United Sanctuary | Dragon Empire | Star Gate | Dark Zone | Magallanica | Zoo | Other
Characters appearing in the Collectible Card Game of Cardfight!! Vanguard, which is set on "an Earth-like planet" known as Cray. This page contains characters whose clans are part of the United Sanctuary natio.
Royal Paladins
As a clan, the Royal Paladins focus on using their search and call skills to fill the Rearguard as quickly as possible, gaining power from the number of Royal Paladins in play and using skills to support each other.
In the G-Series, much higher emphasis was given to Grade 2 units increasing their offensive potential overall. This would also include Grade 1 units acting as Grade 2 units to help activate skills or to simply call them out.
The Royal Paladin keyword is Brave: skills which are active if you have three or fewer cards in your hand. While difficult at first as your hand is also how you guard attacks, it becomes much easier to activate by introducing ways to temporarily lose hand as well as activating ways to refresh one's hand as well.
In the V-Series, Royal Paladins haven't really changed much, however, more emphasis was placed on specific units, namely Blaster Blade and the various units the support him or are supported by him. Their Imaginary Gift is Force.
Clan-wide Tropes:
- Big Good
- Demoted to Extra: Justified in Asia Circuit, where the sealing of Blaster Blade has left their ranks in disarray but shown in the Link Joker arc after Aichi has switched from using Royal Paladin to Gold Paladins, taking with him a lot of the iconic units of the clan. After that, players think Royal Paladins are denied many supports as opposed to the other clans.
- Glass Cannon: The Brave ability unlocks skills when they have three or less cards in hand.
- Heroes Prefer Swords: Most of the Royal Paladins prefer to use a sword in combat, ranging from traditional longswords and rapiers to beam sabers and BFS. Even some of the Hi-Dogs like to use swords and daggers in combat!
- Knight in Shining Armor: The Royal Paladins are composed entirely of various beings who adhere to the codes of chivalry and honor.
- No One Gets Left Behind: Followed to the letter. The Royal Paladins try their best to keep friendly casualties as low as possible and make sure that no one is left behind. As was the case with Maiden of Darkness, Macha, anyone in the Royal Paladins who tries to pull a We Have Reserves is immediately dealt with appropriately.
- Shout-Out: The Royal Paladins definitely have big shoes to fill as they are basically a modern reincarnation of some of the most
universally beloved and badass bunch of heroes ever known: King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table. - The Power of Friendship: Their primary tactic is to swarm the field and fight together as one cohesive alliance, supporting each other to soundly obtain victory.
- Theme Naming: After characters in the Arthurian Legend.
- True Companions: The Royal Paladins would never think of abandoning or sacrificing their friends and allies.
Individual Units
King of Knights, Alfred / Alfred Early / Liberator of the Round Table, Alfred / Liberator, Monarch Sanctuary Alfred / Light Origin Seeker, Alfred Exiv / Luminous Light King of Knights, Alfred Oath / Divine Knight King, Alfred Holy Saver
The strongest knight of the United Sanctuary, Alfred, the King of Knights, is the leader of the first army of the Sanctuary, the Royal Paladins. He serves to protect his people alongside his confidant and closest ally, Ahmes, better known as the Blaster Blade, and his loyal army of knights.
All of his cards do two things, call units from the deck and accumulate power when you have units on the field. Later support would focus more on Blaster Blade and in the V-Series, all of his abilites are dependant on Blaster Blade, both to call him out and to have him on field.
- A Father To His Kingdom: He always cares about the welfare and happiness of everyone in the United Sanctuary, including his Royal Paladin subordinates. The relationship is mutual, with the populace loving their king and the Royal Paladins always ready to answer their beloved king's calls.
- The Ace: Was known as the strongest swordsman of the Royal Paladins until he became king, passing on his title of strongest swordsman to Blaster Blade.
- Authority Equals Ass Kicking: Can be quite fearsome when he is together with his nakama.
- Badass Cape
- BFS: Appropriately called the Great Sword.
- Big Good
- Bling of War: Liberator of the Round Table has a lot of gold adornment to his armor
- The Captain: He is the beloved leader of the Royal Paladins.
- Cool Horse: A big, flaming stallion.
- Epic Hail: He can call upon his knights to come forth if they are needed.
- Monarch Sanctuary Alfred's Limit Break can call up to five units from the deck at once.
- Glory Days: A positive take on the trope, many remember Alfred's younger days very fondly much like a folk tale.
- The Good King: He is the living embodiment of the trope.
- The Idealist: His idealism sometimes leads to disagreements with others, such as with the case of Black Sage, Charon which did not end well.
- Limit Break: Liberator of the Round Table, Alfred has one while Liberator, Monarch Sanctuary Alfred has two, with one of them being an ultimate break.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Friends and allies rejoice and foes cower in fear whenever they hear the King of Knights has arrived.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: He is presumably the King of United Sanctuary, judging from his title of King of Knights.
- Shoulder Cannon: Liberator, Monarch Sanctuary Alfred sports a pair on his shoulder, concealed by his armour.
- Shout-Out: To King Arthur and Alfred the Great.
- The Power of Friendship: With his friends and allies by his side, the King of Knights will not fail.
- Light Origin Seeker, Alfred Exiv can perform Legion with his trusted friend Blaster Blade (Seeker). His King of Knights form on the other hand is the partner unit to the Vanguard of the King of Knights, Ezer.
- Divine Knight King, Alfred Holy Light Seeker can allow Blaster Blade Exceed Rearguards to Twin Drive.
- Warrior King: Magnificent, flaming steed in one hand, Great Sword in the other, he is ready to fight and lead his retinue of knights for the sake of his people.
- The Wise King: From Alfred Early's flavor text, it can be reasonably assumed that this is his character.
Blaster Blade/Majesty Lord Blaster/Exculpate The Blaster/Blaster Blade Spirit/Blaster Blade Burst/Blaster Blade Liberator/Blaster Blade Seeker/Swordsman of Light, Ahmes/Blaster Blade Exceed
The Face of Cardfight!! Vanguard, Blaster Blade is the primary unit of the Aichi Sendou, the main character, and much of the lore of Cray surrounds him, his comrades and his fights against the various threats of the Planet Cray.
The right hand man of the King of Knights, Ahmes was once a simple knight in the first army of the United Sanctuary. Even early on, his talents would make him destined for greatness. Having acquired one of the Blaster Armaments developed by Blasteed, he would become the only wielder who would not fall to the corruption of his Blaster Armament. In fact, he would bring the full potential of the weapon becoming synonymous as the blade he wields. His legend would soon span ages inspiring many and feared by those who would stand against the Sanctuary.
As a unit, all standard forms of Blaster Blade have a similar effect, retiring an opposing rear-guard when he is placed on the field. While a pretty standard ability, there are a plethora of cards that either support Blaster Blade or acquire bonuses with Blaster Blade on the field.
With his evolved forms, his base form is often required to be in soul to acquire effects, though there are multiple ways to help with said requirement. His evolved states will also invole one of two effects, sometimes both, either an enhancement to his power and critical or a stronger version of his retire ability.
- The Ace: Is known to be the strongest swordsman in the Royal Paladins.
- All There in the Manual: The Shining Swordsman manga has revealed that his real name is Ahmes.
- Awesome, but Temporary: Exculpate The Blaster returns back into Blaster Blade after he attacks.
- Back from the Dead: While technically he's not dead (Only sealed away), but he will be back in spirit/astral/ghost form in the latest booster. Though he now has paper thin armor and can be retired even by the weakest attack.
- Badass Cape: And what a Badass Cape it is
◊ - BFS: His sword, the Blaster Blade. Is only overshadowed by Alfred's even bigger BFS.
- Bling of War: As a Liberator.
- The Captain: Leads his own unit of knights within the Royal Paladins.
- Cool Sword: His sword, the Blaster Blade, is a sword that turns courage into raw power, and he is the only one out of everyone in the Royal Paladins that can properly use it. When he becomes Majesty Lord Blaster, he combines the Blaster Blade and Blaster Dark. The resulting sword can Screw Destiny.
- Dark Is Not Evil: As Majesty Lord Blaster, his armor is black, but if anything he's more heroic than ever.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Weaponized by Exculpate:His light is so overwhelming that the shadow warriors who used to serve their country entrust their sword and light to the warrior of light.
- Divergent Character Evolution: With Blaster Dark. At first, the two cards were practically identical to one another skill-wise (with even their Liberator and Revenger versions literally having the same skill) but later variations/retrains of them have gone out of their way to differentiate the two from one another. In Blaster Blade's case, his skills became more emphasized towards retiring higher-graded rearguards (usually Grade 2 or higher) and raising his Critical.
- The Dreaded: Judging by the efforts they made to remove the possibility of his return, Blade's Majesty Lord Blaster form is this to Link Joker.
- Incorruptible Pure Pureness: The Blaster series weapons have a tendency to corrupt their wielders because they draw power from and amplify the emotions of those wielders. To date, Ahmes is the only knight to wield one without being corrupted.
- Infinity +1 Sword: Majesty Lord Blaster's sword.
- The Lancer: Might be this to Alfred, judging from Alfred Early's card art.
- Confirmed in his backstory as a close friend of and confidant to Alfred.
- Light Is Good: Incredibly so.
- Living Legend: Exceed represents Blade at a point between the events of the original series lore and that of G, where he was appointed Supreme Grandmaster of the United Sanctuary and commanded all of the knightly orders. His lore notes that while he bore the title, the number of the Sanctuary's enemies dwindled dramatically and it was said that the entire world looked at him in awe.
- Loyal Phlebotinum: His sword, the Blaster Blade, is this.
- The Mentor: Is an unofficial mentor to Little Sage, Marron, who follows his unit of knights.
- No Kill like Overkill: Exculpate The Blaster attacks your opponent's ENTIRE FIELD!
- Red Baron / Names to Run Away from Really Fast: His name is actually a nickname derived from his Cool Sword of the same name. As for his real name, it's either not revealed to us or nobody knows it. Furthermore, as Majesty Lord Blaster, he is known as the Ultimate Vanguard. The Shining Swordsman manga has finally revealed his true name as Ahmes.
- Sealed Badass in a Can / Sealed Good in a Can: During the War of Liberation.
- Shout-Out:
- An object that turns courage into raw power? That's strikingly similar to a certain green stone... He then evolves fueled by infinite courage... Sounds similar to a certain cyborg.
- Exculpate the Blaster returns back to Blaster Blade at the end of the turn, sounds similar to this card.
- Blade seems to represent King Arthur as the messianic hero, as evidenced by his sword's Loyal Phlebotinum nature being similar to only Arthur being able to draw the sword from the stone. Similarly, Exculpate's name seems to be a twisted reference to Excalibur.
- Shrouded in Myth: Exceed's lore notes that his many feats could scarcely be believed to be the work of a single man, and that because there was never any record of his death, there are many tales told about just what became of him, including that he became a Guardian Dragon protecting the Sanctuary or an immortal knight to save the world.
- Super Mode: Majesty Lord Blaster, and Exculpate the Blaster.
- Screw Destiny: Majesty Lord Blaster's sword can 'put an end to the sorrowful cycle of fate and karma'.
- Took a Level in Badass: Blaster Blade Exceed is a Grade Three that not only retires a rearguard without cost, but with Divine Knight King, Alfred Holy Light Seeker, is one of the few Rearguards that can Twin Drive.
- Team Pet: Wingal is his trusted partner in combat.
- Tron Lines: On his armor.
- Try to Fit That on a Business Card: By the time he became Exceed, he bore "numberless honorable titles", a sample of which include "The Swordsman of Light", "The Strongest Knight of the Sanctuary" and "The Confidant of the King of Knights". As Majesty Lord Blaster, he is also known as the "Ultimate Vanguard".
- Uncertain Doom: The events of the G era lore take place centuries after Blade's time, but even so, Blade's death has never been confirmed. Blaster Blade Exceed's lore, chronologically his latest, only says that no record of his death was made and so there are numerous stories about what happened to him.
- Yin-Yang Bomb: As Majesty Lord Blaster he wields both the Blaster Blade and the Blaster Dark, combined into one sword. As summed up by Majesty's SP lore:Light is shining shadow. Shadow is silent light. We are one!
Solitary Knight, Gancelot/Solitary Liberator, Gancelot/Liberator of Bonds, Gancelot Zenith/Holy Divine Knight, Gancelot Peace Saver
A Knight born of both an Elven noble and a Human noble, a solitary knight who is loyal to the King of Knights whose legend would go on to rival that of even his right hand man. He would so go on to be one of the key members when establishing the Liberators of the Gold Paladins quickly building on his legacy alongside his allies.
As a Royal Paladin, his support directly assists Blaster Blade with his original card having the ability to be returned to the deck in exchange for Blaster Blade and his future support directly enhances Blaster Blade to allowing Blaster Blade to fight as a Vanguard.
As a Gold Paladin, emphasis has been given on his ability to power his rear-guards with his Break Ride effect empowering existing rear-guards and his Cross Ride unit allowing him to call an ally from the top of his deck.
- Bling of War: His Liberator forms, with their shiny golden armor.
- Cool Horse: Rides a white pegasus.
- Epic Hail : Gancelot Zenith can call a unit from the top of the deck.
- Famed In-Story: 'He is a battle-scarred veteran whose name is known to all in the United Sanctuary'
- Glass Cannon: Solitary Knight, Gancelot have one of the lowest power of Grade 3, sitting at 9000 Power. Note that even 10000 can count as this trope.
- Heroic Bastard: He was born out of wedlock between an elven noble and a human knight.
- Ineffectual Loner: His title. Otherwise subverted as he values his companionship with Blaster Blade and always answers Alfred's calls. And then we learn the real reason he has the title of Solitary Knight was due to him being a Heroic Bastard and having to fend for himself both in and out of the battlefield. Thankfully, he now has friends.
- Shout-Out: To Sir Lancelot of the Knights of the Round Table for his namesake and Sir Mordred of the Knights of the Round Table for his illegitimate birth.
- The Power of Friendship:
- Solitary Liberator's Break Ride allows you to empower three of your rearguards by 5000 power and your vanguard by 10000 power.
- Gancelot Zenith empower the rear-guard called with his skill by 10000 power.
