History Manga / YuGiOh

* InconsistentDub: The Viz translation of the manga is very inconsistent with naming. Mokuba calls his big brother "Kaiba" when he called him "nii-sama" in the original version, though there's still a few instances where he calls him Seto, Pegasus switches from being Pegasus J. Crawfor and Maximillion J. Pegasus from one chapter to the next, they refer to Mai Kujaku as [[VideoGame/TheKingOfFighters Mai Shiranui]] a few times, and a mistranslation involving Dark Marik made it seem like he was around for a thousand years.

* AllThereInTheManual: ''The Gospel of Truth''.

* ArcWords: "Something you can show, but can't see" gets repeated quite a lot, at least early on. Originally it referred to the Millennium Puzzle, but it's used to refer to many different things since then, by slightly altering the way the line is interpreted.

* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: Jonouchi looked completely different on the first chapter compared with the rest of the series, having a different haircut.

* InconsistentDub: The Viz translation of the manga is very inconsistent with naming. A notable example are the times where they make Mokuba call his big brother "Kaiba" when he called him "nii-sama" in the original version. They also refer to Mai Kujaku as Mai Shiranui a few times, and a mistranslation involving Dark Marik made it seem like he was around for a thousand years.

* ThePowerOfFriendship: Friendship is one of the key elements of the series.

* AgentPeacock: Pegasus is this.

** Shadi, good lord.

* {{Bishonen}}: Marik Ishtar, Ryou Bakura, and Ryuji Otogi. The latter two even share the same fangirls at different points in the manga.

** Mokuba explains that his mother died shortly after his birth. Whether this was by childbirth or not is not specified, but [[PromotionToParent the result stays the same.]]

** Yugi's grandpa, Sugoroku Mutou, is usually seen with Yugi or his friends, with not much characterization beyond explaining the current game or offering insight about the duel. He also becomes a mentor for Jonouchi when it comes to the Duel Monsters card game. Sugoroku has also been used as a motivator for Yugi twice: the first time is when he became hospitalized due to Kaiba subjecting him to Death T's penalty game. The second time is when Pegasus J. Crawford stole his soul, forcing Yugi to participate in his Duelist Kingdom tournament. The Millennium World arc reveals that he was once an adventuring archaeologist who played plenty of games, which is how he discovered the Millennium Puzzle. After he retired from his adventure, he would give the Puzzle to Yugi, kicking off the events of the entire manga years later. The NAS anime expands on his archaeologist traits, with {{Filler Arc}}s and Episodes focused on him and his friend Professor Hawkins. Yugi's mother also makes a few appearances in the manga (she only appears once in the NAS anime), and is characterized as being worried about her son [[TalkingToThemself talking to himself]] (when in actuality he is talking to Yami Yugi).
** Katsuya Jonouchi/Joey Wheeler has mom, sister, and dad, who don't get much characterization beyond their relation to him. His father is introduced by him throwing a bottle at the door, with the only features we see of his father being his boots. From there, the readers learn that Jonouchi's parents are divorced, with his father being an [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] and [[TheGamblingAddict gambling addict]]. It characterizes Jonouchi as the underdog, looking to do anything to help clear up the debts, including doing several part time jobs or entering a game show to win a million yen. Jonouchi's sister, Shizuka Kawai/Serenity Wheeler is also used as a motivator for Jonouchi, where by the time the Duelist Kingdom arc rolls around, her eyesight has deteriorated to the point she would need an expensive eye surgery to prevent her from going blind. Jonouchi enters Pegasus' Duelist Kingdom tournament to win the prize money that would be able to pay for the operation. After Duelist Kingdom and around Battle City, Shizuka becomes a RecurringCharacter, though mainly to support Jonouchi. The NAS anime has her dueling against Big Five member Johnson during the Virtual World Filler arc, but is seen as an inexperienced duelist whose character revolves around being protected by her brother, or Ryuji Otogi/Duke Devlin and Hiroto Honda/Tristan Taylor's love triangle shenanigans.
** In the manga, Gozaburo Kaiba is the catalyst that explains why Seto Kaiba is the way he is and not much else. Gozaburo was looking for an heir to his company, with Seto challenging him to a Chess match with the stipulation of adopting him and Mokuba if Seto won, which he did. Gozaburo then raised him through an abusive accelerated learning program, which motivated Seto to overthrow him as [=KaibaCorp=]'s CEO. Gozaburo then taught him what happens to losers, where he then threw himself out of a window, with Kaiba becoming a cold-hearted and ruthless person himself. The Battle City arc in particular reveals that Seto built the Duel Tower over the remains of his stepfather's military facility, looking to destroy everything he knew about the past and his abusive stepfather, with his victory against Yugi being representative of that.
** The Virtual World filler arc of the NAS anime reveals that Gozaburo digitized his mind into the same world as his biological son, Noah, and that he was the orchestrator behind the arc's events. This arc frames his adoption of Seto as finding a proper vessel for his sickly son, though his plans changed so that he could become the true CEO once again. He's defeated by Seto once again in a Duel, and is destroyed by a missile that was fired by Noah, which they both perish in. This opens a slight plot hole regarding Seto's reason for defeating Yugi in the Battle City finals above, as he had defeated his Stepfather again in this arc.

