Duel Or Ditch These Yu-Gi-Oh! Characters To Get Matched To A Battle City Rival
- by Steve_D
- – on
- in Movies and TV
It's been nearly two decades since the premiere of the Yu-Gi-Oh! animated series, but we still find ourselves day-dreaming about dueling Yugi Muto and becoming the new King (or Queen) of Games. We binge-watch the classic series on Netflix every Saturday morning so we can journey back to the good old days when the only decision we had to make was what kind of cereal to eat for breakfast, and every now and then, we dig through our closets to find and play with our collection of Duel Monsters cards. It honestly doesn't matter how old we get—we'll likely always respond to challenges with a shout of "it's time to duel!"
Some people may make fun of us for our continued obsession with Yu-Gi-Oh!, but we don't care—that show had it all! Action, suspense, romance, drama, scares and plenty of fun... no other show on television offers all of that! Instead of wasting another weekend away wishing for a rivalry as exciting and legendary as Yugi and Kaiba's, step into the amazing world of Duel Monsters and decide who to duel and who to simply ditch to get matched to a Battle City rival!
The Paradox Brothers
Pegasus hired this villainous dynamic duo to eliminate Duelist Kingdom competitors who weren't worthy of making it to the tournament's finals. Their powerful Labyrinth Wall card enabled them to turn the battleground into a complicated underground maze, and since their decks were built to complement each other, they were the ultimate tag-team.
Weevil Underwood
Weevil Underwood was as annoying and hard to exterminate as a cockroach, so it's no wonder he assembled a Bug-themed Duel Monsters deck. He had no problem playing dirty to take down his opponents, and when even that wasn't enough to secure victory, he sold his soul to Dartz to get more powerful cards and another shot at Yugi Muto's gaming crown!
Yugi Muto
The young King of Games himself! Yugi tends to rely heavily on the spirit of Pharaoh Atem whenever he duels, but he's a skilled duelist even when he's not assisted by his Millennium Puzzle. In fact, he actually beat Atem in their final face-off to release the Pharaoh's spirit! Yugi loves gaming and he has his friends and the Heart of the Cards helping him out whenever he duels, so don't underestimate him!
Odion
Marik Ishtar's best friend and loyal servant Odion will do virtually anything for the people he cares about... even if he knows what he's being told to do is wrong. He lets Marik hog the spotlight, but Odion is a skilled duelist himself and would have been a serious force to be reckoned with if Marik gave him a real Egyptian God Card!
Vivian Wong
Vivian Wong is a successful model, actress and Kung Fu champion... and she also happens to be Asia's Duel Monsters champ! She let her obsession with Yugi and jealousy of Rebecca Hawkin's friendship with the King of Games distract her at the KC Grand Championship, but if she stayed focused on dueling instead of dating, she could have potentially won the whole thing.
Valon
Valon was one of Dartz' most trusted henchmen, and it's clear why the former King of Atlantis valued him so highly. Valon's charm and good looks helped Dartz recruit new duelists, and Valon's skill with his armor-based deck was undeniable. Even though he used The Seal of Orichalcos to steal the souls of his opponents, Valon was actual a noble guy who simply let his troubled past put him on the wrong path in life.
Umbra
Umbra was a loyal member of Marik Ishtar's Rare Hunter organization who faced off against Seto Kaiba and Yugi Muto to try to steal their Egyptian God Cards. He and his partner Lumis raised the stakes of their tag-team duel by threatening to drop the loser off a skyscraper, but he had a parachute on hand just in case he was defeated. A villain that diabolical and prepared is definitely not to be taken lightly!
Grandpa Muto
Grandpa Muto may seem like a washed-up old man, but don't let his retirement from Duel Monsters fool you—he's still the man who taught the King of Games and Joey Wheeler how to duel. Grandpa spent years acquiring some of the rarest cards in the game, from the Blue Eyes White Dragon to Exodia the Forbidden One! Those powerful cards combined with years of experience playing make Grandpa a seriously formidable duelist.
Rex Raptor
Rex Raptor loves living in the past. He solely uses dinosaur-themed monster cards (how could he not, with a name like Rex?), and he refuses to move on from the good old days when he was considered to be one of the top duelists in the world. Ever since he lost his Red Eyes Black Dragon to Joey Wheeler in Duelist Kingdom, he's been obsessed with getting revenge and climbing back to the top of the Duel Monsters ladder.
Serenity Wheeler
Joey's sister Serenity has seen her brother and his friends duel several times, but she doesn't exactly have much experience with Duel Monsters herself. That's why she nearly lost her body in a virtual duel against a member of the Big 5! Serenity loves filling her deck with cute monsters and doesn't quite grasp the importance of magic and trap cards, so she's hardly a tough opponent to face in a duel.