- Took a Level in Badass: From a card that is mainly used as a Blaster Blade searcher, into one of the most powerful Break Ride effect, and finally he got his own Cross Ride. And after the Invasion War, he becomes strong enough to attain a Stride Form in Peace Saver.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: Heavily implied in Peace Saver's Lore, which states that he will outlive Alfred and his friends on account of his elven blood. Nonetheless, he carries the beliefs they shared and keeps on going.
Knight of Silence, Gallatin/Liberator of Silence, Gallatin/Champion of Silence, Gallatin
- Bling of War: As a Liberator.
- Cursed with Awesome: The reason he wears a blindfold is because he has the ability to see the souls of others. Unfortunately, his eyes are so bright to them that he would instantly burn their souls without his blindfold.
- Lightning Bruiser: He can run very quickly and dish out equal levels of superb swordsmanship.
- Separated at Birth: There are rumors that Gallatin may have a long lost twin brother residing somewhere in the Dragon Empire.
- Shout-Out: To Sir Gawain of the Knights of the Round Table by way of Sir Gawain's sword.
- The Stoic: His title.
Little Sage, Marron/Little Liberator, Marron/Little Tactician, Marron/Little Great Sage, Marron
- Attack of the 50-Foot Giant: Subverted. While he is supposedly a Giant, he is always presented as human-sized. Might overlap with Meaningful Name.
- Cute Bruiser: Packs quite a punch when he zaps enemies with magical electricity.
- Tag Along Kid: Is this to Blaster Blade.
- The Mentor: Views Blaster Blade as this.
- The Smart Guy: Serves as the Royal Paladins' tactician. Otherwise, he's always off tagging along with Blaster Blade's unit of knights to learn something new.
Flash Shield, Iseult/Flashing Jewel Knight, Iseult/Great Flash, Iseult
- Cursed with Awesome: Legend has it that the Flash Shield is cursed.
- Deflector Shields: Her Flash Shield creates a magical barrier in the form of magic circles.
- Instant Runes: The way her Flash Shield works.
- Luckily, My Shield Will Protect Me: Her skill completely blocks an attack on a Royal Paladin.
- No-Sell: Nothing, absolutely nothing will get past her or her Flash Shield.
- Shout-Out: To Iseult of Ireland.
Stardust Trumpeter/Star Call Trumpeter/Liberator, Star Rain Trumpeter/Star Hope Trumpeter
- Unsettling Gender Reveal: Both tropes averted.
Word of God says she's an angelic girl. Made more obvious as she grew older. - Bling of War: Star Rain Trumpeter, like all Liberators.
- Cute Little Fangs: Has those as Star Rain Trumpeter.
- Epic Hail:
- As Star Call, she can superior call any Grade 2 or lower units with "Blaster" in their name. Ranges from Blaster Blade to Blaster Dark, and even Blaster Keroro.
- Star Rain Trumpeter can Superior Call a Gold Paladin from the deck, provided you can return a Blaster Blade Liberator to the deck.
- Exotic Eye Designs: Star Rain Trumpeter has star-shaped pupils.
- Fangirl: A big one for Blaster Blade.
- Hope Bringer: Seeing how much losing her hero gave her despair, Star Rain Trumpter swore to become hope for everyone.
- She Is All Grown Up: Cue timeskip and we see Stardust Trumpeter has grown up to become the Star Call Trumpeter.
- The Power of Rock: Her Magic Trumpet gives her friends and allies the courage and strength to fight on.
Barcgal/Barcgal Liberator/Blaster-friend, Barcgal/Blue Scud, Barcgal
- Bling of War: His golden armor as a Liberator.
- Epic Hail: As a Royal Paladin he can call forth either Flowgal or the Knight of the Future, Llew to come to his aid. As a Gold Paladin he can call a random Liberator unit.
- The Ace: He was the ace of the Royal Paladin High Dogs Unit. As a Gold Paladin he remains a veteran ace.
- We Can Rebuild Him: His flavor text depicts this.
Wingal/Wingal Brave/Wingal Liberator/Seeker, Sacred Wingal/Wingal Youth
- Bling of War: As a Liberator.
- Dare to Be Badass: His flavor text.
- The Power of Friendship: Sacred Wingal's 'Legion' ability allows him to become stronger by joining forces with Blaster Blade Seeker, represented in game terms by their two cards linking together to form one single piece of art.
- Reckless Sidekick: Subverted. His recklessness is his positive trait.
- Team Pet: Is always on the frontlines alongside Blaster Blade.
Soul Saver Dragon/Holy Dragon, Religious Soul Saver/Holy Dragon, Myriad Soul Saver
The Guaradian Dragon, Soul Saver Dragon watches over the Sanctuary since ancient times. Upon revealing themselves, their roar can soothe the wounds of warriors and strike fear into enemies.
In the original series, Soul Saver Dragon can Soul Blast 5 cards to give three units 5000 power, often the choice finisher for players. However this is done when placed as the Vanguard thus necessitating setup.
In the V-Series this requirement is made easier by turning the ability into an activatable ability thus giving you a bit more flexibility with its effect, even Soul Charging when it attacks if the player hasn't achieved the required soul. In addition, the boost is now 15000 power to six units.
The G-Unit variations of Soul Saver do similar effects to its original counterpart, though requires specific support.Religious Soul Saver is meant to go with the Blaster deck but Myriad Soul Saver can be used with Blasters or Alfred.
- Ambiguous Gender: Has led to much Viewer Gender Confusion especially do to their chest.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: Easily the largest of the Royal Paladins, as shown by the anime.
- Big Good
- Finishing Move: Its Holy Charging Roar skill lasts for one turn, so is usually employed in this fashion.
- Future Badass: Religious Soul Saver is a version of Soul Saver summoned from a possible future by Stride.
- Guardian Entity: It's the guardian dragon of United Sanctuary.
- Light 'em Up: Pretty much an embodiment of the trope.
- Our Angels Are Different: It looks very angelic, and tends to appear in flashes of shining light.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Probably the most nonstandard dragon in Vanguard so far.
- Rousing Roar: Holy Charging Roar. When Soul Saver Dragon appears on the battlefield, it can power up its allies for a turn.
- Sealed Good in a Can: Usually reside in a special realm created by the Sage of Time.
- Sealed Badass in a Can
- The Power of Friendship: Holy Charging Roar increases the power of 3 rear guards by 5000 until the end of the turn.
- Took a Level in Badass
Sanctuary Guard Dragon/Holy Dragon, Sanctuary Guard Regalia
The Legendary White Dragon King who had sacrificed his life to protect the United Sanctuary from the then established Dragon Empire. Upon his death, he would entrust his power to future Guardian Dragons to help protect the Sanctuary from invaders.
Sanctuary Guard and his support are all about supporting Grade 1 units by calling them out from deck and acquring bonuses based on the amount of Grade 1 units on field.
- Alternate History: Sanctuary Guard Regalia is from an alternate history where Sanctuary Guard Dragon survived, summoned to the regular timeline via Stride.
- Authority Equals Asskicking: The 'White Dragon King' who founded the United Sanctuary and fought to protect it.
- Cool Sword: So cool that after his death it was handed down as part of his legacy.
- Dare to Be Badass: Sanctuary Guard Regalia: It's said his light changes those with even the smallest amount of courage into true heroes.
- Dual Wielding: Sanctuary Guard Regalia wields two swords.
- Expy: He is more or less King Arthur as a dragon.
- Heroic Sacrifice: He fought for the United Sanctuary until doing so killed him.
- Our Founder: He is the founder of the United Sanctuary.
- The Power of Friendship: In both of his forms, he is empowered by your grade 1 or lower rear-guards.
- Royals Who Actually Do Something: Known as the White Dragon King, and sacrificed himself protecting the United Sanctuary.
- What Could Have Been: In-universe, Sanctuary Guard Regalia comes from a world where the Grand Sanctuary never split into the United Sanctuary and Dragon Empire.
Blue Sky Knight, Altmile/Aerial Divine Knight, Altmile/Transcending the Heavens, Altmile/Knight of Heavenly Decree, Altmile/Higher Deity Knight, Altmile
The main Royal Paladin unit during the Vanguard G series. A simple man born in the desert region of the United Sanctuary bordering the Dragon Empire, he had grew up hearing stories of a divine knight named Gablade. Soon becoming an elite knight fighting off the bordering threats of the Dragon Empire alongside his hometown friends, he would be recruited to join Chronojet Dragon to fight against a threat that would soon threaten space and time. Through his fights against Fenrir, he would learn Stride Fusion to acquire the power of his future self rivaling that of the legendary Swordsman of Light.
In the G-Era Altmile focuses heavily on offense and power often calling cards from the hand with his Stride forms calling Grade 2 units from the deck. His ability to call cards from his hand for extra power would come in handy upon acquring the Brave ability allowing him to minimize his hand but maximize his board presence.
In the V-Series, Altmile and his supporting cards still retains his heavy focus on Grade 2 units, but retooled the Brave mechanic to activate when you have no Counter Blasts available, i.e. no face up cards in damage. This would typically involve using abilities as fast as you can so that you can overwhelm your opponent with high power and critical.
- The Ace: Is considered an elite knight.
- Childhood Friends: He and Livarot come from the same town and they have been friends since childhood.
- Epic Hail: Like other Royal Paladins, he has a skill that call units. But unlike the others, he calls from the hand instead of the deck.
- Soaring Divine Knight, Altmile can call a grade 2 from the deck.
- Future Badass: Soaring Divine Knight, Altmile is one of Altmile's future possibilities, as is Transcending the Heavens, Altmile.
- Master Swordsman: Altmile is very skilled with the sword.
- The Power of Friendship: Both of his skills give his allies an additional 5000 Power.
- His Stride form powers up the front row by 3000 Power and the unit called by his skill by 5000 Power.
- Super Mode: Aerial Divine Knight, Altmile is the form Altmile obtained after gaining the power of his future self through Stride Fusion in order to fight back against Fenrir.
Sub-Clans
The Blaster Armaments are a series of magic weapons developed by Blasteeed with Larousse being the first user. However the sheer strength of the weapons had the side effect of causing the users to be corrupted, with the only exception being Ahmes, more well known as Blaster Blade, who was able to not only use the weapon to its full ability, but also not fall into corruption. The users in particular Larousse and Junos who were corrupted and envious of Ahmes formed the Shadow Paladins alongside Phantom Blaster Dragon. After the dragon's defeat, Larousse returned to the Royal Paladin and with a weapons dealor and mage started developing the "𝛎 Blaster" series armanents, a new type of magical weapons, which don't corrupt the mind of its users. Meanwhile, Junos would stay with his newfound brethren to aid the Sanctuary in the shadows.
In gameplay, the Blaster Series are well known for the on call retire abilities, often the only units in Royal Paladin that would be able to control the state of the board.
The Swordsman of Light cards would directly support Alfred or be supported with Alfred as the Vanguard.
In the V-Series, the Blaster Sub-Clan would instead support each other by acquiring bonuses if all six different Blasters are all on field. Further power and effects would be active with Messianic Lord Blaster or Arc Saver Dragon as their Vanguard.
- The Corruption: The original Blaster Armaments had the side effect of corrupting the users mind due to their strength with the only exception being Ahmes who became famous for it.
- Heel–Face Turn: After being released from the corruption of the Blaster Armaments, the Blaster users would realign themselves with the Royal Paladins. However Junos (Blaster Dark) would stay with the Shadow Paladins though the trope still applies.
- In-Universe Nickname: Many of the users are called by their weapons.
The Jewel Knight sub-clan follows the same style of the other Royal Paladin units, superior calling other Jewel Knights and gaining power and effects if there are a certain about of Jewel Knights on your field.
In the V-Series, the Jewel Knights are all about calling units over them to acquire various effects with the ability to recycle units by sending them back to the deck to continue their abilities along with the ability to soul charge upon being called.
- Knight in Shining Armor: They are known for the jewels embedded onto their armor.
Ashlei
'Forms:Pure Heart Jewel Knight, Ashlei/Broken Heart Jewel Knight, Ashlei "Яeverse"
- Become the cornerstone of the future! Pure Foundation!Now, my resolution is firm...Lost Foundation!
- Bright Is Not Good: Ashlei Я wears primarily white and red, yet as a whole she looks closer to a Link Joker unit than a Royal Paladin one.
- Childhood Friends: She's been friends with Feerless Jewel Knight, Julia since childhood.
- Cool Shades: Ashlei Я. It even resembles Kamina's or Squirtle's shades.
- The Corruption: Ashlei Я.
- Dark Messiah: Ashlei Я. Her wish for ideal peace is still the same as Ashlei even after being reversed. The only thing that changed is that she will DO ANYTHING for that goal.
- Dual Wielding: Ashlei Я
- Horrible Judge of Character: Implied as she does not doubt or suspect others so her entourage has to keep a close eye on her.
- I Have Your Wife: Comrades in this case, but similar principle. The Link Joker forces her to surrender to them in return for sparing the paladins they had captured.
- Laser Blade: Of a rapier variant. Ashlei Я later dual wields a pair of those.
- The Leader: She's the Grandmaster of the Jewel Knights.
- Limit Break:
- Pure Heart is a Break Ride that gives the unit +10000 power and +1 crtical.
- Яeverse's Limit Break locks one of your units and retires an opponent's Rear Guard while giving you a new Jewel Knight.
- Magic Knight: Like all Jewel Knights, her armor and weapons are embedded with magical jewels.
- Master Swordsman: Master Swordswoman: Her skills with the sword are said to rival Blaster Blade.
- Power of Trust: The source of Ashlei's strength is "Trust".
- The Power of Friendship:
- Ashlei can give your new Vanguard +10'000 Power and +1 Critical, and her lore says that "She fights by believing in her own power, as well as her companions'".
- Used against her when the Link Joker use captured paladins as leverage to force her to surrender and Reverse her.
- Ashlei Я uses this in a darker manner: She locks one rearguard to retire an opponent's rearguard and call another Jewel Knight to your field.
- Royal Rapier: BEAM rapier. Ashlei Я later dual wields a pair of those that looks similarly to the Star Swords with a physical hilt.
