Yusei Fudo

Yusei Fudo is the protagonist of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, and one of the Signers. He is known and respected by many other characters in the show for his genius style of Dueling, his considerable skill, and his cool and clever personality. He uses a Duel Runner, which is called the Yusei Go. In the English dub, "Let's rev it up!" is a common catchphrase that he uses when he summons a Synchro Monster. He is also the foster brother of Jack Atlas and Crow Hogan, and very good friends with Kalin Kessler, with whom Yusei has history.

Appearance
Yusei has tan skin, an average looking physique, black hair with gold highlights, and royal blue eyes. The upper layer of his hair juts upward while the lower layer arches down. According to Kazuki Takahashi; Yusei's hairstyle was based on Takahashi's own bedhead, and completes a "rock, paper, scissors" theme shared with Yugi Muto and Jaden Yuki. Yusei wears a long-sleeved blue jacket with a high collar and amber gems, over a sleeveless black shirt with a red symbol, and wears gloves below his elbows with an amber gem on them. His lower body consists of black jeans with amber knee pads, a belt with two Deck holsters hidden under his jacket (one for his standard Deck and one for his Turbo Duel Deck), and calf-high motorcycle boots. After episode 5, he acquires a jagged criminal mark on the left side of his face, which was later covered in episode 116 and episode 117, presumably by makeup. His Mark of the Dragon was a red outline of the tail, which was permanently burned onto his right forearm after the events concluding the Fortune Cup story arc. It is later replaced by the dragon head mark upon his defeat of Rex Goodwin, with Crow Hogan receiving his former mark.

During his time in Crash Town, Yusei replaced his Duel Disk with the Duel Disk revolvers used in the town, and he wore a brown poncho over his normal clothes with his Mark of the Dragon designed on it. He wears the poncho in the manga at the start of the D1 Grand Prix. However this poncho is white, lacks the Mark of the Dragon design, and is dirtier.

During the WRGP, he gets a new Turbo Dueling outfit that is similar to his old clothes but is more form-fitting. The new outfit consists of the same blue jacket with amber gems, but the flared bottom is replaced by a black strap with an orange outline. He wears blue jeans with amber gems at the knees and knee-high boots.

Personality
Yusei has an very noble and heroic personality. He is a selfless, protective, brotherly, kind-hearted and overall mostly serious person, who deeply values the safety of humanity and his friends. Because of this, he is seen by most other characters in the show as a dependable person they can always trust.

Yusei is also usually depicted as being serious, calm and clear-minded; even in the worst situations. Due to this he rarely acts on impulse and usually thinks things through before he plays any cards, always trying to stay one step ahead of his opponent. This is made obvious during his Duels, as he regularly visualizes card flowcharts in his mind in order to devise his strategies. He is also very selfless, and is hesitant to put the safety of his friends, or anyone else at risk.

Having grown up as an orphan in the harsh conditions of Satellite, Yusei has a tendency to keep a serious and somewhat stoic expression most of the time, and is rarely ever seen laughing, though he does give short smiles frequently. In very few occasions Yusei can lose his composure and act out of anger, most notably after Roman used Rally as a scapegoat and Martha was consumed by his Earthbound Immortal.

Yusei sees friends as the most valuable thing a person can have; he believes no one should ever have to be alone, and tries to convince others who reject friendship that it is something to be embraced.

Yusei is sometimes contradicting to his view on "fate". Just before Yusei Dueled Halldor, he stated he didn't care about fate, but during his Duel with Halldor, he says if Halldor felt he was fated to face Iliaster, the same applies to him. Yusei believes that fate doesn't control everyone, and that it is what people make it.

Yusei gets annoyed at those who reject cards by calling them trash or say that cards are useless, so much so that he doesn't consider them deserving of calling themselves Duelists or even consider them a Duelist. However, his opinion can change if such people reform, such as with Bolt Tanner, in which he considered him a "Genuine Duelist". He is also shown to be annoyed when Trudge refers to him or his Deck as "scum", enough that Yusei told Trudge "All you ever say is 'scum' over and over again, don't you know any other words?"

It is also revealed later on in the Dark Signers arc that Yusei felt guilty about the Zero Reverse incident and blamed himself for it as well as all the disastrous consequences that it caused the following years. He also wonders why no one hates him for any of that. Having heard this Crow assured him Yusei didn't need to take responsibility for it, but he and Roman Goodwin commented this being "the darkness in Yusei's heart".

While no longer blaming himself for the Zero Reverse, his guilt wasn't completely gone; the idea of a second Zero Reverse or any similar dangers for the city horrifies him, something some of his opponents such as Primo were able to exploit to break his Clear Mind. Yusei occasionally has nightmares about the Zero Reverse after which he goes to reflect about it, something Jack and Crow find predictable.

He believes that Synchro Monsters are not the bringer of destruction despite the evidence to the contrary He also cares very much for New Domino City's safety, and has even said he will never allow a tragedy like Zero Reverse to ever happen again in the city, even if it means his life. He also told Z-one that nobody has the right to take away another person's future, even it was to save the world. Furthermore, he believes that if there is no present Ener-D, then the future cannot be saved. He also believes that what awaits someone after leaving their friends behind, would not be true freedom.

Antinomy has said that Yusei being unable to leave out his feelings towards a former friend are both his greatest strength and weakness.

In the dub, Yusei has had a fear of insects ever since a cockroach nested in his ear, as said by Nervin. He was however able to conquer this fear after his Duel against Lenny, though he seemed to show discomfort in his first Duel against Roman Goodwin, where he asked if it "was too much to ask to Summon a monster with only two legs".

Abilities
Yusei is shown to be highly technical when it comes to computers and machines, able to build and program seemingly anything as he was to build his own Duel Runner from scrap parts, twice, and how he jammed the criminal mark on Rally Dawson. Along with the ability to construct one, he is also shown to be an expert at riding a Duel Runner, evidenced numerous times throughout his Duels. He is a skilled fighter, as evident from how effortlessly he knocked out two of Goodwin's security guards. He appears to have expertise in physics considering the fact that at one point Akiza came to request his assistance on the subject and later takes over his parents' job as head of overseeing the completion of the Ener-D. As Team 5D's team captain, Yusei showed to be a very capable strategist and tactician, able to see through his opponent's plans and devising plans for his own team. He is also an adept teacher as shown when he was helping Akiza get her Turbo Dueling License.

Later, Yusei learns to Accel Synchro Summon via Clear Mind, which enables him to control the Ener-D in his Duel Runner with his will and go at critical speeds without stopping. With it he is capable of Summoning "Shooting Star Dragon" (although he performed Clear Mind for the first time in episode 109 and Summoned "Shooting Star Dragon", Yusei did not achieve Clear Mind on his own due to using the Crimson Dragon mark to perform it. It is only in episode 122 that Yusei has used Clear Mind without relying on the Crimson Dragon's power. ). Antinomy also confirmed that he is capable of achieving Delta Accel Synchro via Top Clear Mind. However, in episode 150, Yusei instead achieved Limit Over Accel Synchro Summon via Over Top Clear Mind, a god-like power that greatly exceeds Top Clear Mind itself (this kind of state could not be performed without the Crimson Dragon itself along with all six Marks of the Dragon aiding him. Unlike other Clear Mind states, Yusei flew at very fast speed in the air rather than the ground. When performing this, Yusei and his Duel Runner turned gold in color. With this, Yusei is capable of Summoning "Shooting Quasar Dragon".

Yusei's Signer mark gives him powers that no ordinary man has, like the ability to locate other Signers or protecting himself and others from harm or other supernatural effects. In Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D Bonds Beyond Time, his mark even makes him able to see and hear the spirits of Duel Monsters and humans.

Etymology
Yusei's last name Fudo, means "steadfast" and "unmovable". His first name means "planet" or "planetary" from the planetary gears that operated Ener-D); he connects all of the other gears, which represent his friends.

History
Yusei was born in the Tops area of New Domino City. His parents were lead developers for the Ener-D Reactor. Dr. Fudo named his son Yusei after the Planetary Particle (Yūsei Ryūshi), as he wished for Yusei to be able to connect people with bonds. As Roman Goodwin was about to cause Zero Reverse was about to take place, Yusei's father placed Yusei in an escape pod to save him from the explosion, while Yusei's parents died.

Yusei's escape pod landed in the newly created Satellite area, sometime later he was taken to Martha orphanage where he grew up with and befriended Jack Atlas, and Crow Hogan. Growing up, Yusei became interested in auto mechanics

As teenagers, Yusei, Jack, and Crow befriended Kalin Kessler. As residents of Satellite, they were made to do labor for the residents of New Domino City and denied many luxuries which were enjoyed by the residents of New Domino.

