Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS/Characters/SOL Technologies

SOL Technology Inc.

Akira Zaizen

Head of SOL Technology’s Security Division A high-ranking SOL employee who oversees the security of the city and the VR Space. He protects the city from hackers.

Voiced by: Shouma Yamamoto (Japanese),Barrett Leddy (English)

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Aloof Big Brother:Subverted in regards to his relationship with Aoi. He is described as indifferent towards her, yet advises her to quit Speed Dueling out of concern for her safety and shows legitimate concern for her after she enters a comatose state.
• Adult Fear:Being responsible for a six-year-old at sixteen, and worrying about how he would provide for her or her getting kidnapped like Yusaku.
• Animal Motif:He is compared to a HellHound that protects his angel, i.e Aoi, which is lampshaded by Ghost Girl with his monsters, Tindangle Hound and Angel.
• Badass in Distress:By the time he reaches a defeated Blue Angel, he gets trapped in a thorny prison by Dr. Kogami.
• Big Brother Instinct:Is very protective of Aoi to the point locking her in the house tp prevent her from going outside after her recovery he also tries to be this to Playmaker after realizing he is the same age as his sister.
• Big Damn Heroes:As Queen tried to capture Ai after GO's defeat, Akira forcefully logged GO out of LINK VRAINS. Fortunately, his actions saved both GO from death and the main duo from being captured.
• Casting a Shadow:The Tindangles are DARK attribute.
• Cain and Abel:The Able to Aoi's cain
• Cold Blooded Torture:Engages in a hostile interrogation against Playmaker, demanding that he explain Aoi/Blue Angel's comatose state.
• Cool Big Bro:He does qualifies this to Aoi to some extent
• Dark and Troubled Past: He and Aoi lost their parents in a car accident, spoiler: and had their inheritance stolen, forcing him to hack for money.
• Dark Is Not Evil: While the Tindangle mosters are eldritch appearing demons, at the time of his duel, Akira is the Hero Antagonist against Playmaker's Vigilante Man.
• Defrosting Ice King:Towards Playmaker at first Akira developed a bitter hatred towards Playmaker for stealing Ignis and for thinking he was responsible for putting his sister in coma upon learning the truth that Playmaker was not responsible for putting Aoi in coma he started to trust him and shows concern to him during his duel with Revolver
• Digital Avatar:Averted he has the same appearance both in and out of LINK VRAINS
• Easily Forgiven:Even after a hostile interrogation, Playmaker doesn't resent Akira likely because Playmaker's hatred of Hanoi outweighs any possible hatred towards Akira.
• Expy:
  • Of Reiji, as another cool-headed young man holding a very high ranking position in a company specializing in cars-game card-game related tech.tech that has a hidden purpose. Both Reiji and Zaizen often send others to duel for them while they analyzes the situation from video surveillance. Time will tell if Zaizen takes after Reiji in other ways, though both are introduced to the audience as morally ambiguous characters with mysterious motives.
• His backstory makes him similar to Kaiba as they both have a Dark and Troubled Past lost their biological parents at a young age.Come from a wealthy family and work really hard in a pestrigious company to support their younger siblings.His determination to protect his sister makes him similar to Joey.
• Gratuitous English: Addresses Go as "Mr. Onizuka".
• Get A Hold Of Yourself Man: After a failed attempt to bring Akira out of the thorny prison, he convinces Playmaker to steel his conviction, and to move forward in spite of the sacrifices made in an attempt to stop Hanoi's ambitions.
• Hell Hound:His animal motif, and his ace monster, Tindangle Hound. In general his deck is based upon the Hounds of Tindalos
• He Knows Too Much: After Playmaker and Revolver's Master Duel, the higher-ups of SOL Technologies spoiler:demote Akira to Chief and promote his former boss, Kitamura, to Security Chief, out of fear that he would get too curious about the Lost Incident/Hanoi Project.
• Hero Antagonist:He evolves into this, seeking the truth about spoiler: ten years ago and SOL, while offering to bring it to light responsibly, in contrast to Playmaker's desire for revenge.
• Heroic Sacrifice::No longer wanting to burden Playmaker, Akira deliberately touches the thorny prison containing him and infects himself with the virus, and presumably gets absorbed into the Tower of Hanoi like Blue Angel did.
• Improbable Age: Can't be older than his twenties due to his sister's age, and he basically has Godwin's job from 5ds.
• Innocently Insensitive: He makes an effort to reach out to Playmaker and get him to let go of his Revenge. Unfortunately, due to not understanding how Painful Yusaku's history is, he hits the later's Berserk Button and is called out for thinking he understands him.
• Justified Criminal: He was forced into hacking at 16 to provide for Aoi, due to asshole relatives stealing his and her inheritance.
• Knight Templar Big Brother:Is not above using pragmatic methods (such as attempting to interrogate Playmaker Through torture until The Reveal from Revolver) and making sure any hostilities are as good as dead for Aoi's sake. He moves out of this by Season 2, realizing that banning Aoi from being involved won't work, and instead has her work with Ghost Girl to let her be involved but also safe.
• Parental Abandonment:He and Aoi’s parents are dead.
• My God What Have I Done?:He is horrified when Revolver admits that Hanoi is responsible for Aoi's condition, not Playmaker.
• Manly Tears:Gets a very emotional one after Aoi wakes up from her coma
• Not So Stoic:Normally putting on a stoic front, he loses his cool when he is unable to forcibly end the Duel between Playmaker and Blue Angel.
• Only Sane Man:By season 2 it's clear that Akira is the only person in SOL industries who isn't a lunatic with delusions of godhood, a violent xenophobic maniac, a person willing to let the world burn in order to settle a petty grudge, a bastard profiting of the kidnapping and torture of children, a corporate drone willing to participate in horrifying experiments straight out of Jopseph Melenge for a paycheck, or any combination of the above.
• Our Demons Are Different:The Tindangles are Fiend-Type monsters that utilize flip effects
• Parental Neglect:Since their parents died, he's been Aoi's guardian, and while his job lets her live comfortably, he has no time to spend with her, so he doesn't notice her emotional problems, him being the major cause of them.
• Promoted to Parent: After their parents died, Akira took care of Aoi, gaining his job in order to support a stable life for her.
• Punch Clock Villain: "Villain" might be a stretch, but Akira only opposes Playmaker in Season 2 because it is his job in SOL Technologies. Otherwise, Akira feels deeply indebted to him and is much more interested in making contact with him in real life.
• Rags to Riches:After enduring many hardships, he eventually worked up to the prominent and well-paying job at SOL to provide for Aoi.
• Say My Name: Cries out for Aoi after she is defeated by Spectre
• Sinister Geometry:The Tindangles are shown with a lot of angles, the name being a combination of Tindalos + Angle.
• Screw the Rules I Have Plot:Finally defies Queen when he forces GO to logout upon seeing that she was willing to let him die in order to capture Ai.
• This Is Unforgivable!:Akira sees the cruel side of his boss, Queen, as he realizes Earth's decomplied data was fused into GO's AI Chip. Although he is concerned for GO's health, his rage is very visible seeing how Queen only cares about collecting data.
• Token Good Teammate:
  • For SOL Technologies, not liking the bounty on Playmaker and is the only one to be horrified when Earth is brutally murdered by their scientists while Queen watches coldly.
  • Also, he is the only one protesting against [[spoiler:Queen's desire to collect more data after witnessing and realizing Earth's data was fused into GO's AI Chip.
• Technicolor Eyes: He has cold pink eyes
• Workaholic:He values work more than anything else
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair:His hair is teal and blue

