Gao Mikado

"The Mighty Sun Fighter is here!"

- Gao Mikado "Gao Mikado" is the primary protagonist in Future Card Buddyfight. His buddy monster is Drum Bunker Dragon, nicknamed "Drum".

He is a member of team Balle du Soleil, along with Baku Omori, Kiri Hyoryu, and Kuguru Uki.

He is voiced by Marie Mizuno (Japanese) and Patricia Bacchus (English).

Name
His name "Gao" in Japanese can also be read as "Kiba-O", which literally means "Fang King", possibly to match with the fact his buddy, Drum Bunker Dragon's full name is "Drum Bunker Dragon Fang Slade Terrestrial XIII".

His surname, "Mikado", is the term for the Emperor of Japan, who is the symbol of the state and of the unity of the people, similar to Gao's role in the anime.

Appearance
Gao wears indigo sweatpants with a yellow stripe going along the side. He also wears a black and indigo jacket with a red-orange (sun design) undershirt. His hair is red in the front and black in the back. He wears a torn student cap adorned with a sun ornament. This may be a reference to Jotaro Kujo from Jojo's Bizarre Adventure.

Personality
Gao has always been a nice kid, although he may not look it. He seems to trust Baku Omori a lot as when during episode 60 he hesitates to use his impact until Baku tells him to do so. His mother teaches him Mikado-style Aiki-jujutsu at the family dojo. He is a 6th-year student in Aibo Academy's elementary division. Gao strongly admired his older brother Yota Mikado, he was a big fan of Yota's comic, the "Mighty Sun Fighter" (”太陽番長” Taiyou Banchō, lit. Sun Banchō), and tries to be the Mighty Sun Fighter himself. he will not turn his back on those in need. This is shown when he saves Kiri Hyoryu from three bullies.

When he first started studying the Mikado style, he enjoyed winning a lot, that caused him to start becoming obsessed with winning at all costs, so much that he stopped caring about his opponents and accidentally hurt one. Gao struggles with shame and guilt over this, so he avoids caring about winning or losing when Buddyfighting, and fears over becoming obsessed with winning again, as shown when he beat Rouga in one turn out of anger.

Gao seems to have a strong bond with his friends and it takes something major for him to be truly angry at them as while he constantly argues with Baku over things they are like small arguments, but when Gao learned Noboru was moving to another country after their match in the ABC ended made him very angry because Noboru hadn't told him, this caused him to be mad at Noboru during their entire fight.

Gao's teachings as the Sun fighter often have positive effects on people, such as Jin Magatsu deciding not to lose on purpose or Genma remembering Yota. However, unaware to him his constantly increasing skills and frequent wins sometimes have negative effects on others, such as Drum and Kiri doubting their own skills when comparing themselves and becoming depressed to the point that Drum temporarily left Gao and Kiri accepted Rouga's invitation to Sengoku Academy and later accept a Dark Core. At times Gao has expressed regret over some of his actions causing more problems than they fix.

Drum's Arrival
After drawing a Buddy Rare card during class, Gao received a Core Deck Case from Tasuku Ryuenji. Gao then challenges the Junior High officer to a Buddyfight despite not having any previous experience. Gao manages to beat Tasuku despite everyone underestimating him, after the fight Tasuku calls Gao his rival and gives him Gargantua Punisher!!. The next day Gao meets Tetsuya Kurodake, whom he challenges to a fight hoping for Tetsuya to be his practice tuner. Gao wins using Gargantua Punisher!!, and becomes friends with Tetsuya.

The next day Kiri Hyoryu is transfered Gao, after classes Gao takes Kiri to Castle store so the Castle Store Manager can teach him Buddyfighting. Gao tutors and supports Kiri during his practice fight against the castle store manager, helping him win.

Gao's class goes on a  trip to the Photon Metal mines, but the trip was going to be cancelled due to Wolf attacking the mine to steal Photon Metal, but Gao and his friends don't realize it due to Hitotaba Neginoyama not answering the phone call stating the trip was cancelled. Gao runs into the mines and finds Wolf, who has the ability to make cards become real, and watches Tasuku face Wolf using Future Force.

