Yu-Gi-Oh! / Funny - TV Tropes

Proving to us that even the unabridged version of Yu-Gi-Oh! can have a load of laughs. The following entries have their own page:

open/close all folders

Yu-Gi-Oh! manga

Just in general, the pre-Duelist Kingdom episodic chapters have the most random Serious Business and are set in a hellish city and high school where villains of all kinds jump at any chance, no matter how silly or faddish, to beat up or try to kill people. Dark Yugi plays Knife Monopoly with his first villain. The whole class gets really into making a carnival games booth only to be heartbroken by the grill seniors - and since when Kaiba appears he's said to be in said class, that means imagining him as part of that. Dark Yugi addresses a shoe salesman with "I see. Those sneakers are just a way for you to make money." The gang Jounouchi used to run with has one relatively serious appearance and one where they're using yo-yos with deadly intent. There is a chapter with a random sentient Tamagotchi mind-controlling its owner. Dark Yugi is initially a character out of a horror manga and solves multiple problems by just setting people on fire.
Yugi's response to Grandpa reading the hieroglyphs on the puzzle box. Grandpa reads 'whoever solves this puzzle will receive my dark knowledge and power' and Yugi's response is that his wish for friends will come true. When Grandpa talks about the Shadow Games, Yugi thinks they sound cool, while Anzu tries to tell him the Puzzle is dangerous.
When all of Yugi's classmates go outside to play basketball, Anzu decides to stay with Yugi, stating that the guys just want to see the girls' skirts flip up. Yugi immediately considers joining them.
Yugi's grandfather initially wanted to sell the Millenium Puzzle.
Yugi: No! This was an heirloom from my grandfather!
Grandpa: I'm not dead yet!
The whole deal with Yugi, Jonouchi, and the porn tape. Jonouchi tries to give it to Yugi, but Anzu takes it from them. Cue the two boys running after her.
When Yugi and Jonouchi discover Anzu's job as a waitress, she squirts ketchup all over their burgers in such a way that it spells out "Tell and you DIE!". Jonouchi is more upset that his burger was ruined.
In chapter 7 of the manga, Honda strangles Yugi not once, but twice. The first was when he thinks Yugi snickered after Jonouchi tells him that Honda was in love with Miho. The latter strangling ensues when Honda threatens to kill Yugi if he screws up on writing a love letter on a blank jigsaw puzzle that his grandfather had.
- Also, the end of the chapter has poor Honda being blown away by an explosion when Miho turns him down.
In the manga when Yuugi mentions that their digital pets have the ability to mate and gain strength from each other (which is awkward in the first place) to which Jounouchi responds, "Yuugi and I must mate at once!" Honda comments in frustration that people overhearing might get the wrong idea.
The Viz translation added this line◊ when Yami Yugi defeats Imori and subjects him to his own punishment.
Honda's pervy little nephew has plenty of moments, such as taking a dump on Kaiba's creepy butler.
When a Sadist Teacher takes a pocket game from the guys, how do they find it? By making it beep...and the sound is coming from said teacher's head. Jonouchi and Honda bum rush the jerk, and transpires the game was kept in the teacher's wig.
Yugi's reaction◊ to seeing Anzu dripping wet in her bikini.
After Anzu was nearly killed and Yami Yugi stepped in to save her, she drags him away so they can have a date. The look on his face is hilarious!
When Yugi's grandfather is trapped within a video camera courtesy of Pegasus, Yugi takes it to school. Bakura takes a look and makes the funniest face when the camera starts talking to him.
The guys' horny reactions (not including Bakura) when they first see Mai. Ryuji is the same, with the added humour of checking her out while he's in her car and she's driving haphazardly.
The fact that Jonouchi can't get some damn sleep at the end of Duelist Kingdom day one. First, Honda is freaked by what he thinks is a snake (but is actually a vine). Next, the Millennium Ring suddenly acts up, surprising Bakura. Then Kaiba arrives in his helicopter. By that time, Jonouchi has had enough.
When Yugi is in a battle of wits with the Meikyu brothers, Dark Bakura can be seen smirking at the reader.
The eye-in-the-soup prank. Given how jumpy some of the characters are you can expect the wildest reactions. Mai didn't realize until she had one in her mouth.
During the second duel between Dark Yugi and Pegasus, Dark Yugi summons Kuriboh to the field and his reaction is exactly what you'd expect: "Someone actually uses that card?"
Jounouchi finds it hard to be mad at Kaiba when he is reunited with Mokuba since it's so brotherly.
- Later in Battle City, he sees the same thing with Espa Roba and his brothers.
Seto's expression when Mokuba offers the others to fly home with them in the helicopter after Duelist Kingdom. They all squeeze into the backseat, and Seto just keeps grumbling all the time. Then Jounouchi almost falls out when he kicks a ladder down for Mai.
- Then later in the Battle City arc, all of Yugi's group try to fit in the backseat of Mai's car, with predictable results.
On the morning that the Black Crown opens, Yugi, Anzu, and Bakura are waiting in line to buy Dungeon Dice Monsters packs, which are being sold in a limited amount. Jonouchi not only shows up late, but reveals his only reason for buying the game is to sell the packs at a higher price.
Yugi points out that the reason that Kame Game is not doing as well as the Black Crown is because the games that Sugoroku sells are rather old and outdated. He says this while Sugoroku is standing right behind him. And is not happy.
And then when the store opens, Sugoroku buys the game anyway, despite it being from a rival store.
Later on, Honda, who didn't go to the opening with the others, sees Bakura entering the Black Crown while he's out walking his dog and decides to go see Yugi and the others. He then gives this gem:
Honda: Hey, Blankie? Could you please try to not bite Jonouchi's butt this time?
Blankie: Woof! (gives what looks like a smirk)
- And later on, once they meet up with the others, Blankie clearly does not like Jonouchi and is snarling at him. The feeling is clearly mutual:
  Jonouchi: H-h-honda! Keep that dog of yours away from me!
- Also, there's the fact that Honda's dog, a vicious-looking german Shepard with a spiked collar and heavy chain for a leash, has the very cutesy name Blankie in the first place.
On the morning of Battle City, Sugoroku thinks that Yugi was up all night putting his deck together. It turns out not only did neither he or Dark Yugi intend on it, but that they were just decide whether to include one spell card.
Pandora, in his duel with Dark Yugi, gives a hammy speech on how Yugi is the audience to his latest trick, which is to escape the buzz saws at his legs while Yugi will be chopped up. Cue Dark Yugi's reaction:
Dark Yugi: ...So much for audience sympathy.
After Malik used the Millennium Rod to make Bakura not feel the bleeding wound in his arm, Bakura gets really hyped to show his friends his awesome injury◊! (It's a little ambiguous, but this doesn't seem to be a case of Hyde Plays Jekyll: normal Bakura is just a Nightmare Fetishist too.)
When Dark Marik uses Helpoemer's effect to send Jonouchi's cards to the graveyard, Helpoemer gives him the finger.
Yugi and Jonouchi bring up the porn tape again. Anzu comes along and they deny talking about anything.
Surprisingly manga-only: in Millennium World, when Yami Yugi is transported to the past, he wakes up on the throne, after having appeared to be asleep to his vizier. Said vizier then scolds him to appear dignified at all times, only for the Pharaoh to promptly call him 'Grandpa' due to the resemblance. The Pharaoh's further shock at seeing a court all holding the items leads the vizier to give him a wary look and start explaining things he should already know, whilst thinking 'the Pharaoh must be very tired...', with the seller being the Pharaoh's expressions through the whole thing.
Yu-Gi-Oh! R: During Bandit Keith and Joey's final duel, Bandit Keith tries to cheat like he used to.... only for his Duel Disk to start beeping its Anti-Cheating alarm until he takes the card back.
When Yami Bakura and Marik first meet, Marik gives him five minutes to decide whether he'll join him or die. Bakura apparently spends the whole five minutes actually thinking it over, not moving from his spot at all.
During the final showdown with Yami Bakura, Yugi and Jonouchi materialize their own duel disks. Honda and Anzu also have duel disks, but realize how pointless it is because Honda doesn't know the rules and Anzu doesn't know what cards she has.
When Yami Bakura reveals that he's holding Yugi and his friends' bodies captive in coffins the moment is ruined by the sound effects. "ZZ ZZ ZZ" makes it look like they're snoring.
Yami Bakura once called Takahashi an idiot for miscalculating the Monster World percentages.
There's a subtle running gag where in group shots with taller characters, Yami Yugi's hair pokes up from the bottom of the panel with the rest of him not visible. Oddly, it doesn't seem to affect Yugi, even though of course they're the same height.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters

Season 1

The first half of episode 2 in general, especially Grandpa's training session with Joey/Jounouchi ("YOU ARE NOT READY FOR THE TOURNAMENT YET!") and Jounouchi becoming overwhelmed with emotion and attempting to hug Grandpa... and failing, as Grandpa completely ignores him.
Another one, from Episode 4:
Bystander 1: Whoa, sounds like a duel's going to start over there.
Bystander 2: That's Weevil Underwood, but who's the other guy?
Joey: That guy is Yugi Muto. He beat Kaiba. And I happen to be his best friend, Joey Wheeler. (indicates Téa and Tristan) And these two? These two are trespassers.
"I AM NOT 'A FREAKY FISH GUY!'" from Episode 7.
- Mako's entire entrance, really. First a wave quite literally washes over him during his dramatic rant (which is saying something since they're hundreds of feet above the water), then he crawls back up the cliff, mortified: "All right, let's try that one more time." Then the "Freaky Fish Guy" line above, then Téa giggles at the fact that he has an octopus on his head from the wave. Mako angrily throws the octopus away, then Joey and Tristan scream that they wanted to eat it.
In the dub of episode 10, once the fake Kaiba is unmasked, Yugi has this sick burn to say:
I guess I just don't know what to call you. I was thinking about "Monster", but I didn't want to insult the cards.
In episode 12, Tristan tells a ghost story... for a certain definition of 'ghost'.
Tristan: And when they finally pulled over to look and see what was in the back seat of the car, it was over 20 pepperoni pizzas with double cheese and meatballs!
During the campout itself:
Yugi: Joey, I don't think we should cook the candy bars—^note
Joey: (quickly) Back off, I know what I'm doing.
During the Shadow Game in episode 13 (dub version), when the gang has been transformed into their favorite cards and put on the field, Joey tries to summarize what's going on to Tea.
Joey: See, there's the cool Yugi up there (indicating Yami) and the puny one down here.
Yugi: *Face Fault* That's not how it works at all!!
- Also, Joey and Tristan at the end after this duel.
  Joey & Tristan: (hug each other in fear) Bakura!!!
  Tristan: Hands off.
  Joey: You grabbed me.
  Joey & Tristan: (takes a second before it sinks in and they push each other away) BAAAAH!
From the English dub of Episode 16:
Seto Kaiba: It's a new high-tech dueling device that allows players the realism of arena matches in any setting.
Joey: Looks like just a regular old briefcase to me.
Kaiba: It's in the briefcase, you moron.
- Bakura's helpful advice during Duelist Kingdom, after Kaiba knocks Joey on the ground. "Check his pulse, Yugi!"
Joey is dueling Bonz in a cave and his friends spend half of episode 18 looking for him. First, coffins with skeletons fall on Bakura and Téa ... then Bakura chases them with another skeleton draped on his back... and finally, Bakura steps on a trigger that sends what appears to be a giant boulder that runs over Bakura and almost corners them... until Tristan punches it... and it turns out to be a balloon with a speaker inside. Some of the funniest parts all jammed into half an episode.
Yugi: It got Bakura!
Téa: Oh no!
(seconds later, the gang sees that they're cornered)
Tristan: I'm gonna FIGHT!
Yugi: Tristan! You can't punch out—
Téa: —a boulder!
Tristan: I'm gonna try! Huuuhhhh—AAAAHHH! (punches the 'boulder', which completely pops)
Tristan: Wha-? A balloon?!
- Bakura is still on the ground looking traumatized.
  Téa: You okay, Bakura?
  Bakura: *twitch twitch*
- And during all this, there's the Snark-to-Snark Combat going on during the duel itself, especially when Bonz starts taunting Joey over his fear:
  Joey: Okay, I was afraid, but not 'cause of the graveyard or your ooga-booga rap—it's your creepy face that gave me the willies!
  Bonz: (looks extremely annoyed as everyone else laughs at him)
  - What's particularly hilarious about this comeback is that Keith and his other two goons didn't just find this funny, they also agree with Joey that Bonz's face is the scariest thing there and even confess that he has crept them out sometimes.
Pegasus uses Kaiba's own Crush Card on him during their duel, destroying all his strong monsters and leaving him with no choice but to revive Saggi The Dark Clown.
Pegasus: It's your last move and you're going to spend it reviving a clown?
In episode 28, the scene when Tristan, Téa and Bakura are climbing a rope into Pegasus' tower. Tristan wants Téa to go first so that he can catch her if she falls, but Téa complains, noting that she doesn't want them to look at her panties. Tristan's solution? Climbing up while blindfolded. Made funnier when it's Bakura who has to explain that to Tristan.
Episode 30, Joey starts to fall over a railing during Yugi's duel with Mai. Tristan and Téa freak out and manage to grab him, while Bakura hangs back and covers his eyes.
Joey talking in his sleep after stuffing himself "like a sumo wrestler."
Joey: Bavarian cream would hit the spot right now... glazes and crullers... (sits up) GIGANTIC DONUT!
The scene right after, where Bandit Keith sneaks into his room and steals his card.
Joey: Hey, let go of that! (Keith turns around and prepares to defend himself, but finds Joey is still asleep) That's my pizza!
From Legendary Heroes: "Uh, guys? Joey named his chicken." "It's a Niwatori, Mai." Bit of a Bilingual Bonus funny moment there: "Niwatori" is Japanese for "Chicken". And what did Joey name his Niwatori? In the dub, at least — "Drumsticks".
Princess Adena, a female Mokuba who shows up in said episodes. As pointed out by Joey, the fact that she looks like Mokuba reflects the game's creator vision of him. In the original, the game was created by the Big 5 (so they basically see their VP as a helpless sacrificial princess). Already pretty funny, but the dub takes it up to eleven, since in the dub, the game was created by none other than Seto Kaiba.
In the dub version of the Dungeon Dice Monsters arc, Yugi's grandpa sees Duke's cheerleaders on a giant TV and proclaims he's in love... with the huge TV (not the cheerleaders as he was in the Japanese version).
- Speaking of the dub, when poor Joey is wallowing in misery in that infamous dog suit, Téa and Tristan comment that it could be worse - at least he hasn't been reduced to howling yet. Cue a howl from Joey, and this comment from Téa:
  Téa Gardner: I'm not housebreaking him.

