Mokuba Kaiba

Mokuba Kaiba (海馬 モクバ) is a character appearing in Yu-Gi-Oh! Season 0 and Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters. He is Seto's younger brother.

Personality
At the beginning of the manga, Mokuba is very mean and will go as far as trying to trick Yugi Muto to get back at him for defeating his older brother. Mokuba is a gamer who specializes in Capsule Monsters Chess (Capmon), but is not as good of a gamer as his brother. He is so committed to avenging his brother's humiliation, he uses several extreme measures, such as having his friends brandish a machine gun, a knife, and a stun gun in one manga chapter to coerce Yugi to play Capsule Monster Chess with him.

In Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, Mokuba is eternally devoted to his brother Seto Kaiba and is constantly by his side. He is more naive and good-natured, and will do whatever his brother tells him to. He also seems to trust Yugi and his friends more than he did previously. There is a part in one episode when he saw (Yami) Yugi watching him from another building when he was about to kick some brothers out of the Battle City grounds, when he considered, "You know, I bet Yugi would give them another chance!" He must really respect Yugi as he starts to think like him.

In the original Japanese version of the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, Mokuba tends to omit honorifics when referring to people other than his older brother. He also has a habit of calling Jonouchi "Jōnouchi no yarō"; (that bastard Jonouchi). Mokuba politely refers to his older brother as "nii-sama" (honorable older brother). He is very forgiving, especially to his brother. Even after Noah hypnotized him, and brainwashed him into forgetting who Seto and the others were, Mokuba forgave him and treated him like a brother (they are actually step brothers)

In the second series Yu-Gi-Oh! anime (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters), Mokuba is a kind-hearted boy who is naïve to the ways of the world. He succeeds in befriending Yugi and his friends; his brother does not approve of this. Mokuba does not duel in the first series anime. He only duels in the second series and manga. Mokuba has an unlucky streak of being kidnapped by Seto's enemies forcing Seto to show his kinder side and rescue him, and is, in fact, the only person his brother is shown to consistently care about more than anyone or anything.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist Manga
Mokuba led a gang of followers his age. With them, he planned to beat Yugi in a game to get revenge for him beating his brother in Duel Monsters and inflicting a Penalty Game on him. Mokuba got Old Man Dentures to rig his Capsule Monster Chess coin machine. He and his gang later arrived at Dentures' store to meet Yugi at the coin machine. After introducing himself as Seto Kaiba's brother, to Yugi, he has his followers seized Yugi and forced him into a game. They proceed to take Dentures coin machine. Dentures acted mad at first, but allowed them to carry on after Mokuba dropped a large amount of money in front of him.[2]

The gang took Yugi and the dispenser to their hideout, where they forced him to play Capsule Monster Chess against Mokuba. As Mokuba hoped, Yugi changed to Dark Yugi for the game. The rigged dispenser gave Yugi mostly low Level monsters and Mokuba mostly high Level ones. They accepted the stakes that if Mokuba won, he got to cut off one of Yugi's fingers and if Yugi won, Mokuba would have to play a Penalty Game. Dark Yugi made the game a Shadow Game. Throughout it, he sacrificed his monsters to draw Mokuba's into a diagonal line and used his last monster "Torigun" to take Mokuba's remaining four monsters all out at once. For Mokuba's Penalty Game, he believed that he was trapped inside a giant Capsule Monster Chess capsule. Before the capsule had Mokuba fully engulfed, he warned Yugi that Death-T was coming.[2]

During the planning of the theme park Death-T, Mokuba insisted on facing Yugi in one of the stages. Although Seto advised against it, they still went through with it. The two of them also made a bet over which stage Yugi would die in. Mokuba bet Death T-4, while Seto bet Death T-5.[3]

When Kaiba's chauffeur brought Yugi and Jonouchi to their mansion, Mokuba met them in the car. He introduced himself as the vice-president of KaibaCorp and told Yugi his given name for the first time. He told Yugi not to worry as they would be giving him V.I.P. treatment for the grand opening of Kaiba's new secret project, but still maintained a suspicious air about himself. At the mansion, Mokuba invited Yugi and Jonouchi to a meal, featuring the best food in the world. However the meal turned out to be six servings of a meal a spoiled young child would like. He suggested that they take turns spinning the turntable that the food is on and eat the meal that lands in front of them. He lied that there wasn't poison in them and claimed that there was a treasure hidden in one. Jonouchi went first and Mokuba used a hidden switch in a syrup bottle to give him a poisoned meal. He admitted to lying and introduced the meal as a game of Russian Roulette Dinner. He forced Yugi to continue to win the antidote to save Jonouchi. Yugi switched to Dark Yugi, who figured out how Mokuba was cheating and managed to smash the syrup bottle, giving Mokuba a poisoned meal. Mokuba ate it and lost, handing the antidote over to Yugi. Mokuba fell over poisoned, while the butler rushed to his aid.[4]

The next day, Mokuba prepared to face Yugi in another game of Capsule Monster Chess, during Death T-4. He confronted Seto about their bet on which stage Yugi would die on. He pointed out that Seto bet Yugi would die in Death T-5, meaning he bet Yugi would beat Mokuba. Seto stood by his choice, said that Mokuba cannot beat Yugi and reminded Mokuba of how he tried and failed to show him up by beating Yugi in a game before. Mokuba hung his head and said that he thought Seto would like him, if he beat Yugi. Seto yelled at Mokuba that there is no room for brotherly love in the world of gaming and until Mokuba realizes that, he would always be a loser. Mokuba stormed off to face Yugi, eager to prove Seto wrong.[3]

Mokuba rigged the Capsule Monster dispenser again,[5] but still lost. Seto, held no sympathy for his brother and subjected him to the "Experience of Death" Penalty Game, as per Death-T rules. However Dark Yugi returned and saved Mokuba from the grisly punishment. Mokuba was surprised that Yugi saved him and asked why. Yugi replied that he wouldn't have won, if he didn't have his friends supporting him. This caused Mokuba to reflect on his past and how Seto had changed since they left the orphanage. He wondered if Yugi could help Seto when he faced him in the next round.[6]

To thank Yugi for saving him, Mokuba rescued Yugi's friend Honda, who had been trapped in the previous stage of Death-T. After Seto's defeat and subsequent "Mind Crush" Penalty Game, Mokuba explained the Kaiba brothers' history to Yugi and his friends. Dark Yugi told Mokuba that Kaiba would wake up again after he had reassembled the shattered puzzle of his heart and Mokuba vowed to wait as long as it took for his brother to return.

