Harlin

For the Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL character, see Haru Tsukumo.

Harlin

Names
English	Harlan
Japanese Japanese ハル Rōmaji Haru
Personal
Gender	Male
Duelist
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	Dan Rosales
Japanese	Ryoko Shiraishi
Harlin

Harlan, known as Haru (ハル, Haru) in the Japanese version, is a character and an antagonist in the second season of the Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS anime. He works with Bohman towards their goal, and he is described as a mysterious boy who holds the key to the new plot. Though he is described as Bohman's little brother, in truth he is older than him and is a second-generation A.I. created by Lightning as a prototype to Bohman, tasked with guiding him on his journey.

Design

Appearance

Harlan in both his original and military outfits.

Harlan appears as a young boy with orange hair that has a yellow top that flicks up at the sides. His hair has three red highlights; two diamond shaped sections on the temples that almost seem to extend from his eyebrows, and curved section on his orange fringe. Like Bohman, he has orange eyes with yellow borders on the irises.

Harlan appears in two different outfits within LINK VRAINS. In the first, he wears a dark blue long-sleeved shirt with a white blazer with yellow accents, orange pants with yellow accents and the cuffs turned up just past the knees to reveal an aquamarine lining, a pink belt with a silver buckle and an aquamarine, diamond-shaped fastener, and white boots with pink soles. His second outfit is a more ornate military-style garb similar to those worn by Jin Kolter and Bohman; he wears a white mantle with a gold border and a red tip and green shoulderpads with a slight collar. Under this mantle he wears a long black coat with golden edges, red shoulders, and an orange belt. He also wears red gauntlets with golden cuffs, black boots, and white "flared" pants tucked into his boots.

As with all members of Lightning's organization, the Southern Cross star is prominent in Harlan's design; his boots have yellow stars on the ankles, and his blazer has a larger star on the chest. His gauntlets, boots, and mantle over the heart bear it in his military garb.

Personality

Harlan's voice actor, Ryoko Shiraishi describes Harlan as possessing lovely expressions, but also countless different types of feelings. He puts these to use to manipulate Bohman, demonstrating casual annoyance at his crude Dueling and the argument between Bit and Boot, and nonchalance at Lightning casually rewriting Bohman's memory.

Abilities

Harlan is a skilled coder, implanting an anti-Ignis program within Bohman to prevent Ai from eating him and breaking through the restricted area of LINK VRAINS.

Etymology

Harlan's name may be a reference to HAL 9000/Hal from the science fiction film 2001: A Space Odyssey; a character named "Bowman" also appears in the film.

Biography

Lost Ignis

After Bohman stole Jin Kolter's consciousness, Harlan observed him Speed Dueling Playmaker. He noted that Bohman's Dueling was crude, as he lost more than half his LP on his first turn despite only needing to suffer minimal damage to activate his "Marker's Portal" Skill. Harlan continued to observe Bohman's progress, and he was shocked to see Playmaker use a Cyberse Ritual Monster, as that hadn't been in their data on him. That monster's attack revealed Bohman beneath his glowing facade, and as Bohman lamented over his lack of memories, Harlan told him his name and that he was fighting to reclaim their memories. Bohman continued the Duel and almost won, but the effect of Playmaker's Ritual Monster saved him. To Harlan's shock, Playmaker used his own Skill, "Storm Access" to acquire a new "Code Talker", "Shootingcode Talker", and defeated Bohman. Playmaker's Ignis, Ai, attempted to eat Jin's data out of Bohman, but the anti-Ignis program that Harlan had implanted within Bohman repelled him, and Harlan helped Bohman onto his Duel Board and fled. He summoned Bit and Boot to stop Playmaker, but a new Duelist appeared to stop them. Bit and Boot were defeated by the newcomer, Soulburner, who also possessed an Ignis, as Playmaker pursued Harlan and Bohman, and Harlan fired them, engulfing them in flames. He fled to the bottom of LINK VRAINS and into the Restricted Area, bypassing the boundary and escaping with Bohman. Before escaping, he told Playmaker to stay tuned, as something miraculous would soon happen.

Harlan took Bohman to Windy's Cyberse and knelt before the obscured form of Lightning, telling Bohman to do the same. Lightning asked if they'd acquire Jin's data, and Harlan confirmed that they had, but had faced Playmaker and the DARK Ignis, and that Bohman had gained some experience defeating them. He told Lightning that another Duelist had defeated Bit and Boot with the aid of the FIRE Ignis, which Lightning claimed to have anticipated. Lightning admitted that they would eventually be found and they needed to prepare. He ordered Jin's data to be given to him, and Harlan told Bohman to release Jin's data. Harlan watched impassively as Lightning erased Bohman's memory and stated that he would be given new memories.

Lightning altered Bohman's memories to make him believe he was Yusaku Fujiki, and Bohman and Harlan lay in wait in a wind field. When Playmaker reached them, Harlan and Bohman 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. Harlan watched the entire Duel, curious to see the new power given to Bohman. He was visibly surprised when Bohman forced one of Playmaker's counters, only to reveal he had already predicted it and proceeded to use the cards he really wanted to. After destroying all of Playmaker's monsters, Bohman revealed he was the original consciousness of one of the Lost Incident's victims, 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. Harlan wondered if Bohman and Playmaker could actually switch places, and found the concept interesting. He wondered if Playmaker was aiming to seal the effect of "Judgment Arrows" again when he revived his "Update Jammer", but Playmaker instead used "Detonate Deleter" to destroy Bohman's monster without battling, and Harlan wondered if Bohman would actually lose. Harlan told Bohman to pull himself together, and he watched as Bohman managed to activate "Storm Access" in the middle of the Master Duel, impressed by the display of power. Bohman Link Summoned "Trident Hydradrive Lord" and attacked, and Harlan cheered, believing his brother had won, but Playmaker was able to survive with 100 LP. Harlan watched as Playmaker made his comeback, shocked that he not only had a "Fusion" card, but that he'd also sent the necessary Clock Wyvern" to the Graveyard earlier in the Duel. Playmaker Fusion Summoned "Cyberse Clock Dragon", which powered up to become stronger than "Trident Hydradrive Lord". Bohman attempted to counter, and Harlan smiled in satisfaction, but the other effect of "Clock Dragon" foiled Bohman's efforts, and it defeated him. As Bohman and Harlan sank back into the clouds, Harlan vowed to Playmaker that his brother would return.

Decks

Like Bohman, Harlan plays a "Hydradrive" Deck. He claims that the Deck is different to his brother's and that he was the one that taught Bohman how to Duel. While Speed Duelling, he uses the Skill "Marker's Portal" to access "Judgment Arrows" from his Deck.

Deck
Main Deck Monster Cards Effect Monsters Hydradrive Booster x2 Spell Cards Hydradrive Impact Hydradrive Rebuild Hydradrive Utilization Judgment Arrows Trap Cards Hydradrive Nightmare Extra Deck Link Monsters Coolant Hydradrive x3 Flow Hydradrive Twin Hydradrive Knight

Duels

Opponent(s)	Episode(s)	Outcome
Skye Zaizen/Blue Maiden	85	Lose