character

Yugi Mutou

Main article: Yugi Mutou

Yugi Mutou (武藤 遊戯, Mutō Yūgi^?, Yugi Muto and pronounced "Moto" in the English anime) is main protagonist of the story. He wears the Millennium Puzzle, one of the seven Millennium Items and an ancient Egyptian artifact holding the spirit of Pharaoh Atem around his neck. When Yugi is playing a game or under stress, the spirit inside the Millennium Puzzle surfaces and the 3,000-year-old (5,000 in the English anime) pharaoh, Dark Yugi takes partial or complete control of the body, changing his personality to a cold and confident gambler. Initially, Yugi could be described as soft-spoken, timid, meek, and shy, but as the series progresses, his character develops to the point where he has a much bigger presence and becomes more outspoken. One defining character moment for him was when he defeated an antagonist without Dark Yugi's help, Ryuji Otogi, in a game of Dungeon Dice Monsters (DDD in the manga) under bleak circumstances, proving that he is truly worthy of being the Millennium Puzzle's wielder.
Yugi's main defining trait in the manga is that he has an extreme fondness for games of all kinds, willing to support competition to his grandfather's game store in order to buy the latest games (for example, Dungeon Dice Monsters or DDD in the manga). This goes with his name "Yugi", which means game, and the series title, which means "Game King" or "King of Games." In the second series anime, he's shown to be mostly fond of the Duel Monsters (Magic & Wizards in the Japanese manga) card game, being especially adept at playing it.
In both mediums, he shares a M&W/DM deck with his other half, which focuses on earth and dark monsters with spell and trap cards to enhance them. Notable examples of his early monsters are Dark Magician, Gaia the Fierce Knight, Summoned Skull, Curse of Dragon, and Celtic Guardian. Later, during Battle City, Yugi acquires Dark Magician Girl, as well as his Magnet Warriors, Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, Buster Blader, Big Shield Guardna and Royal Knights, all of which become some of his most commonly played cards. During the Ceremonial Battle, the normal Yugi makes his own deck that is themed with toy monsters and level monsters that gets stronger as the game progresses, symbolizing his character growth throughout the story. Living in a game shop, he also owns a number of other collectible games.
In the first series anime, Yugi is voiced by Megumi Ogata. In the Duel Monsters anime, he is voiced by Shunsuke Kazama. In the English dub, he is voiced by Dan Green.

[edit] Dark / Yami Yugi

Main article: Yugi Mutou

Dark Yugi (闇遊戯, Yami Yūgi^?, initially Yami Yugi or The Spirit of the Millennium Puzzle in the English anime, later referred to as just The Pharoah) is the second personality inhabiting Yugi's body, a 3,000-year-old gambling spirit of an ancient Pharaoh who resides in the Millennium Puzzle. Like his host, he shares a fondness for games and gaming culture, often referred to in the manga as Game King (遊戯王, Yūgiō^?, King of Games in most English translations).^[1][2] He appears whenever Yugi's in trouble, challenging bullies and criminals to occult judgment games called Shadow Games (闇のゲーム, Yami no Gēmu^?) and enforces Penalty Games (罰ゲーム, Batsu Gēmu^?) to enact ironic justice (the default powers of a Millennium Item wielder). A defining character moment for him is when he decides to stop using them after his battle with Pegasus, who tells him that the Millennium Items contain an evil intelligence.^[3] In the second series anime, Dark Yugi comes off as a lot more merciful as a character because this subplot is written out. As the story progresses to the point where he's more than just a split personality, he becomes more and more independent of Yugi and develops a desire to find out who he is and where he came from.
Even compared to Yugi, he seems to have the most knowledge on gaming and gambling culture within the whole cast, noticeably when he explains Ryuji Otogi's bar bet games to the normal Yugi, who noticed that his games didn't feel like they were fair.
Yugi and his friends eventually find out that he is the spirit of an ancient Pharaoh who has long forgotten his name. At the end of the manga, it's revealed that his name as Pharaoh was Atem (アテム, Atemu^?), who sealed his soul into the Puzzle along with the Great God of Evil, Zorc Necrophades.
In the first series anime, Dark Yugi is voiced by Megumi Ogata. In the Duel Monsters anime, he is voiced by Shunsuke Kazama. In the English dub, he is voiced by Dan Green.

