Declan Akaba

Declan, known as Reiji Akaba in the Japanese version and English manga, is one of the main characters and the second CEO of the huge Leo Corporation in the Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V anime. He is also a Super Elite Duelist with a genius brain.

Declan is the youngest Duelist in history to be certified to Duel in the professional circuit, having done so at age 15. Despite his early introduction into the series, Declan's name was not mentioned on-screen until episode 8.

Appearance
Declan is a thin young man with pale skin and grey hair, the front layer being a lighter grey than the back. His hair is arranged in a simple style, flicking upwards at the ends. Declan's eyes are purple, and he wears red-framed spectacles. His ears are both pierced with black stud earrings. Despite his status as the CEO of the Leo Corporation, Declan dresses rather casually, wearing a dark-blue sweater, white pants that end just above his ankles, and white shoes (apparently without any socks beneath them), along with a long red scarf wrapped around his shoulders with the ends trailing to the small of his back. When he was monitoring the You Show Duel School in person, he concealed his identity beneath a large-hooded sweatshirt.

Personality
In general, Declan has a grim and serious demeanor, but he takes an interest in Yuya Sakaki. Despite his advanced skills, he doesn't seem to be overly arrogant, and is actually quite respectful to Yuya's father Yusho Sakaki, fiercely defending him when he was insulted in a rare moment of emotion. While he does not consider empathy as beneficial on the battlefield, he does seem to enjoy himself while Dueling, and even requested Yuya to demonstrate Yusho's Entertainment Dueling.

Despite his declared rivalry with Yuya Sakaki, he does not show any open dislike for him, and in fact defended him from false accusations of attacking Leo Corporation employees; this demonstrates that he may hold a degree of respect for Yuya. Declan has also mentioned that he does not care very much for his father, Reo Akaba.

Pre-Maiami Championship
After Yuya Sakaki defeated Strong Ishijima using the Pendulum Summon mechanic, Declan was briefed on the Summon and on Yuya himself by Nakajima. Intrigued by the Pendulum Summon, Declan asked Shingo Sawatari to learn what he could about Pendulum Summoning, no matter how small the detail and to acquire them, if possible. Shingo successfully acquired the cards, but wanted to use them to Duel Yuya. As Nakajima protested from where he was watching the Duel, Declan arrived and assured him that it was all right. He advised Shingo on the use of Yuya's Pendulum Monsters from behind the scenes throughout the Duel. After Shingo's loss, Nakajima stated that they would need to use other means to seize the cards immediately, but Declan again reassured him that it was all right for now. He looked at a video feed of Yuya, thanking him for putting on a show and murmured Yuya's name.

A week after the first Pendulum Summon, his mother Himika Akaba arrived back from a business trip. Declan wasted little time in informing her about Pendulum Summoning and Yuya Sakaki, and stated that they'd almost achieved a complete understanding of the Summon. He also informed her of Shingo Sawatari's supposed attack at Yuya's hands. Declan admitted to being worried that, despite the feat he had performed, Yuya only had a 50% win-loss-ratio, and he was the son of Yusho Sakaki, who had disappeared three years previously and possibly allied with enemies of LDS. Later, he observed the Duels between the You Show Duel School and LDS, remaining hidden and concealing his identity beneath a hooded sweatshirt. After Yuya had defeated Hokuto Shijima, Yuzu Hiragi had been defeated by Masumi Kotsu and Gong had tied with Yaiba Todo, Himika angrily proposed a tiebreaker between the students that had won; Yuya and Masumi. Before the situation could progress any further, Declan revealed himself and he stated he would put an end to it.

