History Characters / YuGiOhZEXALMainCharacters

* ClothingDamage: His late-80s/early-90s wardrobe goes through a lot of wear-and-tear in his fiercer duels more so than any Yu-Gi-Oh protagonist before or after him.

* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: Yusei was a stoic young adult who was well-liked respected by his friends and exceptionally skilled. Yuma is an immature and rather inept kid who his friends pick on because he's not very good at the game, Slightly Averted when his skills have grown towards dueling, they both have the PowerOfFriendship, MagneticHero, and kind-heartedness. Furthermore, Yusei grew up without his biological family, while Yuma grew up with his grandmother and sister.

* FromZeroToHero: Yuma from being a good-for-nothing loser of everything in his daily life, became the hero who saves Earth, Astral World, and Barian World.

* HeartIsAnAwesomePower: He holds this opinion of his kattobingu and dueling in general.

* InvincibleHero: For once in this series, it's actually averted. He still wins most plot-important matches, but he actually does lose quite frequently. He never managed to beat Kite, and many of his early victories were heavily dependent on Astral. Even after he gets better, he's still shown to have legitimate trouble fighting his opponents, Slightly Subverted since during WDC onwards, he is now more proficient and cooperative with/without Astral.

* NiceGuy: Yuma's genuine kind heart and empathy make him a very admirable character. He is always sympathetic towards his enemies, even those who did him wrong,[[spoiler: which luckily saves him from Vector's attempt to commit suicide with him, only sacrifice himself for Yuma, and from his last duel with Reginald Kastle.]]

* RedIsHeroic: Yuma's hair, eyes, and parts of his clothing aside, the number 39 on Hope/Utopia is also red and for a while, Hope was the only Number monster with a number of that color. Hope Ray V[[note]]which may be a subversion[[/note]] and [[spoiler:Utopia Ray Victory]] also have some red parts on their armor. [[spoiler:He even gets a red aura briefly while traveling to Astral World.]]

* SpannerInTheWorks: Yuma ends up being one for the Vetrix, family once he gets dragged into their revenge plot via Hart when he gets challenged by Trey and Quattro. At first the brothers didn't think too much of him until he brings out Number 39 during their tag duel, which causes Trey to realize that Yuma might be a huge risk factor to them since he knows their strategies and they know absolutely nothing about him in turn. They constantly get caught off guard by Yuma's actions during the duel, from the fact that he had a number the whole time, his selfless actions protecting Kite from their trap, Chaos Numbers, his relation to Kazuma Tsukumo, and the existence of Astral. It goes without saying that after the brothers' first defeat against Yuma, they scrambled to find out every single detail about Yuma and Astral to avoid being blindsided by them in the future.

When he duels, Astral either uses a customized variant of Yuma's own deck, or his own set of cards that focus on Rank-Up Magic spells and summoning Utopia and its variants.

[[spoiler:* FromZeroToHero: Yuma from being a good-for-nothing loser of everything in his daily life, became the hero who saves Earth, Astral World, and Barian World.]]

* LetsFightLikeGentlemen: After realizing how much of an unfair advantage they give him in a typical duel, Yuma tries to refrain from using his Number cards against normal opponents.

* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: Zexsl Weapon - Ultimate Shield.

During his first duel with Yuma his ace monster is Numbrr 17: Leviathan Dragon, and afterward, he switches to Black Ray Lancer. After his duel with Trey he gains possession of Number 32: Shark Drake. During his duel with Quattro, he is able to use Chaos Xyz Evolution, evolving Shark Drake into [=Number C=]32: Shark Drake Veiss.\\\

Yuma plays a syllable-themed deck referred to as Onomat, featuring monsters with repetitive names or puns (Gagaga, Dododo, Gogogo, etc.). His strategies involve manipulating the Levels of his monsters to Xyz Summon and increasing the ATK of his monsters with various card effects.\\\

Yuma plays a syllable-themed deck, featuring monsters with repetitive names or puns. His strategies involve manipulating the Levels of his monsters to Xyz Summon and increasing the ATK of his monsters with various card effects.\\\

His Deck theme is the 'Photon' cards, with his ace being Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. In addition, he also possessed around seventeen Numbers, five of which were seen in ZEXAL I: Number 10: Illumiknight, Number 20: Giga-Brilliant, Number 30: Acid Golem of Destruction, Number 56: Gold Rat, and Number 9: Dyson Sphere. As of episode 43, he now holds one of the strongest Xyz monsters in the game, Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. As of episode 64, he had lost all of his Number cards. He later gained a few more, like Number 46: Dragluon and Number 62: Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon, though has apparently lost all of them as well, after his apparent death.\\\

** Subverted since he is now becoming more skilled, able to hold his own with minimal of Astral's guide

* AdaptationalBadass: In the manga, he takes on Kaito (who is possessed by one of Kyoji's Numbers) in their second Duel and ''won''. In contrast to the anime, where when he ''did'' take on Kaito again after the World Duel Carnival, he still couldn't eke out a win.
* AllLovingHero: He's a simple-minded individual who really ''can't'' see anything bad in most of his opponents, and firmly believes that dueling should not be a tool for revenge, being greatly disturbed by Ryoga's desire to do so. [[spoiler:Even after being tricked by Vector in the second-half, Yuma refuses to not be this, claiming he can't change that aspect of himself.]]

* BadassNormal: In a show loaded with sci-fi-powered paramilitary types, aliens, and [[spoiler:reincarnated heroes]], Yuma gets by with a little help from Astral and largely by being himself. Case in point, near the end of the show, he's the only major duelist left who still needs to use a Duel Gazer. [[spoiler:Subverted as it was revealed that he is Astral's other half, which he can use "Shining Draw"]]

* BlackKnight: Hope Ray and Hope Ray V.

*** Episode 14: When Yuma is [[spoiler:almost defeated by Kaito, he becomes wary of dueling and feels like he can't protect Astral.]]

*** Episode 84: Yuma almost [[spoiler:loses a duel to Mizael, and again becomes depressed over the fact that he's not a strong enough duelist to protect Astral.]]
*** Episode 96: Yuma is broken by the revelation that [[spoiler:Rei Shingetsu was Vector all along, and that he had been faking his friendship with Yuma.]]
*** Episode 111: Astral is [[spoiler:killed by Black Mist in order to save Yuma. Astral is able to give a heartwarming goodbye speech to Yuma before both he and Yuma's key disappear.]]
*** Episode 124: [[spoiler:Shark reveals his true nature as Nasch, shocking Yuma. When Yuma's key and Nasch's emblem resonate and Yuma sees Nasch's memories, the shock knocks him out.]]
*** Episode 128: III and V [[spoiler:lose to Mizael and are sacrificed to the Barian World. Yuma breaks down in tears as Mizael beats them down.]]

* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: InUniverse. Over the course of the series and dozens of duels, he obtained around seventy Numbers besides Hope. He used maybe nine of them at any point and only two more than once. "Make two Level 4s, then go into Hope" is, without exception, his first resort, and usually his last resort as well, even if he could bring out something else. Downplayed in the manga, where he uses other Numbers with some more frequency.

* CoolDownHug: Delivers one to Haruto.
* CoolSword: Tornado Bringer Zexal Weapon monster.

* DarkIsNotEvil: Hope Ray. Exaggerated with Hope Ray V, which due to the use of [[spoiler:Rank-Up Magic - Limited Barian's Force]] to create it looks downright ''demonic''. Yuma also evolves his Xyz monsters into Chaos forms, a technique both he and several villains use when [[spoiler:New Order]] is its "Light" counterpart that Astral ought to be using.

* HeroicBSOD: After his first encounter and near-loss to Kaito, Yuma utterly breaks down in the rain in front of Kotori, realizing he isn't good enough and even doing a SkywardScream.
** Also in his duel with III, it's revealed that [[spoiler:without the word "kattobingu," Yuma is terribly depressed and afraid of dueling and taking on challenges in general.]]
** He suffers this again during his duel with [[spoiler:Mizael, so much so that Kaito has to take over the duel in his place]].
* HonorBeforeReason: Double Subverted in his second Duel with Shark; despite promising not to use the Numbers, he summons Hope anyway though Shark urges him to. Giving the reaction of his friends, it would seem that usually, Yuma does play the trope straight.

* HunterOfMonsters: Despite his denial of such a title, Yuma is very much a Numbers Hunter.

* InvincibleHero: For once in this series, it's actually averted. He still wins most plot-important matches, but he actually does lose quite frequently. He never managed to beat Kaito, and many of his early victories were heavily dependent on Astral. Even after he gets better, he's still shown to have legitimate trouble fighting his opponents, Slightly Subverted since during WDC onwards, he is now more proficient and cooperative with/without Astral

* KnightInShiningArmor: Hope and Hope Ray Victory

* LightIsGood: Hope and Hope Ray Victory.
* LightIsNotGood: On the other hand, regarding Hope Ray V. [[spoiler:Rei, the person that gave Yuma the Rank-Up-Magic card used to summon him, is revealed to be Vector. And he gave Yuma the card as part of a BatmanGambit.]] Despite the spoiler and its appearance, it's still the same attribute as Hope's other forms.
* TheLoad: When it isn't his turn during the final duel in the manga, his 1 LP constantly forces Shark and Kaito to protect him. The ONE time he does protect himself, it's with an unbelievably counterproductive card that buys them a turn, but robs all of their monsters of [=ATK=] and effects. In addition, part of the reason that they're in so much trouble is that E'Rah mimicked his [[ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill 5000 ATK]] Utopia the Lightning.

* LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe: Ultimate Shield Zexal Weapon

* NextTierPowerUp: He manages to set a new record among the protagonists for the fastest gained canon upgrade to an ace monster with Chaos Numbers 39: King of Wishes, Hope Ray. He got one three times faster than [[Anime/YuGiOh5Ds Yusei]]. [[spoiler:He's gained three more in the anime, and another two in the manga since. Subverted with Hope Roots though, which is a power-up, but is actually a downgraded version.]] With Zexal forms, and his acquired ability that Yuma gains on his own, [[spoiler: Shining Draw.]]
* NiceGuy: Yuma's genuine kind heart and empathy make him a very admirable character. He is always sympathetic towards his enemies, even those who did him wrong,[[spoiler: which luckily saves him from Vector's attempt to commit suicide with him, only sacrifice himself for Yuma, and from his last duel with Ryouga Kamishiro.]]

* ObliviousToLove: Poor Kotori, Cathy, and Anna. Lampshaded by Astral. [[spoiler:The ending seems to have subverted this, as Yuma seems to have accepted Kotori's affections.]]

* PantheraAwesome: [[CoolSword Lightning Blade]] Zexal Weapon.

* ThePowerOfFriendship: Played to incredible extremes. Yuma is able to become friends with ANYONE, ranging from stoic and seemingly emotionless characters (Astral), a juvenile delinquent whom he helps reform (Shark), a Hunter who will stop at nothing to collect his Numbers and Soul (Kaito), a gentle boy driven to AxCrazy insanity and hatred (III) and even [[spoiler:Rei Shingetsu, who despite revealing himself to be Vector and trying to hurt Yuma countless times, is still cherished by Yuma as a friend as seen when he attempts to rescue him, and his sincerity brings Vector to some sort of HeelFaceTurn.]] It is even hinted in more than one episode that Yuma and Astral are able to go FusionDance into ZEXAL partly because of the bond of trust between them, which Vector tries to sabotage. Shark even Dueled Yuma to snap him out (successfully) of his HeroicBSOD, despite not wanting to admit pout loud that he cares for Yuma a lot, and Kaito opened up to Yuma gradually (Thanks to Yuma showing genuine concern for him and his brother) and finally considered him his rival (after calling him a mere idiot earlier), and promising him to duel him as many times as he wants in order for Yuma to achieve his goal (of surpassing Kaito). III even called Yuma his first true friend, and that's coming from an innocent soul who had to live in a broken family situation.
* RedIsHeroic: Yuma's hair, eyes, and parts of his clothing aside, the number 39 on Hope/Utopia is also red and for a while, Hope was the only Number monster with a number of that color. Hope Ray V[[note]]which may be a subversion[[/note]] and [[spoiler:Hope Ray Victory]] also have some red parts on their armor. [[spoiler:He even gets a red aura briefly while traveling to Astral World.]]

* TheRival: At various points, to Shark, Kite, Gauche, Vector, and Alito.

* SpannerInTheWorks: Yuma ends up being one for the Tron family once he gets dragged into their revenge plot via Haruto when he gets challenged by III and IV. At first the brothers didn't think too much of him until he brings out Number 39 during their tag duel, which causes III to realize that Yuma might be a huge risk factor to them since he knows their strategies and they know absolutely nothing about him in turn. They constantly get caught off guard by Yuma's actions during the duel, from the fact that he had a number the whole time, his selfless actions protecting Kaito from their trap, Chaos Numbers, his relation to Kazuma Tsukumo and the existence of Astral. It goes without saying that after the brother's first defeat against Yuma, they scrambled to find out every single detail about Yuma and Astral to avoid being blindsided by them in the future.

