Atticus Rhodes

Atticus Rhodes, known in Japan as Fubuki Tenjouin (天上院吹雪, Tenjōin Fubuki), is the missing brother of Alexis, who mysteriously disappeared into the old abandoned Obelisk Blue dormitory of Duel Academy.

His given name means "blizzard" in Japanese, from which he derives his self-appointed title, "Blizzard Prince" in the original version of the series. His signature is written as "Fubuki 10 Join."

Character design
Atticus' character design was overseen by Kenichi Hara. His usual outfit consists of the standard Obelisk Blue uniform, flowing out the costume's lower back. He will sometimes show up in casual beach wear and has worn the purple suit in Episode 60 while dueling his sister. His brown hair is sporadically arranged, with a large portion trailing the upper part of the nape of his neck. He carries an Academy-issued Duel Disk on his left hand.

Character biography
As far as Atticus could remember, he and a few of his fellow Obelisk Blue students were under the impression that they would be attending a duel exam in the abandoned dorm, courtesy of Banner. In reality, he and the others were being lured into a trap (in the English version, they visit the Shadow Realm). It was never revealed how many other students disappeared along with Atticus. The names and fate of the other students also remain unknown (presumably remaining imprisoned in the Shadow Realm for eternity). Over time, the leader of the Shadow Riders, Kagemaru, recruited Atticus' dark side (Darkness; ダークネス, Dākunesu) as on of his Shadow Riders. In his duel with Jaden Yuki, Nightshroud takes Jaden's friends prisoner and forces him to take part in a Shadow Game where the loser would have his soul sealed in a card. Jaden prevailed, and Atticus is released from the dark power that controlled him. Placed in the medical ward, Atticus offered help by giving Jaden the other half of the Shadow Charm pendant for his duel with Camula. He eventually came to his sister's aid during her duel with Titan, giving her the strength to win.

Atticus promptly reverts to his old self after the Shadow Rider fiasco. Frequently showing up dressed in a Hawaiian shirt and strumming a ukulele, he is incredibly optimistic most of the time, but is seen as an idiot of sorts by his sister. He is also an accomplished surfer, and is popular among women, a fact which leads Chazz to seek his advice on love-related topics. Atticus' antics are a constant source of irritation for Alexis, as he tries without end to set her up with duelists or get her to go into show business with him in a band called "Bro-Bro and Sissy" (in the original version of the series, he instead urges her to join him under the stage name, "Asuryn," whilst he recruits more followers for his "Bucky" fanclub to rival Zane's) and even takes embarrassing photos of Alexis during the costume duel in episode 42.

Because Atticus was absent during the previous term, he repeats the studies of his second year alongside his sister during the second season. He is among the few Obelisk Blue students who do not come under the influence of the Society of Light( Even after being defeated in a duel).

Following Zane's "rebirth," Atticus duels him using Nightshroud's deck instead of his own to remind him of the horrors gained in taking a dark path as a duelist when he attends the Genex tournament. In doing so, however, Nightshroud's lingering influence once again exerts control over him, but dissipates after he loses, with Zane informing him that there is no darkness in his heart, and that he merely wishes to achieve victory through force.

When Alexis is stripped of her free will in episode 93, Atticus gives Jaden a family card, Swing of Memories, that meant a lot to Alexis when she was younger but she later destroys it with White Night Queen because she was rendered heartless and thus didn't remember their past with the family card.

In the third season, Atticus accompanies Jaden & company through the alternative dimension, where he is sacrificed alongside Alexis, Chazz, Tyranno by Brron. He is later discovered to be alive, and held prisoner with everyone else who died in the Duel Spirit world in an alternate dimension by Yubel.

In the fourth season Atticus gets a flashback, and even though he is not fit for it duels Jaden with his Red Eyes Deck in order to remember what happened. Jaden succeeds; as it turns out, Kagemaru wasn't responsible for Atticus' transformation into Nightshroud, but a student named Yusuke Fujiwara, an Obelisk Blue, close friends of Atticus, and fellow victim of the Abandoned Dorm. Before the incident at the Dorm, Atticus found Yusuke attempting to conjure up Nightshroud in the dueling ring underneath the Abandoned Dorm, hoping to gain ultimate power and immortality by becoming its host. Because Atticus interrupted the ritual, however, it fatally wounded Yusuke, who cursed Atticus with becoming Nightshroud's host in revenge. When he became one of the lost students, Atticus was forced to give into Nightshroud's influence in order to survive.

As Nightshroud and Trueman attack Duel Academy, Atticus is the last student standing, forgetting about all his friends one by one and wandering aimlessly through the halls. All the Truemans in the hall do not try to send him into the world of Darkness, probably because he has Nightshroud's mask card. He then uses Nightshroud's mask card which gives him back his memories and he also takes a look at the World of Darkness. He is challenged and subsequently defeated by the true host of Nightshroud personally, who is still in Fujiwara's body. This is witnessed by both Jaden and Jesse. He is revived when Jaden defeats Nightshroud.

Voice/Mannerisms
In the English version, Atticus distributes and subtracts "stars" from others based on their actions as a means of expressing his mood at any given time, while his original series counterpart instead gives out "munekyun points" (literally "strong beating points"). His name in the dub is derived from Roman orator and noble Titus Pomponius Atticus who was famous for his impartiality in political issues.

Manga


Atticus has built up quite a reputation in the manga. He is a star duelist in the United States, where he is studying abroad at the American Duel Academy. In the English version Reggie MacKenzie refers to him as Rhodie, and in the original version, he goes by the moniker, "Fubu-king" (a portmanteau of his original name, Fubuki, and king). He defeated David Rabb at some point in the past, possibly during his time at the American Duel Academy, thus prompting David to brutally defeat Alexis Rhodes in one turn during their Duel in the Academy Tournament finals. Atticus appears prior to Jaden's Duel against Chazz. After having a conversation with Zane, he then decides to go look for Reggie MacKenzie but will still watch the duel in the television screens.

Anime
Atticus has lost in all of his onscreen Duels in the anime, but in the series he is considered a high ranking and challenging opponent.

Red-Eyes Deck
Atticus' main Deck is a Red-Eyes Deck which he uses in serious duels. The deck originally belonged the Nightshroud, and Atticus kept the deck after being freed from his influence. However, the deck itself was tainted with Nightshroud's influence and during his duel with Zane, he is again possessed by Nightshroud. He later becomes skilled enough to use the deck without this happening. This deck's main strategy revolves around summoning Red-Eyes B. Dragon and then Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon quickly. Once he has summoned Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon, he plays several cards meant to increase the number of Dragon monsters in his Graveyard to further strengthen it.

Idol Deck
Atticus also plays an Idol Deck, which reflects his love of stardom, and revolves around various strategies involving Beast-Warrior monsters. He gains a continuous advantage with Spotlight, powering up his "Panther Warrior", and supporting it further with cards such as "Path to Destiny" and "Stray Lambs". His signature card, "Ultimate Stage Costume", also provides his monsters with an extreme augmentation in terms of strength, but cannot be used for offensive purposes. This is his true deck, though he mainly uses the Red-Eyes deck after acquiring it.

Manga
In the manga, Atticus plays a "Sphere Deck", which focuses around swarming and equipping monsters on the opposing side of the field to gain an ATK boost.