Primo

Placido is one of the Three Emperors of Yliaster and one of the primary antagonists in the World Riding Grand Prix arc of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. As one of the Three Emperors, he is working to complete the Infinity Circuit. He defected from Yliaster in attempt to force the completion of the circuit with his own strength by attacking the WRGP preliminaries with the Diablo Riding Roid Army. Yusei Fudo thwarted the invasion by defeating him, and after being repaired Placido began supporting José's plan by joining Team New World. Placido is one of the few left-handed duelists in Yu-Gi-Oh, along with Paradox, Lester, Bruno and Jose.

Design
Placido is a young man that appears to be an intermediate between José and Lester in height. Like the other emperors of Yliaster, Placido wears primarily white cloak-like clothing, over his own black and white riding suit and carries a sword. He has a gray metallic eyepiece that covers his right eye, and a triangular green circuitry-filled gem on his forehead, set off-center towards the left. He wears white hood, with decorative gray lightning bolts that point backwards like horns. Under his hood, he is pale-skinned, red-eyed and has spiky gray hair split down the middle into two different shades. He has a bald spot above his right eye with and small mark in the middle. Underneath his left eye, Placido has a scar that runs down his cheek.

Placido is dressed in gray metallic armor, the major portion of which forms a large hoop-like collar around his neck that connects to encircle a large green gem on his chest. A piece of armor runs down his back and opens up to reveal a series of ports, which attach to tubes on his D-wheel. The armor pieces around his waist holds up a white train-like cloak that covers his legs. Underneath his armor, Placido wears a white turtle-neck body suit with a black stripe that runs down the center. Placido also wears white thigh-high boots with hidden data ports that can attach to his duel runner, as well as arm length black and white sleeve covers that are adorned with red gems at the wrist and upper arm. These seem to be part of his body as it is revealed that his deck, and deck holder rests in a space inside his arm that can be accessed by opening the jewel at his wrist. Underneath his clothes, Placido is mechanical. It is unknown what parts of him, if any, could be human.

Placido was destroyed in Episode 110. He returns in Episode 117 fully repaired and has gained two new red marks on his face. One beneath his left eye, and another that runs down the left side of his face.

Placido carries his sword on his right side (because he's left-handed). Gold with an infinity symbol between the hilt and the blade, the sword serves to create portals, as a duel disk, and as the key that allows Placido to combine with his Duel Runner: the T-666 Terrible Omen. It is stored in a long black scabbard that seems to float at Placido's waist.

In Episode 77, Placido disguised himself as Lester's butler. A red eyed, dark hair man of average height. He wore a black suit with a red ascot above a white shirt and had neat black hair slicked back.

Personality
Placido has a strong sense of pride. He takes his work of fixing the future very seriously, works with all his intelligence to get the job done. However, Placido's pride also leads him to take actions too far, leading to arrogance, disrespect, impatience, and being short tempered. Of his negative qualities, disrespect is the most noticeable. Placido refused to follow José or his commands, because the premise of Jose's plan was that the three emperors, including Placido himself, were not strong enough to complete the Infinity Circuit on their own power. He also disdains humanity as a whole because their unnecessary evolution has created a catastrophic future, and even goes as far to take his rage out on what he believes to be the symbol of that future: Synchro Monsters. Placido holds a lot of pride in his status. He believes that humans are lesser beings to his kind and is offended by their insubordination. During his duel with Yusei, he is deeply offended as Yusei passes him on his duel runner, unable to supress his rage as a mere human rides before him.

Placido is also short tempered. He's easily offended by Lester's jeers and threatens Lazar with his sword whenever he steps out of line. Yusei Fudo angers Placido more than anyone else, as he interfered with Ghost, Team Five D's thwarting of Hidden Knight -Hook- (which resulted in Placido attacking with the Diablo), and later Yusei received a tablet from Yliaster's God.

One of the more unique aspects of Placido's personality is his adherence to determinism, or the belief that actions are pre-destined to take place. This view feeds his disdain for humanity because he believes that even if humanity wanted to change, they were poisoned with a destiny that they could never possibly overcome. Feeling above this poisoned destiny, Placido feels no shame in putting lives in danger or threatening to destroy an entire city because humanity is doomed either way.

Placiso's obsession with Yusei seems to have become the focal point of his life. While dueling Jack Atlas he didn't so much as try to duel him reminding him that he isn't Yusei and thus not his "prey".

