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Characters / Blue Hour

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     Team Avalon 

Tropes for the Team:

  • Theme Naming: Their surnames all come from Prime Ministers of the United Kingdom.

Robert Macmillan

Dimension Police

The Hero of Blue Hour, a rookie player whose loss to Samuel starts him on his journey to the Nationals. Notably the most reckless of the team, Robert also lacks confidence in his abilities, most often when he loses. However, he possesses natural talent at Vanguard, allowing him to fight effectively even against vastly more experienced players. He uses a Dimension Police deck adapted from a Trial Deck, focused around empowering the Vanguard with skills to unlock more abilities, such as extra Criticals.

By the time of Midnight Sun, he has changed his deck to focus around the Enigman Ride Chain. He has stepped down as main protagonist, with Samuel taking center stage in his place.

In Setting Sun, he is still dating Leah and is mentioned to spend a lot of time helping causes to support single parents.

Tropes:

  • Attack! Attack! Attack!: Because his strategy revolves around giving Power to the Vanguard, often his plans can be easily undone by Perfect Guard Units, as Joel demonstrates.
  • Disappeared Dad: One who disappeared before he was even born.
  • Epic Hail: His trump card, Enigman Cloud, has the power to call forth Units from his deck. Prior to Nationals, he revamps his deck slightly to work more with this ability, particularly with his Justice Trumpeter.
  • Heroic Blue Screen of Death: After Samuel pulls a Rage Quit in response to him and Charles accepting Morgan's bribes, Robert is torn between his friends and his mother to the point he's barely functioning.
  • Iconic Item: Enigman Cloud, which he himself considers his trump card.
  • Light Is Good
  • The Power of Friendship: Robert's friendship with his teammates is a major factor in his increase in skill, as Samuel and Agatha both mentor him. It also plays into his deck, where his Rearguard Units work to give Power to the Vanguard so it can unlock its true potential.
    • Averted by Enigman Nebula. And then played straight by its final skill.
  • Time to Unlock More True Potential: His deck's theme is giving Power to the Vanguard to unlock extra abilities, such as extra Criticals.
  • Naïve Newcomer: Averted. Though Robert is a relative newbie, he knows the rules of the game well enough from the start.
  • Only in It for the Money: Played with. Although Robert's aim is to get money, not only does he want it for his mother, not himself, it's not his only reason to compete as part of Team Avalon.
    • Deconstructed at Nationals when he is bribed to throw his games. His wish to help his mother by getting the money collides with his desire to help his teammates.

Midnight Sun Tropes:

  • Berserk Button: Hurting Leah.
  • Official Couple: With Leah
  • Revenge Before Reason: Also short-lived, after Melanie hurts Leah, he becomes obsessed with revenge before being snapped out of it when reminded that winning isn't all that matters.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: Albeit a short-lived one. After he and Samuel argue, he becomes bitter, but Luke snaps him out of it.

Samuel Wilson

Royal Paladin/Shadow Paladin/ Gold Paladin

Sacrifices must be made to achieve your goals. Demonstrate my meaning! I Ride... Phantom Blaster Dragon!

The Lancer and The Rival, Samuel is a skilled player who is hinted to have come from very high up in Vanguard's competitive scene. He holds the philosophy that to achieve your aims, you have to make sacrifices, which carries into his Shadow Paladin deck. As the most skilled player of Team Avalon, Samuel is admired or hated by most of the cast, but under the surface he has his own issues relating to his past. He uses a Shadow Paladin deck similar to Ren's, using many of the same cards and likewise focusing his deck around the Blaster Ride Chain.

At Nationals it is revealed that he was once on a team with Henry and another fighter. However, Henry took a bribe to lose his game, and Samuel was promptly defeated, eliminating the team. While Henry was picked up by a talent scout representing Celestial Dusk, a furious and bitter Samuel left, resolving never to return. However, he is able to resolve his differences with Henry in their final match at Nationals. He proceeds to take on Luke in the final, losing but making the first cracks in Luke's cold persona.

In Midnight Sun, he is the main protagonist, with his deck now focused entirely around The Dark Dictator as a reflection on his changed philosophy. He is the driving force of the team's campaign to end the corruption in the Pro Leagues, but is also seen as the weakest member of the team due to Robert and Agatha's successes. In their first battle with Team Midnight Sun, he fights Melanie, and is solidly defeated due to her Psyqualia. Following this, he is heavily accused of throwing the fight, to the point that he gets into a fight with Robert and slips into a heavy funk. However, Henry appears to lift him from it, giving him a new Gold Paladin deck based around Spectral Duke Dragon and reminding him of his original philosophy.

In Setting Sun, Samuel is seen using Revenger, Dragruler Phantom as his new ace card as a result of the unpublished finale of Midnight Sun.

Tropes:

  • The Ace: Discussed during his final battle with Luke:
    Samuel: Vanguard came easily to me... I admit that. Since the day I started, I've always... always been good at this game. I understood it. I could make sense of it in a way which made games play out so easily for me...
  • Berserk Button: The corruption at Nationals, to the point he pulls a Rage Quit when he finds out Charles and Robert have taken bribes.
  • Big Brother Mentor: To Robert and Agatha:
    Samuel: That's why... that's why I'm fighting so hard. To uphold my teammates. Because I can see so much potential in them... so much they deserve to achieve. I'm a stagnant fighter who can't grow any more, so I owe it to the people who've let me see how much people can grow.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: His Shadow Paladins.
  • Discard and Draw: Several of his cards do this, primarily to make up card advantage so he can then sacrifice and replace them. Some examples are Skull Witch Nemain and Galebau.
  • Equivalent Exchange: His belief that you must make sacrifices to achieve your aims. However, he himself questions it sometimes.
  • Expy: As some reviewers have commented, Samuel's overall character role bears a large similarity to Kai.
  • The Lancer
  • Light Is Good: As shown by a flashback, Samuel used to use Royal Paladins.
  • The Power of Friendship: In the Nationals, he uses The Dark Dictator, which runs on this as opposed to his more usual strategy.
    • Leads to a touch of irony when he fights Luke, where the two note that their decks are better suited to each others' personalities and ideals.
  • The Rival
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Interestingly used in that Samuel considers the sacrifices of his Units to be a necessary thing, in line with his philosophy. Many of his finishers involve either Phantom Blaster Dragon's Damned Charging Lance or Dread Disaster Dragon's Damned Charging Storm, both of which sacrifice his Units.
  • You Remind Me of X: One of Agatha's greatest problems with Samuel is that he reminds her of Gabriel.

