Duel Masters

Duel Masters (デュエル・マスターズ) is a franchise based on a manga, anime and a trading card game. There is also a video game.

Trading Card Game
The card game originated in Japan, marketed by Takara_Tomy. It was produced in English by Wizards of the Coast, who purchased the rights to the name Duel Masters from Reality Simulations, Inc., which ran a play-by-mail gladiator game called Duelmasters, now known as Duel II. Thrash of the Hybrid Megacreatures, released in December 2006, was the twelfth and final expansion released by Wizards of the Coast for the English-language game; the Japanese game is still being produced.

These are the twelve sets as published by Wizards of the Coast:


 * Base Set DM-01
 * Evo-Crushinators of Doom DM-02
 * Rampage of the Super Warriors DM-03
 * Shadowclash of Blinding Night DM-04
 * Survivors of the Megapocalypse DM-05
 * Stomp-A-Trons of Invincible Wrath DM-06
 * Thundercharge of Ultra Destruction DM-07
 * Epic Dragons of Hyperchaos DM-08
 * Fatal Brood of Infinite Ruin DM-09
 * Shockwaves of The Shattered Rainbow DM-10
 * Blast-O-Splosion of Gigantic Rage DM-11
 * Thrash of the Hybrid Megacreatures DM-12

The game was discontinued in 2006 by Wizards of the Coast; despite petitioning and other indications of interest from the fanbase, there has been no official word on its revival. The game, therefore, has official status only in Japan, where it is still marketed by Takara Tomy, though there exist numerous which have attempted to provide community-supported online play, with varying success.

Manga
The Duel Masters manga is written by Shigenobu Matsumoto, and is published by Shogakukan in CoroCoro Comic. It has not been licensed for the U.S., although there has been an American created comic book by Dreamwave Productions. There are no plans for the Japanese manga to be acquired by any U.S. publishing company. Tokyopop also released a Cine-Manga Adaptation of the Duel Masters anime, however it is now out of print.

Anime
The first season and Japanese second season are loosely based on the original Japanese manga. The story centers around the card game Duel Masters, which revolves around five civilizations (Fire, Water, Light, Darkness, Nature).

The English-language version of the series was produced by Plastic Cow Productions and made a truncated three-episode preview premiere on Cartoon Network's Toonami block on February 27, 2004. The episodes then made their "official" premiere on April 13, 2004, on CN's Toonami spinoff block, the Saturday Video Entertainment System (SVES) with fewer edits as well as episodes 4 and 5. Toonami then moved to Saturdays and premiered the rest of the series.

The second season was produced by Elastic Media Corp and premiered on March 26, 2005. The "Sacred Lands"/"P.L.O.O.P." storyline is not based on the manga and was created specifically for the American market. The third season began production in September 2005 and was produced by Howling Cat Productions (featuring some of the former Saban Entertainment VA's, such as Brian Beacock, Philece Sampler, and Wendee Lee). In the UK, Duel Masters aired on Toonami.

The Japanese version has a separate second season entitled "Duel Masters Charge", which is based on more of the manga. Duel Masters Charge was eventually produced for the American market as "Duel Masters 2.0", although only the 1st half was aired. Eventually, a Japanese third season premiered in Japan entitled "Shinseiki Duel Masters Flash", followed by "Zero Duel Masters", "Duel Masters Zero" (separate from "Zero Duel Masters"), and "Duel Masters Cross". A seventh season entitled "Duel Masters Cross Shock" is currently airing. However, the American version has ended, and thus these seasons will not be translated.

Video games
When Duel Masters was imported in USA, several games were released in English by Atari: Several games were also produced in Japan by Takara like:
 * Duel Masters Sempai Legends for Gameboy Advance
 * Duel Masters Kaijudo Showdown for Gameboy Advance
 * Duel Masters Shadow of the Code for Gameboy Advance
 * Duel Masters (Cobalt) for PlayStation 2
 * Duel Masters Invincible Advance for Gameboy Advance
 * Duel Masters 2 (Kirifuda Shobu Version) for Gameboy Advance
 * Duel Masters 3 for Gameboy Advance
 * Duel Masters Nettou! Battle Arena for Gamecube
 * Duel Masters ~Birth of the Super Dragon~ for PlayStation 2

