Fanfic / Kingdom From the Ashes, Rise

Kingdom From the Ashes, Rise is a Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V AU story, written by Azure_witch13 and Green_Phantom_Queen. And if the latter author sounds familiar, then you might know another fanfic she's well known for (Green Phantom Queen herself stated that the former was inspired by her fanfic). However Azure has since disowned this fic.

Just like that fanfic, the catalyst of the story starts in the fateful duel between Yuto and Yugo. Yuya watches in horror as both are determined to destroy each other, with both of their dragons ready to strike. All he wants is for this to stop...

And, surprisingly, it does.

But not before Yuya finds a dark voice and shadows comforting him, and as Yuya falls unconscious, he whispers one word:

"Father".

Zarc takes over Yuya and quells the anger within the hearts of Yuto and Yugo's dragons before having his sons return to his arms. It's then revealed that Yuya, Yuto, Yugo, and Yuri are the sons of the (much more benevolent) Supreme Dragon King, whose soul has been split and carried within the souls of his sons. Zarc is not pleased with the state of affairs though: Professor Akaba and his tireless pursuit to revive Ray, his sons separated and not knowing of their past selves, and Ray Akaba's presence in Yuzu and her counterparts.

But this will not deter Zarc, no it won't. And he is now ready to reclaim his kingdom from those who wish to take it away and he will not let anyone stop him.

Fans will get a unique twist on an AU where Zarc is the father of the Yu-boys, the Bracelet Girls gaining much more prominent roles, connections to the previous series before it, characterization for nearly all characters involved, a story that can be considered canon-compliant to the anime and, as the authors proclaim, "awesome and badass Yoko" to see how Zarc decides to end Professor Akaba's scheme and become resurrected as the true Supreme King that he is.

And just for fun, this page also contains the various horror tropes Yoko observes in the entire story.

Both authors have also made another fanfic called Zero Hour (ARC-V), which is another take on the Arc-V anime.

This story contains examples of the following Tropes. Beware of Unmarked Spoilers:

