Characters / Cardfight!! Vanguard Anime

Characters appearing in the anime (and related media) of Cardfight!! Vanguard.

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Main Characters

Team Q4

Aichi Sendou

Royal Paladins (Seasons 1-2 & 4, Movie) / Shadow Paladins (Season 1) / Gold Paladins (Seasons 2 & 3) / Link Joker (Season 4)

Click here to see Aichi in Season 3 onward^note 

Stand up, my avatar, Blaster Blade!
Step forth and destroy, my avatar! Cleave with your sword of darkness! I Ride Blaster Dark!
In a world of absolute zero, even the heart of a knight that burns with justice will freeze. A transient soul bound together with a world in which despair, darkness, and death hold sway! Stand up, my avatar! Blaster Joker!

A shy, nervous boy lacking in confidence, Aichi is the protagonist. When he was younger, Toshiki Kai gave him the rare card, Blaster Blade, which Aichi refers to as his 'avatar'. Through playing Vanguard and developing his skills, Aichi gains friends and becomes a more confident person, as well as unlocking the power of Psyqualia.

However, this power corrupts him, causing him to become cold and arrogant, and with Ren's coercion, Aichi abandons his trusted Royal Paladins in favour of a Shadow Paladin Deck. After a merciless winning streak he is finally saved from his insanity by Kai, who makes Aichi realise the folly of relying on the precognitive abilities of Psyqualia instead of his own inner strength and courage. Though Aichi switches back to his Royal Paladin deck, he cannot deny the part of himself that lusts after the Psyqualia power. He eventually accepts both desires- to use and reject Psyqualia- as equal parts of himself, manifesting in the Majesty Lord Blaster card.

In the second season, Aichi's Royal Paladins are sealed away due to Takuto Tatsunagi's Psyqualia and replaced by a Gold Paladin deck. For unknown reasons, Aichi is the only one aware of the alterations.

In Link Joker, Aichi is enrolled at Miyaji High School and forms a Cardfight Club alongside Kourin.

In "Legion Mate", Aichi is missing and nobody except Kai seems to remember him. When he finally reappears, he tells Kai and the others that he does not want them to chase after him, and that they should forget him. Turns out that after the fight with Void Agent Takuto, the void agent planted Link Joker's seed inside of him and is gradually growing stronger until it can take over him. In order to prevent another Link Joker invasion on earth, he willingly seal himself away and chose the Quartre Knights to protect him.

Voiced by: Tsubasa Yonaga (JP), James Beach (EN)

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• All-Loving Hero: In his own words, Aichi loves the world and his philosophy is that no-one who plays Vanguard could be bad.
• All of the Other Reindeer: The bullying he suffered was so extreme, he had no-one outside his family who showed any degree of care before Kai, and led to Shizuka transferring Aichi to another school in an effort to spare him such crushing torment. The reason itself isn't given, but it's very possible his appearance and stature played a factor.
• Badass Adorable
• Badass Longcoat: Legion Mate-hen.
• Bag of Spilling: Justified. At the start of Season 2, Aichi is shown to be running the same deck as at the end of Season 1 (at one point he Damage Checks Blaster Dark, implying he is still using Majesty Lord Blaster). However, Takuto uses his Psychic Powers to change reality so Aichi has a Gold Paladin deck instead.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Belittling Kai's strength or making him feel powerless are the only ways to really anger him, which activates his Psyqualia.
• Break the Cutie: On several occasions, though none hit him as hard as Kai leaving Q4, resulting in him losing all direction and falling for Ren's games by picking up the Shadow Paladins.
• Calling Your Attacks: Does this sometimes when attacking with King of Knights, Alfred.
  Great Sword attack!
• Catchphrase: Has a few prominent and often used ones.
  Stand up, my avatar! Ride! Blaster Blade!
  Come forth, master of all warriors! Ride! King of Knights, Alfred!
  Give me strength, white wings filled with pride! Ride! Knight of Solitude, Gancelot!
  (My victory/Your defeat) is a foregone conclusion.
• Classical Anti-Hero: Started off as an timid and doubtful person who desired to become a stronger cardfighter. As his Character Development kicks in, he eventually grows out of this and become a proper All-Loving Hero.
• Curtains Match the Window
• Dark Is Evil: Episode 43 features Aichi taking up a Shadow Paladin deck and proceeding to prove this.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Episode 64 shows that darkness isn't always necessarily evil with a single moment.
  • His Legion Mate attire is a mixture of white and black, with the most prominent item his dark longcoat, but Aichi himself isn't evil whilst donning it, nor is he trying to get across that he is, even in his bind.
  Aichi: Light isn't the only thing standing beside him. Darkness also stands with the King of Knights. Stand, my avatar! I call... Blaster Dark!
  • Though it doesn't seem to be by choice, Aichi's outfit change from white to black between Link Joker-hen and Legion Mate is rather fitting, given he's the antagonist for the latter.
• Deadpan Snarker: Gets a nicely snarky line in Episode 41.
  If you have time for idle chatter, please use it to proceed with the game.
• Demonic Possession: By Void in Legion Mate-hen.
• Despair Event Horizon: Legion Mate. Gaillard touched upon how heartbreaking it was for Aichi to seal himself away, but it's highly unlikely Aichi would let anyone know the full depth of his anguish lest it lead to hesitation in going forward when it really mattered. He did look incredibly depressed in the flashback at Card Capital, watching his friends while knowing what was inside of him and no doubt it was going to take a massive toll on his emotional state.
• Disappeared Dad: His dad is noted as working overseas. By G, Aichi's studying at Yale has him there with him.
• Disc-One Final Boss: A lot of people mistook Episode 50 for the end of the season because of this. This also applies to his role in Legion Mate, since Ibuki holds the Final Boss spot in the movie.
• Drunk on the Dark Side / Drunk with Power: Under the influence of Psyqualia. It's highlighted in episode 43, and even lampshaded by Ren at the end of the episode.
• Dude Looks Like a Lady: His season two and three outfit changes don't help.
• Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: Has them on a few occasions in the manga, such as when Kai tells him to leave his Royal Paladin deck rather than risk his using Psyqualia any more. The hollow look is used for other purposes, including being exhausted, (especially after his fight with Tetsu) and using Psyqualia. And briefly in Episode 47.
  • Mind-Control Eyes: During his fights with Ren and Kai, while he's using Psyqualia (possibility not even by choice considering who the latter is), his eyes resemble◊ these more.◊
  • Episode 103 has his eyes go dim when Void begins to poison him, possibly aiming to take control of him. He begins hallucinating and it's noticed by those watching from Earth.
    • After waking up in Legion Mate, he's got them whilst under Void's control◊.
    • In the manga, Aichi fights Naoki, who's been recruited by Takuto's army, only to lose and become a Psyqualia zombie himself, with a seal on his forehead and some rather unsettling faces to go with the eyes.
• Expository Hairstyle Change: as of Link Joker.
• Evil Laugh: At the peak of his insanity, he gives one when he thinks he's on the verge of beating Kai in Episode 50. And an even more unsettling one when he sinks under Psyqualia's influence again in Episode 64 during his fight with Ren, it takes Kai yelling out his name for him to stop and begin fighting back.
• Face–Heel Turn: In Episode 43, Aichi abandons his Royal Paladin deck and switches to using a Shadow Paladin deck that Ren gives to him.
• Heel Realization: After being corrupted by Ren into using Psyqualia's for all his battles and abandoning his Royal Paladins for the Shadow Paladins, Kai is able to bring him back to his senses in Episode 50 by reminding him of how he was getting stronger on his own without Psyqualia and that this isn't how he pictured his battle with Kai.
• Failure Hero: For a card game anime protagonist, he loses a lot.
  • Tragically driven home when Aichi asks Kai whether he's gotten stronger, serving as a catalyst for his Face–Heel Turn.
    Kai: No, Sendou Aichi, you've gotten weaker.
• Final Boss: He acts as the final antagonist of Legion Mate.
• Fish out of Water: When Takuto replaces his Royal Paladins with Gold Paladins, Aichi finds it hard to adapt.
• Gameplay and Story Segregation: Apparently he hasn't gotten the memo about Barcgal's ban as a starting Vanguard in real life.
  • Finally averted in Episode 55 where he changes to Wingal Brave as his starting Vanguard.
• Good Is Not Nice: During Episode 41, due to Psyqualia corruption, Aichi is becoming quite the cold jerk to Kyou and even puts down Misaki and Kamui when they put so much effort through the National Tournament preliminary round the second time.
• Heroic BSoD: After losing to Tetsu and having Ren rub his loss in his face.
  • The beginning of Episode 51 suggests he has another, briefer spell, after being rescued from Psyqualia, but the guilt of abandoning his Royal Paladins weighing heavily on him.
• He's Back!: His Ride of Blaster Blade in Episode 55 just screams this. It involves him using a combo not seen in some time, a bolt of lightning striking which blacks out half the Dimension Police city, and then the lights flickering back on to reveal Blaster Blade in his full glory. There are even comments to this effect made by the supporting cast.
• Hidden Depths: He starts off as the average shy, nice kid, and mostly follows that pattern for most of the season. As he admits in the final Fight of season 1, he became addicted to Psyqualia that quickly because he enjoys the feeling of being superior to everyone else. And his obsession with being acknowledged by Kai is not healthy.
• Hidden Eyes: Aichi's quite fond of these, having them frequently when depressed or using Psyqualia.
• I Just Want to Be Badass: He just wants to become good enough for Kai to acknowledge him. In typical fashion, the trope gets very nastily deconstructed. And even after he snaps out of his addiction, a part of him still wants to accept Psyqualia.

  • So much so that he's willing to risk a Heroic Sacrifice by fighting Kourin and then Takuto, intending to fight Kai afterwards, despite being told fighting puts his very life at stake and he's frequently collapsing or reduced to crumpling while struggling through these fighters.
  • The latter might even be the reason for his condition in Legion Mate, with Void still festering inside of him, forcing his plan to put himself in lockdown to stop a rampage.

• Image Song: "Yuuki no Image"^note "Image of Courage", "Egao no Mirai", "Yakusoku no Crossroad", and "Mirai Stage".
• Invocation: Many. Aichi has the most uses of this trope among the cast, since he pretty much gets a new one every time he gets a new big Unit (Gancelot, Alfred, Soul Saver Dragon, Blaster Dark, Phantom Blaster Dragon). Of course, his most famous is:
  Stand up, my avatar, Blaster Blade!
• Kick the Dog: While under the influence of Psyqualia, if Aichi said the words 'picture it', this would invariably follow. He got a speech laden with this to Kourin in Episode 43 too.
  Aichi: Despair to the powerless, and all glory to those with the power.
• Light 'em Up: His Units have a major light theme going on, probably in contrast to Ren's dark-themed Units.
  • Is subverted in Episode 43.
• Lonely Rich Kid: He doesn't look it, but the Sendous are well off enough for Emi to attend a private school, as well as Aichi himself in Season 3.
• Madness Mantra: When he realizes that Kai might be watching his fight in Episode 48.
  Aichi: I have to become even stronger, or you won't give me recognition. I have to get stronger. I have to get stronger. I have to get stronger. More. More. I'm going to get stronger!
• Meaningful Name: One possible meaning of the kanji for 'Sendou' is 'Vanguard'.
• Mind Rape: Not as bad as Kai's, but Aichi does suffer ones from both Ren in Season 1 and Takuto towards the end of Season 3.
• Nice Guy: A very friendly and gentle kid who enjoys playing Vanguard for fun.
• Not a Morning Person: He can't get up without Emi to wake him up, and even then he looks rather dazed for a while afterwards.
• True Companions: Views the Royal Paladins as this. Keeps the Shadow Paladins after Ren refuses to take them back for this reason, as they were also comrades who fought alongside him.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Episode 41.
• Out-of-Clothes Experience: Although when someone is imagined in their Vanguard in the manga, they are done so without clothes, Aichi actually manifests in some form through Soul Saver Dragon during his fight with Ren via Psyqualia like this.
• Post-Victory Collapse: On at least three separate occasions; at the Regional Tournaments after winning against a member of Team Fragrance, then again after his match with Kyou and at the Nationals, not only does he collapse, but completely passes out after winning against Gunji though it's all due to the side-effects of Psyqualia. In the manga, he also does this after winning against Ren.
  • It also occurs in the Asia-Hen finale after winning against Leon and the Gold Paladins break the seal imprisoning the trapped clans then drive away Void, having to be caught by Leon.
  • And in Link Joker-Hen, after winning against and unReversing Kourin, as well as defeating Disc-One Final Boss Takuto.
  • After Void beat Neve while in control of his body, fighting to regain control of himself immediately afterwards had the same effect.
• Psychic Powers: His Psyqualia, which gives him precognition of game-winning cards and an evil persona.
  • As of the last episode of season 1, he's lost his Psyqualia.
  • Guess who got it back.◊
• Put on a Bus: Season 4 is centered around Aichi's disappearance so he won't appear for a while
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: In the manga, coloured artwork of Aichi both using Psyqualia and since falling under Takuto's control have him with red eyes.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: With Ren, and with Kai. Also blue to Naoki's red.
  • Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: His fight gloves are blue.
• Sanity Slippage: By the time he gets Psyqualia, he's clearly going through this. Even while under its influence, he jumps about. Contrast his fights with Kourin and Ryudou against those with Kyou, Bidou, and especially, against Kai. And there's that Evil Laugh in his fight with Ren...
• Sealed Evil in a Can / Sealed Inside a Person-Shaped Can: The Quatre Knights have him sealed in the throne room, because of the seed of Link Joker that's inside him.
• Shrinking Violet: Male version.
• Shirtless Scene: Averted for the beach episodes, played straight in the movie.
• Shy Blue Haired Boy
• Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: By Legion Mate, he informs Kai that while having friends and supporting each others is a good thing, there are some things that can't be achieved simply through The Power of Friendship. Kai saves him anyway.
• That Man Is Dead: He dismisses Blaster Blade as merely a 'former avatar' when Kai confronts him with it in Episode 49.
• The Power of Friendship: Aichi's style of play, especially when King of Knights, Alfred or Soul Saver Dragon is on the field, reflecting the Royal Paladins' emphasis on friends and allies working together.
  • Is later subverted by Aichi personally in Episode 43.
• Took a Level in Badass: Aichi's confidence and skill growth across the series builds up to this. It finally happens in Episode 41, but with a side-order of Drunk with Power. Though it's instantly subverted when Kai and Ren demonstrate in quick succession that it was Aichi's Psyqualia, not Aichi himself, that was growing stronger.
  • Beginning with standing up to Ren in episode 53, and thoroughly confirmed in his successive victories against Koutei in episode 56 and Ren in episode 65, Aichi now plays this trope completely straight as during Season 2 he finally has more wins than defeats compared to his barely break even record in Season 1.
  • Comparing Aichi to where the began in Season 1, his parallel position in High School and how he handles it speaks volumes about his growth. Rather than shrinking into the background, he takes the bull by the horns and even in effect, challenges the Student Council's disapproval of the Cardfight Club to spark a revolution in the student body's way of thinking towards Vanguard.
• Temporarily a Villain: TWICE!
• Trapped in Another World: In Legion Mate-hen, where he's disappeared from Earth.
• Unknown Rival: Pretty much to Kai. Tragically, this is what fuels Aichi's decent into darkness, believing what Kai wants is for him to grow stronger before he'll acknowledge him. Ironically, the reason Kai refuses to face Aichi is because of Psyqualia, sparking Aichi's Face–Heel Turn.
• We Have Reserves / You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Aichi's philosophy while using his Shadow Paladin deck and "realizing" that the Royal Paladins' "use of allies" was "inadequate".
  • Kourin tries to get Aichi to realize just how evil and despicable this is, but ultimately fails.
  • He eventualy goes back to his Royal Paladins and their The Power of Friendship theme now.
• "Well Done, Son" Guy: Most of the first season has Aichi trying to get Kai to acknowledge him as strong so they can have a rematch. When that doesn't work so well, he falls into the downwards spiral of using his Psyqualia.
• Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds: By Legion Mate, he's escalated from The Woobie, all the way up to this.
• You Are What You Hate: Ren's goal during their fight is to have Aichi fall under Psyqualia's influence once more and have this come true. He succeeds, though it's short-lived.
  • Inheriting the seed of Link Joker in Legion Mate truly turns him into this. After the nightmare Kai's just been brought back from and no known way to save Aichi himself, he sees himself only as a timebomb, and rather than subject his friends to having to deal with him unleashing what they've just fought, he goes to the most extreme lengths imaginable to stop himself.
• Yin-Yang Bomb: Combines the Royal and Shadow Paladins at the end of the first season.
  Aichi: Light is not the only thing standing beside him. Darkness also stands by the King of Knights!
  • Taken to its logical conclusion with Majesty Lord Blaster.

