Joey Wheeler

Joey Wheeler, aka Katsuya Jonouchi in the manga and Japanese version. He is a character from Yu-Gi-Oh!. His number 1 best friend is Yugi Muto. His second best friend is Yami Yugi,and Tristan Taylor being his third best friend.

Background
Joey and his sister, Serenity Wheeler, were separated when their parents divorced when he was 10. Serenity was brought up by her mother while Joey lived with his father.

Joey and Tristan Taylor used to bully Yugi Muto at school. At one point Joey took a piece of Yugi's Millennium Puzzle and threw it into a swimming pool from a window outside of their classroom. However when Ushio started beating up Joey and Tristan, Yugi stood up for them, saying they were his friends. Joey was inspired by how Yugi had tried to help him and came to care for Yugi. He retrieved the piece of the puzzle in the pool and gave it to Yugi. Yami Yugi then punished Ushio with a Penalty Game.

Personality
Joey started out as a bully, but becoming friends with Yugi Muto changes this. Though occasionally portrayed as comic relief, he is essential to the plot and the series' overall theme. He is an enthusiastic duelist, who claims dueling is about fighting to help people you love.

The first syllables of Yugi and Jonouchi's names form Yūjō, which is Japanese for friendship, symbolizing the bond between the two characters. The card "Yu-Jo Friendship" is based on this connection.

Appearance
Joey's character design was overseen by Kazuki Takahashi.

In the first seven volumes of the original Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, Joey's hairstyle changes drastically. Originally featuring two large fringes in front of his ears, the hairstyle changes to a sporadically arranged taper-like and unrealistic hairstyle. Joey's first color appearance depicts him with medium brown hair and black eyes. Subsequent appearances lighten the hair color to dirty blond and blond. His eyes are portrayed as brown or hazel.

In the first series anime, Joey's hairstyle does not change, and the sporadic hairstyle colored in a bright blond style is used. His eyes are brown.

In the second series anime he has dirty blond hair in the sporadic hairstyle and dark brown eyes. His usual outfit from the second series anime consists of a long green open jacket with a raised collar, a white T-shirt underneath and blue jeans. Later in the series, his green jacket is replaced with a blue denim one. He often carries a KaibaCorp Duel Disk on his left arm.

Duelist Kingdom Saga
After Seto Kaiba wins against Solomon Muto, Yugi's grandfather, and then rips up his "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" card, Joey spurs a bitter hatred of Kaiba. After taking up Duel Monsters, it becomes clear that Joey isn't very good at the game initially, so Yugi suggests that Joey take lessons from Solomon. The training proves rigorous, yet Joey copes and becomes a stronger duelist. He makes the top eight in the regionals (nationals in the Japanese version).

Joey accompanies Yugi in the Duelist Kingdom tournament, to help Yugi rescue Solomon and so he can use the prize money, to pay for Serenity's eye operation. Yugi gives Joey one of his Star Chips allowing Joey to also enter the tournament. On the boat journey to the Duelist Kingdom, Yugi gives Joey a "Time Wizard" saying it can be useful in a tight situation. Here Joey meets Mai Valentine for the first time. At this point she claims he is not worth her time. After Weevil tosses Yugi's "Exodia" cards overboard, Joey dives in to the water to rescue them, he manages to retrieve two of the cards, before Yugi dives in to rescue Joey. Both of them are saved by Téa and Tristan, who managed to sneak onto the boat.

Still an amateur, Joey manages to beat Mai Valentine with Yugi's help and support from Téa and Tristan. He later beats Rex Raptor in a Duel, where he is not allowed to accept help from Yugi. Here he wins Rex's "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" card by betting "Time Wizard".

When the group meet Bakura, they end-up trapped inside Duel Monsters cards, by Yami Bakura. Using his friends as cards, Yami Yugi duels Yami Bakura. Joey is trapped in the "Flame Swordsman" card, but appears on the field, when Yami Yugi Summons him. Joey offers to sacrifice himself for Yugi's "Horn of Heaven" so they can stop Yami Bakura's "Man-Eater Bug". Téa, who has taken the form of the "Magician of Faith", cries over Joey's sacrifice, activating her effect, returning "Monster Reborn" to Yami Yugi's hand. Yami then uses it to revive Joey. Yami Yugi defeats Yami Bakura, after using his Millennium Puzzle to switch Yami Bakura's place with the regular Bakura. Afterwards Joey believes the events of the Duel to have been a dream.

In attempt to get revenge, he has a Duel outside of the tournament, against Seto Kaiba, where he is brutally defeated. Joey loses confidence after this defeat and briefly leaves his friends before being forced into a Duel against Bonz. He manages to beat Bonz and later the Paradox Brothers in a tag duel with Yugi. Joey then qualified to the semi-finals. Pegasus then mentioned that each duelist must hold one of two entry cards or face disqualification. In order to keep Joey in the competition, Yugi gave him one of his entry cards. Although Bandit Keith steals Joey's card, Joey proceeds to defeat Keith in the semi-finals, because Mai gave Joey one of her entry cards after she loses to Yugi. In the final round Joey uses everything he learned from Yugi, throughout the tournament. Despite their friendship, neither of them hold back and Yugi wins after a close duel. Joey remains on the sideline cheering for Yugi in the final. After Yugi defeats Pegasus, he gives Joey the prize money for Serenity's operation. Joey and the ganf then when back to Domino city with the Kaiba Brothers.

A few days later, Solomon is released from the hospital. Yugi and his friends take him home, where they find an American girl waiting for them. She introduces herself as Rebecca, a twelve-year old (an eight-year old in the dub) prodigy Duelist who is accusing Solomon of stealing her "Blue-Eyes White Dragon". She demands it back, but the gang and Solomon have a problem with this as Seto ripped it up in the first episode.

Rebecca challenges Solomon to a Duel for it, but since he just got out of the hospital, Yugi (not Yami) takes his place. They duel at the new arena in KaibaLand. During the Duel, Solomon notices Rebecca's Deck and strategy is very similar to an old friend of his named Arthur Hawkins. Finally, Rebecca reveals herself to be his granddaughter, but continues to accuse him.

The Duel between Rebecca and Yugi continues, and Rebecca repeatedly accuses Solomon of stealing her grandfather's "Blue-Eyes White Dragon", getting on everyone's nerves.

Solomon tells the story of how he met Arthur Hawkins. It was at an archaeological dig in Egypt years ago. Arthur was reading some Egyptian hieroglyphics and notice they resemble Duel Monsters, making him believe that ancient Egyptians used these monsters in battle for power and control. Unfortunately, no one believed him, but he never gave up on his research. One day, Solomon and Arthur were in a tomb when the roof caved in, trapping the two men. There was only enough water for one person, so they decide to Duel for it. In the end, Solomon surrenders, even though he could have won, because he knew Arthur would need the water more than him. He notices the Duel between Rebecca and Yugi is going in the exact same way as the Duel he had.

In the end, Yugi does surrender. Rebecca demands her "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" card back. Solomon reluctantly shows the "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" to Rebecca, which to Rebecca's shock has been taped together. Rebecca rages out of control upon seeing this as she thinks Solomon tore it up. Solomon tries to tell Rebecca he would never do such a thing, but Rebecca again won't listen to him. At this point, Arthur arrives and tells Rebecca to behave herself. He shows Rebecca the top card of Yugi's Deck, which was "Soul Release". It would have allowed Yugi to remove up to five cards from either player's Graveyard. This would have dropped her "Shadow Ghoul's" ATK to 2300, allowing Yugi's "Dark Magician" to destroy it and win the Duel. Rebecca is shocked upon find out about this, but she then asks why did Yugi forfeit when he had the chance to win. Arthur explains that Yugi deliberately forfeited to teach Rebecca about the Heart of the Cards and that there is more to life that winning. Rebecca apologizes and to prove their friendship, Yugi gives her the "The Ties of Friendship" card he got from Pegasus.

Legendary Heroes Saga
On a rainy morning, inside KaibaCorp headquarters, the Kaiba brothers confront The Big Five for making an alliance with Maximillion Pegasus and trying to take over his company. However, the men manipulate Seto into trying his new virtual game, Duel Monsters Quest. It isn't long before The Big Five reveal their true plan to trap Seto in the game, and with Mokuba as their prisoner, they can once again take over KaibaCorp. However, Mokuba grabs Seto's deck and runs off before guards can capture him. He arrives at the card shop, where Yugi and his friends are. He explains the whole story to them and they decide they will go into the virtual game and rescue Seto.

They arrive at the test room where three prototype pods are. Mokuba, Yugi, and Joey enter the game while Tristan and Tea stand guard. The Big Five notice them and send their guards to unplug those pods, which will trap the three boys as well. Tristan and Tea try to hold them off. In the game, Yugi, Mokuba, and Joey arrive in a Graveyard, where they are confronted by three zombie monsters. Remembering that they have 0 DEF, Yugi and Joey manage to defeat them with "Shield & Sword" and "Dark Magician", earning them five points. They arrive at a village and discover that someone took a stranger through a desert to a temple. They try to cross it, but a tornado knocks them back. An old man tells them in order to cross the desert, they would need the "Niwatori" card, and the only way to get one is by winning it through a duel against the village's champion.

In the coliseum, Joey takes the offer, despite having lower Life Points than Yugi and Mokuba from the battle with the zombies. He dresses up in a pig outfit and at the ring, discovers the champion is a woman.

At the coliseum in the Virtual World, the Duel between the champion and Joey begins. They are both masked at first, but it isn't long before Joey realizes that the champion is Mai Valentine. He removes his mask, and after discussing the situation, Mai uses "Harpie Lady" to steal the "Niwatori" card. The four run off, and the villagers pursue them, but Joey stops them using "Trap Hole". They use the monster to cross the desert and find a temple. After crossing the maze and defeating the "Gate Guardian", they meet up with Princess Adena, who looks like Mokuba. They are taken to her palace and she explains to the story of the "Mythic Dragon". Every year, her kingdom and another town offer one human each in hopes of reviving the dragon. The other town chose Seto for this year's tribute while Adena volunteered for her kingdom.

However, there is a myth that legendary heroes will save the town and destroy the dragon. Yugi and his group are convinced that they are the ones to answer this challenge. To stop the dragon's revival ritual, they must reach a "Castle of Dark Illusions" high in the sky, and the castle is surrounded by a barrier that no duel monster can pierce. However, a flying machine was used long ago by the heroes that repelled the dragon originally. Just as the four modern heroes get ready to go to the castle, the town is attacked by a herd of Duel Monsters. Adena is kidnapped, but it is revealed that she and Mokuba switched outfits, and it is actually him they took. It is now more vital than ever that they reach the castle soon. Yugi finds the ancient flying machine, but it has long since been corroded and buried. Joey uses "Time Wizard" to turn the machine's time backwards, restoring the machine and freeing it from the earth. But back in the real world, Tristan and Tea are in a tight spot, doing their best to keep Kemo and his crew from breaking into the room and unplugging their pods.

