Gozaburo Kaiba

Gozaburo Kaiba is Seto and Mokuba Kaiba's adoptive father and the former CEO of KaibaCorp. He is the final antagonist in the Virtual World arc, after his biological son, Noah Kaiba. Gozaburo slightly resembles Seto's past life's father, Aknadin, though it is unknown if he is a reincarnation of him or not.

Appearance
His appearance is that of a tall man, with gray hair and a moustache. In the manga his facial expressions show evil and madness when committing suicide, while in the anime he seems like a calm and deceiving man. He usually wears a red business suit, a black tie and a white inner sleeve.

Personality
Gozaburo was a strict and persistent man. He was considered evil by many because he constantly manipulated people, including his own son, to achieve his goals. At first he was a caring father, training his son to succeed him as CEO of Kaiba Corp. After Noah's accident, he only wanted to save him at any cost, but by doing so, he discovered a plan to destroy the real world and rule the virtual. After that day his motivations changed. He usually didn't recognize the hard work of the Big Five. He was very strict with Seto, though he was nicer to Mokuba. Meanwhile, he was using Noah to set his ambition into motion.

History
Gozaburo was the original founder and CEO of KaibaCorp, which at that time was a successful arms manufacturer. Because of the nature of his business he became involved in a war where he financed tanks and weapons to one faction, who easily overcome their enemies. Dartz, disguised as Gozaburo, lent weapons from Kaiba Corp to the opposing faction as well, making many people believe that he was only interested in making money through war.

At one point in his life he had a son, Noah Kaiba, of whom he intended to raise as the Kaiba Corp heir. Gozaburo looked for the best teachers and education for his son. He also spent time with him, taking him out to the sea at one point.

Gozaburo became a famous chess champion, winning the world championship and donating the prize of $100,000 to the orphanage where Seto and Mokuba lived. The brothers heard of him on TV, so Seto developed a plan to be adopted, studying everything he could about chess and Gozaburo, learning his way of thinking and strategies. While in the anime, Gozaburo wasn't interested in adopting any kid, in the manga he was looking to adopt one son, choosing Seto.

When Gozaburo visited the orphanage, he gave toys to the kids, and on his way out Seto challenged him to a game of chess, telling Gozaburo that if he refused, he would tell the press he was scared of a little kid. Confident he would not be beaten by a child, Gozaburo agreed to a single game with Seto, stating the stipulation that if he wins, Gozaburo will agree to adopt him along with his brother. In the manga, the whole game was a setup. In the anime, Seto had spent time studying Gozaburo's strategies and how to overcome them, and thus defeated him. Gozaburo had to keep his end of the bargain.

After being defeated by Seto, Gozaburo met with Noah Kaiba. He showed his son a picture of Seto, telling him he will be his adoptive brother, that both would compete to inherit Kaiba Corporation and will become rivals. After that talk, Noah was crushed by a car. He was transported to the Kaiba Hospital, but the doctors couldn't do anything to save him. Gozaburo wanted to save his son at any cost. Finding a way to do it through technology, he digitalized Noah's mind and transferred it into a Kaiba Corp computer. Noah was then given a funeral.

Noah awakened in the Virtual World seeing Gozaburo in a screen, where he was explained what had happened. Gozaburo slowly expanded the Virtual World, even programming a space trip for his son. At first Noah thought Gozaburo would bring Seto to compete against him, meaning that if Noah won the virtual would overcome the reality and he could rule Kaiba Corp. Gozaburo's true intentions were actually to use Seto's body as Noah's recipient, while making his adopted son think he was being bred as his heir. However, Gozaburo soon understood Noah could not inherit Kaiba Corp because of his lack of contact with society, and because the virtual could not rule humans. Because of this, his visits to Noah became less frequent and wasn't amused by his deeds.

