Shinji Weber

Shinji Weber is a character who appears in the Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V anime. He is a Commons Turbo Duelist and a friend of Crow Hogan from the City in the Synchro Dimension.

Appearance
Shinji is a tall fair-skinned young man, with double coloured purple hair that has strands of blue in the base of his hair and green eyes. Like Crow, Shinji also wears piercings.

He wears a colored biker suit with strands of blue on his tights and chest with a yellow pattern across his mid chest. The suit seems to be held together by a belt. His half-open suit reveals a gray shirt worn underneath. He also wears brown boots and gloves. Shinji wears a brown helmet with a green visor during Turbo Duels.

Personality
Due to the circumstances of his harsh life as a Commons resident since a young age, Shinji has a deep hatred towards the current system of the City and the Tops, who took everything from them and lived by them without any ounce of worry or reward. His hatred is further exacerbated by the takeover of the home that sheltered him due to debt, as well as constant humiliation and scorn from Tops, who viewed him and his cards as trash, inspiring him to change the system.

Believing the Friendship Cup is nothing but a "show for Tops" he never hesitates in throwing as many derogatory comments as he can at them, while at the same time criticizing the Commons in the audience for acting submissive and tame as the Tops wanted. Despite this, he subsequently encouraged them to rise up, using his own Dueling as a demonstration of how the Commons can fight united and supporting each other and able to overthrow the current society. He demonstrated great charisma in being able to quickly win the favor of the entire audience, going as far as refer to his own Dueling as the Commons' Dueling united.

Otherwise, in a more casual environment, Shinji is a rather friendly and sociable individual, bringing gifts to the kids under Crow's care, and even attending to others such as Riley with care. He is also seen to be more than willing to give a helping hand to an outsider as he as his friends helped the Lancers evade Security, and he ended up getting arrested himself when he tried to warn Crow about Security.

His intense hatred towards the Tops can make him distrusting and suspicious about those who don't agree with his views even if they're friends, as he quickly assumed both Yuya and Moon Shadow serve the Tops simply for rejecting his idea of a revolution against the Tops. He also accused Yuya of having fixed their Duel and making deals with Security after Jean-Michel Roger congratulated Yuya for defeating him. He even turned against Crow when the latter tried to talk him down during the riots.

Etymology
Shinji Weber may be named after Max Weber, a German sociologist, philosopher, jurist, and political economist whose ideas profoundly influenced social theory and social research, reflecting Shinji's character as someone who wants to change the social system of the City.

History
As a Commons, Shinji had a long life of being persecuted by the actions of the Tops, having the orphanage where he stayed being closed down on one occasion. On another occasion, Shinji challenged a Tops to a Duel and lost, and tried to give the Tops a card for winning as they had agreed, but the Tops Duelist mocked Shinji's cards and tossed it to him, telling him to come back when he had better cards.

Friendship Cup
When Security cornered the Lancers Yuya Sakaki, Celina, Riley, and Sylvio Sawatari by gathering more units, Shinji helped Crow Hogan rescue them and dropped them off at his hideout. Later, Shinji visited the hideout to bring in the supplies Crow requested. He didn't like that fact that the Lancers were still in the hideout since they were wanted now, and could bring trouble to the kids and Crow. Before Shinji left, he warned Crow that the Security were searching high and low for the Lancers. When he found out that the Security had cornered the Lancers, Shinji went to warn Crow, who was Dueling Yuya at that moment, but was too late and the Security had them all arrested. He tried to escape on his Duel Runner, but he was blocked and got caught as well.

He, Crow, and the Lancers were brought to the Facility. He and Crow explained how most of the inmates were there on false charges. They reunited with Gong and Dennis and learned about Shay's solitary confinement. He then watched as Chojiro Tokumatsu Dueled Yuya and he and Crow were reminded of how Chojiro used to be an idol for many Commons in the past.

While Chojiro, Yuya and Sylvio held an Action Duel Show for the inmates, Shinji planned a prison break with Crow and their friend Damon, who was also imprisoned there. The three Commons escaped ahead of the imprisoned Lancers, who were running from the Arrest Corps.

