Judai Yuki

Judai Yuki is the protagonist of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX and a supporting character in Yu-Gi-Oh! RED. He is a former Osiris Red student and a HERO / Neo Space duelist. During his time at Duel Academia, he dealt with many supernatural threats, eventually fusing his soul together with Yubel and becoming a new entity. Post-graduation, Judai traveled the world seeking his own new purpose. Eventually, he returned to Duel Academia where he founded the secret Osiris Red Dorm classes for kids with powers, along with Johan Andersen.

Appearance
Judai is has a lanky frame. He is fair skinned with an angular face, with round brown eyes and shaggy brown hair that sticks out in the back with lighter brown highlights at the top. He wears the red Osiris Red jacket over a black t-shirt and white pants with red and black sneakers.

In his third year, his eyes grow more angular. He wears a black turtle neck and dark pants along with his Osiris jacket, and he is able to cause his eyes to change color to a heterochromatic orange and green, like Yubel's eyes.

As an adult, he continues to wear the same Osiris Red jacket most of the time, though it has started to look threadworn and old.

When using his powers along with Yubel, he has the ability to shift his body to accommodate some of Yubel's traits. In his half form, he has Yubel's large black and mauve bat wings, and his arms and legs are covered in thick, dark pink scales. The scales will sometimes cover even more of his body, depending on how much he has shifted, sometimes across his chest and all the way up to his chin. He has talons and fangs, and his eyes glow orange and green.

When utilizing his Supreme King powers, Judai's eyes glow a flat gold, and a dark mist seems to curl around his feet and follow him wherever he moves. He can change that mist into the Supreme King armor around himself, and when he does so he wears a full body dark black armor set with gold trim, spikes, and a complete mask over his face.

Personality
As a student, Judai is carefree and usually unperturbed by even the strangest of occurrences, tending to think of them as fun rather than frightening. He puts on a mask of simply not caring about anything except dueling in order to avoid dealing with his own emotional issues, or the issues of others, so that no one puts stressful expectations on him. He has trouble recognizing when his friends need his help, assuming that since he can simply shrug away his emotional issues, everyone else can too, and he isn't the one to help them with it.

After the events of Dark World, Judai deals with a deep depression that saps his self-confidence and his ability to function. He withdraws from others and attempts to self-isolate.

As an adult, Judai has had time to work through most of his emotional issues head on. Though he still struggles off and on with depression, having found a purpose for himself strengthens him and helps him to continue forward. He cares deeply about his friends and students, and tends to overwork himself for their sakes, needing to be ordered to take breaks and rest. He is extremely devoted to being a good teacher, and though he doesn't think of himself as the best adult, he is always trying his best to be there for his students, and his friends, in the ways he wasn't when he was younger.

Abilities
Judai could hear the voices of Shadow People from a very young age. He did not develop a sight for them until near high school, when he met Winged Kuriboh, but after that he found himself able to clearly see and perceive spirits in their spiritual forms.

Judai is also a skilled alchemist, able to facilitate organic alchemy between Shadow People and to easily craft physical alchemical objects. As an adult, he has also mastered ethereal alchemy, and is able to use it to perform delicate soul-healing on souls that have been possessed or taken damage from magic attacks.

After fusing with Yubel, Judai's physical capabilities increased dramatically, allowing his body to take massive damage without killing him, and giving him extreme physical strength and speed in comparison to an ordinary human. With Yubel's eyes, he can see souls and magical auras and signatures, increase his spiritual sight, and can better sense magical presences. He can also temporarily shift into a form with more of Yubel's traits, including her wings, giving him the ability to fly. In certain instances, he can shift completely, essentially swapping into Yubel's form, with Yubel's mind being at the forefront, and he being the spiritual presence on the inside.

Judai is the King of Light and Shadow, giving him access to all forms of magic, a connection to nearly every Shadow in the universe, and a connection to the most ancient line of magic from the creation of the world. Judai can use shadows to teleport over great distances, from one shadow to another, and can pass from one dimension to another without a portal. He can summon Shadow People to the physical realm without using cards or a Duel Disk, and he can allow them to maintain their form in the physical realm nearly indefinitely. He is able to understand the language of nearly all Shadow People, and most Shadow People will defer to his orders. While he can control both Light and Darkness magic, he has a particular connection to Darkness, and can use shadows to craft a black armor that encases him, providing him extra strength and defense. He can also craft weapons out of this shadow.

Etymology
Judai's given name is written 十代, which means teenager. His surname is written 遊城 from 遊 (play) and 城 (castle). 遊 is the same character yu (play) used in the other canon protagonists' names.

Past Life
See Haki.

History
As a child, Judai was often alone, with his parents working long hours and leaving him at home. His closest friend was Yubel, a Shadow who had followed him from his past life. Yubel's overprotective nature caused them to harm several of Judai's friends, and Judai began to withdraw from others to prevent putting them in harm's way. In an attempt to heal Yubel's soul, Judai sent them into space along with the Neo Space cards he designed after winning a Kaiba Corporation contest. Due to his connection with Yubel, however, he began to have nightmares about Yubel's torment after they were ensnared by the Light of Destruction, leading Judai's parents to put him through an experimental treatment that removed his memories of Yubel. While the nightmares ended, Judai continued to feel a sense of needing to keep himself somewhat apart from others, never getting too close.

