Shun Kurosaki

"We will always take back our comrades!"

- Shun's will to protect his friends.

Shun Kurosaki ( Kurosaki Shun), known as Shay in the Dub version, is a character in the Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V anime. He is an Xyz User and is one of Yūto's comrades and Ruri Kurosaki's older brother. At the beginning, Shun was targeting LDS to capture Reiji Akaba until he was offered the chance to enter the Maiami Championship to fight against Reo Akaba. He is one of the Lancers.

Appearance
Shun has short, black hair and a teal colored bang that is swept to the side. It is also overlapped by the black part of his hair. He has pale skin and yellow, bird-like eyes. Like Yūto, Shun concealed his face with black sun glasses and a red scarf covering half of his face; now he wears it around his neck. He wears a long, blue jacket with ripped trimmings below, accompanied with grey, tight pants and brown, business-like shoes. He is also as tall as Reiji.

Personality
Though he implies that he may have Dueled for fun before, in the present, Shun is a battle-hardened Duelist who shows nothing but fierce determination and serious perseverance in his duels. In a similar manner to Reiji Akaba, he also carries an affection for his younger sister Ruri whom he vows to rescue, and also highly regards his comrades. Unlike Yūto, Shun acts out more recklessly and impatient and is willing to crush anyone who he deems as his enemies, even warning Yūto not to stand in his way when focused on his goal. He demonstrates a powerful hatred of Fusion Summoning, and previously of LDS, as Fusion Summoning has been used by his enemies and he believed LDS to be associated with them. Despite his callous disposition, he can be pragmatic, agreeing to cooperate with Reiji in furthering his machinations in exchange for information.

Shun tends to converse about his experiences when the comments of other people allude to them (whether such allusions are intentional or not). While Dueling, he demonstrates a more violent side when he uses "Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon". Aside from these moments, he says little when he doesn't have to talk, not even bothering to learn the names of many of his opponents; he simply challenges them to a Duel. However, he often employs the word "revolution" and similar terms, reinforcing his strong belief of dueling solely to defeat his enemies and protect his comrades. Despite his determination to protect his comrades, he prefers acting alone and dislikes when others try to protect him by risking themselves. However, the memories of the attack on his homeland have clearly scarred him, and when he was in the "Future Metropolis Heartland" Action Field for a second time, he was initially unwilling to discuss the events, but on later prompting by Serena, he admitted that the faces and laughter of the Academia students that had attacked Heartland would always remain in his mind.

Powers and Abilities
Like Yūto, Shun possesses the ability to materialize the effects of Duel Monsters cards; though the exact methodology is unknown, it has been suggested by Yūya that it is due to "Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon". He also has the power to seal a person inside a card, though unlike previous uses of this power in the franchise, the entire person, and not just their soul, is sealed away, which appears to be a function of his Duel Disk. His Duel Disk is later upgraded with the function to produce an Action Field, and also appears to have dimensional travel technology incorporated into it. Shun is highly acrobatic, as seen when he jumped off of the sides of several buildings and rolled along the ground to break his fall during his first duel with Sora. He is also a highly skilled fighter, strong enough to defeat several guards each with a single blow while escaping from the Facility in the Synchro Dimension.

Etymology
"Shun" means "Falcon". His family name can be read by sperating the two syllables apart. Kuro means "Black" and Saki means "Bloom" or "Cape".

His English name "Shay" is Gaelic for "Hawk". His name could also refer to Shay's Rebellion, a famous historical uprising, given the fact that rebellion is a key aspect of his character.

Past
Shun's homeland, Heartland City in the Xyz Dimension, was once a place where Duelists were loved and everyone enjoyed Dueling. They were attacked without warning one day by Academia from the Fusion Dimension, and without an organized defense, lost comrade after comrade to their foes until they learned to fight back.

In the destroyed Heartland, Shun and several other Duelists arrived to witness the clash between Yūto and Yūgo. Due to the high numbers, Yūgo retreated, and Shun asked Yūto about Ruri. The response he got pushed him to curse in anger as Yūto did not know where Ruri's whereabouts. Later, he and Yūto seemed to be the last remaining survivors of Xyz Dimension and hearing about Reiji's relation to Reo, both traveled to the Standard Dimension to oppose the Fusion Dimension there.

