Yūshō Sakaki

Yūshō Sakaki ( Sakaki Yūshō, but written Yusyo Sakaki in English for the Japanese anime) is a character in the Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V anime. He is the father of Yūya Sakaki. Three years before the story, Yūshō disappeared when he was supposed to be Dueling with Strong Ishijima.

Appearance
Yūshō wears a mostly red performer's outfit. He has black hair and a purple top hat with green goggles on the bottom side. Yūshō is fair skinned and has golden eyes.

Etymology
His name may come from (Yūshō), a term meaning "overall victory, championship", reflecting the fact that he was once the Duel Champion.

Meeting Yōko
In their youth, Yūshō rescued Yōko Sakaki and one of her gang members from a rival gang. He played "Smile World" to get the rival gang to back down. Yōko was grateful for what Yūshō did and developed feelings for him. Eventually, the two of them got married and had a son, Yūya Sakaki.

Meeting Leo
One day Yūshō met Leo Akaba and saw the Solid Vision give "Thunder Kids" mass. He was impressed by it and the two joined forces and developed the Solid Vision.undefined

When a young Yūya was upset, Yūshō approached him and gave him advice about laughing whenever he felt down. He used Yūya's pendant to further explain this point by saying that when Yūya made other people happy, the happiness would swing back towards him, like a pendulum.

Discovery of Solid Vision and Action Duel
Yūshō got acquainted with Reiji Akaba's father, Reo Akaba. Together with him, both researched and eventually discovered Solid Vision technology and Action Duel.

Plan with Reiji
One night, Reiji revealed his father's plan to conquer all four dimensions and enlisted Yūshō's help to stop his father by becoming the leader of Lancers once they formed the special group. Sensing Reiji's determination, Yūshō agreed to it. On the day he was supposed to Duel Strong Ishijima in the finals of an Action Duel tournament, Yūshō decided to force his way to Academia using LC's incomplete Interdimensional travel device, hoping he was able to dissuade Reo. His disappearance consequently led people to think he didn't come because he was afraid and since then was viewed as cowards.

Teaching at Heartland Duel School
However, instead of being sent to  Academia  of the  Fusion Dimension, he instead got transported to the Xyz Dimension. During his two years of disappearance in Standard, Yūshō became a teacher for Heartland Duel School's Clover Branch where Kaito Tenjō, Allen Kozuki, and Sayaka Sasayama were studying.

He also often performed his Entertainment Duel at the street of Heartland. On one of such occasions, Yūshō's Dueling gained admiration from Dennis Macfield, an Academia Duelist who was on espionage mission in Heartland. The admiration inspired Dennis to become Entertainment Duelist, and Yūshō then took him under his tutelage.

When the Xyz Dimension was invaded a year before the story, Yūshō encountered Edo Phoenix and they both Dueled. The result of the Duel was not revealed, but Yūshō's legs were crippled and he accidentally got transported by Edo to the Fusion Dimension in the process. Yūshō's sudden disappearance led Allen and the others to think he had abandoned them.

You Show Duel School at Fusion Dimension
Arriving at the Fusion Dimension, he saved Asuka Tenjōin from Juvenile Officers when she escaped from Academia with her friend before he collapsed. The two of them then opened You Show Duel School independent from Academia, sheltering former Academia Duelists who decided to escape from Academia and taught them his philosophy to bring smiles with Dueling.

Pre-Maiami Championship
Yūshō was mentioned by Yūya and Reiji during their first Duel. Reiji said that he admired the Pioneer of Action Duels and rebuked Hokuto and Yaiba for insulting Yūya's father. Yūshō is the idol of several characters in the series.

Resistance and Lancers Discussion
Yūshō was mentioned by Allen and Sayaka once knowing that Yūya was Yūshō's son during their discussion. Allen and Saya explained that Yūshō used to be their teacher and that he abandoned them when they were invaded by Academia, something that shocked Yūya.

Reunion with Yuzu
Yuzu, who got transported to the Fusion Dimension, was taken in by Asuka who had saved her from Academia Juvenile Officers. Asuka took her to You Show Duel School hideout and reunited her with Yūshō, who smiled upon seeing her. He immediately recognized Yuzu, making her cry as she told him how much everyone worried about him. Yūshō apologized for making her worried and explained that before he arrived at the Fusion Dimension, he was at the Xyz Dimension. During the invasion, he met Edo, the Commander-in-Chief of Academia who transported him to Fusion Dimension. Yuzu explained to Yūshō of what happened during his disappearance. Yūshō then revealed to Yuzu the reason of his disappearance three years ago: he heard the whole story about the dimension war from Reiji and agreed to help him. He was supposed to be sent to the Fusion Dimension, but instead got sent to the Xyz Dimension where he taught his students of his philosophy. Their peaceful days ended when Academia invaded a year ago. Their conversation was interrupted by two students who called for Yūshō for another check up of his condition, and he decided to continue the rest of the conversation later.

