Shinji Weber

Shinji Weber (シンジ・ウェーバー Shinji Wēbā) is a character in the Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V anime. He is a friend of Crow Hogan.

Appearance
Shinji is a fair-skinned tall young man with double coloured purple hair with strands of blue in the base of his hair and green eyes. He wears a coloured biker suit with strands of blue on his tights and chest with a yellow pattern across his mid chest. The suit seems to be held together by a belt. His suit is also mid open revealing a gray shirt. He also wears brown boots and gloves.

For Riding Duels, he wears a brown helmet with a green visor.

Personality
Due to the circumstances of his harsh life as a Common from a young age, Shinji has harbored deep loathing towards the current system of City and has great hatred towards the Tops, who take everything from them and live by them without any ounce of worry or reward. His hatred is further exacervated by the takeover of the home that sheltered him due to debt, and constant humilliation and scorn from Tops who view him and his cards as trash, causing on him a deep desire to change the system.

Believing the Friendship Cup is nothing but a "show for Tops" he loses no second in throwing as much acid comments as he can at them, while at the same time criticizing the Commons in the audience for acting submissive and tame as the Tops want, but subsequently encourages them to rise up, using his own dueling as a demonstration of how the Commons can fight united and supporting each other and able to overthrow the current society, being able to quickly win the favour of the entire audience that initially felt bitter at his comments and feeling reflected on his critics of the Tops and Commons elitism, showcasing great charisma, going as far as refer to his Dueling as "we" (the Commons) Dueling.

Otherwise, in a more casual environment, Shinji is a rather friendly and sociable individual, bringing gifts to the kids under Crow's care, and even attending to others such as Reira with care. He is also seen to be more than willing to give a helping hand to an outsider as he as his friends helped the Lancers evade Security, and he ended up getting arrested himself when he tried to warn Crow about Security.

His intense hatred towards the Tops can make him distrusting and suspicious about those who don't agree with his views even they're friends, as he quickly assumed both Yūya and Tsukikage serve the Tops simply for rejecting his idea of a revolution against the Tops. He also accused Yūya of having fixed their Duel and making deals with Security after Jean-Michel Roget congratulated Yūya for defeating him. He even went against Crow when he suggested trying to end Shinji's Revolution peacefully after hearing Yuzu's message.

Past
As a Commons, Shinji had a long life of being persecuted by the actions of the Tops, having the orphanage where he stayed being closed down on one occasion. On another occasion, Shinji challenged a Tops to a Duel and lost, and tried to give the Tops a card for winning as they had agreed, but the Tops Duelist mocked Shinji's cards and tossed it to him, telling him to come back when he had better cards.

Synchro Dimension Arc
When Security cornered the Lancers Yūya Sakaki, Serena, Reira, and Shingo by gathering more units, Shinji helped Crow rescue them and dropped them off at his hideout. Later, Shinji visited the hideout to bring in the supplies Crow requested. He didn't like that fact that the Lancers were still in the hideout since they were wanted now, and could bring trouble to the kids and Crow. Before Shinji left, he warned Crow that the Security were searching high and low for the Lancers. When he found out that the Security had cornered the Lancers, he went to warn Crow, who was Dueling Yūya at that moment, but was too late and the Security had them all arrested. He tried to escape on his D-Wheel, but he was blocked and got caught as well.

Facility
He was then brought to the Facility along with the group of Lancers and Crow. He and Crow explained how most of the inmates were there on false charges and was there when Yūya's group reunited with Gongenzaka and Dennis and heard about Shun's solitary confinement. He then watched as Chojiro Tokumatsu Dueled Yūya and he and Crow were reminded of how Chojiro used to be an idol for many Commons in the past. While Chojiro, Yūya and Shingo held an Action Duel Show for the inmates, Shinji planned a prison break with Crow and their friend Damon, who was also imprisoned there. The three Commons escaped ahead of the imprisoned Lancers, who were running from a special pursuit squad from Security.

When the prison breakers reunited, they went through the water to the other side of a river, where Tony was waiting for them. Unbeknownst to them, Tony was already caught by Security and the entire group was arrested again. The entire group was then salvaged from the Security vehicles by order of the Executive Council.

Friendship Cup
Shinji was present at the Lancers' ordeal by the Council and was, along with the Lancers and his friends, forced to participate in the Friendship Cup. He was then locked in a luxurious room in the tower, where he would await his turn to duel. After Crow and Gongenzaka's Duel, he was scheduled to Duel Reira Akaba. Reira, however, was unwilling to Duel him because Shinji had given him candy before, so Tsukikage appeared to Duel him instead, causing confusion to the audience and Melissa Claire. Before the Duel, Shinji rallied the Commons about standing up and fighting the injustice done to them by the Tops. Tsukikage dealt heavy damage right away by making use of the Action Cards in Cross Over Accel, but Shinji stopped Tsukikage from continuing this by pulling an Action Card away from him. He then summoned his "Bee Force" monsters and explained their similarity to the Commons. During the Duel, he hurt Tsukikage's pride as a ninja. He then used his swarm of "Bee Force" monsters to get through Tsukikage's wall of "Ninja" monsters, fortified by "Twilight Ninja Shogun - Getsuga" and used "Urgent Turning" to summon his Level 12 Synchro Monster "Bee Force - Big Ballista the Final Battle" during the Battle Phase, attacking Tsukikage and blowing up the D-Wheel he was on. While doing so, he rallied to Commons again and explained how it was 'their' turn and not just his. Tsukikage, for some reason, did not activate an Action Card that could have saved him and was defeated by "Big Ballista"'s attack. While doing so, he rallied the Commons again and explained how it was their turn to rise up and not just his. The audience, finally moved by Shinji's words, cheered at his victory, but he cut them short. He said this was not the time to cheer fully just yet, but he still encouraged them to fight back. He watched the other Duels of the first round, including Tony's loss to Serena, a loss that he bemoaned, and the brutal climax of Shun Kurosaki's Duel with Dennis Macfield, which revealed Dennis as part of Academia.

