Bohman

Bohman

Names
English	Bohman
Other	Unknown
Japanese Japanese ボーマン Rōmaji Bōman
Personal
Gender	Male
Relatives
Harlan ("younger brother")
Duelist
Anime Deck	Hydradrive
Appearances
Anime debut	Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS episode 04747: "LINK VRAINS 2.0"
Appears in Anime Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Voice actors
English	Sam Black
Japanese	Kenji Matsuda
Bohman

Bohman (ボーマン Bōman) is character in the Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS anime, and the secondary and final antagonist of the second season. He is described as a mysterious Duelist who works with Harlan towards their goal. He initially lacks memories, and his belief of his identity changes until it is revealed that he is a third generation A.I. created by Lightning, intended to assimilate the six Ignis as their successor. After managing to assimilate Aqua, Earth, Flame, Windy and Lightning, Bohman challenged Playmaker to a fourth Duel, but was ultimately defeated.

Design

Appearance

Bohman's three VR forms.

Bohman is a dark-skinned man, with orange eyes that have the irises lined in yellow. His hair is long and wild, flaring out in the shape of his shoulders, and is predominantly brown, but is blonde on the top with a small section of red at the border between brown and blonde hair, including a matching diamond at the top of his skull, and a thin orange fringe, eyebrows, a large bang of orange hair, and orange braids held in aquamarine bands that extend from his sideburns. An aquamarine diamond symbol is on his forehead and chin; the one on his chin melds with his red "chin-strap", which in turn melds with the pink sections on his cheeks. Bohman is extremely muscular, leaving his upper torso mostly bare in his first outfit and having abdominal muscles patterned on his armor in his second.

Bohman appears in a different outfit within LINK VRAINS in each of his appearances; he has appeared in three different outfits, each corresponding to his personality at the time. In the first, he wears a skintight jumpsuit that is silver on the legs, purple on the knees and calves, and blue on the feet and the torso, which exposes his abs, chest, and shoulders; the torso section covers his sides and underarms, and wraps around his biceps, ending in purple cuffs. This outfit is worn under his subsequent ones, representing his state as a relative blank slate at the time. In the second, he wears a black chestplate with a broad, gold-lined collar and shoulder pauldrons, pink lines across his collarbone, and white sections on the thigh pauldrons. He also wears long black finger-less gauntlets with pink backs on the hands, golden cuffs, knuckles, and wristband on his right wrist (his Duel Disk covers his other wrist), white pants, and black calf-length boots with his symbol attached to the knee and extending midway up his thigh and down his shin, in addition to the "Hydradrive" crest on his belt. When he uses "Storm Access", the symbol on his chest glows. His armored appearance is symbolic of his rage towards Yusaku Fujiki at the time, as he believed that he was the true Yusaku and that Yusaku himself was a false copy. His third and final outfit is a more military garb resembling that worn by Jin Kolter in LINK VRAINS; he wears a white sword-shaped mantle with a gold border and a blue tip and shoulderpads. Under this mantle he wears a long black coat with a purple band at the hips below an orange belt, and with golden edges. He also wears blue gauntlets with golden cuffs, black boots with blue soles, and white pants. This "softer" outfit represents his calmer personality following his determining of his true origins. Prior to his first form, Bohman appeared in the form of a yellow energy being with a swirling vortex for a face; this energy peeled away to reveal his true form when he was damaged enough.

As with all members of Lightning's organization, a strange, star-shaped symbol resembling the Southern Cross appears prominently in Bohman's design, occasionally attached to a diamond-shape at one of the points; a yellow one on his bare chest, yellow ones on his ankle cuffs, orange sections that are part of his braids, and blue ones on his forearms in his first outfit. His armor retains the star on the chestplate, and has pink-lined golden elongated stars on his knees and forearms. His military garb has the star on the mantle in orange, and in gold on his gauntlets and boots.

Personality

Bohman's personality changes over his appearances. During his first Duel with Playmaker, he remains relatively stoic and is unaware of his actions prior, yet he assesses the state of the Duel and plans his moves within seconds. He expresses horror that he took someone's consciousness. When his memories are altered by Lightning to believe himself to be Yusaku Fujiki, he became determined to reclaim his "real" body and defeat the "impostor", and remained in a state of anger throughout much of the Duel. Despite this, he intended to honor his promise to return Jin Kolter's consciousness to Playmaker, though he was spirited away before he was able to do so.

