Yami Yugi

Yami Yugi, known as Dark Yugi in the manga and Japanese versions is the spirit of Pharaoh Atem that has been sealed in the Millennium Puzzle.

After Yugi Muto solved the Millennium Puzzle, Yami Yugi resided in Yugi's body and would take possession of it when Yugi or his friends were in danger. After Yugi became fully aware of Yami's existence, Yugi could voluntarily give control of his body to Yami.

Personality
In the manga, Dark Yugi starts out as an unforgiving vigilante. He emerges to deal justice to people who trespass the souls of Yugi and his friends. Although his acts are righteous, his punishment Penalty Games are usually brutal. These are toned down in the first series anime, as most of them are made illusions. In the first episode of the English anime, Yami defeats Seto Kaiba and uses his power to break his mind. Kaiba is able to recover.

He is slightly reserved, as he doesn't reveal his existence to Yugi or his friends. After Yugi admits to thinking "another Yugi" exists inside him, his friends become aware of his existence and accept him as a friend.

Yami's pride is his greatest strength and weakness. Initially he refuses to lose games, without considering the consequences. This has caused him to almost kill Seto Kaiba by attacking him while he stood on a ledge and would fall if his monster was attacked and Yugi won the duel. Yugi holds him back from such acts at times, although not always successful. Yugi becomes afraid to let Yami out for a while, because of the harm he could cause. Learning how to lose becomes an essential part of Yami's journey, which is tested in the Ceremonial Battle.

Through Yugi and his friends, Yami Yugi learns the values and powers of friendship and unity. After seeing Yugi overcome Marik in his Duel with Joey, who has been possessed, Yami thinks to himself, he learned something from Yugi; that in kindness lies the greatest strength of all; one day Yugi will surpass him in every way.

Design
Yugi's character design was overseen by Kazuki Takahashi.

As he exists in Yugi's body, his appearance is largely the same as Yugi's, although many alterations are made when Yami takes control. The main difference is that Yami Yugi is taller and thus looks more like a teenager than Yugi, and he has a deeper voice.

Yami Yugi's hair features multiple layers including long blond crocked, pointy locks for his fringe. Unlike Yugi, some of the blond locks jut upwards. The rest of his hair features a six large spikes colored black with magenta rims all along the edges. The spikes were loose and free flowing at the beginning of the manga, but over time became stiffer.

At the beginning of the series, his outfit consists of the standard male Domino High uniform complete with a closed buckled collar and a set of Ankhs on his sleeves, which weren't present when Yugi was in control. It also noted that his uniform becomes a darker shade of blue when Yami Yugi assumes control. The Ankhs were later removed. Unlike Yugi, Yami Yugi sometimes wears the jacket as a cape.

He wears the Millennium Puzzle on a brown rope around his neck. The rope is later replaced with a chain.

When he plays Dungeon Dice Monsters against Duke Devlin, he wears a dark-gray long-sleeves shirt, a sleeve-less vest, dark blue pants and black shoes.

When he and Téa took a day together to find out about the Millennium Puzzle, he wore a black linen and several pieces of wrist-chains, to match the Millennium Puzzle's chain.

In Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monsters, Yami wears a different attire of a violet jacket and jeans. He also wears the Capsule Shooter on his left arm. In episode 4, he gains a duel armor that allows him to become one with one of his capsule monsters.

Manga biography

 * See: Dark Yugi in the manga

First series anime biography

 * See: Dark Yugi in the first series anime

Origin
Pharaoh Atem defeated Zorc Necrophades, sacrificing his life in the process. He used his name as part of a spell that sealed Zorc's and his own soul in the Millennium Items. Atem's soul got sealed in the Millennium Puzzle. The puzzle was shattered and laid to rest in the Pharaoh's tomb.

3,000 years later (5,000 in the English anime), Yugi Muto solved the Millennium Puzzle, which caused the Pharaoh's spirit to inhabit Yugi's body. The Pharaoh's soul, which comes to be known as "the other Yugi" or "Yami Yugi" is now missing the vast majority of his memories.

Duelist Kingdom
Kaiba kidnaps Grandpa, after seeing his "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" the first time. After tearing up the card, Yami Yugi duels him, with Grandpa's Deck. Kaiba Summons the other 3 "Blue-Eyes White Dragons" and Yugi defeats him with "Exodia". After winning, he Mind Crushes Kaiba, dispelling his evil side.