Yūya vs. Shinji
Shinji's second round match was against Yūya, after the brutal Duel between Yuzu Hīragi and Sergey Volkov. Yūya was torn over Yuzu's ambiguous fate, and Shinji harshly explained that no-one would save Yuzu after she had lost, as losers were abandoned, which was why he wanted to change the society. He advised Yūya to win the Duel if he had a message that he wanted to get across. Shinji continued to rally the Commons and encourage them, blocking Yūya's initial attempt at a One Turn Kill and calling his use of "Gap Power" to only gain 100 ATK a waste in a similar manner to the Tops. He drove Yūya back with "Bee Force - Azusa the Spirit Bow" and the effect damage of his "Bee Force - Pin the Hits", before Yūya declared that the real match would be beginning and brought out "Timebreaker Magician" to destroy "Azusa". Shinji retorted that it was too late for that with all the Commons behind him, and he stated that the revolution had begun. Shinji revived "Azusa" and tuned it with his "Pins" to Synchro Summon "Bee Force - Hama the Evil-Crushing Bow", which he described as the Commons' Synchro Monster. Yūya attempted to reason with Shinji, protesting that hate wouldn't change anything and explained his own outlook of wanting to make the City smile. Shinji retorted that they would only smile after defeating the Tops. He cleared Yūya's field, but Yūya was able to survive the turn. On the next turn, Shinji received an unexpected surprise when Yūya was forced to Summon "Tuning Magician", which damaged Yūya and healed Shinji. Shinji commented that drawing such a useless card has sealed Yūya's fate and attempted to win on his next turn, but Yūya was able to survive again. Yūya revived his monsters on the next turn, including "Tuning Magician", which Shinji exploited with "Bee Formation" to increase the ATk of "Hama". Yūya then performed a Synchro Summon of his own to bring out "Enlightenment Paladin" and re-use "Gap Power", which was strengthened thanks to the effect of "Tuning Magician" increasing the difference between Shinji and Yūya's LP. "Enlightenment Paladin" destroyed "Hama", and Shinji's own mass ATK increasing of "Hama" led to the effect of "Enlightenment Paladin" finishing him off. The loss of his revolution caused Shinji to scream in frustration. Shinji returned to the Duel Palace in frustration, and after he saw Yūya being praised by the Tops and Jean-Michel Roget, he accused the match of being fixed so that Yūya could win and of being allied with the Tops from the beginning. Roget pointed out the flaws in Shinji's reasoning and he denounced Shinji in front of the crowd, before having the staff take him away to the Underground Labor Facility. Although Yūya vowed to save Shinji, Shinji screamed expressions of hatred towards Yūya.

Underground Labor Facility
Amanda, Frank, Tanner, and Yuzu later discovered that Shinji had gone to the Underground Labor Facility when they took refuge there themselves. When Shun, Gongenzaka, Shingo, and Tsukikage caused a riot, Shinji, Damon, and Tony decided to take advantage of the situation and encourage the other inmates to rebel as well. As the inmates rioted, Shinji went to take over the control room before Security arrives. When the Arrest Corps. arrived to stop everyone, Shinji activated the conveyer belt, making them drop their weapons, and was then informed by Tony that they were able to retrieve everyone's Duel Disks. Shinji then announced to everyone to get on the conveyer belts so they can go to the City. He then thanked Chojiro's lackeys for helping him take over the control room.

Jack vs Sergey
After escaping from underground, Shinji and others started to gather allies for the takeover of City. Shinji then led the Commons into the City for revolution against the Tops, but they stopped during their when Jack was scheduled to face Sergey Volkov.

Commons Rebellion
They soon began rioting again after the Duel ended, and they were confronted by Security after Roget placed the City under martial law. Damon was driven back, but they were saved by Crow using "Assault Black Feather - Raikiri the Sudden Shower". Crow tried to stop Shinji's rioting and convince him that Academia were the true enemy, but Shinji refused, claiming that he hated the Tops more than Academia and he, Damon and Tony activated their Duel Disks against Crow, who proceeded to do the same. Before they could Duel, Yūya appeared on the screen; proclaiming that Dueling was about bringing smiles to people and not a tool to be used in conflict, and he then challenged Jack to a Duel.

Friendship Cup Final Match
While he and Crow were surprised by Yūya's mention of them in his short speech before the Duel, it did not end the confrontation between him and his former friends until Shun arrived and presumably ended the situation. He, Crow, Damon, and Tony raced to join Yūya's Duel with Jack and voiced out his encouragement and support. They simultaneously announced the effect of "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon" with Yūya and watched Yūya deal the final blow. Shinji was present to hear from Sora's broadcast Roget's latest actions as well as Yuzu's status.

Deck
Shinji runs a "Bee Force" Deck that focuses on swarming the field with monsters for Synchro Summoning. His Synchro Monsters have ATK-manipulation effects. He compares his monsters to the Commons of the City and sees them as an example of what the Commons can do if they would work up together, like bees.