• Accomplice by Inaction: In Chapter 9 (Part 2), Reiji tells Yuya that he is this for letting Yusho go to stop his father three years prior because Reiji never told Yuya the truth about what happened, culminating in Yuya's Sad Clown attitude and You Show Duel School falling into decline.
• Action Mom: Yoko Sakaki decides to join in the fight against Academia by fighting off Obelisk Force soldiers with her bare hands during the Battle Royale, and learns Synchro from Yugo so she can join the Lancers to journey across the dimensions.
• Adaptational Angst Upgrade: A lot of characters are shown to be moodier than in canon.
  • Yuri's Dark and Troubled Past gets expanded on as it reveals that he doesn't want to believe in any hope of having a happier life with his father and brothers, to the point of self-injuries because he doesn't want to feel like he's believing lies.
  • Serena becomes mortified over how she accidentally carded an innocent duelist (Hokuto) whereas she doesn't feel sorry in the slightest in the anime.
  • Reiji never feels anything for his actions throughout the series. Chapter 9 Part 1 and 2 rectifies it by showing that the stress of running Leo Corp. for three years while preparing the invasion all by himself and how letting Yusho go alone to see Professor Akaba has made Yuya and You Show Duel School a laughing stock causes him to break down into tears.
  • Yoko was shown to be okay with her husband disappearing and had her full faith in him. In this story, she's pissed to learn just what he was doing and how he never went to her or Yuya to explain himself.
  • Rin and Ruri's experiences under Academia were never touched upon; here we see that both of them are stressed out and angry at everything that the Fusion Dimension has put upon them and want revenge.
• Adaptational Badass:
  • Yoko only got one duel and it wasn't even a duel as it just was a therapy session for Yuya. In this series, she decides to follow Gongenzaka's route and learn Synchro Summoning from Yugo to the point where she duels Gongenzaka with a Dragunity deck and wins.
  • Yuzu only learned Fusion summoning in the anime. When she duels Shingo, she shows off an Xyz Summoning thanks to a little help from Ray.
• Adaptation Expansion: The story expands on the mythos of the Yu-Gi-Oh! series and adds more than what was explained in the original anime.
  • Makoto and Ken — the two Ryozanpaku students who dueled Yuya in the Battle Royale — are revealed to be carded instead of just vanishing into thin air.
  • Serena and Yuzu share a talk about who created Duel Monsters in the first place and the creation of the Duel Disk, something that was never mentioned in the anime.
  • Serena carding Hokuto is only mentioned but the consequences are never expanded on. In here, Serena realizes that she carded an innocent victim, someone, who had friends and parents, and after that, she feels absolutely horrible at what her impulsiveness caused.
  • The story expands more on Ray and Zarc's relationship, revealing that Zarc wanted to propose to her before he went on his rampage and Ray had to stop him via the En-Cards.
  • In Chapter 9, Part 2, Reiji comes clean about rewriting Masumi, Yaiba, and Hokuto's memories and confesses the truth about what happened to Yusho to Yuya.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Yuzu's Tsundere aspects are dialed down and the story focuses on her nurturing and caring personality, seeing how she acts like a big sister to Serena. Word of God reveals that this was done because both authors despise the Tsundere trope in general.
• Adaptation Personality Change:
  • Those who read Mors Omnibus will recall that Black Mirror Xyz Dragon was mostly there to show that Yugo could Xyz summon. In this story, he's given a playful personality akin to a puppy, and Green Phantom Queen states that he's like a little brother who idolizes Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon. Chapter 9 Part 1 shows that he's very bashful and self-aware about his appearance, prone to crying when people call him a "monster".
  • Yoko was shown to be very supportive of her husband disappearing like that. Upon learning the Awful Truth, she's shown to be very outraged for her husband's stupidity. She also is shown to have a love of horror shows which wasn't present in the anime.
  • Serena is shown to be quite cute upon watching Wonder Woman and experiencing a slumber party for the first time. She also is known to go into Cuteness Proximity too.
• Adaptational Sexuality:
  • Yuto is said to have felt only for Ruri, whereas this fic shows that he's quite...possessive of Shun also.
  • Likewise there are hints of Shun having feelings for Sayaka Sasayama. Instead, he's shown to be having a crush on Yuto.
  • Raphael, Alister, and Valon are a couple in this universe (it's never shown what orientation Raphael and Alister displayed in the anime) with Valon telling Mieru that he's into girls too.
• Aggressive Submissive: Shun, of all characters. As the narration puts it, when it comes to matters like fighting Academia, he's stoic and laser-focused. But around Yuto, he's like a love-sick puppy.
• Ascended Extra:
  • Yoko Sakaki's original role for the show was mostly contained in being the supportive mother for Yuya, whether it be through words or by getting on a motorcycle to knock some sense into him. Here, she learns about Zarc's nature much earlier than expected, becomes the mother figure for Yuto, Yugo and Yuri, and even interfere with the Battle Royale from beating up Obelisk Force soldiers to saving Serena and Yuzu from being attacked by Yuri.
