The show's protagonist. Shobu wants nothing more than to become a legendary duelist like his father. Throughout the series, he's known for his unwavering positive attitude and his insistence on dueling for the fun of it rather than just racking up wins. He's genuinely brave, strong, and dependable—the kind of character fans root for immediately.
His deck started as Fire Civilization but evolved into a Dragon Deck, which fits his style perfectly. His signature cards are the heavy hitters: Bolshack Dragon, Garkago Dragon, Bolmeteus Steel Dragon, Bobazaar Dragon of Destiny, Bolmeteus Samurai Dragon, and most recently Bolshack Yamato Dragon.
There's actually a lot of meaning packed into his name. "Kirifu da" (his surname) literally translates to "trump card" or "ace"—basically the winning card. As for "Shobu," it's a clever combination: "Shou" comes from his father's name (meaning "victory") and "Bu" from his mother's name (meaning "dance"), so together it means "victory dance" or "dance of victory." Even better, the way it's pronounced is a pun on the word for "duel" itself, which is pretty fitting for a character whose whole thing is dueling.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