Bishops

One of the higher-ups of SOL Technology Inc.

Voiced by:IKKAN (Japanese)

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Chess Motif: Communicates with a hologram of a literal white bishop piece.

Knight

One of the higher-ups of SOL Technology Inc.

Voiced by:Masaaki Yano (Japanese),Sam Black (English)

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Chess Motif: Communicates with a hologram of a literal white Knight piece.

Rook

One of the higher-ups of SOL Technology Inc.

Voiced by:Koichi Makishima (Japanese)

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Chess Motif: Communicates with a hologram of a literal white Rook piece.

Queen

A high-ranking member of SOL Technologies Inc.

Voiced by:Megumi Koyama (Japanese)

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Chess Motif:Is named after the queen chess piece, establishing her authority as a higher-up of SOL Technologies.
• The Corruptor: Queen willfully allows Onizuka to undergo a fusion with an AI to turn him from an angry bounty hunter to a psychotic monstrous opponent.
• Deadpan Snarker: Basically her reaction to Akira's hesitation to go after Playmaker.
• A Glass of Chianti:Just to hammer in that she is a part of a very rich company.
• Hate Sink: Episode 75 establishes her as this in contrast to Hanoi and the Bohman faction, where she coldly has a captured Earth killed and dissected despite his cries, and before that led to Onizuka's corruption and fall into evil.
• The Heavy: While it is likely that the various bounty hunters will do the most of the dirty work, her presence in the 2nd OP and more

aggressive approach to collecting the Ignis implies that she'll be the chief antagonist of season 2.

