Colored illustration by Kazuki Takahashi, from Duel Art: Kazuki Takahashi Yu-Gi-Oh! Illustrations, featuring: Mokuba Kaiba (left bottom), Seto Kaiba (middle bottom), Serenity Wheeler and Ryo Bakura (middle left), Odion (top left), Marik Ishtar (top middle), Ishizu Ishtar (top right), Duke Devlin, Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor (middle), Mai Valentine and Téa Gardner (middle right), and Yugi Muto (bottom right).
The Yu-Gi-Oh! series features an extensive cast of characters created by Kazuki Takahashi. The series takes place in a fictional city in Japan called Domino City, which most of the characters that appear in the series originate from. Many plot elements are also influenced by Egypt and Egyptian mythology, and as such, Egyptian characters also appear within the story.
The original manga of Yu-Gi-Oh! stars Yugi Mutou, a timid boy who loves games, but is often bullied. One day, he solves an ancient artifact called the Millennium Puzzle, causing his body to become the host of a mysterious spirit with the personality of a gambler. From that moment onwards, when Yugi or one of his friends is threatened by those with darkness in their hearts, this "Dark Yugi" shows himself and challenges them to "Shadow Game" (闇のゲーム, Yami no Gēmu, "Dark Games"). These games reveal the true nature of someone's heart, with their losers often being subjected to a dark punishment called a "Penalty Game". Over the course of the series, Yugi and his friends Katsuya Jonouchi (Joey Wheeler), Anzu Mazaki (Téa Gardner), Hiroto Honda (Tristan Taylor), and later Ryo Bakura learn that this other Yugi is the spirit of a nameless pharaoh from Ancient Egyptian times who has lost his memories. As Yugi and his companions attempt to help the Pharaoh regain his memories, they go through many trials as they wager their lives facing off against others that wield the mysterious Millennium Items and the dark power of the Shadow Games.
Most human characters in the English language version of the original manga, published by VIZ Media, use their original Japanese names, while character names in other English Yu-Gi-Oh! media are significantly altered. The Japanese names in Western order (given name before family name) and English manga names are listed first and the English anime names are listed second, when applicable.
Yugi Mutou (武藤 遊戯, Mutō Yūgi, spelled "Muto" in the English anime) is one of the main protagonists of the story alongside Dark Yugi. He wears the Millennium Puzzle (千年パズル, Sennen Pazuru), an ancient Egyptian artifact which is one of the seven Millennium Items and holds the spirit of an ancient Egyptian pharaoh. He initially fears the other personality inside him, but as the narrative progresses he bonds with his other self and considers his other soul a close and valuable friend. Over time, he develops as a character and is able to defeat antagonists without Dark Yugi's help, proving that he is worthy of being chosen by the Millennium Puzzle.
Dark Yugi (闇遊戯, Yami Yūgi) a. k. a.Atem (アテム, Atemu) / Yami Yugi is one of the main protagonists of the story alongside Yugi. He holds the title of Yūgiō (遊戯王, lit. Game King) and as the Pharaoh was the owner of the Millennium Puzzle, originally known as the Pendant. He is a player of many types of games, which he plays to defeat his opponents and gives them a Penalty Game as punishment after defeating them or when they cheat. When Yugi or his friends are in danger, he emerges from Puzzle to protect them. As the story progresses, he meets his eventual rival, Seto Kaiba. who he defeats in their first battle in school and later during Death-T. He gives Kaiba the "Experience of Death" and "Mind Crush" Penalty Game, respectively, after both duels. He also meets other Millennium Item wielders, such as Shadi and Dark Bakura, and faces them in dark games from which he emerges victorious.
At the start of the Duelist Kingdom arc, he faces Pegasus in a video tape duel with a timer. Just as Dark Yugi is about to win, the timer expires, causing him to lose. To get Dark Yugi to come to Duelist Kingdom, Pegasus takes Sugoroku's soul and places it in a tape; Dark Yugi blames himself for Sugoroku's soul being taken, and resolves to defeat Pegasus to save him. After facing many opponents on the island, Dark Yugi faces Kaiba again in a duel utilizing Kaiba's new prototype Duel Disk; they both bet five star chips. After overcoming Kaiba's Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, Kaiba resorts to a suicide attempt in order to win the game; if Dark Yugi attacks, it will lead to Kaiba's death. Dark Yugi hesitates, but remembers Sugoroku and that he has to save him. Dark Yugi attacks Kaiba to win the game, but Yugi comes out and stops the attack, resulting in a loss. After Kaiba enters the castle, Mai appears and learns what happened, having earned extra star chips in an attempt to pay Dark Yugi back for saving her. Yugi accepts the star chips and they head into the castle. After beating Mai and Jonouchi beating Keith, it's time for Dark Yugi and Jonouchi to face each other. But before they get ready to battle, Jonouchi states that Dark Yugi has the better chance of winning against Pegasus, so he gives Dark Yugi his prize card. During the battle with Pegasus, Yugi is finally able to talk to Dark Yugi, and they come up with the "Mind Shuffle" tactic to stop Pegasus from reading their minds. It works and Pegasus is forced to start a dark game, with the requirement that only those chosen by the Millennium Items can endure it.
As Yugi is a normal person not chosen by the Puzzle, he is affected by the dark game and collapses, but not before setting one final card. Dark Yugi takes over and, with the help of Yugi and his friends blocking the powers of the Eye, emerges victorious. After Pegasus's defeat, Dark Yugi demands that Pegasus release the souls of everyone he took. After that, Pegasus tells Dark Yugi that the Items have an evil intelligence in them, which gets Dark Yugi's attention. Dark Yugi then demands Pegasus to explain how he got the Millennium Eye or else he would send him to oblivion. Jonouchi realizes that Dark Yugi does not seem happy about beating Pegasus, as he did not give him the usual Penalty Game. Kaiba tells Yugi to "tell the other Yugi that our battle isn't over yet" before everyone leaves the island. Yugi reassures Dark Yugi that it does not matter where he came from, only that he is here and he means a lot to them. Pegasus's story prompts Dark Yugi's search for the answer of who he is and where he came from.
Over the course of the series, Dark Yugi faces many challenges to discover his true identity. It is eventually revealed that he was originally Atem (アテム, Atemu), who was a pharaoh of Ancient Egypt.
Katsuya Jonouchi / Joseph "Joey" Wheeler (城之内 克也, Jōnouchi Katsuya) is Yugi's close friend. When Ushio beats up Jonouchi and Honda, Yugi stands up for them, causing Jonouchi to realize he was jealous of Yugi's "treasure". Later that night, he retrieves the last Millennium Puzzle piece and returns it to Yugi's house, where Yugi completes it and challenges Ushio to the first Shadow Game of the series. Jonouchi is touched by Yugi's behavior, and they become close friends, forming his own "treasure."
Jonouchi is great at fist fighting and is usually able to take on people bigger than him, such as Bandit Keith, a fight which he loses in the second anime, and handicapping himself against people such as Bruce Ryu. Despite not being the best at Domino, he becomes better at it with Yugi's help, and uses his skills to help Yugi come through in earlier storylines. Later on, he develops an interest in the Duel Monsters game, the latest fad at the time. Though unskilled at first, with Yugi's help, he trains for the Duelist Kingdom tournament for his sister and participates in the Battle City tournament out of suspicion that Kaiba is plotting something. Over the course of the series, his skills improve to the point where he could be called a true duelist and earn the right to duel Dark Yugi. Jonouchi is shown to be kind, selfless, brave, and willing to help and save those he cares, but also demonstrates a near lack of modesty and can be rather rash at times, making him a source of comic relief. He also has an extreme fear of ghosts, mummies, and creepy things. Jonouchi notes that, before he met Yugi, he lacked motivation. However, over time he learns to channel his anger into games instead of his fists.
Anzu Mazaki / Téa Gardner (真崎 杏子, Mazaki Anzu) is Yugi's childhood best friend, a supportive girl who has a crush on Dark Yugi. She is not an avid game-player, with her abilities being well below Yugi's, though she exhibits knowledge of video game RPGs during the Monster World arc. Her dueling ability is decent, and she used to defeat Jonouchi in school before he became a seasoned duelist. She is athletic, has a strong school spirit, and secretly worked at a fast food restaurant called Burger World to save money; her secret dream is to be a professional dancer in the USA. When Yugi and Jonouchi learn of these secrets when they follow her thinking she is taking part in Enjo kōsai, she gains a new respect for Jonouchi and Yugi, who are willing to support her dream and keep her secrets.
Hiroto Honda / Tristan Taylor (本田 ヒロト, Honda Hiroto) is a student who is in class 1-B at Domino High School and befriends Yugi, Jonouchi, Anzu, and later Bakura. In the manga, he starts out as Jonouchi's street thug buddy and has a crush on Miho Nosaka. In the 1998 Toei anime, he is the head of the school's beautician department. Despite Yugi rescuing him and Jonouchi from the bully Ushio, he initially dislikes Yugi. After admitting his love for Miho Nosaka to Jonouchi, he convinces him to ask Yugi for help in writing a love letter to her in the form of a puzzle. When Ms. Chono confiscates the puzzle and threatens to punish Miho if the secret admirer does not come clean, Yugi and Jonouchi stand up for him by saying they were the ones who wrote it. Ms. Chono decides to put together the puzzle to find out who the sender is, and Dark Yugi secretly turns it into a Shadow Game, shattering Ms. Chono's pretty face as the Penalty Game. Afterward, Honda warms up to Yugi and becomes one of his closest friends, despite Miho later turning him down when he asks her out directly.
In the 1998 anime, Honda has a recurring crush on Miho, but is not involved with Ms. Chono.
In the English version of the Duel Monsters anime, his past was heavily edited to remove violence and his importance is slightly downplayed. In the Duel Monsters anime, he has a crush on Jonouchi's sister Shizuka and his origin story with Miho is never mentioned. He also has a strong rivalry with Duke Devlin and regularly competes with him for Serenity's affections.
Ryo Bakura (獏良 了, Bakura Ryō): A transfer student who becomes friends with the main group of the story. Like Yugi, he is interested in games, particularly tabletop role-playing games like Monster World (モンスター・ワールド, Monsutā Wārudo). He is the holder of the Millennium Ring (千年輪, Sennen Ringu) and has a dark spirit dwelling within him, much like with Yugi and Dark Yugi. Prior to his introduction to the story, Bakura's mother and his sister, Amane, died in a car accident, a detail omitted from the second series. As well, he was constantly moving schools and isolating himself because when he played a game with his friends, they would end up in a coma. This is revealed to be the result of Dark Bakura inflicting Penalty Games on them, trapping their souls into RPG miniature figures. With help from Yugi and his friends, they defeat Dark Bakura in a Shadow Game of Monster World. From then on, Bakura joins the main group in many of their conflicts. Despite the danger it poses, Bakura continues to hold onto the Millennium Ring as he is curious about its history. This, along with his trusting and innocent nature, sometimes brings him into conflict with the others and allows Dark Bakura to continually possess him without his knowledge. The first animated series included Miho Nosaka, who had a crush on Bakura.
In the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters anime, his role in the group is greatly reduced compared to the manga, as he is mostly being controlled by Dark Bakura and does not accompany Yugi and his friends as much as he did in the manga, and is excluded from filler arcs. In addition, he is introduced in the middle of the Duelist Kingdom story as someone they knew from school, as opposed to being a close friend, and his love for tabletop role-playing games and making occult decks is not focused on as much.