Differences between the versions
The American and Latin American versions of Duel Masters added several things not in the original version included to make it more of a comedy to separate it from other card battling shows on the market. Added to American version were jokes about typical anime cliches such as split-screens and a missing father-figure (in this case, Shobu's father Shori). Frequent references are made throughout the show to pop culture phenomenon, such as when one of the characters, Kiyoshiro Kokujo, says "I am dark...I am the night...I am Bat-oh wait, wrong show.". As such, they recur as running gags during the course of the show. Another common form of humor found in the show is its breaking of the fourth wall. The characters will constantly say things like, "Looks like it's time for a fade-out," "I hope the writers do better next week.", Why is the camera too close on my face?" or "You know, I like it when they use this scene." While the storyline is technically dramatic, most episodes are punctuated by a comedic storyline mixed in with the serious storyline.

Japanese dialogue also plays a part in duels. A player declares "ikuzo" to challenge another player. The challenged then chooses to accept with "koi". "Hai" literally means "yes" in Japanese. "Ike" is a command to attack, and "Todome Da" is similar to calling "checkmate" and end the battle. The term "Kaijudo," used only in the English version, originates from the word "kaiju", meaning monster, and "dō", or "the way." Therefore, "kaijūdō" means "the way of the monster."

As a whole, the Japanese version is more serious than the American version. While the Japanese version seems to rely more on visual and situational humor, the American version tends to use much more verbal humor. Also, while the Japanese version is mostly a traditional card-game show with much humor, the American version is a flat-out parody of the genre. For example, many times in Yu-gi-oh, Yugi would say "Believe in the heart of your cards," which Shobu also says in Duel Masters. In fact, the American version is not a true translation, but is instead a "parody dub". The American version also has different music and sound effects than that of the original Japanese version.

Characters
Main Characters
 * 'Shobu Kirifuda/ (切札勝舞 Kirifuda Shōbu'')
 * (Season 1), Liam O'Brien (Season 2), Yumiko Kobayashi (Japanese version)
 * The show's protagonist and Knight's apprentice. He aspires to become a great duelist like his father, Shori Kirifuda. Shobu keeps a positive attitude throughout the series, insisting on dueling for fun as opposed to simply winning. In the first season, Shobu takes on the challenge of defeating the temple champion, Hakuoh, who he feels has become corrupt with power. Throughout this portion of the series, Shobu must defeat Hakuoh's underlings while he struggles to understand the true spirit of dueling. In his duel with Hakuoh, as Shobu faces off against the strongest of all Angel Commands, he is forced to make a crucial decision. He must either accept the help of his friends and "wind up like Ko" (Kokujo having been injured in a Kaihudo duel) or give up on his friends and "end up like Hakuoh", who had become cold and heartless. All in all Shobu is brave, strong, and has the guts never to give up, just like his favorite creatures. He uses a Fire Civilization deck which later becomes a Dragon Deck and even later evolves into a Dragon/ Angel Command deck. After being defeated in a later season he loses most of his deck but is guided to his father's deck by the spirits of Bolmeteus Samurai Dragon and Bolbalzak "Sword Flash" Dragon. This new deck is a Dragon and Samurai deck. Soon after he combined elements from the 2 decks and created a Samurai Dragon/Angel Command deck (Fire, Light & Nature civilizations).

As of Duel Masters Cross his main cards are: Bolmeteus "Kensei" Dragon, Bolshack Yamato Dragon, Bolbalzak "Sword Flash" Dragon and Saint Bolshack, Spiritual Dragon. After losing Saint Bolshack, Valkiryas Musashi, Ultimate Battle Dragon and Sword Flash Galaxy, Super Champ became his trump cards as well, his most recent trump card is Bolshack NEX. He defeated Zakira with Bolpheaus Heaven in the manga. He lost his mojo in the season 1 in episode 25 named "Something Wacky this Way Comes",but he got it back in the 28th episode. His surname's kanji "Kirifuda (切札)" literally means "The Trump Card", "The Ace Card" or "The Winning Card". His name's kanji "Shoubu (勝舞)" is a combination of his father's name "Shouri (勝利)" means "Victory" or "Victor" and his mother's name "Mai (舞)" means "Dance", thus "Shoubu (勝舞)" means "Victory Dance" or "Dance of Victory". The pronunciation "Shoubu (しょうぶ)" is also a pun from "shoubu (勝負)" which literally means "Win (or) Lose" and from there derived the meanings: "Duel". Whether intentionally or unintentionally, Shobu's name is a pun- "Shōbu" means "contest" in Japanese.