Being forced to survive on what he could, Yusei developed expert Dueling skills. As Duel Gangs began to take over Satellite, Yusei along with Kalin, Jack, and Crow formed their own gang called the Enforcers. Believing they could never leave Satellite, the team tried to make the most of their lives there. They began taking over various regions, by defeating other teams and destroying their Duel Disks with Deathmatch Duel Ropes



While facing another Duel Gang, one of the members tries to kill Yusei, by throwing him off the roof. Kalin catches Yusei with his own Duel Rope, stopping him from falling. As Kalin's platform begins to give way, Yusei tells Kalin to leave him and save himself. Kalin refuses to abandon his friend and pulls Yusei up. With that gang defeated, the Enforcers have captured all the zones in Satellite. They finally dominated the whole of Satellite.

Sometime later, Kalin forces a kid into a Duel and assaults him after winning. The rest of the gang realize Kalin is becoming cruel and is letting the power get to his head. Crow and Jack leave the gang, but Yusei stays by Kalin's side. Sector Security later arrive in Satellite, armed with Duel Runners. Kalin decides to go up against Sector Security. Yusei leaves the team, hoping that Kalin won't decide to go through with the fight when he's alone.

Kalin still proceeds with the fight, and the rest of the gang return to help Kalin when he is on the run. The team faced Security, in what Kalin believed to be the Enforcer's last Duel. Yusei gets in a fight with Kalin when Kalin murders a Security Officer. Crow and Jack restrained Kalin in a room, while Yusei tried to surrender himself to Security claiming he was the leader, in the hopes that Kalin and the rest won't get arrested. Before he could do this, the Security officers already found and arrested Kalin. As Kalin is dragged into a Security wagon, the officer pats Yusei on the shoulder, sarcastically thanking him for assisting in the arrest. Kalin sees this and believes Yusei sold him out, but is taken away before Yusei can explain himself.

Yusei later spent much of his time with Jack, Blitz, Nervin, Tank and Rally. During this time which, he develops impressive skills in hand-to-hand combat, engineering, computers, motorcycle riding.

Yusei Duels and loses to Jack. Jack tells him that he cannot win a Duel with Monsters, Spell or Trap Cards alone, only with them joined up. Jack points to his heart, saying that all he needed to amass a victory is right here. At the time, Yusei did not understand what he meant. Yusei was able to pick up TV signals from New Domino City, allowing his friends to witness Turbo Duels. He fell out with Jack after a difference in goals, as Jack wanted power and to lead people.

With his friends' help, Yusei was able to make his own Duel Runner. Yusei had planned to ride this Duel Runner along with "Stardust Dragon" through Satellite in order to give the citizens hope. However, Jack stole the Duel Runner and "Stardust Dragon" in order to escape to New Domino City and become the "Turbo Duel King." Yusei had considered these stolen items to be "bonds of friendship" belonging to him and his friends and vowed to get them back.

Fortune Cup
Two years later, after building a new Duel Runner with the help of Rally, Blitz, Tank, and Nervin, Yusei makes plans to venture to New Domino City to recover "Stardust Dragon" from Jack.

In the process, he runs into Trudge, a Sector Security officer, who wants to arrest Rally for stealing an acceleration chip. (in the dub, Rally was framed.) Trudge agrees to Duel Yusei under the condition that if Yusei won, Trudge would forget the events of that day; if Trudge won, Yusei would give himself up to Trudge. After accepting the challenge and losing, Trudge swears to crush Yusei, but lets him go.

While the only pipeline connecting Satellite to New Domino City, which is a chute for waste, was closed for maintenance, Yusei took advantage of this to escape to New Domino. On the way, he gets chased by Trudge, who forces him into a Turbo Duel. Yusei wins one second before the hatch to New Domino started closing. Avoiding the trash flooding through the pipeline, Yusei slipped through the maintenance hatch right before it closed, leaving Trudge stuck in the pipeline now full of trash.

Yusei manages to find Jack. Jack tosses "Stardust Dragon" back to him, telling Yusei he can have it. Yusei refuses and tosses it back to Jack, saying that he would rather Duel him for it to prove he can get it on his own. Jack agrees, but their Turbo Duel is interrupted by the appearance of the Crimson Dragon right before the winner is determined, later revealed to have been Yusei. The Dragon causes Jack's already permanent birthmark (Mark of the Dragon) to glow and burn as well as revealing Yusei's mark, the Dragon's Tail. Yusei is arrested shortly after for trespassing into New Domino while Jack leaves safely. Rex Goodwin and Lazar, who had been monitoring the Duel, reveal that if the Crimson Dragon hadn't appeared, Jack would have lost.

After his arrest, Yusei was scarred with a large mark on the left side of his face that signified his criminal record, and was sent to The Facility, where he met Tenzen Yanagi. Yanagi informs Yusei of the Crimson Dragon and the Signers, telling him that those who have the birthmarks were chosen by the People of the Stars. Yusei's birthmark is the Crimson Dragon's Tail, which appears on his arm when he fights alongside "Stardust Dragon" or encounters another Signer.

Yusei meets former pro Duelist, Bolt Tanner, who imposes a Duel. Since Yusei's cards had been taken, Yanagi Duels Tanner. Disgusted at Yanagi's poor Dueling and his cards, Tanner stamps on the cards, despite their sentimental value to Yanagi. Yusei knocks Tanner down and challenges him to a Duel, borrowing Yanagi's Deck. Yusei defeats him without ever attacking once and Tanner offers his assistance to him.

Under Rex Goodwin's orders, the warden Armstrong is made carry out tests on Yusei. Armstrong also has Yusei sent to a different part of the Facility. Yusei's new cellmate Alex offers Yusei a chance to escape through a tunnel he's been working on for months. Yusei agrees to come if they can take Tanner and Yanagi too. However Armstrong has Tanner and Yanagi beaten for knowing Yusei. Yusei stands up to Mr. Armstrong, causing him to impose stricter rules. Goodwin then unexpectedly shows up, and grants Yusei freedom from the Facility - on the condition that he defeat Armstrong in a Duel and come to work with him. Yusei, though feeling suspicious, accepts Goodwin's offer.

Yusei refuses to escape with Alex, as Tanner and Yanagi are unable to come too and escaping wouldn't grant true freedom. Without a Deck to use against Armstrong, the other inmates give Yusei cards to use against Armstrong.



The next day Yusei faces Armstrong, using the Deck of random cards. The Duel is setup to shock players if they suffer damage, but Armstrong rigs the arena to stop himself receiving shocks and uses surveillance cameras to see Yusei's cards. Alex, however uses his tunnel to sneak into a security room and switches Armstrong's shocks back on, causing a brief blackout in the process. During the blackout, Yusei switches the positions of two of his Set cards, knowing that Armstrong knows which was Set where. Yusei defeats Armstrong and is released by Goodwin.

Before his release, Yanagi gives Yusei his "Totem Pole" card. Tanner gives him his "Giant Ushi Oni", instructing him to go to Bootleg, order some milk, and ask for a guy named Blister, then use the card to prove he met Tanner.

Yusei is followed by two men working for Goodwin at Bootleg, but is pulled away by Blister on his Duel Runner. Blister jams the signal emitted from Yusei's criminal mark to stop them being followed. Despite believing it to be suicide on Yusei's part, Blister helps him in infiltrating an impound warehouse to recover his Deck and Duel Runner.

Disguised as an electrician, under the pseudonym Yusei Adams (Taro Daimon in the Japanese version), Yusei was able to sneak into the warehouse. When he gets to the crate, where his Duel Runner is held, he is ambushed by Trudge. Yusei hops onto his Duel Runner and smashes it through the crate. Trudge forces him into another Turbo Duel. While trying to escape, Trudge closes all the security doors, making Yusei's chances of escaping very slim. However, Blister blows up the elevator door and at ground floor, Yusei rides out while Trudge gets stuck in the elevator. Soon he catches up. After Trudge starts physically attacking Yusei, Blister arrives to help, having had a change of heart over what Yusei told him about friends. Yusei wins the Duel, but is electrocuted by a huge crowd of Security then crashes which knocked him out unconscious outside at the Tops, where the richest people live. Luna feels Yusei's pain and rushes outside with Leo, only to find Yusei outside the alleyway on the floor and unconscious.

