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| “ | It's time to duel! | „ |
| ~ Yami Yugi's famous and legendary catchphrase |
| “ | Please, heart of the cards, guide me. | „ |
| ~ Yami Yugi's catchphrase before drawing the card he needs. |
Yami Yugi (real name: Atem), also known as Yu-Gi-Oh and Dark Yugi in the original Japanese version, is one of the two main protagonists (alongside Yugi Muto) in the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series by Kazuki Takahashi and both of its adaptations. Yami Yugi is the ancient spirit of a dead pharaoh that has been reincarnated as a young boy in the modern era.
As with Yugi Muto, he is voiced by Megumi Ogata in the Toei anime version, who is best known as the voice of Yukito Tsukishiro/Yue from Cardcaptor Sakura in the original Japanese version and Shinji Ikari from Neon Genesis Evangelion. He is also voiced by Shunsuke Kazama in the second anime series. In English Version Yami is voiced by Dan Green who is also known for voicing Entei and Knuckles the Echidna in Sonic X.
History[]
Yami Yugi came into being in his modern incarnation when the boy Yugi Muto assembled an ancient puzzle his grandfather brought him as an archaeology curio, the meeting of Yami Yugi's reincarnation and his ancient keep sake is played-off as a whim of fate rather than coincidence or chance. Once assembled the puzzle reactivated Yugi's past life's overarching personality though not all of his memories and the sharp contrast between who he was and is causes Yami Yugi to exist as a secondary soul inhabiting Yugi Muto's body. Yami Yugi begins his reintroduction to the modern-era by tormenting those who victimized Yugi however Yugi Muto's compassion makes such periods last only briefly before his original judgment is restored, over time this begins to soften Yami Yugi, who grows fond and extremely protective of his reincarnated-self. Yami Yugi usually manifests when playing the popular card game Duel Monsters. As the card game is a based on ancient summon rites from Yami's past specifically packaged as a card game by Pegasus J. Crawford, another owner of a Millennium Artifact, the game reawakens base instincts in Yami Yugi that make him a natural at it.
Since Yami Yugi has few to no memories of his past a bulk of the manga and show focused on the reveals of bits and pieces of it as a driving motivation for both Yugi and Yami Yugi. One of the earliest establishing factors was that Yami Yugi was from one of the earliest dynasties of ancient Egypt. Confrontation with Ryou Bakura, a friend of Yugi's who himself was possessed by a similar spirit revealed that there were in-fact several Millennium items and collection of them would unleash great power and completely restore memories of the past to Yami. Even with the mystery of his past and the fate of the Millennium items to worry about Yami Yugi tends to focus on victory one battle at a time and worrying about the future only in-between battles. Yugi Muto himself goes through great length to help Yami in his mission pursuing leads and allowing the spirit to possess him for lengthy periods of time even when not in battle. The only time Yami Yugi focuses on anything other than victory or his past is when Yugi Muto's soul or life is endangered specifically over his, at which points Yami will drop all previously rekindled compassion for the sole purpose of protecting or avenging his young friend.
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: The Dark Side of Dimensions
Yami Yugi is mentioned in the film, a virtual copy version of him fight Kaiba, only to lose, the original one appears when Yugi collapses and blacks-out, he manages to save Yugi Muto by taking possession of him, and the two summon a upgraded Mahad to defeat Diva and his Cubic monsters once and for all, Yami Yugi and Yugi are split, Yami Yugi then smiles to Yugi before he returns to the Underground, in the end, he was seen smiling when Seto Kaiba prepares his Duel Disk to challenge him.
Relationships[]
Yugi Muto[]
They become best friends but also developed a bond similar to that of brothers or a father and son. Evidence of this is when Yugi's soul was taken after Yami's loss to Rafael, Yami was devastated and started reverting to his old self before Yugi helped change him. He also became somewhat hasty, as he attacked Weevil, despite Téa telling him not to, due to Weevil's two facedown cards.
Powers and Skills[]
Yami Yugi's most noted skill is his talent at playing duel monsters. While normally a skilled player of the game would be of little import the rites the game mirrors often leads to real life or death consequences based on victory or lose of a match. In addition to his natural skill Yami Yugi can use his connection to the Millennium Puzzle and the magic that it possesses to transform mere games into the ancient rites they originally were, a Shadow Duel. Shadow Duels can be used to cause cards to come to life, areas to become pocket dimensions and souls and bodies of players to be gambled with the game. Yami Yugi seems not to be bound by the physical restrain on Yugi's body this allows him to run, walk and swim endlessly at top speed without feeling the effects of fatigue. He shares this ability to function in spite of his body's condition with Yami-Bakura who can stand on broken legs, go without food, drink or sleep and function with concussions, it is likely that if such situations arose Yami Yugi would be equally mobile in spite of bodily harm. Still Yami Yugi's most formidable skill is not his know-how or magic powers but rather his personality and drive. Yami Yugi believes in winning at all costs even to the point of risking or outright throwing away people's lives for the sake of the game when his powers are in use. Over time Yami Yugi's drive is tempered by Yugi's conscience however when such conscientious decisions lead to lose Yami Yugi is always partially bitter about it and deeply resents losing.