[edit] Katsuya Jonouchi

Main article: Katsuya Jonouchi

Katsuya Jonouchi (城之内 克也, Jōnouchi Katsuya^?, Joey Wheeler in the English anime) is Yugi's best friend. Initially nothing more than a street thug and former bully; throwing Yugi's Millennium Puzzle piece into the swimming pool and disgusted at how unmanly he was. When Tetsuo Ushio decides to be Yugi's self-imposed bodyguard in order to extort money from him, he beats up Jonouchi and Honda, Yugi stands up for them, and it's then that Jonouchi realizes that he was jealous of Yugi's "treasure" all along, and later on that night, he retrieves the Millennium Puzzle piece and brings it back 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 towards him and they become loyal friends, forming his own "treasure."
Jonouchi is good at fist fighting and is usually able to take on people bigger than him, such as Bandit Keith (in the anime, this quality is underplayed and he gets beaten up by Bandit Keith instead). Though not exactly the best gamer in Domino, he develops a better liking to them thanks to Yugi, and he's managed to use his strong points 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 in order to free Sugoroku's soul from the portable TV and save his sister's eyesight; progressively getting better throughout the series to the point where he could be called a match for Dark Yugi. Jonouchi is shown to have a very kind heart, selfless and caring, considerate, and eager willingness to help and save those he deeply cares for and loves, but he also demonstrates a near lack of modesty and can be rather rash at times, making him a source of comic relief. Jonouchi notes that, before he met Yugi, he was never really motivated for anything. As the story progressed, he learned to channel his anger into games instead of his fists.
In the anime, Yugi's grandfather tutors him in how to play Duel Monsters, and he is initially rather unskilled at the game, only making his progress through additional help from Yugi, but he gains a knack for it, and eventually goes on to place second in the Duelist Kingdom Tournament, fourth in Battle City, but is eliminated early on in the KC Grand Championship Tournament. In the English version of the anime, he has a Brooklyn accent.
He also appeared to have strong romantic feelings for his dear friend Mai Kujaku, and in the anime, he did everything he could to try and save her from the Seal of Orichalcos' evil in the Doma filler arc.

[edit] Anzu Mazaki

Main article: Anzu Mazaki

Anzu Mazaki (真崎 杏子, Mazaki Anzu^?, Téa Gardner in the English anime) is Yugi's childhood friend, an extremely supportive girl with a lot of spirit for her friends, who Yugi has a crush on. Anzu is not an avid game-player and her ability is well below that of Yugi, though she exhibits some 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 works at a fast food restaurant called Burger World to save money; her secret dream is to attend a dancing school abroad in New York. When Yugi and Jonouchi find out about these secrets when they followed her (thinking she's taking part in Enjo Kosai), she gains a new respect for Jonouchi and her childhood friend, who are more than willing to support their dream and keep her secret. Shortly after, she is held hostage by an escaped convict, where she is saved by Dark Yugi challenging him to a "One Finger Battle" Shadow Game, ending with the convict being lit on fire, saving Anzu. In the first series anime, the convict cheats and receives a Fire~!!! illusion Penalty Game. Though she was blindfolded the entire time, this moment cements Anzu's series-long crush on Yugi and his alter-ego.
The details of these events are kept mostly the same in the first series anime. In the second series anime, this storyline is slightly rewritten in a flashback. After having her secret discovered by Jonouchi and Yugi when they decide to eat at Burger World (in the English anime, this was where Tea first befriends Yugi), she receives a blackmail letter threatening to reveal her secret if she doesn't go to the gym after school. When she arrives, a perverted gym teacher with a camera attacks her. Yugi then arrives, changing into Dark Yugi, and challenges him to a Shadow Game of "Draw the Strongest Duel Monsters Card," giving him a Mind Crush that sends him to the "Dark World" (implied hell) and saving Anzu. In the English version, she receives a note from Yugi and Joey telling her that they find an old warehouse she could use for a dance studio. It turns out to be a mugger who wants her money and he attacks her. Yami Yugi arrives and beats the mugger in a high draw Duel Monsters game, and the mugger receives a Mind Crush. In both versions, after these events, Anzu/Tea starts hanging out with Yugi more.
Anzu is voiced by Yumi Kakazu in the first series anime. In the Duel Monsters anime, she is voiced by Maki Saito. Tea is voiced by Amy Birnbaum in the English dub.

