Nelson Andrews

Nelson Andrews, known as Fuya Okudaira in the Japanese version, is a child actor and one of the Number holders in Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL.

Personality
Nelson is a rather timid boy, even to the point of being afraid of things such as spiders, as opposed to his brave and heroic TV show counterpart. In the dub, he describes himself as "...just a middle schooler from the suburbs". Nelson often feels very lonely because he always to keep his public image as the "Sparrow" and can never be himself with people.

Nelson speaks using the boyish pronoun "boku", but when acting as "Sparrow" he used the more muscular pronoun "ore" and speaks in a deeper voice. Sometime after his Duel with Yuma Tsukumo, he solely refer to himself using "boku", showing he's being more himself.

Nelson is very fond of Yuma, since Yuma is the first person to tell him to be himself. When Nelson first met Yuma, he opened up to Yuma about his loneliness and even directly asked Yuma to be his friend. Even under the "Numbers" influence, Nelson tells Yuma to stay away from him when he was causing havoc around Heartland City for Yuma's own safety. After their Duel, Nelson continues to admire Yuma for his never-give-up "Kattobingu" spirit and was happy to see him when they met again. Nelson perceptively notices Yuma's talent to make people happy through Dueling, as Nelson was one of them, and he encourages Yuma continue to make people smile through Dueling.

According to Astral and Yuma, Nelson has changed since their last Duel, being bolder and more himself since breaking free from his mother's pressure, and said that his style of Dueling has change too. During the World Duel Carnival, Nelson shows to be quite flashy when acting as "Sparrow" around his fans, but maintains his polite and modest nature.

Anime biography
Nelson plays the character Sparrow (Robin in the original), on the popular TV show "The Sparrow" ("D.D. ESPer Robin" in the original), whom Astral is intrigued by and becomes a big fan of. Despite his success, Nelson was lonely and shy when not on camera, the polar opposite of the character he played. Pressured by his mother, Nelson was forced to maintain his public image as "The Sparrow", and wasn't allowed to interact with others unless they are involved with his show.



Having arrived at Heartland City for filming, Nelson stayed in his studio and was practicing his lines alone in his costume. After Yuma Tsukumo snuck in and dropped his Deck in front of him, he saved Yuma from getting into trouble and took him into his dressing room. Nelson returned the deck to Yuma and requested Yuma to Duel him, which the latter agreed to. Excited, Nelson slightly broke his facade and tried to compose himself before being spooked at the sight of a spider. Scared, Nelson screamed and hid under a table, revealing his true self and switching his personal pronouns from "ore" to "boku" (Japanese version only). Nelson explained to Yuma that he was nothing like Sparrow off-set and how he had to hide his true self. When Yuma told Nelson he should be more himself, he became happy that Yuma was the first person to tell him that and accepts him as a friend. The two became friends, but before they can Duel, Nelson's mother interrupted them. Nelson was scolded by his mother and reminded him of the importance of being "the Sparrow". She then forced Yuma out of the room, upsetting Nelson, but Yuma promised Nelson that they would Duel someday. However, Nelson sadly told Yuma it's okay not to fulfill his promise because no one could save him from his life. Later, Yuma and Astral talked about Nelson, and Astral believed the boy was in pain from loneliness.

That night, Nelson stared at the sky from the balcony and before going back inside, he found "Number 83: Galaxy Queen". This resulted in him being quickly possessed by the "Number", making him believe the events from from his T.V show were real, and goes attacking people at night as "Sparrow" and claiming they were minions of "Dead Max" (Furious Max in the dub). This caused a scandal to break out over the incidents, which the press questioning if Nelson really did it or not. The next night, Nelson attacked a man, which caused Yuma to arrived and follow him as he ran away. In a alley, Nelson encountered Yuma, who asked why he doing this, but Nelson told him not to get involved with him and leaped away. On the third night, Nelson went to his studio to get his mask, but was confronted by Yuma. He revealed to Yuma that he under the delusion and really believed that he was "the Sparrow". Although he didn't want to fight with Yuma, he believed that Yuma was a minion of "Furious Max" and Dueled him. Nelson was able to counter all of Yuma's moves and pushed him into a corner by making his monsters indestructible with "Number 83: Galaxy Queen"'s effect.



When his mother arrived, she tried to make him come to his senses, but he brushed her off as he thought that the "Number" was his mother. As the Duel continued, Nelson nearly defeated Yuma, but the latter made a comeback under Astral's instructions. When his "Galaxy Queen" was about to be destroyed by "Number 39: Utopia", he used "Star Sparrow Forever!" to revive "D.D. Esper Star Sparrow" to take the damage for "Galaxy Queen", which caused him to lose the Duel. When Astral absorbed the power of "Galaxy Queen", Nelson regained awareness and reconciled with his mother, who apologized and promised to let Nelson be more himself.



