Pictured: Cards Inc. #40

Character file · Original series

Tala

Yuriy Ivanov · ユーリ・イヴァノーフ

Rival Demolition Boys (captain)Blitzkrieg Boys (captain) Beyblade (2000 season)Beyblade: G-Revolution

Bit-beast: Wolborg · Ice · White wolf
Style: Balance
From: Russian
First seen: Beyblade (2000 season) — first appears with Ian at Boris' abbey

series

episodes on record

Beyblades

special moves

cards across 3 games

Tala Valkov — Yuriy Ivanov in Japan — captains the Demolition Boys, the team Biovolt built inside Balkov Abbey, and is the last obstacle between Tyson and the world title. Raised alongside Kai under Boris, bred and trained from childhood as a weapon, he is icy, proud and quick to anger, and openly jealous of how plainly Boris favours Kai. His wolf Wolborg freezes the dish and whoever is standing in it, and before the final Boris has his body cybernetically enhanced, turning the decider into a match against a machine as much as a blader. G-Revolution shows a different man: captain of the renamed Blitzkrieg Boys, blading beside Kai, openly glad to run into Tyson in the woods, and set on stopping Boris ruining anyone else's chances. He lends Tyson his own power for the final battle, and is left comatose by Garland for standing up to BEGA.

Appearance and personality

What They Look Like, and How They Behave

Average height and lean, with red hair falling in two loose strands from a widow's peak and pale blue eyes. The skin is drawn very pale, to place him in the Russian cold he comes from.

Trained to blade from childhood and, beyond that, engineered for it. He is sarcastic, quick to anger and sharper than he lets on — he works out Barthez's plan and the link back to Boris long before anyone else. The pride is real and so is the insecurity underneath it: he underrates opponents like Kenny and Daichi, and he is jealous of Kai, which in the first season curdles into anger at Boris for favouring Kai over him. By G-Revolution the antagonism has thinned out into something protective — he is openly pleased to run into Tyson in the woods, and set on stopping Boris taking anyone else's hopes apart.

Blader Profile

Tala, rated

Attack 8/10
Defense 7/10
Stamina 9/10
Technique 9/10
Spirit 8/10

beybladewiki.com editorial rating — based on on-screen performance, not official stats.

Cold precision and endurance make him the most complete villain-turned-ally in the series.

On file

The record

Blading style: Balance
Nationality: Russian
English voice: Jamie Haydon-Devlin
Team: Demolition Boys / Blitzkrieg Boys
Beyblades: Wolborg (manga only); Wolborg 2; Wolborg 4; Wolborg MS (manga only); Wolborg 8 Bearing
Bit-beast or avatar: Wolborg
First appearance: Beyblade (2000 season) — first appears with Ian at Boris' abbey
Japanese name: ユーリ・イヴァノーフ
Romaji: Yūri Ivanōfu
Also known as: Yuriy Ivanov
Occupation: Blader
Gender: Male
First anime appearance: Drawn to the Darkness
First manga appearance: Invasion of the Russian Army Corps, Borg!!
Voice (Japanese): Chiaki Morita
Voice (English): Jamie Haydon-Devlin

Bit-beast & Beyblades

Wolborg, form by form

Special moves

Called shots

Novae Rog Blizzalog

Story by season

Where the seasons take them

Beyblade (2001)

Demolition Boys (captain)

Tala first turns up guarding Balkov Abbey with Ian, trying to keep the Bladebreakers from reaching Kai, then routs the All Starz in seconds once the World Championships begin — a win overshadowed instantly when Kai defects and claims four bit-beasts alone. Watching Boris favour his new recruit stings Tala more than any rival blader does. When Kai returns to Tyson's side, Tala helps tear Black Dranzer apart and folds its captured bit-beasts into his own arsenal before the final, where Boris also has his body quietly rebuilt into something closer to a machine. Facing Tyson, he drags the match into a frozen alternate dimension and nearly buries him under every stolen power at once, but Tyson claws back the last round, and Tala offers his hand when it ends.

