History Anime / YuGiOhGX

* AlmostDeadGuy: Zane in Season 3 searching for a WorthyOpponent [[MilesToGoBeforeISleep to duel before he dies from his heart trouble.]]

** The "Super Polymerization" card is this in the third season. It first appeared as a blank card being used by Brron with hopes of summoning it by using all of Jaden's friends as sacrifices. Although only 4 of them fall victim to it. Jaden acquires it after defeating Brron, [[SplitPersonalityTakeover with the Supreme King taking control of him]] and completing it, who would go on defeating countless duelists [[KickTheDog including Jim and Axel who also fell victim to it.]] Jaden, [[HeroicBSOD after much turmoil]], is able to use this card to purify Rainbow Dragon and [[DemonicPossession free Jesse from Yubel's control]], [[BatmanGambit but lost this card to Yubel who intended to steal it at that moment.]] In their final duel, [[OmnicidalManiac Yubel attempted to fuse all 12 dimensions to destroy reality]], but [[FusionDance Jaden was able to thwart their strategy and instead fuse himself and Yubel to end the conflict.]]

** Prince Ojin versus Saiou: Ojin brought out his main card, Satellite Cannon, and used a combo to boost its ATK considerably and enable it to attack, which would clinch him the win on his first turn. Needless to say, not only did Saiou block the attack, but he used it to activate a combo of his own that redirected Satellite Cannon's attack to Ojin—winning the game before his first turn.

** When Edo fights DD, Edo brings out his own ace monster, Dogma, which is immediately consumed by Plasma on the next turn, showing he'll be in for a rough match.

* {{Brainwashed}}: The members of the Society of Light and Atticus in Season 1, as well as Yubel. In some cases also ties into the next trope.
* BrainwashedAndCrazy: Several of the villains.

** The copycat duelist Dimitri stole Yugi's deck and challenged Jaden to a duel with it. He lost, but allegedly it was because he didn't put any heart into his deck. There is a TruthInTelevision...well, gameplay anyway that there is very few wrong ways to construct a deck and that if you do build your deck your own way, you can have fun with it and use whatever combination of strategies that best suit your style of play. That lesson would have been great to teach in this episode. However, the events of the episode display a stark contrast. Dimitri was doing wonders with Yugi's stolen deck. Despite not having the heart of the cards, Dimitri was sure using it very effectively enough to strengthen the argument for netdecking.
** In one episode, Jaden battles Kaibaman, in a duel with apparently high stakes. He loses and is admonished that it's just a game, and it's not like it's a matter of life or death -- a valuable lesson for kids in RealLife. Except that, throughout the series (as well the other Franchise/YuGiOh animes), dueling really is SeriousBusiness, and the stakes really are very high, including life or death.
** In Jaden's duel against Damon/Taira Taizan, a duelist obsessed with perfecting his drawing skills (as in the anime, drawing cards from your deck is a skill you can train on instead of just simply being lucky), Jaden insists Damon should enjoy the duel instead of obsessing about his draws since no matter what, you won't always draw what you need to win. He says that and immediately proceeds to draw Elemental Hero Avian that was shuffled previously into his deck, fuse it, and win thanks to the effect of Elemental Hero Flame Wingman. [[UniqueProtagonistAsset Maybe he should have said that ''only'' protagonists will always draw what they need to win?]].
** In the 2-part season 1 finale, Jaden duels Zane as the latter is leaving Duel Academy. Throughout the duel Jaden starts using his head as Zane's never lost a duel before (except for the one against Camula which he intentionally lost to save Syrus). Throughout the duel, Zane starts to get angry, saying that Jaden is losing the duel because he's using his head and overthinking things when he should apparently be using his heart instead. However, it was a pretty close duel, and Jaden's strategies only failed because Zane's deck is able to outplay Jaden's moves. And even when Jaden DOES use his heart, the duel ends in a draw.

* ChekhovsBoomerang: The Phantom Demons/Sacred Beasts that constantly seem to be sealed up or lost and then suddenly be broken out and used again. And then ultimately never mentioned again after their last use, with it not even being made clear they were sealed again.

* ChekhovMIA: Atticus in Season 1.