When the prison breakers reunited, they dived into the river and swam to the other side, where Tony Simmons was waiting for them. Unbeknownst to them, Tony was already caught by Security and the entire group was arrested again by Jean-Michel Roger. The entire group was then salvaged from the Security vehicles by order of the Executive Council. They were brought to the Council and were invited to participate in the Friendship Cup under Declan's suggestion. Shinji was locked in a luxurious room in the tower, where he would wait his turn to Duel.

After Crow's and Gong's Duel, Shinji was scheduled to Duel Riley Akaba. Riley, however, was unwilling to Duel him because Shinji gave him candy before. Because of this, Moon Shadow replaced Riley as Shinji's opponent, which confused Melissa Trail and the audience, as they mistook Declan's brother as a ninja. Before the Duel, Shinji rallied the Commons to stand up and fight the injustice done to them by the Tops. He claimed that the Commons were acting passively just as the Tops wanted them to be. He told them that he broke out of the detention facility solely to put on a show for the Tops and declared his intentions of not playing by their rules. He was quickly chastised by Melissa, who reminded him of the "friendship" concept of the tournament.

Moon dealt heavy damage right away by making use of the Action Cards in "Cross Over Accel" with "Illusion Ninjitsu Art of Hazy Shuriken", but Shinji stopped Moon from continuing this by pulling an Action Card away from him. He then Summoned his "Bee Force" monsters and explained their similarity to the Commons. Using "Bee Force - Voulge the Attack" he ran through Moon's combo of "Twilight Ninja Shingetsu" and" Illusion Ninjitsu Art of Hazy Toad". Shinji chided Moon for carelessly using a power-up and taking unnecessary damage in the process. He compared this to the Tops taking greater damage when they lose their wealth; what happened to Moon would also happen to the Tops.

Shinji hurt Moon's pride as a ninja by believing him to act just like Security, as someone who bowed down to his lord and being a good for nothing. Subsequently, when Moon kept on his offensive, he talked about his own personal hardships as well as the overall unfairness of the current system, which mirrored Moon's persistence in hurting Shinji continuously as how the Tops kept taking things away from Shinji and humiliated him and his cards. Shinji used his swarm of "Bee Force" monsters to get through Moon's wall of "Ninja" monsters, fortified by "Twilight Ninja Shogun - Getsuga" and used "Urgent Tuning" to Summon his Level 12 Synchro Monster "Bee Force - Big Ballista the Final Battle" during the Battle Phase. He attacked Moon with it, blowing up his Duel Runner and defeating him. While doing so, he rallied the Commons again and explained how it was their turn to rise up and not just his. The audience, finally moved by Shinji's words, cheered at his victory, but he cut them short. He said this was not the time to cheer fully just yet, but he still encouraged them to fight back. He watched the other Duels of the first round, including Tony's loss to Celina, a loss that he bemoaned, and the brutal climax of Shay's Duel with Dennis Macfield, which revealed Dennis as part of Duel Academy.

