Yuri

Yuri or Joeri (ユーリ Yūri) is a character in the Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V anime, and is a member of Duel Academy. He is the Fusion Dimensional counterpart of Yuya Sakaki (Standard Dimension), Yuto (Xyz Dimension) and Yugo (Synchro Dimension) and the person responsible for kidnapping Rin and Lulu Obsidian. He is one of Duel Academy's ace Duelists and the most loyal to the Professor.

Appearance
Yuri's face resembles that of his counterparts. He has very short, thick, pink eyebrows and purple eyes. Like his counterparts, his hair is two-toned, in his case being uniformly violet with pink underneath - his fringes extending to frame his face, with two pointing upwards.

His outfit appears to be an officer's uniform of sorts, consisting of a purple and light blue waistcoat, pink cravat, a two-part cape of red and purple that resembles Yuya Sakaki's coat, a purple abbreviated coat with thick cuffs and gold shoulder bands with an amber-colored setting, fastened at the collar bone, and light blue pants tucked into silver-tinted leather boots. When he kidnapped Lulu and Rin, Yuri wore a brown hooded cloak that obscured his identity.

Yuri and his dimensional counterparts' attire and hair are all based on the color of the cards that their dimensions are based on. As such, Yuri wears purple like the color of Fusion Monsters, and the top layer of his hair is purple. Yuri's design also seems to take cues from those of his dimensional counterparts; wearing a cape resembling Yuya's coat, a long coat that evokes Yuto's torn one, and a short jacket similar in form to Yugo's.

As a child, Yuri wore purple-colored long-sleeved shirt with a pocket on the left side of the chest, orange-colored buttons and black-colored collar, white pants and brown shoes.

Personality
Unlike his dimensional counterparts, Yuri is cruel and ruthless with sociopathic tendencies, freely admitting he was the one who kidnapped Lulu and Rin. A very sadistic Duelist, Yuri has never considered that there is anything wrong with sealing people into cards and enjoys the act instead. Yuri also likes taunting anyone he's speaking to, often playing mind games to lure his opponents into a false sense of security. Like many other Fusion Duelists, Yuri takes malicious pleasure in their mission, seen when he pursued Zuzu, Rin, and Lulu, likening the activity to a game of hide-and-seek. However, his joy for it seems to exceed any other member of Duel Academy, ultimately not even caring about the Arc Area Project. His drive for carding people is simply to prove himself stronger than anyone else, his ideal world being one where he stands alone as the best, something that concerned even Leo Akaba, the person who set him on this path.

As a child training in Duel Academy, his talent and constant winning made others fear and avoid him, never allowing him to make any friends. This seemingly cause his self-serving and vicious aspect to take root. During his Duel with Alexis Rhodes, Yuri came to understand the feeling of having things that he cared about ripped away from him. Despite this, he still sticks to his self-serving ideals, taking personal delight in defeating a former fellow honor student.

Yuri speaks politely, using the personal pronoun of "boku" rather than the "ore" usually used by his counterparts and referring to others by the term "kimi". He is not above complimenting his enemies; sincerely praising Zuzu for evading him for a whole night and admiring Yugo's "". However he sees the ideal of everyone smiling during a Duel as ridiculous; believing that only the winner of a Duel gets to smile because a Duel is a battle. He is very loyal to the Professor and will fulfill his orders without question, going as far as eliminating anyone who he perceives to be hindering his mission, even his own comrades.

Abilities
Yuri appears to possess high levels of endurance, jumping from a moderately high rooftop to the ground with little consequence. He is also shown to be incredibly athletic and acrobatic as he shown to leap to different buildings in New Domino City, and perform a front flip when he and the Obelisk Force found Celina. Like his dimensional counterparts, Yuri can become Awakened. Yuri also possesses the ability to Synchronize with his dimensional counterparts, during which he uses their personal pronoun of "ore" rather than his usual "boku".

During his Duels, Yuri's pupils tend to become slitted like a serpent's just before he is about to finish his opponent off.

Etymology
Yuri, or Joeri means "farmer", although Yuri comes from Russian transliteration, while Joeri is from Dutch. Yuri can also mean "Lily" in Japanese, which could reflect on the kind of Deck he plays. His name is written in katakana, so it has no actual Japanese meaning.

History
Yuri was an orphan, having no memory of his parents or his life. As a boy, he was enrolled into Duel Academy, though he had difficulty making friends due to his strong methods of Dueling. One day, while sitting on a bench watching the other students greet newcomer Alexis Rhodes, he met Celina and Leo Akaba, who told him of his crucial role in the Arc Area Project.

After invading the Xyz Dimension, Yuri and Dennis met Lulu when she was queuing up to draw water. He would later end up pursuing her and beginning a Duel when she was cornered against the ruins. Yuri mocked her, then commenced the Duel. Lulu lost the Duel and was captured and brought back to Duel Academy.