Midnight Sun Tropes:

  • Achilles in His Tent: For a while.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: On the receiving end of one by Melanie.
  • Heroic Blue Screen of Death
  • He's Back!: Pretty much the moment he rides Spectral Duke Dragon, even more so when he first wins with its Limit Break.
  • Iconic Item: Spectral Duke Dragon.
    • Later played with, Oliver notes that despite Samuel taking up Spectral Duke, he did so out of the pain of having his true avatar turned against him. Said avatar is in fact Blaster Dark, a fact Samuel acknowledges by accepting the Blaster Dark Spirit card.
  • Invocation:
    Noble dragon of the shining shadows, rise again here and now! Inherit your legendary power and demonstrate my resolve! I Ride... Spectral... Duke... Dragon!
  • It's All My Fault: He blames himself for Leah getting hurt by Melanie.
  • "Not So Different" Remark: As Oliver notes, both Blaster Dark and Samuel strived for an ideal, were cast down short of it, and rose with a different power.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Initially put aside with his revised Shadow Paladin deck, but Samuel realises that ultimately sacrificing his allies was his power, and embraces it in a new form with Spectral Duke Dragon, aiming to make sacrifices which are meaningful and have purpose.
  • You Have to Believe Me!: This is his reason for not revealing the truth of Melanie's Psyqualia, as he feels he won't be believed.

Setting Sun Tropes:

  • The Cameo: He appears via a competitive match that Seth watches in Chapter 3.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: As always, and his new ace card, Dragruler Phantom, embodies it.
  • Iconic Item: Dragruler Phantom has become his.

Agatha Gladstone

Pale Moon

The only female member of Team Avalon, Agatha is the only member to have been on the previous shop team. She is devoted to her personal idol, Gabriel, The Ace of that previous team. As such, one of her motivations for joining the shop team is to find Gabriel again. However, she quickly finds herself as second fiddle to Samuel, and while she is just as supportive of Robert as he is, she feels troubled by Samuel due to both his claiming of the team's top spot and how he reminds her of Gabriel.

At Nationals, she is the only member of Avalon left properly fighting to win after Charles and Robert take bribes to lose, and Samuel pulls a Rage Quit in response. However, her effort to prove to Robert that the team will stand by him no matter what is able to inspire him to change his mind. Following a confrontation with Melanie, she is aware of the existence of Cray and Psyqualia, as she and Richard were sent to Cray by Melanie's power.

In Midnight Sun, she is probably considered the best player on Team Avalon due to Robert's relative inexperience and Samuel falling back into the shadows. She is on the receiving end of a press storm which is a side effect of the controversy over Avalon's anti-corruption campaign.

Tropes:

  • The Beastmaster: A major theme of her revamped deck is Chimeras, while her boss card in this deck is Golden Beast Tamer.
  • Big Sister Mentor: To Robert.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Uses Pale Moon, but is heroic.
  • Heroic Blue Screen of Death: After losing to Edward and coming to believe her deck isn't up to scratch enough to fight Gabriel, this drives her to run away from the fight altogether.
  • Hero-Worshipper: Of Gabriel, albeit a serious example. Taken into Deconstruction territory when her idealized image of the past Gabriel is brought into conflict with a harsher present Gabriel.
  • Mythology Gag: Agatha's name is slightly similar to Asaka and both not only run the same Clan, but both have blue hair.
  • The Resenter: She has issues with Samuel, particularly how he effectively walks into the shop and immediately takes her spot as the best player.
  • The Smurfette Principle: The only female main character.

Midnight Sun Tropes:

  • Achilles in His Tent: After the team separates, only to be snapped out of it by Gabriel.
  • Boring, but Practical: Her deck isn't particularly flashy, just focusing on simple but effective skills to call from the Soul. Word of God says this is intentional and her skillset will grow more complex in line with her Character Development.
  • Despair Event Horizon: Reached after her argument with Samuel.
  • Dude, Where's My Respect?: The reason she initially doesn't even try to reform Team Avalon is her feeling that she gave her all for her teammates without earning anything in return.
  • Not So Above It All: She's shown drunkenly dancing with Alice while Robert confesses to Leah, and even pulls Alice away from the couple to dance more.
  • Took a Level in Jerkass: Mildly, her snapping at her (male) opponents leads to the press controversy.

Charles Bannerman

Oracle Think Tank

The fourth member of Team Avalon, most notable for appearing later than the original three, who all debuted in the first chapter. Charles is eccentric, somewhat theatrical, and a bit of a dick. He is often mistrusted and snapped at by Agatha and Samuel. However, Charles has reached Nationals level and is a competent player.

Tropes:

  • Alternative Character Interpretation: His reasons for leading Robert into taking Morgan's bribe. Did he honestly want to help Robert get the money for his mother, or was he only in it out of his own greed?
  • The Corrupter: Leads Robert to taking bribes at Nationals.
  • Informed Ability: Several readers have noted that Charles' 'theatrics' are not that evident.
  • Jerkass: If someone needs to say something nasty to Robert, chances are it'll be Charles.
  • Rage Quit: After Robert decides not to betray his teammates, Charles walks out, noting that there's no place for him in Avalon anymore.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: He never hesitates to point out that he has been at Nationals as evidence for why he should play instead of Robert. Not that it ever usually works.
  • The Unfavorite: The author does not really like him. It shows.

     Card Shop Avalon 

Mr. Owens

Nova Grappler/Nubatama

The manager of Shop Avalon, Mr. Owens is a friendly Reasonable Authority Figure. As manager of the shop, he also serves as the team manager for Team Avalon, accompanying them to tournaments. He is insightful and encouraging, generally trying to get the team motivated and ready.

Tropes:

  • Reasonable Authority Figure
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Gives one to Samuel, pointing out that he put an enormous amount of pressure on Robert's shoulders even unintentionally, and that this might easily have led Robert into accepting Morgan's bribe.

Alice

Kagero

Robert's cousin, a friendly, but determined girl. Alice acts as a supporter to her cousin and is one of the few cast members to fully understand his family situation, which is his driving motivation. She uses a Kagero deck based around the synergy between her Flame Dragon Units and Flarewhip Dragon, which is her trump card.

In Midnight Sun, she is one of the members of Team Excalibur, and now uses a Seal Dragon deck based around locking her opponent's Intercepts with Seal Dragon, Blockade while replacing their rearguards with Grade 2s using Seal Dragons Terrycloth and Corduroy. She manages to defeat Benedict by using her ace's Crossride form: Hellfire Seal Dragon, Blockade Inferno.

Tropes:

Midnight Sun Tropes:

Richard

Tachikaze

Agatha's former teammate and the third member of the original Team Avalon. Not so blinded by devotion to Gabriel, he picked up on the leader's changes more than Agatha did. In the present day he remains in the shop as Agatha's friend, trying to get her to move on from Gabriel. Richard runs a Tachikaze deck based around retiring his Rearguards and regaining advantage from it with skills like those of Dragon Egg and Pterodactyl Skyptera.

In Midnight Sun, he now uses the Ancient Dragon subclan and is a member of Team Excalibur.