• Lack of Empathy:She's okay with doing anything a long it gets her more data or money such as terminating Earth despite him being a sentient being and implanting Go with an AI chip that's clearly causes his health to deteriorate.
• Rage Breaking Point:She loses her composure the moment Akira forcefully logs GO out of LINK VRAINS (after losing to Playmaker a second time) because he dared to no longer submit to her authority.
• The Unfettered:She'll use whatever means imaginable to acquire data or riches, and doesn't give a damn if it involves deteriorating someone else's wellbeing (as is the case with GO, who voluntarily underwent Training From Hell just to get back at Playmaker).

Kitamura

Akira's former boss, and the new Security Chief of SOL Technologies, replacing Akira after Playmaker's Duel against Revolver.

Voiced by: Masayuki Kato (Japanese)

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• All According to Plan:Subverted. For unknown reasons, he had plans to use the contents of SOL Technologies' data bank against the higher-ups and earn himself a promotion... only for things to fall apart for him after Playmaker acquires the data.
• Ambition Is Evil:However, unlike Roget who was a Smug Snake and tried to strike out on his own, Kitamura is a straightup Slimeball that attempts to throw in his lot with the villains.
• Asshole Victim: He's turned to data after being defeated by Spectre, after he tries to abandon SOL and join Hanoi.
• Bad Boss:Calls out on his workers for lagging behind on the development of an AI duelist army, and threatens to cut their salaries by 50% should they continue stagnating.
• Badass Boast:Subverted. He claims that his AI Duelists excel at the DeathOfAThousandCuts play style, only for one of his AI Duelists to be terminated at the hands of Blue Angel, whose deck also utilises around said play style.
• Butt Monkey:Constantly claims that his chances of earning a promotion go out the window when things don't go as he'd hoped.
• Chewing the Scenery: MeanBoss as he may be, he dramatically loses it when AI Prototype Ai-A is defeated by Playmaker, and when the latter infiltrates SOL Technologies' data bank.
• Dirty Coward:After SOL Technologies loses control to Hanoi, he immediately tries to throw in his lot with them.
• Establishing Character Moment:Threatening to cut his workers' salaries by 50% for lagging behind on the development of an AI duelist army paints him as a Bad Boss.
• Even Evil Has Standards:He was completely caught off guard by the very idea of SOL Technologies organizing (what later turned out be mass) kidnappings.
• Gonk:Kitamura has a large nose and slanted eyes, and while not unrealistically gonky, he looks like a bit of a parody of Asian features.
• Human Sacrifice:After failing to defeat Spectre, he like many others is turned into data and absorbed into the Tower of Hanoi, with the intent of power the Tower so the Knights of Hanoi can destroy VRAINS.
• Jerkass:He is very unpleasent towards his workers
• Killed Mid-Sentence:Begs not to be turned into data as he disintegrates and gets absorbed by the Tower of Hanoi.
• Multicoloured Hair: Two shades of purple.
• Only One Name:His given name is unknown.
• Oh Crap:He rather justifiably freaks out when he realizes that Playmaker has gotten very far in the SOL Technologies main computer before he was detected, but calms down and realizes he can test his Prototype AI's.
• Smug Snake:He is a very sumg and a arrogant bastard
• Saying Too Much: Kitamura rants in his office over the fact that Playmaker acquired the data from SOL Technologies' data bank, and hopes that no one will find out, let alone question him, about it. Unbeknownst to him, two of his subordinates overhear him from outside.
• What Happened to the Mouse?: What becomes of him after the conclusion of the Tower of Hanoi incident is unknown, although he was presumably fired based on Queen's comments.
• Yank the Dog's Chain:His AI Duelist Squad initially has the upper hand against Hanoi's mooks ... only to shortly after be effortlessly decimated by Faust and Vyra.
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair:Two shades of purple.

Hayami

Akira's subordinate and admirer.