Rouga Aragami attempts to challenge Gao to a fight in order to attract Tasuku's attention, but Gao rejects the challenge due to Rouga's attitude reminding him about his former attitude, but accepts after Rouga savagely beats Tetsuya and calling Tetsuya a bait. During the fight Gao doesn't fight as he usually does, despite winning in one turn, he played too aggresively. After the fight Gao remembers about his obssesion with winning and tries to apologize to Rouga, only to find out Rouga left the school, Gao feels guilty over it, but Hitotaba tells Gao he shouldn't blame himself over it and should try becoming friends with Rouga.

ABC Cup
When hearing about the ABC Cup he asks Baku and Kuguru to be on his team as his Deck Builder and Analyst, however when Gao suggests their team name be "Team Mighty Sun Fighters" he and Baku get into an argument and Gao decides to build his deck himself. Kuguru has him watch Baku make Tetsuya a new deck and after watching Tetsuya beat Noboru in a buddyfight apologizes with Kuguru suggesting they call their team "Team Fusée de Soleil" which Baku and Gao agree with.

During the qualifying match of the ABC Cup Gao narrowly avoids being defeated, Baku and Kuguru soon find Gao' s main weakness is he often leaves his center open and rework his deck to add Thunder Knights, Halberd Dragon and give it synergy, but Gao refuses to use it as the deck goes against his style. When he deck is stolen by Jin Magatsu, Halberd Dragon makes him realize that his monsters are his friends and always willing to help him. Gao beats Jin using Halberd Dragon's ablities, however he soon learns Jin and Baku staged the whole event to get Gao to use his new deck.

In the first round of the ABC Cup, Gao is chosen to fight against Suzuha Amanosuzu as his first opponent. Suzuha's Magic World deck gives him trouble due to her combo cards, her item card Gunrod, Bechstein which lets her attack Gao even when both centers are occupied and her Great Spell, My Grandfather Clock that lets Suzuha get 2 turns in a row. He is ultimately victorious but is unaware Suzuha has developed a crush on him.

Before the second match of round 1 he finds the Seifukai surrounding Zanya Kisaragi, after Totsuo Doai clears the misunderstanding Gao is asked if he would like to be a Seifukai when he enters Middle School, but Gao declines preferring to stay the Mighty Sun Fighter. During Zanya and Totsuo's match he had a good feeling what Zanya was planning and realized Totsuo was walking into a trap, something that confused Drum and made him think about the words Totsuo's buddy told him earlier.

During the semi-finals Gao is chosen to fight Noboru, but he learns from Noboru's parents he was moving to another country after the match. Gao felt furious during the entire match with Noboru due to this and only once Gao ended the match with Gargantua Punisher!! did Noboru realize Gao had found out. Its also revealed Gao transferred to Aibo Academy 3 years ago and always seemed to be alone until Noboru and his friends asked them to play Dodgeball with them to his surprise and joy.

To prepare for the finals of the ABC Cup, Gao's mother allows Gao to use the card his brother Yota gave him: Sun Fist, Sunshine Impact. That item card helped Gao win in his match with Genma Todoroki while also helping Genma realize what it truly means to be the Mighty Sun Fighter. After the match, Genma gives Gao the original copy of Yota's comic, because he did not know where Yota's address was at the time and because he was busy to deliver it.

The Gaen financial group invited all the participants of the ABC Cup to enter its annual party. There, Gao Mikado solved the case of the missing card by making a lucky guess. After being saved by Drum, Dragowizard, Qinus Axia decides to join Gao and Drum. He becomes Gao's temporary buddy after Drum left him to become stronger. This caused Gao to be lose his interest in playing Buddyfight. After watching the castle shop champion Wind fight using Dungeon World, Gao found a new reason to play the game; to feel the thrill of playing the game. He then decided to fight Wind; who was revealed to be a girl named Kazane Fujimiya. Drum also returns from his training to assist Gao in his fight against Kazane.

As Gao, Kazane and the others go to the Mikado Residence, they see Akatsuki hiding on the ceiling skipping Zanya's training session. Zanya finds out Akatsuki's hiding at Gao's house and Drum shows his Dungeon World form. Soon, Paruko comes running by saying Kiri's been taken by Rouga.