Toshiki Kai

Kagero (Seasons 1, 3-4, & Movie) / Narukami (Seasons 2 & 3)/ Link Joker (Season 3) / Royal Paladins (Seasons 1 & 4)

"Final Turn."

The Rival. Kai is a world-class Vanguard player with an almost perfect win-loss record. He is cold, unsociable and is always searching for strong opponents to train against. He is so confident in his own abilities that he will declare "Final Turn" when he is certain of victory.

He was once a good friend to Ren, and together with Tetsu they made plans to form the ultimate Vanguard team "Foo Fighters". However, Ren became corrupted by Psyqualia in an effort to become as good as Kai, and unable to stop his friend from falling into darkness, Kai abandoned him and fled.

In the Link Joker arc, he becomes increasingly insecure about falling behind Aichi and Ren in terms of his Cardfighting ability. He is brainwashed into a "Reverse" fighter after losing a match against the possessed Takuto Tatsunagi. Consumed by his own lust for power, Kai switches to a Link Joker deck and begins to spread the influence of "Reverse" under Takuto's command. He later admits to being Not Brainwashed, having overpowered the influence of Link Joker through his own will but continued to exploit it for his personal goal of becoming the strongest Cardfighter. Regretting his actions, he had planned to quit Cardfighting until he is convinced to atone by Aichi.

He becomes the main character for the "Legion Mate" arc and seems to be the only one who remembers Aichi.

Voiced by: Takuya Sato (JP), Ryan Luhning (EN)

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• The Ace: Kai has the best win record of the main characters, having lost all of four times. Averted in the Legion Mate arc, where he starts losing a majority of his matches.
  • Broken Ace: As good as he is, Kai can't find fun in Vanguard any more after what happened between him and Ren until his first fight with Aichi. Even after that, what's happened to him over the past few years has completely changed him.
• Aloof Ally: Post-regionals, he has a tendency to basically let the rest of the team get on with it without him.
  • Subverted in the Link Joker arc when he's willing to help Izaki get better, and even commenting that they fought their hardest as a team.
• The Atoner: In Episode 49, it's revealed he feels guilty for not being able to stop Ren previously. His confrontation with Aichi in the same episode is his attempt to try and atone for his mistake and how he ran away from Ren.
  • Heavily by Episode 161, when he intends to disappear, in some form, so that his presence around Aichi won't endanger him or anyone else again.
  • This continues into Season Four, with Kai outright stating that he sees Aichi's disappearance and his task of finding him as punishment for his actions during the Link Joker incident.
• Badass Normal: As confirmed in episode 44, he does not have Psyqualia, yet Ren respects him regardless, so this trope is in effect. It even gets a Badass Boast attached:
  Kai: I will exceed that power.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: The foundation of Aichi's obssession with him.
• Blood Knight: He's always seeking powerful Vanguard opponents, to the point where it's possible to bribe him into a social activity with the promise of strong competition.
  • Deconstructed in Link Joker-Hen. Because Kai is so obsessed with finding stronger opponents and being the best for it at all costs, it's a constant self-destructive cycle that endangers his relationships and several worlds. It hits the point where even after a Face–Heel Turn, Kai is considering self-exile or worse simply because he feels there's no other way to stop it. Overlaps somewhat with "Stop Having Fun" Guys.
• Break the Badass/Break the Cutie: Episode 128 did a massive number on him. Undergoing taunts from Takuto and backed into a corner by his Link Joker deck, Kai becomes visibly more distressed as the episode goes on until he completely breaks and stabs a version of himself.
• Can't Catch Up: He worries that this is happening in the third season, as Aichi continues to improve while he's still as strong as he was in the first season. His fears are confirmed after Morikawa, using a deck specifically made by Kai for that fight, is defeated by Aichi. Sure enough, it get deconstructed in Episode 128 where he gives in to Link Joker after taking one too many losses and becomes it's main enforcer.
  Kai: So...not even The End can reach Aichi now?
• Catchphrase: Several.
  Final Turn
  Stand up, the Vanguard
  • It's implied in Episode 49 that he took up 'Final Turn' from Ren.
    • In exchange, Ren took the Vanguard from him.
  • In Season 4, it's slowly becoming "mate".
• The Corruptible: Self-confessed, he admits that if there was another way of becoming stronger, even if it would endanger the world, he'd go for it because he's driven himself that far over the edge.
• The Corruption: Link Joker/Void.
• Crutch Character: For the majority of the first season, Kai is Q4's strongest duelist, and most of the team victories can be contributed to him and Kamui, as Aichi and Misaki are fairly new to the game, and needed time and experience to develop their skills. He even ends up leaving the team during the second tournament after an argument with Aichi, and hasn't fought in the National Tournament since.
• Cynical Mentor: He doesn't really seem to care if Aichi succeeds or fails at first, and usually gets coaxed into providing support by Miwa.
  • As of Episode 44, it may be that Kai is a Deconstruction of this. The reason he seems not to care is because he doesn't know what to do to stop Aichi falling to his Psyqualia and is possibly still filled with guilt for not preventing Ren's fall.
• Cynicism Catalyst: The death of his parents viciously stripped away his cheerful personality, and in the space of about a year, more resembled himself at the time of Season 1. But Ren's corruption by Psyqualia worsened it still; when he returns to Hitsue, Miwa recognizes him, but Kai's by all accounts, a completely different person.
• A Day in the Limelight: He becomes central protagonist in Season 4.
• Defector from Decadence: He walks away from Team Foo Fighter after Ren becomes corrupted, rejecting Ren's We Can Rule Together.
• Demoted to Extra: During Asia Circuit-Hen, Kai joins up with New AL4 and spends much of the season off-screen. He only really shows up during Seoul Stage, Beach Episode, the Japan Stage and when the teams go to Cray, when he becomes relevant again.
• Despair Event Horizon: By the time of the final fight of Link Joker-hen, he's gone well past the line.
• Deuteragonist: While it's not as obvious as with Aichi due to his habit of wandering off during the first two seasons, but the story does revolve around Kai a massive degree (he's even frequently mistaken as the protagonist to people unfamiliar with the show). By Link Joker, Aichi and Kai have switched positions in where they stand in viewing one another and as Legion Mate rolls around, Kai is full-time protagonist in Aichi's stead.
• The Dragon: To Takuto and Void once he's willingly Reversed.
• Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: After taking the power of Link Joker and stabbing a copy of himself, he's seen with these as it all hits what he's done.
• Dull Surprise: In the dub.
• Evil Laugh: After his Face–Heel Turn.
• Face–Heel Turn: Subverted. He joins Ren's team between episodes 77 and 79 but he doesn't seem to be antagonistic.
  • Played straight in Link Joker. Broken down by his fight against Takuto, Kai becomes desperate enough to accept the Link Joker and become an ally of Void.
  • Heel Realization: Tells Aichi flat out that he is disgusted at the sins he committed and intends to get rid of himself from existence.
  • Heel–Face Turn: It took Aichi's "You Are Not Alone" speech to snap him out of it in #163.
• Facial Markings: After accepting Link Joker, he has red markings underneath his eyes.
• Fallen Hero: In season 3, he accepts the power of Link Joker and becomes one of the antagonists.
• Fake Memories: In Season 2 he believes he has always run Narukami and Aichi has always run Gold Paladins. However, during his fight with Aichi, he briefly remembers Blaster Blade...
• Finishing Move: If he says the words 'Final Turn', you're generally screwed.
• Heroic Self-Deprecation: Although it's Aichi that ultimately saves the day, Kai's belief in himself and his role is so shot by his rematch with Aichi while Reversed, that he's effectively suicidal, or at the very least, what he says heavily suggests so, and has driven himself to the point of believing that it's best for Aichi if he simply isn't around anymore. It takes Aichi reminding him that he was the one that let Aichi become the person he is before it even shakes Kai in any manner.
  • He doesn't seem to have shaken off this belief by Legion Mate, either, after his desperate insistence that he should look for Aichi alone so that he should be the only one to suffer for his atonement.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Miwa.
• Image Song: "Kibou no Shoumei"^note "Proof of Hope", "Genkai BREAKTHROUGH", and "Mae wo Muite",
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: By himself when he turns on his beliefs once pushed by Takuto and finalizing his Reverse.
• Ineffectual Loner: He spends much of the first three seasons in varying degrees, even down to not winning his personal wars, before finally shedding it altogether for Legion Mate.
• I Will Find You: To Aichi in Legion Mate-hen.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Grows out of this in Season 4 where he is the protagonist.
• Kill It with Fire: His Units tend to attack with fire.
• Knight in Shining Armor: In Episode 49 he uses Aichi's Royal Paladin Deck in an attempt to get through to him.
  • And Legion Mate-hen when he plays the Royal Paladins' Seekers.
  • In episode 167, it is revealed that he used to play Royal Paladins a long time ago
• Large Ham: Not during everyday life, but when it comes to fights, Kai really likes to grandstand, especially when he's about to win.
• Light 'em Up: Uses Royal Paladin in Season 4.
• Mind Rape: Undergoes a brutal one at the hands of Takuto in Episodes 127 and 128, leading to his Face–Heel Turn.
• Minor Living Alone: Since moving back to Hitsue at the age of 15-16.
• Misunderstood Loner with a Heart of Gold: Incredibly so. Because he's got a lot to be desired when it comes to explaining his motives and actions, he's regarded both within and beyond the characters around him as uncaring. But he is working to reaching the same end as the other characters want. One instance in particular is the events which lead to his Reversal; he merely went in search of answers after witnessing Naoki's, and stayed to fend off Link Joker before it could pursue Aichi and Ren. He stayed with good intentions, but that matter gets lost in what it results in.
• More than Mind Control: Episode 162 reveals that he never let his heart be controlled by Link Joker, and kept reversing cardfighters fully aware that he would eventually have to pay the price for what he did.
• My Greatest Failure: Not being able to defeat Ren and stop him, then just 'running away'.
• Not So Omniscient After All: In Episode 44 a rather popular piece of fanon was shot down, Kai neither has nor knows about Psyqualia. It also nicely presents Fridge Brilliance as to why Kai was so vague with Aichi before, he has no idea what exactly Psyqualia does or how to prevent it.
• Parental Abandonment: His parents died when he was younger. In the manga, they ran away without him when their business failed.
• Post-Victory Collapse: After beating Ren towards the end of Link Joker-Hen.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: His eyes gain a red tint once Reversed and during his fight with Tetsu, they become partially red at one point.
  • They outright turn red for one shot in Neon Messiah to drive home how livid he is after how Ibuki beats Aichi in Neon Messiah.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: With Aichi and Miwa.
• The Rival: Played With throughout the series. Initially subverted in the first season since he and Aichi are teammates but played straight in the second season and during the beginning of the third season where they are on opposite teams during the Asia Circuit and the High School tournament. This trope is then invoked at the end of the third season where Aichi declares that he and Kai will be rivals from now on.
  • Rival Turned Evil During the later part of season 3, after the possessed Takuto convince him to take up Link Joker.
• Shock and Awe: In season 2, he switch to a Narukami deck after the Kagero are sealed. He continues using them during the first half of the this season.
  • Most likely as a result of this, in the dub, Kai is his first name.
• The Stoic: Kai rarely shows his emotions outside of a fight.
  • Not So Stoic: In episode 40, when he realizes Aichi may be starting to depend too much on his Psyqualia.
    • He's quite distraught about losing to Ren in Episode 58, and losing his best chance at saving him and takes it out on Aichi.
    • In Episode 64, when Aichi slips back under Psyqualia's control Kai finally steps up and calls out to him with quite a bit of emotion behind his voice.
    • The end of Episode 102.
  • Episodes 127 and 128. Big time.
• Sugar-and-Ice Personality: Kai isn't really a bad guy, but he tends to have trouble expressing himself, so he mostly comes off as cold. But there are times when he can be genuinely kind or encouraging.
• Temporarily a Villain: He's forced to become this after his encounter with the possessed Takuto, although it's later revealed that he willingly chose this path. Aichi eventually beats some sense into him.
• That Man Is Dead: Casts off his 'former' self by stabbing him.
• Took a Level in Cheerfulness: Thanks to Aichi appearing in his life, Kai becomes happier and friendly which even prevents him from being cynical once again because Aichi proves himself to be his worthy opponent and saving him from Link Joker's influence.
• Used to Be More Social: Any flashback to Kai's time spent with Ibuki, Miwa and Aichi shows just what a Cheerful Child he used to be, in stark contrast to the time of the series.
• What the Hell, Hero?: On the receiving end of one by Kourin in Episode 44 for effectively leading Aichi to Psyqualia and then abandoning him.
• When He Smiles: Becomes more and more prevalent as Character Development sets in, but especially so come Season Four.◊
• You Are Not Alone: Aichi literally screams this at him in the penultimate episode of Link Joker-hen.
  • And he does it right back to Aichi at the climax of Legion Mate, just to emphasize the leagues he's grown in opening up to others since moving back to Hitsue.

