Espa Roba

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Espa Roba
Espa Roba
English name
  • Espa Roba
Japanese translated
  • Esper Roba
Japanese name
Japaneseエスパー
Baseエスパー絽場
Furiganaエスパーろば
RōmajiEsupā Roba
Other language names
Arabic
  • إسبا روبا
Birth
  • April 1
Age15
Height
  • 1.72 m <br />5.643 ft <br />67.717 in <br />172 cm
Weight
  • 105.822 lb <br />48 kg
Gender
  • Male
Blood type
  • A
Favorite foodPizza
Least favorite foodUmeboshi
Relatives
Four unnamed younger brothers
Tournament Position
Battle City Did not place
Anime DeckPsycho
Other Decks
Nightmare
Troubadour
  • Cyber Energy
  • ESP Deck
WC 2004
  • Clairvoyance
Anime debutYu-Gi-Oh! episode 05454: "Obelisk the Tormentor"
Appears in
Anime
Game Boy Advance
GameCube
Nintendo DS
English voice
Japanese voice
  • Maiko Ito
Other language voices
German
  • Sven Plate
SpanishJesús Pinillos (Spain)
Roba, Espa

Espa Roba, known as Esper Roba in the Japanese version, is a character in the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime. He is a Duelist who claims to have ESP. In reality he is a fraud who uses his younger brothers to spy on and reply back to him the cards in his opponent's hand, thus allowing him to 'predict' the opponent's strategies almost before they perform them.

Design[edit]

Voice and mannerisms[edit]

In the Singaporean English dub of the anime, Espa Roba has a Spanish accent.

Etymology[edit]

Both his English and Japanese names are derived from extrasensory perception, or ESP for short.

Biography[edit]

Espa Roba linework.

Espa made his first appearance in a cameo in Battle City and has made several ever since.

Espa was a young Duelist who entered Battle City to uphold his reputation and protect his younger brothers. He was first shown defeating Rex Raptor and taking "Serpent Night Dragon". Rex advised Joey Wheeler not to Duel Espa on the grounds that his psychic abilities allowed him to read all the cards in his hand. With an air of self-confidence, Joey accepted the Duel.

Espa pretending to have a psychic vision.

Although Espa initially gained an advantage due to the fact he knew what cards were in Joey's hand and on his field, Joey inferred what was happening and attempted to confuse his watchers from above by putting the cards "Skull Dice" and "Graceful Dice" close to each other.

Mokuba Kaiba eventually discovered the source of Espa's "psychic" abilities; his brothers spied upon Joey's hand from upon a high rise building. However, the brothers pleaded with Mokuba to let Espa continue with the Duel, stating that he was a strong Duelist despite his cheating ways.

The psychic front was to build an impression of an unbeatable Duelist and thus deflected any abuse that was usually heaped upon Espa and his brothers, they were heavily bullied due to being carnival folk before. To Mokuba, this situation paralleled his brotherly relationship with his older brother, Seto and he let Espa continue the Duel. Due to this, Espa's psychic reputation was tarnished, but he continued his Duel with Joey nevertheless.

Espa appearing to challenge Mako Tsunami to a Duel

Espa eventually Summoned "Jinzo", who severely crippled Joey's overall strategy. Finally, Joey activated "Roulette Spider" which forced "Jinzo" to attack a random card on the field, "Jinzo" attacked "Reflect Bounder", who then reflected the assault back on "Jinzo", destroying them both, causing Espa to lose the Duel.

Due to the Battle City regulations, Espa forfeited his rarest card, "Jinzo", to Joey upon his defeat and commented that he was ready to stand up for his brothers without cheating.

He was later seen observing the semifinal match between Yugi and Kaiba in Domino City amongst other Duelists.

Espa made a cameo in the Japanese epilogue, appearing to challenge Mako Tsunami to a Duel.

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's[edit]

In Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, a parody of him named Esper Rouba is listed as one the Duelists defeated by Hunter Pace.[1]

Other appearances[edit]

Deck[edit]

Anime[edit]

Espa Roba plays a Psycho Deck, relying on Machine-Type monsters and Magic and Trap cards that allow him to manipulate enemy monsters. His key card is "Jinzo", which he strengthens with "Amplifier".

Video games[edit]

Duel Monsters 8: Reshef of Destruction[edit]

The Dawn of Destiny[edit]

Duels[edit]

Opponent(s) Episode(s) Outcome(s)
Rex Raptor 58 Win
Joey Wheeler 58-59 Lose
Mako Tsunami 224 Not shown

References[edit]

  1. Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's episode 0011: "On Your Mark, Get Set, DUEL!"

Trivia[edit]

  • Despite being a one off character, he gave Joey what would become his signature Ace monster; Jinzo replaced Fusion Monsters Thousand Dragon, Giltia and Flame Swordsman.

Notes[edit]

  1. This card was played as a Normal Monster. It is an Effect Monster in the TCG/OCG.
  2. This card was played as a Trap Card. It is a Spell Card in the TCG/OCG.