While Tristan and Tea are still warding off the Big 5's thugs, the flying machine has just been repaired, and Yugi, Joey, and Mai are set for the "Castle of Dark Illusions". But when they approach the castle, a herd of monsters is waiting for them, and they defeat as many as possible while penetrating the barrier surrounding the castle. In the process, Adena's aide (Earu) takes a hit for the heroes, and his death angers Yugi so much as to call Yami into the fight from this point on. Although the flying machine is destroyed soon after, the heroes ride "Winged Dragon" and make it to the castle, where they must battle even more monsters. Meanwhile, the captured Mokuba is brought to join Kaiba. However, Mokuba still has Kaiba's cards, and he uses "Swordstalker" to free Kaiba. Mokuba then hands Kaiba back his Deck and he then uses it to wipe out the monsters guarding him. Then, he and Mokuba rejoin Yami, Joey and Mai.

Suddenly, the Big 5's voices are heard. Having monitored the progress of the heroes, they have decided to join the battle personally. By overriding the game, they brush away the castle setting. Then, they skip any need for a sacrifice ritual and summon the "Mythic Dragon" immediately, speaking through the monster. For good measure, they set a condition that only Dragon-type monsters are allowed to attack. The heroes' initial attacks are useless, and the Big 5 take advantage of Mokuba's lack of a monster to target him. Joey orders Red-Eyes to take the attack instead, and when his Life Points reach zero, he vanishes. Mai also falls by intercepting the attention of the Big 5 while Yami tries to convince Kaiba that he has a plan but needs Kaiba's help for it. But the next attack targets Kaiba, and Mokuba pushes him out of the way, collapsing fading from his brother's arms. This convinces Kaiba to cooperate, and Yami summons "Dragon Master Knight" to defeat the dragon. In a rush, he and Kaiba reappear at Adena's palace, and she honors their bravery by showing that she is in fact the "Mystical Elf". With her magic, she brings back Key Mace and their friends, and the heroes return to the real world safe and sound.

Tea is happy that Yugi,Joey and Mokuba are back. Mokuba then tell Kemo that Seto is looking for the. Which makes Kemo and the others leave quickly. Mokuba the thanks Yugi, and his friends for him save Seto. Mokuba then leaves to go find Seto. (In the English version, Yugi and the gang say goodbye to Mokuba) In the Japanese version, Yugi and his friends say that they are going out for Ramen Noodles.

Dugeon Dice Saga
After Duke Devlin transfers to Domino High, Joey becomes jealous of his popularity and challenges him to a Duel, where if Joey wins, Duke must shut down the game shop he'd just opened, since Solomon had been complaining about the loss of business his own game shop was getting as a result. Duke sets the stakes so that if he wins Joey must do as he says. Despite Yugi's objection, Joey and Duke duel using whatever cards they acquire in a bunch of Booster Packs. Duke wins, with Joey bitterly reflecting that the motivation to help his sister might have pushed him beyond what were otherwise his limits in Duelist Kingdom. Holding his end of the bargain Joey does as Duke tells him and wears a dog costume. He was later released of this embarrassment, after Yugi defeated Duke in Dungeon Dice Monsters, freeing Joey. Despite their conflicts, Duke becomes friends with Joey.

Battle City Saga
When Kaiba learns of the Egyptian God Cards, a set of Duel Monsters cards that were purported to be based on three Egyptian Gods (and thus powerful enough to have never been put into circulation), Kaiba, at the request of Ishizu Ishtar holds an elite Tournament with the intention of winning and acquiring all 3 cards while defeating Yugi Mutou (Yugi Muto in the English anime) in the process. The tournament would be held in the streets of Domino City, using a portable Duel Disk holographic projection system of his own design. For his efforts, Seto Kaiba is given 1 of the Egyptian God Cards, The God of the Obelisk or Obelisk the Tormentor (Obelisk no Kyōshinhei in Japanese, literally translated means Giant God Soldier of Obelisk, "The God of the Obelisk" in the English manga).

To acquire the remaining God Cards, Seto Kaiba created the ante rule in the tournament, a rule that the winner of a Duel could take the rarest card from the loser's deck and used a satellite to monitor every duel by adding a device to his new mass production Duel Disks. It is not mentioned in the series what would happen if the Duel was to end in a draw but it was implied that, although winners were entitled to take the rarest card from their opponent, the winner may not have to take the opponent's rarest card; indeed, when Yugi defeated Bakura, he did not take the latter's rare card. As for the tournament itself, entrants in the tournament were given a special transparent card in the shape of a puzzle piece, known as a locator card. Winners in Duels, in addition to the ante rule would also be entitled to take one locator card from their opponent; although, duelists can wager more than one rare card and/or locator card per duel if they wish. Those without locator cards would be eliminated from the tournament, while the first 8 duelists with 6 Locator Cards would move on. The Duel Disks were also used as a method to prevent cheating (although this didn't prevent Espa Roba from having his siblings read Joey Wheeler's cards, Weevil from slipping a copy of "Parasite Paracide" into Joey's Deck, a Rare Hunter from using counterfeits (marked cards in the dub), and Arkana from trimming his cards down to size to draw them easier), as well as a method of helping Seto (himself an entrant) track the progress and location of other duelists.

In a move ostensibly to promote the real-life Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game, the tournament used rules that were identical to the trading card game's rules (unlike the Duelist Kingdom tournament) with the major difference that duelists would start a game with 4000 Life Points rather than 8000 Life Points in the real-life game (2000 Life Points in the Duelist Kingdom tournament) for the purposes of brevity. Minor differences include being able to summon monsters in Defense Position (face-up, instead of "setting" face-down) and Fusion Monsters not being able to attack during the turn they are summoned. From hereon, almost all duels in the series would follow these rules.

When Seto Kaiba hosted the Battle City tournament, he allowed duelists to enter based on a rating he'd given them. At the enrollment, Yugi was allowed to enter based on the 5 star rating he was given, but Joey was given the minimum rating of 1 star. While Joey was ranting about Kaiba, the tournament official, notices "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" listed as Joey's rarest card, so he changes Joey's rating to 4 stars saying there had been a mistake. After Joey and his friends have left, the official phones a Rare Hunter, to inform him about the "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" card.

While heading to the hospital for Serenity's operation, Joey encounters a group of Rare Hunters. One of them, Seeker, duels Joey and defeats him using "Exodia". The hunters beat-up Joey and take the Red-Eyes card. This makes him feel unworthy to be present at Serenity's operation. But Serenity refuses to take the operation until Joey arrives. Tristan manages to find Joey and talk him into coming to the hospital. Serenity is still angry at Joey for being late, but Joey manages to talk her into taking the operation. But while this on top of his loss to Duke Devlin, a capable but unranked duelist, would effectively seem to be Joey's fall from grace, a comeback was in the near future for him.

Joey finds Seeker on the first day of the tournament in an attempt to get a rematch, but is denied, so Yugi duels and defeats Seeker instead. He wins back the "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" card and offers it to Joey, but Joey insists that Yugi keep it. Despite losing the card, Joey goes on to defeat Espa Roba, who had just defeated the card's original owner Rex Raptor. He then defeats Yugi's old rivals Weevil Underwood and Mako Tsunami, qualifying for the quarter-finals and gaining new cards that boost his Deck considerably. He decided that early on, he only wanted to defeat strong duelists to qualify, rather than do things the easy way. This led him to go as far as challenging Seto Kaiba. Kaiba declined after he is informed of Yugi's location while hunting for the Egyptian God Cards. Although he is relieved about not facing Kaiba, he still acts tough and calls Kaiba a coward.

After his Duel with Mako, Marik Ishtar, the leader of the Rare Hunters, uses his Millennium Rod to possess Joey and force him to duel Yugi, with both their lives on the line. They were both chained to an anchor which would drop after a time limit or when a players Life Points hit zero. Also once a player's Life Points hit 0, the opponent would be able to get a key, that could unlock him from the chains. Marik boosts Joey's Deck with powerful spell cards that have Yugi and Kaiba amazed. Yugi, to show Marik how strong his friendship with Joey is, summons Red-Eyes and gives Joey his Millennium Puzzle. Yugi deliberately loses, but Joey snaps out of Marik's control and manages to force the Duel in a draw. He grabs the key to unlock Yugi's chain and dives into the water to rescue him. He is unable to unlock his own chains with Yugi's key. Serenity arrives in time to take the bandages off her eyes and take Joey's key and dive in to rescue him.

Joey along with his friends proceed on to the Kaiba's blimp, where the quarter-finals are held. He is paired against Odion Ishtar in the quarter-finals. At the time Odion was pretending to be Marik, while the real Marik pretended to be a boy called Namu, who earned their trust by pretending to have helped Bakura. After Odion obtains a clear advantage in their duel Serenity begins to leave, saying she cannot bear to watch, but Joey calls her back, saying that she is his inspiration and he needs her to win. Despite a comeback, Odion attempts to claim victory, but Joey accused him of not being Marik. He claimed Odion was fighting fairly and proving honorable and didn't think he was the same guy who was controlling him earlier. Odion withdraws his winning move and tries to summon "The Winged Dragon of Ra" to prove he was Marik. Since the Ra card was a counterfeit that Marik had put in Odion's Deck, the real Ra was angered and struck down both players. When this occurred, Odion's fake Millennium Rod shattered giving Marik away. Seto Kaiba announced that the first player to stand up within a time limit would be declared the winner, otherwise both players would be disqualified. While unconscious, Joey has a dream about his friends helping him to stand up and he ends up standing up for real, claiming victory. Odion then asks for Joey's forgiveness, and tells him that it had been an honor dueling him, before falling into a coma.

Joey later thanks his friends, telling him they were there with him in the dream helping him stand up. Mai asked Joey if she was in his dream. Joey lies and says that she wasn't, which infuriates Mai. She stormed off claiming she didn't need friends, while Téa pulled Joey aside to tell him off.

Mai was paired against Marik in her quarter-final. Joey attempted to encourage her from the sideline, but she was still disgusted by what he had said earlier and claimed she didn't want or need his help. Marik set the Duel such that each time a player destroyed one of their opponent's monsters, the opponent would forget everything about someone they knew. This forced her to forget about Téa first, then Joey. Marik was about to win the duel by attacking with "The Winged Dragon of Ra", while Mai was strapped to a wall by Marik's monsters, so Joey climbed into the arena and tried to unstrap Mai to save her from Ra's blast. He was unable to but Yami Yugi jumped in protecting both from the blast. Yugi and Joey survived, though Marik was able to send Mai to the Shadow Realm. He feels somewhat responsible for Mai’s loss. This further fueled Joey's hatred for Marik, making him want to face Marik in the next round.

Vitural World Saga
Aboard Seto Kaiba's airship, the eight Battle City Finals duelists prepare to head for Alcatraz (KaibaCorp Island in the English dub), the site of the semifinal and final rounds of the Battle City (Yu-Gi-Oh!) tournament. However, the trip takes a mysterious wrong turn, and finds itself landing in an undersea fortress - apparently, a mysterious force is set on revenge against Kaiba. Forcing many of its passengers off the ship, the mysterious force leads them into another room, where they reveal themselves to be the Big 5, who are the five former board members of KaibaCorp, who were assumed to be fired by Kaiba sometime before the Battle City tournament for attempting to take over his company from underneath him.