 * Shobu also appeared in the anime movie, Rockman.EXE:Program Between Light and Darkness. He appeared as a cameo appearance in the opening movie, accompanied by Lan Hikari (in Cross Fusion with Megaman.EXE).


 * Hakuoh (白凰; Hakuō)
 * (Season 1), Doug Erholtz (Season 3) Junko Minagawa (Japanese version)
 * His name's kanji "白凰Haku-Ou" literally means "White Phoenix" or "White Female-phoenix" in exact translation. Hakuoh is the Arch-Rival of Shobu Kirifuda. Hakuoh came from a prominent dueling family, and specialized in Light civilization from a young age. At that time, he was a reflection of Shobu, a young kid who loved the game above all else. This changed, however, when a mysterious duelist appeared and challenged Hakuoh to his first Kaijudo duel. Unaware of the dangers involved in a Kaijudo duel, Hakuoh became over confident and was nearly killed as a result. Instead of being crushed by his opponent's attack, however, Hakuoh was pushed out of the way by his mother, who was fatally wounded. Since then, Hakuoh has become a cold-hearted villain, and Shobu's main rival. Hakuoh no longer sees any fun in dueling and decides that one's value as a human being is determined by their ability to win and will rest at nothing to "be the best." As a result, Hakuoh becomes a dueling champion and the leader of the White Soldiers. To protect his title, Hakuoh is protected by four temple guardians. Later in the series, he is challenged by Shobu Kirifuda, who Hakuoh recognizes as a reflection of his former self. As he is consumed with power, Hakuoh not only desires to defeat Shobu, but to crush him entirely and destroy his dreams of dueling. "For when I defeat you, you shall never duel again!" He proclaims during their match has Hakuoh identifies himself as "a shadowy reflection" of Shobu. As the dueling intesifies, Shobu realizes the danger in abandonning his friends, as he may wind up like the heartless Hakuoh. The champion of light is defeated, however, by Shobu and later befriends him for showing him the true nature of dueling. In Duel Masters Charge, he allies himself with Zakira (The series' central villain) after being brainwashed into becoming his pawn, "White". In Duel Masters Zero, he becomes similar to his old self and appears to be working with Professor Machi (A mad scientist who lures duelists to a deserted island). In Duel Masters Cross he tries to stop Zakira by challenging him to a kaijudo duel, but was defeated. Afterwords his "White" personality overtook him once again.However,after beating Mimi in a duel, he was able to return to his old self by his own will (After seeing the damage he had caused). Hakuoh uses a Light Civilization deck. In Season one, it is a mono-civilization deck focusing on a combination of Urth, Purifying Elemental, Szubs Kin Twighlight Guardian, and Dia Nork, Moonlight Guardian, with his intent on evolving Urth into Alcadeias, Lord of Spirits. This first deck relies heavily on blockers, which leaves him vulnerable to Shobu's "Scralet Skyterror." Later, in Duel Masters Cross, he is given a Light/Darkness Knight deck by Zakira. His main cards are Urth Purifying Elemental, Hanusa Radiance Elemental, Alcadies Lord of Spirits, Alphadias Lord of Spirits, King Alcadeias, Holy Gaia; Perfect Galaxy, Spirit of Immortality; and most recently, Neo Gryphis, Mystic Light Emperor.