Aibo Academy vs Sengoku Academy
Soon the next day, Gao, Kazane, Baku, Tetsuya, Kuguru, Drum, Zanya, Akatsuki, Paruko, and Suzuha plan to go to Sengoku Academy. Suzuha faints after hearing leaving Gao and the others to go save Kiri in Suzuha's sky blimp. After having a crash landing, Gao and the others arrive at Sengoku.

They fight the top 4 students, referred as the "Four Demon Generals," and Rouga so they can bring Kiri back. After Zanya defeats the second General, Kanahebi, Gao surprises everyone by testing his new Magic World deck against Raremaro Tefudanokimi; who originally structured his deck to counteract Gao's usual Dragon World tactics. Gao wins, and acknowledges Raremaro for the match.

Kazane decides to take on Shosetsu Kirisame, the last of the Four Demon Generals, leaving Gao and Drum to go to the cafeteria in Sengoku to find food for his friends. After successfully defeating the students in the cafeteria to get the food, he hears Kiri's cry for help and rushes to his aid. Surprised to see Sofia Sakharov in Sengoku, she uses her Disaster Force to send Gao and Drum thousands of feet above Sengoku to fall. Gao encourages Drum to use his Buddy Skill to save them both, but then learns that Drum does not know how to activate it. Gao then motivates Drum and eventually Drum successfully activates his Buddy Skill and saves himself and his partner. Kazane then flies with her Buddy Skill to inform him that he is almost late to his match with Shosetsu.

After appearing before it was too late, the match finally starts and Gao reverts back to using Dragon World, but reveals that he has a new deck, focusing on the "Thunder Knights" monsters. In the middle of his match with Shosetsu, Shosetsu uses power from a Dark Core Deck Case given by Sofia, and the Buddy Police later intervened to prevent Shosetsu from hurting anyone; temporarily postponing his match with Gao. After Tasuku used Future force to defeat Shosetsu, Gao convinces the Buddy Police and Shosetsu to resume their match from where they previously left off. Gao wins this match against Shosetsu with the secondary effect of "Thunder Formation!" to call his Buddy Monster's new form, Thunder Knights, Drum Bunker Dragon.

Gao then proceeds to fight Rouga using his new Dungeon World deck, much to Rouga's surprise; stating that he did so in order to somehow impress Rouga. During the match, Gao and Rouga conflict over their ideals in friendship and start to have fun in the process. The match would have ended in a draw due to Big Surprise Pandora's ability, but Gao managed to win by destroying Brave Equipment, Glory Seeker and revealing Cecilia's Spell Disarm, thus winning him the match. As promised, Rouga returned Kiri into Gao's hands; acknowledging him as his rival in the process of escaping Tasuku and the Buddy Police.

After the Buddy Police give Gao and his friends a ride back home, they celebrate Kiri's return at the Mikado residence. Much to their surprise, they realize that Kiri went to Sengoku Academy on purpose and that Paruko mistook Rouga taking Kiri as him being captured. Gao faces Kiri using his Magic World deck and wins, but after the fight Qinus Axia decides to leave Gao in order to find his own buddy.

Disaster and Darkness Dragon World
While finishing his paperwork with the Buddy Police to register Drum's new forms, he and Drum go for a ride with the Buddy Police with Stella Watson and Tsurugi Takihara and they also witness the Buddy Police in action. Gao also gets a look at the powers of Hero World and meets the legendary hero Captain Answer.

When Kiri left Aibo Academy to move to his new school, Gao was surprised to receive the news and received a letter from him after a month. Gao and Drum went off to find Kiri, only to be surprised when Kiri reveals his Dark Core Gadget and his new Buddy monster Ice Blade, Joker. After an intense battle, Gao wins using Thunder Knights, Bastard-sword Dragon and learns that Kiri chose to receive the Dark Core's power from Davide Yamazaki in order to get stronger and win more battles.