The First in Action
Placido first appeared alongside his fellow emperors, José and Lester when a tablet crashed outside of New Domino City. Placido was pleased that the tablet belonged to him, and used the opportunity to tell José and Lester that they would not get a chance to fight because he do it all. Lester grumbled at the prospect, but José commented that he was just glad that the tablets would come to them. But then Sector Security arrived on the scene, including Lazar. José recognized Lazar as the Yliaster operative they were suppose to meet earlier, and Placido is glad because he needs they're help moving the tablet. But Lazar does not recognize them and demands to know who they are, ordering them to clear the scene. Placido though returns the disrespect by pulling his sword and pointing at Lazar's face. Lester explains that they're the new directors of Sector Security, and realizing his error, Lazar immediately apologized and complies with Placido's commands. While on site, Placido immediately decided that he would need to test out his new monster.

So to test out his new monster, Placido stole a prototype Riding Roid from Sector Security and took direct control of it and loaded it with his own deck. Placido then began attacking Turbo Duelists at night with the Riding Roid, and the Roid became known as Ghost. After about a week of attacks, Sector Security started hunting for Ghost, and eventually Trudge was found by Ghost, but Trudge lost in a brutal match and crashed. Yusei Fudo, Jack Atlas, and Crow Hogan immediately set out to hunt down Ghost, and Yusei eventually was eventually approached by Ghost. They engaged in a Turbo Duel, which Placido quickly took the upper hand by tricking Yusei into destroying Wise Core, allowing Ghost to summon Machine Emperor Wisel Infinity, and then pushed Yusei into a corner by using Wisel's central effect to absorb Stardust Dragon. Here, Placido revealed through Ghost that he believed Synchro Monsters to be a waste of human evolution, one that he intended to remove from human history. Yusei was confused, but Ghost did not give Yusei a lot of time to think on the matter when he played Wisel Attack 3. Yusei held off Wisel for a couple of turns with Scrap-Iron Scarecrow, but eventually Placido started bypassing it with the trap Battle Return. Yusei was going to lose, but then then he got a last minute help from the Crimson Dragon, allowing him to play Majestic Star Dragon, and Yusei won.

Following the match, Ghost wrecked, but Placido appeared at the crash site before anyone else, retrieved his deck, and glancing at Majestic Star Dragon, promised that this would not be the last time they faced each other.

An Evening to Remember
Placido later reappeared at the WRGP opening dinner with Lester and Jose. The three remained behind the scenes, observing the guests from the back room. Placido did not understand Jose's plan to use the WRGP participants to fulfill their goals of completing the Infinity Circuit, because Placido felt that their own strength was enough to force the Circuit to completion. Jose though disagreed, arguing that their strength was not enough, and they needed the participants to complete it. Placido looked away to hide his disgust at the idea that they needed to rely on humanity to complete their work (in the dub, this was because José misspoke their plan as 'his plan')

As the evening continued, the party was crashed by Dobocle, who ran his Duel Runner through the party because he thought that Turbo Duels were not meant to be displayed for mere entertainment. Placido was initially entertained by this, but after Akiza Izinski chased Dobocle with her powers as a Psychic Duelist, Placido became disappointed in Sector Security's inability to catch up to Dobocle. Placido then took it upon himself to go after Dobocle, and set out on his T-666:Terrible Omen. He streaked past Security, who concluded that the unidentified duelist was the return of Ghost, as his Terrible Omen was not registered in the Sector Security database. Meanwhile, Placido caught up with Dobocle and challenged him to a turbo duel, summoning Machine Emperor Wisel Infinity, attacking ruthlessly, and ignoring Dobocle's pleas to stop, until he crashed Dobocle into a wall.

Following his victory over Dobocle, Placido returned to Lester and Jose. When he arrived, a Turbo duel captured the attention of all three. Placido immediately recognized Yusei Fudo, as he had defeated Machine Emperor Wisel the first time, but no one recognized the opponent, an unidentified turbo duelist. Placido watched as in the middle of the match, the video feed was lost when the unidentified duelist caused a bright flash of light, which made it impossible to see. None of the emperors saw what happened, but after the feed was restored, they continued watching the match until the unidentified duelist threw the match. Lester commented that the whole duel was a waste of time, but Jose realized it was not because the duel had completed a circuit on the Infinity Circuit. This immediately alarmed Placido, who wondered what had happened in that light.