 * Kyoshiro Kokujo (黒城凶死郎 Kokujō Kyōshirō)
 * (Season 1), Terrence Stone (Season 2), Steven Blum (Season 3), Daisuke Kishio (Season 1 japanese , Charge , Zero and Cross )
 * A self-proclaimed "evil genius" and another of Shobu's main rivals throughout the series. Other characters make fun of his outlandishly styled long hair and all-black leather outfit (Upon seeing him, Shobu asks if there is a "Matrix Convention" in town). He uses a Darkness Civilization Deck, but later on in the subsequent series,a Darkness/Water deck. He has earned the nickname "Black Death", because of his relentless tactics and masterful use of Darkness civilization. Kokujo claims to have become evil because others said he could not become a kaijudo master. In Season 2 he helps Shobu to defeat P.L.O.O.P. (once again using a mono-Darkness deck). In Season 3 he defeated Mimi but lost to Yumama in the semifinals (this was actually due to her using supernatural powers in the end to knock him unconscious; otherwise, Kokujo may have won). In Duel Masters Charge/Cross he helps Shobu in their quest to defeat, but still works alone . His ultimate cards are Dorballom, Lord of Demons , Ballom, Master of Death , Ballom Emperor, Lord of Demons , Belbel De Dios, Death Castle Beast Lord , Gal Volf, Dark Wolblade , Bell Hell De Gaul, Footprint of the Reaper and most recently added XENOM , Reaper King.

-Shobu's Family-
 * Shori Kirifuda (切札勝利 Kirifuda Shōri)
 * (Season 1) Katsuyuki Konishi (Season 1 japanese)
 * Shobu's father and world famous duelist. Shori left home to continue his training, but continued to miss his family every day. He reappeared in Season 2 but disappeared again after the defeat of PLOOP. He makes an appearance in Duel Masters The Movie as he tries to help Shobu, but once again disappears at the end. In Duel Masters Charge he is revealed to have been killed by Zakira in a kaijudo duel while trying to protect the "Duel Master's Proof" from falling into the evil duelist's hands. However, as revealed in Duel Masters Cross, before he vanished completely he gave Extreme Bucket Man a deck case which he asked to be given to Shobu. Later on it is relieved that he wasn't truly dead but deleted, however, he broke free of his imprisonment and has been reunited with his son. His Deck is an advanced version of Shobu's, with the main card being Bolberg Cross Dragon.


 * Mai Kirifuda (切札舞 Kirifuda Mai) / Sharlotte Kirifuda
 * (Season 1), Wendee Lee (Season 3) Saki Nakajima (Japanese) :Shobu's mother and Shori's wife. To help Shobu on different occasions, she has occasionally taken on the persona of a second "Dragon Mask" and challenged him.

-Shobu's Friends-
 * Rekuta Kadoko (角古れく太; Kadoko Rekuta)
 * (Season 1), Sterling R. (Season 2), Brianne Siddall (Season 3) Yuka Imai (Japanese version)
 * Shobu's best friend and loyal side kick. Even though he is an expert at the rules of "Duel Masters," Rekuta is a terrible duelist, often going without a single win during a tournament. He's often seen with his portable laptop to keep track of important duels. As a running joke, he is often accidentally sent flying into the air. In one instance (which only occurred in the English version), he was sent flying into space (against a live-action backdrop) and crashed into a space station. He has almost every card ever released (since his father Maruo [丸雄; Maruo] owns a card shop) but cannot correctly use the cards. His correct surname is "Kadoko" (かどこ=角古)  NOT "Kadoka" (かどか) which is actually japanese female given name. When spoken in Japanese (i.e., putting the last name before the given name), his name is actually a pun on Kādo Korekutā (カードコレクター), which is a Japanese katakana transliteration of the English phrase "card collector". In the Japanese manga, his "otakudom" in card collecting often helps Shoubu, or at least give him a clue or a hint towards winning a duel.


 * Sayuki (中紗雪; Sayuki)
 * (Season 1), Peggy O'Neal (Season 3) Saeko Chiba (Japanese version)
 * Appearing only in the anime, she is another one of Shobu's close friends. She is always present to see Shobu's matches.


 * Mimi Tasogare (黄昏ミミ; Tasogare Mimi)
 * (Season 1), Colleen O'Shaughnessey (Season 3) Saki Nakajima (Japanese version)
 * Another member of Shobu's posse. Mimi first appeared to be both ditzy and inept at dueling, but was later revealed to be the second of the Four Temple Guardians at the Junior Duelist Center and an expert player. As the first season closes with the duel between Shobu and Hakuoh, Mimi reveals that Hakuoh was not always a heartless duelist, and her personal connection to Hakuoh has developed into a slight crush throughout the series. Mimi is also an expert at martial arts and is incredibly smart and strong. She mostly uses Nature Civilization cards, but tends to use Shield Triggers from all 5 civilizations.