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Before taking the entrance exams for Duel Academia, Judai met Yugi Mutou, who gave him the Winged Kuriboh card. He passed the exam by defeating Obelisk Blue dorm head Chronos de Medici during his entrance duel, but was placed in Osiris Red due to Chronos's annoyance at his defeat. During his first year, Judai made friends with several of his classmates, including his roommates Shou Marufuji and Hayato Maeda, as well as Obelisk duelist Asuka Tenjoin, while also making a rival of Jun Manjoume. Judai was recruited as one of the guardians for the seven spirit keys that kept the Three Phantasms sealed beneath the school, defending them from Seven Stars duelists who sought to steal the cards. Judai learned alchemy from Daitokuji during one of these Seven Stars duels, which he then used to defeat the Duel Academia superintendent Kagemaru, preventing him from taking the Three Phantasms and allowing them to be resealed.

During his second year, Judai became a target for Takuma Saiou, who believed he may have the power to save him from the Light of Destruction. Saiou's powers, through a duel with new student Edo Phoenix, temporarily blocked Judai's spirit sight and caused him to attempt to leave Duel Academia. While on the ocean, he suddenly dimension walked to Neo Space, where the Neo Spacians explained to him the threat of the Light of Destruction, and encouraging him to take on the mantle of the Gentle Darkness to fight against it. Judai regained his spirit sight and began using Neo Spacian cards, including Elemental Hero Neos. He returned to once again challenge Saiou, a conflict which was eventually brought to a head with a duel between Judai and the sentience of the Light of Destruction possessing Saiou's body. Judai managed to defeat Saiou and purge the Light from him, saving him.

In his final year at Duel Academia, Judai met Johan Andersen, a boy who could also see the Shadow People. Judai once again came into contact with Yubel after a new teacher, Professor Viper, arrived at Duel Academia. Professor Viper collected energy from the students for Yubel so that they could once again take their physical form. Once Yubel regained enough energy, they killed Viper, and dragged Duel Academia into another dimension, dropping the entire school into the Wasteland of Strata. The energy stealing devices left by Viper continued to drain the students of their energy, eventually turning them into mindless zombies. Judai and the others managed to hold on for long enough to track down Yubel, who discarded the body they had been making use of and taking their true form again, causing Judai to remember who they were. Johan used his power with Rainbow Dragon to send Duel Academia back to the Physical Realm, using himself as the anchor and getting left behind.

Wracked with guilt by Johan's sacrifice and the memory of why Yubel is targeting him and his friends, Judai decided to go back to look for Johan, and many of his friends followed. Judai, however, had trouble focusing on anything except trying to assuage his own guilt, which unfortunately led many of his friends to their temporary deaths. Losing himself to guilt, his natural tendency to shadow magic consumed him, and he turned into the Supreme King. As the Supreme King, he lost most of his memories of being himself, instead becoming little more than an echo desperately seeking the energy needed to create the ultimate alchemy. As the Supreme King, he conquered most of Dark World, destroying and absorbing the energy of nearly all of its inhabitants with an army of fiends that had been drawn to him. Luckily, Judai was rescued by the efforts of his friends Jim Crocodile Cook and Austin O'Brien, though they had to sacrifice themselves to do so. Judai nearly once again lost himself to guilt, but became determined to at least face off with Yubel. Yubel, possessing Johan, faced off with Judai until Judai was able to release Johan, and then chased after Yubel again. During their final confrontation, Judai recalled the details of his past life and the promise he had made with them in the past. In order to rescue them from the Light's influence and to stop them from using the power of the ultimate alchemy to fuse the twelve dimensions, destroying everything all at once, he instead turned the energy of the alchemical spell to fuse him and Yubel together into one being. With his friends restored and returned to Duel Academia, Judai returned himself several weeks later after adjusting to the new fusion.

After the events of Dark World, Judai withdrew and isolated himself from others, partially from his guilt at his actions and their consequences in Dark World, and partially from his own difficulties in readjusting to his new existence as a fusion with Yubel. He was once again drawn into a conflict when Darkness targeted the world through its vessel Yusuke Fujiwara. Judai was forced into battle with Darkness to stop it from erasing and absorbing every human soul in the world. With Yubel's help, Judai managed to defeat Darkness, and push it back. Post-graduation, Judai met Yugi Mutou once again, who sent him back in time to face off against his younger self, in order to regain his confidence. After losing the duel but regaining his confidence, Judai returned to his own time and went traveling on his own, searching for his new purpose.

The Secret of Red
During this non-canon pilot to Yu-Gi-Oh! RED, Judai is seen traveling back to Duel Academia for a new school year, and surprising two new first years by telling them the truth about the dorm's new status as a school for students with powers.

