Vellian Crowler

Dr. Vellian Crowler, known in Japan as Cronos de Medici 「クロノス・デ・メディチ, Kuronosu de Medichi」; sometimes spelt Chronos de Medici, is the head professor of Duel Academy. Initially scheming and underhanded in attempting to expel duelists like protagonist Jaden, Crowler grows throughout the series to appreciate all his students and in turn be respected for his noble actions. Crowler is typically a comic relief character, due to his bungling incompetence.

His name in the Japanese version is derived from the names of Chronos, the personification of time in Greek mythology, and the Medici family.

Character design


Crowler's character design was overseen by Kenichi Hara. His usual outfit consists of the a more regal variation on the standard Obelisk Blue uniform, complete with gold trimmings and ruffled pink collar, shoulders, upper chest, and sleeves. His blonde hair is sectioned in two layers, with the layer furthest from his face tightly-bound in a ponytail, and he also wears crescent-shaped earrings. He carries an Academy-issued Duel Disk known as a "Duel Coat," worn horizontally across his torso, which has a motion sensor that automatically ejects cards from his deck when he is ready to draw.

Character biography
35-year old Vellian Crowler is a professor of the Obelisk Blue dormitory at Duel Academy. His main goal in the first year is to force low-performing students out of the school. After Jaden defeats him in a duel, he tries as hard as he can to get Jaden kicked out of the Duel Academy, but fails miserably. Notable schemes include making Chazz duel Jaden with "unbeatable combos," and placing a fake love letter in Syrus's locker (which he mistook for Jaden's) to catch him peeping in the girl's bathing facility.

During the second year, while Chancellor Sheppard is away, Crowler takes over his position at Duel Academy alongside Vice-Chancellor Bonaparte. For much of the season, the two devise schemes to market Duel Academy, but often argue over what methods should be employed to do so. Bonaparte resorts commonly to attacks, physical or otherwise, on Slifer Red, which he sees as a stain on the school's image, prompting Crowler to step in and defend the dorm on multiple occasions. In the Japanese version, Napoleon addresses Cronos as "temporary principal" to insult his feigning position.

After Sheppard returns to his duties, Crowler and Bonaparte, thinking themselves to be fired on account of one of the Chancellor's angry outbursts over their bickering, attempt to find new jobs with Industrial Illusions. Pegasus agrees to open discussions on the matter, provided they can defeat him in a triangle duel. Although they lose to Pegasus, Sheppard states that it was all a big misunderstanding, and that they were never fired in the first place.

During the third year, Crowler becomes another zombified victim in the different dimension along with Axel's entire "Blue Berets" group that he had used to combat the Duel Ghouls. However, he does not Duel when Jaden and his friends return to the different dimension to find Jesse. By the third year instead of thinking of Jaden as a loser, Crowler thinks (in the Japanese version) that Jaden will save them.

Crowler ascends to the position of vice-principal of Duel Academy in the fourth season after Bonaparte quits. As Jaden's graduation nears, Dr. Crowler reverts to the cruel and bitter personality he had in the first year, making his students do math problems and even having them spend entire classes doing pushups. When he wouldn't show up to his lessons, the students chased him around to school to know why he acted so odd. He revealed to them that he didn't want any of them to leave, and thus wanted them to not take enough classes to graduate. Jaden duels him, and Crowler fights back brilliantly (even pushing Jaden into a corner multiple times) but is defeated by Jaden in the same manner he did during the entrance exams (causing Crowler to remark that using Flame Wingman in conjunction with Skyscraper is the only strategy Jaden knows). This act restores Crowler to his usual self, leading him to make Jaden make up for all the classes he had missed recently.

He was last seen trying to make a speech to the third-years, but broke down and cried violently before being carried out by the other staff members.

In the Japanese version of the anime, it is revealed that Crowler has 26 years left on his mortgage.

Manga
In the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX manga, Crowler performs in the same manner he did in the first season of the anime, although he has yet to duel.

Voice/Mannerisms
In the English version, Crowler has a vague British accent, though he still has an appreciation for Italian culture. His Japanese series counterpart speaks with a thick, almost stereotypical Italian accent, often yelling such phrases as "Mamma mia!" and "Buongiorno," and ending the majority of his sentences with "(na) no ne" ("is it not so?").

Crowler's clothing and hair have lead many to call him "Miss" in the dub. Whenever someone tries to figure out Crowler's gender, he gets angry and prefers to be called "Doctor," claiming to have a Ph.D. in dueling. He dislikes Lyman Banner's cat, Pharaoh, as he worries about catching rabies when the feline licks him.

He calls Slifer students, Jaden in particular, "Slifer Slackers", while in the Japanese version, Cronos calls Osiris students "Dropout boys". Despite this he is capable of being a fair person which is shown when he passes Chumley for excellent dueling even though he lost.

Deck
Crowler plays an Ancient Gear Deck, composed largely, as namesake implies, of Ancient Gear cards. The majority of his monsters have the ability to prevent an opponent from activating Spell and Trap Cards until the end of the Damage Step. He also relies quite heavily on the "Ancient Gear Golem", his favorite monster, and tries to summon it to the field as quickly as possible.

During his second Duel with Jaden, he revealed his strongest monster which he usually doesn't play, the "Ultimate Ancient Gear Golem".

After aquiring Crowler's Deck Recipe in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force, the player is given "Ancient Gear Castle".