Alexis Rhodes

Alexis Rhodes, known in Japan as Asuka Tenjouin (天上院明日香, Tenjōin Asuka), is a strong female duelist from the Obelisk Blue dormitory at Duel Academy as well as one of Jaden's closest friends.

Her family name has been written as "Tenjoin," "Tenjouin," and "Tenjyoin" in Roman characters. Her given name in the Japanese version means "Tomorrow's Fragrance".

Character design


Alexis' character design was overseen by Kenichi Hara. Her usual outfit consists of the standard female Obelisk Blue uniform, complete with an optional pair of fingerless gloves. Her blonde hair is sporadically arranged, with a large portion trailing the upper part of the nape of her neck. She carries an Academy-issued Duel Disk on her left hand.

Character biography
Alexis Rhodes, along with Zane and Chazz, is one of the top students at the Academy. She is regarded as the "Madonna" of Obelisk Blue, yet she does not follow the crowd nor does she regard herself as better than other people.

Alexis mourns for her long-lost older brother, Atticus. With the help of Zane, she constantly searches for clues surrounding his disappearance, until it is revealed that he joined the Shadow Riders, under the control of Nightshroud. Defeated by Jaden in a shadow duel and relieved of this persona, the incident leaves Atticus amnesic, prompting his sister to engage in a duel with Titan to restore his memories. Ultimately, Alexis is victorious and successful in achieving her goal.

Later in the series, Chazz comes out about his infatuation with Alexis after Jaden defeats the final Shadow Rider. Atticus helps Chazz with his crush and he steals all seven spirit keys in order to force Alexis to duel with him. Although Chazz plays suggestive cards such as Hidden Wish and Love Letter to show her how much he cares, Alexis wins in the end, stating that she cannot return his feelings, because she "loves dueling". Chazz's crush on Alexis continues throughout the series, although after having his free will is sapped by Sartorius, his interests fade, until he is rescued by Jaden and returned to his former self.

Following Chazz's entrance into the Society of Light, Alexis duels with him to keep him from taking over Obelisk Blue completely. She fails, however, and meets the same fate as her fellow elites, though she retains her pride as an Obelisk Blue duelist, refusing to play the White Veil card given to her by Sartorius in her duel against Maitre' D during the Genex tournament.

In episode 93, Sartorius strips her of her free will and rendering her cold and heartless. (In the japanese version he specfically names her his Apostle of Light). He provides her with a new White Night (白夜, Byakuya) deck and orders her to retrieve the key to the mind control satellite which his good personality entrusted to Jaden. She is defeated an episode later, and thus freed from Sartorius' influence.

In the third season, Alexis accompanies Jaden & company through the Survival Duels, the desert, and finally the alternative dimension where she is sacrificed among with the rest of the gang, except for Syrus, by Brron.

However, she's revived along everybody else the rest the main that died over the season (except Aster, Zane and Adrian apearantly) after Jaden defeats Yubel. While controlled by Sartorius she is affectionately named White Alexis by fans. (In the japanese version her nickname is White Asuka.)

Manga
Alexis' manga-counterpart is the same as her anime-counterpart in terms of ranking, strength, and motivation. She longs to be viewed as a duelist by her fellow peers, rather than simply a female, and goes out of her way to take Seika's place in a duel against Jaden. Though she loses, she still becomes Miss Duel Academia. Alexis participates in the tournament hosted at Duel Academy and later duels David in the finals.

Voice/Mannerisms
Many fans believe that Alexis has a crush on Jaden Yuki. This is truer of the English version; in the original, Asuka does not entertain romantic interest towards anyone, which leads to her brother's repeated attempts to get her to notice someone.

In the dub, Alexis' affections toward Jaden can be traced as early on as Episode 3. Her dormmate, Jasmine wondered if Alexis was "falling for that slifer", the "slifer" being referred to as Jaden. Alexis consistently will respond to another female showing interest in Jaden. For example, in Episode 106 when Blair give Jaden a flirty wink, she is clearly not pleased. Similarly, in dubbed Episode 37, Chazz remarks that Tanya might be Jaden's "type" after all. Alexis then vehemently denies this, retorting, "...no way Jaden would ever date that thing". The notion is furthered when Jaden and Syrus duel the Paradox Brothers. Alexis tells Bastion that she "is happy that Jaden gets to stay at the Academy." Bastion corrects her by assuming that she meant Jaden and Syrus, and presumably figures out that Alexis has a crush on Jaden when Alexis tries to change the subject. A similar situation also ensues when Mindy, Alexis' good friend and roommate, exclaims that she would never let a Slifer Red stay on campus. In Episode 15, things take a turn when Harrington challenges Jaden to a duel with the prize of being Alexis' fiancée. Despite Jaden winning the duel, his naiveté allows Alexis to downplay the role to one of friendship in the English version, stating, "...it means friendship, at least for now, big guy."; in the Japanese version, Asuka instead calls Judai an idiot for not knowing the definition of the word "fiancée" at all. While she is controlled she shows a great deal of dislike for Jaden referring to him as a "dork" and "loser" multiple times.

Deck
Alexis plays a Cyber Girl Deck including female monsters based on dance related sports. Her tactics are well-balanced due to the variety of different effects her monsters possess, ranging from direct attacks to negation of opposing card abilities. She is also skilled at concentrating on a single tactic while dueling, devoting all her cards to the summoning and strengthening of her fused warrior "Cyber Blader", or her "Cyber Angel" ritual series, who are based on the the Seven Lucky Gods of Japanese mythology. With her White Night deck she creates a physical feeling of cold to slowly exhaust her opponent while preventing them from fighting back with Spell and Trap Cards.

Like most Society members Alexis while controlled has a deep obsession with the color white. With her white night deck she is highly protective of her cards especially "White Veil" because when Jaden destroyed it in episode 94 she got angry and told Jaden he'd pay. (In the Japanese she is quoted as saying "My sacred White Veil… how dare you do that to it!") this shows that similar to Rafael she has a strong bond with her cards.

In the manga, Alexis plays a Cyber Ice Deck based on the distribution of "Ice Counters" that trigger the effects of its support cards, giving her access to a myirad of effects ranging from the negation of card effects to immobilizing her opponent's monsters.