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| “ | It's time to duel! | „ |
| ~ Yami-Yugi |
Yami-Yugi, real name Atem, is the deuteragonist in the manga and anime Yu-Gi-Oh! by Kazuki Takahashi. Yami-Yugi is the ancient spirit of a dead pharoh that has been reincarnated as a young Japanese boy in the modern era.
He is voiced by Megumi Ogata, best known voiced as Yukito Tsukishiro/Yue from Cardcaptor Sakura in the original Japanese version. In English Version Yami is voiced by Dan Green who is also known for voicing Entei.
Rebirth
Yami-Yugi came into being in his modern incarnation when the boy Yugi Muto assembled an ancient puzzle his grandfather brought him as an archeology 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.
Motivation
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.
Relationships
Yugi Muto
They become best friends but also developed a bond similar to that of brothers or a father and son.
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.
Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: The Dark Side of Dimensions
Yami Yugi is mentioned in the movie, a virtual copy version of him fight Kaiba, only to be defeated, 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 splited, 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.
Quotes
| “ | My grampa'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 |
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