So he decided to ask the source and set out after the duelist. Placido quickly caught up with him and wanted to know what he had just done, but the turbo duelist answered him that he had come to stop them. Placido was shocked that he knew who they were, and demanded to know exactly who he was. The duelist refused to answer, which was an answer that Placido did not like. The unidentified duelist then told him that he would make sure they were undone by the Accel Synchro Summon, which bewildered Placido. Before he could try to get anymore information out of the duelist, the duelist rammed Placido because he was about to run over a kitten in the middle of the road. As a result, the mysterious duelist lost control of his duel runner and crashed off a cliff and into the ocean. Placido then just shrugged the matter off, assuming the guy to be dead.

Being Lester's Butler
Following the WRGP dinner, the three emperors went to their thrones and monitored the duel lanes from there. Following Akiza Izinski passing her Turbo Dueling Exams, Placido watched Yusei turbo duel with her. However, the duel was not activating circuits on the Infinity Circuit, so Lester called the duel a bore, but José figured that when the time came, the Signers would fulfill their purpose in his plan. Placido though interrupted José, asking him if he was so certain. Jose did not know what Placido was talking about, so Placido clarified that the Crimson Dragon still posed a threat, adding it's what ruined Rex Goodwin's plans, and it could be the undoing of their plans.

Lester asked Placido what he intended to do about it, to which Placido responded that he would duel Yusei Fudo, defeat him, and then take Stardust Dragon from him. Lester though just laughed at the idea, pointing out it was ridiculous. Placido became apprehensive as Lester pointed out that Placido had already lost to Yusei once; a fact that angered Placido, but the issue was dropped because Lester's tablet arrived. Lester cheered that he knew that Placido could not have been enough to complete their plans on their own, a statement that just got a grunt from Placido.

In Episode 77, Lester went undercover as a wealthy transfer student at Duel Academy, with Placido disguised his butler. When Lester brought Luna to his mansion, Placido was waiting in the foyer, and obliged to Lester's request for refreshments. As he made his way to get the refreshments, he noticed Leo climbing over the front gate from the security camera, and commented to himself that it looked like they would have one more guest. However, he ignored Leo for the most part and instead went about preparing the refreshments. When Placido walked out to the courtyard to deliver the drinks to Lester and Luna, he noticed that Leo was making his way off the property.

Placido brought the drinks down as Luna practiced using her new Duel Board. Lester at first asked about Leo's whereabouts, to which Placido responded that he thought that the extra guest had left. So Lester went on to apologize for making Placido be his butler, but Placido responded that he did not mind. He was curious to see the Signer's power for himself as well, a comment that made Lester chuckle.

Placido then spent the rest of Lester's test watching him duel against Leo and Luna from his throne along with José. Placido commented that Lester was acting immature after he summoned Machine Emperor Skiel Infinity, but José just responded that he was being a child. As the duel came to a close, Placido and José were shocked to see Leo be saved by the Crimson dragon after Lester defeated him, and was stunned when Luna was saved from death by the Duel Spirits. Following Lester's victory though, all traces of Lester were removed from the timeline, including the house and Placido as a butler.

Building Up a Brute Force
After Lester finished testing Leo and Luna, Placido started preparing his own surprise for the WRGP. Tired of and offended by José's plan of waiting for humanity and the Signers to complete the Infinity Circuit, Placido hatched his own plan to complete the Circuit. But in order to complete it, he needed a program that Yusei Fudo and Bruno had just finished. So he tasked Lazar with procuring the program from them by any means necessary. Lazar successfully broke into their shop and stole the program, but in the middle of the theft, Lazar made the mistake of leaving a fingerprint on a wrapper of a cup ramen that he ate because he was hungry.

After obtaining the program, Lazar contacted Placido over the holophone the next afternoon to inform Placido that he obtained the program. Placido asked if he had done anything that would expose his actions, and Lazar assured Placido that he left no evidence behind. Placido liked the answer, so he ordered Lazar to bring the program to him immediately. Stunned, Lazar asked if he meant him personally, and angered by the question, Placido pulled his sword on Lazar over the phone, telling him that was obvious, and repeated for him to bring the program immediately. Intimidated, Lazar obliged and left for the factory.

When Lazar arrived, Placido was not pleased because Lazar was late, calling him a stupid clown. Lazar apologized because he had been chased by rats, but since he'd given them the slip, there was nothing to worry about. Lazar handed the program over to Placido, who was pleased because Lazar had done well for a clown. He told Lazar he did good work, and Lazar was pleased, boasting that even as vice-director of Sector Security, he wouldn't have left something like this to one of his subordinates because of the risk of exposing Placido. So he personally took the program.