Sometime later, Nelson entered the World Duel Carnival as another participant, but had to work in the studio for the first two days. On the third, Nelson went around in his Sparrow costume and started to gather Heart Pieces, with fans following wherever he went. After defeating his third Duelist, Nelson showed off to his fans and politely tried to fend off their autograph requests. The noise attracted Nistro's attention, and he appeared to challenge him to a Duel, which he accepted in hopes of gaining his fourth Heart Piece. As they Dueled, Nelson noticed Yuma in the crowd, which made him smile and mutter Yuma's name. In the Duel, Nelson and Nistro fought fiercely and strategically up to the point that Nistro destroyed "Beast-Warrior Puma" and cornered Nelson. However, the latter remembered his Duel against Yuma and how that Yuma would never give up because of "kattobingu". This encouraged Nelson to fight back enabling him to Summon his ace card, "Superdimensional Robot Galaxy Destroyer". However, Nistro was able to Summon "Heroic Champion - Excalibur" and defeated his "Galaxy Destroyer". Nelson lost, but was okay with the loss and gave one of his Heart Piece to Nistro.

When Yuma came up to him, Nelson says that the Duel was fun and thanked Yuma for teaching him that. He and Nistro exchanged words of thanks for a good Duel, and before Nistro left with Dextra, Nelson witnessed Nistro telling Yuma that he would be waiting for him in the finals. Nelson told Yuma that, like him, Nistro probably learned how fun Dueling can be from fighting against Yuma. Smiling, Nelson stated that everyone that Yuma Dueled ends up smiling and his talent is the ability to make people happy through Dueling. Nelson told Yuma that he hoped Yuma will keep making others happy, and should follow that purpose and make it through the end of the tournament. Nelson then leaped off the stairs, putting his mask back on and leaves as his fans followed him.

The Sparrow
Nelson's character, "The Sparrow" ("Robin" in the original) is said to be a hero from another dimension.

He first appears in a brief part of an episode of the show, which Astral watched. Galaxy Queen was shown overpowering Beast-Warrior Puma and Phoenix Beast Gairuda with her evil powers. At that moment, Sparrow appears and confronts her, who asks him how he dares defy their master, the king of darkness "Dead Max", and tells him he's got guts. The Sparrow says that his justice has no limits, and attacks her. However, at that moment, he sees Galaxy Queen's reflection in some crystals, which reveals her real form - the one who The Sparrow always searched - his mother. Because of that, he hesitates, and Galaxy Queen declares that Dead Max's curse will fall upon him, as she shots him with her powers as well. By that way, she says that the 3 of them will now follow her orders, and laughs while the 3 suffer, and then episode ends.



A scene of the next episode was shown that the Sparrow advances towards Galaxy Queen,saying her powers not being able to stop him, and he jumps towards her, hugging her. Galaxy Queen drops her rod, as The Sparrow's hug makes her return to normal, and Sparrow cries.

Nelson's card, "Furious Max's Curse", hints that The Sparrow's mother was under the curse of Dead Max, which made her become evil.

Yu-Gi-Oh! D Team ZEXAL biography


In the spin-off manga Yu-Gi-Oh! D Team ZEXAL, Fuya also plays the role of "D.D. Warrior ESPer Robin" in a TV show with the same name. Using the D-Network, Fuya requested a Duel with Yuma.

Pre-World Duel Carnival
Nelson uses a Sparrow Family Deck, based on the characters from his TV series. It is capable of quickly swarming the field and Summoning "D.D. Esper Star Sparrow", a card based on the character he himself plays. When the whole Sparrow Family gathers, Nelson can use "Change to Jet Iron" to combine them into "D.D. Jet Iron". His "Number", "Galaxy Queen", is based on the character his mother plays on his TV series. The influence of it convinced him it actually was his mother, so he goes to great lengths to defend it with cards such as "Furious Max's Curse" and "Star Sparrow Forever!".

World Duel Carnival
In the World Duel Carnival, Nelson continues to play his Sparrow Family Deck. With "Number 83: Galaxy Queen" gone, Nelson uses the fearsome "Superdimensional Robot Galaxy Destroyer" as his new ace card, with support from his "D.D. Jet Iron".

D Team ZEXAL
In the spin-off manga Yu-Gi-Oh! D Team ZEXAL, Fuya plays basically the same Deck as he does in the anime.

Trivia

 * In the opening, Masterpiece, Nelson initially appears to become one of Yuma Tsukumo's rivals, but has been absent since his two-part debut until reappearance in the WDC and was added into the opening, BRAVING!, for that episode only. Due to Nelson's popularity with fans, Nelson occasionally makes cameos in the other opening and endings, such as Soul Drive, Wild Child and Dual-ism of Mirrors.