Difference between revisions of "Kenneth Drayden"

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===Appearance===
 
===Appearance===
 
[[File:KengoDojunMasked.png|thumb|left|Full-body view of Kengo.]]
 
[[File:KengoDojunMasked.png|thumb|left|Full-body view of Kengo.]]
Kengo is a man with purple hair with a navy blue underlayer. He conceals his identity behind grey glasses with blue hexagonal lenses and a maroon scarf that covers his nose and mouth. He wears a long denim blue coat with a high collar open over white pants and a pale blue shirt with a lilac lining.<ref name="ep50">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|50|ref}}</ref>
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Kengo is a slim man with lilac eyes and purple hair with a navy blue underlayer. He conceals his identity behind grey glasses with blue hexagonal lenses and a maroon scarf that covers his nose and mouth. He wears a long denim blue coat with a high collar open over white pants and a pale blue shirt with a lilac lining.<ref name="ep50">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|50|ref}}</ref> His artificial arm has a black glove over the hand with a teal patch on the back. In his youth, he wore a more simple suit in subtle shades of purple with a yellow-brown tie.
  
As Blood Shepherd in [[LINK VRAINS]], his Avatar is a masked man with a cowboy Western motif. His face is entirely masked, covered in grey skin and a twin-section "mask"; the top section is red and resembles the face of a bat with pink lenses, the bottom section is blue and covers most of his face. Blood Shepherd swathes himself in a light purple mantle with red lines running down it, and a green line running around its collar with a red rectangular clasp. He also wears a grey jacket with a high collar and green inside, grey pants with loose straps around the ankles, and grey boots with straps around the feet and red soles. Blood Shepherd's right arm is encased in a metal gauntlet; the forearm is stylized after the hammer and chamber of a revolver, and the knuckles and fingers are lined with red. These lines intersect with a black and red "eye" or "barrel" on his palm, which appears to be where he focuses his ability to destroy Avatars. His left shoulder has a hexagonal light purple pauldron lined with green, while his left hand is simply gloved.
+
As Blood Shepherd in [[LINK VRAINS]], his Avatar is a masked man with a cowboy Western motif. His face is entirely masked, covered in grey skin and a twin-section "mask"; the top section is red and resembles the face of a bat with pink lenses, the bottom section is blue and covers most of his face. Blood Shepherd swathes himself in a light purple mantle with red lines running down it, and a green line running around its collar with a red rectangular clasp. He also wears a grey jacket with a high collar and green inside, grey pants with loose straps around the ankles, and grey boots with straps around the feet and red soles. Blood Shepherd's artificial right arm is more obviously expressed; the forearm is stylized after the hammer and chamber of a revolver, and the knuckles and fingers are lined with red. These lines intersect with a black and red "eye" or "barrel" on his palm, which appears to be where he focuses his ability to destroy Avatars. His left shoulder has a hexagonal light purple pauldron lined with green, while his left hand is simply gloved.
 +
 
 +
Kengo is strongly associated with the color purple both in reality and as Blood Shepherd. Ironically, Playmaker defeats him with a [[Fusion Monster]], which have a purple border.
  
 
===Personality===
 
===Personality===
Kengo is a consummate and ruthless professional. He bases his decisions largely on monetary gain, with no regard for personal attachments, and he considers [[Emma Bessho|Ghost Girl]] soft for refusing to hunt for [[Yusaku Fujiki|Playmaker]] because she owed him. He displays casual ruthlessness by dissolving the Avatar of a person who harassed him and boasted of his own abilities to attack Avatars.<ref name="ep47"/>
+
Kengo is a consummate and ruthless professional. He bases his decisions largely on monetary gain, with no regard for personal attachments, and he considers [[Emma Bessho|Ghost Girl]] soft for refusing to hunt for [[Yusaku Fujiki|Playmaker]] because she owed him. He displays casual ruthlessness by dissolving the Avatar of a person who harassed him and boasted of his own abilities to attack Avatars.<ref name="ep47"/> He is pragmatic; using [[Akira Zaizen]] and Ghost Girl as bait while battling a [[hacker]], though he still took the time to rescue Emma when she was endangered. He has no hesitation in lying and misinforming his opponents to let their guard down. Similar to Playmaker and [[Varis]], Blood Shepherd also has a habit of listing a count of three in various situations.<ref name="ep53">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|53|ref}}</ref>
 +
 
 +
Kengo loathes and distrusts AI due to the role a malfunctioning one played in his mother's crippling, and he constantly demeans both [[Ai]] and his own AI, which he has modified to lie. He believes that AI should be under humanity's control and that they cannot be trusted.
  