- Super Mode: Broken Heart Jewel Knight, Ashlei Я
- Tempting Fate: Ashlei's lore cited she wields the "Pure White Pearl Jewel" which can never be clouded nor tarnished. Guess what happened. The jewel transformed into a color of pathetic grey, which is neither white nor black after being reversed.
The Seeker sub-clan much like the clan, focuses on calling other Seekers and utilizing the Legion mechanic to acquire different effects.
Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon
- Guardian Entity: It was the guardian dragon of the Sanctuary before Soul Saver Dragon.
- Heroic Second Wind: It can ride a copy of itself from the deck and then immediately Legion that copy with Blaster Blade Seeker via its skill.
- Light 'em Up
- Light Is Good
- Our Dragons Are Different
- The Power of Friendship: Its Legion ability lets it combine its power with Blaster Blade Seeker.
Oracle Think Tank
They specialise in creating hand advantage by using effects that let them draw additional cards, as well as manipulate their regular draws as well as their drive checks by checking and reorganising cards from the top of the deck. G-Booster Set 5 introduced the "Oracle" ability, which grants an additional skill when the player has at least five cards in their hand.
In the V-Series, they are largely unchanged with a bit more emphasis on looking at what you are about to draw. Their Imaginary Gift is Protect.
Clan-wide Tropes:
- Big Good: The Royal Paladins and the Oracle Think Tank share a close relationship, with the Royal Paladins frequently hiring the Oracle Think Tank's services to predict how their battles will turn out and adjust their strategy accordingly. Alfred himself frequently hires the Oracle Think Tank to advise him on administering over the United Sanctuary. Considering who Alfred is, it says a lot about the goodness of the Oracle Think Tanks.
- Demoted to Extra: From a clan that was used by a main character that was put to the side lines since Misaki switched over to using Genesis in the Link Joker Arc.
- Moreso in the G era, despite going to two supporting characters AND Misaki who will sometimes go back to the clan, they don't cardfight that often.
- Averted in the V era where Misaki does not switch clan and keep using Oracle Think Tank.
- MegaCorp: Played with. The Oracle Think Tank is a mega corporation spanning all of Planet Cray, but they don't have any plans for world domination. Instead, their specialty is in predicting the future, concerning everything from one's love life to tomorrow's weather forecast.
- Running Gag: Their weather forecasts are never accurate. If they predict tomorrow will be sunny, it's going to be raining cats and dogs.
- Shout-Out: Numerous references to various religions and fields of science are present in the Oracle Think Tank's members.
- Theme Naming: After Japanese and Greek gods and deities.
- Worf Effect: In the G-era, they have had the second worse support of all the clans and has found themselves absolutely no place in competitive play for a good chunk of time after the first sets of the G-Era. Other clans not part of the meta can at least find a way around or has a trick or two up their sleeve with clan specific gimmicks. Oracle Think Tank is very straight forward and lack any sort of power plays they can possibly do outside of trigger stacking. In fact, it has gotten to the point where at least one clan can do something that Oracle Think Tank can do, arguably better. To top it all off, their staple unit, Silent Tom, has been nerfed with the rise of G-Guardians.
- That is until support from G-Set 12 came along Still Water Festival Deity, Ichikishima, who allows the entire board to prevent Grade 0 units from guarding like Silent Tom but seals away the G-Guardian mechanic. In addition, Battle Sisters helped the power issue the clan sorely lacked.
- That is until support from G-Set 12 came along Still Water Festival Deity, Ichikishima
Individual units
Amaterasu
'Forms:CEO Amaterasu/Goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu/Sun of Eternity, Amaterasu/Chief Deity of the Heavens, Amaterasu
The sun, strict but loving, lights the way to a shining future.
Let's defend until the moss grows.
There is no chance of you winning. Give it up!
The Sun Goddess and acting CEO of the Oracle Think Tank. Dignified, charasmatic, and caring she leads her corporation to great effect and with her foresight, even the King of Knights asks for her guidence. The "Yata no Kagami" she possesses, capable of shining upon everything in this world, can emit a light of judgment at those who harm themselves.
During the War of Liberation, she to aid those to save the sealed knights, she decended upon the battlefield for the first time in a long time awakening to her true power.
After the War, she leaves the Oracle Think Tank to her successor to travel the world with "Secretary Angel" to help those that were affected by the War, conceling her presence so that her subordanates won't unintentionally depend on her. But while she was gone, the invasion began. Unable to return to her homeland in time, she entrusts Hexagonal Magus and the CEO of the Genesis corporation to help defend the Sanctuary while she deals with invaders during her travels.
As a unit, Amaterasu allows you to peer into the deck and manipulate it allowing you to either set up a trigger, remove an unnecessary card, or combo it with an effect to draw the card. She also gains power while you have at least four cards in hand.
- Awesome, but Impractical: CEO Amaterasu is somewhat of a subversion amongst the Megablast unit, because while her Megablast is as cost heavy as the others, her other skills are much more useful with her soulcharge skill allowing the player to check the top card of their deck for triggers instead of a measly power boost of 2000 and her continuous skill giving her 4000 power if the player has 4 cards in their hand.
- Balance Buff: With the advent of Limit Break, Legion and G-units, the original CEO Amaterasu is somewhat left in the dust in both power and utility. So she was given a Legion Leader in Goddess of the Treasured Mirror, Ohirume.
- Boring, but Practical: Goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu's Limit Break allows you to choose one Oracle Think Tank from your deck and add it to your hand. To summarize in one word, players think this Limit Break is DULL compared to the others. But at least it's practical and allows you to choose which card to be added into your hand, from cards for defense to cards for offense.
- Combat Stilettos: She wears heeled boots that cover her legs up to her thighs, but they don't pose a problem since she mostly fights and attacks with magic and divine powers.
- Honest Corporate Executive: Mixed with benevolent boss, she is the leader of Oracle Think Thank enterprise and is known for being a compassionate and caring boss to her employees.
- Power of Friendship: She becomes the Legion Mate to Goddess of the Treasured Mirror, Ohirume whose skills makes both soul- and countercharging much easier to activate Amaterasu's Megablast.
- Psychic Powers: Her skills allows you to check the top card of your deck every turn, and then place it either on top or on bottom.
- The Power of the Sun: As the goddess of the sun, it's a given.
- Walking the Earth: During the time between the war of liberation and Link Joker's attack, she left her post as the CEO of Oracle Think Tank and has been travelling around Cray with her secretary, Secretary Angel.
Silent Tom
- Chivalrous Pervert: Even after death, he still chases after beautiful women.
- Finger Gun: His anime incarnation has a literal Finger Gun. The TCG/OCG card uses a standard handgun.
- Silent Tom Is About to Shoot You: The Japanese and English art for the card from the 2nd booster. The Korean version changed it to the anime incarnation of the card.
- Unblockable Attack: His skill prevents the opponent from using Grade 0 Units as Guardians when he attacks.
Tsukuyomi
'Forms:Goddess of the Crescent Moon, Tsukuyomi/Goddess of the Half Moon, Tsukuyomi/Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi/Moon Deity Who Governs Night, Tsukuyomi
Close your eyes, and feel the light glowing deep within your heart. That is the light of hope.
Calm the lost souls of darkness, and guide them to heaven! Moon Shadow Magatama!
Tsukuyomi. The goddess that reads time, and knows the future.
Accompanied by the Godhawk Ichibyoshi, she defends the lands with the armaments of the moon. In her final form, she merges with the Godhawk to become the Avatar of the Full Moon. Using the Regalia known as the "Tsukikage-no-Magatama", it can drive away the shadows of the night and lead all souls to Heaven equally.
The Tsukuyomi cards are one of the first ride chains in the game (alongside the Galahad chain), Tsukuyomi stands out as a card that take full advantage of the engine. At the star of every turn, she looks at the top five cards of the deck in order to find the next grade to ride to. The cards not used to ride are then sent to the bottom of the deck in order of your choice. The goal of the deck at that point is to keep manipulating the deck via top checks or draws to loop around the "stack", thus with good memory, you will know when you are going to hit your triggers. Later support in the G series allows you to manipulate the deck further and can be used to fix an unsuccessful ride chain.
The V-series retains the ride chain but in a different manner. While Godhawk, Ichibiyoshi maintains the draw skill all starters have at that time of the game, the remaining line lets you grab a card from the top five cards of the deck, send them back in any order, and discard a card. However, if the card discarded was the next Tsukuyomi, you can ride using that card instead.
As for the Grade 3 Tsukuyomi, the original version allows you to draw two cards as long as you put one card in soul, but it can only be activated if you have at least six soul. This lets you dig through your deck faster and possibly allow you to fix the ride chain in soul (if your soul does not have all three pieces of the ride chain, Tsukuyomi suffers a 2000 point penalty). In the V-Series, Tsukuyomi lets you draw cards equal to the amount of Tsukuyomi cards in soul, a maximum of three. If you do manage to draw three cards, you can then look at the top five cards to place up to two on the top and the rest on the bottom, obviously drawing out triggers. If you manage to check two triggers, then your front row acquires a bonus 10000 power, allowing you to overwhelm your opponents.
- Difficult, but Awesome: The ride chain allows the player to stack around the twelve to fifteen cards to the bottom of their deck, which potentionally allows them to predict their own draws or drive checks, but only if they remember all the cards.
Battle Deity, Susanoo/Supreme Heavenly Battle Deity, Susanoo/Dragon Destroyer Battle Deity, Kamususanoo
The brother of the Goddess of the Sun, Susanoo is the Battle Deity who had once wandered to find strong opponents. Returning to the Mega Corporation, he is soon sent back out to help with the Stride incident and to help train future swordsman.
Like his sister, he manipulates and draws card in order to satisfy the Oracle ability. Early versions of him has you looking at the top two cards and adding one to hand and the other to the bottom of the deck. Later on, Susanoo becomes more like his sister in terms of ability to top check the deck and his second stride allows the player to draw cards to reach and activate Oracle.
In the V-Series, he is more focused on top checking than before, allowing him to support the V-Series counterpart to Goddess of the Sun, Amaterasu as well as activating extra triggers by revealing them.
- Cool Sword: Ame-no-Murakumo, who has a spirit living within.
- Future Badass: As the Dragon Destroyer Battle Deity.
- He's All Grown Up: Compare his appearance as the Supreme Heavenly Battle Deity to his previous appearance.
- Physical God: He's a deity.
- Really 700 Years Old: Despite his appearance, he's lived for thousands of years.
- Walking the Earth: Before the Stride incident happened, he was wandering around the world, looking for opponents to fight.
- Worthy Opponent: Susanoo is only willing to use his full power against a foe he considers worthy. The last time he did so was against a dragon general millenia ago, though in the future, he apparently finds another worthy enemy.
Sub-Clans
Magus
The Magus are a sub-clan that is composed on mystical fortune tellers.The goal of the Magus deck is to predict the top card of the deck in order to activate effect. To help with that, various Magus cards allows you to check the top card of the deck to make these kinds of predictions, or even manipulate the deck so that you can place the card you want to declare on top.
In the V-Series, while they still maintain elements of their original inception, ultimately they are designed to enhance triggers by acquiring power upon hitting a trigger or powering up the trigger itself.
- Boring, but Practical: Globe Magus' only skill allows to check the top card of their deck whenever a card is placed on the vanguard, rear guard or trigger zone. While this may not seem as spectacular as other skills, it makes using the skills of other Magus units much easier and makes it easier for the player to decide to assign trigger effects.
- Gameplay and Story Integration: A group of fortune tellers whose skills allows them to either check the top card of the deck or guess what card it is.
Battle Sisters
An agent force of the Battle Order "Sanctuary Guardians" that was secretly set up by the Oracle Think Tank Corporation in order to capture or kill criminals and unscrupulous companies. The agents are usually dressed up as nuns because ostensibly they are affiliated to the "Church." While the members are all excellent combatants and magic users, there are unexpectedly a lot of members with a quirky personality because they were assigned there due to circumstances that cannot be made public.- Ax-Crazy: A good number of them sound like they belong in a crazy institute...
- BFG: Chocolat carries a huge minigun. Doesn't mean she can use it properly...
- BFS: Parfait wields a pair she named Mu•Ra•Ma•Sa ♥ (Their official name is the "Multiple Radiate -sys- Mechanical Saber").
- Destructive Saviour: Most of the time, especially Macaron and Ginger.
- Friendly Sniper: Tiramisu, an expy to Lockon Stratos until the translator of her lore decided to use his catchphrase to replace hers.
- Good Old Fisticuffs: Omelet and Glace.
- Guns Akimbo: Vanilla wields two uzis.
- I Call It "Vera": Parfait has the habit of naming her belongings at all times.
- Katanas Are Just Better: Cookie. Her partner or clean up crew Cream wields a pair of Wakizashi or Ninjato. Monaka wields one as well.
- Kick Chick: Mocha.
- Luckily My Moeness Will Protect Me: Chocolat completely blocks an attack on an Oracle Think Tank unit by shooting her BFG and then losing her balance trying to handle it.
- Only Sane Woman: Fromage. This is the reason why she is elected as the leader.
- Paper Fan of Doom: Chai.
- Pile Bunker: Macaron wields two of them.
- Psychic Powers: Cocoa has the exact same skill as CEO Amaterasu, only it can be used once.
- Shout-Out:
- The Battle Sisters have clearly Christian influences.
- A Certain Magical Index also features religious men and women taking part in combat, similarly to the premise of the Battle Sisters.
- Sinister Scythe: Cocotte wields a Scythe Tonfa.
- Slasher Smile: Cocoa.
- Theme Naming: After food items, especially pastries.
- Unknown Rival: Monaka to Cookie. The former wants to challenge the latter to avenge her defeat but Cookie think it's a joke and ignores her.
Oracle Guardians
- Canon Foreigner: It's been confirmed by Bushiroad that Oracle Guardian, Hermes will never see a TCG release, which most likely comes from the fact its too overpowered with the skill to reveal your opponents entire hand, check the top card of their deck, where to put it and on top of that it is activated as a rear-guard!
- Creepy Child: Gemini is rather...unsettling. But when their face plates open up...
- More Dakka: Apollon
- Rocket Punch: Nike
- Shout-Out: Wiseman is obviously The Thinker.
In General
- Theme Naming: All of their names are alliteratives.
