Category:Trifonov family

"Очищено огнем. (Purified by fire.) - Motto" The Trifonov family was once a blue-blooded family of Boyars and Intellectuals who were well-known for their masonry and craftsmanship of priceless trinkets that were distributed to members of the imperial court and aristocrats. From the Cold War to the present, the Trifonov family was renowned for Trifonov Corporation and its massive contributions in aeronautical and aerospace research, business, education, and entertainment.

Traits

 * Intelligence
 * Cunning
 * Ambition
 * Diligence
 * Leadership
 * Fraternity
 * Self-Preservation
 * Pride
 * Competition
 * Loyalty

Creation of the Blue-Eyes and Red-Eyes: Power vs. Potential
"Strategy versus chance…power versus potential…while they are brothers, there are many things that they don't always agree. - Sugoroku Muto on the relationship between Vasily and Stefan"

Before the creation of Trifonov Corporation, Stefan and Vasily created Duel Monsters with the main creator of the game, Maximillion Pegasus. Stefan and Vasily created Duel Monsters and other cards that complement their polar philosophies. Their creations became very rare that they were worth a fortune, and owners have to protect them from card professors and mercenaries who would use them for collateral or sell them for profit. According to Dmitri Smerdyakov's account of Joe Cord, one of the former owners of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card, each of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards is worth $1 million. Because of the cards' monetary worth, owners became targets for those who seek the cards for power or profit like how Long Zhou and Drake Meinhardt became targets of Seto Kaiba and how Katsuya Jounouchi became a target for the Rare Hunters.

Stefan and Blue-Eyes White Dragon: Paragons of Power
Stefan valued power and strategy, and in his words: '''The power of greatness can be found in a selected few. With power and strategy, victory can be determined.''' To demonstrate pure and rare power, Stefan created the Blue-Eyes deck, which represented power and gave him his name as the "White King" and "Paladin of the Blue-Eyes". The "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" is the most powerful Normal Monster in the game with 3000 Attack Points and 2500 Defense Points, and Stefan made it as a four-of-a-kind card in the world. Stefan also created cards that complement the Blue-Eyes deck, which included the Ritual Monster "Paladin of White Dragon" with the ability to Special Summon the "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" and the "Lord of Dragons" with the ability to protect Dragon-Type monsters from card effects. He also created the legendary Ritual Monster "Black Luster Soldier", which was equal to the Blue-Eyes White Dragon in strength.

To place difficulty and strategy in the game, Stefan established a large array of the Trap Cards.

Vasily and Red-Eyes Black Dragon: Paragons of Potential
On the other hand, Vasily valued potential and chance, and in his words: '''The potential for greatness can be found anywhere. With potential and chance, victory can be possible.''' To demonstrate potential, Vasily originally created the Red-Eyes deck, which represented potential and gave him his name as the "Paladin of the Red-Eyes". The "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" is a powerful Normal Monster, but it's not as powerful as its Blue-Eyes counterpart. Vasily created this card to be found in a selected few decks that can only be found by chance. Vasily also created cards that complement the Red-Eyes deck, including the Ritual Monster "Paladin of Black Dragon" with the ability to Special Summon a Red-Eyes monster and the Spell Card "Red-Eyes Insight" and Trap Card "Red-Eyes Spirit" to aid in summoning a Red-Eyes monster from the graveyard. After Pegasus created and released the "Polymerization" Spell Card, Vasily created Red-Eyes Fusion Monsters that are more powerful than the Blue-Eyes White Dragon like "Black Skull Dragon" and "Meteor Black Dragon". He also created other cards to counter the Blue-Eyes White Dragon like the legendary Normal Monster "Dark Magician" and "Buster Blader" with the ability to gain strength for every Dragon-Type in the opponent's graveyard; both of them were used to defeat owners of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards like Seto Kaiba and later their creator Stefan. To increase one's chance at winning, Vasily created cards that involved gambling like the Effect Monsters "Goddess of Whim" and "Time Wizard", and chance like Spell Cards "Arduous Decision" and "Graceful Dice", which led to his nickname of "Godfather of Luck".

The Last Paladin
At the end of Mr. T, Mokuba decided to create another dragon card and deck that would be created and distributed in the future, in memory of his deceased uncle Viktor. Viktor wrote, "One can have the potential and power to become great, but one's true greatness comes from one's purpose and sacrifice." Deciding to take part in Stefan and Vasily's legacy, Mokuba created a new dragon called "Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon", which can be Special Summoned by sacrificing 2 monsters with 2000 or more attack points, implying his newfound reverence for his uncle's service in one of the bloodiest battles in World War II and willingness to sacrifice his life for Stefan and Vasily and their sacrifices for the family's future. Mokuba created cards to support the dragon, such as the Ritual Monster "Paladin of Photon Dragon" with its Ritual Spell "Luminous Dragon Ritual", Effect Monster "Starliege Lord Galaxion" to Special Summon Galaxy-Eyes Photon Dragon from the hand or Deck, and the Spell Card "Galaxy Expedition" to Special Summon 1 Level 5 or higher "Galaxy"/"Photon" Monster.

Status as Russian Socialites
Due to being a royal family by blood, the Trifonov family was revered as the Romanovs in the business world. While they also owned many pieces of land all over the world, they lived in their large estate in Hokkaido, Japan. Stefan and Vasily founded Trifonov Corporation and became one of the largest companies in the Russian Federation after its massive contribution in the Space Race. After Stefan and Vasily's pioneering dominance and efforts in Duel Monsters and Seto's takeover of Kaiba Corporation and Stefan's World Champion title, the Trifonov family became a more powerful and influential dynasty in technology, entertainment, and international business. Back in Russia, Stefan and Vasily were revered socialites that even feared aristocrats like Sergei and Duchess Sasha Kravinoff knew them personally.