  • Both Rin and Ruri get bigger roles compared to what they get in the anime as Zarc gives them a deal to protect them if they follow his command, which they accept.
• Author Appeal:
  • For Azure, her favorite series was GX and her favorite protagonist is Jaden. Hence, Jaden is given a more prominent role in this story and she states that the chapters with his debut are her favorite to write.
  • For Green Phantom Queen, she's known for having a love of conversations across a dinner table and having food described to the readers.
• Awesome by Analysis: Yoko's love of horror tropes makes it easy for her to spot something wrong in regards to Yuya, Yuto, and Yugo early on. Zarc is quite impressed with this skill.
• Bait-and-Switch:
  • The dreams Yuri receives in Chapter 5 (Part 2) play out this way. The first one has him climb a tree and fall to the ground, expecting that he hurts his arm but he is instead saved by Zarc.]The second one has him alone in his room, crying his eyes out before it shows a younger Yugo entering it to comfort him.
  • In Chapter 8 (Part 1), Yuya wakes up to a scream and rushes downstairs to see his mom surrounded by three bikers. Turns out that these bikers are people Yoko asked to help create a kidnapping scenario for Yugo so he can experience an Action Duel and the bikers (Raphael, Alister, and Valon) are his former babysitters.
• Bait-and-Switch Comment: In their action duel, Serena and Yaiba are thrust into a cutesy playroom of bubbles, clouds, and plushies. Serena starts making a comment to which Yaiba responds that it's not a battlefield for the two...before Serena exclaims that it's cute and ends up splashing into a pile of plushies.
• Beware the Nice Ones:
  • Yuya is described as very sweet and kind and caring...but pissing him off is essentially a death sentence. This is best shown in the flashback of Chapter 8 Pt 2: young 6-year-old Yuya (back when he was Zarc's son) ran to a carnival and wanted to impress its ringmaster with his magic. Turns out that the ringmaster wanted to use him as part of a trafficking service and Yuya burned him alive while putting an illusion that looked like he was performing.
  • Yuzu herself is a girl who wants to spread Action Dueling as a way to bring people together...Shingo and his goons learn the hard way that hurting Serena is one way to piss her off.
• Big Damn Heroes: Yoko saves Yuzu and Serena before the two get attacked by Yuri and Starving Venom Fusion Dragon.
• Big "NO!": Yuya, Yuto, and Yugo shout this twice when Yoko suggests Yuya introducing his new "brothers" to Sora and Yuzu.
• Break the Haughty:
  • Chapter 5 (Part 2) has Zarc turn the smug Himika into a whimpering mess once he reveals his draconic form and has her spill the beans in regards to Reiji's plans of the Lancer Division and Yusho's disappearance.
  • A minor one in Chapter 9 (Part 2): Shingo wanted to humiliate Serena by making her Action Duel against Yaiba be in a cutesy bubbly playroom with stuffed animals. Unfortunately, (1) Serena absolutely loves the field, and (2) the stuffed animals made it impossible for Yaiba to find an Action Card in the final turn of the duel, causing Shingo to look in embarrassment that his plan was foiled.
• Breather Episode: Chapter 7 (Part 1) is a light-hearted affair after the previous chapter showed Yuri close to a mental breakdown.
• Brick Joke: In Chapter 9 (Part 1), Yuto makes a remark to hurl all of Yoko's horror collection to the Shadow Realm. In the following chapter, Yuzu echoes the sentiment.
• Cute and Psycho: All four Yu-boys are apparently this. Yuya explains to Shun that all four of them have ways of hurting people if you mess with them. When Yoko asks Zarc who's the most dangerous of them all, Zarc immediately answers Yuya.
• Cuteness Proximity: Serena adores the cats in the Sakaki household and she coos when her and Yaiba's Action Duel is in the field called "Plush Playland" (a playroom with bubbles, clouds, and lots and lots of plushies.) Her Lunalight monsters also feel the same way, wanting to play around with everything compared to Yaiba's X-Sabers ignoring it for the sake of the duel.
• Did Not Think This Through: Yoko and Zarc come to the agreement that all Akabas suffer from short-sightedness but Reiji stands out the most — his plan to let Yusho go to the Fusion Dimension also meant that he never sent backup nor tell Yoko nor Yuya about what Yusho was going through, not to mention means that there's no one making money so that Yoko and Yuya will be financially okay until he returns. In Chapter 9 (Part 2), Reiji confesses that he didn't think about the consequences of Yusho going to Fusion alone until after the deed was done and he saw Yuya being laughed at by the crowd.
• Disappointed in You: Yuzu tells this to Reiji when he confesses to the memory wipe because Reiji is the leader of the Lancers and doing such a thing like that would easily break everyone's trust in him.
• Draconic Humanoid: Zarc, Yuya, and his brothers are dragons and can take on draconic features (claws, reptilian eyes, and tails) if they get significantly pissed off.