Tropes:

  • Awesomeness by Analysis: In the one fight where he really gets focus, he explains that this is how he fights. Since he knows the cards so well, he's able to predict his opponent's moves before they're made and counter them in advance.
  • Chekhov's Skill: His knowledge of card effects, used largely to let him be a Miwa Expy, shows up in his fight with Paolo as the cornerstone of his style.
  • Combat Commentator: He often fulfills the Miwa role of explaining plays and cards.
  • The Lancer: To Gabriel in the original Team Avalon.
  • Out of Focus: He's often left rather generic and doesn't receive the same sort of depth that Alice and Leah do.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Though he doesn't regard it as seriously as Samuel does.

Leah Wilson

Oracle Think Tank/Genesis

Samuel's sister, who acts as a supporter for the whole of Team Avalon. Friendly and kind, she has also picked up Vanguard, using a powerful Tsukuyomi deck. Prior to Nationals, she gives Robert the Enigman Nebula card after helping him to test his deck's modifications.

In Midnight Sun, she now uses a Genesis deck based around the Artemis Ride Chain. She becomes the leader of Team Excalibur, and aims to bring the members of Team Avalon back together, a goal which she achieves. At Nationals, she fights Melanie and is the first victim of Ghast Blaster Dragon, being knocked into unconsciousness by Melanie's Psyqualia. After she recovers, she and Robert confess their feelings for each other.

By Setting Sun, she is still dating Robert.

Tropes:

Midnight Sun Tropes

Oliver

Shadow Paladins

A Shadow Paladin player at Shop Avalon, Oliver possesses a different outlook of the Clan than Samuel, refusing to use their sacrifice-oriented cards like Phantom Blaster Dragon. As such, his deck initially focuses around Dark Metal Dragon as an ace, exploiting its ability to make an easy 21000 Power lane.

By Midnight Sun, Oliver becomes a much more important character, as he is a member of Team Excalibur. Changing his deck to focus around The Dark Dictator, he serves as the team's alternate.

In Setting Sun, he is a second year student at the university that Seth, Sophia and Tahir attend and a proud member of its Cardfight Club. He fights Tahir, confirming that he is still using his Shadow Paladin deck.

Tropes:

  • Dark Is Not Evil: Focuses heavily on this, since his deck emphasises the outcast nature of Shadow Paladins.
  • Epic Hail: One of his deck's focuses, particularly with Darkness Maiden, Macha and Illusionary Revenger, Mordred Phantom.
  • Loners Are Freaks: Hinted at, since he says his reason for using Shadow Paladins the way he does is because he identified with them as an outcast.
  • The Power of Friendship: Since he refuses to use his Clan's sacrifice skills, his deck plays heavily like a Royal Paladin deck. His Midnight Sun deck focuses around combining The Dark Dictator's on-ride skill with Mordred Phantom's Break Ride to this effect.
  • Wham Line: "I Superior Call... Blaster Dark... Spirit!"

Setting Sun Tropes:

  • The Mentor: He's introduced as one, being one of the students who volunteered to help newcomers move in and introducing Sophia, Seth and Tahir to the Cardfight Club. In Chapter 5, he asks Tahir why he fights and why he uses Tachikaze, suggesting that the answers may be important some day.
  • Iconic Item: Played with. Blaster Dark is Samuel's avatar, but Oliver uses the Blaster Dark Spirit card because Samuel gave it back to him and as a reminder of their friendship.

     Team Raging War 

Gabriel Smith

Kagero

The leader of Raging War and the former top player at shop Avalon. Gabriel is the object of Agatha's admiration, and he never truly fails to demonstrate just why that is. After the former Team Avalon's loss six months before the main story, Gabriel left under unknown circumstances, leaving no way for his former friends to contact him. He then resurfaced in the present at the Regionals, leading a new team - Raging War.

At Nationals, Gabriel's team storms right through into the finals and it is revealed that Gabriel became the way he is because he is trying to catch up to Elizabeth Penrose, Mia's sister. He also revamps his deck heavily, putting aside Blazing Flare Dragon in favor of Dragonic Overlord The End. However, despite dominating the fight, he is ultimately defeated by her Phantom Beast - Black Chimaera.

In Midnight Sun, he reappears to snap Agatha out of her Despair Event Horizon, pointing out that she never gave up before and ultimately defeating her by combining Dauntless Drive Dragon with Dragonic Overlord the End.

Tropes:

Midnight Sun Tropes:

Joel Guerra

Phoenix Colosseum

The second-in-command of Raging War, Joel is Italian by birth, and serves as a truly scary opponent prospect. He stands as a player almost as skilled as Gabriel, using a very nasty Phoenix Colosseum deck to overwhelm his opponents. Joel's purpose for fighting is to help his family, specifically his brother, who it is implied is ill and requires surgery.

At Nationals, Joel and Gabriel serve as Raging War's aces, and effortlessly walk through most of the opposition. However, during Raging War versus Avalon, Joel fights Samuel and although he very nearly wins, a last moment Heal Trigger reverses the fight and he is defeated. After Raging War's loss, he breaks down and yells at Gabriel for being so arrogant, before he and Anna choose to leave. However, he ultimately gets what he needs to help his brother, as Gabriel gives him a sponsorship deal and Team Avalon offer to share their own winnings with him.

In Midnight Sun, with his brother healed, he forms a new team with him and Anna: Shining Phoenix.

Tropes:

  • Anti-Villain: Yes, he's on Gabriel's team. He's also very sympathetic, with a goal which is very understandable.
  • Ensemble Dark Horse: In-Universe. Joel and by extension Raging War lost in the quarter-finals of nationals during Blue Hour, but his fight with Samuel had the audience cheering him on, and a certain CEO, impressed by their skills and moved by Joel's story, offered to sponsor him anyway.
  • Evil Counterpart: To Robert. Both are fighting to help their respective families by getting the prize money and sponsorship deals from winning Nationals.
  • Heroic Blue Screen of Death: After Raging War's elimination from Nationals, he breaks down in tears because his chance to help his brother has vanished.
  • Iconic Item: His Arena Master Phoenix Feather card is regarded In-Universe as his trump card.
  • Kill It with Fire: Phoenix Feather.
  • "The Reason You Suck" Speech: He delivers one to Robert before he wins against him.
  • Shoot The Grade 1 First: The major gimmick of his Phoenix Colosseum deck is using his attacks to retire his opponent's Grade 1 or lower Units for skills.
  • Wake-Up Call Boss: He blocks one of Robert's most powerful combos with ease, even commenting in essence that Robert needs to wise up and get better if he wants to reach Nationals.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: He gives a furious speech to Gabriel after Raging War's elimination, criticizing him for his pride and refusal to accept a bribe in order to help Paolo.

Midnight Sun Tropes:

  • Graceful Loser: Despite his flirting with Leah, he shows nothing but happiness for her when she gets with Robert.
  • The Rival: To Leah.
  • Ship Tease: He pretty clearly flirts with Leah.

