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Members of Industrial Illusions from the manga and anime series Yu-Gi-Oh.

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    Pegasus J. Crawford (Maximillion J. Pegasus) 

Pegasus J. Crawford (Maximillion J. Pegasus) (ペガサス・ジェイ・クロフォード; Pegasasu Jei Kurofōdo)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pegasus_j_crawford_2.png
Voiced by: Jirou Jay Takasugi (JP), Darren Dunstan (EN), Gabriel Gama (Latin American Spanish), Cholo Moratalla (European Spanish)

"Yugi boy... from here on, it isn't just a battle between duelists... it's a battle between those who have been chosen by the Millennium Items. From here on... it's a Shadow Game!"

The Arc Villain of the fourth arc of the manga (first arc in the anime), Pegasus is the enigmatic creator of Duel Monsters and the bearer of the Millennium Eye. He rarely appears before the public, many of whom have never seen his face. Some time after Yugi defeated Kaiba in his Death-T arena, Pegasus duels with Yugi in a Shadow Game...through a video tape, and ends up winning due to the time limit. Pegasus then inflicts a Penalty Game which seals his grandfather's soul into the video tape (in the anime, a blank Duel Monsters card) and asks Yugi to come to his tournament, Duelist Kingdom. It is later revealed that he desires to take over KaibaCorp, and for that to happen, he needs to defeat Yugi in a official match in order to get the prestige title as top gamer. However, his real goal stretches beyond a mere company takeover...

Although he is killed by Dark Bakura in the manga, he survives in the anime. Resurrecting him is the plot of the manga spinoff Yu-Gi-Oh! R, and he appears in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light and Yu-Gi-Oh!: Bonds Beyond Time. He also appears in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction video game as a main antagonist.

As the creator of Duel Monsters, he uses an exclusive and ridiculously broken Toon Deck, whose monsters cannot be destroyed except by other Toon monsters. On the off-chance that his Toons are overcome, he then pulls out the even more broken "Sacrifice" and "Thousand-Eyes Sacrifice" (known as "Relinquished" and "Thousand-Eyes Restrict" in the TCG)


