Don Thousand

Don Thousand (ドン・サウザンド, Don Sauzando) is the god of the Barian World and the central antagonist of the Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL anime. He is also the progenitor of the Seven Barian Emperors.

Appearance
Don Thousand has a similar appearance to Mr. Heartland's Barian form; a demonic form with luminous inflamed eyes, shady red skin and dim wings that appears to be a black carapace. He also has a large, luminous red eye at the center of his abdomen. He has a stylized version of the Barian Emblem on his chest. The spike of the carapace on his forehead form a structure that appears to be a black type of the Emperor's Key. His wings are also covered with red diamonds, similar to Vector and a Chaos-empowered Number 96. He is also the largest of the Barians, being the size of a giant.

Don Thousand's true form is that of a denizen from the Astral World; with luminous gold hair with two long red bangs in front. His appearance is similar to Eliphas and Number 96, His skin tone is black with red outlined onyx colored armor with his emblem embedded at the center. His heterochromic eyes are blue and red with the addition of a third eye placed vertically on his forehead. He also wears a set of earrings on his pointed ears. Like Vector and Eliphas, he also has an energy form resembling his true form, with both his body and hair color-swapped and vice versa.

Personality
Don Thousand's personality is complicated and dynamic, as he lacks the usual insanity or pride associated with Yu-Gi-Oh! villains. He is characteristically malevolent and vengeful, dedicated to spreading Chaos and destroying the Astral World no matter the cost. He is shown to be a very direct individual, always going straight to the point and does not usually stray from the subject at hand. He is also highly perceptive during his brief conversation with Vector, aware of his loathing towards Astral (though he was unaware of Yuma) and his culpability in Marin and Nash's disappearance.

He has a commanding presence, and is not above threatening Vector, though he does not show any degree of sadism in doing so, and it appears to be more out of concern for his own agenda. He can be cryptic at times and is not above withholding information when questioned until a later time. Upon his return to his true form, Don Thousand's personality suddenly becomes very haughty and confident, casually passing his first turn in his duel with Mizar. This is mostly due to his confidence in his absolute power due to obtaining dominion over the Numeron Code.

Etymology
Don can translate to either the honorific "sir" or "talent" in Spanish. Accordingly, "Don Thousand" might mean "Sir Thousand" (reflecting his high status) or "Thousand Talents" (reflecting his power and abilities). His name is also an imperfect palindrome in Katakana.

Abilities
As the deity of the Barian World, Don Thousand possesses great power, even in his weakened state. He can possess Barians, grant them new abilities, and even restore them should they be injured, as seen when he did all of these things with Vector. When this happens, his Emblem appears. He is also capable of injuring his host as he demonstrated by grabbing Vector's heart when he argued with Number 96. He also has knowledge of Earth, insinuating that he knows where the locations of where the Mythyrian Numbers are, but he did not reveal those locations, much to Vector's annoyance. His powers can awaken other Barians, but those who fall under his influence in the process, develop a darker and more malicious disposition, until they are reduced to mere puppets of his power. According to Don Thousand, both he and Vector are one in body and soul, this prevents the two from truly separating from each other and Vector cannot move far without Don Thousand, though there was one case where he can leave Vector's body temporarily as seen when he appeared before Alito and Girag. He is also the only known being capable of creating millions of copies of "Number" cards (fake "Number" cards to be exact). He also possesses great physical strength, as he was able to lift both Alito and Girag without struggling. Each person who has been influenced by him contains a portion of his malice, meaning he can be in multiple locations at once. Even when he was sealed he was capable of appearing in either a ghostly reaper-like form (such as when he appeared to Alito's, Girag's, Vector's, Dumon's and Marin's past lives) or in a shaman form (such as when he appeared to Mizar's past life) in Earth and in these forms he was capable of brainwashing humans as he did to Alito's friend, the prince, his advisers and Girag's comrades as well as Mizar's neighbors and allegedly used this form to cause the tragic deaths of all the Seven Emperors and embed their souls with the Over-Hundred Numbers. Don Thousand can absorb people into him through the item on his body, as seen when he did so to Vector. He can also fire pulse waves, which can knock the person down. By having the Barian World fuse with Earth, Don Thousand became able to draw upon the power of the Numeron Code itself, despite not knowing its location. With it, he is capable of destroying the Astral World.

History
Don Thousand once resided in the Astral World, but was exiled when the realm decided to abandon the power of Chaos. This resulted in him battling Astral who ended the battle by performing a Shining Draw, which seemed to destroy much of the Astral World in the process. Both Astral and Thousand screamed and were reduced to energy forms - one red and one blue. Those forms had circled around the Numeron Code before vanishing. This resulted in fragments of Astral's power being scattered across the Human World and designated the location of the Numeron Code. They manifested in the form of the fifty "Numbers", among them the seven Mythyrian "Numbers" and the four "Numeron Gate" monsters. During this battle, the Barian deity embedded in Astral a shard of his essence, eventually becoming Number 96. Astral sealed Thousand in the Barian Sea in the Barian World, the dimension that formed when Chaos was cast out. According to Jinlon, this battle brought destruction to the Earth and it must never be allowed to happen again. The seven Mythyrian "Numbers" attached themselves to heroes and sages on Earth and sealed Thousand's power. Thousand used his remaining power to journey across the Earth and confront each of the heroes and sages. He corrupted their original memories by binding a "Over-Hundred Number" card to each of their souls, causing them to be reincarnated as Barians upon death. They became the Seven Barian Emperors, who he would exploit to ensure his revival and the restoration of his power.

