Yuma Tsukumo

Yuma Tsukumo is the main protagonist of Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL. He is a young Duelist who aspires to be the greatest, despite his poor skills. He finds himself unwillingly partnered with a Dueling spirit called Astral and together, they search for the "Numbers" cards to recover Astral's lost memories, thus, he became a Numbers Hunter.

Design
Yuma has dark skin, red eyes, and black and red spiked hair that points out and upward. In every outfit he wears, Yuma is always wearing The Emperor's Key around his neck. He also owns a white and yellow Duel Gazer with a green lens, matching the color scheme of his ace, "Number 39: Utopia". Yuma bares a striking resemblance to his father, Kazuma Tsukumo, but has inherited his mother's red eyes.

When in his school attire, he wears a white shirt with red-lined sleeves and collar, a red tie and blue pants.

Personality
Yuma is a hasty, straightforward, honest and cheerful young boy who likes to challenge himself to do anything that seems impossible, which he normally fails at. He states that doing these challenges gets him fired up and will eventually accomplish what he sets out to do. He calls this challenge his "Kattobingu" spirit ("feeling the flow" in the English version), which his father taught him. He is also somewhat self-contradictory as he often says one thing and does the exact opposite, as when Tori Meadows tells him that she doesn't understand what it's like to be him after being left exhausted only to change the subject to how he always gets fired up, or when he says he won't show up to his Duel with Ryoga Kamishiro until immediately regaining his confidence.

Yuma loves his parents and treasures the artifact they gave him greatly, shown when he was depressed when Shark broke it and nearly had a panic attack when he lost it, but really just ran out the house without it. Astral says that deep in Yuma's heart that he struggles with the sadness of losing his parents and tries to live up to their teachings. It said that Yuma's picked his personality from his father's spirit and his mother's affection.

Yuma is shown to stick up for others despite their protests, challenging Shark to reclaim Bronk's Deck. Yuma believes Duelists can't be bad people and believes a Duel to be a clash of souls. He also appears to be naive as he believed that Flip really had good intentions even after his friends had warned him he was a swindler from the start.

Yuma seems to have a positive effect on the people he Duels, Mr. Kay claimed that Yuma has a "sun-like" power and that people who have contact with Yuma has their hearts "illuminated" without noticing. After his Duel with Shark, he stopped stealing others decks and the two eventually became friends. After defeating Flip, he gave up his conniving ways and became an honest person. After defeating Nelson Andrews, he helped him repair his relationship with his mother and become his own person instead of living in the shadow if his ESPer Sparrow persona. After defeating Cathy, she began to gain more confidence and started hanging out more with Yuma and his friends instead of always hiding from others. After defeating Yamikawa, he was able to let go of his anger after being stopped by Yuma from slashing a statue and started studying again under his former teacher.

He is easily annoyed, and frequently clashes with Astral, due to his short-temper and stubbornness. Yuma tends to disobey Astral's instructions when they Duel, which leads to him making mistakes. He only starts obeying when he is about to lose, as he believes the Duels are his and listening to him would mean he needed help to win. As the series progresses, Yuma and Astral start working together, as shown in Episode 18 when he called Astral his friend. Presently, Yuma doesn't complain much when Astral gives him advice and normally just says "I understand", but he still gets upset sometimes.

As the series goes on, Yuma's Dueling skills are slowly increasing. Now he can Duel opponents like Cathy and Obomi without Astral telling him what to do (though this only happens when he Duels seriously, seeing how he is still defeated with ease in friendly Duels), but he still relies on him to help him out at difficult times.

Childhood
Grew up with his loving parents, Kazuma Tsukumo and Mirai Tsukumo and his childhood friend, Tori Meadows. His older sister, Kari Tsukumo forbids him to Duel. He regularly lost to his friend Bronk Stone.

Present day
Yuma is plagued by nightmares of a demonic gate. When Bronk loses his Deck to Shark in an Ante Duel, Yuma challenged him. Shark breaks The Emperor's Key in response, which was an artifact he inherited from his parents. Bronk recovers the missing piece. During the Duel, he uses a Deck constructed by his father, as opposed to his usual Deck. Yuma makes several amateur mistakes and sees the demonic door again. He is given to the opportunity to open it, and does so with The Emperor's Key. After he opens it, a dark force envelops Shark as he Xyz Summons "Number 17: Leviathan Dragon". Surprised at his power, and feeling like he wouldn't be able to win, a strange entity tells him to stand up and win.

The entity reveals himself to be Astral, a Duelist from another world, shocking Yuma. As Yuma talks with Astral, he notices his friends, and everyone else, cannot see him. Astral tries to take over Yuma's Duel, stating that he has to win at all costs with Yuma always complaining that it was HIS Duel. Astral tries to order Yuma around, intentionally or not, to gain the advantage against Ryoga. However, Yuma refuses to listen to Astral as he is taken down each turn. When Astral informs him that his own life fades as Yuma's Life Points decrease, Yuma takes Astral's advice and uses "Monster Reborn" to Special Summon "Gagaga Magician" from his Graveyard. Astral gifts Yuma with "Number 39: Utopia", an Xyz Monster. Yuma has never owned one before and is excited. He Xyz Summons it by overlaying "Gagaga Magician" with "Ganbara Knight". Astral states that "Utopia" is the power he has entrusted to Yuma and that he must use it to win the Duel. With this card, he made a comeback, and won using it in a combo with "Double or Nothing!". Shark is returned to normal, and returns Bronk's Deck as promised.