With his eyes set on the Millennium Puzzle, Maximillion Pegasus sends Yugi a video tape and invitation to Duelist Kingdom. When the video is played, Pegasus appears on the screen and requests a Duel with Yugi. Using his Millennium Eye, Pegasus takes Yugi into The Shadow Realm, while Yugi's friends and Grandpa are frozen. Yami Yugi emerges and duels Pegasus. Pegasus reads Yami's mind, using his Millennium Eye and learns his strategies. Yami ultimately loses due to the time limit on the Duel. Pegasus then steals Grandpa's soul, using his Millennium Eye to blackmail Yugi into entering the Duelist Kingdom tournament.

At the tournament, Yami defeats Weevil Underwood and Mako Tsunami and supports Joey in his Duel against Mai.

Mokuba Kaiba, who was held prisoner by Pegasus, escapes and steals another duelist Deck. Mokuba wants revenge for how Kaiba Corporation got humiliated after Seto Kaiba lost to Yugi and knows Pegasus needs to bet Yugi in order to take over KaibaCorp. He duels Yami Yugi in the hopes of eliminating him, so Pegasus will be unable to face him in the finals. Unable to beat Yami, Mokuba steals two of his Star Chips, to get him disqualified. Yami manages to convince Mokuba, they should be working together and to return the stolen Star Chips. Mokuba tries to return the first Star Chips he stole, but the duelist he took them from is already being shipped off the island. As Mokuba shows Kemo that duelist's Star Chips, Kemo slaps them into the water, including two of Yugi's and takes Mokuba captive. Yami challanges Kemo to a Duel for Mokuba's freedom. Kemo doesn't duel, but arranges another meeting, where he'll have an opponent for Yugi.

Yami faced the Mimic of Doom, who initially disguised himself as Kaiba. The Mimic insisted that Kaiba was dead and he was his ghost seeking revenge. In the English version, he claimed to be Kaiba's evil half that Yami had sent to the Shadow Realm. In all cases Yami's opponent used Kaiba's Deck. The real Seto Kaiba hacked into Pegasus computer system and put a virus in the "Blue-Eyes White Dragon", Yami's opponent Summoned. In the Japanese anime, he used the Millennium Puzzle to put the Mimic in a coma. In the English anime, he drove all evil from the Mimic.

Yugi and his friends met up with Ryo Bakura. In the second series anime, since Monster World was skipped, Yami Bakura played a similar game with Yugi and his friends. Yami Bakura trapped Tristan, Téa, Joey, Yugi and Bakura in Duel Monsters cards, while he and Yami Yugi dueled with them in their Decks. After Summonng "Dark Magician", the card Yugi had become, Joey, Téa and Tristan see that there are two Yugi for the first time in the anime. Yami is put at a disadvantage, as he focus on keeping his friends alive for the Duel. Yami Bakura plays "Change of Heart", which Ryo had become. Ryo refuses to turn his friends against each other and takes over Yami Bakura's "Lady of Faith", telling Yami Yugi that he can win, if he attacks him. Yami Yugi refuses to attack his friend. He then uses the Millennium Puzzle to switch the souls of the two Bakuras and attacks, sending Yami Bakura to the Graveyard and winning the Duel. Afterwards Téa, Tristan and Joey all think they dreamt it.

Yami faces Panik, to win back Mai's Star Chips, that she lost to him. Yami defeats him, but Panik doesn't give up and tries to kill Yugi with flame injectors. Yami protects himself with the power of the Milennium Puzzle and inflicts a Mind Crush on Panik.

Yami Tag Duels with Joey as they take on the Paradox Brothers together. The game being a Labyrinth Duel, puts it stongly in the Paradox brothers favor, but Yugi and Joey are able to beat them through teamwork. To leave the Labyrinth, there are two paths out of the arena: one leads out of the caves, while another leads to an endless maze. As a way of helping the two, the Brothers claim that one of them will speak only lies, while the other will speak only the truth, and furthermore allow both Yugi and Joey to ask one question each to find out which path is correct. However, Yami deduces that both brothers are lying and they have the power to change which path leads where. By using a two-headed coin to trick the Brothers into admitting this, Yugi and his friends escape the caves. After this win Yugi and Joey have enough Star Chips to enter the finals.