Voiced by: Chihiro Ikki (Japanese),

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Dirty Coward: Has no problem bombarding Soulburner with explosives via her tablet, all to prevent Akira from being demoted for failing to capture Flame. GO calls out on SOL for their underhandedness, and blocks a hit for Soulburner and gets out unharmed.
• Fan Girl: She is a fan of Blue Angel, even encouraging Akira to stay to the end and let her finish her duel.
• Pointy Ears: Just like Emma Bessho, her ears are slightly pointed.
• Office Lady: A straight example in season 1 where she mostly just serves coffee or tea to Akira and serves as his secretary. Come Season 2 she's more or less Akira's Number Two, and in charge of the room of Bridge Bunnies.
• Satellite Character: Her entire character is based around her being Akira's subordinate.
• Tender Tears: She bursts into tears after her tablet was confiscated by Akira, and admits to him that she attacked Soulburner out of fear that Akira would get demoted if SOL fails to capture Flame.
• Took a Level In Jerkass: In the first season, she was the someone ditzy subordinate of Akira and a Blue Angel Fan Girl. Come the second season, she is a borderline Yandere and Dirty Coward that tries to take out Soulburner with explosives.
• Yandere: Has shades of this when she, by herself without asking for help or even telling anyone else, started attacking Soulburner while he was dueling Go Onizuka in an attempt to prevent the possibility of Akira being demoted again.

Bounty Hunters

Go Onizuka (Gore)/Go 鬼塚

A Duelist who uses a Gouki deck. As a Charisma Duelist, he is known as Go 鬼塚.As a BountyHunter, GO operates a Dinowrestler deck, which also revolves around a Beatdown play style.style, as well as monster protection, preventing attacks on his monsters or the activation of spells and traps.

Voiced by: Daiki Hamano (Japanese),Daniel J Edwards (English)

