Z-one


 * For the card, see Z-One.

Z-one (pronounced Zone), is an cyborg in the appearance of Yusei Fudo from an apocalyptic future, who has traveled back in time to prevent the destruction of mankind, albeit through unsavory means. He is the founder of Yliaster and regarded as a god, or "The Divine One" (English dubbed), among its members.

Z-one was an unnamed scientist in the future, who modified his own body to be a perfect copy of the original Yusei, who was revered as a legendary hero of his time. Having survived through the time where humanity was annihilated, however, Z-one came to the conclusion that Synchro Monsters were the root of despair and destruction brought by humanity and sought to do something about.

Z-one was among four lone survivors of the human race, who tried to find a way to revive humanity. Z-one had his body mechanized, while his companions, Antinomy, Aporia and Paradox died. Z-one managed to create mechanic embodiments of his friends and traveled back in time with them to stop the events which led to the destruction of humanity.

It is possible that the name Z-one is derived from the fact that he is the last human, Z being the last letter of the alphabet and having much the same connotation as the letter omega, and that he is the last one.

Appearance
Z-one is contained in a machine shaped like either a comma, the number six, or a Japanese magatama (depending on its position). The backside and front-side resemble the Yusei Go, with all markings identical to that of the Duel Runner, albeit in the exact opposite color scheme (white with red instead of red with white). Leo has been the only one to notice this resemblance so far. A more humanoid figure is inside the machine, whose face is mostly covered, but only a portion around his left eye is visible, which is the same color, shape, and position as Yusei's eye. The figure has a marking on his mask similar to Yusei's criminal mark. Z-one's helmet/head also is exact to Yusei's helmet (including the yellow diamond in the center front), but also opposite color scheme (white instead of red). His human outfit also shares design with Yusei's jacket, for instance the two gem-like garments on it's collar. A notable fact is when he is upside down, in his comma form, he appeared to help Yusei and co. He saved Yusei, Bruno and Sherry LeBlanc from being blown up in Sector Security. He also gave Yusei his "Shooting Star Dragon" in order to defeat Primo. Since then, he has been shown in his right side up position, plotting to erase New Domino City and kill the Signers, along with Aporia and Sherry. Z-one appears to have Duel Monsters cards in the blue canisters that are on his machine body, it is unknown as of yet what these cards are or what they do for Z-one.

Z-one has also taken the form of Dr. LeBlanc.

In Episode 144, Z-one appeared dressed as Yusei Fudo and riding the Yusei Go. However, the red design on the inner shirt is altered somewhat from Yusei's usual design (the alteration being that is still the same design in every way except "completed" with the "missing leg" forming a gateway-like design rather than the half-circle it normally is), as well as the orange patches on his collar that are normally round were square. His red helmet is also missing the white arrows on the sides. His version of the Yusei Go possesses similar small differences, with different coloring for the duel disk arm, different framing over the wheels, and what appears to be a gun-type weapon mounted on the seat on the right side. He also dismounts from the left side, whereas Yusei usually dismounts from the right.

In Episode 146, Z-one is first seen dueling, where two large arms attach to his body allowing him to duel. The large arms are also accompanied by a large hovering Wrist Dealer that is large enough to hold the large stone cards that Z-one possesses similiar to the ones used by the Familiar of Red Nova. He can also be seen in this form prior to Episode 146 in the fifth opening, Road to Tomorrow ~Going My Way!!~.

Another notable thing is that from when Z-one was first shown, he seems to have gained more mechanical parts.

Apocalyptic future
An invasion of Machine Emperors and an Ener-D catastrophe led to mass destruction in Z-one's time, leaving few human survivors. Watching the chaos that was spreading, an unknown scientist researched Yusei as a legendary duelist who had defeated the Dark Signers and Earthbound Immortals. Using footage of Yusei's duels he created an identical copy of Yusei himself, the result being identical to the real Yusei in every detail saved for a cybernetic plate over the right side of his face. To keep the plate concealed Z-one kept his helmet on at all times, only revealing the left side of his face which bore Yusei's criminal marker.