  • Absurdly High-Stakes Game: During his first match against Yugi, he puts Yugi's grandfather's soul on the line through a Shadow Game. Off-panel, he played an unknown game with Mokuba with his soul on the line. During his duel with Seto Kaiba, both Seto and Mokuba's souls are on the line. And during his final duel with Yugi and Dark Yugi, their souls are on the line, with the release of Sugoroku and the Kaiba brothers being the prize, as well as 60% of his company's stock.
  • Achilles' Heel: He's so reliant on the powers of his Millennium Eye to give him the edge in duels, that without it he's much less threatening. Yugi lectures him that a duelist needs intuition to duel, but Pegasus has relied on the foreknowledge provided by the Eye for so long that he's lost his intuition, and thus Pegasus starts second-guessing his moves and making misplays. Downplayed somewhat, as he still comes within a hair of beating Yami Yugi despite his powers being railroaded midway through the duel.
  • Adaptation Dye-Job: He has blue eyes in the manga, but they are brown in the anime. His white pants were also colored red in the anime.
  • Adaptational Heroism: Due to the fact that he survives past the point where his manga counterpart died, Pegasus becomes somewhat of an ally to Yugi and his friends in his later appearances in the anime.
  • Affably Evil: He may seem like a carefree goof until he gets serious, but even then he's genuinely good-mannered compared to most of the Yu-Gi-Oh! villains. This is arguably truer in the manga, where his Penalty Game inflicted on Sugoroku only steals his body and leaves his soul in a camcorder that Yugi owns, allowing Yugi to remain with his grandfather for the entire arc.
  • Agent Peacock: A fashionable gentleman, a vicious soul-stealer, and a very dangerous opponent.
  • Alas, Poor Villain: Killed by Yami Bakura in the manga shortly after the reveal of his backstory and how the Millennium Eye drove him to madness.
  • Almost Kiss: In the anime, with Cecelia. It's interrupted as she turns into a rose and vanishes to symbolize her illness.
  • Ambiguously Gay: His childish, effeminate mannerisms give off this vibe, and yet he is very clearly identified as straight. This is a source of comedy in the Abridged Series.
  • Anime Hair: He has a simply fabulous hairstyle.
  • Anti-Villain: Type II. All that he wanted was to be with his love, but he doesn't care how many people get hurt in the name of his goal.
  • Arc Villain: Of the "Duelist Kingdom" arc and the first parts of Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction, though moreso in the manga where he's killed off afterwards. In the anime, he makes several appearances later on, post-Heel–Face Turn.
  • Artifact of Doom: The Millenium Eye isn't quite as inherently evil the way that the Millenium Ring is, but its power is hard to use for anything positive. In the anime, after surviving its removal, Pegasus becomes something of an ally to the main cast and seems to wish to atone for the way he acted during the Duelist Kingdom arc.
  • Ascended Fanboy: As a child, he was a huge fan of Western cartoons. In adulthood, he was able to create a deck centered around them, his cards both able to interact with him as well as overcome his opponent with a wink and a nod. Whenever any of his Toon monsters are destroyed in battle, he takes it personally.
  • The Atoner: During the anime continuity, where he tries to aid the cast during the DOMA arc and the film, and seems to have genuine regrets about his actions during Duelist Kingdom.
  • Author Avatar: Of a sort. Pegasus is the in-universe creator of Duel Monsters and shares many traits with series creator Kazuki Takahashi, especially his fondness for card games, RPGs, and American comics and cartoons.
  • Badass Longcoat: In GX, when he's fitted with the technology to paint Rainbow Dragon, he is given a black longcoat to wear with all the gadgets on.
  • Be Careful What You Wish For: Thanks to the Millennium Eye, being an artifact capable of granting a wish, Pegasus does get to meet Cyndia again... but only for a fleeting moment, and it wasn't even the real thing — just an illusion. It left Pegasus down an eye and in a very precarious mental state.
  • Berserk Button: Don't mock Pegasus' Toon Monsters and don't try to take them down. Moreover, don't speak of his past and his plan in front of him.
  • Beware the Mind Reader: Pegasus' Millennium Eye allows him to scan the minds of anyone he focuses on. He mostly uses it for cheating and manipulation, and is overall very amoral.
  • Beware the Silly Ones: He acts foppish, playful, and generally acts like his duels are a big joke. However, he's actually very clever and manipulative, and when he drops the silly act he shows you just how ruthless he can be when he starts taking things seriously.
  • Big Bad Ensemble: With Dark Bakura during Duelist Kingdom, as Dark Bakura was pulling strings all on his own with Pegasus not even aware of the dark being's existence.
  • Big Damn Heroes: In the anime movie The Pyramid of Light, he saves Yugi's friends from death (or at least severe injuries) twice.
  • Big "NO!": A few times, the most known one being the one when he is defeated by Yugi.
  • Big "OMG!": When he discovers the Egyptian Gods' tablet, he shouts "JEEEESUS!" in the Japanese anime. Before that, he actually says "Oh my god!" when Shadi tells him he knows where to find the tablet with the Gods on it.
  • Big "SHUT UP!": To Dark Bakura in the Japanese version of the anime adaptation.
    Bakura: So your social status and your actions are in fact a mask concealing your true intentions. An extremely roundabout way of reaching a goal hidden in the depths of your heart. And this goal is—
    Pegasus: SHUT UP! Shut your mouth!
  • Big "WHAT?!": On a few occasions.
  • Boring, but Practical: In terms of abilities and outright power, his Millenium Eye ranks rather low among its peers, but it's a ridiculously advantageous tool in a game where knowing your opponent's next move all but guarantees victory.
  • Brainwashed: By the Millennium Eye or rather, the piece of Zorc infecting it to create Duel Monsters, a recreation of the Ka Shadow Games of Ancient Egypt, according to Takahashi. And at least in the anime, the Eye seems to influence his more sadistic and mean-spirited inclinations in taking joy at the suffering of both Kaiba and Yugi, as he becomes far more genuinely affable and well-intentioned after Bakura steals his Eye.
  • Breakout Character: Despite being dead in the original manga, in the anime he was so popular that they kept him alive. He returns in several cameo appearances in GX, even getting to duel again, he's a major antagonist again in Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction, and he features in both mainstream movies. Even his Deck, Toons, is a perennial favorite for new support cards and something of a rogue deck. By contrast, the best Bakura and Marik can usually hope for are very rare cameos in the occasional video game.
  • Bring My Red Jacket: His eye-related injuries were not pretty. He also wears a white shirt underneath his red suit. He is killed at the end of Duelist Kingdom (only in the manga; he's kept alive in the anime), and he is actually killed temporarily in the Tenth Anniversary Movie for the NAS Duel Monsters anime.
  • Brought Down to Badass: He no longer has the advantage of mind-reading his opponents, but he's still the creator of Duel Monsters and knows the ins and outs of the game. This is shown when he manages to hold his own against Kaiba in Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light, when he beats Crowler and Napoleon in GX, and when he comes within a hair of beating Yugi in their climactic duel during Duelist Kingdom.
  • Camp Straight: As foppish and well-groomed as he is, he had a girl he loved deeply and is doing everything he does to try and see her again.
  • Captain Ersatz: Not Pegasus himself, but the "Funny Rabbit" series he so often cites as his inspiration is clearly one for Bugs Bunny.
  • Character-Driven Strategy: Maximillion Pegasus is most famous for his Toon deck; a deck that relies on "Toon World", a Spell card that was never officially released because of how insanely powerful it was. Being the founder of Duel Monsters, he had "Toon World" made due to his childhood love for Western Animation, and had based the entire archetype around it. Toon monsters are impossible to destroy using conventional attacks, with many of his strategies involving cards that steal his opponents cards, creating Toon-based parodies of his opponent's monsters. This tells us that Pegasus is a trickster that likes to toy with his opponents, using the power of the Millenium Eye to preemptively guess and subvert his opponent's moves. Like his cheating methods however, his Toon monsters are also incredibly fragile, his strategies falling apart in an instant should "Toon World" be taken off the board.
  • Cheaters Never Prosper: In Pegasus's case, they usually do. Take away his ability to cheat via the Millennium Eye, however, and things rapidly fall apart for him. Yugi points out that Pegasus has lost his ability to intuit the moves of his opponents, having used his Eye as a crutch for so long.
  • Chekhov's Hobby: We see him gleefully reading a comic book of Funny Rabbit. We later find out that Pegasus' love for the series and cartoons inspired his nigh invulnerable Toon Deck.
  • Chekhov's Skill: While we don't actually see it, it was Pegasus' painting skills which may have saved him from dying horribly when he received the Millennium Eye. According to Takahashi, the Eye found Pegasus' abilities useful and used him to have "Ka battles" recreated as Duel Monsters in order to assemble the Millennium Items.
  • The Chessmaster: Everything that happens on the island happens because he moved them there four turns ago.
  • Childhood Friend Romance: He and Cyndia met when they were children and became attracted to each other, then they got engaged when they grew up (married in the dub). He doesn't get to cherish it for too long, however.
  • Comically Invincible Hero: Seemingly the reason his Toon monsters have the ability to avoid or block attacks from other monsters; after this happened for the first time, Pegasus cites how the Funny Rabbit character had not once been caught by or hit with a bullet from his policeman nemesis.
  • Complexity Addiction: He organizes a tournament just to have a cover for taking over Kaiba Corporation! All he needed to do is defeat Yugi in an official duel. Granted, we do not know if Pegasus could have taken over the company in a different manner. The manga explains that due to Kaiba's reputation as Japan's #1 gamer being the lynchpin of the company's current success, an official tournament to restore the company's reputation independent of the then-invalid Kaiba was the condition that the Big Five set for Pegasus to take over.
  • Corrupt Corporate Executive: Played with; there's nothing crooked about his game company "Industrial Illusions" (the selling of Duel Monster merchandise, etc) but his Duelist Kingdom tournament is rigged to benefit himself only.