Friendship Cup Finals
Shinji's second round match was against Yuya, after the brutal Duel between Zuzu Boyle and Sergey Volkov. Yuya was torn over Zuzu's ambiguous fate, and Shinji harshly explained that no one would save Zuzu after she had lost, as losers were abandoned, which was why he wanted to change the society. He advised Yuya to win the Duel if he had a message that he wanted to get across. Shinji continued to rally the Commons and encourage them, blocking Yuya's initial attempt at a One Turn Kill and calling his use of "Gap Power" to only gain 100 ATK a waste in a similar manner to the Tops. He drove Yuya back with "Bee Force - Azusa the Spirit Bow" and the effect damage of his "Bee Force - Pin the Hits", before Yuya declared that the real match would be beginning and brought out "Timebreaker Magician" to destroy "Azusa". Shinji retorted that it was too late for that with all the Commons behind him, and he stated that the revolution had begun. Shinji revived "Azusa" and tuned it with his "Pins" to Synchro Summon "Bee Force - Hama the Evil-Crushing Bow", which he described as the Commons' Synchro Monster. Yuya attempted to reason with Shinji, protesting that hate wouldn't change anything and explained his own outlook of wanting to make the City smile. Shinji retorted that they would only smile after defeating the Tops. He cleared Yuya's field, but Yuya was able to survive the turn. On the next turn, Shinji received an unexpected surprise when Yuya was forced to Summon "Tuning Magician", which damaged Yuya and healed Shinji. Shinji commented that drawing such a useless card has sealed Yuya's fate and attempted to win on his next turn, but Yuya was able to survive again. Yuya revived his monsters on the next turn, including "Tuning Magician", which Shinji exploited with "Bee Formation" to increase the ATK of "Hama". Yuya then performed a Synchro Summon of his own to bring out "Enlightenment Paladin" and re-use "Gap Power", which was strengthened thanks to the effect of "Tuning Magician" increasing the difference between Shinji and Yuya's LP. "Enlightenment Paladin" destroyed "Hama", and Shinji's own mass ATK increasing of "Hama" led to the effect of "Enlightenment Paladin" finishing him off. The loss of his revolution caused Shinji to scream in frustration.

Shinji returned to the Duel Palace in frustration, and after he saw Yuya being praised by the Tops and Jean-Michel Roger, he accused the match of being fixed so that Yuya could win and of being allied with the Tops from the beginning. Roger pointed out the flaws in Shinji's reasoning and he denounced Shinji in front of the crowd, before having the staff take him away to the Underground Labor Facility. Although Yuya vowed to save Shinji, Shinji screamed expressions of hatred towards Yuya. Amanda, Frank, Tanner, and Zuzu later discovered that Shinji had gone to the Underground Labor Facility when they took refuge there themselves.

When Shay, Gong, Sylvio, and Moon Shadow caused a riot, Shinji, Damon, and Tony decided to take advantage of the situation and encourage the other inmates to rebel as well. As the inmates rioted, Shinji went to take over the control room before Security arrived. When the Arrest Corps arrived to stop everyone, Shinji activated the conveyor belt to cause them to drop their weapons, and was then informed by Tony that they were able to retrieve everyone's Duel Disks. Shinji then announced to everyone to get on the conveyor belts so they could go to the City. He then thanked Chojiro's lackeys for helping him take over the control room. After escaping from underground, Shinji and others started to gather allies for the takeover of City. Shinji then led the Commons into the City for revolution against the Tops, but they stopped during their when Jack was scheduled to face Sergey Volkov. They soon began rioting again after the Duel ended, and they were confronted by Security after Roger placed the City under martial law. Damon was driven back, but they were saved by Crow using "Assault Blackwing - Raikiri the Rain Shower". Crow tried to stop Shinji's rioting and convince him that Duel Academy were the true enemy, but Shinji refused, claiming that he hated the Tops more than Duel Academy and he, Damon and Tony activated their Duel Disks against Crow, who proceeded to do the same. Before they could Duel, Yuya appeared on the screen; proclaiming that Dueling was about bringing smiles to people and not a tool to be used in conflict, and he then challenged Jack to a Duel.

While he and Crow were surprised by Yuya's mention of them in his short speech before the Duel, it did not end the confrontation between him and his former friends until Shay arrived and presumably ended the situation. He, Crow, Damon, and Tony raced to join Yuya's Duel with Jack and voiced out his encouragement and support. They simultaneously announced the effect of "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon" with Yuya and watched Yuya deal the final blow. Shinji was present to hear from Sora's broadcast Roger's latest actions as well as Zuzu's status. He later witnessed the Security Headquarters being obscured by green light, and he noted that the symbol of the Tops' rule was disappearing.

Deck
Shinji runs a "Bee Force" Deck that focuses on swarming the field with monsters for Synchro Summoning. His monsters have ATK-manipulation and burn effects. He compares his monsters to the Commons of the City and sees them as an example of what the Commons can do if they work together, like bees.