Hikaru, Tsubasa and Kyouya: a comparative study about the Dark Power
The first time we met them
Kyouya is bored. He doesn't train seriously, throws tantrums, leads a gang of thiefs (and certainly spending his father's money to do so). He thinks he's better than others, that no bladers can surpass him.
Hikaru travels to become stronger and fullfils her mother's dream. She crushes her opponents, looks down at them.
We don't know it right away, but Tsubasa is travelling to obey the WBBA's orders and his actual mission is to stop the Dark Nebula.
First difference: Kyouya stays where he is, without a concrete goal, while Hikaru and Tsubasa travel, motivated by a specific objectif.
The first backstory we saw is Hikaru's. She was defeated at a tournament and was crying to her mother. Her mother lectured her and told her to become stronger.
The second backstory is Kyouya's. It shows us he always had Leone to his side. There is nothing to report. His first memories are sweet, soft, only about his love for his bey. The only bad memory is during the Wolf Canyon, two episodes earlier and it shows Leone is still by his side.
The last one is Tsubasa's. It's shown during Masters, because of the Dark Power (could it mean that Tsubasa never looks back on his life?). We see him, as a child, after he lost a duel against cheaters and nearly lost himself because of it.
Second difference: Hikaru and Tsubasa meet with difficulties early during their blader careers : they were only children (about Kenta's age or even younger). Hikaru was lectured instead of being comforted because of her defeat. Tsubasa faced cheaters and discovered the Beyblade world isn't only about having fun and fair battles. Kyouya was a teenager when his problems happened, and it didn't happen before the series but right during it, with the episodes dedicated to the Wolf Canyon. Another thing that differentiated his story from Hikaru's and Tsubasa's is that he (literally) jumps into his problems, while they suffered it.
Their motivations to take part in the Battle Bladers are different. Hikaru and Tsubasa consider it as a way to reach their goals: being acknowledged as the strongest blader of the country for Hikaru, and stopping the Dark Nebula for Tsubasa. For Kyouya, the Battle Bladers is nothing more than a tournament where he can fight interesting bladers and his rival Ginga (and crushing Daidouji's projects as a bonus). This is the way he handles tournaments.
Their reactions, before their duel against Ryuuga, are different too.
Hikaru is attacked right away by Ryuuga, and imprisonned in the fear she feels when she faces him. It breaks the illusion of strenght she clings to, this illusion that shattered everytime she lost.
Tsubasa is able to fight longer. He follows faithfully the strategy he developped before the duel (maybe too properly...) and ends up defeated by Ryuuga.
Kyouya resumes his this-tournament-is-great-I'm-eager-to-face-my-rival attitude. He believes this deeply, it's shown in his thoughts. He succeeds to convince Ryuuga to stop using the Dark Power and prooves he's dangerous for its projects. Dangerous enough the Dark Power unveils its abilities: it takes control of Ryuuga (who didn't know it was possible until then) to attack Kyouya directly.
Hikaru and Tsubasa suffers the Dark Power's attack, but through Ryuuga. It was only a touch of it, controlled by someone. Besides, Ryuuga mocks Tsubasa when they meet during Masters and everyone acts like Tsubasa is under the Dark Power's influence. Kyouya was directly attacked by the Dark Power. The Dark Power decides to stop him, of its own will, and uses Ryuuga to do so.
Also, you can see the Dark Power doesn’t overwhelm Kyouya, contrary to Hikaru and Tsubasa. The attack is neat. The Dark Power doesn’t submerge him like a wave or surround him. It “just” pierces him.
The Dark Power brings out hidden flaws.
Hikaru tried to bury the crybaby she was deep inside her, hidding herself behind haughty and cold looks. Tsubasa wanted to erase his desire to win no matter what. Their interactions, during Masters, show the Dark Power resonates in every person it touches. When Tsubasa is overwhelmed by it, Hikaru suffers its consequences too.
Kyouya shows no sign of Dark Power's influence. He has no flashbacks or auras. When Tsubasa falls under the Dark Power's influence during their duel, it doesn't unsettle him. He continues to lead his blader's life as he wants to: sometimes he helps the gang, sometimes he goes it alone, and has a lot a fun during his duels. I can see two reasons he's an exception, despite the Dark Power attacks him directly:
From what we see about the backstories, Kyouya doesn't have a trauma linked to Beyblade, unlike Hikaru and Tsubasa. For him, Beyblade was only a game, and he had sweet memories about it (more about Leone than Beyblade in fact).
Unlike Tsubasa and Hikaru, Kyouya has to face all his flaws before the Battle Bladers and meeting the Dark Power. It happens during the first arc of the series, and several episodes are dedicated to it. The Wolf Canyon had put him in front of his weaknesses: Kyouya realized he wasn't aware of reality and the need to make efforts to become stronger, he relied on others too much (going as far as hiding behind them) instead of taking responsability for his failures (two things he'll reproach to Damian and Aguma). So he realized he wasn't as strong and awesome as he thought. For example, despite his defeat against Ginga in the second episode, he still talks about himself as talented in episode 3, when he faces Daidouji.
All these revelations, added to the fear, the adrenaline and the howling wind in the valley, has led to the masterly freakout we know, with hysterical laughters, animalistic roars, the desire to avenge every affronts (from Benkei's "betrayal" and Kenta's intervention, to Ginga's victory against him - especially since he blames him for the Wolf Canyon) and his wish to destroy every bladers on the planet. Ginga fights him and helps him to reconnect with his bey and his blader's spirit. Then, we have Kyouya 2.0, who does his best and trains tirelessly to become stronger, who stops blaming his problems on others and who finds again his taste for beyblading.
The Wolf Canyon is a tiny interlude in Kyouya's life, but it's his only trauma linked to Beyblade (his flashbacks show Leone is with him since forever, and even in difficult times... which are only represented by the Wolf Canyon). Kyouya learns from it. He didn't do like Tsubasa and Hikaru who buried their problems deep down, thinking it's the only way to become stronger. He uses it to become a best version of himself. He learned from his mistakes, his flaws, and moves forward, taking them into account. He doesn't hide behind others anymore, accepts his defeats, does efforts... And what is his first Beyblade action when the Battle Bladers ended ? He goes back into the Wolf Canyon, alone, and he succeeds to overcome it.
Then, we heard him say: "This cliff looks so small for me now."
Hikaru and Tsubasa are stuck and emprisonned by their failures, because they hide it instead ot using it to become better. This is the reason the Dark Power was able to use it against them.