** The students' ranks are seperated by colour: Slyfer Red (lowest), Ra Yellow (middle) and Obelisk Blue (highest).

** Though Yubel was the only one doing the hugging; Jaden was unconscious by this point.

* EEqualsMCHammer: Tends to appear around [[AwesomenessByAnalysis Bastion Misawa,]] first in his dorm room [[AwesomenessByAnalysis (and on his baseball bat)]], and later when he [[TechnicianVersusPerformer tries to work out how to defeat]] Jaden's deck. Its presence on a card also [[spoiler: proves he is its owner when it's found tossed into the ocean in a [[CrazyPrepared failed]] attempt to sabotage him]].

* GrowingUpSucks: Alexis, Syrus, and Chazz in Season 4. Jaden at the start of Season 4 was like this; and if he hadn't recovered his passion for dueling, he would've been suck like this.
* HardWorkHardlyWorks: Jaden, who [[BookDumb fails almost every test]] but is still regarded as one of if not ''the'' top duelists at the school.
** BrilliantButLazy: It's implied he fails the tests solely because he falls asleep during them. He's repeatedly established as being an incredible duelist, but hopelessly BookDumb.

* HeroicSafeMode: Jaden in Season 4.

* KillSat: Sartorius' weapon in Season 2.

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Jaden, after being freed from his SuperPoweredEvilSide.

* NotBrainwashed: Zane, to everyone's disbelief, since they were hoping he was just BrainwashedAndCrazy like everyone else that season.
* NotQuiteDead: Jaden's friends at the end of Season 3.
* NoBodyLeftBehind: Anyone who dies in Season 3.

* RealLifeWritesThePlot: Pot of Greed was used during nearly every episode of the first two seasons. Then it was banned in real life in 2006 and has been ever since, and the duelists in the show stopped using it too.

** Reversed regarding Fusion monsters: Initially they were Jaden's main schtick until more and more characters started using Fusion cards which were then {{Defictionalized}} and printed in the real life game.

* SapientCetaceans: Neo-Spacian Aqua Dolphin.

* ScrewDestiny: Season 2 in a nutshell.

* SensualSpandex: Elemental Hero Burstinatrix.

* StalkerWithACrush: Yubel, and how.

* ThisIsYourBrainOnEvil: Zane Truesdale in Season 3.

* WhamEpisode: Comes at about the half way point of Season 3.

* YouCantFightFate: [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] extensively.

* MeddlingParents: Jaden's parents, who erase his memories of Yubel, which--although they have no way of knowing it--is part of what drives them insane.

** Being an attractive female monster with {{Stripperriffic}} outfit, Elemental Hero Burstinatrix also [[https://i1.wp.com/gamehorizon.gr/wp-content/uploads/2016/09/Capture33.png suffered from this]]. And not only does her outfit get censored, her previously big and round breasts get smaller and flatter as well.

* LoopholeAbuse: Adrian's ace card in the later part of season 3, Exodius the Ultimate Forbidden Lord, can't be destroyed by battle and is unaffected by the opponent's card effects, making it extremely hard to deal with. Keyword here is "the opponent's" - Yubel unveils a second effect of Armityle that shifts control of it to Adrian's field for one turn before banishing everything, meaning it's no longer "the opponent's" card when the removal effect goes off and thus defeats Exodius.

* NormalFIshInATinyPond: Played With when Zane starts Pro-dueling in season 2; In Duel Academy, he was the undisputed best duelist, with Jaden ''barely'' etching out a tie during his graduation duel, and had it not been for his opponent cheating he would have easily taken care of most Shadow Riders as well. Once Zane joins the big leagues, he at first continues his winning streak, but once he comes face-to-face with Aster Phoenix- the fourth best duelist in the world, and the absolute best currently still active- he suffers a humiliating defeat that shatters his confidence and causes him to ''believe'' he never was anything but this trope, resulting in a major losing streak that drops him from major to minor leagues and eventually forces him to make a living in underground dueling. It's then subverted when he has an ephiphany (of sorts) in said underground ring, reinvents himself, and quickly becomes one of the best duelists around again.

* OnlyKnownByTheirNickname: "Kaiser" Ryo Marufuji, whose first name is barely ever mentioned. Not so in the dub. Does Zane even have a nickname?