Scarlet Witch Coco
- Ascended Extra: In the first season of the orginal series, CoCo was just another Grade 3 Misaki had in her deck, but it became the center of her deck during the Hong Kong tournament.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Before the other witch cards came, it was very hard to make use of CoCo's skills without needing the specific cards, but with Little Witch, LuLu, all the player needs is to ride CoCo and use LuLu's skill.
- Foil Towards Ameterasu and Tsukiyomi, which are both units that focus on filling the soul for their skills, while CoCo little to no cards in the soul for her skills.
- Star Power: Her wands are powered by stardust.
Shadow Paladins
- Give your lives to the cursed dragon!
Following the defeat of their first leader, Phantom Blaster Overlord, the Shadow Paladins formed a truce with the Royal Paladins. However, they were temporarily disbanded when their new leader- Blaster Dark- was sealed away by a mysterious force seeking to conquer Cray. After Blaster Dark was released, he reformed the Shadow Paladins as the "Revengers", a covert organisation that would protect Planet Cray from the shadows by any means necessary, under the command of the mysterious Mordred Phantom.
In the alternate timeline created by Blaster Blade's disappearance, the civil war unfolded as in the regular timeline, but Phantom Blaster was struck down by Alfred, and Blaster Dark ended up saving him. The Revengers were still founded and became the Sanctuary's black ops under Alfred's personal command, serving the Sanctuary by undertaking the missions that the Sanctuary's other forces could not perform.
Following the advent of "Stride", the leadership of the Revengers was severely weakened by the loss of Mordred Phantom and growing distrust towards his replacement, Blaster Dark. This allowed the ruthless Claret Sword Dragon to form a splinter group within the Shadow Paladins that seeks to "protect" United Sanctuary by conquering it and imposing military rule. They have experimented upon the unknown technologies of Gear Chronicle, a trial-and-error process involving the sacrifice of many lesser Shadow Paladins, and combined it with a multitude of forbidden magicks to create a new form of empowerment magic. This twisted magic uses the negative emotions of the wielder to draw incredible amounts of power from alternative universes at the risk of upsetting the energy balance between spacetimes, exasperating the Time-Space Overlap Phenomenon.
As a dark counterpart to the Royal Paladins, they use the same swarming tactics but focus on sacrificing their superior numbers to fuel the skills of their primary Vanguards, which are often some of the strongest in the game.
The Shadow Paladin keyword is Ritual. It denotes skills which are active if the player has a certain amount of Grade 1 cards in the drop zone, with said amount varying from card to card. This synergies with the clan's increased focus on Grade 1 cards.
In the V-Series, their ability to retire units is emphasized more this time: they still sacrifice their own units, but at the same time they also have effects which force the opponent to retire their own board in addition to their strong advantages. Additionally, they also support units that have low power for their grade, usually 5000, in exchange for strong abilities. Later support would allow them to generate a high number of Imaginary Gifts to overwhelm their opponent. Their Imaginary Gift is Force.
Clan-wide Tropes:
- Anti-Hero: The Revengers are effectively the Batman to the Superman of the Royal and Gold Paladins.
- Badass Cape: Every single Revenger has a crimson one. Even the High Dogs, fortresses and dragons.
- Be All My Sins Remembered: The reformed Shadow Paladins were offered to rejoin the Sanctuary's official army but they refused, citing that they do not deserve it and need no honour. But they will atone for their sins by protecting the Sanctuary from the shadows.
- Dirty Business: In the alternate timeline of the Set 16 era, the Revengers have become the Sanctuary's black ops, performing the missions that the rest of the Sanctuary's forces cannot.
- Evil Counterpart: To the Royal Paladins, until the end of Season 1. Toned down starting with Season 3, the Revengers seem to be a more Anti-Hero group in comparison to the Knight In Shining Armour Royal and Gold Paladins.
- Face–Heel Turn: Most of the Shadow Paladins are defectors and deserters from the Royal Paladins, with reasons ranging from philosophical disagreements to plain out jealousy.
- Heel–Face Revolving Door: Started out as evil, turned good after Phantom Blaster Dragon was killed, then Claret Sword caused a schism that led to a good chunk of Shadow Paladin turning evil again, then after Claret is beaten Shadow Paladin turns wholly good again.
- Heel–Face Turn: After being reformed by Blaster Dark.
- I Did What I Had to Do: A major theme of the Revengers is that they are willing to do whatever it takes to protect the Sanctuary. As such, they are used as the Sanctuary's black ops forces who fight in secrecy.
- Theme Naming: After Irish/Welsh/Celtic/Scottish myth and legends.
- Tron Lines: Like their royal counterparts, many members of the Shadow Paldin have glowing lines, usually blue or red.
- True Companions: The Revengers. As shown by Mordred's SP flavor text:A Revenger never forgets the souls of their brothers-in-arms.
- Weak, but Skilled: With the reboot, Shadow Paladins have started focusing on units that have power lower than the norm for their grade as a trade-off for their abilities.
- We Have Reserves: Unlike the Royal Paladins, the Shadow Paladins don't view high casualties as a bad thing. Phantom Blaster Dragon takes this to its ultimate conclusion.
- It's continued with the Revengers, although their spin on it is more along the lines of I Did What I Had to Do: rationalising sacrifices as necessary to protect the Sanctuary.
Individual Units
Blaster Dark
'Forms:Blaster Dark/Blaster Dark Spirit/Blaster Dark Revenger/Blaster Dark Revenger "Abyss"/Blaster Dark "Diablo"/Swordsman of Light, Junos
The rival and evil counterpart to the Royal Paladin's Blaster Blade. Originally known as Junos, he originally wielded the Blaster Blade but surrendered it after being defeted to Ahmes, who would bring out its full potential, much to Junos's envy. Capitalizing on it, Phantom Blaster Dragon had offered him a different blade, one that would rival the Blaster Blade. From then on he would be known as Blaster Dark. However, as Phantom Blaster Dragon had become more twisted, evolving to Phantom Blaster Overlord, he would stand alongside his once arch-enemy allowing him to take up his sword to allow Ahmes to become the Majesty Lord Blaster.
Following the War of Liberation when he was sealed away, Blaster Dark would found the Revengers, a black-ops faction of the Shadow Paladins who would protect the Sanctuary from the shadows, also becoming the aide to Mordred Phantom, the new leader of the Revengers. However, a strange occurrance happened in which an alternate timeline would allow Blaster Dark to save Phantom Blaster Dragon thus would be these two that would be the originators of the Revengers.
After a while, he would succeed Mordred as the Grandmaster of the Shadow Paladins, his sword often referred to as "Diablo". But due to his inexperience, distrust found its way into the Shadow Paladins allowing Claret Sword Dragon to rise to power, splintering the Shadow Paladins until he was stopped by Chronojet Dragon and his allies, allowing him to regain control.
Much like his rival, Blaster Dark and his different forms are mostly a retire on play to help with controlling the board. However, there are small differences between them. Mainly when a Blaster Blade version would go after high grade units, Blaster Dark would go after lower grade units.
- Always Second Best: Arguably this has defined Blaster Dark. In the past, he was outshone by Blaster Blade and his jealousy drove him into the shadows. Once Mordred leaves, forcing him to become grandmaster, he clearly feels unsuited for the job and continually asks himself what Mordred would do.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Since he became grandmaster, some have tried to challenge him for the position, but he has defeated all of them.
- The Atoner: Dark Revenger is attempting to make up for all that he did in the past by protecting the United Sanctuary.
- Back from the Dead: While technically he's not dead (Only sealed away), but he will be back in spirit/astral/ghost form in the latest booster. Though he now has paper thin armor and can be retired even by the weakest attack.
- Badass Cape: As Dark Revenger
- BFS: The Blaster Dark.
- Black Knight: Like other shadow paladin, he wears black armor.
- The Captain:
- Was the Grandmaster of the Shadow Paladins in the alternate timeline.
- He also becomes this after the war with Link Joker, when Mordred leaves to deal with Gust Blaster.
- The Chains of Commanding: Blaster Dark always passed the role of leader to another and once he's forced into becoming grandmaster due to the departure of Mordred, his quiet ways cause misunderstandings and divisions to fracture the Shadow Paladins.
- Dark Is Evil: At first
- Dark Is Not Evil: However, he has since become a hero, fighting alongside his rival to protect the United Sanctuary, and founding the Revengers to combat Link Joker.
- Determinator: His sword is powered by his resolve.
- Divergent Character Evolution: With Blaster Blade. At first, the two cards were practically identical to one another skill-wise (with even their Liberator and Revenger versions literally having the same skill) but later variations/retrains of them have gone out of their way to differentiate the two from one another. In Blaster Dark's case, his skills became more emphasized towards retiring lower-graded rearguards (usually Grade 2 or lower, or even just Grade 1 or lower ones in one instance) and increasing the number of his drive checks when on the Vanguard circle.
- Evil Counterpart: To Blaster Blade, at first.
- Face–Heel Turn: Joined the Shadow Paladin due to his jealousy of Blaster Blade.
- Gratuitous Spanish: The "Diablo" in Blaster Dark "Diablo"'s name is Spanish for Devil.
- Green-Eyed Monster: His reason for defecting is his raging jealousy of Blaster Blade. Ironically, he actually has green eyes.
- My Significance Sense Is Tingling: In the alternate timeline, he can sense that the universe has changed due to Blaster Blade's absence, and resolves to set it right.
- The Rival: To Blaster Blade
- Save the Villain: In the alternate timeline, he saved Phantom Blaster from death.
- Sealed Badass in a Can: During the War of Liberation.
- Set Right What Once Went Wrong: His motive in the alternate timeline is to restore Blaster Blade, fixing the timeline.
- Shoulders of Doom
- Take Up My Sword: After their final confrontation, he gives his sword to Blaster Blade, allowing him to become Majesty Lord Blaster.
- Tron Lines: The lines are spiky compared to Blaster Blade's straight lines.
- You Are in Command Now: He is made grandmaster of the Shadow Paladins by Mordred when the latter leaves to confront Gust Blaster Dragon. Promptly deconstructed as Blaster Dark has never had to be a leader before, and his inexperience and indecisiveness leave the clan open to Claret Sword's corruption.
Phantom Blaster Dragon
'Forms: Phantom Blaster Dragon/Phantom Blaster Overlord/Gust Blaster Dragon/Revenger, Phantom Blaster "Abyss"/Dark Dragon, Phantom Blaster "Diablo"
The original Big Bad of the Vanguard lore, and founder of the Shadow Paladins. He was originally "Sin Saver Dragon", the Guardian Dragon of the Planet Cray. This position connected him to the hearts and minds of Cray's inhabitants, and over many centuries he became increasingly jaded by the selfish thoughts and wishes he was exposed to. Eventually, the darkness warped him body and soul into Phantom Blaster Dragon, a creature of pure malevolence who gathered an army of despair (the Shadow Paladins) by preying on the weaknesses of the heart and manipulating people to his side. It is eventually revealed that he had been influenced by the power of Void, who wished to cause dissent on Planet Cray and weaken it in preparation for invasion.
After its defeat, the corrupt soul of Phantom Blaster Dragon was left to wander Planet Cray. When the forces of Link Joker invaded and plunged Planet Cray into despair, this soul was able to absorb enough negative emotion to form a new body for itself, becoming Ghast Blaster Dragon. However, the righteous part of his soul that was once Sin Saver Dragon also remained, and eventually reincarnated as Mordred Phantom.
In the alternate timeline created by Blaster Blade's disappearance in the Set 16 onwards arc, the civil war unfolded with Phantom Blaster being mortally wounded by Alfred at the war's end. As he was not judged by Majesty Lord Blaster, his soul did not split as it did in the main timeline. To save him, Blaster Dark performed a ritual where he bound his soul to Phantom Blaster's, branding them both with the word 'Abyss'. In return, Phantom Blaster has become a part of the Revengers. However, this possible future has since disappeared.
In the present, one of Phantom Blaster Dragon's possible future forms, Phantom Blaster "Diablo", was summoned in response to the rampage of the Raincloud-calling Nine-headed Dragon King, managing to defeat it and return it to its own time. Whether this is truly the same Phantom Blaster responsible for the first Civil War is currently unknown.
In gameplay, the Phantom Blaster cards sets the standard for how Shadow Paladin Vanguards work, sacrificing three units for an extreme amount of power and critical and/or a powerful effect.
- Adaptational Badass: Phantom Blaster Dragon as a card was notoriously Awesome, but Impractical in its original incarnation, as while it could easily threaten your opponent with increased Power and an additional Critical, it devoured rear-guards and Counterblast alike to do so at a nigh-unsustainable rate. The V series incarnation of Phantom Blaster rectifies this issue by making Damned Charging Lance also force your opponent to retire three of their rear-guards, reducing the cost by one Counterblast, and slightly increasing the skill's Power increase, vastly increasing the pressure it puts on your opponent even if they can drop a perfect guard against it. Additionally, the card has a second skill that allows you to Soul Blast a grade 3 to deal one damage to your opponent, and with the new incarnation of Skull Witch, Nemain, the deck received a costless advantage engine to feed Phantom Blaster.
- All There in the Manual: We first learnt of his Thing Saver Dragon form from the Shining Swordsman manga.
- Anti-Hero: As Phantom Blaster "Abyss"
- Bad Boss: Phantom Blaster Dragon sees his subordinates as mere tools and has no problem making them his next meal when they become useless.
- Big Bad: He's the creator and leader of the Shadow Paladins.
- Big Good: Implied to be this before he went over the Despair Event Horizon.
- "Blind Idiot" Translation: Gust Blaster's name has gained some notoriety for this, as it's quite likely supposed to be Ghast Blaster, fitting the established Theme Naming of Phantom Blaster and his related units, and also coming across as a much more ominous name.
- Casting a Shadow
- Dark Is Evil: In spades.
- Deadpan Snarker: As Phantom Blaster "Abyss", he adopts a mocking and sarcastic tone around Blaster Dark.
- Despair Event Horizon: Seeing the darkness in the people he wanted to protect drove him completely over the edge.
- Dual Wielding: Phantom Blaster Overlord dual-wields two massive swords.
- Evil Counterpart: To Soul Saver Dragon and King of Knights, Alfred.
