotographObfuscation: All of them appear in the opening credits, but until they have actually appeared in the show, they are mostly hidden by shadow.
* ShoutOut: The tablets that they arrive in are similar to the monolith from ''2001: A Space Odyssey''. Not to mention the Ka Tablets from the ''[[Anime/YuGiOh original show.]]''
* YouWillNotEvadeMe: Unlike Wisel and Skiel, Jose's Granel has the ability to prevent Synchros that it attacks from removing themselves from the field, as Jack found out rather painfully. Adding more is that it can drag out the Synchro from the Graveyard into its body.

!!Duel Dragons
A series of Dragon Synchro Monsters that appear only in the manga. Six of them are dark versions of the Signer Dragons — in fact, the Signer Dragons appear in the manga in alternate forms as Duel Dragons. They were used in ancient Turbo Duel rituals to seal darkness, or so Rex Godwin claims. In actuality they were worshippers of the Ultimate God, Ultimaya Tzolkin, the manga's equivalent to the Crimson Dragon. Rex Godwin intends to use the Duel Dragons to revive the God and claim its power.

* AdaptedOut: Oddly enough, there never was a Duel Dragon counterpart to Life Stream Dragon.
* AdaptationalVillainy: In the anime, the Signer Dragons and the Crimson Dragon are benevolent. In the manga, the Duel Dragons are tools of evil and the Crimson Dragon is re-imagined as Ultimaya Tzolkin, the GreaterScopeVillain of the manga.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Beelze.
* BlackEyesOfCrazy: When a Duelist is completely controlled by them.
* CastingAShadow: All of them except Stardust, Black Rose, and Dragoascension.
* DarkIsEvil: Even the Signer Dragon counterparts look much darker and more ominous compared to the anime, with the exceptions of Stardust, Dragoascension, and Black Rose.
* DarkIsNotEvil: Blackfeather Darkrage Dragon after Crow obtains it.
* DemonicPossession: They can do this to the Duelists that use them.
* DrunkOnTheDarkSide: Tends to happen to those possessed by their Duel Dragon.
* DubNameChange: All of the Duel Dragons names have been changed in the English manga and TCG:
** Machine Dragon - Power Tool > Power Tool Mecha Dragon
** Fairy Dragon - Ancient > Ancient Pixie Dragon
** Burning Demon Dragon - Red Demon > Hot Red Dragon Archfiend
** Flashing Karat Dragon - Stardust > Stardust Spark Dragon
** Demon King Dragon - Beezle > Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons
** Purgatory Dragon - Ogre Dragoon > Void Ogre Dragon
** Mysterious Winged Dragon - Black Feather > Blackfeather Darkrage Dragon
** Underworld Dragon Dragonecro > Dragonecro Nethersoul Dragon
** Dragoascension, the Supreme Dragon of the Heavens > Ascension Sky Dragon
** Moon Flower Dragon - Black Rose > Black Rose Moonlight Dragon
** InconsistentDub: Between Volumes 3 and 4, Power Tool has gone from Power Tool Mecha Dragon to Machine Dragon Power Tool, and Red Demon from Enma Dragon Red Demon to Jeweled Red Dragon Archfiend.
* EvilCounterpart: Meta-wise, they are this to the Signer Dragons, as plot-important Synchro Dragons. But where the Signer Dragons are good, the Duel Dragons are evil.
* {{Expy}}: Six of the Duel Dragons shown look exactly like the Signer Dragons, but with strange markings on their bodies. They also play a similar role to the Signer Dragons.
** Stardust is revealed to be a Synchro Tuner monster just like Life Stream Dragon.
** Stardust Sifr in appearance is very similar to Shooting Star Dragon though it has six wings instead of two. Also the way it is summoned is very similar to Shooting Quaser Dragon.
* LightIsGood: Stardust Spark and Moonlight Dragon Black Rose.
* LightIsNotGood: Dragoascension.
* PersonOfMassDestruction: Red Demon can destroy every single other Attack Position Monster in play with just its effect.
* ShoutOut: Dragoascension has Osiris the Sky Dragon's signature effect.
* SuperMode: ''Demon King Super Dragon - Beelzeus'' for Beelze, ''Dragococytus the Impure Underworld Dragon'' for Dragonecro, ''Holy Spark Dragon God - Stardust Sifr'' and ''Stardust Chronicle Spark Dragon'' for Stardust and ''Burning Demon Dragon - Red Demon Abyss'', ''Burning Demon Dragon - Red Demon Belial'', and ''Burning Demon Dragon King - Red Demon Calamity'' for Red Demon.