While Kaiba was in a coma after Death-T, Maximillion J. Pegasus and The Big Five tried to take over KaibaCorp. The Big Five came to Kaiba Manor one night to steal documents from a safe, but Mokuba swallowed its key in front of them. As a result Mokuba was kidnapped and brought to the Duelist Kingdom island, where he was kept under watch, particularly when he used the bathroom. Mokuba overheard that as part of Pegasus deal with The Big Five, Pegasus would have to beat Yugi in an official game of Duel Monsters to rebuild KaibaCorp's reputation. Yugi was also on the island for the Duelist Kingdom tournament, in which Pegasus hoped to defeat Yugi in the finals. Mokuba escaped his captivity to make an attempt to eliminate Yugi from the tournament in order to prevent him and Pegasus having an official Duel.[7]

Mokuba disguised himself with a hat and bandanna. He challenged one of the tournament's participants to a Duel, but stole his Deck and Star Chips before the Duel began. Mokuba later encountered Dark Yugi, who had heard of the theft and was searching for the thief. He challenged Dark Yugi to a Duel, where they both wagered all their Star Chips, and Dark Yugi accepted despite knowing his opponent was the thief. Mokuba proved to be no match for Dark Yugi, so he tried to grab all the Star Chips and run. However Dark Yugi grabbed him by the wrist and removed his disguise.[8] At first, Mokuba refused to return to Star Chips he had managed to grab and told Dark Yugi and his friends about Pegasus' plan to take over KaibaCorp. Dark Yugi promised that he would defeat Pegasus and Anzu convinced Mokuba to trust Dark Yugi. However Saruwatari stopped him returning the Star Chips, citing that it was against the rules to exchange Star Chips without Dueling.[7]

Saruwatari grabbed Mokuba, confiscated his Star Chips and was about to take him back to captivity. Two of those Star Chips belonged to Dark Yugi, but Saruwatari refused to exchange Star Chips outside a Duel, so he arranged for Dark Yugi to face the Ventriloquist of the Dead. The ventriloquist claimed Seto Kaiba was dead and his soul resided in a puppet, in order to get revenge on Yugi. Mokuba was largely offended by the fraudulence. During the Duel, Saruwatari revealed his own identity to Mokuba, who remembered him as his bodyguard at KaibaCorp.[7] Before the Duel was finished, he snuck away taking Mokuba with him.[9]

To stop Mokuba escaping again, Pegasus sealed his soul in a "Soul Prison" card. His body was left with just enough volition to obey Pegasus' orders.[10]

When Kaiba woke from his coma, he traveled to Duelist Kingdom to save Mokuba.[9] During his Duel with Dark Yugi, he imagined Mokuba getting sucked into his decaying "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon". A vision of Kaiba's younger-self glared at him for losing Mokuba. This prompted Kaiba to put his life on the line, so that he could save Mokuba.[11]

Kaiba challenged Pegasus to a Duel, for Mokuba's freedom, using Duel Disks. Pegasus knew better than to fight on his enemy's terms, so he showed Kaiba Mokuba's soulless body and said that he would only Duel with the Duel Disks if Mokuba would be his proxy and throw the disk for him. Kaiba refused to fight Mokuba, so he agreed to fight without the Duel Disks.[10] Kaiba lost the Duel and also had his soul sealed in a "Soul Prison".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-11">[12]

Feeling he owed Mokuba for saving him in Death-T, Honda asked Dark Yugi to try and free the souls of Kaiba brothers, while he took care of finding their soulless bodies.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-12">[13] On the eve of the tournament finals, Honda searched Pegasus Castle and found Mokuba's body and managed to retrieve it with help from Ryo Bakura and Dark Bakura.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-13">[14] <sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-14">[15]

When Dark Yugi defeated Pegasus, Pegasus freed the souls of the Kaiba brothers and Sugoroku Mutou.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-15">[16] Mokuba woke up in the bed that Honda had left him in. Kaiba woke up in Pegasus dungeon and an apparition of his younger self appeared and led him outside to Mokuba. On their reunion, the apparition of Kaiba held the "Puzzle of Kaiba's heart", which was now complete, before he vanished. Dark Yugi commented that Mokuba was the final piece of the puzzle. Before leaving the island on Kaiba's helicopter, Mokuba mocked Yugi and his friends for not having a helicopter of their own. However, when he saw that they had no way of getting home, he talked Kaiba into giving them a ride.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-16">[17]

Mokuba stood alongside Kaiba at the announcement of the Battle City and helped him put on his Duel Disk as Kaiba explained some of the rules.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-17">[18] During the tournament he worked as "steering committee chairman" and had the job of settling disputes.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-d_d_100_18-0">[19]

Mokuba stepped in to adjudicate when he spotted Koji Nagumo trying to force a player he defeated to give him a second rare card or ¥100,000 through the ante rule. Mokuba explained that changing the ante after a Duel and betting money were both against the rules. He also ruled that the defeated player's wagered was a fair ante against Koji's "Hyozanryu". Koji was unwilling to cooperate. However Kaiba showed up and took over. Mokuba showed him Koji's "Hyozanryu", which Kaiba proceeded to rip up before challenging Koji to a Duel. To compensate, Kaiba wagered "Obelisk the Tormentor" and a briefcase of rare cards, the latter of which he allowed Koji to borrow during the Duel. Kaiba easily won and he and Mokuba left together.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-d_d_100_18-1">[19]

When Kaiba was notified of Yugi dueling a Rare Hunter with an Egyptian God card,<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-19">[20] Kaiba and Mokuba both headed towards the Duel.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-20">[21] Mokuba told Dark Yugi not to lose to The Doll, as he wanted Dark Yugi to Duel Kaiba later in the tournament. Mokuba was shocked by the high ATK values "Slifer the Sky Dragon" was achieving and asked Kaiba how Dark Yugi could defeat a monster with infinite ATK. Kaiba realized that Mokuba was wrong and warned Dark Yugi, telling him nothing was infinite;<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-21">[22] a clue which led to Dark Yugi winning the Duel.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-22">[23] The Doll knelt motionless after the Duel, so Mokuba saw it as his duty to judge the ante. He handed Dark Yugi "Slifer the Sky Dragon" and the Doll's Puzzle Card, but told him not to get used to them, as they would soon belong to Kaiba.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-d_d_118_23-0">[24]

Mokuba was shocked to see Kaiba immediately challenge Dark Yugi to a Duel, following the defeat of the Doll. However Marik Ishtar took control of the Doll again to say that he had put Dark Yugi's friends in danger. Dark Yugi left to find his friends and was soon followed by Kaiba, leaving Mokuba alone.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-d_d_118_23-1">[24] Mokuba returned to a control center and following Kaiba's orders, used GPS to track Jonouchi's location.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-24">[25] He then boarded a helicopter, which collected Kaiba and Dark Yugi after their Duel with the Masks of Light and Darkness.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-25">[26] Mokuba asked Kaiba he was bothering searching for "that loser" Jonouchi. Kaiba explained that he was interested in seeing how Dark Yugi could possibly make use of the "power of unity" when forced to fight his friend, due to Marik's alleged brainwashing powers.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-26">[27]