On entry to the castle to enter the finals, Yugi is confronted by Kaiba, who must beat Yugi, before he can face Pegasus. Kaiba Summons the "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon", causing troubles for Yami. Yami shields himself with a wall of "Kuriboh" from "Multiply" and manages to weaken the dragon by fusing "Mammoth Graveyard" into it, causing it to decay. When Yami is one attack away from victory, Kaiba stands up on the wall of the castle. If Yami continues the attack, Kaiba will be blown off the edge. Yami continues the attack, but Yugi takes control and cancels the attack, forfeiting the Duel to Kaiba, who takes five of Yugi's Star Chips.

Yugi manages to regain a spot in the finals as Mai gives him her excessive Star Chips, in thanks for winning hers back off Panik. Yugi faces Mai in the first round of the finals, but patronizes her and ony thinks of facing Pegasus. This leads to a lot of bad plays on Yugi's behalf. (In the English version, Yugi refuses to let Yami duel, in fear that he may harm his opponent, like he was willing to harm Kaiba. Yami tries to talk Yugi into letting him duel, as Yugi puts up a weak fight. After talking with Mai about facing fears, Yugi lets Yami take control.) Having faith in his friends and everyone depending on him, Yami Summons the "Black Luster Soldier" and uses it to defeat Mai.

Yami Yugi faces Joey in the finals. Despite being friends, neither player holds back. Joey uses all he's learnt from the Yugis in the past and puts up a close Duel. Both players begin crying as Yami makes his final move winning the Duel.

Yami proceeds to face Pegasus in the finals. His souls is at stake as he battles for the release of Grandpa and the Kaiba brother's souls. Pegasus dominates the Duel at an early stage, with his "Toon monsters and using his Millennium Eye to read Yami's mind. Yami talks with Yugi, who gets the idea to continually switch control of his body. This way after Yugi makes a move, he switches to Yami, whose mind Pegasus then reads. This causes Pegasus to not see what cards are played face-down and where Yugi hides "Dark Magician" under "Magical Hats". Pegasus uses "Magical Neutralizing Force" to remove the hats, but Yami uses a cards Yugi Set, "Living Arrow", which copies "Magical Neutralizing Force", which destroys "Toon World" and Pegasus' Toons. Pegasus then takes the Duel to the Shadow Realm and uses his eye-themed monsters. Yugi, unable to cope with the Shadow Realm passes out after a few turns, setting a card as he does so.

Yami struggles with continuing the Duel alone. He then gets a vision of Grandpa, who tells that Yugi may not physically be with him, but is spirit still is. When Pegasus tries to read Yami's mind, the card he drew is blocked because of Téa, Tristan, and Joey spiritually bonding together to support Yami. Yami manages to counter Pegasus strategy, using the last card Yugi set, "Dark Magic Ritual" and a combination of Spells, resulting in the "Magician of Black Chaos" being pitted against Pegasus' "Thousand-Eyes Restrict". Using "Multiply" "Thousand Eyes Restrict" is forced to absorb a "Kuriboh Token" and has each of its eyes covered, freeing the Magician from its paralysis. "Magician of Black Chaos" attacks "Thousand-Eyes Restrict", winning the Duel.

Legendary Heroes
Mokuba Kaiba requests the help of Yugi and his friends after Seto Kaiba gets trapped in a virtual reality game by the Big Five. Yugi, along with Joey, Mai and Mokuba save Kaiba. Yami and Kaiba together Summon Dragon Master Knight and use it to defeat the final boss, the Mythic Dragon.

Battle City
Yugi asked Téa to go out with Yami. After visiting many shops and attractions, they enter an arcade. Inside Téa beats Johnny Steps in a dance game. Not taking his loss too well, Johnny later catches up with Yugi and Téa and challenges to another game. If she loses she must become his girlfriend. Yami instead challenges Johnny to a game of Duel Monsters. If he wins, Johnny must leave Téa alone. If Johnny wins, Téa must go on a date with him. Yami reveals himself to be Yugi Muto, during the Duel, causing Johnny to surrender and run. Téa stops him, tells him how quiting isn't go to get him far, and that he must keep trying to achieve his goals. Afterwards Téa and Yami go to an Ancient Egyptian exhibition to find clues to Yami's past. Here they meet Ishizu Ishtar, who shows Yami some information about his past as a pharaoh and tells him he must enter the Battle City tournament to learn more.

Yugi is invited to the Battle City tournament. Yami faces the Rare Hunter, Seeker in the preliminaries, winning back Joey's "Red Eyes Black Dragon" and learning that his enemy is a man named Marik. After trying to return "Red-Eyes" to Joey, Joey insists that Yugi should keep it and he'll take it back when he becomes a better duelist.