Duel Against Dennis
Moved by his students' determination to directly fight against Academia, Yūshō agreed and intended to go as well, unwilling to let his students fight by themselves. However, they were interrupted by Dennis and his squad, finding their hideout based on several eye witnesses. Remembering Dennis as his former student, Yūshō agreed to Dennis' challenge, commenting that Dennis hasn't grown at all since all he could was mesmerising his audience with his flashiness alone without any meaning conveyed through it. Yūshō started his turn by simply setting one card and then ended his turn, enraging Dennis who accused him of mocking him, but Yūshō told his former student that he always serious when it comes about entertaining people, and setting that one card was simply a preparation for his show. Dennis started his turn by summoning "Entermage Trapeze Magician" and used its effect to attack Yūshō twice. Before the attack could connect, Yūshō activated his set up trap card "Miracle Silk Hat" to hide himself inside one of two hats. He explained to Dennis if he attack the hat where he hide himself, he will receive 5000 damage that will defeated him instantly. Dennis attacked both hats with "Trapeze Magician's" effect, only to find that Yūshō was never in both hats. Yūshō used "Paper Doll" to replace himself in one of the hats to buy enough time for himself and his students to escape. Yūshō successfully escaped through another secret path with Asuka's help.

Kaito vs Dennis
They both made it to the ship and Yūshō wanted Asuka to disembark so he could face Reo alone. But, Dennis caught up with them and challenged Yūshō again until Kaito arrived. Surprised, Yūshō learned from Kaito that Yūya opened Edo's heart and got Academia's army to rebuild the Xyz Dimension. He watched his students Duel each other and applauded both Duelists for their Duel. Yūshō tried to convince Dennis to join them, but refused and watched in dismay as his student sealed himself into a card. He caught the card and glanced at it with sadness.

Arriving at Avademia
Yūshō arrived at Academia with Asuka and Kaito, wondering if they were walking into a trap when there were no Academia soldiers waiting for them. He suspected it was because Reo anticipated their arrival. Yūgo arrived and after briefly tangling with Kaito, he learned where Rin was. Yūshō tried to warn him that there might be a trap but Yūgo sped off. Kaito left to rescue Ruri, and Yūshō suggested to Asuka that they go to see Reo. Yūshō reunited with Reiji and told him he's not planning to cause him any trouble this time. However, both groups were confronted by a boy,undefined who Yūshō mistook for Yūya. He, Reiji, and Reira managed to pass the fence Sora lowered to block the boy off while Asuka faced him. He ask Reiji that who the was and learn he was Yūri. He then continued to go see the Professor with Reiji and Reira.undefined They were then confronted by Academia students, who took them directly to the Professor.undefined

The Origin of Four Dimensions
Yūshō asked Leo why did he invade the Four Dimension Dragons for a "utopia". He reminded him that he's a genius that created the Solid Vision from scratch and that if didn't existed, Action Duels and his Entertainment Dueling wouldn't have either. He even told him that one encounter with Leo changed his fate and he still appreciate it now. However, he was surprised when Leo revealed that he didn't find it and in fact the technology had already existed in the Original Dimension. He learned how Leo created the Solid Vision, which caused Duel Monsters to evolve but lead to the world's ruin due to the appearance of a Duelist named Zarc who destroyed the world after fusing with his four dragons, becoming the Supreme Dragon King Zarc due to the people's desires for violent Duels, shocking Yūshō.undefined When Yūshō tried to say something to Leo, he was interrupted by a Academia member who revealed that Yūya escaped the Doctor's lab, surprising him. He was happy to see him when he arrived at the inner chambers and hugged him. He learned that Yuzu was captured and tried to convince Leo not to involve the children and tell him the full story. However, he was surprised when Leo told him Yūya wasn't his son and bringing Yuzu and her counterparts to the room. When Leo was going to seal the Doctor into a card, Yūshō wanted him to stop but was shocked that he did it. He then learned the rest of Leo's past of how he created four cards that could defeat Supreme Dragon King Zarc but were stolen by his daughter Ray and was surprised that Leo had daughter. He also learned how Ray defeated Zarc and Leo being sent to a strange town, where he recreated the Solid Vision and just met Yūshō. Yūshō then realized that the technology for the Solid Vision was already there and was shocked when Leo revealed that Ray might be somewhere in the Four Dimensions due to his memories coming back. He listened to Reiji's past going to Academia to find Leo and was surprised Leo found traces of Ray in Academia. He learned that Ray had spilt into Yuzu, Serena, Ruri Kurosaki, and Rin and was surprised Leo was going to resurrect Ray. He saw ARC-V and was shocked that it will bring the back the fifth dimension and Ray. When Reiji wondered if Yūri was Zarc's incarnation, Yūshō was surprised and learned that his son is one of Zarc's incarnation. When Leo said that Reiji's belief will bring about a ruined world, Yūshō grabbed a card and watched as Yūya and Reiji challenged Leo to a Duel.