Misaki Tokura

Oracle Think Tank (Season 1 & 2) / Genesis (Season 3 & 4)

The beautiful goddess, shining radiantly.

An employee at Card Capital, and the niece of the manager. She initially refuses to play but is coerced into trying the game by Shin. Although Misaki is the least-experienced and least-enthusiastic of Team Q4, she possesses a Photographic Memory that gives her a powerful edge in the game.

In Link Joker, she joins Aichi's Cardfight Club as the fifth member.

In "Legion Mate", despite her perfect memory, she doesn't remember Aichi. Thanks to Kai's efforts in episode 2 of Season 4, she finally remembers him and vows to search for Aichi along with Kai and Naoki.

Voiced by: Izumi Kitta (JP), Carol-Anne Day (EN, original and G series), Natasha Strickey (EN, 2018 reboot)

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• Break the Cutie: Haunted by the memories of her parents' death, she temporarily quit Q4.
• Deadpan Snarker: On one memorable occasion, reacted to Morikawa's antics with a simple, "Noob."
• Death Glare: Don't make a ruckus in the shop, lest you get this.
• Expository Hair Style Change: As of Link Joker. Akari notes in the manga it's to start afresh after how much she's changed since meeting her team-mates.
• Finger Gun: In episode 62 when she calls Evil-eye Princess, Euryale, she does this to bind several of Asaka's cards.
• Heroic BSoD: After Episode 24, but is snapped out of it in Episode 25.
• Image Song: "Yasashii Kioku"^note "Gentle Memories", "Mirai e no Kakehashi", "EMOTION BIND!!", and "Honki Fight".
• Japanese Delinquents: She has a reputation for being the "Boss Lady" of Miyaji High, a title given to the leader of a female gang. She never actually does anything bad, meaning that she probably got the moniker due to her cold and standoffish personality, and her long skirt (which is traditionally associated with the attire of female delinquents).
• Nice Girl: She might be snarky sometimes, distantly stoic and at first a delinquent but behind it all, she's actually a very kind girl who thinks of her friend's wellbeing first than herself especially Aichi and Chrono.
• The Nicknamer: In Mini Vanguard, her contacts list is almost entirely nicknames for everyone.
• Not So Above It All: In episode 70 she initially acts all serious… until she briefly remains alone, at which point she takes a picture of herself – the same thing the other were doing earlier.
• Parental Abandonment: Her parents died in a car accident when she was younger
• Photographic Memory: Arguably deconstructs the trope, due to being forced to relive her parents deaths if she remembers it.
• Took a Level in Cheerfulness: Realizing her parents would want her to be happy when playing Vanguard prompts Misaki giving herself a chance to ask Shin for a key to her small treasure chest containing a Vanguard deck constructed with love from her parents and wears the key around her neck in memory of them.
• Used to Be More Social: Comparing Misaki in the flashbacks to her younger years and teenager self, like Kai, there's a stark contrast.
• The Worf Effect: Gets hit with this in the first half of season 2 against Limit Break units. While all of Team Q4 have lost any of their matches against said units, due in part to how she wouldn’t modify her deck because it was put together by her deceased parents. She gets better after Ren encourages her to try fighting him with a different clan.
  • In season 4, she loses all of her onscreen fights, once to Kai before she had modified her deck and twice to Ratie. And this is after season 3, where she has an undefeated record.

Kamui Katsuragi

Nova Grapplers

Seasons 1 through 4

Attack, Asura Kaiser!

The youngest of Team Q4. Kamui is bratty and overconfident, but proves to be an outstanding player with a deadly, aggressive play style. He is a frequent source of comic relief: mainly from his (unrequited) crush on Emi, and his mispronunciation of certain words or phrases.

Voiced by: Shizuka Ishikawa (JP), Melissa Dorsey (EN)

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• Achilles in His Tent: After a bad disagreement with Kai in Episode 26, Kamui sits out the first Nationals.
• Alliterative Name
• Attack! Attack! Attack!: His Nova Grapplers focus on using Stand Triggers and Stand abilities to get out a veritable storm of attacks, fitting Kamui's aggressive playstyle.
• Big Brother Mentor: Currently one to Chrono in season 5.
• Big Brother Worship: Played With. He is in love with Emi, and since Aichi is her big brother he often call Aichi his "big brother" to try to get close to her. He does eventually come to respect Aichi himself and see him as a true friend and powerful cardfighter to look up to.
• Big Guy: Not size-wise, but has the attitude down pat.
• Bratty Half-Pint: Started out this way when he first appeared, but grew out of it as he learned to be nicer to his teammates.
• Can't Spit It Out: Even when given the opprotunity, he just can't tell Emi how he feels about her.
• The Corruption: He has been Reversed by Kourin.
• Demoted to Extra: In season 3.
  • Averted in Season 4 where he is shown to be part of the main cast alongside Kai, Misaki, Miwa and Naoki
• Facial Markings: While Reversed.
• Hot-Blooded
• Humongous Mecha: Many of his cards are designed this way.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Very mouthy, disrespectful to only those above his Vanguard skills but very much a great friend to Aichi, Misaki, and Kai.
• Image Song: "Saikyou Ore-sama Ride!"^note "Strongest Ride of Mine!" and "Saikyou TRIGGER".
• Love at First Sight: To Emi. It's unrequited.
• Malaproper: Is constantly mangling phrases.
• Mouthy Kid
• Paper-Thin Disguise: During Nationals. He fools pretty much no one.
• Yank the Dog's Chain: No matter how many times he faces them, even after a deck change and resolve boost, he can't defeat Airman...er, Tetsu. Or Kai, for that matter.
  • Throw the Dog a Bone: In episode 98, he finally defeats Tetsu.
    • And in episode 171, he finally beats Kai!
• The Worf Effect: Gets pulverized, and then stretchered out by Ibuki in Neon Messiah.

Allies

Taishi Miwa

Kagero (Season 1, 3 & 4) / Narukami (Season 2)

A childhood friend of Kai. Miwa is far more personable and social than Kai, but tolerates his friend's standoffish nature due to their bond of friendship. Because Kai is so antisocial, it often falls to Miwa to act as the first point of social contact or to explain Kai's true feelings. He is also a skilled Vanguard player, having sparred regularly with Kai.

From the second season onwards, he gets a part-time job at Card Capital to fill in for Misaki and Shin in their absence. As the most skilled player in the room, he often acts as the Combat Commentator for the VF Circuit matches.

In Legion Mate, he's one of the main characters, alongside Kai, Misaki, Naoki and Kamui.

Voiced by: Showtaro Morikubo (JP), Jonathan Lachlan-Stewart (EN, Season 1), Joel Crichton (EN, seasons 2-3, 6-8), Alex Bergen (EN, 2018 reboot)

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• Ascended Extra: After spending the first 3 seasons as part of the supporting cast, he becomes part of the main cast alongside Kai, Misaki, Naoki and Kamui in Season 4.
• Combat Commentator: As the one of the most skilled of those constantly on the sidelines, he tends to take on this role. Lampshaded by Izaki in episode 91, when he's not there and Morikawa expresses confusion about what's going on.
  Izaki: If only Miwa was here...
  • The Smart Guy
• The Corruption: He has been Reversed by Kai.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Turns out to be a pretty good player.
• Deadpan Snarker
• Facial Markings: While Reversed.
• Heterosexual Life-Partners: With Kai. Which of course breeds a lot of Ho Yay.
• Image Song: "Welcome!! Miwa Taishi!!" and "I'm On Your 'Rear-Side'"!
• Only Sane Man: He's usually the first to react normally to some of the more fantastic elements of the series, like a giant holographic dragon swooping straight past him.
• Real Men Wear Pink: During the summer arc, he wears a pink hoodie.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: With Kai.

Emi Sendou

Bermuda Triangle

Aichi's little sister, who in some ways is more responsible and level-headed than him. Having witnessed the positive change that Vanguard brings out in her brother, she takes up the game herself and becomes a skilled junior player. She has a habit of choosing the cards in her deck based solely on which are "the cutest", but manages to pull together a solid strategy anyway. She is often the first to worry about Aichi when he is in a tough situation or match.

Voiced by: Atsuko Enomoto (JP), Wendy Morrison (EN)

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• Big Sister Instinct: Inverted. She's the younger sister but really protective of Aichi when he gets bullied at school.
• Image Song: "Egao ni Eeru".
• Nice Girl: Like Aichi, she's very friendly, calm and cheerful.
• Oblivious to Love: She never seems to catch on to the fact that Kamui obviously has a crush on her.
• Token Mini-Moe
• Took a Level in Badass: Once she gets the hang of Vanguard, she's quite good at it.

Shinemon "Shin" Nitta

Manager of Card Capital. Misaki's uncle. Later he becomes manager of Team Q4 and acts as a kindly, big brother-ish mentor to them.

Voiced by: Shuuta Morishima (JP), Scott Roberts (EN)

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• Bumbling Dad: Isn't actually a dad, but fits the other criteria.
• Butt-Monkey: Though to a much lesser extent than Morikawa.
• Nice Guy: Even if anyone keeps pressuring him, he's remarkably patient throughout every scenario and gives out great helpful advice to anyone playing Vanguard.
• Promotion to Parent: To Misaki after her parents died.
• Scary Shiny Glasses: It's not really scary, but yeah, his glasses tend to cover his eyes. When his eyes, appear, well....

Katsumi Morikawa

Random Clans (but plenty of Grade 3s)

MY NAME IS KATSUMI!

Aichi's classmate. He was introduced as a bully, but quickly became Aichi's friend over their shared love of Vanguard. Although he boasts of his incredible skills at Vanguard, he is completely obsessed with Grade 3 units and has no sense of deck balance, resulting in a very poor win-loss record. When given a correctly-balanced deck, he is revealed to be an outstanding player.

Voiced by: Noriaki Sugiyama (JP), Lucas Gilbertson (EN, original and G series), Jonathan Molinski (EN, 2018 reboot)

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• Butt-Monkey: He is the loser of the group, the guy who almost never wins.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Morikawa's obsession with Grade 3s means he constantly overloads his deck with them, causing him to lose every single time. To put this in context, the recommended number of Grade 3s in a deck is 7-9; Morikawa has over 25.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Episode 51 proves that with a well-balanced deck, he really IS a strong player!
  • Episode 112 goes a step farther: he is able to instantly master Kai's Kagero deck despite having never seen it before, and uses an ingenious combination of Break Ride and Persona Blast to attack with his Vanguard three times in one turn.
• Failure Is the Only Option: Despite losing many times, he blames it on bad luck (alignment of the stars, bad omens, etc.). And he still gets Grade 3s for his deck.
• Hot-Blooded: Despite his terrible record, you can't deny his passion for the game.
• Instant Expert: Yes, really. While he's a terrible deck builder, Season 3 shows that after being given Kai's deck, he is able to use it perfectly despite having never seen it before the match.
• Limited Wardrobe: Summer outfit aside, Morikawa is always in his school uniform.
• Malicious Misnaming: It's KATSUMI! Not Lose-umi!
• Non-Indicative Name: "Katsu" means victory. Katsumi has never won a single fight.
  • But in Episode 51, he wins every fight he's in.
• Plucky Comic Relief: Morikawa's antics are always a source of humor in the show.
• Shoo Out the Clowns: This happens to him and Izaki in the second half of Link Joker, after the plot takes a darker turn. Also, aside from a few brief appearances, they are completely absent from the plot in Legion Mate.
• Small Name, Big Ego: Claims to be the strongest Vanguard fighter at Card Capital but always loses thanks to his deck having imbalanced cards mostly at grade 3.
• Stalker with a Crush: Towards Kourin.
• The Friend Nobody Likes: Only a few characters seem to genuinely like having Morikawa around, while most of the other characters tend to just tolerate him.
• Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?: Gives this off during Q4's first match at the Regionals when their opponents use snake-like Kagero units.
  • Ironically he has one of those units in his deck.

Yuta Izaki

Tachikaze

Morikawa's best friend. He acts as the straight man to Morikawa's antics, but comes off as The Generic Guy in most other respects.

Voiced by: Takayuki Yamaguchi (JP), Jeff Watson (EN, seasons 1 and 2), Brett Bauer (EN, season 3 and onward)

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• Can't Catch Up: A flashback in the Link Joker arc shows that this has been bothering him with regards to Aichi. However, thanks to his fellow teammates, he was able to subvert this and take a level in badass.
• Shoo Out the Clowns: This happens to him and Morikawa in the second half of Link Joker, after the plot takes a darker turn. Also, aside from a few brief appearances, they are completely absent from the plot in Legion Mate.
• The Generic Guy
• Those Two Guys: With Morikawa.
  • It's to the point where at one point Kamui actually combines both Morikawa and Izaki's names to call Izaki: Morizaki.