* TokenSuper: Yuma is the only one of his friends capable of ZEXAL. It involves him and his [[AnotherDimension extra-dimensional]] companion [[BondCreatures Astral]] undergoing [[FusionDance fusion]] to create a GoldenSuperMode for Yuma.

* TookALevelInBadass: Yuma shows easily the greatest growth of any Yugioh protagonist before or since. Originally something of a loser (with a stated record of 33 confirmed losses, though most of them occured off-screen) that needs Astral to coach him through every major duel. But by the time of the World Duel Carnival, he's learned enough to duel and win competently without relying on Astral or Numbers, defeats Eliphas, a "Rank-Up master", on his own with little help from Astral's Shining Draw, and by the end of the series he even defeats Astral himself, as he uses his own [[spoiler:Shining Draw.]]

* VictorGainsLosersPowers: Yuma can use any Numbers that he has defeated and Astral has absorbed, making his Deck expand with each victory. However, he uses very few of them, and generally defaults back to only using Hope. Though when he does, it's very satisfying.

* WingedUnicorn: Unicorn Spear Zexal Weapon. Its effect may reflect to a unicorn's powers in myths. In legends, it is claimed that a unicorn's horn can neutralize poisons. This may reference to this card's ability to neutralize monster effects during the Battle Phase (Monster effects that are active during the Battle Phase usually either stop your attacks or prevent them from destroying your opponent's monsters).
%%* WolverineClaws: His Eagle Claw Zexal Weapon monster.
* WorfEffect: As he was unable to defeat Tetsuo and Kaito, he was able to defeat Vetrix after he defeats Kaito, and all serious threat opponents like Alito, Girag, and Nasch (Shark), who were Barians Emperors.

* KnightKnaveAndSquire: Forms this with Kaito and Shark. Is the squire due to his relative inexperience with duelling, optimistic attitude, and his status as TheHero. He also tends to look up to both Kaito and Shark.

* RealityWarper: In [=ZeXal=] II form, he can use Re-Contract Universe to change a card, for instance transforming Limited Barian's Force into its 'true form', Numeron Force.
* ScrewDestiny: [[spoiler:In his final duel with Nasch, Yuma realizes that the price the Door claimed would come with the power that he obtained with Astral, would be to lose who he truly was (his idealistic ability to connect with others), which he ultimately managed to defy.]]

After regaining memories from several of the Legendary Numbers, he recalls his mission is to destroy the Barian World.

* TheComicallySerious: Being such a straight-laced, stoic character gives him several amusing moments where he plays the straight man to the HotBlooded IdiotHero Yuma, and a few others with him taking things entirely too seriously due to his combination of stoicism and initial naivety (like assuming the Star Robin/[[DubNameChange Star Sparrow]] TV show depicted real events).

* DeerInTheHeadlights: Develops a phobia to Kaito, which causes him to freeze up whenever he hears his name. He gets over it.

* HeroicBSOD: The same as Yuma after their near-loss to Kaito.

* OhCrap: When Kaito uses Photon Cerberus to prevent the Trap Card which forms Yuma's last defense from activating, Astral freezes up completely. It's also justified as this leads to Kaito's NearVillainVictory (which would result in Yuma getting his soul sucked out by Photon Hand and Astral dying) if it weren't for Haruto collapsing, leading to the former to prematurely end the Duel with no result.

* PureIsNotGood: Created to be a perfect agent of Astral World, such an unblemished essence paradoxically makes Astral even more susceptible to doubt and corruption than a regular person. He suffered a massive existential crisis after almost losing to Kaito and a single betrayal by [[spoiler:Yuma]] was enough to cause Astral to [[spoiler:embrace the power of evil and manifest the Dark Zexal form.]]

* SpiderSense: Gets a 'bad feeling' when Kaito is nearby in episode 13.
* SpiritAdvisor: Astral is this to Yuma, and later [[spoiler:Shark, Kaito, Kotori, and Rio]].

* StoneWall: This was Astral's usual playstyle during his first duel against Kaito, fitting his overall analytical and cautious approach to Dueling. {{Deconstructed|Trope}} as this form of playstyle has proven to be just as detrimental as Yuma's HotBlooded AttackAttackAttack playstyle, as his cautiousness and refusal to take certain risks, along with being afraid of Kaito at the time, leads him into a bad spot. [[note]]Kaito took advantage of this by setting a single face-down spell card on his turn, and then on Astral's turn, he had the necessary materials to Xyz Summon No.39 Utopia and destroy Reverse Buster along with being able to deal a good amount of damage to Kaito's LP. However, by believing the face-down would be a very devastating trap that would allow Kaito to summon Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, he instead, ends his turn by setting another card and fortifying his defenses with a combo of Gogogo Giant, Gogogo Golem, and Double Defender. Then on Kaito's turn, he activates his face-down, Photon Hurricane, allowing him to bounce all three of Astral's spell[=/=]trap cards back into his hand, tribute summons Photon Leo and uses its effect to force Astral to shuffle his entire hand and draw the same number of cards, equips Photon Leo with Photon Spear (granting the monster with the ability to inflict piercing damage), destroy the 0 DEF Gogogo Giant, and demolished half of Astral's LP.[[/note]]

* HeroicSacrifice: [[spoiler:Forces Yuma out of Zexal II mode so Yuma wouldn't be hit by Black Mist's attack]]. [[spoiler:He almost does it again in Episode 139, only for Eliphas to take his place.]]

** [[spoiler:In Dark [=ZeXal=] form, he constantly repeats the order for Hope Ray V to attack Shining, as well as the name of Chimera Cloth's power-up effect.]]

During his first duel with Yuma his ace monster is No. 17: Leviathan Dragon, and afterward, he switches to Black Ray Lancer. After his duel with III he gains possession of No. 32: Marine Biting Dragon - Shark Drake. During his duel with IV, he is able to use Chaos Xyz Change, evolving Shark Drake into [=CNo.=] 32: Shark Drake Vice.\\\

He had a previous human incarnation as the king of an island kingdom. An enemy king (Vector's past incarnation) attacked said kingdom and, after having his Gorgonic Guardians defeated, summoned a deity (No. 73: Abyss Splash the Roaring Waterfall Diety) to smite the kingdom for good. However, his friend, a knight riding a Pegasus (Durbe) arrived to assist, giving the princess (Rio) the opportunity to sacrifice herself to summon another deity (No. 94: Crystal Zero the Polar Ice Princess) to counter. After that, Shark furiously attacked Vector's army and pursued the mad king to his kingdom, where he met a girl named Iris who looked strangely similar to Rio.\\\

Shark decided to fight King Vector on his own to minimize the losses, but Vector started a Shadow Game, which meant the more monsters of a certain player's were destroyed, the more losses their army would have. Shark won the duel, but all the monsters in his deck were sent to the graveyard, meaning, his entire army died. An unspecified amount of time later, he died and was reincarnated as Nasch, the leader of the Seven Barian Emperors, but was killed by Vector, who had also be reincarnated as a Barian and was reincarnated again into his present life. After Durbe shows him his past memories, he transforms back into Nasch.\\\

In the manga he has No. 47: Nightmare Shark and No. 37: Hope-Weaving Dragon - Spider Shark.

