Leo Akaba


 * "Reo Akaba", the Japanese romanization, and "Professor", the moniker, redirect here.

Leo Akaba ( Akaba Reo), also known as the Professor (プロフェッサー Purofessā), is a character in the Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V anime, the husband of Himika Akaba and is the father of Reiji Akaba, though he abandoned the family before the adoption of Reira. He is responsible for Academia's attacks on the Xyz Dimension. According to his voice actor, Leo is a character with high importance and a great impact to the story. Due to his position and machinations, he is the main antagonist of the series.

Appearance
Leo Akaba appears as a middle-aged tan-skinned bald man with light blue eyes, who wears a purple colored militaristic outfit with several black buttons, a purple cape with a black ending, and a pair of grey boots. He also has a black belt with a red line which both end in a button on the front, and what appear to be red circular strings across his chest with a pair of black gloves on his hands. His perhaps most noticeable traits are the armored plate at the left side of his head with what appears to be a red circular lens, and pronounced blood vessels on the top of his head.

Etymology
"零" ("rei") means "zero" or "nothing", while "王" ("ō") means "king". The normal reading of Reo's name would be "Reiō"; however, it is read as "Reo" instead, so Reo's name is pronounced exactly like "Leo" in Japanese.

Personality
At this point, very little of Leo's personality is revealed. He seems to be heartless enough to abandon his home and family, seen when he forcefully sent Reiji back to Maiami City, and evil enough to commit genocide on the Xyz Dimension and during Obelisk Force attacks on the Standard Dimension (and the Synchro Dimension City, thought not shown yet). He is pragmatic not punishing his subordinates for their failures in contrast to Jean-Michel Roget, who electrocutes Yūya, brainwashes and places mind control devices in his enforcer Sergey and Security (in all cases causing an unknown degree of brain damage) and observing screams of pain with sadistic delight.

He appears to have charisma and be a good leader, as apparently everybody at Academia obeys him and finds it extremely difficult to betray him with the exceptions being Serena and Sora. There is no evidence yet that Leo mind controls Academia subordinates similar to the Security forces, but given Sora's recent actions, this seems to be extremely unlikely. The only time he uses force is with Yūri, Barrett and Dennis's missions to capture Serena's dimensional counterparts and Serena.

Unlike many people in Academia Leo doesn't enjoy harming others and take pleasure in others suffering. He was shown to be visibly annoyed when Doctor used Parasite Monsters to brainwash the bracelet girls and reacted in shock when Yūri ruthlessly sealed Asuka Tenjōin into a card.

Past
Leo originally hailed from the Standard Dimension, and was the original founder of Leo Corporation. One day, he suddenly left for the Fusion Dimension without telling anyone in his family, thereby abandoning the company. He took control of Academia and used it as a frontline base to enact his plan to unite the Four Dimensions. Eventually, Reiji stumbled into Academia through a teleportation device, but Leo caught up to him. Serena, who was attempting to escape with Reiji's aid, complained to Leo about being stuck at Academia while her comrades were preparing to attack the Xyz Dimension, but he refused to add her to the vanguard squad. Reiji also protested that Leo had abandoned Leo Corporation, to which Leo asked him if he had crossed dimensions just to find him, confusing Reiji even further. The Obelisk Force troops apprehended Serena, and Leo told her that he would definitely find her and bring her back to Academia, regardless of where she ran. He then used a wristwatch-like device to send Reiji back to Standard, but not before telling him about the Fusion Dimension and about him using Academia to help him bring the worlds together.

Pre-Maiami Championship
Leo was first mentioned by Shun Kurosaki when Reiji first confronts him. For yet to be revealed reasons, both Shun and Reiji consider Leo their enemy, with Reiji insisting he is preparing Duelists to confront and defeat Leo.

Round 1
When Reiji and Shun were watching the Duel between Yūto, Sora Shiun'in, and Yūya Sakaki, Yūto revealed that Academia invaded the Xyz Dimension. Reiji stated that this was due to Leo Akaba's ambition. After Sora was transported back to Academia within the Fusion Dimension, Leo was watching over a machine absorbing cards into itself. At the time, he was informed by one of his aides that the forced return program activated once Sora revealed his mission to their enemies within the Standard Dimension. However, Leo clarified that the Standard Dimension was not their enemy and that investigating Sora's memories would explain the situation. After doing so, he informed Yūri about Yuzu Hīragi's existence, claiming that she might be the fourth piece that he was looking for. Because of this, he ordered Yūri to bring Yuzu to Academia.

Round 2
When Sora asked Leo directly to let him return to Standard, Leo granted his request, under the conditions that Obelisk Force would accompany him and that he would retrieve Serena and bring her back to Academia as his main objective.

Friendship Cup Finals
After hearing Dennis' report that Yuzu and Serena were in the Synchro Dimension's City, Leo gave Barrett a new mission to go to the Synchro Dimension with the Obelisk Force and capture Yuzu and Serena. He also informed him that Yūri would also come to the Synchro Dimension.

Xyz Dimension Arc
After Mamoru sent a report about Pendulum Summoning being used in the Xyz Dimension, Leo sent Gloria and Grace Tyler to Heartland to help defeat the Lancers. As a precaution he also sent the Obelisk Force as backup in case the Tyler sisters lost.

Fusion Dimension Arc
He received Serena's report that she captured Yuzu, he mused that it was time for Yūshō Sakaki to learn the truth, while he watched Yūshō arrive at Academia with the Doctor. As Doctor monitored how his "Parasite Fusioner" made Rin follow his orders, Leo recognized his results but warned him that Rin and her counterparts are important to the ARC Area Project and not to be harmed. He then looked over to the other monitor to see Yūshō and Asuka.undefined When Sanders contacted him about the Lancers landing on the island's north side, Leo told him to carry out the mission according to the plan and take Yūya Sakaki down.undefined Leo watched Shun and Kaito argue over Ruri's sanity while listening to Doctor wondering if the siblings bond could beat the Professor's will, and merely watched as Doctor ran to do more improvements after Shun defeated Ruri.undefined He watched the Duel between Asuka and Yūri, but was horrified at Yūri's wish to seal everyone in all dimensions into cards to prove he's the strongest, evening standing up when Yūri sealed Asuka into a card.undefined He then watched Yūya Dueled Ruri and noticed something when Yūya told Ruri he was Yūto. He then stood up in surprise when Yūya turned into Yūto and wondered if the second personality in Yūya was something else.undefined He was informed by Doctor that captured Yūya and had his students bring in Reiji, Reira, and Yūshō, telling the latter he's been waiting for him.undefined