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Alliterative Name: His dub name, George Gore.
• Always Someone Better:Following the Tower of Hanoi incident, he views himself as a stepping stone for Playmaker, as GO is no longer number one in LINK VRAINS. This is reaffirmed when he loses to Playmaker a second time despite undergoing Training From Hell just to get back at him, which also shows that Hard Work Hardly Works; i.e. grinding for days or weeks on end will get you nowhere.
• Attention Whore:His first spoken line in the series is to complain about Playmaker supposedly taking his spotlight, hinting that he has a big ego dispite his friendly demeanor.This is Deconstructed at the same time: Go grew up in an orphanage and as thanks, decided to become a Charisma Duelist so he earn money, could repay their kindness, and make children happy.
• Anti-Magic:His Dinowrestler monsters prevent the activation of spells and traps when they attack like Ancient Gear monsters. It appears that Mirror Force really bothered him.
• Badass Boast: He lays claim to having an AI installed in his brain via a duel chip to the point that his Dueling skills exceed those of an ordinary human's.
• Back from the Dead:His Skill, Fighting Spirit, Special Summons all Gouki Monsters destroyed by battle in the same turn.
• Blown Across the Room:Gets blown out of the room he was testing Speed Dueling on by a Data Storm.
• Brought to You by The Letter "S"":The G on his belt.
• The Bus Came Back:Returns seventeen episodes after his Duel against Playmaker.
• Cool Big Bro:Acts as one to the orphaned Kids
• Childhood Friend:Despite their differences in personality, he and Makoto were on good terms since their childhood.
• Competition Freak: As of episode 75, GO claims he no longer cares about anything except for winning and defeating Playmaker; destroying Crystal Heart despite what it meant to Earth, capturing Earth despite him not being an enemy Ignis, having fought alongside Playmaker during the Tower of Hanoi, possibly dying during the experiments...he doesn't care about any of that.
• A Darker Me:Invoked in his Duel against Genome. GO equips Gouki the Dark Mask onto Gouki Thunder Ogre, turning it into Dark Thunder Ogre, and follows up by changing his wrestling persona into Dark Onizuka.
• Dark and Troubled Past:He used to be an orphan with money issues, and Playmaker stealing his fame by accident is Serious Business for him.
• Digital Avatar: Averted; he sports the same appearance both online and offline.
• Dishing Out Dirt: His Gouki monsters are EARTH Warrior-Type Monsters.
• Disproportion Retribution:The real reason he became a Bounty Hunter for SOL Technologies in the first place? All so he could take down Playmaker and reclaim his reputation as the number one Duelist in LINK VRAINS so people will appreciate him again.
• Deliberate Injury Gambit:Twice; Dark Onizuka has Dark Thunder Ogre destroy Rising Scorpio with a hammer throw, depleting his own LP so that Dark Thunder Ogre can increase its ATK to surpass that of Genome's Helixx Marmotroll.
• Discard and Draw:As part of his Face Heel Turn, he ceases using his Gouki deck in favor of a Dinowrestler one.
• Expy: He's basically a hunky Giragi and his dueling style is similar to Jack Atlas
• Face Heel Turn:
  • Invoked in his Duel against Genome. GO discards his entertainment style and Duels like a heel, changing his wrestling persona into Dark Onizuka.
  • Does this in Season 2 where he becomes a Bounty Hunter for SOL hunting down Playmaker
• Friend to All Children:Don't let his looks and Attention Whore attitude fool you, as he's really nice towards children and doing his Charisma DUeling job to give them a better life.
• For Happiness: Vows to protect LINK VRAINS so the orphanage children can continue to smile.
• Foil:To Blue Angel. While in the Hanoi arc Blue Angel realized she wants to duel for others and not just herself, Go comes to the conclusion it is ok to duel for himself and not others. In addition, while Blue Angel is grateful to Playmaker for saving her and doesn't appear bothered by being overshadowed, Go deeply resents it and will stop at nothing to beat Playmaker for the sake of his pride.
• Fallen Hero:In Season 1 he's a hero of Link Vrains, in season 2 his resentment and pride lead to him becoming a villain and bounty hunter.
• Full-Body Disguise:
  • Disguises himself as a Knight of Hanoi to lure Playmaker into Dueling him.
  • Later disguises himself as Playmaker to lure Dr. Genome into Dueling him.
• Graceful Loser:Laughs as he acknowledges his defeat at Playmaker's hands.Subverted later on
• Gentle Giant: Despite his stature and build, he has a friendly and kind-hearted demeanor outside of LINK VRAINS.
• Go Out with a Smile:As he disintegrates and gets absorbed by the Tower of Hanoi, all GO can do is deliver one last smile and leave Playmaker to deal with Revolver.
• Gonk:After having an AI implanted in his brain, his face looks very old and ugly.
• Human Sacrifice:Disintegrates and gets absorbed by the Tower of Hanoi after he is defeated by Revolver.
• Humble Hero: As a result of his orphaned upbringing. Subverted later, when his Pride and resentment towards being second best to Playmaker leads to his FaceHeelTurn.
• Hate Sink:Since the second season, it's hard to consider him sympathetic considering his reasons for undergoing Training from HellH (i.e. to get back at Playmaker and reclaim his right as the #1 Duelist of LINK VRAINS); not to mention, he actively ignores the fact that the two worked together during the Tower of Hanoi incident. It only gets worse when he defeats and captures Earth, turns him in to SOL Technologies, and stands by and coldly ignores his pleas to not be terminated.
• Heroic Build:As a hero he is the biggest and must muscular person in the cast. After his Face Heel Turn and Training from Hell he becomes Lean And Mean.
• Hard Work Hardly Works:Despite what he endured during his Training From Hell (part of which involved integrating his mind with that of an AI's), he is ultimately defeated by Playmaker a second time.
• Heel Realization:After he was defeated by Playmaker the second time, Go started seeing his life flash before his eyes, realizing what he become in his pursuit for power and starts to cry.
• It's All About Me:Boasts that he is King of Link VRAINS, and is not happy with the fact that Playmaker has become widely discussed after protecting Link VRAINS from a Knight of Hanoi.
• It's All My Fault:Blames himself for being unable to stop Makoto from becoming an Another victim.
• It's Personal: Cares not for the whole bounty hunting thing, as all he cares about is taking down Playmaker so that he can restore his reputation as the number one Duelist in LINK VRAINS.
• Kick the Dog:After defeating Earth, he makes it clear to Playmaker and Blue Girl that he doesn't care that Earth wasn't an enemy and that they were once comrades, power and beating Playmaker is the only thing that matters to him. Later made worse when he cruelly doesn't care as Earth is dissected piece by piece.
• Lean and Mean: After his Training From Hell, Go has become disturbingly gaunt and thin.
• Manly Tears:
  • Subverted, but he is moved regardless when the orphanage children continue to acknowledge him as the champion of Link VRAINS even after losing to Playmaker.
  • After he loses to Playmaker for a second time, GO cries as he recalls his moments before he underwent Training From Hell.
• Motive Rant:GO throws a big hissy fit all because he's not number one, playing the victim card and views himself as nothing but a stepping stone for Playmaker, and thus vows to take him down to not only become number one again, but also so everyone will appreciate him.
• Near Villain Victory:Exploited. He lets his opponents get the upper hand so that he can stage a comeback, which forms the basis of his entertaining Dueling style.
• No Sell:His Gouki the Giant Ogre is unaffected by the card effects of Monsters boasting ATK equal to or lower than it does.
• Online Alias: Go 鬼塚.
• Rated M For Manly:He's well-built, and runs a Gouki deck.
• Real Name as an Alias: His online handle is based on his real name, and is written in a way that it's homonymous.
• The Rival:He is a Friendly one to Playmaker
• The Reason You Suck Speech:Disguised as Playmaker, GO dismissively calls the Knights of Hanoi who confronted him garbage unworthy of Dueling.
• Revenge:Vows to get back at Dr. Genome for turning Makoto into an Another victim.
• Reforged Into a Minion: Not literally, but discussed by Soulburner. Lampshaded by Soulburner, who labels GO as a lap dog working for SOL Technologies; or rather, a Sore Loser incapable of anything but venting his frustrations.
• Start of Darkness: Since the beginning of the second season, he abandons his reputation as a Charisma Duelist and enlists as a BountyHunter all so he can get back at Playmaker and reclaim his right as the number one Duelist of LINK VRAINS. It only gets worse when he's seen pursuing Earth, and later uncloaks himself after Playmaker finds them both, revealing his dull, yet intimidating expression (which Akira speculates Queen is responsible for).
• Shout Out:He's one giant homage to ProfessionalWrestling. His Gouki monsters are wrestling-themed anthropomorphic animals, Go himself looks like a wrestler, his debut episodes include a lot of references to wrestling, and his story (orphan who got into dueling to support himself, donates his winnings to the same orphanage and is a hero to the kids there) is straight from a wrestler's Kayfabe backstory while also echoing the real life charity work they do.
• Sore Loser: Since the conclusion of the Tower of Hanoi incident, he's really sore over the fact that he's no longer number one in LINK VRAINS, and thus discards his reputation as a Charisma Duelist and becomes a BountyHunter, all so he could get back at Playmaker.
• Spiteful Spit:Dark Onizuka literally spits poison mist on Genome's face after activating Gouki Poison Mist. Genome calls out on him for cheating
• Tyrannosaurus Rex:His new ace monster, Dinowrestler King T Wrextle.
• Took a Level In Badass: After his Training From Hell he adds Fusion and Synchro summoning to his arsenal.
• Took a Level in Jerkass:Started off as a Gentle Giant and borderline Nice Guy for his care of orphans, albeit with a bit of an ego. Come Season 2 he undergoes a Face Heel Turn because he can't stand being number two.

