Jean-Michel Roget

Jean-Michel Roger or Jean Michel Roget is a character in the Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V anime and the main antagonist of the Friendship Cup arcs. He is a resident of the Fusion Dimension who crossed over to the Synchro Dimension, infiltrating the dimension by rising to the position of Director of Security, enforcing the City's law. However instead of helping Duel Academy as an infiltrator for the invasion, he betrayed them and intends to control the Synchro Dimension and turn it into his kingdom instead.

Appearance
Roger is a pale-skinned man with a long nose, green eyes, and ash-blonde hair that is neatly combed and arranged on top of his head, but flares out into short wings at the back of his skull. Roger dresses in simple, yet expensive clothes, wearing a closed knee-length purple coat that is held shut by silver clasps over an orange collared shirt. His coat has an orange lining and patterns that cause him to appear as if he is wearing a second shorter coat over his long coat. Roger also wears grey dress pants and black dress shoes.

Personality
Roger is a seemingly cold, serious and calculating individual. He is cunning and methodical, being able to calmly take decisions in order to ensure criminals are apprehended. His calmness was emphasized when he observed the Lancers' use of the other dimensions' Extra Deck Summoning methods and an Action Duel being initiated.

Roger seems to have a love for chess as he always has a chessboard with him, and is able to represent a Duel's progress through a chessboard by moving the pieces accordingly to the situation in the Duel as if he was playing it, even going as far as speaking in monologues of how he is "ahead" of "his" opponent. In reality, however, most of his plans and actions so far were foreseen by Declan, thus making Roger actually very behind his opponent. He is an expert strategist, which is proven in the Duel between Duel Chaser 227 and Yugo, as Roger was ready to call a "Checkmate" against the Common but quickly realized Yugo's plan and ordered Duel Chaser 227 to cancel his attack, an order that was ignored and resulted in his defeat. During this time it was seen that he is cold and strict with his subordinates, as after Duel Chaser 227's Duel concluded, he fired 227, going as far as throwing a chess piece that represented him into the trash can. His deviousness was further emphasized by his machinations to overturn the City's structure of power by somehow implanting mind control chips in all of Security's staff to enable the King's Gambit.

To get his own desires he is not above manipulation, whether it be verbally or general cheating. Seeing Yuya's potential after his victory over Shinji Weber, Roger praised him as an ally to the Tops. After capturing Yuya trying to get to Sora, Roger tried to convince Yuya that his vision of power was the right thing to do, and that Sora was the enemy. When Yuya refused and tried to stop Roger from capturing Sora, he had Security throw him in a cell, with plans to control him like Sergey. During Celina's Duel with Yugo, Roger altered the track so Yugo couldn't get any Action Cards to win and subsequently endangered his life, knowing the Professor needs Celina for his plans. To make sure that the audience were focused on Yuya and Crow's Duel and not his takeover of the City and hopeful defeat of the Council and Declan quiet and quick, he placed a chip for torture by electrocution in Yuya's helmet, invoking Berserk Mode and putting Crow's life in danger.

He strongly detests being subordinate to another party, having turned against Leo Akaba after realizing defecting from his cause would benefit his own ambitions, and the Executive Council due to them blocking his way to absolute power. Roger loses control quickly when things don't go the way he wants, and has been seen repeatedly underestimating the Lancers, especially Declan, being prone to outbursts of frustration. Nonetheless he is skilled enough to make quick decisions. However the more his plans are frustrated the more frequent these outbursts become and the more desperate he becomes. When his plan to have Sergey defeat Jack failed and he lost Sergey as pawn, he suffered a complete loss of his composure and started showing slight levels of losing his sanity as well. When Yuya and Jack were going to have their Duel to determinate the City's future, Roger burst out in several fits of hysterical and maniacal laughter, declaring himself the only one worthy of determining the City's future, showing that he was becoming borderline insane. Roger also showed himself to be a sore loser and somewhat of a coward, as when his plans to conquer the City were ruined he attempted to flee back to Duel Academy with Zuzu to avoid being seen as a traitor by Leo Akaba, while delusionally calling himself a "winner" even though he was bested.