  • Crippling Overspecialization: Yami accuses him of having fallen victim to this when he manages to block Pegasus's mind-reading powers, claiming that Pegasus has become so dependent on being able to read his opponent's future moves that he's lost any real tactical ability he ever had for the game. While Pegasus does show more skill in his later duels, this could be attributed to him having time to re-learn his old tricks after losing the Eye, and he certainly finds himself missing his mind-reading ability after he can no longer rely on it in later Shadow Games.
  • Curiosity Is a Crapshoot: Shadi told him that the village is full of grave robbers and that he should just leave the place, as he will not find a cure to his heartache. Pegasus thinks he had read his mind, which makes him curious and follows him instead. Needless to say, it does not end well.
  • Cutting Corners: Pegasus clearly didn't spend a yen on Duelist Kingdom that he didn't have to; while the island does have some impressive dueling setups, the rest is pretty much all flash and no substance. There's no food or sleeping facilities provided for the duelists, losers apparently have to row back to the mainland themselves, and since the whole tournament was essentially rigged to allow Pegasus to beat Yugi, he never intended to pay out the prize money either.
  • The Dandy: Foppish, prefers fancy suits, rich - he fits all the categories.
  • Dark and Troubled Past: As Anzu put it in the manga, "the death of his love was the beginning of his tragedy". Then he created the Egyptian God Cards, which he considered his greatest mistake.
  • Dead Man Writing: In the anime only, during the Doma arc. Pegasus has his soul taken away by Mai, but he leaves a message behind in the form of a Solid Vision projection of himself for Yugi and his friends.
  • Death is Cheap: While he dies in the manga, he escapes this a few times in the anime.
    • By the time of 5D's he has passed away, likely from old age. note 
  • Demonic Possession: In the Reshef Of Destruction video game, he is gradually possessed by Reshef's evil powers, then the entity ultimately worms itself into his heart.
  • Despair Event Horizon: After Cynthia's death. He lost all motivation to basically do anything, and went to Egypt due to learning of the ancient beliefs of life and death, but found nothing until he stumbled on Shadi and the Millennium Items. He was then forced to bear the Millennium Eye and ultimately went mad dedicating himself to see Cynthia, no matter what.
  • Dick Dastardly Stops to Cheat: His Deck consists of an army of completely invincible and flagrantly broken monsters of his own creation. Does this stop him from cheating like a bandit with his Millennium Eye or rigging the circumstances? No, sir, it does not. And notably, he tends to be so thrown off when his opponents manage to adapt against his cheating that his own strategies fall apart.
  • The Dragon: In Reshef Of Destruction, he is this to Reshef.
  • Dropped a Bridge on Him: In the Tenth Anniversary Movie for the NAS Duel Monster anime universe, a building collapses on him thanks to Paradox's attack. It's undone by a Reset Button in the end, though.
  • Dub Name Change: His name change is unique in that the English manga used it as well.
  • Eagleland: Not as blatant a Flavor 2 as Bandit Keith, but he is a filthy-rich Manchild obsessed with cartoons, who spouts Gratuitous English at the drop of a hat. In addition, the manga enjoys playing up both his Greed and miserliness: Kaiba recalls how he turned his duel with Bandit Keith into a glorified commercial, and Duelist Kingdom is rife with Cutting Corners, from the utter lack of accommodations for the contestantsnote  to how the losers are expected to row back to the mainland by themselves. To top it all off, the Player Killer of Darkness (aka Panik) explains part of the Player Killers' jobs are to ensure Pegasus doesn't have to pay the tournament prize money to anyone.
  • Early-Installment Weirdness: Pegasus's duel strategy involves using first his Toon monsters and then switch to his Illusion monsters if the opponent is tough enough, but in his first duel with Yugi, Pegasus's main force is instead based in weird clown-like monsters and cards which mess with his opponent's mind, most notably the Faceless Mage and the Dragon Piper. They definitely fit Pegasus and his stylized trickster gimmick, but are never used again except the Dragon Piper, which is used as a sacrifice against Kaiba. It's possible he didn't want to show his hand so early, and being the maker of the game, he can use whatever cards he wants.
  • Easily Forgiven: Downplayed. In the anime, when he turns up in the film and the DOMA arc, the cast are wary, but willing to listen to him.
  • Easy Come, Easy Go: His anime self isn't too concerned with losing his Millennium Eye, possibly realizing that the ability to see but not touch his lost love was more trouble than it was worth.
  • Even Evil Has Standards: In the anime when Jounouchi beats Keith, he reveals that Keith was cheating the entire duel, and congratulates Jounouchi on winning fairly while his guards haul Keith away, and later drops him down a trap door into the ocean. In the manga, he gives Keith an even worse punishment, turning Keith's hand into a gun and forcing him to play Russian Roulette as a Penalty Game.
    • He also keeps his promises. When Yugi successfully defeats Pegasus, the man honors his word and releases the souls of Kaiba, Mokuba, and Yugi's grandfather, proving that even at his worst, he is by no means an oath breaker.
  • Evil Plan: Use the tournament and soul hostages to acquire Kaiba Corp by beating the King of Games in Duel Monsters (Kaiba Corp's execs need their CEO to be a top-level gamer), and see and feel his beloved fiancee/wife again using Kaiba Corporation's Solid Vision technology.
  • Eye Scream: In the manga, when he receives the Millennium Eye (which is not an eye piece, but an entire replacement eye ball), he is heard screaming while we're shown a Shadow Discretion Shot, and it happens again when Bakura steals the Eye and kills him. The anime actually shows Shadi pushing the Eye into his socket, with visible blood afterwards, though Bakura tearing it out is offscreen.
  • Fanboy: Of American cartoons, particularly Funny Rabbit. He also knows exactly how many episodes the series has and how many bullets were fired at the main character by the police.note  And he is not happy whenever his Toon Monsters get destroyed...
  • First-Name Basis: In the manga and in the Japanese dub, where Pegasus is his first name. Everyone calls him Pegasus regardless of the version. In the 4Kids version, only Cyndia/Cecilia calls him "Maximillion" (which is also a 4Kids-only dialogue).
  • Final Boss: Of the Duelist Kingdom arc. For Dark Yugi to secure the release of all those Pegasus has abducted with his Penalty Games, he first has to beat the billionaire in a duel.
  • Fixing the Game: Makes heavy use of his Millennium Eye to read the mind of his opponents, granting him a huge advantage in any duel. If that weren't enough, he makes two Game-Breaker sets of cards. He can do that; he made the game after all.
  • Foil: His flair, smooth confidence, manipulative ability, and results contrast dramatically with the brutally direct failures of Bandit Keith, the arc's other prominent antagonist.
  • Four Is Death: His four Player Killers.
  • Freudian Excuse: Cynthia is this to him; all his evil is for her sake.
  • The Friend Nobody Likes: In the anime, given how much trouble he put them through and his own eccentricities, the cast are reluctant to ever cross paths with him again and are immensely distrustful of him when they have to.
  • Friend to All Children: As long as they don't have something he wants or can be used as leverage against the people who do, Pegasus is great with kids. During the National Tournament, before dueling against Keith, he explains how to play the card game to the kids there (though Kaiba points out in the manga that it was a move to create positive advertisement for the card game). In Yu-Gi-Oh R, he adopted orphans from all around the world to tutor them as card designers.
  • Funny Foreigner: In the Japanese version and in the manga, he has a very eccentric choice of words, mixing Japanese with English words, has a very high-pitched voice no matter the situation, and in all versions, he loves cartoons and comic books way too much.
  • A Glass of Chianti: He is fond of his wine. It is even listed as one of his favorite foods.
  • Gone Horribly Right: If implanted, the Millennium Eye will kill the host if he is unworthy. Unfortunately for the Mutous and the Kaibas, Pegasus was very worthy.
  • Graceful Loser: While he's devastated from losing in his duel against Yugi, he nevertheless keeps his promise and returns his victims' souls.
  • Gratuitous English: Constantly uses English phrases in his dialogue in the Japanese version, including a despairing Shiiiiiiit! when he loses to Yugi. In particular, his constantly calling Yugi "Yugi-boy" is taken directly from the Japanese version, where he does it in gratuitous English.
  • Hidden Agenda Villain: In the manga. We first know he needs something from Yugi, no matter what. Later, we learn from Mokuba that Pegasus intends to take over Kaiba Corporation and must defeat Yugi in an official duel as part of his deal with the Big Five. We don't know why he needs Kaiba's company until the very end of Duelist Kingdom. The dub, and to a lesser extent the original anime, hints at Pegasus' real goal more clearly with giving more importance to Cyndia's portrait in episode 28 (in the manga, the group viewed it briefly, and that's it) and dub!Pegasus' Inner Monologue in episode 34 clearly reveals what he is fighting for.
  • Hoist by His Own Petard: A majority of Pegasus' cards involve exploiting the power of his opponent's monsters, spells, and traps for his own benefit. Shadow Toon deserves special mention as it inflicts life point damage equal to the targeted monster's attack points.
    • On a bit of a personal level, his grand designs to revive his wife were put down by someone wielding the very cards he invented.
  • Homage: His Toon Monsters are this to American cartoons. Also, he prints cards for special events. Richard Garfield printed three special cards for his marriage and the birth of his two children.
  • Hypocrite: Calls out Keith for cheating, while he himself uses his Millennium Eye and position as creator of Duel Monsters to full advantage. However, it's averted with regards to how they react to their defeats. Unlike Keith, who proved to be a Sore Loser after his defeat to Joey and tried to threaten Pegasus with a gun, Pegasus accepts his defeat gracefully and honors his promises. It should be noted that Pegasus didn't take the drastic step of dumping Keith into the ocean (Anime) or inflicting a lethal Penalty Game (Manga) until after Keith threatened him with a gun in the former case, and a knife in the latter..
  • I Cannot Self-Terminate: In Reshef Of Destruction, Reshef worms itself into Pegasus' heart, who then asks the main character to have him sealed away before Reshef takes him over.
  • Icy Blue Eyes: He's cold and distant as an antagonist.
  • I Gave My Word: Pegasus promises to release the souls of Seto, Mokuba, and his grandfather if Yugi can defeat him. After he is defeated, Yugi tells him to fulfill his promise, which he does.
  • Innocent Blue Eyes: In the manga - he is fairly innocent and naive as a teenager (he wants to help a stranger in Egypt who got into trouble, who is in fact a graverobber who stole a Millennium Item).
