The following is a list of characters from the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series, Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS.

Characters Main characters /

A calm and intelligent 16-year-old high school student whose secret work as a hacker has made him prefer not to stand out or interact with others. As Playmaker, he fights against the Knights of Hanoi to uncover the truth of his past. Ten years prior to the events of the series, he was kidnapped along with five other children, including Jin, Specter, Theodore, and Miyu, and imprisoned in a room, where he was forced to fight and win duels in order to be fed. During his imprisonment, Roken (Varis) encouraged him and told him to think of three reasons to live, which led to his habit of giving three reasons for his actions. Although he and the children were rescued six months later, the trauma of his imprisonment scarred him; wanting to put his past behind him, he became determined to uncover the truth behind his kidnapping. At the beginning of the series, he captures an Ignis he calls, Ai and holds him hostage during his battles against the Knights. In the second season, three months after defeating Varis and saving LINK VRAINS, Queen places a bounty on him despite his heroic actions, as Ai returned to his possession despite him having freed him. After learning that Jin's stolen consciousness is connected to the destruction of Cyberse, Yusaku becomes determined to stop the war between humanity and the Ignis and teams up with Akira Zaizen, Skye, Emma, and the Knights of Hanoi. After he defeats Bohman and saves humanity, those who were erased are revived and SOL Technologies removes the bounty on him after Ai defeats Queen. He reluctantly fights against Ai to save SOL Technologies, after which he leaves to go on a journey in the Network. There's a strong indication he's determined to search for Ai & still find a way for humans & Ignis to coexist, no matter what. He uses a Cyberse Deck that focuses on Link Summoning, with his ace monsters being Decode Talker and Firewall Dragon; he previously used a Warrior Deck before obtaining his Cyberse Deck. In Season 2, he masters Ritual, Fusion, Synchro and Xyz Summoning with Cyberse Magician, Cyberse Clock Dragon, Cyberse Quantum Dragon, and Firewall eXceed Dragon. He also evolves his Firewall Dragon into Link-5 Firewall Dragon Darkfluid. Yusaku's skill is Storm Access, which allows him to add one random Link Monster from a Data Storm to his extra deck if his life points are 1,000 or less. In season 2, Ai creates a new Skill called Neo Storm Access. Like Storm Access, Yusaku has to have 1,000 life points or less, but it allows him to add any random monster from the Data Storm to his extra deck rather than just Link Monsters. Another feature of Neo Storm Access is that if Yusaku does not add a monster from the Data Storm to his extra deck, if he has 100 life points or less, he can add any random monster from the Data Storm to his extra deck and then draw one card.

An A.I. program with free will known as an , who both SOL Technologies and the Knights of Hanoi seek. Five years prior to the events of the series, when the Knights attacked and destroyed his home world of Cyberse, he sealed it away to save it from destruction at the cost of being unable to return home. In the process, Cracking Dragon devoured him, causing him to lose most of his memories. While he attempts to escape from Yusaku, he traps him in his Duel Disk to use him as leverage against the Knights. After capturing him, Yusaku names him Ai after the fact that he is an AI program and was an eyeball when they met. It is later revealed that Dr. Kogami created him ten years ago during the Lost Incident based on Yusaku, with his story of losing his memories being a lie to prevent Yusaku from questioning him. After Varis is defeated, Ai returns to Cyberse to find it destroyed, leading him to return to Yusaku and work alongside him after learning that Cyberse's destruction and Jin's stolen consciousness are connected. He ultimately frees himself from Playmaker's Duel Disk and sacrifices himself, but returns because of the backup he placed in Roboppy. He is the main antagonist of Season 3, where he assumes human form with the help of SOL Technologies' android SOLtis, with Roboppi accompanying him. He duels and wins against Queen, putting her in the hospital to avenge Earth. He then steals her code key and leaves a message for Akira, telling him that he will use his code key to take over SOL Technologies. Along with Roboppi, he defeats Akira and the Duelists protecting him and steals their consciousness, except for Playmaker, Soulburner, and Revolver. After Roboppi's defeat, Ai invites Playmaker to come to SOL Technologies' factory, leading to their final Duel. During the Duel, Ai reveals that Lightning had left a message in case he lost, showing a simulation in which he, as the sole surviving Ignis, would lead to the extinction of humanity. Ai then ran his own simulations and they all produced the same results, with Yusaku dying to protect him in the simulations causing him to fall into despair. Fearing that he may become like Lightning and Bohman and not wanting Yusaku to die, Ai decides to delete himself. He is seemingly deleted after Playmaker defeats him, but is revealed to have survived. Ai uses @Ignister deck, which is modeled after his fallen comrades. He tends to summon many monsters through spell cards and monster effects to quickly perform Link Summon. For spells and traps, he uses the "A.I." archetype. Each @Ignister monster represents him and his fellow Ignis. Doyon @Ignister and Dark Templar @Ignister represent Ai, Achichi @Ignister and Fire Phoenix @Ignister represent Flame, Hiyari @Ignister and Water Leviathan @Ignister represent Aqua, Doshin @Ignister and Earth Golem @Ignister represent Earth, Bururu @Ignister and Wind Pegasus @Ignister represent Windy, and Pikari @Ignister and Light Dragon @Ignister represent Lighting. He also enhances Bohman's programming and obtains his most powerful card, the Link 6 Monster The Arrival @Ignister, which represents the combined power of all the Ignis. / / /