Roger is shown to be possibly more cruel and evil compared to Leo Akaba. When he invoked Yuya's Berserk Mode, he watched in delight as Crow and Yuya's life was in danger. He implanted mind control chips in the Security and Sergey, while Leo has the trust and loyalty of Duel Academy soldiers without needing to use mind control. When the scientist warned him of the broken chip, his immediate concern was the cessation of electric shocks that did not happen, and he did not care at all when Yuya's life was in danger with possible brain damage because of the unstoppable electrocution. He was also fully willing to have Security kill Jack and Yuya during their second Duel.

History
Roger is a Fusion Dimension resident that was sent to the Synchro Dimension as an undercover agent to ensure Duel Academy's conquest. He introduced the Real Solid Vision technology to the City, which became a crucial tool for the Executive Council to strengthen Security's power and maintain the Tops' dominance in the riots created after Chojiro Tokumatsu's arrest. Roger then quickly climbed to the position of the Director of Security. He eventually decided to betray Duel Academy, and without informing Leo Akaba he began to make plans to turn the City into his own kingdom.

Friendship Cup
Three years after his arrival, Roger oversaw the chase Duel Chaser 227 conducted against Yugo. He watched their Duel and played along with it on his chess board. Roger was ready to call a "Checkmate", but realized 227 was walking into Yugo's trap. Roger ordered 227 to cancel his attack, but it came too late, leading to Yugo's crushing victory, much to Roger's internal anger. After 227's defeat, Roger threw the chess piece that represented 227 into the trash can. The next day, Roger supervised the attempted arrest of Yuya Sakaki, Celina, Riley, and Sylvio, as Security had mistaken them for Yugo and Zuzu Boyle. He witnessed the Lancers activating the "Cross Over" Action Field Spell, which caused errors in Security's software. After turning on security cameras, he witnessed Yuya's attempt at entertaining his officers with "Hippo" cards. He then subsequently bore witness to Celina's Fusion Summoning and Yuya's Pendulum Summoning, the latter of which was new to him as well. When the quartet got away with help from Crow Hogan and his "Raikiri the Sudden Shower" and the other Turbo Duelists, he stood up calmly and contemplated the oddities he had just seen and concluded that Yuya and Celina were not the same fugitives from the previous night. During Dennis and Gong's Duel, he observed them and witnessed Dennis performing the Pendulum Summon displayed by Yuya earlier as well as an Xyz Summon, studying the mechanics and correcting Melissa Trail's claim that Dennis' Pendulum Summon was the first ever recorded. He concluded Dennis and Gong were part of Yuya's group, placing more black pieces on his chess board.

After detecting a Pendulum Summon in the Underground Dueling Arena, he ordered Security to be sent there immediately, deducing that his targets might be hiding out there. After the Lancers and Crow Hogan were arrested, Jean had Celina separated from the other Lancers and sent to "special confinement" because he was interested in her Fusion Summoning tactics. Jean asked one of his subordinates on how Celina was doing, and he reported that Celina initially resisted, but eventually calmed down. The Security director decided to pay Celina a visit. He was contacted by one of his staff, telling him that Yugo and Zuzu, who were wanted, had applied for the Friendship Cup and he was shown their application forms. He told her to accept their applications, and muttered to himself that arresting them at the Friendship Cup would serve as an example to the Commons. He later left in a limousine to go see Celina.

Later after the Lancers, Crow, Shinji, Damon and Chojiro Tokumatsu broke out of the Facility, Roger and the other Security members recaptured Tony, who was assisting in the break out. He arrested them and was about to take Celina away, promising to take good care of her. However two representatives of the Executive Council appeared, telling him that they wanted to see the captured people and that the Security Bureau must comply. He argued that they were troublemakers and that they disturbed the peace in Commons. Holograms of the rest of the Executive Council appeared. The representatives told Roger that they would be the ones to judge that. They ordered him to bring the escaped inmates to them, and he had no choice but comply.

At the Executive Council, Roger argued that the Lancers and their allies were disrupting the peace and had the testimonies of the escaped prisoners to prove it. Sylvio responded that they broke out by chance. When Sylvio asked why he and the others were arrested, Roger countered that they were resisting Security. Yuya argued that the Security started it in the first place when they arrived in the Synchro Dimension. Roger repeated his argument and stated that the Lancers came from another dimension, which confused the Council and Chojiro. He continued that he arrested the group because he wanted to investigate their foreign Summoning techniques - Pendulum, Fusion, and Xyz. Yuya said that he and the Lancers didn't come here to cause trouble. After this, Declan appeared with Riley and Moon Shadow. He supported Yuya's claims by stating that they came to the Synchro Dimension to protect it against Duel Academy and join forces in the interdimensional war. During Sylvio's explanation of the Lancers being Duel soldiers, Roger laughed at the idea of the dimensional war.