Seto Kaiba (海馬 瀬人, Kaiba Seto) is the current president and CEO of the Kaiba Corporation. Kaiba is first introduced as a prodigious, cold-hearted gamer who will stop at nothing to achieve his goals, even resorting to seemingly killing his opponents. He had a troubled childhood because of his adoptive father Gozaboro. When Kaiba learns that Yugi's grandfather Sogoroku possesses a "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" card, he steals the card from Yugi, ends up dueling Dark Yugi, and loses. Dark Yugi gives Kaiba the "Experience of Death" Penalty Game. Since his defeat to Dark Yugi, Kaiba, unable to forget the Penalty Game he experienced, plans to use the DEATH-T to exact revenge and kill him. Kaiba duels Dark Yugi again and loses. Dark Yugi gives Kaiba the "Mind Crush" Penalty Game to momentarily shatter his heart and purge it of evil, causing Kaiba to end up in a coma for almost a year. Despite being reformed, Kaiba retains his arrogance and rivalry with Dark Yugi, as he tells Yugi to "tell the other Yugi that our battle isn't over" at the end of Duelist Kingdom. While Kaiba leaves the story following the Battle City arc, he appears in the anime adaption as a major character and is mentioned in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX as the founder of Duel Academy.
Kaiba created Solid Vision in the original manga during the events of DEATH-T and further expanded on it during the story and in the sequel manga and movie Transcend Game and Dark Side of Dimensions, respectively. Kaiba also attempts to bring back Atem to settle things between them, which causes much of the storyline to occur before Atem departs to the afterlife. Kaiba uses a "Blue-Eyes" deck and his ace monster is "Blue-Eyes White Dragon".
Mokuba Kaiba (海馬 モクバ, Kaiba Mokuba) is Seto Kaiba's younger brother, who is an expert at Capsule Monster Chess (カプセルモンスターチェス, Kapuseru Monsutā Chesu). In the manga, Mokuba is characterized as a spoiled brat who often tries to trick Yugi to get back at him for defeating Kaiba. In the pre-Death-T chapters of the manga, Mokuba tries to defeat Yugi before Kaiba can, threatening to cut off Yugi's fingers if he wins, and challenges Jonouchi and Yugi to a Russian Roulette Dinner of Death (死の料理・ロシアンルーレット, Shi no Ryōri Roshian Rūretto) and poisons Jonouchi. In Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, Mokuba is devoted to Kaiba and is constantly by his side. He is not as violent as his manga counterpart, and is not committed to avenging Seto's defeat. He befriends Yugi's group after they rescue him, thus making him the warmer, more sociable one of the two brothers.
Miho Nosaka (anime version) / Melody (video game) (野坂 ミホ, Nosaka Miho) is a one-shot minor character in the manga, who was re-written as a main character for the 1998 Toei anime adaptation.[3] In the adaptation, she is a good friend of Yugi and Anzu's best friend. This version of Miho is a cheerful, kind, and caring girly girl who loves her friends and all things cute; according to Honda, she is one of the school's treasures. Miho tends to talk in third person and has had crushes on many of the male cast members throughout the show, but despite his love for her, she is not interested in Honda in any way other than as a friend. Miho has a stubborn side, and whenever her friends are threatened, she will not hesitate to protect them, like when Warashibe poisons Anzu, Honda, and Jonouchi. She is also shown to be smarter than she lets on and has a manipulative side to her. She is also not above letting her desires be known to Honda, who she knows has a huge crush on her. Despite this, she is shown to care for him, as when she thought he had died, she resolved to fight for his sake. After learning he is alive, she teams up with Jonouchi to fight against Ryuichi and Aileen, who were keeping Honda and Yugi's grandfather captive.
Dark Bakura / Yami Bakura (闇獏良, Yami Bakura) is the main antagonist of the series. He is a dark spirit dwelling inside of the Millennium Ring who seeks the Millennium items to open the Door of Darkness, which grants evil power to anyone that opens it. To do so, he takes control over Bakura's body against Bakura's will, since he does not have a body of his own. In the beginning of the story, he torments Bakura by taking over his body whenever he played games with his friends and used Penalty Games to trap their souls into TRPG miniatures for the Monster World game, causing Bakura to constantly transfer schools. With help from Yugi and Dark Yugi, Jonouchi, Anzu, Honda, and Miho in the 1998 anime, they are able to temporarily purge Dark Bakura's influence on Bakura by defeating the final boss of Monster World, Dark Master Zorc (闇の支配者ダーク・マスターゾーク, Dāku Masutā Zōku). However, later on when the group is seemingly going to be trapped within the labyrinth below Duelist Kingdom, the spirit's voice within the Millennium Ring tricks Bakura into putting it on again, assuring him that his other half will help save his friends and that the dark spirit has undergone a change of heart. With Bakura's friends unaware that he had once again put on the Millennium Ring, Dark Bakura helps Dark Yugi in his game, which is designed to outwit the Meikyuu Brothers' trickery, and they head to the surface.
It was initially unknown whether Dark Bakura was still a malevolent spirit. While he occasionally helped Yugi and his friends while trying to gain their uneasy trust and seemed to allow Bakura more control over his body, unbeknownst to the others, he killed Pegasus by tearing the Millennium Eye out of his eye socket and took it for himself. During the Dungeon Dice Monsters arc, his true nature is revealed; after giving Yugi morale support during the game against Ryuji Otogi and helping him retrieve the pieces of the shattered Millennium Puzzle, he secretly plants a portion of his soul into one of the pieces to uncover the True Door from within. He intends to manipulate events until the Millennium Items have been gathered, in preparation for the Dark Role-Playing Game / Dark RPG (闇・Ｒ・Ｐ・Ｇロール・プレイング・ゲーム, Yami Ā Pī Jī (Yami Rōru Pureingu Gēmu)), with the ultimate goal of opening the Door of Darkness and unleashing the darkness sealed within the Puzzle. Unbeknownst to Bakura, throughout the later portion of the manga, he occasionally takes over his body whenever he sees the chance of furthering his goals. During the final arc, Dark Bakura is revealed to be an entity created when the soul of Thief King Bakura (盗賊王バクラ, Tōzoku Ō Bakura) merged with a fragment of the great evil god Zorc Necrophades after both were sealed inside the Millennium Ring. He is defeated for good when Dark Yugi/Atem summons Horakthy, the Creator of Light, to destroy Zorc. In the anime, Dark Bakura became a part of Zorc and was destroyed by Horakthy, while in the manga, his life was linked to Akhenaden's and Zorc's and was killed when they died.
Maximillion J. Pegasus
Voiced by: Jiro Takasugi(Japanese); Darren Dunstan (English)
Pegasus J. Crawford / Maximillion Pegasus (ペガサス・Ｊ・クロフォード, Pegasasu Jei Kurofōdo) is the eccentric American chairman of Industrial Illusions (shortened to I2) and the creator of the game Duel Monsters (デュエル モンスターズ, Dyueru Monsutāzu) (originally Magic & Wizards (Ｍ＆Ｗ (マジック＆ウィザーズ), Majikku ando Wizāzu)). He is the wielder of the Millennium Eye (千年眼, ミレニアムアイ, Sennen Gan, Mireniamu Ai).
In the original manga, his story about meeting Shadi and the supposed "evil intelligence" of the Millennium Items prompts Dark Yugi's search for his origins. During his final Shadow Game with Yugi/Dark Yugi, he tells them of his discovery of an ancient Egyptian Shadow Game during his travels in the Valley of the Kings, which inspired his creation of Duel Monsters and the creation of card games in general, such as tarot cards.
In the second anime, as the creator of the card game Duel Monsters and the discoverer of their ancient Egyptian roots, Pegasus often plays a key role due to his extensive knowledge of the game and its mysterious origins. He has a habit of calling Yugi Mutou "Yugi-boy" and Seto Kaiba "Kaiba-boy", a trend which continues in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime, as he calls Judai Yuki "Judai-boy". Pegasus often uses English words interspliced with Japanese and uses the English pronoun "you" instead of Japanese second-person words. His speech is also unique in pronunciation, as in both English and Japanese he tends to elongate vowel sounds, especially near the end of sentences.
Pegasus serves as the manga's fourth main antagonist and the second anime adaptation's first main antagonist, as he challenges Yugi to a Shadow Game to force him to come to his tournament Duelist Kingdom (決闘者の王国 (デュエリストキングダム), Dyuerisuto Kingudamu) and face him. He also takes the soul of his grandfather Sugoroku Mutou as a Penalty Game for losing the timed match to ensure this. In the second anime, he traps Sugoroku in a Soul Prison Duel Monsters card. Pegasus also kidnaps Mokuba to convince Kaiba to come to the Kingdom, later capturing their souls. Through flashbacks, Pegasus is revealed to have had a lover, Cecelia / Cyndia (シンディア, Shindia), who died after her 17th birthday or after their marriage in the anime. His actions were carried out in hopes of resurrecting her. At the end of the arc, Yugi and Dark Yugi defeat him in a final game of Duel Monsters, and he is obliged to release his victims' souls. Soon after, Dark Bakura murders him and takes the Millennium Eye for himself. In the manga, he is reunited with Cecelia in the afterlife.
In the Duel Monsters anime, he is not killed as just fell ill. He makes brief appearances in later seasons where he had painted portraits of the Egyptian God monsters and had his soul stolen by Dartz.
He plays his "Toon" deck where he has used Toon World to make Toon versions of his monsters. During his duel with Kaiba, he used the magic card "Prophecy" to steal one of Kaiba's Blue Eyes White Dragons to make Blue Eyes Toon Dragon. In his duel with Yugi, he had the magic card "Doppelganger" take the form of Yugi's slain Summoned Skull to creat Toon Summoned Skull.
Pegasus J. Crawford is his name in Japanese versions, while Maximillion Pegasus is his name in the VIZ Media-translated manga and in the anime. He is known in the English manga as "Maximillion J. Pegasus".
Mr. Clown
Mr. Clown (MRクラウン / 御伽父, Misutā Kuraun / Otogi-chichi) is an antagonist exclusive to the manga. He is the owner of the Black Clown (ブラック・クラウン, Burakku Kuraun) game shop, which is located across the street from Sugoroku Mutou's Kame Game shop. Long ago, he asked Sugoroku to take him in as a disciple. After some time, they challenged each other for ownership of the Millennium Puzzle in a Shadow Game called the Devil's Board Game. He lost the game and aged 50 years in a single night as a result of the Penalty Game. Since then, he has desired revenge through his son Ryuji, who is known as Duke Devlin in the English anime. He does not appear in the anime, but does appear in The Dark Side of Dimensions, a film set in the manga continuity. In the film, he opens up a cafe with Ryuji to replace Black Clown, which burnt down.
In the English Dungeon Dice Monsters video game, he is given the name Sindin the Clown.
Marik Ishtar (マリク・イシュタール, Mariku Ishutāru) is the heir to a clan of tombkeepers and the younger brother of Ishizu Ishtar. Marik's hatred of the Pharaoh compels him to disregard his duties and turn to a life of crime. During his childhood, he developed a split personality as a result of trauma after undergoing the tombkeeper's initiation ritual, which involved carving into his body with a hot dagger, and being raised away from the rest of the world. After breaking one of the laws of their clan, his dark personality emerged and brutally murdered his father (banished to the Shadow Realm in the English anime). However, his adoptive older brother Rishid, known as Odion in the English version, sealed his dark side away, leaving him with no memory of his actions. He believed that the Pharaoh had his father killed and became obsessed with killing the Pharaoh to avenge his father and put an end to the suffering of his clan, never knowing about his other personality. To this end, he founded the Rare Hunters, a gang of thieves who steal and collect rare Duel Monsters cards and uses his Millennium Rod to control people's minds. Although he was innocent and kind as a child, he became cruel and uncaring, killing his servants when they fail him and gets pleasure from hurting others.