 * Derek - He is only shown in the limited edition manga as Mimi's boyfriend. He is also a ninja arts specialist.


 * George Kamamoto (ジョージ釜本; Jōji Kamamoto)
 * (Season 1), Joey Lotsko (Season 2), Brian Beacock (Season 3)
 * A midget in a bear suit and is always seen sucking a pacifier and a 8-years-old boy which seems to be 1. He rides around in a motor baby carriage and uses a Water Civilization deck, he is a skillful duelist and has even defeated Mimi (a powerful duelist in her own right) fairly easily. In the English "dub", he is known as "Boy George", an obvious reference to Culture Club lead singer Boy George (one of the dub episodes is called "Do You Really Want to Hurt Me") in Season 3 he uses a Darkness/Water deck, he also withdraws from the tournament after losing to Yumama. His pajamas seem to change with every season.


 * Dr. Root (Dr. ルート; Dokutā Rūto)
 * (Season 2 and 3) Kan Tanaka (Japanese version)
 * Boy George's boss, mad scientist, and expert duelist. Outside of that, he also a human-resembling robot named Mr. Perfect and a giant pilotable robot. His eccentric methods always have some hidden lesson to help Shobu and his friends. His real name is Leroy. In Duel Masters Zero, he takes charge of training Shobu and his friends. He has a deck of Survivors in season 1 and in charge he has a darkness/water deck similar to Boy George's.


 * Knight (ナイト; Naito)
 * (Season 1-2), Kirk Thornton (Season 3) Katsuyuki Konishi (Japanese version)
 * Knight is Shobu's mysterious and soft-spoken mentor. In the English "dub", his inner monologue is a source of much of the show's mature and subtle humor. Despite being Shobu's mentor, he is usually unable to assist his student in times of need due to either Shobu's stubborn attitude or Knight being unable to show up at the scene (Such is the case in Shobu's duel with Hakuoh, when Knight reveals he never taught Shobu about dueling against the Light Civilization). Knight does not appear in the manga, although the manga character NAC is similar to him. On one occasion, Dr. Root had Knight take on a "Dragon Mask" persona to duel Shobu in order for him to reclaim his tournament pass. Knight character is loosely based on the manga only character NAC.


 * NAC (ナック)
 * NAC (pronounce "Nakku" in Japanese) is a manga only character. This character is loosely based on Satoshi Nakamura (中村聡), a Japanese card game player who became one of the top Magic: The Gathering players in Asia. He was involved in the making of "Duel Masters", assisting Dai Matsumoto (the manga author's nickname) as a technical advisor (the manga's plot is based around Magic: The Gathering). He has appeared in the manga both as NAC and as a more realistic cameo of himself known as "Nakamura-san". According to one of Dai Matsumoto's omake sections in the manga, NAC was also involved in the development of the Duel Masters card game.


 * Extreme Bucketman
 * A short duelist who wears a bucket on his head. No one knows if Bucketman is male or female. Rekuta believes that the Bucketman is annoying. Bucketman defeated Kokujo before their official match. He lost to Yumama by surrendering, and later, under Zakira's mind control, duels against Shobu. His Deck is Fire and Nature, mostly involving Earth Dragons and Firebirds. His trump card is Soul Phoenix, Avatar of Unity. In the final duel against Yumama, he gives the card to Shobu. In Duel Masters Cross he plays a Snow Faerie and Initiate deck.
 * A short duelist who wears a bucket on his head. No one knows if Bucketman is male or female. Rekuta believes that the Bucketman is annoying. Bucketman defeated Kokujo before their official match. He lost to Yumama by surrendering, and later, under Zakira's mind control, duels against Shobu. His Deck is Fire and Nature, mostly involving Earth Dragons and Firebirds. His trump card is Soul Phoenix, Avatar of Unity. In the final duel against Yumama, he gives the card to Shobu. In Duel Masters Cross he plays a Snow Faerie and Initiate deck.