Under the appearance of Yusei Fudo, Z-one met Antinomy. Antinomy, having given-up on life, was about to let himself be killed by a Machine Emperor, but Z-one appeared and blasted the Machine Emperor away, saving Antinomy.

Z-one also met Paradox at some point. In their old age, the two of them and Antinomy met Aporia. As the only survivors of the human race, the four of them believed it to be their mission to create a better future. They tried to dispose of the core power of Ener-D, which wiped out the world before and performed countless experiments to try and find a solution to restore the world to the way it once was. During their attempts, Z-one had his body mechanized and his companions began to die.

After Paradox died, Z-one sent an embodiment of him back in time as a trial to eliminate the root source of Duel Monsters, by killing its creator Maximillion Pegasus.

Before Antinomy died, Z-one said that he was going to need his strength to save the world. Antinomy was confident that the day would come when the world would be saved, so to ensure this, he asked that he be put to work as Z-one's servant. After Antinomy died, Z-one sent an embodiment of him to the past, where he was given the mission to protect Yusei Fudo and aid in his growth.

As Aporia was about to die, he placed himself in a capsule and asked Z-one to do whatever it took to prevent their future from ever occurring. He insisted that Z-one split him into three embodiments based on the three despairs of his life. Z-one split Aporia into the embodiments Lester, Primo and Jakob and sent them back to the past, where they served as the Three Emperors of Yliaster.

Z-one also sent himself back in time.

World Racing Grand Prix
Z-one existed within a mysterious white dimension. Yusei Fudo, Sherry LeBlanc and the embodiment of Antinomy, who had been stripped of his memories and called himself Bruno, were transported here after they scanned the "Z-One" card at Sector Security. They saw Z-one and were then transported to the outskirts of the city.

Later after achieving Clear Mind, Yusei found the "Shooting Star Dragon" tablet outside the city, upon touching it he was transported to location he saw Z-one earlier. It is there that Z-one gives him the respective card. Z-one gave a black card to Yusei and explained that it had the possibility of Accel Synchro. He advised Yusei to believe what he thinks is right and then disappeared as Yusei returned to the location of the tablet.

Z-one met Sherry again, after she had been sucked out of a dimension shuttle when trapped in a wormhole. He appeared in the form of Dr. LeBlanc to Sherry, but explained that he only looked that way because that is what her heart was showing. He offered to tell Sherry the truth, but she must accept her faith being altered.

Z-one showed Sherry a vision of the future where the world has been destroyed and blamed the destruction on Ener-D. He allegedly also showed her a vision where Yusei Fudo dies after boarding the Ark Cradle.

Z-one told Sherry that he had the power to grant any wish and in exchange for her helping him, he promised to bring her parents back to life. He then gave her the card "École de Zone" to help her fight for his cause.

Ark Cradle
After Yusei defeated Aporia, in the World Racing Grand Prix, the Grand Design was completed, allowing the Ark Cradle to appear and begin its descent upon New Domino City. Z-one, along the human corpses of Paradox, Antinomy, and Aporia were within the Ark Cradle. Z-one recovered the remains of Aporia's mechanical body, which had been damaged after Aporia's Duel with Yusei. Z-one informed Aporia that despite losing the Duel, he did not fail completely because the Arc Cradle appeared. He said that they can continue their plan, but with a few changes. Z-one asked Aporia if he was willing to try to change the future again. Considering himself Z-one's eternal friend, Aporia agreed to help.

Z-one assigned Sherry and Aporia to guarding two of the Ark Cradle's three outer main Planetary Gears.

Z-one had Sherry inform Yusei of his plans to change history by destroying New Domino. Sherry also warned Yusei of his future death, but knew it wouldn't stop him boarding. Z-one questioned why she warned him, knowing it wouldn't make a difference. Sherry explained that it was courtesy and a testimony to her old friend, especially as she planned to kill him.