 
===Abilities===
 
===Abilities===
Blood Shepherd displays the ability to dissolve Avatars within [[LINK VRAINS]], which appears to be a function of his gauntlet. By grabbing the unfortunate Avatar, Blood Shepherd shocks them and they convulse, then go limp before dissolving. It is unclear if this deletes their data.<ref name="ep47"/>
+
Blood Shepherd displays the ability to dissolve Avatars within [[LINK VRAINS]], which appears to be a function of his artificial arm. By grabbing the unfortunate Avatar, Blood Shepherd shocks them and they convulse, then go limp before dissolving. It is unclear if this deletes their data.<ref name="ep47"/> He can also fire energy blasts from his palm.<ref name="ep53"/>
 
{{-}}
 
{{-}}
  
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[[File:KengoDojunNoMask.png|left|200px|thumb|Kengo speaking with [[Kengo's mother|his mother]].]]
 
[[File:KengoDojunNoMask.png|left|200px|thumb|Kengo speaking with [[Kengo's mother|his mother]].]]
 
Kengo's father died before he finished high school. After completing his education, he took his [[Kengo's mother|his mother]] out to dinner for her birthday. He was grateful he was able to finish high school and wished to jump straight into a career rather than pursue a higher education. His mother was hesitant about this. They took a new AI-controlled taxi home, but it malfunctioned and the care crashed into the site a previous car accident had just occurred. Kengo lost the use of his arm, but his mother's spinal cord was severely damaged, meaning she would never walk again. Kengo built himself a prosthetic metal arm and devoted his career to bringing AI programs under the control of humans.<ref name="ep54"/>
 
Kengo's father died before he finished high school. After completing his education, he took his [[Kengo's mother|his mother]] out to dinner for her birthday. He was grateful he was able to finish high school and wished to jump straight into a career rather than pursue a higher education. His mother was hesitant about this. They took a new AI-controlled taxi home, but it malfunctioned and the care crashed into the site a previous car accident had just occurred. Kengo lost the use of his arm, but his mother's spinal cord was severely damaged, meaning she would never walk again. Kengo built himself a prosthetic metal arm and devoted his career to bringing AI programs under the control of humans.<ref name="ep54"/>
 +
 +
Kengo worked in the military for a time, where he was known to interrogate AI with his artificial arm. He later became a bounty hunter, taking the alias "Blood Shepherd". He worked alongside [[Akira Zaizen]] and [[Emma Bessho]] in a net world that was not [[LINK VRAINS]] to capture a [[hacker]], using them as bait to attain a chance to destroy the hacker's Avatar, and rescuing Emma from the hacker's bomb, calling her by her real name.<ref name="ep53"/>
  
 
===Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS===
 
===Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS===
Blood Shepherd was in LINK VRAINS. Two avatars were trying to get rid of the people at a cafe, and attacked Blood Shepherd. In return, the latter grasped one of the avatars, causing it to vanish. Ghost Girl met up with Blood Shepherd, and the former noted he took the call of SOL Technologies for a bounty hunter, which she declined, believing she owed Playmaker her life. Blood Shepherd called her weak for turning down the offer. She replied she didn't base her choices solely on money, to which Blood Shepherd believed it is what made him a pro. Regardless, he proclaimed that she stayed away from him, else she would be his enemy, too. Eventually, she noticed Playmaker came to LINK VRAINS, but wondered why would he log in. When Playmaker logged in LINK VRAINS, he was confronted by Blood Shepherd, for he had a bounty on his head. Playmaker replied he didn't have Ignis by his side, but was pointed by his Duel Disk, for Ai returned to him with "Linkuriboh". To get rid of Blood Shepherd, Ai summoned a Data Storm, causing Blood Shepherd to log out, due to the danger present.<ref name="ep47"/>
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Blood Shepherd received a contract to capture [[Yusaku Fujiki|Playmaker]], and he waited at a cafe in LINK VRAINS. Two Avatars were harassing the other patrons and chasing them away, trying to claim their spot. The younger brother tried to intimidate Blood Shepherd, but was unsuccessful, so he and his brother threatened him with their Avatar-harming programs. Unimpressed, Blood Shepherd picked up the older brother and informed him that he could also kill Avatars, before proceeding to do so, terrifying the younger brother. [[Emma Bessho|Ghost Girl]] approached, asking if he'd accepted the contract on Playmaker from [[SOL Technologies]]. Blood Shepherd confirmed that he had, and criticized Ghost Girl for being soft when she stated that she hadn't as she owed Playmaker. When criticized in turn for making his decisions based on money, he replied that it was professional and warned her that he wouldn't show her mercy if she opposed him. When Playmaker logged in LINK VRAINS, he was confronted by Blood Shepherd, for he had a bounty on his head. Playmaker replied he didn't have Ignis by his side, but was betrayed by his Duel Disk, for Ai returned to him with "Linkuriboh". To get rid of Blood Shepherd, Ai summoned a Data Storm, causing Blood Shepherd to log out, due to the danger present.<ref name="ep47"/>
 