Lazar then asked in exchange for snatching the program, could he know. Placido asked if Lazar could know what, and Lazar responded that he wanted to know what Placido intended to do with the stolen program. Placido responded by pulling his sword and pointing it at Lazar's nose. Placido added that it was of no concern to Lazar, and it would be safer if he didn't know. The tense moment was interrupted by Placido being alerted that Yusei Fudo and Bruno had infiltrated the factory. Lazar, mortified as Placido called him an idiot for being followed, excused himself and saluting Placido, ran out of the control room. Placido turned his attention to Yusei and Bruno, realizing that they had come to get their program back. Placido walked to the keyboard, and waving his hand over it, triggered the alarm and activated the security doors.

Yusei however managed to get past the lockdown door before it shut, so Placido went to the basement. Knowing that all that was left for him to do their was install the program, Placido went to a Guard Robot, telling it to bid him the time he needed to finish his work. Then extending his left hand out, he shot an electrical charge that brought the Guard Robot online. The robot immediately traveled to Yusei, who was trying to interrogate Lazar, and once the robot confirmed Yusei's identity, it sealed the corridor and told Yusei that he could not through until he accepted its challenge to duel and defeated him.

Placido though, had returned to the control room, where he commented to himself that the Guard Robot was perfect to stall Yusei because it had been programmed with knowledge and strategies to counter Yusei's duel history, strategies, and Yusei Fudo's Decks. Placido then noticed Bruno come to the building security's attention because he had approached a locked door, leading to the Diablo's storeroom, and was picking it. Placido was getting ready to install the program, but he did not want any intruders, so he teleported to the doorway and told Bruno he should not have come there. Bruno was reacted to Placido with a deja vu feeling, which also gave him a headache, but the moment was short-lived as Placido punched Bruno in the gut, knocking him unconscious. He commented that no one would get in his way. Placido then proceeded to the terminal in the room, declaring that he would give the Diablo new life with the best programs available. So he plugged in the stolen program and as the program started giving life to the Diablo, Placido commented to himself that with the greatest riding roids being born, Yusei needed to enjoy the time he had left. So Placido continued watching the duel as the program uploaded to the entire Diablo. Minutes later, as Placido enjoyed Yusei's struggle with the Guard Robot, José contacted Placido, asking him what he thought he was doing. Placido responded that he was executing a plan of his own and asked José to stop monitoring him. José though responded that if Placido proceeded as he planned, then his own plans would go to waste. Placido just told José he didn't give a damn about his plans and hung up on him. After hanging up on José, Placido noticed that the download was complete, so he ordered the Diablo to awaken. The Diablo came online and started riding out of the factory.

Placido returned to the control room as the last of the Diablo left the factory. With them gone, Placido commented that time was up, and turning his attention to Yusei's duel with the Guard Robot, commented that he was not as soft-hearted as José. When he noticed that Yusei's friends were there, he commented that it was perfect. And saying that he could not leave any evidence of the factory behind, Placido put his hand over the keyboard and triggered the ten minute self-destruct sequence. Placido commented that the Signers and their dragons would be annihilated here. And with that comment, Placido drew his sword, cut a open a portal with it, and left the factory. Placido's plans to kill the Signers though did not work as everyone was able to escape before the explosion.

Framing Jack Atlas
After Placido brought the Diablo online, Jose devised his own plan to activate more circuits along the Infinity Circuit, partly as an attempt to show Placido his plan would not be a waste and to have all three of them work together. So the Three Emperors sent an Imposter Jack Atlas to create trouble. Placido's part of the plan was the creation of the impostor, which was an android programmed to be a malicious Jack. Once it was set loose, it was quickly discovered by the real Jack Atlas, who pursued the impostor in hopes of clearing his name. Jack failed and was thrown into the ocean, where he was captured by Yliaster and kept in a cell where he watched his impostor continue to attack.

While observing Jack Atlas, Placido asked why they had not disposed of him, but Jose responded that Jack was connected to the Crimson Dragon so he did not want to risk its interference. Lester just commented on the matter that after forging Jack Atlas's deck, which was a pain, the Crimson Dragon would be their problem if it did interfere. In a short time though, Jack escaped from the cave he was being held in and went after his impostor again, only this time he won and obliterated the impostor. Placido commented that with the impostor's defeat, it looked like Jose's plan had been a waste of time. Lester at first agreed with Placido, but when the resulting duel completed another circuit on the Circuit, Lester and Jose were pleased with the result. Placido though just sat in his throne.