Mythyrian Numbers War
After being defeated by Yuma and Astral several times, Vector journeyed to the Great Barian Sea. Swimming through it, he found the place where Don Thousand was sealed and released him. He offered Don Thousand his life in exchange for the power to defeat Yuma and Astral. Thousand told him to journey to Earth and find the seven sealed "Mythyrian Numbers", which would fully revive Don Thousand. Vector agreed and Thousand merged with him, empowering Vector with new abilities and restoring his injured body. Using Thousand's powers, Vector accelerated the healing of Girag and Alito.

As Vector made his way to one of the ruins, Don Thousand told the ruins are in his memories, insinuating that he had been to the ruins before, but refused to tell Vector more than that. He was amused at Vector's deja vu and laughed at his confusion, though he denied Vector the answer to his confusion and ordered him to make use of his alliance with Number 96. When Number 96 and Vector argued with each other, Thousand squeezed the latter's heart to stop him. After Number 96 and Vector parted ways, he told the latter to let him go and informed him that Alito and Girag should be awake then.

Thousand later informed Vector that the last two "Mythyrian Numbers" had fallen into the hands of Yuma's allies. He claimed it wouldn't be a problem though. Vector asked how much Thousand really knows and Thousand responded "everything", including what Vector felt when he entered the ruins. He confirmed that Vector was once human, then became a Barian and claimed that he was also responsible for the deaths of Nash and Marin. He then ordered Vector to find Number 96 as the latter was about to put his own plan into effect. They observed Yuma and Astral's Duel with the rebellious "Number" from afar, not being seen by anyone during the Duel and the following events.

Thousand proceeded to lead Vector to his palace, to which Number 96 had returned to in a ball of light after its defeat. Upon revealing its origins, Thousand instructs Vector to obtain the sealed Number, to whom wished to go crush Yuma with it immediately. Instead, Thousand left his body in energy form and insisted that now was not the time yet.

He revealed a device that would combine the Barian World and Earth together. If the hatred of the Human World reached that of the Barian World, they could be fused, amplifying his power one-thousand fold - enough to destroy the Astral World. To do so, he needed to make more of those devices, which was where the power he regained from Number 96 would go. He revealed four Barian Numbers, each possessing great power to Vector and instructed him to sit on the throne. When Vector did, Thousand fused Vector to it, rendering him immobile as the two needed to stay in the palace in order to put the power to work by building more devices.

Despite losing three of the "Number" cards he and Vector gave to the Fearsome Four of the Dark Dueling World, Thousand was not concerned, as the Barian Numbers are complete. Thousand told Vector that it is time to begin his machination to seize the Earth.

As the world merging and the Barian Emperors had gathered in the Barian World with Rio and Reginald having become Nash and Marin, Vector worried if Nash would remember what he did to them before but Don Thousand assured Vector to not panic as Nash was not "thirsting for blood". While it is not clear if Nash or Marin remember that Vector murdered them, when Dumon questioned Vector if he knew anything about the world merging Vector feigned ignorance and decided to pass the blame onto Mr. Heartland. However, Vector told them that it would be the perfect opportunity and that they should invade the Human World.

Barian Emperor Onslaught
During the Duel between Nash and Quattro, Don Thousand and Vector watched as he gauged Nash's power and was surprised when Nash performed a Barian's Chaos Draw and gifted that ability to the other Emperors. Thousand later manifested himself outside of Vector's body in order to brainwash Alito and Girag into assisting him and Vector. The portion of his soul that remained in Alito was able to manifest itself and speak to Yuma and Astral when Alito confronted them. He explained he had been exiled from the Astral World, but claimed it was a good thing, as Chaos was too restricted within its confines. He told Yuma to blame Astral if he had to blame anyone, and revealed that the acquisition of the seven Mythyrian "Numbers" from the ruins had restored the majority of his power. He also explained that he had reincarnated seven humans as the Seven Barian Emperors as they were connected to the Mythyrian "Numbers". He urged Yuma and Astral to attempt to stop him if they could. Thousand's influence was later exorcised from Alito's body after an attack from both "Number C105: Battlin' Boxer Comet Cestus" and "Number 54: Lion Heart".



Later on, Thousand confined Nash in an inflamed Sphere Field, restraining him with dark tentacles. He opened a screen before Nash to allow him to witness his sister and Dumon Dueling Vector and Thousand himself, whose power resided in Vector's body. Thousand revealed that he had created the Seven Barian Emperors for his own agenda. When the Duel started, Vector activated the Spell Card, "Don Thousand's Throne" which was given to him by Thousand that drew power from Nash, causing him great pain and increased Vector's Life Points. At one point in the Duel, Don Thousand stopped Vector before he made his next move. After the Duel, Don Thousand once again appeared to Vector and told him about Girag's memories being restored. This prompted Vector to absorb Girag, with Alito's and Ponta's souls also being absorbed in the process.