* FiveManBand: As it applies to the manga.
** TheHero: Yugi Mutou/Dark Yugi.
** TheLancer: Katsuya Jonouchi.
** TheBigGuy: Hiroto Honda.
** TheChick: Anzu Mazaki.
** TheSmartGuy: Ryou Bakura (Dark Bakura acts as TheMole).
** SixthRanger: Ryuji Otogi. Also, Seto Kaiba... [[TheRival sort of]]. In retrospect, Ryou fills this role rather nicely during the Monster World arc.
** And as a temporary role, Honda's little nephew Johji acts as the TagalongKid during Death-T.

* ThinlyVeiledDubCountryChange:
** The Italian translation of the manga changes the currency used to a local currency, while still keeping it set in Japan. So people will refer to cents instead of yen, despite the coins and bills appearing clearly being yen coins and bills. [[InconsistentDub Only in two chapters far apart from eachother, one in Volume 3 and one in Volume 19]], while Yen are mentioned with no problem in every other chapter. Also, in both the chapters money was clearly shown. Indeed, [[SarcasmMode that silver coin with "500" on it is clearly the famous 4,60 € coin]].
** A few mentions in the anime, particularly when it was airing on Creator/KidsWB, add in explicit mentions of Domino being in America. However, very little else is changed about the setting including the distinctly Japanese features of river flood planes, left-hand streets, school grounds with walls and gates, etc.

* ThinlyVeiledDubCountryChange: The Italian translation of the manga changes the currency used to a local currency, while still keeping it set in Japan. So people will refer to cents instead of yen, despite the coins and bills appearing clearly being yen coins and bills. [[InconsistentDub Only in two chapters far apart from eachother, one in Volume 3 and one in Volume 19]], while Yen are mentioned with no problem in every other chapter. Also, in both the chapters money was clearly shown. Indeed, [[SarcasmMode that silver coin with "500" on it is clearly the famous 4,60 € coin]].

The first seven volumes have the most variety in games; from then on, the most common game that appeared was ''Duel Monsters/Magic & Wizards'', the [[TabletopGame/YuGiOh Yu-Gi-Oh! card game]], in response to favorable reader reception.

* MsFanservice: Anzu, Ms. Chono, Mai, and Black Magician Girl. Anzu is probably the standout example as her casual clothes almost always show off her [[ShesGotLegs legs]]. Her {{Shorttank}} tendencies also sometimes go to the very limit of acceptible skimpiness; while her tank-top outfits already get to show off a lot of skin, one alternate look has her wear a tube-top. Incidental clothing includes a waitress outfit as well as a bikini she wears during a water park visit.

** During Dark Bakura's battle against Dark Yugi on Kaiba's blimp, Yugi comments that he "never expected to play a game of cards with Dark Bakura." Dark Bakura replies with, "Heh, I had fun playing tabletop role-playing games with you," referencing their battle in the Monster World arc. [[spoiler:During the Millennium World arc, Dark Bakura reveals that the Monster World gane was a warm-up for the Shadow RPG]].

* CutAndPasteTranslation: The Viz translation of the manga has moments of unnecessary changes, from having Mokuba call Seto "Kaiba" regularly to having Jonouchi doubt Yugi can win in the final battle when in the manga he said the opposite. Other lines, such as Kaiba "carrying the cross of collectible card game defeat" were added because the translators thought it'd be funny.

** The japanese bunkoban re-release made a few adjustments to the art in some places. For example, Zorc's infamous dragon-phallus was edited to look like it's wrapped around his body, while Bobasa's stores the millennium items in [[https://ms.yugipedia.com//7/74/Yu-Gi-Oh%21_Duel_282_-_bunkoban_-_JP_-_color.png slots on his outfit]] rather than [[https://ms.yugipedia.com//5/56/Yu-Gi-Oh%21_Duel_282_-_tankobon_-_JP.jpg his bare chest]].

* BerserkButton: If you don't want to see a very angry Kaiba, don't try to steal his company or kidnap his brother.
** And if you don't want to anger Jonouchi, don't insult him in any way or harm any of his friends.

* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: Jonouchi looked completely different on the first chapter compared with the rest of the series, having a differen haircut.

* AwesomeButImpractical: The manga version of Dark Necrofear has an absurd summoning requirement that required Bakura to let three monsters be destroyed in Attack Mode within 5 turns.[[note]]In exchange, she was better than the anime version since her possession effect that activated upon being sent to the Graveyard was her own effect rather than that of Dark Sanctuary and did not require a Tribute to maintain. Also, [[TimeDelayedDeath Ouija Board]] did not require extra Spirit Message Cards, only that she was in the Graveyard.[[/note]] In the otherwise likely event that Yugi drew a third monster, he would have lost without even getting to play Necrofear since he didn't have protection cards like Waboku. The anime and OCG / TCG version is more accessible, simply requiring 3 Fiends to be banished from the Graveyard, but [[AdaptationExplanationExtrication this also makes viewers wonder why Bakura didn't put his monsters in Defense Mode instead.]]

* MoralDissonance: Dark Yugi chastises Pandora for sacrificing his monsters in order to win a game. Apparently all those tribute and ritual summons that Yugi's done don't count. Not to mention that his first Capsule Monster Chess game with Mokuba involved sacrificing all his monsters so that his trump card can instantly OneHitKill all of Mokuba's monsters.
** There is a subtle difference there. Dark Yuugi honors the sacrifices of his monsters and even in one scene mentally apologizes to one of his Capsule Monsters for sacrificing it. In the anime-only Doma Arc where he's ([[spoiler:possessed by the power of the Orachalchos]]) and forgets that, he ([[spoiler:loses the duel and Yuugi as well]]).