• Dramatic Irony: Upon learning of a Human Supreme King, Yoko begins thinking he's dark and demonic like Zarc is. Anyone who's seen GX will know that said Supreme King is the exact opposite.
• The Dreaded: Jaden Yuki/Supreme King of Darkness is this and is said to be on an equal footing to Zarc, a ten thousand-year-old dragon king. It's apparently so bad that Masumi's Gem-Knights — who were the loyal soldiers of both Jaden and Jesse in their previous lives — are shuddering and crying in fear on the prospect of dueling Jaden.
• Early-Installment Weirdness: A meta example. The first two chapters were around less than 5000 words and had a few misspellings (the comments for the story on AO3 reveal that this is because English is Azure's third language). Once Green Phantom Queen arrived starting in chapter 3, the chapters become much longer and broken into multiple parts.
• Easily Forgiven: In Chapter 9 (Part 2) Yuya forgives Reiji for not confessing anything about Yusho's disappearance because Yuya already knows about it and because he can see that Reiji is already suffering as it is from everything else in regards to stopping the invasion.
• Empathic Environment: Whenever one of the boys gets angry, the weather reflects it. If it's Yuto, thunder and lightning flash. If it's Yugo, a howling wind blows.
• Everyone Has Standards: Shingo is a narcissistic prick who was willing to let four children fall to their deaths in his duel against Yuya for his Pendulum cards and didn't give two qualms about how he nearly made Reiji buy out You Show Duel School. But when Reiji states that he rewrote Masumi, Yaiba, and Hokuto's memories about Shun, Shingo states that Reiji is stating bs for his reason why he rewrote those memories.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: When Yuto and Yugo ask what the Professor would plan on doing with Ruri and Rin, Yuri begins to state that the two would probably be infected with the mind-controlling parasites...before realizing that by kidnapping them, he has now just put the girlfriends of his younger brothers in danger.
• Fainting: Mieru does this upon seeing Yuto tell Shun — after they had just gone through a very lustful make-out session — that they would "play later".
• Fatal Flaw: Yugo's flaw is that he jumps to conclusions too quickly. At the beginning of the story, had it not been for Zarc possessing Yuya and commanding Yugo and Yuto to stop, Yugo would've killed either Yuya or Yuto with Clear Wing. And in Chapter 8, his determination to save Yoko from some evil bikers without telling this to Zarc would've clued him in that the whole situation was fake and would've saved him from nearly being possessed by the Orichalcos.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: The end of Chapter 9 Part 1 has Yugo staring at someone. Said someone? They're eating a bowl of rice topped with fried shrimp and wearing a familiar red jacket...
• For Want Of A Nail: Zarc appearing much earlier than usual — not to mention that he's not the wicked tyrant from the original anime — causes a lot of changes in the story.
  • First off, the duel between Yugo and Yuto ends because he interferes — via possessing Yuya's body — and commands their dragons to stop. Not only that, but Yuto and Yugo also regain their memories of being brothers and become clear-headed to realize that it was Yuri who kidnapped Rin and Ruri, not each other. Zarc also takes the three boys far away so that Yuzu isn't there to accidentally separate them. Then, Yuya then takes his brother's home, leading to...
  • Yoko Sakaki learns about Yuto and Yugo and becomes a mother for the two of them. She also learns of Zarc's presence, that Yusho Sakaki was in Heartland for three years, learns from Himika that it's Reiji's fault for Yusho leaving, is the one who rescues Serena and Yuzu from Yuri — thus Yuri is not teleported back to Academia and Yugo can confront him — and is even the one who finds out about Dennis's true colors before the Friendship Cup happens.
  • Because Yuto isn't killed, Shun doesn't become as moody or have an I Work Alone attitude as he did in canon.
  • Yuto's presence means that he confronts Serena about Academia's true nature earlier on, instead of waiting until Yuzu meets up with her. Because of this, she doesn't have any antagonism over Dennis, nor does she duel him, and she is the one who warns Yuzu about what's going on. Yuto also makes her realize early on that carding Hokuto has consequences and it's this act that leads to her Character Development.
  • Shun wins his duel against Sora by summoning a different Raidraptor monster (Raidraptor - Revolution Falcon - Airraid). Consequently, upon seeing Yuya and Yuto's "Berserk Modes" and their Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon, Sora decides to book it instead of wanting to face their wrath, sparing Hikage.
  • Zarc warning Serena, Rin, and Ruri of their fates if Professor Akaba captures them leads to all three enactings a Deal with the Devil. This later extends to Yuzu too.
• Freak Out:
  • Yuri, having gone through a slow breakdown due to having dreams of his past life and sensing emotions of love and comfort, not to mention having his counterparts not get angry at him and are instead pitying him, snaps during his duel with Yuya. In particular, he goes as far as to strangle Performapal Empyrean Magician (a monster based off of Zarc and one that Zarc is actually speaking through) because he can't take the idea of kindness and love when all he's been given is hatred and loneliness all his life.