Season 2

In the original cut of episode 50, Yugi adds a chain to make the puzzle more stylish. When Yami gives him a compliment he asks if it's not "too flashy". Yami then says that it's not flashy enough and insists on him adding a silver bracelet on top of that.
Tristan and Joey break down the doors to the burning warehouse to save Yugi... and Bandit Keith runs out.
Joey: Did we just rescue Bandit Keith?
Yugi basically sets his Other Self up, by claiming he's meeting Téa — and then switching with Yami at the last possible moment. Yami's reaction as he realizes he's just been set up on a date, is priceless.
Yami: Hey!! Yugi... I'm not... You can't... This isn't a duel!!!! (notices Téa is staring at him, stands up straight and holds up a hand in greeting) Hello.
- It's even better in the original version: He sees Anzu and says, "Yo!"
- Yami getting Yugi back in kind in episode 186, during the KC Grand Championship arc:
Joey: About that Underdog card...you said it reminds you of someone, right?
Yami: ...I did? Oh, yes...um...a little help here?
(switches a blushing Yugi in)
Yugi: Huh...oh yeah, well that's really mature, Pharaoh! (he says this to Yami, who's desperately trying to look aloof)
Serenity asks Joey why he never told her that Tristan taught him everything he knows about Duel Monsters, and the latter quickly ends their call afterward:
Joey: TRISTAN!! *groan* I'll kick your lyin' butt!
During the duel with Strings, we have this exchange:
Yami Yugi: (to a Marik possessed Strings) That power [the Pharaoh's power] is not yours to take, Marik.
Yugi: (in ghost form) You tell him! No way is he getting his hands on your power!
Yami Yugi: ...I just did.
Yugi: OK then.
After Strings' loss, we have the most amusingly blunt response in the entire monologue-heavy series.
Marik: My name is Marik.
Yami Bakura: I don't care.
Marik's plan to get Tea and Joey to trust him in the anime involves his own men beating him up. Imagining how he planned it out is even funnier.
During Yugi's duel with the possessed Joey, it cuts from Marik being threatening through Joey to him lounging on a chair in real life and fooling around with ice and a glass of water, which he later breaks as Joey resists his control.
At the Battle City stadium, Marik gloats to himself about his plans and crushing Yugi with the Winged Dragon of Ra, laughing evilly... which Kaiba overhears, ordering the lights turned on to catch any intruders.
When Yami Yugi is on the ropes during his Battle City duel against Yami Bakura, Duke Devlin comments on how hopeless it seems, so Tristan threatens him into being more supportive. Duke lets out a timid "Yugi, Yugi! He's our man!"
Joey eating sausages. The expression on his face as he does this is priceless.
- Even better, he's eating them straight out of the fridge and directly into his mouth. Tristan gives him a well-deserved kick in the face for eating while everyone else is busy getting dinner ready.
Between the Yami Yugi vs. Yami Bakura duel and the Joey vs. Odion one, Tristan and Duke get into a petty fight over their respective crushes on Serenity while searching for the Millennium Ring, resulting in them nearly falling off the blimp to their deaths. Tristan tells Duke he has a plan to save them... and promptly starts yelling for help.
Duke: That's your plan?
The opponent-deck-shuffle preceding the Joey vs. Odion duel. Joey, still thinking Odion is Marik and still sore about being mind-controlled, keeps a Death Glare on Odion as he keeps shuffling. And shuffling. And shuffling.
Mai: [thinking] Joey's got to stay focused; and stop shuffling his deck already!
Roland: LET'S GO, huh!? You've shuffled enough cards for ten duels!
On the first turn of the duel between Joey and Odion, the latter posing as Marik, a strong wind rolls by and Joey nearly loses his cards, so he grabs them with not only both hands, but his teeth.
Serenity freaks out her big brother by talking about ghosts, so then Joey nearly jumps out of his skin when a hand suddenly grabs his shoulder!... it's just Yami Yugi, wanting to talk to him about the next duel... and technically a ghost.
This argument from Yami Marik and Yami Bakura's duel. Even Yami Marik was amused.
Marik: If you want to win, don't be so reckless with our Life Points!
Yami Bakura: What do you mean our Life Points, you parasite? I'm the one fighting this duel, not you!
Marik: Wise up, you fool. If you want the secret to the Pharaoh's power, then you'll listen to me!
Yami Bakura: But you haven't helped me at all, Marik! In fact, you're the reason I wasn't able to play the Winged Dragon of Ra!
Marik: And it's your fault we lost so many Life Points!
Yami Marik: Just look at those two. What a shame. It's so sad when such good friends can't work things out.
Bakura cheerfully tells Joey how he defeated Bonz, Sid, and Zygor with his occult deck and took all their locator cards by force. Joey thinks he'll be lucky if he doesn't have to duel Bakura, and when he goes to meet the others Tea says he looks like he saw a zombie.
The ending of season 2 begins with a shot of each main character sleeping in their beds. Including Téa, who has been awkwardly slumped over the side of one. Judging by the events of the previous episode, Marik and Yami Bakura presumably just sort of dumped her body on the floor next to a bed and left her there.

Season 3

The entire Noah arc was worth it for this line.
At the start of the Noah arc, Marik notices that someone else is causing trouble for the heroes—and, amused, decides to let it happen.
- When he finally does decide to do something, what stops him at first? A password-encrypted door. After that, he just decides to destroy stuff For the Evulz.
In Freeze Play part 2, Téa falls unconscious and has a dream. The first part of it goes like this:
Téa: Hey Yugi! I had a dream we were trapped in a virtual world and we had to duel five old guys to escape!
Yugi: Actually, Téa, this is the dream. And when you wake up, you'll need this card. (hands Téa the Dark Magician Girl)
Téa: I will?
Yugi: It's the Dark Magician Girl, remember? There was a Broadway play about this card — we saw it a few years ago!
Téa: We did?
Yugi: Well, not really, but this is your dream, so just go with it.
"Noah's Secret", the Breather Episode between the Big 5's individual duels and the 5-on-2 duel with Yugi and Joey, provides several laughs:
- Duke getting a little physical with Tristan's robot monkey body (and Tristan's discomfort despite being in a metal body that really shouldn't allow him to feel anything):
  Tristan: FIRST OF ALL, HANDS OFF THE HAIR!
  Duke: The little monkey's scared. I'll give you something to be scared about: it's my double-monkey noogie attack!
- After the Big 5's losers finally run Joey, Serenity, and Duke into the ground during their attempt to forcibly take their bodies, Crump and Leichter get into an argument over who gets to choose a body first:
  Leichter: [eyeing Joey and Serenity] Now, which of you two should I choose to take control of?
  Crump: Hold on! I wanna have first choice, Leichter!
  Leichter: We're going in size order, Crump, so you choose last.
  Crump: [jumps onto the overturned truck, trying to climb up to Joey and Serenity] That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard! I'm choosing right now!
  Leichter: [grabs Crump by the lapels and pulls him off] Keep your wings to yourself until I say so!
The Big 5 only claim Tristan's body out of the five duelists they faced, putting Tristan's soul in a robot toy monkey, "Acrobat Monkey". The final battle has the Big 5 taking turns facing Yami Yugi and Joey in Tristan's body. Tristan himself is horrified the Big 5 are treating his body that way:
Tristan: Those guys are passing around my body like it's going out of style!
Tea: I can't believe that all of the Big 5 are in Tristan's body!
Tristan: Those business creeps are sharing me like a corporate condo!
The 5 villains possessing their friend's body leads to some interesting interactions, like Joey kicking Nesbitt through a wall after he attacks Kaiba and Tea scolding him because that's Tristan's body! Then there's this exchange during the 5-on-2 duel.
Yami: I'm sorry, Tristan, but... I must attack directly!
Tristan: Do what you gotta do, Yugi! (crying into Serenity's chest for comfort) Just don't mess up the hair!
The entire sequence around Yami's (allegedly) Schmuck Bait of a trap. He plays a weaker monster in attack mode and sets a face-down card, which everyone around him, friends and enemies, instantly identifies as the oldest trick in the book. Joey practically has a heart attack over his friend making such an obvious move. Gloating up a storm, Nesbitt simply destroys the trap (Mirror Force) with a magic card, and Yami laments that it didn't work, pleading, "It was worth a try." Confident he foiled a very amateur trick, Nesbitt goes in for the attack... ignoring his colleagues warning him, "Don't do it!" It's at this point that Yami reveals his real trap: getting Nesbitt to play a magic card, which raised his monster's attack points due to its special ability, destroying Nesbitt's monster, costing him life points, and distracting him from finishing off Joey. BURNED!
Kuriboh om-nom-nomming on Noah's arm during his duel with Yugi (taking over Kaiba's place) is hilarious enough to watch, even without the Abridged series commenting on it. For extra points, it's probably the only time in either medium that Kuriboh actually gets to attack instead of standing around being fodder.
Kaiba on the Virtual World arc after they've escaped, echoing the thoughts of many who watched it.
Kaiba: Alright, that little detour was a complete waste of my time and effort. So let's move on and pretend that nonsense never happened.
- Immediately beforehand, as Yugi, Kaiba and Mokuba attempt to escape the exploding base, Mokuba says he might not be able to make it as he's running out of breath. Kaiba replies with a stern "GUESS AGAIN" before literally picking up Mokuba and chuck-tossing him onto the blimp, crashing into Tristan and Duke. It's Mokuba's stunned expression after he lands that takes the cake, as he lays on top of Duke.
When Kaiba, Yugi, Joey, and Marik prepare for their four-way duel, they are told to pick a door and step through it. Even after being told which door doesn't matter, Joey has trouble deciding and uses an "Eeny, meeny, miny, moe"-style chant, causing Kaiba to mock him. When he picks one, Marik steps through it, making him complain, until Yugi tells him to just pick the door closest to him.
From the Marik/Joey duel:
Yami Marik: Your strategy backfired, giving me the advantage, little Joey!
Joey: Wrong! Do you think I'd be dumb enough to let that happen?
Yami Marik: Yes!
- This line is both funny and awesome.
  Yami Marik: You could use a rest, little Joey!
  Joey: And you could use a haircut, so what's your point!?
In the Yugi vs. Kaiba rematch in Battle City:
- Kaiba uses a card that allows him to declare a card name and take it from Yugi's Deck. Both players walk to the center of the arena to facilitate this. After it's done resolving, Yugi waits for Kaiba to return to his position before revealing his Exchange card to force Kaiba to double back to the center of the arena. Kaiba is visibly irritated.
- Kaiba hastily summons Obelisk the Tormentor, only to forget about Slifer's second effect which greatly weakens Obelisk. The crowner is that Slifer laughs at Obelisk and Kaiba for it!!
While Yami Marik is explaining what's going to happen over the course of the duel between him and Yami, he makes a completely out of place "Blah!" noise. It's an admittedly very small moment, but it still gets a laugh.
- As Yami Marik struggles in the grip of Obelisk and Slifer, Kuriboh appears to tease him even more.
  Yami Marik: Let go of me! Call your monsters off!
  Kuriboh: (Kuriboh noise)
- Another Kuriboh moment happens during Yugi and Bakura's duel in Battle City: To stop Bakura's Dark Sanctuary from making his monsters attack him, the Pharaoh plays a card that draws all equip spell effects into Kuriboh. This manifests into the spirit of the dark sanctuary going inside Kuriboh... and also Dark Magician Girl's Magic Formula, in the form of the book falling into Kuriboh's hands, and the little guy promptly starts reading it with interest. A cut later, however, Kuriboh looks completely confused by the book's content.
Yami Yugi blatantly lies about being able to read the hieroglyphics on Malik's back. (Screenshots here.)
Jounouchi: Can you read this stuff?
Yami Yugi: Yeah.
Yami Yugi: (thinking) The words of this ancient language hold no meaning to me...

