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Tyson Granger: our photograph of the Collision card #096, Tyson, Eager Champion

Pictured: Collision #096

Character file · Original series

Tyson Granger

Takao Kinomiya · 木ノ宮タカオ

Protagonist BladebreakersBBA Revolution / G Revolutions Beyblade (2000)Beyblade V-ForceBeyblade G-Revolution
Bit-beast
Dragoon · Wind · Blue dragon (Seiryu, the Azure Dragon of the East)
Style
Attack
From
Japanese
First seen
Beyblade manga, Volume 1 / anime Episode 1

3

series

156

episodes on record

8

Beyblades

10

special moves

27

cards across 4 games

Biography

Tyson Granger — Takao Kinomiya in Japan — is the loud, hungry, endlessly stubborn heart of the series: a boy from a kendo dojo in Bay City who blades on instinct and refuses to accept that any match is over. He wins the Japanese qualifier in the first season, is drafted into the Bladebreakers alongside the rivals he has just beaten, and takes the world title in Moscow, the first of three in a row. Later seasons test whether he can carry that without letting it swell his head: first against the Saint Shields and Zeo, then against a fractured team, his own brother, and the BEGA machine. He is left-handed and launches right-handed for control, and the drive underneath it all is grief for a mother who died when he was small, a thread the English dub mostly cut. What never changes is Dragoon, the wind dragon sealed in his family's sword, and the habit of pulling a win out of sheer refusal to quit — including the last one, where he talks Brooklyn down from the edge using the strength of every bit-beast his friends can lend him.

Appearance and personality

What They Look Like, and How They Behave

Tyson is drawn short and sturdy, with blue hair, a backwards ball cap and an open jacket over a yellow shirt — a silhouette that survives three redesigns. The hat is his brother Hiro's, handed down after a match, and in the manga Tyson passes it on to his own son. V-Force lightens his skin, turns his eyes brown, swaps the shorts for grey jeans and takes him from about five foot to five foot three. G-Revolution puts him back in the red jacket and yellow shirt of the first season, adds a Beyblade holder strapped to his left arm, and darkens the jeans and the gloves.

Loud, certain and hard to discourage. Tyson arrives wanting to be the best and keeps saying so even after he loses, and the ego that comes with three straight world titles is treated as a real flaw rather than a joke — it gets worse before it gets better. He speaks his mind, which lands him in more trouble than most boys his age and rarely troubles him for long. Outside Beyblade he makes friends slowly, because he turns almost everything into a contest; inside it he changes people, usually by beating them and then refusing to let them quit. Kai, Tala, Zeo and Brooklyn all get the same treatment.

Blader Profile

Tyson Granger, rated

  • Attack 9/10
  • Defense 6/10
  • Stamina 7/10
  • Technique 7/10
  • Spirit 10/10

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

Overwhelming offense and unmatched willpower carry him through matches he is technically losing.

On file

The record

Blading style
Attack
Nationality
Japanese
English voice
Marlowe Gardiner-Heslin
Team
Bladebreakers / BBA Revolution / G Revolutions
Beyblades
Dragoon Grip Attacker; Dragoon S; Dragoon Storm; Dragoon Fantom; Dragoon Victory; Dragoon V2; Dragoon Galaxy; Dragoon Galaxy Turbo
Bit-beast or avatar
Dragoon
First appearance
Beyblade manga, Volume 1 / anime Episode 1
Japanese name
木ノ宮タカオ
Romaji
Kinomiya Takao
Also known as
World Champion / Little Brother (by Hiro)
Occupation
World-Class Blader / #1 Beyblader in the World / Leader of the Bladebreakers (Japanese Dub)
Gender
Male
First anime appearance
The Blade Raider
First manga appearance
The Invincible Beyblader
Voice (Japanese)
Motoko Kumai
Voice (English)
Marlowe Gardiner-Heslin

Etymology

Where the Name Comes From

His Japanese name, Takao, is taken from Takao Aoki, who created the Beyblade manga — a name Aoki himself shares with a Japanese heavy cruiser.

Bit-beast & Beyblades

Dragoon, form by form

  1. Dragoon Grip Attacker S1 · ep 1
  2. Dragoon S S1 · ep 2
  3. Dragoon F S1 · ep 23
  4. Dragoon V S2 · ep 1
  5. Dragoon V2 S2 · ep 30
  6. Dragoon G S3 · ep 1
  7. Dragoon GT S3 · ep 26
  8. Dragoon MS S3 · ep 39

Special moves

Called shots

Storm AttackVictory TornadoEvolution StormGalaxy StormGalaxy Turbo TwisterHyper Victory TornadoPhantom HurricaneRising HurricaneRising Phantom HurricaneUltimate Storm Attack

Story by season

Where the seasons take them

Beyblade (2001)

Bladebreakers

Back-alley bragging rights start it: Tyson battles his way past Billy, then squares off with Carlos of the Blade Sharks over stolen Blades, upgrading Dragoon Grip Attacker overnight with Kenny's help to win the rematch. Carlos's gang leader Kai Hiwatari punishes his own man for losing, and Tyson's fury drags him into a first loss to Kai that costs him his Blade entirely, rebuilt as Dragoon S. The regional qualifier, the Asian and American tournaments, and a hard-won alliance with the Majestics carry him to Russia, where the BBA becomes the Bladebreakers and Tyson closes the gauntlet by beating Tala's Demolition Boys for the world title in Moscow.