Beyblade G-Revolution (2003)

Blitzkrieg Boys (captain)

Tala captains the Blitzkrieg Boys through the round-robin, beating Julia in America and grinding past Kenny in Rome before Daichi exposes a flaw in Wolborg 4 to win the tie-breaker; he rebounds through Egypt and Australia, beating Aaron and Lee, then draws his final rematch with Daichi when both bit-beasts are too battered to continue. Once Boris resurfaces behind BEGA, Tala walks out on the tournament and returns with Bryan and Spencer to shut the league down; the three cut through BEGA's recruits before Tala alone stands up to Garland, forcing a draw that costs him his beyblade and lands him in hospital. Hospitalised, he still gives Tyson the resolve to fight on, waking near the end to hand him Wolborg's power for the last push past Brooklyn.

Briefing

What to know

Captain of the Demolition Boys, later the Blitzkrieg Boys in G-Revolution.
Bit-beast is Wolborg, upgraded across Wolborg 2, Wolborg 4, Wolborg MS, and Wolborg 8 Bearing.
Genetically trained from a young age at Balkov Abbey to guarantee victories.
Loses the World Championship final to Tyson despite commanding every captured bit-beast.
Severely injured in a draw against BEGA's Garland and hospitalized afterward.
Gives Tyson a boost of Wolborg's power to help beat Brooklyn in the finale.
Develops mutual respect with both Kai Hiwatari and Tyson Granger over the series.

Notable battles

Tyson Granger — World Championship final (Lose)
The All Starz — first Demolition Boys match (Win)
Daichi Sumeragi — G-Revolution tie-breaker (Lose)
Rick Anderson (tag) — Spain round (Lose)
Aaron — Egypt round (Win)
Garland Siebald — BEGA headquarters (Draw)

Key episodes

Watch these first

S1E42 Drawn to the Darkness Beyblade (2001) · Russian World Championship · Oct 22, 2001
S1E43 Live and Let Kai! Beyblade (2001) · Russian World Championship · Oct 29, 2001
S1E50 New and Cyber-Improved... Beyblade (2001) · Russian World Championship · Dec 17, 2001
S1E51 Final Showdown Beyblade (2001) · Russian World Championship · Dec 24, 2001
S3E13 Kenny's Big Battle Beyblade G-Revolution (2003) · Tag Team World Championship · Mar 31, 2003
S3E14 Picking Up the Pieces Beyblade G-Revolution (2003) · Tag Team World Championship · Apr 7, 2003
S3E16 Fire and Water Beyblade G-Revolution (2003) · Tag Team World Championship · Apr 21, 2003
S3E28 Changing Gears Beyblade G-Revolution (2003) · Tag Team World Championship · Jul 14, 2003
S3E36 Boris, the Blade Stops Here! Beyblade G-Revolution (2003) · Rise of BEGA · Sep 8, 2003

Also on record

Where they first appear

Resolved against our own episode records, so the pointer the entry carries as text is a link you can follow.

Beyblade (2001) episode 42: Drawn to the Darkness First anime appearance · 2001-10-22

Sightings

Episodes they appear in

Taken from the episode records rather than this entry’s own. A blader who appears once can have a full episode list here while their own entry runs to three lines.

Rivals & bonds

Known associates

Tyson Granger World final opponent
Kai Hiwatari abbey rival turned teammate
Boris Balkov former master
Bryan Spencer Ian Demolition Boys
Garland Siebald

Cross-references

Teams, places and more

Attributed, not verified by us

Claims We Could Not Check

Takao Aoki wrote an unused manga chapter on Tala's childhood, posting it to his blog; part of it later surfaced in Beyblade Rising.
The English dub's 'Cyber Tala' cybernetic-enhancement claim was a mistranslation absent from the original Japanese.
His zodiac sign is Aquarius.

In the card games