They tracked Jonouchi's location to Domino Pier. Mokuba saw Yugi's friends being possessed by the power of Marik's Millennium Rod and was disgusted by Marik forcing Jonouchi and Dark Yugi into a Duel, in which one of them would drown. He urged Kaiba to help them. However Mokuba was taken hostage by a Rare Hunter, who threatened to kill him if Kaiba interfered.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-27">[28] Near the end of the Duel, Kaiba disarmed that Rare Hunter by throwing a card, which lodged into his hand. He then fought off the two Rare Hunters, saving Mokuba.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-28">[29] After the Duel, Mokuba pulled Yugi out of the water and told him that Kaiba had saved Jonouchi.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-29">[30]

Mokuba and Kaiba took the helicopter to Domino Stadium, to get to the location of the finals.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-30">[31] After the Battle Ship arrived, Isono was going to refuse to let Anzu, Honda, Shizuka and Otogi board as they were not finalists. However Mokuba insisted that he let them on.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-31">[32]

During Mai Kujaku and Dark Marik's semi-final Duel, Kaiba got Mokuba to use the orbital camera on their satellite to zoom in on Mai's Duel Disk, so that they could get an image of the text on "The Winged Dragon of Ra".<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-32">[33]

Background
At a young age, Mokuba and Seto were orphaned. Their actual surnames are unknown. Their mother died when Mokuba was born. Their father died supposedly in an accident when Seto was eight. Their relatives used up their inheritance and left them at the city orphanage.

Seto was bright and intelligent, which led to many prospective parents wanting to adopt him, but Seto swore to protect his brother at all costs, and wanted Mokuba adopted with him, which all had refused. Whenever bullies would pick on Mokuba, Seto would always stick up for him, including jumping a child to get back a toy plane that he had taken from Mokuba.

Although Mokuba was insistently happy at the orphanage, Seto had always aspired greater things for both of them and looked to the future.

When the former head of the Kaiba Corporation, arrived at the orphanage to perform a publicity stunt, Seto saw the chance to challenge him a game of chess, with Gozaburo forced to adopt Seto and Mokuba should he win. Mokuba was five at the time. Seto won by studying Gozaburo's chess methods.

Six years later, Seto took over the company. In the second series anime, it showed that he had used Mokuba to do so. Seto planned gaining 51% of the company in order to overthrow Gozaburo. Seto deliberately leaked this information to Gozaburo and accused Mokuba of telling Gozaburo. Mokuba sided with Gozaburo, who allowed Seto to gain 49% of the company, believing that Mokuba would give him his 2%. Gozaburo was fond of making his enemies think they were winning against him so they would look worse when he beat them, which Seto based his plan around. As Seto planned, Mokuba switched sides last minute giving his 2% to Seto.

Duelist Kingdom Saga
Mokuba was originally imprisoned by Pegasus on a high tower in Duelist Kingdom, in order to force Seto Kaiba to come and duel Pegasus to rescue Mokuba. However, Mokuba escapes from the tower by a rope of knotted bedsheets, which only go a small way down the tower. After a rather nasty fall, Mokuba steals a boy's deck and his star chips, leaving him to be kicked off the island. Yugi and his friends find the boy and promise to help him. They go back to the scene of the crime. Mokuba jumps out of the bushes and challenges Yugi to a Duel. The only cards he played were Man-Eating Plant and Krokodilus. Mokuba's identity then gets found out, and he explains that after Yugi beat Seto in a Duel, his brother had gone away and abandoned him, and that it was all Yugi's fault.

Yugi begins to preach, but he looks up and realizes Mokuba has disappeared. Mokuba reappears next to Yugi and steals his star chips. Yugi gets Mokuba to see the error of his ways, and they all run to try and not let the boy get kicked off the island. All they succeed in doing is getting Mokuba captured again. Yugi agrees to duel for his freedom, and wins. But Pegasus's thug, Kemo, takes Mokuba anyway, and lock him in a deep, dark dungeon.

Seto reaches him, and just as he is about to free Mokuba, Pegasus shows up and steals Mokuba's soul, forcing Seto to duel Yugi in a largely unfair match with Mokuba's soul on the line. Seto gains an advantage through Crush Card and Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon and is set to win, when Yami counters with an indestructible wall of Kuribohs through Multiply, keeping his Life Points safe. Yami then backs him into a corner by "fusing" his Mammoth Graveyard with Ultimate Dragon, making it decay and lose 1200 attack points each turn because they couldn't properly fuse. In desperation Seto backs away to stand at the castle's edge, telling Yugi he will die with his dragons, implying that if he couldn't save Mokuba, his life wasn't worth living. (In the English version, Seto backed on to the ledge, knowing Yugi wouldn't attack him and let him get hurt, therefore letting Kaiba win the match). Not wanting to see Seto die, Yugi allows him to win the duel, only to see Seto lose his soul to Pegasus after Téa won Yugi the right to enter into the main castle. In the end, Mokuba gets his brother back, and Seto wins his soul back as well. Seto then gave Yugi,and his friends a ride back to Domino City to repair them for all they have done to try to rescue Mokuba from Pegasus.

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.

Legendary Heroes Saga
Seto and Mokuba come back from Duelist Kingdom and go back to KaibaCorp. Seto goes straight to the Big Five to get revenge on them for what they did to him and Mokuba. They manage to convince him that they did what they did to help Kaiba, not hurt him. To prove this, they tell him that they have finished the virtual world stimulator that they had been working on. Kaiba, who became very eager to test it out, decided to wait to fire them after he tested the stimulator. Mokuba was very against it, but Kaiba decided to do it anyway. While inside, it became very apparant to Kaiba that the Big Five had rewired the stimulator and he became caught by a ninja.

Mokuba, realizing it was a trap, swiped Kaiba's deck from the chair and ran to get help. He recruited Yugi and his friends to help him. They went to Kaiba's personal lab for more chair stimulators to get into the virtual world. Mokuba, Yugi, and Joey entered the world while Tea and Tristen stayed behind to stand guard.

When inside, they first enter a graveyard where they run into 3 monsters. Mokuba shows Yugi and Joey how to summon a monster. They then run into a fairy Named Iru that leads that to an old town. In there, Yugi suggests they split up to look around the town for clues about Kaiba. An old lady told Mokuba that she saw someone with a prisoner going towards a mountain and the only way to get there was to cross a large desert.