Introduced in Season 1

Team AL4 (Foo Fighter/Asteroid)

Ren Suzugamori

Royal Paladins (Prior to Season 1)/ Shadow Paladins (Season 1, 3 & 4) / Gold Paladins (Season 2)

Where there is light, there is darkness. That's one of a pair of truths.

The leader of Team Foo Fighter^note Team Asteroid in the dub, the current National Champion and the Big Bad of the first season. Ren may seem at times to be spacy, but he has a vicious and sadistic personality that truly reveals itself during Vanguard matches. His outstanding abilities command the respect of everyone around him.

He is actually a Psyqualia user, and can thus foresee the outcome of his matches. However, his overuse of Psyqualia has corrupted his original, gentle personality. He was once a good friend to Kai, but was abandoned by him after Ren began to abuse Psyqualia, ironically so that Kai would acknowledge him as an equal.

In the second season, because of the changes to history, Ren never discovered the power of Psyqualia and is still a good friend of Kai. Free from its influence, he is shown to be a gifted and playful competitor who treats Vanguard as a game to be enjoyed. He reawakens his Psyqualia power during his first game against Aichi, and although he reverts to his previous corrupted personality during their match, he seems unaffected by it after it ends.

In the third season, he attends Fukuhara high school with Asuka and Suiko and has returned to using a Shadow paladin deck, centered around the Revengers cards.

Voiced by: Atsushi Abe (JP), Roger Rhodes (EN)

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• The Ace
• Abusive Parents: In the manga. Ren's father pushed him to be a "perfect winner" and taught him “in this world, there are only two types of people: the losers who are laughed at, and those who laugh at them.”
• Badass Boast: Makes a rather ominous one to Kenji right before beating him with Blaster Dark. He has another one, repeated when he summons his trump card.
  Champions crowned with glory... however, there was something that even they were no match for. Where there is light, there is darkness. That's one of a pair of truths. And light can only be swallowed up by darkness... that's a truth, too! Appear from the everlasting darkness, dark spirits!
  Crying out in despair in the chaos called silence... the power of shadowy darkness, obscuring all vision, is mine!
• Badass Longcoat: As a bonus, it even has proto-Shoulders of Doom.
• Beware the Silly Ones: He is a massive klutz and Cloud Cuckoo Lander, so much that not even the Psyqualia can erase all of it. He is also one of the most powerful fighters in the series, with or without Psyqualia. Unless your name is Aichi Sendou or you have the void power to back you up, you will lose against his Shadow Paladin.
• Big Bad: Of the first season. However, there appears to be a Greater-Scope Villain out there somewhere...
• Big Damn Heroes: Comes to [[Kai, Naoki, and Gaillard's help alongside Leon in season 4.]]
• Broken Ace: We have a few minor hints that Ren wasn't always this way.
  • Confirmed in Episode 49. Ren used to be a nice guy before his Psyqualia corrupted him.
• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Ren was a kind of weird kid before he was corrupted by Psyqualia. It still shows a little bit in his personality even now.
  • In Episode 80 when he doesn't have Psyqualia. He spends the entire episode up until he receives Qualia again making the strangest and funniest observations and comments possible.
  • The Ditz: Coupled with the above, he couldn't even tell that Joker X was Tetsu.
• The Corrupter: To Aichi, though interestingly he serves only to push Aichi off the edge. Aichi had already taken his own steps towards Psyqualia, Ren just helps him along the path.
• The Corruption: Psyqualia.
• Dark Is Evil: Dresses in black and uses a deck comprised of evil knights, witches, and dark dragons.
• Dark Is Not Evil: After his defeat at the end of season 1. He still uses his Shadow Paladin deck, or the remnants of the Shadow Paladin that joined the Gold Paladins in season 2, but he's no longer an antagonist.
• Evil Counterpart: To Aichi. His deck is full of darker versions of Aichi's cards, especially Blaster Dark to Aichi's Blaster Blade.
  • Episode 49 hammers it home, showing that Ren was essentially a more cheerful Aichi before he acquired Psyqualia.
• Evil Redhead: Only during season 1.
• Exact Words: Used to great effect during Legion Mate to manipulate the situation. He promises to maintain a neutral stance, and he does by refusing to reveal the truth to Kai at first and then putting it behind the condition of Kai beating him a fight, not breaking his promise since this takes it out of his hands. He then lets Kai win by no guarding the final attack despite having more than enough shield in hand, and is thus "forced" to reveal the truth to him.
• He's Back!: Somewhat. Season 3 marks a return of his more serious and darker personality from the first season as opposed to the Nice Guy of the second, because his memories and his Shadow Paladins have been unsealed. He's still much more relaxed and friednly though.
• Hidden Agenda Villain: We don't know what he plans to do beyond winning the national championship. He mentions taking over Japan to Kai, but it's unkwown wether he was serious or not.
• Image Song: "THE END OF TURN", "LET'S JOIN THE VANGUARD", and "Shumatsu no Prelude".
• Invocation:
  Appear from the everlasting darkness, dark spirits! I Ride... Blaster Dark!
  Envelop everything in darkness, my avatar! I Ride... Blaster Dark Revenger!
• Jerkass: Infamous for it.
• Knight of Cerebus: Prior to his arrival, Vanguard was relatively light-hearted and normal by card game anime standards. Afterward... well, in the episode right after his appearance, Misaki suffers a breakdown brought on by the memory of her parents' deaths. Ren is most definitely the bringer of Cerebus Syndrome to Vanguard.
• Leitmotif: While he's occasionally associated with Psyqualia's theme, his grade 3 rides and Final Turns during Season 1 are typically paired with "Ren's Power". Which makes its return in Season 3, when he decides to treat his Reversed Teammates seriously.
• Might Makes Right: One of his beliefs while corrupted by his Psyqualia
  Ren: It's as I said. The powerless fall into despair... and those with power get all the glory.
• Oh, Crap!: Has a very satisfying moment of uncertainty when Aichi's darker side point out that neither of them can predict the outcome of their battle. To his credit, he recovers almost immediately.
• Psychic Powers: Psyqualia, which he introduced.
  • He's implied to have lost this at the end of Season 1, along with Aichi.
  • And as of Episode 80, he has it again. Great.
• Psychotic Smirk: When he doesn't go for a straight-up Slasher Smile.
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Has Red hair and a black outfit, and is the Big Bad. Averted after the end of season 1.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: He and Aichi match each other this way. Complete with Color-Coded for Your Convenience.
• Refuge in Audacity: Delivering a Take That! to every Cardfighter in Japan on national TV.
  Ren: Please continue doing your best at wasting time and effort.
• Secret-Keeper: He knows about Aichi sealing himself away in season 4.
• Serious Business: Card games are to him, apparently. Probably due to his Psyqualia.
• Shoulders of Doom: Sports one only in Season 1. Drops it when he become a nice guy. Lampshaded by Bushiroad's staff as they are a sign of a "Last Boss" character.
• Slasher Smile: All the time. He exaggerates it in episode 63.
• Smug Super: His speech before the finals of the second nationals more or less consists of "Congratulation for making it this far. Too bad I have psychic powers that make me unbeatable. Have fun!"
• Take Over the World: [Hidden Agenda Villain Possibly his aim, as he mentions this in Kai's flashback in Episode 49. Of course, he could have been lying. Who knows.
• Nice Guy: Before he gets Psyqualia, and after he loses it.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Frequently proclaims this to Aichi later on, based on the fact that they both sought overwhelming power and received Psyqualia.
  Ren: Wanting power, seeking to become stronger than anyone... that is truly the true Aichi lurking within you. Yes, just like me!
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Before he got Psyqualia.
• Villainous Breakdown: After Aichi's speech to him in Episode 53, Ren looks noticably shaken, and he later has a flashback to the speech. This may suggest a larger breakdown later on...
  • Which happens 12 episodes later, when Aichi rides Majesty Lord Blaster and says he's through rejecting Ren and Psyqualia.
    Ren: I won't accept anyone!
• Warrior Poet: Before his match with Koutei, the two have a little banter regarding Koutei's team name. Ren later provides an Ironic Echo of this banter before delivering an ominous speech.
• Willingly Weak: Downplayed, but his fight against Kai in Legion Mate is mostly to test his resolve. Once he is satisfied with it, he lets Kai win on purpose.
• The Worf Effect: Ren is the first to fall at the hands of Ibuki just to show how dangerously skilled he really is compared to the previous Big Bads, including Aichi himself.

Tetsu Shinjou

Dark Irregulars

Friends...With that attitude, you can never be the strongest.

Ren's second-in-command and the number two of Foo Fighter. Known as the "General" of AL4. A very gruff and serious person, he's completely loyal to Ren. One of the founding members of Foo Fighter, along with Ren and Kai.

Voiced by: Tetsu Inada (JP), William Scott (EN)

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• Anti-Villain: He's a Noble Demon. And that's without mentioning how he refuses to abandon Ren in Episode 49's flashback.
• All There in the Manual: His surname was only revealed through the official website. In-series he registers in tournaments as "Tetsu" alone.
  • His surname is finally spoke on-screen in Kai's flashback in Episode 49.
• The Corruption: Was Reversed by Kai and then snapped out of it when Ren defeated him.
• Dark Is Evil
• The Danza: Shares the same given name with his voice actor, Tetsu Inada.
• The Dragon: To Ren. However, Episode 49 indicates that he stands by Ren because he can't bring himself to abandon him, as opposed to supporting his aims.
  Tetsu: I can't desert Ren.
• Evil Counterpart: To Kai. Both are the immediate supporters to The Hero and the Big Bad respectively. While Kai deserted Ren after he became addicted to Psyqualia, Tetsu remained at Ren's side and refused to abandon him.
• Evil Sounds Deep: He has possibly the deepest voice of any character so far.
• Facial Markings: While Reversed.
• Large and in Charge: Second-in-command actually, but still runs with the trope.
• The Legions of Hell: His Dark Irregulars include quite a few demonic units, particularly his Demon World Marquis Amon.
• Mind-Control Eyes: While Reversed.
• Noble Demon: Most of the time, he's quite reasonable, if gruff.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: During the Japan stage of the Asia Circuit. Even though it's obvious who he is Ren, Morikawa and Kamui don't recognize him.
• Red Baron: The General.
• Silly Rabbit, Idealism Is for Kids!: To Kamui, after hearing a speech explaining why he'll never surrender because he has his friends.
  Tetsu: Friends...With that attitude, you can never be the strongest.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: To Aichi.
  Tetsu: This is the form which best suits your power.

Asaka Narumi

Pale Moon

Ever since then, I've been fighting only for Ren-sama.

The number three of Foo Fighter. Known as the "Assassin" of AL4. She's devoted to Ren, and fights to get his acknowledgement.

Voiced by: Hitomi Nabatame (JP), Laura Rushfeldt (EN)

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• The Corruption: Was Reversed for a time until she snapped out of it when Ren defeated her.
• Distaff Counterpart: She resembles an older, genderswapped Aichi.
• Evil Counterpart: To Misaki.
• Facial Markings: While Reversed.
• Icy Blue Eyes
• Large Ham: She likes to ham it up when she's cardfighting, treating her turns as a big show, in keeping with her deck's circus theme.
• Love Makes You Crazy: Her desperation to be noticed by Ren is amplified by Void and turns this up.
• Mind-Control Eyes: While Reversed.
• Red Baron: The Assassin.
• Subordinate Excuse: For Ren.

Kyou Yahagi

Spike Brothers (Seasons 1 - 3)/Megacolony (Season 2)

An egomaniacal Smug Snake. He begins as the fourth member of AL4, but gets kicked out after losing a tournament match (and due to his obvious aspirations for Ren's position). Blackballed from professional Vanguard, he forms his own Terrible Trio with other rejects called "Team Avenger" and vows revenge, becoming the show's resident Goldfish Poop Gang.

