Honorable Mentions - Aster Phoenix

Aster Phoenix is many things...his other name is Edo/Ed in Japan's Yu-Gi-Oh GX, he is a professional duelist who skillfully defeated Zane and Jaden before, and is best recognized for fighting "injustice" with his Destiny Heroes as an orphaned vigilante. His personality reminds me of Kaiba with his confidence coming off as arrogance, and his deck reminds me of Jaden that he is another perfect rival as an example.

The rivalry with Jaden is what improved both of them. I dare say if not for Aster, Jaden would not have owned the Neo-spacians in terms of "defeat motivating improvement." Meeting people and creating relationships are essential to character development. So with that said, his destiny heroes needs no introduction.

 

 

 

As mentioned earlier, it's no wonder Yu-Gi-Oh wants to bring back Aster to duel with Yuya in YGO - Arc V! Being a commander of Duel Academy forces, he will debut in episode 104.