Pre-Maiami Championship
Shun first appeared standing on a building not far away from the building of LDS. His duel disk was scanning for something or someone inside the infrastructure. Before this, however, Shun had attacked one of the teachers, Professor Marco, and sealed him inside a card. Upon his second appearance, Shun was dueling a member of LDS's top team, Tio, as Yūto arrived, due to being warped by Yuzu's bracelet. He was then found standing in the middle of an ally way with "Raid Raptors - Vanishing Rainias" behind him, encountering Yūya Sakaki. After noticing the LDS badges of one of the men chasing Yūya, Shun challenged them, brought out his Xyz Monster and sealed them in cards. Yūya was knocked out and Mr. Sawatari ran away out of fright. Later, after Masumi Kōtsu mentioned that she was from LDS, when confronting Yuzu Hīragi, Shun knocked Yuzu aside and stood before Masumi challenging her to a duel. As Masumi continued to back away, Shun was stopped halfway through the crisis by Yūto. Angrily, Shun scolded Yūto and soon noticed Yuzu although he was mistaking her for his sister. As he was questioning the confused Yuzu, Yūto punched Shun to knock him out and both were teleported away by Yuzu's bracelet. The next day, Shun stood out in the opening waiting for the arrival of Masumi. Shun insulted her professor, confessed that he was the perpetrator and challenged her to a duel. Shun told her that two more duelists wouldn't help her defeat him after Masumi contacted Hokuto Shijima and Yaiba Tōdō. They decided to duel in Battle Royale mode with Masumi ending her turn with a monster and a face-down card. Shun followed, summoning three "Raid Raptors - Vanishing Rainas" to the field and setting two cards face-down. Hokuto and Yaiba wasted no time to bring out their respective Xyz and Synchro Monsters as well as ridding Shun's field of his monsters and discarding his entire hand. Masumi brought "Gem-Knight Lady Lapis Lazuli" and her ace "Gem-Knight Master Dia" using their effect damage to lower Shun's LP. Shun manages to fend of the rest of the effect and battle damage and quickly summoned his ace, "Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon". With its destructive damage, Shun managed to destroy all Extra Deck monsters on the trios' side of the field and wins the duel. The impact of the attack knocked all three out and LDS arrived on the scene. Shun immediately asked for the boss as Reiji quietly walked up to him. After Reiji's appearance, Shun challenged Reiji to a duel only for him to be asked why was he attacking LDS. Shun responded saying he did not need to know that. Reiji deduced that it was to save their dear comrades who are currently captured by his father, Reo Akaba. Shun then added that he attacked LDS to draw Reiji out and use him as a hostage for the release of Ruri. Although Reiji tells Shun that he doubted that his father would value him that much, he tells him to join LDS's group in the tournament to fight against Reo. Reiji explained that in the tournament there were two duelists he wanted Shun to observe: one who used real Fusions and another who uses a Summoning method Shun was not familiar with.

Maiami Championship Arc
Shun was later seen on the monitor by Yūya and Yuzu with LDS, as he had agreed to fight in the championship like Reiji has told him to. He kept his distance from the group and found out that his opponent would be Sora Shiun'in, the Fusion Duelist that Reiji had previously referred to. When Yuzu's match was about to start, Shun passed by Sora at one point at another stadium, releasing tension between the two.

Round 1
Shun later watched Yuzu's duel with Masumi but left shortly after seeing her use Fusions. During Yūya's and Shingo Sawatari's Duel, Shun secluded himself away from the crowd and quietly observed the Pendulum Summons presented in the duel. After Yūya's duel with Shingo was over, Shun faced Sora and said to him that he will show no mercy if he was a Fusion user. During their Duel, Shun began to talk about battlefield and this prompted Sora to get serious. He was violently taunted by Sora about how he and his comrades only think the invasion of Xyz Dimension as nothing but a simple hunting game. In response to this taunt, Shun stated that the Resistance will always stand up and never give up no matter how many times they were beaten. Shun proceeded to start his strategy, resulting with his victory. He then approached the injured Sora with intent to turn him into a card, but Reiji then warned him to not take any action in public as they could learn more about Sora, who is said to be Academia, and so he left ignoring Sora's demand for a rematch.