Season 4

Seto Kaiba is in brilliant form throughout the Doma/Waking The Dragons arc.
- After Yugi's Heroic Sacrifice, the gang are trying to get a ride to save him. Without any real options, they call up Kaiba ("...It works better when you step back from the webcam...") and ask him to lend them a helicopter. Kaiba then learns of the previous events and proceeds to go berserk, screaming into the phone at Yami, who is practically catatonic at this stage. He's not angry with him for losing Yugi's soul, of course, but because he lost his title as King of Games to a nobody.
- Later, when he teams up with Yami to duel Dartz, Dartz plays a set of Mirror Knights that have the faces, and supposedly souls, of Yami's lost friends. Destroying the cards means destroying the souls...apparently. Yami refuses to take the risk of hurting them, but Kaiba can't help himself and trolls Yami ("Do you realize you're talking to a hologram with your head on it?") while cheerfully destroying all the knights' shields.
  Kaiba: So you've got a dweeb army. Am I supposed to be scared to attack?
  Dartz: Well, only if destroying an innocent soul concerns you.
  Kaiba: Nah. As the president of a major corporation, I have to do that every day.
- Eventually, upon realizing that Yami won't attack the cards, Kaiba frustratedly points out that it's just not possible for the souls to be lost simply because a hologram of them gets destroyed—and he knows this because he helped make that holographic technology. Yami still won't do it, and ends his turn without playing a card. Kaiba's reaction is utterly priceless.
  Kaiba: Please tell me this is a joke.
- Later still, when Yami summons the Egyptian God Cards, Joey proceeds to call out their names as per usual, just in case we'd forgotten them in the past two minutes or something. Kaiba quickly shuts him up.
- Kaiba basically spends this entire arc in a state of "100% done with this BS." His reaction to Dartz taking him and Yugi on a tour of his memories of Atlantis is as follows:
  Kaiba: You mind telling me why we're floating in space?
  Kaiba: (later) Please tell me that story time is over. I'd like to duel.
  Yami: (later still) Ironheart was your father?! But how?
  Kaiba: If you ask questions, this ridiculous story's never gonna end!
- And of course:
  Kaiba: What do I always tell you, Mokuba? If at first you don't succeed, BLAST 'EM WITH YOUR BLUE-EYES AGAIN!
One of the highlights of the Doma/Waking the Dragons arc is the constant lampshading of the series formula. For instance...
Joey: I'm thinking "Why does this weird stuff always happen to us?" You gotta admit, it's true!
And...
Seto Kaiba: Please. It's just another one of his cheap tricks.
Dartz: Is that Your Answer to Everything, Kaiba? You really need a new Catchphrase!
Or...
Téa Gardner: I've been giving this friendship speech for years! Didn't it sink in yet?
And also...
Seto Kaiba: If I had a dime for every time you used the word "destiny", I'd be even richer.
Even unnamed characters get in on this...
American naval officer: Crazy as it sounds, we think our only hope may lie in a card game.
And at the end of the arc...
Joey Wheeler: Let's hit the high road, folks! I'm sure there's someone else tryin' to Take Over the World back home!
Tristan Taylor: You know, the scary thing is, he's probably right.
Equal parts funny and awesome is the motorcycle chase Valon leads Joey on just before their duel. He tries a few different tactics to shake him, with Joey doing only just well enough to stay on his tail.
From Episode 168 of the English dub:
Seto Kaiba: (to Yami) Stop saving the world and get a hobby!
In episode 176, against Rafael; picture this with dramatic, high-tension background music and all the drama DAN GREEN can muster:
Yami: I'm using my Spider Web [card] to bring back your Monster Reborn card. And I'm planning on using it to save you by setting you free from the darkness!
Rafael: (deadpan) Yeah, whatever.
- Another moment from that episode. The reveal of Guardian Dreadscythe:
Rafael: Say hello to my Guardian Dreadscythe!
Yami: (equally deadpan as above) Hello. And goodbye.
In one scene, Rafael rescues Yami by physically flinging him, and the animation of Yami's tiny gangly body spinning through the air with a look of Dull Surprise on his face is hilarious.