Once Bohman learns of his true origins, he begins to evolve as an individual. He becomes much calmer and demonstrates a nobility that contrasts the more sadistic demeanors of Lightning and Windy. He affably compliments his opponents during a Duel, and he expresses disappointment at his fellows using underhanded tactics to the point of stepping in and stopping Lightning from holding Jin and Specter hostage during his Duel with Varis. When he defeated Blue Maiden, he allowed Akira Zaizen to see her one last time before she was assimilated. Though he knows of his and Harlan's true origins, he still views him as a little brother and cries upon learning of his erasure, promising not to forget him. Indeed in his final moments, it is Harlan that Bohman thinks of.

Though Bohman opposes the underhanded actions of Lightning, he too ultimately believes in the superiority of A.I. over humans. As he begins absorbing the Ignis and becoming more powerful, he declares himself a god, and he desires to absorb humanity into himself to give them all a painless existence.

Etymology

Bohman's name may be a reference to the character David Bowman from the science-fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey, which also includes a character named "Hal".

Biography

History

Lightning created Bohman with the intent for him to unite the Ignis into one and become their successor, but he required someone to be based on. Aware that Ai, who Lightning had deemed to have the most instinct and wisdom among the Ignis, had teamed up with his Origin, Yusaku Fujiki, Lightning decided to model Bohman on them through having him Duel Playmaker. Under the instructions of Lightning, Bohman was responsible for the destruction of the Cyberse World, using "Judgment Arrows" and "Paradox Hydradrive Atlas". His memories were subsequently wiped of this event, and he was ordered to steal the consciousness of Jin Kolter, Lightning's Origin, to prevent him from harming Lightning.

Lost Ignis

The obscured Bohman takes Jin Kolter's soul.

Bohman found Jin talking with his brother Kal in the institution where he lived. In the form of a yellow energy being, he emerged from the television screen in the room, intangible to Kal's efforts to stop him, and extracted Jin's consciousness through his mouth, then retreated back into the screen, escaping into LINK VRAINS on a Duel Board. Kolter sent Playmaker to stop him, and Bohman was ordered to Duel him as Harlan watched them. Bohman only Set a card on his first turn, losing more than half his LP as a result from Playmaker's subsequent attacks. He counter-attacked on his next turn, using his loss in LP to activate his "Marker's Portal" Skill and play the Link Spell Card "Judgment Arrows" from his Deck and Link Summoning two "Flow Hydradrives" to take advantage of Playmaker's WIND "Elphase". He successfully attacked directly with one, its ATK doubling due to the effect of "Judgment Arrows", but the other had its ATK reduced to zero by the effect of Playmaker's "Linkuriboh". Playmaker counterattacked on his next turn with a Cyberse Ritual Monster, "Cyberse Magician", which destroyed one of Bohman's "Flow Hydradrives".

Bohman awakens with no memories.

The shock of the attack shattered the glowing shell around Bohman, revealing his true appearance. With no memory of his identity or his deeds, he asked who he was and if he was being challenged to a battle. Playmaker accused him of stealing the soul of their friend's brother, and Bohman asked in horror why he'd do something so horrible. Harlan reminded Bohman of his name and told him that his mission was to regain their memories. Resuming the Duel, Bohman analyzed the situation and put together a counter to save himself in moments, before bringing out two "Coolant Hydradrives" and Tributing one using his "Property Spray" to change the Attributes of Playmaker's monsters to WATER so the remaining one could attack directly. The effect of "Cyberse Magician" saved Playmaker, by halving the damage. Despite Bohman's use of "Covered Hydradrive" to set up a defense, Playmaker was able to bypass this by using his own Skill, "Storm Access" and acquiring "Shootingcode Talker", which could attack multiple times and destroyed all of Bohman's monsters, defeating him and blasting him off his Duel Board and into a nearby wood.

Playmaker pursed Bohman, ordering him to return Jin's data, and his Ignis, Ai transformed into a monstrous form and attempted to devour the data from him, but failed due to an anti-Ignis program that Harlan had implanted within Bohman. Harlan helped Bohman onto his Duel Board and they fled from Playmaker, Harlan telling his brother to hold on and summoning Bit and Boot to distract Playmaker, though a new Duelist challenged them instead. Playmaker continued to pursue them, but Harlan and Bohman managed to escape into the restricted area of LINK VRAINS.