Beyblade V-Force (2002)

Bladebreakers

Champion status turns into a target the moment Ozuma and the Saint Shields corner him, wanting Dragoon sealed away for good, and only a second, harder battle earns Ozuma's trust instead of his hostility. Team Psykick's cloaked bladers hunt data on every Bladebreaker next, dragging Tyson through island ambushes and a scramble to protect his friends before Gideon's operation collapses. The tag-team World Championship follows, and the closest call comes from Zeo Zagart, his own training partner turned owner of a rival bit-beast, who very nearly takes Dragoon and the crown before Tyson holds the line.

Beyblade G-Revolution (2003)

BBA Revolution / G Revolutions

Teammates peel away one by one to chase the new tag format, leaving Tyson to drag a reluctant, food-stealing Daichi into partnership and grind through a world tournament that ends with Kai as his opponent for the title he barely keeps. BEGA's rise pulls his own brother Hiro into Brooklyn's corner, and the BBA itself gets bought out from under him, forcing Tyson to rally whoever is left into open rebellion. The Justice 5 becomes the last stand, and when Brooklyn's power turns feral in the final match, Tyson pulls him back from it by channelling every bit-beast his friends can lend him.

Briefing

What to know

  • Original series protagonist, known as Takao Kinomiya in Japan; leads the Bladebreakers, BBA Revolution, and G Revolutions across the trilogy.
  • Bit-beast is Dragoon, a wind-elemental dragon modeled on the Chinese Azure Dragon, Qing Long.
  • Wins three consecutive World Championships: with the Bladebreakers, with Max, and with BBA Revolution/G Revolutions.
  • Left-handed in characterization but shown launching right-handed for extra control, a rare trait among Beyblade franchise leads.
  • His drive to blade stems from losing his mother as an infant, a backstory largely cut from the English dub.
  • Beyblade line runs from Dragoon Grip Attacker through Dragoon S, Storm, Victory, V2, Galaxy, and Galaxy Turbo across the three seasons.
  • Rival-turned-best-friend Kai Hiwatari shares his core design lineage, both loosely based on Pokémon's Red and Blue.
  • Convinces isolated rival Brooklyn to stand down in the G-Revolution finale using the combined power of his friends' bit-beasts.
  • Appears in every episode of the original trilogy, the only character to do so.

Notable battles

  • vs Kai Hiwatari in Episodes 1-2 (Beyblade) — Lose
  • vs Robert Jürgens in Episode 30 (Beyblade) — Lose
  • vs Tala in Episodes 50-51 (Beyblade) — Win
  • vs Ozuma in Episode 20 (V-Force) — Win
  • vs Zeo Zagart in Episode 51 (V-Force) — Win
  • vs Garland Siebald in Episode 49 (G-Revolution) — Win
  • vs Brooklyn in Episodes 50-51 (G-Revolution) — Win (implied)
  • vs Kai Hiwatari in Episode 51 (G-Revolution) — No Outcome (series ended)

Quotes

In Their Own Words

  • Battle Blade!
  • I won't abandon Dragoon.
  • I'm uncouth?!
  • Dude, did you ever!
  • Uncouth means uncivilized, crude, unrefined. Stick around Robert, and maybe you'll learn something.
  • You know, I wish that sometimes I would stop and think some of my plans through.
  • Don't you know you have to earn a bit-beast?
  • We're all one big team, and that's the only way to come out on top!
  • You're kidding, right? Even I knew it was huge.
    to Max after he commented on how big the Arc de Triomphe was
  • Dude, this isn't the real sky. It's not gloomy, it's big and blue.
    to Brooklyn

Key episodes

Watch these first

  1. S1E01 The Blade Raider Beyblade (2001) · Japanese Regional Tournament · Jan 8, 2001
  2. S1E07 Thirteen Candles Beyblade (2001) · Japanese Regional Tournament · Feb 19, 2001
  3. S1E17 A Score to Settle Beyblade (2001) · Asian Tournament · Apr 30, 2001
  4. S1E51 Final Showdown Beyblade (2001) · Russian World Championship · Dec 24, 2001
  5. S2E01 Shot Down in Flames! Beyblade V-Force (2002) · Mister X and the Men in Black · Jan 7, 2002
  6. S2E27 Building the Perfect Bit-Beast! Beyblade V-Force (2002) · The Battle Tower · Jul 15, 2002
  7. S2E51 Destiny of the Final Battle Beyblade V-Force (2002) · World Championship Finals · Dec 30, 2002
  8. S3E30 Let the Games Begin... Again! Beyblade G-Revolution (2003) · Tag Team World Championship · Jul 28, 2003
  9. S3E52 Beybattle for the Ages Beyblade G-Revolution (2003) · Justice 5 · Dec 29, 2003

Sightings

Episodes they appear in

From our own episode records — the cast, Beyblade and debut lists we compiled show the name here.