Once, Team 5D's and Antinomy arrived on top of the Ark Cradle, Z-one opened a hole in the ground below them, causing the group split-up and fall onto three platforms, each leading to a different Planetary Gear. Z-one had Sherry fight Akiza and Crow at the first and Aporia Duel Jack, Leo and Luna at the second. In both cases, his servants lost.

When Yusei and Antinomy reached the third Planetary Gear, Z-one restored Antinomy's memory, so Antinomy proceeded to Duel Yusei at this Planetary Gear. Antinomy also lost and gave his life to save Yusei from the Death Course.

Once Team 5D's stopped all three of the Planetary Gears, they gained access to the Central Gear, which led them to a scrapyard-like area, where they faced Z-one. Z-one explained that Ener-D and Synchro Summoning are responsible for the future destruction of humanity and he plans on destroying New Domino City and its Ener-D to prevent this happening. He told them that he had sent Paradox, Aporia and Antinomy back in time as part of his plan. Enraged over how Z-one used Antinomy, who Yusei knew as Bruno, Yusei prepared to Duel Z-one, but was interrupted by Aporia.

Having found hope from Team 5D's, Aporia changed his mind. He tried to remind Z-one that he also once had hope in Team 5D's, which is why he had Antinomy help them grow. Z-one denied that that hope exists, so Aporia challenged him to a Duel to remind him. Z-one equipped himself with a large set of mechanical hands and Deck holder. Stone Duel Monster slabs in the arena flew into the holder and formed his Deck.

Aporia managed to reduce his Deck to zero cards and activated "After Glow", which returned to his Deck. If Aporia could draw that on his next turn, he would win. However Z-one used his turn to shuffle thirty three cards back into Aporia's Deck and ready "Temporal Machine God Razion" to inflict enough damage to defeat Aporia after drawing his next card. Effectively this meant, if Aporia drew "After Glow", he would win, but anything else, he would lose. This gave Aporia a 1/34 chance of winning. If hope truly was on Aporia's side, Z-one said he would win despite the odds. However Aporia drew a different card and lost.

Aporia thought, he had failed, but Yusei told him by teaching them of Z-one's "Temporal Machine God" cards, he has given them hope. Aporia then added wing modifications to Yusei Go, before dying. Leo angrily asked Z-one why he would harm his own friend, like this. However Z-one said that he did not consider the Antinomy and Aporia that Team 5D's knew as his friends, as they were only mechanical reconstructions of them. Yusei asked if Z-one ever considered that they may still be his friends and challenged Z-one to a Duel. Z-one agreed to the Duel and told Yusei to use his modified Duel Runner. Before the Duel, Team 5D's gave their Signer Dragons to Yusei and Z-one caused six monitors to appear around the Ark Cradle, so that the citizens of New Domino could watch the city.

During the Duel, Yusei managed to damage Z-one's mask and revealed that Z-one's true face has the same criminal mark as Yusei.

Abilities
Being the leader of Yliaster, Z-one has access to technology from the later future. Z-one uses this technology to travel through time and change reality itself. He possessed many of the same powers as the Three Emperors of Yliaster, such as the ability for his cards to physically materialize during a duel, such as the card "École de Zone" is capable of creating a potent illusion during a duel. He is also capable of changing his form as Primo and Lester have before, taking the form of Sherry LeBlanc's father and Yusei Fudo.

Moreover his technology also allows him to harness Ener-D through duels, which fuels the Grand Design to summon the Arc Cradle. He is also capable of creating androids in the appearance of his deceased friends, all of these androids are potent duelists in their own right. Sherry stated that he is capable of granting any wish, as he promised to change her past so that her parents can live again.

Decks
Z-one uses a Temporal Machine Deck, apparently focused in the Burn/Bouncing play style, to return the opponent's monsters in the opponent hand, having cards that reduce damage to 0, and inflict damage for each monster returned. He also uses tarot-themed Trap Cards that activate directly from his hand. The names of his Monsters are references to the archangels of Sephirot. Zone has claimed that there are ten Temporal Machine Gods in total, which would correspond to that group.