Esper Roba

Roba is confident and theatrical when maintaining his psychic persona, deliberately presenting ordinary information as supernatural insight. He enjoys the psychological advantage this gives him and understands that an opponent who believes his powers are real may begin second-guessing every move.

His cheating is closely tied to his family rather than simple greed. Roba wants to become respected enough that people will stop bullying his younger brothers, and the brothers enthusiastically participate in his scheme. That motivation does not excuse the deception, but it gives his behavior a more personal foundation than the cheating practiced by many other antagonistic duelists.

Once his trick is exposed, Roba proves capable of continuing without it. His remaining confidence comes from genuine skill and a powerful Deck rather than information secretly supplied by his brothers.

Roba does not possess the ESP he publicly claims. His four younger brothers position themselves where they can observe an opponent's hand and communicate that information to him, allowing Roba to seemingly predict cards and strategies.

His actual dueling ability is substantial. His Deck uses monsters associated with psychic and technological imagery, with Jinzo serving as his strongest and most recognizable card. Jinzo's ability to neutralize Trap Cards gives Roba a significant advantage against opponents dependent on defensive traps.

Roba also uses cards such as Cyber Raider and Reflect Bounder in the anime. His strategy remains dangerous after his cheating method is discovered, demonstrating that the false psychic act supplements rather than replaces his legitimate skill.

Roba participates in Battle City and establishes his reputation by defeating Dinosaur Ryuuzaki, taking Serpent Night Dragon as his ante card. Ryuuzaki subsequently warns Katsuya Jonouchi about Roba's apparent psychic abilities.

Jonouchi accepts the challenge anyway. Roba initially dominates by predicting his opponent's plays, but Jonouchi and his friends eventually determine that Roba's brothers are secretly observing his cards.

With the deception exposed, the duel becomes a direct contest between the two players. Jonouchi defeats Roba and receives Jinzo as his Battle City ante card. Roba accepts the result and asks Jonouchi to take care of the monster that had served as his ace.

Katsuya Jonouchi is Roba's principal Battle City opponent. Roba initially manipulates Katsuya Jonouchi with his false ESP, but their duel eventually becomes a legitimate contest once the trick is exposed.

Dinosaur Ryuuzaki loses to Roba before his duel with Katsuya Jonouchi. Roba takes Serpent Night Dragon from Dinosaur Ryuuzaki under Battle City's ante rules.

Roba's four younger brothers are central to both his motivation and his false psychic act. He wants to protect them from ridicule, while they secretly observe his opponents' cards and relay the information to him.