Season 5

At the beginning of the KC Arc, someone hijacks the duel practice computer and locks everyone in the demo room. Knowing the little kid is too inexperienced to beat the computer on highest difficulty, Yami Yugi decides to take over the duel...by leaping onto the platform. He announces 'I'll take it from here!' followed by another adorkable Dan Green mumble of '...Is that all right?' and the kid meekly agreeing.
In the English dub, Kaiba is treating his Kaibaland tournament seriously, to no one's surprise. His draconian rules aren't out of the ordinary or especially funny. What is funny is how quick he is to undermine Joey, in front of Joey, while not even addressing him.
Kaiba: And anyone who's late for registration will be disqualified! (turning to Mokuba and not even bothering to whisper) Mokuba, make sure Wheeler's late.
- Another gem from the KC Grand Championship: The scene with the Kaibadome (no points for guess how it looks), in which they lampshade the thing's design.
  Yugi: Is that a Blue-Eyes arena?
  Joey: (staring blankly) We're not dealing with normal people here.
  Duke: Noooo, we're not.
The MC announces the contestants, saying that the winner will get a title shot. In the Japanese there's a few seconds where Yami is looking around, surprised. Apparently no-one told him this little tidbit.
- Earlier on, they call Yugi up to say a few words. He tries to squirm out of it and get the Pharaoh to go, but the Pharaoh insists Yugi can do it. Yugi then does the stiffest walk imaginable up to the podium before waving.
- Followed by Joey doing a bizarre 'Come and get it gesture' in his trollface to psych out the competition.
  Duke: Hey, look — Joey's trying to scare the competition with his weird chicken dance!
Joey nearly gets disqualified in his duel against Mask the Rock because he's too busy eating. Then when he learns he's supposed to be up next, he runs halfway across Kaibaland (taking the rest of the gang with him) to get to the place of his duel and just barely makes it in time, only to discover that Mokuba has already arrived there ahead of him by taking the back way!
- To note, Joey fell down a pit, was flattened by a giant boulder, and attacked by (holographic) bats and snakes.
- Joey never finds out until the end of the duel and in the dub, Grandpa's tournament name was "Apdnarg" or "Grandpa" spelled backwards, everyone else lets out an "Oh!" as in "Oh, I get it." except Joey says "I don't get it."
  - The mere fact that Yugi was the first to figure it out, and the Pharaoh had to ask him who it was.
    Yami: Yugi, is that...?
    Yugi: Uh-huh.
- The totally undramatic end to the duel between Joey and "Apdnarg," which has the Goblin Attack Force Joey summoned (essentially five goblins with clubs) run up to Apdnarg and literally wail on him in a group beat-down, then casually walking away from him as he lays flat on his back groaning in pain. ^note
Yugi complains about how he'd like to duel in a tournament without worrying about someone trying to Take Over the World...during an arc whose villain is one of the few who doesn't want to do that!
The mayhem Zigfried causes throughout Kaiba Land during his duel with Joey:
- Rebecca is dueling in a gondola on a Ferris Wheel that suddenly starts rotating too fast. She is left struggling to keep her balance while her opponent, Abe the Monkey Boy, gets completely thrown off his feet.
- And, of course, Abe has to make a few monkey-based puns.
  Abe: If you wanna be top banana, you gotta stop monkeying around. (to his pet monkey) Now, monkey see, monkey what should I do?
- The two duelists not involved with any of the major characters get left in the dark when the curtain unexpectedly comes down on the theater they're competing on:
  Paul McGregor: I'm clued in to your strategy, Balfry. [curtain drops, leaving them staring at the camera in the dark] But this is a mystery!
- As Kaiba frantically tries to get things under control, Roland bursts in to warn him about the trouble, with Kaiba growling "I'm on it!" in a tone that just oozes an unspoken "Gee, thank you, Captain Obvious!"
When Zigfried uses his three Norns combo in his duel with Joey.
Zigfried: Looks like it's one underdog vs. three divas!
Joey: You mean four^noteZigfried looks very camp. divas!
- After Joey loses to Ziegfried, Tea, Tristan and Duke mock him saying his luck ran out. Tea points out that Joey duels with talent and not luck.
  Tristan: Oh, so Joey didn't lose because he has no luck, he lost because he has no talent.
  Joey: SO THAT'S HOW YOU TRY TO CHEER ME UP?! THEN IT'S TIME FOR ME TO SPREAD A LITTLE CHEER OF MY OWN! *chases everyone except Yugi*
  Yugi: If Joey can learn how to control his temper, he'll be a true champion sooner or later.
  Yami: Probably later.
When Rebecca cries about losing to Leon, Grandpa comments that she's being overly dramatic.
Joey, Téa, and Tristan: Look who's talking!
Grandpa: Who, me?
Joey: Does this sound familiar? "My back hurts! Someone help me!"
Grandpa: Oh, I'd like to see you duel in 50 years!
Yugi's duel with Anime Chinese Girl Vivian becomes completely hilarious thanks to his friends being more focused on the delicious food than the duel itself. Téa included.
- Téa's behavior in general. When Vivian says that if she wins, Yugi has to go on a date with her (or be her love slave, in the Japanese original!), Téa flips out and starts yelling 'Get a clue! Yugi doesn't like you and he never will!!' while the other boys nervously tell her to breathe. Earlier, she had yelled at Vivian that the duel wouldn't count, since 'Rebecca cancelled you out, Viv!' while making an X with her arms.
- The running gag where she complains that she needs more female friends.
  - This becomes Hilarious in Hindsight when recalling the previous anime added Miho Nosaka to the main cast specifically because Tea didn't have any other female friends.
- Also, the frustrated big sister / annoying little sister dynamic Téa and Rebecca have, mainly when Rebecca fawns over Yugi, with jealous reactions from Téa. At the end of the Grand Championship arc, Rebecca shows she knows exactly what she's doing.
  Rebecca: I'm gonna miss you too, Téa!
  Téa: I bet you are...^note
The Kaiba/Zigfried duel in the dub:
- For the first time, characters decide to notice in-universe when a duelist does something blatantly against the rules without explaining why they're allowed to. Instead of ending his turn, Zigfried sends a monster to attack Kaiba a second time, prompting the gang to insist he's straight-up cheating and Kaiba to ask in amazement, "What do you think you're doing?!" like they're in an early Abridged Series episode! Zigfried eventually decides to explain he played a magic card that skips Kaiba's turn.
- Zigfried gives the most epic "Oh, Crap! This Cannot Be!" expression of all time when he uses his goddesses to see the top 3 cards of Kaiba's deck and sees...
  Zigfried: THREE BLUE EYES WHITE DRAGONS?!
- Zigfried tells Kaiba he can't afford to activate one of his cards because he doesn't have enough Life Points. Kaiba's immediate response?
  Kaiba: There's nothing I can't afford!
- After defeating Zigfried:
  Kaiba: (to Roland) I want him to see what he missed out on... so give him a good seat for the next duel. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...aah, I'm funny.
After Kaiba's epic Shut Up, Hannibal! speech to Zigfried^note, there's a shot of the Pharaoh with a pleasantly amused look; you can practically hear him thinking, "Glad to know you still have such strong faith in my dueling skills, Kaiba!"
Leon tells Yugi he's going to summon his most fearsome monster... A chibi style Red Riding Hood.
- Leon gets excited when Dark Magician Girl hits the field, and she responds by blowing him a kiss. Cue Crush Blush.
- Leon later gives Dark Magician Girl Cinderella's glass slippers. She curiously taps them on the floor, and turns to the Pharaoh as if asking how they look.
The whole way the "Cinderella/Glass Slippers" mechanics are portrayed in the anime can be amusing in itself. For starters, Cinderella attacks by kicking her slippers off at her target, leading to these fearsome-looking monsters being destroyed by the kinetic energy of two small shoes. Then you have what happens when Glass Slippers are equipped to an opponent's monster to cut its Attack, which is depicted as said monster wearing glass slippers. Makes enough sense when you have someone like Dark Magician Girl, but it crosses into the comically bizarre when you see them on the feet of a hulking dragon.
At the start of the memory world arc, Yugi encounters Yami Bakura, who has just knocked Rex and Weevil out. This exchange occurs.
Yugi: Bakura? Is that you!?
Yami Bakura: Guess again!
- Related, but he power of the Millennium Ring is contained... by a backpack. When Rex and Weevil open it up, thinking it held the Egyptian God Cards, the Ring floats away on its own and returns to Yami Bakura. Something it apparently couldn't do (or at the very least chose not to do) when held back by polyester and a zipper.
When a confused Yami returns to the past as Pharaoh in the dub.
Egyptian Citizens: Pharaoh! Pharaoh! Pharaoh!
Yami: (awkwardly) Uh... Hi.
- Followed by them all kneeling before him. Yami looks completely freaked out.
- The scene is also gold in the manga - Siamun wakes up a seemingly sleeping Pharaoh on the throne, tries to reprimand him and Yami promptly calls him 'grandpa'. Siamun is further confused when he has to explain to the Pharaoh who the Sacred Court is, and why they have Items, thinking to himself that 'the Pharaoh must be very tired...'
Kaiba's "argument" with the Millenium Eye:
Kaiba: What're you looking at? You think I'm gonna let you change my mind? [picks up the Eye] I am not flying to Egypt. Look at me, I'm talking to an antique eyeball.
While inside the Millennium Puzzle, Joey really gets on Shadi's nerves by calling his Millennium Key a "Millennium Thingy" and saying that he's wearing a bathrobe. (Even funnier as it's Wayne Grayson arguing with himself.)
Shadi: For your information, this is a sacred cloak!
Joey: Cloak, bathrobe, whatever!
Joey's assessment of the Pharaoh's name◊.
Joey: It says bird, rock, lambchop, bird, and a bigger bird.
Once Zorc is defeated and everyone is sent back to the present time, Joey calls out Tristan for getting possessed by Dark Bakura. In the dub, Tristan brings up the time Marik brainwashed Joey. Later on the boat ride, everyone's in their own room being rather quiet, except for Bakura pigging out on a bunch of food.
During Yugi and Yami's final duel, Grandpa and Bakura do a happy dance.
"He did it! He did it! He's better than the Pharaoh!"
The last lines between Kaiba and Joey in the final episode.
Tristan: So this is the end? Feels weird.
Joey: Yeah...
Kaiba: What were you geeks expecting?
Joey: Fireworks, sappy music... something.
In the Japanese ending, Serenity meets everyone at the airport on their way back from Egypt. Tristan and Duke run towards her only for Joey to grab them by their shirt collars.
The Pharaoh telling Kaiba (of the present) he learned that his father and Priest Seto's father were brothers. Kaiba is just about as done and annoyed as one would expect.
Kaiba:(flatly) Are you saying we're cousins?

Unsorted/General

Any time a character bursts into a monologue about how they've tricked their opponent, their card's hidden effects, the trap card they've just activated, etc., etc., only for the resident Deadpan Snarker to shut them up. "Yeah, I know what the card does."
Joey Wheeler's creepy chin, occasionally joined by that of Tristan. Also Joey's various insults to the bad guys, especially if they're bald.
Dark Magician's Finger Wag with a smirk. Particularly in Yugi's duel against Kaiba on the rooftop, and Otogi/Duke during the Dungeon Dice Monsters episode.
One from the Japanese version is when Pegasus defeats Bandit Keith in a duel by telling a kid to follow instructions he wrote on a piece of paper. Keith's reaction when he sees the paper? "Oh my God! OH MY GOD!!"
- Any moment of Gratuitous English has the potential to be hilarious in the Japanese cut, as it's usually exclusively done by the American characters, most noticeably Pegasus who sprinkles it in almost every conversation he has on screen combined with his hammy voice.
- One hilarious example is when a starstruck Jonouchi tries to say hi to Jean Claude Magnum in the sloppiest Engrish you will ever hear.
  Jonouchi: UH HELLO HOW DO YOU DO? M-ME YOU NO VERY VERY FAN DE!
- Also Rebecca, despite being just 12 years old, is very fond of saying "Goddamn!" when irritated.
Yami Bakura's ungodly laughing fits, especially in the later seasons, and his expression while laughing. Seriously, season 5 Dark Bakura is worse than Dark Marik in that regard.