-The Temple-
 * Master (マスター; Masutā) - Very little is known about the leader of the "Temple" (an organization within the Junior Duelist's Center.) Throughout the first season he appears in a long black, hooded robe with his face half concealed by his long blond hair. "The Master" appears as Hakuoh's teacher and dueling coach. Knight suggests that the Master has only taken an interest in Hakuoh because he plans to use the young duelist in obtaining his "revenge" against the creature world. "The Master" seems to be responsible for Hakuoh's brainwashing and even pushes Hakuoh to attack Shobu with Alcadeias after his defeat. Master disappears after Hakuoh's defeat in Season 1.


 * White Soldiers (白い騎士団; Shiroi Kishidan; lit. "White Knights") - An elite team of duelists that followed Hakuoh when he held the title of Temple Champion. It was supposedly the strongest team in the world. They were shown on Season 1 and made a cameo in a flashback in "Duel Masters 2.0". Among its known and active members are:


 * Kintaro Nanba (難波金太郎; Nanba Kintarō)
 * (Season 1), R. Martin Klein (Season 3) Chiyako Shibahara (Japanese version)
 * Former gatekeeper of the Junior Duelist Center. He was fired by Hakuoh after losing to Shobu. (Who he had quickly befriended.) Nobody knows how old he is, and he often carries around a man-purse and an abacus. He lost to Stinky Bucket Man in the finals.

-Temple Guardians- Guardian 1:  ** Mikuni (三国; Mikuni; later Johnny Coolburns)
 * (Season 1), Paul St. Peter (Season 3) Koichi Sakaguchi (Japanese version)
 * The first of the Four Temple Guardians (四天衆; Shitenshū). He uses a Fire deck, and during his duel with Shobu he purposely mimiced everything he did in order to throw him off. He is defeated by Shobu the second time around and quickly befriends the spiky haired fire duelist. He lost to Robby Rotten in season three, where his name mysteriously changed to Johnny Coolburns. It was later "explained" that this (and other plot holes in the show) are due to season three being an alternate dimension.

Guardian 2:  **(See Mimi Tasogare)

Guardian 3:  ** Gyujiroh Japan (邪藩牛次郎; ''Japan Gyūjirō) / Benny HaHa
 * (Season 1), Michael Sorich (Season 3)
 * The third of the Four Temple Guardians and Mimi's "twin" brother. (although he's not related to Mimi in any way in the Japanese series.) Benny is often seen piloting a robot suit. He often cheats and relys on deceit in his duels. His constant defeat at the hands of the series' heroes has lead him to hate both Shobu and Hakuoh. Benny returns in Season 3 claiming to have turned over a new leaf, but this is quickly revealed to be an act. Benny forces Hakuoh into dueling before their match in a self-made Duel Masters Battle Arena by taking Aizen and Johnny Coolburns hostage. As each of Hakuoh's shields are broken, Benny shocks his prisoners with a hidden trap, as a part of his plan to torture Hakuoh by harming his friends. As a result, Hakuoh vows to defeat Benny without losing any more shields, and agrees to forfeit if another one of his shields is broken in order to spare his friends. Hakuoh manages to complete the "perfect duel" and defeat Benny despite his many attempts to cheat. Afterward, Benny detonates a bomb beneath the stadium and seriously injures Hakuoh so that he is unable to duel him the next morning. With Hakuoh eliminated, He ends up dueling Shobu again and loses. It is revealed that He is also working with Yumama (and could have even been dating her). After he lost to Shobu, Benny was banished by Yumama and trapped in a room with Boy George. (which they both escaped in the same episode.) He uses a Water Civilization deck, and later, a Wave Striker Deck during his tournament match with Shobu.

Guardian 4:  ** Makoto Aizen (愛善 真)
 * (Season 3)
 * The fourth of the Four Temple Guardians. He was defeated by Kyoshiro Kokujo before he can fight Shobu. He also lost to Hakuoh in Duel Masters Battle Arena. (In the later season he is shown to be using a Fire/Light civilization deck) His primary card appears to be Warlord Aizonius