With this win, Yuma begins to gain a following around his school, as Shark was known to have pro-level Dueling skills. The network at school mysteriously went down one day, and Mr. Kay allowed them to use the day to Duel instead, as they could not access their virtual textbooks with the network down. Yuma Dueled his class's chairman, Caswell. Astral was not present, so Yuma did not have access to his Extra Deck of "Numbers". As a result, he lost without inflicting a single point of damage to Caswell.

Yuma and Tori suspected Caswell of being responsible for the network going down, but he would eventually lead them to the real culprit, Mr. Kay. Mr. Kay had been possessed by one of the "Numbers" and Duels Yuma using "Number 34: Terror-Byte" and the "Crashbug" series. Yuma is able to overcome him only through Summoning both "Utopia" and "Leviathan Dragon". Mr. Kay revealed that he had no ill intentions and simply wanted to bring happiness to the city with a virtual "Crashbug". Astral determined through this that the "Numbers" amplify the emotions that their vessel already had, malicious or not.

Flip approaches Yuma to ask for his autograph, and eventually gifts him with a "Baby Tiragon" card in return. Yuma is quite excited to have his own Exceed Monster, despite Tori and Bronk's reservations about Flip. Yuma began what he thought was a friendly Duel against Flip, but it turned out be far from it. "Baby Tiragon" was a trap, and Flip steals "Utopia" via the effect of "Ultra C". Flip then revealed that the autograph Yuma signed was a contract agreeing to ante his Deck in the Duel. Flip goes on to steal "Leviathan Dragon" as well, and appeared possessed by both "Numbers". Astral is sealed in an orb of light as his power weakens, but urges Yuma to protect "Baby Tiragon". Yuma does so and uses its effect to let "Stinging Swordsman" attack directly. With his Continuous Trap Cards returned to his hand, Flip loses the "Numbers" and they return to Yuma. Yuma wins the Duel with them, and attempt to return "Baby Tiragon". Flip tells him to keep it and the two leave the Duel as friends.

Whilst Yuma is asleep, Astral is watching a TV show. He becomes interested in the hero: "Different Dimension ESPER Sparrow" as he appears to be from a different dimension also. Yuma is woken up by the sound of the episode and switches it off, only to be bugged by Astral about him believing Sparrow may know something about his memories. Yuma tries to explain it's all fiction, but after failing to convince Astral he reluctantly switches the TV back on, even though the episode has ended. The next day, Yuma arrives at school to Duel someone, only to be prodded by Tori and Astral to visit Sparrow, who's shooting a scene in town. Flip causes a distraction to get them inside where they see Sparrow practicing alone for his shoot. Astral, still believing TV is real, grows wary of the costumes to the side of the set, and in an attempt to convince Astral they're not real Yuma ends up being flung about in the air by a hook. Whilst Astral ponders over whether Yuma can fly as he can, Yuma drops his Deck in front of Sparrow, who grows concerned. After Yuma drops to the ground, he is saved from being caught by security by Sparrow who, discovering Yuma is a Duelist, takes him to his dressing room. Pleased to meet a Duelist, Sparrow tells Yuma his real name, Nelson Andrews, and gives him back his Deck. After being spooked at the sight of a spider, Nelson admits to Yuma that he is nothing like Sparrow off set. The two become friends, but before they can Duel Nelson's mother forces Yuma out, leaving Nelson to sorrowfully say "Nelson Andrews doesn't matter". Nelson grows upset, and Astral believes the boy may be in pain from loneliness. Astral asks Yuma why Sparrow is also called Nelson, and finally Yuma convinces Astral TV isn't real. After he grows disappointed Nelson can't tell him about his memories, Yuma asks Astral if he's lonely, only for Astral to reply he doesn't know what the word means. Yuma explains, but instead of answering Astral explains he thinks Nelson may be lonely. Meanwhile Nelson is possessed by a "Numbers" card and attacks several people in town, taking his TV persona as his real one. After hearing about it, Yuma and Astral head off to find him. They eventually find Nelson, only to learn he is possessed and under the impression he is Sparrow.

Yuma knows he must Duel him to set Nelson free, but then he reveals his "Numbers" card - "Number 83: Galaxy Queen". Yuma calls Tori and tells her to bring Nelson's mother to the site of the Duel. Yuma proclaimed that he will save Nelson. Just then, Tori shows up with Bronk and Nelson's mother. Nelson's mother tries to talk to him, but he brushes her off. Yuma and Astral debate whether the attack will go through, and they finally decide that they must, if they want to free Nelson. Yuma attacks Galaxy Queen with Utopia, "Hope Sword Slash!", but Sparrow has one last Trap: Star Sparrow is Forever!, reviving ESPER Star Sparrow with zero ATK, but it is still obliterated and so is Sparrow's Life Points. Astral absorbs the Number 83 from Sparrow's (now Nelson's) body. Nelson reunites with his mother, causing Yuma to remember his own mother, and later, Yuma, Tori and Bronk are walking on a bridge talking about the day's events. When Yuma and Tori get into an argument, Shark rides by on a motorcycle and observes them. Later, Yuma and Astral watch the conclusion of the ESPER Sparrow show, and Astral makes Observation No. 10 - "The parent-child relationship is something I understand".