 
Gore was surprised to see the guy wrapped-up, as Blood Shepherd didn't want to show his face to those that did reveal in LINK VRAINS. Gore ignored that, claiming he would be the one to defeat Playmaker, since the latter was always one step ahead of him. Blood Shepherd ignored Gore, but reminded not to be ordered around, since he did his things at his own pace. Akira showed a footage of Bohman, the orange figure, since Blood Shepherd believed it would help them track Playmaker down. Gore was alarmed at the figure, while Blood Shepherd noticed the figure did not log out yet. Regardless, Akira exclaimed the figure went beyond the restricted area of LINK VRAINS.<ref name="ep50"/> Ai and Playmaker descended down to find the gate to the restricted area. However, they started to feel spooky, fearing something was to happen soon. The two were attacked by Blood Shepherd, who came to collect his bounty.<ref name="ep52">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|52|ref}}</ref>
 
  
Blood Shepherd started shooting, so Ai tried to lose him by releasing a Data Storm. However, Blood Shepherd resisted it and continued shooting. Playmaker reminded he was just threatening them, and could only win Ai through a Duel. Blood Shepherd made them choose to either battle or surrender. Playmaker and Ai pondered thoughts, but Blood Shepherd shot at the second turn. Playmaker realized he wanted them to think they had three turns to lower their guard, and would do anything to win. Since neither side would give up, they started a Duel. Blood Shepherd summoned "[[Drone Pawn]]" and set a card. Ai commented he must be up to something when facing Playmaker, who shushed Ai. Ai thought Blood Shepherd was bluffing and was just bad at Dueling, but Playmaker asked of it not to interfere. Blood Shepherd was reminded of Playmaker's latest monster he had obtained, and claimed he shouldn't have played his monster. Ai boasted Blood Shepherd would lose soon, but even Blood Shepherd silenced it. Playmaker took a turn into a corridor, and summoned "[[Clock Wyvern]]", who summoned a "[[Clock Token]]", and brought out "[[Backup Secretary (anime)|Backup Secretary]]"
+
Gore was surprised to see Kengo masked, as Kengo didn't want to show his face to those that revealed theirs in LINK VRAINS. Gore claimed that he would be the one to defeat Playmaker, lamenting that Playmaker was always a step ahead of him. Kengo ignored Gore, but reminded him not to order him around, as he did his things at his own pace. Akira showed footage of [[Bohman|the orange figure]] that Playmaker had Dueled as Kengo believed it would help them track Playmaker down. Gore was alarmed at the figure, while Kengo noticed that the figure had not logged out. Regardless, Akira explained the figure went beyond the Restricted Area of LINK VRAINS.<ref name="ep50"/>
  