!Other

* ManiacMonkeys: Zeman.
* OlderThanTheyLook: Torunka due to the Minus Curse de-aging him. He's actually the Dark Sage monster.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Bonds Beyond Time]]
!!Paradox
[[quoteright:350: https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/300px-Paradox_infobox1_742.jpg]]
->'''Voiced by:''' Atsushi Tamura (Japanese), Creator/SeanSchemmel (English)

->''If I let history be, the world will be destroyed. I've come here to change that hopeless future.''

The main antagonist of the movie Anime/YuGiOhBondsBeyondTime 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 Z-One, who sought to change the future. However, he, Aporia, and Antinomy eventually succumbed to old age and died, leaving only Z-One left.

* AllYourPowersCombined: His deck is composed of Malefic monsters which, except for his three own cards, are evil, corrupted versions of the ace cards of friends and allies of Yugi, Judai and Yusei. They include Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Jonouchi's Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Kaiser and Sho's Cyber End Dragon, Johan's Rainbow Dragon, and Yusei's own Stardust Dragon.
* AntiVillain: Like Aporia and Z-One, he's trying to prevent a BadFuture. Although he acts much more maliciously than them.
* AxCrazy: In contrast to his three stoic friends.
* BadassBiker: A D-Wheeler who travels through time with his D-Wheel, and steals dragons while riding it in the middle of a duel.
* BigBad: Of the movie.
* CoolBike: It can transform into a flying machine and also travels through time. It has a similar design to Dark Glass' D-Wheel, which foreshadows their connection.
* CoolMask: He wears a white and black mask resembling his Malefic theme. It actually doesn't conceal his identity, since nobody knows him to begin with.
* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: He has yellow eyes to his blond hair.
* EvilLaugh: Does this sometimes, despite his claims to have a noble goal.
* FillerVillain: Averted. Despite being a movie villain, he is also a canon character of the series.
* FusionDance: When he summons Malefic Truth Dragon, he combines with it in a manner similar to that of Yami Marik and Ra.
* HighClassGlass: His older self, as shown in Episode 135, wears a monocle.
* IHaveTheHighGround: How he encounters Judai, and how Yugi sees him for the first time.
* {{Irony}}: Meta-example. Despite being a movie villain named Paradox, he is canon.
* LongHairedPrettyBoy: He is a handsome man with really long hair.
* MakeWrongWhatOnceWentRight: How the protagonists view his goal.
* MalevolentMaskedMan: His mask has the Malefic theme. Is this ObviouslyEvil enough?
* MeaningfulName: Paradox, referring to a self contradictory proposition, reflecting his goal to influence the timeline.
* AMillionIsAStatistic: His attack on Domino City killed a bunch of people, but what's their sacrifice compared to the entire human race?
* MultiColoredHair: He is mainly blond, but his bangs are purple. Also, his right eyebrow is red.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: It is never shown how he stole Cyber End Dragon, Rainbow Dragon, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, and Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
* OurDragonsAreDifferent: All his Malefic monsters are dragons, except for Parallel Gear. (Also Cyber-End Dragon technically, as it's a Machine-Type).
%% * RummageSaleReject
* SetRightWhatOnceWentWrong: How he views his goal.
* ShouldersOfDoom: Part of his outfit.
* ASinisterClue: He is left-handed, which foreshadows his connection with Yliaster.
* SpikesOfVillainy: On his arm wrists.
* ThemeNaming: Like Aporia and Antinomy, Paradox's name refers to a logical fallacy.
* TimeTravel: He travels back in time to kill Pegasus before he could create Duel Monsters.
* UnskilledButStrong: His Malefic deck is extremely powerful, capable of instantly calling forth powerful high-level Monsters without any real cost. This is counteracted by the fact that Paradox tends to make rather novice mistakes in his duel against Yugi, Judai, and Yusei. He wastes his Malefic Force Trap Card when attempting to protect Paradox Dragon from Yugi's monster-stealing spell, without waiting for Yugi to mention that he was instead targeting his stolen Stardust Dragon. During his last turn, he has his dragons attack the Dark Magician Girl and Elemental HERO Neos that the protagonists have in Defense Position, which leaves them alive with enough Life Points to give them enough room to make a counterattack and defeat them. Had he instead attacked the Dark Magician or Stardust Dragon in Attack Position, he would have dealt enough damage to them to have taken the protagonists all out in one fell swoop.
* UnusualEyebrows: His red right eyebrow has an impossible design.
* WatchingTheSunset: One of his flashbacks shows him watching the sunset of the destroyed Earth.
* WellIntentionedExtremist: His goal is to save the world.
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Like Aporia and Z-One, he crossed the DespairEventHorizon and is trying to prevent a worse fate for humanity.
* WouldHitAGirl: While any duel is guaranteed to have this, Paradox's first attempt in defeating Yugi, Judai, and Yusei after summoning Malefic Truth Dragon is having Malefic Red-Eyes Black Dragon attack Dark Magician Girl. While it does benefit Truth Dragon's effect, the protagonists had 2600 life points, and the former's effect deals 800 damage based on how many monsters are destroyed by its effect. Dark Magician Girl was in defense mode and they had 3 other monsters on their field otherwise, dropping them down to 200; had he attacked Dark Magician, Stardust Dragon, or Neos Knight instead with Blue-Eyes or Truth Dragon, he would've won in a single move.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Manga Only]]
!!Sect Injuin