  • Irony: When Pegasus also seals Kaiba's soul and looks at the two Soul Prison cards with Mokuba and Kaiba's souls in them, he mentions that the two brothers will never know the joy of restarting their relationship in this life. Then comes the end of Duelist Kingdom where karma strikes back at Pegasus - he fails to fulfil his dream of reuniting with Cyndia in his life. Upon learning about Pegasus' past, that particular quote becomes somewhat ironic, even.
  • I've Never Seen Anything Like This Before: One of the reasons why his Toons are so powerful. Nobody's ever seen Toon World or Toon monsters in play, as they were too powerful to be circulated, so nobody knew how to counter them.
  • Karma Houdini: In the anime, while he does get humbled after the Milennium Eye is stolen (and also, y'know, gets one of his eyes gouged out in the process), he largely goes unpunished for his actions in Duelist Kingdom, and his business continues running. 5D's even implies that he's memorialized as a hero after his death. At the same time, he's shown to have truly turned over a new leaf, working to properly improve Duel Monsters and in GX is shown to use his past experiences in regards to those who have lost their way, as seen in his reconciliation with Franz, so his status in that continuity perhaps isn't quite undeserved. He stays dead in the manga continuity and Gekko Tenma is the one who takes over Industrial Illusions. He is mentioned in Koyo Hibiki's backstory during the GX manga as the one who gave him Winged Kuriboh, but his face is notably shadowed and ominous there, reminding the reader of his shadier past.
  • Kick the Dog: Although a majority of the things he does as a villain are in service of a sympathetic goal, the man has way too much fun playing the bad guy along the way and isn't above messing with people for completely unrelated reasons.
  • Kubrick Stare: In the anime, especially during his second duel with Yugi.
  • Large and in Charge: Pegasus is a very tall man, towering over the already tall Kaiba, and Pegasus is the CEO of Industrial Illusions.
  • Large Ham: In the original manga, anime, and dub versions he is a showman.
  • Last-Name Basis: In the 4Kids version, where Pegasus is his last name instead and everyone calls him Pegasus.
  • Laughably Evil: During Duelist Kingdom. He may be amoral, but he's just so funny while he's doing it. Given that Dark Yugi and Kaiba are Stoic Straight Men in response, perhaps he just can't resist.
    "What, no 'hello', no 'how are you'? I thought we were friends, Kaiba-boy. Don't tell me that my kidnapping Mokuba and seizing control of your company has put a rift between us. It was nothing personal." —-English dub Pegasus
  • Leitmotif: "Illusion" in the Japanese anime.
  • Let's Get Dangerous!: He made the game, and has the Millennium Eye, yet it's still hard to take him seriously. His duel with Kaiba and especially his second Shadow Game with Yugi establish just how dangerous this man is.
  • Long-Haired Pretty Boy: He has shoulder length hair.
  • Love at First Sight: He and Cynthia became attracted to each other as soon as they met.
  • Love Makes You Evil: His desire to reunite with Cynthia leads him to do rather monstrous things.
  • MacGuffin Delivery Service: The primary reason Pegasus didn't mind Yugi's friends accompanying him into his private castle (in the anime at least) was that, thanks to Bakura, the group would be bringing him two Millennium Items rather than just the Puzzle. He simply didn't care one way or other in the manga, where he did not know that Bakura had the Ring.
  • Magical Eye: The Millennium Eye is a golden trinket in his eye socket that gives him the power of mind reading and, obviously, Shadow Games.
  • Manipulative Bastard:
    • Using the Millennium Eye to read minds gives him an absurd advantage over opponents: he can see every card they have, knows every strategy they're thinking of, and can look deeper into their memories to see their entire deck. Aside from his Toons, many of his cards have a Control theme, where he manipulates the opponent's moves and turns their cards back on them, which in tandem with his Eye lets him counter almost anything they might try to throw at him.
    • He's also just good at this in general, knowing how to manipulate Yugi and Kaiba perfectly. He abducts Grandpa Muto and Mokuba to force the two to come to his island, when Kaiba is set on rescuing Mokuba he ups the ante by sealing his soul in a card, and when Kaiba tries to force Pegasus to use his Duel Disks, Pegasus agrees on the condition that Kaiba duel Mokuba as Pegasus' proxy, forcing him to back down since he can't bring himself to do it.
  • Magitek: Thematically represents such as a contrast to Yugi and Kaiba's Magic Versus Science rivalry, having the Millennium Eye to combat Yugi's Puzzle while being Kaiba's business partner looking to take over his company. Even more apt in the dub, which states that Pegasus's plan to revive his wife was to combine the Millennium Items with Kaiba Corp's hologram technology.
  • Meaningful Name: In Japan, a pegasus is often referred to as a "tenma", or "horse of heaven" (ten=heaven, ma=horse). However, there's another word "tenma". The same "ten" kanji is used for both, but the second tenma's "ma" kanji is the one that translates to "demon". Thus, we have a homonym meaning "demon of heaven"... or, to keep the actual, non-literal intent, "fallen angel".
  • Mind Rape: One of his Penalty Games. He grotesquely morphed Bandit Keith's hand into a gun and, against his will, made him play Russian Roulette with himself (reliving his depression after he was humiliated by Pegasus in the American tournament).
  • Missing Mom: In the manga, his father can be briefly seen, but nothing is known about his mother.
  • Mood Whiplash: Oh boy. Pegasus often changes between a cruel villain and a goofy gentleman, but his duel against Yugi is the best example. Even his deck is this Trope, shifting from the silly Toon Monsters to the bizarre and creepy Illusion Monsters. See Villainous Breakdown below.
  • The Mourning After: He was willing to do anything to reunite with Cynthia... In the manga, he goes to the grave with this wish in his heart. In the anime, the entire subject is dropped after Duelist Kingdom. note 
  • My God, What Have I Done?: Though it happens way before his actual Heel–Face Turn, the carnage caused by his recreation of the Egyptian God Cards completely horrified him.
  • Mysterious Middle Initial: It has never been stated what the J. stands for.
  • Necromantic: The means of his Evil Plan; revive Cyndia, at least in the dub, by using the Millennium Puzzle to bring a hologram of her to life... or something. In the manga, he tragically just wants to feel and see her visage again using Kaiba Corp's Solid Vision.
  • Nerf: Pegasus's Toon cards are this in GX. While they're still useful, they're no longer the Game Breakers they were in the original anime. Maybe these were the versions he modified and released to the public?
  • Never Say "Die": The 4Kids dub averts this with Cyndia.
  • No Celebrities Were Harmed: Being an American game designer who created a popular card game In-Universe, Pegasus' clearly a homage to Richard Garfield, who's best-known for being the creator of Magic: The Gathering, the Trope Codifier of Trading Card Game.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: He uses this tactic against Seto Kaiba and Yugi.
  • An Offer You Can't Refuse: He seals Yugi's grandfather's soul into a card (or a camcorder, in the manga) order to force Yugi to come to Duelist Kingdom.
  • Oh, Crap!: Gets this look after Yugi summons Magician of Black Chaos.
  • O.O.C. Is Serious Business: His Penalty Game for Bandit Keith in the manga. While Pegasus is hardly a saint, his preferred method of dealing with people personally leaves them largely unharmed physically. Keith, on the other hand, has his hand turned into a gun and is made to blow his own brains out with Pegasus watches with an impassive, soulless stare.
  • Pay Evil unto Evil: In the manga, he deals a brutal and horrific death to Bandit Keith with a penalty game. Few people would shed any tears over him. Downplayed in the anime, where Keith is simply dropped through a trap door into the ocean.
  • Pet the Dog:
    • At his arrival at Shadi's village, upon seeing a terrified graverobber seized by Shadi's men, he immediately offers to pay for whatever was stolen. And this is supposed to be at the nadir of his post-Cyndia depression, to boot!
    • In the manga, he agrees to forgo the finals duel between Yugi and Jonouchi and lets Yugi duel him outright.
    • When Joey manages to overcome Keith's cheating Pegasus praises Joey, telling him he performed admirably.
  • Posthumous Character: In the spin-off manga, Yu-Gi-Oh! R, and the manga continuity as a whole.
  • Psychopathic Manchild: He loves his favorite comic book and his Toon monsters, but there's a broken and very dangerous man under the childish exterior.
  • Redemption Demotion: As the Arc Villain of Duelist Kingdom, Pegasus was a near-unstoppable force and it took everything in Yugi's arsenal to defeat him. Following that arc's resolution, whenever Pegasus reappears, he is presented as an ally to Yugi and his friends. In those appearance, his prowess is less on display, losing his soul to Mai during the DOMA arc and suffering a defeat at Kaiba's hand in the Pyramid of Light movie. A Justified Trope as, without his Millenium Eye, Pegasus lost his biggest advantage over other players and was no longer able to counter his opponent's strategies as swiftly as he could when he knew what cards they were holding.
  • Retired Monster: In the Pyramid of Light movie—he's not technically a villain anymore, but he's not really good either, and generally seems to prefer staying out of the affairs of the main cast until it becomes clear that something more sinister is going on. The anime moves him to a proper Heel–Face Turn that is better seen in GX.
  • Sad Clown: Throughout the series, he is shown being an overly-competent Giggling Villain and a cheap-skate who is willing to hold souls hostage, humiliate his opponents and lie and cheat to get what he wants. After Yugi and Yami defeat him, it is revealed that everything he ever did was just so that he could be reunited with his dead love Cyndia.
  • Sanity Slippage: After getting the Eye: constantly seeing Cyndia just out of reach, unable to touch her and knowing that she's just an illusion cannot have been good for his mental stability.
  • Sarcastic Clapping: In the anime, when Kaiba finds Mokuba in the dungeon.
  • Save the Villain: An unusual case. In the manga, Yami Yugi was notably quite vicious with his Penalty Games that he inflicted, this trait lasting up until his duel with PaniK. It's only after Pegasus reveals the dark history of the Millennium Items and their potentially evil nature following his duel with the two Yugis that Yami Yugi begins to engage in self-introspection about who he is and whether or not he himself is evil, prompting him to abandon the act of inflicting Penalty Games from that point on.
  • Scars are Forever: Post-Duelist Kingdom in the anime, much to the horror to those who witness his empty eye socket.