Zigfried von Schroeder
Zigfried von Schroeder is the CEO of Schroeder Corp, KaibaCorp's biggest rival in the gaming industry. He's Europe's Duel Monsters champion and made it all the way to the semifinals of the KC Grand Championship before falling to Kaiba, Thanks to his ridiculously powerful Valkyrie deck, he was able to wipe both Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood out in one turn when the duo teamed up against him!
Maximillion Pegasus
Maximillion Pegasus is the president of Industrial Illusions and the creator of the game of Duel Monsters. He's nearly unstoppable, because he owns countless cards that aren't even available to the public and his Millennium Eye allows him to read his opponent's mind! He loves taunting his enemies by turning their most powerful monsters into adorable cartoons, via his Toon World magic card!
Rebecca Hawkins
Don't be fooled by her youth or teddy bear—Rebecca Hawkins is the youngest-ever Intercontinental Duel Monsters Champion! She got into college at the age of 10, and thanks to her superior intellect and collection of powerful cards, she's quickly risen to become one of the world's most skilled duelists. She has a major crush on Yugi Muto, so anyone vying for the King of Games' crown had better watch out!
Rafael
Rafael may be Dartz' lead henchman, but he's no villain. In fact, he actually refuses to use the Seal of Orichalcos and prefers to test his opponents' integrity and morality by challenging them to play the all-powerful card! He treats his monster cards like family, and that bond encourages him to always do whatever possible to win and protect his beloved Guardians. Rafael is one of the few people to ever defeat Pharaoh Atem in a duel, and his victory led to little Yugi getting trapped within the Seal!
Bandit Keith
Bandit Keith was a former Duel Monsters champion who became obsessed with getting revenge on Maximillion Pegasus after the Industrial Illusions founder used the Millennium Eye to defeat him during the final round of the Intercontinental Championship in one turn. He snuck into Duelist Kingdom in an attempt to get revenge on Pegasus, but he and his machine deck were taken out of the competition by Joey Wheeler... even though Keith cheated throughout their match.
Nezbitt
Nezbitt was the chief technical officer at KaibaCorp who oversaw the company's research and development activities and helped create the virtual reality Duel Monster system and video game software initiated by Seto Kaiba. His love for machines led to him using a machine-based deck in Noah's virtual world, He was the only Big 5 member skilled enough to defeat a duelist, and his win allowed him to temporarily take over Tristan's body!
Téa Gardner
Téa was at nearly every one of Yugi and Joey's duels at Duelist Kingdom, Battle City and the KC Grand Championship, so even though she has very little experience playing the game herself, she's learned a few tricks from the King of Games and his best friend. Despite her preference for cute and female creatures over strong monsters, she was able to single-handedly defeat a member of the Big 5 in a duel.
Arkana
Arkana was once a professional stage magician, but after an escape trick went terribly wrong, he joined Marik Ishtar's Rare Hunter organization. Like Yugi, he loves to use the Dark Magician in duels... but his version of the classic monster looks far more sinister. Arkana is ruthless in battle, and is willing to put his soul on the line to prove that he's the ultimate mage.
Leon Wilson
Leon Wilson grew up absolutely obsessed with fairy tales, so he fills his Duel Monsters deck with familiar faces like the Big Bad Wolf and Cinderella. It's hard to take these childhood classic monster cards seriously, but Leon shouldn't ever be underestimated—there's a reason he and his fairy tale deck made it all the way to the KC Grand Championship finals!
Noah Kaiba
Noah Kaiba was the deserving heir to the Kaiba Corp throne, until Seto came along and ruined everything! Noah spent years planning out his revenge against the brother who "stole" his life and company, and his scheme with the former Big 5 of Kaiba Corp would have worked if Yugi and his friends hadn't gotten involved! Noah may not have much dueling experience, but he's a child genius so he was able to pick up the game quickly and give Yugi one of his toughest duels ever.
Leichter
Leichter was Gozaburo and later Seto Kaiba's assistant before he and the rest of the Big 5 conspired to remove Seto from the company and were fired from their jobs. He took the form of the trap-destroying monster Jinzo in Noah's virtual world in an attempt to defeat Seto and claim his body, but Leichter's strategy wasn't enough to stop Kaiba's Blue Eyes White Dragon from wiping out his Life Points!