Yami next faces Arkana, whose signature card is also a "Dark Magician". The Duel is set up, so two sawblades draw closer to the player's feet, as their Life Points lower. Yami wins the Duel and rescues Arkana from the blades.

Yami Yugi faces an Egyptian God for the first time, as Marik duels him, through his puppet Strings. Strings Summons "Slifer the Sky Dragon" and creates a massive hand of cards. Yami manages to turn Marik's strategy against him and force him to Deck Out. Yami takes the God card, Slifer after winning.

Kaiba challenges Yugi to a Duel after his victory against Strings. Yami however postpones the Duel, as he must check his friends' safety, as Marik is jut after threatening to turn them into Mind Slaves. Kaiba assists Yugi in his search. Along the way, they Tag Duel a pair of Rare Hunters, who Kaiba quickly disposes with "Obelisk the Tormentor". Marik then sends another pair of Rare Hunters Umbra and Lumis to Tag Duel Yugi and Kaiba. Umbra and Lumis Decks are designed to combat the Summoning of the God cards, but Yami and Kaiba manage to work together and get around their lock, Summoning Obelisk once again to win the Duel. Yugi aquires enough Locator Cards to proceed to the finals after this Duel.

Yami locates Joey, who is possessed by Marik at at Domino Pier. Both players are strapped to an archor and forced to Duel. Defeating their opponent would release a key, to save themself. After a timer hit zero, the anchor would drag the whatever players are strapped to it into the water to drown. Marik doesn't allow Yugi to use Slifer. Yami puts the card aside, not planning to use it anyway and instead adds Joey's "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" to his Deck. Shortly into the Duel, Yugi asks Yami to let him handle it. Yami is unsure if that's the safest option, but relinquishes control to Yugi. Yugi puts the Millennium Puzzle aside, so Yami cannot take control. Yugi manages to snap Joey out of Marik's control in time for Joey to force the Duel into a draw and save both players. Yami learns from Yugi, that in kindness lies the greatest strength of all and thinks one day Yugi will surpass him in every way.

During the "Clash in the Coliseum", Yugi must face Kaiba in the rematch of the Millennium since their bout in Duelist Kingdom. Both Yugi and Kaiba summon the respective Egyptian God Card each of them possesses, but the Duel ends up in a heated stalemate, as neither Egyptian God is able to destroy the other. In the end, after a frightening flashback of Ancient Egypt during which Yugi and Kaiba see their previous incarnations conduct a Shadow Game, both Gods are destroyed, so both Yugi and Kaiba fall back on summoning their favorite Cards ("Dark Magician" and "Blue-Eyes White Dragon", respectively) to battle each other. When Kaiba summons his 2 other Blue-Eyes White Dragons with "The Flute of Summoning Dragon", Yugi considers forfeiting the Duel, but is convinced by Joey's spirit to look at all his options, and he discovers that there is something he can do. And so, he summons "Red-Eyes B. Dragon"—which Joey had given to him after Seeker's defeat—and activates "Magician's Selection" to destroy "Lord of Dragons", leaving "Spellbinding Circle" free to weaken one of the Blue-Eyes White Dragons enough for Yugi's Red-Eyes to destroy it. The Duel ultimately culminates and concludes after Yugi summons "Dark Paladin" and combines him with "Diffusion Wave-Motion" to strike the final blow and win the Duel. As per the ante rule of the Battle City Tournament—and after Kaiba berates Yugi with his delusion that everyone in the world is alone—Yugi is given "Obelisk the Tormentor" before "The Final Face-Off" with Marik.

In "The Final Face-Off" between Yugi and Marik, Marik duels Yami in a Shadow Game where the loser ends up forfeiting his good side, but as Marik pointed out, no matter who won, an innocent soul would be lost forever—and if Yami Yugi lost, Yugi would vanish into the Shadow Realm, and the Pharaoh would cease to exist.