After the invasion, Yuri went to the Synchro Dimension on Leo's order to kidnap Rin. He succeeded in tracking her down and securing her just as Yugo arrived on the scene and escaped using a card. He was then seen at Heartland, secretly watching the confrontation between Yugo and Yuto from behind a building.

Arc League Championship
After Yuto and Yugo's Duel, Leo Akaba informed Yuri about Zuzu Boyle's existence after investigating Sora's memories. He ordered Yuri to bring Zuzu to Duel Academy. Yuri later appeared before Dennis Macfield in the Standard Dimension appearing to know him.

Immediately after arriving in the Standard Dimension, he saw Zuzu preparing to battle the Obelisk Force. He quickly engaged, before being briefed by Dennis that Zuzu had swapped clothes with Celina, so that the latter could locate Shay while she distracted the Obelisk Force. Just as Yuri and Dennis were about to join the Obelisk Force, they were interrupted by Olga and Halil, who mistook Yuri as a Tournament Duelist and challenged him and Dennis to a Duel. Despite being angered by the interruption, Yuri accepted the duo's challenge. He defeated them both and sealed them into cards.

Yuri then approached Zuzu just as she was about to Duel the Obelisk Force and ordered them to withdraw so he could talk to her himself. Though Zuzu initially mistook Yuri as Yuya, Yuri quickly disabused her, explaining that she was required by the Professor and tried to convince her to surrender and join him, claiming it was pointless to stand in his way. However, Zuzu refused to do so, whereupon Yuri muses that she was just like Lulu and Rin in more than just looks. He then challenged her to a Duel, which Zuzu had no choice but to accept. Yuri's overwhelming power forced Zuzu to escape while Yuri calmly pursued her, eventually managing to locate her by using "" to destroy a huge block of ice. Yuri once again attempted to convince Zuzu to surrender. However, before Zuzu could do so her bracelet glowed once more to Yuri's surprise, causing him to disappear once Yugo was within range.

Friendship Cup Finals
When Leo assigned Barrett the mission to invade the Synchro Dimension he mentioned Yuri would also participate in the operation. Anticipating this upcoming assault from Duel Academy, Jean-Michel Roger seemed particularly worried about specifically Yuri's probable arrival in the City. Yuri then appeared at the Synchro Dimension standing atop the Duel Palace watching the Duel between Celina and Yugo. After the Duel concluded, Yuri found Yugo and stared coldly at him.

Yugo tried to chase after Yuri, but he left the Duel Palace and jumped on to a truck. Yuri looked at "" and noted that it was the one who brought him and Yugo here. He ignored Yugo's further attempts to chase him down and jumped onto a boat. During Yuya's Duel against Crow Hogan, Yuri's chest began to react in pain which caused Yuri to Awakened along with his counterparts and synchronized with Yuya. While he was in sync with his counterparts, Yuri started to exhibit a dark aura around his body, and he passed out after Yuya won the Duel.

Upon waking, Yuri wondered if he had Dueled. As he observes the Obelisk Force's arrival, he was confronted by Yugo on the rooftop. After taunting Yugo, Yugo demanded for Rin's location, but Yuri asked Yugo for Zuzu's whereabouts in exchange. Yugo, who believed Zuzu to be dead, replied that Zuzu lives on in his heart. Annoyed by the reply, Yuri countered that Rin was in Yugo's heart as well and activated "Violet Flash" to flee from Yugo once more.

Yuri later appeared in the abandoned subway where Yuya and Barrett were Dueling after having tailed Sora. Overhearing Sora's words, he was about to arrest both Sora and Celina before Yugo's sudden arrival. Yugo challenged Yuri to a Duel, which he accepted after learning that Yugo had defeated Celina, and he ordered the Obelisk Force under his command to not interfere. Yugo began by Synchro Summoning "" before ending his turn. During his turn, Yuri Fusion Summoned "Starving Venom Fusion Dragon" and, with all of the Four Dimension Dragons present on the field, ended up awakening and synchronizing with the rest of his counterparts again.

While synced, Yuri and his counterparts start shouting that they waited for this time to become one and for a revival. But, when Zuzu arrived at Yuya's location and passed by Yuri and Yugo, her bracelet teleported them away, leaving their Duel unfinished.

Heartland City
Yuri appeared again in the Fusion Dimension, where he managed track down one of Duel Academy's fugitives. This led Yuri to the You Show Duel School, where he encountered several students. He challenged all five of them to a Battle Royal. He was amused when the students talked about Dueling with smiles. After all six players took a turn, with the five You Show students Summoning their own Fusion Monsters, Yuri Summoned his ace, "Starving Venom Fusion Dragon" and used its effect in combination with "" to wipe out all five students. After defeating and sealing the students into cards, Zuzu and Alexis confronted him. As Alexis asked Zuzu if she knew Yuri, Zuzu said she knew "that guy". This upset Yuri, as he viewed it as impolite, and then promptly introduced himself. Regardless, he tried to tell Zuzu to return to the Professor with him. Yugo suddenly appeared, charging at Yuri on his Duel Runner in anger. This triggered Zuzu's bracelet, which warped Yuri away.