* BerserkButton: Looking down on him. It's played for laughs, but horribly subverted later.
* BigCreepyCrawlies: Runs an Insect deck.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: From the Card of Darkness the Skeleton Knight gave him.
* DrunkOnTheDarkSide: Due to Beelze's influence.
* EvilCostumeSwitch: Once Sect joins the Skeleton Knight, he trades in his biker outfit for some sweet looking medieval armor.
* ItsAllAboutMe: While DrunkOnTheDarkSide to ridiculous levels.
* '''{{Jerkass}}''': It's only while he's evil, but ''damn'', he's a massive prick at that point.
* MeaningfulName:
** His Card of Darkness, Demon King Dragon - Beelze, is named after Beelzebub, who is also known as the 'Lord of Flies'. Sect uses [[FridgeBrilliance Insect-Type monsters]].
** Also, since family names are placed before given names in Japan, Sect's name is Inju'''in Sect'''.
* NoSell: You can't destroy Beelze or Beelzeus. Period.
* TheRival: Yusei has declared him this, although Jack kinda lives more up to the role.
* SuperMode: For his Duel Dragon, Beelze: Demon King Super-Dragon Beelzus.
* TookALevelInBadass: After gaining Beelze, and in the first chapter he'd come a long way from the fellow that we later see in the flashbacks.

!!The Skeleton Knight

* AffablyEvil: He's not above complimenting his opponents, and he's sincere when he does so.
* AntiVillain: All he wants to do is save his brother from the Ultimate God.
* BigBad: Apparently. Later usurped by his brother.
* DealWithTheDevil: Duelists can call upon him to obtain powerful cards, but those Cards of Darkness corrupt them into his service.
* EvilCounterpart: His ace monster, Underworld Dragon Dragonecro, specializes in creating these of any monster it battles.
* HellishHorse: Skeleton Knight rides a skeletal one in place of a D-Wheel.
* {{Irony}}: Duelists make Deals With the Devil with him. He became said Devil in attempting to make one with the Ultimate God himself.
* MyHorseIsAMotorbike: Inverted, as he uses a horse instead of a D-Wheel.
* NoSell: A somewhat unusual example with Underworld Dragon Dragonecro, which cannot destroy monsters in battle. Played straight with its SuperMode form, Dragocutos, which can't be destroyed in battle.
* TheReveal: The Skeleton Knight is actually Rutger Godwin.
* SuperMode: For his Duel Dragon, Dragonecro: Dragocutos, the Impure Underworld Dragon.
* UrbanLegend: His sunset salute, said to grant rare cards.

!!Priests of Light

* InTheHood: One of them wears one that covers his face. It is later revealed that he looks like Yusei.
* IdenticalStranger: They all look like Yusei and his friends.

!!Dark Crow Hogan

* MirrorMatch: Uses the same cards and strategies like Crow does.
* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: The last time he was seen, Dark Crow had just summoned his duel dragon and was facing Crow. The next time Crow appears he's holding the duel dragon card, which implies that Dark Crow was defeated off-screen.

