Yuya Sakaki

**Yuya Sakaki** is the main protagonist of the Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V anime. He is a born-entertainer who attends the You Show Duel School to advance his Dueling expertise and become an "Dueltainer", a specific type of professional Duelist similar to his father. He has three known dimensional counterparts: Yuto (from the Xyz Dimension), Yugo (from the Synchro Dimension), and Yuri (from the Fusion Dimension). According to Zuzu Boyle, he and his counterparts are drawn to each other.He is one of the Lancers Dubbed as The Yuya Sakaki Generation.

## Appearance

Yuya is a young teenage boy with crimson eyes, and dual-colored green and crimson hair of average length sticking out in downwards pointing spikes all around his head in a similar manner to Jaden Yuki, with the exception of one short-upwards pointing spike of green hair. He wears his good-luck charm pendant on a simple string around his neck, and a buckled choker, and a pair of golden goggles with orange lenses on his forehead, with a blue star obscuring the right lens.

Yuya wears a simple red t-shirt with a thick, silver-buckled brown belt over it, green pants with what appear to be "Deck pockets" on each leg, and magenta shoes, as well as crimson wristbands. He also wears his gold and red lined white school jacket over his shoulders like a cape, in a similar manner to Yami Yugi.

When entering Berserk Mode, Yuya's eyes begin to glow a luminous red, while his hair becomes frizzled and sticks up on end. When the darkness inside Yuya takes over the Berserk Mode, he continuously emits a dark aura from his body.

On occasion, Yuya is rendered in 3D. This usually happens when he is riding "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon" or any of its

## Personally

A fun-loving and energetic boy, Yuya is very theatrical and loves to entertain people, traits he seems to inherited from his father, Yusho Sakaki. He idolized and loved his father very much and wishes to become an entertainer like him one day. After his father disappeared during an important match, Yuya was left heartbroken and traumatized by the event because his beloved father was labeled as a "coward". As Yoko Sakaki had stated, Yuya acts like a fool merely to beat people to insulting him about his father disappearing. Yuya even joked about his father when Gong brought up the fact that he should act more serious about his Duels like his father. However, after his Duel with the Sledgehammer, during which he reportedly "reinvented" himself, Yuya displays a more serious demonomer, saving his theatrical persona for his finishing combos. Due to Yuya's initial buffoonery, his friends and other people are often baffled by Yuya's behavior and believes he doesn't take things seriously. Because his father was so famous, his friends and other people seems to have high expectations of Yuya to live up to his father's reputation while simultaneously quick to bring up Yusho's "cowardice" or scold him for his clownish actions. During his Duel with the Sledgehammer, Yuya proved to be quite clever and skilled in Action Duels, having learned everything from his father.

## Abilities

Like his dimensional counterparts, Yuya possesses the ability to enter the state of Berserk Mode, though this is against his will. This causes him to enter a state of rage that drives him to win the Duel, no matter what it takes. It also causes his voice to take a more menacing tone.[14] This ability activates when he is either under the influence of the Four Dimension Dragons, his Dimensional Counterparts, or when he is sufficiently angered
After accidentally absorbing Yuto's soul and merging with him, Yuto's memories begin to spill over, allowing him to see fragments of his counterpart's past. When triggered, the shock and trauma that comes with them can cause him to go berserk and become influenced by Yuto's own hatred, which makes him vulnerable to the control of an unknown darkness that slowly tries to consume both Yuya's and Yuto's souls. While under the control of the darkness, Yuya is able to unleash powerful shockwaves that is beyond normal from Standard Dimension. After becoming aware of this, Yuya eventually gained a degree of control over Berserk Mode, becoming capable of snapping out of it by force of will.

## Etymology

Like the protagonists of the other series, Yugi Muto/Yami Yugi, Jaden Yuki, Yusei Fudo, and Yuma Tsukumo, his name contains the character「遊」(Yu). He is the first protagonist whose surname only contains one character.

## History

#### Childhood

In his childhood, Yuya sat by himself crying when his father, Yusho Sakaki came in to cheer him up. He gave him advice on laughing whenever he felt down and used Yuya's pendant to explain that if Yuya was happy, the happiness would swing back at him. At another unknown point in his childhood, he lost his Pendant in a park, and cried when he was unable to find it. His father learned of the incident and reaffirmed the statement that Yuya should look up and laugh whenever he felt like crying. Yuya did so, locating his Pendant hanging from a tree branch. At one point, Yuya said that he wanted to be a Duelist just like his father when he grew up, and his father said Yuya's got it a bit wrong. He said instead of being like him, Yuya should always be himself.

He also looked at Gong's purely Monster Card composed Deck at another point, discussing Gong's philosophy of not using Action Cards. Gong explained that Action Cards were too risky if one were to rely on them, though Yuya claimed that that was the exciting part about them.

At a later point, Yuya and his mother, Yoko Sakaki, watched the final Duel between Yusho and The Sledgehammer. When Yusho did not show up, Yuya ran to the bottom of the stands, saying that his father would appear, and challenged The Sledgehammer to a Duel until his father arrived. Yoko pulled Yuya from the stands as he continued to protest.[11] He was bullied for these remarks, even being challenged to a Duel directly by Gen Ankokuji, one of the disciples of the Gongenzaka Dojo who wanted to represent Ishijima, but he was protected by Gong and comforted by Zuzu.

