Kyoshiro Kokujo

Kyoshiro Kokujo is a self-proclaimed "evil genius". He has very long hair and sharp teeth and wears an all-black leather outfit.

Season 1
In season 1 of the anime, he is one of the main antagonists towards Shobu, along with Hakuoh later in the season. Kokujo first appears to Toru while the latter is waiting for Shobu, and suggests that they duel, promising that it will be a short match. He beats Toru with ease, and poses as him to wait for Shobu. Shobu arrives, and duels him none the wiser, gaining an early advantage. The group soon realize that Kokujo isn't Toru when they notice that his deck is different from the description of Toru's, and when Knight finds Toru in the bushes. Knight explains to the group that Kokujo's dueling style has him play helpless and then turn the game around and beat his opponents effortlessly, and sure enough, Kokujo begns to do so to Shobu. Shobu attempts to summon his "Gatling Skyterror", but hadn't realised that he'd had to send a mana card to the graveyard with his "Onslaughter Triceps" earlier, and Kokujo was disgusted that the son of Shori Kirifuda could make such a basic error. He ended the match furiously, claiming that it never happened.

Shobu challenged him again, and he accepted after being taunted. Shobu played far better against Kokujo the second time, destroying Kokujo's "Deathliger, Lion of Chaos" with a combination of "Gatling Skyterror" and Magma Gazer", but Kokujo still claimed victory and departed with respect for Shobu, thinking that he'd never know how close he'd become to beating Kokujo.

In order to be able to duel Hakuoh, he later defeated the Temple guardian Makoto Aizen. The Master changes his mind about allowing him to duel Hakuoh, instead forcing him to duel Shobu. The duo were fiercely matched, destroying each other's cards and finally breaking all of each other's shields. Shobu was able to use "Mana Nexus" to set up a shield trigger for his final shield, but Kokujo evolved his "Trox, General of Destruction" into "Ballom, Master of Death", bringing the creature to the human world and turning the match into a kaijudo duel. Despite the creature's power, which severely damaged the Temple, Shobu was able to defeat it with "Natural Snare", and the two contined to clash. He finally drew "Deathliger, Lion of Chaos," summoning it to the room as he had "Ballom". However, Shobu was able to summon "Armored Blaster Valdios", and defeat him, but Kokujo wasn't severely injured, as he managed to go and watch Shobu's duel with Hakuoh, albeit with his torso heavily bandaged. At the end of the match, Shobu asks him to join them, but he angrily refuses.

Sacred Lands
Kokujo's first appearence in the Sacred Lands season was when Jamira accidentally hit him and stole his deck. However, he couldn't master it and lost to Shobu, Kokujo taking it back.

Later, he followed Shobu and Rekuta in the Darkness Civilization lands and defeated Maurice the Merciless at a hotspring spa. Afterwards he appeared to challenge Jack and Jake, but a possessed Giriel, Ghastly Warrior appeared out of nowhere and caused him to escape into the darkness civilization land along with Shobu and Rekuta. There they were about to get attacked by a Deathliger, Lion of Chaos, but Kokujo managed to tame it. Guided by Deathliger, the trio headed to an exit from the darkness civilization lands, but Jack and Jake were waiting for them there along with their gang of duelists. After defeating them, Kokujo and Shobu faced off the twins and managed to defeat them, despite them both using Super Necrodragon Abzo Dolba.

Near the final battle at the fire civilization lands, Shobu and Rekuta had to go find Kokujo, for they needed someone to use Schuka, Duke of Amnesia in order to stop the P.L.O.O.P.s.

Duel Masters Charge
In Duel Masters Charge, Kokujo returns to participate in the tournament. He defeated Mimi, but lost to Yumama before the semifinals started due to her luring him into a secret duel on the beach and then using her magic powers to knock him off when he was about to win.

However, Kokujo returned at the tournament and faced Bura in a duel. Later, he faced off with El Rio and acquired Dorballom, Lord of Demons from him.

He then showed up at Zakira's castle and faced off with Love and found out that he was one of those who led an attack upon the "Shinigami" group, resulting in their deaths. The only woman of the group, Kimera, was Kokujo's 'mother' as the group had found him as an orphan and she took care of him and loved him as her son. While remembering his past, Kokujo summons Dorballom, Lord of Demons and finishes off Love, thus avenging his family, but he still desires to kill Zakira as well.

When he reached Zakira, he was forced to duel against White in a kaijudo duel. At the end of the epic battle, White summoned Alphadios, Lord of Spirits and cross-evolved it with Grand Cross Catastrophe while Kokujo cross-evolved his Ballom, Master of Death with Tsunami Catastrophe but could not further evolve it into Dorballom, Lord of Demons, and White used his Alphadios to blast both him and his Ballom, making them disappear. However, Kokujo's final words announced his return: "Death Can't Die".