  • Upon learning the truth about Dennis, Shun screams and starts trashing his hotel room at the realization before breaking down into tears.
• Gone Horribly Wrong: In Chapter 8, Yoko wanted to give Yugo a chance to duel, so she asked Raphael, Alister and Valon to "kidnap her" and Yugo duels Raphael to save her. Unfortunately she wasn't expecting for 1) Yugo to believe that she was truly being held hostage, 2) that there were remnants of the Seal of Orichalcos in Raphael's soul that nearly went and consumed Yugo's soul and 3) since this was around the same time as Yuzu dueled Shingo (which is when Ray made her presence), Zarc shuts off his mind link from the shock, causing Yugo to go even more berserk.
• Hope Is Scary:
  • Yuri hates Zarc and his brothers giving him the idea that he has a loving family because he's too afraid to hope that it's real. Thankfully Zarc is able to reach out to Yuri, making him remember his past life.
  • Zarc also feels that way when he sees his sons replicating actions and names from his previous sons, Tempest and Haze because he tried everything he could to revive them and nothing worked. It becomes more prevalent in his nightmare in Chapter 9 (Part 1) when he tells the Tempest and Haze there that he doesn't want them back because the pain is just too much.
• I Call It "Vera": Yoko's bike is called Ningyo, which is the Japanese equivalent of a mermaid.
• In Love with Your Carnage: Shun's...reaction to seeing Yuya and Yuto's dual Berserk Modes is to beg Yuto to make out with him...while Yuya, Gongenzaka, Mieru are watching.
• In Spite of a Nail: Hikage is spared carding by Sora, but Reiji tells Yuya that the ninja is not joining because he felt like he failed when Yuzu, Teppei, and Michiyo saved him from Obelisk Force.
• In the Hood: Zarc appears to Serena dressed as Performapal Empyrean Magician (who is Zarc but with a silver hooded cloak). Yuya's "Dragon Mage" monsters are essentially him and his brothers in hooded cloaks (The authors' notes state that the latter was based on Empyrean Magician).
• Internal Reveal: Yuzu doesn't learn about what's going on until Chapter 8 Part 5.
• I've Heard of That — What Is It?: When Ray reveals about the engagement to Zarc, Serena immediately shouts that's exciting...before asking Yuzu what that term means.
• I Warned You: Before they duel, Jaden warns Reiji about how the former will be giving it his all. Evil Hero Malicious Bane repeats this right before Reiji is defeated.
• Jerkass Has a Point: In-universe; no matter how much Shingo likes to brag and gloat, the Lancers agree that he's joining the Lancers because Serena and Tsukikage would've lost if he didn't save them in time, his Pendulum cards could be useful against Academia's Ancient Gears and that Reiji needs every person available.
• Kind Hearted Cat Lover: Yugo and Serena just adore the cats in the Sakaki household.
• Lampshade Hanging: Chapter 7 Part 1 has Yoko question why the Yu-boys all have dragons in their decks.
• Light Feminine Dark Feminine: Ruri is the Light Feminine (nurturing, concerned for others, wears light colors, has birds as her monsters) and Rin is the Dark Feminine (she can be cold, will jump into a deal with a devil, will bite back when attacked, uses witches as her monsters and she even wears black when she enters Yugo's dream).
• Lonely at the Top: Chapter 9 shows us that Reiji is the best duelist in Standard, a CEO at 16, and the leader of the Lancers. He also has no friends, nobody to support him barring Reira (and even then she's not able to help much), and is guilt-ridden by all the decisions he made.
• Mama Bear: Hurt her sons and you mess with Yoko. She even is willing to stand up to Zarc to protect them.
• Master of Illusion: Yuya's specialty. He mostly uses it to let Zarc have a semblance to a normal body again.
• Meaningful Echo: Yuri's dream in Chapter 5 (Part 2) has a younger him and Yugo apologizing with Yugo giving Yuri a pink lily all while stating that he was "very stupid and mean and didn't mean it" and Yuri replying with a simple "I know." Before Yugo and Yuri drive home two chapters later, the roles are reversed with Yuri giving Yugo the pink lily and apologizing and Yugo replying, "I know".
• Middle Child Syndrome: Yugo as the middle between Yuri (the eldest) and the youngest (Yuto and Yuya) gives him slight insecurity issues as he feels like his needs aren't as important as his brothers. This becomes Played for Drama in Chapter 8 (Part 3) when an Orichalcos possessed Raphael taunts Yugo that his father truly never cares for him (when in actuality Zarc didn't say anything about Yoko's kidnapping to let Yugo have fun and Ray's unexpected presence in the previous chapter shut himself off from his sons).
• Moment Killer: Chapter 5 (Part 2) has Yuto making out with Shun in Reiji's security room...before Serena interrupts with a "WHAT THE FUCK?!" at the intimate scene.
• My God, What Have I Done?:
  • Yuri starts breaking down in tears once he remembers his past life and that he has taken Yuto and Yugo's "treasures" (significant loved ones) to be sacrificed for Professor Akaba's scheme to resurrect Ray.
  • Serena also feels this way when she realizes that she carded an innocent victim (Hokuto Shijima) upon learning of Academia's true colors.