The Big 5 seek revenge against Kaiba for firing them, as well as Yugi Muto (Yugi Mutou in the English manga) for foiling their plans to take over the company on two different occasions by defeating Maximillion Pegasus (Pegasus J. Crawford in the Japanese versions in Duelist Kingdom and the Big 5's Five God Dragon in Legendary Heroes). To do so, they force their participation in their own virtual Duel Monsters tournament, in a similar vein to Kaiba's Legendary Heroes games. There was also an added stipulation: if one of the protagonists were to lose, the Big 5 also threatened to take their bodies for themselves and escape into the real world.

It is also noted by the Big 5 that the virtual tournament would require virtual cards, and thus neither "Slifer the Sky Dragon" nor "Obelisk the Tormentor" could be used by Yugi or Seto Kaiba, although players could freely choose their decks before every duel.

As the group enter the virtual world, however, they find themselves separated: Yugi in a forest near a lake, Téa Gardner (Anzu Mazaki in the manga and the Japanese versions) in a canyon, Tristan Taylor (Hiroto Honda), Serenity Wheeler (Shizuka Kawai), and Duke Devlin (Ryuji Otogi) in and around a castle, Joey Wheeler (Katsuya Jonouchi) in a mansion, and Seto and Mokuba Kaiba in another forest. Each of the separated groups, as it would turn out, would face a different member of the Big 5.

As it turns out, the Big 5 are controlled by Noah Kaiba, the legitimate son of Gozaburo Kaiba, and stepbrother to Seto and Mokuba. Noah had died (or, in the English dub, had his body "rendered useless") in a traffic accident when he was young, but his mind was preserved in the virtual world. He believes that, as Gozaburo's biological son, he is the true legitimate heir to KaibaCorp, and that he, not Seto, should be the one running the family business.

How Noah enlists the help of the Big 5 is unclear, but it was implied that, as a result of the earlier encounter between them and the main characters, the minds of the Big 5 were similarly preserved in the virtual world (In the English dub, the Big 5 reveal that when Mythic Dragon — the monster at the end of the "Legendary Heroes" arc — was destroyed, so were their bodies, but not their minds). In the virtual world, each member of the Big 5 would use a different monster as their Deck Master and their personal avatar.

Gansley, a businessman with a penchant of quoting famous philosophers (in the original) or business acumen (in the English dub) would be the first to duel, against arguably the strongest of any of the main characters - Yugi. Despite wanting to choose his trusted Dark Magician, Kuriboh chooses itself as Yugi's Deck Master. Forced with this choice, Yugi proceeds to duel. Gansley's strategy to defeat Yugi was simple - by using a supposedly invincible sacrifice-and-revive combination, he could force Yugi's monsters to attack Yugi directly, without fear of being harmed. Yet, Yugi is persistent, and eventually has the last laugh - by combining Kuriboh (who Gansley dismissed as "weak") and Rainbow Blessing, Yugi could set up a play which could allow a monster to bypass Gansley's defenses, and attack Gansley directly, which he does to win the duel, using Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight.

As Yugi proceeds to find a way to reunite with his friends, Crump manages to trap Téa Gardner into a duel. Being a competent amateur player in her own right, she chooses a deck of all-female monsters, including "Dark Magician Girl" as her Deck Master, to which Crump scoffs at, citing it as an unwise decision, thinking that Dark Magician Girl would not be effective without her male counterpart (in the English dub, this is replaced by remarks suggesting a perversion towards young girls). As an additional catch, whenever either duelist lost Life Points, part of their body would be frozen, and encased in ice. Despite being at a disadvantage for most of the match, Dark Magician Girl would eventually help Téa by summoning herself to the field and using her own Deck Master ability, allowing Téa to draw the "Sage's Stone" card. With that card, Téa would summon Dark Magician from nearby Yugi's Deck (thus helping Yugi to find Téa) and win the duel.

With Yugi and Téa reunited, the focus shifts to Johnson, who is slated to face Joey Wheeler. Believing he finally escaped the virtual world, and eager to get his hands on Marik Ishtar for what he did to Mai Valentine (Mai Kujaku), Joey discovers that this was an elaborate trap set by Johnson, who proceeds to duel him. Johnson manages to get the upper hand in the duel through a combination of his Deck Master ability, "Clear the Courtroom" (which could, "at the cost of 1000 Life Points", clear the field of all cards), as well as the (somewhat illicit) ability of controlling the outcome of Joey's luck-based moves. Yet, just as it seems that Joey's luck was about to run out, Noah appears and insists that Johnson forfeit the duel for cheating. Joey, in the spirit of a "true" duelist, convinces Noah to let the match continue, knowing well that Johnson would not be able to cheat again, and eventually wins by outwitting Johnson at one of the mind games he claimed to be an expert at.

Tristan Taylor, Duke Devlin, and Serenity Wheeler manage to find each other, yet they find themselves faced off against Nezbitt, who wants to take Serenity's body for his own. With Tristan and Duke willing to protect Serenity from harm, they try to convince Nezbitt that they should take her place, but he settles on a three-on-one duel. Serenity, despite having never played in a duel herself, and knowing little about the rules, is relieved that Tristan and Duke would help her along, but miscommunication between Tristan and Duke would ultimately cost Tristan his Deck Master. Crestfallen over Tristan's sacrifice, Duke manages to use his dice tricks and his signature monster, "Orgoth the Relentless", to buy some time. Convinced by her older brother (who had managed to find her) that she, too, must fight in the spirit of a "true" duelist, Serenity vows to continue playing. Serenity would ultimately deal the final blow in the match, thanks to her Deck Master, "Goddess with the Third Eye", whose ability allowed her to Fusion Summon monsters without Polymerization, using the remnants of Tristan's playing field.

With Nezbitt having won Tristan's body, Nezbitt uses it to kidnap Mokuba, while Yugi and friends seek to restore Tristan, who now resides in the body of a robot monkey (which is actually a brown version of "Acrobat Monkey"). Kaiba, in pursuit of Nezbitt, encounters Leichter (Daimon), the last member of the Big 5. Eager to put Leichter aside, Kaiba tries to use his "Crush Card Virus" (Deck Destruction Virus of Death in the Japanese version) strategy against him, only to fail as he realizes that Leichter's Deck Master was "Jinzo" (Android Psychic Shocker), which destroys Trap Cards. Combined with "Imperial Order", a card that rendered Magic Cards useless, this left Kaiba with only Monster Cards. Furthermore, Leichter would use "Satellite Cannon", a monster that could only be destroyed by Level 8 monsters or above, and whose power increased the longer it is in play (but only while attacking), in an attempt to ensure his victory. However, Kaiba manages to summon "Blue-Eyes White Dragon", a Level 8 monster, in time, and uses it to destroy "Satellite Cannon" and win the duel.

Noah manages to capitalize on Seto blaming Mokuba, and convinces Mokuba through brainwashing that Noah is his true big brother, and that Seto was a nobody. This is part of his plan to slowly take everything Seto has of value from him, and the Big 5 was simply a tool for his means - by making a false promise of bodies, he could manipulate the Big 5 as he wished.

Unaware of this, the Big 5 continued to try and take more bodies so that they would not have to share Tristan's, and manage to convince Yugi and Joey into a duel with everyone's bodies on the line, in a winner-take-all duel. During this duel, the Big 5 (who started with 8000 Life Points) manage to summon their signature monster, "Five God Dragon", by tributing their five respective Deck Masters. However, it is destroyed by "Mirage Knight", a monster that was summoned after Yugi and Joey were able to fuse "Dark Magician" and "Flame Swordsman" together (which were, respectively, Yugi and Joey's Deck Masters) to create "Dark Flare Knight", who destroyed itself by attacking "Five God Dragon" and taking no battle damage due to its effect, allowing "Mirage Knight" to be summoned. The duel, however, did not end, thanks to the Trap Card "A Deal with Dark Ruler", allowing the Big 5 to summon a new Deck Master, "Berserk Dragon" - a monster that gradually weakened the longer it stayed on the field. After surviving a round of attacks, Joey, who the Big 5 thought was the weaker link of the two, and was allowed to survive on 300 Life Points, would set up "Dark Magician" by transforming him into "Dark Magician Knight" by using the Magic Card, "Knight's Title", allowing him to use his Deck Master's special ability (which, he explains, would only work on Warrior-Type monsters) and was able to transfer most of the ATK of "Flame Swordsman" directly to "Dark Magician Knight", which was enough to destroy "Berserk Dragon" and win the duel.

With the Big 5 defeated, Noah banishes the five and takes matters into his own hands. He challenges Seto directly, fully intending to take his body in order to escape the virtual world, and claim the position that he believes he deserves. Noah tells Seto that he would win in seven turns, with each turn representing each of the seven days of creation (this detail, like all other religious references, was removed from the English dub). Despite Noah's choice of "Shinato's Ark" (Miracle Ark) as his Deck Master (from which Noah's arc, the affectionate nickname for this story arc, is derived), Seto manages to get into a position in which one of his monsters could attack either of Noah's two monsters and win the duel. However, Mokuba suddenly appears to support Noah, effectively stopping Seto from attacking Noah's monsters for fear that Mokuba would be hurt.

Because of this, Seto had effectively played into Noah's hands: Noah was never in any danger of losing the duel, thanks to another of his Deck Master's abilities that gave him Life Points based on the number of discarded monsters. Now with the upper hand, Noah begins to take control of the duel. Meanwhile, Seto attempts to get through to his brainwashed brother, to no avail. With one last hope, Seto summons his "Blue-Eyes White Dragon", which manages to break Mokuba free of Noah's control. Yet, thanks to his Deck Master, Noah's Life Points continue to rise. Desperate, Seto uses "Last Turn" to force the duel into one final winner-take-all Battle Phase. Seto chooses "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" to attack while Noah chooses his Deck Master to defend. Although "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" wins the battle, the destruction of "Shinato's Ark" allowed Noah to summon "Shinato, King of a Higher Plane", a more powerful monster that destroys "Blue-Eyes White Dragon", allowing Noah to win the duel. As a token of his victory and his apparent worthiness of the title of head of KaibaCorp, Noah turns Seto and Mokuba to stone.

Yugi, however, is enraged over Noah's actions: had Seto not tributed "Different Dimension Dragon" (Twilight Zone Dragon), the duel would have been a draw, since this dragon cannot be destroyed in battle (in the real game, it cannot be destroyed by monsters with 1900 ATK or less). Instead, "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" was summoned so that Seto would save Mokuba (in the English dub, this detail was omitted - Yugi is enraged over how Seto had effectively been blackmailed by Noah earlier when he had used Mokuba as a human shield). He challenges Noah to continue the duel, with Yugi taking Seto's place. With Life Points being 7400-400 in favour of Noah, and no monsters on Seto Kaiba's side of the field (and no cards in his hand), Noah gladly accepts, intending to quickly win, and turn both Yugi and his friends to stone. Should Yugi win, however, he demands that everyone be set free from the virtual world.