Duel Masters Zero
Kokujo returned in Duel Masters Zero wishing to have a rematch against Hakuoh. After he watched how his Mongrel Man evolved into Super Trash Train, Fuuma Devil, he dueled Shobu whom he defeated with his new mono-darkness deck by evolving Ballom, Master of Death into Dorballom, Lord of Demons and completely wiping out Shobu's creatures and mana.

Later he returned on Professor March's island challenging Hakuoh yet again, but Hakuoh told him to duel Shobu and then he would be allowed to duel him. Kokujo accepted and used his newly aqcuired Castle of Demon deck. Even though Shobu managed to get rid of Ballom, Master of Death with Soulswap, Kokujo had enough mana and the aid of Maxval, Electro-Fuuma to summon Vashuna, Sword Dancer and evolve it into Ballom Emperor, Lord of Demons which destroyed Shobu's creatures and once again brought Kokujo a victory. However, Hakuoh still insisted to duel Shobu.

The next time Kokujo appeared he rescued Hakuoh from drowning in the ocean and faced off with Decem to which he lost.

Duel Masters Cross
Kokujo returned yet again in Duel Masters Cross, this time his goal being once again to try and defeat Zakira. He infiltrated the pyramid of Ten-Ten Toto and defeated him in a duel using his now trademark creatures Ballom Emperor, Lord of Demons and Ballom, Master of Death. Even though he did not receive from Toto any information about Zakira's whereabouts, he still sticked around hoping that his nemesis would appear.

After the battle in the canyon in which Hakuoh, now turned into Zakira's minion White yet again, defeated Shobu, Zakira finally showed up and Kokujo sought the opportunity to face him. Even though he managed to bring out Ballom Emperor, it had no effect on Zakira's darkness creatures and thus Zero Phoenix, Phoenix of Darkness, Romanoff the 1st, Lord of the Demonic Eye and Necrodragon Guljeneraid managed to help Zakira win the duel.

However Kokujo's determination did not let him stop his quest of vengeance. Even though he was fully bandaged, he left the hospital and pursued Zakira yet again finally managing to find the island in which he was hiding. He appeared between White and Shobu who were about to duel and challenged White instead in order to enter the Fua castle. During this duel, White tested his new Arcadias Knights deck against Kokujo, and while Kokujo was lucky enough to manage to destroy King Alcadeias, Holy Gaia with Grudge Gathering and also bring out Ballom Emperor, Lord of Demons to wipe out White's field, White summoned Alphadios, Lord of Spirits who once again locked down Kokujo's deck and signalled his defeat.

In the aftermath of the duel, Kokujo left Shobu's group and searched for a way to enter into Zakira's castle all while remembering his past with the Shinigami who were his family. He remembered how he was an orphan on the streets but the leader of the Shinigami, an old man, brought him to their castle and their only woman, Kimera, adopted him and taught him how to duel using the Darkness civilization. His happy days ended  when he was invited to a tournament and was accompanied by the old Shinigami leader. There he discovered a pile of dead duelists and Zakira sitting atop it. Scared, Kokujo ran back to the Shinigami castle only to find everyone slaughtered. The old man appeared to him and told him that he betrayed the Shinigamis because Zakira paid him well and because he was fed up with living in the shadows. Zakira was searching for Dorballom, Lord of Demons which was an Awakening Card. Kokujo dueled the old man and, ironically, defeated the traitor with the exact card that he was supposed to capture - Dorballom. After the duel, Kokujo swore that he would avenge his family.

When White reverted back into Hakuoh and betrayed his master, Kokujo interrupted him and challenged Zakira instead. This time Zakira was using his own version of Arcadias Knights and his Light creatures were destroyed by the effect of Ballom Emperor. But even though the shield-less Kokujo managed to break all of his shields, Zakira summoned his new trump card, DEATH Dragerion, the Supernova and used its Meteorburn ability to destroy all of Kokujo's creatures and defeat him yet again.

After the defeat and apparent death of Zakira, Kokujo journeyed to a polar island where he met a bear that went by the name Southern Cross, a reference to the creature Darkness Southern. There he discovered that the bear had the card Bell Hell De Gaul, Footprint of the Reaper that belonged to its master who had fallen under the hands of Zakira's minions. Xanadu returns to the island seeking the card but Kokujo faces her in a duel. He asks her about the whereabouts of Zakira but she tells him that she does not know if he even lives. While Xanadu managed to send Bell Hell De Gaul to the bottom of Kokujo's deck with the effect of Cyber X Xanadu, Kokujo destroyed her creature with the effect of Dark Zekia, Reaper of Death by revealing four evolution creatures. Afterwards he abused the effect of Bell Hell De Gaul to spam Demon Commands and in the end he finished the duel with Ballom, Master of Death.