Although Yami summoned "Slifer the Sky Dragon" early in the Duel, Marik countered by summoning "The Winged Dragon of Ra" in the same turn. In an attempt to defeat Yugi with Ra's "One Turn Kill" power (Point-to-Point Transfer in the English dub), Yami would activate a card that Kaiba had given him—"Fiend's Sanctuary", which would turn all Battle Damage back on Marik if the attack went through. Even though Marik negated Ra's attack with "De-Fusion" (which he'd gained after Yugi activated "Exchange" to take "Monster Reborn" from Marik), Yami would then combo "Fiend's Sanctuary" and "Multiply" to summon "Obelisk the Tormentor" and attack Marik directly, but it would not be enough to win, because with that diect attack, Marik had everything he needed to complete his Immortality strategy, eventually locking down Yami's attacks with a combo of "Egyptian God Slime" and "Jam Defender" before reviving his Winged Dragon of Ra with "Monster Reborn" yet again. The Duel ultimately culminates and concludes with the destruction of both Ra and Yami Marik (thanks to Yami Yugi's "Ragnarok" card), and when Marik regains control of his body and mind, he forfeits the Duel to Yami Yugi, destroying Yami Marik, and gives him his Winged Dragon of Ra card, and, in addition, shows him the hieroglyphs tattooed on his back. According to Marik and Ishizu, the "Secret of the Pharaoh" is written somewhere in the hieroglyphs, and only the possessor of the Millennium Puzzle and the 3 Egyptian God Cards can unlock that secret.

Virtual World
Before Kaiba's blimp can land on KaibaCorp Island, Yugi, Kaiba, and the rest of the passengers onboard are rerouted to a hidden bunker. The bunker seems to be operated by a boy who calls himself Noah, who forces Yugi and company into a Virtual World, where everyone is separated from one another to fend for themselves—and to Duel against KaibaCorp's former Board of Directors, the Big Five.

Yami finds himself trapped in a lockdown Duel against Gansley, who has taken on the form of the Deepsea Warrior. Gansley's abilities as the Deepsea Warrior damage Yami's Life Points considerably, until Yami's Deck Master, Kuriboh (who, revealed later, chose itself as his partner), saves him from losing the Duel and his body. Yami manages to win by using Rainbow Blessing with Kuriboh to create a path for Swift Gaia the Fierce Knight to strike the finishing blow against Gansley and win.

Later on, the Big Five, sharing Tristan's body, challenged Yugi to a Duel, and Joey volunteered to be his Tag Team partner. They battled the Big Five and won in the end.

Yami convinced Noah to Duel him after he said that Kaiba would have beaten Noah, had Noah not used Mokuba to keep him from losing. With every passing turn, Noah turned each one of Yugi's friends to stone when Yugi failed to defeat him. After a harrowing battle, Yami was able to activate Card of Sanctity and draw himself a brand-new hand. From that hand, he was able to use the "Blue-Eyes OTK" strategy to defeat Noah and restore Kaiba, Mokuba, and all of Yugi's friends to normal.

Waking the Dragons
After the Battle City tournament, Yugi goes to the museum, where Yami Yugi attempts to regain his memories by holding the Egyptian Gods up to the tablet, but is interrupted by real life Duel Monsters appearing outside.

Later that day a group of perpetrators break into Kame Game and steal the God Cards. Yami Yugi meets up with the thieves and duels one of them, Grerimo. Grerimo uses a Field Spell called "The Seal of Orichalcos", which entraps himself and Yami Yugi inside an unexplained magical force field. Grerimo explains that by using his new Spell Card, he and Yugi are cut off from the outside world and only he who wins the Duel can escape the Seal's full power, as it will extract the loser's soul to use to awaken the Great Leviathan. Grerimo Summons the stolen "Obelisk the Tormentor", who is even affected by the Seal. Yami Yugi manages to destroy Obelisk and defeat Grerimo, sealing Gremimo's soul, but doesn't recover the God cards.

The next night, when Yugi falls asleep, he and Yami awaken inside the Millennium Puzzle, where Kuriboh guides them to a portal to the Duel Monsters world. Here they meet "Dark Magician Girl", who tells them about The Great Leviathan and urges them to pull a sword from a crystalized dragon. As the chosen duelist, Yugi was able to release Legendary Dragon Timaeus in doing so. Timaeus becomes a card in Yugi's Deck, which he and Yami use to fight the Paradius organization, who are trying to awaken the Great Leviathan with The Seal of Orichalcos.

Afterwards, Pegasus sends Yugi and his friends a videotape, inviting the group to Industrial Illusions Headquarters in America to collect a card needed to defeat Paradius.