One day at school, Bronk says that it's strange that Yuma never once won a Duel against him, but has been winning against many powerful opponents recently. Tori asks what's wrong with that and Bronk responds that bringing it to them is more suited for losing. Bronk speculates that Astral may really exist, as Yuma only began to win after he started talking about him. Yuma enters the room and says hi, seemingly unaware of that fact that's he's wearing leather pants and an over-sized fur coat. Yuma asks why everyone is staring, and Tori tells him she can't take it anymore. She says that she knows it isn't polite to comment on someone's fashion sense, but that she needs to do so in this case. For the last three days, Yuma has shown up to school in strange outfits, being the last one shown a bee costume. Tori tells him that everyone will laugh is he keeps dressing like that. Tori pulls out a standing mirror and tells Yuma to see for himself. He looks horrified, and Bronk asks how he wasn't aware what he was wearing. Tori goes on to tell him that that's not all - strange things have been showing up around him lately. His lunch box was decorated fancily, he suddenly got a 100% on a test and yesterday he was actually able to clear the jump he usually misses in gym class. Astral appears and tells him he's been watching, it happened again last night - someone came into his room and messed with his things. Yuma asks why Astral never told him and Astral responds that Yuma never asked him. With Astral already there, he doesn't believe that adding more strange things to the room isn't unnatural. Yuma throws off the fur coat and vows to find the person responsible. Tori comments that his being full of spirit doesn't change how terrible his outfit is, and Yuma responds that it's not as if he enjoys dressing this way. She tells him he has absolutely no fashion sense. Yuma asks about her, and she retorts that, at least, her fashion sense is better. Yuma asks her to show him, and she tells him they'll go shopping this Sunday to buy Yuma new clothes, which he agrees and told her to met at 3PM at the shopping mall. The next day Yuma is waiting for her at the mall, surprised she's late. A group of cats approach Yuma, with the one at the front having a note in its mouth. Astral appears and asks what these things are, saying that the meowing is sending a chill down his spine. Yuma asks if he's scared of cats, and Astral responds that its only because he hasn't yet recorded them in his observations. Yuma jokingly tells him that cats are very sensitive to the supernatural, so they can definitely see Astral, who responds that it seems the cats are looking at Yuma. Noticing the note, he picks it up and sees it's tied with Tori's hair ribbon. He reads it, determining that Tori has been kidnapped. One cat runs away, and Yuma follows it to Cathy's mansion.

He bursts through the front doors screaming Tori's name. The parlor is full of more cats, with one on the stairs. Looking around, Yuma sees statues and paintings of cats. Cathy emerges from upstairs and welcomes him, introducing herself, as Cathy, but telling him to call her "Cat-chan". Astral says he recognizes her, she's always staring at Yuma from afar. Yuma seems to know her, but thinks about it, and says he has no idea who she is. Cathy says that's fine - she's used to it. Yuma asks where Tori is, and why Cathy would do something like this. She responds that it's because Yuma's hopeless. Yuma seems confused and tells her to just give Tori. Cathy turns around and says that she will if Yuma can beat her in a Duel. She then says that "if I win", then she stops and meows instead. Yuma questions if Numbers are involved and Astral says that if that's the case, they have no choice but to win. Yuma tells him that there is no need to tell him that. Cathy tries confessing to Yuma that she loves him but Yuma defeats her with "Baby Tiragon" and Astral attempts to collect her "Numbers" before realizing she did not have one. Yuma walks over to Cathy to help her up, also asking her where Tori is, making Cathy blush.

Tori was at the park the whole time, playing with Cathy's cats. Yuma arrives and asks what she's doing. She laughs nervously. As they walk to school the next morning with Bronk, Tori tells them that she was forced to play with the cats and that Yuma should stop being so angry with her. Yuma angrily insists that he's not angry with her. Cathy walks up to them, blushing and softly says "Good morning." Yuma responds with "hey!" and Cathy walks off happily. Bronk asks who that was, and Tori tells him not to be rude since that girl is in their class. She can't remember her name either though. Yuma tells them her name is Cathy, or Cat-chan, and that she's a strong Duelist. Tori says she didn't know that and Bronk asks if Yuma figured out who was messing with them. Tori says she has to go and walks ahead of them. Astral floats above and documents his eleventh observation - "Yuma still doesn't understand the feelings of women".

One day Yuma is late for school, and dashes across a crosswalk when traffic is cleared, but nearly gets run over by someone on a motorcycle. The driver pulls over and Yuma angrily asks if he didn't see the lights change. He sees that the driver is Shark, who says nothing and pulls away. In class, Caswell then tells Yuma that his victory's over Shark and Flip were due to the Number and questions him about his skills. So Yuma decides to fight Shark again, but Bronk tells him that Shark hasn't been showing up to school lately and how after losing to Yuma, Shark's reputation dropped dramatically. The rumors say he's been hanging out with some "bad people". Later, Yuma wanders the streets, remarking that his friends don't understand - he's much stronger than he was before. When Yuma finds Shark, he refuses to Duel as his previous loss to Yuma caused him to give up Dueling.

