marufuji shou
 Name kanji: ŠÛ“¡ãÄ
Age: 16
Year: Second
Dorm: Ra Yellow (promoted from Osiris Red)
Deck type: Vehicroid
Family: Marufuji Ryou (older brother)
Dub name: Syrus Truesdale
Voice: Suzuki Masami (Japanese), Wayne Grayson (American)
Shou begins his life at the Academy in a very difficult position. He is the younger brother of the top duelist of the school, Ryou, and so is expected by most to follow in his footsteps. However, the odds don't look so good for him, as he has very little self-confidence after a certain incident in his childhood involving him, his brother, and the Power Bond card, and he doesn't have the best grades around either.
 Meek and somewhat whiny, Shou isn't the ideal friend for everyone, but you'd expect him to have at least a few friends, right? Well, this isn't the case, as Shou starts out with no friends and only his own self-pity to keep him company. Then he meets Juudai, and things finally start to go right for him -- he looks up to Juudai so much that he begins calling him "aniki", which literally means "older brother". And indeed, Shou does see Juudai as an older brother, almost more than he sees Ryou as an older brother, because Juudai's been more of a brother to him in his short time in the Academy than Ryou has in his entire life.
 With Juudai's help, he slowly begins to gain confidence in himself once again -- you see, Shou used to be a ruthless duelist with little respect for his opponent or his cards, until Ryou taught him otherwise, and Shou closed in on himself. But Juudai jumped the wall he built around himself, as Juudai often does, and opened him up once more. Before the beginning of the second season, he is pitted in a promotion match against Kochou Ran, and wins, getting a promotion to Ra Yellow for his efforts.
 Even after his promotion, he still remains somewhat shy, but after the arrival of Tyranno Kenzan and his attachment to Juudai in the same way Shou began to attach to him, he forms a steady rivalry with Kenzan over whose "aniki" Juudai really is. They end up dueling over the issue, and near the end Shou proves his dedication to Juudai when he tells Kenzan that although Juudai is missing, he must be trying his best to return, and so Shou will try his best also, even though he looks about ready to faint. Kenzan eventually lets Shou win, After this, although Kenzan promised to be Shou's servant for a while if he won, the two of them grow slightly closer to each other, bit by bit.
 Later, Ryou decides to become physically stronger by ditching his Cyber Dragons and, ultimately, his respect for his opponents to become Hell Kaiser, in exchange for power and a new Cyber Ura deck. Shou eventually is informed of this, and after Hell Kaiser defeats Darkness Fubuki in a respectless, not-so-friendly duel, he resolves to get his older brother back himself. They end up in the same sort of duel Ryou was first introduced to -- in which when your life points go down, an electric current flows through your body. Shou puts up a very good fight and appears to be about to win, but Ryou activates a card which allows him the power to win the duel. Shou falls to the ground, crying. Ryou simply walks away callously, and Juudai rushes to Shou's side. He swears to bring Hell Kaiser back from the depths of hell. Shou is then taken to the infirmary.
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