Believing Yami Yugi was an evil Pharaoh, Rafael targets him to try take his soul. He manages to lure Yugi into a Duel, but tells him he won't be using "The Seal of Orichalcos". Rafael later plays the card "Exchange", forcing Yami to take the Field Spell. Yugi instructs that they musn't play that card, no matter what. Unfortunately, Yami reaches a point in the Duel where he cannot win without playing it. Yami considers playing it, but Yugi objects. A desperate Yami orders Yugi to back off and let him duel. Upon playing the Seal, Timeaus automatically leaves Yami's field, as it doesn't co-operate the Orichalcos. Yami begins to recklessly Tribute his own monsters to damage Rafael's Life Points, despite Yugi's objections. Rafael uses Yami's strategy against him when he summons "Guardian Eatos", whose ATK increases according to the amount of monsters in the opponent's Graveyard, and defeats Yami. The Seal of Orichalcos begins to take Yami's soul, but Yugi pushes him out, since the Seal only needs one soul, so he lets it take his rather than Yami's.

Yami falls into depression and guilt over what he let happen to Yugi. As he continues his travels, he and Téa are split from Joey and Tristan on a train hijacked by Rex and Weevil. Weevil, seeking revenge for his loss in Duelist Kingdom, duels Yami on the roof, using "The Seal of Orichalcos". "Timaeus" refuses to assist Yami when he plays it because of his actions in the last duel. When Weevil tricks Yami into thinking he's permanently lost Yugi's soul, Yami goes berserk and recklessly attacks him by using the combo "Breaker the Magical Warrior" with "Berserker Soul". Téa stops his constant and vengeful attacks, pointing out he's already won the Duel, but not in time for them to escape the out-of-control train, as after the Duel, it derails itself and falls off a cliff.

Yami and Téa are rescued by Ironheart. Ashamed of himself, Yami lets Ironheart hold onto his Timaeus card. Ironheart leads Yami to a place of lost souls, where, after confronting several evil spirits of Duelists he has faced (most of them originated in the Duelist Kingdom arc of this series), he finds Yugi's spirit. Yugi convinces Yami to engage him in a Duel, stating that this is the only way that Yami can prove he's sorry for his recent misdeeds. During the Duel, Yugi uses "The Seal of Orichalcos" and a strategy similar to Yami's from his Duel with Rafael. Defeating Yugi's strategy, Yami is told by his partner that he had overcome his mistakes and, in doing so, defeated the darkness in his heart. As Yugi vanishes suddenly, Dartz conjures an Orichalcos Soldier to duel Yami immediately afterwards. Yami is unable to defeat the Soldier's Orichalcos Gigas without Timaeus, so Ironheart, Chris and Skye sacrifice their own lives as they return the card to Yami, imploring him to save this world. With the darkness within Yami's heart erased, he summons Timaeus, fuses his dragon with Dark Magician Girl to summon her Dragon Knight form, and uses it to defeat the Soldier.

Afterwards, Yami and Téa meet up with the rest of their group and Seto Kaiba, who had just escaped a harrowing rematch with a vengeful Alister atop his own jet. Kaiba takes them back to Domino City, which has become overrun with Orichalcos Soldiers. After Joey beats Valon, he loses his own soul in a Duel with Mai. On that note, Mai, who realized she made a mistake leaving Joey for "a madman who promised me power" (according to her), and who was filled with rage over losing Joey (as he was "the only one who ever cared about" her), challenges Rafael in a duel to avenge Joey (believing that Joey would've done the same thing for her), but also loses her soul. Yami makes his way to Duel Rafael, who tosses him Joey's "Hermos" card. This time Rafael uses "The Seal of Orichalcos" and powers up his Guardian Eatos with it. However, after Yami summons Amulet Dragon and destroys Eatos, the Seal of Orichalcos begins to feed on Rafael's anger, just as Guardian Dreadscythe is summoned in Eatos' place. Equipping his new Guardian with his Reaper Scythe card, Rafael defies his own practice of letting his own monsters go to the Graveyard in a vengeful attempt to defeat Yami, stating that he hates him more than the thought of having monsters in his Graveyard. However, after Yami summons Eatos back to the field under his control and equips her with "Goddess Bow", he destroys Rafael's Dreadscythe, ultimately managing to free him from Dartz's influence. To end the Duel, Rafael plays "Soul Charge" to revive his monsters, but depletes his Life Points and loses on purpose. However, since Rafael overcame the darkness in his heart, there was nothing to power the Seal, thus allowing him to keep his soul.