Dark Marik / Yami Marik (闇マリク, Yami Mariku) is a dark personality within Marik, who was created through his pain and suffering and serves as the main antagonist of the Battle City Tournament saga. He was born after Marik underwent the tombkeeper's initiation ritual, but to prevent him from emerging, Rishid (Odion) carved marks into his own face. However, when Marik's father whipped Rishid as punishment for allowing Marik and his sister Ishizu to break one of the clan's laws, Dark Marik emerged and brutally murdered his father. This set Marik's quest for vengeance into motion because he did not remember these events and believed them to be the doing of the Pharaoh.
While Marik enjoyed violence and cruelty, he would only use it when he was angry or when it would further his own desires, but Dark Marik attacks anyone who crosses his path and prolongs their suffering for as long as possible; in the manga and Japanese Duel Monsters anime, he states that he likes killing people because it is "fun" and is "the only thing that brought him happiness". He only cares for his own survival and actively tries to kill Marik to have sole possession of their body. He also dislikes Rishid for sealing him away and actively tries to kill him as well. While he is connected to the Millennium Rod, Dark Marik differs from Dark Yugi and Dark Bakura in that he is an inhuman entity born from Marik's pain and despair and can exist even if his host mind were destroyed. Although not explicitly stated, the manga implies he manipulated Marik into committing some of his later crimes, as he told Dark Yugi that he "took away" Marik's guilt for the things he did.
Eventually, Dark Marik reemerges and takes control of Marik during the Battle City Tournament Semi-Finals after Rishid falls unconscious as a result of being unworthy to control Ra's power during his duel with Jonouchi. He is destroyed following Marik's surrender against Yugi where the 4Kids dub had him banished to the Shadow Realm.
Yako Tenma
Yako Tenma (天馬 夜行, Tenma Yakō), in Yu-Gi-Oh! R, is the kōhai (protégé) and adopted son of Maximillion Pegasus, who seeks revenge for Pegasus' death.
Priest Akhenaden (神官アクナディン, Shinkan Akunadin) is the guardian of the Millennium Eye and the brother of King Ahknemkhanen. As they grew up, he was secretly jealous of his brother's position as pharaoh, considering himself the true power behind the throne. Using the Shadow Alchemy inscribed in the Millennium Spellbook / Millennium Tome (千年魔術書, Sennen Majutsu Sho), he ordered the massacre at the village of Kul Elna, using their blood and melting their corpses into gold to create the Millennium Items to defend his brother's kingdom. He kept the slaughter a secret and brainwashed his soldiers to do so. To protect his family from anyone seeking revenge, he abandoned his wife and his son, Seto. Seto later entered Pharaoh Atem's court as a priest, but Akhenaden kept their relationship a secret. After seeing how his son had flourished after he abandoned him, Akhenaden's desire became to see Seto achieve power. Through Zorc's influence within his Millennium Eye, he is convinced that he needed to kill the Pharaoh and make a contract with Zorc to become the High Priest of Darkness (闇の大神官, Yami no Daishinkan).
In the manga, Akhenaden's soul is merged with Zorc's and sealed inside the Millennium Puzzle along with Atem, and released during the final arc. His mummy is used as a second player on Dark Bakura's side of the Shadow RPG, influencing his own playing piece as part of the game's recreation of the events. After Atem wins the game, the mummy's skull is split in half, indicating that Zorc's soul has been vanquished for good. In the second anime series, when Dark Bakura plants a portion of his soul into his Millennium Eye, Akhenaden's mind becomes corrupted. He would later collect the remaining items he created and granted power from Zorc, transforming into the High Priest of Darkness (Great Shadow Magus in the English dub). He would later seal the White Dragon before Seto killed him. As his soul enters Seto's mind to kill the Pharaoh, he is stopped and killed for good by Kisara in her White Dragon form, and is sent to the Shadow Realm afterwards. His purified soul is later seen alongside his brother on the other side of the door to the afterlife as Atem walks through it.
Zorc Necrophades
Voiced by: Yoshitaka Kaidu(Japanese); Mike Pollock (English)
Zorc Necrophades (大邪神 ゾーク・ネクロファデス, Dai Jashin Zōku Nekurofadesu) is a destroyer of worlds born from the darkness in humans' hearts. In the English anime dub, he is the creator of the Shadow Realm. He is summoned by Akhenaden through the power of the Millennium Items and attacks the kingdom, dispatching Atem's advisers. In the Memory World, an RPG-style Shadow Game that Dark Bakura set up based on ancient Egypt, Zorc is the game's final boss and has three Ba gauges. If Dark Yugi loses the Shadow RPG, Dark Bakura would gain the ultimate powers of darkness and Zorc would effectively be summoned once more. However, with help from Yugi and his friends, Atem defeats him and prevents his resurrection, freeing Bakura from the Millennium Ring in the process. Dark Bakura was an entity made of Zorc and Thief King Bakura's souls, and, in the manga, an entity made of both Zorc and Priest Akhenaden's souls who calls himself Zorc Necrophades, High Priest of Darkness appears.
Minor antagonists
Death-T (DEATH-T（死のテーマパーク）, Theme Park of Death)
A deranged theme park which Kaiba creates in an attempt to kill Yugi. These events do not happen in the second series anime.
The guide of the Horror Zone in Death T-2. Before the grand opening of Kaiba Land, he welcomes Yugi and Jonouchi to Kaiba Manor. He, along with other servants, greet them and Mokuba when they arrive. Mokuba has him to prepare six meals, including two poisoned ones, for his rigged game of Russian Roulette Dinner with Yugi and Jonouchi. When the game backfires and Mokuba is poisoned, the butler comes to his aid. In the anime, Hobson started out as the butler to Gozaboro Kaiba. In the first episode of the second anime, he was sent with two people to bring Sogoroku to Kaiba. When Sogoroku asks what would happen if he was to decline, Hobson quotes "I'm afraid we must insist". Sogoroku proceeds to go with them.
Chopman (チョップマン, Choppuman)
A serial killer who appears in one of the traps at Death-T and is exclusive to the manga. One summer night at a camp near Domino Lake, Chopman murdered ten boy scouts who had been staying there. The news of the murders caused fear throughout Domino City; the suspect came to be known as "The Chopman", but was not captured and remained at large.[4]
Laser Tag Assassins
The Laser Tag Assassins are three professional mercenaries who Kaiba hires. They were offered ¥10,000 each to kill Yugi and his friends in the Shooting Stardust (シューティング・スターダスト, Shūtingu Sutādasuto) game, being equipped with guns that can fire lasers, while Yugi and his friends are given toy guns.
Johnny Gale (ジョニー・ゲイル, Jonī Geiru)
A former Green Beret commander who specialized in guerrilla warfare.
Bob Mcguire (ボブ・マクガイア, Bobu Makugaia)
A former SWAT team leader who specialized in long distance sniping.
Name unknown / Mysterious Assassin (謎のアサシン, Nazo no Asashin)
A former hitman that succeeded in killing his targets when KaibaCorp hired him.[5]
Pegasus's servants
Mr. Crocketts / Croquet (クロケッツ, Misutā Kurokettsu)
Voiced by: Yoshikazu Nagano(Japanese); Ted Lewis (English)
The right-hand man and butler of Pegasus. In the manga, Kaiba takes him hostage and holds him at gunpoint in the guestroom, threatening to kill him if Pegasus doesn't show himself. Croquet is his name in the English manga.
Saruwatari / Kemo (猿渡, Saruwatari)
Voiced by: Masahiro Okazaki(Japanese); Eric Stuart (English)
A character who is first shown working for the Kaiba Brothers as one of their private bodyguards during the Death-T arc. In reality, he was working for Industrial Illusions, gathering information from within KaibaCorp and giving it to Pegasus. During Pegasus' tournament, Saruwatari was in charge to taking the eliminated players to the boat leaving Pegasus' island. In a filler arc, Saruwatari was shown working for the Big Five and was sent to shut down the virtual reality pods that Yugi, Jonouchi, and Mokuba were in. After they emerged from the game successfully, Kemo and those with him ran off to beat Kaiba to the Big Five. Saruwatari reappears in the Yu-Gi-Oh! R spin-off manga and in the 1999 movie, where he kidnaps unwilling invitees to Kaiba's tournament. However, Jonouchi stops him from forcing Shougo Aoyama to enter.
Player Killers
The Player Killers / Eliminators (プレイヤーキラー, Pureiyā Kirā) are duelists Pegasus hires to challenge contestants to duels and take their Star Chips, to ensure that the gamers on his island do not reach the finals of Duelist Kingdom and make Pegasus the world's number one duelist and fit to be KaibaCorp's new CEO.
Ventriloquist of the Dead (死者の腹話術師, Shisha no Fukuwajutsūshi)
The first Player Killer that Yugi and his friends encounter, who Saruwatari hired to defeat Yugi. He controls a puppet that resembles Kaiba and uses his stolen deck. After he is defeating, Dark Yugi inflicts the Penalty Game "Puppet Illusion" on him, trapping him in an illusion where a puppet of himself is attacking him.
Ghost Kaiba / Mimic of Doom (死の物真似師, Shinomono Maneshi)
Voiced by: Tony Hirota(Japanese); Eric Stuart (disguised form), Wayne Grayson (true form) (English)
An obese shape-shifter hired to defeat Yugi. He replaces the manga's Ventriloquist of the Dead in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters anime. Upon defeat, he vanishes after Dark Yugi uses a Mind Crush. In the English dub, he is the evil side of Seto Kaiba's heart that Dark Yugi banished to the Shadow Realm in the first episode.
Player Killer of Darkness / PaniK (「闇」のプレイヤーキラー, "Yami" no Pureiyā Kirā)
Voiced by: Holly Kaneko(Japanese); David Moo (English)
The second Player Killer that the group encounters, who steals Mai's star chips. When Dark Yugi intends to bet his own life to even out the stakes and win back Mai's star chips. The Player Killer ties a noose around Dark Yugi's neck and threatens to kill him once he wins. Because of this, Dark Yugi turns the duel into a Shadow Game, at one point claiming he will win in five more turns. During the duel, Dark Yugi shows the Player Killer illusions of the impending Penalty Game, in which he is walking up the gallows' stairs each turn closer to the five turn limit. After the Player Killer loses the Shadow Game, Dark Yugi inflicts the "Darkness of Naraku" Penalty Game on him, where he imagines himself being hung from the gallows over the abyss. In the anime, the penalty of the game is changed so that fire is shot at the loser. When the Player Killer attempts to do this to Dark Yugi even after losing, Dark Yugi's magic shields him from harm. He then performs a Mind Crush on the Player Killer. Mai's star chips are then returned to her.