Shocked by the sudden change in his friend's ideals, Gao decides to wait for Kiri in front of his school, hoping he would show. Gao fails to find Kiri, and then he runs into a battle between Kazane and Davide and learns of Darkness Dragon World's powers. Unbeknownst to him, a new power was granted to Gao as shown in his dream,in which he was chosen to cleanse the darkness; transforming his impact card into a new, evolved form. By challenging Davide to a Buddyfight at Buddy Fest and agreeing to win using his impact card, Gao surprises everyone by winning the match using his new impact Roaring Slash!! Gargantua Punisher!!. Breaking his promise, Davide uses his Disaster Force to convert his Evil Death Scythe to reality to attack Gao. Gao blocks the attack with his Blue Dragon Shield and is revealed to be able to use Future Force, much to everyone's shock, even Tasuku.

When a mysterious criminal calling himself "Grim Reaper" appears, he and Zanya work together to capture him, but Zanya is defeated and Tsukikage is taken away. Gao then realizes that Grim Reaper is none other than Kiri,

Together with Tasuku and Drum,they arrived to the Disaster hideout. He buddyfights Kiri and managed to make Kiri realize his true feelings. Using Roaring Slash!! Gargantua Punisher!!,he won and destroyed Kiri's Dark Core. Joker decided to help him, admitting that he was controlled too. He then returned to Tasuku but realized that he had lost to Kyoya and Azi Dahaka and later was taken away, then when he sees stolen the Buddy Monsters who were controlled, his anger causes Future Force to be activated, making the power of Roaring Slash!! Gargantua Punisher!! real and destroying Disaster's hideout. He then buddyfights Elf Kabala and rescued Tsukikage from Disaster.

The Gaen Cup
He was invited to the Gaen Cup but was unsure because he knew of Kyoya's true intentions. However,thanks to Zanya and Tetsuya's encouragement,he decoded to participate to reveal Disaster's and Kyoya's true colors. Balle du Soleil's opponent for the first round was Team Goddess and Gao's opponent was Paruko who nearly beats him but Gao manages to win and advance his team to the next round.

Gao watches the following rounds, during which he was surprised that Rouga "used" Disaster Force and called Kyoya a friend and then finds out that Noboru has returned to Japan and is participating on the tournament.

After the Purgatory Knight is revealed to be Tasuku, Gao tries to confront him believing he's being controlled by the Dark Core, but Tasuku states that he joined Disaster on his own will. Sofia tries to erase his memory of the conversation but is rescued by Kiri who reminds him that everyone is supporting him, and then entrusts him with Jackknife Dragon. Gao's opponent for the second round is Gremlin, Baku's cousin. Using Baku's deck and some help from Jackknife Dragon, Gao is able to defeat him and move Balle du Soleil to the finals against Team Purgatory. He will be facing off against Purgatory Knight Tasuku in the final round. He and the rest of the team find it suspicious but are willing to do it to stop Kyoya and Disaster.

Gao and Tasuku's rematch finally begins, both quickly reducing each other's life quickly and Demios Sword Dragon defeating Drum. Gao is pushed to a corner and has the chance to activate Roaring Slash! Gargantua Punisher!! but is hesitant over Tasuku's Distortion Punisher!! Baku convinces him to activate Gargantua Punisher!! which triggers Distortion Punisher, but he manages to survive with Dragon Return System. To his surprise however, Tasuku's Crush that Body, and Sustain Mine has the same revival effect.

At that point, Great Evil Dragon, Samael Apocalypse appears a portal and breaks through into the arena. After Tasuku is knocked back, Gao's Future Force activates again, except this time by his own will and when it activates he looks just like the Mighty Sun Fighter. With Dragoenergy, he sends the dragon back into the portal. Kyoya reveals the audience that the Gaen Cup's "real objective" is to recruit kids to use Disaster Force so they can combat an incoming invasion from Darkness Dragon World and gains the support from everyone besides Gao's friends. He and Tasuku continue the match, and Tasuku reveals his reasons for joining Disaster and attacks Gao, but Gao defends. On his next turn, he calls Jackknife Dragon, yet is unable to defeat Tasuku. However, with a timely counterspell, Gao managed to evolve Jackknife Dragon into Jackknife "Thunderstorm", and defeat Tasuku, winning the Gaen Cup for Team Balle du Soleil.