Anna Brown

Oracle Think Tank

A skilful Oracle Think Tank player, Anna is actually the alternate for Team Raging War, and only fights at Regionals because their third fighter has another appointment at the time. Although Anna is more than a match for most fighters, she is thrown against Samuel in Raging War's fight with Avalon. She is extremely bitter about this and fights with determination to prove her worth, only to be defeated at the last. Anna runs a Soulless Oracle Think Tank build. Devoid of the support from Set 7, as this was not revealed at the time of writing, Anna uses cards such as White Rose Warden and Gallant Daughter to empty her Soul, allowing her to use Scarlet Witch, Koko's on-Ride skill to draw two cards. This in turn powers up Battle Sister Frappu and Sword Dancer Angel, allowing Anna to rush her opponent with a brutal flurry of attacks while maintaining a large hand size for guarding and reinforcing her field.

Tropes:

  • Attack! Attack! Attack!: With a Clan more known for its defensive properties. She makes it work in quite an interesting fashion, however.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: Anna's use of Dark Cat to draw also helped bolster Samuel's hand size. It's entirely possible that had she not used Dark Cat (reducing Samuel's hand by two cards by her Final Turn), she might have broken through his defenses and won.
  • Lady Looks Like a Dude: By virtue of loose clothing, short hair and relative lack of womanly assets. To be fair, she's 16. Ironically, most of the Units in her deck are obviously female.
  • The Resenter: She does not take being 'thrown under a bus' by being forced against Samuel well.
    • She mentions later that she feels immensely torn between her bitterness at Gabriel and her desire to help Joel.
  • Playing Against Type: Oracle Think Tank are... not known for being an aggressive deck. Several reviewers even commented it seemed strange for someone using Anna's rush-beatdown tactics to be using that Clan.
  • Power of the Void: Her deck's aim is to empty her Soul to make use of Scarlet Witch, Koko's skills.
  • Tomboy: Anna herself comes across pretty strongly as this, not least due to her Lady Looks Like a Dude appearance. In a striking touch of irony, quite a few of her Units are Ladies of War, in particular White Rose Warden, Promise Daughter and Gallant Daughter.
  • Woman Scorned: Non-romantic example. She does not take kindly to being placed in a fight her teammates are sure she'll lose, all so they can have a better chance of securing their own victories.

Mia Penrose

Pale Moon

The last member of Raging War, Mia is Gabriel's truest friend. In truth the sister of Elizabeth Penrose, she stands by Gabriel the most of Raging War, although she is not able to attend Regionals due to an appointment. She rejoins the team at Nationals, pushing Anna out of the spotlight in the process. In her only shown fight, she near-effortlessly defeats Robert with her Pale Moon deck.

     Regionals Teams 

The various minor teams faced by Avalon at the Regionals.

Tropes:

  • Awesome, but Impractical: Team Tri-Disaster's whole theme is using the extremely Awesome, but Impractical Megablasts. Edward's isn't so bad since he can activate it the moment he has five free Counterblasts and eight Soul, but his teammates have to hit with their Megablast Units to actually use the Megablasts.
    • Dorian's Barking Dragon Tamer is perhaps the epitome of this. On Ride, it retires all Rearguards, both yours and your opponent's, to gain 1000 Power for each retired for that turn. He compensates with his Glider Units, admittedly, but it's still a massive loss to him to use Barking Dragon Tamer.
  • Big Creepy-Crawlies: Cynthia of Team United Spirit has her Machining Megacolony deck.
  • Incoming Ham: Charlie Andrews is introduced cosplaying Char, grandstanding and shouting his name at the top of his voice as dramatically as he possibly can.
  • Large Ham: Charlie Andrews.
  • The Power of Friendship: In terms of decks, Rachel's Hi-Beast Royal Paladin deck, which revolves around the synergy between Fang of Light, Garmall and her Snogals.
  • Shout-Out: Team Cosmo Nova is full of them to Gundam. Charlie cosplays Char, at least once uses the memetic phrase 'IT'S A GUNDAM', states 'I am Gundam' in his Ride Chant for Stern Blaukruger, and when attacking with Stern, says both 'eliminate the target' and on its second attack 'Hyper-Burst Mode'. Also his Blaukrugers are made to appear red in the holographic system.
    • It is not a coincidence that when Charlie trips during his dramatic introduction, his name cuts off four letters in to give us:
    Charlie: Char-
  • Theme Naming: Team Daemon Carnival's members are named after protagonists from famous British novels, Dorian, Victor and Oliver.

     Professional Teams 

Team Celestial Dusk

Royal Paladin/Shadow Paladin/Gold Paladin, Oracle Think Tank, Shadow Erosion

The winners of the previous UK Nationals, Celestial Dusk consists of Arthur Elliots, Elizabeth Penrose, and Henry Adamson, with Victoria as a backup fighter. Formidable opponents to practically anyone aiming to claim their champion title, Celestial Dusk are a major obstacle for Team Avalon to surpass, due to their immense skill and powerful decks.

In their battles against Team Avalon, it is revealed that Henry is Samuel's former teammate, who abandoned his friends and accepted a bribe from Team Eternal Nightfall. However, Arthur, noticing his potential, accepted him to train with Celestial Dusk. Henry proves his worth by defeating Samuel with Princeps of Banishment, Digi in the semi-finals, only for Elizabeth to fall to Agatha. Finally, in the final battle, Arthur and Robert face off, and despite the awesome power of his Majesty Lord Blaster, Arthur is ultimately defeated by a combination of Enigman Nebula and Commander Laurel.

In Midnight Sun, Henry reappears to snap Samuel out of his Heroic Blue Screen of Death. He gives him a Gold Paladin deck based around Spectral Duke Dragon, reminding him of why he chose to make sacrifices to begin with.

In Setting Sun, Celestial Dusk are the national champions again, having dethroned Avalon. Arthur fights Samuel in an exhibition match, showing off his new Liberator deck.

Tropes:

  • The Ace: All three of them.
  • Evil Former Friend: Henry is Samuel's former teammate.
  • Graceful Loser: Arthur, who takes his loss exceedingly well.
  • Lethal Joke Character: Elizabeth's Oracle Think Tank deck is based around Imperial Daughter, a card which has Restraint which can only be released by sending a Rearguard to Soul and a Counterblast, or by having no Rearguards. Normally this means her field would have to be empty to fully utilize Imperial Daughter's benefit for no Rearguards, namely +10000 Power and +1 Critical. However, her deck utilizes skills to remove her Rearguards from the field after attacking or boosting, letting her maintain this level of power with the Vanguard without sacrificing her Rearguard attacks. The deadliness of this strategy is proven in her fight with Gareth Lyons.
  • Ladyof War: Much of Elizabeth's deck is made of these.
  • Light Is Not Good: Elizabeth's Oracle Think Tank deck.
  • Lonely at the Top: Henry struggles with this, to the point his deck is based around emptiness.
  • Power of the Void: Henry's Shadow Erosion deck.
  • Theme Naming: They're named after monarchs of Britain, Arthur, Elizabeth, Henry and Victoria. Fits their noble status as Vanguard National Champions.
  • Yin-Yang Bomb: Their team name alludes to such.
    • Best shown by Arthur, who hybrids Royal Paladin and Shadow Paladin to use Majesty Lord Blaster.