On Noah's birthday, Gozaburo was told by his son that with Kaiba Corp's military weapons 97% of the human population could be destroyed in 30 days. After hearing this, Gozaburo started developing a plan to leave only the Virtual World, so he began the construction of a missile satellite to destroy the major cities across the world. That day, Seto and Mokuba arrived to the Kaiba Corp mansion.

Gozaburo was a cruel father to Seto, forcing him to spend all his time studying and forgoing any of the joy or fun usually associated with childhood. He put the condition that if Seto didn't study as intended, he would be returned to the orphanage, and drove his adopted son to strict educational regiment for the gifted. One day he asked Seto what would he do if he inherited the company, getting disappointed when Seto answered that he would create Kaiba Land. Gozaburo confiscated all the games Seto owned because of this, making every day like constant torture. But he didn't realize that he was turning his successor into his greatest enemy.

Gozaburo threw a party in which he invited Mr. Schroeder to discuss a deal. They were accompanied by Seto, Mokuba and Zigfried von Schroeder. Mr. von Schroeder first praised Gozaburo because of his fine successor and added that his kid was also a genius. The lights from the party started to flicker on and off and Kemo informed Gozaburo about a computer virus. Gozaburo was astonished as their computers were well protected and couldn't imagine who could have done that.

Four years later, Seto developed a virtual simulation system to be used in games, but Gozaburo planned to use it for warfare. One day Seto insisted to Gozaburo to be used in games, making him angry. He told his adopted son that the objective of the Kaiba family was the world domination with military weapons, Kemo and other guard proceeded to take Seto out of the office. After this, Seto stopped calling him "father".

One year later, Seto concluded his studies. Gozaburo made a fatal mistake when he gave Seto 2% of Kaiba Corp shares as his birthday present. He put Seto on a mission to earn 100 times (10 times in the English version) that amount through investments within a year in order to test if he was capable of inheriting Kaiba Corp, or else he would return to the orphanage. Seto overcame the expectations of Gozaburo by easily accomplishing his mission. However, Seto set in motion his plan, he, along with the board of directors (later known as The Big Five), started buying shares of Kaiba Corp until reaching 49% of the company. Gozaburo, also with 49%, realized Seto's plan. Because of this, Seto hurt Mokuba to force him to spend more time with Gozaburo than with him; this action deceived Gozaburo in thinking Mokuba would support him instead of his brother.

First series anime
In Epsiode 20 Gozaburo returns. He questions Seto Kaiba on why he created KaibaLand and finished it even though it was over budget. After he angrily denounces Seto Kaiba for the way he is running the company, Seto announces that he is in control and the board members go to his side, showing Gozaburo that he is in control. Gozaburo looks at the street below the board office, and then collapses in shock.

Death
Six years had passed since Seto and Mokuba were adopted. Gozaburo, Seto, the Big Five, and other high raking employees attended a meeting. There, Gozaburo, confident that he owned 51% of the company, revealed his plan to defeat Seto which consisted in transferring his shares to a subsidiary, but was ousted from power when Mokuba decided to betray him and give his 2% of the company to his brother. After the meeting Gozaburo died, his death is portrayed in three different ways:
 * In the manga, Gozaburo committed suicide by jumping from the top floor of the Kaiba Corporation building, as Seto watched and said "Defeat is the same as death... You taught me that too, and I'll always remember it".
 * In the first series anime he suffered a heart attack.
 * In the second series anime, this weakened Gozaburo's mind leading to him committing suicide (in the English anime, he ran away and disappeared forever).

Second series anime
It is revealed that, while Gozaburo's body died, he had previously digitized his mind like he did his son's, and hid inside the Kaiba Corp computer banks. Because of Seto's treachery his plans were shattered, so he changed them, instead of using Seto's body as the recipient of Noah, it would become the recipient of Kaiba Corp. Although Seto would rule it for a time, Gozaburo had planned on taking his body later on.