Later, when Sora escaped from the hospital, Shun was seen in LDS's monitoring room. He watched as Sora chased Yūto to Central Park, where they Dueled. Shun demanded to go help, but Reiji always refused. When the images of the area were lost due to Yūgo's arrival, followed by the detection of a Synchro Summon, Shun realized that Yūto was Duelling the so-called Pawn of Fusion. Two days after Nakajima retrieved Yūto's Duel Disk, Shun demanded to see Reiji, as he hadn't been able to contact Yūto, but was refused.

Round 2
Later, Shun watched Yūya Duel Isao Kachidoki and was shocked to see Yūya Xyz Summoning "Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon". This caused Shun to question why Yūya had Yūto's card. Convinced that Yūya knew what happened to Yūto, Shun decided to confront Yūya directly, but Reiji stopped him by reminding him of their plan to use the tournament as a way to reach Reo. Shun sighed and left, with Nakajima promising to Reiji that he would keep Shun under surveillance. Shun defeated his next Championship opponent, Charles from Knight of Duels, in a one-sided match.

Shun was later present in Reiji's office, instead of in the stadium with the other Junior Youth competitors, when Reiji rounded up the Top 8 Duelists from the Maiami Youth Championship. Reiji briefed them of the Battle Royal and instructed Shun of his job to find potential Lancers in the Junior Youth Duelists. Shun complained that that would mean he couldn't Duel in the next round, stating that he would have no choice but to participate if the Youth Duelists lost, prompting a spiteful response from Yū Sakuragi. In response, he contemptuously told the Youth Duelists to do their best to stay alive and then left for the stadium, which he entered just as the Battle Royal was about to begin.

Battle Royal
Although he was not present in the ceremony, Shun carried out his job in recruiting potential Lancers. His first encounter was at the Ruins Area where he met Ashley, Bram, and Carl, eager to avenge their friend. He accepted their challenge and Dueled the three at the same time, easily defeating them with "Rise Falcon" in a single attack. Shun walked away, thinking they were unfit to be Lancers. He waited in the Ruins Area, where he encountered Yūya. They exchanged questions about each other, but Shun was angry when he learned that Yūya had Yūto's "Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon", and accused him of harming Yūto. Yūya denied this, claiming that he did not know what happened, but Yūto entrusted the card to him to make people smile with his Duels. Before the two could continue their conversation, the previously defeated Knights of Duels students performed a Battle Royal between themselves with Yūya and Shun at the center launching attacks with their three "Assault Knight Slash" in order to physically harm the duo while keeping themselves alive through its effect. They further provoked them that they were "Dueling" and if they are displeased, they could join their Duel and pay the 2000 LP penalty for intrusion. The attack blew away both Shun and Yūya from each other.

Rematch Against Sora
They caught a glimpse of Sora and members of the Obelisk Force. Sora declared his intentions of getting revenge on Shun and challenged him to a Duel. Ignoring Yūya's pleas, Sora instructed the Obelisk Force to deal with any interferences, as the two left to have their Duel. Shun started the Duel strong, quickly Summoning "Raid Raptors - Force Strix" and increasing its Attack before entering the Battle Phase. When questioned if he wasn't fighting seriously by Sora, Shun replied that he was always serious when he Dueled, even if he was facing a worthless opponent. After a protracted Duel, Sora eventually Fusion Summoned "Death-Toy Scissors Tiger" and used it to destroy all of Shun's monsters, defeating him and knocking him out of the temple door, past Serena, and down the steps. Before Sora could finish him, Serena rescued Shun and they fled to the Volcano Area, where Hikage and Tsukikage helped them, Hikage staying behind to Duel Sora while Tsukikage acted as an escort.