*Transhuman: Claimed he obtained the power that surpasses humanity's domain

[[spoiler:by getting a chip implanted into his brain, fusing himself with an AI

• Training From Hell: Undergoes a Lost Incident-style training and takes an AI into his brain to gain the Brain Hack skill to defeat Playmaker.
• Worlds Strongest Man:Has a reputation for being the strongest Duelist in LINK VRAINS. Even after losing to Playmaker, the orphanage children continue to look up to him as the champion.
• Yokai: In this case, Japanese ogres.
• You Are Too Late:Arrives too late to stop Dr. Genome from turning Makoto into an Another victim.
• Younger Than He Looks: After having and AI and Earth implanted in his brain he looks like a old man.

Kengo Dojun/Blood Shepherd

A ruthless bounty hunter acquainted with Akira and Emma, hired by SOL Technologies.to capture Playmaker's Ignis. In LINK VRAINS, he is known as Blood Shepherd. Uses a Drone deck, which relies on burn damage and direct attacks and locking down his opponent's Link Monsters

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• An Arm and a Leg: In the accident that crippled his mother, his arm was crippled, requiring him to get a mechanical one.
• Artificial Limbs: In real life and on his avatar
• Badass Cape: He wears a desperado style cape to go with his cowboy theme.
• Combat Pragmatist: Will do whatever he needs to get the job done, such as using his allies as decoys or rigging a duel disk AI to lie to his opponent.
• Cool Plane: ED3 showcases several 'Battle Drones' alongside him (which also appear in OP2).
• Dark and Troubled Past: He almost lost his mother and arm due to a malfunctioning AI in their taxi cab, and before that his Dad is absent or dead for unknown reasons, forcing his mother to work.
• Daddy Had a Good Reason For Abandoning You:Played for drama. Kengo's father was so fixated on work to the point that he left behind his wife and son, and for unknown reasons he got together with another woman and conceived Emma (aka Kengo's younger half-sister), which only worsens Kengo's animosity towards his father. Come his dying moments, Kengo's father (who was bound to a wheelchair) asks of his own daughter to reach out to Kengo at times of need.
• A Death in the Limelight: Blood Shepherd gets three duels in a row with Ghost Girl, Revolver, and Lightning, while his backstory is expanded and he undergoes Character Development to make peace with his father even if he doesn't forgive him, but ultimately loses to Lightning, to show the villain's skill.
• Disappeared Dad: His father is nowhere to be seen.
• The Dreaded:According to Akira, Blood Shepherd has a reputation for being a ruthless bounty hunter who mercilessly hunts his prey.
• Even Evil Has Loved Ones:
  • Kengo loved his mother greatly, and her near-death on her birthday after their AI-Taxi crashed drives his anger towards AI.
  • Implied for Emma. He and Ghost Girl appear to have a hidden connection and when he saved her from the hacker's bomb, he called her by her real name before leaving.
• Evil Genius:Extremely cunning and has proven himself as one of the best hackers in the series.
• Evil Sounds Deep: Before the incident which crippled him and his mother, he was an even-voiced, yet upbeat guy. Since his involvement in the bounty hunting business, however, he speaks in a low-pitched, intimidating voice.
• The Faceless: In the real world, Blood Shepherd covers his face with a pair of sunglasses and a scarf. His face is fully revealed in a flashback, and he's fairly normal looking.
• Foil: A surprising one for Revolver, of all people.
  • Both of their parents they've loved very much were rendered comatose as a result of an incident involving AI; Revolver's father after trying to create the Ignis in order to make the world a better place, unlike Kengo's mother who ended up hospitalized due to an AI malfunctioning.
  • Both of them detest AI, but wherein Ryoken is a Knight Templar who despises any and all AI and tried to destroy the world's network just to ensure the 6 Ignis would never be a threat (never mind the fact that he uses the Cyberse type Topologic series of Link Monsters), Kengo is a Bounty Hunter who despises AI, but tacitly accepts that an AI that is under direct human control is still useful.
  • For all his talk about his comrades being sacrificed for the Tower of Hanoi, it is Revolver himself who rendered them in such a state. Blood Shepherd blatantly used Akira and Ghost Girl as bait during a mission, but ultimately protected Ghost Girl when their target tried to retaliate.
  • Even their parents, for that matter. Dr. Kogami is a scientist whose project to create AI that could solve any and every human problem ultimately resulted in the company that he worked for turning against him and using them to gain massive wealth. Kengo's mother is heavily implied to be a simple middle-class single parent near retirement.
  • Both of them caused their parents' downfall unwittingly. When he was just eight, Ryoken secretly reported the Lost Incident/Hanoi Project to the police, which resulted in the six children that were kidnapped to be released, but ultimately got the attention of SOL's higher-ups who infected Dr. Kogami with a virus that resulted in him getting bed-ridden; Kengo's mother was rendered hospitalized after Kengo convinced her to use an AI-driven taxi.
  • Both of them devoted their lives to their parents' well-being. Revolver spent his entire later childhood and most of his teenage years for the sake of making amends for his father's condition. Kengo was willing to give up on a chance for college just so he can take care of his mother.
