Jaden Yuki ( manga ) Jaden Yuki , known as Judai Yuki ( 遊城十代 , " Yūki Jūdai " ) in the Japanese version , is a student at Duel Academy and the protagonist of " Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX " . He is a headstrong Duelist who aspires to be a Duelist as great as his mentor , Koyo Hibiki . Biography . Jaden defeated Dr . Crowler in the Duel Academy entrance exam and was placed in the Slifer Red dormitory . Jaden heard that the trainee teacher , Mr . Ryuga , had been taking cards from students he defeated , including Syrus Truesdale . Enraged by this , Jaden challenged Ryuga to a Duel , which Crowler sanctioned as the last necessary Duel Ryuga needed to win before becoming a teacher . Unbeknownst to Jaden , Ryuga cheated by using a ring that disabled the Duel Disk s ability to read Spell Card s . However Jaden won by combining his Monster and Trap Card s and damaged Ryuga ' s ring with his final attack . Jaden was honored to be facing Chazz Princeton , when they were matched up for a skill lesson . Chazz was disgusted by Jaden ' s comparison of " Winged Kuriboh " to " Light and Darkness Dragon " , but soon learned that it was Jaden ' s Spirit Partner . Chazz attempted to win without his own Spirit Partner , but lost to Jaden ' s " Winged Kuriboh LV10 " . Afterwards Jaden caught a glimpse of the Light and Darkness Dragon spirit . Jaden tried borrowing the Battle City DVD from Alexis Rhodes , only to find she had lent it to somebody else . Bastion Misawa , who had grown jealous of Jaden ' s card drawing ability and friendship with Alexis , had both the Duelist Kingdom and Battle City DVDs . Bastion challenged Jaden to a Duel , waging a loan of the Duelist Kingdom DVD for Alexis ' contact details . Alexis arrived to give Jaden the Battle City DVD shortly before Jaden won . When she heard that Bastion had the Duelist Kingdom DVD , Jaden suggested that she and Bastion share contact details . Despite winning the Duel , Jaden had to allow Alexis to watch the Duelist Kingdom DVD , before he could borrow it . Being the only student who hadn ' t voted in the 2004 Miss Duel Academy pageant , Jaden was urged to make to the tiebreaking vote between Seika Kohinata and Alexis . Seika challenged Jaden to a Duel for his vote , but Alexis refused to have someone else make her decisions . Instead Jaden and Alexis Dueled under the condition that Alexis could withdraw from the competition if she won and Seika would get Jaden ' s vote if Jaden won . Although Jaden won , Seika said it wouldn ' t be right for her to accept Jaden ' s vote after the fight Alexis put up . Crowler misinterpreted an exam score sheet and thought Syrus had scored a 0 . He also took note of how Jaden hadn ' t passed a single written exam . As punishment , he arranged a Duel between Jaden and Syrus , where Syrus would be expelled if he lost and Jaden would have his Deck confiscated if he lost . Jaden initially tried to somehow avoid the Duel , but Syrus insisted that he wanted to proudly Duel someone he respected and become stronger . Although Syrus put up a strong fight , Jaden painfully pushed himself to win . Before Crowler could expel Syrus , Midori Hibiki arrived and explained the misunderstanding . She also asked to see Jaden , who really failed the test , to arrange a resit . Jaden took part in the main tournament of the series , where he loses to Chazz in the finals . Although he defeated Chazz earlier , Chazz was able to overcome him in the rematch . Following his defeat to Chazz , Winged Kuriboh led Jaden to the Abandoned Dorm , where he found Midori Dueling Mackenzie . Seeing Jaden , Midori attempts to comeback from a Duel she was going to deliberately lose but is unable to win by that point . After the Duel , Jaden is powerless to save her from succumbing to the shadows . However , Jaden is able to defeat Reggie in a Duel , freeing her from the influence of Tragoedia and reviving Midori . Jaden seemingly ceases to use Koyo ' s Heroes after this Duel , and instead uses a Deck of his own design containing the " Masked Hero " series , though he does retain " Winged Kuriboh " . His first on - panel use of his new Deck is in a losing effort against Aster Phoenix and his " Vision Hero " monsters . Jaden is later challenged by Adrian Gecko , whom Principal MacKenzie promised to promote to the Pro League should he defeat Jaden . Despite Adrian ' s use of the Legendary Planet " The Despair Uranus " , Jaden ultimately defeats him . Immediately after this , he is confronted by Atticus Rhodes , who is under the full influence of Tragoedia . Jaden antes " Elemental Hero Terra Firma " and " Winged Kuriboh " against the restoration of Koyo ' s health . This backfires , as Atticus defeats him with a combination of " The Suppression Pluto " and " The Eye of Truth " . With that loss , Tragoedia absorbs his missing heart from the spirit of Winged Kuriboh , but the spirit narrowly saves Jaden from the Penalty Game beforehand . Jaden and Chazz confront Tragoedia at the warehouse by the docks , and they Duel as a team against him . Though they gain an early advantage , Tragoedia comes back with a wide array of cards that he designed himself . Pushed into a corner , Chazz leaves Jaden his face - down " Hopeful Future " , knowing the outcome of the Duel will be determined on the next turn . Jaden combines " Winged Kuriboh " with " Light and Darkness Dragon " to create " Ma ' at " , which lends its power to defeat Tragoedia . The spirits of " Winged Kuriboh " and " Light and Darkness Dragon " sacrifice themselves to seal Tragoedia permanently . Years later , after graduation , Jaden faces a revived Koyo for the world title . Deck . Elemental Hero . Jaden uses an " Elemental Hero " Deck , different from that of his anime counterpart . The Deck once belonged to Koyo Hibiki , but Jaden had modified it throughout the years . Though he later switches to " Masked Hero es " as he felt that he dishonored Koyo while Dueling Reggie MacKenzie , Jaden uses this Deck once more against Tragoedia , wanting to symbolically stand with Koyo to defeat the monster that put him into a coma . Past Deck . Jaden used this Deck as a child to Duel his mentor , Koyo . It is similar to the Deck his anime counterpart originally uses . Masked Hero . Jaden uses a Deck containing the " Masked Hero " monsters starting with his Duel against Aster Phoenix . These " Hero " monsters are capable of Transformation Summon ing .