Yusei is later given refuge by the twins Leo and Luna. In the Japanese version, he fears that he would only cause them trouble by staying, but they manage to talk him into a Duel and staying for the night. In the dub, after his Duel with Trudge, Yusei must of hit his head somewhere in the crash which causes him to get amnesia and because of it he could't remember anything, minus knowing the twins names due to being a new memory, not even his own name, although his Dueling and Mechanic skills were still intact. He Duels Leo in the hopes of getting his memory back, whilst in the Japanese version, Yusei is reminded of Rally through Leo's personalities.

After leaving the twins, he is threatened into participating in the Fortune Cup by Lazar, who holds his Satellite friends hostage. Yusei is later given more incentive to participate when Jack gives "Stardust Dragon" back and personally demands that he face him. In the quarter-finals of the Fortune Cup, Yusei faced Hunter Pace, disguised as Shira, and won, moving to the semifinals. His opponent in the semifinals is Greiger.

After Yusei defeats Greiger, Greiger attempts to take revenge on Goodwin for what he did to his village, but Yusei manages to stop him. Before security takes Greiger away, he tells Yusei to fulfill his own mission. In the dub, Yusei stops Greiger from knocking down the tower Goodwin was in to get revenge on what Goodwin did to his village, but a spike broke through the glass at the top of the tower (where Goodwin is) from the collision with Greiger's Duel Runner and Yusei's Duel Runner and Goodwin stopped it with his metal hand. As security takes Greiger away, he tells Yusei to be careful in the finals in the dub.

Yusei faces Akiza, a member of the Arcadia Movement, in the finals. Previously, he had thought that she only felt anger and rejection. But after Akiza's first move, he notices and points out that she has a pleasure and joy for destruction. Akiza replies that cannot be true, however, later on the Duel, after people insult her again, she accepts it all because of being the "Black Rose". According to her, this other side of her is the one who enjoys destruction all because of the powers caused by the Mark of the Dragon. He learns that after she was found by Sayer, he told her to feel but not to think, to let him do that for her. But even still, she puts on her mask just to feel; this prompts Yusei to fight this Duel to change her.

By the end of the Duel begins as he says that her pain which came from all the destruction she caused was turned into one that the other Signers shared. Yusei tells her that the birthmark may hold the answer for her pain, but in order to find out, she must think and love herself. Akiza still intends to deny this by winning the Duel without noticing, as pointed out by Yusei, who has seen through her, that she is crying. Thus he eventually wins, resulting in her mask cut in half due to "Cosmic Blast" and after she falls, Akiza tells him to "help her".

He faces Jack in the championship match. Although he is pushed to a corner in the middle of the Duel, Yusei wins using various combos with "Stardust Dragon" to destroy Jack's "Red Dragon Archfiend" and becomes the new King of Turbo Duels. He tends to ignore his victory however, concerned about the vision of the Spider Nazca Line which he and Jack saw during the Duel.

Dark Signers
Following his victory against Jack, Yusei flees the stadium with Tanner, Yanagi, Luna, and Leo to avoid being mobbed by reporters and fans. They hide out at Blister's place at the edge of the city.

Yusei spots a man with a glowing birthmark. Believing him to be a Signer, Yusei chases him to a construction site where he faces him in a Shadow Duel. The opponent reveals himself to be a Dark Signer(Shadow Drone in the dub) and states their motives to destroy the Signers. Yusei defeats the man, revealed to be a street Duelist named Grady who now has no memory of the Duel. His Deck changes after the Duel, and his Mark of the Shadows disappears. Yusei runs away after Sector Security appears to examine the damage caused by the Shadow Duel. After returning to the hideout, Security led by Trudge track him down. Yusei walks out to meet them and says he wanted to talk to Goodwin anyway (in the dub, Yusei called Trudge to take him to Goodwin).

Yusei is taken to meet Goodwin at an incomplete bridge pointing in the direction of Satellite. Here, Goodwin tells him about the battle between the Crimson Dragon and the Earthbound Immortals, where the Signer Dragons sealed the Earthbound Immortals in the Nazca Lines. Goodwin says that those bearing the mark of the Crimson Dragon and the Earthbound Immortals' servants, the Signers and Dark Signers have been battling for 5,000 years. Their battle is destined to determine the fate of the world. The Original Ener-D reactor in Satellite is a door to the Netherworld itself, which the Dark Signers plan opening, to release the evil sealed in the Nazca Lines. Yusei understands Goodwin deliberately isolated Satellite from New Domino to restrict the battlefield to Satellite, only harming the Satellite residents. Yusei requests that they evacuate Satellite, but Goodwin says he can't, since it would allow the Dark Signers to target the city, ensuring a greater amount of casualties. Goodwin arranged a helicopter to airdrop Yusei and his Duel Runner into Satellite.

After arriving in Satellite, Yusei is reunited with Crow. The two head back to Yusei's Satellite hideout, where he is reunited with Rally and the others. Security officers had been following Crow, so everyone splits up. Crow takes on the Security officers, and Yusei arrives to help, resulting in a Tag-Team Turbo Duel. After winning the Duel, Yusei and Crow meet up with Rally and his others at Crow's base under the Daedalus Bridge. Here, Yusei tells his friends about the disastrous vision shown by the Crimson Dragon and the story told by Goodwin. He listens along with the others the story about the man who made the bridge. During the night both he and Crow head to the B.A.D., where the Original Ener-D Reactor is. They are confronted by Kalin, who is now a Dark Signer. Kalin shows great hatred to his old friends and forces Yusei into a Shadow Turbo Duel. Kalin takes the upper hand with "Hundred-Eyes Dragon". Yusei is able to comeback with "Stardust Dragon", but Kalin turns the tables and Summons his "Earthbound Immortal", "Ccapac Apu". Before Yusei is defeated, his Duel Runner breaks down and the Duel is canceled. Yusei is then found impaled in the abdomen by a large shard.(In the dub, the shard and blood was removed, despite the fact that the scene in which Rally and the others watching it was not, and he is said to have cuts and bruises.)

Crow takes him to Martha's in order to receive the required surgery. Dr. Schmitt, assisted by Martha, managed to save Yusei's life. After waking up he sees that Rally and the others brought his Duel Runner all the way from the B.A.D. Yusei gets scolded by Martha for putting himself in danger, without asking his friends for help. She reminds Yusei of his idea of "believing in friends" as they will always be there supporting and helping him out. As he recovers, he checks his Duel Runner and thinks that Kalin is too powerful for him to defeat.

As Akiza is about to Duel Misty Tredwell, Yusei's mark reacts. He rushes outside and sees the Hummingbird and Lizard Earthbound Immortal marks. He is aware a Duel between a Signer and Dark Signer is about to begin, but is unable to assist. After Akiza is taken to the hospital, her parents turn to Yusei for help. Yusei is initially reluctant, but prompted by Martha, who teases him, asking if he had a crush on Akiza and that if they did have a special connection with her, he should ask her out, agrees to try.

When Akiza awakens, she is initially glad to see Yusei, but after seeing her parents, turns against him. Unable to calm her, Yusei tries to reach her by Dueling. Yusei takes damage through the Duel, but Hideo steps in to protect him. With Hideo's determination, Yusei is able to show Akiza that her parents love her.

Rex Goodwin's assistant, Mina Simington shows Akiza and Yusei information regarding the Arcadia Movement and Sayer's true motives, involving the abduction of children to create an army of Psychic Duelists. Yusei comforts Akiza from the devastation.

The Signers are invited to Rex Goodwin's house. Despite his distrust of Goodwin, Yusei decides to go, as this is the only way he get information on the Signers and Dark Signers. Yusei asks about reverting a Dark Signer back to normal. Goodwin reluctantly tells them that Dark Signers cannot be brought back as they are dead and no longer of this world. Yusei loses confidence in returning Kalin back to normal and blames himself for Kalin's current state. Jack, who is sickened by Yusei's self-doubt, punches him in the hopes of returning some sense to Yusei. Jack's actions and words, along with some moral support from the twins, restores Yusei's confidence.

When the four Signers return to Satellite along with Mina, Leo and Trudge meet up with Martha. They learn that Rally, Blitz, Tank, Nervin and Crow have disappeared. While everyone is sitting down to supper, Roman Goodwin interrupts. Jack wants to Duel him, but Yusei tells him that its too dangerous to Duel here with the flaming geoglyph. Yusei instructs Jack to take Martha and the kids to a safer place.