They try crossing the desert that’s after the town but get hit by a twister. They all end up back at the town with Mokuba shaken from the twister. An old man tells them that to cross the desert they need a special monster, a Niwatori card. In order to get it they must enter a tournament and win against the champion, Madame Butterfly. Joey goes up against the champ using the name Senor Porky. The champion turns out to be Mai, and then she realizes it’s Joey she decides to help them out by getting the card by force and the running for it. While crossing the desert they run into a monster but Joey gets rid of it.

When they finally reach the temple after the desert Mokuba runs towards it, desperate to see his brother again. when everyone catches up to him they open a door inside the temple and see a maze. they soon hear a girl scream, making Joey run to help her. However, they are all ambushed by labyrinth tanks and only manage to escape thanks to Yugi using Magical Hats. they then see Iru again and it leads them to a princess named Adina, who looks exactly like Mokuba (except a girl). They then find the exit but it is blocked by a Gate Gaurdian. Yugi and Joey defeat it using polymerization on Red-Eyes Black Dragon and the Summoned Skull and then adding Dragon Nails.

Adina, thankful that they had saved her, took took them to her castle where they discussed the Heroes of Legend. Soon, however, the castle is surrounded by monsters. One of them captures Mokuba, who was dressed up like Princess Adina and then taken to the castlein the sky, to where Kaiba is.

Upon meeting his brother, Mokuba set him free and gave back his deck. Kaiba disapproved of Mokuba asking Yugi for help and wasn’t thankful to Yugi, Joey, or Mai. Unfortunately, the Big Five decide to make the Mythic Dragon appear even though there were no sacrifices. The dragons first target is the person who doesn’t have any monsters to defend himself with: Mokuba. Joey, however, ordered his Red-Eyes Black Dragon to take the hit therefore losing the game and disappearing. Then Mai gets hit and is taken. Yugi tries to convince Kaiba work with him by summoning his Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon but Kaiba refuses. The Mythic Dragon goes to attack Kaiba, but Mokuba, the only one realizing that the attack was for Seto, pushed Seto out of the way but got hit, leaving his brother devastated.

In the end, Kaiba and Yugi worked together and defeated the mythic dragon. Afterwards, Adina turns out to be the Mystical Elf, and brought back Joey, Mai, and Mokuba. Reunited at last, everyone leaves the virtual world. After they return to the real world, Mokuba tells Kemo that Seto is looking for him. Which make Kemo and the other run, not wanting to see Seto getting angry with them. Mokuba then thank Yugi and his friends for helping him get Seto back. The Mokuba runs to find Seto in the building. (In the English version, Yugi and his friends say goodbye to Mokuba.) But in Japanese version ,Yugi and friends yell that they are going to eat Ramen Noodles.

Battle City Saga
During the Battle City tournament, Mokuba is the Battle City commissioner, calling violations and penalties when needed. While his brother duels, Mokuba wanders around town. The first violation he sees is performed by the Roba brothers. While the eldest, Espa Duels, his brothers use binoculars to see his opponent's hand. Mokuba tackles Espa's brother, and is about to throw Espa out when the younger Robas tell Mokuba about how their big brother protects them from bullies by winning duels. This reminds Mokuba of his relationship with Seto, and he does not disqualify the Robas, commenting that big brother stories get him every time.

As Mokuba walks away, he is ambushed by Rare Hunters and kidnapped. He is tied up and dangled from a helicopter, which flies over his brother's head. The Rare Hunters make Seto duel with Yugi against infamous tag team duelists Lumis and Umbra. The loser of the Duel would plummet to their death (In the English anime they would be sent to the Shadow Realm) While they duel, Mokuba is taken to a warehouse, and locked up there with Téa. Together, they construct a tower of boxes, and Mokuba manages to escape, but Téa is captured before she manages to escape. Mokuba takes a helicopter to pick his brother and Yami Yugi up to tell them what happen.

To repay Yugi's friends for saving Mokuba, Kaiba took Yugi to find his friends, having tracked the signal from Joey's Duel Disk. On the helicopter, Yami Yugi told Kaiba and Mokuba, that he is a separate personality from Yugi.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-45">[46]

They arrived at the Domino Pier and find Joey and Téa are possessed by Marik, with Joey prepared to duel Yugi. Seeing the Duel had been set-up to kill the loser, Kaiba tried to call it off, but Marik disregarded his authority.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-46">[47] Once Tristan and Duke arrived at the Duel, Kaiba and Mokuba explained the situation to them.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-47">[48] Towards the end of the Duel, Kaiba threw a card at one of the Rare Hunters monitoring the Duel. The card got lodged into his hand, causing him to drop the controls for a crane hovering a giant crate over Téa. With him temporarily unable to drop the crate, the KaibaCorp helicopter pulled it away from Téa. Once the Duel concluded with everyone alive, Kaiba parted and told Yugi that he'll see him at the finals.<sup class="reference" id="cite_ref-48">[49]

Virtual World Saga
During the Virtual World arc Mokuba and his brother are taunted by Noah as he shows them images from their past. Later on, Nesbitt, disguised as Tristan, kidnaps Mokuba where he is held captive by Noah while Kaiba faces Lector. After Kaiba wins the duel against Leichter, Noah brainwashes Mokuba and he forgets who Seto and his friends are, in an attempt to split them up. In the duel between Kaiba and Noah, Seto is about to win the duel when Noah uses Mokuba as a shield by putting him between Noah and Noah's monster, so that Mokuba would be harmed by the attack should Seto choose to do so. Kaiba is unable to bring himself to harm his last living family member, allowing Noah to get the lead in the duel. Eventually Kaiba manges to break through to Mokuba using his "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" card and when Mokuba runs away from Noah Kaiba activates Last Turn, Kaiba picking Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Noah his Deck Master which turns into Shinato, causing Seto to lose the duel. Mokuba runs to his brother after he lost but unfortunately, Noah turns them both to stone before they can be reunited. After Noah's defeat against Yugi, Noah tries to help the gang to escape from the Virtual World after Gozaburo reveals his plans. However, Noah tricked all of them so he could escape using Mokuba's body. However, after a change of heart, Noah comes back to the Virtual World to stop his father from taking Seto's body. Then Mokuba, Seto and Yugi leave the Virtual World before it explodes.

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.

Yugi vs. Bakura (Yami Yugi vs. Yami Bakura) would be the first duel. Although Yugi would get an early advantage, Bakura plays Dark Sanctuary, whose effect allows Bakura to possess one of Yugi's monsters so that when it attacks, the attack would be negated, and Yugi would lose life points. Bakura also plays the Destiny Board cards, which, when all five are played, would give Bakura an automatic victory. In desperation, Yugi is forced to summon Slifer and win the duel, as Slifer (Osiris) is immune to the effects of Dark Sanctuary.

