Characters / Fate/VRAINS Protagonists

Fate/VRAINS Main Character Index
Protagonists | Servants | Sol Technologies | Antagonists | Allies | Other Characters

The Protagonists

The main characters of Fate/VRAINS and its sequel. They are regarded as some of the strongest duelists in the entire VRAINS digital network and are often at the center of whatever conflicts arise in VRAINS. With the exception of Hakuno until much later into the story, both Aoi and Yusaku are talented duelists.

Hakuno Kishinami

Hakuno Kishinami (Zaizen)

The Girl from the Lunar Sea

The protagonist from Fate/EXTRA.

Hakuno Kishinami suffers from Amnesia Syndrome — a disease that makes the patient slowly lose all memories and cognitive functions before eventually leading to death. In order to save her, doctors put her into cryogenic stasis in the hopes that someday a cure would be made. As it happened, Hakuno found her consciousness drifting through a digital sea and became a participant in the "Moon Cell Holy Grail War", where she emerged the victor.

However, because her existence was irregular, Hakuno was going to be deleted from the Moon Cell. Before her eventual deletion, a "fragment" of Twice H. Pierceman, a previous victor of the Grail War, had offered her the means to escape. Using her wish and last Command Seal, Hakuno escaped the Moon Cell.

She now inhabits the body of her Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS counterpart, Hakuno Zaizen and assumes her identity. She is the younger twin sister of Aoi Zaizen, and the youngest of the Zaizen siblings.