-Other Antagonists-


 * P.L.O.O.P. (Powerful Loyal Order of Princes) - An evil organization that plot to use monsters from the Civilizations of the Creature World to take over Earth. This organization is seen only in the "second season" that was created for America. Among the known members are:
 * Prince Irving the Terrible (Jamieson Price) - Shobu encountered him in the Light Civilization.
 * Prince Melvin the Conqueror - Shobu encountered him in the Water Civilization.
 * Princess Pollyana of Green Gables - She is a minor P.L.O.O.P. member who Shobu encountered in the Nature Civilization.
 * Prince Wilburg the Great - Shobu encountered him in the Nature Civilization.
 * Prince Maurice the Merciless (Roger Craig Smith) - Shobu encountered him in the Darkness Civilization.
 * Prince Herbert the Ruthless (Bob Papenbrook) - He is a minor PLOOP member who Shobu encountered at the gates of the Fire Civilization.
 * Prince Eugene the Mean (Bob Papenbrook) - Shobu encountered him in the Fire Civilization. Eugene used to be a dueling champ in the good world and that he even beat Knight! In the Season 2 episode "Deck Me Baby One More Time," Knight and Eugene meet and Knight explains what happened. Eugene also says "I used to duel for trophies. Now I duel for money."
 * Black Soldiers - A group of duelists that are the opposite form of Hakuoh's White Soldiers. They entered a tournament to beat all of its players. After the defeat of most of them, most of the unnamed members left the group. Among its known members are:
 * Robby Rotten (Yuri Lowenthal) - Leader of the Black Soldiers. He wanted to be a member of Hakouh's White Soldiers, but was denied. He formed the Black Soldiers so that he can duel Hakuoh. Unfortunately for him, he was defeated by Shobu and was last seen being interrogated by Yumama about Shobu.
 * Akikan - Member of the Black Soldiers. He was defeated by Boy George.
 * Multi-Card Monty (Derek Stephen Prince) - Member of the Black Soldiers. He was defeated by Mimi.


 * Fua Yū (不亞 幽 Fua Yū) / Yumama
 * A mysterious girl who can duel and read a book at the same time. She has the ability to stand on the ceiling and is commonly seen reading her teen heart throb book, filled with 400 pages of pictures of "sassy" cute boys, although towards the end of the third season, she discovers that the pages are really blank. She defeated Boy George, Yuki and Kokujo right before they were supposed to duel making her win instantly. She was a childhood friend of Extreme Bucketman. While she appears to be the cause of all the disruption in the tournament, she is really a pawn of her malicious older brother, Zakira. After she is released, she becomes an ally of Shobu, along with Bucketman. While brainwashed, her trump cards is Cruel Naga, Avatar of Fate and Super Necrodragon Abzo Dolba. Known as Yu Fua in the Japanese manga. In Duel Masters Cross her deck contains all 5 civilizations and is focused on creatures who have the following effect: "If this card is discarded during your opponent's turn, you may put this card into the Battle Zone instead of the Graveyard". Afterwards she changes her deck to a darkness/light/water Knight deck having Brunhilde, Ghost Knight and Nero Gryphis, Mystic Light Emperor are trump cards.
 * A mysterious girl who can duel and read a book at the same time. She has the ability to stand on the ceiling and is commonly seen reading her teen heart throb book, filled with 400 pages of pictures of "sassy" cute boys, although towards the end of the third season, she discovers that the pages are really blank. She defeated Boy George, Yuki and Kokujo right before they were supposed to duel making her win instantly. She was a childhood friend of Extreme Bucketman. While she appears to be the cause of all the disruption in the tournament, she is really a pawn of her malicious older brother, Zakira. After she is released, she becomes an ally of Shobu, along with Bucketman. While brainwashed, her trump cards is Cruel Naga, Avatar of Fate and Super Necrodragon Abzo Dolba. Known as Yu Fua in the Japanese manga. In Duel Masters Cross her deck contains all 5 civilizations and is focused on creatures who have the following effect: "If this card is discarded during your opponent's turn, you may put this card into the Battle Zone instead of the Graveyard". Afterwards she changes her deck to a darkness/light/water Knight deck having Brunhilde, Ghost Knight and Nero Gryphis, Mystic Light Emperor are trump cards.