Kyu/Dox Voiced by: Hitoshi Nishimura(Japanese); Marc Thompson (English)
The last set of Player Killers the group meet within the underground maze of Duelist Kingdom. They challenge Yugi and Jonouchi to a tag-battle game, a hybrid of Duel Monsters and a maze game. After losing, the group must choose the correct path or else they will be stuck in the underground labyrinth for eternity. In reality, both doors are correct and the brothers are able to change the correct door at will. Their trickery is outed by Dark Yugi's Labyrinth Coin (迷宮コイン, Meikyū Koin) game, with the aid of Dark Bakura in the manga, and the group is able to return to the surface.
Ghouls
Ghouls / Rare Hunters (グールズ, Gūruzu) are a group of card thieves that serve Marik, whom Dark Yugi and Kaiba refer to as "Ghouls of the Gaming Underworld". They provide Marik with a large supply of minions, rare cards, and money by stealing and selling rare cards from duelists worldwide. Numerous members of the Ghouls are shown, including the unnamed card shop owner and various unnamed duelists.
The first Ghoul who Marik dispatched upon learning from the card shop owner that gave Jonouchi his Duel Disk that Jonouchi owns the rare Red-Eyes Black Dragon. He uses a deck that focuses on making a complete hand of counterfeit Exodia cards. After Dark Yugi destroys his strategy and wins the duel, Marik uses his Millennium Rod to take over Rare Hunter's mind to introduce himself to Yugi, after which he is seemingly killed (sent his mind to the Shadow Realm). It was also revealed that this Rare Hunter was the weakest of the group.
The second Ghoul. He was a magician who at an early age was saddened by his mother's death (this was omitted in the English dub). During one of his escape tricks aided by his fiance Catherine, something went horribly wrong and Arkana was disfigured around the eyes. His sadness drove away Catherine. While wandering around with a bandaged head, Arkana was approached by Marik who offered to reunite him with Catherine. He since wore a mask to hide his disfigurement. Following Seeker's failure, Arkana is dispatched to challenges Dark Yugi to a death game in which their legs are shackled and buzzsaws threaten to saw off the loser's legs once their life points reach 0 (in the English anime, the loser will be sent to the Shadow Realm upon being touched by the laser disks). He is defeated by Yugi's Dark Magician Girl. Yugi saved Arkana from losing his leg despite Marik messing with his mind and went to where Catherine was supposed to be only to find that he was talking to a mannequin all this time. Marik then speaks to Yugi for a brief moment and mentions that another Rare Hunter will be coming for him.
The third Ghoul, who first appears before Bakura, Anzu, and Yugi's grandfather in the park. Bakura tries to get his attention, but does not feel any life from him, as if he was a doll. Marik later uses him as a puppet in an attempt to kill Yugi before arriving in Battle City. He wielded Slifer the Sky Dragon and used a combination of Revival Jam with "Jam Defender" and "Infinite Cards" to power Slifer the Sky Dragon. After Yugi used "Brain Control" on Revival Jam, this caused Pantomimer to deck out enabling Yugi to win the duel.
The last set of Ghouls, who challenge Dark Yugi and Kaiba to a tag-team death game where the loser sets off a bomb near their side of the glass ceiling and will fall 13 stories to their death (sent to the Shadow Realm in the English dub). In the English anime, the loser will be sent to the Shadow Realm. Unbeknownst to Dark Yugi and Kaiba, they are equipped with parachutes. After Umbra was defeated, Marik brainwashed Lumis to brag that he has Yugi's friends.
Mask of Darkness / Umbra (闇の仮面, Yami no Kamen)
Voiced by: Kōji Ishii (Japanese); Andrew Paull (English)
The last set of Ghouls, who challenge Dark Yugi and Kaiba to a tag-team death game where the loser sets off a bomb near their side of the glass ceiling and will fall 13 stories to their death (sent to the Shadow Realm in the English dub). In the English anime, the loser will be sent to the Shadow Realm. Unbeknownst to Dark Yugi and Kaiba, they are equipped with parachutes. When Umbra was defeated, he was sent falling and activated his parachute.
Filler antagonists
Siegfried von Schroeder / Zigfried von Schroeder (ジークフリード・フォン・シュレイダー, Jīkufurīdo fon Shureidā)
Voiced by: Eisuke Tsuda(Japanese); Pete Zaraustica (English)
The CEO of Schroeder Corp, a long-time rival to the Kaiba family and Kaiba Corporation. When Siegfried and Seto Kaiba become heads of their respective family companies, they attempt to create holographic systems for Duel Monsters. Both succeed, with Siegfried's invention being the Holographic Duel Box Room System, but Kaiba markets and patents his first, leaving Siegfried to fall into ruin. He actively attempted to destroy Kaiba Corp for many years afterwards. After discovering that his younger brother Leon is secretly a successful duelist, he takes interest in him for the first time and manipulates him to destroy Kaiba. Siegfried joins the KC Grand Prix to discredit Kaiba and claim revenge. Although Siegfried uses various computer viruses in an attempt to destroy Kaiba Corporation's computer systems, Kaiba is able to stop them and expels Siegfried from the tournament. When Leon faces Yugi in the finals, he attempts to use him to destroy Kaiba Corp, but fails as Leon did not want to beat anyone by cheating. After his defeat, Leon forgives him and promises to help rebuild their family's company. Siegfried embraces him, finally able to have a real relationship with his brother.
A rich, selfish, uncaring, tyrannical, and power-hungry businessman who is the adoptive father of Seto and Mokuba Kaiba. He is the original founder and CEO of Kaiba Corporation, which initially began as a successful arms manufacturer, and a world famous chess champion. It was this particular skill that Seto appealed to when Gozaburo visited the orphanage where he and Mokuba were living, as he challenged Gozaburo to a game of chess, with the stakes being the adoption of the two brothers. Seto won by cheating and Gozaburo adopted Seto and Mokuba, but he was a cruel father, forcing Seto to spend all his time studying to groom him as his new heir. However, Gozaburo's plans backfired when he gave Seto a 2% share of Kaiba Corporation stock as a test, challenging him to pay back ten times the amount within a year. Seto managed to acquire the money within a single day, and along with the board of director, secured majority control of the company stocks, overthrowing Gozaburo and installing himself as the new CEO. Upon being dethroned, Gozaburo commits suicide by defenestration. In the first anime adaptation, he instead suffers a heart attack. In the Duel Monsters anime adaptation, his story is greatly altered, making him the major antagonist of one of the anime's filler arcs.
Gozaburo Kaiba's biological son and Seto and Mokuba's stepbrother. As the heir to Kaiba Corporation, Noah's father made him study heavily in the arts and academic subjects, but unlike Seto Kaiba, Noah enjoyed it and was eager to please his father. When Noah was around ten years old, he was involved in a car accident and was fatally injured. In hopes of saving his son, Gozaburo uploaded Noah's soul onto a supercomputer before Seto was adopted. In the present, he kidnaps Yugi and co. and traps them in his Virtual World.
The Big Five
The Big Five were originally the executives for Kaiba Corp who were swayed to Kaiba's side when buying out Gozaburo. After Kaiba was victorious, he shut down their factories and re-established KaiabCorp as a gaming company causing the Big Five to resent him. They allied with Pegasus in a plan to allow Pegasus to claim control over KaibaCorp.
In the manga following Pegasus' defeat, Kaiba fired them and they were never seen again.
In the anime, Kaiba started to fire them as they offered him a peace offering in the form of a virtual reality game. Once Kaiba was in, he soon ends up trapped causing Mokuba to enlist Yugi and his friends for help. The Big Five program Witty Phantom to oversee Kaiba's sacrifice for a ritual that would summon Five-Headed Dragon. After Kaiba was freed from Witty Phantom's clutches and Saruwatari was sent with some men to deactivate the virtual reality pods, the Big Five take action and reprogram the game so that Five-Headed Dragon can appear. In addition, they also activate the Dragon Seal so that only dragon monsters can fight there. After Jonouchi, Mai, and Mokuba are defeated, Yugi and Kaiba combined Black Luster Soldier and Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon to form Dragon Master Knight which destroyed Five-Headed Dragon. When Yugi, Jonouchi, and Mokuba emerged from their pods, Saruawatari and his men ran off to beat Kaiba to the Big Five.
In the anime-only "Virtual World" arc, the Big Five's minds have become separated from their bodies and were trapped in KaibaCorp's cyberspace until they were found by Noa Kaiba who offered them a chance to gain new bodies. Each one went up against Yugi, Kaiba, and those with them using the "Deck Master" system. They each lost with Noa giving them a second chance. They dueled Yugi and Junouchi who wanted them to give Hiroto's body back. Despite using their different Deck Master abilities and monsters like Five-Headed Dragon and Berserk Dragon, the Big Five were defeated. After Noa busts them for trying to steal the bodies of Yugi's group, they beg for another chance only for Noa to delete them. In the English dub, they were imprisoned in the different corners of the virtual world which was later destroyed.
The former vice-president of business strategy at Kaiba Corp and the founder of the Big Five. He is the oldest of the group. In the Virtual World arc, his Deck Master was Deepsea Warrior.
Shuzo Otaki / Adrian Randolph Crump III
Voiced by: Satoshi Tsuruoka, Ryōsuke Ōtani(Japanese); Robert O'Gorman (English)
A former manager of KaibaCorp Personnel. In the dub, he used to be an accountant and the chief financial officer for Kaiba Corp. In the virtual world, his Deck Master was Nightmare Penguin. His position and deck master were based on his dream of an all-penguin theme park that Kaiba turned down.
Chikuzen Oka / Johnson
Voiced by: Shinichi Yashiro(Japanese); Wayne Grayson ("Duelist Kingdom" and "Legendary Heroes" arc), Andrew Paull ("Virtual World" arc) (English)
A former expert lawyer and chief legal officer for Kaiba Corp. In the virtual world, his Deck Master was Judge Man.
A former engineer and chief technical officer at Kaiba Corp. In the virtual world, his Deck Master was Robotic Knight. Ota hopes to take revenge on Kaiba for forcing him to destroy his weapons and replace them with video games.
Kogoro Daimon / Lector
Voiced by: Eiji Takemoto, Hisashi Izumi(Japanese); Tom Souhrada (English)
The former right-hand man to Gozaburo and later Seto Kaiba, who was next in line to become CEO after Gozaburo. However, Seto took his title and left Daimon as little more than company consultant and figurehead. In the virtual world, his Deck Master is Jinzo.
Doma / Paradius
An organization who tried to take over the world using the Orichalcos.
Dartz (ダーツ, Dātsu)
Voiced by: Yū Emao(Japanese); Wayne Grayson (English)
The former King of Atlantis and the head of the organization Paradius. After being forced to kill his wife, who had been turned into a monster by the orichalcos, Dartz was also corrupted, which turned his right eye green. Dartz led the forces of the Orichalcos against his father, daughter, and the forces of the Dominion of the Beasts, but was defeated. He spent the next ten thousand years collecting souls to revive the Leviathan, which he believed could be revived using Atem's soul.
Rafael (ラフェール, Rafēru)
Voiced by: Yoshihisa Kawahara(Japanese); Marc Thompson (English)
The strongest of Dartz's henchmen and the duelist meant to defeat Atem and Yugi. His family was killed while on an ocean cruise, leaving him stranded on a deserted island. In the English version, his family is still alive, but forgot about him. With only his duelling deck to keep him company, Rafael developed a deep bond with them before he was rescued by Dartz, the man responsible for his tragic past.
