Charon

Charon is the main antagonist of Taylor Gorrell's Halloween special fanfiction, Faceoff on the Styx Railway. A transporter of lost souls in the underworld, he crosses into the living world to retrieve any souls that escaped into that world... even if he has to steal the souls of the living as well.

Appearance
Charon has the appearance of a man in his late 30s or early 40s, having short and pale bluish-white hair along with a matching goatee. His eyes are a very light gray, almost white, which are dull and soulless, usually staring. Charon wears an ash gray train conductor's uniform with a red tie and black buttons, completed by an ash gray conductor's cap with a black plus sign on it.

Though he does Turbo Duel, Charon does not use an actual Duel Runner. Instead, he drives a silver train, much smaller than than a typical locomotive that can act as a Duel Runner (about the size of one as well) with a blue light on the front, the cab having no roof. Trailing behind the engine are four black train cars that hold captured souls.

Personality
Charon is a stoic and unnerving individual who is fully committed to fulfilling his duty of returning lost souls to the underworld and protecting the integrity of the boundary between to the two worlds. To this end, he is openly apathetic to the plights of the souls he captures even though they are terrified of him, capturing them from out of the sky without paying them any heed. He considers the living an "obstacle" to performing this task and will capture the souls of the living without worry if they get in his way. Though he is apathetic in his performance, he is not entirely uncaring, claiming the souls of the living are returned in the end, but he feels that he has no time to care during his time in the living world. Charon is very punctual, referring to how much time he has in this world multiple times and becoming irritated at "delays". To him, the ends justify his means, claiming if he can stop eternal suffering, he will willingly cause short-term suffering that can be fixed.

Abilities
Being otherworldly in nature, Charon is immortal (or rather, doesn't actually live), and his abilities surpass normal humans. He has complete command over his train, which is as much a spirit as him. Through it, he can create tracks made out of a strange fog, allowing his train to drive across surfaces that are not rails, and even "fly" by moving the tracks into mid-air. This fog can also reveal wandering spirits, which are normally invisible to human eyes. He can also create portals, allowing him to cover vast distances with ease. Charon's train's cars act as a prison for wandering souls, and he can cause ghostly hands to emerge from the cars in order to capture other souls and pull them in. The hands can also reach inside living beings and pull their souls out of their bodies, leaving them as immobile husks. He is also capable of releasing the souls from the cards, even able to choose which souls can be released and which stay trapped. Charon can sense lost souls, which aids him in location, and not only can he see souls normally, but he can also see them within people as well, as seen with Carly. When Charon engages in a Turbo Duel, he is capable of overriding "" cards, replacing the Field with "Underworld Track".

Etymology
Charon is the name of the ferryman of the River Styx in Greek mythology, who carried souls from the living world to the underworld, much as this character does with his train. This reference is further by the fanfiction's name and the legend around Charon, also known as "Styx Railway".

Faceoff on the Styx Railway
On Halloween night in, Charon continuously drives through the city on his train, collecting lost souls that had crossed into the living world, attacking living beings that got in his way. However, his actions were largely detached from the actions of the main characters, only being brought to their attention when Trudge contacted Yusei, the aftermath of Charon's attacks getting Security's attention. When Yusei told Jack, Crow, and about this and asked opinions, Crow brought up the legend of the "Styx Railway", which seemed to describe Charon.

Charon finally encountered the Signers in person when he appeared near Jack, stealing the souls of a mother and her daughter right in front of him. Jack followed him in rage as Charon fled through a portal, and although Charon initially paid Jack no heed, he was fully aware that he was there, calling him a parasite before transporting back to the ground, ending up near Yusei. However, when Charon attempted to steal another person's soul, Yusei's Signer Mark activated, creating a bubble shield that could deflect the hands. Charon brought his train to a stop, introductions being made, but he then declared that he would "beat them at their own game", taking Yusei and Jack on in a 2-on-1 Duel in an attempt to stop their power and claim their souls as well.

The Duel took place on the fog track Charon created, acting as the Field Spell "Underworld Track", high above the city. Despite being in the middle of the Duel, Charon descended to Earth once more for another collection, nearly capturing Carly and Jill's souls, but Jack formed a barrier himself, deflecting Charon's power and knocking him out of the way. Charon then explained his nature: He is a transporter of lost souls, and every Halloween, he travels to the living world to reclaim any souls that cross over due to the barrier between worlds weakening. Twice in the Duel, Charon prevented his demise through cards designed to counter a loss, showing his refusal to just lose.

After Summoning his strongest monster, "Soul Express Engine DMTN-X", Charon descended upon the route for New Domino City's Halloween parade, using his monster to capture souls, but the combined power of the Signers created a barrier over the whole area, preventing his power from doing anything to them. Wholly angered, Charon attempted to run over Akiza and Nathan to crush the barrier, but he was stopped by Nathan materializing "Stardust Paladin" through his inherited psychic powers. This is when Charon drops a bombshell: "If you DO stop me... Those forces could RETURN." He then grabbed Paladin and chucked him into the path of the charging DMTN-X, allowing him to keep moving, deciding to focus on the Duel.

Back in the air, Charon revealed that his apathy is a measure to make sure he completes his duty: The weakness of the barrier is because of being attacked by lost souls that were left in the living world, and if he doesn't reclaim as many souls as he can, they will contribute even more damage, so he declares that he must claim every soul in the parade route in order to make his deadline. However, in the end, Charon is defeated by Yusei and Jack, but when they tell him that they'll handle any returning evil, he states he'll hold them to that before the final hit strikes him, causing explosions to rock his train as he vanishes again.

Charon attempted to drop Yusei and Jack safely to the ground with another portal, but his concentration was lost from the last attack, causing the portal to be incorrectly placed and the Signers to fall to the ground (though they were saved by timely intervention from Nathan using his power again). The train re-appeared on the ground and crashed into a wall, Charon limping out of the cab, groaning at his loss but relieved that his train wasn't compromised. He assumed Yusei would attack him, but he was surprised when Yusei tried to help him up (he eventually accepted), being further surprised when the Signers offered to help him in his mission from their side. Charon was hesitant to agree, but he eventually decided that it was his only option, though a good one, and he released every soul from his train that he stole from a living being, though it put him very far behind. He agreed to put his trust in the Signers to help him and hoped that if they met again, it would be on more favorable terms, before getting his train back into a state to move again, driving off through another portal and vanishing. As the Halloween parade was going on, the echo of Charon's train's whistle could be heard in the distance.

Decks
Charon plays a Soul Express Engine Deck, which continuously banishes monsters from the Graveyard to give his monsters Soul Car Counters in order to Synchro Summon using only one monster, then using those Counters for his effect. Through his signature "Underworld Track" Field Spell, he can utilize non-"Speed Spell" Spell Cards in a Turbo Duel. His Deck also appears to have a slight focus on preventing his defeat, with two cards that can only be activated if his LP are about to hit 0.