After the match, Kyoya offers him a Dark Core and his friendship, but Gao immediately rejects both knowing they're lies. Kyoya proceeds to reval his real plan: tricking kids into using Disaster Force so they fuel the portals for the invasion to begin. Determined to put an end to Kyoya's ambition once and for all, Gao demands a fight against Kyoya.

The Final Battle
While preparing for his buddyfight against Kyoya, Gao is forced to watch as the world guillibly believes Kyoya's lies and see him as a messiah while they see him as the bad guy. Even the Castle Store manager believes more in Kyoya and gives away free Dark Core replicas. Gao remains positive and confident as usual knowing that he's fighting to reveal the truth, but doubt manages to flood his mind anyways. Tasuku visits Gao the night before the fight and thanks him for making him realize his mistakes, and to encourage him for the fight. Gao still remains doubtful however, but Drum reminds him of their first fight together and reassures him that they are buddies. With his spirit revived, Gao goes to fight Kyoya.

Right before going to the fighting arena, he finds all of his friends waiting for him and they all give him advices and encouragement. The fight begins, with Kyoya revealing his special Flag Dragon Ein, which Tasuku had warned him about the night before. Kyoya quickly takes the lead, but Gao manages to reduce his hand to zero. The next turn, Kyoya calls his Buddy Monster Demonic Demise Dragon, Azi Dahaka and leaves Gao with no field and only 1 life left. Gao manages to destroy Azi Dahaka, but that turns out to be a misplay, as it allows Kyoya to equip Demonic Demise Sword, Aqulta Gwaneff.

Kyoya reveals to the world that he plans to solve the world's problems by removing all individuality, and explains that Disaster Force is created by a spatial rift in reality caused by Buddyfight cards. Gao tries to convince Kyoya that if everyone were the same, life and Buddyfight would be boring, and activates his Future Force. Kyoya taunts Gao by showing him that he has a Blue Dragon Shield. When all seems lost, Future Force summons Drum's form from the future, with it, and Sunshine Impact, Gao defeats Kyoya.

However Kyoya remains perfectly calm, his goal was never to win the match, but to activate Gao's "Disaster Force", but to his surprise Future Force, while having the same capabilites as Disaster Force, its different, its power comes from the potential of the future. Gao's Future Force closes the portal to Darkness Dragon World, and Tasuku destroys the portal generator, putting an end to Kyoya's goal once and for all.

Gao however doesn't hate Kyoya for everything he did, and instead offers Kyoya to become friends. The next day Tasuku tells Gao that he's going to Dragon World for a vacation and to train, so Gao returns him the Gargantua Punisher!!, and Tasuku in exchange gives him a blank card so Gao can create his very own impact card.

Season 2 Biography
Gao will return as the main protagonist for Season 2. It is confirmed that he will join the Buddy Police and will use Hero World in addition to his usual Dragon World.

Abilities
Combat Skills: Due to being trained in martial arts, Gao is capable of hand-to-hand combat. In episode 1, he effortlessly fought against a group of bullies. In episode 5, he fought with Rouga Aragami, who was using his moniker, 'Wolf'.

Future Force: Gao is able to use Future Force, a power that can turn Buddyfight cards real. He gets this ability from the cat-like eyes, signifying that the Buddy Police do not control it directly. Originally, it activated against his will when he is in danger or enraged, and he had no memory over what he did while it's active. But during the Gaen Cup final, he was able to activate it by himself.

Evolution: Gao has the ability to evolve impact cards, a power granted to him by the cat-like eyes. This is seen when he evolved Gargantua Punisher into Roaring Slash!! Gargantua Punisher!!.

Buddy Skill: Gao's Buddy Skill is a golden hoverboard with the Sun beneath it. This gives him the ability to fly alongside his buddy, Drum Bunker Dragon.

Trivia

 * It's mentioned in Japanese Animage-magazine's issue 8/14 that he is 145 cm tall.
 * Gao is currently the only character to have two card versions of him in Dungeon World.
 * Gao is currently the only character in the anime to be undefeated.