  • Revolver had roughly a thousand subordinated, Kengo on the other hand either operates solo or in very small groups.
• Freudian Excuse: He believes that AI should be controlled and overseen by humans, because on his mother's birthday, the taxi they were in was AI controlled but malfunctioned and caused them to drive into an otherwise avoidable accident, rendering her paraplegic and his arm nerve dead.
• Hand Blast: His mods allow him to fire energy blasts out of his hand to take out opponents
• Heel Face Turn: Although he doesn't join the Confidants or Knights of Hanoi, he abandons SOL to fight the Bohman Faction, due to not wanting his little sister, Emma, to get hurt.
• I Work Alone: Despite being part of a Bounty Hunter team, he always works on his own accord, and has zero tolerance for being ordered around.
• Kick the Son of a Bitch: Ruthlessly deals with the two delinquent penguins, who were hackers that modded themselves to hurt others, and has also picked a fight with him.
• Locked Out of the Loop:Despite his insistence that nothing can be hidden from him, he was left completely unaware of Link Spells and that the spoiler: Ignis had declared war on humanity until Revolver told him.
• Mage Killer: His Drone deck has a lot of means to counter Link Monsters, which spells trouble for him when Playmaker Fusion Summons.
• Momma's Boy: He just wanted to work to support his mother so she wouldn't have to work anymore...and then she nearly died.
• Nice Hat: Dons a light purple hat with numerous pointy edges and green trimmings.
• Not What I Signed on For:He signed up for SOL to kill the Ignis Ais due to his hatred from them, spoiler: and after learning that SOL intends to make a new, better Ignis with free will, which means killing them is pointless he quits and storms out of Akira's office.
• Online Alias: Blood Shepherd.
• Only in It For the Money: Lampshaded by Ghost Girl; Blood Shepherd affirms that monetary rewards are what mark his status as a professional bounty hunter.
• Oedipus Complex:He loves his mother and despises his father for abandoning her, though does soften his stance a bit when Emma reveals that he never forgot about his son.
• Otaku: Called a military/weapons otaku by Ai, and treats his Drone monsters as if he were a commanding officer from afar.
• Pet the Dog: In a flashback, despite previously using Akira and Emma as decoys against a hacker, he steps in to protect Emma from the hacker's bomb, pushing her out of the way and shooting it down.
• Purple Is Powerful: His civilian persona has purple hair, his avatar is rife with purple, and is repeatedly noted to be a formidable bounty hunter.
• Rule of Three: He often counts to three but never acts on the third count.
• Red Oni, Blue Oni: As a Bounty Hunter, Blod Shepherd initially forms the Blue to Go's Red, as Go angry and resentful of Playmaker while Blood Shepherd is cold and calculated, only concerned with money. Then they switch places, as Go's transformation makes him cold and analytical, only interesting in winning, while Blood Shepherd becomes angry and obsessive with destroying the Ignis while losing his cool over Ghost Girl thwarting him.
• Redemption Equals Death:After abandoning SOL, making peace with his father and sister, he goes to fight Lightning, loses and is deleted, while being apologetic to Emma the entire time.
• Revenge: More than an interest in money, Blood Shepherd seeks revenge against AI for causing his mother's accident, which is why he desires to kill the Ignis.
• The Resenter:Towards Ghost Girl, for having a happy childhood while their father abandoned him for work and remarried a different woman. He later starts to get over this trope when he demonstrates that he mostly resented his father and did not let his feelings of hatred spill over to his half-sister. It also helps that he starts forgiving his father when Blood Shepherd learns that his father never forgot about him, even to his dying breath.
• Screw This, I'm Outta Here:He leaves immediately after the emergency rescue program was completed by Emma, which frees Soulburner from Blood Shepherd's trap.
• Sore Loser: He doesn't take kindly to Ghost Girl interrupting his Duel with Soulburner by bailing Soulburner out of Blood Shepherd's trap, and attempts to blast her for it.
• Space Cowboy: Blood Shepherd's avatar is that of a futuristic armored cowboy.
• Start of Darkness: The near loss of his mother turned him into a brutal laconic Bounty Hunter that ruthlessly destroys hackers.
• The Unfettered:He'll use whatever means imaginable to achieve his goals, and doesn't give a damn if anyone gets hurt as a result.
• Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Prior to the incident which crippled himself and his mother, Kengo was an upbeat guy who cared very much for his mother's wellbeing.
• Underestimating Badassery:He takes Revolver for a pushover all because the latter only Set a single card on the first turn of their Duel and with no Monsters to protect him from taking significant damage. Blood Shepherd ultimately pays the price for trying to finish off his opponent as quickly as possible, unaware that Revolver deliberately left himself open to his opponent's attacks, combined with a setup that is ready to wipe him out on the following turn.
• Van Helsing Hate Crime:Blood Shepherd knows that the Ignis are plotting to rule over humanity and is now out to terminate every last one. Not even the pro-Humanity Ignis Aqua is safe from his rampage