!!The Ultimate God

* AdaptationalVillainy: As the Crimson Dragon of the manga.
* AsLongAsThereIsEvil: As it's about to be destroyed it warns Yusei it was born from the actions of humanity and as long as humans desire power it will always be revived.
* EldritchAbomination: Sealed Evil in a Can? Check. Corrupts anything that comes close to it? ''Check''. Has a true form that is more powerful and hideous than the last one? '''Check'''.
* {{Expy}}: Its original form resembles Obelisk the Tormentor. Its true form looks like the Crimson Dragon.
* {{Foil}}: It's one to Utopic Future in the OCG/TCG. Both have a level/rank of 0 and possess an attack and defense of 0. Both have effects that work the opposite of each other and both are used by a hero and villain in the final battle of their respective series.
* FusionDance: Merges with Rex Godwin to become Ultimitl Bishbalkin the Ultimate Legendary God.
* IdenticalStranger: People who gotten the Ultimaya Tzolkin card might confuse it with the Crimson Dragon itself.
* MyHeroZero: While not a hero it is the first level zero monster to appear and possesses an ATK and DEF of 0.
* SealedEvilInACan: It was sealed in a monstrous statue 5000 years ago.

!!Ish Kiq Godwin
----
* BackFromTheDead: Revived by the Ultimate God which leads to...
* CameBackWrong: Was corrupted by Shadow Miasma.
* FanDisservice: A shot of her corpse is shown in the present.
* MsFanservice: In her ceremonial outfit.
* LivingBattery: Or Unliving Battery in this case. Her corpse was being used to harness the Ultimate God's Miasma.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Video Game Only]]
!!Surtr
----
%% * ArtificialHuman
* {{BFS}}: He has one as his Duel Disk.
%% * CoolShades
%% * FacialMarkings
%% * GoodHairEvilHair
* Myth/NorseMythology: He is named after the fire giant that will set the world ablaze at Ragnarok.
* TomatoInTheMirror: He was unaware that he was actually a Transer-type robot.
* TurnedAgainstTheirMasters: He attacks Odin after learning the truth about him, breaking Odin's armour, but is promptly destroyed.

!!Odin
----
* DemonicPossession: He initially possessed one of the scientists who were investigating Yggdrasil. When he committed suicide in an unsuccessful attempt to [[TakingYouWithMe 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.
* TheFaceless: Until the end.
* ManipulativeBastard
* Myth/NorseMythology: He is named after the king of the Norse Gods.
* SamusIsAGirl: Odin is possessing the body of Alina, the daughter of one of the scientists investigating Yggdrasil.
%% * ShouldersOfDoom
* TakingYouWithMe: Odin attempts to bury the group with him at the bottom of the ocean after his loss.
* TinTyrant: Apparently the armour is meant to prevent Odin's soul from escaping. Whether it is a RestrainingBolt or a [[SoulJar Soul Anchor]] is unclear.

!!Transer ''(Transcender)''
----
%%* MechaMooks

!!Player (World Championship 2009)
----
* CloningBlues: It's implied that the player is a clone, but it's never made clear and is left to the audience to decide. Either way, there are ''four'' clones of the player that they have to take on.
* IAmWho: He/She is actually a fake signer created by Rex Godwin in an attempt to summon the Crimson Dragon. He succeeds... but the Crimson Dragon quickly dissipates.
%% * PurelyAestheticGender
* RefusedTheCall: At the conclusion of the Fortune Cup, the Crimson Dragon removes their fake Signer Mark, with the implication that this is what they wanted.
%% * TheVoiceless

!!Player (World Championship 2010)
----
* TheAce: Of Team Satisfaction. Kiryu even mentions that he/she would make a better leader than him.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: From Chapter 1 to Chapter 4
* EleventhHourSuperpower: Gains his/her Mark of the Dragon before the final boss duel.

!!Player (World Championship 2011)
----
* TheAce: Of Team Future Speed (Or whatever other name you chose in game).
* EleventhHourRanger: Temporarily joins Team 5D's near the end of the game
* EleventhHourSuperpower: 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.
* ParentalAbandonment: Later revealed that they both perished alongside Toru's parents on a D-Wheel accident.