None of the students present recognized Declan, his mother commenting that they didn't know how strong he was. Declan requested that she and their students stay quiet and watch, and that they not cheer any further. Declan allowed Yuya to choose whichever Action Field he wanted, so Shuzo Hiragi (the only You Show member aware of Declan's identity) picked Yuya's favorite Field, "Athletic Circus." In exchange, Yuya let Declan go first. Declan proceeded to use three "Covenant" Continuous Spell Cards to Fusion Summon "DDD Temujin the Blaze Overlord" on his turn (this is his first use of a Fusion Monster to be known, and there were no record of him using them during any of his past Duels), then set the rest of his hand, but leaving him apparently guaranteed to take 3000 damage on his next turn. When Yuya attempted to retaliate, Declan activated another "Covenant" card that would cause him to take another 1000 damage during the next turn. Yuya was able to counter that attack as well, but Declan was well-prepared, using an Action Card to protect "Temujin." Yuya was given the option to end his turn and theoretically win, but hesitated. Declan observed that Yuya's kindness was causing him to hesitate, though he called it useless in battle. Yuya Set a card, then Declan negated and destroyed his "Covenant" cards with "Lease Laundering," replenishing his hand in addition. Yuya admitted that he wouldn't have been happy if he'd won from that, as he wouldn't have gotten a chance to show off his father's Entertainment Dueling. Declan asked if he was referring to Yusho Sakaki, and Yuya was surprised that Declan seemed to know his father. Yaiba mocked Yusho from the sidelines, prompting Declan to roar at him to be silent. He apologized for his outburst, explaining that he respected Yusho from the bottom of his heart. Declan then proceeded to Synchro Summon "DDD Alexander the Gale Overlord" and Xyz Summon "DDD Caesar the Wave Overlord" on his next turn, much to the shock of the onlookers. He destroyed all of Yuya's monsters, despite Yuya's use of "Hippo Carnival." Yuya proceeded to Pendulum Summon on his next turn, using his "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon" in combination with "Performapal Fire Muffleo" and an Action Card to destroy all three of Declan's monsters. Declan used the effect of "Caesar" to revive them, though at the cost of taking damage again on his next turn, and then he Tributed them with "DDD Resource Management" to add his "DD Magical Astronomer Galilei" and "DD Magical Astronomer Kepler" to his hand - Pendulum Monster prototypes that he proceeded to activate on his next turn. He congratulated Yuya after Yuya claimed that he looked forward to seeing whatever surprises Declan had in store, Declan asking Yuya to confirm whether Pendulum Summoning was unique with his own eyes. Declan then Pendulum Summoned three "DDD Hell Armageddon the Cruel End Overlord", destroying all of Yuya's monsters again and reducing him to 350 Life Points, also discovering, to his surprise, that destroyed Pendulum Monsters were instead sent to the Extra Deck instead of the Graveyard. Yuya demanded to know where Declan had acquired Pendulum Summoning, but Declan refused to answer. Yuya Pendulum Summoned his destroyed monsters back, along with a new one, "Performapal Partnaga," and attempted to destroy all three "Hell Armageddons", but the destruction of one simply activated the effects of the others, which gained the ATK of the destroyed "Hell Armageddon." Before Declan could counterattack, his Pendulum Monsters' effects appeared and reduced their Scale, destroying his remaining "Hell Armageddons." He burst out laughing in surprise, realizing that Pendulum Summoning was not complete and that he had seen the possibility for further evolution in Pendulum Summoning. His mother then called out his name after hearing about the disappearance of Marco and Nakajima briefed Declan on what had happened. Declan gave Yuya the win, and when asked, told Yuya his name before departing. Arriving back at LDS, he learned that Marco had been involved in a Duel with an Xyz user. As they'd been with Yuya at the time, and Yuya had not demonstrated the capability, this ruled him out as the culprit. Declan ordered his men to search for Marco after being shown Marco's cards and Duel Disk.