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• Action Girl: She is the protagonist.
• Alternate Self: To Hakuno Zaizen and HAKUNO Kishinami.
• Ambiguous Situation: How SOL Technologies views her unknowing acquisition of the Moon Cell archtype, which In-Universe was scrapped for various reasons. While they're certain that Akira had the cards without actually knowing, they do not understand why Hakuno would be able to use them. The cards are also seemingly important to the overall plot, as they and the Servants are part of Twice's experiment.
• Amnesiac Hero: Remembers nothing from before her time in the Moon Cell, due to having been infected with Amnesia Syndrome.
• Back from the Dead: She is a "cyber ghost" and it is implied that her physical body in the real world has possibly perished. In-Universe, the Zaizen siblings thinks that this was the case, as Hakuno Zaizen was comatose for three years and showed no signs of waking up.
• Bash Brothers: Well, more like bash sisters. Its an Offscreen Moment of Awesome, but she and Aoi have participated in numerous Tag Duels in order for her to be eligible for the LINK VRAINS International Tournament.
• Becoming the Mask: Since she slipped into the body of her VRAINS counterpart, she has been pretending to be Hakuno Zaizen. She's not very happy about doing this, though, and she wants to tell the Zaizen siblings. Though she isn't the one to ultimately tell them, the Zaizen Family does learn she is not actually Hakuno Zaizen but accept her nonetheless.
• Break the Cutie: Her Duel against Julius was this, non-stop. Before she battles him, she had to watch as he destroyed Aoi in their duel. Julius also makes it clear that he is not holding back against her at all, giving her a "The Reason You Suck" Speech and brutalizing her near the end. She does manage to bounce back thanks to Twice, Nameless and Hakuno Zaizen.
  • The duel against Kiara Sessyoin almost sends Hakuno to the Despair Event Horizon. Luckily, Gilgamesh dragged her from that point.
• Chekhov's Gun:
  • The Regalia, as anyone who have played Fate/Extella might tell you, is a major plot device, even more so in this story. Turns out Hakuno wasn't just named the Sovereign of the Moon Cell. Due to it sensing that Kiara was attempting to take control of every Moon Cell in existence, it locked down the Moon Cells and entrusted all of their functions to Hakuno. In short, she commands all the Moon Cells in existence, hence why Kiara wants her so desperately.
  • The Moon Cell deck itself is this. They absorb the Duel Energy produced during Hakuno's duels, which leads to them being the fuel needed for the Moon Cell to take the damaged Worlds together and make the New World from them.
• Damsel in Distress: The whole point of the CCC Arc is to capture Hakuno Kishinami, since she has the Regalia that has been bequeathed all the functions of every Moon Cell in the Extra multiverse. BB actually manages in succeeding in capturing Hakuno, but it isn't take her to Kiara.
• Discard and Draw: Due to using her Moon Cell deck to create the New World, Hakuno uses a Processlayer deck instead.
• 11th-Hour Superpower: Unveils the "upgrade" of Link Summon: Over-Link Summon.
• Determinator: No matter how dire the situation or hopeless a fight is, Hakuno always seems to find some way to stand back up, whether it's being encouraged by her Servant to keep fighting or finding a reason to keep fighting.
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: She does this to herself during her duel with Kiara, after having lost all monsters in her Extra Deck. She headbutts herself into the ground so hard that she bleeds, doing so in order to clear her head.
• Good Is Not Soft: Yes, Hakuno is one of the nicest, most polite duelists you will find. She enjoys friendly matches just like any other character. However, if you are a threat to her friends, she will end you. Kiara found this out the hard way.
• Heroic B So D:
  • Suffers one in TURN-04, where Julius relentlessly wails on her while mocking her for her decisions. Hakuno thinks that she was foolish for trying to think she could replace Hakuno Zaizen, but she eventually snaps out of it thanks to Twice and Hakuno Zaizen herself giving her encouragement.
  • Suffers another one in TURN-15 in the duel against BB. When she learns that BB's existence is tied to the Alter Egos, and their destruction will equal her death, she hesitates and thinks back to all the deaths she created in the Moon Cell Holy Grail War.
  • In "FATED BATTLE II," she breaks down after Kiara banishes every monster in her Extra Deck. She bounces back thanks to Gilgamesh and Revolver giving her the means to bring back her monsters that he banished previously to boost her Life Points.
• Hero of Another Story: Her story takes place one year before Yusaku's battle against the Knights of Hanoi.
• Let's Get Dangerous!: Hakuno ultimately decides that instead of running off to another dimension and fight another day, she's going after Kiara to finish her off herself.
• Mythology Gag:
  • Her LINK VRAINS avatar, "Emiya", is modeled after her appearance in Extella Link, except she has white streaks in her hair — as homage to Nameless before she found out he came along for the ride — and wears gloves with her Command Seals printed on them.
  • Hakuno "upgrading" Link Summoning brings to mind Accel Synchro Summon. Accel Synchro requires the user to have a level of control over Ener-D and in a certain state of mind, while Over-Link requires the user to have a connection to the digital world and a good Link Sense.
  • Hakuno's second avatar is designed after the Cosmos in the Lostbelt Mystic Code worn by the protagonist.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: She is the blue to Aoi's red, oddly enough. Aoi is much more lively than she was in the original series, while Hakuno is more calm and cool.
• Rule of Three: Hakuno's main defensive Trap is Rho Aias, which negates the destruction of her monster and halves battle damage. When its in the Graveyard, Hakuno an activate it even then, but after three uses, she has to banish it.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here: Averted. After being told by Leo and Rin that they have to flee because the damage Kiara has caused to the world of VRAINS is too severe to be repaired, Hakuno flat out tells them she isn't going to turn tail and run, deciding to kill Kiara herself.
• She's Back: After her capture by BB ends with both BB and Julius dying, and hearing about the devastation being wreaked by Zepar, Hakuno Kishinami Zaizen reverts to Hakuno Kishinami, victor of the Moon Cell Holy Grail War, because Kiara has managed to well and truly piss her off.
• Tranquil Fury: Hakuno's response to Julius and BB dying? Refuse to join Rin and the others for a Kaleid Slide, and vow to kill Kiara Sessyoin herself.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Rin lambasts her for giving up her [Administrative Priviledges] and refusing to control SERAPH, which makes their job at dealing with anyone intending to use SERAPH for ill-intent.

Aoi Zaizen

Aoi Zaizen

The Idol of LINK VRAINS

^{Click here to see Blue Angel} 

^{Click here to see Lapis} 

The older sister of Hakuno Zaizen, and younger sister to Akira Zaizen. She is a first-year at Den City High School and member of the Duel Club.

Unknown to her classmates, her online persona is the famous Charisma Duelist — Blue Angel. Initially playing so she could relieve the stress of her daily life, Aoi began using the persona more frequently to spend time with Hakuno and play Duel Monsters properly. She is also one of the Ranked Duelists in Japan, currently holding the Number 2 spot. She was also a Crowned Duelist before being dethroned by Go some years prior.

In Laplace, Aoi has become a duelist in earnest under her new account "Lapis" and has taken up using a new Cyberse archetype called "Silver Streak".