Team Eternal Nightfall

Shadow Paladins, Dark Irregulars, Asylum

The runner-up team to Celestial Dusk, consisting of Morgan Kane, Alistair Bardon and Gerard Machen, three men in black coats with decks just as dark and edgy to match. Despite their second-place status, they're still fearsome, as they were at least able to contend with Celestial Dusk.

Morgan reappears in Fallen Sun as a minor character. It is revealed that he attempted to join Nick's gang out of anger at Luke, but was defeated and rejected. As such, he has a grudge against Nick, and ultimately he chooses to help Mary and Peter after the latter defeats him in a fight.

Tropes:

Team Bright Dawn

Royal Paladins, Angel Feather, Dimension Police

A recent arrival on the professional scene who have taken it by storm. Consisting of Luke Adams, Peter Harvey, Mary Prescott and John Andrews, Bright Dawn are fearsome despite their inexperience, easily climbing the ranks, with whispers that they might surpass even Eternal Nightfall and Celestial Dusk.

They are the main characters of Fallen Sun, and Word of God says they will reappear in Midnight Sun. Luke and Mary appear to remind Robert of his dedication to his friends, as well as revealing Melanie's Psyqualia to him.

Tropes:

  • The Ace: Luke
    • Broken Ace: Despite his incredible skill, fundamentally Luke is a broken boy hiding behind a cold shell, desperate to catch up and overcome Melanie, while seeking admiration from Mary he will never get. Summed up by Melanie:
    Melanie: But you haven't gotten strong enough. Deep down you're just that same scared boy. Your deck's changed and your appearance has changed, but deep down behind your eyes, you're still terrified.
  • Attack! Attack! Attack!: Mary's Dimension Police deck, in comparison to Robert's, focuses on Standing the Rearguards to get more attacks in a similar fashion to Nova Grapplers.
    • Exemplified by her Final Turn against Maria Rosewater, in which she managed to attack with her Vanguard Enigman Rain three times in one turn.
  • Awesome, but Impractical: Mary's use of Commander Laurel twice in one turn is this in real life due to the sheer luck needed to get two Stand Triggers in two consecutive Drive Checks.
  • Berserk Button: Just try and call Mary a pathetic hanger-on. Maria Rosewater tried it and ended up suffering an immensely brutal Final Turn.
  • Expy: A guy who Used to Be a Sweet Kid but is now a Jerkass who punishes losses with elimination from his team and believes Might Makes Right. Are we talking about Luke or Ren here?
  • Heroic Blue Screen of Death: After losing to Melanie, Luke retreated into his room and refused to come out for three days. But when he did...
  • Invocation: For Luke:
    Luke: Fall in awe before this holy light, shrink away from this righteous glory. Descend before me, o blessed dragon! I Ride... Soul Saver Dragon!
  • Jerkass: Luke.
  • Kick the Dog: Luke's speech to Robert about how the world doesn't care for anything but strength. And him beating a random kid for no reason other than to show him the same.
  • Theme Naming: The disciples, specifically.
  • Let's Get Dangerous!: It was going so well for Maria Rosewater right up until she pressed Mary's Berserk Button and prompted this:
    Final Turn!
  • Light 'em Up
  • Light Is Not Good: Luke uses Royal Paladins, but is a major league Jerkass with a firm belief in Might Makes Right who practically abuses his teammates, one of whom is his childhood friend.
    • Light Is Good: Mary, who is the nicest member of the team and just desperately wants the old Luke back.
  • Meaningful Name: Luke is derived from the Latin for 'light'. Luke is the leader of Bright Dawn.
  • Might Makes Right: One of Luke's beliefs.
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Luke in the final battle of Blue Hour.
  • The Power of Friendship: Just like Robert's deck in this regard, Mary's deck is about giving power to the Vanguard to activate its skills. The difference is that her Vanguard then tends to return the favor by giving those Rearguards the ability to attack again.
    • Also, Luke's Royal Paladin deck, which revolves around empowering his Rearguards in various ways. Though he has multiple decks, each has its own play on the concept, with the two shown being Star Solstice Dragon's Persona Blast, Crystal Erosion, and Soul Saver Dragon's Holy Charging Roar.
  • The Quiet One: Peter
  • Shrinking Violet: Younger!Mary.
  • The Social Darwinist: Luke.
  • "Stop Having Fun" Guys: Luke goes straight for this by handily curbstomping some kid to teach him that the world is cruel. Ironically in the past he enjoyed Vanguard more than anything.
  • Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Luke, before his defeat at Melanie's hands.

Fallen Sun Tropes:

  • The Big Damn Kiss: Luke and Mary.
  • Despair Event Horizon: Luke
  • He's Back!: Nothing sums this up more than Luke Superior Riding Soul Saver Dragon and proceeding to utterly demolish Nick.
  • Iconic Item: Luke's Cosmo Dragons. A major plot point is him locking them away because he feels he isn't worthy to use them.
    • Then he takes back Soul Saver Dragon as the culmination of his development in order to defeat Nick.
  • Invocation: Luke's one for Soul Saver Dragon changes to one which emphasises his development since Blue Hour.
    Dragon given strength by dreams and hope, descend now to stand with friendship and love! Bring the light of hope to relieve those full of despair! I Ride Soul Saver Dragon!
  • It's All My Fault: Luke blames himself for causing Nick and his gang to want revenge.
  • "No More Holding Back" Speech: Luke delivers a truly epic one to Nick before his winning turn.
  • Official Couple: Luke and Mary become this at the end.
  • The Power of Friendship: What brings Luke back to his old self, and reaffirmed in epic fashion by his use of Soul Saver Dragon to defeat Nick.
  • You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Mary and Peter spend the story trying to get this message through to Luke. In the end, they succeed.

Midnight Sun Tropes:

  • Heroic Self-Deprecation: Luke continually downplays his fight with Nick and insists that Robert is the true hero of them both, since Robert fought to help hundreds of thousands of people he didn't even know.
  • You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Luke's fight with Robert is his attempt to convince Robert that he is a truly good person.

     Nationals Teams 
The minor teams who appear at the Nationals.

Blue Hour Teams

  • Attack! Attack! Attack!: Keegan of Four-Leaf Clover says and does it best:
    Ultimate Hell Stand!
  • Expy: Team Four-Leaf Clover is one for Team Q4. More specifically, Alex is an Aichi expy, Keegan is one of Kamui, Madison copies Misaki and Kyle is based on Kai. Right down to running the same Clans.
  • Horsemen of the Apocalypse: Christine of Team Melody uses an Armageddon deck, with Units based on the Horsemen as her Grade 3s.
  • Light Is Good: Alex of Four-Leaf Clover uses Royal Paladins.
  • Mythology Gag: Four-Leaf Clover.
  • Theme Naming: Team Melody have names relating to bands of the type of music their decks represent, Howard Orange gets his name from Howard Donald and Jason Orange of Take That, Adam Jameson is named after Adam Young, and Christine Drover's surname is from Shawn Drover of Megadeth.
  • The Power of Friendship: As with all Royal Paladin decks, Alex's runs on this.
    • On the Team Melody side, Christine depends on gathering her Riders in the Soul to empower Main Vocals, Rider Death.