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.

Also on record

Named elsewhere on this site

Tournament reports, testing threads, rules announcements, news and fake or leak checks carrying this name. Each link opens that section with the name already searched for.

Rivals & bonds

Known associates

  • Kai Hiwatari defining rival and captain
  • Max TateRay KonKenny Bladebreakers
  • Daichi Sumeragi tag partner
  • Hiro Granger older brother
  • Grandpa Granger Raised largely by his grandfather after both parents were absent, Tyson channels the old man's kendo lessons into his launching style and returns to the dojo whenever he needs to refocus.
  • Tala Dismissive of Tyson until losing to him in the World Championship final, Tala grows into a wary ally who fights alongside him against Boris's BEGA operation in G-Revolution.
  • Zeo Zagart Once Tyson's own protégé, Zeo turns into the closest thing V-Force gives him to losing everything, pushing their friendship to its limit in a fight for Dragoon itself.
  • Brooklyn The opponent Tyson can't simply out-stubborn, Brooklyn pushes him into the trilogy's final battle, one Tyson wins not by beating him outright but by pulling him back from self-destruction.

Cross-references

Teams, places and more

Bit-beasts & avatars 1

Places 5

Teams 1

Tournaments 3

Attributed, not verified by us

Claims We Could Not Check

  • Japanese name Takao is a tribute to manga creator Takao Aoki, itself named for a WWII-era heavy cruiser.
  • Only Bladebreaker with a sibling (older brother Hiro) prior to the Bakuten Shoot Beyblade: Rising manga.
  • Only Bladebreaker never to permanently lose his bit-beast to an opponent in the anime, aside from the first movie.
  • A female counterpart named 'Tatsumi Ryou' appears in the spin-off manga Beyblade Battle: Holy Dragon Legend.
  • The only character to appear in every episode of the original series.

In the card games

Tyson Granger on cardboard

All card games

The character 5

Rare #096 Tyson, Eager Champion
Promo Foil #141 Tyson, Bladebreaker
Cards Inc. · #03 Tyson Character
Cards Inc. · MP1 Tyson (promo) Memorabilia 2003, the UK collectors’ convention
Kidys · #06 Tyson 2400 Ataque · 2200 Defensa

Their bit-beast 2

Cards Inc. · #04 Dragoon Bit Beast
Kidys · #02 Dragoon 2500 Ataque · 2300 Defensa

Their Beyblades 15

Starter Premium Foil PSA ×3 #005 Dragoon, Tyson's Beyblade
Promo Foil #131 Dragoon, Champion's Beyblade
Cards Inc. · #50 Dragoon Storm Top
Character Card Game · 001 Dragoon Storm ドラグーンストーム
Character Card Game · 003 Dragoon Grip Attacker ドラグーングリップアタッカー
No photo yet
Character Card Game · 148 Dragoon Victory ドラグーンビクトリー
Character Card Game · CN-031 Dragoon V2 ドラグーンV2
Character Card Game · CN-032 Dragon Victory (Silver Metal Ver.) ドラゴンビクトリー(シルバーメタルVer.)
Character Card Game · PR-001 Dragoon Storm ドラグーン・ストーム
Character Card Game · PR-016 Dragoon Victory ドラグーンビクトリー
No photo yet
Character Card Game · SP-002 Dragoon Storm ドラグーンストーム
No photo yet
Character Card Game · SP-010 Dragoon Storm (Red Plated Ver.) ドラグーンストーム（レッドメッキVer.）
No photo yet
Character Card Game · SSP-001 Dragoon Storm (Gunmetal Ver.) ドラグーンストーム（ガンメタVer.）
No photo yet
Character Card Game · SSP-002 Dragoon Storm (Gold Ver.) ドラグーンストーム（ゴールドVer.）
No photo yet
Character Card Game · SSP-007 Dragoon Victory ドラグーンビクトリー

Their moves 5

Character Card Game · 046 Storm Attack ストームアタック
Character Card Game · 118 Phantom Hurricane ファントムハリケーン
Character Card Game · 228 Victory Tornado ビクトリートルネード
No photo yet
Character Card Game · 230 Phantom Hurricane (2002 Ver.) ファントムハリケーン(2002Ver.)
Character Card Game · CN-033 Hyper Victory Tornado ハイパービクトリートルネード

The Blader Profile is our own reading of how the character performs on screen or on the page, not a figure from the makers.