Alexis Rhodes

Alexis Rhodes, known as Asuka Tenjouin in the Japanese version, 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", and she is called "Tomorrow Girl" by Jim Crocodile Cook.

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 arm. During her senior year, she carries a duel disk with Blue trim representing the female dorm on her left arm.

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

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 was brainwashed and joined the Shadow Riders, under the control of Nightshroud. Defeated by Jaden Yuki in a shadow duel and relieved of this persona, the incident leaves Atticus amnesic, prompting his sister to engage in a duel with a Shadow Rider, Titan, to restore his memories. Ultimately, Alexis won and her brother got his memories back.

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's "in love with dueling". In this duel Alexis introduces her "Cyber Angel" series. Chazz's crush on Alexis continues throughout the series, although after having his free will 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, rendering her cold and heartless. (In the Japanese version he specifically 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 showed a cold personality during her duel with Jaden. She is defeated an episode later, and thus freed from Sartorius' influence.

In the third season, Alexis accompanies Jaden and 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 Truesdale, by Brron. She is later discovered to be alive, and held prisoner with everyone else who was sacrificed by Brron in the Duel Spirit world in an alternate dimension by Yubel. When Jaden and Yubel's souls fused, she was returned to Duel Academy by Jaden.

During the fourth season, Alexis finds Jaden's new and more serious personality to be troubling and alienated, especially when he tried getting information from Atticus. She ridiculed him for his actions when she saw him duel with Atticus while Atticus was wearing his Shadow Charm, until she found that the duel was his idea and not Jaden's (which still shocked her). Also during the fourth season, Alexis seems to have hidden feelings towards Jaden. These, however, are overshadowed by her frustration with his strongarm tactics and neglecting her during the pair duels. Next, she found herself in the finals with Jaden, facing Blair Flannigan and Tyranno Hassleberry. Later, Alexis and Jaden are able to work together and win the double duel tournament. Alexis then makes the decision to leave Duel Academy to study abroad. Alexis' decision was based on Jaden's influence. During her conversation with Jaden after she made her decision, Alexis strongly displays romantic feelings for Jaden, but doesn't outright confess them.

Though it was thought she left Duel Academy after episode 162, she actually stays until the end of the year. She is then defeated in a offscreen duel by a swarm of Truemen and brought into the World of Darkness. While in the World of Darkness, Alexis is trapped in a dream sequence illustrating the fear and doubt she has for her future, and envisions her possible future as a Duel Monsters teacher at Duel Academy, but her students have little to no trust in her ability to teach them what they need to become duelists with skills worth taking seriously, and even mock her. It's when she finally gives in to their mocking and believes that she actually doesn't have what it takes to be an outstanding teacher that she completely dissolves into the World of Darkness. However, after Jaden cries out and reaches everyone trapped in the World of Darkness, she is saved along with many others from Nightshroud's world.

At the Graduation Ceremony, she gave a heart warming speech at Graduation about how no matter how tough something is, we can always overcome it with friends by our side. During the party, she, Jesse, and Axel have a conversation outside, confident that they will see Jaden again.

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 Kohinata's place in a duel against Jaden. Though she loses, she still becomes Miss Duel Academia, as Seika withdraws from the competition, feeling unable to accept the title after seeing how much acclaim Alexis won for her duel. Alexis participates in the tournament hosted at Duel Academy. She fights Reggie MacKenzie in the preliminaries and loses. She later duels David in the finals; while she is frustrated by the loss, she sees it as an opportunity to motivate herself to become a better duelist.

Deck
Main article: Alexis Rhodes's Decks