He Link Summoned "[[Elphase (anime)|Elphase]]", but remained silent for a moment, for Blood Shepherd's AI told him he could not activate his set card. Ai claimed they should finish off the bounty hunter in no time, so Playmaker used "Elphase" and "Clock Token" to bring out "[[Shootingcode Talker (anime)|Shootingcode Talker]]", and using "Elphase", Playmaker revived "Clock Wyvern". Blood Shepherd's AI explained its owner would lose in the next attack, and Ai confirmed this. Blood Shepherd, however, claimed he succeeded in fooling them; by playing "[[Capture Drone]]", Playmaker's "Shootingcode Talker" was unable to attack. Ai confronted Blood Shepherd that his AI stated he could not activate the set card. He simply replied nobody stated AI gave out correct information, which made Ai realize Blood Shepherd modified his AI to lie. Instead, the latter replied one should never trust an AI, which riled up Ai. Playmaker noted Blood Shepherd has analyzed his Deck, so he set a card. Blood Shepherd, however, Link Summoned "[[Battledrone Sergeant]]", but Ai pointed out he could not win with an 800 ATK monster. Blood Shepherd called him dumb for pointing out such obvious info, and used "Capture Drone" to summon three "[[Drone Token]]s". After silencing his AI, Blood Shepherd used his tokens to Link Summon "[[Battledrone General]]".<ref name="ep53">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|53|ref}}</ref>
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Blood Shepherd waited at the gate to the Restricted Area to ambush Ai and Playmaker.<ref name="ep52">{{episode|Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS|52|ref}}</ref> He attacked them with energy blasts from his artificial arm, so Ai released a Data Storm in retaliation. This time Blood Shepherd resisted the Storm and continued attacking them until Playmaker commented that he was just threatening them, as he could only win Ai through a Duel. Blood Shepherd warned them to choose to Duel or surrender, giving them a count of three to let their guard down, and shot at them after the second count. Unable to escape, Playmaker agreed to a Speed Duel. Blood Shepherd took the first turn, simply summoning "[[Drone Pawn]]" and Setting a card. As Ai commented on Blood Shepherd's moves, Blood Shepherd's AI explained the effect of "Drone Pawn" and noted to Blood Shepherd that they had put it in position to be vulnerable to the consecutive attack effect of Playmaker's [[Shootingcode Talker (anime)|latest]] monster. Blood Shepherd noted that he had Summoned "Drone Pawn" in the wrong Zone. Playmaker Link Summoned "[[Elphase (anime)|Elphase]]", and Blood Shepherd's AI explained that he could not activate his Set card. Playmaker subsequently brought out "[[Shootingcode Talker (anime)|Shootingcode Talker]]", and used the effect of "Elphase", to revive "Clock Wyvern", setting up an OTK. Blood Shepherd's AI explained its owner would lose in the next attack, which Ai agreed with.  
  
Blood Shepherd then uses the effect of "Battledrone General" to Summon "Capture Drone" from his Graveyard. By combining the effects of "General", "Sergeant", and "[[Drone Launcher Unit]]", he is able to drop Playmaker's LP to 500, but before he could finish him off with "General's" attack, Playmaker activates "[[Cure Conversion]]" to negate the attack and recover LP back to 2300 in the process. AI remarks Blood Shepherd missed his target, to which he replies by noting they also did, since they could no longer activate [[Storm Access]] during their next turn. Playmaker, during his own turn, manages to overcome the effect of "Capture Drone" by using his [[Ritual Monster]], "[[Cyberse Magician (anime)|Cyberse Magician]]", which forces Blood Shepherd to Tribute "Battledrone General" in order to halve the battle damage with "[[Demolition Drone]]".
+
Blood Shepherd retorted that he had succeeded in fooling them; activating "[[Capture Drone]]" to trap "Shootingcode Talker". Ai protested that Blood Shepherd's AI stated he could not activate his Set card, and Blood Shepherd enigmatically stated that he shouldn't have trusted his AI, or any AI, much to Ai's anger. On his next turn, Blood Shepherd swarmed the field with "[[Drone Token]]s" via the effect of "Capture Drone", silencing his own AI and demeaning Ai for explaining obvious information before bringing out "[[Battledrone General]]".
  
