Kyoya Tategami

''This is an article about the Anime Character. For the manga counterpart of the same name, see here''

Kyōya Tategami (盾神キョウヤ, Tategami Kyōya) is one of the main protagonists in the Metal Saga, first appearing in the anime series; Beyblade: Metal Fusion.

He is Gingka Hagane's second greatest rival and was the former leader of the Face Hunters, a gang of Beybladers who were after the "Face" part of a Bey and the Beypoints of its owner. Although, after losing to Gingka twice, he decides to disband the group and eventually joins Gingka and his friends momentarily, but on several occasions.

He was also the leader of the African representational team, Team Wild Fang, along with Nile, Demure and Benkei during the Big Bang Bladers World Championships and a Blader of the Four Seasons representing Spring

Currently, he's on a quest with Gingka Hagane and the Legendary Bladers, in order to stop the ultimate evil, Nemesis, from controlling the world. He is a fiercely powerful Blader with his Fang Leone 130W²D. This bey is the evolution of his Rock Leone 145WB.

Physical Appearance
Kyoya is a tall, teenaged boy with tanned skin and has a muscular figure. He has dark green hair that spikes high above his head along with a pony tail that drapes behind his head. He has sharp blue eyes of a tiger which matches his bey type and a scar shaped like a cross going across his eye's.

In Metal Fusion Kyoya wears a green coat with ripped-off sleeves on a tatty, torn black shirt. He also wears brown gloves, boots and belt and beige pants. In Metal Fury, he wears a sleeveless black jacket over a green shirt. He also wears a brown belt and brown boots and gloves and light grey pants. In both cases, he also wears a pendant around his neck all the time.

Personality
At the beginning he was very cocky, ignorant, and arrogant, and was seen as an antagonist in the first few episodes. Kyoya always focuses on the battle and doesn't hesitate when attacking his opponent. He doesn't back down from challenges and has a strong concept of honor as a Blader. He gives his all during a battle and expects other Bladers to do the same.

After quitting alliances with Doji, he is on the good side. He also becomes more mature and wiser. He is best friends with Benkei, but he got fed up with him trying to get close to him. In the manga, he is much friendlier and talks a lot more than he does in the anime. Now he is known to be one of the more serious characters in the show compared to the energetic Gingka. He is a very determined person and will go to great lengths to fulfill his determination. Kyoya is one of the strongest bladers in Metal Saga and is also a main protagonist in the story, as well as Gingka's rival.

The King Of Beasts Appears
Kyoya Tategami is a fierce Blader with a tiger like appearance and a wild attitude, with that, he began the Face Hunters. However, a mysterious Blader, Gingka Hagane later appears, and easily defeats his Face Hunters gang, but his gang isn't finished, as they get their revenge my battling Gingka with an unfair advantage!

Gingka challenges Kyoyas gang to a "100 Beybattle", Eager to watch how Gingka Hagane will face one-hundred opponents, Kyoya watches in the sidelines. Gingka manages to defeat the army of Beys with ease, making him realize the true power of Pegasus and Gingka, and decides to challenge him; as he finally has met a strong opponent after a while.

The next day, Kyoyas gang ambush little Kenta and snatch his Bey away, forcing Gingka and a new friend Madoka to head to Metal Tower, accepting their request. Gingka and Kyoya meet up, while the Face Hunters continue to torture Kenta by attempting to throw his Sagittario off the large tower. However, in the sidelines, Madoka warns Gingka that his Bey isn't fully repaired from the battle against the Facehunters gang, but not only that, Kyoyas Bey also has advantage because of the winds on the top of the tower!

The two Bladers fight an intense clash, with Gingkas Pegasus attacking the wild lion, Kyoya shows his true strength, and is dominating the Beybattle. Kyoya is gaining the upperhand, and uses his Special Move - Lion Gale Force Wall! Causing Pegasus to recieve critical damage. Gingka finally finds out Kyoyas weakness, and attacks the eye of the storm with his own Special Move, causing Gingka to win the fight!

Kyoya is then frustrated by his loss, but starts to realize he needs to be stronger, in order to defeat his new rival, he must later become stronger in order to crush his rival the next time they fight!