Midnight Sun Teams

  • Shout-Out: Ian of Team Final Brave re-enacts Koutei's famous Great Daiyusha Final Turn in its entirety and throws in an Mobile Fighter G Gundam reference for good measure.

     Other 

Melanie Blake

Shadow Paladins

Now... fall at my feet in despair and know your place!

A mysterious girl who appeared before Luke in the past and defeated him with her Shadow Paladin deck. She was the one who drove him into his current state, inspiring his Might Makes Right mentality with her speech upon beating him. Her mannerisms and actions are very reminiscent of those with Psyqualia.

During the tag fight of Robert and Samuel against Morgan and Alistair, she appears to Agatha and Richard, using her Psyqualia to send them to Cray. Later, when Luke confronts her, she demonstrates her power once more by sending him to Cray and surrounding him with Shadow Paladins, proclaiming that he will never be able to match her.

She returns as The Ace of Team Midnight Sun in Midnight Sun, using a changed Shadow Paladin deck incorporating the Revenger cards but still focusing on Phantom Blaster Dragon. In her first game, she effortlessly defeats Samuel due to her more advanced deck and her Psyqualia. She later changes her deck, abandoning the Revenger cards in order to focus on an evolved form of Phantom Blaster: Ghast Blaster Dragon.

Tropes:

  • Dark Is Evil
  • Invocation:
    Melanie: Vanish beneath the shadow of damnation... fall in despair before this absolute terror! Descend now, o cursed dragon! I Ride... Phantom Blaster Dragon!
  • Jerkass
  • Might Makes Right:
    Melanie: The powerless are nothing but insignificant little insects, to be ruled by the strong and crushed when no longer needed. But the powerful can dominate everyone, and demand the respect and fear of others.
  • Mind Rape: Implied to have done this to Luke when she beat him.
  • Psychic Powers: It is implied quite strongly that she has Psyqualia.
    • Confirmed by Ride 46, where she uses her power to send Agatha and Richard to Cray.
  • Slasher Smile: She is described as 'smiling eerily'.
  • You Can't Fight Fate: Describes her win against Luke as a 'foregone conclusion'.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Does so with far more glee than Samuel:
    Melanie: Now... you worthless pawns... give your lives to the cursed dragon!

Midnight Sun Tropes:

Joan Blake

Royal Paladins

Melanie's older sister. In Blue Hour, she is seen taking care of Melanie, attempting to protect her from the negative effects of her Psyqualia. In Midnight Sun, she is the alternate for Team Midnight Sun due to being unwilling to leave her sister's side, and in general acts to protect her sister from the outside world and to protect the outside world from her Psyqualia. She uses a 'Jewel Knight' Royal Paladin based around the titular Archetype, and in particular her avatar card, Leading Jewel Knight, Salome.

Tropes:

  • Berserk Button: Harming Melanie. As one girl found out in the past, doing so is a good way to get Joan to punch you in the face.
  • Beware the Nice Ones: Joan is normally kind, gentle and sweet, but if you dare to threaten her sister, she will crush you.
  • Big Sister Instinct
  • Broken Ace: Hinted at. She's incredibly skilled with her deck and even by Melanie's admission is beautiful, but she's The Un-Favourite to her parents, without even mentioning Melanie's corruption by Psyqualia.
  • Cloudcuckoolander's Minder: A pretty serious example due to Melanie's Psychic Powers.
  • Cool Big Sis
  • Declaration of Protection: Gives an awesome one about Melanie to Marcus Shepard:
    Ever since I was just a little girl, I've been there as my sister's shield. And even now, when she doesn't need my protection, I'll stand here and defend the sister I treasure so much. You won't break me. You won't get to Melanie through me. I'm her knight, her defender. I've protected her from bullies since we were both kids. Do you think one more bully will shake me enough for me to stop protecting her from people like you?
  • Knight In Shining Armour: Her deck, and she describes herself as this for Melanie.
  • Lady and Knight: Knight to Melanie's Lady.
  • Meaningful Name
  • My Sister Is Off-Limits: Done to Noel and taken to a ridiculous extreme. With good reason.
  • Only Sane Man
  • Protectorate: Hers is Melanie.
  • Sibling Yin-Yang: With Melanie, right down to their appearances. Melanie is pale and dark-haired, Joan is tanned and has brown hair. Melanie dresses in black and purple, Joan wears white. And while Joan uses Royal Paladins, Melanie uses Shadow Paladins.
  • Stepford Smiler: In the past at least.
  • Undying Loyalty: Her Fatal Flaw. Despite all that Melanie has done, Joan can't bring herself to abandon her sister.
  • The Un-Favourite: To Mr. Blake. AND Mrs. Blake too.

     Introduced in Fallen Sun 

Nick

Dark Irregulars

Tropes:

Wes

Kagero

Tropes:

Sabrina

Pale Moon

Tropes:

  • The Atoner: Comes across as this when she lets herself be arrested, as she suggests she wants to face punishment for what she helped Nick to do.
  • Broken Bird: Her backstory involves her being beaten by Luke, causing all her friends to see her as a loser.
  • Casting a Shadow
  • Dark Is Evil
    • Dark Is Not Evil: In the end, Nick's brutal methods are too much for her and she changes sides.
  • The Dragon: Co-dragons with Wes to Nick.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: She and Wes turn on Nick after he starts going too far.

     Introduced in Midnight Sun 

Benedict Deacon

Aqua Force

Suffer and in suffering, learn what justice truly is!

The Knight Templar of Team Midnight Sun. While at first Benedict seems ordinary enough, and a pretty decent guy, in his fights he reveals a colder, more aggressive persona who believes that justice is in utterly destroying evil. There are hints that he has a dark past which led him to this belief. He uses an Aqua Force deck, with his current ace being the field-obliterating Hydro Hurricane Dragon. His deck's aim is to use the Storm Rider units to allow him to make four attacks in one turn, unlocking Hydro Hurricane's powerful Limit Break.

By the time of Setting Sun, he and Noel are in the tag team leagues together.

Tropes:

Noel Reid

Great Nature

You know, there's a method to my madness.

The last player on Team Midnight Sun. He is the extrovert to clash with the three introverts on his team, being excitable and joyful much of the time. Despite his odd habit of talking to his cards, he is actually a highly skilled fighter, and he is also perhaps the kindest of the team despite his failure at being a Friend to All Living Things. He runs a Great Nature deck based around powering up his Rear-guards at the cost of retiring them in the End Phase, and capitalizing on their sacrifice by using skills to get back card advantage.