Voiced by: Akeno Watanabe (JP), Cole Howard (EN)

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• Beetle Maniac: In season 2, after switching clans to Megacolony. At one point he even parades around in a giant beetle costume.
• Beware the Silly Ones: Downplayed but, as mentioned afterward, despite his Butt-Monkey status he is one of the best fighters in the series, and will defeat anyone who isn't a main character or the season's Big Bad (as Gouki can testify), and even then he was this close to defeat a void-backed Leon in Asia Circuit. It's just too bad that all of his onscreen fights involve one of the fighters that are above him. However, he is one of the three characters (the other being Misaki and Ninja Master Neo) to went through Link Joker undefeated, and that's despite being forced into grueling, repeated fights to hold back The Horde, and facing some powerful enemies such as the reversed team Brilliant Stars.
• ButtMonkey/The Chew Toy: Especially in the Minivan anime, where the main gag centers around him pretty much once every two episodes. In this adaptation he is still part of AL4, but the rest of the team blatantly ignore him. He is also the first AL 4 member to lose, and to add insult to the injury it happens early one, while all the others wouldn't suffer a defeat until the finale.
• Braggart Boss
• Bratty Half-Pint
• Break the Haughty: When he is defeated for the first time, he's left in an utter state of shock, he screams in fear of Ren as he runs back to AL4’s bench, and he spends the next two episodes curled up and trembling. After he is kicked out of AL4, he swears revenge against Ren while laughing like he has gone crazy. During his fight against Aichi, he keeps hallucinating about Ren and trembling some more, and when he finally loses, he falls to the ground, only to have a final vision of Ren which makes him cry a horrific, agonizing scream... Kyou becomes notably less arrogant after going through all of this in the 1st season.
• The Determinator: It must be said, he never gives up on defeating the most powerful characters. Even directly after being brutally defeated and mind-raped by Aichi, he's still ranting about how he'll fight again and win.
  • This is a guy who refused to move out of the way of an avalanche to finish a Cardfight.
• Evil Counterpart: To Kamui, kind of.
• Goldfish Poop Gang: He and the rest of Team Avengers are this.
• Humiliation Conga: First he's utterly crushed by Kai, after bragging about how he'd beat him. Then he gets kicked out of AL4, blackballed by every other card shop (because no-one wants to incur the wrath of Ren), finally breaks down after seeing Ren on television, then even after pulling himself together enough to form his own team, he gets crushed by Aichi with a dose of Mind Rape on top.
  • In a much more light-hearted manner, every appearance he makes in Season 2 is a part of one.
• Ineffectual Sympathetic Villain: From Season 2 onwards. He just keeps trying without success.
• Justified Tutorial: His battle with Leon in Season 2 (and the reason Kyou switches clans) is basically to demonstrate how a well-built Megacolony deck can shut down an Aqua Force deck. He plays a near-perfect game but still loses because... well, it's Kyou.
• Laughing Mad: During his flashback in Episode 41 when he sees Ren on a TV. And again when Aichi's prediction about the end of their match comes true.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Feels this way towards Ren. This is especially apparent in season 3, as he pulls a You Shall Not Pass! on the Link Joker possessed Fukuhara students trying to fight Ren simply because he doesn't want any of them to defeat Ren before he does.
• Overshadowed by Awesome: Objectively speaking, Kyou is one of the top Vanguard fighters in the series. The problem is that he's not quite as good as the top-tier players, who he always ends up fighting. To wit, his five on-screen losses have been to Kai (who never loses), two Psyqualia users (which gives them an unfair supernatural advantage) and Tetsu (who was already his superior in AL4).
• Red Baron: "Crusher" Kyou.
• Roaring Rampage of Revenge: After he's thrown out of Foo Fighters, he forms Team Avengers to try and get revenge for his humiliation.
• Smug Snake
• Stalker without a Crush: Although he spent season 2 traveling around the world to become stronger, from season 3 onwards all of his appearances, without exception, consist in him stalking Ren and/or trying to challenge him to a fight.
• The Starscream: Attempts to beat Kai in order to usurp Ren, but it backfires. Horribly.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: Ren finally acknowledges him and calls him by name in episode 129.
  • Could count as Yank the Dog's Chain since this gets Kyou’s hopes up that if he helps Ren, Ren will feel grateful enough to fight him. Once Ren is done with his mission however, he nonchalantly leaves a very frustrated Kyou behind.
  • As mentioned above, despite still treating him as the Butt-Monkey, Link Joker acknowledges his valor by making him go through it all without losing or being reversed.
• Tsundere: 3 seasons in, he is still obsessed with taking revenge on Ren, but the latter only needs to call him by his name to make Kyou smile and blush awkwardly. In Ride to Victory you even get the option to tell him that his charming point is "your tsundere side".
  • In Minivan, he gives Ren a present for his birthday while blushing and looking away, claiming that "I bought it for myself, but since it wasn't the right size...".
• Unknown Rival: To Ren. In the anime, he's trying to overthrow Ren and take his place. In the manga, he simply wants to impress him as, even though he's part of AL4, Ren doesn't even acknowledge him or even remember his name.
• Villainous Breakdown: When he realizes Kai will beat him. And then again in Episode 42.
• White Hair, Black Heart
• The Worf Effect: He is among the seven Messiah Scramble participants whom Ibuki defated in the movie.

Team Handsome

A National-level Cardfight Team who own and operate the hobby store "Shop Handsome". They are the finalists in Team Q4's first Regional Tournament.

Gouki Daimonji

Granblue

The leader of Team Handsome and also the manager of his own card shop Shop Handsome. Kamui learnt from him the secret of inner strength and looks up to Gouki as his idol.

Voiced by: Kentarō Itō (JP), Adam Hunter (EN)

---

• A Father to His Men
• Big Brother Instinct: To both Kamui and his biological little sister Nagisa. In fact, he meets Aichi because of this: he mistakes Kamui as being in a relationship with Aichi and saw him as a 'home-wrecker'.
• The Corruption: He has been Reversed off screen by an unknown reverse fighter. He's get better.
• Facial Markings: While Reversed.
• Large Ham
• The Leader
• Mind-Control Eyes: While Reversed.

Nagisa Daimonji

Nova Grappler

Gouki's little sister. She is in love with Kamui, but the same can't be said for him...

Voiced by: Ryō Hirohashi (JP), Katie McMillan (EN)

---

• Abhorrent Admirer: For Kamui. She loves him but he's not interested.
• The Corruption: She gets Reversed with the rest of Team Handsome.
• Facial Markings: While Reversed.
• Love Makes You Crazy: Like Asaka, her feelings for Kamui are the driving force that sends her wild while controlled by Void.
• Mind-Control Eyes: While Reversed.
• Stalker with a Crush
• Yandere: Thanks to Reverse.

Kaoru "Ka-boom" Komatsubara

Granblue

A member of Team Handsome

Voiced by: Yuuto Kazama (JP), Corby Proctor (EN)

---

• The Corruption: Also been Reversed off screen like Gouki.
• In-Series Nickname: Ka-Boom. (Ja-pan in the Japanese dub)
• Mind-Control Eyes: While Reversed.
• Verbal Tic: Ka-Boom. When Reversed, he says Brazil, which according to Dr. O, is the total opposite of Japan (Japan being located on the Northeast of the world map while Brazil in the Southwest), signifying his Reversed status.

Team Caesar

A world-class team first introduced in the Nationals. After Ren effortlessly defeats them in the finals, they hold the Caesar Vanguard Training Camp for Q4, creating an Upperclassman-Underclassman type relationship between the two teams.

Kenji "Koutei" Mitsusada

Dimension Police

The leader of Team Caesar. His nickname is derived from the kanji for 'emperor', fitting Kenji's knowledge of Roman history. Relaxed and easy-going, he doesn't seem much like a champion-level player, but proves his mettle when his team reach the finals of the Nationals. However, he is crushed by Ren when the latter calls on his Psyqualia and his Blaster Dark.

Voiced by: Kenji Akabane (JP), Jeff Punyi (EN)

---

• The Ace: He's up there with Ren at the top of the nation's players.
• Alternate Character Reading: Mitsusada (光定) = koutei = emperor (皇帝).
• Back-to-Back Badasses: With Leon in episode 138.
• Badass Longcoat
• The Corruption: Reversed by Kai in episode 135. He gets better once he loses to Leon.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: On the recieving end of one at Ren's hands during the finals of the first Nationals.
• The Danza: Shares the same given name with his voice actor, Kenji Akabane.
• Facial Markings: While Reversed.
• Hot-Blooded: His Final Turn in Episode 82 features Koutei acting like a super robot anime protagonist. Complete with Calling Your Attacks at the top of his voice.
  BURNING JUSTICE SWOOORRRDDD!!!
• Might Makes Right: When Reversed.
• Mind-Control Eyes: While Reversed.
• Nice Guy: Incredibly so, no matter how rude someone is to him.
• Put On A Plane: Announced that he was going to study at the Singapore Institute of Technical Studies.
  • The Plane Came Back: Returns in episode 135 with a new and improved Dimension Police deck, only to get reversed by Kai.
• Red Baron: 'Koutei' - The Emperor.
• Shrinking Violet: Of sorts. He hates being to center of attention when not cardfighting, but in a match he can easily reach super robot anime protagonist levels of Hot-Blooded, as shown in episodes 82 and 86.
• Took a Level in Badass: In Episode 82, he beats Ren. He's also the first non-main character to get a Crossride Unit.
  • In Episode 136, he is revealed to be even weaker than Gai in the past. But by learning from mistakes and constant training by Yuri, he is able to surpass the both of them and even become the National Champion.
• Warrior Poet: He has some discussion with Ren about Team Caesar's naming prior to their match. He is also quite knowledgable of Roman history.
• The Worf Effect: Suffers from this along with the rest of his team. Except when he pulls out Great Daiyusha and crushes Ren with it in Episode 82.

Yuri Usui

Dimension Police (Season 1) / Dimension Police/ Oracle Think Tank (Season 2)

The only female member of Team Caesar. She was Aichi's opponent at the training camp. She is later revealed to run a Stand-based Dimension Police deck focusing around the synergy between Miracle Beauty and Enigman Rain, as well as revealing a rather more reckless and energetic persona in card fights.

Voiced by: Mayuki Makiguchi (JP), Leda Davies (EN)

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• Attack! Attack! Attack!: She uses a variant of Dimension Police focused around mass standing to get more attacks, similar to Kamui's Nova Grapplers.
• The Corruption: Reversed by Kenji in episode 136. She gets better once she loses off screen.
• Cool Big Sis: Her usual persona. However, when it comes to serious fights...
  • Hot-Blooded: ...She's this, with a good side helping of Serious Business.
  • Tsundere: When Kenji is involved.
• Facial Markings: While Reversed.
• Light Is Good: Her Dimension Police in general, but especially Enigman Rain. Yuri herself is helpful and kind to the members of Q4, if...enthusiastic at times.
• Magic Poker Equation: She claims to be able to call out her Triggers like an empress commanding her subjects. At the end of her fight with Misaki... she does exactly this.
• Mind-Control Eyes: While Reversed.
• Our Angels Are Different: Enigman Rain. To be fair, it's not an actual angel, but an angelic alien.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: During the Japan stage of the Asia Circuit. Misaki isn't fooled.
• Red Baron: The Empress.
• Suspiciously Specific Denial: In Season 3, when Kenji is involved.
• Unwitting Instigator of Doom: After Team Q4 is eliminated from the Nationals for the first time, Aichi is wallowing in self-pity, blaming himself for it because he is not as good a player as Kai. The next time they meet up with Team Caesar, Aichi asks Yuri for advice, and she tells him to visualize his strategy while playing, and then Aichi falls asleep and dreams that his cards are talking to him. It is strongly implied that this is the straw that broke the camel's back, leading to him developing Psyqualia.

Gai Usui

Dimension Police

Yuri's younger brother, and the third member of Team Caesar.

Voiced by: Setsuji Satou (JP), Phil Fulton (EN)

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• Butt-Monkey: In Episode 54 due to his sister.
• Red Baron: The Gladiator.
• Shipper on Deck: Tries to ship her sister with Kenji, much to his sister's chagrin but to no avail.

Card Shop PSY

A mysterious trio of sisters who run Card Shop PSY, supporting the main characters by giving them rare cards and challenging their skills in cardfights. They also form the idol group "Ultra Rare". Their true goal is to find and aid those with the power of Psyqualia, under the instruction of Takuto Tatsunagi, so that they may find a Vanguard to help quell the chaos on Cray. It is revealed in episode 157 that they are not actually sisters. Takuto stole their memories in order to enlist them as allies in his mission to protect Cray.

Tropes applying to Ultra Rare as a whole:

• The Corruption: All three became reverse fighters.
• Idol Singer: They form the idol group Ultra Rare.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: Takuto stole their memories of their original lives. After his disappearance at the end of season 3, they regain their original memories at the cost of their
• Not Blood Siblings: They're not biological siblings.

Suiko

Angel Feather (Season 2 & 3)/ Link Joker (Season 3)

The eldest of the sisters, a calm and composed person.

Voiced by: Aimi Terakawa (JP), Nikkita Bradette (EN)

Tropes:

• Brainwashed and Crazy: In episode 130, after being corrupted by Link Joker.
• Facial Markings: Just like everyone else who has been corrupted by Link Joker.
• Hidden Agenda Villain: In season 1.
• Manipulative Bitch: She was willing to hold back information about Psyqualia from Aichi after confirming he had it and had no problems with Ren and Aichi's personalities being distorted by it, she may have even toyed with it based on her handing them stronger cards, so long as she got results.
  • 0 Start Set reveals that she was the one who introduced Psyqualia to Ren, setting him on the path to being Drunk On The Darkside. It seems that she'll go to any lengths to get the Psyqualia fighters she needs.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: While she's Reversed, her eyes have a red tint to them instead of the dull eyes the majority of Reverse Fighters have.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: Most notable with how she's willing to support Ren due to the fact that she needs someone with Psyqualia.
• Yin-Yang Clash: The cards she offers Aichi and Ren.
  Suiko: Light which blankets the darkness... darkness that swallows the light...

Kourin

Royal Paladins (Season 1 & 3) / Angel Feather (Season 2) / Link Joker (Season 4)

Kourin is the middle sister of Card Shop PSY, acting as their main Cardfighter. Although she is very temperamental and cold, she is also the most conflicted about their mission and secretly works against her sisters to rescue Aichi from the corrosive effects of his Psyqualia addiction.

In Link Joker, she is enrolled in Miyaji High School under the name "Kourin Tatsunagi" and joins Aichi's new Vanguard Club.

In Legion Mate, she is helping the Quatre Knights to keep Aichi protected from the world. She now uses Link Joker, claiming to know that it is an evil power, yet using the deck because of its incredible strength.

Voiced by: Suzuko Mimori (JP), Stevie Forzani (EN)

---

• The Dragon: She serves as this to Aichi in Season 4
• Fake Memories: When Aichi asks her about Royal Paladins in Season 2, like everyone else, she can't remember that Clan.
  • She could have been faking it, she seems to understand everything that's going on.
    • Played straight with what is revealed in episode 157.
• Facial Markings: While Reversed.
• High-Class Gloves: She has white ones in her idol outfit.
• Ordinary High-School Student: What she intends to become in Season 3.
  • New Transfer Student
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Once she reveals she's been Reversed.
• Spanner in the Works: Set up as this to Suiko in Season 1, though it mysteriously never seems to really resolve...
• Tsundere: For Aichi.

Rekka

Angel Feather

The youngest of the sisters. She puts on a cute and cheerful persona, but Beneath the Mask she can be glib and highly-competitive.

In Link Joker she is enrolled in Miyaji Middle School and goes on to establish the "Cardfight Circle" with Emi Sendou and Mai.