Joey vs. Odion (Joey Wheeler vs. Odion Ishtar) would be the second quarterfinal match. Although Joey is being done in by Odion's traps, he comes back and ties the match with 200 life points apiece, thanks to the three cards he had won in Battle City, especially Jinzo, which prevented Odion from using any trap cards. However, Odion would play the Mystical Beast Serket, which destroys the three monsters and left Joey wide open. However, as Odion was still posing as Marik, Marik would force Odion to play his counterfeit God Card, The Winged Dragon of Ra (Ra no Yokushinryū in Japan, "Sun Dragon Ra" in the English manga). However, the counterfeit card backfires on Odion, striking down both duelists in the process. Although Joey would win the duel by virtue of Kaiba's edict that the first duelist to stand would be the victor, the dark side of Marik was unleashed due to Odion being unconscious.

Mai vs. Marik (Mai Valentine vs. Marik Ishtar) would be the third quarterfinal, and Mai would be first to fall against Marik, as she is put in Marik's shadow game. Mai takes a clear lead in the duel, outplaying Marik and even managing to get the real Ra card from Marik and summon it. However, for Ra to obey Mai (and thus, for Mai to use the card), Mai must recite the hieratic text on the card. With Mai clearly unable to do so, Marik successfully recites the text, and uses Ra to attack Mai and win, leaving Mai critically injured (in the English anime, she is sent to the Shadow Realm).

The final quarterfinal Kaiba vs. Ishizu (Seto Kaiba vs. Ishizu Ishtar) saw Ishizu, then an eighth "mystery duelist", face off against Kaiba. Although Ishizu prophesizes that she will win, thanks to the ability of her Millennium Tauk (Millennium Necklace) to see into the future, Kaiba manages to systematically destroy Ishizu's deck using Crush Card (Deck Destruction Virus of Death in Japan) and Virus Cannon. Yet, Ishizu manages to play Exchange of the Spirit, forcing both players to switch their Decks with Graveyards, thus leaving Kaiba with only six cards in his deck and Ishizu with her most powerful cards because of Kaiba's virus cards. In desperation, Kaiba attempts to summon Obelisk, while Ishizu, knowing Kaiba's intention, applied the Blast Held by a Tribute trap on Obelisk that would force itself to self-destruct when it attacks, causing Kaiba to lose. When Kaiba summons Obelisk, however, Marik's Millennium Rod [Priest Seto (Kaiba's past life)'s Millennium item] gave him a flashback of his past self and a dead girl named Kisara in front of what seems to look like the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. He analyzes this and trusts in this card so he summons it even if it is a less-powerful card but still having sufficient power to win. Kaiba does so and wins. It is later revealed that Blue-Eyes is actually Kisara (Priest Seto's loved one)'s Ka monster. It also turns out that she sacrificed her life for Seto and her ka monster stayed loyal to Seto. This flashback was Kisara's way to save Seto's future destiny once more.

Afterwards, Yami Bakura (bearing the soul of regular Marik) attempted to defeat Yami Marik in order to win Marik's body back but ultimately lost to Ra's One-Turn Kill, sending Bakura to the Shadow Realm (in the Japanese version, he 'dies').

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.

With Joey being in critical condition (in the English anime, he is said to be "fighting the shadows" of the Shadow Realm), Yugi is forced to battle Kaiba when more pressing matters were at stake (namely, Jonouchi's health). The Yugi vs. Kaiba (Yami Yugi vs. Seto Kaiba) duel was evenly-matched, as Yugi's attempt to summon Slifer was countered by Kaiba's attempt to summon Obelisk. The two God cards would be summoned in successive turns, and after more jockeying for power with magic cards, the two evenly-matched God cards would destroy each other. With both God cards gone, Kaiba resorts to summoning his three Blue-Eyes White Dragons, while Yugi would have Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Joey's "soul card". Kaiba would force the duel to end by playing Final Attack Orders, making both players discard all but three cards from their decks and prohibiting the defense mode. Using his three cards, Yugi manages to combine Dark Magician (Black Magician in Japan) with Buster Blader to form Dark Paladin (Black Paladin in Japan), and, along with Diffusion Wave-Motion, to win the duel. As the tournament rules states, Kaiba is forced to give up Obelisk.

During the duel, as Red-Eyes Black Dragon was being played, Joey manages to regain consciousness. In the Yu-Gi-Oh!: Duel Monsters anime (but not in the manga), he promptly challenges Kaiba to a duel for third place, just for fun. Kaiba declines, believing that dueling Joey would be beneath him, but Joey manages to convince him to duel. Although Kaiba would win, Joey reveals that Kaiba had simply allowed anger to get the best of him in both his duel with Yugi and with Joey (as witnessed by him once taking control of Blue Eyes White Dragon in their duel - a card considered to be Kaiba's prized possessions, and Kaiba using another Blue Eyes to destroy it).

Before the final Yugi vs. Marik (Yami Yugi vs. Marik Ishtar) match takes place Kaiba is convinced Yugi cannot win, yet he cannot allow Marik to win, both for his personal reasons and for the greater good. He believes he has the perfect card to defeat Ra, being Devil's Sanctuary (Fiend's Sanctuary), which he gives to Yugi. Again, Marik turns the duel into a shadow game, in which the loser must forfeit their alter-ego. Marik discards Ra in his first turn, with the intention of reviving Ra for one turn at a time. Yugi, meanwhile, manages to quickly summon Slifer, but Marik simply revives Ra to deal with it. Marik then tries to use Ra's One Turn Kill against Yugi, but Yugi forces Marik to stop the attack with Devil's Sanctuary, creating a token so that, when attacked, would redirect the damage to Marik, causing him to lose. Marik saved himself by playing De-Fusion (Marik is considered to be fused with Ra when utilizing the One Turn Kill ability) - thus, all of Ra's attack points are transferred to Marik's life points, and Ra, without any attack points, deals no damage to Marik. Yugi then quickly turns one token to three with Multiply, summoning Obelisk with them, and reducing Marik's life points to 700.

Yugi's triumph would be short-lived, as Marik would combine Metal Reflect Slime and Revival Jam to create an indestructible "Egyptian God Slime". With Yugi unable to attack with Obelisk, Marik revives Ra once again to destroy Obelisk, but Yugi revives Slifer to block the attack (The move would be illegal in the real game). Then Yugi uses Soul Taker to defuse and sacrifice the God Slime, allowing Obelisk to use its special ability, Soul Energy Max, which would give Yugi an automatic victory should Obelisk's attack be successful. The attack fails, but Marik manages to revive Ra once again. This time, Yugi sacrifices Obelisk and another monster for his trusty Dark Magician, and along with Dark Magician Girl (Black Magician Girl in Japan), activate Ragnarok (Dusk of all Cards in Japan), which allows, at the expense of all his monsters, Yugi to finally destroy Ra, and, as Marik was using One Turn Kill at the time, most of Marik with it. The two sides of Marik begin to fight, the good side attempting to take control and allowing Yugi to attack as a way to atone for his actions, while the evil side attempting to stop Yugi's attack. With the help of a strugging Odion, the good side prevails. When the smoke clears, the good Marik has control of the body, and the Dark Marik is now his sacrifice. Marik forfeits his sole remaining life point, destroying his other self, leaving Yugi the last man standing. Yugi is now the owner of the three God cards, as well as the keys to unlocking the nameless Pharaoh's past.