Having to duel against a different kind of duelist in Yugi, Noah uses Spirit Monsters, a type of monster that returns to the hand at the end of the turn, and the "Spring of Rebirth" Magic Card to attack Yugi and increase his own Life Points in the process. Although Yugi manages to use "Cyber Jar" to destroy all of Noah's monsters, including "Shinato, King of a Higher Plane" (which Seto forced Noah to Summon to the field as a result of Noah needing a target to declare as a defender for the effect of "Last Turn"), Noah uses another Deck Master ability to pull "Shinato, King of a Higher Plane" back to the sidelines, but with the caveat that Noah now cannot Summon "Shinato, King of a Higher Plane" back to the field for the remainder of the duel. Because of his Spirit Monsters, "Spring of Rebirth", and another Deck Master ability, Noah's Life Points continue to accumulate to the point that Noah simply allows Yugi to directly attack him every turn - an effort that turned largely fruitless as Noah would manage to gain even more Life Points.

Being confident of himself, Noah offers Yugi a chance to forfeit the duel, but for every turn that Yugi continues to play in which Noah is not defeated, one of Yugi's friends would be turned into stone. With time running out, Yugi ends up in a situation where he has 100 Life Points to Noah's 10,000, facing off against Noah's most powerful Spirit Monster (which stayed on the field due to a Trap Card), with nothing on the field and no cards in his hand. Worse, all of his friends are eventually turned turned to stone. It seemed all but lost for Yugi, when he is reminded that even though all of his friends (Seto and Mokuba included) are turned to stone, they are still there in spirit to cheer him on. With a new-found confidence, Yugi draws "Card of Sanctity", allowing Yugi to draw six cards. With these six cards, he revives Seto Kaiba's "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" and fuses it with the two "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" he has drawn to form "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon", and he uses his fifth card, "Quick Attack", to allow "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon" to attack Noah's monster immediately. He then uses his final card, "De-Fusion", to split "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon" back into three "Blue-Eyes White Dragons", and attacks directly with all three, winning the duel.

With the duel won, Yugi demands that Noah free everyone from the virtual world. However, Noah reveals to everyone that, in the process of entering the virtual world, they were all knocked out and placed in virtual reality pods (not unlike those used by Seto in the Legendary Heroes arc). Everyone is later shocked to find that it was Gozaburo, or at least, a digitized copy thereof, who had attempted to trap everyone in a complicated plan to take over the world by trapping everyone in the virtual world (In the Japanese version, Gozaburo was going to use missiles positioned in space to manipulate the world to his will). Desperate to tell the world of Gozaburo's impending atrocity, they are determined more than ever to escape the virtual world. With Noah willing to help Yugi and company despite his duplicity, they follow him to a large door that was said to be a secret backdoor that Gozaburo had not discovered and closed. However, Noah's true colors are revealed as they trap Yugi and friends within their own recent memories, although all would eventually free themselves from the trap.

Meanwhile, Noah and Mokuba discover a virtual replica of Domino, in which Noah tricks Mokuba in order to escape the virtual world in Mokuba's body. Noah (as Mokuba) then aims a missile-armed satellite in order to destroy the undersea fortress (and thus the virtual world), and proceeds to leave on a helicopter alone. However, once there, he experiences a change of heart due to Mokuba's willingness to forgive Noah (and even helps convince Seto to find a way to create a new, if somewhat artificial, body for Noah), and proceeds back into the fortress, only to find the satellite controls having been destroyed by Marik. With only 60 minutes until the fortress is destroyed, Noah begins working on a way to save everyone.

Meanwhile, Seto, being too smart to fall for their trap, proceeds to the virtual KaibaCorp headquarters, where Gozaburo waited. Gozaburo challenges Seto to a duel to see who was worthier of running KaibaCorp (similar to how Seto had played chess with him as a child). Gozaburo quickly finds a way to discard the five pieces of "Exodia the Forbidden One" (using "Painful Choice") in order to summon "Exodia Necross", a monster which, as long as the five pieces of "Exodia the Forbidden One" were in the Graveyard, it is immune to virtually every card (The Left Leg, Right Leg, and Left Arm granted Necross immunities to Magic Cards, Trap Cards, and Monster Effects respectively) and grew more powerful with every battle it was involved in (Exodia's Head prevented it from being destroyed from a monster attack while the Right Arm ensured that its ATK increased by 1000 points whenever it engaged in battle).

Although Exodia Necross seemed unstoppable, Seto realized that, like himself with "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" so long ago - ironically before his defeat at the hands of Exodia, Gozaburo is using the power of only one monster, believing that it alone would win the battle for him. By using the "Soul Demolition" Trap Card, Seto manages to remove the five parts of Exodia from play from Gozaburo's Graveyard, weakening it so that "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" could destroy it and win the duel.

As the countdown to impact reaches eight minutes, Joey, Tristan, Téa, Duke, and Serenity manage to escape the virtual world thanks to Noah's help, but Noah asks Yugi to stay behind to help save Seto. With everyone safely out, Noah then proceeds to put himself back in the Virtual Reality pod in order to save Mokuba and trap Gozaburo in the virtual world. Yugi and company make it back to the airship, which escapes just in time to avoid being destroyed by the missile.

The airship proceeds towards the Battle City Finals, completing the originally-planned trip. Meanwhile, Mokuba mourns for the stepbrother that he only briefly knew.

Battle City Finals Saga
For the quarterfinal round, the duels were to be staged atop Kaiba's airship, the Battle Ship with the draw determined at random.

In the semifinal round, taking place upon Alcatraz Tower (not titled in the English anime, in which it is known only as "KaibaCorp Island"), a special, massive mechanical tower located on a lone island, the four duelists fought in Battle Royal mode, with the first two losers playing in the first semifinal and the two survivors playing in the second. Both Marik and Kaiba wanted to duel Yugi for their own reasons, while Yugi wanted to duel Joey so that he couldn't duel Marik. Joey, however, wanted to duel Marik in hopes he could free Mai from the Shadow Realm (and, in the process, get revenge on Marik). The four-way duel started with Kaiba going first, Marik 2nd, Yugi 3rd, and Joey 4th. Joey did well in the beginning turns of the duel, mainly thanks to Yugi's intervention. However, Joey finally convinced Yugi to let him play without his guidance so that he could prove to himself that he didn't need Yugi's help to duel well against the best of the best. During the next turn, Joey was able to set up the duel so that, in his attack on Kaiba, he deflected the damage done to himself into Marik, making him the first loser. In addition to this, he took out his only monster while attacking Kaiba, who, in the next turn, destroyed all of Joey's life points. In the end, Joey (and by extension, Kaiba) got what they wanted.

In the first semifinal Marik vs. Joey (Marik Ishtar vs. Joey Wheeler) like Mai, Joey was subject to a Shadow Game, with each duelist being drained of life as each monster is destroyed. As Joey is pushed back by Marik's traps and monster effects, Joey manages to create a short comeback with reviving Jinzo after Marik is unable to name it as the bottom card of his graveyard with the effect of Question, and later with Gilford the Lightning. However, the comeback was short-lived as Marik revives Ra and uses its Egyptian God Phoenix and One Turn Kill abilities to bring Joey to the brink of defeat. However, Joey, to Marik's surprise, manages to remain standing, and he summons Gearfried the Iron Knight in an effort to attack a wide-open Marik. However, Joey collapses before making his attack, and Marik wins. Had this duel not been a Shadow Game, Joey would have won.

After seeing Joey stand up after Ra's blast, Kaiba actually admits to himself that he was impressed by Joey's performance, and realizes Joey isn't the third-rate amateur that he thought he was.

Joey remains in a coma for a while (In the English version, a few screen shots were cut that showed that in fact he was dead for a few minutes, and also dialogues were rearranged to show him simply as unconscious), leaving his friends worrying that he may have been sent to the Shadow Realm. He is taken care of by KaibaCorp doctors on the Kaiba's blimp, until Yugi's Duel with Kaiba in the semi-finals, when Tristan drags him to the window to see Yugi's duel claiming Yugi needs him. Joey slowly regained consciousness and afterwords dashes up the Duel Tower, catching the end of Yugi's duel. After Kaiba gives Yugi "Obelisk the Tormentor", because of the ante rule, Joey challenges Kaiba to a play off to determine 3rd and 4th place. Though Joey plays rather well, managing for a short time to use Kaiba's own "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" against him, Kaiba wins and says that dueling Joey was just a waste of time. However, Mokuba, who was one of the few spectators, is impressed by how Joey dueled his brother.

Joey cheers on Yugi in the finals against Yami Marik and returns to Mai's bed to see if defeating Yami Marik had woken her up. He cries over her body, until he hears Mai and Serenity snickering, as they pranked him into admitting he would do anything to have Mai wake up, Mai having woken up before he even reached her room.

After the gang flew back to Domino City, they said their goodbyes and parted. Later on, Joey met up with Yugi for a Duel they promised each other. Joey claimed he was going to win back his "Red-Eyes Black Dragon". The Duel's result was not shown, but Joey did use "Red-Eyes" in later arcs.

Waking the Dragons Saga
Joey accompanies Yugi in saving the world from Dartz and his organization, Paradius. When Arthur Hawkins tells of an alternate world where real Duel Monsters exist, Joey, remembering all the experiences he and his friends have had previously, tells Arthur that he believes him.

He later finds out Mai is working for Paradius and is set on using "The Seal of Orichalcos" to strip Joey of his soul. Joey refuses to accept that Mai joined under her own free will and accused Paradius of brainwashing her. Mai duels Joey in an attempt to take his soul. Joey, holding back at first for fear of losing Mai, struggles to avoid losing the duel, until his mind is taken to another world, where he pulls a sword from a large dragon sealed in crystal. Back in reality that dragon, "The Claw of Hermos" is added to his Deck. He uses this card to gain an advantage in the Duel. When it becomes apparent that Joey is about to win, Valon interrupts, using a fragment of the Orichalcos stone to remove "The Seal of Orichalcos" in order to save Mai.

Joey manages to catch the last glimpse of Yami's Duel with Rafael. He is astonished to see the symbol of the Orichalcos on Yami's forehead, since this must have meant Yami played the Seal on his own. This is nothing to his shock when he witnesses Yami lose the duel and watches a soul be taken. Rafael began to make his escape in a helicopter, taking Yugi's body with him. When Joey pursues and demands that Rafael give him back, Rafael flings the body down. After Yugi begins to show signs of life, Joey becomes excited thinking Yugi had found a way to avoid losing his soul. But Yami Yugi revealed that only he had survived while "regular" Yugi let his own soul be taken. Joey punches Yami for moping around and losing hope, and tells him to focus on saving Yugi.

Joey and Tristan get separated from Téa and Yami Yugi when the train they were riding split in two. Outside the train, Joey and Tristan meet Rex, who is now working with Paradius and looking to duel Joey. Joey refuses to duel, knowing one of them would lose their soul if the Seal of Orichalcos was played. But Raptor begins to duel anyway, playing the Seal on the first turn and leaving Joey no choice but to duel back. Throughout the duel, Rex reveals his motive for targeting Joey. He and Weevil had been humiliated after their defeats to Joey and Yugi in Duelist Kingdom. They both suffered a mass loss in popularity and were now regarded as losers and a joke. He blamed Joey for all this, including going on to say Joey stole, not fairly won, his Red-Eyes. Joey proceeds to win the duel, causing Rex to lose his soul. He and Tristan are left carrying Rex's body through the desert after this.