* AchillesHeel: Yuma is this to Shark Drake's effect on Ryoga, being a major spot of positivity that works against the hatred that Shark Drake propagates. In regards to his dueling, IV attempted to trick Ryoga to fight in a Field that auto-destroyed any WATER monsters, but Ryoga came prepared with ''two'' contingencies to work around it.

* BadassNormal: He's shown to be an excellent duelist even when he doesn't have a Numbers card and is able to hold his own against Kaito [[spoiler:even if he loses.]]

* BrainwashedAndCrazy: [[spoiler:By Tron due to his actions in the duel with IV.]]

* CharacterDevelopment: At the start of the series he's a jerk in the simplest terms but after losing to Yuma he slowly becomes more humble and pulling multiple acts of kindness for Yuma: Protecting his Emperor Key from Kaito and winds up losing his soul for it. Throwing a duel to Yuma after he snaps out of Tron's brainwashing, and storming Heartland tower with Kotori and insisted on staying when Kaito told them to leave so he could help Yuma acknowledging him as his friend. [[spoiler: After becoming a Barian he's a bit sullen when he has to fight Yuma due to his loyalty to the other Barian Emperors and makes it clear to them to [[TheOnlyOneAllowedToDefeatYou to stay away from Yuma and that he would be the one to deal with him]]]]. Before [[spoiler: dying after his final duel with Yuma, he tells him he had fun and wishes he could see the future Yuma creates before calling him and Astral his best friends]].
* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: Compared to the previous expies of Jounouchi, Shark is much more different than the former. To start off, he was TheBully to Yuma's Yugi by messing with an important item that they wore around their necks (The Millennium Puzzle for Yugi and the Emperor's Key for Yuma), and later, TookALevelInKindness by becoming a good friend. He has a younger sister and cares a great deal about her, and after she was hospitalized from an unknown incident, he became a Duelist in order to support her. Also, he shares Jonouchi's status as a BadassNormal between the main hero and rival. That's where the similarities end. Ryoga and his sister were once originally from a wealthy family before getting orphaned in a car crash, compared to Jounouchi's poor upbringing. Jounouchi is initially depicted as a mediocre-at-best player who has to get good in a hurry, while Shark is shown to be a skilled player from the get-go. In the original manga, Jounouchi remains a BadassNormal compared to Yugi and Kaiba, both of who were deeply connected in the GreaterScopeVillain of the past. Ryoga and his sister, however, are the ones who are revealed to be connected to the GreaterScopeVillain of the past while Yuma and Kaito happened to get roped into the conflict.
* CosmicPlaything: He's been yanked around and exploited [[spoiler:during both his past and present lives]] with [[spoiler:Tron outright manipulating the events of his post-accident existence to turn him into a weapon he can use against Dr. Faker.]]
* CurbStompBattle: Does this to Tetsuo in the first episode and [[spoiler:Yuma]] in the 10th.
* TheCorruption: Shark Drake's effect on him. Just like Tron planned.
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: With No. 17: Leviathan Dragon and No. 32: Shark Drake [[spoiler:and Chaos Number 32: Shark Drake Vice.]]

* ItsNotYouItsMyEnemies: Towards Yuma, as he excessively tries to push the latter away as to make sure that he doesn't end up hurt by IV.

** Seems to think a bit of this about [[WhatTheHellHero crushing Yuma's key]], and in return tries to keep it safe from Kaito. [[spoiler:It doesn't end well.]]
* ThePowerOfFriendship: Which he uses to resist No. 32's mind control.
* ThePowerOfHate: [[spoiler:How he brought out Shark Drake Vice.]]
* TheRival: To Yuma initially, then to IV after he and Yuma become friends. It borderlines to BloodKnight when we discover that IV caused Shark's sister's death and made Shark hate IV even when he begs for mercy

* SuperMode: For Shark Drake, [=CNo.=] 32: Shark Drake Vice.

** Then you get something weirder like the Sharktopus, a MixAndMatchCritter of a shark and octopus.
** Exaggerated with Shark Drake and Nightmare Shark. [[spoiler:And finally with Shark Drake Vice.]]
* UnwittingPawn: [[spoiler:To Tron - who orchestrated the hospitalization of his sister, had IV goad him into competing in the tournament, and made sure he obtained an evil, darkness-enhancing Number - all to make him an effective assassin against Dr. Faker.]]

* YourSoulIsMine: Lost his soul after losing against Kaito after their duel. He got better, thanks to Yuma.

* AmbiguouslyHuman: [[spoiler: Like his sister, he's started showing traits that provide a possible connection to the Barians. The first evidence was in episode 100, where he gets an aura that repairs Durbe's Barialapis bracelet, allowing Durbe to take his true form. The second (which pretty much confirms it) is in episodes 108-109, where he relives his previous life as a king who fought Vector's past human incarnation. Then he turns back into Nasch.]]

* HatesBeingTouched: Behaves this way when Chitaro Ariga holds his shoulder.
* KnightKnaveAndSquire: Forms this with Kaito and Yuma. Is the knave due to his cold attitude, loner nature, and lack of care towards things other than his friends and dueling. At the start of the series, he also dueled for his own self-interest and mixed in with a gang as a mercenary duelist.
* ThatManIsDead: [[spoiler:During his first meeting with Yuma after his FaceHeelTurn, he insists that he is Nasch, and no longer "Shark" or "Ryouga".]]
* MementoMacguffin: Episode 78 reveals that he wore the two silver rings on his right hand throughout the first ZEXAL series as a reminder of his sister, Rio, [[spoiler:who presented them to him when they were kids and suggested that they wear them to symbolize their bond as twins. When Shark dismissed it as a stupid idea, Rio threw the rings to the ground in anger and walked away, prompting him to wear them thereafter. He later gives one to Rio in the hospital. Their bond later helps to free Rio from Chitaro Ariga's imprisonment, with the rings now serving their original purpose.]]