  • Yugo also gets this when his assumption that Raphael kidnapped Yoko (when it was really a pretend heist) nearly had him corrupted by the Seal of Orichalcos and put Raphael, Alister, Valon, and Yoko in danger.
  • Reiji confesses to Yuya that he felt horrible for letting Yusho to alone to the Fusion Dimension once he saw Yuya being mocked on the day of Yusho's big fight against Strong Ishijima as it ended up with horrible repercussions. He also feels angry at himself for getting multiple people carded and rewriting three people's memories.
• Mythology Gag: Plenty. This is a story based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! series that celebrated the series before it.
  • In Chapter 8 Part 1, Serena begins to retell various rumors of Academia ranging from Shadow Hunters, Dark Magician Girl on Spirit Day, a hero in a silver trenchcoat and dragon mask, and more which are references to the first season of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. Dragon Vassal of the Colorless Void — later revealed to be Jesse Andersen — starts listing all of the crazy stuff to Seto, Mokuba, and Joey about all of the shit that happened in the first three seasons.
  • In Chapter 8 Part 4, Serena and Yuzu have lunch at Burger World, and their waiter is named Téa who uses a deck with Dark Magician Girl as its focus. In the same chapter, Yuzu mentions her father once putting her hand together with Ayu, Futoshi and Yuya's as he drew a big smiley face on it, which Téa replicates on a napkin.
  • In the chapter following that, Serena is excited to learn that Ray was going to be engaged to Zarc, before asking Yuzu what that meant. This probably is mirroring the infamous scene of Jaden asking Alexis the definition of a fiance.
• Named by the Adaptation: The two cats Yoko adopted (but never named) are called "Show" and "Time" by Yugo.
• Nightmare Fetishist:
  • Yoko loves anything of the horror genre, to the point that she's developed an awareness of all the tropes in play.
  • Yugo is cheering in excitement during the "It's Terror Time" sequences of Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island and gushes over the Hex Girls in Scooby-Doo! and the Witch's Ghost during the slumber party at the Sakaki residence.
• Nightmare Sequence: Zarc experiences one in Chapter 9, Part 1 regarding his previous sons, Tempest and Haze wanting to be with their father again and his current sons angry that he kept this all secret.
• Nobody Calls Me "Chicken"!: Shingo doesn't accept Yuzu's challenge to a duel until she calls him a chicken. Serena even notes that this is a movie reference.
• No Social Skills: Word of God by both authors state that this is how they see Reiji. Reiji even states that he was unable to tell Yuya and his mom the truth about Yusho for three years and him trying to buy out You Show Duel School was him trying to apologize for this action and wanting to make Yuya and Yuzu stronger for when Academia struck.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Yuzu, Michiyo, and Teppei dueled three members of Obelisk Force all by themselves in order to save Hikage.
• Once Done, Never Forgotten: Yuzu is quick to remind Shingo that she's not forgiving him for taking Yuya's Pendulum cards and risking her life — along with Tatsuya, Ayu, and Futoshi's — in their Action Duel or how Shingo nearly made Reiji take over You Show Duel School.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business:
  • Yugo is known for having a huge appetite whenever he eats any of Yoko's cooking. But in Chapter 5 (Part 2), he's shown eating slowly and is quiet the entire time since he's upset about his brothers getting more attention to their problems in contrast with Zarc doing nothing to save Rin.
  • Shingo is usually known as a pompous braggart. He drops this and his voice turns icy when Serena (accidentally) taunts him about running home to his mother. Also, even he looks at disgust when Reiji confesses that he erased Masumi, Yaiba, and Hokuto's memories.
• Or Was It a Dream?: The end of Chapter 5 (Part 2) has Yuri in a dream/memory of him with his family and young Yugo placing a pink lily in his hair. When Yuri wakes up, he places a hand on his head to find the pink lily there.
• Out-of-Character Alert: Yuya, Yuto, and Yugo start doing and saying things that they never did before — like Yuya eating strawberries even though he hated them, and the three boys calling each other pet names that they've never used before. Zarc is the only one who catches on about these since they were quirks of his previous sons.
• Papa Wolf: Harming his sons in any way, shape or form will incur Zarc's wrath. Himika learned this the hard way when Zarc learns about how she set Yuya up for attacking Shingo (when it was really Yuto doing it).
• Poor Communication Kills: Yoko's fake hostage situation and Yugo's confusion over it in Chapter 8 could've been avoided if Yugo talked to Zarc about Yoko being kidnapped (as Zarc would've easily sensed if Yoko was in real danger).
• The Power of Love: Discussed. After watching Wonder Woman and its Aesop about believing in love, Serena feels like it's too optimistic. Yuzu goes onto explain that Diana was talking about the love of humanity and how people can make the choice to follow the light then the darkness. Steve's love for Diana motivated her to help fight Ares and is the reason to protect humanity even if they didn't deserve it.