Yusei Duels Roman, while accompanied by Akiza. During the Duel, two of the children are nearly sacrificed to the geoglyph; however, Jack jumps his Duel Runner over the border of the geoglyph and uses his Mark of the Dragon to protect them. Martha, who was on top of a nearby damaged building with Trudge, falls into the geoglyph and gets sacrificed to Summon Roman's "Earthbound Immortal Uru". After Yusei Summons "Stardust Dragon", Roman leaves and revives Rally as a temporary Dark Signer to face Yusei. Rally sacrifices himself to help Yusei. To avenge Rally's sacrifice, Yusei swears the Dark Signers will be defeated with everything he has.

The four Signers separate and head to each of the four control units of the Original Ener-D Reactor where their respective opponent is waiting. Yusei head's towards Kalin's tower, but spots a column of light coming from where Luna went. Yusei finds Leo Dueling Devack. Yusei tries to stop the Duel, but cannot due to the nature of the Shadow Duel. Yusei is left with Trudge to watch helplessly.

He witnesses Luna come back and assist Leo, shortly after Devack Summoned "Earthbound Immortal Cusillu". Together, the twins defeat Cusillu and Devack. Afterwards, Ancient Fairy Dragon and Regulus appear to thank Luna, who tells them she couldn't have done it without Leo or Yusei. Yusei and the twins proceed to the tower to activate the control unit.

When the Killer Whale Geoglyph appears, Yusei finds Crow Dueling against Greiger, who is now a Dark Signer. Yusei tries to talk them out of the Duel, but both feel that they are fighting for the people they love and refuse to stop.

After Crow's Duel, Yusei proceeds to Kalin's tower, intending to save him, where they engage in a Shadow Turbo Duel. Towards the end of the Duel, all of the birthmarks disappeared from the Signers' arms and then unite to form an image of the Crimson Dragon on Yusei's back. Because of this, Yusei is able to Summon "Majestic Star Dragon" and destroy Kalin's Earthbound Immortal. Yusei manages to reconcile with Kalin before the Dark Signer turns into dust.

Yusei heads to Roman to request a final Duel. During the Duel, he learns of what happened in the Original Ener-D Reactor incident and more about his father. Yusei manages to defeat Roman, but in the latter's moment of defeat, Roman triggers an explosive that destroys the bridge they were Dueling on, leaving Yusei to fall into the pool of Ener-D.

Yusei ends up in a strange place, where people who died during the Zero Reverse accident reside. The souls start to attack him, but are stopped by Yusei's father. Dr. Fudo helps Yusei to escape the Netherworld. Yusei and his companions go up through the same stairs they used before. In the distance, they see purple sparks and deduce that Jack has won his Duel and activated the third control unit.

Yusei goes to the last tower, where Akiza is Dueling. He encounters Sayer in disguise, who lures him into a room. Inside, Mina is locked in a cage below. Sayer reveals himself and tells Yusei that Akiza is not a friend but a mind slave of his. He quickly subdues Yusei and throws him into the cage with Mina. Before leaving, Sayer seals the cage by using a "Hinotama" and fills the cage with water before leaving them to die.

After being rescued by Trudge, Yusei confronts Sayer, who by then has gained control of Akiza. They get into a fight and Sayer reveals that he was the one who killed Misty's brother, Toby. Just when Yusei was about to be blown off the building, he tricks Sayer into revealing this to Misty through his Duel Disk's microphone.

After Sayer is eaten by Misty's Earthbound Immortal, Yusei snaps Akiza out of her daze and she manages to defeat Misty. However, the sun sets before they can activate the control unit, and so the Condor Geoglyph appears in the sky.

Yusei, Jack and Crow face the last Dark Signer, Rex Goodwin in a 3-on-1 Shadow Turbo Duel. Crow protects Yusei from the effect of "Earthbound Immortal Wiraqocha Rasca", and his Life Points become 1. Yusei and Jack continue the Duel without Crow. After Jack is unable to Duel, Yusei has his Life Points reduced to 1. The Crimson Dragon mark on Rex disappears and three of the five birthmarks return to their original owners, with the Head Birthmark instead going to Yusei and the Tail Birthmark choosing a new owner in Crow. Yusei then summons "Majestic Star Dragon" and defeats Rex. The Crimson Dragon uses "Majestic Star Dragon" to gain a physical form and destroy the King of the Netherworld.

Pre-World Racing Grand Prix
Half a year after the Duel with Rex Goodwin, Yusei spends most of his time preparing his Duel Runner for the World Turbo Grand Prix. He assists in investigating damage to Duel Runners, caused by Ghost and ends up Dueling him. When it appeared that Yusei was beginning to get the upper hand, Ghost Summons his Synchro Killer, "Meklord Emperor Wisel". Utilizing "Majestic Star Dragon", Yusei was able to defeat Ghost and discovered that he was a robot. After meeting with Trudge, he explained that the robot he faced was known as a Duel Bot and that it was a test robot designed to see if they could be used in Sector Security's forces. Yusei feels that something big was coming and had to prepare for the worst.

He goes to Duel Academy and Duels Heitmann, a teacher who plans to expel Leo and Luna's class because they are weak for using low Level monsters. Using some cards that the kids gave him, he wins the Duel and proves that low-Level monsters can overcome high-Level ones.

Yusei later has the misfortune of being targeted by a rival team from the Grand Prix and kidnapped. He is rescued by Akiza and as the two of them escape from the truck he was trapped in, a female Turbo Duelist named Sherry LeBlanc appears. Yusei and Sherry then engage in a Turbo Duel, with Akiza witnessing as she's sitting on his Runner. Sherry offers Yusei a spot on her team for the World Racing Grand Prix. Sherry questions him, asking him what is his purpose. The Duel finishes with no result.

Yusei then asks Jack to Turbo Duel to see if he can win without using a Synchro Summon. Jack ends the Duel with no result, not able to take Yusei seriously if he isn't using Synchro Monsters. Later, he and the others went to the WRGP celebration, but in the middle of the celebration, a party crasher by the name of Dobocle interrupted it. After he was stopped by Akiza's "Black Rose Dragon", Trudge sent reinforcements after him, but Primo got to him earlier. One of the Security agents thought that he was Ghost, so he informed Trudge. After Yusei heard that, he quickly went to follow Ghost, but he is then challenged by the mysterious masked Duelist, Vizor. Vizor shows Yusei how he can surpass his own limits through the use of a new method: Accel Synchro Summon. Yusei is intrigued and vows to surpass his limits, because he knows that Accel Synchro Summoning is the only way to beat "Meklord Emperor Wisel".

Yusei watches Akiza during her Duel Runner lessons, and helps her improve and learn various Duel Runner tricks. When Akiza passes her Turbo Dueling exam by Dueling Trudge, Yusei congratulates her and welcomes her to the world of Turbo Dueling.

After these events Leo asks Yusei to construct him a Duel Board so he can Duel with Lester. After a night of construction he completed the board for him. The next day Yusei notices his mark glowing, signaling him that Luna's Dueling. After Luna and Leo lost their fight with Lester he's determined to defeat Ghost and his "Wisel Infinity" and learn about Accel Synchro.

Crow has always known Yusei as a man who keeps his feelings to himself rather than share them with his friends. Yusei left before Jack and Crow woke up one morning to try and match the speed of Accel Synchro. He believes that he lucked out during his Turbo Duel with Ghost and that he would've lost had the Crimson Dragon not shown up in time.

YJack and Crow later find him, and he reveals his unease around Ghost. He also tells them that he suspects that Iliaster is behind everything, as Roman had told him that it was a man from Iliaster who set him down the path of becoming a Dark Signer. Furthermore, they are using the WRGP for a plan, if Sherry's story proves true. The three decide to work towards mastering Vizor's Accel Synchro as a means to effectively combat the new Iliaster plot and protect the city.

Mina and Trudge invite Yusei, Jack, and Crow to dinner, attempting to convince them to take in Bruno, an amnesiac with mechanical aptitude. After a mishap in which Jack believes Bruno vandalized his Duel Runner, Yusei takes up the favor and clears the misunderstanding. The two bond due to similar knowledge and make progress with developing the engine.

Later that night, while the four are asleep, someone breaks in and steals the engine program. The next morning, they try to hack into Security's database, which includes a Duel Puzzle. After Crow and Jack fail the simulation, Bruno steps in and easily beats the simulation. Finding out that Lazar has stolen the engine program, they follow Lazar through a mall, where they almost lose sight of him due to holographic technology. Bruno and Yusei follow Lazar to a factory, where they are separated. Bruno goes to call for help while Yusei finds and subdues Lazar.