Yu-Gi-Oh! card game

The Empty Jar deck is one, particularly to spectators. Seeing a player being forced to toss their cards over and over and over again until they lose is just hilarious. The best part? The star card of the deck, Morphing Jar, does it all with a cheerfully maniacal grin on his face.
- Mill decks in general tend to be this.
The story of Sangan and his disastrous vacation. First, he meant to get on the Tour Bus to the Underworld but mistakenly got on the Tour Bus to Forbidden Realms instead. Then, the bus gets stopped by authorities and he’s forced to get a cab ride alongside the Angel from Graceful Charity and it’s driven by one of the imps from Delinquent Duo. Only the taxi gets stopped when it’s discovered the imp was illegally carrying a Pot of Greed. And of course, poor Sangan and the Angel are arrested as accomplices. The last we see of the little guy, it’s in “Mistaken Accusation” where’s he’s sobbing in a jail cell trying to plead to the guard while Witch of the Black Forest just sits at back on the bench. On top of initially being a banned card, this is certainly one vacation the three-eyed fuzzball sure won’t forget.
The Watt deck. Watts are competitive, and can reliably win. They also are small animals and rarely have more than 1200 ATK.
Penguin decks are one of the most funny decks that can be played with. It's just so freaking hilarious to see all of their monsters get sent back to the hand/extra deck. This deck really got funny when Degenerate Circuit came out, that way you can flip a Penguin Soldier and banish two monsters.
There's a card called "Yu-Jo Friendship". When activated, you offer a handshake to your opponent. The effects of the card are dependent on whether or not the opponent accepts the handshake, but you can reveal a "Unity" card in your hand to your opponent, and then they must "accept the handshake". It doesn't say to apply the one specific effect, just that they must accept the handshake. So one player, after using this card, stuck their hand down their pants, and then showed Unity to force a handshake. Their opponent wisely chose to forfeit rather than to shake that hand.
Rabidragon's flavor text: "It's a snowfield-dwelling, giant-ear-sporting, super-acoustic, snowball-shaped mutant dragon! There's no way anybody can escape."
Some cards like "Goblin of Greed" and "Behemoth, the King of All Animals" are depicted as butt-monkeys in various card artworks.
Jackpot 7 is a Spell Card with an Instant-Win Condition that triggers if you can make the opponent send all three copies of it to the Graveyard. The funny part is giving your opponent Dark Scorpion Burglars (forces the opponent to send a Spell Card from the deck to the Graveyard when it deals damage - like, say, Jackpot 7) and then suiciding weak, self-replacing monsters (such as Troop Dragon) into it. It generally takes the opponent a minute to register that they just got OTK'd by you giving them a weak monster and attacking it with even weaker monsters.
The artwork◊ of Summon Gate, which shows the recently-unbanned Thousand-Eyes Restrict cheekily waving goodbye to a whole bunch of imprisoned Forbidden (in the OCG) monsters.
The Marauding Captain is a decent warrior-type with a cool lock-down effect. The character has appeared in many cards, showcasing how he always rallies and fights, even returning back from the dead to continue on. His retrained card, Marmiting Captain, has the great captain... as the new french chef for the warriors, happily cooking stew while wearing an apron over his armor.
- His second retrain, Motivating Captain, also has a hilarious artwork, depicting the captain's troops collapsed in the middle of the desert from weariness, with their leader having a frustrated expression with Cross-Popping Veins, as if he's thinking, "What do you think you're doing, you lazy buffoons?!?" The finishing touch is that the captain's own sword is broken.
The artwork of Dai Dance, which shows Warrior Dai Grepher trying to hit on D.D. Warrior Lady by acting like a dancing Latin Lover. While some people in the background become smitten with him, she backs away and shudders.
The artwork of Duck Dummy, which shows a mother duck protecting her babies and scaring away Behemoth the King of All Animals by holding up a cardboard cutout of Rescue Rabbit. Behemoth likely remembers getting punched out by the rabbit on the art of Lucky Punch.
The fourth Legendary Collection release, titled Joey's World Mega Pack, has a bunch of cards read in his accent. And they're all glorious.
Meotoko: Dis big ol' guy wit' a big ol' eye shoots a nasty ray beam right atcha!
Alligator's Sword: 'ey, dis mighty lissard man can swing his sword so fast, dat it's more dan da speed a sound!
Anthrosaurus: Dis man-like dinosawz gotta high I.Q., even tho he's lackin' in da strength depawtment. (Kinda like yooz, if ya had a high I.Q.! Nyaah!)
Little D: Yo, this tyrannosaurus tot's got a terrible temper.
Kageningen: He yoozes both a physical form and a shadow form ta attack. So he's a tough monstah ta beat!
Skull Stalker: Foist he's gonna grab yer monstah wit' his claws, den attack again wit' his poizin stingah!
Stone Armadiller: Dis stone crittah's got rock-hahd fur. Dat gives him some really good dee-fense!
Hero of the East: Feel da strength ah dis sword-swinging samurai from da Far East.
Wolf: Dis alpha wolf yoozes his sense a smell ta find da enemy. 'ey, quit sniffin at my socks!
Transmission Gear can make a particular battle between monsters go either way, regardless of points... by turning it into a battle of rock-paper-scissors.
The counterintuitive effect of this Trap card, along with the scenario depicted in the artwork, are summed up nicely by its name: Oops!
Getting your entire board sacrificed to Nibiru is not a pleasant experience. But if your board was big enough, the Nibiru token that it spawns can have colossal stats. So, if the opponent can't get rid of the Token, you can use it to clobber them into the ground.
The artwork of Monster Reborn Reborn is a hilarious piece that pokes fun at how Monster Reborn has two different pieces of art, with the Japanese art standing proudly over a massive pile filled with dozens of copies of the Western art. The deliberately low quality is so disarming that it almost looks like a fake card at first. Made even funnier by the fact that many Japanese players actually prefer the U.S. version, to the point a card with the TCG artwork◊ would eventually be released as an attendance card for the Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship 2017!
Hidden Springs of the Far East shows Hero of the East sharing a hot spring with Shien's Squire and Shien's Footsoldier, a pair of monkeys, while remaining completely serious with his arms folded and in full armor. They're also joined by a short-circuiting Acrobat Monkey.
Black “C” and the story within. This monster archetype is based around cockroaches. As in a Kamen Rider-esque commander leading regular cockroaches into battle. Most of the artwork shows the roaches as little bits of black mist with cartoony star eyes. Then there’s the lore itself. This random man discovers a roach in his house only to find it’s an entire infestation. They scare the man and he tries to retaliate only to discover something far worse about to burst out of his closet. Is it a giant monstrous roach ready to bite his head off? Nope! A massive heavy-armored, combat roach-bot! Would you believe it if we said this was not the most ridiculous thing to come out of the franchise?
Water Enchantress of the Temple is a Monster card that works in conjunction with an "Adventurer Token"... And the Enchantress happen to look like Aqua. Who, of course, appears on "Rite of Aramesir", the card that summons an Adventurer Token.
- This fanart.

