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 willing enough to commit genocide on the Xyz Dimension and attacking innocent people at Standard Dimension. 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 most of them finds it extremely difficult to betray him. 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. However, he doesn't hesitate to use brute force if it means he can achieve his goal, which means he stands by the philosophy of the end justify the means.

Past
Leo was a resident of the Original Dimension and a professor developing new possibilities with Real Solid Vision. He then decided to use Duel Monsters with it and found out the compatibility between them were perfect. After studying the monsters, Leo was able to give them mass and was praised all over the world for leading Dueling into a new era. However, a Duelist named Zarc started Dueling in a violent manner and declared his desire to destroy the entire world, surprising Leo. He watched as Zarc attacked everyone with his four dragons and escaped the stadium with his daughter. He heard her saying that the monsters are angry at them and remembered the thought that once crossed him: Duel Monster cards have souls. This made Leo realised that the dragons were angry for being continuously used to fight as a mere tools to entertain people. He watched Zarc fused with his four dragons to become Supreme Dragon King Zarc and was shocked that they became one.undefined After his daughter sacrificed herself to stop Zarc, resulting the dimension to be split into four, Leo ended up in Standard Dimension with amnesia. As he got accustomed living in Maiami City with tiny bits of his memories slowly returning, one day, Leo met with Yūshō Sakaki and showed him the Real Solid Vision technology that he once again developed, which gave "Thunder Kids" mass. He told Yūshō about how they can't fantasize about Dueling with it. The two joined forces and developed the Real Solid Vision.undefined Leo's discovery of the technology earned him fame and then he found and built Leo Corporation and married Himika Akaba. As he regained his memories of the Original Dimension, he started to immerse himself with his research to find Ray so much that he neglected both Himika and their son, Reiji Akaba. One day, he suddenly left for the Fusion Dimension without telling anyone in his family, thereby abandoning the company. In Fusion Dimension, he found Serena whom he thought was Ray but found she didn't have Ray's memories. Coming into conclusion that Ray has been split in four dimensions, Leo took control of Academia and used it as a frontline base to enact his plan to unite the Four Dimensions and revive Ray.undefined 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.

Lancers' Infiltration
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

The Origin of Four Dimensions
He saw Reira, wondering who he was and told Yūshō he wasn't a genius since the Solid Vision was just reproduced from existing technology. He revealed to them that it was developed in the United World and asked them why the only difference between the Four Dimensions were the Summoning methods. He then revealed how the United World had all of them and the Solid Vision was already put to practical use there. At that time, he wanted to give new possibilities and create a Solid Vision that was more vivid, lively, and flexible. He then used Duel Monsters with it and found out there were perfectly compatible but unintentionally opened Pandora's Box. His research brought forth powerful monsters with mass and he was praised as the person for leading Dueling into a new era. But the technology led the world to ruin due to the people's frenzy and the appearance of Zarc. He also revealed how Zarc evolved Fusion, Synchro, and Xyz with their finest dragons and stood at the top of the Dueling world. Then, when the people celebrated that day, Zarc declared he'll destroy the world and summoned his four dragons to attack everyone. He then remembered how Duel Monsters had souls, which appeared in the worst possible way by giving them real bodies, thereby materializing their anger. Since their bodies made from Solid Vision, normal weapons had no affect on them and the dragons had begun to take revenge. He told them how the four dragons swallowed Zarc's and became the Ultimate Monster: Supreme Dragon King Zarc. The only thing that could fight Zarc, who had godlike power was a Duelist just as strong. Leo felt responsible for creating that demon and couldn't afford to give up, even if it meant sacrificing himself to save his world. When Reiji called it made-up story to calm Reira, Leo angrily told him it truly happened, since it took place in front of his eyes and that world would enter its final moments because of Supreme Dragon King Zarc.undefined When Yūshō questioned him about Zarc, Leo told him how the four dragons were responsible for combining into that monster and when it split, the world did as well for each summoning method. He was then contacted by a Academia member who told him that Yūya escaped from the Doctor's lab, surprising him. He then told the Doctor to bring the girls as fast as he can and saw Yūya enter his inner chambers. As Yūshō tried to convince him not to involve the children and tell him the full story, Leo told Yūya he's finally gotten this far and told Yūshō that Yūya isn't his son. When Yūya told him to give Yuzu back, Leo told him, he's trying to bring back the truth. Yuzu and her counterparts then appeared behind him in tubes and was told by the Doctor that is ready. When the Doctor wanted to deal with Yūya, Leo thought he couldn't win and listened to him express confidence in his work. When the Doctor told him that they should be sharing a similar curiosity in confronting challenging research as fellow researchers, Leo turned him into a card due the Doctor's dangerous thinking and his own past curiosity that caused the Supreme Dragon King's birth. When Yūya tried to run to Yuzu, Leo blocked his path and told everyone how he created four cards that could defeat Supreme Dragon King Zarc but were stolen by his daughter Ray, who used them herself to prevent Leo from sacrificing himself. When she defeated Zarc, he was sent to a strange town where only standard Duels happened and recreated the Solid Vision while meeting Yūshō around that time. He revealed that the devil also divided into four due to Ray's sacrifice and became aware of it due to his memories coming back. He then obsessed with the possibility that Ray must be somewhere in the Four Dimensions. When Reiji revealed why he was looking his father, Leo stated how he came to the Fusion Dimension and told him he didn't go to Academia for a war of aggression. He believed in Ray's survival and found it in Academia, which was Serena due to her spitting image and bracelet. However, she didn't have Ray's memories and remembered that Ray's shadow spilt into four when the Supreme Dragon King divided. He then thought that what if Ray was also divided in each of the Four Dimensions. He then revealed that the girls are reincarnations of Ray and plans to revive her, using the ARC Area Project for that purpose. He then revealed ARC-V to everyone, which will bring back the fifth dimension and Ray completing Revival Zero. He asked Reiji to lend his power to defeat Yūya because he is the reincarnation of Zarc and Ray sacrificed and spilt herself to defeat him. He then revealed how Yūya merged with Yūto and increased in power, saying they have to bury that destructive power to prevent the devil's revival. When Reiji refused to help him and follow his beliefs with Yūya, Leo told him that belief will bring about a ruined world and challenged them to a Duel.undefined