Masquerade

**Masquerade** is a major antagonist in *Bakugan Battle Brawlers*. He is a Darkus-using Bakugan Brawler and member of the Doom Beings. He is also the rival of Dan Kuso, Alice Gehabich's split personality, and is the user of Hydranoid.

He was voiced by Soichiro Hoshi in Japanese and Lyon Smith in English.

## Appearance

Masquerade has blond spiked hair and brown eyes, but the latters are obscured most of the time due to his visor, which has a black and red rim and blue glass covering his eyes. Masquerade also wears a blue shirt and a grey plate under a large white coat, red fingerless gloves with black highlights, multiple leather belts, purple pants, and heeled boots.

## Personality

At first, Masquerade just battled for the sake of gaining power and had no problem sending Bakugan to the Doom Dimension, making kids fear him. He was also determined to get the Infinity Core at all costs, and desired to become the best Bakugan Brawler to live. However, after losing to Dan in their final battle, he learns winning isn't all that important.

## Biography

Masquerade first appeared surprising Runo in the park. He challenges her to a battle and beats her without breaking a sweat. Later, it is revealed that the masked man has been a powerful foe, beating people with ease before taking their Bakugan. Due to this, Dan decides to stop his schemes. He sends a message to Masqerade, challenging him to a fight, which he sees in his lair. The two later meet up in an abandoned railroad bridge near Dan's school, with the fight taking place here. In said fight, Masquerade uses his Reaper to send Dan's Serponoid and Soris to the Doom Dimension before Drago ends the fight in a tie. Before walking off, Masquerade admits he spared Drago from his fate.

Masquerade later gives Rikimaro an Aquas Siege to battle Dan, with which he later lost to. He later manipulates Ryo to join him after Dan broke his computer, which Ryo later broke free of Masquerade's control after Dan beat him.

He then battles a bully named Tatsuya in the park and uses his Centipoid and Siege to send his Bakugan to the Doom Dimension thus causing the bully to join Masquerade, although he gets free after Runo beats him.

He is then shown getting the JJ dolls on his side. After they lose to Dan and Marucho, Masquerade is shown to be working for a man named Hal-G, while they both plan to use negative energy to get the Infinity Core.

Masquerade is then shown brainwashing Rashki and Kosuke, and telling them if they win, their friend can see her brother again, and then he transports to a plane. Masquerade then talks to Hal G about how useless the kids he brainwashed are, and said that with each battle his Bakugan power grows. He then decides to recruit Shun.

Later, Masquerade arrives at Shun's dojo and convinces him to join his side right as Dan arrives. Dan gets angered to see Shun with Masquerade, and tells Shun to get rid of Dan. However, as he doesn't, Dan challenges them both to a fight, with Dan losing and being left with only Drago as his Bakugan. Masquerade brings out Hydranoid to fight Drago and ends up sending reaper to the Doom Dimension, much to Shun's horror. Shun then uses Monaris to save Drago. Eventually, Shun turns on Masqerade and helps Dan beat him.

After this, Masquerade summons the top-ranked Brawlers to his castle. Among them are Klaus von Hertzen, Chan Lee, Julio Santana, Komba O'Charlie, and Billy Gilbert, with their own guardian Bakugan in Sirenoid, Fourtress, Tentaclear, Harpus, and Cycloid respectively. Taking them to Naga, Masquerade has them brainwashed and turned against the Battle Brawlers, using them to send more of the Battle Brawlers' Bakugan to the Doom Dimension until Billy and Komba are snapped out of the brainwashing and rebel against him, followed by Klaus, Chan, and Julio after they are defeated following Drago evolving into Delta Dragonoid II and overpowering them. He then tells Naga and Hal G that he will beat the Brawlers himself.

With the top-ranked Brawlers having served their purpose, Masquerade then battles them with Hydranoid, defeating them one by one and sending their guardian Bakugan to the Doom Dimension as punishment. During his Brawl with Sirenoid and Klaus, Hydranoid evolves into Dual Hydranoid, and defeats Klaus and Sirenoid, sending Sirenoid to the Doom Dimension. With Dual Hydranoid at his disposal, Masquerade battles Dan and Drago, and defeats Drago. With the Doom Card in play, Drago is sent to the Doom Dimension, and Dan follows, refusing to be separated from his partner. After that, Masquerade challenges Shun next, but the Brawlers have a plan of their own. All four of them face Masquerade at once, only to be seen by Mrs. Kuso right before they start the match. When Mrs. Kuso can move again following the outcome of the battle, she finds Runo, Shun, Julie, and Marucho gone, and only Masquerade standing victorious. When she asks where they went, he simply replies, "Doom Dimension", and departs.

