Syrus Truesdale Syrus Truesdale , known in Japan as Sho Marufuji ( , " Marufuji Shō " ) , is a former Slifer Red , then Ra Yellow , and now Obelisk Blue ( briefly in season 3 , but permanently in season 4 ) student as well as Jaden ' s best friend . A decent Duelist , although hindered by a great deal of self - doubt , though this mainly stems from his brother Zane ' s treatment of him , Syrus ' journey towards strengthening himself provides sharp contrast to the protagonist Jaden ' s active determination . Design . Appearance . Syrus ' s character design was overseen by Kenichi Hara . His usual outfit consists of the standard Duel Academy uniform with alternating colors over the course of the series . The designs for all three uniforms worn by Syrus are identical in basic makeup . With his red uniform , a yellow shirt is worn underneath the jacket , whereas with his yellow uniform , this is reversed . With his blue uniform , the shirt is black , and the collar has buttons not present in his other incarnations - similar to Chazz ' s uniform before he attended North Academy . The blue uniform also has fins in the back similar to his brother ' s outfit also not on his other uniforms . His blue hair ( of a lighter tint than his brother ' s ) is sectioned in three layers , his grey eyes positioned between the three bangs closest to his face and behind a pair of round - lensed glasses . He carries an Academy - issued Duel Disk on his left hand . He has also been shown wearing the Academy jersey when necessary . In episode 8 , during a flashback sequence when he was young , he wore a yellow collared shirt with blue shorts and black sneakers . At the end of Episode 64 , while searching for Jaden he wears an explorer outfit , consisting of a khaki hat , a khaki collared shirt with a blue undershirt , khaki shorts , white socks , and his ( at the time ) Ra Yellow uniform shoes . In the first season of the dub , Syrus often makes a joke about how his brother has amazing Dueling skills while apparently he always had " the looks " . Personality . Syrus is a insecure and unconfident Duelist . However , he not only grows into becoming a better Duelist , but a more brave and confident person . He is a very loyal friend , often thinking of Jaden as a second big brother figure . Voice / Mannerisms . Syrus is easily captivated by any woman , real or otherwise , who happens to catch his eye . However , these feelings are superficial as he often moves from one crush to another . His main crush is the Monster Spirit of " Dark Magician Girl " . He has also displayed crushes on the cards " Thunder Nyan Nyan " , " Maiden in Love " and " Gamble Angel Bunny " . In the original version , he ends the majority of his sentences with " suu " ( an elision of " desu " ) . Furthermore , he calls Judai " Aniki , " meaning " big brother , " while referring to him as " Bro " in the English - language manga . In the English anime , Syrus also refers to Jaden simply as " Jay . " In the third season of the original anime , however , Syrus starts to call Jaden by his first name because of Jaden ' s selfish actions during his Duel against Brron , Mad King of Dark World that led to the deaths of Chazz , Alexis , Hassleberry and Atticus . For these transgressions he begins taking on the self - appointed role as an observer of the season ' s events . However by the end of the third season his faith in Jaden is restored and he begins to call him " big brother , " again . Starting with the third season of the dub , Syrus is able to break the . This is shown when he says he ' s just there for amusement and would never move the plot along , when Jesse and Hassleberry are ignoring him when he ' s tied up , he says " I know I ' m not the star but come on , a little respect people " and that he carried Jaden ' s water for three episodes . He ' s even admitted that he doesn ' t move the plot along , and complains that nobody listens to him . Another instance is when they start discussing where Wheeler originally was worked on ; Syrus says " Man , that was a weird episode ! " When he ran away from Jaden in the third season , he claimed that the Syrus spin - off show had begun . During the episode he spoke as if each of his actions were the next episode in the spin - off . In the dub he tends to say " oh man " . In the Japanese version Sho is voiced by Masami Suzuki . She also voiced Ghost Kotsuzuka , who called Bandit Keith " Aniki " as well . In the dub , Syrus is voiced by , who voiced Joey Wheeler in the previous series . Etymology . His Japanese given name means " soar " or " fly " , and is homophone for " small " , signifying he is the younger brother . His Japanese last name means " Perfect Wisteria " , with 丸 ( maru ) meaning round , circle or perfection and 藤 ( fuji ) meaning " Wisteria " . His English given name comes from the Persian word " Kuros " , which means Sun . It could also be a different form of " Cyrus " , from the Ancient Greek " Κυρος " ( pronounced " Kyros " ) , which means " young " or " far - sighted " . Biography . Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX . Syrus is considered to be the " weaker " younger brother of Zane Truesdale who attends Duel Academy , originally residing in the Slifer Red dormitory along with Chumley Huffington and Jaden Yuki . Syrus has made progress as a Duelist throughout the series . From the onset , he faced Jaden in preparation for a Tag - Team Duel , but , priding himself on finding a way to outdo his roommate , overlooked the abilities of his own cards . It was for this same reason that Zane forbade him from using the " Power Bond " card , for Syrus was unable to cope with its potential drawback . During the second season , Syrus is given an opportunity to advance to Ra Yellow , should he be able to defeat Missy . Feeling that he should not shoulder his brother ' s legacy , Syrus gives his " Power Bond " card to Chazz Princeton to pass to Jaden before the start of the Duel , though Jaden convinces him to put it back in his Deck after the Duel . In episode 55 , Syrus develops a rivalry with Tyranno Hassleberry over which of the two is better suited to being Jaden ' s best friend ( in the Japanese version , it is over who has the right to call him " big brother " ) . They constantly argue and fight , prompting their repetitive separation by Alexis Rhodes . By episode 64 , their rivalry comes to a temporary halt , when the two Duel to settle matters once and for all . Before the last blow is dealt , Tyranno discovers that