!!Toru
----
* BoisterousBruiser
* ChildhoodFriends: With the player.
* DishingOutDirt: Uses a Scrap Deck
* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: Scrap monsters seem to have terrible effects that involve destroying themselves. Seemingly useless, but it helps the Scraps greatly out if used correctly.
* TheLancer
* ParentalAbandonment: Later revealed that they both perished alongside the player's parents on a D-Wheel accident.

!!Misaki
----
* AbortedArc: She tells the main character to evolve their Synchro Summoning, alluding to Accel Synchro and Bruno's role in the anime. This doesn't actually lead up to anything in the story and is dropped entirely.
%%* DeadpanSnarker: Has her moments.
%%* DistaffCounterpart: Of Bruno.
* KillerRabbit: Her Watt monsters are very cute, cartoonish animals that are all out to get you. Averted with her boss monsters, though: Wattchimera and Watthydra are very fierce-looking.
* PerpetualFrowner
* ShockAndAwe: Uses a Watt Deck.
* ShoutOut: Like Bruno/Dark Glass, one to Kamen Rider.
* SugarAndIcePersonality
* {{Tsundere}}: Mostly to Toru
* WeakButSkilled: Her Watt deck. Her monsters are weak, but can lock down your opponent's field. This is used to show how strategic and strong Misaki is.
* WhenSheSmiles
* WrenchWench: Like Bruno, she's good with machines.
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair
* ZettaiRyouiki

!!Klaus
----

[[folder:Team [=5D's=]]]
-->See [[Characters/YuGiOh5DsTeam5Ds here.]]
[[/folder]]

* MeaningfulName: Not only are their status as "Earthbound Gods/Immortals" references to their imprisonment in the Nazca Lines by the Crimson Dragon, but their individual names have rough definitions in the Quechua language[[note]]The Quechua language is spoken by people from the Peruvian Andes, and the Nazca Lines are located in Peru.[[/note]] (e.g. Ccapac Apu is derived from the Quechua words "Qhapaq", which can mean "king" or "mighty", and "Apu", powerful mountain spirits in Inca mythology).

* MeaningfulName: Not only are their status as "Earthbound Gods/Immortals" references to their imprisonment in the Nazca Lines by the Crimson Dragon, but their individual names have rough definitions in the Quechua language[[note]]The Quechua language is spoken by people from the Peruvian Andes, and the Nazca Lines are located in Peru.[[/note]] (e.g. Ccapac Apu is derived from the Quechua word "Qhapaq", which can mean "king" or "mighty", and "Apu", powerful mountain spirits in Inca mythology).

* MeaningfulName: Not only are their status as "Earthbound Gods/Immortals" references to their imprisonment in the Nazca Lines by the Crimson Dragon, but their individual names have rough definitions in the Quechua language[[note]]The Quechua language is spoken by people from the Peruvian Andes, and the Nazca Lines are located in Peru.[[/note]] (e.g. Ccapac Apu is derived from the Quechua word "Qhapaq", which can mean "king" or "mighty").

* MeaningfulName: Not only are their status of "Earthbound Gods/Immortals" references to their imprisonment in the Nazca Lines by the Crimson Dragon, but their individual names have rough definitions in the Quechua language[[note]]The Quechua language is spoken by people from the Peruvian Andes, and the Nazca Lines are located in Peru.[[/note]] (e.g. Ccapac Apu is derived from the Quechua word "Qhapaq", which can mean "king" or "mighty").

* TragicVillain: None of them, aside from Demak, were evil people in life. Through one reason or another, they cut a deal with the Earthbound Gods. Rutger was forcibly corrupted by the Earthbound Gods and didn't have a say much of a say in the matter.

* TheSouthpaw: They are left-handed, which is common among the characters from the future.

* TheSouthpaw: Like the other characters from the future, he is left-handed.

* TheSouthpaw: Like the other characters from the future, he is left-handed.

* TheSouthpaw: Like the other characters from the future, he is left-handed.

* EvilIsNotAToy: They cut deals with the Earthbound Gods out of a desire for revenge. If they start to have any second thoughts the Earthbound Gods will pull a VillainOverride on them. Once a deal is made they will, willingly or not, continue to serve the Earthbound Gods until death.

* BigBadWannabe: You think he is the BigBad, but he isn't.

