Lucien Grimley

Lucien Grimley

English name	Lucien Grimley
Japanese translated	Ikkaku Tachibana
Japanese name Japanese 橘一角 Rōmaji Tachibana Ikkaku
Gender	Male
School	North Academy
Tournament Position Genex Tournament Did not place
Anime Deck	Reaper
Anime debut	Yu-Gi-Oh! GX episode 09191: "Don't Fear the Reaper"
Appears in Anime Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
English voice	David Wills
Japanese voice	Kazuhiro Nakata
Grimley, Lucien

Lucien Grimley, known as Ikkaku Tachibana (橘一角 Tachibana Ikkaku) in Japanese, is a character in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime. He is a student from North Academy and a failing Duelist who makes a deal with the malevolent spirit of the forbidden and cursed "Grim Reaper" card locked away by the academy and sells his soul to obtain incredible draw power.

Design

Lucien Grimley's linework.

Lucien is a tall teenager with dark grey eyes, thick eyebrows, and long black hair. His hairstyle is styled into a spike on the front of his head and tied up in a ponytail on the back of his head, with two long strands on both sides of his head barely reaching his shoulders.

Lucien wears an open black jacket with a raised collar lined with a closed zipper and beige sleeves rolled up to his elbows. He wears a red-orange T-shirt underneath his jacket, a pair of khaki pants tied with a belt, and a pair of white-and-grey sneakers. He also wears a pendant around his neck containing the "Grim eaper" card inside. In a flashback and in a class picture, while attending North Academy, Lucien wore a standard North Academy outfit.

While making his pact with the Grim Reaper, Lucien's right hand is decorated with the Grim Reaper's symbol of a human skull with a pair bat-like wings on each side. He also has dark triangular marks underneath his eyes, which also represents his deal with the Grim Reaper. After breaking his deal with the Grim Reaper, both the tattoo and the dark markings under his eyes disappear.

Personality

Prior to obtaining the "Grim Reaper" card, Lucien was a passionate Duelist who truly cared for his Deck and believed in the bond between a Duelist and their cards.

After losing many Duels, however, Lucien loses his faith in his Dueling and becomes irritated enough to make him shed a tear. When he makes his deal with the Grim Reaper, he becomes reliant on his newly-obtained drawing power to bring him victory, disregarding the risks of losing his soul in the process. This causes him to become eager to Duel and prove his victories by defeating other Duelists and winning the Genex Tournament, and became over overconfident and boastful about the efficiency of his One Turn Kill Deck. When Jaden Yuki demonstrates his ability to draw his needed card, he becomes jealous, as it reminded him of why he continued losing his previous Duels.

When Jaden reveals that Lucien truly cared for his Deck, he regains his faith in his Deck and his passion for Dueling. After breaking the deal with the Grim Reaper, he becomes committed to winning without any assistance from the "Grim Reaper". Despite his loss to Jaden, he admits he loves his Deck to the point where he shed tears while smiling.

Etymology

His title "Ikkaku" (一角) translates to "one horn", which reflects his spiked hairstyle on the front of his forehead.

In the English dubbed anime, his surname, Grimley, references the Grim Reaper.

Voice and Mannerisms

In the English dubbed anime, Lucien makes death-related puns while using the "Grim Reaper".

Powers and abilities

Lucien is revealed to be ambidextrous, as he is able to use his Duel Disk on both of his arms and draw with his left hand.

After striking his bargain with the Grim Reaper, Lucien is endowed with its power and is able to communicate with said spirit. Using the GrimReaper's mark on his right hand, he is granted the power to draw the card he needs to bring him victory while Dueling, which he does so repeatedly with "Slash Draw" to perform a One Turn Kill. The power of the Grim Reaper is also capable of retrieving the card by possessing other people to do it, despite being separated from a long distance from him and safely locked away. After breaking his deal with the "Grim Reaper", he loses these abilities.

Biography

History

Lucien was a student North Academy who believed in his One Turn Kill Deck and wanted to prove its power to his peers. When he lost many Duels, including one particular Duel against the Czar who mocked his Deck, Lucien became frustrated that he couldn't draw the card he needed to the point where he shed a tear (this was cut from the dub).

To that end, Lucien stole the dangerous "Grim Reaper" card from North Academy and struck a bargain with its malevolent spirit to grant him the incredible power to draw the card he needed to bring him victory in exchange for his soul. The Grim Reaper agreed and marked his right hand as a symbol of their pact and the source of its power to grant him its drawing power.

Lucien later joined the Genex Tournament held at Duel Academy and, using the power of the Grim Reaper, became known as the "Grim Reaper Duelist" around campus.

Society of Light

Lucien is first seen Dueling an Obelisk Blue student, whom he easily defeats with a One Turn Kill combo using "Slash Draw". Later, while sitting alone at a pond Lucien basks in his victories when the Grim Reaper reminds him of their deal to sell his soul once he wins the Genex Tournament. As Lucien vows to win, he passes out from exhaustion just as Jaden Yuki, accompanied by Syrus Truesdale and Tyranno Hassleberry, finds him and challenges him to a Duel. Instead, they see the Grim Reaper, who is dispersed in a dark whirlwind. Chazz Princeton finds the "Grim Reaper" card in a pendant around Lucien's neck.