- Fallen Hero: According to Phantom Blaster Overlord's Card of the Day profile, Phantom Blaster was once a guardian dragon who protected United Sanctuary, but was corrupted after witnessing the darkness of many thousands of people and became consumed by despair. He fell into an abyss, and rose in his current form.
- Heroic Second Wind: As Phantom Blaster "Abyss", his skill allows him to stand and attack once more by sacrificing his allies.
- Morton's Fork: Phantom Blaster "Diablo" follows in Maelstrom Reverse and Dragonic Overlord "The X"'s footsteps with its skill. If the opponent doesn't sacrifice two of his rearguards, he won't be able to call cards from his hand as guardians.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Phantom Blaster "Diablo" literally means Phantom Blaster Devil.
- No Kill like Overkill: Damned Charging Lance. Exaggerated with the same skill as used by Phantom Blaster Overlord.
- Omnicidal Maniac: After becoming Phantom Blaster Overlord, he wants to kill everything.
- Made even worse as Gust Blaster, where this is literally all he has left.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: Gust Blaster consists of Phantom Blaster's raw malice, which endured after he was killed.
- Our Souls Are Different: Dragruler Phantom's lore reveals that Phantom Blaster had two souls, that of his darkness and malice, and the soul of light he possessed as a guardian dragon. After his death, the two separated, with the dark soul becoming Gust Blaster, and the soul of light merging with a wounded knight to become Dragruler Phantom.
- Apparently on Cray, souls can be joined together, as this is how Blaster Dark saved Phantom Blaster in the alternate timeline.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Phantom Blaster's eyes are red, and he isn't someone you want to have as an enemy.
- Super Mode: Phantom Blaster Overlord.
- Tron Lines: Phantom Blaster Dragon has two colors, normally at white blue but when Damned/Corrupted Charging Lance is used, it turns red.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: His way of powering his ultimate attack is to eat members of the Shadow Paladins that have outlived their usefulness. Phantom Blaster Overlord however averts this, he powers Damned Charging Lance with a higher Counterblast and discarding a copy of himself from your hand.
- He carries on the theme as Ghast Blaster, Phantom Blaster "Abyss", and Phantom Blaster "Diablo".
Black Sage, Charon/Pitch Black Sage, Charon
A giant who serves in the Shadow Paladins, he originally joined them due to his cynicism clashing with the idealistic views of Alfred and the other leaders of the Sanctuary. Ever since Blaster Dark reformed the clan, he has served as an advisor and confidant, remaining loyal to the black knight of determination even as Claret Sword Dragon's ideals of supremacy challenge Blaster Dark's authority.
- The Cynic: The reason he defected to the Shadow Paladins.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Charon has stood by Blaster Dark from the beginning and his loyalty to his grandmaster is unwavering.
- Evil Counterpart: Originally, to Marron.
- Honest Advisor: He is very clear with Blaster Dark that Claret Sword is not the only dissenter in the Shadow Paladin ranks.
- Instant Expert: He can copy magic used by others at 60% efficiency just by seeing it used once.
- Our Giants Are Bigger: Played with, as he uses magic to appear human-sized.
- The Smart Guy: He serves as this to Blaster Dark, advising him.
- Tagalong Kid: As part of being an Evil Counterpart to Marron, but his role has shifted into being Blaster Dark's advisor.
Origin Mage, Ildona/Mage of Enticement, Ildona
- Casting a Shadow
- Dark Is Evil: Firmly aligned with the Shadow Paladins at first due to his despair at the world.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Post-redemption, he retains his dark powers, but uses them to try and steer Luard down the righteous path.
- Despair Event Horizon: His fall to evil was his despair at nobody taking his advice.
- Fallen Hero: He was once a noble mage who advised all of the people, before they began to ignore him and wage endless wars against each other.
- Heel–Face Turn: Due to being imprisoned by Zenon and watching the people of Cray struggle valiantly over the centuries, Ildona came to renounce his evil ways and resolve to help them once again.
- Meaningful Name: Ildona seems to be a rendering of Il Dana, a title for Lugh, a major god in Celtic Mythology.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: After the civil war, Zenon imprisoned him in a space outside of time from which Ildona could watch Cray, causing him to ultimately regain his faith in people and repent for his sins.
- Time Abyss: He is said to be even older than the United Sanctuary
- The Unreveal: Although the lore makes it clear he and Phantom Blaster were good friends, it isn't clear who fell first and who was corrupted by the other.
- White Hair, Black Heart: Initially, but as Mage of Enticement, he regained his sense of righteousness.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness
Darkside Trumpeter/Revenger, Dark Bond Trumpeter/Darkheart Trumpeter
A girl who served in the Royal Paladins who envied Stardust Trumpeter. Her lore was originally translated as her being a boy who was mistaken as a girl, but recent re-translation has said this was a mistake.
- Affably Evil: Considering her reason for her Face–Heel Turn, it's questionable whether she's actually evil in nature.
- Epic Hail: Dark Bond Trumpeter can Superior Call a Grade 0 Revenger from the deck. Darkheart can call any
- Evil Counterpart: To Stardust Trumpeter.
- Face–Heel Turn: Joined the Shadow paladins because she was jealous of Stardust Trumpeter.
- Green-Eyed Monster: Her envy for Stardust Trumpeter led her to join the Shadow Paladins.
- The Quiet One: She doesn't speak often.
Darkness Maiden, Macha/Dark Night Maiden, Macha
- Epic Hail: When she's called to the field, she can call forth other Shadow Paladins to the field.
- Evil Counterpart: To Hi-Dog Breeder Akane. Also to Knight of Truth, Gordon, owing to their identical statistics and completely polar philosophies.
- Face–Heel Turn
- The Neidermeyer: She is reputedly a skilled, cunning commander with the fatal flaw of having almost no care for her subordinates' lives if it will mean the difference between victory and defeat.
- We Have Reserves: She was placed under house arrest by the Royal Paladins for exercising this belief in her strategy. She defected to the Shadow Paladins soon after.
The Dark Dictator
- My sword shall guide you into the dark abyss...
- The Ace: To quote his lore:His sword fighting surpasses that of any swordsman, and his knowledge is greater than that of any sage.
- Badass Cape
- BFS
- Casting a Shadow
- The Captain: He is the only person besides Phantom Blaster Dragon who the Shadow Paladins will follow.
- Clone Angst: Implied by his hatred of Alfred, who he was based on.
- Dark Is Evil
- Evil Counterpart: To King of Knights, Alfred.
- Genius Bruiser
- Not So Stoic: When he sees Alfred, who he is determined to kill.
- The Power of Friendship: Ironically. He gains Power from the Shadow Paladin Rearguards who fight alongside him, and in turn, he can empower them.
- The Stoic: When not dealing with Alfred.
- Super-Soldier: Created expressly to kill Royal Paladins by Phantom Blaster Dragon.
- Warrior King
Knight of Nullity, Masquerade/Transient Revenger, Masquerade/Nullity Revenger, Masquerade
- The Atoner: As a Revenger, he fights because he is ashamed he allowed himself to be manipulated.
- Badass Cape: As a Revenger, Nullity Revenger has a crimson one.
- BFS: Knight of Nullity and Nullity Revenger both wield one.
- Brainwashed and Crazy: Knight of Nullity was brainwashed and controlled by Phantom Blaster Dragon.
- Dark Is Evil: As Knight of Nullity due to being Brainwashed and Crazy.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Transient Revenger and Nullity Revenger
- The Faceless: He keeps his face hidden behind his armor out of shame at allowing Phantom Blaster Dragon to control him.
- Fallen Hero: He was once the 'Knight of Transcience' among the Royal Paladins, until Phantom Blaster Dragon took control of him.
- Foreshadowing: From Knight of Nullity's lore:resulting in there being rumors that he is a but a puppet controlled by the powers of darkness wielded by Phantom Blaster Dragon.
- Knight Templar: His former identity, the Knight of Transcience, is implied to be one:His true identity is "Knight of Transcience", a famed warrior who exterminated the evil with his merciless heart and sword.
Supremacy Dragon, Claret Sword Dragon/ Supremacy Dragon, Claret Sword Dragon Revolt/ Supremacy True Dragon, Claret Sword Helheim/ Claret Sword Dragon
To this end, he challenged Blaster Dark "Diablo" for leadership of the Shadow Paladins but was defeated in a duel. Retreating into the shadows, Claret Sword began to build a formidable power base by gathering other disillusioned Shadow Paladins and using Stride to secure the aid of the terrible Aurageyser Dragon from the future.
His philosophy of Might Makes Right has only become more extreme since his loss to Blaster Dark, to the point of using forbidden magic and unethical experiments to increase his combat ability. This culminates in a declaration that the weak do not deserve protection, and a call to war against United Sanctuary. His rebellion caused widespread havoc and damage, but was stopped when Claret Sword was cut down by his own creation, who was in turn defeated by Chronodragon Nextage. The slain Claret Sword was condemned to Cray's hell: Relics.
- Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Attempted when he challenged Blaster Dark, but he was defeated.
- Big Bad: For the storyline associated with the first four booster sets of the G-era.
- Civil War: His challenge of Blaster Dark represents the war brewing within the Shadow Paladins between those who follow Blaster Dark's ideals, and those who seek an order dedicated to military rule.
- Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Using information acquired by torturing Gear Chronicle's agents, Claret Sword has experimented with Stride and created an enhanced Stride technique called Over Stride, resulting in the fearsome Aurageyser Dragon, at the cost of damaging space-time. It also places massive strain on his body and mind, which ends up being the death of him.
- Dark Is Evil: He's a cruel, ruthless tyrant who wants to impose military rule on the United Sanctuary and uses forbidden dark magic.
- Devour the Dragon: Inverted; Aurageyser, the monster he summoned, devours him when the strain of Over Stride takes its toll and cripples Claret's mind and body.
- Dragged Off to Hell: Revolt's Lore reveals that after his death, his soul ended up in Relics, described as Cray's equivalent of Hell, due to the negative emotions corrupting his mind.
- Dual Wielding: Helheim somehow obtained a second sword while fighting in Relics.
- Epic Hail: His skill Superior Calls a card from the deck.
- Escaped from Hell: Subverted. Revolt tried to escape back to the physical world by exploiting Mujinlord, but failed and thus remains in Relics.
- Expy: He carries the same skill as the original Phantom Blaster Dragon (+10000 power and +1 critical) but with a modern cost (Generation Break 2 and retire 2 instead of Counterblast 2 and retire 3).
- On the subject of Phantom Blaster, Claret Sword comes across as a redone PBD with minor differences. Both are Abyss Dragons who serve as a grandmaster of the Shadow Paladins, both despise the weak, both want to overthrow the Sanctuary, and Claret Sword causes a civil war exactly as PBD did. The major difference is in their aims, Phantom Blaster sought mindless destruction for its own sake, while Claret Sword aspires to a Sanctuary unified by unyielding military rule.
- Hell Has New Management: Helheim's lore indicates that he has pretty much become the top dog in Relics.
- Hell Is War: In Revolt's Lore, it is stated that he is doomed to fight against the other dead trapped in Relics for all eternity. Helheim's lore reveals that he's making it work for him.
- Meaningful Name: His name refers to the red color of his sword. Helheim's name meanwhile refers to the realm of the dead in Norse Mythology, reflecting how Claret Sword Helheim has become the effective ruler of Relics.
- Might Makes Right: His philosophy.
- Military Coup: Alluded to: the characters in his name translated as "Supremacy" can also be read as 'Military Rule'.
- Odd Name Out: Uniquely, Claret Sword Dragon's V-series version is named just "Claret Sword Dragon", without the "Supremacy Dragon" title of the original, which actually makes it a different card instead of a retrain. Why this is the case is unknown.
- Our Dragons Are Different: An abyss dragon.
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: His red sword and black coloration indicate his evil nature.
- Sixth Ranger Traitor: Is mentioned as having joined the Shadow Paladins not too long ago.
- Technicolor Blade: He uses a red sword.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Cuts down Branwen when it becomes clear the tide has turned against his forces. He then receives such an end himself courtesy of Aurageyser.
Supremacy Black Dragon, Aurageyser Dragon/Supremacy Black Dragon, Aurageyser Doomed
A destructive dragon summoned from the future by the negative emotions of Claret Sword Dragon. While most Units summoned through Stride are "beings that could exist", Aurageyser is an aberrant "being that never should have existed". Not even the most powerful members of Gear Chronicle understand exactly what Aurageyser Dragon is or how he came to be.
- Bowdlerise: The English card game changes Aurageyser Damned's name to Aurageyser Doomed.
- Cool Horse: A massive, mechanized horse with horns.
- Dark Is Evil: It serves Claret Sword and sacrifices its allies brutally.
- Future Badass: Averted; Aurageyser Dragon doesn't exist in any future. It's more like an artificial life created wholecloth from Claret Sword Dragon's emotions and the forbidden reinforcement magicks used in its Stride.
- Might Makes Right: Weakness is a sin pretty much sums it up.
- Shout-Out: Aurageyser Damned's flavor text is a direct quote from Kanzaki in Vanguard G. Naturally, he uses the card.
- Technicolor Blade: Its sword has a light blue blade.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: It devours a crippled Claret Sword for this reason.
- Your Soul Is Mine!: Absorbs Claret Sword's soul when he loses his mind due to the side effects of Over Stride.
Sub-Clans
Illusionary Revenger, Mordred Phantom/Revenger, Dragruler Phantom/True Revenger, Dragruler Revenant
The enigmatic new leader of the "Revengers". No-one knows who Mordred Phantom is or why Blaster Dark would choose to make him the leader of the reformed Shadow Paladins: there are only rumours that he has protected Planet Cray from the shadows for many decades, appearing on bloodstained battlefields like a ghost and disappearing just as swiftly. He is actually the reincarnation of Phantom Blaster Dragon, or at least the part of his soul that was once the righteous Sin Saver Dragon. While the dark half of his soul created a new body for itself by absorbing the negative emotions of the Planet Cray, the light half lingered until it came across a mortally-wounded knight. For the sake of their mutual survival, they merged into one being: a body of darkness with a soul of light.
