Shou Marufuji
From WikiFic
Shou Marufuji (丸藤翔, Marufuji Shō), known as Syrus Truesdale in the dub animation of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX is a former Osiris Red, then Ra Yellow, and now Obelisk Blue student as well as Juudai's best friend. A decent duelist, though hindered by a great deal of self doubt, Shou's journey toward strengthening himself provides sharp contrast to protagonist Juudai's active determination. Shou is often a "comic relief" character, partially due him being very nervous a large portion of the time, in a sharp contrast to Juudai's optimistic nature.
Character Bio
Shou is considered to be the "weaker" younger brother of Ryou Marufuji (Zane Truesdale) who attends Duel Academia, originally residing in the Osiris Red dormitory along with Hayato Maeda (Chumley Huffington) and Juudai Yuki.
Shou has made progress as a duelist throughout the series. From the onset, he faced Juudai in preparation for a tag duel, but, priding himself on finding a way to outdo his roommate, overlooked the abilities of his own cards. It was for this same reason that Zane forbade him from using the Power Bond card, for Syrus was unable to cope with its potential drawback.
During the second season, Shou is given an opportunity to advance to Ra Yellow, should he be able to defeat Missy. Feeling that he should not shoulder his brother's legacy, Shou gives his Power Bond card to Jun Manjoume (Chazz Princeton) to pass to Juudai before the start of the duel (and reclaims it afterwards).
In episode 55, Shou develops a rivalry with Tyranno Kenzan (Tyranno Hassleberry) over who has the right to call him "big brother." (In the dub version, it is to find out who is better suited to being Jaden's best friend.) They constantly argue and fight, prompting their repetitive separation by Asuka Tenjouin (Alexis Rhodes). By episode 64, their rivalry comes to a temporary halt, when the two duel to settle matters once and for all. Before the last blow is dealt, Tyranno discovers that Shou went without food or sleep to search for Juudai, who had gone missing since his defeat at the hands of Ed Phoenix (Aster Phoenix). Seeing Shou's devotion to their friend, he chose not to activate his "Jurassic Impact" card, which would have wiped both players out simultaneously.
During the field trip to Domino City, Shou teams up with Tyranno in a duel against the first duo of the Light Brigade, Frost and Thunder. Although the two are pinned down by their opponents, who tuned their decks specifically to combat their cards, they end up pooling their efforts to combine their monsters into "Super Vehicroid Rex Union". Despite their teamwork, however, Frost ends the duel by wiping out all players but himself, and promptly drags them to his master's lair, from where they are transported to KaibaLand as bait for Juudai and Ed by order of Mizuchi Saiou (Sarina).
As he observes his brother's actions following his "rebirth," Shou notes Ryou's newfound disrespect for his own cards and opponents. He dismisses the barbaric persona, refusing to believe that his brother has sunk so low. Determined to bring his brother back to his senses, Shou acknowledges the inevitability that the two of them will face one another. During the Genex tournament, Shou and Ryou duel, they are hooked up to electrodes, just as Ryou and Mad Dog were in the Underground Duel. Despite his best efforts and Juudai's secret move to place Power Bond back into his deck, Shou loses, but he does not give up in hoping that his brother can be returned to his former self.
Shortly after the beginning of the third year at Duel Academy, Shou advances to Obelisk Blue. As a result of Disclosure Duels being called for by Cobra, Shou becomes self-conscious of his worthiness to wear the outfit of the elites, and sets out to prove himself. In the Japanese version, he also wishes to adopt his brother's discarded title, and thus merit the name of "Kaiser Shou" (カイザー翔, Kaizā Shou). Inspired by Juudai's match with Austin O'Brien (Axel Brodie), however, he decides to remain in Ra Yellow, and sets aside his goal for the future. (In the English Version he quits the Obelisk Blue dorm stating that Blue wasn't his color and he left Blue to protect Juudai.) After the Academy is transported to the other world, Shou becomes one of the zombified students along with Manjoume.
Later, when Juudai and company venture into an alternate dimension to rescue Johan Andersen (Jesse Anderson), Shou is the only one of Juudai's friends who isn't sacrificed by Brron. After Juudai wins, he verbally attacks Juudai saying he wants nothing to do with him. While separated from the others, Shou decides to act as an observer, but later reunites with Ed and Ryou when Juudai is freed from his possession. After Ryou loses to a Yubel-possessed Johan, Shou watches Ryou die and fade into particles of light before breaking down in tears.
In season 4, Shou advances to Obelisk Blue again. Later, Shou attempts to finish Ryou's duel with Izimu Makato after Ryou becomes too weak to duel but immediately regrets his decision later as he begins to develop the same heart issues as Ryou because of his use of the Cyberdark deck against Izimu.
Mannerisms
Shou is easily captivated by any woman, real or otherwise, who happens to catch his eye. However, these feelings are superficial as he often moves from one crush to another. Like some of the prominent male characters, he has a "card crush" on "Thunder Nyan Nyan". His main crush is the Monster Spirit of "Black Magician Girl."
In the original version, he ends the majority of his sentences with "suu" (an elision of "desu"). Furthermore, he calls Juudai "Aniki," meaning "big brother," while referring to him as "Bro" in the English-language manga. In the third season of the original anime, however, Shou starts to call Juudai by his first name because of Juudai's selfish actions during his duel against Brron, Mad King of Dark World that led to the deaths of Manjoume, Asuka, Tyranno and Fubuki (Atticus Rhodes). For these actions, he begins taking on the self-appointed role as an observer of the season's events. However by the end of the third season and the beginning of the fourth his faith in Juudai is restored and he begins to call him "big brother," again.
Starting with the third season of the dub, Syrus is able to break the fourth wall. This is shown when he says he's just there for amusement and would never move the plot along, when Jesse and Tyranno are ignoring him when he's tied up, he says "I know I'm not the star, but come on, a little respect people!" and that he carried Jaden's water for three episodes. He's even admitted that he doesn't move the plot along, and complains that nobody listens to him. Another instance is when they start discussing where Wheeler originally was worked on; Syrus says "Man, that was a weird episode!" Syrus hasn't broken the fourth wall in a while.
Deck
Shou plays a Vehicroid Deck, composed of cartoon-like versions of real vehicles. Shou's Vehicroids are generally lacking in terms of martial strength, but he supplements them through other cards and often combines them to form stronger cards. In addition, his Vehicroids have the benefit of possessing abilities that cover most strategic maneuvers.
Starting with the second year, Shou begins using cards that focus on negating an opponent's attacks and shutting down their strategies. When he duels his brother, Ryou comments that Shou has filled his deck with cards that protect his life points. His skill as a duelist also greatly increases between the first two seasons, as he starts to become more self-confident and mature. To see Shou's deck visit http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Syrus_Truesdale
| Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Characters | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Protagonists | | |||||||
| Antagonists | Society of Light - Professor Cobra (Professor Viper) - Martin Empire - Haou the Supreme King - Brron, Mad King of Dark World - Yubel - Trueman | |||||||
| Other | Ed Phoenix (Aster Phoenix) - Johan Andersen (Jesse Anderson) - Amon Garam (Adrian Gecko) - Austin O'Brien (Axel Brodie) Jim Crocodile Cook - Yusuke Fujihara - Duel Academia Staff - Mizuchi Saiou (Sarina) Minor Characters - Manga only Characters - Duel Monsters Spirits | |||||||