The Mysterious Dark Nebula
Frustrated after His loss, Kyoya Tategami is called by a mysterious man named Doji, who appears to know that Kyoya wants to crush Gingka in their next match, Kyoya refuses to work for Doji and begins to leave. Doji however challenges Kyoya to a Beybattle, but his Face Hunters gang later steps in and tests Dojis strength to a battle.

Benkei and the other Face Hunters challenge Doji, but he takes out Dark Wolf Bey, where Benkei says it's "rare". Even with Doji outnumbered by a few opponents, his vicious wolf easily takes Benkei and the others down.

Kyoya is next to battle Doji and his powerful Dark Wolf, Leone uses its fierce power to take down Dark Wolf and nails strong attacks on it. Leone then begins to use its Special Move to eliminate wolf with sheer force, but Doji appears to know Kyoyas weakness!

Wolf breaks through Lion Gale Force Wall and nails a critical hit on Leone, but not just that, Doji is also revealed to have a special move - Darkness Howling Blazer! Wolf unleashes its fangs and defeats the wild lion in battle, meaning that Kyoya must now train with the Dark Nebula.

Benkei and the other Face Hunters are shocked that their leader was defeated by yet another opponent, Kyoya keeps his end of the bargain and leaves with Doji, leaving Benkei and the others without their great leader...

A New Jungle
Kyoya trained long for another chance to face his ultimate rival; Gingka Hagane and decided to take part in the selection matches of Big Bang Bladers for a spot in the Japanese representational team. Kyoya succeeded being amongst the top four, and would face Tsubasa Otori in the finals to become the Team's third member.

Kyoya plans to defeat Tsubasa, as he would to any other beyblader but is met blow for blow by a determined Tsubasa who feels that Kyoya is the perfect opponent. Kyoya feels comfortable knowing Tsubasa's style but in this case, Tsubasa knows Kyoya's moves aswell which leads to Tsubasa's take on the match. Even though things seem bleak for Kyoya, he is not distraught and rather he is excited by Tsubasa's strength and prepares to take the match for himself.



Kyoya corners Tsubasa with one move after another and forces out another side of Tsubasa which is far too aggressive and basically gives Kyoya a clear shot for the win. Tsubasa plans to face Kyoya power for power which Kyoya see's through and finnaly defeats Tsubasa for the third spot on the team.

Although he is victorious, he never had any interest in joining Team Japan and confronted Gingka to tell him that he refuses to join the team. Rather Kyoya leaves to a different country where he can compete against Japan and finnaly face Gingka.



Kyoya travels to Africa where natives do not make up the Team and anyone can compete to join. Kyoya plans to take the Team for his own as he arrives to Rock City where the Representative Selection Tournament is being held. Kyoya's only worry is that there may not be anyone who he can partener with, considering Big Bang Bladers is a Team Tournament. But first Kyoya must win one of three battle royals that will decide the three main members.

Kyoya is the first to win his battle royal with dominating force, he notices that another blader named Nile does formitably well in his battle royal and takes the second spot. Along with the third winner, Marcus the three earn them both special bracelets that prepresent their spot on the team, in which they have to defend for 24 Hours to ensure their spot on the Team.



Kyoya has no problem battling all across Rock City to face bladers and defend his bracelet, but during which he befriends his potential teammate; Nile. The third member Marcus who has been hiding rather then battling leads Kyoya and Nile into a trap where he unfairly steals their bracelets to form his own Team for The World Championships.

Kyoya and Nile search helplessly but are unable to locate Marcus, instead they are aided by another blader named Demure who helps them find and defeat Team Marcus. After reclaiming their bracelets, Kyoya gives the third to Demure and the three defend them till the end, making up Team Wild Fang; Africa's Representational Team.

The Roar of Wild Fang
Kyoya has become the leader of Africa's representational Team and inducted Benkei as their sub-member under the alias of the Masked Bull. The easily win both matches after the qualifying round and move on to face India's Team Chandora. If Wild Fang is successful they move on to face Team GanGan Galaxy in the A-Block Semi Final.