After the conclusion of the "Star-Vasion War", Mordred leaves the Shadow Paladins in order to deal with Gust Blaster Dragon once and for all. The appearance of a future Phantom Blaster Dragon, summoned to the present with "Stride", indicates his ultimate fate.
Revengers are not all to different from how Shadow Paladin works, calling units from the deck to later be used to fuel their main unit. Unlike the previous Grade 3 units who will usually sacrifice their units before the battle starts, these units will typically activate during battle allowing players to attack with their sacrifice before being used as resource. In addition, most Revengers are restand units allowing them to recouperate their lost field through extra drive checks.
- The Atoner: It's heavily implied that he acts as he does out of shame at the atrocities he committed in his past life.
- Badass Boast: In Dragruler Phantom's loreTo prevent the destruction of the world, I shall become the shadow of the Sanctuary forever.
- Badass Cape: Even in his true form.
- Black Knight: He wears black armor and rides a black steed.
- The Captain: He is the leader of the Revengers.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Despite his dark armor, Mordred is a solid hero who will protect the United Sanctuary no matter the cost.
- Epic Hail: His Break Ride skill lets him call out any Grade 2 or lower Shadow Paladin from the deck, while Dragruler Revenant can sacrifice a Revenger to call a Grade 1 or less Revenger from the deck.
- Evil Counterpart: While more anti-heroic than evil, he is clearly intended as a counterpart to Gancelot. Both are Break Rides, both ride pegasi, both wield swords, etc.
- Guardian Entity: He possesses the original soul of Phantom Blaster Dragon, that of a guardian dragon of light. Dragruler's lore refers to him as 'the guardian of light who accepts his own darkness'
- Heroes Prefer Swords: Mordred wields a sword in both of his forms and is a more heroic figure than he was as Phantom Blaster Dragon.
- The Leader: Blaster Dark made him the leader of the Revengers, even if no one's sure why.
- Limit Break: Both Mordred and Dragruler have this ability. Averted with the retrained version of the former in the reboot.
- Mysterious Past: And no one knows who he is.
- Our Dragons Are Different: In Mordred's case, he can take elven form to conceal his true dragon identity.
- Red Eyes, Take Warning: Averted. In spite of his dark appearance and red eyes, Mordred is a hero to the core.
- Reincarnation: He is the reborn form of Phantom Blaster's original spirit, that of the Guardian Dragon of United Sanctuary.
- Theme Naming: Named after Mordred, tying him into the Arthurian Legend theme of Royal and Gold Paladins.
- Yin-Yang Bomb: While not to the degree of Majesty Lord Blaster, Dragruler's lore states that he 'bears the spirit of light and the power of darkness'.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Dragruler Phantom can sacrifice his allies to gain Power and force the opponent to take a Damage, while Dragruler Revenant sacrifices an ally to call a grade 1 or less Revenger from the deck.
Revenger, Raging Form Dragon/True Revenger, Raging Rapt Dragon/Revenger, Raging Fall Dragon "Яeverse"
- Be All My Sins Remembered: Was saved by Soul Saver Dragon from the corruption and offered to rejoin the Royal Paladins but it refused, saying that he is too tainted.
- The Corruption: He was corrupted into an Abyss Dragon by Phantom Blaster Dragon, and Raging Fall Dragon "Яeverse" is him further tainted by the power of Link Joker.
- Epic Hail: The V series incarnation of Raging Form can, so long as the fighter has four or more damage, Counterblast 1 when placed on the Vanguard circle to Superior Call a Grade 2 or less Revenger from the deck.
- Expy:
- Of Phantom Blaster Dragon. His skill combines the sacrifice element of Blaster Dragon with the Persona element of Blaster Overlord. And he's an Abyss Dragon serving a prominent role in the Shadow Paladins.
- Fittingly, he's also an Expy of Spectral Duke, as he also has a Limit Break which lets him sacrifice three allies to (in a way) stand himself, and is an Abyss Dragon fighting for the side of good.
- Heroic Second Wind: His Limit Break allows him to Superior Ride a new copy of himself from the hand, giving him a second attack. Raging Rapt Dragon can Superior Stride a copy of himself by discarding two grade 3 Abyss Dragons. Raging Fall Dragon "Яeverse" meanwhile can Counterblast 3 (reduced by one for each of his fighter's locked cards) and discard three cards, lock up to two rear-guards and then stand himself so long as the fighter has either at least two locked cards or five cards in their damage zone.
- Limit Break: Not only does Raging Form has it but Raging rapt is one of the few G-Units to have a Limit Break ability. While they don't strictly have the ability, the V series incarnation of Raging Form as well as Raging Fall both have a damage condition in their abilities that homage the original's Limit Break requirement.
- Pun: Due to L and R sounding the same in Japanese phonetics, his name could also be translated as Raging Folm. Folm is an Old English word for hand or palm, referencing his glowing left hand.
- Status Buff: Raging Fall Dragon "Яeverse" can lock a Revenger rear-guard to grant three Revenger units 5000 Power for the turn.
- Unstoppable Rage: Embodies this
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness
- Cute Witch: The younger members clearly fall into this category with their adorable looks, while the older members fall under Hot Witch with their more mature bodies and clothing styles...
- De-power: Their playstyle is basically weakening the opponents field by replacing their units with Grade 0 units with low power.
Skull Witch, Nemain/Young Skull Witch, Nemain
- Discard and Draw: Her original card's ability. When called, you can counterblast 1 card and discard a card from your hand to draw two new ones. Young Skull Witch, Nemain inverts this, by letting you draw before you have to discard.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: Nemain is the first Witch card released for the Shadow Paladins, but she does not fit in with the playstyle of the other witches due tto being made long before them becoming their sub-clan
- Fountain of Youth: Became younger after consuming a potion made by her sister Arianrhod.
- Ms. Fanservice: Just look at her outfit.
- Weak, but Skilled: Nemain has the lowest power of any grade 2 unit at 3000, but her skill makes for it by letting the player draw cards. This trope is still in effect with the new version of her original card in the V-series where she has 5000 Power as a Grade 1 but is able to call any other unit with that same base power from the de ck once each turn.
Mesmerizing Witch, Fianna
- Older Than They Look: She is a quarter dark elf and she is an acquiantance of Luquir who is thousands of years old.
Even though they are not a true sub-clan, the Drag- cards focus on the use of sending Grade 1 units to the Drop Zone for the Ritual Keyword and are centered around Luard.
- Our Dragons Are Different: These dragons are wizards aiming to become dragons through their research in the Dragshift art.
Dragheart, Luard/Dragdriver, Luard/Dragstrider, Luard/Dragfall, Luard/Dragabyss, Luard
- Alternate Character Reading: The Drag- titles of his forms are the result of reading the kana: translating the kanji literally results in Dragon Awaiting Awakening, Luard, Sky Dancing Dragon, Luard, Awakened Dragon King, Luard, Dragon Bound By Darkness, Luard and Dragon Emperor Gazing into the Abyss, Luard respectively.
- Artificial Human: Luard was created by a fragment of Gyze's mana to serve as Gyze's vessel.
- Body Horror: Luard's left arm in his first two forms has been replaced with a red dragon arm.
- Epic Hail: Dragheart and Dragdriver can call grade 1 cards from the deck.
- Fallen Hero: Luard started as a young man just trying to avenge his adoptive brother and became a monster consumed by his thirst for vengeance.
- Heel Realization: Luard breaks down in tears when Chronojet shows him the truth of his adoptive brother Dagda's death and makes him realize that his revenge-fueled rampage was aimed at the wrong person all along.
- He Who Fights Monsters:
- As Luard continues to seek revenge against Shiranui, he becomes more and more unhinged, to the point that he attacks Shiranui's clansmen and his own comrades beg Gear Chronicle to stop him before he goes completely off the deep end. In the end, his lust for revenge leads him to become an unstoppable monster who will do anything to secure his vengeance and ultimately to being a vessel for Gyze.
- Both the literal translation of Dragabyss' name (Dragon Emperor Gazing into the Abyss, Luard) and his flavor text reference the famous Trope Namer quote from Nietzsche.
- Love Redeems: Luard was originally born from the mana of Gyze, a God of Evil, created to be Gyze's vessel, and suffered terribly during his childhood. But despite this, the love and affection Dagda showed him was able to give him a heart and hope.
- Orphan's Ordeal: Luard was orphaned at a very young age and taken in by Dagda, a knight of the Shadow Paladins.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Luard practices a form of magic called Dragshift, which allows its users to take on the aspects of a dragon. As Dragheart, he can transform his left arm into a dragon arm, as Dragdriver, he gains wings and a tail, and as Dragstrider he has become a full Abyss Dragon.
- Red Right Hand: Almost literally, his left arm burns red and looks like a dragon's. As Dragstrider, his right arm has become the same. At first subverted, as Luard isn't explicitly villainous, but eventually played straight when he falls under the influence of Gyze.
- Revenge: He abandoned the way of the sword and began learning the secret Dragshift arts to seek vengeance on Shiranui, who killed his adoptive brother Dagda.
- Revenge Before Reason: Dragstrider's lore notes that Luard's achievements are great enough that they could be put down in the history books, but to Luard, all they are is tools for him to get revenge on Shiranui. When he discovers that Shiranui is no longer on Cray due to Diffriding Kazumi, he instead begins slaughtering Shiranui's clansmen, and even threatens to continue doing so to goad Shiranui into fighting him when Shiranui returns and submits himself for execution.
- Scaled Up: His modus operandi in combat: by using Dragshift, he turns into a dragon.
- Super Mode: As Dragstrider, he has functionally limitless mana due to gaining special mana-producing organs once transformed, Super-Strength and Super-Speed, to the point that he effortlessly tears apart Chronotiger Gear Glare (for comparison, in Chronofang's weaker form as Chronotiger Rebellion, he was able to defeat Gurguit and Nightrose's Stride Fusions at the same time) and takes down a group of the strongest heroes on Cray with the same ease. The only thing that gives him pause is Chronojet intervening as Chronodragon Gearnext and his only apparent weakness is that the transformation itself is still dependent upon Luard's own finite mana.
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: His eyes are golden and he possesses the remarkable power of Dragshift.
- The Dark Side Will Make You Forget: As he finally enters his confrontation with Shiranui, Luard reflects on his journey to gain strength and realizes he can't even remember Dagda's name anymore.
- Unwitting Pawn: He was manipulated by Gastille into becoming a fitting vessel for Gyze.
- Winged Humanoid: As Dragdriver.
Dragfencer, Dagda
A knight of the Shadow Paladins who adopted Luard and served as a brotherly figure to him. Dagda's murder at the hands of Shiranui sent Luard on a fanatical quest for vengeance. In truth, he was murdered by Gastille, who used Domination to frame Shiranui for the murder in order to guide Luard back to his destiny of being Gyze's vessel. Dagda's soul was trapped within Void Relics, but was released by a miraculous light of hope, reuniting with Luard long enough to impart his final words.
- Brilliant, but Lazy: Despite his incredible skill with the blade and Dragshift magic, Dagda was known for being apathetic and showing no enthusiasm for anything until he adopted Luard.
- Magic Knight: Dagda incorporated Dragshift magic into his fighting style alongside his swordsmanship, hence his title.
- Master Swordsman: Dagda was renowned in his time for his skill with the sword.
- Plot-Triggering Death: Luard's quest for revenge begins with Dagda's death.
- Small Role, Big Impact: Dagda unknowingly adopted what was essentially a fragment of the setting's equivalent of the Devil, and through the kindness and compassion he showed Luard, he managed to derail the plans of Gyze and Gastille.
- You Are Not Alone: Invoked by his card's flavor text.
Gold Paladins
After they successfully free the sealed leaders, the Gold Paladins are formally recognised by Alfred, who gives them the title of "Liberator" and integrates them into the second standing army of the United Sanctuary. Joined by many heroes from Royal Paladin, the creed of the "Liberators" is to protect the liberty of people across the world and free them from the clutches of evil.
In terms of playstyle, the Gold Paladins are similar to the Royal Paladins, but they sacrifice consistency for speed, prefering cheap abilities that randomly Call units from the top of the Deck and skills that activate when a unit is called this way.
Liberators, as stated above, integrate Royal Paladins in the Gold Paladin army so much of their style is integrated in the form of power increases to their allies. Blueish Flame Liberators, an alternate timeline of the Liberator forces, gives a bit more consistency by giving the player a choice of units from the top of the deck to call rather than just the top and activating powerful effects for doing so.
The Gold Paladin keyword is Unite: skills which are active if you have called two or more units that turn.
In the V-Series, they are basically the same as before though their abilities are made easier with Imaginary Gifts. Their Imaginary Gift is Accel.
Clan-wide Tropes:
- Aborted Arc: The seven Beast Armors seem to be this, as after we got four of them (Ezel, Garmore, Vortimer, Pellinore), the bearers of the Blue Falcon, Purple Elephant and Green Deer armors didn't appear. In fact, it took until Season 3's penultimate set for the Green Deer corps to be revealed.
- Animal Motifs: All of them, more or less. This is because most of them wear replicas of the Beast armors that the Gold Paladins have recovered.
- Gotta Catch 'Em All: The Sacred Beast armors.
- Heel–Face Turn: Quite a few Gold Paladins used to be Shadow Paladins.
- Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Initially they were accused of this because there was no significant difference between them and the Royal Paladins. As the clan was expanded and developed it became clear that the Gold Paladins rely on cheap but random calls from the top of the deck. A smaller difference is that some Gold Paladins can retire retire their own rear-guards as an additional cost to activate their skills, like the Shadow Paladins.
- Theme Naming: Most of their knights have Arthurian names, like the Royal Paladins.
- The Remnant: Initially (season 2) they were what was left of the two previous Paladin clans after the 'seal' happened (including Garmore who was originally a Royal Paladin). After the War of Liberation ended the Gold Paladins became the second regular army of the United Sanctuary, so they stopped being this.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Despite being a major plot element for most of the War of Liberation, the Beast Armors are barely mentioned once Platina Ezel appears. All they receive in Season 3's lore is a token mention of Garmore entrusting his armor to Genesis for safe-keeping, before reclaiming it to fight Link Joker. Similarly, their bearers have never really been followed up on with the exception of Ezel and Garmore, though Vortimer did finally reappear as a Shadow Paladin a good four seasons later. Pellinore never appeared again, and the bearers of the Blue Falcon, Purple Elephant and Green Deer armors were never even mentioned.