• Really 700 Years Old: According to his sons, Zarc is about ten thousand years old yet looks like a man in his twenties.
• The Reveal: Chapter 9 has a big one in that Zarc had two sons prior to the Yu-boys, Tempest, and Haze, and when they destroyed their souls, the Yu-boys were born.
• Rule of Three: Yoko's reasoning as to why she's not going to upload her recording of Dennis talking to Yuri.
  • 1: Only a few people would understand the talk between the two.
  • 2: Yuri's resemblance to Yuya will just make people question why "Yuya" is talking to Dennis.
  • 3: Uploading the video might paint her or her sons as a target.
• Running Gag:
  • After Futoshi brings it up, Ayu and Futoshi start referring to Yuya and Yuzu's counterparts as doppelgangers.
  • Raphael, Valon, and Alister constantly tell Yoko to hire an exorcist in regards to Zarc. Likewise, Yoko keeps calling Zarc a demon.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Sora leaves the Battle Royale early upon seeing Yuya and Yuto summon Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon against Obelisk Force.
• Sharing a Body: Chapter 8 reveals that Ray's spirit is inside Yuzu's soul as she's the only one who hasn't destroyed her bracelet and made a contract with Zarc.
• Shout-Out:
  • In-universe. After watching Wonder Woman, Serena starts using it as a reference (Example: she states that Shuzo's cooking is wonderful and he should very proud and encourages Yuzu in her duel against Shingo by crossing her arms like Diana does with her bracers). And after watching Lilo and Stitch, Serena calls Yuzu her ohana. Word of God states that this aspect of hers was written because this is how Serena conveys her feelings to others.
  • In Chapter 9 (Part 2), Yuzu, Yuya, and Yaiba make references to how Serena is a princess, particularly the "wearing a dress and animal sidekick" part and Yaiba stating he'll puke if she starts singing during the duel.
  • According to the author's notes, Ruri's outfit when she visits Yuto's dream in Chapter 9 (Part 4) was based on the outfit worn by Queen La.
• Simultaneous Arcs: Chapter 8 Part 3 and 4 take place at the same time with the connection being Mieru's phone-call.
• Slap-Slap-Kiss: Seto and Joey's relationship is described like this: they constantly bicker before they make out in forgiveness to the point that Zarc wonders if it's some kind of kink for the two.
• Soul Jar: The Yu-boys each contain a fragment of Zarc's soul within them, which allows Zarc to physically be by their side (even if they're in another dimension, such as the case for Yuri) and for Zarc to take over Yuya if need be.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • Zarc's intervention prevents Yuto from biting the dust early on and Yugo is never teleported away by Yuzu.
  • Sora leaving early during the Battle Royale means Hikage never gets carded (but he's not going to join the Lancers like his brother). Likewise, Teppei and Michiyo are also alive because they, along with Yuzu, dueled and defeated three Obelisk Force soldiers.
• Take That!: The author's notes for Chapter 8 (Part 4) have both authors rant that the Guardians archetype is terrible, even to the point of old-school Yu-Gi-Oh that they suck.
• Tarot Troubles: Mieru does a reading at the beginning of Chapter 9 (Part 1) to see what exactly lies ahead.
• Ugly Cute: In-universe. Black Mirror Xyz Dragon is a menacing dragon made of black iron with sharp teeth and eyes that look like cracked mirrors. But it's also very shy and self-aware of its appearance, crying and covering his face with his wings when people call him a monster. Ayu and Reira find him to be adorable despite his gruesome appearance.
• Wham Episode:
  • Chapter 8 Part 3: Ray Akaba's presence as she gives Yuzu new Melodious cards to defeat Shingo.
  • Chapter 8 Part 5: Ray finally reveals herself, Yuzu finally learns everything about what's going on and Zarc agrees to work with Ray to take down Professor Akaba once and for all.
• Wham Line: Chapter 7, Part 3: While seeing Yuto console Shun, Zarc has to deal with two of his "subjects" bickering with one another. The scene ends with Zarc stating their names:
  Zarc: You know, Seto, it's amazing to see Joey being the rational one.
• What the Hell, Hero?: When Reiji confesses how he rewrote the memories of Masumi, Hokuto, and Yaiba in regards to Shun, everyone in the vicinity — even Shingo — looks in utter disgust, anger, and disappointment, and Masumi close to punching him in the face.
• Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?:
  • In their duel, Yuri offers up Seed Cannon (which has 2 counters, each one inflicts 500 points of damage) to strike Yuya...but it drops his lifepoints down to 200. Yuya even questions why Yuri didn't summon another Plant monster to make it 3 then offer up Seed Cannon. Yuri replies that he'd rather have his Starving Venom Fusion Dragon go into battle and land the striking blow instead.
  • When Reiji assaults Jaden with his D/D/D monsters — Flame King Genghis, Gust King Alexander, and Wave King Caesar — Jaden uses the effect of his Supreme King Castle to boost Evil Hero Inferno Wing's ATK (which has been deducted to 1100 due to Deceitful Contract with the War King)...but offers Evil Hero Adjust Gold so Inferno Wing only gets 800 ATK. Yoko even questions why Jaden didn't use a stronger Evil Hero so Inferno Wing not only could destroy Reiji's first monster but also inflict burning damage. Turns out that Jaden was doing it just for show.
• Yaoi Fangirl: Rin is one, as she comments seeing Yuto and Shun together as "fucking hot" and tells Zarc that she enjoyed the show.
• You Called Me "X"; It Must Be Serious: Yuya calling Gongenzaka by his full name when he's pissed off at sensing his brother's emotions, is what causes Gongenzaka to note that something is wrong.