Despite having no monsters left on the field, Blood Shepherd is able to rebuild his formation by using the "Drone Tokens" from "Capture Drone", and by reviving "Battledrone General" with "[[Assemble Drone]]", while also Summoning "[[Medicdrone Dock]]". He then proceeds to perform the same combo from his previous turn, but all damage is halved due to the effect of "Cyberse Magician", leaving Playmaker with only 900 LP. Blood Shepherd uses his [[Skill]], [[Drone Craft Force]], in order to reduce the [[ATK]] of "Cyberse Magician" by 200 for each "Drone" card in his Graveyard, and attacks it with "Battledrone General". Intending to finish the Duel, he attacks "[[Cyberse Witch (anime)|Cyberse Witch]]" with "Medicdrone Dock", but Playmaker uses "[[Excess Lesser Linker]]" to force a [[Double KO]]. Unknown to him, this triggers the effect of "Dock" giving Playmaker 1000 LP, once again preventing him from using Storm Access. Blood Shepherd compliments him by saying he is the first to escape the "Three Turn Count".
+
Blood Shepherd used the effect of "Battledrone General" to revive "Drone Pawn" from his Graveyard and swiftly reduced Playmaker's LP to 500, but before he could finish him off with "General's" attack, Playmaker activated "[[Cure Conversion]]" to negate the attack and recover LP. Ai commented that Blood Shepherd had missed his target, and Blood Shepherd noted that they also had, since their LP was no longer low enough to activate Storm Access. Playmaker managed to overcome the effect of "Capture Drone" by using his [[Ritual Monster]], "[[Cyberse Magician (anime)|Cyberse Magician]]", which forced Blood Shepherd to Tribute "Battledrone General" in order to [[Demolition Drone|halve]] the battle damage to stay in the Duel. Despite having no monsters left on the field, Blood Shepherd is able to rebuild his formation while also Link Summoning "[[Medicdrone Dock]]", and then proceeded to perform the same combo from his previous turn. This time, Playmaker survived due to the damage-halving effect of "Cyberse Magician", leaving him with only 900 LP. Blood Shepherd used his [[Skill]], Drone Craft Force, to reduce the [[ATK]] of "Cyberse Magician" and destroyed it with "Battledrone General". Intending to finish the Duel, he attacked "[[Cyberse Witch (anime)|Cyberse Witch]]" with "Medicdrone Dock", but Playmaker [[Excess Lesser Linker|forced]] a [[Double KO]], triggering the effect of "Dock" to increase Playmaker's LP and once again prevent him from using Storm Access.  
  
Blood Shepherd ends his turn by offering Playmaker a chance to surrender and hand over the Ignis. This is refused by Ai himself, saying Playmaker would never comply to that because of the strong bonds between the two. This makes Blood Shepherd remember his and his mother's accident caused by an AI, and the consequences to both of their lives. He angrily states that all AI should be under humanity's control, much to Ai's confusion. Playmaker draws and uses "[[Dimension Link]]" to both free "Shootingcode Talker" from "Capture Drone" and halve his LP, thus finally activating his Skill, Storm Access. Since Blood Shepherd's "[[Drone Cordon]]" wouldn't allow Playmaker's Link Monsters to attack, the latter uses the newly acquired "[[Clock Spartoi]]" in order to [[Fusion Summon]] "[[Cyberse Clock Dragon]]". By using its effect, Playmaker raises its ATK to 7500 and attacks "Battledrone General", defeating Blood Shepherd. As the he is hit by the finishing blow, Blood Shepherd questions himself how he could've lost to someone allied to an AI.<ref name="ep54"/>
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Blood Shepherd complimented Playmaker, admitting that he was the first to escape his "Three Turn Count" and he offered Playmaker a chance to surrender and hand over the Ignis. Ai himself refused, claiming that Playmaker would never comply because of their strong bonds, a statement that caused Blood Shepherd to recall the circumstances of his mother's accident. He angrily stated that all AI should be under humanity's control, much to Ai's confusion. Playmaker was able to use "[[Dimension Link]]" to both free "Shootingcode Talker" from "Capture Drone" and halve his LP, thus finally activating Storm Access. Since Blood Shepherd's "[[Drone Cordon]]" still wouldn't allow Playmaker's Link Monsters to attack, Playmaker instead used his newly acquired "[[Clock Spartoi]]" to enable him to [[Fusion Summon]] "[[Cyberse Clock Dragon]]". Using its effect, Playmaker raised its ATK to 7500 and defeated Blood Shepherd in a single attack. As he was hit by the finishing blow, Blood Shepherd asked himself how he could have lost to someone allied to an AI.<ref name="ep54"/>
  
 
==Deck==
 
==Deck==
 
[[File:Blood Shepherd and his monsters.png|thumb|200px|Blood Shepherd and "[[Battledrone General]]".]]
 