Using the stolen program, Primo activates a legion of Duel Bpts as Ghosts, and leaves after activating a self-destruct sequence to destroy the factory. Primo also traps Yusei and Lazar in a room with a Guard Robot programmed with knowledge of Yusei's strategies and a Lockdown Deck designed to stall him as the self-destruct sequence counts down. While the rest of his friends escape, Yusei defeats the robot, and Lazar helps Yusei escape. Lazar warns Yusei about the enemies he will be facing before departing.

3D: Bonds Beyond Time
One night Yusei had another nightmare about the Zero Reverse. The next morning Jack Atlas and Crow Hogan found him reflecting about the incident yet again, pointing out that he always does so whenever he has those nightmares. Jack and Crow reminded Yusei that the incident wasn't his fault and there was nothing he could've done to stop it, and they suggested taking a ride on their Duel Runners to get the Zero Reverse off Yusei's mind, which Yusei agreed to.

While riding, Yusei, Jack, and Crow noticed a strange Duelist wearing a mask riding a large Duel Runner. Yusei is suddenly challenged to a Turbo Duel by the masked man. Yusei quickly Summoned "Stardust Dragon" by tuning his "Junk Synchron" with "Junk Warrior". The masked man however, had been waiting for this, as he used his powers to capture "Stardust Dragon" and create a "Malefic" copy. The man identified himself as "Paradox" and bid Yusei farewell and told him to perish along with his era, as he disappeared. Yusei was left stunned and noticed "Stardust Dragon"'s card was suddenly blank.

Yusei, Jack and Crow discussed Paradox's identity at their garage, when Akiza Izinski, Leo and Luna arrived and showed them an old news article they found. The article was about "Maximillion Pegasus" and "Yugi Muto", with Yusei recognizing Yugi as a legendary Duelist. They were startled to see a record of "Stardust Dragon" assaulting various Duelists in Europe in the article. Knowing that "Stardust Dragon" could not have existed in that era, Yusei zooms in on the article's picture to discover Paradox standing in the background of the dragons. Outside, New Domino City began to crumble and collapse. Witnessing the destruction, Jack Atlas realizes that the existence of "Stardust Dragon" in the past was changing the future - which is their present.

With the support of the other Signers, their marks began to glow as the complete Crimson Dragon mark appeared on Yusei's back followed by Yusei's Duel Runner glowing as well. Yusei felt himself being called by the Crimson Dragon and the Crimson Dragon instructed Yusei to board his Runner. With its help, a time slip was opened so Yusei could begin his chase after Paradox.

Back at Europe in the past, the Crimson Dragon intercepted the attack of "Stardust Dragon" on Jaden and "Elemental Hero Neos", disappearing in the process. Paradox was confused by Yusei's appearance in the past, as Yusei looked at "Stardust Dragon" before Paradox took his leave. Yusei and Jaden then chat on a roof, with Yusei explaining that Paradox's true aim was to travel through time to distort the past. Yubel and Banner appeared and noticed Yusei's Dragon Mark allowed him to see them, to which Jaden said that meant Yusei was also a Duelist chosen by destiny. Yusei asked Jaden to help him track down Paradox. Jaden used his laptop to look for past new articles until he found about an event that Paradox caused that would create a major historical event. Jaden saw his "Neos" turn into a blank card. As the country began to collapse, Yusei told Jaden that they must hurry to save the world.

Using the Crimson Dragon's power, the two traveled further to the past to the time of Yugi Muto after Paradox attacked the crowd with "Cyber End Dragon", killing almost everybody, including Pegasus, and Yugi's grandfather, Solomon Muto. Yugi was the only survivor amongst the ruins, as he mourned over his grandfather's death. The Crimson Dragon took Yugi back in time at the same place half an hour earlier. Yusei and Jaden confronted Yugi and asked for his help against Paradox. Yugi agreed to help.

The three planned to cancel the event so Paradox couldn't launch his attack again. Jaden Summoned Yubel to scare the audience so they would flee. Yusei suggested they should call Pegasus and warn him about Paradox's impending arrival. Paradox however noticed Yusei, Jaden, and Yugi's interference and appeared to confront them. Paradox explained how he came from a world destroyed by Duel Monsters. He planned to destroy the game to prevent that future from happening. Although the three tried to persuade him that the future can be changed in other ways, Paradox refused to listen, insisting that the three couldn't save the world and challenged them to a 3-on-1 Duel with Yugi, Jaden and Yusei sharing 4000 Life Points.

Yusei showed his skills as a Synchro Duelist by Summoning "Junk Synchron", which stunned Yugi and Jaden since Synchro didn't exist yet during their time periods. Yusei was horrified when Paradox summoned "Malefic Stardust Dragon", which he considered an insult to the real one. Yugi managed to rescue "Stardust Dragon" and destroy Paradox's "Malefic Paradox Dragon", but Paradox Special Summoned his most powerful card, "Malefic Truth Dragon". He then fused himself with the dragon, and destroyed all of Yusei, Jaden and Yugi's monsters on the field. Yusei lost hope, until Yami Yugi and Jaden managed to convince him to keep fighting until the end. As "Stardust" returned to the field, Yusei recovered the monsters Paradox destroyed in his last turn and got a power boost from Trap Cards played by Yami Yugi and Jaden, increasing the ATK of "Stardust Dragon" to 10000, allowing him to destroy "Malefic Truth Dragon" and defeat Paradox.

With Paradox defeated, all the damage he caused was repaired. Yusei bid farewell to Yugi and Jaden, believing that they will meet again before returning to his own timeline, where his friends await. He questioned whether or not the future Paradox spoke of is true or not, but he knew that they were the ones who decided the future. Yusei promised Yugi and Jaden that he will protect his irreplaceable friends and future and returned to New Domino City.

Crash Town
Later, Yusei travels out far to a small western town called Crash Town, a location that is a battleground for two gangs, one side has his friend, Kalin. He observes from up on a cliff where he meets Barbara who explains the history of the city. The Duel Gangs in the area Duel for money, but if they lose, they become slaves and are forced to mine in a mountain for the rest of their life. Yusei watches a Duel between Kalin and The Giant which he quickly wins in one turn. After the Duel he tries to call out to him as he is riding away, but Kalin simply rides off, paying little mind to his appearance. Yusei realizes that he needs to Duel him to get him back, and he and Barbara create a plan to rescue him when he loses.

Joining the opposing gang, Yusei Duels Kalin the next day. During the Duel, Kalin reveals his guilt for becoming a Dark Signer and fighting Yusei, and thus wishes for defeat so that he may die. When Yusei defeats Kalin, however, Barbara double-crosses him, which causes him to be hauled off to the mountain along with his friend as Lawton arrives. Yusei disables the shock collar around his neck and attempts to convince Kalin to escape with him, knocking him out when he refuses. Yusei takes Kalin and escapes into the mine, retrieving his Duel Runner with the help of West and Nico. When Lawton appears to stop them, Yusei initiates a Turbo Duel with him to allow his friends to escape, almost losing to "Gatling Ogre". The Duel in interrupted due to Kalin's appearance, and Lawton uses dynamite to escape, throwing Yusei and Kalin off the mountain. Returning to the town (recently renamed Lawton Town), Yusei and Kalin Duel Lawton. When Lawton is pushed into a corner, however, Barbara takes West and Nico hostage and demand Kalin and Yusei's surrender. With the arrival of Crow and Jack, Lawton attempts to escape, but Kalin borrows Yusei's Duel Runner and finishes Lawton off. With Lawton defeated and the town renamed Satisfaction Town, Yusei, Jack, and Crow bid farewell to Kalin, who stays behind in the liberated town.

World Racing Grand Prix
After the events at Satisfaction Town, Yusei returned to New Domino City where he meets with Trudge and Mina to find out more about Bruno. However, a bomb explodes and another bomb threat is issued, causing an evacuation of Sector Security headquarters, but Yusei and Bruno are unable to escape. Finding Sherry LeBlanc, who set off the first bomb, they pursue her, but her butler Elsworth is able to stop Yusei and challenge him to a Duel. Yusei defeats the butler, and convinces him to try and stop Sherry. As they enter the room where Sherry was attempting to analyze a mysterious card, the analysis computer mysteriously begins to glow and the four are transported to a mysterious white space with a comma-shaped machine, which analyzes them. The four wake up on the shore shortly after the event.

He later appeared to help Crow work out the kinks in his Duel Runner with Bruno's help, finding a strange circuit in the process. He later watched Crow's Duel against Bolton and is the first to know that he is Dueling with an Anti-"Blackwing" Deck. While watching the Duel, his birthmark, along with Crow's and Jack's, began to glow as Crow Summons his Signer Dragon "Black-Winged Dragon". Crow defeats Bolton, who is arrested but gives the three new, more powerful engines.