[edit] Hiroto Honda

Hiroto Honda (本田 廣戸, Honda Hiroto^?, Tristan Taylor in the English anime) who is in class 1-B at Domino High School, is a boy who became a friend of Yugi Mutou, Katsuya Jonouchi, and Anzu Mazaki. Later on, he becomes a friend to Ryo Bakura as well. In the manga, Honda starts out as Jonouchi's street thug henchman and also (at first) has a crush on Miho Nosaka. Though he still dislikes Yugi at first, he asks for his help in writing a love letter to her in the form of a puzzle. When the vain teacher Ms. Chono threatened to confiscate the puzzle, threatening to punish Miho Nosaka if the secret admirer doesn't come clean, Yugi and Jonouchi stood up for him. Ms. Chono decides to put together the puzzle to find out who the sender is anyway, and Dark Yugi secretly turns it into a Shadow Game, shattering Ms. Chono's pretty face as the Penalty Game. From then on, Honda becomes good friends with Yugi.
Although, like Yugi and Honda, he doesn't get the best grades, Honda still manages to be somewhat knowledgeable, and a sharpshooter; when he was a kid, he could shoot a 100-yen piece with a BB gun from 50 feet. In the first series anime, Honda is the head of the clean-up committee at school and often cites his duty while doing things, which causes him to annoy his friends. He often argues with Jonouchi.
In the manga, Honda doesn't duel, or at least, never shown - though he partakes in some of the early games and the Shadow RPG as an NPC. In the second series anime and filler, Honda uses a military deck, using warriors and machines related to the military theme. Prior to the duel with Dinosaur Ryuzaki, Jonouchi discovers Honda's cards, including a Lava Battleguard. Jonouchi has a card called Swamp Battleguard, which works well with Lava Battleguard and uses them in the duel against Ryuzaki, and they defeat Ryuzaki's second strongest dragon. Honda uses his own strategy when he dueled against Nessbitt of the Big Five.
In the first series anime by Toei, Honda is no longer Jonouchi's right-hand and fellow delinquent, but a custodian obsessed with cleanliness and Miho Nosaka.
Honda is voiced by Ryotaro Okiayu in the first series. In Duel Monsters he is first voiced by Takayuki Kondo, then by Hidehiro Kikuchi from Episode 53 onwards. In the English dub, Tristan is voiced by Sam Regal for the first ten episodes and Greg Abbey from episode 11 onwards.

[edit] Ryo Bakura

Main article: Ryo Bakura

Ryo Bakura (獏良 了, Bakura Ryō^?, simply Bakura in the English anime) is a transfer student (British in the English anime version) who becomes friends with the main group of the story. Like Yugi, he is also interested in games, particularly tabletop role-playing games like Monster World (モンスター・ワールド, Monsutā Wārudo^?). Bakura, the holder of the Millennium Ring, has a dark spirit dwelling inside himself, much like Dark Yugi. Before he is introduced to the story, he was constantly moving schools due to the fact that, every time he played a game with his friends, his friends would end up in a coma. This is revealed to be Dark Bakura inflicting Penalty Games on them, which trapped their souls into RPG miniature figures. Together with Yugi and his friends, they join forces to crush Dark Bakura in a Shadow Game of Monster World. From then on, the normal Bakura joins the main group in many of their conflicts. In the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime by Toei Animation, the group also included Miho Nosaka, who had a crush on Bakura.
He's mostly interested in TRPGs, but he loves all types of games like Yugi and also plays Duel Monsters. While never shown using it himself, he has an occult deck which focuses on grotesque monsters and ghostly spells. In the manga, he provides a lot of insight to Honda and Anzu whenever Yugi and Jonouchi are dueling, though outside of gaming he is a bit naive and clumsy, although he is shown to be as insightful as the normal Yugi at times. For example, during Battle City, he notices something off about the mime standing still in the streets before being pulled off by Anzu, which turns out to be one of Marik's mind dolls, Pantomimer. Despite knowing the danger of the Millennium Ring, Bakura was fond of keeping it close to him and keen on learning the secrets of the Millennium Items. In Duelist Kingdom, when the gang is in danger of being trapped in the underground maze, the spirit tricks him into putting it back on in exchange for helping Dark Yugi win the Meikyuu Brothers' riddle game, convincing him that the evil spirit has turned over a new leaf. From then on, Dark Bakura has on-and-off control of his body.
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 doesn't 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 and his love for tabletop role-playing games has been greatly written out.
Bakura is voiced by Tsutomu Kashiwakura in the first series. In Duel Monsters he is first voiced by You Inoue, then by Rica Matsumoto from episode 50 onwards. In the English dub, Bakura is voiced by Ted Lewis.