The WRGP Begins
Sometime later, Sherry LeBlanc and Mizoguchi took over the Sector Security building, which was brought to the Three Emperor's attention once the building was forced into lock down. Lester found the situation amusing, but Placido was disappointed. He blamed Lazar, who had abandoned his post after almost being killed in the factory, for the breach at Sector Security. José though told both of them to dismiss the trivial matter because they were far too busy to deal with it. Unbeknownst to Placido and the other Emperor's though, Sherry, Bruno, and Yusei Fudo all encountered ZONE through Sherry's Z-ONE spell card.

Sometime during this period, Placido also set in motion another attempt to thwart Jose's plan at the WRGP by circulating Cards of Darkness to Team Catastrophe. Placido appeared before Hermann, causing him to crash, but following the crash, Placido offered Nicolas the card Hidden Knight -Hook-. He promised them that as long as they used that card, they would not be confined to their lives of poverty, and they would win all their duels. And to top it all, he tempted them with the prospect that it could lead them to be King. The prospect of King grabbed all three of their attentions.

Nicolas responded that using Cards of Darkness sounded interesting, but Hermann and Hans were both skeptical about using the card. Hans wondered if they should really be using a card like that while Hermann pointed out that "Card of Darkness" sounded like bad news; Hermann added that Placido gave him the creeps, but when he glanced back at where he stood, Placido had already teleported away.

When the WRGP did begin, Placido watched the first round of matches with Lester and José from his throne, including Team Five D's match against Team Unicorn. The resulting matches led to numerous circuits along the Infinity Circuit to be completed. Lester was amazed by the gradual completion, while Jose commented that once the Circuit was complete, the future would change. Placido though silently watched, still offended by Jose's approach.

Catastrophic Intentions
With Team Catastrophe facing Team Five D's, Placido personally watched the match from the roof of the Duel Stadium. As he watched both teams prepare to start the race, Lester appeared behind Placido, telling him he knew that something was off about Team Catastrophe's duels. Placido was apprehensive at first, but then Lester claimed that he was not responsible for anything Placido did all on his own, regardless of what Jose did when ever he found out. Placido just responded that the geezer has been dragging his feet when it comes to the WRGP, so Placido decided to do things his own way. Lester just wished Placido luck as the starting horn sounded.

Placido watched the duel between Hermann and Crow with silent intent up until Crow defeated Hermann and took out Hidden Knight -Hook- permanently. Lester taunted Placido with how his plan was looking to be a wash, but Placido just continued watching the match as Jack Atlas and Nicolas dueled. Nicolas quickly revealed that he had received another card of darkness from Placido along with Hidden Knight -Hook-: Doom's Ray. Nicolas played the card to force a draw and crash Jack, but Nicolas quickly found out that he was not immune to his own card of Darkness. Jack Atlas saved himself with his Power Giant, and also saved Nicolas as well, but when Nicolas's Duel Runner was destroyed and Team 5D's declared the winners and a guaranteed spot in the Top Eight spot, Lester declared Placido's plan an official wash and asked him for his opinion on why his plans always failed, but Placido had left long ago.

The Diablo is Unleashed
Placido left the Duel Stadium and went to a large warehouse where he released the Diablo Riding Roid Army. Standing on a roof, he pointed at New Domino City and ordered the army to descend the city into chaos. The Diablo then drove through New Domino until they forced their way into the Duel Lanes system, where the Diablo fanned out and began hunting down WRGP participants. Once they began to crash them through Turbo Duels, Placido continued watching the duels from the rooftops as the explosions began, declaring that the WRGP has switched to Battle Royal Mode. He then urges humanity to draw out the Infinity Circuit if they valued their lives.

As the Diablo attack continued though, Placido began to notice that Riding Roids were being slowly picked off. His immediate conclusion was that Yusei Fudo was interfering. This began to infuriate Placido, but before he could do anything, José contacted Placido directly through the patch over his right eye. Placido, already angry that Yusei turning the tide of the Diablo, told the old man to go away; he was busy right now. José though asked Placido what he thought he was doing. Placido just spits that José is being too lax, and that by forcing the duels, the Circuit would surface in no time at all. José though tried to reason with Placido, telling him that he didn't understand, explaining that forcing the fight would not bring about humanity's true potential, and the result is a true Circuit would never form.