Forming Team 5D's for the WRGP, the group headed out to the practice track to get a feel for their new engines. During this practice run, Crow accidentally ran into a member of Team Unicorn, Breo. Andre, the team's ace, challenges Yusei to a Turbo Duel, which he accepts. During the Duel Yusei realizes that Andre can analyze every possible scenario before playing his cards, like himself. Summoning "Stardust Dragon", Yusei attempts to seize victory, but the time limit for the practice run stops the Duel. He also notices he did not have a confirmed victory because of Andre's unknown Set card.

During the first round in the WRGP, Yusei faced off against all three members of Team Unicorn because Jack and Akiza lost to Andre, who had shifted his own strategy to counter Jack's Power Deck. Yusei was able to claim victory over Andre, who managed to halve Yusei's Life Points with "Magic Charge" before losing. He then struggles against Breo's Mill Deck, but manages to defeat him with "Junk Destroyer". Yusei then barely defeats Jean without any cards in his Deck, as Jean had decided to try to end the Duel by damage instead of Deck Out With this, Yusei pulled off a seemingly-impossible victory and won the first match of the preliminaries.

He celebrated their first victory with his teammates when Sherry arrived to discuss what had happened to them up until now. They discussed the events about Ghost and the "Meklord Emperor" monsters, Lester, and what she, Yusei, and Bruno saw that day at the Sector Security's compound. They also discussed the Imposter Jack Atlas. Sherry believed that Iliaster was behind all this and that they are being targeted because they are the Signers, which everyone is shocked to hear that Sherry knows about. The next day, Yusei, Jack, and Crow decided to see how Team Unicorn is doing in their match. Once they got there, they discovered that they lost due to their Duel Runners crashing unexpectedly in their match against Team Catastrophe.

While reviewing the Duel, they figured out that when ever a player crashes, the Team Catastrophe member had "Hook the Hidden Knight" on the field. At the same time, Akiza was involved in an accident similar to the one Crow was in and fell into a coma. They know that Team Catastrophe was behind this and decided to beat them fair and square in the tournament to pay them back. Yusei and the rest of Team 5D's watched Crow's Duel very closely to see what is the relationship between the crashes and the monster, "Hook". They soon discovered that after its effect activated, a hooked hand appeared from the shadow of its opponent's Duel Runner and caused their wheel to lock up. Even with this deadly monster on the field, Crow managed to stay in the game long enough, despite his still wounded shoulder, to win the Duel, destroying "Hook", and trading places with Jack. After the first two turns of the Duel, Team 5D's managed to win the second Duel due to Nicolas's Duel Runner being destroyed by his own card's effect. Both of the cards were given to Team Catastrophe by Primo in an attempt to eliminate Team 5D's from WRGP. After his plan failed, he unleashed an army of Duelbots called Diablo into New Domino City and engaged Battle Royal mode.

Because of that, Yusei and others decided to fight against the Diablo army. Yusei teamed up with Sherry and Elsworth, while Jack paired with Security officer Kaz in an attempt to stop the Duelbots. After they defeated some of them, Primo sent all the remaining Duelbots to the trio. They quickly defeated Elsworth and Sherry, leaving Yusei to fight alone. Bruno, who saw this, wanted to help Yusei. A voice in his mind reminded him of his "task"; this prompted him to get his Duel Runner and go to help Yusei. Transforming into Vizor, he helps Yusei escape from the Duelbots. Fed up, Primo faces Yusei on his own. Vizor stalls Primo with a Duel so Yusei can obtain the last element needed to obtain his Clear Mind. Yusei overcomes his fear of "Meklord Emperor Wisel", causing a tablet to fall from the sky. Touching the tablet transports him to the white space where the comma-shaped machine stood, which gives him a blank card. Returning to the city, Yusei Duels Primo, who merges with his Duel Runner.

Primo, determined to win, used stolen "Skiel" parts to boost the power of his "Meklord Emperor". This gives Primo an advantage, and his remarks prevent Yusei from using Clear Mind. Primo's "Wisel" absorbs "Stardust Dragon", but Yusei is able to retrieve it and finally Accel Synchro Summon his new "Shooting Star Dragon", whose effect destroys "Wisel" and eliminates Primo's Life Points. With Primo's body destroyed, Jakob and Lester appear to take his remains. Jakob explains the team's purpose to Yusei, Jack, and Crow, obtains his "Granel" tablet, and leaves.

Yusei then accompanied Jack to Greiger's hometown after receiving an e-mail from him saying that Jack needed to find a new method of fighting. While Jack was absent, Yusei talked with Greiger, who realized that he was used by The Crimson Devil. Later he went with Greiger and Max to temple where Jack was Dueling the Familiar of Red Nova, and witnessed as Jack obtains Blazing Soul and defeats the familiar.

Later, he went with Jack, Crow and Bruno to search for cup ramen, Jack's favorite, because they were sold out. There they met a disguised Lazar, but before Yusei could ask him about Iliaster, he disappeared. Yusei, Jack, and Crow lure Lazar into a trap, and Yusei uses a tracking device to corner him as he escapes. After Crow defeats Lazar, Yusei helps interrogate him about Iliaster, who takes them to an arcade game with stored information. Yusei helps complete the Duel Puzzle needed to enter the password, and they see that the Moment Express Development Organization was involved in the scheme.

Yusei and the others then went to Rick, Bolton's former associate (whom Bolton had ordered to aide them in any way needed just before his arrest), in order to find information about the Moment Express Development Organization. He agreed to help them infiltrate the headquarters under the guise that they were testing their Duel Runner-sized Ener-D engines. Yusei, Sherry, and Bruno enter the building and began investigating the company, including their mysterious Infinity machine. Sneaking into the office of Clark Smith, the Moment Express President, Bruno and Sherry obtain an access key to the highest-security checkpoint at the facility while Yusei distracts him with a Concentration Duel. Yusei is barely able to defeat Clark, who used underhanded techniques to gain an edge. Clark then activated an alarm and trapped the three in shuttle, forcing them through a wormhole using Infinity. Sherry is sucked into the wormhole while Yusei and Bruno are transported to the future, where Dr. Fudo appears and sends them back. Because Clark revealed his plans to the three, Iliaster promptly changes history to erase Moment Express from existence.

When Yusei and Bruno return to their own time, they realize that Iliaster has entered the finals as Team New World, and Lazar is promoted as the new Director of Sector Security to keep the WRGP in operation. Yusei, Jack, and Crow decide to train in order to defeat Team New World, and in the process meet Team Taiyo, a kind group who they help to fix their Duel Runner. However, they quickly realize that their next match is against the very same team. In the wake of Team Taiyo's "Zushin the Sleeping Giant", Yusei was able to defeat the team using cards left over from his friends.

After some time, Yusei, Jack and Crow met Team Ragnarok. Leader of the team, Halldor, explained to them how they got "Aesir" cards. After Yusei asked to combine their strength with them, Halldor refused, saying that Yusei's father was responsible for the Zero Reverse and they believe Yusei might be trying to continue the destruction his father left behind. Halldor challenged Team 5D's tomorrow, saying that team who won will have the right to Duel Team New World in the finals. Yusei accepted, saying that he and his friends cannot afford to lose.

Yusei enters the final stretch of Team 5D's match against Team Ragnarok against Halldor. Even though Jack and Crow manage to defeat their opponents, Dragan and Broder, their ace cards, "Thor, Lord of the Aesir" and "Loki, Lord of the Aesir" remain on the field due to their ability to Special Summon themselves from the Graveyard. In his first turn, Halldor Synchro Summons "Odin, Father of the Aesir" and starts a powerful assault on Yusei. Odin's effect nullifies Yusei's Spell and Trap Cards, but Yusei is able to Summon "Majestic Star Dragon" and later "Shooting Star Dragon", finally stopping the "Aesir" and defeating Team Ragnarok.

During the Duel between Team 5D's and Team New World, Yusei watches the first two Duels and feels that both Lester and Primo held back considerably, eventually realizing their strategy revolving around their "Infinite Aura". When Jack fails to destroy it, Jakob quickly Summoned "Meklord Emperor Granel", which promptly destroyed and absorbed "Red Nova Dragon", defeating Jack in one turn. Crow attempted to fight back with his "Blackwings", but also fell to the colossal monster, sacrificing his Life Points to pass his "Black-Winged Dragon" to Yusei. Jakob then reveals the destroyed future to Team 5D's, but Yusei chooses to continue the Duel, using "Black-Winged Dragon" to Summon his own "Stardust Dragon" and Accel Synchro Summon "Shooting Star Dragon", which destroys "Granel" with its effect.