Joey's Hermos card begins to glow, and he sees the three Legendary Dragons appear and guide an airplane to land safely nearby. Joey and Tristan rush to the plane, where they meet up with Yami and Téa, who had also seen the Dragons guide the plane. Kaiba emerges from the plane, and he explains how Paradius had hacked into KaibaCorp and began taking over. Kaiba gives them all a lift to Domino City, leaving Rex in the care of his remaining faithful staff. The City has become overrun with Orichalcos Soldiers. After being chased by one, Joey meets Valon, who takes off on a motorcycle. Joey grabs a motorcycle that an Orichalcos Soldier had caused someone to fall off of and chases Valon. After catching up, they duel, and Valon explains his reason for targeting Joey; from hearing Mai constantly rant about him, he felt eliminating Joey would be a favor to her. However, Valon becomes impressed by Joey's dueling skills and speech about how he felt dueling was about fighting for people you love. He soon comes to respect Joey and see why Mai is so interested in him. Mai appears midway through the duel, telling Valon off for dueling Joey because she wanted to be the one to defeat him. Joey wins, and just before Valon lost his soul, he asked Joey to save Mai.

Unable to convince Mai that she has been brainwashed, Joey says the only way he could get through to Mai was to duel her. But though he tries his best, he is again handicapped by the strain his battle with Valon put on his stamina. Through the course of the duel, Mai comes to remember why she had once cared for Joey. She holds back from attacking him when she is able to declare victory, but Joey still falls and the Seal of Orichalcos begins to take his soul. Mai rushes and hugs him to stop him from falling, telling him she was sorry and that he was "the closest friend she ever had". Shortly after, Joey pushes her safely out of the Seal while his soul gets taken. An image of him standing, fists at his sides, appears on a tablet in Dartz's temple to show his soul's capture. (It is noteworthy that he is one of only two characters whose soul-carving does not look like he's panicking at his imprisonment. The other is Valon.) Mai weeps over Joey, denouncing everything she did. Once she calms down, she takes the Hermos card and rests his body next to Valon's before dashing to duel Dartz for Valon and Joey. Yami, Téa and Tristan arrive and take care of Joey's body.

Joey's soul returns to his body after Yami's duel with Dartz. Yugi returns Hermos to Joey, and he helps summon monsters to defeat The Great Leviathan. After the defeat of the Leviathan, he watches as the Legendary Knights and Dark Magician Girl return to their world. The Hermos card fades away as he does so.

Capsule Monsters Saga
Yugi Muto (romanized as Yugi Mutou in the English-language manga) wakes up after having a strange recurring nightmares about the Pharaoh being captured by an evil monster with glowing red eyes and telling him that why he is having these dreams will become clear when he "plays the game". This time, the Millennium Puzzle starts glowing in response to the dream, bewildering Yugi even further.

Before leaving for school that day, Yugi noticed that his grandfather, Solomon Muto (Sugoroku Mutou in the Japanese versions and English-language manga), had not returned from his "secret expedition" (Yugi was told at the last minute) as his flight was due last night. Yugi is worried about the fact that Solomon is missing.

Meanwhile, there is a new game on the block; the Capsule Monsters board game is the new fad in the Duel Monsters craze, and Yugi has already taken the opportunity to learn the rules of the game. When Joey breaks the news about the trip, Yugi and his friends could not contain their excitement. Yugi, Tristan Taylor (Hiroto Honda), and Téa Gardner (Anzu Mazaki) agree to take Joey's other three tickets.

Just when the private plane for the trip approached its final destination, the engines cut out and the aircraft crash lands in a mysterious forest. After Yugi and his friends evacuate the aircraft, they find a man who says his name is Dr. Alex Brisbane.

When Yugi lets slip to Brisbane that he is Solomon Muto's (Sugoroku Mutou) grandson, Brisbane tells him that he's a colleague of Grandpa, and on their latest expedition together he disappeared. Now Yugi knows just where Grandpa had gone, but the Pharaoh still suspects something. They just happen to win a trip; their plane just happens to crash; and they just happen to meet the man who was the last person to see Grandpa. It all seems a little bit coincidental. Brisbane shows Yugi and the gang where he last saw Solomon. Yugi and his friends are surprised when they discover that Brisbane last saw Solomon in a pyramid.

Brisbane explains that he believes it to be the legendary pyramid of Alexander the Great, and that it's supposed to contain some sort of ancient game. They check it out, narrowly avoiding a number of dangerous traps, and come across a room that, as Tristan put it, is the size of Cleveland. The floor looks like a giant map of different land types, which looks incredibly familiar to Yugi. Joey decides to check it out but, to everyone's surprise, disappears into thin air the second he steps on the map. Coming to the conclusion that Solomon must have gone to the same place as Joey, the rest of the gang decide to follow, leaving a bewildered Brisbane behind.

They find themselves in a forest, with Joey nowhere to be seen. Yugi notices a lot of egg-shaped rocks around, but before they can investigate, some giant cockroaches (Gokibore, a monster from the Volume 6 expansion set) and a giant praying mantis (Kamakiriman, from Volume 3) ambush them. The escapes of Yugi, Tristan, and Téa causes them to have to split up.

Yugi is cornered by the mantis, so the Pharaoh takes over to protect him. He accidentally touches one of the strange egg-shaped rocks whilst jumping, which somehow causes Celtic Guardian to appear. Celtic Guardian attacks the mantis, destroying it.

Meanwhile, Tristan and Téa escape the cockroaches by ducking into a cave. They find themselves on a beach, accompanied by two monsters: Thunder Kid and Happy Lover.

At the same time, Joey is up high on a mountain, looking over onto the forest that the gang are in, hearing Yugi's shouting. Suddenly, a giant bird (LOB-039 Kurama) comes up behind him and grabs him by the shoulders, flying away with Joey in his claws.

Back in the forest, Celtic Guardian disappears in a beam of light, transforming into a small capsule. Now, Yugi knows where he'd seen this before. Somehow they have entered a real life version of Capsule Monsters. However, he is soon again attacked by a monster, this time it's a Trent. Pharaoh realizes the strange device on their wrists are for launching the capsules that house their monsters in order to summon them. Calling upon Celtic Guardian, the Pharaoh attacks the tree, but it gets the upper hand and injures Celtic Guardian. The Pharaoh feels Celtic Guardian's pain and realizes that the Capsule Monster world is a deadly Shadow Game. To make matters worse, the Trent turns surrounding trees into copies of it to assist its attack. However, the Pharaoh releases a new capsule monster to assist them, the fire-attribute Hinotama Soul. It easily burns the Trents to ash. The Pharaoh switches with Yugi, and Yugi runs off to find his friends.

Elsewhere, Joey has been dropped by the Kurama into a nest of its young. Joey repeatedly jumps off cliffs housing Kurama nests to escape until he lands on a branch and accidentally releases Baby Dragon from another rock. Joey boards Baby Dragon and flees the mountains. However, a flock of Kurama chase after them. Realizing there are too many to take on head first, Joey decides to trick them into getting stuck in a small opening in a canyon.

On the beach, Tristan figures out that Happy Lover and Thunder Kid are monsters they accidentally released from the egg-shaped rocks back in the forest when they ran from the giant roaches. Suddenly a giant sea monster called Root Water emerges from the ocean. Happy Lover and Thunder Kid stand before it to keep Tristan and Téa safe.

Elsewhere, Joey has taken refuge behind a waterfall and checks his guide book, still believing himself to be in India. Joey then notices a treasure chest behind him and Baby Dragon and opens it. However, instead of treasure a scroll wraps around him, and Baby Dragon burns it off him (with Joey having to put out the fire on him in the waterfall). The ashes of the scroll turn into a map, and Joey wonders if it's a treasure map.

Back on the beach, Tristan is having Thunder Kid attack Root Water with limited success as Thunder Kid is taking a pounding from the giant monster. (They too realize they feel the pain inflicted on their monsters.) Téa remembers Yugi's advice on how to play the board game version of Capsule Monsters and has Happy Lover heal Thunder Kid with its Heart Beam. Tristan then decides to blind-side Root Water with a sneak attack and Thunder Kid is successful in frying the fish. However, instead of vanishing, Root Water's charred body shatters and the beast evolves into High Tide Gyojin. It then creates a typhoon, sucking up Téa and Tristan along with their monsters. However, Solomon arrives and uses his Summoned Skull to blast High Tide Gyojin apart, saving Téa and Tristan.

Having seen Summoned Skull's "Lightning Strike" attack, Yugi heads to the beach to find Téa and Tristan unconscious with their monsters. However, his mind is put to ease when Solomon walks up to him and tells him that they're resting after the ordeal they went through. Yugi happily clings onto his grandpa and cries in joy of seeing him again.

Later, Yugi and the others make camp and begin to wonder where Joey is in the Capsule Monsters world. At the same time, Joey has gotten hungry and follows the smell of the campfire to his friends (after nearly fallen to his death before Baby Dragon managed to catch him). The Pharaoh switches with Yugi and explains that their dilemma of being in this world won't be an easy problem to solve. However, Téa points out that the flowers around them have gotten closer since they set up camp. Solomon tosses a stick from the fire into the flowers to reveal that they are actually a pack of Flower Wolf. Everyone but Solomon (whose Summoned Skull is too high level to be used frequently) releases their Capsule Monsters to fend off the pack. However, the Pharaoh knows they don't stand a chance and has Thunder Kid blind the wolves temporarily by reflecting its lightning off Celtic Guardian's sword.

The next day, Tristan and Joey do an annoying "victory dance" while the Pharaoh and Yugi wonder about the safety of their friends. Joey and Tristan then collapse and beg for food. Tristan then remembers about snacks he packed for the trip, but then remembers everyone (except Solomon) left their packs back at the campsite. After Solomon tries to encourage them to go a few days without food, they take off to find some, but run into tree branches. Tea reveals Solomon had a bag of food and taunts them as she eats a chip. Solomon tells them all they had to do was ask nicely. While Joey and Tristan complain, Yugi notices that the mountains are moving and runs to the edge of the forest to see they're on an Island Turtle. Joey and Tristan try to be tough until Yugi tells them it won't attack them unless they keep it up. Joey and Tristan apologize but immediately do another victory dance. Téa complains about the lack of female friends she has, while the Turtle roars in annoyance to Joey and Tristan's song. It dives, forcing everyone to "abandon ship!"

They then reach a temple in the middle of the lake and enter to have the doors shut behind them. Joey notices a "giant tea pot" in the middle of the room and (having switched with Yugi) the Pharaoh tells him it is not a tea pot. La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp emerges from the lamp. The Pharaoh summons Celtic Guardian and begins fighting the genie. Suddenly, the doors swing back open and a flood of water rushes in. It then freezes, trapping Téa and Solomon in ice. The perpetrator behind this is Neo Aqua Madoor, "Jack Frost's evil cousin". Tristan and Joey summon their monsters to help out the Pharaoh despite his constant protests, telling them to not interfere out of concern for their safety. Joey then tells him that they don't want to see him get hurt either as the Pharaoh realizes they can use the two enemies' attacks against each other. After faking head on attacks, Celtic Guardian and the others' capsule monsters back off as Neo Aqua Madoor and La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp's attacks collide into each other and destroys them.