  • Schrödinger's Cast: He's dead and gone in the manga following Duelist Kingdom, but in the anime he survived. The manga spin-off Yu-Gi-Oh! R introduced his protégé Yako Tenma who planned to resurrect him, and Gekko Tenma, Yako's twin brother who stepped in to run the company after Pegasus passed. The anime eventually brought him back for the movie, Seasons 4 and 5 and GX, and in the video game Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction he gets possessed by Reshef after the events of Battle City and is one of the game's main antagonist, being sealed away with the entity afterwards.
  • Screw the Rules, I Make Them!:
    • As the creator of Duel Monsters, Pegasus creates cards that are in-universe Game Breakers, such as Toon World, Sacrifice, and Thousand-Eyes Sacrifice, all of which have very powerful effects that singlehandedly turn the tide of duels and are very difficult to counter. Then he never releases them to the public and keeps them for himself. The heroes lampshade that this is obscenely unfair.
    • His Toon monsters also fall under New Rules as the Plot Demands, as their effects are tweaked every time he uses them until GX brings them in-line with their real-life counterparts.
    • In Pyramid Of Light, Kaiba confronts him over a way to beat the Egyptian God Cards, but Pegasus tries to play dumb since he created them to be invincible. But Kaiba sees right through him since it’s only logical that as the game’s creator, Pegasus would have never given away the Egyptian God cards unless he created a card that can beat them. Pegasus admits he’s right.
  • Shower Scene: In the novelization of the Pyramid of Light movie. While we don't see it in the actual movie, it is lovingly detailed in the novel.
    "Pegasus’ entire body is drenched with a cold sweat. Flinging off his silk pajamas to expose his naked white body, he took a hot shower."
  • Signature Mon: While Pegasus is more famous for his Toon monsters, Sacrifice and its fused form, Thousand-Eyes Sacrifice, are considered his ace monsters and his most dangerous cards, and he will use them when he's not screwing around.
  • Sissy Villain: He's foppish, childish, and thin, but he's still an intimidating force to reckon with.
  • Slasher Smile: In the anime once his duel with Yugi becomes a Shadow Game and he's on the cusp of winning.
  • Small Role, Big Impact: He's the anime's Starter Villain and an Arc Villain in the manga, but setting up Duel Monsters arguably makes everything in the franchise past his arc possible. Including several near end of the world scenarios. He still counts as this in the manga, as his creation of the God Cards and introduction of the Millennium Eye set up several of the arc conflicts afterwards, with Dungeon Dice Monsters as the only exception.
  • Spared by the Adaptation: Dark Bakura kills him in the manga after he steals his Millennium Eye, but Pegasus survives in the anime and anime-based spinoffs and movies.
  • Squishy Wizard: While he's quite smart and manipulates people rather well, he's described as physically weak in the Pyramid of Light novelization, and in the original manga, he tells Kaiba he's not good at physical sports when the Duel Disk prototype is suggested. He's thus a contrast to Bandit Keith, who takes up the role of the big, strong thug.
  • Star-Crossed Lovers: With Cyndia. He tries to reunite with her twice, failing both of the times. But in the manga, they do reunite after Pegasus is killed by Bakura and atones for his sins.
  • Start of Darkness: His backstory shows how he went from a lovestruck painter to a man who steals souls.
  • Stealing the Credit: While rich to start with, he became obscenely wealthy because he "created" Duel Monsters when many of its initial game components and rules were created by the ancient Egyptians.
  • Stepford Smiler: His silly and childish exterior hides both insanity and desperation.
  • Subliminal Seduction: In the manga version of his first duel with Dark Yugi, Pegasus's cursed VHS tape uses very short freeze-frames to influence Dark Yugi to play the cards he wanted, to make him think that Pegasus can somehow predict his cards. Pegasus also predicts that Dark Yugi would catch the trick, and he would later reveal in the end that he can read his mind, showing off his Millenium Eye.
  • Talking to the Dead: In the anime, he addresses his beloved's portrait before realizing he's being watched by Dark Bakura.
  • There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Plans to use Jigen Bakudan to nuke his own field while Sacrifice has absorbed Yugi's monsters. Pegasus's score would be unaffected due to Sacrifice's ATK being 0, but Yami Yugi would take the full 3900 ATK-worth of damage that Sacrifice had absorbed. Let's keep in mind that Yugi only had 400 Life Points left on that turn. Overkill is kinda putting it mildly.
  • Together in Death: With Cyndia in the manga, according to Takahashi.
  • Too Awesome to Use: Outside of the cards based on those used in the Egyptian Shadow Games, the expansions Pegasus and his development teams made to Duel Monsters occasionally fell into this. Some of these he keeps to himself (the Toons). Others that were either too powerful or simply unfinished were offered as tournament prizes to be won and owned, but never played. The Egyptian God Cards are the most well-known examples, as their connection to the actual entities turned the cards into incredibly dangerous magical artifacts on top of being powerful cards, which hadn't been Pegasus' intention when he created them, leading to him giving the cards to Ishizu for safe-keeping. Another example is the Golden Castle of Stromberg from the KC Grand Prix filler arc, which was a partially-developed tournament prize that was never supposed to be used in actual competition.
  • Took a Level in Badass: A mild example. As other entries note, Pegasus originally had trouble improvising when opponents found a way around his Toon cards and Millennium Eye. However, by the time of GX he beats Crowler and Bonaparte in convincing fashion without any special advantages (he uses Toon Kingdom, but it's been deliberately nerfed to be balanced). Since his previous defeats by Yugi and Kaiba, Pegasus has clearly been polishing his dueling skills.
  • Toon: His Magic Card Toon World transforms monsters into classic toons, complete with the ability to stretch out of the way of attacks. They include Toon Mermaid, Toon Dragon Egger, Toon Daemon, and the exceptionally powerful Blue-Eyes Toon Dragon.
  • Tragic Dream: His desire to spend the rest of his life with Cyndia makes him a Tragic Villain.
  • Trap Door: When Bandit Keith threatens his life in the anime, Pegasus presses a button with his foot that opens a trap door around the perimeter of his seat that sends Keith into the ocean.
  • The Trickster: One of the more malevolent examples. His deck and play-style have a strong emphasis on rule-bending to just straight-up cheating and his Millenium Eye allows him to plan ways to subvert his opponent's strategies turns in advance. His toons are evocative of Karmic Tricksters and Screwball Squirrels in Western Animation, with every other card being clown-esque in some way.
  • Troubled Fetal Position/Dull Eyes of Unhappiness: After Cyndia's death he completely shuts down, only recovering after his trip to Egypt.
  • The Unfettered: For his beloved Cyndia, he will steal souls, buy whole companies and crush anyone he needs to.
  • Unskilled, but Strong: He has the most powerful deck of his time by a wide margin and supernatural powers on his side. But whenever he can't rely on either of them, his strategies tend to devolve into firing blindly with his strongest cards while ignoring any defenses the opponent might have set up (which, both times against Yugi, is what does him in). It's telling that despite losing the powers of his Eye late into his second duel with Yugi, he still comes within 100 life points of beating him. Later, Yami Bakura even makes a point of stating that he's waited for Pegasus to be weakened from his duel with Yugi before challenging him for his Eye, further suggesting that Pegasus is an unusually strong wielder of his Millennium item, despite being so young and comparatively inexperienced.
  • Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Bringing Duel Monsters into the modern era makes him responsible for the original series, its successors, and all the wondrous and cataclysmic events therein.
  • Used to Be a Sweet Kid: In his flashbacks, he was shown to be a kind boy.
  • Verbal Tic: "Deeeesu!" and "Maaaasu!" in the Japanese. In both versions, he tends to tack a person's gender onto the end of their name, IE "Kaiba-boy."
  • Villain Forgot to Level Grind: Dark Yugi suspects that Pegasus's dueling skills have decayed quite a bit since he started using the Millennium Eye, forcing him to heavily rely on the effects of his overpowered Toons and Thousand-Eyes Sacrifice when the Eye's magic is blocked. He's proven right when these effects are worked around and Pegasus is defeated. Later duels in the series don't go much better for him, though he's apparently grown out of this by the time of GX.
  • Villain with Good Publicity: In the anime, he survives the Duelist Kingdom arc and remains a beloved cultural icon in the eyes of the world with his crimes of kidnapping and corporate espionage never coming up.
  • Villainous Breakdown: When Yugi and Dark Yugi manage to use their Mind Shuffle tactic to evade Pegasus' Mind Scan ability and destroy all his Toon Monsters. Pegasus immediately drops his silly persona and stops toying around, starting a high-level Shadow Game where he even manages to psychically wear out the regular Yugi, albeit temporarily. It's underscored by him changing from the dangerous, yet still goofy Toons to the horrifying, outwardly malevolent Illusion monsters.
  • Villains Out Shopping: He is shown drinking wine and reading his Funny Rabbit manga during the Duelist Kingdom tournament.
  • Villain Song: For the English 4Kids dub: Face Up, Face Down.
  • Vocal Dissonance: His campy and flowery way of speaking, compared to all the horrible things he does. It's even worse in the Japanese version, where his voice is extremely high-pitched and comical, yet he still comes off as sinister during his darker moments.
  • White Hair, Black Heart: He's a cold and manipulative villain, though he does have some sympathetic qualities and and he drops this quality after he is defeated.
  • Wicked Cultured: He's sophisticated, smart, drinks fine wine and dresses well.
  • The Wonka: He's the creator of Duel Monsters, and is very rich. He's also fond of metaphors, cartoons and has an odd speech pattern. His only close friends are Cyndia (who died), or at the most, Mr. Croquet, his bodyguard. He also has his adopted children in Yu-Gi-Oh! R. Nonetheless, he has made his eccentricities, specifically his passion for toons, around which he created an entire archetype, work to his advantage as a game designer.
  • Would Hurt a Child: Has no qualms threatening Yugi and his friends with his henchmen and stealing Mokuba's soul. Though this stops after Yugi defeats him.
  • Younger Than He Looks: Many people assume he's in his thirties or is much older due to both his white hair and his aristocrat vibe. He's only 24 years old during Duelist Kingdom.
  • Your Soul Is Mine!: Inflicts this with his Penalty Games against the Kaiba Brothers (and Sugoroku in the anime).