** In Jaden's duel against Damon/Taira Taizan, a duelist obsessed with perfecting his drawing skills (as in the anime, drawing cards from your deck is a skill you can train on instead of just simply being lucky), Jaden insists Damon should enjoy the duel instead of obsessing about his draws since no matter what, you won't always draw what you need to win. He says that and immediately proceeds to draw Elemental Hero Avian that was shuffled previously into his deck, fuse it, and win thanks to the effect of Elemental Hero Flame Wingman. [[UniqueProtagonistAsset Maybe he should have said that ''only'' protagonists will always draw what they need to win?]] Subverted, however, when you consider how he lost: while Damon previously guessed all his draws correctly by being in tune with his deck, on his last draw he tried to guess the card he thought he ''needed'' rather than the card he thought he would get, leading to him going against his own philosophy and guessing wrong (even though [[IdiotBall he didn't even need the card that he desperately wanted to draw]] since [[WhyDontYouJustShootHim just guessing correctly would have caused his Miracle Draw card to burn Jaden for lethal damage]]).

** In Jaden's duel against Damon/Taira Taizan, a duelist obsessed with perfecting his drawing skills (as in the anime, drawing cards from your deck is a skill you can train on instead of just simply being lucky), Jaden insists Damon should enjoy the duel instead of obsessing about his draws since no matter what, you won't always draw what you need to win. He says that and immediately proceeds to draw Elemental Hero Avian that was shuffled previously into his deck, fuse it, and win thanks to the effect of Elemental Hero Flame Wingman. [[UniqueProtagonistAsset Maybe he should have said that ''only'' protagonists will always draw what they need to win?]]

%% * GettingCrapPastThe Radar: Due to overwhelming and persistent misuse, GCPTR is on-page examples only until 01 June 2021. If you are reading this in the future, please check the trope page to make sure your example fits the current definition.

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Jaden almost doesn't graduate, because despite being the best duelist on the island, he was a poor student and skipped a lot of classes over the years to duel. So he's forced to do all of his missed work at once to qualify for graduation.
** The DuelsDecideEverything aspect of the franchise is deconstructed in this series. Everything from the fate of the world to a girl’s affections are decided by this card game. In the Society of Light arc, this is turned on its head when Jaden tries to challenge Sartorious to a duel so he doesn’t TakeOverTheWorld. But his EvilPlan was put together in such a way that he doesn’t actually have to duel Jaden at any point. So? He respectfully declines the challenge because he’d basically already won. The only reason he ends up dueling Jaden is due to outside circumstances forcing him to..
** After Jaden and Syrus defeat the Paradox Brothers in duel to avoid being expelled for trespassing in the abandoned dorm, while Chancellor Sheppard doesn't expel them as agreed he still punishes them for violating the school rules, although a more lenient one, having them write a paper on what they learned from the duel and how it was wrong to trespass abandoned dorm. Chancellor Sheppard maybe a ReasonableAuthorityFigure, it's still his job to punish students when they break rules.

** In Syrus and Hassleberry's double duel against Frost and Thunder, Syrus and Hassleberry have to work as a team to defeat the brothers, who get into a fight about strategy (with Frost focused on victory Thunder focused on teamwork). [[AnAesop The intended moral is that sometimes, people should put aside their difference to overcome obstacles.]] However, the problem isn't that Hassleberry and Syrus are in conflict with each other, aside from a few remarks about their own field. In fact, the problem is that they want to work together, but need to figure out how (they couldn't see each other's hands at first, as they could only attack the opponent in front of them). Ultimately, they're able to see each other's hands through the reflections of the owner's cards, [[YankTheDogsChain but by then it was too late and they ended up getting defeated anyway.]] Even worse, Frost manages to win by BETRAYING Thunder so that everyone lost the duel except himself.

** In Season 1, Jinzo and Dark Magician Girl, regular monsters that were popular in the original series, appear in oneshot episodes as duelists. Dark Magician Girl is carefree and just looking for fun, but Jinzo is a soul-eating villain and the first sign to Jaden that not all Duel Spirits are benevolent.

* CainAndAbel: Chazz and his brothers. Also a non-sibling related example with Jaden and Jesse. Yusuke Fujiwara tries to tempt Jesse to defeat Jaden, so Jesse can be the best and he proceeds to attack Jaden. Subverted because it was all an act and both Jesse and Jaden reveal they don't carry any ill will in trying to out do each other in dueling.