- The main antagonist of both the third season, Duel Masters Charge and the current series, Duel Master Cross. An evil duelist, the nemesis of Shobu's father, and the one controlling Yumama, who is his younger sister, from the start. His goal is to obtain the "Duel Master's Proof" and use it for his evil means. He has multiple agents working under him, and operates from a large castle. His agents are ranked in terms of increasing power from A-Z (Z being himself). He uses a combination of Fire, Darkness and Water cards (most of his creatures are Zombie Dragons) with his deck being focused on sending cards to the graveyard (his and his opponent's), sometimes outright destroying them, and benefiting from it. Later in the series he changes his deck to a darkness/light Knight deck, his main trump cards being: Romanoff the 1st, Lord of the Demonic Eye, Death Romanoff the 5th, General of the Demonic Eye, King Balcry, Demonic Eye Lord and Supernova Death Dragerion.
 * Zakira (不亞･ザキラ Fua Zakira, real name：ザキラ・ジョール Zakira Joule aka. "Z")


 * Professor Machi - A character introduced in Duel Masters Zero who is the current antagonist. He invited Shobu and his friends to a tournament on an uncharted island, but it was really a trap. After kidnapping Dr. Root he forces Shobu, Mimi, and George to duel his associates.


 * Ultimate Master Darcy (白凰 Ultimate Master Darcy) - A character introduced in Duel Masters Zero who is the current Duel Master Champion of the world. Darcy was once an apprentice to Professor Machi. Zakira is challenged by Darcy in one of the final episodes.


 * Jura-Originally appears in Zero Duel Masters as Shobu's newest rival. He starts out as a subordinate of Professir Machi but in Duel Masters Cross, he joins Shobu and the others in their struggle against Zakira.

Minor characters

 * Toru - A 17-year-old guy which dueled Shobu in Episode 8. He lost and they became friends. He uses a Water and Nature Civilizations Deck. He has a long life story and many memories.


 * Jamira - A red-haired boy which lost every time when he dueled Shobu. He told Shobu lots of interesting stories and he danced the Vipera's Dance. He never hesitates to cheat yet he keeps on losing to Shobu.


 * Takeshi Saroyama - Tsuyoshi's tall and muscular litte brother.


 * Tsuyoshi Saroyama - A squirrel-faced short boy on stilts and older brother of Takeshi Saroyama.


 * Red Afro - The leader of an afro-themed dojo. In the episode "Frotime," Mimi had to duel him in order to reclaim her tournament pass. She managed to defeat him.


 * Master Yuki - The leader of a dojo for baby duelists. In the episode "Frotime," Boy George had to duel him to reclaim his tournament pass. Master Yuki defeated him, but lost at the second time. He later appeared in the finals of the tournament where he lost to Yumama.

Civilizations
The Realm of the creatures is divided into five civilizations. In each civilization, the creatures are either unique in certain abilities, or share some abilities with those in other civilizations. Some creatures belong to two or more civilizations.

The Fire Civilization is located in a volcanic and battle-torn land ruled by those with the most firepower. Dragonoid warriors fight for honor and glory. Armored dragons roam the skies. A race of intelligent robots called Armorloids roll, crawl and blast about seeking strategic advantage. Noble human soldiers suit up in massive weapons systems and take on all comers.
 * Allies: Darkness, Nature
 * Enemies: Light, Water

The Nature Civilization is covered in a dense jungle. It is inhabited by all sorts of creatures based on plants and animals of the human world.
 * Allies: Fire, Light
 * Enemies: Darkness, Water

The Light Civilization floats amongst the clouds in celestial citadels. The highly-evolved citizens deploy an array of ultra-tech guardians. Some of these look like spacecraft others appear to be angels of technology. All are enigmatic and powerful.
 * Allies: Nature, Water
 * Enemies: Darkness, Fire

The Water Civilization hails from a network of sunken cyber-cities. Massive leviathans patrol the depths engaging enemies at the flip of a fin. Chip-jacked liquid soldiers stand ready to pounce while their overlords use techno-guile and cunning to trap and manipulate their opponents.
 * Allies: Darkness, Light
 * Enemies: Fire, Nature

The Darkness Civilization sprawls across a foul and poisoned landscape. Magic-wielding demons command creepy, masked, undead minions. Nightmare creatures steal about with malicious designs and monstrous worms and slimes pursue unsuspecting quarry.
 * Allies: Fire, Water
 * Enemies: Nature, Light