    Mr. Crocketts (Croquet) 

Mr. Crocketts (Mr.クロケッツ; misutaa kurokettsu) (Croquet)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crocketts_2240.png
Voiced by: Yoshikazu Nagata (JP), Ted Lewis (EN), Víctor Delgado (Latin American Spanish), Antonio Villar (European Spanish)

Pegasus' right-hand servant and butler.


  • Adaptation Dye-Job: In the anime, he has gray hair, but in the video games he's shown with brown hair.
  • Demoted to Extra: He has most of his role and appearances cut in the anime, including the briefcase scene and his explanation of Pegasus' plans to the group.
  • Distressed Dude: In the manga, with his head held in a briefcase.
  • Last-Name Basis: He's only referred to as Mr. Crocketts.
  • Obfuscating Stupidity: He tries this with Kaiba in the manga. But because he's not Pegasus, it fails badly for him.
  • Old Retainer: Pegasus' plans were very important for him, and was one of the very few who knew what was going on. In Yu-Gi-Oh! R, he addresses Tenma Yakou, Pegasus' adopted child, as Master Tenma.

    Saruwatari (Kemo) 

Saruwatari (猿渡; Saruwatari) (Kemo)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/myhairgivesmesiperstrength_1721.png
Voiced by: Masahiro Okazaki (JP), Eric Stuart (EN), Martín Soto (Latin American Spanish), David García (European Spanish)

Saruwatari first appeared as one of Seto and Mokuba Kaiba's private bodyguards, back when Seto Kaiba was the Arc Villain of the Death-T arc of the original manga. During Death-T, he and other guards held Jonouchi and Anzu at gunpoint during Dark Yugi's final games with the Kaiba brother. However, in the Duelist Kindgom arc, he appears as one of Pegasus' suits working for Industrial Illusions, revealed to have been spying on Kaiba Corporation for Pegasus.

According to him, he doesn't play games. So he makes other people play for him, such as the Ventriloquist of Death.


  • Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole: Saruwatari is shown to be working for Gozaburo, who was introducing the Kaibas (still kids at the time) to a young Siegfried, in a flashback during the KC Grand Prix arc. note 
  • Adaptational Badass: In the anime he's a lot more worthy of being Pegasus' bodyguard, as he's incredibly agile, easily recovers from being thrown by Honda and immediately follows up with a jump kick that knocks the boy's ass out cold, and even gets out of being held hostage by Kaiba. Compare this to the manga where he gets his ass kicked by Jonouchi and Honda during Death-T and Jonouchi knocks him out with one punch during Duelist Kingdom.
  • Anime Hair: It's the source of his fame!
  • The Brute: Oh, so very much. And the only person in the manga that would rather not play games period.
  • Chekhov's Gunman: Hey, remember one of the guards from Death-T? That's him, alright. And now he has pointy hair!
  • Jerkass: Deliberately breaks promises such as getting Star Chips back for a duelist who had them wrongfully stolen by Mokuba, knocks both his chips and 2 of Yugi's out of Mokuba's hand, and refuses to release Mokuba even after Dark Yugi beats the Ventriloquist of Death (manga)/Monster Clown who disguises himself as Kaiba (anime).
  • Karma Houdini: Despite being one of the nastier customers on Pegasus' payroll, and almost certainly the only one 100% in on the plot to take over Kaibacorp, he suffers no real repercussions other than taking a few lumps from Kaiba (and in the manga, Jonouchi).
  • Lightning Bruiser: A very huge and muscly bodyguard but when Honda manages to throw him, he also showed amazing agility by recovering in midair and performing a flying kick on him.
  • Meaningful Name: His name means monkey herder. Seeing how he's always running after or supervising kids.
  • Pet the Dog: Probably falls under Just Following Orders, but he does do one vaguely humane thing in the manga - personally unlocking Kaiba's cell after Pegasus' defeat, and telling Kaiba he's free to go.
  • Sinister Shades: Always wears them.

    Ventriloquist of the Dead 

Ventriloquist of the Dead (死者の腹話術師; Shisha no Fukuwajutsūshi)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/captura_de_tela_2024_03_01_155710.png

The Ventriloquist of the Dead is one of Pegasus's hired Player Killers, who fights in a Shadow Game of Duel Monsters against Dark Yugi using a puppet of Seto Kaiba and his stolen cards. Yugi originally challenged Saruwatari to a game on Duelist Kingdom, in order to retrieve the two Star Chips Mokuba stole and confiscated by Saruwatari, but since Saruwatari doesn't like playing games, he arranged for the Ventriloquist of the Dead to face Yugi instead.

Upon losing, Dark Yugi, furious that the ventriloquist stole Kaiba's cards and toyed with his soul with a puppet, inflicted a Penalty Game on the Player Killer, where he believed a puppet of himself was attacking him - making him one of Dark Yugi's final Shadow Game victims.

This Player Killer uses a card deck stolen from Seto Kaiba. He does not appear in the anime, and is instead replaced by the Mimic of Doom, who impersonates Kaiba himself.


  • Adapted Out: Is replaced in the anime by the Mimic of Doom.
  • Asshole Victim: Steals the cards of a supposedly dead man and then makes a mockery of him using a puppet... no one particularly cares when Dark Yugi Mind Rapes him.
  • Creepy Doll: Plays with a deranged puppet based off of Kaiba, and claims that the doll is possessed with Kaiba's dead spirit.
  • Dead Person Impersonation: He claims that his puppet contains the real Seto Kaiba's soul while Seto is stuck in a coma following his Penalty Game in Death-T.
    • His fat anime counterpart, The Mimic of Doom, pretends to be Kaiba Back from the Dead after supposedly committing suicide using his unexplained shapeshifting powers (however, in the English dub, he actually IS the spirit of Seto Kaiba - his "evil half that was banished to the Shadow Realm", that is)
  • Dub Name Change: In the English versions of Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction and the Dungeon Dice Monsters video games, he's called the Puppeteer of Doom and The Puppeteer respectively.
  • Living Doll Collector: Well, he pretends to be this. He only collects dolls based on people thought to be dead, rather than actual people.
  • Malevolent Masked Men: Always wears a face mask over his mouth, and as one of Pegasus' Player Killers has the cruelty to match.
  • Marionette Master: He doesn't have a playing face of his own, he fights of all his games through his dolls.
  • Mind Rape: Thanks to Dark Yugi, he's now forever trapped in an illusion where he's being attacked by a creepy puppet of himself.
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast: "Ventriloquist of the Dead". Sure, he might be a good guy...
  • Player Killing: One of several meant to take out the gamers on Duelist Kingdom (Pegasus's goal is to be the only one left in the competition - thus becoming the best duelist and being given Kaiba Corp). When introduced, he's basically trying to player kill Yugi.
  • Slasher Smile: His Kaiba puppet looks like it's trying to usurp Chuckie.

    Player Killer of Darkness (Panik) 

Player Killer of Darkness (「闇」のプレイヤーキラー; "Yami" no Pureiyā Kirā) (Panik)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/pkod_lod.png
Voiced by: Hari Kaneko (JP), David Moo (EN), Octavio Rojas (Latin American Spanish), Miguel Ayones (European Spanish)

An enormous man with the soul of a thug, he serves as one of Pegasus' Player Killers during the Duelist Kingdom arc, kidnapping unsuspecting gamers during the thick of night and intimidating them into losing their star chips. He defeats Mai and is in turn taken down by Dark Yugi in a Shadow Game - a duel where each turn was a step up the gallows, and upon losing, Dark Yugi inflicts a Penalty Game that hangs the Player Killer, becoming one of Dark Yugi's final victims.

This Player Killer uses a deck that focuses on hiding in the darkness and intimidation. His monsters in the anime are infamous for their very unusual stat values, a fact that is later adapted into the OCG/TCG. In the manga, his monsters have normal stat values. This is because the anime version of his duel with Dark Yugi uses the Field Power Bonus on his monsters, thus his monsters have their original stats lowered, so that their stats become close to their manga counterparts' once the Field Power Bonus is applied to them.


