Blair Flannigan


 * Rei redirects here. For the Tag Force character, see: Rei (Tag Force).

Blair Flannigan, known in the Japanese anime as Rei Saotome, is an underage student who also happens to be the only girl in the Slifer Red dorm. Initially a minor character appearing in a stand-alone episode during the first season, Blair joins the central cast at the beginning of the third after proving her worth as a duelist. Her Japanese surname could be a reference to Ranma 1/2.

Etymology
Her original Japanese name means "bell" or "lovely". Her last name Saotome means "fast maiden". Her English name means "plain" or "field".

The Maiden in Love
Blair is a transfer student who enters Duel Academy during her first year disguised as a boy. She is placed in the Slifer Red dormitory, and guided by Jaden, Syrus, and Chumley. Behind her guise, Blair intended to get closer to Zane, with whom she was in love. While sneaking around Zane's room in Obelisk Blue, she is caught by Jaden, who discovers her secret and pursues her on the matter late at night after the confrontation. The two duel, and although Blair is defeated, she finally has the opportunity to meet with Zane. He is flattered by her affections, but turns her down, telling her to go home. Being a fifth-grade elementary student (second grade in the English dub), she is forced to leave the school on the technicality that she is too young to stay. As she departs, her feelings shift from Zane to Jaden, much to the latter's horror.

Genex tournament
During the second year, Blair returns near the end of the Genex Tournament and challenges Zane following his "rebirth," but he declines, and she instead duels with Chazz to claim the champion title of the tournament and officially enter Slifer Red. Despite overwhelming improvement in her skills that allow her to push him into a corner, Chazz is able to claim victory in the end.

At that time, an integral part of Blair's personality becomes clearer. Her love interests are constantly changing, as evidenced by her brief admiration of Chazz, which is quickly replaced once more by her infatuation with Jaden.

Season 3
Even though she lost to Chazz, Blair is admitted to Slifer Red, and becomes a member of the central cast at the beginning of the third year. She tries to befriend Marcel during that time, but mostly proves unsuccessful. She commandeers Chazz's room, forcing him to bunk with Jaden.

When Duel Academy gets sent to the alternate dimension, she gets attacked by Yubel when she gets near Marcel and comes down with a mysterious illness. Jaden, Jesse, Axel, Jim, and Adrian get medicine from a submarine that Bastion saw. She gets healed by this medicine soon after. After recovering she later sees the Yubel-possessed Marcel dueling Jaden and Jesse. She shows that she cares for Marcel when she demands the spirit release him, which it does, and then throws Marcel at her (Yubel willingly left Marcel because she didn't need him anymore).

Season 4
At the start of the fourth season she gets promoted to Obelisk Blue, but she still wears her red jacket. Later on, Blair is teamed up with Tyranno Hassleberry in a Tag-Team Duel tournament. She eventually duels the pair of Jaden and Alexis, during which she decides to take advantage of Alexis's frustration with Jaden and switches partners (wanting to be on the same team as Jaden because of her crush on him), allowing her to team up with Jaden. Jaden seemed to work much better with Blair then with Alexis. When Alexis noticed that Jaden had gone back to enjoying duels, she switched back, much to Blair's chagrin, and frustration. She then lost the duel. It is assumed she was later absorbed into the World of Darkness and was revived when Jaden defeated Nightshroud.

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
A cheerleader who looks like Blair is seen during Jack Atlas and Hunter Pace's Turbo Duel.

Tag Force 1
She appears on the Slifer Red Dorm at any time of the day on Room 102 before you give her the three special items. After you give her the items, she is only found at the Slifer Red Dorm (she won't be disguised anymore)during class.

Tag Force 3
Blair appears Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force 3 as a Slifer Red student. An Obelisk Blue version of her can also be unlocked.

Voice/Mannerisms
In the English version, Blair takes on a Brooklyn accent beginning with her reappearance at the second season's conclusion (though she seems to lose it later on). During her duel with Chazz she also made some egg puns ("that's no yoke", "eggcelent"). In the original version of the series, she refers to herself with "boku," a word for "I" typically spoken by young males, though its use by females is not unheard of. Though in the Tag Duel against Jaden and Alexis, when speaking to Jaden, Blair called herself "atashi", a significantly more formal personal pronoun that females often use. She did this in order to show her respect to Jaden, since she has a crush on him. She also refers to Marcel as "Marucchi" in the original version.

Maiden in Love
Blair originally played a Maiden in Love Deck, themed on the monster and her ability to distribute Maiden Counters to an opponent's monsters as means of controlling them and turning them against her opponent.

Egg
As of the second year, she plays an Egg Deck, which charts the aging of monsters like "Mystic Egg" through their individual stages of growth.

Tag Force
In Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force, Blair plays a Serene Silence Deck revolving around the "Silent" LV Monsters. After acquiring her Deck Recipe, the player also gets the card "Muka Muka".

Tag Force 2
In Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force 2, she later switches to a Maiden in Love Deck called The Power of Love. It is a variant of her Maiden in Love Deck, with a higher focus on restoring her own life points and stalling.

Tag Force 3
In Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force 3 she runs a "Lightsworn" Deck.