Téa and Solomon are released form the ice, and a tablet with Egyptian writing on it appears. Solomon translate it: " Before the shadows blanket the land, Go to the fortress of fear. Locate the place where the spirit sleeps, And the pathway you seek will appear." Joey takes out his map from earlier and realizes that it shows the exact space they're on right now and that the fortress is on the same square, but VERY far away. Everyone resolves to go there, hoping the pathway it mentioned means the way home. Tristan finds a secret passage under the main floor (as they did not want to take chances with swimming across) and they quickly run through it.

Coming out above ground, they find themselves in an ancient graveyard that is soon flocked with Wood Remains and The Wandering Doomed. Yugi, Tea and Joey each release a new monster; Kuriboh, Dark Witch and the Flame Swordsman respectively. With their new monsters the Zombies are easily defeated.

Racing to the top of the hill the fortress lays upon, Tristan jinxes their good luck as four walls rise up from the ground and surround the fortress with statues of the Aqua Spirit, Spirit of Flames, The Rock Spirit and Garuda the Wind Spirit at each corner. Joey unsuccessfully tries to fly over as he is repelled by a force field. Yugi figures out that if four people mimic the stances of the four statues, the door will open. They do so, forcing Yugi to enter the fortress himself. Yugi falls into a pit, but is saved from a rough landing by the Pharaoh taking his place. The walls of the room they are trapped in begin to close in on them while outside, Joey breaks his pose and the statues come to life and begin attacking everyone. The Pharaoh finds a new capsule and releases the monster, which carries him up in a beam of light. Coming to his senses, the Pharaoh sees his new monster is Dark Magician and that his friends are in trouble. Using Dark Magician's "Magical Crossroads" the statues are destroyed at the cost of Solomon's Summoned Skull being taken down by the Rock Spirit.

Inside the fortress, Yugi opens the coffin located in the fortress (the place where the spirit sleeps) just as the sun sets and everyone else comes in. The coffin turns into a doorway and a piece of golden armor hovers above it. Another riddle appears as the armor dons itself on Yugi. Solomon says it says five trials await them to test the strength of Yugi's heart. Despite some discussion about not going through with the trials, everyone decides to go along with it in hopes of it leading them home again.

They arrive in a desert and find a village, where they are given a pendant and the instructions for the first trial; "Silence the whisper that rides the desert wind". While Solomon stays a safe distance form everyone else, they call forth their monsters and destroy a Medusa Worm, which they initially believed to be the enemy. However, it turns out to be one of many Medusa Worms under the voice's control. Everyone, but the Pharaoh is spat on by a worm and are turning to stone. Dark Magician takes the Pharaoh above the storm and the voice sent to confuse them to show him a tornado causing it. The Pharaoh calls Dark Magician back to his capsule and proceeds on foot to reach the voice. However, he isn't strong enough to reach the tornado. He then sees a man wearing a cape and mask, telling him to merge with the Dark Magician to gain the strength needed to pass the trial. Doing so, the Pharaoh becomes the Dark Warrior and flies into the tornado to find the voice is Mystical Sand. Silencing her, the Pharaoh clears the trial and reverses the Medusa Worms' petrification on his friends. The armor takes a toll on the Pharaoh as he is not used to it yet. Yugi takes his place to relieve some of the pain and tells of the man he saw explaining how to use the armor. One of the five shapes on the pendant lights up to signify the victory over this trial, and a doorway comes out of the sand.

Entering it, everyone finds themselves on a floating island above the clouds. Yugi collapses from the strain of the Duel Armor and is taken to a cave to rest. Another message arrives, and Solomon reveals that next is "The Trial of Light and Shadow". They are tasked with breaking an unbreakable stone in the "valley of light" as it appears only once a day. Deciding to take care of the trial in Yugi's place, Tristan, Joey, and Solomon head for the nearest valley as it becomes noon and the stone is revealed. However a Prisman appears and begins to attack them. Tristan takes advantage of its short temper and uses it to blast the stone apart.

In the meantime, Yugi has recovered, and Téa shows the Pharaoh the trial's instructions. Noticing they only know half of the trial, the Pharaoh realizes that by exposing the parchment to darkness, the second half is revealed. He realizes they are now in danger and takes off with Téa to find them.

Elsewhere, everyone has picked up a large piece of the stone and smash Prisman to pieces. However, a Skull Guardian appears as a sign of the second phase of the trial beginning. Joey hoped he was there to congratulate them, but it began attacking instead. The Pharaoh once again merges with Dark Magician to become the Dark Warrior and easily defeats the monster. However, he spares it as a glow where the stone was appears. The Pharaoh then explains that the second part of the trial was to not only defeat the Skull Guardian, but to show mercy. This rewards them with the means to leave the island. At the same time the masked man from before appears to all of them and congratulates the Pharaoh on completed Level 2 of the trials. The Pharaoh wonders what will happen if he completes the trials, and the stranger explains that he will receive the power to rule the world as he will have proven himself a true king. However, even though the Pharaoh might not want it, there are others seeking it, and it must be claimed before someone evil does. Also, if they fail, they will be trapped here until the next challenger arrives.

Using the wings found in the trial's reward chest, everyone flies off into another glowing doorway.

Back outside the game, Dr. Brisbane is laughing evilly that soon the power to rule the world will belong to him.

In the game, everyone has reached a volcanic area, where they must remove the Blade of Chaos before it's too late. Tristan gains a new monster, Thunder Dragon. Joey ends up separated from them, but returns, fused with Red-Eyes B. Dragon and full of evil. As Joey fights the Pharaoh in Dark Warrior mode, Joey begins to wonder why he is attacking his friend and realizes this happens because of his fusing with Red Eyes. Breaking free of the evil controlling him, Joey separates form Red Eyes, sees the Blade of Chaos is stuck in its thigh. Removing it, Joey clears the third trial and claims Red Eyes as his monster. Everyone leaves through another glowing doorway.

They then end up in a jungle (where they learn that despite its apparent endless scenery, it is only as big as the game board itself). Their next test is to find a golden apple that "gives you a raise" and offer it up. Tristan finds a giant melon and draws a picture of himself on it. The fruit then falls down a hole, and everyone follows it to find themselves in a chamber with three long pedestals with an apple each on them. Tristan then notices his melon in the corner, which turns out to actually be a Petit Moth. Everyone attempts to leave, but are then caught in a labyrinth. Joey eats some of the fruit he took from the forest and instantly becomes a genius. Right as he is about to figure out how to get out of the labyrinth, a Battle Ox chases him away from his equations. At the same time, Téa gets a Seiyaryu after defeating a Jirai Gumo. Hopelessly lost in the meantime, Tristan releases a Shovel Crusher and it careens around the labyrinth like a lunatic, collecting his allies and depositing them back at the apple room. However, there is a slight difference. An apple is missing and a Cocoon of Evolution is where Petit Moth was. It hatches into Great Moth and Yugi becomes the Dark Warrior to fight it. However, a Dark Magic Attack simply further evolves it into Perfectly Ultimate Great Moth. The Pharaoh then realizes that he must eat one of the apples to evolve Dark Magician in order to stand a chance against the moth. Doing so evolves his magician into Magician of Black Chaos and earns them victory. He then takes the remaining apple to an altar, which opens a doorway.

They then find themselves back at the camp where they were attacked by the Flower Wolves. The masked man appears and properly introduces himself as Alexander the Great. He then goes on to explain he once possessed the Millennium Ring, which he considered his lucky charm as it helped him conquer most of the world. However, prolonged possession of it caused a split personality to emerge (due to Zorc being sealed in the ring) and most of his retainers lost faith in him. He was then put to a test to see if he was still worthy to wear the ring by Shadi and was the first to participate in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monsters Collectible Figure Game. However, though he was victorious in the trials, the door leading to the great power to rule the world did not open. This enraged his darker half into attacking his four vassals. It was then the pyramid punished him by splitting his soul in two. His darker half was sealed into the pyramid and he was sent to the game to act as a guide for future adventures. Alexander then gifts the monster-less Solomon with a new monster and tells him he will need it for the fifth trial.

They head to a village, where Alexander explains that the fifth trial involves destroying five different elemental dragons known as the Fiendish Five that terrorize the village. They find a girl about to sacrifice herself to give their dragon god the strength to keep the five away. However, they intervene and promise to slay the dragons. Solomon, using his new Curse of Dragon against Aqua Dragon, the Pharaoh faces Tyrant Dragon, Téa versus Serpent Night Dragon, Tristan battles Luster Dragon #2 and Joey fights Meteor Dragon. However, despite the aid of Yugi's new Black Luster Soldier, everyone fails to defeat the dragons and are forced to return to the village. The Pharaoh then learns of a sword that can slay the five only if a large power descends upon the village. Tricking the five into coming towards the village, the Pharaoh frees the sword and slays them. However, the defeated dragons transform into the Five-Headed Dragon. The girl from earlier prays for her god's help and her tears free the Blue Eyes White Dragon from its picture, and it fuses with the Pharaoh and slays the Fiendish Five once and for all.

With the trials now completed, everyone is about to be sent home, and Alexander is given permission to use Solomon's body as a means of taking himself out of the game.

They arrive outside to find Dr. Brisbane acting normal and concerned for their safety. He then wonders if they found anything interesting in the game, and Solomon presents the trial pendant, now fully lit. Right as the evil side of Alexander tries to grab the pendant, the good side jumps into Dr. Brisbane and seemingly subdues his evil side. However, it's a trick as the evil side was stronger and fused together with his weaker good half. Evil Alexander takes the pendant and runs up to the doors and successfully opens them after waiting for thousands of years. Everyone chases him into the room and they find themselves in an alternate dimension.

Shadi appears and wonders who should receive the power promised to the victor of his challenge. Though the Pharaoh protests that Evil Alexander cheated, Shadi points out that Alexander has a fair claim to the power as he tried himself and won thousands of years ago. To end the stalemate, Shadi announces one final Capsule Monsters battle. Evil Alexander summons the souls of his vassals to assist him and Good Alexander's Duel Armor. Evil Alexander fuses with Reshef the Dark Being and sacrifices his retainers' monsters to summon his Seven-Armed Fiend, the apparition from Yugi's dreams. Everyone but Yugi's monsters are destroyed except for their dragons and Seven-Armed Fiend is destroyed. However, Evil Alexander decides to use the remaining monsters he used for his sacrifice to power Reshef and use his pawns' pain connection to them as a shield. However, the Pharaoh, disgusted with Evil Alexander for how he treats his loyal subjects, fuses with his friends' dragons to form the Armor of Unity and destroys Reshef. The evil side of Alexander is purged and the good Alexander tells the Pharaoh that his reign over Egypt is what inspired him to be pharaoh himself. Alexander then passes on with his vassals. Shadi wishes to gift the Pharaoh with the power promised, but he instantly turns it down. Shadi then muses to him that the one who can rule the world need not possess the power. The pyramid then begins to collapse, and everyone manages to escape safely.