Lester though butts in, adding that Yusei Fudo was already involved. Lester concluded from the fact that Yusei had defeated Placido once, so there wasn't reason for Placido to not listen to Jose. Placido was infuriated as Lester laughed at his own comment, so Placido declared that he was doing this his own way and cut the transmission by pressing the eye patch. Placido, now alone once more, declares that Yusei should not get ahead of himself, and decides to prove to Yusei that he would never be defeated by the likes of humanity. Placido then recalls the entire remaining Diablo from attack the WRGP and sends it to fight Yusei in one concentrated attack.

Yusei, Sherry LeBlanc, and Mizoguchi held off the Diablo at first, but after their turns, Placido declared that the time had come for those runts to disappear. The Diablo then began to progressively take their own turns, striking hard with each of their progressive turns with no sight of any more turns for Yusei or the others. The Diablo defeated Sherry and Mizoguchi with little effort, leaving Yusei with the only option of trying to outrun the Diablo. Placido just watched from the rooftops, laughing at Yusei's impending defeat.

Cat and Mouse
As the Diablo reduce Yusei's life points, the mysterious duelist, now revealed to be Bruno, reappeared with his memory restored (by ZONE) and aided Yusei in escaping from the onslaught of Ally Salvos. Placido, witnessing Yusei attempting to escape with the mysterious duelist, jumped off the building he was watching from and called forth the Terrible Omen. Then as he fell, he evaporated his hood and waist cloak in a similar transformation scene that Bruno had to transform into his Vizor alter ego, except with red codes instead of green. When his helmet appeared on his head, Placido grabbed hold of his T-666's controls and speed after Yusei and Bruno.

When Placido caught up to them, Yusei demanded to know if Placido was the one controlling all the Ghost robots, to which Placido remarked that it didn't matter. Placido then tried to challenge Yusei to a Turbo Duel, but Dark Glass instead rammed Placido, forcing him to spin out and fall behind. But Placido did not stay behind for long. Placido kicked on his Terrible Omen's overboosters, yelling that he and Yusei were going to duel and caught up quickly. But when he caught back up to Yusei and Bruno, Yusei had vanished and only Bruno was left. Placido demanded to know what had had happened to Yusei, but Bruno answered that Yusei was going to discover a new possibility, so he was Placido's opponent. Placido then remembered Bruno as the mysterious duelist from that evening at the WRGP opening dinner and realized that his presumption that he had died that night was wrong. Placido then demanded to know who he was, but Bruno just responded that he was not entitled to answer someone who was about to disappear. Grinning, Placido then declared that he'd just have to use force instead.

As the duel began, Placido began almost immediately with Machine Emperor Wisel Infinity by using the trap Twin Vortex, but Bruno quickly countered by setting up both his Tech Genus Cyber Magician SC-01 and Tech Genus Wonder Magician SCX-1000 for an Accel Synchro Summon; however, Placido saw through the strategy, and before Bruno could Accel Synchro Summon, a half dozen Diablo Riding Roids joined the match and prevented Bruno from reaching the speed he needed to do the summon. Bruno cursed at Placido, but Placido just reminded Bruno that Battle Royal Mode was still active. The Riding Roids quickly began to turn the duel against Bruno, but then Yusei returned to the scene to face off against Placido and stop his invasion against the city. Placido accepted the challenge, but before they began José contacted Placido through the Terrible Omen.

The Fight for God's Favor
Just as Placido is about to start his Turbo Duel with Yusei, Jose tried to stop Placido from dueling Yusei by contacting him through his Duel Runner, warning him that Yusei had a new found power. Placido was at first confused and apprehensive, but Lester explained that Yusei had gotten a tablet from God. José explained that he could not guarantee his safety and he was to return immediately. Placido, enraged by the other emperors' lack of confidence in him, cut the transmission and told Yusei that he would show his own real powers. Placido's eye piece began to glow as he stands up on this Terrible Omen as Yusei watched in confusion. Placido draws his sword and inserts it into a slot on the control panel of the Terrible Omen. For a moment, the duel runner becomes enveloped in green code and mathematical formulas, then it glows and transforms. The two front wheels of the Terrible Omen merge into a single wheel as the boosters merge and change shape. Placido launches himself into the air as his helmet shatters. In the air, his hip slits apart and the joints in his legs change shape, data ports emerge from the bottoms of his shoes. He lands back on the Terrible Omen and is merged into it. The armor piece running down his back splits apart and attaches to a series of pipes on the terrible omen, the jewel-like piece on his right arm opens to reveal and deck holder, and the hilt of the sword embedded in the duel runner splits apart to form a sheet of green light that becomes his duel disk.