Following this, Declan anonymously requested that Yuya be allowed into the Junior Youth Championship. Yuya, however, declined, and won his first Duel of the required four to gain entry normally. Nakajima later informed Declan of this, and Declan smiled, commenting that it seemed he'd done something unnecessary, that he should have expected it of the originator of Pendulum Summoning, and he asked if Yuya had Pendulum Summoned and if there was any change. Nakajima replied that there wasn't and admitted that he was bothered by elevated levels of Fusion Summoning that were occurring. The readings were stronger than normal, and Declan compared it to the abnormally strong Xyz Summonings that had occurred recently. He ordered it to be monitored. His mother later approached him with two cards that had been sent anonymously to LDS that morning depicting Marco and Tio, one of LDS's aces. Declan mused that the previous day, another strong Xyz Summon had been detected, and deduced that the two had been sealed inside the cards, though this was the first time he'd witnessed such a phenomenon. Though Marco and Tio were alive, they couldn't be saved with LDS's current power. He commented that this did raise one question - there had been there Xyz-related attacks, yet the first victim - Shingo Sawatari - hadn't been sealed in a card, suggesting two perpetrators. Before they could continue their talk, Mr. Sawatari barged into the office furiously, asking why they were loafing around. Despite Mr. Sawatari not having an appointment, Declan acknowledged that the rumors of the third attack were true. Mr. Sawatari angrily asked why they weren't taking action to catch the perpetrator, pointing out that his son had testified that Yuya Sakaki had attacked him. Declan asked if Shingo was still saying that, and Mr. Sawatari admitted that he hadn't seen Shingo since he'd left the hospital, but hadn't heard Shingo say differently. He asked why they were letting Yuya run free, despite Himika wanting to handle it herself, and wanted to inform the police. Rising from his chair, Declan warned him that it was under investigation. Mr. Sawatari insisted that Yuya was the perpetrator, but Declan forcefully told Mr. Sawatari that Yuya was no criminal. He vowed to catch the real criminal, until then, he'd like Mr. Sawatari to watch quietly. After Mr. Sawatari had left the office in a huff, Declan ordered Nakajima to raise the level of alert in the inner city and analyze the cards of Marco and Tio to save all of the city's Duelists. He later learned that the strong Fusion Summoning readings were continuing, and mused that the person using them must be winning as well.

Later, Declan practiced Pendulum Summoning again, this time with the effects of "Galilei" and "Kepler" updated, and he successfully Summoned all three "Hell Armageddons." Imagining himself facing Yuya and "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon", Declan reached for his next card, but before he could continue his move, he was advised to stop, as they had cleared the day's benchmarks and the experiment was a success. Nakajima congratulated him, stating that now they were one step closer to creating Leo Corporation's own Pendulum Cards. Despite this, Declan considered his own inferior in terms of activation energy output to Yuya's Pendulum Monsters, believing them to be incomplete and unusable in the tournament. He gave Nakajima until the tournament to fix the problem, as they could not underestimate their competition, no matter where it came from.

When Nakajima was complaining about using students to draw out the Duelist that had been attacking their students, Declan arrived and ordered them to continue monitoring them, confident that whoever it was would show themselves. He witnessed Shun Kurosaki admit to attacking the LDS students and the start of his Battle Royale against Masumi, Yaiba and Hokuto. When Shun defeated all three of the students and he ordered the other LDS students that had arrived to bring them their boss, Declan replied that he was right there if Shun wanted him, and his employees parted as Declan walked towards the Xyz-user. Declan explained to Shun that he was the current Leo Corporation President, and Shun immediately challenged him to a Duel. Declan requested to know why Shun was attacking them. Though Shun refused to answer, Declan had deduced from his actions and Masumi's prior testification that Shun was trying to rescue his comrades by using Declan as a hostage. Shun confirmed that his attacks had been to lure Declan out to persuade Reo Akaba to release his comrades. Declan claimed that he doubted his father valued him that much, but agreed to Duel Shun under conditions: Shun must enter the Junior Youth Championship and fight certain Duelists for him, informing him in a roundabout manner of Sora Shiun'in, a Fusion user, and Yuya, the user of the Pendulum Summoning that Shun would likely be unfamilar with. Declan explained that he too wanted to fight against his father and clarified that if Shun won, he could do whatever he wanted. He departed with his men afterwards. Nakajima later confirmed that Yuya had successfully entered into the competition and that Shun had been wiped from Masumi, Hokuto and Yaiba's memories, and entered into the Junior Youth tournament. Declan mused that all that was left was to see how much power Shun would display, and he looked through his Lancers Selection document, muttering that the same question applied to the rest of the Duelists in the folder - which of them would become the lances to fight for their world?