Duel Against Obelisk Force
Three Obelisk Force members caught up to them, however, and requested Serena to come with them peacefully. Serena refused, and Shun stepped out protectively, thus starting a Duel. Throughout the Duel, Shun tried to take his turn, but was continuously interrupted. Michio Mokota and Teppei Tairyōbata entered the Duel and subsequently lowered the Obelisk Force's members Life Points to 2000 before they lost and were turned in to cards. As the Obelisk Force was about to defeat Tsukikage, Shingo Sawatari stepped into the Duel and saved him. Despite Shingo's help, the Obelisk Force still kept the upper hand of the Duel. As Shun told the others to step down, Gongenzaka stepped in and subsequently gave Shun two Pendulum Cards. As Shun prepared to take his turn, he thought of all the people who had helped him and were thus turned into cards. Shun took his turn, Pendulum Summoning three "Raid Raptors - Wild Vulture" and then used them to Xyz Summon "Raid Raptors - Revolution Falcon". Shun attacked all three of the Obelisk Force's monsters with it, winning the Duel for him and his allies. Afterwards, Shun went to go and watch the Duel between Sora and Yūya, which ended without a result since the Battle Royal timer had ran out. Sora escaped back to the Fusion Dimension, but Reiji arrived and with Shingo, and explained that they had pass the test to become Lancers.

Yūya vs. Reiji
Shun learned that Serena had switched clothes with Yuzu Hīragi to come and ask him about what had happened in the Xyz Dimension. When Yūya challenged Reiji to a Duel, Reiji used "Future Metropolis Heartland" again for the Action Field, much to Shun's fury. He refused to talk about his traumatic past to the new Lancers, so Reiji explained the basics of what had happened. Serena revealed to Shun that she had originally come to Standard to fight him. When he questioned Serena about what Yuzu had asked her, Shun confirmed what Yuzu had said; that the Academia students had hunted innocent people as if it were a game and that their faces and laughter would be forever in his memory. He then asked Serena why she resembled Ruri. He was surprised when he realized that Yūya's Pendulum-Xyz Summoning had likely been born out of Yūya's promise to Yūto and was shocked to see the Summoning of "Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon" due to it being summoned by using an Xyz monster with its rank changed into a level (a tactic he had never seen before).

Departure
The following day, Reiji gathered the Lancers, including his little brother Reira. Shun was dismissive of the boy, believing that he wouldn't last against Academia, but Reiji revealed that they were instead going to the Synchro Dimension to recruit allies in their fight against Academia. Shun was angry that they weren't taking the fight directly to Academia and wanted to go there by himself, but Serena claimed that it would be suicidal for him to do so, and reassured Shun that Ruri would be as well-treated there as Serena herself had been. Shun was still angry at Yūya for having Yūto's "Dark Rebellion Xyz Dragon" card and once again accused him of stealing it along with Yūto's Duel Disk when learning LDS used it for their new Duel disk technology, but Yūto communicated to Shun from within Yūya. He told him that Yūya was his comrade that he could trust because he would never betray his friends. When Shun snapped back to reality, Yūya asked him what was wrong and the former replied it was nothing. Reiji explained to the group that he'd upgraded their Duel Disks to travel across dimensions and produce an Action Field, and they departed for the Synchro Dimension.

Duel Against Dennis
When Dennis and Gongenzaka arrived in the Underground Dueling Arena, they saw Shun winning a Riding Duel against Mukuro Enjō. Afterwards, they went to his room and learned he was dueling in order to find strong Duelists to join the Lancers, but none of them met his expectation. Dennis then decided to challenge Shun to a Riding Duel to promote the Lancers and determine which between the two of them that will enter the Friendship Cup, to which Shun reluctantly agreed. Shun began the Duel with only 1000 Life points at the insistence of Gallager to promote his skills to the audience. Though Dennis had a huge advantage by reducing that to only 100 with his Trapeze Magician, Shun quickly pushed him back into a corner with his Rank-Up Xyz Monsters and quickly lowered Dennis Life Points. Dennis then deployed a Pendulum Summon to summon the materials for an Xyz Summon "Entermage Shadow Mage" which destroyed "Blaze Falcon". Luckily, Shun used his cards to protect him from game-ending damage and used another Rank-Up Magic to use "Shadow Mage" to Summon "Revolution Falcon" while Dennis Summoned another "Shadow Mage" via its own affect. Just as Shun was about to end the duel, Security came and arrested the Commons with criminal marks, including Shun, Dennis, and Gongenzaka who were then taken to the Facility. Upon arriving at the Facility, Shun got into a fight with ten other prisoners and was sent to solitary confinement as a result.

