Atticus Rhodes

Atticus Rhodes, known in the Japanese anime as Fubuki Tenjouin (天上院吹雪, Tenjōin Fubuki), is the missing brother of Alexis, who mysteriously disappeared into the old abandoned Obelisk Blue dormitory of Duel Academy.

His given name means "blizzard" in Japanese, from which he derives his self-appointed title, "Blizzard Prince" in the original version of the series. He writes his signature as "Fubuki 10 Join."

Design


Atticus' character design was overseen by Kenichi Hara. His usual outfit consists of the standard Obelisk Blue uniform, flowing out the costume's lower back. He will sometimes show up in casual beach wear and has worn the purple suit in episode 60 while dueling his sister. His brown hair is arranged sporadically in a fashion similar to that of his sister, with a large portion trailing the upper part of the nape of his neck. He carries an Academy-issued Duel Disk on his left hand.

Biography
As far as Atticus could remember, he and a few of his fellow Obelisk Blue students were under the impression that they would be attending a duel exam in the Abandoned Dorm, courtesy of Banner. In reality, he and the others were being lured into a trap (in the English version, they visit the Shadow Realm).

It was never revealed how many other students disappeared along with Atticus. He is forced to duel Gravekeeper's Chief and only survives by using the power of Nightshroud's mask, which it's later revealed he had received from Yusuke Fujiwara. For his victory, Atticus receives one-half of a Shadow Charm pendant. Then the leader of the Shadow Riders, Kagemaru, recruits Nightshroud (Darkness; ダークネス, Dākunesu) as on of his Shadow Riders. In his duel with Jaden Yuki, Nightshroud takes Jaden's friends prisoner and forces him to take part in a Shadow Game where the loser would have his soul sealed in a card. Jaden prevailed and Atticus is released from the dark power that controlled him. Placed in the medical ward, Atticus offered help by giving Jaden his half of the Shadow Charm pendant (Jaden had received the other half himself after being tested in a similar manner). duel with Camula. He eventually came to his sister's aid during her duel with Titan, giving her the strength to win.

Atticus promptly reverts to his old self after the Shadow Rider fiasco. Frequently showing up dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and strumming a ukulele, he is incredibly optimistic most of the time, but is seen as an idiot of sorts by his sister. He is also an accomplished surfer, and is popular among women, a fact which leads Chazz to seek his advice on love-related topics. Atticus' antics are a constant source of irritation for Alexis, as he tries without end to set her up with duelists or get her to go into show business with him in a band called "Bro-Bro and Sissy" (in the original version of the series, he instead urges her to join him under the stage name, "Asuryn," whilst he recruits more followers for his "Bucky" fanclub to rival Kaiser's) and even takes embarrassing photos of Alexis during the costume duel in episode 42.

Because Atticus was absent during the previous term, he repeats the studies of his second year alongside his sister during the second season. He is among the few Obelisk Blue students who do not come under the influence of The Society of Light.

Following Zane's "rebirth," Atticus duels him using "Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon" and again comes under the influence of Nighsthroud during the Genex Tournament. However, Zane defeats him and Nightshroud's lingering powers are dispersed again. Zane informs him that there is no darkness in his heart, and that he merely wishes to achieve victory through force.

When Alexis is stripped of her free will in episode 93, Atticus gives Jaden a family card, "Swing of Memories", that meant a lot to Alexis when she was younger but it fails to have any effect on Sartorius' control over her.

In the third season, Atticus accompanies Jaden and the rest of his group through the alternative dimension, where he is sacrificed alongside Alexis, Chazz and Tyranno by Brron. He is later discovered to be alive, and held prisoner with everyone else who died in the Duel Spirit world in an alternate dimension by Yubel.

In the fourth season Atticus has a flashback, and even though he is not fit for it duels Jaden using "Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon" in an effort to remember what happened. Jaden succeeds; as it turns out, Kagemaru wasn't responsible for Atticus' transformation into Nightshroud, but a student named Yusuke Fujiwara and a close friend of both Zane and Atticus, and fellow victim of the Abandoned Dorm. Before the incident at the Dorm, Atticus found Yusuke attempting to conjure up Nightshroud in the dueling ring underneath the Abandoned Dorm, hoping to gain ultimate power and immortality by becoming its host. Atticus witnesses this ritual, and Fujiwara gifts with the Nightshroud mask as a parting gift, stating he does not need it anymore. When he became one of the lost students, Atticus was forced to give into Nightshroud's influence in order to survive.