Going after Joe Brown and Wavern while the Brawlers are trapped, Masquerade is soundly defeated by Wavern as not even Dual Hydranoid can beat her. Incensed, Masquerade travels to the Doom Dimension himself and faces off with the Darkus Ancient Soldier, Exedra, who uses an illusion of Alice to battle Masquerade with. Despite Exedra's power and abilities, Masquerade and Dual Hydranoid are victorious, causing Hydranoid to evolve again into Alpha Hydranoid. With Hydranoid like that, Masquerade challenges Joe and Wavern again, but instead faces Dan and Drago, who has evolved into Ultimate Dragonoid. After several draws that cause severe damage to the battlefield, Drago is able to emerge victorious over Alpha Hydranoid. At that point, Dan offers his hand in friendship to Masquerade, but as Masquerade appears to accept, he instead lifts his hand to his visor, tells Dan it wouldn't work out as he's already part of the Battle Brawlers, and takes his visor off, letting it fall and crack on the ground as his blond spikes collapse into a long, beautiful bushel of orange locks, revealing Masquerade to be Alice Gehabich to the Battle Brawlers. After Hal-G appears and explains everything regarding how Alice and Masquerade are one in the same, devastated over the evil acts she committed as Masquerade, Alice departs from the Battle Brawlers to parts unknown.

She traveled to stay with her aunt and uncle, but traumatized by her actions as Masquerade, Alice was terrified of turning into him again should she ever play Bakugan again, giving up the sport entirely, not wanting anything to do with Bakugan ever again. However, finding herself wandering into the castle garden of Klaus and Sirenoid, the two force her into a Brawl in vengeance for when Masquerade sent Sirenoid to the Doom Dimension. However, it was also to teach Alice a lesson and inspire her to not give up on Bakugan. As a result, when she mentally hears Dan and Drago calling for help one day while watering the flowers outside her relatives' house, she prays for a way to help Dan and Drago, and is granted with Masquerade's cracked visor, indicating he wants to Brawl one more time and needs her help to do it. Traveling back to Klaus' castle, Alice asks for his help to reach the Vestroia portal in the Pacific Ocean, and he grants her request. As Klaus' aircraft hovers over the portal, Alice leaps out and skydives towards it. Closing her eyes and asking Masquerade for strength, Alice transforms into him one more time to help Dan and Drago, arriving just in time to help them against Naga's Darkus/Pyrus hybrids Centorrior and Druman. After defeating the hybrids, Masquerade prepares to depart from Alice's body completely, but before he does, he entrusts Alpha Hydranoid and all his Bakugan, powers, and abilities onto her, knowing she can handle being a Bakugan Battle Brawler on her own now without his help. After he departs and Alice transforms back into herself, she thanks Masquerade before his cracked visor shatters to indicate the cessation of his existence within Alice. Alice then apologizes to the Battle Brawlers for making them worry and everything else she's done, either as herself or Masquerade, and they forgive her, before then asking about Alpha Hydranoid, and Alice reveals he's her Guardian Bakugan now. Alpha Hydranoid confirms that he fights with Alice now, and they become the Battle Brawlers' Darkus team, facing off with Naga's Subterra/Haos hybrid Rabeeder alongside Klaus, Sirenoid, and the young Christopher and Juggernoid that Alice befriended when Naga attacks Wardington to find Wavern and the Infinity Core.

In *Bakugan: New Vestroia*, Alice is with Alpha Hydranoid after reuniting with him following the Bakugan Brawlers Resistance freeing him from the Vexos with the other Guardian Bakugan, when she is attacked by Vexos member Shadow Prove. During this time, Masquerade is heard and seen in Alice's mind, trying to coax her into turning into him again to face Shadow, but Alice is fearful of losing herself if she becomes Masquerade again. During as she and Hydranoid face off with Shadow and his mechanical Bakugan clone of Hydranoid, Hades, aided by Chan Lee and Fourtress, who had been sent to help Alice by Klaus, Alice is somehow able to summon Masquerade's spirit to help her stand up to Shadow, while maintaining her own appearance and not physically turning into him, and is able to have Hydranoid take down Hades, but she and Chan lose to MAC Spider, resulting in her grandfather's Dimensional Transporter being severely damaged. Nevertheless, that is the last time that Masquerade makes an appearance to aid his alter-ego and give her the confidence to face her fears and know Alice no longer needs to become Masquerade to win in a Bakugan Brawl.

### *Bakugan: Mechtanium Surge*

Although he never appears directly, Masquerade is indirectly mentioned by Worton, who thinks that Wiseman is using the transporter card Masquerade once used, which turns out false once his identity is revealed as Coredegon.