Yami Yugi is capable of hypnotism with the puzzle's magic; seen in Season 0's portion of the manga. Making his targets believe what he wishes or make them do what he wishes. As a result many of his Penalty Games involve illusions that typically drive the victim insane; such as seeing something as what they want, or even hearing something inaudible.
He is very agile, able to jump very high and land correctly. Also infinite stamina. Yami is a competent rider thanks to his education where he was able to learn horse riding, never lost his hand. As in episode 155, where Yami gallops on horseback to join Raphaël after having found the place, he descends the slope jumping with great skill, without falling off his horse.
Deck[]
Yami uses the same deck as Yugi when he duels, due to inhabiting the latter's body. Yugi's deck allows him to play very flexible strategies and be prepared for any situation. Both Fiend and Spellcaster-type Monsters appear consistently in his deck, reflecting Yami's mystical and somewhat dark nature. As the series progresses, more focus is placed on Summoning the "Egyptian God" cards and his iconic "Dark Magician".
During the Duelist Kingdom arc, Yami plays Solomon Muto's deck, which he had given to his grandson. The deck originally contained a "Blue Eyes White Dragon" and the five pieces of "Exodia the Forbidden One", but the former was torn up by Seto Kaiba and the latter cards were lost when Weevil Underwood tossed them into the ocean. Solomon's deck consists mainly of Monsters of the EARTH and DARK attribute. While said Monsters tend to have low ATK, Yami strengthens them with Spells such as "Horn of the Unicorn"; he also maximizes the potential of his more powerful monsters via cards such as "Burning Land" and "Maiku, the Magic Fist". If put on the defensive, Yami stalls for time via "Swords of Revealing Light" and "Magical Hats" until he can make a comeback, or uses "Mirror Force" and "Spellbinding Circle" for a surprise counterattack. He also supports "Dark Magician" with cards such as "Mystic Box" or "Book of Secret Arts". If all else fails, Yami resorts to summoning powerful Ritual Monsters such as "Black Luster Soldier" and "Magician of Black Chaos" for a reversal finish. Yami also makes use of Fusion Monsters, such as "Dragon Master Knight" and "Black Skull Dragon", which were possible via cooperating with Seto Kaiba and Joey Wheeler in Tag Duels respectively; by himself, however, Yami can still rely of Fusion Summoning Monsters such as "Gaia the Dragon Champion".
During his first Duel against Yami Bakura, Yami added the favourite cards of Yugi's friends into his deck, which were now inhabited by their souls (Tristain in "Cyber Commander", Joey in "Flame Swordsman" Téa in "Magician of Faith" and Yugi in "Dark Magician")
During the Battle City tournament preliminaries and quarter-finals, Yami's deck included the "Magnet Warrior" archtype and focused on his "Dark Magician" and "Dark Magician Girl", supporting both Spellcasters with "Magic Cylinder" and "Magic Formula". The deck also includes more control cards that allow him to manipulate his opponent's moves, such as "Brain Control", "Lightforce Sword" and "Mystical Refpanel". As per Battle City Rules, Yugi gained his opponent's rarest card whenever he won a Duel, along with a Locator Card needed to participate in the finals. Upon defeating the Rare Hunter Seeker, Yami won back Joey's "Red Eye Black Dragon", but tore up the Rare Hunter's "Exodia" pieces upon realizing that they were counterfeits; he also did not use any of Arkana's "Dark Magicians" upon defeating him, likely due to them being illegally trimmed. Upon defeating Marik Ishtar through his puppet Strings, Yami gained ownership of his iconic Egyptian God, "Slifer the Sky Dragon". Despite defeating Lumis and Umbra in a Tag Duel with Kaiba, he didn't take any of their cards, as he was more concerned about saving his friends from Marik.
During the Virtual World arc, Yami's deck was similar to the deck he had been using in Battle City, though he lacked the luxury of "Slifer". He also used several cards that he had used in Duelist Kingdom but had been phased out of his deck in Battle City, while also introducing new supports for his Duelist Kingdom themes such as "The Rock Spirit" (EARTH attribute) and "Sangan" (low ATK). When he took over Seto's Duel with Noah Kaiba after the latter had turned the former and Mokuba to stone, Yami combined the remainder of Seto's deck with his own.