Maiami Championship
At the beginning of the tournament, Declan made one of his first public appearances in a while, much to the delight of his fans. He, his mother, and Reira watched the opening proceedings, observing the entry of both Yuya and Shun, and after Yuya's brief mess-up and subsequent speech regarding Yusho Sakaki, Declan led the applause. He watched Reira's first Duel against Ally, and congratulated his little brother after he won.

Before Shingo Sawatari's Duel with Yuya, Declan gave him his new "Yosenju" cards, including some Pendulum Monsters, and taught him an anti-Pendulum combination that would return Pendulum Cards to the Deck. He monitored the Summoning, which was successful, as was Shingo's use of the technique. He was pleasantly surprised when Yuya Fusion Summoned using a Pendulum Monster as the Material, pleased that Yuya had already evolved so far. After Shingo's lost, he ordered Nakajima to retrieve his Pendulum Cards and analyze them for mass-production.

Before Shun's Duel with Sora Shiun'in, Declan arranged for the Action Field "Future Metropolis Heartland" to be used to light Shun's fighting spirit. Declan also had a Pendulum Card made for Shun, who rejected it. While this annoyed Nakajima, Declan was fine with the rejection of his gift, saying he was more interested in Shun's abilities rather than the potential of Pendulum Summoning. He was quite surprised when Shun performed a Rank-Up-Xyz Evolution during the Duel. When Shun called out "Raid Raptors - Revolution Falcon," he told Reira to watch their future at stake. After Shun defeated Sora, he told him not to take further action in the eyes of the public, as Sora would be useful for experiments to understand the Academia.

Sora escaped during the night, and Declan coordinated the search for him, finding him in Central Park with a man who resembled Yuya Sakaki. Shun explained that this was his comrade, Yuto, the second Xyz user that Declan had suspected of attacking LDS. He refused to let Shun assist Yuto, and they simply watched the Duel between Sora and Yuto, and the subsequent arrival and joining of Yuya. After Sora revealed himself as an agent of Academia, his Duel Disk transported him away. Declan watched as Yuto explained to Yuya about the four Dimensions, growing angrier as he heard about the attacks on Yuto's homeland, and explaining that it was due to his father, Reo Akaba's ambition that the tragedy had occurred. Before he could learn more, the security camera they were accessing was damaged. Declan still refused to let Shun go, warning him that he would protect his city his way. When they detected a Synchro Summoning reaction, Shun explained that Yuto must be Dueling the Pawn of Fusion. Nakajima later found a Duel Disk from the Xyz Dimension, and Declan ordered it brought to him as he looked out over Maiami City.

Manga biography
Reiji faced Yuya in an Action Duel in the special manga chapter. He used relentless tactics to quickly Summon high-Level monsters and was skilled with the use of Action Cards. In this chapter, Reiji is portrayed as a rather serious Duelist, and he claims that he never loses Duels.

Anime
Declan uses a "DD" Deck, which utilizes the "Covenant" archetype of Spell and Trap Cards to easily gather the necessary cards to perform the Fusion, Synchro and Xyz Summons of the "DDD" monsters, using cards such as "Lease Laundering" and "DDD Resource Management" to avoid the negative effects of his cards. Declan also owns prototypes of Pendulum Monsters.

Manga
In the special manga chapter, Reiji runs a Fiend Deck, featuring the "DD" and "Archfiend" archetypes. He uses Pendulum Summon and cards like "Rule of Antiquity" to easily bring high-Level monsters on the field.