With the tournament behind him, Kaiba prepares to destroy the duel tower - the supposed place of his victory over the past before Yugi had beaten him, and the place where his hatred now resided. As the airship could not function, everyone was effectively trapped on the island - if it were not for a helicopter that had managed to arrive as Jonouchi was recovering from his duel with Marik. Everyone would part ways soon after, Marik, Ishizu, and Odion back to Egypt to start a new life, Otogi back to the United States to sell his Dungeon Dice Monsters game, Kaiba and Mokuba to build their new American amusement park, and the rest to new adventures. Marik surrenders his Millennium Rod to Yugi and also gives him the Millennium Ring, which Dark Marik won from his duel against Bakura. Yugi has also acquired the three most powerful cards: Slifer the Sky Dragon, Obelisk the Tormentor, and the Winged Dragon of Ra. However, the story did not end here as another menace awaits them.

Waking the Dragons Saga
The story begins after the end of the Battle City tournament, when Atem wanted to recover his lost memories by using the Egyptian God Cards to activate the chamber of the Nameless Pharaoh King to inside the Memories World. Suddenly, a dark force freezes the Tablet of Lost Memories sealing him to prevent him inside making forbidden, unless this dark forces is destroyed. One night, a group of perpetrators break into the Kame Game Shop and steal the three God Cards from Yugi's grandfather Solomon Muto, who had been given the cards for safekeeping. Giving chase to the thieves, they eventually encounter Gurimo, a mysterious man in a cape. Gurimo is collecting souls for the group, and plans to collect the souls of duelists by defeating them in a duel. To this end, he uses "The Seal of Orichalcos" card, a Field Magic Card that could not be dispelled and prevented outside interference, with only the winner of the duel being able to escape and the loser having his soul taken by the Seal. Although Gurimo manages to unleash the power of "Obelisk the Tormentor" against its former owner, Yugi eventually wins the duel but ultimately fails to recover the God Cards.

The God Cards eventually arrive in the hands of Dartz, who sacrifices their power to awaken his Great Beast, The Great Leviathan.

The next night, as the world sees a giant eye in the sky, Yugi and the Pharaoh awaken in the depths of the Millennium Puzzle where they encounter "Kuriboh", urging them to follow a portal hidden inside the puzzle to the world of beasts. There, they are greeted by "Dark Magician Girl", who tells then the tale of The Great Leviathan, and urges them to pull a sword from an ice statue. They do so, and unlock the power of "The Eye of Timaeus", who proceeds to destroy the eye in the sky above the world of beasts. Similarly, Yugi would unleash the same power in the real world, forcing The Great Leviathan to retreat.

The other two Legendary Dragons would also be unleashed in a similar manner - "The Fang of Critias" was unlocked by Seto Kaiba in a duel, after kowtowing to a demand allegedly by Maximillion Pegasus to duel at his Duelist Kingdom as a publicity stunt. There, he discovers that one of the thieves, Amelda (Alister named for Aleister Crowley, who coined the unicursal hexagram that acts as the symbol of the Orichalcos, in the English version), had led him there, wanting retribution for what KaibaCorp had done against his family. Although "The Seal of Orichalcos" was indeed used, the battle was fought to a draw, allowing both Alister and Kaiba to escape unharmed.

The third Legendary Dragon, "The Claw of Hermos", would be unlocked by Joey Wheeler (Katsuya Jonouchi): when Yugi and his friends receive a video from Pegasus (as it turns out, shortly before he is defeated and his soul sealed), who implores Yugi and his friends to travel to America and retrieve a card holding the key to defeating their then-unknown threat. At Pegasus' Industrial Illusions HQ however, they are locked inside the building, where Mai Valentine (Mai Kujaku) emerges to battle Joey. During this duel, Yugi & friends discover that Mai had been wandering the Earth after their Battle City tournament: although she finished in the Top 8 she was always overshadowed by Joey, and continually traumatized by her loss to Marik Ishtar (in which she was physically and emotionally seriously scarred). Determined to become stronger at any cost and never wanting to lose another duel again, Mai eventually wound up with Dartz, eagerly accepting his offer of becoming stronger, not realizing that the power of the Orichalcos would be her undoing.

The change in Mai's behavior would, as it turns out, be partially due to Valon, the second of Doma's three Swordsmen, who had cared for Mai in her time of need, and wanted her to move on with her life by defeating Joey (effectively also doing his work for her). When Joey appears to have the upper hand in the Duel (thanks to "The Claw of Hermos"), Valon uses his Orichalcos stone to break the seal, rendering the match a no-contest and allowing both Mai and Joey's souls to survive.

Meanwhile, Duke Devlin (Ryuji Otogi), accompanied by Weevil Underwood (Insector Haga) and Rex Raptor (Dinosaur Ryuzaki), would manage to break into the building and unlock the doors. Seto and Mokuba Kaiba would also appear, and all of them would help Yugi find the card that Pegasus claimed would help Yugi end the threat of Doma - yet, when they find it, it is blank.

The third swordsman, Rafael, would later challenge Yugi. Rafael claimed that Yugi and his friends are fighting for the wrong cause, and that Rafael was a noble hero out to save the world. He claimed that mankind was inherently evil, and that the Orichalcos exposed the darkness within the souls of mankind - thus the need for them to be sealed by "The Seal of Orichalcos".

However, as Yugi dueled, he finds himself easily outmatched by Rafael's Guardian Monsters, which he refused to allow to go to the card graveyard. After Rafael plays the Spell Card "Exchange", Yugi finds himself with "The Seal of Orichalcos" in his hand. Not wanting to lose yet not wanting to play the Seal, the two souls of Yugi would debate over whether to use the card. Blinded by the desire to win at any cost, Yami (in control of Yugi's body during the Duel) ignores Yugi's pleas and plays the Seal in order to power up his monsters. Using the ability of "Catapult Turtle", he sacrifices monster after monster to wear away at Rafael's Life Points, even sacrificing his trusted "Dark Magician" and "Dark Magician Girl" in the process. Yet, Rafael is able to survive and use the situation to his advantage by summoning "Guardian Eatos". Eatos would use the spirits of Yugi's own monsters to defeat Yugi.