The Council responded that they learned of the Lancers and the Dimensional War from Declan. Roger asked if they believed that "nonsense". The Council replied that they did not know, since there were people from other dimensions present. Azul used Roger's argument of investigating the Lancers against him. Jean countered that their aim was to invade the Synchro Dimension, which Yuya, Sylvio, and Gong quickly refuted and pointed out that Duel Academy were the true invaders. Roger said that it was up to the Security, not the Lancers, to protect this world, but the Council replied that it was their job. The Council proposed they examine each of the Lancers and their allies to prove they were not enemies. Declan suggested that they would do so by participating in the Friendship Cup to prove their skills as Duel soldiers. After the chairman's explanation of the Friendship Cup, Yuya reminded his friends that they needed to find Zuzu, which made Roger realize that she was one of Yuya's allies.

When Yuya asked if Zuzu was arrested, Roger denied it, adding that she was an important Duelist who also entered to Friendship Cup and confirming that she was safe. He agreed to Declan's decision and proposed that Yuya Duel Jack Atlas for his exhibition match, since he was the most adept at Pendulum Summoning. He added that Jack would be the one to verify Yuya's strength, which Declan and the Council agreed to. He observed the Duel from his office, with Sergey Volkov standing behind him. When Yugo and Zuzu exposed themselves he had Security attempt to arrest them, but was prevented from doing so by the Executive Council, causing him to lose his temper at being opposed. When Shinji antagonized the crowd against the Tops in his Duel, Roger remained calm, as Security could have handled any riots. Later, he explained to Sergey that he would have him Duel Celina later, in addition to crushing the hopes of the common people in the Friendship Cup by defeating Jack Atlas. He sent a "Goyo Emperor" Fusion Monster to Duel Chaser 227, a participant in the tournament, offering to reinstate him if he defeated Yuya Sakaki in his Duel the following day. Despite 227 losing again, Roger was satisfied that the match had served his purposes.

He bore witness to Sergey's Duel with Damon Lopez and was unimpressed with the former's victory. He eventually watched Dennis and Shay's brutal Duel, and upon Dennis Summoning "Ancient Gear Chaos Giant", he figured that he belonged to Duel Academy. After Dennis' defeat at the hands of Shay, Roger immediately ordered his men to secure Dennis, but met opposition by the Executive Council.

Friendship Cup Finals
Having enough of their interference, Roger initialized his "King's Gambit" plan, activating a chip on the head of his Security officers and putting them in a trance to follow his orders and assault the Council's room with several men. He communicated through an hologram and asked the Council if they truly thought they could maintain the peace of the City by sealing his powers. The chairman, White Taki, responded they could not allow him to scheme with Dennis. Roger admitted that while this would be an interesting turn of events, it would ruin his plans if he summoned Duel Academy, for they would brutalize the City. He further explained that he sought to control the City, and corrected himself by stating it was already is under his  control as the Director of Security, and not the Council. He further illustrated his point by declaring that as long as they lived on a competitive society, it was only right for those with actual power to govern, while seemingly questioning their right to do so. Taki asked him if utilizing Solid Vision was also part of his plan to strengthen himself. Roger confirmed Taki's words, saying that all that was left was to dethrone Jack and that he already had a piece to make it happen; their interference would move that piece forward. He let the Friendship Cup continue as scheduled and forced the Council to remain silent for now.

Declan deduced that Roger was a Duel Academy agent turned rogue and sought to make the City his "kingdom". Roger also confirmed this stating he was done submitting to anybody else, including the Professor, Leo Akaba. Roger stated he recognized Declan as Leo's son and the fact he opposed his father. He offered to ally with Declan, since both shared a common enemy. Declan refused because he found the idea ridiculous and believed that allying with someone who only sought to control the City would provide him with no benefits. Roger lamented the rejection and asked Declan how long he could continue bragging before disappearing. In his room, an infuriated Roger lashed out at his chessboard, stating that with the Council sealed, they would be no problem to him, even if they had Dennis in custody. He also feared the possibility of Dennis returning to Duel Academy to report back to Leo that Zuzu and Celina were in the Synchro Dimension, while also knowing that Leo would send an army, including Yuri, to capture them. This also made Roger afraid that Leo would unmask him as a traitor and he concluded that securing Dennis was vital to protect his agenda.