He later appeared in the tournament defeating contestants with his new trump card XENOM, the Reaper King.

Duel Masters Cross Shock
Kokujo continued defeating tournament contestants making his way to the finals by using his brand new Eternal Death deck and two new trump cards - Dark Strike, Reaper Beast and Ballom Monarch, Lord of Dark Reapers. In the end he was defeated by one of Zakira's minions and was once again put in bandages. However he was there to cheer Shobu on as he defeated Zakira in the finals.

Later Kokujo reappeared in the creature world siding with Black Ganveet, Legion of Demise. Dark Strike had summoned him to help them in their conquest of defeating Diabolos Zeta, Annihilation Awakened. Kokujo tested his new cards on Shobu whom he defeated but he lost in his duel against Diabolos Zeta who had awakened into Devil Diabolos Zeta, Evil Awakened and began its rampage over the creature world.

Kokujo participated in the final battle against Devil Diabolos Zeta where he helped Darkness Ganveet, the Assassin Awakened to cast Ganveet Blaster.

Deck
On Kokujo's first appearance he used a Darkness Civilization deck, but later started using the Water Civilization as well.

Due to his relentless tactics, he has earned the nicknames of "Black Death" and "Shinigami".

Season 1
In season one, he mainly used cards from the Kokujo's Darkness Deck and some of the following cards:


 * Ballom, Master of Death
 * Deathliger, Lion of Chaos
 * Gigargon
 * Gregorian Worm
 * Locomotiver
 * Snake Attack
 * Trox, General of Destruction

Sacred Lands
In Sacred Lands, Kokujo's deck was mostly focused on Darkness rush, his main card being Daidalos, General of Fury.
 * Marrow Ooze, the Twister
 * Propeller Mutant
 * Gachack, Mechanical Doll
 * Snake Attack
 * Lone Tear, Shadow of Solitude
 * Daidalos, General of Fury
 * Mongrel Man
 * Schuka, Duke of Amnesia
 * Bloody Squito
 * Terror Pit
 * Critical Blade
 * Locomotiver
 * Vile Mulder, Wing of the Void
 * Trox, General of Destruction
 * Ballom, Master of Death
 * Bat Doctor, Shadow of Undeath

Duel Masters Charge
In Duel Masters Charge, Kokujo changed his deck constantly throughout the series.

His tournament deck was mostly based on summoning Kejila, the Hidden Horror as fast as possible and then taking down the opponent's shields with its silent skill and the aid of Gajirabute, Vile Centurion.
 * Bloody Squito
 * Slash Charger
 * Gigamente
 * Zorvaz, the Bonecrusher
 * Kejila, the Hidden Horror
 * Proclamation of Death
 * Terror Pit
 * Ballom, Master of Death
 * Gajirabute, Vile Centurion
 * Propeller Mutant
 * Mongrel Man
 * Shadow Moon, Cursed Shade
 * Baira, the Hidden Lunatic

After losing in the tournament, he came back to face Zakira's minions, his deck now based on Auzesu, the Demonic Holy Spirit, but having a similar structure to his deck in season 2.
 * Propeller Mutant
 * Gachack, Mechanical Doll
 * Bloody Squito
 * Vile Mulder, Wing of the Void
 * Photocide, Lord of the Wastes
 * Terror Pit
 * Holy Awe
 * Auzesu, the Demonic Holy Spirit
 * Fallen Monk of the Bloodstained Soil, Zahaku
 * Daidalos, General of Fury
 * Ballom, Master of Death

When he acquired Dorballom, Lord of Demons, he began to add nature cards to his deck in order to summon it faster.
 * Faerie Life
 * Bronze-Arm Tribe
 * Soulswap
 * Skysword, the Savage Vizier
 * Auzesu, the Demonic Holy Spirit
 * Daidalos, General of Fury
 * Fallen Monk of the Bloodstained Soil, Zahaku
 * Dulanzames, Jet-Black War Demon
 * Bloody Squito
 * Terror Pit
 * Lost Soul
 * Dorballom, Lord of Demons

However, he changed his deck to a Water and Darkness deck featuring Cross Gears when he faced off against White in the episode, Death Can't Die.
 * Ballom, Master of Death
 * Daidalos, General of Fury
 * Dorballom, Lord of Demons
 * Dorberos, the Imprisoning Fiend
 * Deathblood, Mysterious Demon
 * Deklowaz's Brooch
 * Demonic Queen Meigas
 * Eureka Charger
 * Melnia, the Aqua Shadow
 * Lost Soul
 * Mongrel Man
 * Phantasm Clutch
 * Spiral Aura
 * Submarine Labor
 * Terror Pit
 * Tsunami Catastrophe
 * Quake Staff