** In one episode, Jaden battles Kaibaman, in a duel with apparently high stakes. He loses, and is admonished that it's just a game, and it's not like it's a matter of life or death -- a valuable lesson for kids in RealLife. Except that, throughout the series (as well the other Franchise/YuGiOh animes), dueling really is SeriousBusiness, and the stakes really are very high, including life or death.
** In Jaden's duel against Damon/Taira Taizan, a duelist obsessed with perfecting his drawing skills (as in the anime, drawing cards from your deck is a skill you can train on instead of just simply being luck), Jaden insists to Damon that he should enjoy the duel instead of obsessing about his draws, since no matter what, you won't always draw what you need to win. He says that and immediately proceeds to draw Elemental Hero Avian that was shuffled previously into his deck, fuse it and win thanks to the effect of Elemental Hero Flame Wingman. [[UniqueProtagonistAsset Maybe he should have said that ''only'' protagonists will always draw what they need to win?]]
** In the 2-part season 1 finale, Jaden duels Zane as the latter is leaving Duel Academy. Throughout the duel Jaden starts using his head as Zane's never lost a duel before (except for the one against Camula which he intentionally lost to save Syrus). Throughout the duel, Zane starts to get angry, saying that Jaden is losing the duel because he's using his head and overthinking things, when he should apparently be using his heart instead. However, it was a pretty close duel, and Jaden's strategies only failed because Zane's deck is able to outplay Jaden's moves. And even when Jaden DOES use his heart, the duel ends in a draw.
** In the Syrus and Hassleberry's double duel against Frost and Thunder, Syrus and Hassleberry have to work as a team to defeat the brothers, who get in a fight about strategy (with Frost focused on victory Thunder focused on teamwork). [[AnAesop The intended moral is that sometimes, people should put aside their difference to overcome obstacles.]] However, the problem isn't that Hassleberry and Syrus are in a conflict with each other, aside from a few remarks of their own field. In fact, the problem is that they want to work together, but need to figure out how (they couldn't see each other's hands at first, as they could only attack the opponent in front of them). Ultimately, they're able to see each others hands through the reflections of the owners cards, [[YankTheDogsChain but end up getting defeated anyway.]] Even worse, Frost manages to win by BETRAYING Thunder so that everyone lost the duel except himself.
* TheCameo: Several of the original series characters, among them Pegasus, Kaiba, the Paradox Brothers and Yugi's grandfather. Also, Yugi himself in the first episode, although his face isn't seen.
** Then Yugi shows up again both as his faceless older self then his younger self as Jaden's last opponent of the series.

%%* BetterThanABareBulb: The dub is made ofiti.

* EnemiesWithDeath: The Reaper.

* GratuitousGerman: The names of Yubel's second and third forms.

** BrilliantButLazy: It's implied he fails the tests solely because he falls asleep during them.

* PsychoExGirlfriend: Yubel, although the "girlfriend" part is [[AmbiguousGender questionable]].

* SecretlyDying: Zane in Season 3 from all the underground duels the previous season.

* TheVirus: The Light of Destruction.

The anime has a very [[PostModernism Post-Modern]] tone, blending elements of GamingAndSportsAnimeAndManga, MindScrew, and DeconstructorFleet. The absurdity of the SeriousBusiness of Duel Monsters is taken UpToEleven, with entire educational and athletic industries centered around the game. Meanwhile, the plot has serious, painful, and traumatic psychological effects on everyone involved, particularly Jaden, whose psyche collapses under the pressure, power and responsibility he's burdened with. "[[WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries I've lost a card game! I have no reason to live!]]" suddenly isn't funny anymore, as it can metaphorically become a CareerEndingInjury, or cause you to literally lose your life. In short, it's a very self-aware GenreBusting series that plays some tropes absurdly straight and others painfully realistically.