As Nightshroud and Trueman attack Duel Academy, Atticus is the last student standing, forgetting about all his friends one by one and wandering aimlessly through the halls. All the Truemans in the hall do not try to send him into the World of Darkness, probably because he has Nightshroud's mask card. Using the mask card, he is able to see his friends' experiences in the World of Darkness and then directly challenges Nightshroud himself outside Duel Academy. Nightshroud's host is Fujiwara, who ultimately defeats him. He is revived when Jaden defeats Nightshroud.

Voice/Mannerisms
In the English version, Atticus distributes and subtracts "stars" from others based on their actions as a means of expressing his mood at any given time, while his original series counterpart instead gives out "munekyun points" (literally "strong beating points"). His name in the dub is derived from Roman orator and noble Titus Pomponius Atticus who was famous for his impartiality in political issues.

In Finnish dub Atticus is voiced by Samuel Harjanne.

Manga
Atticus has built up quite a reputation in the manga. He is a star duelist in the United States, where he is studying abroad at the American Duel Academy. In the English version Reggie MacKenzie refers to him as Rhodie, and in the Japanese version, he goes by the moniker, "Fubu-king" (a portmanteau of his Japanese name, Fubuki, and king). He defeated David Rabb at some point in the past, possibly during his time at the American Duel Academy, thus prompting David to brutally defeat Alexis Rhodes in one turn during their Duel in the Academy Tournament finals. Atticus apparently developed an infatuation with Reggie MacKenzie while studying in America, and thus petitioned Chancellor Sheppard to allow him to stay abroad longer. He returns earlier than he expected anyway - prior to Jaden's Tournament semi-final duel against Chazz, as Reggie had ended up going to Duel Academy herself without informing him. After having a conversation with Zane Truesdale, he then decides to go look for her but will still watch the duel on the television screens that are littered around the Academy's halls.

He is later confronted in the forest by Jim Crocodile Cook, who immediately challenges him to a duel. Jim reveals that he had been rivals with David Rabb and sought Atticus because the latter was able to defeat Rabb before he could. Despite Jim's use of the Legendary Planet "The Tyrant Neptune", Atticus wins the duel using his signature monster, "The Atmosphere". He is later confronted by Aster Phoenix, and it's revealed that Atticus, Zane and Aster used to compete in the Junior leagues together, and that Aster was unable to defeat either of them at the time. Since then, he's become a professional duelist, and he challenges Atticus, wishing to avenge his losses to him when they were younger. Aster ultimately defeats him with his "Vision Heroes", though unknown to him, Tragoeida influenced Atticus and stopped him from activating his face-down card. Through this loss, Tragoedia is able to gain control of Atticus, and begins using him as an enforcer. He gives him the final card in the Legendary Planet series, "The Suppression Pluto". He uses this card against Jaden, and easily defeats him with its effect.

Non-canon appearances
In Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force, Atticus appears during the game's third part, possessed by Nightshroud. After completing the game, he can be found on the beach during part one, but only at 6:00 AM. Unless the player selects him as partner, he does not otherwise compete in the Tag Force tournament. Upon acquiring his Deck Recipe, Atticus also gifts the player with his autograph. This can be given to Ms. Fontaine, who will agree to be the player's partner for the tournament in exchange for it.

Anime
Atticus has lost in all of his on-screen Duels in the anime, but in the series he is considered a high ranking and challenging opponent. In his duel against Alexis in episode 60, Bastion remarks that Atticus is probably the best duelist at Duel Academy since Zane graduated.

Red-Eyes
Atticus' main Deck is a Red-Eyes Deck, which he uses in serious duels. Though initially shown to belong to Nightshroud, the Deck originally belonged to Atticus, and was warped by Nightshroud's addition of "Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon". After being freed from Nightshroud's influence by Jaden, he uses the Deck against Zane, and is possessed by Nightshroud only after playing "Darkness Dragon" again. The same situation occurs in his second match with Jaden. In his duel with Yusuke Fujiwara, he does not include "Darkness Dragon" in the Deck, and is able to use it without any repercussions and even calls "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" his favorite card. When it is included, the focal point of the Deck is to bring out "Darkness Dragon" and its further evolved form "Darkness Metal Dragon".

Idol
Atticus also plays an Idol Deck, which reflects his love of stardom, and revolves around various strategies involving Beast-Warrior monsters. He gains a continuous advantage with Spotlight, powering up his "Panther Warrior", and supporting it further with cards such as "Path to Destiny" and "Stray Lambs". His signature card, "Ultimate Stage Costume", also provides his monsters with an extreme augmentation in terms of strength, but cannot be used for offensive purposes. He is seen using it flashbacks during duels with Alexis while they were children and also uses it against her in Season 2.

Manga
In the manga, Atticus plays a "Sphere Deck", which focuses around swarming and equipping monsters on the opposing side of the field to gain an ATK boost.