Yuma then proceeds to chase Shark and annoy him by requesting a Duel until he accepts. As the Duel progresses, Shark's burn strategy begins to take its toll on Yuma. Shark tells him use his "Numbers" anyway, so Yuma brings out "Utopia". It was not enough, as Shark weakened it with "Killer Frilled Shark", then proceeded to negate its effects and destroy it with his "Black Ray Lancer". With a final direct attack from "Aero Shark", Yuma lost the Duel, losing his pride along the way. Yuma bet his pendant in the Duel as a prize, but when Shark took it, he threw it behind him onto the ground beside Yuma, saying that it wasn't worth destroying as well as warning him not to bother him again.

After this, Yuma Duels Bronk without the Numbers only to lose a grand total of 20 times in a row. Eventually Bronk stops Dueling Yuma for lying to him about using the Numbers. On the way to school the next day, Yuma catches up with Bronk, asking him if they can Duel today. Bronk simply says he can't Duel with him anymore. Yuma shakes it off, saying there are plenty of other people to Duel with anyway. Astral appears and tells him that it doesn't matter who he Duels with right now. He says that Yuma would usually at least use basic strategies in his Duels, but he isn't even doing that anymore - he's simply recklessly attacking over and over again. Yuma asks what he means and Astral responds that Yuma is irritated about losing to Shark. Astral says that Shark is indeed a very talented Duelist, but that is not the only reason he won.

Yuma again asks what he means and Astral says that Shark thoroughly studied Yuma's Deck and found the weakness of the "Numbers". But Yuma really knows nothing about Shark. Yuma thinks back to when Bronk speculated that something happened to Shark at Nationals. Yuma and Tori find information in the school library on a computer, The article calls Shark the "tarnished champion candidate". They read that Shark was disqualified for peeking at his opponent's Deck before a Duel began. Tori says it's hard to believe that's why Shark was disqualified. Yuma says it can't be true - the Duel he had with Shark was not with the type of person who would cheat like that. Then someone called Ginji runs up to them and says that 2 brothers in the gang Shark is affiliated with is going to rob a powerful deck in Heartland Museum and are going to place the blame on Shark despite Tori's complaints Yuma heads to the Museum and is in time to stop Shark Rikuo and Kaio from robing the Museum and challenges them to a Duel if they win they can have "Number 39: Utopia".

Shark warned Yuma not to be concerned for him, but Yuma said he wouldn't leave him alone to steal the deck. Yuma also pointed out that Rikuo and Kaio were just using him, that their hideout is not a place for him to stay and that both Yuma and Shark are comrades. Shark then decides to Duel with Yuma against Rikuo and Kaio in a 2-on-2 Tag Duel. Yuma is amazed that he could Xyz Summon "Aero Shark" and inflict damage on his first turn. But Rikuo summons Number 61: Volcasaurus and with it destroys both their monsters and reducing them to 2400 and 1100 life points. Having all their moves countered and with the appearance of "Number 19: Freezerdon", which gave "Volcasaurus" its Overlay Units back, Shark and Yuma were pushed into a corner.

Then Shark revealed what he had suspected Rikuo and Kaio were cheating by ordering their decks so they would know what cards were in each others hands and what they would draw. Also, they had rigged their D-Pad's Shuffle systems. Then Kaio tells Shark that he had cheated back at the National Championship. Shark says it was because he was afraid of losing then they start mocking him for it, but Yuma defends Shark by saying there was nothing wrong with being afraid of losing which is why he used Numbers when he Dueled Shark he was however unaware that Tori and Bronk were near by.

After summoning "Utopia" and having it prevented from attacking by Kaio's trap "Avalanche", Yuma used its effect to protect Shark from attacks which would have caused him to lose. After having "Utopia" and the newly summoned "Black Ray Lancer" destroyed by "Volcasaurus" (avoiding losing by "Damage Diet"), Shark narrowly avoids losing from a direct attack by using the trap "Last Entrust", ending the battle phase and giving Yuma a card needed to win. After eliminating Kaio by forcing him to use his "Compensation Exchange" trap, which saved Volcasaurus by taking damage equal to its ATK, Yuma used "Monster Reborn" to bring back Shark's "Black Ray Lancer" and equip it with Shark's "Armored Xyz" he entrusted to him earlier. It allowed him to give "Lancer" the properties of "Utopia", letting it destroy "Volcasaurus" and attack directly for the win. Bronk and Tori run up congratulating him for winning, and Yuma apologizes for lying. Bronk with some urging from Tori accepts the apology and asks for a Duel with him. Before leaving Shark comments that his card was able to improve Yuma's game, allowing him to keep it before smiling and walking off.

Pre-World Duel Carnival
After a series of incidents at the shopping mall, Yuma and Astral learn that there is someone else collecting Numbers just like them, who showed up and somehow stopped time. At school, Bronk tells Yuma, Tori, and Caswell that the neighboring city has built a new Duel plaza, and the group decides to go there next Sunday. On the way back from the Duel plaza, it starts to rain. While Yuma and Tori are looking for shelter, a truck is about to hit Tori. Yuma shoves her, putting himself in the way but time stops again and they hear the same whistling they heard in the mall and find themselves confronting the Numbers Hunter who ties Yuma to a Duel Anchor stopping him from escaping. A Duel begins and the hunter Summons "Number 10: Illumiknight" and "Number 20: Giga-Brilliant" and shortly after Summons his ultimate monster, "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon".