Lucien is taken to Duel Academy's infirmary while Chazz locks the "Grim Reaper" card and its carrying pendant in his Slifer Red dorm room, guarded by the spirits of the Ojama Brothers. Later, at the infirmary, Chazz identifies him with his PDA device as a student from North Academy. He recognizes Jaden and Chazz, both of whom are known for being favorites for their natural drawing power and boasts that his One Turn Kill Deck would defeat them. He realizes that the pendant containing the "Grim Reaper" card is gone and demands to know where Jaden and Chazz hid it, to which Chazz answers that he locked it away. Chazz explains the legend behind the "Grim Reaper" card, and Lucien begrudgingly recounts his losses, which drove him to steal the "Grim Reaper" card from North Academy. He admits that he doesn't care about losing his soul, since the Grim Reaper grants him victory. As the dark smoke billows from the skull marking on his right hand and around his forearm, Lucien calls on the Grim Reaper to return to him and grant him victory in exchange for his soul. A dazed Vellian Crowler, possessed by the Grim Reaper, enters with the pendant containing its card form. Lucien snatches the pendant and runs out of the infirmary, followed by Jaden.

Jaden chases Lucien to the entrance of the Duel Academy's main building where Lucien challenges him, claiming his cursed right hand is yearning for victory. Jaden realizes that the Grim Reaper has a hold on Lucien and accepts his challenge. When Jaden Normal Summons "Elemental Hero Clayman" and Sets a card, Lucien counts the number of cards on the field. During Lucien's turn, he uses a combination of "Temptation of the Goddess" and "Mischief of the Goddess" to increase the number of cards on the field to four. Then he reveals his strategy when he activates his "Slash Draw" to perform a One Turn Kill which can only happen by drawing another copy of the card, which would destroy all cards on the field and inflict 1000 damage to Jaden for each card. Lucien calls upon the Grim Reaper, who asks him to choose between victory or his soul, to which Lucien chooses the former. He draws the second copy of "Slash Draw" and damages Jaden; however, Jaden's "Hero Medal" Trap Card is returned to the Deck instead of the Graveyard, thereby reducing the damage by 1000, making him lose 3000 Life Points instead. Jaden compliments Lucien's Deck, but feels like something is missing, much to Lucien's chagrin. Lucien uses "Footsteps of the Goddess" to Special Summon "Invincible Demise Lord" on his field.

Jaden draws his "Polymerization" and turns the Duel around with his Fusion Summoned "Elemental Hero Flame Wingman", which he uses to destroy "Invincible Demise Lord" and inflict massive damage to Lucien's Life Points to 1900. Lucien expresses his displeasure and jealousy towards Jaden's ability to draw the card he needed while Lucien could not, despite the effort he put in assembling his Deck. Lucien then Special Summons "Invincible Demise Lord" from the Graveyard via its effect, which changes its ATK to 3000 via its effect and prevents it from being destroyed by card effects. During Lucien's next turn, he uses the powered-up "Invincible Demise Lord" to attack and destroy "Flame Wingman", laughing at the notion that defeating someone with a natural drawing power like Jaden would make his Deck shine brighter.

During Lucien's next turn, he uses "Spell Reproduction" to add "Slash Draw" from the Graveyard to his hand, revealing that he has a third copy of the card in his Deck. Chazz questions if Lucien would stake his soul to win the Genex Tournament, but Jaden disagrees; Lucien loves his Deck so much that he would stake his soul for it. Jaden reminds Lucien how much he loves and cares for his Deck, but the Grim Reaper's spirit reminds Lucien of his desire to prove the strength of his Deck against those who mocked it at North Academy. As Lucien activates "Slash Draw" Jaden figures out that the card missing from his Deck was his "heart". The Grim Reaper once again reminds Lucien about their pact and orders him to draw the card and claim victory. At the last second, however, Lucien throws the pendant and the "Grim Reaper" card away, having his faith in his Deck restored as the spirit dematerializes.

Lucien switches his Duel Disk from his left arm to his right arm and draws with his left hand, which is revealed to be the third copy of "Slash Draw". As he thanks his Deck, Lucien activates the destruction and damaging effects of "Slash Draw", but Jaden evades this strategy once again with "Emergency Evasion" to banish his "Dandylion", reducing the damage to 0, impressing Lucien. As Lucien attacks Jaden, the latter activates the effect of "Emergency Evasion" to draw a card, and if it is a Monster Card, the same card type as "Dandylion", it is returned to the field. Lucien asks Jaden if he would test the strength of his bond with his Deck as he draws "Elemental Hero Neos", surprising Lucien. Jaden defeats Lucien with "Neos" equipped with "Neos Force", using it to destroy "Invincible Demise Lord" by battle and inflict its 3000 ATK to Lucien as damage. Lucien falls on his back while his cards are scattered in the air, and the Grim Reaper's mark on his right hand disappears. Lucien is happily reminded of how fun Dueling was and, with tears in his eyes, admits that he loves his Deck.

Deck

Lucien plays a Reaper Deck, which uses various "Goddess" Spell Cards to force his opponents to automatically play or Set cards on the field. This allows Lucien to build up a certain number of cards on the field before he activates "Slash Draw" to instantly wipe out his opponents' Life Points after he draws another copy from his Deck. In the event that Lucien fails to defeat his opponent through a One Turn Kill, he will Summon "Invincible Demise Lord", who can revive itself with immunity to destruction by card effects when it is destroyed in battle, allowing it to survive the effect of "Slash Draw", which would destroy it under normal circumstances.

Duels

Opponent(s)	Episode(s)	Outcome
Czar	91	Lose (flashback)
Obelisk Blue student	91	Win
Jaden Yuki	91	Lose

Trivia

• Lucien is the first Duelist in the anime to be portrayed as left-handed or ambidextrous.
  • Initially, he uses the power of the Grim Reaper to draw with his right hand, but after breaking his deal, he later switches it to his left hand.