Scripted Duels

During a scripted duel between Yami Yugi and Yusei, Yami Yugi gets a lot of mileage out of the banned cards that were legal in his series, such as Pot of Greed, Graceful Charity, the anime version of Card of Sanctity, Monster Reborn, and Premature Burial. Then there's the ending.
Yami: I do have one question. What's a Duel Runner for?
Yusei: Well, actually, I like to think of it as card games on motorcycles.
[The crowd begins to cheer insanely]
Yusei: Now I have a question for you. ...In the first series, why wasn't Tristan Taylor allowed to duel? ^note
Yami Yugi: Tristan's a... nice guy, great friend! A duelist, not so much.
This VA scripted duel is a tag team duel that has Yugi, Joey, and Mai versus Pegasus and Bakura. It is the definition of epic. Pegasus defeats Mai and Joey, but loses to Yugi, and Yami Bakura takes over Bakura as his turn begins, turning the duel into a shadow game.
Yugi: On our team, Mai will be dueling first, followed by Joey, and then I'll go last!
Pegasus: Then it seems Mai will be facing me, because we decided that I'm going first.
Bakura: We decided? You mean you decided...
Pegasus: Semantics.
- Bakura Ryou acknowledges his Demoted to Extra status.
  Joey: Now you're gonna have to beat Pegasus and Bakura on your own!
  Bakura: Oh! I'm glad you remembered I'm still here...
- Joey takes the opportunity to punch several holes in the fourth wall.
  Joey: (referring to Toon World) Looks like your cartoon's been cancelled (Like GX!)
  Pegasus: Ohhhh!
- When Yami Bakura takes over Ryou to duel Yugi, this exchange occurs.
  Yami Bakura: Everything went according to plan. Pegasus wiped out all the trash to set up our one-on-one duel. I'll defeat you right here and take control of the world!
  Yami Yugi: Who would have expected that the fate of the entire world would be at stake—here, at YCS Providence!?
This scripted duel has Kaiba versus Pegasus, the latter using a Wind-Up deck provided by one of the real-life players instead of his usual Toons. Both characters get a lot of insults in.
Pegasus: How sad! A genie without its home is like a Red Archery Girl without her bow, a Gemini Elf without her twin, or Kaiba without his scowl.
- Kaiba starts using cards that weren't in circulation at the time, leading to this exchange.
  Pegasus: Impossible! That card isn’t being released to the general public until September! How did you get that?
  Kaiba: I'm not a member of the general public, Pegasus. I'm the president of KaibaCorp. My connections extend throughout the world, and there isn't anything I can’t afford. When I heard about the new cards in the Saga of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon structure deck, I made a couple of calls, got them delivered to my doorstep the next day.
- Kaiba messes up the name of a "Blue-eyes" card, Maiden with Eyes of Blue by almost calling it Maiden with Blue Eyes before correcting himself.
- Pegasus has a blast needling Kaiba with his Wind-Up toys.
  Pegasus: Next, I summon a monster that reminds me a lot about you... Wind-Up Rat.
  Kaiba: (deadpan) How cheesy.
- The end of that duel deserves mention for a draw that defies belief even by the show's standards. Kaiba has no monsters and an empty hand, and needs something to turn things around before Pegasus wipes him out. What happens? He top-decks CHAOS EMPEROR DRAGON. Pegasus is incredulous, to say the least, but actually manages to survive the dragon's effect by banishing his Rabbits himself, threatening to win next turn. Kaiba then uses Castle of Dragon Souls to summon a Blue-Eyes, even though the current "when... you can" wording would cause it to miss the timing. Turns out his pre-order uses an earlier draft, and that gets a pass.
  Pegasus: That castle's effect is optional: you can't use it!
  Kaiba: Wrong, Pegasus. My castle's effect says it can be used if it's sent to the Graveyard, not when! So I can use it, even though you taking damage was the last thing to happen. So - did you even read the dueling guide that you wrote?
  Pegasus: ...I thought I changed its effect when I designed the card!
  Kaiba: You thought wrong!
Another scripted duel is between Yugi and Mai. When Yugi activates Multiply, a pile of Kuriboh cards is tossed between the two to mimic what Multiply does on the show.
- Yami's Dark Magician Girl is destroyed. The crowd reacts and, in what seems like an ad-lib, Dan Green mumbles "...But she's so cute" while moving the card to the graveyard.
This one is between Yusei and Akiza from Yu-Gi-Oh 5Ds, and contains another card game on motorcycles reference.
Akiza: I don't think Rhode Island is set up for [a Turbo Duel], Yusei, their speed limit is only 65.
- This moment, too:
  Yusei: ...Maybe not, but I still have the advantage. Not only do I have more life points than you, I also have Junk Warrior with 4400 ATK, while you have nothing on yours.
  Akiza: Well, I have something you don't have.
  Yusei: What's that?
  Akiza: The support of the crowd. [Crowd cheers]
  Yusei: Whoa, no, no. I think they're on my side. [Quieter reaction]
  Akiza: Nah, I think they're on my side. [Continued cheering]
  Yusei: That's not fair. These guys aren't used to seeing a hot girl at these things.
- The following moment then gets stalled in a volley of "Are you going to do what I think you're going to do?"
Joey vs Pegasus, where Joey stands against the Burning Abyss archetype:
- Joey activates Time Wizard, which operates through Duelist Kingdom logic, aging all the monsters by a thousand years. His Baby Dragon advances to Thousand Dragon, and his Sheep Token dies. As for Pegasus's monsters...
  Pegasus: Nothing happens to them.
  Joey: WHAAAAAAAAAT?! They've aged a thousand years! You're telling me your monsters are strong as ever?
  Pegasus: My monsters are stuck in the Burning Abyss for all of eternity. What's another thousand years?
- Joey calls an attack, and he stutters a little when targeting Pegasus's's's's monster. Pegasus later echoes this stutter when he uses Beatrice's's's's effect.
This scripted duel is between Joey and Kaiba, containing several Deadpan Snarker moments from Kaiba, Joey, and Tristan.
Kaiba: It's time to show this crowd what they really came here to see. Come forth, Blue-Eyes White Dragon!
[The crowd goes wild]
Joey: Hey, hey, hey! Stop cheerin'!
Kaiba: Aw, did that hurt your feelings? It's probably because no one's ever cheered for you in your miserable life.
Tristan: Oh yeah!? I'll cheer for you, Joey! Go Joey!
[The crowd starts to cheer for Joey]
Kaiba: Yeah, I take that back - no one important.
- Joey gets a good draw when Kaiba's Blue-Eyes is on the field, but can't stop being made fun of.
  Joey: Copycat picks any monster on your field and copies its attack points! And I choose... your Blue-Eyes!
  Kaiba: Hahaha... Of course you would copy me. Just like you copied Tristan during your math test last week.
  Tristan: That's right! And we both got a D+!
  Joey: Laugh all you want, Kaiba, but my Copycat's as strong as your dragon. Copycat, attack his Blue-Eyes!
  Kaiba: Not so fast, Wheeler. I activate Negate Attack! Now I know this might be a difficult card for you to understand, so let me explain its effect. Your attack... is... negated.
- Joey halts an assault with Scapegoat, but rather than fill his field with Goat tokens, they're functionally identical Joey tokens, and both duelists refer to them that way.
- After spending several turns on the back foot in terms of life points, Kaiba uses a combo to give himself more than he started with. "Well, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer."
During a scripted duel between Pegasus and Marik, Marik announces what card Pegasus has drawn. The stunned Pegasus questions how Marik could know what he drew. Marik laughs that he used his Millennium Rod to take control of the cameraman watching the duel and zoom in on Pegasus' hand.
- Marik and Pegasus's introduction has a funny moment.
  Marik: Hey, you're a lot older than the rest of these kids. Who are you?
  Pegasus: You don't know who I am? You must've been living in a cave.
  Marik: No, I've been living in a tomb, awaiting the return of the Nameless Pharaoh. This is the only time I've ever seen the surface world.
- Marik opens with Necrovalley, boasting of a homeground advantage. Pegasus only has this to say:
  Pegasus: You wanted to get away from your heritage, so you brought us back to Egypt?
- Yami Marik emerges because Marik was bitter and jealous over his gravekeepers being destroyed and not being able to have fun with monsters like Toons.
- The finishing move is so glorious it's a shame it isn't actually animated. Pegasus uses Comic Hand to take control of Marik's The Winged Dragon of Ra, and transforms it into Toon Winged Dragon of Ra, allowing him to attack for the game.
- Yami Marik summons the Winged Dragon of Ra, but Pegasus is less than impressed.
  Yami Marik: I tribute your Toon Cyber Dragon, Toon Goblin Attack Force, and Toon Mermaid to normal summon a very special monster. COME FORTH, THE WINGED DRAGON OF RA! ...In Sphere Mode!
  Pegasus: ...So, that's what you give to the man who has everything? A big, glowing bowling ball.
The Duel between Yuya and Yusei reuses the gag of old characters getting befuddled by new mechanics.
Yusei: Pendulum Scales? What in the name of red motorcycles is are you talking about?
Yuya: Hoho, I will tell you, Yusei! Don't you know what Pendulum Scales are? You can't Pendulum Summon without them!
Yusei: I can't what? What in the hell are you talking about?
This anime convention scripted duel is a duel of love between Yugi and Kaiba.
- Seto Kaiba starts the duel by summoning his first monster, Psyduck. Specifically, a Psyduck cosplayer.
  Kaiba: Psyduck. Psyduck...
  Yugi: It takes him a little time.
Zigfried and Jean's duel in 2018:
- Zigfried recognizes Jean not as a world-famous actor, but as a Duelist who was unceremoniously defeated by Mai.
- Not only is Zigfried's voice actor putting his all into the German accent, Zigfried is still as cocky and as big a Large Ham as he was in the show. He draws out all steps of his Goddess combo for maximum effect, and rubs it in Jean's face as he ends the Battle Phase with Negate Attack.
- Zigfried's Goddess combo gets rid of the top card of Jean's Deck: Pot of Greed. Jean mourns his loss as he could have been able to use it to draw two cards. Zigfried's response is "Who doesn't know that?"
- Jean performs a Link Summon and starts bragging about how he's kept up with the latest techniques. Zigfried gets impatient and urges him to cut the chatter and continue with his turn.
- Not only does Shard of Greed get Zigfried two cards, he goes into Pot of Greed for another draw 2, and then a Pot of Desires for another two more! Talk about greed!
The Yugi and Astral Duel was filled with awesome moments, but also funny moments. At one point Astral asks Yugi of all people if he's taken Dueling lessons from Yuma.
“Joey vs Ishizu” in 2019:
- Joey complains that he wasn't let into the tournament as his Deck didn't comply with the Advanced Format. Ishizu has only this to say:
  Ishizu: You wouldn't even have won anyway.
  Joey: Did you use your Millennium Necklace to see that?
  Ishizu: No, I used common sense.
- Joey excitedly starts the first turn of the Duel... by setting a monster and ending his turn. The awkward silence is palpable, and you can even hear someone in the audience laugh at his mediocre opening.
- Joey unveils an unreleased card, reprising a joke from a previous scripted duel.
  Joey: I Summon Red-Eyes Alternative Black Dragon!
  Ishizu: With my Millennium Necklace, I foresee that card being released on August 30th. How do you already have it?
  Joey: Some stuck-up rich boy got the tins early. He said he didn't want this card because it reminded him of me. And he also said something about third-rate duelists and fourth-rate decks. I don't really remember why. I stopped listening to him after he gave me the card.
- Joey demonstrates his perennial Butt-Monkey status when he sets up a board of monsters and attacks Ishizu with Red-Eyes Alternative Black Dragon, which ends up triggering Ishizu's Blast Held by a Tribute, which wipes out all of his monsters. He proceeds to summon all his monsters back and tries again... cue Ishizu flipping a Mirror Force and blowing up his field again. Not to be discouraged, he summons a Red-Eyes Black Dragon with double its normal ATK using Alternative Black Dragon's effect and attacks a third time. Ishizu answers with Enchanted Javelin, letting her end the turn with more LP than she started with.
- Joey attempts to save one of his attacked monsters with Roulette Spider, and he begs for a good roll. A member of the audience cheers him with a "We believe in you, Joey!" right as he rolls a 1 (which halves his own LP). He blames the audience for jinxing him.
During Jaden and Aster's scripted duel:
- When Jaden first sees Aster, he asks if he tried any egg sandwiches yet. Aster is slightly exasperated of the food being Jaden's priority.
- When Jaden plays Pot of Greed for a fresh draw 2, Aster exclaims "THAT'S HOW IT WORKS! I HAD NO IDEA!"
- Jaden misreads a tiny bit of D - Counter's effect that lets it take out his Flame Wingman without targeting it. Aster points out that he's not done well in PSCT class, and Jaden admits he's not one for reading and more of a "big picture guy."
- Aster pulls out Destroyer Phoenix Enforcer to the cheers of the crowd. Jaden's awed to see it first-hand, since he's also seen everyone around him use it.
- Jaden communes with Winged Kuriboh offscreen, and Aster's voice actor plays up his nonverbal exasperation in the process.
- Aster triggers a lot of effects in Jaden's Standby Phase due to the cards he's got, exclaiming "I'm making so many plays, I've forgotten it's your turn!"
2023 features Jack vs Gong. Jack bets that he can defeat Gong in five turns, and if he fails that, he'll concede.
- Gong's such a Large Ham that he's got the energy of a wrestler. His voice actor, Billy Bob Thompson, surely sounds like he's having plenty of fun playing the part!
- Gong's first move is... to Set a monster. He even marvels at it like it's a masterful play of defensive Dueling. Jack's response is to claim that Gong should rename his style from "Heavystrong Style" to "Light and Weak Style".
- "Slooowwww dowwwwn, Master of Faster!"
- Gong pantomimes revving up a motorbike after using or summoning Superheavy Samurai Motorbike.
- While preparing to Synchro Summon Superheavy Samurai Steam Train King: "CHOO CHOO! Make way for the pain train!"