The Robot accompanying the hunter tells him to extract every drop of Yuma's soul, and Yuma asks what he means. The Hunter says that when he collects a Number he steals the owner's soul. Yuma fights back with Number 39: Utopia and Number 17: Leviathan Dragon, but the Hunter overpowers Yuma but just before he can deal the finishing blow the Robot informs him that his little Brother has collapsed the Hunter cancels the Duel breaks the Duel Anchor and tells Yuma that his name is Kaito and to remember it well and leaves starting time again. Yuma asks what is "kattobingu" and what's being a Duel Champion, adding that this way he could never be a Duel Champion, and then cries out in frustration.

Shortly after Tori and Bronk inform Yuma of a tournament known as the World Duel Carnival, Haru Tsukumo convinces Yuma to go to a Duel Lodge to train in Dueling by asking him to do an errand. While there, Yuma Dueled the Lodge's master, Rokujuro, he learned about what the monsters go through during all Duels and that he'll become better for understanding their struggle. Eventually, Rokujuro's old apprentice, Yamikawa, appears and defeats the Rokujuro, wanting to claim the Duel Lodge's secret deck. However, Yuma interferes with his search and a Duel beings between them. Soon though, Yamikawa is revealed to have a Numbers, "Number 12: Crimson Shadow Armor Ninja".

After seeing his Number monster, Yuma begins to doubt his skills, but Astral tells him to believe in Rokujuro's teachings, for they will lead to victory. With his and the monsters' feelings in mind, Yuma manages to defeat the Number monster and win. After being released from the Numbers and being accepted back to the Lodge, Yamikawa thanks Yuma. Kari, who was watching Yuma's Duel, realized how much he had grown through Dueling, and allowed him to do so, as long as he didn't overdo it. Before he leaves, Rokujuro gives Yuma the Duel Lodge's secret deck and tells him to prepare for the World Duel Carnival as many strong Duelists will be participating.

After putting together his new deck, Yuma is prepared for the World Duel Carnival. However, Astral, still shaken up from his Duel with Kaito, has his own doubts about it. Yuma eventually learns through a possessed Cathy that his friends are being held captive by Jin, a servant of Kaito. Astral, scared of losing, was against the Duel, but Yuma eventually persuaded him and the two made off to face against Jin. Jin introduces himself as Kaito's servant and tells him that Kaito would be watching this Duel himself, scaring Astral, but not damaging Yuma's fiery spirit.



Once their Duel got started, Jin Summoned "Number 16: Ruler of Color - Shock Ruler" and the two were against the wall. However, Yuma managed to defeat the Numbers monster only to be shocked when Jin Summons his other Number Monster, "Number 11: Big Eye" and uses its effect to take control of Utopia. Also, throughout the Duel, Jin keeps sealing Yuma's summons up to the point where they think there's nothing else they can do. Astral was frightened about losing, but when Jin offers Yuma the deal of handing his Number monsters in exchange of his friends, Astral becomes willing to be sacrificed. Yuma refuses and when they eventually find out that the "Kaito" watching them was nothing more than a statue, they once again gain hope. With a new power, Chaos Xyz Change, Yuma and Astral both Chaos Xyz Summon "Number C39: Utopia Ray" and defeat Jin. Astral then claims both numbers and Yuma saved his friends with the latter thanking Astral. Yuma then walks off in a fit due to his friends ignoring him.

One day at school, Mr. Kay tells Yuma's class that next Saturday is a Visitor Day. Bronk asks Tori which of her parents is coming, then noticing Yuma is listening, and apologies because his parents are absent. Yuma says its okay and he doesn't mind. When he arrives home, he notices both Haru and Kari have plans next Saturday, so he decides not to ruin their plans and not tell them about the Visitor Day. That day, he overslept as usual and left the house in a hurry, not noticing he forgot The Emperor's Key, when he noticed it, he thought he lost it and skipped classes to look for it. After looking it for a while, Astral asks Yuma about his parents. Yuma tells him about his father and how he obtained The Emperor's Key, and how he gave it to Yuma, teaching him the "Kattobingu" challenge. After finding the Key, he goes back to school for P.E. class. Kari and Haru find out about the Visitor Day and realize why Yuma didn't tell them. They go and cheer Yuma when he once again challenges jumping 20 stacks, also seeing his parents' spirits watching over him, and Astral realizes everyone loves Yuma and also cheers for him.

After obtaining "Number 96: Black Mist", he and Bronk got into a fight. When Yuma tried to solve the situation, Bronk accidentally knocks the Emperor's Key, causing Number 96 to take control of Astral. Just before the evil "Number" fully takes control of Astral, he tells Yuma to give his "Utopia" to Bronk so that he can Duel Number 96 and free Yuma and Astral. During the Duel, Yuma pretended to be overtaken by 96 to fool it into destroying a card that Bronk could win without. Once Bronk re-summoned Utopia, he managed to defeat Number 96 and frees Yuma and Astral from its control.

Eventually, while attending school, Yuma discovers not only is the locker room in a mess, but his Emperor's Key was stolen and searches frantically for it only to find that Kaito and Orbital 7 not only have the Key, but Shark's soul as well.