By the time of Setting Sun, he and Benedict are the tag team leagues together.

Tropes:

Gareth Lyons

Gold Paladins

A professional fighter and the leader of Team Darkmetal. He strongly supported Team Avalon's agenda, but when Samuel loses to Melanie he is disillusioned by the thought that his idol has become a hypocrite. To try and find the truth, he fights Samuel and, unconvinced by Samuel's inability to reveal the truth, takes his silence as a sign of his guilt and crushes him with his ace, Conviction Dragon, Chromejailer Dragon.

Tropes:

  • Knight Templar: As soon as he thinks that Samuel has become the thing he denounced, he absolutely crushes him.
  • We Have Reserves: His deck's theme is using the Gold Paladin Clan's cheap advantage to fuel Chromejailer Dragon's Limit Break.

Leonard Jameson

Gold Paladins

The US champion and Noel's friend. He became the US champion in a stunning and unexpected winning streak through the Nationals there, and returns to the UK. Leonard uses a Gold Paladin deck focused around his trump card, Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel.

Tropes:

Cyrus Avitus

?

A new member of Maximillian's circle of the wealthy and influential, Cyrus is young and different to the others. Despite his association with the system controlling the world of competitive Vanguard, he's hinted to have his own distinct agenda.

Tropes:

     Introduced in Setting Sun 

Seth Abbott

Neo Nectar

The new protagonist, Seth is a shy young man who is nervous of crowds and lacks self-confidence. He and Sophia have been friends for several years, and even became a couple at one point, only to break up when Sophia realised they were better as friends. Though he tries not to show it, it's clear that Seth was affected by this, at once upset by it and at the same time desperate not to lose Sophia's friendship. His subject of study hasn't been revealed.

Seth uses a Neo Nectar deck focused around the Arboros Dragon ride chain and superior calling copies of his rear-guards from the deck to power them up with Arboros Dragon, Sephirot's Limit Break.

Tropes:

  • Because I'm Good At It: Seemingly Seth's reason for playing Vanguard at all- he considers it the only thing he's actually any good at.
  • Classical Anti-Hero: To Sophia's Ideal Hero. Seth is crippled by social anxiety and self-doubt, has little to no confidence in himself, and is incredibly awkward while she is confident.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Parental Abandonment, Parental Neglect, was bullied viciously by his classmates and didn't have any real friends until he was thirteen.
  • Expy: He's got a lot of Aichi's early character in him, in particular shyness and lack of confidence.
  • Foil: To Sophia. She's outgoing, energetic and loves entertaining people, Seth is shy, quiet and is deeply anxious around crowds.
  • Friendless Background: It's implied that before he met Sophia, he didn't have any friends.
  • Green Thumb: He uses a Neo Nectar deck.
  • Heroic Self-Deprecation: Seth genuinely thinks he isn't that talented and that while Vanguard is the only thing he's any good at, he's still not that good at it despite evidence to the contrary (even putting Vanguard aside, he wouldn't be at university if he hadn't gotten good enough grades).
  • I Just Want to Have Friends: He desperately wants to just be around people and hang out with them, but is stopped by his own crippling social anxiety.
  • Nice Guy: Despite his shyness and anxiety, it's clear that Seth genuinely tries to be nice to people.
  • Parental Abandonment: Seth lives with his aunt and uncle and all he has of his parents are a photograph of them together from when he was young. It's revealed in Chapter 6 that his parents were killed in a car accident when he was young.
  • Parental Neglect: How his actual parents were is unclear, but his aunt and uncle who raised him, according to Sophia, treated Seth like a distraction from their planned lives at best.
  • Shrinking Violet: A quintessential male example, right down to the Genki Girl who tries to coax him out of his shell.
  • Socially Awkward Hero: Seth is good at Vanguard, better than he thinks, but he's clearly very nervous in social situations.

Sophia Ayers

Mourning Tide

Seth's oldest friend, Sophia is a happy, energetic girl who loves to play Vanguard. She enjoys entertaining people and probably aims to either become an author like her father or go into the Vanguard pro leagues, whichever comes first. While she cares a lot about Seth, she feels that they're better as friends and so broke off their relationship in the past. Now she tries her best to help Seth make friends in their new environment. She studies creative writing.

Sophia uses a Mourning Tide deck based around Sage King of the Tides, Poseidon. Mourning Tide is a Clan focused around Persona Blast abilities and so Sophia's strategy is to gather copies of Poseidon in her hand to use his skill, discarding copies of him to retire her opponent's rear-guards.

Tropes:

  • Better as Friends: With Seth in the backstory. Sophia ended their relationship for this reason, because she realised that her feelings for Seth aren't romantic and didn't want to lie.
  • Foil: She's a foil to both Seth and Tahir, being an extrovert to their introverted personalities, and having a happy and loving home life where Seth suffered Parental Abandonment and Parental Neglect and Tahir had to leave his family behind.
  • For Happiness: Sophia loves to see people being happy, which is why she aims to put on entertaining fights.
  • Genki Girl: Downplayed, but she's pretty energetic.
  • Ideal Hero: To Seth's Classical Anti-Hero, very deliberately. Sophia is kind, courageous, confident and very capable at Vanguard. About her only flaw is that she's so ideal that she cannot understand how Seth and Tahir truly feel.
  • The Idealist: Sophia is aware that the world can be cruel (thanks in part to Seth's Dark and Troubled Past), but believes that things will always turn out well in the end.
  • Making a Splash: Mourning Tide are a water-themed Clan.
  • Nice Girl: Being kind is so core to her character that her reply to being asked why she's helping someone is usually along the lines of 'because it's who I am'.
  • Shout-Out: Chapter 5 has her listening to Hyper Drive.

Tahir El-Amin

Tachikaze

A young man from Syria, Tahir was forced to leave his home due to the civil war engulfing that country. His uncle, who already lived in England, offered to take his family in, but Tahir was the only one able to escape when his family were cut off from him by an erupting battle. Now Tahir is safe in England, but worries about and prays for his family's safety, and longs for the war to end so he can find them. Sophia is the first person to reach out to him, leading to him becoming her friend and Seth's by extension. He studies history.

Tahir uses an Tachikaze deck based around the Ancient Dragon archetype. His strategy is to retire his rear-guards during the battle and return them to the field with skills in order to gain extra attacks, and he uses the Legion mechanic of his vanguards to recycle triggers and other key cards.