* MySisterIsOffLimits: He claims his sister is this to anyone who cannot duel at least Yuma's level. This is misinterpreted by Takashi and Tokunosuke as "Yuma is dating Rio". He also does not like being called "Big Brother" by Tetsuo.

* StrikeMeDownWithAllOfYourHatred: [[spoiler:He attempts to goad those who duel him into hatred precisely because he doesn't want anyone to pull a IKnowYoureInThereSomewhereFight, like IV attempts on him.]]

* YouCantFightFate: [[spoiler:Durbe seems to be trying to convince him of this. After showing Shark the remaining memories of his past life, he succeeds, resulting in Shark transforming into Nasch offscreen.]]

A 'Numbers Hunter', Kaito is hunting down and capturing Numbers monsters to try and help his brother, Haruto, who allegedly can only have his strange disease cured if all one-hundred Numbers are gathered.\\\

His Deck theme is the 'Photon' cards, with his ace being Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. In addition, he also possesses around fifteen Numbers, five of which are known: No. 10: White Knight Illuminator, No. 20: Gig-Anto Brilli-Ant, No. 30: Acid Golem of Destruction, No. 56: Goldrat, and No. 09: Sky Canopy Star - Dyson Sphere. As of episode 43, he now holds one of the strongest Xyz monsters in the game, Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. As of episode 64, he has lost all of his Numbers cards. He later gained a few more, though has apparently lost all of them as well, after his apparent death.\\\

In the manga, he has a stronger version of Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon called Galaxy-Eyes Full Armor Photon Dragon. He also gets No. 95: Galaxy-Eyes Dark Matter Dragon from Kyoji Yagumo. Later he gets No. 38: Hope Vanguard Dragon - Titanic Galaxy.

* AntiVillain: Aside from his sympathetic motivation, Kaito tries to keep the fact that those who lose to him will have their souls taken a secret, and even commends Yuma on his spirit.

* BadassLongcoat: Black most of the time, but it turns into a [[Anime/YuGiOh Kaiba]] and [[Anime/YuGiOh5Ds Jack]]-esque white one when he Duels due to his Photon Change.
* BigBrotherInstinct: His motivation is healing his younger brother Haruto, to the point [[spoiler:he cancels a Duel with Yuma he was about to win when he finds out that Haruto has collapsed.]]
** Even better in the tag duel with him teaming with Yuma against III and IV. [[spoiler:His BigBrotherInstinct and bond with Haruto manifests itself as the ''strongest Xyz monster in the game''.]]
*** And during his duel [[spoiler:against Tron when Tron begins to torture Haruto]] he was fully ready and actually tried to walk away from the duel and go to his brother. [[spoiler:Unfortunately for him Tron won't have any of that....]]
* BigCreepyCrawlies: No. 20: Gig-Anto Brilli-Ant.

* HourOfPower: He can't use his Photon Change for long periods of time, as it gradually damages his body.
* HunterOfMonsters: Introduces himself as "the Numbers Hunter," and certainly lives up to the title.
* IneffectualLoner: He would have been absolutely demolished during his first duel against the Tron family as they had stacked their decks with cards specifically tailored to neutralize his Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon. It's only with ''a lot'' of help from Yuma and Hart that he manages to win.

* LightEmUp: All of his monsters are LIGHT-Attribute (barring [[MakingASplash No.30: Acid Golem of Destruction]]), and uses a lot of cards that support them like Photon Veil[[note]]Shuffle 3 LIGHT monsters from your hand into the Deck, then add 3 LIGHT monsters from your Deck to the hand[[/note]] and Lumenize[[note]]When an opponent's monster declares an attack: Target 1 face-up LIGHT monster you control; negate the attack, and that target gains ATK equal to the attacking monster's ATK[[/note]].

* MagicPokerEquation: Unlike Kaiba or Kaiser before him, Kite only has one copy of his ace monster. Similarly, while Jack's Red Daemon's Dragon was in his Extra Deck, Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon is a regular Effect Monster, meaning that Kite has to draw it from his Main Deck to use it, which he does without bricking in his first few turns if not his very first.
* ManOfKryptonite: Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon is designed to take down Xyz monsters even going by its real-life profile, where it can remove itself and the monster it battles from play and return both to the field later. Due to the way Xyz Monsters work, this removes their Xyz Material Monsters, leaving them without the ability to activate their effects which need them to give up an Xyz Material. To add insult to injury, Galaxy-Eyes gains 500 ATK for each Xyz Material the other removed monster had when they jumped out of play. If it takes out an Xyz with five materials, this makes it stronger than ''F.G.D'', one of the two strongest monsters in the game. And this is ''before'' it upgrades to Neo Galaxy-Eyes...

* MoralityPet: His brother, Haruto, brings out his kinder side.
* NearVillainVictory: [[spoiler:He almost beat Yuma, literally declaring a winning attack with Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon, but called off the Duel after discovering that Haruto had collapsed.]] Later on the receiving end of this against [[spoiler:Mizael.]]

* PetTheDog: It's heartwarming to see Kaito with his brother, to say the least:
--> '''Kaito''': You're just dreaming... a bad dream...

* PowerupFullColorChange: Whenever Kaito goes into Photon Mode, and then again when he brings out Neo Galaxy-Eyes and later Prime Photon.

* RodentsOfUnusualSize: Upon capturing No.56: Goldrat in episode 13, but doesn't use the card at all.

* TrainingFromHell: On the orders of Mr. Heartland, with Droite and Gauche against a dangerous Duel bot. He knocked Droite out of the way and received a gash on his cheek, but managed to destroy it with Daybreaker.

* TheWorfEffect: Both him and Galaxy-Eyes get hit with this as the opponents start getting tougher; III and IV manage to create a combo to seal Galaxy-Eyes, forcing a NextTierPowerUp, while against Tron, even ''that'' is ultimately trumped to demonstrate the power of Number 69.
* YourSoulIsMine: A side-effect of his Numbers collecting "Photon Hand" is taking the opponent's soul. Though, unusually, Kaito seems to have a problem with taking his opponents' souls.