Yuri confronted Declan, Riley, Yusho, Sora and Alexis in a hallway when Declan mentioned destroying Duel Academy. He threatened to seal everyone into cards, only to be pushed away by Alexis, and she and Sora trapped Yuri in the corridor with the defense systems of Duel Academy. Yuri showed Alexis his "Honor Student Deck" and replaced his "Predator Plant" Deck with it. He challenged Alexis to a Duel, and she started swiftly by Ritual Summoning. When his turn came, Yuri requested some time to study his cards as he had no idea how they worked. Despite this, Yuri managed to Summon "" and overwhelm Alexis with it. After his assault, Yuri childishly told Alexis to quickly end her turn so he could finish her off quickly. Undeterred, Alexis managed to take control of "Reactor Dragon" with "". Yuri was horrified, and Alexis replied that he now knew what it felt like when he sealed other people's friends into cards. She used "Fusion Destruction" to banish Yuri's "s" and tried to convince Yuri that they were similar and they could be friends. Yuri admitted the similarities and his misfortunes, but he claimed that he would seal everyone else into a card because it made him happy and would prove that he was the strongest. Yuri revealed that he had modified the Honor Student Deck by including "". Alexis tried to counter it, but she failed, and Yuri Fusion Summoned "". Yuri proceeded to defeat Alexis with his new monster. Just as he sealed her into a card, a demonic aura emerges from Yuri as he temporarily awakens. He then raised the bars that separated him and Sora, explaining that he could have done so at any time, but he'd kept Sora locked up to amuse himself and challenged him to a Duel.

Duel Academy
He Dueled Sora and pushed him into a corner until Sora counterattacked with "". However, Yuri Fusion Summoned "Gear Golem" and destroyed "Chimera", defeating Sora. Before he could seal Sora into a card, he was interrupted by Yugo and Aster Phoenix. He taunted Yugo and accepted his challenge after Yugo threatened to defeat him. He switched Decks because he felt something was missing while pronouncing Yugo's name wrong. When Yugo summoned "Clear Wing", Yuri's desire to burn everything grew stronger and Fusion Summoned "Starving Venom". He then entered a synchronized awakening and start shouting to become one. Meanwhile, Leo saw Riley, wondering who he was and told Yusho he wasn't a genius since the ARC System was just reproduced from existing technology. He revealed to them that it was developed in the United World and asked them why the only difference between the Four Dimensions were the Summoning methods. He then revealed how the United World had all of them and the ARC System was already put to practical use there. He wanted to give new possibilities and create a ARC System that was more vivid, lively, and flexible. He then used Duel Monsters with it and found out there were perfectly compatible but unintentionally opened Pandora's Box. His research brought forth powerful monsters with mass and was praised as the person for leading Dueling into a new era. But the technology led the world to ruin due to the people's frenzy and the appearance of Zarc. He also revealed how Zarc evolved Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz with their finest dragons and stood at the top of the Dueling world. Then, when the people celebrated that day, Zarc declared he'll the world and Summoned his four dragons to attack everyone. He then remembered how Duel Monsters had souls, which appeared in the worst possible way by giving them real bodies, thereby materializing their anger. Since they a body made from Solid Vision, normal weapons had no affect on them and had begun to take revenge. He told them how the four dragons swallowed Zarc's and became the Ultimate Monster: Supreme Dragon King Zarc. The only thing that could fight Zarc, who had godlike power was a Duelist just as strong. Leo felt responsible for creating that demon and couldn't afford to give up, even if it meant sacrificing himself to save his world. When Declan called it a myth to calm Riley, Leo angrily told him it did, since took place in front of his eyes and that world would enter its final moments because of Supreme Dragon King Zarc.

Predator Plant
Yuri plays a "Predator Plant" Deck that focuses on Fusion Summoning his Dimension Dragon, "". He typically aims to gathering two of his "Predator Plants" quickly to do so.

With the effect of "", Yuri can use "Starving Venom" to efficiently defeat several opponents at once in a manner similar to Shay with his "", profiting off of the presence of many enemy monsters, then attacking all of them.

Honor Student Deck
Yuri also owns an Honor Student Deck, which is given to selected students. It focuses on "Ancient Gear" cards much like other members of Duel Academy. It relies on sheer offensive power to overwhelm his opponents. While being mostly the same as the standard recipe, Yuri made a few modifications to the Deck like adding the "" card.

Trivia

 * Unlike his counterparts and their relationships with their female companions, Yuri does not have any sort of relationship with Celina.