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• 10-Minute Retirement: Downplayed. After Hakuno and Aoi are attacked by Julius, Akira forbids them from logging into LINK VRAINS until Julius has been caught. Zigzagged in Laplace as, while Aoi did not retire from dueling or from VRAINS, she did choose to retire her Blue Angel persona.
• Action Girl: Along with Hakuno.
• Adaptational Nice Guy: Early in VRAINS, Aoi was standoffish and distant because anyone who approached her mostly did so because her brother was the security manager at SOL Technologies. She also didn't seem to be very close with her friends in the Duel Club. Here, though, much of that personality seems to stem from the fact that Aoi was deeply concerned and depressed that her sister had been in a coma for three years. Since Hakuno came back into her life, she is noticeably more cheerful, with many remarking about the change.
• Adaptation Name Change: In the anime's second season, Aoi's second avatar was called "Blue Girl." In Laplace, it is named Lapis.
• Bash Brothers: More like Bash Sisters in this case, It's an Offscreen Moment of Awesome, but Aoi and Haukno participated in Tag Duels to help Hakuno become eligible for the VRAINS International Tournament.
• Beauty Is Never Tarnished: My ass! You remember how Spectre demolished her in their Duel? Well, Julius one-upped him by using a similar strategy to hers, except instead of small effect damage akin to bee stings, Julius just wails on her with explosions.
• Berserk Button: Never, ever hurt her family. Not unless you want to fight a seriously pissed off idol girl and her Trickstars.
• Cassandra Truth: The public refers to Lapis as the successor to Blue Angel, as Aoi had retired her old online persona as part of her Character Development. Aoi herself is amused by this, as nobody is aware that Lapis and Blue Angel are used by the same person.
• Character Development: Originally, Aoi created her online persona of Blue Angel in order to alleviate the stress she dealt between school and her worry about her sister and merely acted the role of an idol, something Elizabeth ruthlessly tore into her about. Aoi actually took such criticism to heart and wanted to change for the better. As a result, she retired her original persona and created Lapis, Blue Angel's successor.
• Death of a Thousand Cuts: How her overall playstyle works. Her deck revolves around effects that deal damage whenever cards are added to her opponent's hand, when they summon monsters or when she uses a card's effect. As Lapis, she doesn't seem to use this playstyle nearly as much and instead focuses on her more combat-oriented "Silver Streak" archetype to deal damage.
• Genki Girl: Much more prevalent here than in the series. This is mostly because Hakuno has regained consciousness and has become a Duelist, meaning she can catch up on lost time with her sister. She's especially energetic and eager to win as Lapis.
• Heroic B So D: She nearly suffers one when Akira performs his Heroic Sacrifice to try and give Aoi a chance at victory against Run Ru.
• Identical Stranger: Silver Streak Sky Surfer, as noted by Yusaku, bears a striking resemblance towards his own Code Talker monsters. Coincidentally, both Link Monsters are Cyberse monsters.
• Light Is Good: Aside from her Trickstar deck, Aoi incorporated two other archetypes: the fanfic original "Silver Streak" and the Counter Fairy, both of which are LIGHT Attribute monsters.
• Original Character: Not so much as a character and more like a monster card. Since the recreation of VRAINS, Aoi incorporated a Cyberse archetype into her deck called "Silver Streak."
• Secret Secret-Keeper: Akira confesses that he already knew that she was Blue Angel, much to her shock.
• Theme Naming: Her "Silver Streak" monsters have specific themes, all of which relate to the sky. The monsters in her main deck are "Silver Streak Azure," with azure referencing the color of the sky. Her Fusion Monsters are called "Silver Streak Starry," in reference to the stars in the night sky. Her Link Monsters are the most obvious as they are called "Silver Streak Sky."
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Elizabeth delivers a short, but impactful one to Aoi, stating that she hasn't been taking her assumed role as idol seriously and is just pretending. In Laplace, she actually takes this criticism to heart and reworks her image in the newly reconstructed VRAINS network by making Lapis, pursuing the professional scene in earnest this time around.
• Surfer Dude: Aoi's ace from the "Silver Streak" archetype is Silver Streak Sky Surfer; a Distaff Counterpart to the Code Talkers that rides atop a surfboard.

Yusaku Fujiki

Yusaku Fujiki

The Emissary of Vengeance

^{Click here to see Playmaker} 

The main hero of Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS.

A troubled youth who seeks to reclaim his past, he begins his journey to fight the people who ruined his life: the Knights of Hanoi.