Tropes:

  • Alone in a Crowd: How Sophia meets him: everyone else around them is interacting and talking, and Tahir's sat off by himself looking at his deck.
  • Attack! Attack! Attack!: How Tahir plays in his fight with Sophia, going all-out with aggression from the start to quickly overwhelm her, resulting in a win on his third turn.
  • Broken Ace: Tahir can curbstomp Sophia, putting him at the top of the three protagonists in terms of power level, but the rest of his immediate family is still in Syria, he doesn't know if they're alive or not, and he's clearly isolated by his circumstances. And on top of that, it's hinted that something happened with him and his brother.
  • Brutal Honesty: As he tells Sophia, she can't possibly understand what his situation is like, though he tones it down by saying that he hopes she never does.
  • Blitz Evacuees: Tahir fits this trope better than War Refugees, as he was specifically sent to live with his uncle.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: Seeing his country engulfed in civil war and then losing the rest of his family as they made their way to safety is pretty dark and troubled.
  • Determinator: Tahir claims this is why he uses Tachikaze, because he admires their tenacity and will to survive.
  • Don't You Dare Pity Me!: Subverted. Tahir even explicitly notes that he's not arrogant enough to hate being pitied, it's just that the looks he gets from people who know his history make him feel worse than he would otherwise.
  • Foil: To Sophia, as an introvert to her extroverted personality, and also to Seth. Both of them have lost their parents and live with their aunt and uncle, but while Seth is full of self-doubt and suffers social anxiety in part due to his guardians' neglect, Tahir is self-confident and cared for by his guardians.
  • Meaningful Name: His name means something like 'virtuous, the truthful'. Tahir is very clearly a good man who doesn't shy from the truth of his situation.
  • The Stoic: It's possible that he's not usually, but with his situation it's not hard to see why he'd be more reserved.
  • Token Minority: He's the token Arabic character.
  • Token Religious Teammate: Downplayed. He's a practising follower of Islam, but it's not really mentioned outside of his internal monologue.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: It's how his deck works, but unlike Samuel, he has the caveat that the units he retires come back.

Julian and Kelsey

Kagero, Genesis

The two heads of the university Cardfight Club, Julian and Kelsey are formidable fighters, but their time at the university is almost over with them entering their final year when Seth, Sophia and Tahir enter. They have resolved to maintain their streak of being on the team the university sends to challenge its counterpart each term, having done so six times previously, with three more chances before they finish.

Julian uses a Kagero deck based around Blast Bulk Dragon and specifically combining it with Dragonic Gaias and Seal Dragon Sprite, Mulciber to achieve a Critical 3 attack the turn he rides it. Kelsey uses a Genesis deck based around the Witch Archetype and Soul Blasting in return for power, with several of her rear-guards able to Superior Call themselves upon being Soul Blasted, allowing Kelsey to make up to five attacks in one turn.

Tropes:

  • The Ace: They've made the uni's team six times in two years. That means reaching the top four in a tournament of everyone who wants to try for the team each time.
  • Crazy Enough to Work: As Sophia thinks, Julian's strategy is so insane that she couldn't have seen it coming (the fact that she didn't know about Blast Bulk Dragon's effect helps), but is brutally effective regardless.
  • Gretzky Has the Ball: You can't actually play Julian's deck the way he does because Lizard Soldier, Conroe is banned as a starter Vanguard (you can still play the combo itself, granted, but without Conroe it loses consistency).
  • Love at First Sight: According to Julian.
  • Mythology Gag: On the author's part. Julian and Kelsey were protagonists in a set of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5Ds fanfics he wrote, with these characters taking their names and relationship.
  • Official Couple: They've been a couple pretty much since they met, according to Julian.
  • Sequence Breaking: This is effectively what Julian relies on. Limit Break skills are balanced by you needing four damage to use them, usually ensuring they're late game-exclusive. But with Seal Dragon Sprite, Mulciber, Julian can consistently use Blast Bulk Dragon's Limit Break the turn he rides it, and even add Dragonic Gaias to the mix to get a Critical 3 attack.

Planet Cray

     Phoenix Colosseum 

A Clan made by fanfic author Desgarroth, and used with permission in the fic. Phoenix Colosseum are a Dragon Empire clan themed around Gladiator Games. Their gameplay gimmicks are the ability to manipulate Rearguard formations, and punishing the opponent by targeting the opposing Grade 1s, leaving attackers unboosted.

Arena Master Phoenix Feather

The flames of the end, become my blades! Kneel before their might! Hell Prominence!

Tropes:

Dragonic Final Gladiator

The time for dragons to reign will come again. Behold, ultimate final strike! Gladial Soul!

Tropes:

     Synthetica 

A Star Gate Clan based around synthpop Idol Singers. Though Synthetica is popular, its popularity does not match Nova Grapple matches, and their concerts often take second place to those as far as Star Gate's tourist management is concerned. However, Synthetica has attracted the protection of the Dimension Police due to their peaceful nature and agenda, and have something of a cult following across the six Nations. Synthetica's gimmick is resting your Rearguards as a cost for skills, and then using skills to Stand them again to either use the skills again or attack.

Clan-Wide Tropes:

  • Shout-Out: Their synthpop focus is heavily inspired by the music of Owl City, which Digidramon is a fan of.
    • To wit, the Clan's headline singer and Ride Chain boss is named Eve, an obvious counterpart reference to Adam Young, the I Am the Band for Owl City.
  • Theme Naming: Many of their Units are named after constellations.

Starburst Idol, Andromeda

Angel of inspiration, give light to the masses! Stand up, Starburst Symphony!

Tropes:

     Shadow Erosion 

A mysterious Clan from Dark Zone, its origins and nature have not been revealed. From what little is known, Shadow Erosion have a Soul Blast theme, with several of their Units balancing their powerful abilities by moving to the Soul. This in turn provides more fuel for the Soul Blasts. It is hinted that Shadow Erosion are in some way connected to the Shadow Paladins.

In Samuel's second fight with Henry, it is revealed that Phantom Blaster Dragon created Shadow Erosion as his own army. However, after Blaster Digi, the leader of Shadow Erosion, gained emotions and free will, he broke the Clan from Phantom Blaster's control and decided to forge a new destiny for himself and his allies.

Clan-wide Tropes:

Blaster Digi/Princeps of Banishment, Digi

This is the pale, lone sword that cuts the world. Sunder, Blaster Digi.
I shall never abandon my comrades! Even death will not separate us! Come forth, Army of the Void!

Tropes:

  • The Ace: Of the entire Shadow Erosion Clan.
  • Back from the Dead: Princeps of Banishment's Persona Blast.
  • BFS: As with all the Blaster swords, Digi's blade is one.
  • Black Knight: Though his armor's gray and his skill manifests as a burst of white energy.
  • Epic Hail: As Princeps of Banishment, he can call back his allies with his Persona Blast.
  • Expy: Of Blaster Blade and Blaster Dark.
  • A Father to His Men: After becoming Princeps of Banishment.
  • Just the First Citizen: Princeps of Banishment. Done as a direct allusion.
  • Lonely at the Top: Henry indicates that like himself, Digi is unable to get any enjoyment from his victories.
  • Named Weapons: His sword, the Blaster Digi, after which he is named.
  • Power of the Void
  • Screw Destiny: Princeps of Banishment's decision to carve a new fate out for the Clan, instead of blindly following Phantom Blaster's will.
  • The Stoic

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