Garmore
Forms: Beast Knight, Garmore/Fang of Light, Garmore/Great Silver Wolf, Garmore/Wolf Fang Liberator, Garmore/Golden Knight of Gleaming Fang, Garmore
A human who had the spirit of beasts, Garmore would bond with many high beasts to fight alongside him with the army. However, as one of the knights left behind when the armies of the United Sanctuary were sealed away by a mysterious void, he would don the Armor of the Silver Wolf, one of the Treasures of the United Sanctuary, and would unite the scattered forces and alongside Ezel, would work to free the sealed armies. At the end of the War of Liberation, he would be recognized as one of the founding leaders of the newly cristened Second Army helping train young warriors but would soon have to wear the Armor of the Silver Wolf once more when the invaders of Link Joker would make themselves known
In his original Royal Paladin form, Garmore would be able to call Snogal or Brugal from deck in order to support the strategy known as the Blizzard Formation where in Snogal or Brugal would gain power for each copy of themselves (though it typically only involved Snogal since Brugal wasn't as strong). The Grade 3 Fang of Light Garmore would then also recieve power for each Snogal and Brugal out on the field.
Upon becoming a Gold Paladin, Garmore would be well known as one of the only Gold Paladin units to call from anywhere in the deck rather than their tendency to top call. His Liberator form would be a bit more contemporary, but had the ability to fill the board and correct any bad calls by placing them back to the bottom of the deck, even acquring power for doing so.
- Ancient Artifact: His Silver Wolf Armor.
- Animal Motifs: Dogs at first, then wolves in his Gold Paladin form due to his Beast Armor.
- Badass Army: Was part of one, and then formed another one to go save the first one.
- Badass Cape
- Noble Wolf: What his armor represents; a wolf that is knight-like and empowered by its pack.
- The Big Guy: His skill when he was a Royal Paladin fits with Royal Paladin's consistency, and his calling skill when he started as a Gold Paladin is the most consistent one available. Even as a Liberator, his random calling skill can turn into something useful by filling the field.
- Bling of War: His Grade 3 forms all wear shiny gold armor.
- The Chosen One: Of the Silver Wolf Armor.
- Covers Always Lie: Is prominently featured in the opening for the second season, even though Aichi rarely use him(if at all) until his Liberator version makes a debut one season later.
- Epic Hail: All of his forms have the ability to call out his comrades, but especially Wolf Fang Liberator, whose Limit Break can cause your field to go from empty to full in one move.
- Four-Star Badass
- Knight in Shining Armor
- Limit Break: Great Silver Wolf and Wolf Fang Liberator.
- The Mentor: Great Silver Wolf, Garmore was this to the newly-founded Gold Paladins.
- The Power of Friendship: Fang of Light gets +1000 Power for each Snogal and Brugal on your field.
- Wolverine Claws: Attached to his gauntlets.
- Wolverine Publicity: As noted above, Garmore is prominently featured in the anime opening for the second season, yet he is upstaged by Ezel. He make a return in the third season, except this time, he actually appeared frequently in a fight. It helps that Garmore is one of the more popular Gold Paladin.
Ezel
Forms: Incandescent Lion, Blond Ezel/Blazing Lion, Platina Ezel/Salvation Lion, Grand Ezel Scissors/Absolution Lion Emperor, Mithril Ezel/Raven-Haired Ezel
- Anime Hair: A great big lion-like mane.
- Animal Motifs: Lions.
- Beyond the Impossible: Invoked. As seen in his quote, above, his Limit Break broke the limit. Platina Ezel is the first to reach Limit Break 5 skill.
- Diagonal Cut: Scissors' art features him delivering one to a Link Joker ring.
- Divergent Character Evolution: Ezel started out as Gold Paladin's equivalent to King of Knights, Alfred due to their similar skills. In the V era, the Ezel units went down a different road and isntead focus on superior riding the grade 3 Ezel units in order to get a headstart on their opponent.
- Dual Wielding: Wields two swords as Blond and Mithril Ezel and two scissors as Grand Ezel Scissors.
- Epic Hail: His skill lets him call a Unit from the top of your Deck.
- Expy: Of King of Knights, Alfred. Both have a skill which grant them power based on the number of units on the field as well as another skill which let them call an ally from the deck and served as the main grade 3 ace unit of Aichi's deck.
- Famed In-Story: Most of what people know of the War of Liberation In-Universe consists of the tales of Ezel's heroism.
- Limit Break: All of his forms have a Limit Break skill. Platina's has the first Limit Break 5 skill, requiring five Damage to activate.
- The Power of Friendship:
- One of his skills lets him gain strength from his allies, empowering him by 1000 Power per other Gold Paladin in play. Ezel Scissors has the same ability.
- And Platina Ezel can empower every Rearguard by 5000 Power.
- New Powers as the Plot Demands: In the battle against Link Joker, he returns with the power of Unlock without any explanation.
- Spotlight-Stealing Squad: Often accused of this due to the Beast Armors seeming to become an Aborted Arc right around when his Crossride appeared. Also occurs in Season 3, where the instant he returns, he eclipses the Liberators by virtue of being able to literally cut through Lock.
- Super Mode: Platina Ezel, Grand Ezel Scissors and Raven-haired Ezel.
- The Worf Effect: We can tell that Glendios is serious business because he's noted as decisively defeating Ezel.
Sagramore
Forms: Grassland Breeze, Sagramore/Precipice Whirlwind, Sagramore/Battlefield Storm, Sagramore
- Dual Wielding: Battlefield Storm.
- Took a Level in Badass: So much so that he went from Grade 0 to Grade 3. And as a Grade 3, he generated an armor said to be on the level of the Sacred Beast armors.
Vortimer
Forms:Black Dragon Whelp, Vortimer/Scout of Darkness, Vortimer/Black Dragon Knight, Vortimer/Spectral Duke Dragon/Whirlwind of Darkness, Vortimer "Diablo"/Dark Dragon, Spectral Blaster "Diablo"/Spectral Dupe Dragon "Яeverse"
- Art Shift: When Spectral Duke's art was revealed, comparisons were made to Magic: The Gathering artwork due to the sheer shift in style from usual Vanguard art.
- Black Knight: As Vortimer.
- Bling of War: Though less obvious than Pellinore's, Black Dragon Knight and Spectral Duke have a lot of gold on their armor.
- Whirlwind of Darkness and Spectral Blaster both avert this. To show their allegiance to the Shadow Paladins, the gold on their armor has been replaced by cold blue and black.
- Call-Back: His skill requirements are the same as Phantom Blaster Dragon's skill requirements. They're also both Abyss Dragons wielding polearm-type weapons.
- The V-series Spectral Duke Dragon's second skill has a secondary effect that increases its drive check instead of decreasing it if the player has four or more cards in their damage zone. This is a reference to the Limit Break keyword that its original version had. Additionally, it gains 1000 Power at all times if it has Black Dragon Knight, Vortimer in the Soul, referencing that their original versions were a Ride Chain with that kind of skill.
- The Corruption: The V-series made him into Gold Paladin's "Яeverse" unit as Spectral Dupe Dragon "Яeverse"
- Darker and Edgier: Very noticeable when you compare Spectral Duke Dragon and the other Extra Booster 3 Gold Paladins to their more mainstream counterparts. Both in art style, and in how Spectral Duke Dragon sacrifices his allies.
- Dark Is Not Evil: His unit setting specifically states so. "The Armour of Black Steed harbours the power of darkness, but this dark is not evil as his will determines the path of this unleashed power should be used."
- After the fall of Claret Sword Dragon's rebellion, Vortimer and his allies in the Black Horse Corps join forces with Blaster Dark's forces, becoming part of the Shadow Paladins on the clear side of good.
- Due to the Dead: The difference between the Black Horse Corps and the Shadow Paladins under Phantom Blaster is that the former respect the sacrifices made to achieve victory, and honor the dead.
- Enemy Summoner: all of the Vortimers except Dragon Whelp can call allies from the deck, with the condition of sacrificing an ally, and Spectral Blaster "Diablo" can also summon an ally provided he Strides over a "Diablo" card.
- Expy: Of Phantom Blaster Dragon. Both are polearm-wielding Abyss Dragon that are part of a Ride Chain and whose abilities require the player to sacrifice three rear-guards. In addition, both cards were played by Ren Suzugamori in the anime.
- I Am Not Left-Handed: Spectral Duke's Limit Break allows him to attack once more by sacrificing his allies, regardless of whether the previous attack hit or not. Similarly, Spectral Blaster "Diablo" and the V-series Spectral Duke can both restand themselves by sacrificing allies.
- Spectral Dupe Dragon "Яeverse" can do the same by locking three rear-guards after it attacked but also takes this one step further by enabling the player to ride another Spectral Dupe by locking another three rear-guards if the player has five or more cards in their damage zone, although the newly-rode unit will be unable to use its self-standing ability.
- Icy Blue Eyes: Spectral Blaster "Diablo" has these.
- I Was Never Here: He and the other members of the Black Horse Corps departed after the Gold Paladins fulfilled their original mission, vanishing into the shadows and not even leaving their names in the Sanctuary's records, before finally reappearing as Shadow Paladins at the side of Blaster Dark.
- Limit Break: Spectral Duke Dragon. While its retrained version lack said ability, its skill pays hommage to it with its second ability requiring the player to have four or more damage if they want to use it at full power.
- Mythology Gag: The V series retrain of Spectral Duke Dragon has a skill that allows it to have 13000 base Power in both turns so long as Black Dragon Knight, Vortimer is in the Soul. While this is primarily a reference to the Ride Chain skills they had in their original incarnations, that it gives Spectral Duke the base Power of a Force Clan's Grade 3 is also likely intended as a reference to how Spectral Duke was a Shadow Paladin card as Spectral Blaster "Diablo" in G and via dual clan effect in the ZERO mobile game.
- One-Winged Angel: Spectral Duke is this to Black Dragon Knight Vortimer.
- Red Baron: Vortimer is known as the "Son of the Dragon" due to his heritage.
- Reincarnation: He's implied to be one for a legendary black dragon.
- Shout-Out: To Vortimer, an ancient king of Britain.
- Shrouded in Myth: Few even know that the Black Horse Corps ever existed and no one was certain where they went after the events of the War of Liberation because they left without ever becoming part of the records of events.
- Sinister Scythe: As Spectral Blaster "Diablo", his halberd is more like a scythe.
- Unexpected Character: After Spectral Duke Dragon was announced to be a Gold Paladin, just about no-one predicted that he'd carry on the Shadow Paladin use of allies over the Royal Paladin use.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Scout of Darkness, Black Dragon Knight, and Spectral Duke retire their fellow Gold Paladins to power their skills, while their Diablo forms also retire allies. The V-series version of Spectral Duke retains this aspect of the original.
White Hare in the Moon's Shadow, Pellinore
- Bling of War: He wears very flashy golden armor.
- Dual Wielding: Pellinore wields two swords in battle.
- Heroic Second Wind: If called from deck to a rearguard circle while the opponent has a Grade 2 or higher vanguard, Pellinore can be moved to the Vanguard circle at the cost of discarding a Gold Paladin from hand. If used during the battle phase, it effectively lets the vanguard attack twice in a turn.
- This trait carries over its reboot version which can superior ride itself after an allied rearguard's attack hit a Grade 3 or higher vanguard.
- Hit-and-Run Tactics: The V-series version of Pellinore has the ability to return rearguards to hand after they've attacked the opponent.
- Light Is Good: Glowing golden armor, and he's one of the knights chosen by the seven Beast Armors.
- Limit Break: His original version had a Limit Break ability.
- Lunacy: Via his name.
- The Power of Friendship: He is able to power up his allies via his skill.
- The Smart Guy: He's in charge of the Troop that specializes in Recon and Intel.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Pellinore's Limit Break ability requires him to return two rearguards to the bottom of the deck in order to be activated.
Forms: Bluish Flame Liberator, Percival/Bluish Flame Liberator, Prominence Core/Bluish Flame Liberator, Prominence Glare
A mysterious warrior who joined the forces of the Liberators in Blaster Blade's absence, Percival and his fellows wield the power of blue flames which are actually concentrated mana, focused by Lost Technology. In truth, he is the leader of the Blaze Paladins, an ancient order lost to history who were brought forward in time by Zenon to protect Cray in Blaster Blade's absence. With the power of the guardian dragon, Thing Saver Dragon, Percival is able to take on draconic forms, increasing his power.
- The Ace: He is an excellent leader and a mighty swordsman.
- Anime Hair: His hair is ridiculously long.
- Bling of War: Wears a golden armor, like most of his fellow Gold Paladins.
- But Now I Must Go: After Blaster Blade is restored, he and the other Blaze Paladins return to their original era.
- The Captain: He is actually the leader of the Blaze Paladins, an ancient order of knights brought into the present day by Zenon to protect history.
- Epic Hail: His skill allows him to summon a Liberator from the top of the deck when he enters Legion. Prominence Core and Prominence Glare on the other hand sacrifice an ally to call forth a Liberator from the deck.
- Famed In-Story: After he and the Blaze Paladins return to their own time, they have been lifted from obscurity and gained a place in the Sanctuary's history books for their efforts.
- Flaming Sword: In the made of fire variant.
- It Has Been an Honor: Says this to Blaster Blade before returning to his own time, also saying that he hopes they can face each other one day.
- Mysterious Past: Much like Mordred, no one's entirely sure where he came from or who he is. Turns out he was summoned from the past.
- Mysterious Stranger: He joined the Liberators in the altered timeline and secretly ordered Aglovale to keep watch over Alfred. No one's really sure who he is or what he wants.
- One-Winged Angel: Prominence Core is Percival transformed into a Cosmo Dragon after receiving power from Seeker, Thing Saver Dragon.
- Our Dragons Are Different: As Prominence Core and Prominence Glare.
- Playing with Fire: Using special armaments, he and the other Blaze Paladins can unleash their inner mana in the form of blue flames.
- The Power of Friendship: He can Legion with Oath Liberator, Aglovale to unleash his true power. As Prominence Glare, he can Legion with Regulation Liberator, Aglovale.