Voiced by: Yoshino Nanjo (JP), Michelle Molineux (EN)

Tropes:

• Badass Adorable: Deceptively skilled, she manages to throw together a Deck from cards that just came out. Which she then owns Misaki with. Watch out.
• Brutal Honesty: Informs Misaki that since she hasn't spent the weeks since the Nationals upgrading her Deck, she'll never win the VF Circuit.
• The Corruption: She still hasn't show signs of this but with Kourin's case of being able to hide her Reversed status, she might be Reversed too and is responsible for reversing Team Handsome.
• Deadpan Snarker: She has her moments.
• Fake Memories
• The Gadfly: She occasionally seems to like to push people's buttons just because it's more interesting that way. Especially Kourin.
• Genki Girl
• Kawaiiko
• Red Eyes, Take Warning: Once she's been Reversed.

Other Characters

Mark Whiting "Ninja Master M/Neo"

Nubatama

A teacher at Hitsue Middle School who disguises himself as Ninja Master M while playing Vanguard. In Season 3, he becomes the advisor for the Hitsue High Cardfight Club.

Voiced by: Atsushi Abe (JP)

---

• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Manages to defeat a Reverse Fighter in Kamui's place.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: As Ninja Master M.
• Put on a Bus
  • The Bus Came Back: He reappears in season 3 as the faculty advisor for Hitsue High's Cardfight club. And he also returns as Ninja Master Neo to help Kamui deal with a Reversed Nagisa.

Jun Mutsuki

Dark Irregulars (Season 1)/Dimension Police (season 2 & 3)

An "underground fighter" who makes his living playing Vanguard on the street and roughing up those who lose to him. Despite this, he has his own code of honour and keeps the members of his gang under control. He reappears toward the end of season two as one of the members of Team Unknown, under the alias "King Z".

Voiced by: Kenji Nojima (JP), Brett Olsen (EN)

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• Badass Longcoat
• The Corruption: He has been reversed by Miwa.
• Defeat Means Friendship: Becomes friends with Miwa and Kai after Kai defeats him.
• Jerk with a Heart of Gold: May have no problem allowing his gangmates to cheat in Vanguard by will for a living but after being defeated by Kai, he eventually becomes friendlier after that.
• The Legions of Hell: Like Tetsu, he uses Dark Irregulars.
• Paper-Thin Disguise: During the Japan Stage of tha Asia Circuit. Not that he needed it.
• Shout-Out: A cardfighter with a white long coat? Audiences has pointed out his similarities with Seto Kaiba.

Introduced in Season 2 (VF Asia Circuit)

Takuto Tatsunagi

Gold Paladins

Chairman of the Tatsunagi Foundation, he and his financial group are the hosts of the VF Asia Circuit. He appears at Card Capital at the beginning of the second season and fights Aichi.

He possesses a powerful variation of Psyqualia that allows him to rewrite memories and grant Psyqualia to those with potential. With the aid of Ultra Rare, who act as his agents, his mission is to find a suitable human Vanguard who can unite the warring clans of Cray against the dark force known as Void.

In the Link Joker arc, his body is possessed by an agent of Void against his will.

Voiced by: Ayahi Takagaki (JP), Patricia Bacchus (EN)

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• Back from the Dead: Disappears alongside the agent of Void possessing him at the end of season 3. He comes back in the Movie due to the Origin Shrine's powers in order to find a Vanguard who can awaken Harmonics Messiah and stop the Deleters.
• Big Bad: He's being set up as this for Season 2.
  • Non-Action Big Bad: If the above is true. All he's done is fight Aichi and Kai so they wind up with their current decks and give Aichi, Ren, and Chris Psyqualia. Other than that, he just sits back and watches the teams duke it out.
  • In Episode 98, he reveals that the entire point of the Asia Circuit was to find teams who were capable of leading Cray against the Mysterious Force.
  • Big Good: In Episode 99 its revealed that Leon, not him, is the Big Bad with the Void acting as the Bigger Bad.
• Cross-Dressing Voices
• The Corrupter: To Christopher Lo, Aichi and Ren in season 2, due to giving them all access to psyqualia.
• Deliberately Cute Child: Pulls this stunt in the opening episode of the second season on Aichi.
• Demonic Possession: Believed to be the one who possessed Rekka in Season 1's finale.
  • One interpretation of the Asia-Hen finale is that Takuto himself was possessed by Ezel, based on how he changed after returning from Cray, without his Facial Markings.
  • In season 3 he's once again on the receiving end of this, as he is forcibly possessed by Link Joker.
• Evil Costume Switch: Happens in season 3, after being possessed by Link Joker.
• Facial Markings: The green line on his forehead, it appears on Beaumains in the first episode and Ezel in the opening, leading to quite a few Epileptic Trees that he's actually from Cray/is Ezel.
  • Confirmed to have disappeared in the 2nd season finale.
• Fake Memories: As revealed in episode 157, he effectively erased the PSY Trio's whole identities in order to enlist them as allies for his plan.
• Hidden Agenda Villain: Oh so very much. Except, he's not a villain.
• Improbable Age: Runs the Tatsunagi Financial Group.
• Psychic Powers: During his fight with Aichi, he drags Aichi into a vision of the Royal/Shadow Paladins and Kagero sealing. After he's disappeared, he's either rewritten everyone's memories, with the exception of Aichi (but at least Kai's), or sent the two of them to an Alternate Universe.
  • During the Circuit, he shows off his ability to give Psyqualia to others.
• Put on a Bus: Dispite being revived in the movie, he doesn't come back in G, being replaced by his older brother Nome.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: More like Teleport Hi Bye regarding his fights with Aichi and Kai.
• Supernatural Gold Eyes: Has an extremely pretty pair of golden peepers, and has Psychic Powers which allow him to possess people, grant psyqualia, rewrite memories and drag people to different worlds.
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: His speech to Aichi in Episode 1 of Season 2 indicates that he is doing what is necessary to save Cray from the mysterious force.
  • Not just Cray, he wants to Save Both Worlds.
• White Hair, Black Heart: Initially seems to be this in season 2, but eventually he's revealed to be the Big Good who is trying to Save Both Worlds.

Team S.I.T Genius

Christopher Lo

Great Nature

The leader of S.I.T. Genius, and the number one student at the Singapore Institute of Technical Studies (S.I.T.) His deck's specific theme is using School Hunter Leo-pald to revive the units he sacrifices via Explosive Overclocking.

Voiced by: Sayuri Yahagi (JP), Sam Krochmal (EN)

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• The Ace
  • Broken Ace: He has shades; as the top player at the university, he feels that everyone expects him to stay number one and is always working towards that, but it's clear he's felt the pressure.
• The Corruption: Psyqualia.
  • As of Episode 99, Void seems to have stepped in to corrupt him further.
    • Now he gets Reversed by Kenji in episode 135. He gets better once he loses off screen.
• Drunk on the Dark Side: When under the influence of Psyqualia and Void.
• Lonely at the Top: Describes this in Episode 99, saying that everyone expected him to remain number one and that he couldn't have friends because of that. That said, he was Drunk on the Dark Side at the time.
  • It is the Truth in Television. When you are the best in an institution, people around you expect you to do better, especially prominent in certain Asian countries where pressures from parents and peers can go out of control. Though there is nobody to stop you from making friends with others, but the time and effort you pour in to remain at the top may cause one to sacrifice their time for socializing, thus ended up lonely. Chris' reaction is just like one who has snapped from the enormous pressure.
• Mind-Control Eyes: While Reversed.
• Nice Guy: He's quite polite and reasonable to the main characters, even admonishing his teammates for being rude to them. Seems to be a prerequisite for Psyqualia...
• Psychic Powers: In his fight with Aichi, Takuto gives him Psyqualia.
• Psychotic Smirk: When under the influence of Psyqualia.
• Token Good Teammate
• Took a Level in Jerkass: Thanks to Psyqualia.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Par for course with Psyqualia.

Lee Shenlon

Great Nature

S.I.T. Genius' second in command player. He fights to try and surpass Chris, because he hates being the second best player on the team. He runs a Great Nature deck with a specific focus on using Armed Instructor, Bison's Limit Break.

Voiced by: Asami Shimoda (JP), Benjamin Arthurs (EN)

---

• Bratty Half-Pint
• The Corruption: Reversed off screen after Christoper is Reversed. He gets better
• Facial Markings: While Reversed.
• Jerkass: Shows qualities of this from time to time.
• Mind-Control Eyes: While Reversed.
• The Resenter: Towards Chris, since he hates being second best.
• Serious Business: Believes that he can't be second best to ANYONE in anything.
• Shout-Out: His name is a shout out to the Prime Minster of Singapore.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: How he feels towards Chris.
• Tsundere: Possibly. He shows brief flashes of liking his team in spite of himself, and he gets angry at Chris when he's a Jerkass to Ali after he loses to Kamui.

Pajeel Ali

Great Nature

The third player of S.I.T. Genius, an overconfident kid who wants to win Cardfights because he believes girls like guys who win at Vanguard. He runs a Great Nature deck based around using the Locks Ride Chain and the Hamsuke Units to recover lost advantage from the forced retiring imposed by Great Nature's plus Power skills.

Voiced by: Keiko Nemoto (JP), Sam Duke (EN)

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• The Corruption: Reversed off screen after Christoper is Reversed. He gets better.
• The Casanova: Well, he seems to be successful if his Imagine Spot is to be believed...
  • KidAnova
• Explosive Overclocking: His deck's theme is actually benefiting from this by a combination of the Hamsuke Units (who can Counterblast on Retire to search a copy of themselves from the deck) and the Lox Ride Chain (the Grade 1 and 2 have skills where when you Ride the next stage of the chain onto them, you select up to two of your Great Nature Rearguards and if any of those Rearguards are retired in that turn's End Phase, you draw a card for each).
• Facial Markings: While Reversed.
• Imagine Spot: One that blinds Kamui.
• Mind-Control Eyes: While Reversed.
• Serious Business: 'Girls like guys who win at Cardfights' sums it up.
  • As does the whole 'I'll take away your goddess when I win' thing. Vanguard fights, anteing people since 2012.
• Token Good Teammate: After Chris gets Psyqualia.

Team Dreadnought

Leon Souryuu

Aqua Force

The wind stopped. In other words... this is the Final Turn!

A powerful Cardfighter who uses an "Aqua Force" deck, a legendary clan that was said to have conquered Cray before mysteriously disappearing. Leon is stoic and determined, and uses "the wind" (actually the power of Psyqualia) to sense the flow of a battle.

He is The Chosen One of the Souryu clan, a family that once ruled the seven seas. As their fortunes were tied to that of the Aqua Force clan on the planet Cray, the Souryu clan went into decline after Aqua Force was sealed away by the dark force known as Void. Leon's goal is to revive the Aqua Force clan, thus bringing his own family back into prosperity.

To accomplish this, Leon made a deal with Void to sacrifice the Royal Paladin, Shadow Paladin and Kagero clans in exchange for the revival of Aqua Force. Leon then infiltrates the VF Circuit in order to sabotage Takuto Tatsunagi's plans of finding a new leader for Cray that could defeat Void. Having infused his body with the power of Void, Leon's abilities are enhanced to a terrible degree, and he has become the Big Bad of Season 2.

In Season 3, he, with the Chen twins, are enrolled in a Cardfighting school in Hong Kong. And came to Japan on an invitation to join the Vanguard High School Championship.

In Season 4, Naoki asks him to train him and the rest in order to beat the Quatre Knights. He has not forgotten Aichi, and Kai says he "stands on the fance" in the conflict between Kai's team and the Quatre Knights. Nonetheless, he still trains Naoki.

Voiced by: Daichi Kanbara (JP)

---

• The Ace
• …And That Little Girl Was Me: In Episode 125, he relates an abridged version of his backstory to the Paranormal Society this way, comparing himself corrupted by Void to their current delusion.
• Back-to-Back Badasses: With Koutei in episode 138.
• Badass Boast: In Episode 90:
  Leon: Are you prepared? Are you prepared to bring forth a wind powerful enough to change the world itself? I can do that. No. I must do it!
  • And another in Episode 91:
  Leon: Faced with a raging wind, limits have no meaning!
  • We can pretty much conclude he's a master of these:
  Leon: If I could attain that power, I vowed to defeat my opponent, even if they happened to be a god! And you people are no exceptions!
  Leon: There are two choices before you. The first is to throw down your hand and lose. The other is to keep your hand and lose.
• Badass Longcoat
• Battle Aura: A strange blue-purple one. Possibly related to his Psyqualia.
  • Later upgrades to a very dark purple to show his corruption by Void.
• Big Bad: Of Season 2.
• Big Damn Heroes: Comes to Kai, Naoki, and Gaillard's help alongside Ren when the former three were trapped in Cera's ice prison.
• Catchphrase: 'The wind'.
• Chewing the Scenery: In his match with Aichi, by the time he gets around to Crossriding Maelstrom, he's trying it out quite a bit.
• The Chosen One: Believes he is, at any rate.
  • In Episode 98 he even essentially says that he is the one chosen to lead Cray to salvation from the Mysterious Force.
• The Comically Serious: In more comical moments, his stoic-ness becomes this.
• The Corruption: Void.
• Deal with the Devil: He made a deal with Void.
• Evil Laugh: Toward the end of Asia Circuit.
• Expy: Fans were pointing out the similarities between Leon and JACK ATLAS well before he actually made his debut.
• Foil: To Season 1 Ren who is a Jerkass and a bit of an airhead who kicked the dog, had no problem abandoning his teammates after they lost, whereas Leon is a serious Well-Intentioned Extremist who respect his opponents and cares for his family to the point that helping them serves as his motivation. Despte this, they're also not that different.
• I Am the Noun
  Leon: In fact, we are justice!
• Invocation:
  Leon: We who carry out justice have no limits! Naval Gazer, Limit Break!
  Leon: Behold! Wash away all vice in the flow of a furious flood. Its name is righteousness! I Ride Blue Storm Dragon, Maelstrom!
  Leon: Dragon spun into existence from the warp of the wind and the weft of the sea, live up to the legend in your ideal form! I Crossride Blue Storm Supreme Dragon, Glory Maelstrom!
• Large Ham: Especially when delivering speeches about "Wind", "Aqua Force" and their "ABSOLUTE JUSTICE!!!"
• Let Me Tell You a Story: Specifically, his backstory, to the Paranormal Club in Episode 125.
• Making a Splash: Aqua Force.
• Meaningful Name: His surname is a nickname for Seiryuu, the Dragon of the East.
• Might Makes Right: Believes this about himself and Aqua Force:
  Leon: Ever victorious and thus righteous!
• More Hero than Thou: Tells the assembled members of Teams Q4, New AL4 and SIT Genius to go back home when Takuto invites them to come and save Cray for this reason.
  Leon: It's simple. You people aren't the leaders that Cray needs. That person is me alone, Leon Souryu!
• Morton's Fork: Gave one to the Paranormal Club President in episode 125.
  Leon: There are two choices before you. The first is to throw down your hand and lose. The other is to keep your hand and lose.
• Psychic Powers: The wind is Psyqualia. And then he gets even stronger ones via Void.
• The Rival: He's been billed as one for Team Q4.
• Sanity Slippage: He becomes Not So Stoic once he joins sides with Void, but judging by some of his interactions with Kai and Aichi, he's destablizing in this manner, especially when Kai hits a raw nerve and figures out Leon's afraid of being alone.
• Secret-Keeper: He knows about Aichi sealing himself away in season 4.
• The Stoic: Throughout his fight with Daigo, he remains cold and collected throughout.
• Technicolor Eyes: His eyes are purple.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: He's just trying to stop his family dying out. It just took a Deal with the Devil to get the ball rolling.
• Willing Channeler: He's allowing Void's power to enter his body and Takuto's words suggest that it's Void actually working to possess him.
• The Worf Effect: In Neon Messiah, he gets taken out by Ibuki off-screen not long after finding an unconscious Misaki.