Marik Ishtar
Marik Ishtar is one of the most dangerous duelists in the entire world. The dark spirit inside of him is absolutely heartless, and has no problem sacrificing Marik's loved ones and loyal followers to try to get what he wants. Marik turns every duel into a Shadow Game, so losing to him means losing your soul to the Shadow Realm!
Seto Kaiba
Seto Kaiba takes dueling more seriously than anyone in the entire world. He studies the game of Duel Monsters every single day, because his repeated losses to Yugi Muto have made him absolutely obsessed with regaining his title of the world's top duelist. He owns all three Blue Eyes White Dragons in existence, and his Egyptian God Card, Obelisk the Tormentor, adds even more firepower to his incredibly powerful deck.
Johnson
As an expert lawyer and former legal adviser of Kaiba Corp, Johnson knows the law like the back of his hand... so he knows how to bend and break them according to his will! He's not above cheating in a duel if winning means he's able to escape the virtual world—his questionable tactics against Joey Wheeler almost allowed him to take over Joey's body!
Mako Tsunami
Mako Tsunami is obsessed with the ocean and the beautiful creatures that dwell within it. His water-themed deck is formidable and his Legendary Fisherman put up a great fight against Joey in Battle City, but they weren't quite enough to match Yugi or Joey's cards or skill. We totally give him credit for being one of the few duelists in the whole show to duel the main characters without resorting to sketchy tactics or cheating, though!
Mai Valentine
Mai Valentine's Harpie Ladies are a lot like Mai herself—easily underestimated but incredibly powerful. We'll never fully understand why Mai doesn't get the credit she deserves in the dueling world. She makes it to the final rounds of every tournament she participates in, and very nearly beat Marik Ishtar in his own Shadow Game!
Joey Wheeler
Joey Wheeler relies on luck a bit more than the average top-level duelist, but his faith in his dice and in the Heart of the Cards always seems to pay off! He defeated some seriously elite opponents over the course of the show and despite his arrogant and air-headed behavior at times, always strives to improve and grow as a duelist, brother and friend.
Ishizu ishtar
Ishizu's Millennium Necklace gives her the power to look into the future. Defeating an opponent who can foresee your every move definitely isn't easy, but Seto Kaiba figured out how to do it—be as unpredictable as possible and have a deck so powerful, it can't be stopped even if Ishizu can see your next attack coming!
Gozaburo Kaiba
Gozaburo Kaiba built his entire Duel Monsters deck with the sole intent to insult Seto. His adopted son's first defeat came from Yugi's Exodia the Forbidden One, so Gozaburo's strategy was to take over Seto's body by defeating him with Exodia Necross, an altered version of the Forbidden One! Who wants to duel someone who is both that spiteful AND has such powerful cards?!
Gansley
Gansley is the former Vice-President of Business Strategy of KaibaCorp and was the founder of the Big Five. He's absolutely obsessed with business—he refers to his monsters as employees and brags about how his knowledge of business and corporate experience gives him an advantage when dueling.
Duke Devlin
Duke Devlin is the creator of Dungeon Dice Monsters, and even though his game shop rivals Solomon Muto's, he eventually became a great friend to Yugi and his group. Duke loves leaving his fate in duels on a lucky dice roll and using Duel Monsters cards that resemble the characters in his own game.
Tristan Taylor
Tristan Taylor didn't duel much in Yu-Gi-Oh!, but his performance in Noah's virtual world in a duel against a member of the Big Five proves that he's paid attention to Joey and Yugi's matches over the years. Sure, he was technically the only member of the group who lost a duel, but his defeat was simply because he sacrificed himself to save Serenity. He's inexperienced, but definitely knows his way around a deck of Duel Monsters cards!
Dartz
All of the cards in the King of Atlantis' deck were built around the all-powerful, soul-stealing Orichalcos—he had cards that could reduce all damage deal to him to 0, cards that forced his opponents to destroy their loved ones' souls... you name it. Yugi and Kaiba actually had to join forced in a duel to defeat him!
Yami Yugi
Let's be real, even though Yugi Muto has the title of King of Games, Yami Yugi—otherwise known as the spirit of Pharaoh Atem—was behind the wheel of most of Yugi's duels and is the true owner of that title. He was there when the game of Duel Monsters was first truly created back in ancient Egypt, so he knows pretty much every trick in the game. Between his skill, powerful deck and belief in the Heart of the Cards, he's almost unstoppable.
Crump
Before Seto fired him and his fellow Big Five members, Crump was a KaibaCorp accountant who oversaw the company's finances. Crump learned the game of Duel Monsters in the hopes of stealing an opponent's body after defeating them, but he wasn't even able to take down Tea (one of the show's most inexperienced duelists) in a one-on-one battle!