Amelda / Alister (アメルダ, Ameruda)
Voiced by: Yukinara Iemura(Japanese); Ted Lewis (English)
Dartz's second henchman. As a child, he lived in a town in the middle of a war and led a resistance group with his brother after their parents were killed by soldiers using weapons that were provided by Gozaburo Kaiba. His brother was ultimately killed as well. In the English dub, his parents and brother disappeared after their home town was attacked by soldiers armed by Gozaburo Kaiba, with Alister seeking revenge on Kaiba, unaware that Dartz is the true culprit behind ruining his life.
Valon (ヴァロン, Varon)
Voiced by: Takeshi Maeda(Japanese); Marc Thompson (English)
Dartz's third henchman. He was abandoned at a young age and was cared for by a nun at a church who protected him from a local street gang. However, when the nun was killed in a fire and the church burned down, Valon assaulted the gang and was sent to juvenile prison. In the English dub, Valon was sent to juvie there for an unspecified crime (courtesy of Dartz). He also develops feelings for Mai and seeks to defeat Jonouchi for previously defeating her and destroying her sense of worth as a duelist.
The main antagonist of Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light, who was sealed inside the titular artifact and a card. He seeks revenge on Dark Yugi and awakens after Yugi solves the Millennium Puzzle in the beginning of the film. Atem had defeated Anubis a millennia ago, yet Anubis reappears to face Yugi Muto. While having briefly controlled Seto Kaiba upon having him play "Pyramid of Light" Anubis possesses the cards "Andro Sphinx" and "Sphinx Teleia" whose destruction can summon "Theinen the Great Sphinx" alongside paying 500 lifepoints. In the Japanese version of the movie, Anubis wants revenge by using the King of Light (Kaiba) to defeat the King of Darkness (Dark Yugi) to revive Anubis, the King of Destruction, and then use Kaiba to become the new king and rule the world. However, Yugi stops his plans and he is killed by "Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon".
The main antagonist of Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D: Bonds Beyond Time. He is one of Iliaster's Four Stars of Destruction and a Turbo Duelist who travels across time and space to destroy the history of Duel Monsters to save his own time, but ends up causing damage to the timeline. He faces Yugi, Jaden, and Yusei Fudo in a duel, and they are able to defeat him, save Duel monsters and their timelines. He plays his "Malefic" deck in which he stole every Duel monster cards. He also appears in a flashback in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.
Diva (ディーヴァ, Dīva)
Voiced by: Kento Hayashi (Japanese); Daniel J. Edwards (English)
The main antagonist of Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dark Side of Dimensions, a film that serves as an epilogue to the manga continuity. Diva lived in Egypt with his sister Sera and Mani. They were connected to Shadi, who was like a mentor to them. In the Shrine of the Underworld. Shadi taught them about the Millennium Items, telling them that three of the items represented evil, three represented justice, and the seventh, the Millennium Puzzle, had both justice and evil. Shadi considered Diva to be of the same level as the person who is destined to solve the Millennium Puzzle. Shadi also told them that when the seven items are gathered together, a door to a better world would be opened and the three of them could enter that world, because they had been chosen. Before being killed by Dark Bakura, Shadi gave Diva the Quantum Cube (量子キューブ, Ryōshi Kyūbu). Using its power, Diva can erase people directly or transport them to an alternate dimension, where they will gradually dissolve into nothingness.
In the present day, he alters the memories of everyone in Domino City to make them believe he is a new student at Domino High School named Aigami (藍神, Aigami). He plans to kill Seto and Yugi to save his home dimension and seeks revenge on Ryo Bakura, whom he blames for Shadi's death.
Yugi's grandfather, who gave him the Millennium Puzzle, which he had recovered from the tomb of Pharaoh Atem when he was younger, as a present. He was once a gaming master who traveled all over the world to try and win games, vowing that if he ever lost a game, he'd "open up a game shop, wear overalls, and collect years instead of chips". In the present, he owns a game shop called Kame Game, where Yugi and his friends get several of the games they play. In the second series anime adaptation, he teaches Katsuya Jonouchi how to play the Duel Monsters card game. Like Yugi, his fondness for games is evident in his name, as "Sugoroku" is a Japanese game similar to Backgammon. Sugoroku is the reincarnation of Ancient Egyptian vizier Siamun Muran, who was Atem's right-hand man.
A talented game inventor and the creator of Dungeon Dice Monsters (ダンジョンダイスモンスターズ, Danjon Daisu Monsutāzu) (anime and English manga) or Dragons, Dice, & Dungeons (D·D·D(ドラゴン・ダイス・＆(アンド)ダンジョンズ), Doragon Daisu ando Danjonzu) (Japanese manga). According to his father Mr. Otogi, Ryuji was born and raised as a brilliant games player to fulfill his desire to take revenge on Sugoroku. Sugoroku had defeated Mr. Otogi in a Shadow Game called the Devil's Board Game, causing him to age 50 years in one night as a result of the Penalty Game. Ryuji was eventually transferred to Domino High School, and his father used this as an opportunity for Ryuji to defeat Yugi in a series of games and fulfill the family's revenge, taking the Millennium Puzzle for himself.[6] However, Ryuji ends up being moved by the games he played with Yugi and cannot bring himself to hate him, ultimately joining Yugi's circle of friends. He is somewhat serious and quiet, but also level-headed and intelligent. In the second anime, the influence of Ryuji's father is omitted entirely and Ryuji's personality is rewritten. Ryuji befriended Pegasus, who became fond of Dungeon Dice Monsters (ダンジョンダイスモンスターズ, Danjon Daisu Monsutāzu)), and wanted to help him market the game. After Yugi defeats Pegasus, he is no longer interested in their earlier deal. Ryuji blames Yugi for this and believes he cheated in his match against Pegasus. After learning the truth, he befriends Yugi and the others and often joins them on their adventures. Also upon defeat, Pegasus' company later contacted him stating that they would like to go ahead with Dungeon Dice Monsters. Despite his arrogance, he is smart and level-headed. His personality often causes conflict with Honda, especially over Shizuka, who they both have a crush on in the anime.
The first Millennium Item wielder that Yugi and his friends face in the series. He holds the Millennium Key / Millennium Ankh (千年錠, Sennen Jō), which gives him the ability to peer into humans' inner souls and rearrange their personalities, and the Millennium Scales (千年秤, Sennen Bakari), which have the power to weigh the evil in a person's heart, similarly to Anubis' "Weighing of the Heart" trials in Egyptian mythology, using the feather of Ma'at. His origin differs between mediums. In the final story arc, it is revealed that he is a spirit from the afterlife who is bound to the Millennium Stone and constantly reincarnating to guard it until the Pharaoh returns. The physical body of his current incarnation was destroyed by Dark Bakura several years ago.
Marik's elder sister who became a museum curator to lure Yugi and Seto to her and prevent Marik from fulfilling his goals. She holds the Millennium Necklace / Millennium Tauk (千年首飾り, Sennen Tauku), which has the power to foresee events in the near future. Despite her brother's betrayal of their family, she still loves him and believes that there is still good in his heart. As a result, she continues to seek a way to return him to the person he once was. She is committed to her family's destiny to serve the pharaoh, as she believes he is the only one with the power to stop Marik.
Marik's adoptive brother and the second-in-command of the Ghouls. He was abandoned as a child and taken in by Marik's mother prior to his birth. However, his father never accepted him as a suitable heir and treated him as a servant rather than a son. Despite this, Rishid desired to become a true part of the family and an heir to the tombkeeper clan. When Marik was born, his mother told him to take care of his younger brother, and he supported him even as he turned to evil. Marik and Rishid were close siblings, but Rishid harbored a resentment for him as the true heir to the tombkeeper's clan and legitimate son of his parents. When Marik was bitten by a cobra and became ill, their father beat Rishid out of fury that he allowed Marik to be harmed and ordered that he stay by Marik's bedside until he recovered. Rishid took a dagger to Marik's room with the intent to kill him in his sleep; this is edited out in the dub, along with Rishid's resentment for Marik. However, Marik saw Rishid as his brother despite them not being blood related and could not bring himself to kill him. When Marik admitted he was terrified of being forced to take the initiation ritual, he unsuccessfully tried to stop their father from forcing it on him. When this failed, he scarred his own face with a dagger to share the pain and prove his loyalty to their family. When Marik unknowingly developed his dark split personality, Rishid restrained Dark Marik and protected Marik from knowing about the existence of his dark side. After he helped Marik and Ishizu sneak outside, his father attempted to kill him for betraying them. When Marik returned and witnessed this, his anger allowed Dark Marik to take over and murder his father (Dark Marik sent his father to the Shadow Realm in the English dub). Rishid was able to calm Marik down and make his dark side disappear again, lying to him that Shadi killed him under orders from the Pharaoh to protect him from the truth. However, Marik took this as fact, which caused his desire for revenge against the Pharaoh.
An attractive woman who spent most of her life alone. While working as a blackjack dealer on a cruise ship, she developed a cynical attitude towards people and manipulated men using her "Aroma Tactics" to easily beat them in card games. Although she made money doing this, it caused her to hate people more until she got sick of her job and quit. She became a powerful and successful duelist thanks to her Harpie-themed deck, but had no true friends and dueled for pride and monetary gain. However, she entered the Duelist Kingdom tournament both to win the prize money and find the things she once cherished. During the tournament, she meets Yugi and his friends and begins befriending them after they rescue her Star Chips from the Player Killer of Darkness to help her stay in the tournament. Mai subsequently faces Yugi in the semi-finals, but ultimately chooses to surrender to him after deciding she cannot win, telling him that some losses only serve to make people stronger. In the second anime, she is depicted as having been raised in a wealthy household, but barely being acknowledged by her relatives. In the 4Kids version, Mai's past as a blackjack dealer was omitted and both she and her Harpie Ladies' appearance were censored to remove sexual references. Her English name is a reference to "my valentine". Outside of the Harpie Ladies, Mai also owns some Amazoness cards.
Voiced by: Michiko Neya (1998), Mika Sakenobe (2000–2004)(Japanese); Lisa Ortiz (English)
Jonouchi's little sister, who was separated from him when their parents divorced and her mother took custody of her. When Shizuka was diagnosed with blindness, Jonouchi entered the Duelist Kingdom tournament and successfully obtained the prize money to secure the operation that would save her eyesight. She has a different surname from her brother in the manga and Japanese second anime, but the same surname in the first anime.
Voiced by: Kaori Tagami(Japanese); Kerry Williams (English)
A character created exclusively for Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters. She is the bratty 8-year-old, or 12-year-old in the Japanese version, granddaughter of a friend of Sugoroku, and believes Sugoroku stole the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card from him. After dueling Yugi to get it back, Rebecca and Yugi play a game identical to the one Sugoroku had played with Rebecca's grandfather years ago. After Yugi surrenders, Sugoroku explains that Kaiba tore her Blue-Eyes White Dragon card in half after beating him in a duel. After learning the truth, Rebecca apologizes to Sugoroku for thinking he tore it even when her grandfather arrived. Yugi then hands Rebecca the "Ties of Friendship" card that he won at Duelist Kingdom to show his acceptance of her forgiveness. Rebecca later appears as one of the contestants in the KC Grand Prix. By this time, she has given up the teddy bear she carried with her in addition to growing out her hair and wearing glasses. She is also shown to be quite intelligent, as she has enrolled in college, but is still immature and self-centered. Rebecca has been shown to have a crush on Yugi, which often makes Anzu unhappy, although the two are still good friends.