Kenmochi and Yoroizaka

A pair of Bounty Hunters who accompany Go.Kenmochi uses a Gouki deck like Go did before his Face Heel Turn.

Voiced by:' Ryota Suzuki (Yoroizaka),Yusuke Tonozaki (Kenmochi) (Japanese)

Tropes exhibited by this character include:

• Arrogant Kung Fu Guy:Yoroizaka scoffs at Playmaker for attempting to return the Tributed "Gouki Riscorpio" to his hand via "Security Dragon's" Effect rather than "Gouki the Solid Ogre", which received an ATK boost due to "Gouki Twistcobra". This was intentional on Playmaker's part, however, as he shortly afterwards brings out "Firewall Dragon" and co-links it to two other Link Monsters and subsequently clears Yoroizaka's Field of Monsters completely, leading to his defeat.
• Hoist by His Own Petard:Both Playmaker and Soulburner circumvent the trap activated by SOL Technologies like it's no one's business. The same cannot be said for Kenmochi and Yoroizaka, however, as the trap blows up on them, sending them flying off into the distance.
• Only One Name:Their given names are unknown.
• Oh Crap:Kenmochi freaks out when he realises that the Effect of Playmaker's "Cyberse Annihilation" will deal enough damage to deplete the rest of his LP and cost him the Duel.
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Kenmochi sports a light pink afro.