In order to create a venue for Nash and Vector's struggle, Vector transported the ruins of their previous confrontation to the Barian World, and prevented Don Thousand from influencing the battle by restraining him. After Vector's true memories were revealed, Thousand was summoned and began explaining his part in changing Vector's past memories, causing Vector to attempt to lose the Duel. When that was revealed to be a ruse to lower Nash's guard, Vector confronted Thousand and revealed his suspicions about the Barian deity's former actions which greatly upset him. Declaring himself to be more powerful than him, Vector proceeded to eviscerate Thousand on the spot.

Upon Vector's defeat, Thousand returned, having been separated from him after the Duel. He called Vector a fool and then proceeded to absorb him, despite Yuma's efforts to rescue Vector. After this, Thousand began to transform, merging with the newly created "Numeron Network" composed of the Human World and Barian World in the form of an enormous purple lotus. Mizar then showed up and Dueled Don Thousand, who emerged in his energy form. However, Mizar (seemingly) defeated himself using "Dragon King's Demise" without Don Thousand having to use a single turn, and was absorbed. With this, Don Thousand made his final transformation into his true form.

After defeating Mizar, Thousand revealed his true plan: Since he did not know where the Numeron Code was, except that it was on Earth, he fused the Barian World and Human World together to control the Numeron Code. Thousand challenged Yuma and Nash to a Duel, with the Numeron Code allowing Thousand to open a portal to the Astral World and directly attack it when Yuma and Nash took damage. During the Duel, it was revealed that Thousand had used the "Numeron Network" as a Field Spell Card to "manipulate" Mizar's cards in the previous Duel, and demonstrated this power again by effortlessly countering the Summon of "Number 39: Utopia".

Eventually, after "Numeron Network" was destroyed by the efforts of Astral and Eliphas Thousand Summoned his ultimate ace monster, "Number iC1000: Numerronius Numerronia". However, despite putting Yuma and Nash into a corner, he was ultimately defeated by the combined might of "Number 100: Numeron Dragon" (Kite), "Number 39: Utopia" (Yuma) & "Number 73: Abyss Splash" (Nash), united by "Rising Hope". Shortly before his destruction, Thousand transferred his "Numbers" and remaining power to Nash before laughing and fading away.

Number Hunting
Thousand manufactured fake versions of the first four "Numbers", which he had Vector distribute to the Fearsome Four of the Dark Dueling World. These were "Number 1: Infection Buzz King", "Number 2: Ninja Shadow Mosquito" , "Number 3: Cicada King" and "Number 4: Stealth Kragen".

Thousand owns the true versions of each of these "Numbers", coming in the forms of the "Numeron Gate" monsters - "Number 1: Numeron Gate Ekam", "Number 2: Numeron Gate Dve", "Number 3: Numeron Gate Trini" and "Number 4: Numeron Gate Catvari". These were the first "Numbers" to fall to Earth during his engagement against Astral and were among those that designated the location of the Numeron Code. He was also able to upgrade "Ekam" into "Number C1: Numeron Chaos Gate Shunya". His ultimate monster is "Number C1000: Numerronius", which had no shown base form, and he is capable of upgrading it into the "Imaginary Number" known as "Number iC1000: Numerronius Numerronia".

After Vector's defeat, Thousand absorbed him, resulting in him obtaining the multitude of "Numbers" that Vector owned. Among them were "Number 5: Des Chimera Dragon", "Number 43: Manipulator of Souls", "Number 58: Burner Visor", "Number 64: Ronin Raccoon Sandayu", "Number 65: Djinn Buster", "Number 80: Rhapsody in Berserk", "Number 96: Dark Mist", "Number 102: Star Seraph Sentry", "Number 103: Ragnazero", "Number 104: Masquerade", "Number 105: Battlin' Boxer Star Cestus" and "Number 106: Giant Hand". His victory over Mizar likewise earned him the "Numbers" that Mizar had collected, among them "Number 6: Chronomaly Atlandis", "Number 9: Dyson Sphere", "Number 33: Chronomaly Machu Mech", "Number 46: Dragluon", "Number 62: Galaxy-Eyes Prime Photon Dragon" and "Number 107: Galaxy-Eyes Tachyon Dragon". With those "Numbers" also came the "Number C" forms of many of them, including those of the "Over-Hundred Numbers".

Upon his defeat by Yuma and Nash, all of his "Numbers" were absorbed by Nash.

Deck
Don Thousand uses a "Numeron" Deck, initially focused on utilizing the "Numeron Network" to activate Trap Cards from his Deck, letting him manipulate his opponent's strategies. The Deck includes the "Numeron Gate" monsters, which were the first "Numbers" to fall to Earth during his battle with Astral. The final play of the Deck comes in the form of "Number C1000: Numerronius" and its upgraded form, "Number iC1000: Numerronius Numerronia". The effects of the former can control nearly the entire Duel, while the effects of the latter can grant an Automatic Win.