Upon escaping the Virtual World and returning to the Battle City tournament, Yami altered his deck into an "Egyptian God" deck during his Duel against Kaiba in the semi-finals and his duel against Yami Marik in the finals. This deck focuses on quickly swarming the field via the effects of "Soul Rope" and "KIng's Knight" in order to summon "Slifer" and subsequently strengthening it via cards such "Card of Sanctity" and "Disgraceful Charity" while disrupting his opponent's strategies using the effects of cards like "Change of Heart" and "Electromagnetic Turtle". If "Slifer" is destroyed, Yami will fall back on destructive OTK strategies via his more powerful Monsters, such as "Dark Magician", "Buster Blader", their combined form "Dark Paladin" (which he enhances via "Red Eyes Black Dragon" and "Diffusion-Wave Motion"), or "Obelisk the Tormentor" (which he won after defeating Kaiba). Yami summoned "Obelisk" during his final Duel with Yami Marik via a combination of "Fiend's Sanctuary" and "Multiply", and supported it's effect by using cards such as "Soul Taker".
During the Doma arc, Yami plays a "Kuriboh/Spellcaster/Legendary Dragons" deck, focused on summoning the five Kuriboh Brothers via "Five Star Twilight" and combining them into "Kuribabylon", whose ATK he raises with "Pump Up" or, during his first Duel with Raphael, "The Seal of Orichalcos". He also uses "The Eye of Timaeus", which he fuses with his Spellcasters to create powerful Fusion Monsters, such as "Amulet Dragon" and "Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight"; he supports his strategy with "Excalibur" and "Altar of Restoration". Following his loss to Raphael, Yugi sacrificed himself by letting the Seal of Oricalchos take his soul instead of Yami, and thus the deck came to be used exclusively by the latter. In Yami's final Duel with Dartz, he uses the three "Legendary Knights", either using their special effects or by fusing them into "Timaeus the Knight of Destiny".
During the Grand Championship, Yami plays a "Spellcaster/ Three Muskateers of Face Cards" deck, focused on quickly summoning his Magicians via "Skilled Dark Magician" and "Watapon" while supporting older combos involving them with cards such as "Emblem of the Dragon Destroyer" and "Necromancy". Additionally, he once again makes use of his Knights' swarming abilities, this time using them to summon "Royal Straight Slasher", which he used in the finals to destroy the illegal card "Golden Castle of Stromberg". Most of Yami's "Kuriboh" support cards make no appearance in this deck.
In his final Duel against Yugi, Yami uses a "Dark Magician/Egyptian God" deck, focused on quickly summoning the Egyptian Gods via "Summoning Clock" and "Tricky Spell 4", falling back on his "Dark Magician" cards if his God cards are destroyed. He supports the summoning of his Magicians via "Dark Magic Curtain" and enhances their attack via "Magicians Unite" and "Book of Secret Arts". He also enhances his "Dark Magician" via "Dark Spear" and protects his Spellcasters via "Dark Illusion".
Quotes[]
| “ | My grandpa's deck has no pathetic cards, Kaiba. But it does contain... the unstoppable Exodia. | „ |
| ~ Yami Yugi to Kaiba before playing his Exodia cards |
| “ | I've assembled all five special cards! All five pieces of the puzzle! | „ |
| ~ Yami Yugi as he plays his Exodia cards, thus summoning Exodia the Forbidden One |
| “ | Pegasus, I sense that you're watching. Consider this a warning. Nothing you send against me will stop me, and when we finally duel, believe me, victory will me mine! I'll win back my grandfather's soul and you will pay for all the people you've hurt in the name of your sick little game. I'm coming for you, Pegasus! | „ |
| ~ Yami Yugi to Maxamillian Pegasus. |
Trivia[]
- He sounded like Yugi Muto when he was younger.
- In the Dub, Yami Yugi provides the opening narration about the Shadow Games. Its easy to miss as Dan Green had not settled on the baritone to separate Yugi from Yami Yugi; so its a deeper version of Yami Yugi's voice.
- In fact the first episode has Yami Yugi a slightly nasal less high pitched tone from Yugi.
- During The Wrath of Rebecca, the still-amnesiac Atem tells Yugi that "I have been known by many names, Pharaoh, Yugioh, But most people call me Yami." A dub blunder as Other Me from the manga and Partner in the original anime would have sounded weirder in English. Though throughout the second and third seasons he is largely called Spirit (of the Millennium Puzzle) and Yami (by accident on the dubbers part); unless the Ishtars are addressing him. As of Waking the Dragons, his friends call him (the) Pharaoh.
- The worst opening hand he's ever had was in Bonds Beyond Time - five spells and one trap; with one useless.
- The effect of Yusei's card gave him Dark Magician, allowing the use of the other five to turn the duel around in the trio's favor.
- In the first volumes of the manga/Season 0, Yami Yugi is more sadistic; ranging from his Shadow Games and Penalty Games. After Death-T in Volume 5, where his existence is accepted and known by Yugi and friends, he mellows a bit thanks to Yugi's influence.
- Yami Yugi is technically a cheater as his puzzle grants him extraordinary good luck, ensuring he never loses if he desires to win.
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