As Destiny had it, Gingka would be one amongst the crowd whom Kyoya would hope to show his Team's Strength. Nile is to face Vridick in the first match up, leading Wild Fang with one win as he has always done clearing the path for Kyoya to win the second.

As planned, Kyoya plans to finish it in the next match against Chandora's Leader; Salhan. Salhan is prepared for Kyoya's strength, having studied his battles but this does not worry Kyoya who has something special instore to show the world in this match. Salhan proves his strength by being able to counter Kyoya's first special move; Lion Gale Force Wall.

Kyoya is not destraught, rather he is only dissappointed as he proclaims that only Gingka Hagane could challenge him. To prove this Kyoya shows his new special move where Leon leaps into the air as high as Gingka's Pegasus and creates a storm that crashes apon the opponent, his King Lion Reverse Wind Strike! With this Kyoya wins the match and ensures his match against GanGan Galaxy in the next Round.

The Long Awaited Rematch
Kyoya and Team Wild Fang find out next they will be facing Team Gan Gan Galaxy, giving Kyoya his chance for redemption. In the first match of their battle Nile faces off against Masamune and defeats him giving Wild Fang the first win.



Next Kyoya would realize his dream of facing Gingka as they went head to head in the next match. Like his battle with Salhan he starts off with Lion Gale Force Wall which is easily broken through by Gingka, Gingka then counter attacks and seems to have Kyoya on the edge but it is revealed by Nile that Kyoya is just trying to have some fun.

Gingka attacks with his Star Booster special move where Kyoya debuts another special move, True Lion Gale Force Wall. After going back and forth Kyoya reveals to have upgraded all of his attacks respectively adding "true" and making the attacks far more powerful. Gingka fights and fends off most of Kyoya's attacks and re-uses his Star Booster attack but Kyoya flies even higher than Pegasus and uses his King Lion Reverse Wind Strike.



Kyoya has Gingka on the ropes but Gingka refuses to lose and uses the rest of his power to make both Beys sleep out leaving the battle in a draw. After Benkei and Demure are defeated by Tsubasa and Yu, Gingka and Masamune decide to end it in a tag team match between them and Kyoya and Nile.

Though Kyoya is injured from his previous battle with Gingka he decides to go on. At the start Nile decides to take out a weekend Gingka but Kyoya stops him as Gingka is his opponent. During the battle Kyoya tries to use his special move but are stopped by his injuries, the same happens to Gingka almost simultaneously. While the battle is closing to an end, Masamune and Gingka begin to use team work and combine their special moves to defeat Kyoya and Nile but Kyoya holds them with his special move while Nile preps his Mystic Zone.

Nile nearly had his move prepared but Leone and his attack gave way along Masamune to strike and knock both of them out of the battle giving GanGan Galaxy the win. After the battle Kyoya is still happy and tells Gingka that he hopes they win and that Kyoya will beat him one day.

Hades City
Kyoya and Team Wild Fang are seen several times cheering Team Gan Gan Galaxy on but do not return until the rise of Hades City in America. Kyoya and the others return as they help Gingka and many others fight against members of the HD Academy alliance, Kyoya helped Gingka by fighting off Damian Hart and Jack. After finding the HD Academy's main base in Hades City Kyoya helps by facing Damian in order to allow Gingka and Masamune to move to where Faust is.

Kyoya battles hard, and for most of the battle feels out of his league due to Damian's overwhelming power. Kyoya fights on to the point where he is dragged into Kerbecs' gate where its Damian's World giving Kyoya a huge disadvantage. After being battered and beaten by Kerbecs over and over Kyoya remembers what he's fighting for and Gingka's still out there, at that point Kyoya changes the realm from the underworld to the wilderness making it the lions territory.

ven after turning the tables Damian doesn't give an inch and sends them back to the underworld, though this time Damian loses his cool and goes all out giving Kyoya the perfect opening to strike and defeat Damian with his Special Move King Lion Reverse Wind Strike.

Kyoya goes to regroup with Gingka as he goes into where the Spiral Core is being stopped but can't help due to the moving of the whole city that is falling. He was not seen again until the end of the series like everyone else.