Placido points at Yusei and declares that he would not escape this time. Placido shows off the full power of his transformation by creating an energy field around himself that shatters the glass and roadways around him. Yusei tries to stop him by ramming him. The first impact surprises Placido, but subsequent impacts fail to stop him. Placido merely scoffs at Yusei and the two duel. With Battle Royal Mode still engaged, Machine Emperor Wisel Infinity (Along with whatever cards were in Placido's hand) remains.

Yusei starts off by synchro summoning Junk Destroyer and attempting to destroy Placido's set card and Wisel Infinity. However, Placido activates his trap card and protects his monster. After trying countless number of times to absorb Yusei's Synchro Monsters, Placido summons Skiel Carrier 3 and Skiel Carrier 5. As Yusei attempts to perform Accel Synchro, Placido pulls up beside him and reminds him of his father's role in the zero reverse incident, undermining Yusei's confidence and preventing him from achieving the Clear Mind technique necessary for Accel Synchro. Placido laughs at Yusei's failure and activates Wisel Infinity's effect and absorbing Stardust Dragon.

Weather patterns begin to change as Machine Emperor Wisel Infinity becomes more powerful, and the resulting tornado and lighting strikes begin to destroy the city. Spurred on by the devastation to the city, Yusei attempts Accel Synchro once more and gains the resolve to succeed, summoning shooting star dragon on Placido's turn. Placido is shocked when Yusei disappears from the road, remarking "He's Gone!!" before Yusei reappears immediately behind him with Shooting star dragon.

Placido is not convinced of Yusei's strength. He belittles Shooting Star Dragon, and activates Speed World 2's effect and removes 10 Speed Counters in order to destroy Shooting Star Dragon. However, Yusei uses its effect and protects Shooting Star Dragon by briefly removing it from play. Placido ends his turn and watches Yusei's Accel Synchro monster return to the field. Yusei then activates Shooting Star Dragon's second effect.

The Crash Dance


Placido looked on in disbelief as Yusei proceeds to draw 4 tuners from his deck, his expression turning to horror as Yusei drew the fifth tuner, Hyper Synchron. He commented that it was impossible for the situation to have turned out like this, but Yusei commanded Shooting Star Dragon to attack Machine Emperor with Stardust Mirage. Shooting Star dragon split into five copies, and each copy attacked Machine Emperor in turn. Placido announceed that the first attack was negated by Skiel Carrier 5. The second attack was blocked by Wisel Guard 3's effect. Yusei then announced a third attack on Wisel Guard 3, and with its effect expired, the attack destroyed it as Placido shielded his face from the backlash. Yusei declared his fourth attack on Wisel Attack 3, and Placido screamed in pain as Wisel's left arm was destroyed. As Skiel carrier exploded, Placido shouted in disbelief before the realization set in that he and his emperor had been done in by a human. Yusei directed his fifth and last attack on Skiel Carrier 5, engulfing Placido in flames as it was destroyed.

Placido screamed as the remains of Machine Emperor Wisel Infinity fell on top of him and exploded, bringing his life points to zero. The impact of the explosion sends Placido flying. Still fused to his his duel runner, Placido's upper body is ripped loose from the Terrible Omen as the duel runner rolls along the roadway due to the high speed crash. His severed upper torso impacts the ground several times admist a hail of robotic parts and broken glass, becoming more fragmented each time. His left arm is severed, deck holder shattered and his armor is scratched and broken. Placido's sword and the torn up remains of his upper torso come to a rest a good distance away from the rest of his body, still merged to his Duel Runner. Yusei pulled up on his D-wheel and runs over to check on Placido, asking if he was okay. But Placido was unresponsive and silent, his eye blank. Before Yusei could do anything else, Placido's remains begin to rise in the air, and Yusei looks up to see José and Lester atop the Daedalus Monument. José gathers and lifts the broken remains of Placdo's body, setting his broken body, duel runner and various other parts at his feet atop the monument.

Lester comments that Placido had borrowed his cards without permission and calls for him to give them back. He then reaches past the broken jewel piece in Placido's arm and grabs the Placido's deck, ripping the mechanism of the deck holder away. Lester comments gleefully that he will simply take Placido's entire deck as he's not in any condition to protest anyway.

Placido remained unconscious, but after José and Lester had an extended conversation about Yliaster, God, the future of humanity, and thenfought off a vengeful Sherry LeBlanc, José and Lester took Placido's remains with them, even though Lester openly questioned whether he could still be of use to them.