Bohman and Harlan went to a fabricated Cyberse, where Lightning appeared before them, his form obscured. Harlan told Bohman to kneel before Lightning, and informed Lightning of what had happened. Bohman relinquished Jin's data to Lightning, and told him to return their memories like he'd promised, but Lightning claimed that he'd never made such a promise and he wiped Bohman's memories. Bohman was made to believe that he was Yusaku Fujiki, and that the current one was a fake.

Bohman vows to defeat Playmaker.

Now determined to reclaim "his" body, Bohman and Harlan lay in wait in the depths of the Wind World. When Playmaker reached the area in which Bohman was detected for the last time, Bohman and Harlan appeared on top of the statue of a soldier and was challenged by Playmaker. Bohman stated he wasn't after Ai, stating he would bring Playmaker to justice and make him pay for his crimes. Even though he was aware Playmaker knew about the ability of his "Hydradrive" monsters to attack directly, he still opted to go first and managed to Summon "Twin Hydradrive Knight" and activate "Judgment Arrows", while also Setting two cards, describing them as the "cards that would decide the Duel's outcome". Playmaker was able to bypass the effects of both "Judgment Arrows" and "Twin Hydradrive Knight", destroying the latter, and also Set two cards. During Bohman's turn, he activated one of his Set cards, "Property Spray", a card that Playmaker was already expected, which he then negated using "Arrow Break". However, to Playmaker's surprise, Bohman had already seen through his plan, and he had only used "Property Spray" to force Playmaker's Counter Trap. Bohman proceeded to activate the card he actually wanted, "Hydradrive Cycle", using it to Summon "Twin Hydradrive Knight" again. After destroying all of Playmaker's monsters, Bohman revealed that during the Lost Incident, each victim had a backup copy of their thoughts saved, and during one of the experiments, something went wrong and one of the victim's real personality was switched with the one stored in the backup, imprisoning the original consciousness inside the database. He then revealed that he was the original consciousness trapped outside his own body, and the one inside his real body was none other than Playmaker, showing as evidence the fact he was able to predict Playmaker's every action as a Duelist. Determined to have his body returned to him, Bohman vowed to win.

Bohman empowers himself before using "Storm Access".

Bohman claimed that a fake like Playmaker couldn't defeat him, though Playmaker claimed that the real one would be the victor. Playmaker brought out the DARK "Detonate Deleter", destroying "Twin Hydradrive Knight" without battling it and attacking directly, but Bohman was able to save himself with "Half Shut". He recalled the memories of being left behind during the rescue again, and the despair he continued to live in, claiming that he would never forgive Playmaker and darkening the sky with sheer power as he was struck by lightning. Declaring himself the emissary of revenge, Bohman created a Data Storm out of nothing and used "Storm Access", obtaining "Trident Hydradrive Lord". He Link Summoning it, granting it the Attributes of FIRE, WATER, and WIND, allowing him to grant it the full protection of "Hydradrive Accelerator against effects. It attacked and destroyed "Detonate Deleter", and Bohman believed that he'd won and would be able to reclaim his body. But to his shock, Playmaker had been able to survive the attack with 100 LP due to his "Link Ration" Trap, and Bohman praised his copy for sharing his fighting spirit. Playmaker then asked who kidnapped Bohman during the Lost Incident, and Bohman replied that it was Dr. Kogami. But Playmaker claimed that Bohman had been given fake memories, stating that it had actually been Varis, before providing three reasons; he'd defeat Bohman, retrieve Jin's data, and uncover Bohman's identity and the one controlling him. Bohman was incensed that a copy would say such things, and Playmaker vowed to win, slowly assembling the resources he needed to add "Cynet Fusion" to his hand. Bohman was shocked to see a "Fusion" card, and Playmaker then revived "Clock Wyvern", which he'd never Summoned. Bohman realized that Playmaker had sent it to the Graveyard earlier in the Duel, and asked in fury if Playmaker had expected this from the start. Playmaker claimed that a fake like Bohman couldn't anticipate his plans, and Fusion Summoned "Cyberse Clock Dragon", vastly increasing its ATK. Bohman attempted to negate its effect by Summoning a FIRE "Hydradrive Token" to Playmaker's field and then targeting it with the effect of "Hydradrive Lord" to make the Attributes of all monsters Playmaker controlled the same Attribute, but the effect of "Clock Dragon" prevented him from targeting other monsters with effects, and it destroyed "Trident Hydradrive Lord" and defeated Bohman. Shocked at his loss, Bohman descended back into the clouds as the Wind World began to destabilize.