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• Acceptable Breaks from Canon: His possession of the Cyberse deck and meeting with Shoichi Kusanagi were written before the episode detailing their encounter aired, though the story was considered to be an Alternate Universe to begin with.
• Adaptational Early Appearance: In part due to Acceptable Breaks from Canon. Yusaku didn't initially own his Cyberse deck until he began working with Kusanagi and obtained it after solving a riddle left behind from its previous owner. In the fanfic, Yusaku already owns the deck long before he meets Kusanagi, so a few monsters who appeared later on in the anime appear much earlier, such as Code Talker, who debuted in the anime during Yusaku's final battle with Bowman.
• Adapted Out: Downplayed. Due to the Acceptable Breaks from Canon mentioned above, Playmaker's initial name "Unknown" and his starter deck are not featured in the fic.
• Amnesiac Hero: Not to the same extent as Hakuno, but because of the Lost Incident, Yusaku does not remember much of his own childhood.
• Anti-Hero: Unlike Hakuno, who is a typical shoujo heroine and ordinary player in LINK VRAINS, Yusaku is a hacker who will take some unsavory means to obtain the info he needs. This includes participating in Underground Dueling Circuits.
• BFS: Similar to his ace "Decode Talker" early in VRAINS, Yusaku's initial ace at this point in time, Code Talker, wields a large sword.
• Break the Cutie: No better way to break a kid's spirit than to lock him in a room and force him to duel with other kids if he wants to eat, amirite?
• The Bus Came Back: After having vanished from the plot during the climax of Fate/VRAINS, Yusaku reappeared in the story in the final chapter where he and Hakuno finally meet. He also appears in the first chapter of Laplace, unlike in the first installment where he only made a brief appearance early on until finally appearing a good one-third of way in.
• Call-Forward: In the series proper, Yusaku's go-to ace early in the show is "Decode Talker." In the story, he uses what's considered to be the "normie" of the Talker archtype: Code Talker, which is more or less a blue Decode Talker with weaker effects.
• Catchphrase: Wouldn't be Yusaku without his "three things" philosophy.
• Cyberpunk: Yusaku uses the Cyberse archetype, so he naturally fits the trope.
• Dark and Troubled Past: He was a victim of the Lost Incident, which involved the kidnapping of young children. Afterwards, he and the others were forced to participate in duels. If they lost a duel, they'd receive little in the way of food, thus forcing them to duel aggressively and win in order to stave off the hunger.
• Dark Is Not Evil: Some of his Monsters are DARK Element and his avatar "Playmaker" wears a dark bodysuit. He's still a good guy, though.
• The Determinator: Even when he suffered a serious injury in his duel against Run Ru, which happened to be a High-Stakes Duel so the damage output is three times higher than normal (for context, Yuskau got slammed into an ELECTRIC FENCE!), kid was still willing to take a beating and push forward.
• Electric Torture: Whenever Yusaku or the other kids in the Lost Incident lost a duel, they'd suffer an electric shock. To add insult to injury, when they lost a duel, they'd only get a juice pack for food.
• Experienced Protagonist: The series has already shown that by the time Yusaku was introduced, he's been fighting the Knights of Hanoi for a while. The fic shows Yusaku being quite proficient in a duel, and is willing to go to great lengths to get the info he needs. Even if getting that info means participating in an underground duel where the pain threshold is cranked up beyond what should normally be allowed and his opponent is a nutjob who wants to eat people.
• Hero of Another Story: His story is brief, taking place in between the aftermath of Julius' assault on Hakuno and Aoi and before Hakuno's encounter with Emma Bessho and Rin Tohsaka.
• Heroic Second Wind: He looks ready to forfeit after getting struck with a pretty harsh attack by Run Ru. Keep in mind that this is an underground duel, more specifically a High-Stakes Duel, where the pain threshold is increased by three times. It's stated multiple times In-Universe that if the player's avatar in LINK VRAINS (or in any datascape, really) suffers too much damage, it can have some seriously bad side-effects on their body in the real world. He remembers the advice the person who taught him his "three things" philosophy gave him and invokes this trope, powering through the pain and taking down Run Ru.
• Past Experience Nightmare: Like in canon, Yusaku suffers nightmares from his time during the Lost Incident. His introduction scene in the story even has him suffer one where he gets a repeated "YOU LOSE!" sequence before waking up in a screaming fit.
• Pragmatic Hero: He may be one of the protagonists (Put on a Bus aside for the CCC Arc's climax), but he's willing to do some unsavory and otherwise frowned on methods. Among those is participating in an underground duel, which come with some serious risks.
• Put on a Bus: Yusaku's role in Fate/VRAINS ends rather early when he and Shoichi meet and decide to work together in order to find and defeat the Knights of Hanoi, as well as discover the truth behind the Lost Incident. He's since made only a brief appearance when the VRAINS International Tournament begins, and we don't see his reaction to things in LINK VRAINS going to hell when Kiara begins her assault.
• Revenge: This is what drives Yusaku to chase after the Knights of Hanoi.
• Rule of Three: His "three things" philosophy, which he inherited from the person who gave him the encouragement he needed to push through his time in the Lost Incident.
• Serious Business: As is the case in many life-or-death scenarios, Dueling is this. In his case, it's his tool to fight the Knights of Hanoi.
• Survival Mantra: The "three things" was this to him during the Lost Incident.
• Tron Lines: In his Playmaker avatar.

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