* DeadPersonConversation: [[spoiler:When he appears during Yuma and Nasch's duel against Don Thousand.]]
* DemotedToExtra: While not ''quite'' out of the spotlight, with his major character arc resolved, Kaito at this point only really appears in plot-critical moments or to duel against Mizael.
* DyingMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:His final duel with Mizael has him creating an all-new ace monster for himself, ''Number 62: Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon'', out of just sheer willpower as he's slowly dying due to lack of oxygen on account of the duel being on the moon. Not only does he win, but he also ends up unlocking Number 100 in the process, which is the key to the Numeron Code. Then he promptly dies, but not before passing on the code to Mizael, whom he admits is the better dragon tamer, showing an AlwaysSomeoneBetter moment (although it's changed to himself in the dub). The fact that he died despite winning the duel made this HeroicSacrifice even more poignant.]]
* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: In response to Yuma having a HeroicBSOD when Shingetsu was kidnapped.
* KnightKnaveAndSquire: Forms this with Shark and Yuma. Is the knight due to his gathering of the Number cards for the sake of curing his brother Haruto's illness, and along with doing so under Dr. Faker's instructions. Additionally, the first Number card that he used is No. 10: White Knight Illuminator, which can be said to be a representation of that nature. With Haruto cured, he later takes up researching the Astral and Barian Worlds to find out more about their enemy's goals.
* LightIsGood: Haruto being cured, he is no longer at odds with Yuma for hunting numbers, and aids him on numerous occasions.

* PyrrhicVictory: [[spoiler:Defeated Mizael but died from suffocation due to the damage sustained on his spacesuit.]]

* {{Expy}}: To Mizuki Anzu from the original DM series, being a childhood friend for Yuma with a hefty case of ChildhoodFriendRomance, providing [[MsFanservice eye-candy]] for viewers, and only duels one time in their respective series. However, Kotori is much more [[GirlyGirl feminine]] than Anzu, and she tends to suffer from being a DamselInDistress a lot.
* FlatCharacter: Through the course of ''ZEXAL's'' 146-episode count, Kotori doesn't really have any character development, lacking any arcs compared to her predecessors-no development on her personal relationships with the other characters, nor any particular spotlight episodes highlighting who she is. She is mainly there to look and act cute and be a cheerleader for Yuma.
* GirlyGirl: Most girly out of all of the female protagonists probably due to the fact she is less of a tomboy than Anzu or Asuka and can't duel to save her life.

* SatelliteCharacter: Take away her interactions with Yuma, and there's not really much to be said about Kotori as a character. Whatever spotlight episodes she has usually tie back over to him in some way and don't really try to expand on her personality outside of her crush on him. Even her rivalry with Cathy ultimately just boils down to them having the same affection for him rather than any contrasting character traits between them.

* TheWatson: When ''Duel Monsters'' is involved, allowing any of the more duel-savvy characters such as Tetsuo to explain the rules to her (and the audience).

* AdaptationalWimp: If it was even possible. In the anime, she at least learns how to duel, even if she loses every duel she is in. In the manga, she never learns how to duel, and can't even work a duel disk.
* ChekhovsGun: A minor one. While she can't even work a duel disk, she does HAVE a deck of cards assembled (though we never see the contents), which she carries with her when Yuma and co. decide to infiltrate Heartland in search of Numbers cards. It comes in handy because duelists get to enter for free, and she gets qualified when she presents her deck -- she's not as wealthy as Cathy, and so most likely wouldn't have been able to afford the ticket price to enter the place without the deck.

* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Yuma is highly acrobatic and able to occasionally jump kicks "Orbital 6" a giant robotic gorilla, and able to counter Alito's cross counter despite his limited Barian Powers and his skills as a gladiator.

* PainInTheAss: How Yuma always landed after he jumped on a tall height point.

* NotMeThisTime: Everyone, including Yuma himself, assumes that he misplaced his deck before the World Duel Carnival finals by accident given how forgetful he's been about the tournament since before it even started. It soon transpires that [[spoiler:Faker stole it to facilitate a meeting with Yuma when he tried to get it back.]]
* ObliviousToLove: Poor Kotori, Cathy and Anna. Lampshaded by Astral. [[spoiler:The ending seems to have subverted this, as Yuma seems to have accepted Kotori's affections.]]
* OrderVersusChaos: He's often the chaos to Astral's order, making him a heroic substitute for Astral's original counterpart in the dichotomy, [[spoiler:Don Thousand.]]

* SpannerInTheWorks: Yuma ends up being one for the Tron family once he gets dragged into their revenge plot via Haruto when he gets challenged by III and IV. At first the brothers didn't think too much of him until he brings out Number 39 during their tag duel, which causes III to realize that Yuma might be a huge risk factor to them since he knows their strategies and they know absolutely nothing about him in turn. They constantly get blindsided by Yuma's actions during the duel, from the fact that he had a number the whole time, his selfless actions protecting Kaito from their trap, Chaos Numbers, his relation to Kazuma Tsukumo and the existence of Astral. It goes without saying that after the brother's first defeat against Yuma, they scrambled to find out every single detail about Yuma and Astral to avoid being blindsided by them in the future.

* SpannerInTheWorks: Yuma ends up being one for the Tron family once he gets dragged into their revenge plot via Haruto. At first III and IV didn't think too much of him until he brings out Number 39 during their tag duel, which causes III to realize that Yuma might be a risk factor since he knows their strategies and they know absolutely nothing about him in turn. It goes without saying that after their defeat against him, they scrambled to find out every single detail about Yuma and Astral to avoid being blindsided by them in the future.

* BadassNormal: In a show loaded with sci-fi-powered paramilitary types, aliens, and [[spoiler:reincarnated heroes]], Yuma gets by with a little help from Astral and largely by being himself. Case in point, near the end of the show, he's the only major duelist left who still needs to use a Duel Gazer. [[spoiler:Subverted as it was revealed that is Astral's other half, which he can use "Shining Draw"]]

* WorfEffect: As he was unable to defeat Tetsuo and Kaito, he was able to defeat Vetrix after he defeats Kaito, and all serious threat opponents like Alit, Girag, and Nasch (Shark), who were Barians Emperors.

* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: Yuma is highly acrobatic and able to occasionally jump kicks "Orbital 6" a giant robotic gorilla, and able to counter Alit's cross counter despite his limited Barian Powers and his skills as a gladiator.

* CharlesAtlasPowers: Yuma is highly acrobatic and able to occasionally jump kick "Orbital 6" a giant robotic gorilla.

%%* TheRival: At various points, to Shark, Kite, Gauche, Vector, and Alito.

* WorfEffect: As he was unable to defeat Tetsuo and Kaito, he was able to defeat Vetrix after he defeats Kaito, and all serious threat opponents like Alit, Girag, and Nasch(Shark), who were Barians Emperors.

* CharlesAtlasPower: Yuma is highly acrobatic and able to occasionally jump kick "Orbital 6" a giant robotic gorilla.

* NiceGuy: Yuma's genuine kind heart and empathy make him a very admirable character. He is always sympathetic towards his enemies, even those who did him wrong, which luckily saves him from Vector's attempt to commit suicide with him, only sacrifice himself for Yuma, and from his last duel with Ryouga Kamishiro.