They return to their pilots to discover the rescue plane has come. They talk the pilots into taking Solomon and Dr. Brisbane back to Domino City with them

Grand Championship Saga
Joey was invited to Seto Kaiba's Grand Championship tournament. He served as mainly a comic relief character in this arc. After Yugi said the card "Heart of the Underdog" reminded him of a friend, calling Joey an underdog became a running gag that day. In the first round, he defeated Solomon Muto, who entered under the identity Apdnarg Otum, to test how well he had trained Joey. Only Joey was fooled by his disguise. After putting up a good fight he was defeated by Zigfried von Schroeder in the next round. When Yugi's grandpa was missing, Joey joined Yugi and the gang on a search to find Yugi's grandpa.

Dawn of the Duel Saga
Now that Yugi is home after the battle against Dartz and the Grand Championship, one more quest is about to be undertaken, knowing the true past of Yami Yugi, the spirit of the puzzle. Yami Bakura and Yami Yugi faced off, but Bakura told Yami to play the ultimate Shadow Game at Egypt.

Moreover, Bakura also duels Seto Kaiba (Kaiba doesn't play a part in the Dawn of the Duel arc in the manga), so that Bakura could have the power of Kaiba's "Blue-Eyes White Dragon". After the Duel, Bakura tells Kaiba that something interesting is happening, and Kaiba should go to Egypt to play the ultimate game. He also gives Kaiba the Millennium Eye, which he had previously taken from Maximillion Pegasus after Duelist Kingdom. Kaiba, even though he doesn't show signs of it, agrees, and goes to Egypt. The gang traveled to Egypt, where they reunited with Marik Ishtar, Ishizu Ishtar and Odion Ishtar. Ishizu explained that the stone tablet at the museum had been moved back to Egypt, deep within the chambers of the Tomb Keepers. The Ishtars lead them to the stone. Before Yami Yugi presented the God Cards, Tea gave him a cartouche that she had just bought, so he can write his name on it when he finds it. Yami Yugi showed the three God Cards to the Tablet of Lost Memories. This time, a portal was opened, and Yami Yugi and Yami Bakura suddenly went into the tablet.

Yami's friends realized that the Memory World may be quite dangerous, and Yami Yugi has a very difficult task to do. Therefore, they wanted to get into the Memory World, but couldn't go through the portal in the tablet. Thus, Shadi appeared, and helped them find the "real" door to the Memory World, deep within the mazes of Yami Yugi's mind in the Millennium Puzzle. The stage was set for the ultimate game.

As Yami entered the Memory World, he was shocked to find out that he was in the body of his past self. Around him were the six priests: Seto, Aknadin, Mahad, Isis, Shada and Karim, each with their own Millennium Item. Also, next to him is his vizier, Shimon Muran.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, Yugi and his friends, Joey Wheeler, Téa Gardner, and Tristan Taylor were shocked to find out that Yami Yugi had left the puzzle. So, Bobasa (in the manga), or Shadi (in the anime), helped them by using the Millennium Key to open the way to the Maze of Yugi's heart to try and find the door to the Memory World.

Back in the Memory World, Yami had little time to react his surroundings, because at that moment, Thief King Bakura showed up, possessed by Yami Bakura, who had entered Bakura's body after entering the Memory World. He summoned his Ka spirit "Diabound", and attacked the priests. Bakura revealed his plan to take the seven Millennium Items and gain the Shadow Power of the Evil God Zorc Necrophades by putting them all in the stone slab in an underground crypt in the village of Kul Elna (based off the village of Qurna). The Pharaoh has had enough, and summons "Obelisk the Tormentor" to attack "Diabound", something the other priests are shocked by. In the manga, "Obelisk" defeats "Diabound" with ease, while in the anime, Obelisk and Diabound's power were equal (Diabound had the power of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon from Dark Bakura's duel againest Kaiba). Bakura retreats, leaving the priests to discuss what happened. Later on, Seto tells Akhenaden about his plan to use the Kas of villagers to create a Ka stronger than Diabound, which Akhenaden objects to.

The next day, the priest Mahado plans to lure Bakura into a trap. He leads Bakura to a tomb he made to look like Akhenamkhanen's tomb. He battles Bakura, but is defeated in the end. He sacrifices his life to fuse his Ka and Ba to turn himself into the Dark Magician. While Bakura does get the Millennium Ring from Mahado, Mahado attacks him and destroys the tomb. But somehow, Bakura manages to escape.

By this point, Yugi and the others had found the door to the Memory World. Yugi, Jonouchi, Anzu, and Honda had to go alone, because Shadi couldn't enter it for some reason. When they arrive in the Memory World, they meet up with Bobasa, who promises to help them. They go to the Palace but cannot get inside. They can pass through other buildings and people like ghosts, but they cannot enter the palace gates.

Seto and Shada go through the streets and the citizens on the street. Seto tells Shada to use his Millennium Key to test the hearts of the people, and try to find people who are home to strong monsters. When Seto tells Akhenaden of his plan, Akhenaden begs for Seto to reconsider, but Seto doesn't listen. A short time later, Bakura, wearing the Millennium Ring, attacks Akhenaden with Diabound. Deciding not to kill Akhenaden, he instead uses the power of the Ring to transfer his evil to Akhenaden.

While on their search for criminals with strong Ka, Seto and Shada stop an angry mob from their assault on an innocent woman. Shada senses her powerful Ka (the Blue Eyes White Dragon) and Seto takes her back with them to the palace. It is later shown in a flashback that Seto and Kisara - the girl he rescued - had met before as children. Meanwhile, Akhenaden is resting and has a flashback of what happened fifteen years ago: Akhenaden created the Millennium Items at the cost of sacrificing the village of Kul Elna. It's also revealed that Akhenaden is the younger brother of Aknamkanon, the previous Pharaoh, thus revealing that the Pharaoh and Seto are cousins. Now corrupted by Zorc, Akhenaden's strongest wish is to see Seto rise to the throne as the new Pharaoh of Egypt. When he learns of Kisara's Ka, he is eager to have Seto extract it from her (and use it to usurp Atem), but Seto - out of his strong feelings for the girl - refuses. Akhenaden then kidnaps him, although Kisara ultimately saves him and dies taking a blow meant for Seto. Distraught, Seto tries to kill Akhenaden, only to have his mind taken over by Akhenaden/Zorc and is subsequently forced to duel Pharaoh Atem. During the fight Kisara's spirit saves him by purifying Akhenaden from his mind, and he is able to join Pharaoh Atem in the final battle against Zorc Necrophades.

However, after discovering that Yami Bakura followed him, the gang went after Yami.The gang was betrayed by Tristan, who was possessed by Bakura and almost killed, but jumped to a cliff and saved themselves. Tea pulled Yugi up, who was hanging onto Joey and then both her and Yugi saved Joey. When they found Tristan, he revealed that he had been possessed by Bakura and dueled Yugi. Tea noted that Yugi had to duel without Yami. Yugi still won, though. When they found Yami, they gave him his name by thinking of the symbols and putting them on a necklace-like item. Yami then remembered who he was a revealed that his true name was Atem. Atem was then able to summon The Creator of Light to destroy Zorc Necrophades. The gang then returned to the real world.

Ceremonial Battle Saga
Both the Pharaoh and Yugi have obtained all 7 Millennium items and all 3 Egyptian God Cards. The Pharaoh has defeated Zorc Necrophades in the memory RPG and The Pharaoh has learned his name. Now it was time for the final test to see if Atem and Yugi were finally ready to separate for good; Atem would have to be defeated in a duel where he was actively trying to win, demonstrating that he had learned from Yugi that one did not need to win all the time and that defeat could teach us just as much as victory.

Originally planned to fly to Luxor via the Cairo International Airport, a sandstorm has brewed over the Valley of Kings, blocking that path but with the help of Marik and Ishizu Ishtar, they proceed to the Valley by boat from where its stated that the sandstorm might have not been without purpose due to the ancient belief that Ships carried kings or people back from the gods as it to say, travel from this world to the Land of the Dead. (Afterlife) Both Joey (Jonouchi in the Japanese anime) and Kaiba asked Yugi if they could battle The Pharaoh. Yugi declined both requests, feeling that battling The Pharaoh was something he had to do to prove to himself that he was ready to separate from him.

The boat docked and everyone was waiting for him. Ishizu then lead them across the desert to an underground cavern to the back of the cavern there was a large door with a carving of The Eye of Wdjat which Ishizu explained would unravel the Pharaoh's spirit from Yugi's, further explaining that in order to pass on he must pact with the Rite of the Duel. Yugi approached the Shrine of The Millennium Items and placed all the items in their appropriate places. A wave of light passed over Yugi, his shadow split in two, then his body. The Pharaoh and Yugi walked opposite ways to the far sides of the cavern. The Final Duel had begun.

Yugi falls to his knees, cries and tells Atem that he (Yugi) is weak. Atem tells him that he would not cry if he were in his place. Yugi says that that is the point, he admits that he could not follow in the footsteps of Atem. Atem reminds him that he is not a coward and it was he who taught Atem about the principles needed to win. He also says that now he is leaving, there would be no one else for Yugi to follow and that there would only be one Yugi.

The Eye of Wdjat glows on the wall, and Ishizu says the spirit of the Pharaoh has been freed. Atem stands before the Eye and declares that he is Atem. The wall parts to reveal a glowing light, and Atem walks towards it. Téa, Joey and Tristan step forward, asking him if this is how it ends: Atem can't show up, change their lives, and leave.

Yugi says that they don't want to say goodbye, and Téa cries that while she know its for the best, it doesn't seem fair that Atem has to leave. They were just getting to know him, and Atem was just getting to know himself, but now he's leaving. She knows they should be happy for him, but its hard when they're losing their best friend and they don't understand why. Joey says there are some things they aren't supposed to understand: he goes through half his life like that. But he does know that while Atem's stay isn't as long as they'd like, they were lucky to know him at all. Atem silently thanks him, and Téa wishes him luck.

Joey shouts that Atem isn't going anywhere: the memories he gave each of them will remain in their hearts. Joey and Yugi give Atem a thumbs-up, and Atem returns the gesture as he walks forward. The Pharaoh's cloak and clothing appear around him as images of Adviser Siamun, Mana, Akhenamkhanen, and the six priests (Young Akhenaden, Mahado, Seto, Isis, Kalim and Shada) greet him. Atem vanishes into the light, the wall closing behind him.

The Wdjat temple then starts to crumble as the Millennium Stone shatters, scattering the Millennium Items in a bottomless pit. They all run away from the temple while Shadi's spirit watches the temple he protected crumble, his duty being fulfilled, the Pharaoh's spirit has gone to the Afterlife.

Yugi, Téa, Joey, Tristan, Duke, Grandpa, Kaiba, and Mokuba all leave Egypt and return to Japan. In the airport, they meet up with Rebecca and Serenity. Both Duke and Tristan fall for Serenity, but are pulled back by Joey. Rebecca hugs Yugi much to Téa's annoyance.

Weevil Underwood and Rex Raptor get into an argument again and decide to duel. Zigfried and Leon von Schroeder make a business proposition with Pegasus, which turns to their favor. Mako Tsunami sets sail from his fishing trip to be met up with Espa Roba at the harbor. Mai Valentine and Vivian Wong are facing a two-on-two duel against the Paradox Brothers atop the Great Wall of China.