He had the Friendship Cup continue so he could have Sergey Volkov fight Jack Atlas. Knowing that Leo wanted Zuzu and Celina, he planned to capture them and, to that end, pitted Sergey against Zuzu in the second round's first Duel. Initially disappointed by Sergey's low performance, he cursed Sergey when the latter went mad when he considered Zuzu's speech to be premature. When Sergey knocked Zuzu off of the road instead of creating a possibility to bring her in, he had Sergey captured and sent a search party after Zuzu, who could not be found.

During Yuya and Shinji's following Duel, Roger scoffed at Shinji's rallying. He believed that the Commons never stood up for themselves because they had all bark and no bite. Like everyone else, Roger ridiculed Yuya's use of "Tuning Magician" and disposed of the chess pawn resembling him, only to be highly impressed when it ended up a key element in Yuya's victory. He left his office, satisfied.

Roger met Yuya as he returned to the Duel Palace. He expressed his great admiration in Yuya's Duel with Shinji, especially when Yuya showed his Pendulum-Synchro Summon. Roger said that Yuya is the only person he could rely on. This has made Shinji suspect that the Duel was fixed from the start. Roger countered by saying that if the Duel was fixed from the start, then Shinji's loss may be a part of it. Before Shinji could argue, Roger put him in his place and sent him in the Underground Labor Facility. Yuya remembered seeing Sora so he attempted to escape with his Duel Runner, but a Security officer blocked him. After hearing Yuya's claim of having found Zuzu, Roger told the officer to let Yuya go. Yuya left and Roger secretly sent an officer to follow Yuya. Sora noticed this, so he grabbed Yuya without being noticed and the two hid. As the two discussed the events that happened, Jean eavesdropped on the conversation via a tracking device set by an officer. Now knowing that Dennis had been sent to Duel Academy, he feared that Yuri might come to the Synchro Dimension soon. Hesitantly, he sent an order to secure both Yuya and Sora.

After capturing Yuya, he then conferred with him about his plans to defend the City. During the Duel between Crow and Shay, he noticed Zuzu on the balcony when Shay handed Tanner back to the group. He later called Security to go and capture Zuzu. He was shocked to learn that Sora was responsible for her escape, and he expressed anger towards Security whilst fearing that Duel Academy was making their move. He then told one of his scientists to implant the same mind-control technology into Yuya that he had used on Sergey so he could control Yuya before the latter's Duel with Crow.

During Yugo's Duel with Celina, Roger arranged for the Duel lanes to shift so that Yugo would be unable to fully concentrate. He did this for Celina, who he hoped would win, as she would be someone the City would rally behind during the invasion. He succeeded on this part, as Yugo was unable to land an attack on Celina before she could reach an Action Card, nor was he himself grab an Action Card, since he had to maneuver his Duel Runner to avoid falling both times. Roger's plan was going accordingly as desired until Celina decided not to grab an Action Card and let Yugo turn the Duel around and win. Roger was irritated as he needed Celina to win the Duel so he could have greater control of the masses.

Roger sent Security to recover Celina, however, Riley was able to defeat all three officers. Declan regained control of the Council's building after defeating all of the officers, which infuriated Roger even further. With Zuzu and Celina no longer in his hands and Declan causing interference with his plans, Roger instead chose to eliminate Declan and the Council with Sergey and Security by speeding up the Friendship Cup first semi-finals match on the same night as a distraction.

To ensure Yuya won his Duel and gain the attention of the crowd as well, Roger put a chip in Yuya's helmet that would give electrical shocks to a certain part of the brain to force Berserk Mode to activate. This succeeded to his delight as it awakened Yuya's shared personality with his dimensional counterparts and allowed him to fight aggressively against Crow. Roger was so pleased with the Duel that he even tried to have the course changed to give Yuya an Action Card. However, this was stopped due to the Summoning of "Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon" and the destruction of the circuits. He became frustrated when he learned that the Obelisk Force had invaded the City as well. He sent Sergey to parry the invasion and told Security to remain and protect the building under the belief that Zuzu and Celina were inside.