* TheChosenOne: Yuma, along with Astral, is actually destined to stop the war between Astral World and Barian World, and he is also the other half of Astral as he can use "Shining Draw" which is exclusive to Zexal and citizens from Astral.

* BadassNormal: In a show loaded with sci-fi-powered paramilitary types, aliens, and [[spoiler:reincarnated heroes]], Yuma gets by with a little help from Astral and largely by being himself. Case in point, near the end of the show, he's the only major duelist left who still needs to use a Duel Gazer. [[spoilers: Subverted as it was revealed that is Astral's other half, which he can use "Shining Draw"]]

* FromZeroToHero: Yuma from being a good-for-nothing loser of everything in his daily life, became the hero who saves Earth, Astral World, and Barian World

* TheAce: Averted. Yuma is the first protagonist to be something of a loser at the start of his series, and is generally portrayed as such throughout, very rarely getting any respect from his peers and most of his duels being life-or-death scenarios requiring Astral's help. Subverted since he is now becoming more skilled, able to hold his own with minimal of Astral's guide

* AdaptationalBadass: In the manga, he takes on Kaito (who is possessed by one of Kyoji's Numbers) in their second Duel and ''won''. Contrast to the anime, where when he ''did'' take on Kaito again after the World Duel Carnival, he still couldn't eke out a win.

* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: InUniverse. Over the course of the series and dozens of duels, he obtained around seventy Numbers beside Hope. He used maybe nine of them at any point and only two more than once. "Make two Level 4s, then go into Hope" is, without exception, his first resort, and usually his last resort as well, even if he could bring out something else. Downplayed in the manga, where he uses other Numbers with some more frequency.
* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: Yusei was a stoic young adult who was well-liked respected by his friends and exceptionally skilled. Yuma is an immature and rather inept kid who his friends pick on because he's not very good at the game, Slightly Averted when his skills have grown towards dueling, they both have the PowerOfFriendship, MagneticHero, and kindheartedness. Furthermore, Yusei grew up without his biological family, while Yuma grew up with his grandmother and sister.

* BadassNormal: In a show loaded with sci-fi-powered paramilitary types, aliens, and [[spoiler:reincarnated heroes]], Yuma gets by with a little help from Astral and largely by being himself. Case in point, near the end of the show, he's the only major duelist left who still needs to use a Duel Gazer. Subverted as it was revealed that is Astral's other half, which he can use "Shining Draw"

* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: Yusei was a stoic young adult who was well-liked and respected by his friends and exceptionally skilled. Yuma is an immature and rather inept kid who his friends pick on because he's not very good at the game, Subverted when it comes to dueling. Furthermore, Yusei grew up without his biological family, while Yuma grew up with his grandmother and sister.

** Also in his duel with III, where it's revealed that [[spoiler:without the word "kattobingu," Yuma is terribly depressed and afraid of dueling and taking on challenges in general.]]

* TheAce: Averted. Yuma is the first protagonist to be something of a loser at the start of his series, and is generally portrayed as such throughout, very rarely getting any respect from his peers and most of his duels being life-or-death scenarios requiring Astral's help.

* BadassNormal: In a show loaded with sci-fi-powered paramilitary types, aliens, and [[spoiler:reincarnated heroes]], Yuma gets by with a little help from Astral and largely by being himself. Case in point, near the end of the show, he's the only major duelist left who still needs to use a Duel Gazer.

* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: Yusei was a stoic young adult who was well-liked and respected by his friends and exceptionally skilled. Yuma is an immature and rather inept kid who his friends pick on because he's not very good at the game. Furthermore, Yusei grew up without his biological family, while Yuma grew up with his grandmother and sister.

* IgnoredAesop: When Yuma screws up his World Duel Carnival application, Shark tries to comfort him by saying that he didn't even try to enter as he wants to just duel for the love of the game. Yuma takes a moment to admire how cool and mature this sentiment is before immediate accosting whatever Heartland staff he can get his hands on to let him into the tournament.
* InvincibleHero: For once in this series, it's actually averted. He still wins most plot-important matches, but he actually does lose quite frequently. He never manages to beat Kaito, and many of his early victories were heavily dependent on Astral. Even after he gets better, he's still shown to have legitimate trouble fighting his opponents.

* LoserProtagonist: Yuma, at the start of the series, is viewed by his peers as a bull-headed, reckless buffoon who is incompetent at everything, including school and ''Duel Monsters''. Even by the end, he is ''not'' high on the totem pole in regards to his school life, though he takes it in stride.

* NextTierPowerUp: He manages to set a new record among the protagonists for the fastest gained canon upgrade to an ace monster with Chaos Numbers 39: King of Wishes, Hope Ray. He got one three times faster than [[Anime/YuGiOh5Ds Yusei]]. [[spoiler:He's gained three more in the anime, and another two in the manga since. Subverted with Hope Roots though, which is a power-up, but is actually a downgraded version.]]
* NiceGuy: Yuma's genuine kind-heart and empathy make him a very admirable character. He is always sympathetic towards his enemies, even those who did him wrong.

* PersonalityPowers: Utopia's abilities nicely compensate for Yuma's reckless dueling style, allowing him to negate ''his own'' attacks if he falls for an opponent's ploy. Utopia Ray also provides Yuma a potential ComebackMechanic when his life points inevitably fall bellow 1000.

* ThePowerOfFriendship: Played to incredible extremes. Yuma is able to become friends with ANYONE, ranging from stoic and seemingly emotionless characters (Astral), a juvenile delinquent which he helps reform (Shark), a Hunter who will stop at nothing to collect his Numbers and Soul (Kaito), a gentle boy driven to AxCrazy insanity and hatred (III) and even [[spoiler:Rei Shingetsu, who despite revealing himself to be Vector and trying to hurt Yuma countless times, is still cherished by Yuma as a friend as seen when he attempts to rescue him, and his sincerity brings Vector to some sort of HeelFaceTurn.]] It is even hinted in more than one episode that Yuma and Astral are able to go FusionDance into ZEXAL partly because of the bond of trust between them, which Vector tries to sabotage. Shark even Dueled Yuma to snap him out (successfully) of his HeroicBSOD, despite not wanting to admit pout loud that he cares for Yuma a lot, and Kaito opened up to Yuma gradually (Thanks to Yuma showing genuine concern for him and his brother) and finally considered him his rival (after calling him a mere idiot earlier), and promising him to duel him as many times as he wants in order for Yuma to achieve his goal (of surpassing Kaito). III even called Yuma his first true friend, and that's coming from an innocent soul who had to live in a broken family situation.
* RedIsHeroic: Yuma's hair, eyes, and parts of his clothing aside, the number 39 on Hope/Utopia is also red and for a while Hope was the only Number monster with a number of that color. Hope Ray V[[note]]which may be a subversion[[/note]] and [[spoiler:Hope Ray Victory]] also have some red parts on their armor. [[spoiler:He even gets a red aura briefly while traveling to Astral World.]]