Millennium World
During the Millennium World story arc, Dark Yugi journeys into his lost memories and meets old acquaintances from Ancient Egypt as NPCs within Dark Bakura's tabletop role-playing game, the Shadow RPG (闇のＲ・Ｐ・Ｇ, Yami no Ā Pī Jī), a campaign based on the past.
The Six High Priests (六神官, Roku Shinkan) protect the seven Millennium Items with their lives and swear eternal loyalty to the Pharaoh, Atem, who serves as the player character of Dark Yugi, Atem's spirit in modern times. They served Atem during his reign in Ancient Egypt 3,000 years ago, or 5,000 years ago in the English anime. In the age where Shadow Games were used to determine a person's fate, the Priests used the Millennium Items and sorcery to pull out and seal human souls (Ka), which take the form of Monsters Spirits, into stone slabs to do battle. These people were criminals and those who pilfered from the Pharaohs' tombs. Within the RPG, each characters' health and magic were represented by their Ba Gauge.
A High Priest and the holder of the Millennium Rod. Seto was Atem's cousin and the past life of Seto Kaiba. Despite having an attitude like that of Kaiba, Seto was a loyal friend of Atem. Before the Battle City arc, a tablet depicting Priest Seto fighting Atem was on display at the Domino City Museum, with his Blue-Eyes White Dragon fighting against Atem's Dark Magician. During the Battle City arc, Kaiba experiences vivid visions of his past life as Seto. Priest Seto appears as an NPC in the Shadow RPG, aligned to Dark Yugi's side of the board.
A High Priest who was the previous owner of the Millennium Ring before losing it to Thief King Bakura in a Shadow Game. He had sensed an evil intelligence within the Millennium Ring, which it absorbed from the previous priest who wore it. His Monster Spirit Ka is Illusion Magician / Magus of Illusion (幻想の魔術師, Gensō no Majutsushi), which he later merges with to become Atem's ace monster Dark Magician. He also appears in the Shadow RPG.
A High Priestess who wields the Millennium Necklace. She is later revealed to be Ishizu Ishtar's previous life (anime only). She is named after the Egyptian goddess Isis.
Priest Karim (神官カリム, Shinkan Karimu)
Voiced by: Masahito Kawanago(Japanese); Sean Schemmel (English)
A High Priest who was the owner of the Millennium Scales. He appears in the Shadow RPG as an NPC aligned with Dark Yugi.
A High Priest who was the keeper of the Millennium Key during Atem's reign. He appears to have had a friendship with Priest Seto, and reluctantly aided him in his criminal hunt for Monster Spirit Ka with his Millennium Key. He later died after shielding Atem from a lightning bolt Zorc Necrophades cast, and his Ba Gauge was wiped out. In the English version of the second anime, he was sent to the Shadow Realm. After his death, his predecessor Siamun reclaimed the Millennium Key to call forth Exodia the Forbidden One. Although he is the wielder of the Millennium Key and has a similar name to Shadi, the two are not related.
A vizier of Atem, who resembles Sugoroku. He was Shada's predecessor and one of Pharaoh Akhenamkhanen's original guardians, as well as the former keeper of the Millennium Key.
A childhood friend of Atem, who studied magic under Mahad as his apprentice. She shared a deep bond between her master and Atem; the anime depicts all three as being childhood friends. She appears in the Millennium World arc as an NPC during Dark Bakura's Shadow RPG game. Her Ka is the Dark Magician Girl. In the second anime, she can see Atem's friends from the present and initially mistakes Yugi for Atem.
The keeper of the Blue Eyes White Dragon Monster Spirit in the Millennium World arc. Her pale appearance is unusual, and she is mentioned as being from a "foreign country" in the Japanese anime. In the second series anime adaptation, it is stated that as children, Priest Seto saved Kisara from slave traders, and she repaid him by unconsciously releasing her inner dragon spirit after the traders set fire to his village and killed his mother. Years later, which is depicted as their first meeting in the manga, Seto encounters Kisara being stoned because of her pale white skin, deep blue eyes and snow white hair. Shada senses the immeasurably strong strength and power within her— which he deems "equal to that of the [Egyptian] Gods"— and Seto takes her back to the palace, where he recognizes her as the girl he had saved years ago. Kazuki Takahashi stated that he originally planned for the story to have further explored the romantic relationship between Seto and Kisara, but to meet a deadline, these plans were scrapped. Takahashi also stated that Priest Seto's romantic feelings for Kisara are the basis for Kaiba's modern-day obsession with the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card.[8]
In the manga, he is a member of an Egyptian tombkeeper clan that protects the Millennium Items under Shadi's command. He possesses Shadi's Millennium Scale and his Millennium Key, which he protects by placing them on his abnormally-shaped chest and locking his clothes. He then swallows the key, and is able to regurgitate it at will. He accompanies Yugi and his friends into the Millennium Puzzle's maze, a continuation of the Labyrinth Treasure Hunt from the manga, to find the true door to the king's memory. He later enters the Memory World with Yugi and his friends and becomes an NPC in the Shadow RPG. In the manga, it is revealed that he is Hasan, which makes him Shadi. In the Duel Monsters anime, his role and character are completely altered. He appears as a comic relief NPC that inhabits the Shadow RPG, and is a key switch that can lead the player to where the Pharaoh's name is if they give him enough food to eat. His true identity is never stated. When he finally takes them to the Pharaoh's tomb, he vanishes. He also seems to know more about the situation than he lets on. Unlike in the manga, Bobasa is not an alternate identity of Shadi.
Other characters
Ushio (牛尾, known as Demitrius the Bully in the English DDM video game)
Voiced by: Ryuzaburo Otomo (1998), Yūji Kishi (2000)(Japanese); Dan Green (English)
A hall monitor at Domino High School who offers a paid bully protection service to Yugi after Jonouchi and Honda bully him. Although Yugi refuses, denying that he has been bullied, Ushio beats up Jonouchi and Honda and demands that Yugi pay him a fee of 20,000 yen. Ushio ends up being the first victim of Dark Yugi's Shadow Games, suffering a Penalty Game upon defeat that causes him to become insane, thinking that garbage and leaves are money. He also appears in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.
ZTV Director (ＺＴＶディレクター, Zetto Tī Vi direkutā)
A minor villain exclusive to the original manga, appearing in the second chapter.[9] After he used Yugi for a bullying scene, and he beat up Jonouchi, Dark Yugi challenged him to shadow game. He lost, and Yugi made it so everything he sees is cencored.
Tomoya Hanasaki (花咲 友也, Hanasaki Tomoya, known as Lint Greendale in the English DDM video game)
A friend of Yugi in the early chapters of the manga, who does not appear in the anime adaptions. He becomes friends with Yugi after Dark Yugi defeats Sozoji, who until that point was bullying him, in a Shadow Game. Tomoya is obsessed with the American superhero, Zombire (ゾンバイア, Zonbaia). Before the start of the series, Hanasaki spent some time in the hospital. When his father came to visit, he gave him a Zombire figure, telling him he is the strongest hero in America. Upon holding the figure, Hanasaki said he felt stronger. His father was delighted to hear this and promised to bring him Zombire toys and figures when he came home from America.[10]
Sozoji (騒象寺, Sōzōji, known as Fender Shrill in the English DDM video game)
A minor villain exclusive to the original manga. He is a karaoke player who tries to get people to listen to his horrid singing. Sozoji forces Yugi and Tomoya Hanasaki to sell tickets to his All Night Solo Live Show. When Yugi discovers that Hanasaki was also asked to sell tickets, he offers to take charge of selling the tickets. However, Sozoji discovers the exchange and beats up Hanasaki. Yugi arrives at the show, not having sold any tickets. there, Sozoji forces Yugi to listen to his music at a deafening volume and brings out Hanasaki as the audience for the next act. Dark Yugi challenges him to a Shadow Game, with his Penalty Game being having to hear his heartbeat at deafening volumes.
A convict who escaped from Domino City Jail with a stolen handgun after killing a guard and framed Tetsu Sasaki for it. In the first series anime, he is called Jiro the Spider (女郎蜘蛛のジロウ, Jorōgumo no Jirō) and is the manager of the Burger World restaurant. In the manga, Dark Yugi challenges him to a Shadow Game, with his Penalty Game having him be set on fire. In the anime, he is put in an illusion where he is set on fire and is arrested.
A character who appears in the 1998 anime. He is a common thief who resembles the manga's Prisoner Number 777. He is framed by Jiro the Spider for killing a guard with a stolen handgun.
A character who appears in the manga and 1998 anime. He is a self-proclaimed psychic in Class 1-A of Domino High School. Kokurano predicted a fellow student's house would catch fire, a prediction which came true three weeks later and caused him to become famous at school. In actuality, Kokurano had set the student's house on fire. In the first anime, Kokurano dislikes Miho Nosaka because she will not get a prediction from him. After he tries to make Yugi a victim of his "predictions" and knocks Anzu out with chloroform, Dark Yugi challenges him to a Shadow Game. After the match, he is knocked out. The next day, his false predictions are revealed.
Goro Inogashira (猪頭 吾郎, Inogashira Gorō)
A minor villain exclusive to the original manga, who was the senior president of class D's festival committee at Domino City High. He trashes Yugi's festival stand and is challenged to play "Ice Griddle Hockey". He is defeated and engulfed in an explosion as punishment.
Miho Nosaka (野坂 ミホ, Nosaka Miho)
A classmate of Yugi and his friends who is Domino City High's student librarian and is nicknamed "Ribbon" for the yellow ribbon she wears in her hair. She has only a small role in the original manga, where Hiroto Honda has a crush on her and attempts to pass a love note to her in the form of a jigsaw puzzle. However, the teacher Miss Chono intercepts the note, but Dark Yugi foils her attempts to embarrass Honda. When Honda asks Miho out directly, she turns him down. Despite this, Honda becomes friends with Yugi and eventually joins he group.
Ms. Chono (蝶野先生, Chōno-sensei, known as Lynn Madusa in the English DDM video game)
A crooked teacher who appears in the manga and first series anime. She is known as the "Expelling Witch" (退学魔女, Taigaku Majo), since she expelled fifteen students over the course of six months. Her beautiful appearance is due to the excessive make-up she wears, which covers her true ugly face. She also enjoys dating, but revels in dumping men to see them cry. After she nearly expels Honda, Dark Yugi makes her face a Penalty Game and her true face is revealed to her class as her make-up falls off like puzzle pieces.
Junky Scorpion Owner (ジャンキースコーピオンのオーナー, Jankī Sukōpion no Ōnā)
A minor villain exclusive to the manga. He tries to con Jonouchi out of a pair of Air Muscle shoes he bought, but Yugi learns of this and Dark Yugi confronts the owner. The owner hides his scorpion in one of the shoes as he gave it back to Dark Yugi in hopes of poisoning him. Instead, he was challenged to a Shadow Game and is ultimately stung by his own scorpion.
The leader of a gang of teenage thugs from Rintama High School and an old associate of Jonouchi. During middle school, Hirutani hung out with Katsuya Jonouchi as part of a gang, who would spend their time picking fights with gangs from other schools. After middle school, Hirutani went to Rintama High School, while Jonouchi went to Domino High School.[11] He blackmails Jonouchi in an attempt to convince him to join him, but is defeated by Dark Yugi.
Kanekura (金倉, Kanekura)
The curator of Domino City Museum who exhibits the Millennium Puzzle after Yugi agrees to let him exhibit it for one day.