Sharlene Chen

Aqua Force

A member of Team Dreadnought, along with Leon and her twin sister Jillian. Having grown up with Leon, they show immense respect for him as the heir to the Souryu Clan. She is the more quiet and airheaded of the two, but is prone to outbursts when angered.

Voiced by: Saori Goto (JP)

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• Actually Pretty Funny: After Misaki tells her sister Jillian to shut up when she taunts Team Q4 for their loss against Team Dreadnought, and that she is closed-minded for not seeing value in defeat, Sharlene happily laughs calls her sister closed-minded too.
• Always Identical Twins
• Beware the Nice Ones
• The Corruption: Reversed by Lee when Teams Caesar and Genius attack Dreadnought. She gets better after Leon and Koutei fight her and the others.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Despite her adorable and silly personality, she's still an incredibly skilled fighter plus, like her sister, she's more than capable of putting down a man taller and older than her with ease.
• Cute Bruiser / Little Miss Badass
• Facial Markings: While Reversed.
• Identical Twin ID Tag: She wears the hair to the side of her face on the left.
• Mind-Control Eyes: While Reversed.
• Proper Tights with a Skirt
• Shout-Out: Her name is a name play of the former popular Hong Kong C-Pop starlet Charlene Choi from the group "Twins".
• Shy Blue-Haired Girl
• Tag Team Twins: She and Jillian fought all the matches of the Hong Kong stage before the final.
• Tareme Eyes
• Undying Loyalty: Even when Leon is clearly corrupted by Void, she and Jillian stand by and protect him.

Jillian Chen

Aqua Force

Voiced by: Kana Ueda (JP)

The third member of Team Dreadnought. Compared to Sharlene, she has a sharp tongue and a ruthless temperament, becoming riled whenever someone does not show Leon enough respect.

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• Always Identical Twins
• The Corruption: Reversed by Ali when Teams Caesar and Genius attack Dreadnought. She gets better after Leon and Koutei fight her and the others.
• Cute Bruiser / Little Miss Badass
• Facial Markings: While Reversed.
• Hair-Trigger Temper
• Identical Twin ID Tag: She wears the hair to the side of her face on the right.
• Mind-Control Eyes: While Reversed.
• Proper Tights with a Skirt
• Shout-Out: Her name is a name play of the former popular Hong Kong C-pop starlet Gillian Chung from the group "Twins".
• Tag Team Twins: She and Sharlene fought all the matches of the Hong Kong stage before the final.
• Tsurime Eyes
• Undying Loyalty: To Leon, even when he's working with Void.

Other Characters

Daigo

Royal Paladin

A Legendary Fighter who was introduced in Episode 82, fighting Leon with a Royal Paladin deck. In the episode, it is revealed that when the Clans were sealed, Daigo was caught in a space time warp, causing him to teleport randomly from place to place, staying in each for only a short time. After losing to Leon, he teleports once again, and it is stated he will likely continue to do so until the Clans are freed.

Outside of the anime, Daigo was also a main character in the live-action drama Stand Up! Vanguard. Whether the two are actually the same or not was never explained, since the anime Daigo used a different deck (though not a different Clan). Daigo is of course a real person also, who is associated heavily with Vanguard via advertising.

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• Cloudcuckoolander
• Gratuitous English: Endlessly in the anime. One particular sequence has him speaking English until the very last word.
  Daigo: Hi-Dog Breeder Akane, call! And Counterblast! Come on, Pongal! And Counterblast once more! Soul Saver Dragon... into the tefuda (hand)
• The Power of Friendship: His deck.
• Real-Person Cameo
• Random Teleportation
• Yin-Yang Bomb: In the live-action, he uses Majesty Lord Blaster.

Introduced in Season 3 (Link Joker)

Miyaji High Cardfight Club

The Cardfight Vanguard club formed by Aichi after he transferred to Miyaji High. Their members currently consist of Aichi (President), Naoki Ishida (Vice President), Shingo Komoi, Kourin and Misaki.

Naoki Ishida

Narukami

Voiced by: Toru Nara

Aichi's classmate in Miyaji High School. He has the look of a aimless delinquent but is actually looking for something to get invested in, having been put off by the straight-laced nature of the people around him.

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• Adaptation Dye-Job: He looks more of a brunet in Neon Messiah.
• The Atoner: He wants to make up for never stepping in to defend Aichi from the bullying he received when they both attended the same elementary school.
• Attack! Attack! Attack!
• Brainwashed and Crazy: In Episode 126
• Breakout Character: Naoki's introduction as a complete beginner who is very passionate of the game with many amusing moments quickly won him many fans. For the rest of season 3, Naoki becomes The Lancer to Aichi, having more highlighted moments than any other character besides Kai and Aichi themselves. Comes Legion Mate arc, not only does Naoki rejoin the team earlier than everyone else, his status as The Lancer carries over from the previous season into this one and he is also the only one who lasts for the entirety of the final arc, beating both the Quatre Knight match up he is in, and Kourin making him the only one of the season’s five main characters besides Kai to avoid being an Advertised Extra. While Naoki was never unimportant per se, it gets rather jarring to see him standing around Kai, Ren, and Leon three major character with two of them having special powers that made them very important in the season's backstory.
  • Naoki is popular enough that the main protagonist of the sequel is essentially modelled after him. When the sequel introduced a new character to act as the sidekick in the later seasons, he's also modelled after Naoki to some extent.
• Catchphrase:
  Naoki: Strike, my avatar!
• The Corruption: The first to be Reversed, though he's quickly saved by Aichi.
• Delinquents: Not actually one but looks like one.
• Desperately Looking for a Purpose in Life: He is looking for something that "can make his soul burn".
• Face of a Thug
• Facial Markings: As part of being possessed.
• Hot-Blooded
• Insistent Terminology: Calling out "Break Time!" whenever he uses a Break Ride, despite numerous people pointing out that the phrase means "taking a rest". It's become somewhat of a meme in the fandom.
• Invocation:
  Naoki: That voice echoes in the darkness, whispering for me to beat Aichi Sendou! Observe! The ebony flames that burn in the pitch-black darkness! Crossbreak ride! Eradicator, Vowing Saber Dragon "Reverse"!
  Naoki: "Break through all bindings and descend, my strongest avatar of savage lightning! Break ride! Eradicator, Tempest Bolt Dragon!"
• It's All My Fault: He blames himself for Aichi transferring schools after not stepping in to save him and deems himself as bad as the bullies.
• Mind-Control Eyes: Episode 126, due to his possession.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: Red to Aichi's blue.
• Shock and Awe: His Narukami deck.
• Tsundere

Shingo Komoi

Murakumo / Spike Brothers / Narukami

Voiced by: Hiroyuki Yoshino

One of Aichi's classmates in Miyaji High. He is a huge fan of Vanguard, but was unable to play it often due to Miyaji High's straight-laced nature. He idolises Aichi and joins the club in order to get closer to him. Instead of specialising in one clan like most Cardfighters, Shingo has several decks and constantly rotates between them.

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• Expy: Looks very similar to Insector Haga/Weevil Underwood, down to the hair style and glasses.
• The Corruption: Has been reversed off-screen.
• Facial Markings: While Reversed.
• Fanboy: For Aichi and later, Rekka as well.
  • He's also this for Kai, as shown in episode 110.
• Me's a Crowd: The ace card in his Murakumo deck, Magatsu Storm, can summon additional copies of itself from the Deck for multiple attacks.
• Scary Shiny Glasses
• Small Name, Big Ego: For someone who professes to be a skilled player of Vanguard, his win-loss ratio is pathetic.
• Stalker with a Crush: Accused of being this for Kourin by Naoki, even though he was watching Aichi.
• Technician vs. Performer: The Technician to Naoki's Performer.
• Underestimating Badassery: A recurring thing with him. First he underestimates Miwa (because he had never seen Miwa's name in any Vanguard magazines) and then Emi (because she's younger than him and prioritises "cuteness" in her cards).

Kourongi Nakamurabashi

The faculty advisor of the Miyaji High Cardfight Club. He knows nothing about Vanguard and has no real interest in it, but takes his responsibilities with good humour and grace. He is definitely not Takaaki Kidani, the CEO of Bushiroad.

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• Expy: Looks like Takaaki Kidani, the CEO of Bushiroad. Here's a comparison picture.◊
• Japanese Politeness: His manner of speaking is incredibly polite.

Miyaji High Student Council

The Absurdly Powerful Student Council of Miyaji High School. Seeing the Cardfight Club as a disruption to the order of the school, they act as the main antagonistic force in Link Joker's first arc.

Tatewaki Naito

Great Nature

Voiced by: Susumu Chiba

The President of the Miyaji High School Student Council. Espousing the idea of the "global standard" and Social Darwinism, he looks down upon hobbyist pursuits like the Cardfight Club and takes steps to remove them from the school.

• Evil Virtues: He has a strong sense of honour, so even though he stacks the deck against the Cardfight Club and actively plots to remove them from the school, he will reward them if they pass his challenges.
• Knight Templar: A very mild version: he seeks to remove the Cardfight Club because they don't fit his ideal vision for the school.
• Man of Wealth and Taste
• Princely Young Man
• The Social Darwinist
• You Have Failed Me: To the Football Team after they fail to defeat Aichi.

Juri Suwabe

Megacolony

Voiced by: Junji Majima

The Vice-President of Miyaji High School Student Council. Although he argues for the global significance of Cardfight!! Vanguard, he is utterly devoted to Naito's ideals and acts as his arm in enforcing his wishes.

• Eyes Always Shut
• Poke the Poodle: His schemes so far to disband the Cardfight Club have included, "Beat them in a card game so they'll get upset" and "Spread rumours".
• Scary Shiny Glasses

Maki Nagashiro

Neo Nectar

Voiced by: Reina Ueda

The tight-lipped secretary of the Student Council. Unknown to the other two members, she has ties to the evil force behind "Link Joker" and is under orders to observe the Cardfight Club.

• Enigmatic Minion: To the Student Council. She's one of the Reverse fighter.
• Evil Redhead: When she's controlled by Void.
• Four Eyes, Zero Soul: When she's under Void's control.
• "Not So Different" Remark: Maki claims that Naoki and her are similar, as they were isolated and alone.
• The Quiet One: She doesn't speak until Episode 126 - a full 22 episodes into the season.
  • Although she did have a simple "Yes, sir" in Episode 109.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning
• Scary Shiny Glasses
• Took a Level in Cheerfulness: After Link Joker-hen.

Other Characters

Akari Yotsue

A friend of Misaki who also attends Miyaji High School.

Eru Nakagami

Dark Irregulars

The leader of the Paranormal Power Research Society. He is sent by the student council to challenge the Cardfight Club but instead faces Leon and is defeated by him.

• Facial Markings: He gets rid of them after he is defeated by Leon.

Agent of Void

Link Joker

A mysterious entity related to Void who possesses Takuto Tatsunagi and serves as the Big Bad for the third season.

Voiced by: Ayahi Takagaki (JP)

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• Big Bad: Of season 3.
• The Corrupter: To Kai
  • And then Aichi, by having the Seed transfer to him.
• Creepy Child: When he's in control of Takuto's body.
• Did Not See That Coming: He had no idea Dragonic Overlord the Яebirth even existed.
  • He also did not know that a unit with the ability to unlock existed or that Monarch Sanctuary Alfred's Limit Break also worked on locked cards.
• Facial Markings A red diamond on his forehead.
• Hate Sink: He is responsible for the Reverse phenomenon by possessing Takuto and corrupting Cardfighters like Kai and Kourin.
• Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: The way to stop him is winning, naturally. Only then the winner becomes his successor when Link Joker's seed jumps to them, rendering the standard method of stopping him ineffective.
• Invocation:
  Agent of Void: Sword of despair that dyes all brilliance jet-black Star-vader, Omega Glendios!
• Knight of Cerebus: Link Joker started out as a light-hearted Slice of Life show, but once he shows up, things become much more serious.
• Mark of the Supernatural: After melding with Takuto, one of his eyes turns green.
• Mind Rape: Is very, very skilled at doing this, as Kai found out the hard way.
• Taking You with Me: After he loses to Aichi, he attempts to drag Aichi with him when he is sucked into the black ring. Fortunately, Takuto stops him and pulls this trope himself.
• Walking Spoiler: Look at all the spoilered tropes.
• White Hair, Black Heart: While possessing Takuto.

Introduced in Season 4 (Legion Mate)

Quatre Knights

A group of four world-class Vanguard players from across the globe. When Aichi disappears at the start of the Legion Mate arc, they emerge to discourage anyone from finding him. Each of them possesses the power to trap their opponent in a Pocket Dimension called a "Prison", forcing a Cardfight. Whoever loses a Cardfight within a Prison is punished with "Judgement", a vicious attack upon the body and soul of the loser. They were recruited by Aichi personally, and together form the seal that locks Aichi away from the rest of the world. Only by defeating all four of them can the seal be released.