Syrus went without food or sleep to search for Jaden , who had gone missing since his defeat at the hands of Aster Phoenix . Seeing Syrus ' devotion to their friend , he chose not to activate his " Jurassic Impact " card , which would have wiped both players out simultaneously . During the field trip to Domino City , Syrus teams up with Tyranno in a Duel against the first duo of The Light Brigade , Frost and Thunder . Although the two are pinned down by their opponents , who tuned their Decks specifically to combat their cards , they end up pooling their efforts to combine their monsters into " Super Vehicroid Rex Union " . Despite their teamwork , however , Frost ends the Duel by wiping out all players but himself , and promptly drags them to his master ' s lair , from where they are transported to Kaiba Land as bait for Jaden and Aster by order of Sarina . As he observes his brother ' s actions following his " rebirth , " Syrus notes Zane ' s newfound disrespect for his own cards and opponents . He dismisses the barbaric persona , refusing to believe that his brother has sunk so low . Determined to bring his brother back to his senses , Syrus acknowledges the inevitability that the two of them will face one another . During the Genex Tournament , Syrus and Zane Duel , they are hooked up to electrodes , just as Zane and Mad Dog were in the Underground Duel . Despite his best efforts and Jaden ' s secret move to place " Power Bond " back into his Deck , Syrus loses , but he does not give up in hoping that his brother can be returned to his former self . Shortly after the beginning of the third year at Duel Academy , Syrus advances to Obelisk Blue . As a result of Survival Duels being called for by Thelonious Viper , Syrus becomes self - conscious of his worthiness to wear the outfit of the elites , and sets out to prove himself . In the Japanese version , he also wishes to adopt his brother ' s discarded title , and thus merit the name of " Kaiser Sho " ( カイザー翔 , " Kaizā Shō " ) . Inspired by Jaden ' s match with Axel Brodie , however , he decides to remain in Ra Yellow , and sets aside his goal for the future . ( In the English version he quits the Obelisk Blue dorm stating that Blue wasn ' t his color and he left Blue to protect Jaden ) . After Duel Academy is transported to the first alternate dimension , Syrus falls to the Duel Ghoul s and becomes one himself . Later , when Jaden and company venture into another alternate dimension to rescue Jesse Anderson , Syrus is the only one of Jaden ' s closest friends who isn ' t sacrificed by Brron . After Jaden wins , he verbally scorns Jaden saying he wants nothing to do with him and up leaving him . While separated from the others , Syrus decides to act as an observer , but later reunites with Aster and Zane when Jaden is released from his possession . After Zane loses to a Yubel - possessed Jesse , Syrus watches Zane die and fade into particles of light before breaking down in tears . In season 4 Syrus advanced to Obelisk Blue again . Syrus later attempts to finish Zane ' s Duel with Makoto Inotsume after Zane becomes too weak to Duel , but immediately regrets his decision later as he begins to develop the same heart problems as Zane because of his use of the " Cyberdark " Deck . However , Syrus manages to overcome his problems and defeat Inotsume , thus inheriting Zane ' s Cyber Dragon Deck later on and promises to improve it . However , he still later falls to Trueman , and is absorbed into the World of Darkness . It is shown within the World of Darkness that Syrus fears that he will be unsuccessful at creating a Cyber Art Pro League with Zane ( as it is his brother ' s dream ) and that he will have to be the successor of the Cyber Art when Zane becomes greatly ill ( as Zane has his limits ) . He also fears that he will be unable to make this dream come true due to few to no people and sponsors being interested in it . It is also shown that if Zane dies when Syrus is still unsuccessful at creating a great Pro League , then he will feel relieved that he is finally released from trying to create something he couldn ' t succeed at creating . He is revived after Jaden defeats Nightshroud . Yu - Gi - Oh ! 5D ' s . In the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! 5D ' s " dub , Blister mentions Truesdale as one of the Duelist he wanted to Duel in the Pro League . Whether this was meant to imply Syrus , Zane or both of them is unknown . Manga biography . In the manga , Syrus is a much better Duelist than his anime counterpart , although he is hampered by his desire to not cause pain to his opponents . Other appearances . In " Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX Tag Force " , Syrus can be selected as a partner . Upon getting his heart level to full , he gifts the player with a " Steam Gyroid " card . He partners with Zane Truesale during the Tag Force tournament if not partnered with the player . During part three , he is brainwashed by Abidos the Third and will Duel the player and their partner alongside the Shadow Rider . He is returned to normal upon defeating him . Decks . Vehicroid . Syrus uses a " Vehicroid " Deck , mainly focused on Fusion Summon ing his more powerful monsters . He also uses a large quantity of cards dedicated to punishing his opponent ' s defensive plays such as " Drillroid " and " Shield Crush " . Syrus later uses cards that focus on negating an opponent ' s attack s and shutting down their strategies . When he Duels his brother , Zane comments that Syrus has filled his Deck with cards that protect his Life Points such as " Life Force " whilst using cards such as " Pair Cycroid " and " Mirror Damage " in combination with " Power Bond " to reduce his opponent ' s . His Deck also features a loop consisting of " Ambulanceroid " , " Rescueroid " , " Decoyroid " , and " Cyber Summon Blaster " . Cyberdark Vehicroid . Syrus later comes into possession of Zane ' s Underworld Deck after he is hospitalized by it , which he combines with his own Deck . By respecting the Deck , Syrus is able to use it without any repercussions , and Zane acknowledges that Syrus has surpassed him as a Duelist . It mainly focuses on Mill tactics through cards such as " Power Wall " and " Remove Bomb " which he then takes advantage of with his " Cyberdark " monsters . As the Deck heavily relies on having Dragon - Type monsters in the Graveyard , Syrus uses cards such as " Dragonroid " and " Rebirth Judgment " to combat any form of counter his opponent has to this .