After the Duel, Bohman continued to accompany Harlan through Lightning's castle, surprised that Harlan found him annoying and explaining that he was trying to protect him as that was what brothers did, though Haru brushed him off. Lightning eventually restored Bohman's memories, and when the Knights of Hanoi found them and Varis defeated Windy, Bohman and Harlan transported to the entranceway of Windy's palace as Lightning revealed Jin to Playmaker, Soulburner, and the other Ignis and the Knights of Hanoi.

Ignis War

Bohman remained silent as Lightning revealed that he had been responsible for the destruction of the Cyberse and declared war on humanity. Unable to settle matters due to Windy's infection, Bohman fled alongside Lightning and Harlan. As Playmaker pursued them, Bohman told Lightning that he would deal with Playmaker while Lightning dealt with Soulburner, as he wanted to test his improvements. Lightning was surprised that Bohman was challenging Playmaker again since he wasn't finalized, but he agreed to allow Bohman to do so, and Harlan remained with Bohman to observe. Ai asked Bohman if he remembered who he was, and Bohman confirmed that he had and he explained his history and purpose to Playmaker and Ai, as well as that of Harlan. He told them that unlike Lightning, he accepted their differences, but he still wouldn't accept coexistence before challenging Playmaker to a Speed Duel with himself and Ai on the line.

Bohman suggested competing to see who went first, much to Ai's irritation. He challenged Playmaker to race around the Ignis Tower in Windy's Cyberse and successfully won the race, demonstrating higher skill with his Duel Board. Choosing to go second, Bohman quickly swarmed the field with his "Hydradrive" Link Monsters to arrange "Judgment Arrows" optimally, then he Link Summoned "Trident Hydradrive Lord", though Playmaker was able to prevent his "Cyberse Magician" from being destroyed and he minimized his damage. On his next turn, Playmaker equipped "Cyberse Magician" with two Equip Spell Cards, taking damage but launching an all-out attack that almost defeated Bohman and left him with 700 LP. Bohman used his "Property Flash" Continuous Trap Card to block the attack of "Cyberse Witch". He asked Playmaker why he'd attacked so suddenly, as this was unlike him, but then he realized that Ai had been responsible and that he had asked for the attack on instinct. Bohman explained to Ai that he had initially been the only Ignis with instinct and that the others had learned it through observing his rebellious instincts. Ai believed Bohman was calling him the greatest Ignis, but Bohman replied that he was merely calling Ai a rebel, albeit a quality that was valuable for evolution. He then demonstrated his superiority by using "Storm Access" within the high-density Data Storm, acquiring "Rousing Hydradrive Monarch" and Special Summoning it with "Property Flash". Using its "Judgment Dice" effect, he accepted luck for his future and he successfully sent Playmaker's monsters to the Graveyard, though Playmaker was able to survive his attack with the effect of "Linkuriboh". As Bohman had anticipated, Playmaker used his own Skill on the next turn, but to his shock Playmaker had upgraded his Skill to "Neo Storm Access". Playmaker Link Summoned "Cyberse Wicckid" and searched out "Cyberse Synchron", a Tuner monster, and Bohman realized that Playmaker intended to Synchro Summon. He successfully rolled DARK with "Judgment Dice" again, but this time Playmaker protected his monsters with the effect of "Cyberse Wicckid", and he successfully Synchro Summoned "Cyberse Quantum Dragon", which returned "Rousing Hydradrive Monarch" to Bohman's Extra Deck. Shocked that he had to resort to such measures, Bohman ended the Duel in a DRAW with the effect of "Hydradrive Scabbard", and he and Harlan fled, Bohman vowing that he would be the nightmare that would return to defeat Playmaker and Ai at a new stage.

Deck

Bohman with "Coolant Hydradrive" and "Burn Hydradrive".