  • Adaptational Wimp: His monsters in the anime have about 30% less stat values than their manga counterparts. That's because the anime version of the duel uses the Field Power Bonus on them, so if powered up, their stats come very close to their manga stats.
  • Asshole Victim: Dark Yugi hangs him in the manga and Mind Crushes him in the anime. Nobody cares.
  • Ax-Crazy: The Player Killer of Darkness is violently insane, and gets worse as the duel progresses.
  • Beat Them at Their Own Game: He relies on the darkness and intimidation to play mind games on his opponent. Yami Yugi shows him how you really play mind games with your opponent.
  • The Brute: Of the Player Killers. He's probably the least talented of the four we meet, uses thuggish tactics to intimidate his opponents, is none too bright, and very violent.
  • The Bully: How Yugi sees him in the English dub of the anime.
  • Cheaters Never Prosper: In the anime, he tries to kill Yugi with fire upon losing. His use of pyrotechnics has little effect on Dark Yugi, who disposes of him with a Mind Crush after his victory.
  • Dark Is Evil: Relies on shadow and darkness and uses DARK-attribute Fiend monsters.
  • Death by Irony: In the manga, after Dark Yugi offers to bet his life in return to make up for the number discrepancy between his and Mai's star chips, the Player Killer of Darkness ties a noose around his neck to make sure Dark Yugi dies after he loses. At the end of the game, in typical Dark Yugi fashion, he experiences a Penalty Game in which he is hanged by a noose.
  • Deflector Shield: He combos Chaos Shield with Castle of Dark Illusions to make his side of the field impossible to attack. This becomes his ultimate downfall as the Castle is knocked out of the sky, and his monsters are trapped inside the Chaos Shield. Squish.
  • Dirty Coward: He scares and ambushes unknowing gamers in the shadows in order make himself seem braver than them. Dark Yugi isn't buying it. Carries into his duelist tactics — as Dark Yugi notes, hiding his monsters in shadows so opponents can't attack because they don't know how strong they are is a cowardly way to duel, and when they're revealed, he switches them to defense and sets them up behind barriers to protect them until the shadows return.
  • Dumb Muscle: One of Yugi's stupider opponents, the Player Killer of Darkness relies more on scare tactics and, in the anime, pyrotechnics than actual talent.
  • Everyone Calls Him "Barkeep": In the Japanese version, he's only known by his title, "The Player Killer of Darkness."
  • Evil Sounds Deep: A very evil person with a very deep voice.
  • Mind Rape: To the extreme. Dark Yugi pretty much hangs him using a Penalty Game.
  • My Nayme Is: His dub name, "Panik", though in this case the unique spelling is to match the "P" and "K" on his coat, which originally stood for "Player Killer".
  • Named by the Adaptation: He isn't named in the original Japanese version.
  • Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Once again, "Player Killer of Darkness". In the dub, "Panik" still fits well for someone who relies on fear and intimidation to duel.
  • Player Killing: One of several meant to take out the gamers on Duelist Kingdom (Pegasus's goal is to be the only one left in the competition - thus becoming the best duelist and being given Kaiba Corp).
  • Psycho for Hire: Joined up with Pegasus because he likes breaking people.
  • Pyromaniac: In the anime, at least. Uses flamethrowers to fry the opponent's seat during duels and throw them off their game. He later tries to kill Yugi with them.
  • Sanity Slippage: As the Shadow Game progesses and the duel turns against him. "Three turns left."
  • Signature Mon: He has two: Castle of Dark Illusions, and King of Yamimakai. The former allows his playstyle to happen, clouding the field with a dark mist to hide his field (while powering up his demons in the anime), with the latter being the strongest of his monsters.
  • Slasher Smile: Often has one.
  • Sore Loser: In the anime, he tries to burn Yugi/Dark Yugi to death after they beat him.
  • Stone Wall: His Castle of Dark Illusions, which not only has incredible defense, but shrouds the field in darkness, making it impossible for his monsters to be attacked. The addition of his Chaos Shield further defends his monsters and his Life Points, at the cost of locking his cards in place, and preventing them from attacking.
  • Villainous Breakdown: Completely loses it when Dark Yugi starts revealing his thinly-veiled cowardice.
  • Would Hit a Girl: He roughs up and shoves Mai after defeating her.

    The Meikyū Brothers (The Paradox Brothers) 

The Meikyū Brothers (迷宮兄弟; Meikyū Kyōdai) (The Paradox Brothers)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/meikyubrothers_duli.png
Mei/Para voiced by: Takashi Matsuyama (JP), Sam Riegel (Episode 19 & Duel Links, EN), Jerry Lobozzo (episodes 20-21, EN), Eric Stuart (GX, EN), Jorge Palafox (Latin American Spanish), Francisco Javier García (European Spanish)
Kyu/Dox voiced by: Hitoshi Nishimura (JP), Marc Thompson (Yu-Gi-Oh, EN), Eric Stuart (GX & Duel Links, EN), Luis Alfonso Padilla (Latin American Spanish), Fernando de Luis (European Spanish)

Two eccentric brothers of implied Chinese descent hired by Pegasus as Player Killers. They take on both Yugi and Jounouchi in a tag battle, threatening to leave the group trapped underground if they lost. However, the brothers still have another game that Yugi and Jonouchi must pass, which is a riddle. They inform them that one of the doors that leads out of the room will lead them to the surface, while the other simply leads to an endless maze. Dark Yugi outs their Unwinnable by Design riddle with the use of a Two-Headed Coin.

The brothers both use decks that turn the game into a labyrinth board game, their Final Boss being Gate Guardian.

In the anime, they reappear in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, facing Judai and Shou in a Tag Team Duel, but are defeated once again.


  • All Your Powers Combined: Their Gate Guardian is an entity made of three different monsters, all with their own ATK/DEF and individual effects, unlike its Awesome, but Impractical OCG/TCG counterpart.
  • Bald of Evil: Both brothers are entirely bald, much like shaved Tibetan monks.
  • Bash Brothers: Their main gimmick is tag team battling.
  • Breakout Character: They managed to be popular enough to appear on Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.
  • Creepy Twins: Less creepy and far more effective.
  • Dual Boss: The twins have only played tag duels in every depiction.
  • Dungeon Bypass: In Duelist Kingdom, most of their monsters are designed to bypass the maze they enforce upon their opponents. Examples include a Ambushing Enemy, a tunneling Sand Worm, and a Drill Tank.
  • Evil Laugh: Typical of early villains of the series.
  • Finishing Each Other's Sentences: They do this in the dub.
  • Final Boss: Gate Guardian of the labyrinth/Duel Monsters game.
  • Gate Guardian: Aside from having the powerful Gate Guardian as their ace monster, the roles of the Meikyu Brothers is exactly this trope; trying to stop Yugi and his friends from leaving the labyrinth by blocking the exit.
  • Giant Spider: One of their cards is Jirai Gumo also known as the Landmine Spider. In the Japanese anime and the manga this was a sort of prototype to the Trap Monster.
  • Karma Houdini: In the manga, they simply disappear after the heroes overcome their final riddle. They weren't particularly nicer than Pegasus' other player killers (unless you count the fact that they sort of kept their word to let the heroes go), and Dark Yugi has given people brutal Penalty Games for far less. The anime has them appear in an epilogue where they're shown dueling Mai and Vivian in China, and they even appeared in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, though at least in these cases they're playing fairly.
  • Knights and Knaves: Pull this when questioned on the way out of their dungeon.
  • Meaningful Name: Para and Dox's named when combined form "Paradox." Their Japanese names when combined form the kanji for "Labyrinth."
  • Player Killing: Same deal as the other Player Killers.
  • Rhymes on a Dime: In the dub, one brother says a sentence or phrase, then the other brother finishes the phrase and rhymes it. They speak normally in the original.
  • Screw the Rules, I Make Them!: In their tag duel with Yugi and Jonouchi, the twins blatantly twist the rules of the Labyrinth duel to benefit them, particularly by coming up with many new rules that let their monsters attack anywhere in the labyrinth without retaliation, and they suddenly bring up the rule about flying monsters being unable to enter the labyrinth once their opponents get a flying monster in play. In the dub, Joey flat accuses them of making up the rules as they go along, and they might as well for how unfair those rules are.
  • Signature Mon: Gate Guardian, a powerful monster that is made of the two brothers' three monsters: Sanga the Thunder Demon God, Hyuuga the Wind Demon God and Suuga the Water Demon God.
  • Unwinnable by Design:
    • Their labyrinth riddle game. They're just a couple of liars. They can change the right answer at will in the anime, while in the manga both doors lead to the same place.
    • Dark Yugi figures the answer because in the standard riddle, the person making a decision finds a sign with the rules on them or are otherwise informed of the rules, but since the brothers instead told him the rules themselves and even in the rules there's at least one liar between them, nothing stops a liar from lying about the rules. Dark Yugi decides to fight fire with fire, and get the answer out of them using his own Unwinnable by Design coin game, with an added (unexpected) distraction from Dark Bakura to keep the brothers from figuring out one of his hands doesn't play fair.
  • Tattooed Crook: They have kanji symbols on their heads.
  • Theme Twin Naming: In the Japanese version, their names are Mei and Kyu (Meikyu is Labyrinth). In the English version, their names are Para and Dox (Paradox).

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