As the Seal slowly circles around the fallen Pharaoh, however, Yugi realizes that two souls reside within one body, and allows the seal to take him instead, sacrificing himself so that the Pharaoh would survive. Meanwhile, Weevil and Rex, after seeing the power of the Orichalcos, seek to have the power for themselves.

The Pharaoh, despite the attempts of his friends to cheer him up, became distraught over the loss of his other self. Meanwhile, as the Pharaoh and company continue to travel, Weevil and Rex meet Dartz, who grants them the power of the Orichalcos. In return however, they are told to use their newfound power on the Pharaoh and Joey - a win-win scenario for Dartz in any event.

The two would manage to hijack the train the Pharaoh and company would be riding in - Weevil isolating Yami and Téa Gardner (Anzu Mazaki), while Rex finding Joey and Tristan Taylor (Hiroto Honda). Thus, the two Duelist Kingdom rematches were slated to begin, only with much more on the line. While Joey would have little trouble dispatching Rex with the help of his "Claw of Hermos", Timaeus would seemingly abandon the Pharaoh, forcing him to win the duel without it. He would ultimately prevail against Weevil with the help of "Breaker the Magical Warrior", which, along with its ability and "Berserker Soul", allowed it to attack Weevil repeatedly as long as the Pharaoh drew and discarded monsters - which he did ruthlessly. Téa would implore the Pharaoh to stop - long after he had beaten Weevil - just as Yami was about to discard "Dark Magician Girl". Just then, however, the moving train would head off a cliff, although they would survive, having been rescued by a mysterious person.

When the Pharaoh came to, his saviour would be revealed as Ironheart. Ironheart would lead the Pharaoh into the Valley of Lost Souls, where he found the spirit of Yugi. Yugi confronts the Pharaoh, and implores him to face himself through a duel, with both players sharing the same deck. In this duel, Yugi would bring forth "The Seal of Orichalcos", and would use a similar strategy to what the Pharaoh had used against Rafael. The Pharaoh ultimately wins the duel after successfully countering Yugi's moves. Despite not wanting to lose Yugi again, the Pharaoh promises to save him.

Just as he was about to leave, however, Dartz, who had been observing the Pharaoh's activities, conjures a spell to bring forth an Orichalcos Soldier. While dueling the Orichalcos Soldier, however, the Pharaoh realizes that Timaeus is his only hope of winning, yet he cannot use it as he does not have the card in his deck (after having given it to Ironheart, believing him to be unworthy of the card's power). Ironheart and his family (consisting of grand-daughter Chris and pet wolf Skye) would sacrifice their lives to deliver the card to Yugi, who uses it successfully to defeat the Orichalcos Soldier. With the darkness within himself defeated, the Pharaoh could finally move on, and hope to find and rescue Yugi, wherever he may be.

Each of the three swordsmen were chosen for their apparent misfortunes in life - all of which, as it turns out, was orchestrated by Dartz.

Alister came from a war-torn region, and his life revolved around helping himself and his brother survive the ravages of war. Ultimately, however, his family was killed ("captured" in the English adaptation) by opposing forces, who were allegedly funded by Kaiba Corporation. Holding its head, Gozaburo Kaiba responsible, Alister seeks his adopted sons for revenge.

He manages to hijack the plane Seto and Mokuba were piloting, and seeks a rematch with Seto to end it once and for all. As the duel moves on, Alister recounts his history with the Kaiba Corporation, and notes that whether he wins or loses, the plane will crash, allowing "The Seal of Orichalcos" to claim all three lives. Kaiba, willing to protect Mokuba at any cost, would use Critias to prevail. On the last turn of the duel, Alister gave in so that Mokuba would not lose his brother as Alister did. In his brief moment of defeat before being claimed by the Orichalcos, Alister sees a bit of his brother in Mokuba, allowing him to stop living in the past and move on with his life.

Valon was a child delinquent, always getting into fights. When he gets into a fight with a gang of street thugs, they retaliate by burning a local church down, along with a nun who had taken care of him. In revenge, he had killed the street thugs, and as a result, he was sent to prison (this detail was omitted from the English adaptation - there, Valon was framed and imprisoned for a crime that was orchestrated by Dartz). He was sent in and out of twelve detention centers, before a warden turns him to Duel Monsters. There, the warden sets forth a Battle Royale style challenge, where the winner would be set free. Valon would eventually be the winner, having trapped all others within "The Seal of Orichalcos". He is granted release, into the custody of the prison's "sponsor" - Dartz.

Valon, in his perspective, saw Joey as the big obstacle in Mai's life, and vowed to take him down in her honor, while Joey wants to take down Valon, believing that Doma is to blame for turning Mai against him. When their duel inevitably begins, Valon uses his deck of Armor Monsters - mostly 0 ATK and mostly 0 DEF monsters with devastating effects, to literally form a suit of armor around himself, intending to literally beat Joey senseless. Likewise, Joey is forced to defend himself with a suit of armor of his own, formed from his trusted Red-Eyes Black Dragon. The two would physically punish each other throughout the match, with Joey coming out in front.

The duel between Valon and Joey would arouse Mai's interest, and Joey would be forced to duel her in order to set the record straight. Joey, tired and physically beaten from the previous duel, is unable to concentrate on the duel, yet manages to deal serious damage to Mai - yet, he manages to reach out to her just as Joey is about to lose. Mai would ultimately not attack Joey (and win the duel), but Joey collapses in exhaustion, allowing "The Seal of Orichalcos" to take his soul. Taking the fallen Hermos with her, she proceeds to confront Rafael, the last of the three swordsmen, where it is implied that her soul was also taken.

Rafael came from a well-off family, which was taken from him when they were separated from each other at a young age. He was the sole survivor of a luxury liner disaster, and washed up ashore on a deserted island (the English adaption mentions that his family had survived the shipwreck, but had completely forgotten about Rafael) Rafael would live on the island for three years (according to Rebecca Hawkins), with his Guardian cards the only thing allowing him to retain his sanity. His attitude in dueling was simple - as the cards had cared for him during those years, he would try to do the same to his monsters. When he was eventually rescued, he found that the world he lived in had changed. Unwilling to accept the outside world 9 years after the events of his accident before the events of the series, Rafael turned to Dartz.

When Rafael confronts the Pharaoh again, he hands the Pharaoh "The Claw of Hermos" (which he had picked up from Mai's soul-less body), and promises to defeat the Pharaoh like he did before. This time, however, it is instead Rafael who uses the "The Seal of Orichalcos", to the Pharaoh's horror (up to that point, it seemed that Rafael was not the type of person who would use such a card); after Timaeus detroyed Eatos, and like the Pharaoh before, Rafael would proceed to sacrifice his trusted Guardians, all to power up his deadliest Guardian, "Guardian Dreadscythe" - a guardian who could be revived simply by discarding a single card. Determined to set Rafael free, and see the errors of his ways, the Pharaoh takes it upon himself to destroy Dreadscythe by any means necessary, and he does so with the combined power of Hermos and "Guardian Eatos" - Rafael's most trusted Guardian.