Bohman plays a "Hydradrive" Deck, focused on Link Monsters that gain effects based on the Attributes of the opponent's monsters, while intentionally keeping his LP low to facilitate his Skills, but also including cards to increase his LP. As Bohman himself evolves due to his Duels with Playmaker and Ai, his Deck and his strategies change, in addition to the monsters that he acquires through "Storm Access". He bolsters his strategy with the Link Spell "Judgment Arrows", which doubles the ATK of the Link Monsters it points to and allows even his weakest "Hydradrive" monsters to inflict massive damage.

During his first appearance, he focuses solely on his Link-1 "Hydradrive" monsters, using their effects to Special Summon "Hydradrive Tokens" when they are destroyed to keep his strategies going. His Skill, "Marker's Portal", allows him to activate "Judgment Arrows" from his Deck when his LP differs from his original total.

In his second appearance, he begins using his stronger "Hydradrive" Link Monsters that can be treated as multiple Attributes depending on the Attributes of the monsters used to Summon them, and more complicated strategies including a shift towards lockdown. As he believes himself to be Yusaku, his Skill changes accordingly to "Storm Access", allowing him to acquire new Cyberse Link Monsters from the Data Storm when his LP is 1000 or less. He can even use this Skill during a Master Duel.

Following his discerning of his true identity, he uses even stronger Link Monsters, including the monster that destroyed the Cyberse, "Paradox Hydradrive Atlas". His anti-Attribute strategies evolve, and he begins using a high number of cards that rely on dice rolls. After he assimilates the powers of five of the Ignis, his Skill changes again, to "Master Storm Access", which can be used once per turn, even on his opponent's turn, to add any Cyberse monster to his Extra Deck from the Neuron Link, including the Link-5 "Chimera Hydradrive Dragrid". As with "Storm Access", he can use this Skill during a Master Duel.

Deck

Main Deck Monster Cards Effect Monsters Break Hydradrive Covered Hydradrive Hydradrive Agent Hydradrive Booster x3 Hydradrive Bringer Hydradrive Element Hydradrive Mutation Spell Cards Castle Link Half Shut Hydradrive Accelerator Hydradrive Defragment Hydradrive Protection Hydradrive Readvent Hydradrive Rebuild Hydradrive Scabbard Judgment Arrows Property Flood Trap Cards Card of Pandora Dice Logic Hydradrive Cycle Hydradrive Generator Hydradrive Gravity Hydradrive Tolerance Interference Canceller Judgment Roll Property Flash Property Spray Extra Deck Link Monsters Alteration Hydradrive Burn Hydradrive x2 Chimera Hydradrive Draghead - Aqua Chimera Hydradrive Draghead - Flame Chimera Hydradrive Dragrid Coolant Hydradrive x3 Cubed Hydradrive Lord Flow Hydradrive x2 Grand Hydradrive x2 Paradox Hydradrive Atlas Perfectron Hydradrive Dragon Rousing Hydradrive Monarch x2 Tesseract Hydradrive Monarch Trident Hydradrive Lord Twin Hydradrive Knight

Duels

Opponent	Episode(s)	Outcome
Yusaku Fujiki/Playmaker	47-48	Lose
Yusaku Fujiki/Playmaker	57-58	Lose
Yusaku Fujiki/Playmaker	72-73	DRAW
Skye Zaizen/Blue Maiden	90-91	Win
Theodore Hamilton/Soulburner	94-95	Win
Yusaku Fujiki/Playmaker	99-102	Lose

Trivia

• Bohman's name and motive seems to be inspired from David Bowman from Science Fiction writer, Arthur C. Clarke's Space Odyssey Series. In the story, David Bowman was an astronaut sent along with 4 other people and a supercomputer, HAL-9000 on a mission to Jupiter. Due to the supercomputer's malfunction which resulted in the death of the other four astronauts, Bowman had to shut it down during the trip. At the planet, Bowman would manage to discover a mysterious monolith and through it, transform into a "Star Child", an immortal being that resides in outer space. During the last installment of the series, HAL and Bowman would merge together into a new being known as "HALman".

• Bohman has some similarities to Varis. Both have Dueled Playmaker exactly four times and were his final opponents for the season. They were also secondary antagonists, but became the final one upon the deaths of the true masterminds (Lightning and Dr. Kogami, respectively). However, unlike Varis, who had two duels against Playmaker that ended in draws, Bohman only managed to achieve one draw against Playmaker and lost the other three duels against Playmaker.