** Speaking of poor grades, Chumley almost doesn't get a job Industrial Illusions courtesy of a recommendation from Pegasus because of his poor grades and dueling skills. [[JerkassHasAPoint As Dr. Crowler rightfully points out, Chumley hasn’t proven himself academically or as a duelist.]] Having Chumley just graduate would set a bad example for the school and students who’ve worked even harder than him. Crowler may be a jerk, but he takes his job as a teacher VERY seriously and just because Chumley got a recommendation from the creator of Duel Monsters doesn't mean he gets a free ride.
** Dr. Crowler himself has every right to be biased against the Slifer Red students, especially Jaden. In their world Duel Monsters is SeriousBusiness and can lead to very prestigious careers, so students treating it as just another children's card game is something to take offense at. Crowler also hates Jaden for his cavalier devil-may-care attitude, which not only begins to rub off on other students making them lazier, but causes problems down the road.
** Unlike later series, this one would use lots of meta relevant cards such as Pot of Greed, Mystical Space Typhoon and Call of the Haunted for their simple costs and powerful effects, like one would expect serious duelists to use.
** In Jaden's third duel against Aster, Jaden busts out a new fusion monster which promply goes back into his deck and leaves him completely defenseless. If you're gonna use a new deck, better playtest it a few times to know what it does and what drawbacks it has. Bastion said it best: "Jaden should have learned more about his new deck."
** In the Society of Light arc, Jaden tries to challenge Sartorious to a duel so he doesn’t TakeOverTheWorld. But his EvilPlan was put together in such a way that he doesn’t actually have to duel Jaden at any point. So? He respectfully declines the challenge because he’d basically already won. The only reason he ends up dueling Jaden is due to outside circumstances forcing him to.
** The DuelsDecideEverything aspect of the franchise is deconstructed in this series. Everything from the fate of the world to a girl’s affections are decided by this card game. Eventually the increasingly high stakes of his duels legitimately make Jaden depressed, especially after he’d gained a SuperpoweredEvilSide and killed a lot of people. By the fourth and final season Jaden doesn’t feel any of the passion for dueling like when he was a freshman after he realizes just how many of his duels put peoples lives at risk and how the fun of dueling became nonexistent.
** Being a pro-duelist is shown to not be an easy or even a fun career. You have to constantly win duels, be up to date on the latest strategies and cards and play accordingly to keep that power. Chazz learns this all the hard way when he’s made Aster’s protégé in season 4. In addition, Zane may have been the best at Duel Academy, but once he goes pro and duels against Aster, one of the top ranked duelists ''in the world''? He suffers a humiliating defeat, briefly becomes convinced he was a NormalFishInATinyPond all along and ends up on a losing streak. His career and potential almost die before they even begin and he ends up doing underground duels that turn him into a BloodKnight.

Season by season, as {{Story Arc}}s pass, the cast grows into LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters, as different students graduate or arrive and villains are defeated and replaced. The [[Manga/YuGiOhGX manga]], which came [[AnimeFirst after the anime]], uses the same characters and the same setting but includes none of the arcs covered in the anime.

* LoadsAndLoadsOfCharacters: See the [[Characters/YuGiOhGX character page]]. And multiple sub-pages. Not even ''counting'' many of the one-shot characters or those who make cameos from [[Anime/YuGiOh the original series]], there are ''forty'' of them.

* {{Putto}}: "[[https://yugioh.fandom.com/wiki/Cupid_Kiss Cupid's Kiss]]" is an equip spell-card used by Blair Flannigan in her duel against Jaden in Episode 20. The card is equipped onto "Maiden of Love", protecting the monster from being destroyed but still allows battle damage. The effect of this card then activates, allowing Blair to take control of "Avian". Later "Maiden in Love" attacks "Elemental HERO Sparkman". Due to the effect of "Maiden in Love", it is not destroyed, but Blair still takes Battle Damage. The effect of this card then activates, allowing Blair to take control of "Sparkman". The card itself is just an illustration of a blond-haired winged-cherub wearing white gauze for pants and wielding a bow with a heart-shaped arrow.

* DealWithTheDevil: Many, all of which overlap with WhatAnIdiot.

* DangerouslyShortSkirt: Applicable to the girls' uniform.

** Alexis/Asuka is a self-aware MissFanservice and absolutely loathes it because she wants other people to notice her for her skills and hard work rather than her looks. She also more or less fails to achieve this.

* ThemeDeck: Takes it further than its predecessor, with decks generally being even more focused and theme-oriented.

** After Jaden and Syrus defeat the Paradox Brothers in duel to avoid being expelled for trespassing in the abandoned dorm, while Chancellor Sheppard doesn't expel them as agreed he still punishes them for violating the school rules, although a more lenient one, having them write a paper on what they learned from the duel and how it was wrong to trespass abandoned dorm

* EmpathicWeapon: Any monster card known to have a spirit. Actually, all the cards, period.

* HesBack
** Chazz after his stint at the North Academy in Season 1

** Cronos us actually a JerkWithAHeartOfGold who grows to appreciate Jaden over the course of Season 1 and as shown in his duel against Camilla, is very protective of his students.

** And another from Yubel, talking to Jaden about Jesse, in Episode 154: "You truly prefer that boy over me? Even the love you gave me is his now?"

** Adrian gets a special mention for [[spoiler:his ridiculous starting hand in his last duel with Yubel: four Exodia parts and an alternate win condition that he can use to complete Exodia anyway if he loses them, which he does]].

** One such name is "Howard X Miller"-- a reference to "milling," a strategy in trading card games wherein you win by making your opponent run out of available cards.

* DisneyDeath: Done with several characters in Season 3.