Horror tropes pointed out by Yoko include:

• Antichrist: Zarc mentioning a Human Supreme King has Yoko surmise that they're this. Turns out they're more Anti Anti Christ when she sees said Supreme King, Jaden Yuki, in battle.
• Corrupt the Cutie: Yoko observing Serena and Yuzu dueling Obelisk Force — particularly Serena's new Fusion monster, Blood Moon Fusion Dragon — has her worried that Zarc is going to be doing this to Serena.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Zarc is a master of shadows but in comparison to Professor Akaba, he's seen as the lesser of two evils. However, that doesn't necessarily mean he's 100% good either.
• Deal with the Devil: Zarc is essentially the demon making deals to all four bracelet girls and Yoko can see that these types of things usually involve giving up one's soul in the process.
• Demonic Possession: With Zarc able to possess Yuya, Yoko questions if Yuya is fully aware of what Zarc is doing or if he just goes unconscious whenever Zarc takes over. Zarc answers that it's the former.
• Evil-Detecting Dog: En suddenly barking at Yuya in the second chapter is what gets Yoko suspicious since any dog that suddenly starts barking at someone they know/empty space usually means a dark presence. This later escalates to all the other animals howling and hissing at Zarc and his sons.
• Speak in Unison: Upon hearing Yuya, Yuto and Yugo chant "Reunite", combined with Glowing Eyes of Doom, is what convinces Yoko that something is clearly wrong with her sons.
• Twin Telepathy: Yoko notices how Yuya and Yugo reach out in concern for Yuto almost immediately...except that this 'twin' part can't work if Yugo and Yuto all come from different dimensions.