Prison Break
While the Great Entertainment Duel Tournament was being held by other inmates, Yūya and the others decided to put their plan to escape the Facility in motion. Coincidently at the same time, Shun also plan to escape by hiding himself on the ceiling to make the guard believe that he had escaped. When the guard opened his cell, he knocked him unconscious and proceeded to do the same to the other guards, running into Gongenzaka who had intended to free him, something that Shun deemed unnecessary. Shun led Gongenzaka to the locker where their Duel Disks were confiscated before proceeding to escape, knowing that it's impossible for them to escape unarmed. When Yūya, Shingo, and Tokumatsu were cornered by the Arrest Corps, Shun and Gongenzaka saved them, Shun instantly defeating the entire Arrest Corps with his "Raid Raptors - Rise Falcon". Regrouping with Crow and the others at the sewer that lead outside the Facility, they all jumped into the water to swim their way out, but it turned out to be a trap set by Roger who arrived to interrogate them. Before Roger can take them back to the Facility, the Executive Council ordered for them to be taken to their place where they were reunited with Reiji, Tsukikage, and Reira who had explained the whole situation beforehand. After it was decided that they will participate in the Friendship Cup to find strong Duelists and recruit them, Shun and the others except Yūya who was pointed to become Jack's opponent in the exhibition match, were taken elsewhere.

Rematch Against Dennis
Shun was paired to Duel Dennis in the last match of the second day first round Duel. Suspecting Dennis' identity based on their previous Duel, Shun determined to expose Dennis' true identity in today's match. Before the Duel, Dennis told Shun that they should do their best in the Duel even though they are supposed to be comrades, but Shun coldly told him that whether they are truly comrades or not will be decided in this Duel. As the Duel started, Shun got the first turn and without hesitation Xyz Summoned "Raid Raptors - Devil Eagle" to relentlessly attack Dennis to make him show his true self. Knowing Shun's suspicion towards him, Dennis refrained himself from using "Fusion" card that he drew early in the Duel and instead Duel in his Entertainment Duelling stye.

After much struggle, Shun finally able to drive Dennis to the corner by destroying his "Trapeze Magician" with his "Raid Raptor - Revolution Falcon" and activated trap card "Target Flag" to make Dennis show the card in his hand, having noticed Dennis drew "Fusion" card earlier, which confirmed when Dennis showed the card in his hand. Knowing that trying to hide his identity any further would be futile, Dennis Fusion Summoned "Antique Gear Chaos Giant", one of the monsters Shun remembered destroying his homeland and thus, exposing Dennis' true allegiance to the Lancers, the Council, and Roger.

Deck
Shun runs a "Raid Raptors" Deck, focusing on Xyz Summoning using monsters with the same name. Like Yūto, his Deck also features cards that can activate in the Graveyard. He has a considerable edge against multiple opponents due to the powerful effects of his ace monster, which takes serious advantage of his opponent's Special Summoned monsters, reflecting his hatred against Fusion Summoning. His Deck also includes cards that allow him to Xyz Summon more easily, such as "Rescue Xyz".

His Deck also features "Rank-Up-Magic" cards, allowing him to perform Rank-Ups to Summon enhanced versions of his Xyz Monsters that are geared to destroy and/or deal damage to the opponent through their effects. However since "Rise Falcon" and its upgraded forms suffer from very low original ATK, Shun supports them with many Magic and Trap Cards (including Action Cards) to prolong their longevity as well as prevent his opponents from protecting themselves when Shun's monsters go on the offensive. His skill with these cards is said to be honed through real combat experience. Following the Resistance's belief that the enemy will likely capture their allies, he includes some cards that allow him to recover control of monsters the opponent steals.

Shun's Deck also features a loop, focusing on Xyz Summoning multiple copies of "Raid Raptors - Force Strix", using its searching abilities alongside his "Raid Raptors - Vanishing Lanius" and "Raid Raptors - Fuzzy Lanius" to quickly overpower his opponent with multiple monsters while maintaining a hand advantage.