With "Granel" destroyed, the Three Pure Nobles merge into Aporia, who Summons his "Meklord Astro Mekanikle" and absorbs "Shooting Star Dragon". Yusei struggles against this new monster, but is finally able to call on his friends' best monsters to his side, and destroys "Meklord Astro Mekanikle" with Crow's "Black-Winged Dragon", Jack's "Red Nova Dragon", and his "Shooting Star Dragon".

With this, the WRGP is finished with Team 5D's as the winner after a long tournament. However, the Grand Design is completed and the Divine Temple appears in the sky, ready to crash into New Domino City. Yusei resolves to stop the giant structure, but Sherry suddenly communicates with him through his Duel Runner and warns him that death will await him if he boards the Temple.

Ark Cradle
Despite knowing what future he may have if he went, Yusei decides to go up to Divine Temple. At first, he planned on going alone, but the rest of the team convinced him to let them go with him and fight by his side. With the help of Team Ragnarok and Vizor, they make it to Divine Temple. They were suddenly separated into three groups because of a trap. Yusei travels with Vizor to the center of Divine Temple.

Vizor and Yusei reach their Planetary Gear and find that there was no opponent there to face them. However four orbs float towards Vizor and engulf him in light, forcing a complete return of his memories. Vizor then faces Yusei and removes his visor, revealing his true identity. He identifies himself as Antinomy, who is an ally of Z-one and Yusei's opponent. Yusei is reluctant to face Antinomy, knowing that he was Bruno, but thinking of his mission and everyone that was relying on him, he accepts the Duel.

Antinomy and Yusei mount their Duel Runners and the setting changes to outer space, where the two of them ride along a white path near a star, which becomes a black hole that the loser would be sucked into.

Antinomy begins his assault quickly by Synchro Summoning "T.G. Hyper Librarian" on his first turn, allowing him to draw a card for each Synchro Summon. Though Yusei tries to destroy it with "Junk Berserker", Antinomy blocks that attack and, during his turn, performs an Accel Synchro Summon to bring out his "T.G. Blade Blaster" which does a great amount of damage to Yusei, putting his Life Points at 1600. After that, Yusei performs an Accel Synchro as well and counter-attacks, decreasing Antinomy's Life Points to 1800. Antinomy then tells to Yusei that Accel Synchro is nothing more than a mere exhibit and, by putting "T.G. Blade Blaster" back into the Extra Deck and bringing back its material monsters, along with Synchro Summoning "T.G. Recipro Dragonfly", Antinomy performs a Delta Accel Synchro, bringing out "T.G. Halberd Cannon". Due to its effect, Antinomy was able to prevent Yusei from banishing his "Shooting Star Dragon", as well as allowing Yusei to Summon a monster. However, Yusei then pulls off a combo with his weakened "Shooting Star Dragon" with "Balance Shooter" and "Endure Soul" to successfully defeat Antinomy.

As the black hole starts to absorb Yusei and Antinomy, Antinomy tells Yusei to save the world. Yusei, confused, seeing how Antinomy was trying to destroy New Domino City, asks why. Antinomy responds that despite him getting his memories back, he has seen Yusei's possibilities, and thus believes in him. Yusei calls to Antinomy as Bruno, to remind him that he was a part of Team 5D's, as well as their friend. Remembering his memories with the team, Bruno tells Yusei to master the Delta Accel Synchro. As Bruno's Duel Runner falls behind, Yusei tries to save Bruno, but Bruno reminds him that only the winner could escape. Bruno then removes his visor and uses his Runner to push Yusei out of the dimension, and falls back himself after doing so. After Yusei escapes the dimension, he sees Bruno's damaged visor and mourns over his death.

Once he caught up to the rest of the team and Sherry (who had been defeated by Crow and Akiza) he informed them of his Duel with Bruno and that he showed him a way to defeat Z-one. They all found Z-one in a strange room filled with junk. Once they confronted Z-one, Aporia appeared and challenged him to a Duel, having regained his sense of hope in his Duel with Jack, Leo and Luna. However, Aporia quickly falls to the might of Z-one's "Timelords" and gives Yusei's Duel Runner the power of flight to fight Z-one with. Yusei receives the other Signer Dragons from his friends and begins his battle against Z-one.

Yusei Duel Z-one with great skill and power, Summoning his friends' Signer Dragons despite Z-one's tactics. When Yusei deals damage to Z-one, however, his mask breaks, revealing a mark similar to Yusei's mark. After Z-one explains his appearance, he Summons and overwhelms Yusei with five "Timelords". Yusei struggles to defend himself with "Ancient Fairy Dragon", but a shockwave from the Divine Temple colliding with New Domino City throws him off his Duel Runner. Yusei was close to giving up, but seeing his father one last time before he recovered gave him the inspiration he needed. With this he achieves Over Top Clear Mind and uses his friends' Signer Dragons to Limit Over Accel Synchro Summon his final monster, "Shooting Quasar Dragon", which decimates the "Timelords". When Z-one counterattacks with the final "Timelord", Sephylon, the Ultimate Timelord", Yusei uses his final card, "Converging Wishes". It allows him to Summon his "Stardust Dragon". Yusei declares that his dragon is the combined form of everyone's wishes, and it will not lose. He activates another effect of "Converging Wishes", which increases his monster's ATK by the total number of ATK for every Dragon-Type Synchro Monster in his Graveyard raising its ATK to 23000 and by sending the Signer Dragons back to his Deck, for each one, he can force a battle with "Sephylon". One by one, the dragons of the Signers break through the Timelord's shields, eliminating Z-one's last defense. With the combined wishes of everyone in New Domino City, Yusei attacks with "Stardust Dragon", obliterating Z-one's Life Points and sending him crashing down. The Duel ends in Yusei's victory.

After the Crimson Dragon transports his friends away from the Divine Temple, Yusei flies at its core with the intent of sacrificing his own life to stop the structure (believing it will be his final role to the city). Z-one then appears to redeem himself, rescuing Yusei and sacrificing himself instead. Yusei then returns to his friends, who are overjoyed to see him after his supposed death.

Team 5D's future
Sometime after his Duel with Z-one, Yusei becomes a researcher for New Domino City and invents Fortune, a program that will ultimately prevent the Meklord Emperor Genocide from occurring. However, he is unsure if he wants to continue as a researcher or continue on as a Duelist. After a call with Crow, he decides to throw a party for all his friends. During the party, Jack challenges Yusei to a Duel to regain his former title to which Yusei himself accepts. Despite a valiant effort on Jack's part, Yusei defeats Jack, who decides to leave New Domino to pursue his own future. The night before everyone goes their separate ways, Yusei shares one last moment with Akiza, who is trying to confess to him her feelings before they leave each other. Yusei takes her hand, and the two stare into each other's eyes intimately. Yusei decides to stay in New Domino to protect it, as he says farewell to Akiza, who has decided to study medicine abroad, Crow, who has decided to leave to return to Dueling, and to Leo and Luna, who are leaving to live with their parents. With one last ride together, the Crimson Dragon appears and removes all the Signer marks, allowing the heroes, including Yusei, to move on to their respective futures without the heavy destiny of protecting the world. Yusei is the only member of the team whose future is not shown after this.

Jack Atlas
Jack and Yusei have known each other since they were children. Along with Crow they always seemed to be together. When they were in their teens, they joined The Enforcers, led by Kalin. After Kalin was arrested, Jack was offered the chance to go to New Domino City and become the Duel King. Jack and Yusei still seemed to be best friends, but when Jack tied Rally up and put him in a boat, he gave Yusei the option to either Duel him, or save Rally. When Yusei went to save Rally, Jack stole his "Stardust Dragon" and his Duel Runner and took off to New Domino City to become a Duel King under Rex Goodwin. Their friendship then ended (in the dub, Yusei grew a grudge towards Jack for betraying his trust and friendship and is much more angry about what Jack did). Most of the anime's first season is driven by Yusei and Jack's rivalry.

When it is discovered that Yusei and Jack are both Signers, whose destiny it is to save the world from the Dark Signers, they are forced to work together despite their differences. Their friendship is then finally fully repaired when Jack (during his, Crow's and Yusei's Duel with Rex Goodwin) admits to before how he knew it, he ended up in a group of pests and how he cannot escape what is known as a bond and tells Rex Goodwin people don't get easily lonely. From then on, Yusei and Jack became best friends again.