* IntrepidReporter: Her job. And apparently, she's not a good reporter either,

* AntiVillain: She's one of the least vicious of the Dark Signers and only wants revenge against the person who killed her brother. She also doesn't care much about her mission, and tries to surrender her duel with Aki after she killed the true murderer.

* {{Adorkable}}: Clumsy, romantically awkward, over-the-top, and oh so adorable.

* {{Adorkable}}: Their over-the-top enthusiasm and status as the plucky underdogs makes them very endearing.

* ForgottenChildhoodFriend: In part due to the ExpansionPackPast.

* TheCameo: [[http://vignette1.wikia.nocookie.net/yugioh/images/7/72/Lazar%28ArcV%29.png/revision/latest?cb=20160327201801 An alternate version of him]] makes a very brief appearance in ''Anime/YuGiOhArcV'', sipping champagne while a plate of sliced cheese and [[TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers a bowl of cup ramen]] are laid out in front of him.

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: 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.

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: Dragonecro and Power Tool are a Fusion monster and Machine-Type monster respectively.

** EverythingsBetterWithMonkeys

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Harald uses a card that will banish the Aesir and deal their ATK as effect damage to Yusei. Yusei uses a trap card to zero out their attack and thus zero out the effect damage while Harald loses all three Aesir, leaving him a sitting duck.

* ResurrectiveImmortality: The three Aesir revive themselves from the gravyard if destroyed, so at best they can only be neutralized for that turn. The exception is if they're banished.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: In the end, it's their own card that defeated their gods.

->'''Voiced by:''' Shinya Kote (Japanese), Creator/MaddieBlaustein (episodes 2-13), Pete Zarustica (episodes 14-123) (English)

->'''Voiced by:''' Creator/YoshimasaHosoya (Japanese) Creator/WayneGrayson (English)

->'''Voiced by:''' Erika Nakagawa (Japanese), Emily Bauer (English)

->'''Jean voiced by:''' Ryo Naito (Japanese), Creator/WayneGrayson (English)

->'''Harald voiced by:''' Creator/MasayaOnosaka (Japanese), Creator/TedLewis (English)

* {{God}}: The Yu-Gi-Oh version of Quetzalcoatl to be precise. Its level of power is shown to be even stronger than the gods of the previous ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' franchise, especially in the 10th anniversary movie, where The Crimson Dragon is the being that allows Yusei to travel back to Judai and Yugi's time periods.

* {{God}}: The Yu-gi-oh version of Quetzalcoatl to be precise. Its level of power is shown to be even stronger than the gods of the previous ''Yu-Gi-Oh!'' franchise, especially in the 10th anniversary movie, where The Crimson Dragon is the being that allows Yusei to travel back to Judai and Yugi's time periods.

* {{Mayincatec}}: Crimson Devil's mini-arc heavily hints that the Crimson Dragon is actually Quetza Coatl.

->'''Voiced by:''' Mika Itou (Japanese), Erica Schroeder (English)

* AGodAmI: Intends to acquire the power of both the Crimson Dragon and the King of the Underworld, in order to become the Ultimate God and end the 5000 year cycle.

* DirtyCoward: Pretty much any time he's in actual danger - unless his family is concerned - his reaction is to dive for cover or make a run for it. (He went so far as to abandon his Duel Disk in one instance.)

* AnimalMotifs: All of them are based on animals.

** Ccapac Apu barely resembles a giant.

* EldritchAbomination: ''All'' of them.

* GreaterScopeVillain: The King of the Underworld is built up to be this until it is revealed that [[BigBad Rex Godwin]] was using it the whole time.

* {{Kaiju}}: They're an interesting variation - they cause plenty of destruction, but it's they're geoglyphs rather than the monsters themselves most of the time.

* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Boy howdy. Firstly, when they debuted they were the biggest monsters in the franchise bar the Great Leviathan. Then there's their effects. Immunity to Spells and Traps are the norm for boss monsters in the franchise, but immunity to attacks and being able to flat-out direct attack is something else. Let's not even start around the brutal effect of Aslla piscu.

* HateSink: Takasu is easily one of the most vile characters in series without supernatural powers, being a corrupt and underhanded warden who abuses his power to torment the inmates for his own sick pleasure. Takasu's humiliating defeat and dismissal from his job is definitely well-deserved.

* GoOutWithASmile: After losing the Duel of Darkness against Jack.