[[File:Blood Shepherd and his monsters.png|thumb|200px|Blood Shepherd and "[[Battledrone General]]".]]
Kengo uses a '''"[[Drone]]" Deck'''. His main strategy is to use "[[Drone Pawn]]", "[[Battledrone General]]", and "[[Battledrone Sergeant]]" to perform a [[One Turn Kill]], while using traps like "[[Capture Drone]]" and "[[Drone Cordon]]" to shut down the opponent's [[Link Monster]]s.
+
Kengo uses a '''"[[Drone]]" Deck'''. His main strategy is to use "[[Drone Pawn]]", "[[Battledrone General]]", and "[[Battledrone Sergeant]]" to perform a [[One Turn Kill]] through direct attacks and effect damage, while using Traps like "[[Capture Drone]]" and "[[Drone Cordon]]" to shut down the opponent's [[Link Monster]]s. Though he tends to bypass his opponent's monsters due to the low ATK of most of his monsters, he can use his [[Skill]], "Drone Craft Force" to lower the [[ATK]] of his opponent's monsters. Blood Shepherd Duels pragmatically, ordering his AI to lie about the capabilities of his cards and employing strategies to prevent Playmaker from using Storm Access.
  
 
{{Decklist|
 
{{Decklist|

Revision as of 00:53, 2 June 2018

Kenneth Drayden
Kenneth Drayden
Names
English
  • Blood Shepherd
OtherKengo Dojun (どうじゅん けん, Dōjun Kengo)
Personal
Gender
  • Male
Relatives
  • Career
OccupationBounty Hunter[1]
  • Duelist
Anime DeckDrone
Appearances
Anime debutYu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS episode 04747: "LINK VRAINS 2.0"
Appears in
Anime
Voice actors
Japanese
  • Takanori Okuda
Drayden, Kenneth

Blood Shepherd, real name Kengo Dojun[2] (どうじゅん けん, Dōjun Kengo), is a character appearing in the Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS anime. He is a bounty hunter who was hired by SOL Technologies to track down Playmaker.

Design

Appearance

Full-body view of Kengo.

Kengo is a slim man with lilac eyes and purple hair with a navy blue underlayer. He conceals his identity behind grey glasses with blue hexagonal lenses and a maroon scarf that covers his nose and mouth. He wears a long denim blue coat with a high collar open over white pants and a pale blue shirt with a lilac lining.[3] His artificial arm has a black glove over the hand with a teal patch on the back. In his youth, he wore a more simple suit in subtle shades of purple with a yellow-brown tie.

As Blood Shepherd in LINK VRAINS, his Avatar is a masked man with a cowboy Western motif. His face is entirely masked, covered in grey skin and a twin-section "mask"; the top section is red and resembles the face of a bat with pink lenses, the bottom section is blue and covers most of his face. Blood Shepherd swathes himself in a light purple mantle with red lines running down it, and a green line running around its collar with a red rectangular clasp. He also wears a grey jacket with a high collar and green inside, grey pants with loose straps around the ankles, and grey boots with straps around the feet and red soles. Blood Shepherd's artificial right arm is more obviously expressed; the forearm is stylized after the hammer and chamber of a revolver, and the knuckles and fingers are lined with red. These lines intersect with a black and red "eye" or "barrel" on his palm, which appears to be where he focuses his ability to destroy Avatars. His left shoulder has a hexagonal light purple pauldron lined with green, while his left hand is simply gloved.

Kengo is strongly associated with the color purple both in reality and as Blood Shepherd. Ironically, Playmaker defeats him with a Fusion Monster, which have a purple border.

Personality

Kengo is a consummate and ruthless professional. He bases his decisions largely on monetary gain, with no regard for personal attachments, and he considers Ghost Girl soft for refusing to hunt for Playmaker because she owed him. He displays casual ruthlessness by dissolving the Avatar of a person who harassed him and boasted of his own abilities to attack Avatars.[1] He is pragmatic; using Akira Zaizen and Ghost Girl as bait while battling a hacker, though he still took the time to rescue Emma when she was endangered. He has no hesitation in lying and misinforming his opponents to let their guard down. Similar to Playmaker and Varis, Blood Shepherd also has a habit of listing a count of three in various situations.[4]

Kengo loathes and distrusts AI due to the role a malfunctioning one played in his mother's crippling, and he constantly demeans both Ai and his own AI, which he has modified to lie. He believes that AI should be under humanity's control and that they cannot be trusted.