A Domino University professor who is into archaeology and a friend of Sugoroku. He has a wife and son, but neglects them in favor of his work.[12] In the 1998 series, he does not take part in Shadi's Shadow Game and is instead thrown out of the museum window and hospitalized as a result.
Kujirada (鯨田, Kujirada, known as Beluga in the English DDM video game)
A snobby classmate of Yugi's at Domino High School in the manga and 1998 anime. He causes trouble with his aggressive Digital Pet (デジタル・ペット, Dejitaru petto) which is named Devil Master in the 1998 series. Kujirada is bullied and manipulated by Haiyama. After losing to Honda's Digital Pet, Haiyama punishes Kujirada by whipping him. Dark Yugi saves Honda, Miho, and Kujirada by challenging Haiyama to a Digital Pet Shadow Game.
A boy who beats up Yugi over a losing streak of Virtual VS, with both of them using the character of Bruce Ryu, who is based on Bruce Lee. He then steals Yugi's Millennium Puzzle. After learning what happened, Jonouchi pursues Street Fighter to reclaim the Puzzle. They fight in Street Fighter's game, "One-Inch Terror", and he is beaten by Jonouchi.
Johji (ジョージ, Jōji)
A manga-exclusive character who is Honda's nephew and the son of his big sister.[5] He is lecherous towards Anzu and other females, which is played for comedy relief, and occasionally swears. He calls Honda by his given name, Hiroto, and seems to dislike him and his friends. He is a big fan of Kaiba and forces Honda to take him to the opening of Kaiba, where Honda witnesses Kaiba dealing Sugoroku an artificial Penalty Game and decides to accompany Yugi in Kaiba's Death-T challenge. He accompanies the group during the Death-T arc and proves to be helpful in overcoming some of Kaiba's deadly attractions.
Tsuruoka (鶴岡)
The guidance counselor of Domino High School and a minor villain exclusive to the manga. He tends to abuse his position to be unfair to the students. Tsuruoka mocks the low achievement test grades of Yugi, Jonouchi, and Honda to their peers as punishment for playing the Achievement Test Bingo Game. He then takes the Lovely Two (ラブリー二号, Raburī Ni-gō) keychain Anzu had given to Yugi as a gift, citing that students are not allowed to bring games to school.
ZTV Producer (ＺＴＶプロデューサー, Zetto Tī Vi Purodyūsā)
A selfish and corrupt unnamed executive of the television studio ZTV who takes advantage of underprivileged people to boost ratings and cheats his way out of giving away prize money. He was a producer of the TV game show 100 Million Yen!! Game Get Show (１００万円！！ゲームＤＥゲット・ショー, Hyaku Man-en! Gēmu DE Getto shō, Get a Million Yen Show). The ZTV Producer is pleased after learning that Jonouchi, who was poor and trying to pay off his father's gambling debts would be on the show. He thinks that the audience will love to see a poor person struggling and seeing him lose at the last minute. The ZTV Producer and a technician try to rig the final stage of the game to prevent Jonouchi from winning the prize money by pressing a button, which would prevent the wheel in the final game from stopping on the ¥1,000,000 section. Dark Yugi's attempt to punish him ends up backfiring, but Jonouchi does not get the prize money regardless.
Koji Nagumo (名蜘蛛 コージ, Nagumo Kōji)
Voiced by: Shin Tomita(Japanese); Matthew Charles (English)
A minor villain who first appears in the original manga. In the manga, Nagumo asks Yugi to play Monster Fighter (モンスター・ファイター, Monsutā Faitā) with him while at Domino High School. While playing, Nagumo hits Yugi and takes his gun and monster, Alti, then tries to sell it and other Monster Fighter figures and guns he has collected for ¥30,000 each. Dark Yugi comes into his store and fights Nagumo and his Wild Spider in a Shadow Game with Katsuya's monster, Killer Emaada, which Yugi had asked to borrow. Nagumo's face is cracked in the first set, which goes to Dark Yugi, as the Shadow Game dictated that the players are damaged in the game rather than the monsters. In the second set, Nagumo cheats by kicking Dark Yugi in the side. Enraged, Dark Yugi raises the Shadow Game's mode to "level three". When Nagumo tries to cheat again, his legs are held down by the monsters, including his own, and he sees that the monster on his field is his own soul, which is the Wild Spider's body with his face. Dark Yugi then deals the death blow, piercing the representation of Nagumo's soul and purging it of darkness.[13] He also competes in the Battle City tournament, but is defeated by Kaiba's God Card.
A nickname for a man who sets off a string of bombs in Domino, with his third attack at the Domino Mall killing eight people and his fourth bomb threat endangering Anzu's life. In the manga, Dark Yugi saves her life by playing Clock Solitaire (時計（クロック）カード・ゲーム, Kurokku Kādo Gēmu)[14] without getting four threes. Afterwards, Dark Yugi reveals the bomber's whereabouts to the chief of police, leading to his arrest.[15] In the anime, Dark Yugi makes him face a penalty game where he thinks there is a bomb in the car he was hiding.
A student at Domino High School who is withdrawn and shy, but is revealed to be anti-social and vindicated, eventually uncovering the secrets of Yugi's Millennium Puzzle. He decides to usurp Yugi from his position of the "guardian of darkness" by challenging him to a game of Dragon Cards (龍札（ドラゴン・カード）, Doragon Kādo), a forbidden Chinese Shadow Game which his grandfather found while in Manchuria in World War II. He is defeated and his soul is sucked out as food for the game. In the 1998 anime, only the darkness is sucked out.
Nezumi (根津見)
A character who only appears in the manga. He is a boy with buckteeth who uses a sob story about getting hit by yo-yos in a robbery to lure Yugi and Jonouchi to Hirutani. Out of anger, Jonouchi asks Nezumi to lead him to the gangsters. Yugi and Jonouchi travel to Hirutani's abandoned warehouse, where several gang members ambush them. Nezumi runs away when Yugi and Jonouchi manage to defeat the gang members.
A gym teacher who harasses Bakura on his first day at Domino High School. After seeing him walking through the hallways with a group of girls, he recognizes him as a student who caused problems at his previous school. Insistent on disciplining him, Mr. Karita tells him that the school's rules state that boys with long hair is against the rules, and orders him that he must shave his hair if he wants to be treated as a student.[16] Dark Bakura later defeats him and puts his soul in a game piece.
The former Japanese champion of Duel Monsters, who is known for his deck of mainly insect-type monsters and insect-related magic and trap cards. He is not above cheating to ensure his strategies work as he befriends Yugi only to throw his Exodia cards into the ocean and puts a Paracitic Insect card in Jonouchi's deck to ensure his Insect Barrier would work. Haga and Ryuzaki later tried attempts to get the Egyptian God Cards which fail on various occasions.
Dinosaur Ryuzaki / Rex Raptor (ダイナソウ竜崎, Dainasō Ryūzaki)
Voiced by: Kin Fujii (2000–2001), Yuichi Nakamura (2002–2004)(Japanese); Brian Zimmerman/ Sam Regal (4Kids, eps. 1–144), Sebastian Arcelus (4Kids, eps. 145–187), Anthony Salerno (4Kids, eps. 188–224) (English)
The runner-up of the Japanese Duel Monsters tournament, who seems to be acquainted with the champion, Insector Haga. His nickname is derived from his fondness for dinosaur-themed cards. He is defeated by Jonouchi in the Duelist Kingdom tournament and has his Red-Eyes Black Dragon, a card that would become a trademark for Jonouchi, taken as a result of a gamble. He makes a brief reappearance in the Battle City arc, where he is defeated by Espa Roba and warns Jonouchi not to duel him. Ryuzaki and Haga later tried attempts to get the Egyptian God Cards which fail on various occasions.
An ocean-themed duelist who appears in the Duelist Kingdom and Battle City arcs. He is introduced in the Duelist Kingdom arc where he duels Dark Yugi and is defeated. In the Battle City arc, he duels Jonouchi and his backstory is expanded upon, as it is revealed his father was a fisherman who died out at sea. Ryota is the first opponent of Dark Yugi who challenges him to a game with no ill intentions. In the manga and Japanese second anime, he instead duels to honor his father's memory while the English dub has him believing that this father is alive and duels to raise money to fund a trip to search for him. After Jonouchi defeats Ryota in their duel, he gives him two of his cards Floating Whale Fortress and The Legendary Fisherman, the latter resembling his deceased father.
Keith Howard (キース・ハワード, Kīsu Hawādo)
Voiced by: Hajime Komada(Japanese); Ted Lewis (English)
He is known as Bandit Keith by his enemies and is an American Duel Monsters champion and a "Card Professor" who seeks big prizes at tournaments.[17] Bandit Keith first appears as one of many entries in the Duelist Kingdom arc of the anime/manga. Flashbacks reveal that he was once the champion of Duel Monsters in America until he dueled Pegasus at the American Championship tournament and lost. This was done when Pegasus wrote something on a piece of paper and called a boy named Sam from the audience claiming that a mere kid can beat him. When Bandit Keith plays the monster "Garnecia Elefantis", Sam follows the information on the piece of paper where he plays "Flying Elephant" in attack mode which takes out Bandit Keith's remaining lifepoints. Bandit Keith sees on the paper the information on how to defeat his monster. He now seeks to defeat Pegasus. It is through Pegasus' match with Keith that Kaiba learns of Pegasus' ability to read minds. After he cheats in his duel against Jonouchi in the Duelist Kingdom semi-finals, Pegasus inflicts the "Hand and Gun" Penalty Game on him, turning his hand into a gun and forcing him to play Russian Roulette, effectively killing him. In the anime, Pegasus instead sends him through a trap door into the ocean. He survives and is rescued by Marik's ship, with Marik then controlling his mind and using him in his first attempt to defeat Yugi and take the Millennium Puzzle. After accidentally starting a fire, Keith runs off shouting for Marik to get out of his head.
A contestant in Duelist Kingdom who worked for Bandit Keith. Keith gave Kozuka cards to enhance his zombie deck and duel Jonouchi in Duelist Kingdom's caverns which housed the corpses of World War II troops. Thanks to Keith's strategy, Kozuka played "Call of the Haunted" which brough back "Zanki", "Crawling Dragon", and Crass Clown" as the zombie monsters "Armored Zombie", "Dragon Zombie", and "Clown Zombie". In addition, Kozuka summoned "Pumpking the King of Ghosts" to strengthen the zombie monsters with ectoplasm until it was destroyed by "Red-Eyes Black Dragon". Kozuka ultimately loses to Jonouchi who plays a combination of "Battle Warrior" and "Shield and Sword" to switch the ATK points and DEF points of each monster on the field leaving the zombie monsters with no ATK points. After sealing Yugi and his friends in a cave, Bandit Keith steals his Star Chips and he is presumably sent off the island. He returns during the Battle City arc, but is defeated and presumably killed by Dark Bakura in a Shadow Game; in Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, he is presumably sent to Hell by Dark Bakura. However, he is later rescued by his defeat in Battle City along with everyone else who was sent there.