A Whole New Leone
After the defeat of Hades Inc and the destruction of the Spiral Core, a strange event occurred. A new Star Fragment similar to the one that created Pegasus and L-Drago exploded and spread out ten beams of light that fell on Earth, hitting and enchanting ten destined Beyblades. These Beys would prove to help in a time of darkness, as the legend of the star fortells.

Kyoya has been training ever since and decides to once again challenge Gingka, leaving him an anonymous message to face him on the beach. Gingka arrives and is met by Kyoya and Benkei, riding in on a canoe eager to battle. Gingka is surprised to see him but is eager to face him non the less to see who is stronger out of the two.

Kyoya discovers during battle that Gingka hasn't been slacking in his training either, making the two a perfect matchup. Gingka gains the upper hand after a minor slip on Kyoya's part and In an epic clash, two Star Fragement Beams hit bothGalaxy Pegasus and Rock Leonecausing a huge explosion.

When it seems that disaster has struck, instead a blessing has come apon both beys, causing them to evolve into Cosmic Pegasus and Fang Leone respectively.

They are happily to see that their beys have changed, but the battle rages on as neither blader is really able to control their beys. Kyoya gains better control then Gingka who is struggling to understand his Bey's new abilities, they both decide pull out what they know and have left in one final clash that ends the battle in a draw.

Beyblades

 * Rock Leone 145WBRockLeone.jpg: Kyoya's primary Beyblade in both Metal Fusion and Metal Masters. It is a powerfull defence type that has far greater agression then the average defence type. It represents the constellation of the Lion (Leon) and uses it's roar to create winds and use them to attack through its special moves.


 * Fang Leone 130W²DFangleone.jpg: Kyoya's primary Beyblade in Metal Fury. It is the evolved version of Rock Leone, it evolved when it was enchanted by a star fragment. It maintains it's former abilities of wind combined with Kyoya's Legend Aura that allow it to become a potentially great bey.

Special Moves

 * Lion Gale Force Wall: Leone uses it's ball tip to focus the air pressure under it then uses its rotation to form it into a twister that has been used for defending and attacking.
 * Lion 100 Fang Fury: Leone uses the Lion Gale Force Wall to fling debris at the enemy at high speed.
 * Lion Wild Wind Fang Dance: A stronger but slower version of Lion Gale Force wall that creates a powerful twister to attack the opponent.
 * King Lion Tearing Blast: Leone creates a flurry of several twisters using the same mechanics from its Lion Gale Force Wall. This puts great strain on Leone as it has caused it's track to crack on two occasions.
 * King Lion Furious Blast Shot: Leone immerses itself in a twister and fires itself at the opponent as a raging bullet.
 * King Lion Reverse Wind Strike: Leone leaps into the air and flips itself upsidown to gather a far greater amount of wind then on the ground. It then focuses this and fires the twister at the opponent from above.

Gallery
Main article: Kyoya Tategami/Gallery

Trivia

 * Kyoya's last name, Tategami is a play on the word 鬣 meaning "mane", like that of a lion. Kyoya's last name can also mean "divine shield", referencing Rock Leone's defense style.
 * Kyoya is similar to Kai Hiwatari from the original Beyblade series, from their character traits as well as being the ultimate rival of their series' main protagonist.
 * Kyoya and Ryuga are the only Legendary Bladers that don't use a 3-Segment Launcher.
 * Even though his team didn't even come in the top 4 teams in the world championship he defeated Damian Hart, the leader of Team Star Breaker that came in second in the world championships.
 * In Beyblade Metal Masters, Kyoya most likely didn't have a dark side because he had already merged with it like Ryuga had, as seen when his "wild" personality reached new levels of complete randomness and aggression, this personality change is also seen in Ryuga as he always smiles and laughs evily in Metal Fusion but only does so when he shows off his L-Drago's power in Metal Masters, but Tsubasa does not go through this change so it is merely a popular theory.
 * Despite being Gingka's biggest rival, not once has he beaten Gingka in a battle, whether in a tag team or single battle. However, this is because after episode 10 of Metal Fusion, all their battles had ended with a draw.