Rex Goodwin
Being the Director of Sector Security, Yusei had a deep mistrust towards Goodwin, and later hatred after Goodwin blackmailed Yusei into participating in the Fortune Cup by threatening his friends. Multiple times Yusei demanded Goodwin to explain his actions, and what the Dark Signers were up to. Yusei's distrust towards Goodwin worsened when he found out from Roman that he was involved in the Zero Reverse. Despite this, Yusei reluctantly trusted Goodwin because he was the only one who knew about the situation and how to save Satellite. Before going to confront the Dark Signers, Yusei forced Goodwin to promise he would complete the Daedalus Bridge should they win the battle.

After Goodwin became a Dark Signer, Yusei was prepared to confront him, but during their Duel he managed to convince Rex that he still had a bond with Roman. After Rex's death however, Yusei's request to complete the Daedalus Bridge was still fullfilled. While preparing to take off the Daedalus Bridge to reach the Divine Temple, Yusei reflected about how Goodwin also jumped off the bridge and how now he was following Rex's steps.

Crow Hogan
Yusei and Crow have been friends since they were children. The two trust each other as much as Jack and Yusei trust each other. However, there are instances where Yusei and Crow will disagree with each other. Despite this though, Yusei and Crow still respect the other's decision and support each other.

Akiza Izinski


Akiza and Yusei are both experienced Duelists and Signers. Yusei has helped out Akiza many times and she always tries to return the favor by helping him, hinting at her special feelings for him. It is not exactly shown straight out whether Yusei shares the same feelings for Akiza, though Martha appeared to be aware of them as she has teased him about liking her. Also, in the English version, he made no objections when Martha said Yusei was right and that Akiza was pretty. Also in the English dub, he states that she is beautiful like her "Black Rose Dragon" during their Duel in the Fortune Cup finals. As well in the original version until after their battle with the Dark Signers, Yusei would often refer to Akiza by her last name "Izayoi" but as the series progressed would refer to her by her first name "Aki" this could be a form of Yusei becoming closer to Akiza.

Yusei has displayed protectiveness and care for Akiza. When Lyndon held Akiza's hands in some manner, Yusei pulled Lyndon back rather forcefully, as though it was out of jealousy, and Akiza has a shocked look on her face after this. Also, when Akiza applies for her Duel Runner license, Yusei takes her to a rollerblading arena to help her learn where Leo and Luna comment that it feels like a date. He has also demonstrated that he has a considerable amount of trust in her, since he gives her his "Stardust Dragon" to use against Andre during the WRGP.

Also, the night before they all left, he talked with Akiza alone in his garage. Akiza blushed while trying to confess to him, but then decided not to. They continued their conversation until they took each others' hands, and the two gazed at each other with the other person's image in their eyes.

Leo and Luna
Leo and Luna helped Yusei have a place to stay after he escaped Sector Security. The two look up to Yusei as an older brother or father figure, since their real ones are not with them most of the time. In the English dub, however, Yusei lost his memory and Leo called him, "Mister Amnesia Man". Leo also said that he was a superhero, while Luna insisted that he was a knight in shining armor. Leo seems to idolize Yusei, as he is always trying to help Yusei. When Yusei was going to Turbo Duel Greiger, Leo snuck into his garage to see his Duel Runner to help Yusei. The twins both look up to Yusei for his strength, courage, and protectiveness of his friends.

Kalin Kessler
Yusei met Kalin back at a young age when he was in a group known as The Enforcers with Jack and Crow. Kalin was the leader of this group, and it is said by Jack that all three of them thought of Kalin as their "savior". Yusei has a higher respect and concern for Kalin than Jack and Crow, as he was the only one who stayed when The Enforcers separated. He tried to give himself up to Sector Security in order to save Kalin from punishment. Even after Kalin attempted to take his own life, Yusei continued to try to save him. Later in the series, after Kalin's resurrection, Yusei received a letter and headed out to Crash Town to bring Kalin to his senses, after he claimed he wanted to die in a Duel.

Sherry LeBlanc
Starting from Season 2, Sherry showed an interest in having Yusei joining her WRGP Team and seen in later episodes trying to convince him to join. However, despite her attempts, Yusei refuses, saying that he will win the tournament with his friends. Despite this, the two are on good terms with each other and can even work together in a Duel. Yusei cares for her safety, always trying to convince her to not get too close to the tournament because of the danger; he even tries to save her when he, her and Bruno are launched into space. In short, the two are good friends despite their agendas.

Bruno
The two have very similar interests, the first and foremost being the upgrading of Duel Runners, and due to this, they bonded very fast, to the extent that when they were doing a project, they were so absorbed in their own work that they didn't even notice anyone else's presence in the room. Yusei is shown to care about Bruno, first not wanting to believe he is Antinomy. After the second Duel with Antinomy ended with Yusei's win, he tried to prevent Bruno from being sucked into the black hole. However, Bruno sacrificed his life to save Yusei, which left Yusei in tears while screaming his name. Yusei actually kept Bruno's glasses, which is shown in the final image on the extended ending.

"Evolving Duel! Stardust VS Red Demons"
In "Evolving Duel! Stardust VS Red Demons", Yusei has another Turbo Duel with his rival, Jack Atlas. During the Duel, both Yusei and Jack Summon their ace monsters and evolve them with "Assault Mode Activate", creating "Stardust Dragon/Assault Mode" and "Red Dragon Archfiend/Assault Mode".

Although Jack struggles to defeat his rival, Yusei still ultimately wins, by attacking "Red Dragon Archfiend" with "Stardust Dragon" in combination with "Skill Successor" and "Synchro Destructor".

Scripted Duels
Greg Abbey played Yusei at the 2011 North American Championship, where he Dueled and was defeated by Yami Yugi, played by Dan Green.

Abbey played Yusei at the Yu-Gi-Oh! Championship Series Providence 2012, where he Dueled and defeated Akiza Izinski, played by Erica Schroeder.

Deck
Yusei plays a "Warrior" Deck. Many of the cards he uses in his deck tend to be a constant in his duels, to which many have come to say that his strategies have become played out if not predictable. Despite this, Yusei is still known for his genius dueling style, able to quickly analyze his opponent's tactics and formulate an effective counter strategy by taking advantage of whatever cards he currently has access to. While he normally starts slow to better gauge his opponent, he is shown able to build off his previous moves to methodically calculated well-ahead with a setup for bigger combos later.

Thematically, many of Yusei's cards lean towards being either Warrior or Machine-Type monsters. He also relies heavily on "Junk"-themed cards like "Scrap-Iron Scarecrow" and "Junk Barrage". Fitting with the motif, Yusei's cards generally appear as rather weak in ATK and/or low in Levels with limited usage, but combined together for various innovative tactics. He also makes regular use of recycling his cards, either returning them to his hand/field or activating their effects from the Graveyard. To compensate for most of his monsters having limited ATK, he also uses cards that focus on Burn effects, such as "Junk Barrage" and "Cosmic Blast".

His main tactic is to Summon various Synchro Monsters, most often "Junk Warrior" with various support cards for them. To aid him he relies on the "Synchron" archetype, enabling him to Summon various Synchro Monsters in a single turn as his tendency towards low-level non-Synchro Monsters gives him more fine control over which Synchro Monster can Summon at a given time. His basic strategy usually entails either swarming the field, building off his previous monsters to build up his lower-level monsters. He has also at times relied on other Summoning methods, including Tribute Summon and Fusion Summon.

His ace card, "Stardust Dragon", aids him in a more defensive style. At the same time, be originally kept it in reserve, using it during special occasions and as a backup plan. From the WRGP arc onwards, he puts much more emphasis on its Summoning, even using more cards the exploit its presents and effect. He has periodically gained more powerful variations of this card, including include "Majestic Star Dragon", "Shooting Star Dragon", "Stardust/Assault Mode" and "Dragon Knight Draco-Equiste". His strongest card, "Shooting Quasar Dragon", represents the pinnacle of his Synchro Summoning tactics.

His Deck contains a large array of Trap Cards, which he uses in Turbo Duels to supplement his Speed Spells. Even his Ground Decks tend to contain a higher amount of Trap Cards than most other characters.

Trivia

 * At 18 years old, Yusei is the oldest protagonist of any Yu-Gi-Oh! series.
 * Yusei is the only protagonist to never obtain a "partner" (Yugi had Yami Yugi, Jaden had Yubel, Yuma had Astral, Yuya had Yuto, and Yusaku had Ai).
 * Yusei and Yusaku are currently the only protagonists:
 * to have never become evil.
 * to have never used the card "Monster Reborn".
 * to have never lost a duel (with the exception of flashbacks).