After recruiting Mr. Kay to use a virus to find the location of Kaito's hideout, Yuma, along with Bronk, Tori, Cathy, and Caswell go there, only to find that the doors are sealed shut. As he is giving up hope, Tori slaps him, bringing him back to his senses and reminding him of kattobingu. The group begins to pull on the doors, only for them to open by Mr. Kay's bug. They go inside, looking for the Key, but are intercepted by Orbital 5 and Orbital 6. Yuma kicks the former in the face, but is spurred on by his friends, who say they will distract the robots while he looks for the Key. He does find the area with the key, but the door is locked. He is unable to open it, but discovers a picture of Kaito and a mysterious young boy.

Yuma is called to The Door once again after his deck begins to glow, with it telling him that, while he will lose his most precious thing as the price for the power it gave him, someone is interrupting their agreement, prompting him to fly through it and obtain the power of ZEXAL. He sees Astral's Duel with Kaito, and wanting to help, does jump through, to which Astral initiates an Xyz summon, using the both of them as material. The two reappear as one, their bodies and souls overlayed together. Yuma continues the Duel in place of Astral, who tells him that their next draw would decide whether they won or lost. He calls out Shining Draw, getting the newly created "ZW - Unicorn Spear", using it as an equip card on "Number C39: Utopia Ray", giving it the ability to negate Kaito's "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon's" effect, destroying it. Kaito then uses his trap, "Photon Shock", giving them both the damage from that battle, ending the Duel in a Draw. Yuma questions Kaito as to why someone like him would do something as devilish as steal peoples' souls for the Numbers, prompting him to say that he sold his soul to the devil long ago, and that his reasons were none of his concern Kaito then gives Shark's Soul back.

The building begins to self-destruct and Yuma's friends waits outside for him, but think it too late after it explodes. Yuma appears from out of the rubble, the Emperor's King around his neck once again. While celebrating his safety and the return of the Key, he notices Kaito flying away from the area.

The next day, while running to school, time suddenly stopped, and only Yuma and Astral are able to move. Kaito invaded Astral's memories, causing him to fly through the places where they Dueled so far. When time resumed again, Kaito appeared telling him that they will settle their score in the WDC.

World Duel Carnival Preliminaries
A few days before the World Duel Carnival starts, Yuma waited for his Heart Pieces, but they didn't arrive as Yuma forgot to register online. When his friends reminded him, he quickly tried to register, but the registration time had already finished. Yuma intermediately ran into a building to ask for a Heart Piece, but the guards didn't let him enter until Mr. Heartland appeared and gave him a Heart Piece. The day the WDC started, Yuma went to the opening ceremony. Just after the Carnival starts, Kakeru Kunitachi hits him in the face with a soccer ball filled with cards, challenging him to a Duel.

Kakeru quickly reduces Yuma's life points and prevents him from attacking with his Soccer-themed Deck. During the Duel, Kakeru reveals that he used to play soccer in his older brothers' team, but Kakeru doesn't play as a team, so he quit the team and started Dueling instead. Yuma manages to win the Duel with his new Xyz monster and reminds Kakeru that he likes to play soccer and rejoins his brothers' team. Kakeru gives Yuma his Heart Piece. Yuma's second opponent is Shobee Yuatsu. Shoobe thinks that a Duel is only about power and uses the Xyz monster with highest ATK so far. Yuma proves him wrong by defeating him without using any Xyz Monsters, instead, he reduced his monster's ATK to 0 and destroyed it with "Kuribolt" who only has 300 ATK and inflicted effect damage. With Shoobe's defeat Yuma now has 3 Heart Pieces; however, so far, only two pieces fit together, meaning Yuma will still need to collect three more fitting pieces.

His third opponent was Anna Kozuki, who was always carrying a cannon with her, which reflects in her Duels since she uses a beatdown strategy through effect damage (usually inflicted by blasting a ray or missile). Even though Yuma defeated her, it was revealed she wasn't an actual participant in the tournament so she couldn't give him a Heart Piece. As Anna flew away, she thought of Yuma and developed a crush on him, along with a feeling of hatred immediately after, because those thoughts distracted her, causing her to smash her head against the railroad and she blamed him for it.

Yuma's fourth opponent was Housaku Yasai, who plays by the rules of "Vegetable Death Match" meaning he had to pull a vegetable from a basket at random and eat it every time he wanted to attack. Yuma was not able to attack for most of the duel because he pulled a tomato every time he was about to attack and he said he hated tomatoes until Tori said that if he lost she would force Yuma to eat his food and duel meals with tomatoes every single day. Scared of the thought of it, Yuma forced himself to eat one and after that, he thought that Housaku's tomatoes were delicious. Yuma won the duel by summoning a new Xyz monster "Brass Devil Mellowmellow Melody" and using "Gagaga Girl's" effect gaining his fourth Heart Piece.

His fifth opponent was Charlie McCoy, who plays cards with "Die Roll" effects and possess Number 7: Lucky Stripe that gives luck to the player who has it, so Charlie wins all the Duels he plays. Charlie also used this card to steal cards and other things, among them being one of the Numbers, "Big Eye", so Yuma chased him and challenged him to a Duel on top of a train. Yuma defeated him because he "split the sun in two", as Charlie said that if the sun is split in two, the luck of Number 7: Lucky Stripe would run out. Yuma destroyed Charlie's "Scales of the Sun", which symbolizes the sun, and then Summoned Number C39: Utopia Ray for the win. After that, Charlie returned the stolen Number card to Yuma.