Yūya and Reiji vs. Leo
He listened to Leo reveal that he already started the process to fuse the girls back into Ray and the Four Dimensions back into one. While watching Yūya and Reiji Duel Leo, Yūshō thought about when he instill his smiles belief to at an early age. However, he can't remember since when and thought back to when he asked Shūzō when did he start taking care of a baby by himself and where was his wife. He then wondered what he and Yōko were doing when Yūya was born and came to the conclusion that those day-to-day memories never happened. He was surprised when Leo used Pendulum Summon and the effect of "Spirit Tech Force - Pendulum Governor" to destroy Yūya's "Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon". When Yūya Awakened, Yūshō wondered what was wrong with him. He thought about how Zarc was forcibly spilt by Ray and revive in each of the Four Dimensions but now wants to become one for some purpose. He found out the purpose might be to regain his former self and in order to regain himself that reign at the top of the world, Zarc chose Yūshō to resurrect him as a Duelist by sending his incarnation to raise as a Duelist to encourage his awakening. Yūshō then checked on Reira who passed out from Yūya's anger and thought about how he unknowingly lent a hand to the devil's resurrection.undefined When Reiji Released his monsters to Summon "DDD Death Great King Hell Armageddon", Yūshō noted that Leo can't use the Pendulum Effects of "Spirit Reactor" and "Pendulum Governor". When Leo used "Dis-swing Fusion" to take control of "Hell Armageddon and Fusion Summon "Master Spirit Tech Force - Pendulum Ruler", Yūshō noted how Leo set all that up by reading Reiji and Yūya. He thought about how Reiji couldn't forgive Leo for humans as fuel revive his daughter. He pulled out "Binding Swords of Impact" and wanted to save Yuzu but was afraid to use it to help resurrect a demon. He was surprised when Yūya went for an Action Card to protect himself from Leo's attack. He muttered Yūya's name when watching him make contact with Reiji. When Yūya was about to defeat Leo with "The Supreme King Violent Dragon - Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon", Yūshō used "Binding Swords of Impact" to bind Yūya to a pillar, which terminated the Duel. He told Leo the card he received from him was a failure due to a bug where it doesn't disappear when the Solid Vision goes offline. He brought the card to remind Leo the basics and thought of using it to bind him but never on his own son. He told Yuzu he was convinced she and counterparts were Ray's alter egos and Yūya was Zarc's. He also told her that she became Shūzō's daughter in order to remain close to Yūya and prevent Zarc's revival due to Ray's will. He handed Reira to Reiji and told the girls to hold fast, saying the Four Dimensions peace is maintained by them. He then told Reiji that he was going to prevent Zarc's revival since Yūya is not a demon.undefined

Yūgo, Yūri vs. Edo and Kaito
He ran into kaito and Edo and learned from them that something strange happened to Yūya, thinking the Doctor might be controlling him. However, he told that wasn't it and revealed to them that Yūya, Yūto, Yūgo, and Yūri are alter egos of Zarc and are trying to revive him by becoming one. He then learned from Edo that Yūgo and Yūri were Dueling now and tried to go stop before being caught by Kaito from falling. He was asked by Edo to let himself stop them due to learning Yūshō's smile philosophy from Yūya and was surprised Edo still had the torn "Smile World". Yūshō arrived during the middle of the Duel and muttered Edo's name when watching him tell Yūgo that he and Yūya were one person before and how Duels are for smiles and not conflict. When Edo told Yūgo he will hold on until he regain his true self, Yūshō thought to himself how Yūya was being swallowed by Zarc and begged Edo to rescue him from the abyss. When Edo freed Yūgo from his awakening, Yūshō was happy but was worried when Yūri was about to defeat everyone with the effect of "Greedy Venom Fusion Dragon". When Edo and Kaito were defeated, Yūshō picked up Edo's half of "Smile World" and was about to say they wasted something until Yūgo told him they didn't waste anythingundefined

Entermate
According to Edo Phoenix, Yūshō also uses a "Entermate" Deck, his ace monster being "Sky Magician".

Others
For a currently unknown reason, Yūshō carries half of a torn copy of "Smile World".