The credits end with a cutscene where Grandpa is sweeping while Yugi comes out from the house to join Téa, Joey and Tristan to go to school. Yugi ends the show by saying that his story has not ended and that his story is not about a pharaoh who after three thousand years defeated the evil Zorc.

In fact, he says that his story is just beginning. This alludes to the famous phrase "This isn't the legend of a Pharaoh. Everybody has his own story....The story that completes in the light. My story has just started." FIN

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (Anime)
His name is mention in one episode in the english version. When Jaden Yuki duels a lab chimpanzee, the scientist says the ape's name is Wheeler. This is a reference to Seto Kaiba once calling Joey a "Dueling monkey" in the english version.

Joey is mentioned by name, by Pegasus. He includes Joey in his top five Duelists as number three. Two being Seto Kaiba, and one being Yugi Muto.

When Jaden is taken to the past to Duel against the younger Yugi, he picks up a flyer that has a picture of Yugi Muto,Tea Gardner,Tristan Taylor, Joey Wheeler and Seto Kaiba.

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's (Anime)
A duelist who looks like Joey is seen dueling at Daimon area. In the English version of  Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, someone asks if the duelist is Joey Wheeler. Someone else replies that it is his cousin Jesse Wheeler. In the Japanese version, this duelist was merely an unnamed background character.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Pyramid of Light
The events of Battle City have just concluded, and Yugi now owns all three Egyptian God Cards. Seto Kaiba longs to finally defeat him, and he has a plan. He suspects that since Maximillion Pegasus created the Egyptian God Cards, he would have also created a way to beat them, just in case.

Yugi, Joey, Téa, and Tristan at school. They were just leaving when the noticed a big crowd of people. When they went to see what it was all about and it turned out to be a group of people wanting to duel Yugi. Joey tells Téa to get Yugi out of there, they run out of the crowd and notice people are everywhere looking for Yugi. Téa noticed the museum and they go in there. She tells Yugi that no one would look there for them.

Yugi Muto and Tea Gardner, seeking refuge from a mob of duelists wanting to face Yugi for the Egyptian Gods, stumble into Domino Museum, where they discover a new attraction on display called the Pyramid of Light, which looks a little like the Millennium Puzzle. Yugi's grandpa, Solomon Muto (who also happens to be visiting the museum), reads an inscription on the side of a sarcophagus (The eye that sees what's yet to come, its vision shall be fulfilled, unless blinded by events predetermined, thus light & shadows both be killed), triggering a strange vision in Yugi's mind concerning his Millennium Puzzle, the Pyramid of Light, Anubis, and Kaiba.

After he wakes up, he finds the pyramid stolen, the sarcophagus now empty, and Mokuba standing outside. Mokuba says that Kaiba wants Yugi to bring his duel disk to the KaibaCorp Duel Dome immediately.

Yugi does so, transforming into Yami Yugi on the way, and finds Kaiba ready to duel. Seto asks Mokuba to seal all the exits, forcing Yugi to duel him, but not before Joey Wheeler and Tristan Taylor find their way in to watch.

The duel goes on for what seems like an eternity, and Yugi is starting to suspect that there are dark forces at work - especially when Kaiba activates a Trap Card called the "Pyramid of Light", which not only bears a striking resemblance to its namesake in the museum, but also prevents Yugi from using any of the Egyptian Gods! Before long, Kaiba has his "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon" on the field, but to Yugi's surprise, he sacrifices it to summon a monster known as the "Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon", which is even stronger!

The Pyramid of Light also pulls the souls of Yugi, Joey, and Tristan into Yugi's Millenium Puzzle, where they are chased by a group of mummies controlled by an unknown force...

Kaiba could win the duel there and then, but he wants to humiliate Yugi by wiping him out with his own Egyptian Gods! His "Pyramid of Light" removed the gods from play, and he wants to play "Return from the Different Dimension" to get them under his control. Of course, to do that, he needs to destroy his Pyramid of Light first, otherwise it would just destroy the gods again! Kaiba commands his "Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon" to use its "Shining Nova" effect, which allows it to sacrifice itself to destroy anything on the field - and he aims it at the Pyramid of Light. Suddenly, a ghostly voice calls out, "This I cannot allow!", and the Pyramid stays exactly where it is. Then, a man rises up from behind Kaiba, throws him aside, and takes over the duel himself.

It's Anubis, the Egyptian Lord of the Dead, whom the Pharaoh destroyed 5000 years ago. But now he's back with the Pyramid of Light around his neck and two of his most powerful monsters - "Andro Sphinx" and "Spinx Teleia! On top of this, Téa, Joey, Tristan and Yugi are all trapped inside the Millennium Puzzle, leaving the Pharaoh to duel all alone. Putting all his faith into the cards, Yugi draws the "Double Spell" card, which allows him to discard his other spell card to activate "Monster Reborn" from Seto's Graveyard. He uses it to revive "Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon", who then destroys the "Pyramid of Light" (after it was weakened by Yugi from inside the Millennium Puzzle), along with "Andro Sphinx" and "Sphinx Teleia". But Anubis's not done yet. With the Pyramid gone, he summons his last trick up his sleeve - "Theinen the Great Sphinx"! Yugi, however, activates "Reverse of Reverse" to activate Kaiba's "Return from the Different Dimension". The God Monsters return, destroy the Great Sphinx and Anubis is seemingly defeated. But a giant jackal - the ancient Egyptian representation of Anubis, the Lord of the Dead - rises from the remains of the Pyramid!

Kaiba and Yugi join forces, putting all their strength into the "Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon" card, and using Shining Nova to destroy Anubis once and for all. On top of it all, Pegasus, who had earlier arrived via helicopter to help them, gets them out of the explosion in time. After this, Yugi thanks kaiba for all he's help. But brushes the thanks a side,and departs promising to defeat Yugi. Mokuba then leaves as well asking his brother to slow down. Yugi thanks his friends for helping him,and lastly talks to Yami Yugi.

Yugi Muto
Joey and Tristan used to bully Yugi, but after Yugi defended Joey and Tristan against Ushio, Joey and Yugi became very close friends. When Yami Yugi was unable to snap Joey out of Marik's brainwashing, Yugi took over - Yami Yugi conceded that Yugi was closer to Joey than he was - and succeeded in bringing Joey back to his senses. Shortly thereafter, each proved they were willing to die for the other, as Yugi chose to lose a duel in which the loser drowned so as to save Joey, and as Joey then gave up his own chance to escape drowning to save Yugi from the same. When Joey is unconscious after his duel with Yami Marik, Yugi only continues participating in the tournament because the Millenium Necklace tells him that's the way to save Joey. Similarly, after Yugi's soul is taken by the Orichalcos, Joey decides to challenge Doma himself in order to save Yugi.

Yami Yugi
Joey is close friends with Yami Yugi, and each risks his life to help the other countless times. In Battle City, Joey calls Yami Yugi the "true duelist", and makes it his goal to become a duelist worthy of dueling Yami Yugi. When Joey is unconscious after his duel with Yami Marik, Yami Yugi only continues participating in the tournament because the Millenium Necklace tells him that's the way to save Joey; Joey exhibits similar selfless behavior in return when he continues to support Yami Yugi after Yami Yugi's corruption led to Yugi's loss, choosing not to blame Yami Yugi for what had transpired and instead urging Yami Yugi to fight to get Yugi back. When Yami Yugi was depress when Yugi's soul was thinking,he blamed himself for what happen to Yugi. Joey kept telling him to stop blaming himself,But Yami kept saying it was all his fault. Joey punched Yami Yugi in order to make him snatch out of depression,but it didn't work still. On the train, he told Tea, that Yami Yugi is already alone. But he will feel better once he is reunited with Yugi. After Yami Yugi won the duel against Dartz, Joey was happy that Yugi was back with Yami Yugi. Joey even help out Yami Yugi battle the Great Leivathan. On the boat ride to the Pharaoh's tomb, Joey tells Tristan and Duke that although he doesn't want to see Yami Yugi go, he supports it because he knows it's best for Yami Yugi. As Yami Yugi leaves, Joey cries, but he encourages the others to let Yami Yugi go to the afterlife, while saying that, "Even in 1000 years, you're still our partner".

Tristan Taylor
Joey and Tristan are close friends. While Tristan pokes fun at Joey and Joey is annoyed with Tristan's behavior towards Serenity their deep friendship can be seen in Tristan's horrified reaction both times Joey lost shadow games.

Tea Gardner
Joey became friends with Tea through Yugi.

Mai Valentine
When Joey and Mai first meet, Mai cares only about winning and is rude to Joey. However, Joey and the rest of his friends soon become friends with Mai. After this, Joey and Mai grow continually closer, with Mai giving Joey the pass he needs to get into the Duelist Kingdom finals, Joey saving Mai from Jean-Claude Magnum, and Joey breaking Yami Marik's hold over Mai and shielding her from Ra's attack. When Mai joins Doma, Joey makes it his goal to bring her back to her senses, willingly sacrificing his soul to the Orichalcos to do so. Over the course of the series they come to care deeply for each other's well-being. Ultimately, Mai, ashamed for her behavior as part of Doma, leaves the other characters to reevaluate her life, but she states that she will return to Joey.

Serenity Wheeler
Although they were separated as kids when their parents divorced, Joey and Serenity care deeply for each other. When Joey learns that Serenity needs money for an eye surgery, he enters the Duelist Kingdom tournament to win the money necessary to perform the surgery. The first thing Serenity does after recovering her eyesight is save Joey's life. Serenity generally admires Joey, who in turn acts protective of his sister, becoming angry with Tristan and Duke when they flirt with her.

Seto Kaiba
At the series' start, Joey and Seto dislike each other, neither showing any respect for the other. In particular, Joey dislikes Seto's arrogant behavior, and Seto considers Joey a weak duelist. However, over the course of the series, each individual shows concern, empathy, and/or respect for the other several times. When Marik is controlling Joey into dueling Yugi with the duelists' lives on the line, Seto is worried that for the duelists' safety; he works hard to call off the duel. Later, when Noah offers Yami Yugi the opportunity to save all of Yugi's friends - including Serenity. If Yami Yugi lets Noah keep Seto trapped in the Virtual World, Joey insists that Yami Yugi keep fighting in order to save the Kaiba brothers. Including for Yami Yugi to maintain the bond the Kaiba brothers share. Later, Seto comes to respect Joey as a duelist after Joey withstands Ra's attack, and Joey in turn gains enough respect for Seto to actively root for him in Seto's match against Zigfried.

Knownable Relatives

 * Mrs. Wheeler (Father)
 * Mr.Wheeler (Mother)
 * Serenity Wheeler (Little Sister)
 * Mai Valentine (Love Interest)
 * Yugi Muto and Yami Yugi (Best Friends)
 * Jeese Wheeler (Cousin)
 * Seto Kaiba (#1 Rival)
 * Crow Hogan (True Counterpart)

Voice Actresses & Actors

 * Japanese : Hiroko Takahashi (teenager)


 * Japanese voice actress : Mariko Nagahama (child0


 * English : Wayne Grayson