Abilities

Blood Shepherd displays the ability to dissolve Avatars within LINK VRAINS, which appears to be a function of his artificial arm. By grabbing the unfortunate Avatar, Blood Shepherd shocks them and they convulse, then go limp before dissolving. It is unclear if this deletes their data.[1] He can also fire energy blasts from his palm.[4]

Biography

History

Kengo speaking with his mother.

Kengo's father died before he finished high school. After completing his education, he took his his mother out to dinner for her birthday. He was grateful he was able to finish high school and wished to jump straight into a career rather than pursue a higher education. His mother was hesitant about this. They took a new AI-controlled taxi home, but it malfunctioned and the care crashed into the site a previous car accident had just occurred. Kengo lost the use of his arm, but his mother's spinal cord was severely damaged, meaning she would never walk again. Kengo built himself a prosthetic metal arm and devoted his career to bringing AI programs under the control of humans.[2]

Kengo worked in the military for a time, where he was known to interrogate AI with his artificial arm. He later became a bounty hunter, taking the alias "Blood Shepherd". He worked alongside Akira Zaizen and Emma Bessho in a net world that was not LINK VRAINS to capture a hacker, using them as bait to attain a chance to destroy the hacker's Avatar, and rescuing Emma from the hacker's bomb, calling her by her real name.[4]

Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS

Blood Shepherd received a contract to capture Playmaker, and he waited at a cafe in LINK VRAINS. Two Avatars were harassing the other patrons and chasing them away, trying to claim their spot. The younger brother tried to intimidate Blood Shepherd, but was unsuccessful, so he and his brother threatened him with their Avatar-harming programs. Unimpressed, Blood Shepherd picked up the older brother and informed him that he could also kill Avatars, before proceeding to do so, terrifying the younger brother. Ghost Girl approached, asking if he'd accepted the contract on Playmaker from SOL Technologies. Blood Shepherd confirmed that he had, and criticized Ghost Girl for being soft when she stated that she hadn't as she owed Playmaker. When criticized in turn for making his decisions based on money, he replied that it was professional and warned her that he wouldn't show her mercy if she opposed him. When Playmaker logged in LINK VRAINS, he was confronted by Blood Shepherd, for he had a bounty on his head. Playmaker replied he didn't have Ignis by his side, but was betrayed by his Duel Disk, for Ai returned to him with "Linkuriboh". To get rid of Blood Shepherd, Ai summoned a Data Storm, causing Blood Shepherd to log out, due to the danger present.[1]

Gore was surprised to see Kengo masked, as Kengo didn't want to show his face to those that revealed theirs in LINK VRAINS. Gore claimed that he would be the one to defeat Playmaker, lamenting that Playmaker was always a step ahead of him. Kengo ignored Gore, but reminded him not to order him around, as he did his things at his own pace. Akira showed footage of the orange figure that Playmaker had Dueled as Kengo believed it would help them track Playmaker down. Gore was alarmed at the figure, while Kengo noticed that the figure had not logged out. Regardless, Akira explained the figure went beyond the Restricted Area of LINK VRAINS.[3]

Blood Shepherd waited at the gate to the Restricted Area to ambush Ai and Playmaker.[5] He attacked them with energy blasts from his artificial arm, so Ai released a Data Storm in retaliation. This time Blood Shepherd resisted the Storm and continued attacking them until Playmaker commented that he was just threatening them, as he could only win Ai through a Duel. Blood Shepherd warned them to choose to Duel or surrender, giving them a count of three to let their guard down, and shot at them after the second count. Unable to escape, Playmaker agreed to a Speed Duel. Blood Shepherd took the first turn, simply summoning "Drone Pawn" and Setting a card. As Ai commented on Blood Shepherd's moves, Blood Shepherd's AI explained the effect of "Drone Pawn" and noted to Blood Shepherd that they had put it in position to be vulnerable to the consecutive attack effect of Playmaker's latest monster. Blood Shepherd noted that he had Summoned "Drone Pawn" in the wrong Zone. Playmaker Link Summoned "Elphase", and Blood Shepherd's AI explained that he could not activate his Set card. Playmaker subsequently brought out "Shootingcode Talker", and used the effect of "Elphase", to revive "Clock Wyvern", setting up an OTK. Blood Shepherd's AI explained its owner would lose in the next attack, which Ai agreed with.