After the duel with Charlie,Bronk Stone and Caswell met with his star, IV, in a clearing,for a duel, and Yuma and Tori Meadows went with them. IV seemed kind, but, when he activated the card Gimmick Box, he showed his real face, which is cold and malicious, and he started to make suffer Caswell and Bronk, causing Yuma's argue. After the IV's win, Yuma challenged him to a duel, but Shark arrives and challenged him too,but IV went out. III, who was with IV, challenged Ryoga to a duel, and Yuma watched it,worried about Ryoga(Ryoga was the winner of the duel).

Tori Meadows
Yuma seems to harbor quite a passionate feeling for Tori, which is evident that she harbors too due to her annoyance at Yuma's adoration with Cathy's Dueling abilities, which she doesn't show towards male Duelists that Yuma admires. This is also evident at how she blushes when ever Yuma makes a friendly comment towards her- and is also evidenced when she is worried about Yuma, to which the latter makes a kind gesture by putting a hand on her shoulder, saying he will be all right. Another blatant way that this is evident is that Yuma has gone out of his way to protect Tori many times such as when he thought Cathy had kidnapped her, which also allowed him to Duel without the assistance of Astral or any of the Numbers, winning him the Duel. Also in episode 9, it may be said that he could have a slight crush on Tori, as he talks in his sleep saying "Of course, Tori!"

This is also present in episode 13 when Yuma pushed Tori out of the way of getting run over by a truck, placing himself in her position, which if Kaito Tenjo didn't pause the time, would have resulted in Yuma being critically injured or causing his death. More evidence can be observed of Yuma's liking for Tori is from Episode 9, where during the usual scene when Yuma puts on his D-Gazer, he isn't wearing his casual Dueling smile, showing his absolute seriousness for victory so he can find her.

In Episode 17, when he entered the lair of Jin, who had kidnapped Tori, Bronk, Flip, and Caswell, he only called out to Tori despite clearly seeing the others held captive as well. Yuma's feelings for Tori start becoming more obvious during the first day World Duel Carnival when Yuma helps Tori escape from Shobee Yuatsu's Excavation machine or Anna Kozuki's cannon blasts.

Kari Tsukumo
It is indicated that Yuma and Kari have a tendency to argue with each other, in a typical "brother-sister" relationship. Kari has a habit of making Yuma search for scoops she can use, even if it puts her brother at risk. Kari also doesn't allow Yuma to Duel, much to Yuma's chagrin, though Yuma finds ways around it. Yuma doesn't seem to sympathize with Kari very often, seen when she is depressed about apparently failing to make a delivery, Yuma ignores her completely. Likewise, Kari doesn't seem to sympathize with Yuma much either, and seems to blame him initially for things he had nothing to do with.

Despite their tendency, they do seem to genuinely care about each other. When Kari was instructing Yuma not to Duel, her face showed concern at one point, indicating that she does worry about Yuma to an extent. Yuma also affectionately refers to her as "Nee-chan", indicating that he also cares for her. He also was concerned when he heard her scream. Although the reason for not letting Yuma Duel is unknown, in Episode 16, she allows him to Duel as long as he doesn't overdo it. Its revealed in Episode 19, that their parents trusted Kari to look after Yuma, and apparently rely on her to protect him.

Bronk Stone
Bronk is first shown to make fun of Yuma's "Kattobingu" challenges and laugh mockingly whenever Yuma fails, but later finds the broken piece of Yuma's pendant and is present when Yuma Duels Ryoga in order to recover Bronk's Deck. Yuma constantly challenges Bronk to Duels, only to lose over 40 times in a row. In episode 20 they are shown to trust each other enough for Yuma to entrust Bronk his "Utopia" and Bronk to Duel Number 96 and rescue Yuma and Astral.

Astral
When they first met, Yuma had mixed feelings about Astral when all he did was tell him how to Duel during his Duel with Shark. Though Astral was insightful and was always thinking about what his opponent would be capable of doing, Yuma ignored his advice and continued playing his way. Eventually, Astral figured out a way to have Yuma listen to him and over time, Yuma began trusting Astral more and more with each Duel. Eventually, both of them became aware of the others' feelings and support each other.

Their trust is soon tested when the Emperor Key falls into Kaito's hands and he tries to unlock its power. Yuma and Astral are able to "Overlay" with each other using the power of ZEXAL and become one single being. This is possibly due to the amount of trust they both have in each other.

Ryoga Kamishiro
Yuma's relation with Shark starts before they Dueled each other and became rivals, and although they never met before that, Yuma knew that he was the school's bully. He had just defeated Bronk and took his Deck, claiming a weakling didn't need it. Yuma stood up for him and in a twist of events, Shark crushed The Emperor's Key and accepted Yuma's challenge. With their Duel underway, the power of "Numbers" was released and Shark was overtaken by a "Numbers" and quickly summons it to put Yuma in his place. However, with the appearance of Astral and Yuma's new Xyz Monster, Number 39: Utopia, Shark loses the Duel and his "Numbers."