With Rafael seeing the error of his ways, he uses a final magic card to resummon all his Guardians, at the cost of the remainder of his life points. Though Rafael loses, his soul is surprisingly not taken since he found the light in himself, as souls are taken because of the darkness inside of someone.

Rafael proceeds to tell the Pharaoh and company where to find Dartz, and they proceed to Dartz's lair, where they find an entire room of captured souls. Dartz appears, and challenges the Pharaoh and Kaiba in a two-on-one match.

Dartz, however, is more powerful than the three Swordsmen combined - not only is he able to repel the "Master of Dragon Soldier", a fusion of two of Kaiba's and the Pharaoh's most powerful cards, but is able to expand the full power of "The Seal of Orichalcos", by playing its 2nd and 3rd levels: "Orichalcos Deuteros" and "Orichalcos Tritos". These would would give Dartz even more life points, making additional attacks fruitless. Furthermore, his array of "Mirror Knights" is making the Pharaoh reluctant to attack, as the souls of his fallen friends are trapped inside each one. When Rafael tries to intervene, he unleashes his stored-up rage at Dartz (who at that point revealed that he was the source of Rafael's troubles in life), and "The Seal of Orichalcos" (dormant since his earlier duel) takes his soul.

Kaiba, however, sees past Dartz's tricks to throw the Pharaoh off guard, and proceeds to attack. By destroying his monsters, however, Dartz releases an even more powerful monster ("Orichalcos Shunoros"), which easily defeats Kaiba and allows the Seal to claim his soul. Desperate for a comeback, Yugi manages to draw the blank card that Pegasus gave him - only this time, the card has changed to "Legend of Heart", allowing the true nature of the Legendary Dragons to be revealed.

In the past, the kingdom of Atlantis was guarded by three knights, which were turned into dragons and sealed away during the battles that eventually destroyed Atlantis. By using the "Legend of Heart", the three Legendary Dragons revert to their true form, allowing "Legendary Knight Timaeus", "Legendary Knight Critias", and "Legendary Knight Hermos" to be reborn. The three Knights manage to destroy the three levels of "The Seal of Orichalcos", as well as Dartz's "Orichalcos Shunoros". However, Dartz has a last resort up his sleeves - by sacrificing all of his life points, he could summon "Divine Serpent", which has infinite ATK and DEF, and also allow Dartz to continue to duel as long as it remained on the field. Likewise, Yugi is forced to similarly entrust his own livelihood to his "Dark Magician Girl". By combining all three Knights of Atlantis to form the "Knight of Destiny", the Divine Serpent is destroyed, winning the duel in Yugi's favor.

Although as a result, the souls of Yugi, Joey, and Kaiba are liberated from the Orichalcos, Dartz sacrifices his own soul, allowing the Great Leviathan to be revived and fusing himself with the Great Beast to control it.

The Great Leviathan  has been reborn, thanks to Dartz's own sacrifice. Even the combined forces of the Knights of Atlantis and the most powerful of Yugi's, Kaiba's and Joey's monsters were not enough to stop it - their only hope, as it seems, was to put all their own power into reviving the three Gods of Egypt: "Obelisk the Tormentor", "Slifer the Sky Dragon", and "The Winged Dragon of Ra" by every single-one of the soul inside of the Memory to awakening them. With the three monsters revived with the power of the light of all Dartz's prisoners this greatly reduces The Great Leviathan's strength, enough for the three Gods to easily destroy it, freeing all the captive souls in the process.

Yet, The Great Leviathan would continue to exist, as it was made from the evil mind of the mankind. The Pharaoh, wanting to help Dartz be rid of the influence of the Orichalcos, takes it upon himself to personally ensure that the Great Leviathan, and the influence of the Orichalcos, is no more. With it gone Dartz returns to normal, and proceeds happily into the afterlife with Ironheart, Chris, and the rest of his family.

As for the main characters, the Knights of Atlantis and "Dark Magician Girl" thank them for their assistance, and return to the world of the beasts. The three Legendary Dragon Cards, as well as "Legend of Heart", disappear into thin air just as they came, vowing to reappear when the world is in danger again.

Grand Championship Saga
Mokuba is again a supporting character, having the duties of inviting and helping Yugi and his friends through the whole championship. It is also believed that he was the one who allowed Yugi's Grandpa to secretly participate in the championsip.

Dawn of the Duel Saga
The Grand Championship (KC Grand Prix in the Japanese version) occurs because Yugi Muto and his friends need to get back home, and can only do that by entering Kaiba's tournament to promote his company.

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, Téa 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.

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
Mokuba was shown during Jaden's flashback of one KaibaCorp card illustration project.

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 something ever went wrong.

Kaiba heads off to Pegasus's castle and challenges him to a duel. The stakes are the following: if Pegasus wins, he gets Kaiba's three "Blue Eyes White Dragons"; if Kaiba wins, Pegasus hands over the card that can beat the Egyptian Gods. Kaiba wins, and Pegasus must fulfill his wager: he picks up two cards from Pegasus's decks. However, Pegasus only created one card to beat the Egyptian Gods, so where did the other card come from?

Meanwhile, Yugi Muto and Téa 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. Yugi also sees 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...

Téa and grandpa the are walking and they see the Kaiba Dome explode with a beam of light. They rush over to see whats going on, when they get there they see a huge blue pyramid. Mokuba tells them Kaiba and Yugi are in there dueling. Téa hops they are okay. The ground begins to crack and just in time Pegasus came with a helicopter and saves them. Téa feels that her friends need her help so she stands in the edge of the helocopter and looks into the eye of the Pyramid of Light which separated her mind from her body and she almost falls but Pegasus, Mokuba, and grandpa bring her back in.

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!

The card Pyramid of Light was destroyed by Yami so they could see the duel. Téa, Joey, Tristan, Pegasus, Mokuba, and grandpa cheer him on. Yami is now facing Anubis because Kaiba is knocked out. Anubis loses but he sends out a real monster and Kaiba wakes up and they have to defeat it. Téa and everyone else has to leave because it was to dangerous. Yugi and Yami defeat the monster with a card of Kaiba's, he was unable to do anything because he was hurt so he gave the card to Yugi. Yami 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.

Once the monster was defeated everyone started talking to each other.Yugi thanks Kaiba,in which Kaiba and Mokuba leave afterawards. Yugi talks about friendship and lastly he talks to Yami.

Voice Actresses
Japanese : Junko Takeuchi 

English : Tara Sands (Episode 1 - Episode 183/Yu-Gi-Oh! Pyramid of Light), Caroline Lawson (Episode 185 - Episode 224)