Duel Masters Zero
During this season, Kokujo used cards from the DMC-38 Castle of Demon deck and some of the following cards:
 * Babelginus, Demonic Dragon
 * Ballom Emperor, Lord of Demons
 * Bilgias, Hardened Demon of Hellfire
 * Bloody Squito
 * Olzekia, General of Decapitation
 * Super Trash Train, Fuuma Devil
 * Wailing Shadow Belbetphlo
 * Zamaru, Treasure of Darkness

Duel Masters Cross
In Duel Masters Cross, Kokujo's deck was more of an extension of his Duel Masters Zero deck, with him adding some of the new Demon Commands such as Bell Hell De Dios, Death Castle Beast Lord and Gal Volf, Dark Wolfblade.
 * Aqua Surfer
 * Ballom, Master of Death
 * Ballom Emperor, Lord of Demons
 * Bell Hell De Dios, Death Castle Beast Lord
 * Black Lucifer, Sorcerer of Darkness
 * Bloody Squito
 * Corpse Charger
 * Daidalos, General of Fury
 * Darkness Southern
 * Death Smoke
 * Fuuma Garmagias
 * Gal Volf, Dark Wolfblade
 * Grudge Gathering
 * Hanzou, Menacing Phantom
 * Maxval, Electro-Fuuma
 * Melnia, the Aqua Shadow
 * Super Trash Train, Fuuma Devil
 * Terror Pit

Later in the series, he replaced the water cards from his deck with new Reaper cards such as:
 * Bell Hell De Bran, Battle Reaper
 * Bell Hell De Gaul, Footprint of the Reaper
 * Dark Zekia, Reaper of Death
 * Death March, Reaper of Death
 * Dorballom, Lord of Demons
 * Fuuma Ravaal, the Reaper
 * XENOM, the Reaper King

Duel Masters Cross Shock
In Duel Masters Cross and Cross Shock, Kokujo added Reaper cards from the DMC-60 Eternal Death deck, as well as adding the Black Ganveet series of Psychic Creatures and some of the following:
 * Ballom, Master of Death
 * Ballom Emperor, Lord of Demons
 * Ballom Monarch, Lord of Dark Reapers
 * Black Ganveet, Legion of Demise
 * Black Ganveet, Temporal Soldier
 * Dark Strike SP
 * Dark Strike, Reaper Beast
 * Ganveet Blaster
 * Super Trash Train, Fuuma Devil

Duel Masters: Shadow of the Code

 * 4x Bloody Squito
 * 4x Frost Specter, Shadow of Age
 * 4x Gray Balloon, Shadow of Greed
 * 4x Grim Soul, Shadow of Reversal
 * 4x Lone Tear, Shadow of Solitude
 * 4x Marrow Ooze, the Twister
 * 4x Mongrel Man
 * 4x Proclamation of Death
 * 4x Shadow Moon, Cursed Shade
 * 4x Terror Pit

Duel Masters Manga: 9

 * Ballom, Master of Death
 * Bloody Squito
 * Dark Titan Maginn
 * Death Smoke
 * Horrid Worm
 * Locomotiver
 * Marrow Ooze, the Twister
 * Olgate, Nightmare Samurai
 * Terror Pit
 * Swamp Worm

Duel Masters FE manga:

 * Ballom, Master of Death
 * Bloody Squito
 * Bronze-Arm Tribe
 * Daidalos, General of Fury
 * Deathblood, Mysterious Demon
 * Dorballom, Lord of Demons
 * Dorberos, the Imprisoning Fiend
 * Dreaming Moon Knife
 * Intense Evil
 * Mighty Shouter
 * Olgate, Nightmare Samurai
 * Quake Staff
 * Shaman Broccoli

Duel Masters manga (special edition):

 * Aqua Surfer
 * Ballom, Master of Death
 * Dark Hydra, Evil Planet Lord
 * Olzekia, General of Decapitation

Duel Masters manga (special edition 2):

 * Ballom Monarch, Lord of Dark Reapers
 * Bell Hell De Gaul, Footprint of the Reaper
 * Deathproof, Shadow Reaper
 * Dorballom, Lord of Demons
 * Olzekia, General of Decapitation
 * Terror Pit
 * Zamaru, Treasure of Darkness

Duel Masters SX9

 * Black Ganveet, Legion of Demise
 * Dark Strike, Reaper Beast
 * Deadly Love
 * Gabriel XENOM, the Reaper King
 * Gajirabute, Vile Centurion

Duel Masters: New Frontier Manga (Extra Issue)

 * Bell Hell De Bran, Battle Reaper
 * Codedemon Ballom Mystery
 * Ghost Touch
 * Olzekia, General of Decapitation
 * Orgaiza, Dark Demon of the Evil Fortress
 * Necrodragon Devolution
 * Death Gate, Gate of Hell