Yusaku's classmate and a member of the duel club, who, as Blue Angel, was a Celebrity Duelist and popular duel idol. She is the younger step-sister of Akira Zaizen, the head of security of SOL Technologies. Since Akira rarely came home from work, Skye became determined to use her career as a Celebrity Duelist to gain recognition from him. After being Deleted during a duel with Playmaker after Specter tricks her into playing a card, Skye realizes that Akira cared for her and is torn between following his request to never enter LINK VRAINS and her desire to continue dueling. However, after Emma provoked her, Skye decides to reenter LINK VRAINS and defeats Baira, gaining Akira's recognition by freeing the Deleted, but Specter defeats her. In the second season, she becomes Ghost Gal's partner in investigating the Ignis and creates a new avatar, Blue Gal, which she uses when on missions with Ghost Gal. She joins Playmaker's side in the Ignis War to stop Lightning's plans and save Aqua from Shepherd. After learning that Lightning infected her childhood friend Miyu, whom she met ten years before the events of the series, with a computer virus and put her in a coma, she teams up with Aqua, changing her avatar to Blue Maiden, and fights to save her. After Playmaker defeats Bohman, Miyu recovers and she visits her in the hospital. Her ace monster is Trickstar Holly Angel and she uses a Trickstar Deck that focuses on Link Summoning and effect damage. As Blue Maiden, she uses a Marincess deck that Aqua created. In Season 2, she masters Fusion Summoning. In Season 3, she learns that Yusaku is Playmaker.

A famous Celebrity Duelist who was raised in an orphanage and works as a Duelist to repay his debt to the orphanage. Gore was admired by the children of the orphanage until Playmaker gains their admiration following his victory against a Knight, causing him to see him as his rival. To win back his fans, he lures Playmaker into a trap and duels him; although he loses, his dueling wins back the children of the orphanage. He later helps Playmaker battle the Knights, defeating Dr. Genome and challenging Varis, but loses. In the second season, he quits being a Celebrity Duelist, giving his Gouki deck to Kenji and Yozaka, and becomes a bounty hunter to hunt down Playmaker for SOL Technologies and regain his former glory. He serves as an antagonist after being experimented on under Queen, defeating Earth and having his data implanted in his brain, but returns to normal some time after his second duel with Playmaker. After becoming a bounty hunter, he uses a Dinowrestler Deck and masters Fusion and Synchro Summoning, with his new ace monsters being Dinowrestler King T Wrextle, Dinowrestler Chimera T Wrextle, and Dinowrestler Giga Spinosavate. /

A mysterious Duelist who first appears alongside the fire Ignis, Flame, while watching the duel between Playmaker and Bohman, and helps Playmaker by interfering to challenge Bit and Boot as he pursues Bohman and Harlin. He was also a victim of the Lost Incident. After his parents died in an incident while searching for him, Theodore cut himself off from everyone except for his grandparents and friend Kiku and often skipped school. He also swore to never Duel again until he met Flame and learned about the Lost Incident. Deciding to confront his life, he befriends Yusaku and Kolter and joins their cause. Although he is able to duel again, he fears the Despair from the Dark card, which repeatedly defeated him during his time in captivity, until he overcomes his trauma with Flame's encouragement. After Playmaker defeats Ai, he returns to his hometown and introduces Kiku to LINK VRAINS. He uses a Salamangreat Deck and his ace monster is Salamangreat Heatleo. His skill is Burning Draw, which lowers his life points to 100 and allows him to draw one card from his deck for every thousand life points he lost.

The Fire Ignis, who was in the possession of Theodore, whom he was based on. After the destruction of Cyberse, Flame approached Theodore and encouraged him to confront his life, leading to their partnership. Bohman later absorbs him and Windy, and he is erased after Bohman is defeated.

Knights of Hanoi The were a mysterious hacker group that hacked by Dueling in LINK VRAINS to destroy Cyberse, which exists in the depths of the Network. Their soldiers used DARK Machine decks and their ace monster was Cracking Dragon.

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The leader of the Knights of Hanoi and Playmaker's main rival. He is the main antagonist of the first season, who seeks to destroy Cyberse. Varis is distrusting of the Internet, believing it to be a world of fiction. After Playmaker's third duel with Bohman, he becomes his ally despite wanting to duel Yusaku again as Playmaker, and later apologizes to Theodore as Soulburner for his father's past actions. Varis uses a Rokket Deck, and his ace monster is Borreload Dragon. In Season 2, he masters Synchro and Xyz Summoning, and in Season 3 masters Fusion Summoning. After losing to Soulburner, he and the Knights decide to atone for their crimes and sins and build a better future for themselves.