Progeny of Ingenuity
Even though Stefan and Vasily were educated in the Dzerzhinsky Higher School of the KGB and later in Moscow Aviation Institute, they went separate ways to attend in the elite INSEAD and Bocconi University respectively.

The children were also known to be academically gifted that they received accolades and their degrees in prestigious universities. Seto received his honorary doctorates in MIT and New York University. Sharon got her B.As in Political Science and Economics in Harvard College and her joint MBA and JD degree in Columbia University. Even after a gap year between high school and college, Mokuba got his B.A in Kyoto University.

Competitive Drive
In modern times, as they became more powerful in the family, the Trifonov family members became more competitive; however, it did not only extend to the outside of their family business but also inside of the family itself. Aside from rivalries outside of the family, sibling rivalries are common in the family but at the nth degree. Competition could get harsh, especially between pure blood siblings like Stefan against Vasily and Seto against Mokuba, that power dynamics got extremely hot and treachery became a common thing. The family drama became obvious and common in the family home that Katsuya joked them to be the Russian Kardashians.

Favoritism
In spite of the drama, the Trifonov family were known to be extremely protective to their own sides of the family; however, favoritism was common in the family and associates who became close to the family, depending on their interests and personalities. Out of his three children, Stefan favored Seto the most due to their common interests and accomplishments and favored Sharon the least due to her status as a bastard child. In spite of being initially unable to have children of his own, Vasily favored his nephew Mokuba due to being the youngest and his niece Sharon due to her sweet yet feisty personality but favored his nephew Seto the least due to his aloof, nasty personality and his enmity and contempt for his protege Katsuya Jounouchi; amongst his own, he favored Noah as being his only adopted son. Vasily was not above to be in favor to take in Katsuya Jounouchi as a potential heir next to Noah due to their common interests and courageous personality.

Appearance
Not only the ingenuity was revered but also the physiques of the Trifonov family. They were depicted to have royal looks, considering them to be very beautiful. Most members of the old line, including Stefan and Vasily, had dark brown hair, fair skin, and sharp blue eyes. Out of the progeny in the Trifonov family, Stefan II/Seto was the only child who inherited most of the old Trifonov qualities in terms of appearance and intelligence, whereas Sharon inherited her mother Lena's feisty qualities and Mokuba inherited his mother Tomoka's violet eyes and shy personality.

Nobility and Royalty


The former matriarch of the family, Princess Alexandra Nikolayevna Gagarina, was a descendant of the Princes Gagarin, which traced back to Grand Prince Vsevolod I of Kiev of the Rurik dynasty, whereas the former patriarch, Count Vyascheslav Vladimirovich Trifonov, was the heir apparent of the aristocratic Trifonov family. Through the marriage of Princess Alexandra Nikolayevna Gagarina of the Gagarin family in the Rurik Dynasty and Count Vyacheslav Vladimirovich Trifonov, the Trifonov family became heirs of the Rurik Dynasty's fiefdoms in various locations in Russia.

Following the Revolution, the last remaining members of the family had to hide in the southwestern border of Siberia to prevent themselves from being killed by the Bolsheviks. Their fiefdoms were in custody of the government that they had to live in poverty. Unlike the other aristocratic families, the Trifonov family was one of the few families that remained in Russia due to its loyal ties to Russia, but it became the only aristocratic family that survived during the Soviet era due to its survival being kept in confidence by Dmitri Smerdyakov, who took care of both Stefan and Vasily until the start of the Cold War.

Because the Trifonov family was directly connected to one of the oldest royal families in Europe, the Trifonov family remained to be one of the few Russian noble families who was referred with noble titles. In many European countries, except Russia, where royalty was detested, and European constitutional monarchies like the UK and Monaco, Stefan and other members were addressed as "Lord/Lady" or "His/Her/Your (if to address to him/her directly) Grace".

Seal
In tradition, every legal document that involved the Trifonov family, including fiefdoms, property contracts, wills, birth certificates, passports, and the Japanese koseki of the Saiku household, was signed with the Dragon's Crest, the emblem of the Trifonov family (which was vaguely similar to the Rurikid seal of Yaroslav the Wise). Only the fiefdoms from the House of Gagarin were signed with the Rurikid seal. There were hints of the emblem on the design of the Blue Eyes White Dragon and the Red Eyes Black Dragon, especially on some cards related to them like the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon (along with their Red-Eyes counterparts).

Name Etymology
Many members of the Trifonov family, except Noah and Sharon, had names related to power, royalty and warriors.
 * Alexandria means "defender to mankind".
 * Vsycheslav means "greater glory".
 * Viktor means "victory".
 * Stefan means "crown".
 * Vasily means "king".
 * March means "war".
 * Adina means "warrior".

Trivia

 * Each of the four main families of the series (Kravinoff, Smerdyakov, Chekov, and Trifonov families) correspond to a House in Hogwarts from the Harry Potter series. The Trifonov family corresponded to Slytherin House, which valued ambition, fraternity, and power; however, the Trifonov family also value shared qualities of the other families.
 * Like the Kravinoff family, they value pride.
 * Like the Smerdyakov family, they value diligence.
 * Like the Chekov family, they value intelligence.
 * The Trifonov family is related to the classical Greek element of air.
 * Out of the four main families, the Trifonov family was the only royal family in blood. The Kravinoff family was related to royalty but through marriage.