Soon after, Shark falls into the "wrong crowd" and stops Dueling all together, but with persistence from Yuma, Shark agrees to Duel him again. Despite his "Numbers," Yuma loses to Shark, who then tells him to never interfere with his life. However, Yuma disobeys this after learning of why Shark was the way he was. The two then have a Tag Duel against two brothers who also carried "Numbers" that supported each other. Despite that, Shark was able to aid Yuma and give him the final trump card that would defeat the two brothers. As a sign of respect for Yuma, he allowed him to keep the card he won with.

Mr. Kay made a remark that Shark had changed due to Yuma's influence and now he sees Yuma as a friend and ally. Although friends, Shark doesn't hang around Yuma as much as his other friends, possibly due to his aloof nature, but is shown to have a soft spot for him. In addition, Shark often reflects on his time with Yuma and is willing to open up to him (to an extent), but tends to push him away sometimes.

Kaito Tenjo
As rivals in hunting "Numbers", Yuma and Kaito see each other as enemies. Kaito first thought Yuma was a regular "Numbers" Holder and tried to get his Number. During the Duel, Kaito was surprised that Yuma used 2 "Numbers", and identified him as Numbers Hunter, but looked happy to have a rival. In episode 24, Yuma found a photo of Kaito and Haruto Tenjo, wondering who is Haruto. When Yuma interfered in Kaito and Astral's Duel which ended in a Draw, Yuma asked to Kaito why he is collecting Numbers. Kaito only answers that he sold his soul to the devil in exchange of his brothers' sake, after that Kaito releases Ryoga's soul.

In episode 25, Kaito told Yuma that they will settle their score in the World Duel Carnival. In Episode 26, Orbital 7 asks Kaito if he considered Yuma as his rival. Kaito declined, replying, "Yuma is just an idiot."

Deck
Yuma uses a "Syllable" Deck, which is supported by the powerful "Number" cards and focuses on performing Xyz Summons. His has a high number of Trap Cards, which mostly protect is monsters and reduce battle damage. He can support his monsters with some ATK boosting cards, like "Wonder Wand", "Blustering Winds", "Bound Wand", and "Double or Nothing!". His signature card is "Number 39: Utopia". Like his other "Numbers" however, he can only use it when Astral is fighting by his side. His main strategy focuses on bringing out "Utopia" and make it strong enough to beat the opponent. And if that fails he will resort to using "Number 17: Leviathan Dragon" instead.

After his time at the Duel Lodge, Rokujuro gave Yuma the "Duel Lodge secret Deck". According to Rokujuro, the Deck is appropriate for Yuma and should answer his feelings. Yuma combined elements from both this Deck and his first Deck into a single Deck. Also, if Yuma and Astral believe in their possibilities, they gain the power to Chaos Xyz Change "Utopia" into "Number C39: Utopia Ray". Using ZEXAL, it can be further upgraded with "ZW - Unicorn Spear".

In the World Duel Carnival, Yuma seems to be focusing on fighting less with his "Numbers", instead he uses normal Xyz Monsters against opponents that lack "Numbers" of their own.

Yuma's Deck has parallels with those of Yugi Muto, Jaden Yuki and Yusei Fudo. Like Yugi, he uses a Deck which previously belonged to a relative. Like Jaden, he obtains a new Deck which he combines with his own. Like Yusei, he makes extensive use of his series' new mechanic.

Trivia

 * Yuma's surname, Tsukumo, can be translated as "Ninety-Nine" which may be a nod to the ninety-nine other "Number" cards he and Astral are looking for.
 * Yuma also the first main protagonist to have an older sibling.
 * Yuma has several parallels with Sakura Kinomoto from the anime/manga Cardcaptor Sakura:
 * Both have an older sibling that likes to tease them.
 * They both have a habit of sleeping in and almost being late for school every day.
 * They have a duty to collect a certain type of card with a deity/spirit to guide them.
 * Yuma bears strong similarities to the previous main protagonists, Yugi Muto, Jaden Yuki and Yusei Fudo:
 * Like Yugi, Yuma has an ancient artifact hanging aroung his neck which holds a spirit who forgot the memories of it's past which can only be unlocked by collecting certain cards.
 * Both characters are similar also in the fact that Yugi Muto and Yuma Tsukumo share the first 2 letters of their first names (YU__) and both spirits (Atem and Astral) both share the first letter of their names (A___).
 * Like Jaden, Yuma wants to be a Dueling Champion, tends to sleep and slack off at school, doesn't generally strategise during duels, but instead focuses more on enjoying it, eats a lot while claiming it's fuel for dueling, wears a red jacket, and uses a red Duel Disk/D-pad. Also, Astral's mismatched eyes somewhat resemble Yubel's who, after fusing with Jaden, remains a spirit advising Jaden. Both have fused with their corresponding spirit during a duel using the summoning method they're known for (Jaden: Fusion, Yuma: Xyz).
 * Like Yusei, Yuma lives in a futuristic city and has gone out of his way to save his friends numerous times.
 * Like the other three protagonists, his first name contains two syllables, and has "Yu" somewhere in his name.
 * Following the standard of protagonist's signature cards, Number 39: Utopia has 2500 ATK and 2000 DEF (except Dark Magician: 2100 DEF) and like Stardust Dragon, is the new type of monster introduced in the show. Utopia breaks the pattern of regulating Types and Attributes and returns to Elemental HERO Neos's LIGHT Warrior colored white.