Yusaku Fujiki

Yusaku Fujiki (, Fujiki Yūsaku) is the main protagonist of the Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS anime. When Dueling in LINK VRAINS, he is known as Playmaker.

Appearance
Yusaku is a teenage boy with fair skin, green eyes, and dark blue hair that spikes outward in the back and contains light blue bangs with pink accents. His standard attire consists of a slate-colored jacket with light blue trim over a white dress shirt with a blue tie and a pair of black pants and black and white shoes.

While Dueling in LINK VRAINS, Yusaku wears a black and green outfit with a golden stripe going across his body and a grey belt at the waistline. His hair color also changes to yellow and red with pink strips and accents. Occasionally, the golden stripes in his "Playmaker" outfit glow.

When he was a child, Yusaku wore a brown jacket with a green shirt. He wore blue pants and brown boots.

Personality
Yusaku is described as a boy who doesn't like standing out at school, not that he's timid or shy but because he is a hacker. Due to a certain incident, he generally tries to avoid contact with others and only seems to trust Shoichi Kusanagi. However, he gets drawn into encounters with people as he tries out Dueling for once.

Yusaku is calm and collected most of the time. Outside of Duels he is shown to be standoffish, reserved, and somewhat anti-social. He prefers to distance himself from others and doesn't usually interact with people, not even remembering his classmates' names after a month in school. When Naoki Shima tried to be friendly with him, Yusaku casually admitted being lonely and friendless and inadvertently irriated Naoki with his observations, then didn't react to Naoki storming off. Despite his introverted and cold nature, Yusaku is good-hearted, kind, and is in well terms with Shoichi Kusanagi. He refuses to let others get close to him and join his fight against Hanoi out of concern that they may get hurt.

As Playmaker he is shown to have a cold and serious demeanor, but at the same time he displays some noble traits to his personality, such as saving Blue Angel when she was about to be attacked by "Cracking Dragon". For currently unknown reasons, Yusaku hates the Knights of Hanoi and swears revenge against them. He didn't hesitate to capture Ignis and threatened to delete him in order to challenge the Hanoi.

Unlike most of the previous protagonists, who enjoy Dueling and see it as fun, Yusaku sees Dueling as a tool to eliminate those who are getting in his way. He is also unique in that his motivations for his actions are for revenge, instead of uniting people via Dueling. According to Shoichi Kusanagi, Yusaku doesn't really seem to enjoy Dueling either, as such he tends to reject challenges from other Duelists. That said, when he is either forced to accept a Duel or willingly does so, he will not abandon it, such as when SOL prevented him from logging out when he was forced to Duel Go Onizuka and chose to continue it even when Shoichi made an escape route for him. Furthermore, Yusaku is not above complimenting his opponents, as when he Dueled Onizuka, he claimed that his Duel style, which was meant to excite both the crowd and even his opponent, was first-rate.

He is generally level-headed, serious, aloof and keeps a stoic expression most of the time, though he can give short smiles occasionally. He also has a habit of listing out three reasons for his observations, a trait shared with Revolver.

Abilities
Yusaku is said to be an intelligent hacker who possesses considerable ability and who solves mysteries in a cool manner. It helps him to read a situation and Decode Talker's thoughts.

Cool-headed and extremely clever, Yusaku's real skill is in his hacking and cracking abilities. He was able to hack into SOL Technologies' systems to find Ignis, which both SOL and the Knights of Hanoi had been hunting, within a few minutes and in the middle of a security scan, and managed to capture it into his Duel Disk while leaving the AI with no means to escape. He's also been fighting the Knights of Hanoi for some time without leaving any trace of his actions as "Playmaker". Yusaku combines his high intellect with his hacking abilities to quickly come up with plans and think on his feet.

An observant individual, he is good at reading people. When Dueling, Yusaku keeps a close eye on his opponent's reactions to know when they're planning something, as such he usually isn't surprised when something unexpected happens.

When in a Speed Duel, Yusaku's Skill is Storm Access which allows him to randomly access a card from a Data Storm when his LP is 1000 and below. The cards obtained using this ability can then be converted into physical cards outside of the LINK VRAINS using appropriate technology.

Yusaku also displays a strange ability to sense and see things in the network world when not logged in.

Etymology
Like the protagonists of the previous five series (Yugi Muto, Jaden Yuki, Yusei Fudo, Yuma Tsukumo, and Yuya Sakaki), his name contains the character「遊」(Yu). In a break from tradition, however, his first name contains three syllables instead of the usual two.

His given name contains the characters "game" (Yu 遊), and "work" (Saku 作). His surname, Fujiki, means "wisteria tree", the blue-and-pink coloring of which matches that of his hair. The kanji of his given name can also be translated as "playing" and "making", which is most likely the pun of his VR name "The Playmaker".

History
Yusaku mentioned the Knights of Hanoi stole his past. When he was younger, he and five other children were rescued after an unknown incident. He shortly recollected at one point that he most likely surfed the winds in LINK VRAINS before they disappeared. At some point Yusaku began fighting the Knights of Hanoi under the alias "Playmaker" with Shoichi Kusanagi's help. "Playmaker" soon became a famous Duelist within Link VRAINS, with no one knowing what his real identity is because he always deleted his activity logs.

Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
At school, Yusaku met Naoki Shima, who started bragging to him about his new Duel Disk. When Yusaku attempted to leave, Naoki offered to teach him how to Duel. Yusaku rejected, saying Naoki did not seem very strong, but probably not a bad person either. Yusaku's remarks annoyed Naoki, but he didn't think much of it. Before leaving, he wondered about a rule set where there are only three Main Monster Zones.