When Noah lures Seto and others, including Yugi Muto, into the Virtual World, Noah has the Big Five try and defeat Yugi, Seto, and company. When they fail one by one, Gozaburo reveals himself as the mastermind of the capture to everyone and Noah. He was disappointed by Noah's defeat as he could not take Seto's body, but he had managed to hack into Kaiba Corp's network. Through it, he accessed his secret missile satellite. No longer needing Seto's body, he unveils the final stage of his plan: Launch missiles against the human leaders, hack into every computer system in the world, and rule humanity through the Virtual World (in the English version he wanted to digitize the entire world and reign as king of the Virtual World).

Gozaburo then closes all the exits he knew of the Virtual World. Noah then pretends to lead the group to a secret exit, but instead splits them up, leaving most of them wandering a Virtual Domino City while Noah, realizing his father was only using him, uses Mokuba's body to escape, and changes the trajectory of the missiles to the fortress, intending to destroy everyone inside while he escapes.

While Yugi and the others try to escape, Seto goes to confront his adoptive father. Gozaburo, who was still bitter over his loss to Seto in chess years ago and because Seto stole Kaiba Corp, challenges him to a duel to give Seto the same type defeat he delivered Gozaburo. As a further insult, Gozaburo uses the monster "Exodia Necross" (a ghostly dark version of "Exodia the Forbidden One", the monster who handed Seto his first Duel Monsters defeat). Exodia Necross gains 500 ATK every one of his Standby Phases, and cannot be destroyed by Spells or Traps. However, its special abilities depend on having all 5 Exodia parts in the Graveyard.

During the Duel, they are informed that the fortress will be hit by a missile and the Virutal World destroyed. Gozaburo was astonished because of the betrayal of his own son and for his plans getting ruined again. Knowing that he will die, Gozaburo tries to take Seto's body, but Seto stopped him by offering that the winner of the duel will escape to the real world. Seto uses "Soul Demolition" to remove the parts from play, neutralizing "Exodia Necross". Now stripped of its powers, "Exodia Necross" is destroyed by Seto's Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Gozaburo loses the Duel and his chance to escape the Virtual World.

With the fortress about to be destroyed, Gozaburo attempts to take Kaiba's body by force by transforming into a red creature. Yugi enters and helps Kaiba escape to the real world. Noah, having had a change of heart, appears on Gozaburo's back, immobilizing him as well as preventing him from downloading himself to another network. As Seto and Yugi emerge on the airship and escape, the fortress explodes, deleting Noah. Gozaburo lives for a few moments, somehow becoming 'real' as a beast of flame, erupting from the ruins of the fortress. As he attempts to destroy the airship, Seto activates the airship's thrusters, jetting out of Gozaburo's grasp for good and leaving him to sink into the waves.

Legacy


Although this is Gozaburo's first and final appearance in person, he appears in flashbacks before and after the Virtual World. Kaiba's goal to defeat Yugi Muto at Alcatraz (Battle City) is not only a mission to defeat Yugi, but to overcome Gozaburo's legacy and put it behind him. Kaiba feels that only when he is crowned Duel King atop the Duel Tower, amidst the rubble of the military factories Gozaburo had built there, that only then can he forget his past and step out of Gozaburo's shadow. Alister of Dartz's group, Doma, also harbors a grudge towards Seto Kaiba, believing that Gozaburo funded a military attack on his town, although he later realizes that the attack was instead ordered by Dartz disguised as Gozaburo, thus ending his rage against Seto.

Anime
Gozaburo plays an Exodia Necross Deck. His strategy revolved around Summoning "Exodia Necross" by quickly sending the pieces of "Exodia" to the Graveyard through "Painful Choice". He then relied entirely on Necross' immunity and ATK raising abilities, which provided decent offense and defense, but whose weaknesses proved to be his undoing.

Before his Duel with Seto, Gozaburo Summoned a number of monsters with a chess theme against Yugi and company, using their respective chess pieces - "Cosmo Queen" (queen), "Skull Knight" (bishop), "Command Knight" (knight), "Rock Ogre Grotto #1" (rook), and "Lizard Soldier" (pawn).