#### Pre-Paradise City Championship

Yuya and Gong were engaged in a Duel in You Show Duel School to recruit future students. As Gong called out to Yuya to Duel in a one-on-one match, he boldly made a stage performance with "Hippo Carnival" and started to dance. After Zuzu Boyle accidentally broke the Solid Vision machine, Yuya fell to the ground, but he managed to make a quick recovery and pulled a funny face after seeing Tatsuya looking concerned. At the lounge, Yuya was frustrated that he couldn't entertain his audience, much to the annoyance of his friends. When Nico Smiley offered Yuya a chance to fulfill his desire of Dueling the Sledgehammer in his father's place, Yuya became upset. Eventually, he left the school and sat by himself, remembering the time when his father told him to stay positive when he felt down. He later made his way to the Dueling arena to participate in the Sledgehammer's Duel, dressed as a clown. Yuya snuck up behind the Sledgehammer and taunted him behind his back before revealing himself, much to the Sledgehammer's shock and anger. Yuya apologized for his actions before commencing the Duel. He put up a good performance with "Performapal Hip Hippo" and used the Action Cards that were scattered around the battlefield to save himself. Yuya eventually Summoned "Odd-Eyes Dragon" in an attempt to defeat the Sledgehammer's "Battleguard King", which had been weakened by "Wonder Balloons", but the Sledgehammer managed to counter Yuya's play with his own Action Card, "Miracle". "Odd-Eyes" was then destroyed by "Battleguard King", pushing Yuya to a corner and making him lose hope. Remembering his father's words, Yuya regained the courage to continue. Suddenly, his pendant reacted with three of his Effect Monsters - "Stargazer Magician", "Timegazer Magician" and "Odd-Eyes Dragon", transforming them into Pendulum Monsters, while "Odd-Eyes Dragon" was transformed into "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon". Using his Spellcaster-Type Pendulum monsters, Yuya performed the first Pendulum Summons, Special Summoning "Performapal Sword Fish", "Performapal Whip Snake" and "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon", to the amazement of the audience. Using his new monsters to support "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon," he destroyed "Battleguard King" and wiped out the Sledgehammer in a single attack. Afterwards, he was swarmed by people asking about the Pendulum Summon that he'd performed, though he seemed unaware of the details himself and didn't seem to remember exactly what had happened.

he You Show Duel School received a flood of applicants, all eager to learn how to Pendulum Summon. Yuya and Zuzu had an exhibition Action Duel, though Yuya received a swat from Zuzu's fan beforehand for not taking it seriously. He portrayed her as a fan of the Sledgehammer looking for revenge after being put on the spot. On his second turn, Yuya attempted to Pendulum Summon again, but the Summon failed. Theorizing that it might only work when he was in a pinch, he urged Zuzu to attack him with all she had, but the Summon failed again and Zuzu defeated him. He showed Zuzu and the applicants his Pendulum Cards afterwards, annoying the applicants as they thought that Yuya might have cheated against the Sledgehammer and they couldn't use the Summon without the Pendulum Cards. All but Tatsuya left, though the boy believed in Yuya, and Gong encouraged Yuya to support his fans. Yuya agreed, vowing to master Pendulum Summoning.He finally did so, replicating the conditions of his Duel with the Sledgehammer after 291 Duels against Gong, though the ordeal left him sleeping through his math class the next day. When asked the answer to a problem, he bolted upright in his seat and began to recite his Pendulum Summon chant, before trying to wriggle his way out of the situation by stating that the answer was "the right one," earning him a swipe from Zuzu's fan.

After the day ended, Tatsuya, Ally and Futoshi arrived, eager to see the Pendulum Summon. They were interrupted by a student of the Leo Institute of Dueling, Silvio, who threw three sucker-tipped darts at Yuya. He admitted he was a big fan of Yuya's Pendulum Summoning, and after learning that they were going to see a Pendulum Summon, offered the use of the Center Field at LIS. Silvio showed them around, and Yuya was impressed by the various courses the school had on different Summoning forms. He was briefly distracted by someone noticing him, and rejoined the others. At the Duel Field, three of Silvio's friends approached them, and Silvio asked if he could show them Yuya's Pendulum Cards. Yuya was reluctant, but he agreed, holding out "Stargazer Magician" and "Timegazer Magician". Silvio swiped the cards and showed them to his friends, then he stated that he was keeping them for himself, suggesting that Yuya Duel to get them back. With Zuzu, Ally, Tatsuya and Futoshi held hostage, Yuya had little choice. He took the first turn and used "Performapal Whip Snake" to make his way around the "Dark Town's Prison Tower," attempting to find Action Cards, but not only were they Traps that reduced the ATK of "Whip Snake," but they also put his friends at risk. Silvio then proceeded to use the two Pendulum Monsters that he had stolen to Pendulum Summon three monsters himself, much to Yuya's shock.Yuya began to grieve for the sake of his friends, but regained his confidence when he drew "Block Spider", using it in conjunction with "Mimiclay" against Silvio to defend himself. Yuya later used "Empty Fishing" to regain his two Pendulum Monsters and used them to save his friends from falling. He then Pendulum Summoned "Performapal Kaleidoscorp", "Performapal Turn Toad", and "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon" and defeated Silvio with them. After losing to Yuya, Silvio sent his friends to take back "Timegazer Magician" and "Stargazer Magician", but they were intercepted by a boy named Sora Shiun'in, who knocked them unconscious with his lollipop stick and declared himself as Yuya's apprentice.