Yusaku later met up with Shoichi Kusanagi and discussed how both SOL Technology and their enemies, the Knights of Hanoi, were chasing after an AI program in LINK VRAINS with him. Upon learning that SOL Technology had scheduled a full scan of Link VRAINS that evening to try and find the AI, they quickly started working on a trap to catch the AI themselves. Although Yusaku successfully captured a reluctant Ignis in his Duel Disk, one of the Knights of Hanoi threatened to destroy LINK VRAINS. Yusaku quickly entered LINK VRAINS as Playmaker and saved Blue Angel from the Knight's "Cracking Dragon". He then challenged the Knight to a Duel, putting Ignis at stake. Ignis voiced his doubts that Yusaku's Deck could beat "Cracking Dragon", then stirred up a wind in Link VRAINS, starting a Speed Duel between Yusaku and the Knight.

As Playmaker rode the Data Storm winds, Ignis explained how Speed Duels differ from Master Duels. When Ignis mentioned there are only three Main Monster Zones, Yusaku wondered if he already knew about Speed Duels. Ignis offered to help Playmaker Duel the Knight, but Playmaker refused, reminding Ignis that he was his hostage. The Knight took the first turn and swiftly Summoned "Cracking Dragon".

Yusaku wondered how to counter "Cracking Dragon" and failed to notice a building until Ignis told him to dodge it, reminding him that Speed Duels have obstacles besides just the Duel. Playmaker summoned "Cyberse Wizard", surprising everyone watching that he had Cyberse monsters. Playmaker used the effect of "Wizard" to change "Cracking Dragon" to Defense Position and inflict 1000 Damage to the Knight, but failed to destroy "Cracking Dragon". Ignis noticed Playmaker wasn't particularly surprised that "Cracking Dragon" couldn't be destroyed, to which Playmaker said that the Knight didn't react to "Cyberse Wizard" so he figured the Knight was planning something. A tornado formed within the Data Storm.

The Knight activated a Skill, which angered Yusaku because Ignis didn't mention skills. The Knight used "DDoS Attack" to inflict 1600 Damage to Playmaker and knock him off his D-Board. "Blue Angel" saved Playmaker by using her whip to throw the D-Board back at him. Ignis noted that a fall from that height could've killed them. The Knight reduced Playmaker's LP to 400 and the Data Storm tornado sucked him. Inside the tornado, Yusaku figured out that this was part of Ignis' calculations. Ignis revealed that powerful monsters reside within the Data Storm, and that Playmaker's skill "Storm Access" allowed him to obtain those Monsters when his LP is below 1000. Playmaker obtained "Decode Talker", which he used to win the Duel. As the Knight fell off his D-Board, Yusaku declared that the Knight had no right to call himself a Duelist.

Shoichi Kusanagi
Shoichi is one of the very few people Yusaku actively interacts with. The two are close friends and work together to fight The Knights of Hanoi. Yusaku shows trust in Shoichi's hacking abilities and even gave a brief smile when talking to him. Likewise, Shoichi hopes Yusaku can one day enjoy Dueling again.

Naoki Shima
When they met, Naoki tried to befriend Yusaku and Duel him, but Yusaku showed little interest and irriated Naoki by criticizing his Dueling and analyzing him, despite Yusaku saying Naoki isn't a bad person. After their first encounter, Naoki continues to be friendly towards Yusaku and he often sits with Yusaku during class, much to the latter's annoyance. Naoki is a big fan of "Playmaker", unaware that he's Yusaku.

Knights of Hanoi
Yusaku holds a grudge against the Knights of Hanoi over an unknown incident in the past. He swears revenge against Hanoi and fights them whenever they make an attack. The Hanoi consider "Playmaker" to be a threat and plan to capture him in order to retrieve Ignis which "Playmaker" had captured.

Ignis
Ignis sees Yusaku as a partner, but Yusaku considers Ignis to be nothing more than an object he needs to gain the upper hand against the Knights of Hanoi. He threatened to delete Ignis in order to challenge a Knight, and ignored his pleas not to go back to VRAINS. Yusaku is rather rude towards Ignis and often doesn't let him talk. Nevertheless, Ignis supports Yusaku in his Duels, though he claims to do so out of a desire for survival.

Aoi Zaizen (Blue Angel)
Aoi and Yusaku are classmates and both of them aren't aware of their alter-egos. As "Blue Angel", Aoi is shown to develop an interest in Yusaku's alter-ego, "Playmaker", after he saved her from a "Cracking Dragon". She is shown to be grateful for "Playmaker" for saving her and she even saved him in return after he fell from his D-Board.

Go Onizuka (GO)
At first, Yusaku was indifferent to Go who considers his alter-ego, "Playmaker", to be his rival. At first, Go was mad at Playmaker for stealing his spotlight and this grew worse when the children at the city orphanage, which he volunteered and donated to, started seeing Playmaker as a hero instead of him. After defeating him, Yusaku acknowledged Go as a worthy opponent and started to respect his dueing style, and even admitting to have enjoyed Dueling him. When Shoichi suggested recruiting Go for their fight against Hanoi, Yusaku objected by saying that he doesn't want Go to face this kind of danger.

Deck
Yusaku uses a Cyberse Deck. His main strategy involves using methodically calculated moves to overwhelm the opponent with Link Monsters. His early turns are usually slow, with him setting up his bigger combos for later while analyzing the opponent's strategies. Once his field is set up, he performs multiple Link Summons at once to finish off the opponent, usually by powering up his "Decode Talker"

After capturing Ignis and unlocking the "Storm Access" Skill, he can obtain new Link Monsters when his LP are 1000 or below.

Additionally, Yusaku has a dummy deck for situations in real life where he has to show his deck to other duelists.