Group Tropes:

• The Chosen One: All four of them were chosen personally by Aichi to protect him and his seals.
• Elemental Powers: Each of them has control over one, although Neve and Cera use another one in their Judgement.
• Hero Antagonist: They're keeping Aichi sealed at his own request and the implication is that he's sealed to stop Link Joker. With that in mind, they definitely come across as this.
• Laser-Guided Amnesia: This is what happens to those who receive "Memory Judgement".
• Villain Has a Point: Given that it's heavily implied that Aichi sealed himself away to protect the world from Link Joker, the Quatre Knights actually have a valid reason for keeping the mates away from him. Gaillard in particular comes across as very justified in his hatred of Kai, given Kai by his own admission accepted an evil power and in doing so participated in a plan to destroy the world.

Olivier Gaillard

Gold Paladins

The champion of the Vanguard European Circuit. He claims to be the successor to Aichi's will, and has the power to create and manipulate blue flames.

He was raised in an orphanage in France and upon becoming champion, continued to support the orphanage, only to have its residents turned against him by Reverse. Due to Aichi stopping that crisis, Gaillard holds Undying Loyalty towards him and bears a marked resentment of Kai, who he blames for causing the Link Joker crisis.

Voiced by: Kento Hama (JP)

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• Anti-Hero: He is a heroic person with noble aims and positive character traits, but at the same time he's ruthless in enforcing Aichi's will, as shown by how he is willing to unleash Judgment on Kai, Naoki and Serra without any reservations.
• Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work: Him dealing with Serra can be seen as this, since Kai and Naoki had no real answer to Serra's ice powers.
• Catchphrase: Just as Kai/Ren uses "the" and Leon uses "my" ("the Vanguard", "my Vanguard"), Olivier uses "le".
• The Heavy: Despite not being their leader, he is the most prominent of the Quatre Knights, serving as Kai's rival for the season.
• Iconic Item: Bluish Flame Liberator, Percival, his avatar.
• Invocation: He quotes Aichi's chants word-for-word.
• It's Personal: He has a deep-seated hatred for Kai, who he blames for causing the Link Joker crisis which turned his fellow orphans against him.
• Knight Templar: He believes that he is enforcing Aichi's will, and to that end is totally ruthless.
• Orphan's Ordeal: After his family died in a fire, he was raised in an orphanage.
• Parental Abandonment: His parents died in a fire.
• Playing with Fire: He has the ability to create and manipulate blue flames
• The Promise: He and Aichi made a promise, which he alludes to after losing to Kai, most likely his swearing to follow Aichi's plan and keep him sealed.
• Ring of Power: He has two rings that appear to be related to his fire powers.
• The Rival: To Kai, shown by their blue flame versus red flame dynamic.
• Worthy Opponent: After many fights throughout the season, he grew to respect Kai and his resolve. At the end of the season, he invites Kai to join him and Philip on the Euro Circuit.
• You Remind Me of X: Kai notes that Gaillard reminds him heavily of Aichi.

Philip Neve

Dimension Police

A boisterous Cardfighter with a love of animals and a steely resolve. He has the ability to trap his opponents in an arena of metal, preventing them from fleeing. He joined the Quatre Knights because he believes that by protecting Aichi, he can keep his homeland safe from war. While it's unclear where he's actually from, several fans have guessed based on his name and backstory that he's from Ireland.

Voiced by: Yuuya Murakami (JP)

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• Anti-Villain: His backstory cements him as one. Neve fought through the European Cicuit to unite his country, and he's become a Quatre Knight to continue to protect his homeland from war.
• The Brute: He is physically the biggest among the Quatre Knights.
• Extra-ore-dinary: He has the ability to create metal.
• Hidden Depths: Big time. At first he just appears to be a Jerkass, but once his backstory is revealed, it's clear that he's actually quite a noble person dedicated to protecting Aichi to save his country.
• Licked by the Dog: Cats actually.
• Shock and Awe: His judgement involves eloctrucuting his defeated opponent.
• Wouldn't Hit a Girl: He tells Misaki that he will not fight a "kitten," but later subverted it when she refuses to budge down.

Ratie Curti

Shadow Paladin

A young Indian girl whose love of doughnuts obscures a nihilistic streak that rejects the intangible. She has the ability to trap her opponents in an illusionary field of thorns.

Voiced by: Rina Sato (JP)

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• Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Like Ren, this Shadow Paladin user is also one.
  • The Ditz: How does one ends up heads down in a thrash can?
• Cute Witch / Hot Witch: Her deck is full of them.
• Green Thumb: Her prison is covered entirely in thorny vines.
• Red Baron: Called the Uncrowned Witch.
• Trademark Favorite Food: She loves doughnuts to the point that she often forget about her fights when eating them.
• The Smurfette Principle: The only girl among the Quatre Knights.
• Verbal Tic: Has an habit of saying Pan-nyarara when she uses her units' skills.

Raul Serra

Neo Nectar/Granblue/Link Joker

The champion of the Vanguard South American Circuit. He is an expressionless and ruthless Cardfighter who takes his role as a Quatre Knight with the utmost seriousness. His special fight field, "Millennium Blizzard Prison", traps his opponents with ice.

Voiced by: Kazuyuki Okitsu (JP)

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• An Ice Person: He has the ability to trap people in a prison made of ice.
• Big Bad: He seems to be one for season 4.
  • Big Bad Wannabe: Turns out he's actually this. He only lasts about 4 episodes before being defeated by Gaillard and getting hit by a Memory Judgement
• The Chessmaster: He manipulated both the Quatre Knights and the mates to achieve his true aim: unsealing Aichi.
• Blow You Away: His Judgement damages his opponent with a blizzard wind.
• The Chosen One: He believes he is Link Joker's chosen fighter.
• Enigmatic Minion: Of the Quatre Knights, his motivations are the hardest to pin down. Despite his duty to the Quatre Knights, he has been helping Kai's group by encouraging them to get stronger, sending his butler to create leads, and freely surrendering vital information. Then there's the Traitor Shot after he is defeated by Naoki.
  • It turns out his true aim was to weaken Aichi's seals so he could break them and unleash Aichi.
• Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: He can't seem to understand why Aichi wanted to seal Link Joker away, and he even says he preferred Rati when she considered friendship a mirage.
  • This is actually his Fatal Flaw, he can't comprehend The Power of Friendship and it's this which leads to his defeat.
• Evil Is Deathly Cold: He is the main antagonist of season 4 and has control over ice. This also extends to his units as Astro Reaper was seen freezing Cray in Ratie's visions.
• Evil Is Hammy: As soon as he reveals his true colors, he begins chewing scenery like there's no tomorrow.
• Foil: To Ratie. Serra is serious and composed, Ratie is whimsical and quirky. Both of them believe that The Power of Friendship doesn't exist, but while Ratie accepts it due to Misaki's influence and in spirit assists Gaillard, Serra denies it to the end and is defeated by the allies he betrayed.
• Genre Blind: To say that believing The Power of Friendship doesn't exist in an anime like Vanguard is this trope is putting it lightly.
• Green Thumb: He uses a Neo Nectar deck in his duel against Kamui.
• Hate Sink: Serra is the only member of the Quatre Knights who is outright evil due to his ulterior motives.
• It's All About Me: He believes he is Link Joker's chosen one who will rule both worlds.
• Smug Snake: In spades. It's the point he continually monologues about how he fooled Aichi and the Quatre Knights just to rub in how clever he thinks he is.
• The Starscream: Although part of the original Five-Man Band, Sera betrays Aichi and the knights, breaking Aichi out of his seal and freeing him to start attacking the other Quatre Knights.
• Take Over the World: His true aim to use Link Joker's power to rule over both Earth and Cray.
• Traitor Shot: Gets one after he is defeated by Naoki, indicating that he was not as hurt by Judgement as he let on.
• Unknown Rival: For all his claims of being superior to Aichi, he ends up being defeated without even managing to awaken him; to the point that Aichi never even mentions his betrayal when he does wake up.
• Villainous Breakdown: After Gaillard beats him, he falls apart massively before recovering enough to try and pull one last trick. When he realises he's about to be hit with Memory Judgment, he completely collapses.

Morris Pennyworth

Megacolony

The butler of Raul Serra. He is not a Quatre Knight himself, but continues to serve Serra.

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• Big Creepy-Crawlies: He uses a Megacolony deck, focusing on the Machining archetype.
• Break Them by Talking: He tries to do this to Naoki, so that he would stop searching for Aichi. It fails.
• Expy: To Osamu Kishida, down to the clan. But they are not related in any way.
• Insistent Terminology: He refers to the special ability of the Megacolony clan (the power to prevent a unit from Standing during the Stand Phase) as "Paralyse".
• Obfuscating Stupidity: His efforts to serve the Quatre Knights seem to backfire more often than not, often giving Kai and his friends valuable hints about the movements and motives of the Knights. This is because he is under orders from Serra, who wishes to manipulate Kai into defeating the Quatre Knights and releasing the seals on Aichi.
• Tempting Fate: Claims that it would be impossible for Kai, Naoki, and Gaillard to escape from Serra's prison by themselves and that there's no one to help them from the outside. Cue Ren and Leon appearing and doing just that.

Vanguard Manga Characters

Kouji Ibuki

Kouji Ibuki

Link Joker (Movie)

Vanguard invites calamity and misfortune. It is a game that cannot be allowed to exist in this world.

A mysterious boy who was Kai's classmate when he was younger. He taught Kai and Miwa how to play Vanguard, and was ultimately defeated by Kai's Royal Paladin deck in the past.

In the present, he is a student at Fukuhara High School, like Ren and Asaka. He first appears to Aichi, asking about Blaster Blade, and later fights Tetsu. It is revealed in this fight that he has some kind of Psyqualia, and he uses a unit called Deleter which can erase the opposing Vanguard. In the following chapter, Tetsu's Vanguard has been turned face down, suggesting that Deleter is in fact a Link Joker with the power to lock the vanguard. Indeed, following materials like the Neon Messiah movie would confirm him as a Link Joker user, with said ability being known as Delete.

He's also set to appear in the Neon Messiah movie using Deletors. His aim is to destroy Vanguard as a game by awakening the legendary Messiah, because he sees Vanguard as harmful and dangerous. In truth, he is being used as a puppet by Daunting Deletor, Oksizz, which erased his positive memories of Vanguard to manipulate him. After he is defeated by Aichi, he tosses aside Oksizz and is given the Messiah card.

Voiced by: Mamoru Miyano (JP)

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• Adaptation Dye-Job: In the manga, his hair is something of a pale teal, but in the movie, his hair is grey.
• Big Bad: Played with. While Ibuki's actions served as the film's main conflict, Oksizz is later revealed to be this.
• Brainwashed and Crazy: In Neon Messiah, he is being manipulated and controlled by Daunting Deletor, Oksizz the entire time.
• Canon Immigrant: Manga-only for a while, he's now included in the anime through Neon Messiah.
• The Chosen One: He was chosen by the Deletors of Planet Brandt.
• The Corruption: Seems to be controlled by the manga version of Link Joker.
• Dark Is Evil: Ibuki is the antagonist of the Neon Messiah movie and wears a black outfit.
• Evil Is Hammy: In his fights, he hams it up like mad.
• Final Boss: Since Neon Messiah chronologically takes place after the fourth season, this makes Ibuki the final opponent of the original series.
• Gratuitous English: All of his Deletors have their names spoken entirely in English.
• Hijacked by Ganon: Rather than being an independent threat, his Deletors are just another aspect of Link Joker. Taken even further when it turns out Ibuki's been a puppet for Oksizz the entire time.
• Iconic Item: Has two, Daunting Deletor, Oksizz, his ace card, and his white crow.
• Invocation: Has one for Oksizz, but his most memorable one is probably:
  Ibuki: Delete... END!
• Mentor Archetype: Was this to Kai, being the one who introduced him to Vanguard.
• Psychic Powers: He has Psyqualia in the manga
• Red and Black and Evil All Over: Ibuki's outfit in the movie is primarily black and red. Unsurprisingly, he's the antagonist.
• Red Eyes, Take Warning
• Rival Turned Evil: Seems to be.
• Took a Level in Jerkass
• Well-Intentioned Extremist: The Neon Messiah trailer implies that he wants to destroy Vanguard because he sees it as harmful.
  • In the manga, he sees Vanguard as something that divides people (winners or losers, strong or weak).

Stand Up! Vanguard Characters

Main Characters

Hiroki Miura

Kagero

The secondary protagonist of the drama, Hiroki is a withdrawn young man with a passion for Vanguard, who is bullied due to his cowardice. His father is often absent from home due to his work, and Hiroki believes that the man prefers his work to his family. However, with Daigo's assistance, Hiroki comes to challenge those who bully him, and openly fight them at Vanguard. At the end of the drama, despite losing to Teru's Phantom Blaster Overlord at the tournament, he was able to make friends with the other boy. He confronts Daigo as the latter prepares to leave, reminding him that they have not had a final fight.

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• Kill It with Fire: His deck.

Teru Nanbara

Shadow Paladin

Hiroki... with all my power, here I come!

A competitive fighter who looks down on the weak, Teru bullies Hiroki due to this. He is taught by Eiji, who instilled the value of the strong over the weak into him, leading him to seek victory at all costs. Using a powerful Shadow Paladin deck, Teru is a major opponent for Hiroki to beat, effortlessly defeating the other boy in their first fight. At the championships, the two fight once more after Daigo manages to defeat Eiji through sheer luck. Despite Hiroki almost winning with Dragonic Overlord The End, Teru survives due to a Heal Trigger, and ends the game on the next turn with his Phantom Blaster Overlord's devastating Persona Blast. However, he comes to respect Hiroki's strength, and makes friends with him.

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• Dark Is Evil: His Shadow Paladin deck.
  • Dark Is Not Evil: Until the end of the championship, where he turns out to not be so bad after all.