Once Sergey took care of the Obelisk Force soldiers at the Security building, Roger sent him to capture Zuzu and Celina. Roger became infuriated when Sergey let Celina be captured by Barrett, but he still was able to take Zuzu.

The next day Roger calmly watched as the Commons rioted the City and took advantage of Yugo's absence to change the semi-final match of the Friendship Cup into a match between Sergey and Jack. Before the Duel, he contacted Jack and apologized for making him Duel on such short notice. Jack reassured Roger that he didn't mind and would always accepts a challenge. Roger invited Zuzu to his office to watch the final part of his plan, have Sergey defeat Jack in order to destroy all hope for both Tops and Commons, then make himself their new symbol of hope thus becoming the ruler of the City. Roger watched in delight as Sergey merged with his Duel Runner, and he described him to Zuzu as the perfect Duel machine.

When Sergey Summoned "Earthbound Servant Geo Gremlin" and Earthbound Servant Geo Gremlina Jack had to choose to either destroy his "Scarlight Red Dragon Archfiend" to survive another turn or let Sergey gain life and take his attacks. Roger explained that Jack's only choice was to destroy "Red Dragon Archfiend" but that would still cause his defeat, and declared "checkmate" on the king. However, to his surprise, Jack chose to keep "Red Dragon Archfiend" alive, and survived Sergey's turn. The intensity of the Duel caused his mind control to malfunction; Roger desperately ordered Sergey over and over to take an Action Card and win with the effect of his Field, "Earthbound Plain", only for him to ignore them. Ultimately, Jack won the Duel and Sergey fell to his apparent demise leaving Roger to watch in disbelief and scream in frustration as his plan completely backfired.

Although Sergey survived his fall, Roger soon lost his link to Sergey and instead ordered Security to enforce martial law on the City. When he appeared on holographic screens to announce the change in law to the people of the City, Zuzu pushed him aside, knocking Roger's chessboard over, and she urged the Tops and the Commons to stop fighting and recognize Duel Academy as the real enemy. Roger shoved Zuzu away and closed the connection. The Lancers continued to unravel his plan; Yuya Sakaki was able to return to the Duel Palace and challenge Jack to a Duel. Roger furiously claimed that he wouldn't let Yuya Duel, but he was interrupted by a message from the now-freed White Taki, who cheerfully told Roger that he was not the highest authority in the City anymore. Roger was enraged by Taki's interference. When Yuya declared his intention to Duel Jack, Roger declared himself the true wielder of authority in the City and immediately ordered Security to storm the Duel Palace. However they were defeated by the Lancers. After Jack accepted Yuya's challenge and declared that their Duel would determine the future of the City, Roger madly declared that he was the one who determines the future and he burst out in mad laughter. He decided to let them Duel, if they managed to live through the experience. To accomplish this he sent a five-man squad of Duel Chasers to intrude in their Turbo Duel, but Jack defeated them with ease. Melissa Trail commented on Jack's refusal to have Roger interfere in the Duel, prompting Roger to scream at her to shut up. His grip on the City was further weakened by the deactivation of the main control system that was controlling Security.

After Sora and Moon Shadow freed Zuzu, Roger blocked their path and defeated both Sora and Moon Shadow in a Duel. He disabled the other elevators and took Zuzu with him to use as a bargaining chip for betraying Duel Academy. While he was beating Zuzu for speaking out against him, Declan, Riley and Moon Shadow blocked his path. Declan correctly deduced Roger's goal and insulted him, ordering him to beg the City for forgiveness after plunging it into chaos. Roger refused, fled into a room with Zuzu and trapped Declan in there with him. He told Declan to beg for forgiveness himself and come back with him and Zuzu to Duel Academy. Declan refused and he claimed that he would only be going to Duel Academy to destroy it. Roger challenged Declan to destroy him as well and they began a Duel; Roger immediately Fusion Summoning "Ancient Gear Devil" and dealing 1000 effect damage to Declan on the first turn with what he dubbed "an unbeatable combo".

Deck
Roger uses an "Ancient Gear" Deck. Like the Obelisk Force, it centers around inflicting effect damage, but utilizes "Ancient Gear Devil" rather than "Ancient Gear Hunting Hound" and its Fusion forms. He reinforces his monster with "Ancient Gear Magic Shield", granting it massive DEF, immunity to other card effects and indestructibility by battle, rendering it virtually invincible while slowly eating at his opponent's Life Points.