- Technicolor Fire: Blue, of course.
- Unperson: The records of the Blaze Paladins were deliberately wiped from history, as the technology they used was exploited by villains and the king at the time wished to prevent it from being abused further. This is why no one knew who they were when Zenon brought them forwards in time to protect the Sanctuary. However, when they return to the past, they have been entered into history and the Sanctuary knows of their existence.
- Vindicated by History: In-Universe exemple. Due to the Blaze Paladins' efforts to preserve the timeline in the present day, their existence was restored to the Sanctuary's history books, meaning that everyone knows who they are.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: Prominence Core and Prominence Glare's Epic Hail skills requires a rear-guard to be sacrificed so that it can be activated.
Sunrise Ray Knight, Gurguit/Sunrise Ray Bright Sword, Gurguit/Golden Holy Sword, Gurguit/Holy Sword of Heavenly Law, Gurguit/Master Swordsman of First Light, Gurguit Helios
A knight of the Gold Paladins who was assigned to be the captain of an investigation unit looking into the actions of the Shadow Paladins, specifically the faction led by Claret Sword Dragon. Although he did manage to arrest several of them, his actions attracted the dragon's attention.
- Determinator: Despite being heavily injured, Gurguit still chased after Claret Sword Dragon, determined to kill him.
- Epic Hail: Gurguit can call forth an ally whenever a G Unit strides or to help defend from an attack.
- Knight in Sour Armor: Becomes this after dwelling on his failure to defeat Claret Sword Dragon. It takes a visit from Vortimer to snap him out of it.
- Magic Knight: Is equally skilled in both swordmanship and magic.
- Off with His Head!: Averted. Gurguit nearly suffered this fate, had he not been saved in the nick of time.
Knight of Fury, Agravain
- Ascended Extra: The original was just a Grade 3 Aichi had in his deck, but only used in minor fights. In the V-Series, he is the avatar of supporting character, Tonori Fujinami.
- Blood Knight: The reason why he wants the heroes unsealed? In order to cross sword with them of course!
- Fiery Redhead: He has red hair and is a very aggressive fighter.
- Took a Level in Badass: From an Awesome, but Impractical Megablast to a highly aggressive rapid Superior Calls and potentionally prevent the opponent from calling normal units thus severely hindering their offense and defence.
Angel Feather
They manipulate the Damage Zone to their advantage by switching cards between it and the Hand or Deck. They can also activate certain skills from the Damage Zone.
Celestial units activate effects if a copy of the Vanguard is in the Damage Zone.
The Angel Feather keyword is Rescue, which makes you heal and then damage yourself with the chance to trigger.
In the V-Series, they play very similar to before, but skills allow damage swapping easier as they don't specify face down cards. Their Imaginary Gift is Protect.
Clan-wide Tropes:
- Combat Medic: the Angel Feather are just as capable when it comes to healing and defending themselves.
- The Medic: A whole clan of them. This is reflected in the card game with their units' ability to manipulate the damage zone.
- Our Angels Are Different: Many of their units look like hospital staff
- Theme Naming: Quite a few are named after Angels and Fallen Angels.
Mobile Hospital, Feather Palace
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: It's a general hospital that can transform into a human-shaped robot.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Of all Megablasts revealed so far this unit's is the most difficult to use, as it needs to be the Vanguard and needs to hit the opponent's Vanguard. If you manage to pull it off, though, you can heal 1 damage for each Angel Feather Rearguard you have (so with 5 Rearguards you can heal all of your damage).
- Took a Level in Badass: As noted above, the original version of Feather Palace suffered from being hard to use due to its main skill being a Megablast. Its rebooted version, on the other hand, is a powerful finisher and rather easy to use due to other cards helping with its skill.
Prophecy Celestial, Ramiel/Cleanup Celestial, Ramiel Я
- The Corruption: Ramiel Я.
- Improbable Weapon User: She wields two giant keys.
- The Power of Friendship:
- She can power up the new vanguard with her skill, as well as retrieving an ally from the Damage Zone.
- Takes on a darker tone as Ramiel Я, where she locks two of her allies to give the others 5000 Power and potentially send an opposing rear-guard to the Damage Zone.
- The Power of Love
- Red and Black and Evil All Over: When reversed.
- Sigil Spam: Ramiel Я is covered in Link Joker's black rings.
- Slasher Smile: Ramiel Я
- Super Mode: Cleanup Celestial, Ramiel Я
Black Shiver, Gavrail/Black Shock, Gavrail Prim/Black Seraph, Gavrail/Fanatic Seraph, Gavrail Eden
- Dark Is Not Evil: Gavrail and the other members of the Black Gravers unit all wear primarily black outfits, but they are not evil.
- The Dreaded: Her presence on the battlefield is enough to scare enemies away.
- I Have Your Patients: Was forced to surrender because the rebels captured the hospital where her patients were.
- The Power of Friendship: Both of her skills give additional power to ally rearguards. The same is true of her Stride form.
- Power Makes Your Hair Grow: Her hair grows longer when becoming the Black Seraph.
- Red Baron: Gained the title of "Shiver" because of her reputation.
- Shear Menace: Wield a large pair of scissor as a weapon.
- Super Mode: Gavrail can perform Stride Fusion to become the Black Seraph, Gavrail.
Arch-aider, Malkuth-melekh/Sephilath-aider, Shin Malkuth-melekh
- Back from the Dead: Arch-aider, Malkuth-melekh can revive three units from the drop zone once per turn, at the cost of taking a damage itself.
- Broken Angel: In the anime, when Malkuth-melekh takes damage due to its own ability, it cuts off one of its own wings, leaving it with this appearance.
- Character Select Forcing: Shin Malkuth-melekh's second and third skills require the presence of protect markers on ther player's rear-guard circles, meaning the player will have to pick the Protect II imaginary gift if they want to use them.
- Cast from Hit Points: Malkuth-melekh's ability to resurrect units comes at the price of taking damage itself.
- Foil: Shin Malkuth-melekh is designed to be one to its original form, with its Superior Ride effect preventing damage while Arch-aider specifically has a Cast from Hit Points cost and its final effect preventing units from being retired by any effect, even their own, while Arch-aider's associated Aid-roids would retire themselves as a drawback to their skills.
- Gameplay and Story Integration: Malkuth-melekh's ability to resurrect units from the drop zone, while seemingly a departure from Angel Feather's mechanics, reflects the ultimate goal of its user Tatsuya in the anime being to resurrect his parents, while the cost of that ability being self-damage reflects Tatsuya's fraying mental state and willingness to sacrifice himself in the name of that goal.
- Meaningful Name: Malkuth is one of the ten sefirot, while melekh is Hebrew for king. The Shin in Sephilath-aider's name is meaningful in several different ways, firstly being a letter in the Hebrew alphabet to tie into the Aid-roid Theme Naming; secondly referring to Shinemon "Shin" Nitta from the anime, who had a close bond with Malkuth-melekh's user Tatsuya, and finally in Japanese 'Shin' meaning 'New' is often attached as a prefix to the name of a new or upgraded incarnation, reflecting how Sephilath-aider is an upgrade that fixes Arch-aider's drawbacks entirely.
- Negate Your Own Sacrifice: Shin Malkuth-melekh is designed to do this to its original form's Cast from Hit Points cost, when it's damage checked in any way while your Vanguard is Arch-aider, you can discard a card to Superior Ride it and thus prevent it from ever reaching the Damage zone.
- Our Angels Are Different: Malkuth-melekh and its associated Aid-roids are Angelroids, machines made in the form of angels.
- Theme Naming: It and the Aid-roids are named after Hebrew terms.
Genesis
The clan employs an aggressive card-burn strategy, using skills that Soulcharge multiple cards at once to fuel expensive but powerful Soulblasts. Some of their cards also activate their effects when they are removed from the Soul.
Regalia units have additional means of soul charging, giving their Vanguard additional effects ultimately going for powerful skills.
Witches of the Genesis clan focus on gaining advantage and powering up their allies.
The Genesis keyword is Revelation, allowing you to check the top card of your deck and either leave it where it is or put it into the Soul. If the card is put into the Soul, you must rest one of your rear-guards.
In the V-Series, Genesis is still focused on powerful Soul Blast abilities, but instead of over stuffing the soul, they have skills that reduce the soul blast costs of their abilities. In addition they can use soul for their Godly Equip Gauge, which takes a soul card and places it face down under specific units for effects. In the Shinemon prequel of the V-Series, they can also unlock a space known as the Astral Plane under the right conditions which allows them to call a unit known as Valkyrion the first Grade 5 Unit. Their Imaginary Gift is Force
Clan-wide Tropes:
- Ascended Extra: While Misaki had used Genesis during the original and G eras, she had stuck to Oracle Think Tank during the entire V era. It becomes a main character deck in the Shinemon arc used by Shinemon himself.
- Theme Naming: Similarly to Oracle Think Tank, their units are named after deities from Greek and Japanese mythologies.
- Units belonging to the Regalia archetype are named after Greek and Latin deities as well as gods from Norse mythology.
- Genesis' witches are named after plants, or have names related to beverages.
Battle Deity of the Night, Artemis
- Expy: Looks to be Genesis' equivalent to Goddess of the Full Moon, Tsukuyomi. Both are named after a lunar deity and are Grade 3 units tied to a ride chain and have a skills which lets their player draw two cards, then put a card from their hand into the soul.
- Greek Mythology: Named after Artemis, the greek goddess of the hunt who is also associated with the moon.
- Limit Break: The original version of Battle Deit of the Night
- Lunacy: The lore refers to her as the "Goddess of the Moonlit Night" and the moon is featured in the card's artwork, referencing her namesake's association with the moon.
- Red Baron: "Artemis" actually refers to the name of the bow. Every warrior who wields an Artemis-series bow is referred to by that name, and distinguished by the product number (eg: Artemis de Un, Artemis de Deux, etc.)
Eternal Goddess, Iwanagahime
A goddess who rules over the concept of "Firmness", making any surface under her feet a solid foundation. She was once a deity of war who would return from battlefields without any wounds, until the day her face was grazed by a single stone thrown by the enemy. This changed her outlook on life, and now she devotes herself to peace as much as she did to war. At Genesis, she is in charge of creating protective barriers.
- Awesome, but Impractical: Her "Everlasting Vanish" Limit Break retires all Rearguards on the opponent's front row regardless of Grade, but costs a staggering Soulblast 6. Fortunately, Genesis is very good at filling up the Soul.
- Barrier Maiden: Her duty involve creating protective barriers.
- Beam Spam: Her Limit Break, Everlasting Vanish
Omniscience Regalia, Minerva/Ultimate Regalia of Almighty, Minerva
- Badass Bookworm: She's a goddess of war and is described as Omniscient.
- Berserk Button: Try messing with the planet Cray...
- I Am Not Left-Handed: Her Limit Break allow her to re-stand herself.
- Lady of War
- Limit Break: Omniscience Regalia has the ability. Ultimate Regalia of Almighty does not have it but instead has a Generation Break 3 restriction for her second skill.
- Mama Bear: She treats the Planet Cray and its residents as her children. The first thing she did after awakened is to deliver a Death Glare to the Link Jokers.
- The Omniscient
- Sealed Badass in a Can: Sealed herself in a statue before being revived by Angelica.
- Super Mode: Averted when it comes to the lore, she and Angelica are not the same person. Played straight, however, in regards to the card game.
- War Goddess
- Winged Humanoid:
Mythic Beast, Fenrir/Mythical Destroyer Beast, Vanargandr/Mythical Hellsky Beast, Fenrir
- Blood Knight: The one thing he really cares about is combat, and relishes in fighting to the death. The entire reason he joined the Shadow Paladin revolt was because they offered him the opportunity to actually fight. The only reason he agrees to rejoin Genesis and fight against Gyze is the promise that he'll get to regularly spar with Altmile if he does.
- Bunny-Ears Lawyer: By way of being a Token Evil Teammate. He was sealed away due to a long list of crimes (not in the least which includes him killing the original wielder of the Fides sword), but he was released to work at Genesis because he's just that competent.
- Eviler than Thou: Vanargandr, a possible Future Badass version of himself he summoned via Stride, was using Fenrir to sate his lust for destruction, and considered him nothing more than a tool. Fenrir however proceeded to enslave Vanargandr using a darker version of Stride Fusion he created: Stride Slave, allowing him to absorb all future possibilities, instead.
- Face–Heel Revolving Door: Joined hands with the rebel faction of the Shadow Paladins led by Claret Sword Dragon. Not that he was really good to begin with considering he was sent to Genesis after attempting to kill several gods. He's then imprisoned for his crimes, only to get released due to the threat Gyze posed, and then recruited back into Genesis.
- Future Badass: Vanargandr is a potential future form of Fenrir that the latter summoned with stride.
- Little Bit Beastly: Fenrir has wolf ears.
- Recruiting the Criminal: Due to the danger Gyze presents, he's released from the prison Gear Chronicle had him in to fight for Cray. Afterwards, he's returned to the custody of Genesis to work for them under a form of pseudo-house arrest, the only condition being he be allowed regular sparring sessions with Altmile.
- Reformed, but Not Tamed: He's still a savage Blood Knight after being released from his prison and has little remorse for what he did, but he's perfectly willing to bow his head and do as he's told so long as he can regularly spar with Altmile.
- Savage Wolf: Vanargand, his future self summoned via Stride.
- Token Evil Teammate: To Genesis overall; he only cares about his own amusement, which causes him to side with Claret Sword Dragon in the civil war. Later, he's released from his Gear Chronicle prison to help fight the Apostles.
Gleaming Lord, Uranus/Origin Deity of Heavenly Light, Uranus
- Heroic Second Wind: Origin Deity of Heavenly Light can allow an Astral Deity to make a second attack at the cost of resting two Astral Poets on the field and losing drive checks.
- Holy Halo: He has one around his head, likely to denote his status as a deity.
- Hot-Blooded: He is depicted as being this in the Shinemon anime, making his entrance into the Great Nature academy by crashing through the wall and rushing to summon an Astral Deity without taking possible consequences into consideration.
- Magic Knight: Wields a sword in addition to magical talismans.