Red Days
Judai met the newest first years, and helped introduce them to the truth of Osiris Red's new status as a school for students with supernatural powers. As one of the main Osiris teachers, he took on teaching the psychic duelists units and the shadow gamers unit. He had his hands full trying to make sure the students stayed out of trouble, especially keeping them out of the abandoned dorm. He was also spending his time off searching Dark World for any sign of Saya's missing sister, determined to not give up until he could at least give her closure. He became aware of the Osiris students starting to look for ways to find her too, but decided to keep it to himself that he knew, so that he could keep an eye on them and get them out of trouble if anything went wrong without them being too sneaky about it. When Miu came to him for help after Saki and several others were kidnapped to another dimension, Judai quickly started searching for them. After they were released from the nightmare spell by Saki, Judai was able to dimension walk to them and bring them all home safely.

Osiris Blues
In between school years, Judai and Johan moved the Three Phantasms to a new location, to prevent any magic overflow from the students waking it up again. He kept a close eye on them during breaks and whenever he could, making sure that it wasn't planning anything, while he continued to teach Osiris classes. He also helped to take care of Hinata, trying to help her recover from her time imprisoned by Armityle. He reluctantly explained some of the truth about Duel Academia's construction to several students, and promised that if anything happened he would let them help. When students started to go missing, he organized search parties among the students to look for any magical signatures or signs of where they may have gone. After Hinata went through a particularly bad attack, Judai followed the source of the magic possessing her and discovered that Armityle had grown roots into Duel Academia using Hinata as a vessel. He and several students ran to the library and followed a secret tunnel into the caves below, where they found Armityle attempting to retake physical form. Judai fought off the burgeoning spirits while the students fled to safety, and later, Johan joined him to help him in defeating and purifying the last of Armityle's remains. After all was over, he learned from Saki that Armityle had been using a human form projected into the library in order to talk to her and befriend her, and began to wonder what Armityle's real plans were.

Shou Marufuji
Shou is Judai's roommate and best friend. As teens, Shou used to look up to Judai, and Judai had trouble coming to terms with being any kind of role model, trying with difficulty to extract himself from the responsibility, but still caring about Shou and wanting him to gain confidence. After the events of Dark World, their friendship was shaken, but Judai appreciated Shou's willingness to not idolize him any longer afterward and to hold him accountable. As adults, they continue to be close friends, keeping in touch and visiting at Duel Academia often.

Jun Manjoume
Manjoume is Judai's friend and rival. At Duel Academia, Manjoume quickly targeted Judai for being an Osiris Red with too much self-confidence, and tried to bully him. Judai was oblivious to Manjoume's attempts and simply considered him a fun dueling rival. They had many duels against each other off and on throughout their high school careers. As adults, they stay in touch though they don't visit each other often. Judai thinks Manjoume is a true duelist who deserves every bit of fame he's gotten, and also finds his still-annoyed relationship with his spirit partners amusing.

Asuka Tenjoin
Asuka is Judai's friend and rival, and later his coworker, then his boss at Duel Academia. As teens, they were friendly rivals, and Judai found her to be an interesting duelist with a strong will. He was oblivious to her developing feelings for him, and she only admitted her crush once they were adults and the feelings had passed. Now as the headmaster at Duel Academia, Asuka does whatever she can to support Judai's and Johan's endeavors with Osiris and to protect the kids, though Judai suspects that she's still worrying about him.

Hayato Maeda
Hayato is Judai's former high school roommate and friend. Judai generally didn't notice Hayato's cynicism all that much during their first meetings, which eventually won Hayato over into grudgingly accepting that they were friends. As adults, they don't see much of each other anymore, but they would still consider each other friends.

Daichi Misawa
Misawa is Judai's friend, rival, and coworker at Duel Academia. They were once dedicated rivals during their school days, having immense respect for each other while still acting in a friendly, antagonistic sort of way towards each other while they pushed themselves to be the best. Judai considers Misawa to be one of the smartest people he knows, and is still grateful to him for pulling him out of his depression during Dark World and pushing him to fix his mistakes.

Winged Kuriboh
Winged Kuriboh is Judai's spirit partner. They first met when its card was given to him by Yugi Mutou,

Rei Saotome
Rei is a friend of Judai's.

Tyranno Kenzan
Tyranno is a friend of Judai's.

Chronos de Medici
Chronos is Judai's former teacher, and later his coworker at Duel Academia.

Daitokuji
Daitokuji is Judai's former dorm head, and his former alchemy teacher, now his odd, eccentric ghost friend.

Johan Andersen
Johan is Judai's husband.

Austin O'Brien
Austin is one of Judai's friends.

Jim Crocodile Cook
Jim is one of Judai's friends.

Takuma Saiou
Saiou is one of Judai's friends, formerly an enemy, and now a coworker.

Edo Phoenix
Edo is one of Judai's friends.

Yubel
Yubel is Judai's childhood spirit friend, his lover and bodyguard from a past life, and his current spouse.

Saki Yamaguchi
Saki is one of Judai's students.

Saya Nishimura
Saya is one of Judai's students.

Midori Hibiki
Midori is one of Judai's coworkers.