Blood Shepherd retorted that he had succeeded in fooling them; activating "Capture Drone" to trap "Shootingcode Talker". Ai protested that Blood Shepherd's AI stated he could not activate his Set card, and Blood Shepherd enigmatically stated that he shouldn't have trusted his AI, or any AI, much to Ai's anger. On his next turn, Blood Shepherd swarmed the field with "Drone Tokens" via the effect of "Capture Drone", silencing his own AI and demeaning Ai for explaining obvious information before bringing out "Battledrone General".

Blood Shepherd used the effect of "Battledrone General" to revive "Drone Pawn" from his Graveyard and swiftly reduced Playmaker's LP to 500, but before he could finish him off with "General's" attack, Playmaker activated "Cure Conversion" to negate the attack and recover LP. Ai commented that Blood Shepherd had missed his target, and Blood Shepherd noted that they also had, since their LP was no longer low enough to activate Storm Access. Playmaker managed to overcome the effect of "Capture Drone" by using his Ritual Monster, "Cyberse Magician", which forced Blood Shepherd to Tribute "Battledrone General" in order to halve the battle damage to stay in the Duel. Despite having no monsters left on the field, Blood Shepherd is able to rebuild his formation while also Link Summoning "Medicdrone Dock", and then proceeded to perform the same combo from his previous turn. This time, Playmaker survived due to the damage-halving effect of "Cyberse Magician", leaving him with only 900 LP. Blood Shepherd used his Skill, Drone Craft Force, to reduce the ATK of "Cyberse Magician" and destroyed it with "Battledrone General". Intending to finish the Duel, he attacked "Cyberse Witch" with "Medicdrone Dock", but Playmaker forced a Double KO, triggering the effect of "Dock" to increase Playmaker's LP and once again prevent him from using Storm Access.

Blood Shepherd complimented Playmaker, admitting that he was the first to escape his "Three Turn Count" and he offered Playmaker a chance to surrender and hand over the Ignis. Ai himself refused, claiming that Playmaker would never comply because of their strong bonds, a statement that caused Blood Shepherd to recall the circumstances of his mother's accident. He angrily stated that all AI should be under humanity's control, much to Ai's confusion. Playmaker was able to use "Dimension Link" to both free "Shootingcode Talker" from "Capture Drone" and halve his LP, thus finally activating Storm Access. Since Blood Shepherd's "Drone Cordon" still wouldn't allow Playmaker's Link Monsters to attack, Playmaker instead used his newly acquired "Clock Spartoi" to enable him to Fusion Summon "Cyberse Clock Dragon". Using its effect, Playmaker raised its ATK to 7500 and defeated Blood Shepherd in a single attack. As he was hit by the finishing blow, Blood Shepherd asked himself how he could have lost to someone allied to an AI.[2]

Deck

Blood Shepherd and "Battledrone General".

Kengo uses a "Drone" Deck. His main strategy is to use "Drone Pawn", "Battledrone General", and "Battledrone Sergeant" to perform a One Turn Kill through direct attacks and effect damage, while using Traps like "Capture Drone" and "Drone Cordon" to shut down the opponent's Link Monsters. Though he tends to bypass his opponent's monsters due to the low ATK of most of his monsters, he can use his Skill, "Drone Craft Force" to lower the ATK of his opponent's monsters. Blood Shepherd Duels pragmatically, ordering his AI to lie about the capabilities of his cards and employing strategies to prevent Playmaker from using Storm Access.

Duels

Opponent Episode(s) Outcome
Yusaku Fujiki/Playmaker 53-54 Lose

References

  1. a b c d Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS episode 04747: "LINK VRAINS 2.0"
  2. a b c Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS episode 05454: "Game of Drones"
  3. a b Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS episode 05050: "A Common Cause"
  4. a b c Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS episode 05353: "The Shepherd"
  5. Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS episode 05252: "Tapping Out"