Returning with a Twisted Past
Placido later returns during the Trio's confrontation with Clark Smith because of his 'elimination' of Yusei, Sherry and Bruno, where it appears that Placido preempts Jose and Lester in re-writing History and erasing Clark along with Momentum Express Development Organization.

Placido later watched the duels between Team Taiyo and Team Five D's and the duel between Team Ragnarok and Team Five D's. Placido, along with Lester, seemed surprised by the appearance of Red Nova Dragon. Lester and Jose watch as the Infinity Circuit grows larger, along with Placido, who has two new red marks on the left of his face, during the duel between Harald and Yusei.

The WRGP Final Match
On the eve of the final match, Placido, Jose and Lester appear on the railing of a tall building overlooking the city. Jose comments that the circuit will be complete with their victory in the WRGP, allowing them to gain control of the Arc Cradle. Placido suggests to the others that they should make use of their true power in this final battle, the powers that were restricted by their creator ZONE. Later, Placido, Jose, and Lester talk to Yusei and the others through a hologram. They tell them that the island is actually Arc Cradle and that it will appear with Team New World's victory in WRGP, triggering the destruction of New Domino City, and changing the world. During the match, he is seen with Jose in the pit, observing Lester's duel with Jack. After Lester activates Infinite Spirit Machine Placido comments on its activation and Jose adds that the 'plan was successful'. When Lester loses the duel, Placido is shown waiting on the Terrible Omen. He then congratulates Lester on his loss, to which Lester responds in annoyance. Lester hands him the three cards on his field and Placido looks back at the Arc Cradle and prepares to duel Jack.

During his Duel with Jack, Placido continues to rebel against Jose and Lester by activating cards and inflicting effect damage to Jack's life points, reducing them to 1100 in the process. Placido, after talking to Jose telepathically, returns to dueling by their plan and loses the duel, and raising Infinite Spirit Machine's counters to 80. When Placido returns to the pit, he thinks to himself "Just wait Yusei Fudo" revealing that he still holds a grudge/rivalry towards Yusei.

When Jose prepares to duel Jack, Placido and Lester look on. When Jose combines with his Duel Runner, Placido and Lester look on in excitement (The latter more so than Placido). When Machine Emperor Grannel Infinity is summoned and Team New World's plans for the duel come to fruition Lester is overjoyed, however Placido shrugs it off.

Powers
Placido's primary power is his ability to interact and manipulate machinery and electronics, also know as technopathy. This allows him to control and monitor any number of robots and machines, notably Ghost, the Guard Robot, and the Diablo, without ever typing or directly interacting with the machinery in question, this could also explain why punching Bruno had a powerful effect on Bruno. This interaction is further exemplified in Episode 107, when Placido is able to interface and merge directly into the T-666 Terrible Omen. The physical merge as well as his subsequent destruction following his defeat by Shooting Star Dragon shows that part of the secret to his ability as a technopath is that he is an android himself. At this time there has been no revelation as to whether he has any human in him, or was once human.

Like Lester, Placido is capable of inflicting real damage to the players during a duel through a the use of a white band of light shaped like an infinity symbol, that appears on the road.

In addition to Placido's own abilities, his sword has additional powers that Placido or its wielder can use. Its most notable power is the ability to cut portals, allowing Placido to transverse great distances or move with ease similar to teleportation. His sword also serves as a key, allowing Placido to merge with his T-666. In addition, the hilt can split in half and produce a sheet of green light, allowing the sword to double as his Duel Disk.

In episode 108, Placido shows to some extent, control over the weather as he unleashes a lightning storm onto Neo Domino City. The storm knocked out the power to the entire city, and later, Placido would take the storm one step further in another attempt to stop Yusei by having Wisel create a tornado.

Deck
Placido pilots the Wisel archetype consisting of Machine Emperor Wisel Infinity and its various pieces. His general strategy, like Lester is to Summon all his Machine Emperor parts through the use of Wise Core.

This strategy would revolve around destroying Wise Core through card effects, with cards of his own or his opponents. He carries a hefty Trap lineup to protect his monsters and throw off the opponent's plays.

He was only briefly seen using the deck against Dobocle, but used the Riding Roid Ghost to test the deck in Turbo Duels with Trudge and Yusei Fudo.

During his duel with Yusei, he secretly sneaked some of Skiel's from Lester to power-up Wisel. Also, when the Skiel parts were used, they changed from blue to white.