* TookALevelInBadass: Yuma shows easily the greatest growth of any Yugioh protagonist before or since. Originally something of a loser (with a stated record of 33 confirmed losses, though most of them occured off-screen) that needs Astral to coach him through every major duel. But by the time of the World Duel Carnival he's learned enough to duel and win competently without relying on Astral or Numbers and by the end of the series he even defeats Astral himself.

* VictorGainsLosersPowers: Yuma can use any Numbers which he has defeated and Astral has absorbed, making his Deck expand with each victory. However, he uses very few of them, and generally defaults back to only using Hope. Though when he does, it's very satisfying.

* MySignificanceSenseIsTingling: [[spoiler:Senses Girag first appearance on earth and later Don Thousand alongside Rio. Though what this means about him is currently unknown.]]

* SuperpoweredEvilSide: [[spoiler:When he fully embraces Shark Drake's power, he glows with purple aura and gets the power to summon Chaos Number 32.]]

* SayMyName: "HARUTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!" He does this many, many, MANY times.

* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: Compared to the previous expies of Joey, Shark is much more different than the former. To start off, He was TheBully to Yuma's Yugi by messing with an important item that they wore around their necks (The Millennium Puzzle for Yugi and the Emperor's Key for Yuma), and later, TookALevelInKindness by becoming a good friend. He has a younger sister and cares a great deal about her, and after she was hospitalized from an unknown incident, he became a Duelist in order to support her. Also, he shares Jonouchi's status as a BadassNormal between the main hero and rival. That's where the similarities end; Ryoga and his sister were once originally from a wealthy family before getting orphaned in a car crash, compared to Joey's poor upbringing. In the original manga, Joey remains a BadassNormal compare to Yugi and Kaiba, both of who were deeply connected in the GreaterScopeVillain of the past. Ryoga and his sister, however, are the ones who are revealed to be connected to the GreaterScopeVillain of the past while Yuma and Kaito happened to get roped into the conflict.

* TeensAreShort: He's already a young adult by the start of the series, but is much shorter than Droite and Gauche.

* IdiotHair: Albeit an exaggerated example.

%%* TheSpock

* ComplacentGamingSyndrome: InUniverse. His over-reliance on his basic Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon starts to sabotage his duels in the second half of the first season as most of his opponents know about it and develop ways to counter the monster.

* WellIntentionedExtremist: Very well-intentioned, and very extreme in his methods.

%%* {{Tsundere}}

* TheChick: She serves as this to the main cast.

* TheAce: Averted. Yuma is the first protagonist to be something of a loser at the start of his series.

* AdaptationalBadass: In the manga, he takes on Kaito (who is possessed by one of Kyoji's Numbers) in their second Duel and ''won''.

%%* AnimalMotifs: Zexal Weapons

* CharacterDevelopment: He becomes much more strategic in his duels, and relies on Astral's help a lot less.

* InvincibleHero: For once in this series, it's actually averted. He still wins most plot-important matches, but he actually does lose quite frequently.

* LoserProtagonist: Yuma, at the start of the series, is viewed by his peers as a bull-headed, reckless buffoon who is incompetent at everything, including school and ''Duel Monsters''.

* AllLovingHero: He somehow managed to redeem [[spoiler:''Vector'']], despite [[spoiler: Vector's]] constant {{troll}}ing, maintaining that even if [[spoiler: Vector]] had no soul he'd still believe his lies again and again because he believes that [[spoiler: Vector]] has the potential to have a soul.

* AchillesHeel: Seems like Yuma is this to Shark Drake's effect on Ryoga.

* ContrastingSequelMainCharacter: Compare to the previous expies of Joey, Shark is much more different than the former. To start off, He was TheBully to Yuma's Yugi by messing with an important item that they wore around their necks (The Millennium Puzzle for Yugi and the Emperor's Key for Yuma), and later, TookALevelInKindness by becoming a good friend. He has a younger sister and cares a great deal about her, and after she was hospitalized from an unknown incident, he became a Duelist in order to support her. Also, he shares Jonouchi's status as a BadassNormal between the main hero and rival. That's where the similarities end; Ryoga and his sister were once originally from a wealthy family before getting orphaned in a car crash, compared to Joey's poor upbringing. In the original manga, Joey remains a BadassNormal compare to Yugi and Kaiba, both of who were deeply connected in the GreaterScopeVillain of the past. Ryoga and his sister, however, are the ones who are revealed to be connected to the GreaterScopeVillain of the past while Yuma and Kaito happened to get roped into the conflict.

* {{Expy}}: To Seto Kaiba. His Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon is a CallBack to Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon in ''Duel Monsters'', with a similar name theme, appearance, and the same stats (3000 ATK/2500 DEF). His Neo Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon is an {{Expy}} of Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and Paladin of Photon Dragon is the "Photon" counterpart of Paladin of White Dragon, Paladin of the Cursed Dragon, and Knight of Dark Dragon.

%% * WorfEffect: Both him and Galaxy-Eyes in the second and third arcs, though they get some of it back in the next two.

* TheAtoner: Appears to have become this as of Zexal II, judging by his line to the thugs in episode 75 telling him they'll "send him to hell;"

* KnightKnaveAndSquire: Forms this with Shark and Yuma. Is the knight due to his gathering of the Number cards for the sake of curing his brother Haruto's illness, and along with doing so under Dr. Faker's instructions. Additionally, the first Number card that he used is No. 10: White Knight Illuminator, which can be said to be a representation of that nature.

* ClingyJealousGirl: Shows some shades of this towards Yuma.

* FlatCharacter: She doesn't really have a lot of character development. She is mainly there to look and act cute and be a cheerleader for Yuma.

* TheLoad: Insists on tagging along with Yuma on his adventures even though the situations can be quite dangerous and she can't provide much help or defend herself. She eventually gets a deck but has only used it once in the series (and that when she was mind-controlled).

* TookALevelInBadass: {{Downplayed|Trope}}. She does learn how to duel by asking Rio for tutelage but has only duel ''once'', and during that time she was BrainwashedAndCrazy by Girag, who then gave her the Barian Rank-Up Spell Card to upgrade her Fairy Cheer Girl to ''CXyz Dark Fairy Cheer Girl''.