Step Johnny / Johnny Steps (ステップ・ジョニー, Suteppu Jonī)
Voiced by: Hideki Konda (Japanese); Matthew Charles (English)
A dancer who challenges Anzu to a game of Super Dancer (スーパ・ダンサー, Sūpa Dansā), which is similar to Dance Dance Revolution, during her "date" with Dark Yugi. Despite Dark Yugi telling Anzu that Johnny is not worth her time, she refuses to back down from the challenge. Johnny states she must go on a date with him if he loses. Anzu initially refuses, but plays anyway and defeats him. In the Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters anime, this story is expanded upon by having Johnny insist on going on a date with him after the encounter in the arcade, ultimately ending up in a Duel Monsters duel with Dark Yugi. After his "Heavy Metal King" was destroyed, Step Johnny ends up forfeiting when he learns who Yugi is.
One of the contestants in Battle City who claims to have ESP. In reality, he uses his younger brothers to spy on and report to him the cards in his opponent's hand, allowing him to 'predict' the opponent's strategies before they use them. Esper Roba did this to give off the impression of being an unbeatable duelist and deflect the abuse they receive, as they were heavily bullied due to previously working at a carnival. Despite cheating, he is a strong duelist. Junouchi faces off against him after Esper defeated Dinosaur Ryuzaki and claimed his "Serpent Night Dragon". Esper's brothers were busted by Mokuba who only allowed the duel to continue as Yugi was watching from a nearby rooftop. However, Jonouchi manages to beat him and receives his best card as an ante Jinzo / Artificial Human Psycho Shocker (人造人間－サイコ・ショッカー, Jinzō Ningen Saiko Shokkā).
Ahmet (アメット, Ametto)
One of two men who was hired to help Sugoroku through the Pharaoh's tomb, the Shrine of the Shadow Games, in the early 1960s. In the tomb were multiple statues armed with swords on a catwalk. To cross, a person needed to walk across left footed, as if they ran on both legs, the statues would kill them; however, the brothers were right footed. Ahmet managed to make it to it safety, while his brother fell to his death; in the English dub, he fell into a Shadow Pit and became trapped in the Shadow Realm. Ahmet blamed Sugoroku for his brother's death and threatened to shoot him if they did not continue. They soon made it to the treasure, where only those of courageous hearts may pass. Ahmet touched the Millennium Puzzle, but because he had the heart of a coward, a monster appeared and devoured him as a Penalty Game.
Mushara (マッシャーラー, Musshārā)
One of two men hired to help Sugoroku Mutou through the Pharaoh's tomb, the Shrine of the Shadow Games, in the early 1960s. While trying to make it through one of the tomb's traps, Mushara fell to his death, which Ahmet blamed Sugoroku for. In the English dub, he fell into a Shadow Pit and became trapped in the Shadow Realm.
A character who appears in the 1999 movie as one of the main protagonists. He is a boy who did not play games with his friends because he was afraid of losing, and was regularly bullied by a group of three boys. One day, at a card shop, he opens a card pack containing the rare "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" card. However, he is too timid to pull a winning streak, and uses the Red-Eyes card to intimidate people so they will not duel him.
Arthur Hawkins / Arthur Hopkins (アーサー・ホプキンス, Āsā Hopukinsu)
Voiced by: Saburo Kodaka(Japanese); Mike Pollock (English)
A character that appears in Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters. He is the grandfather of Rebecca Hawkins. Arthur appears to be based on Sugoroku's friend that gave him the Blue-Eyes White Dragon card, who only appears in a photo and is unnamed in the original manga. He appeared after Rebecca won a duel upon Yugi's surrender.
Leon von Schroeder / Leonhart von Schroeder (レオンハルト・フォン・シュレイダー, Reonharuto fon Shureidā)
Voiced by: Seiko Noguchi(Japanese); Andrew Rannells (English)
A character created for the KC Grand Champion filler arc of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters. He is Siegfried von Schroeder's younger brother. While Siegfried ran Schroeder Corporation, Leonhart took up playing Duel Monsters and dueled in several tournaments under the alias Leon Wilson (レオン・ウィルソン, Reon Wiruson) to get away from his family. His monster cards, magic cards, and trap cards are all based on different fairy tales which were created for him after he wrote a letter to Pegasus. These cards are modeled after fairy tales that include but are not limited to "Tom Thumb", "Cinderella", "Little Red Riding Hood", and "Iron Hans". During the KC Grand Prix, Leon defeated the duelists Dr. Richard Goat, Ethan Shark, and Rebecca Hawkins. When it came to Leon's duel with Yugi after Ziegfried was disqualified upon losing to Kaiba, his identity was discovered by one of Kaiba's workers as Ziegfried has him play an illegal card called "Golden Castle of Stromberg" which released a computer virus into KaibaCorp. As Leon couldn't remove the card with "Mystic Space Typhoon" since it will only be removed if Yugi discards 10 cards from the deck due to Ziegfried's hacking, he had no choice but to continue the duel. When Yugi didn't have the required number of cards left, the "Golden Castle of Stromberg" was destroyed and Yugi used a combination of "Necromancy", "Diffusion Wave Motion", and "Dark Magician to defeat Leon while Kaiba disposes of the computer virus. Leon later comforted his brother. Leon was later seen with Ziegfried when they were meeting with Pegasus.
Notes
↑ The 4Kids dub names are used in this description as the English version of Duel Art: Kazuki Takahashi Yu-Gi-Oh! Illustrations, published by Udon Entertainment, uses the dub names. The English translation of the actual manga by VIZ Media uses the original Japanese names for most human characters.
Related Research Articles
Yu-Gi-Oh! is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi. It was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine between September 1996 and March 2004. The manga follows Yugi Mutou, a young boy with an affinity for games, who solves the ancient Millennium Puzzle. Yugi becomes host to a gambling alter-ego or spirit who solves his conflicts with various games. As the manga progresses, the focus largely shifts to the card game Duel Monsters, where opposing players "duel" one another in mock battles of fantasy monsters.
Seto Kaiba is a fictional character in the manga Yu-Gi-Oh! by Kazuki Takahashi. As the majority shareholder and CEO of his own multi-national gaming company, Kaiba Corporation, Kaiba is reputed to be Japan's greatest gamer and aims to become the world's greatest player of the American card game, Duel Monsters. In all mediums, his arch-rival is the protagonist of the series, Yugi Mutou, who is also a game player while Zigfried Von Schroeder is also his arch-rival. He is the modern day counterpart of Atem's cousin son of Aknadin nephew of Aknamkanon and one of the Pharaoh Atem's Six High Priests, "Priest Seto", who appears in the manga's final arc. Kaiba has also appeared in related anime and feature films. His signature monster is the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
Yugi Mutou is a fictional character and the main protagonist of the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga series created by Kazuki Takahashi. Yugi is introduced as a teenager who is solving an Ancient Egyptian artifact known as the Millennium Puzzle, hoping that it will grant him his wish of making friends. After solving the Puzzle, Yugi revives an ancient spirit initially known as Dark Yugi; the spirit is later revealed to be that of the pharaoh Atem. Over the course of the series, Yugi forms friendships with the supporting cast, interacts with Atem, and learns about his past. Besides the original manga, Yugi has also appeared in anime adaptations, films and video games based on the franchise. Throughout his appearances, his signature Duel Monsters card is the Dark Magician.
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Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories, known in Japan as Yu-Gi-Oh! Shin Duel Monsters (遊戯王真デュエルモンスターズ封印されし記憶), is a video game loosely based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga and anime series. The game was released exclusively for the PlayStation console in December 1999 in Japan and in 2002 in other regions.
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Falsebound Kingdom is the only GameCube game in the Yu-Gi-Oh! series.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Worldwide Edition: Stairway to the Destined Duel, later released in Japan as Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters International, is a Game Boy Advance game based on the popular Yu-Gi-Oh! trading card game and TV series that has the player set during the Battle City arc, dueling popular characters from the anime and manga. The main objective of the game is to build a strong deck from cards won after duels from the main cast from the English second season anime.
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards is a Game Boy Advance game based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime developed and published by Konami. It was first released in Japan on July 4, 2002. It was released in North America the following year and in Europe the year after that.
The first season of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, based on the manga by Kazuki Takahashi, premiered in Japan on April 18, 2000, and concluded on April 3, 2001, on TV Tokyo. The season was directed by Kunihisa Sugishima, and written by Junki Takegami, Masashi Sogo, and Shin Yoshida. The English version of this season premiered in the United States on September 29, 2001 on Kids' WB, and concluded on November 9, 2002.
The fifth and final season of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, loosely based on the manga by Kazuki Takahashi, aired in Japan on TV Tokyo from December 24, 2003, to September 29, 2004. The official name of the latter arc of the season is Pharaoh's Memories arc. In the United States, the season aired from August 27, 2005, to June 10, 2006, on Kids' WB and broadcast under the Grand Championship and Dawn of the Duel subtitles.
The third season of the anime series Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, created by Kazuki Takahashi, was originally broadcast from March 12, 2002, to February 11, 2003. The English adaptation, broadcast on Kids' WB, aired from November 1, 2003 to September 4, 2004.
The second season of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, based on the manga by Kazuki Takahashi, premiered in Japan on April 10, 2001, and concluded on March 5, 2002, on TV Tokyo. The English adaptation of this season aired in the United States from November 16, 2002, and concluded on November 1, 2003, on Kids' WB. The season was directed by Kunihisa Sugishima, and written by Junki Takegami, Masashi Sogo, and Shin Yoshida.
Yu-Gi-Oh!, known in Japan as Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters and alternatively subtitled Rulers of the Duel in the United States and Canada, is a Japanese anime series animated by Studio Gallop based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga series written by Kazuki Takahashi. It is the second anime adaptation of the manga following the 1998 anime television series produced by Toei Animation. The series revolves around a young high school boy named Yugi Muto who battles opponents in the Duel Monsters card game. The series begins from chapter 60 in volume 7 before loosely adapting the remaining chapters of the original manga by making story changes that conflict with the events of the manga canon.
Yu-Gi-Oh! is a 1999 Japanese animated fantasy adventure short film based on a manga series of the same name written and illustrated by Kazuki Takahashi. The short film is directed by Junji Shimizu, written by Yasuko Kobayashi, and produced by Toei Animation. The short film was released in Japan on March 6, 1999, as part of Toei Animation Spring 1999 Animation Fair, featuring alongside Dr. Slump: Arale's Surprise Burn and Digimon Adventure.
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Dark Side of Dimensions is a 2016 Japanese animated science fantasy film written and directed by Satoshi Kuwabara, with Kazuki Takahashi and Masahiro Hikokubo as co-writers based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise by Takahashi. Produced by Studio Gallop and distributed by Toei Company, The Dark Side of Dimensions tells a new story that takes place after the events of the original Yu-Gi-Oh storyline; specifically, it is set six months after the end of the original manga, and thus features some slight contradictions to the storyline, specifically of the anime adaptation. The film stars Shunsuke Kazama as the voice of Yugi Mutou and Kenjiro Tsuda as Seto Kaiba, alongside Hiroki Takahashi, Takayuki Kondo, Maki Satō, Rica Matsumoto, Junko Takeuchi, Kento Hayashi, Kana Hanazawa and Satoshi Hino. The Dark Side of Dimensions was released in Japan on April 23, 2016, in the U.S and Canada on January 27, 2017, and in Australia on February 2, 2017.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links is a free-to-play, digital collectible card game developed by Konami for the iOS, Android and Microsoft Windows platforms, based on the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game. After an initial beta period, the game was first released in Hokkaido, Japan on November 17, 2016, and then released to the rest of the world on January 11, 2017. The Windows version was released worldwide via Steam and in Japan via Yahoo! Japan Games on November 17, 2017.
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