Other

When Yu-Gi-Oh first came to western shores, Pegasus sent mysterious video tapes in the mail to promote Duelist Kingdom. One feature was an utterly hilarious rap song.
Your move! Better think twice before you choose
Way I'm playing tonight ain't no way I'm gonna lose!
It's a game, yeah, but it's more than that
I'm not just watchin' the score
What matters is my grandfather's been kidnapped!
Where'd he go? I dunno! I can hear him, though!
The Konami blog often posts articles about combos for certain decks to help people understand the cards better. The pictures illustrating these combos usually have a joke filename that's either a pun, a joke about the cards, or a knowing wink to the fans' interests. One filename (a combo about searching through a HERO deck) was 404StratosNotFound.jpg, a reference to Elemental HERO Stratos being banned for far longer than the fanbase is comfortable.
There's a comic series uploaded on pixiv by cahf called Dark Magician Girl Struggles with Yu-Gi-Oh. It's a series to explain or make fun of complicated rulings and interactions in the game with Dark Magician Girl as the main character. It's currently being translated on Reddit.
In the Latin American fandom, there's the "Yugi Trampas Locas" meme, poking fun about how Yugi always wins his duels making plays that the TGC does not allow. This particular instance (a crossover with Dragon Ball Z) was dubbed by Irwin Daayán and Gerardo Reyero, as shown here.
Frieza: You guys are fucked now!
Yugi: Not so fast, Frieza! I activate my trap card "Krillin, no!" With this, I sacrifice Krillin, turning Goku into a Super Saiyan!
Frieza: Fuck it, Yugi! Always with your fucking cheats, that's why nobody wants to play with you anymore!
"The History of Yu-Gi-Oh!", a video series in which Yugioh YouTubers Cimo and MBT look back at old formats of the game and play with only the cards available during that time frame, brings us Cimo foreseeing his own downfall as if he had the Millennium Necklace.
Cimo: Monster Reborn, Megamorph, normal summon kills me. That's too good. I'm gonna activate Swords of Revealing Light, and I'll pass.
MBT: That's a pretty interesting three-card combo you think I have in my hand. Absurd. What did you say, Megamorph, Monster Reborn, normal summonable monster? And for turn I would have had to draw something to deal with Swords of Revealing Light? I mean, insane! Impossible! Impeccable! What's the percent chance of that happening in a 40-card deck? Zero!
Cimo: Please do not tell me that's where this is going...
MBT: Anyway, I think I'll start with a Mystical Space Typhoon, targeting your Swords of Revealing Light.
Cimo: FUUUUUUUUCK!
MBT: Folks, who needs Exodia? Who needs Exodia when you can just draw the right four cards every time? Second step, I think I will Monster Reborn, we'll target that Goblin Attack Force you have in the graveyard, seems like a pretty good card. I'll normal summon a Dark Elf as well, and for the last card in hand, I'll equip it with a Megamorph.
- In the third game of the Dark Crisis episode, Cimo (who for this episode was playing a Butterfly Dagger Elma Exodia OTK deck^note) draws Monster Reborn, 2 pieces of Exodia, Gearfried The Iron Knight and Sangan for his opening hand. He then draws a third piece of Exodia, and by using Monster Reborn to loop Sangan's effect, adds the other 2 pieces of Exodia to hand, winning the duel on the fifth turn without using Elma at all. Cimo seals this by hamming it up to a level that Dan Green would be proud of.
Cimo: Joseph Rothschild...
MBT: There's no way. 8 cards deep, absolutely not. Absolutely not!
Cimo: Joseph Rothschild. DID YOU NOT LEARN YOUR LESSON THE FIRST TIME YOU FACED EXODIA THE FORBIDDEN ONE? I HAVE ASSEMBLED ALL FIVE PIECES YET AGAIN OF THE ULTIMATE BEING IN DUEL MONSTERS! HAVE YOU NO SHAME? BOW DOWN BEFORE YOUR GREAT EGYPTIAN OVERLORD BECAUSE THIS IS YOUR FATE!
From 2011 to 2014, Konami's official TCG event coverage blog would occasionally be hijacked by Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World, who would talk about the Dark World cards and various other cards that synergize well with them, along with narrating duels featuring Dark World decks, all the while being a Laughably Evil Large Ham. His first blog post is quite amusing.
Grapha: I, Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World, have achieved an incredible feat! I have infiltrated the most secure of tournament halls, and snuck right behind the curtain in the back, to see where all of the Duelists’ top secrets are held! Most incredibly of all, despite my enormous size, I managed to go completely unnoticed through it all! And now I know which armies are winning their battles in this convention center/war zone!
On February 2024, as part of the 25-year Milestone Celebration, Konami unveiled an animation that brought to life several notable archetypes and characters. Among these includes a cut straight from from Melffy Rabby's staring contest to Divine Arsenal AA-Zeus ready to kick ass. Players used to joke about the Mood Whiplash of a cuddly Melffy monster being used to pilot a Humongous Mecha, and it's hard to deny that Konami hasn't recognized that in-joke.

Funny / Yu-Gi-Oh!

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Unsorted/General

Previous

Index

Next

Funny / Yu-Gi-Oh!

Edit Locked

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

Unsorted/General

Previous

Index

Next