In the final Duel with Dartz, Yami and Kaiba teamed up to defeat the King of the former Atlantis, but Dartz revealed that the Seal of Orichalcos has more than one level, and proves it when he activates Orichalcos Deuteros and Orichalcos Tritos. Using his Orichalcos Kyutora to protect his Life Points from being depleted and the magic of Orichalcos Deuteros to increase his Life Points with every passing turn, Dartz seemed almost unbeatable. Kaiba lost his soul after some time, but not before increasing Yami's Life Points by the ATK of his Mirror Force Dragon with Wish of Final Effort.

Afterwards, Yami continued the Duel and activated the seemingly useless card that Pegasus created back at Industrial Illusions to battle Dartz and the Paradius Corporation—"Legend of Heart", which allowed Timaeus, Critias, and Hermos to assume their human forms as the Legendary Knights. Sending them into battle against Dartz' infinitely strong Divine Serpent, Yami was able to eke out his victory—but not before the Leviathan seemed to swallow Dartz whole. The Legendary Knights opened a tear in reality, returning the souls of the Chosen Duelists to their proper vessels.

The final episodes of this arc brought Yugi, Joey, and Kaiba into battle with Dartz, who seemed to have merged with the Leviathan. Joined by the inhabitants of the Dominion of the Beasts, they call forth their strongest monsters, as well as the Legendary Knights, to battle the Great Beast. However, the Leviathan is too strong, despite their best efforts, and absorbs the three Chosen Duelists into its own body. Yami is convinced all the people whose souls' dark feelings fueled the Leviathan's power to remember all the good things in their lives. In turn, the Chosen Duelists—as well as the Egyptian Gods, whose souls Dartz offered as a tribute to accelerate the Leviathan's awakening—were released, and Yami left Yugi's body to join them in the battle. Through the power of the light of everyone's souls fueling the Gods, Yami was able to defeat the Leviathan, and Dartz was restored to his human form. However, the Leviathan's essence still existed, and Yami knew that the only way to defeat the Great Beast was to face his inner demons and step into its darkness. Using the power of his light, Yami's spirit was able to destroy the Leviathan (in the English version, it is sent to the Shadow Realm). With the Beast permanently eliminated, Dartz seemed to act differently, as it was revealed in a flashback during the Tag Team Duel with him that he had also fallen under the control of the Orichalcos.

Grand Championship
Yugi, Kaiba, and all of Yugi's friends prepared for Kaiba's ultimate tournament, the KC-1 Grand Prix Championship. The winner of the tournament would face Yugi Muto in an attempt to claim his title as the world Duel Monsters champion.

On the opening day, while Yugi and his friends are watching a Duel between Rick and a CPU opponent, a hacker traps all the duelists and spectators inside the makeshift electronic stadium. The CPU opponent level has been altered to its highest of difficulty, and the only way for everyone to escape is to defeat the CPU in a Duel. Rick had mostly Dragon-Type Normal Monsters and almost no Magic or Trap Cards in his Deck. Yugi transforms into Yami and takes over, using "Heart of the Underdog"—a card Yugi had given Rick—and combined it with the effects of "Spirit Ryu" to win and free everyone.

Yugi didn't duel much in this season. He cheered for Joey and Rebecca throught the tournament. He dueled and defeated Vivian Wong, in order for her to cure Solomon Muto's back.

Yami faced Leon von Schroeder, who assumed the alias Leon Wilson, in the finals. Leon acted differently during the Title Bout and Yugi discovered that Leon only wanted to duel and defeat him to earn the respect of his family that Zigfried couldn't earn in his youth. Leon played an illegal card, "Golden Castle of Stromberg", that forced Yugi to discard half the cards in his Deck with every passing turn that Leon took and also infected a virus into the KaibaCorp computer system. Yami figures out a weakness in the card; He couldn't discard half the Cards in his Deck, having only 1 card left. He was able to destroy it and nullify the virus. With "Golden Castle of Stromberg" defeated, Yugi continued the Duel and played several Spell and Trap Cards before striking the final blow using "Dark Magician", "Necromancy", and "Diffusion Wave-Motion" to win.

Dawn of the Duel
This series is taken place after the KC Grand Championship, Dartz and the Grand Leviathan, and the adventure of Capsule Monsters. It starts out with Yugi's grandfather telling him the story of how he obtained the Millennium Puzzle, traversing through the tomb of the great Nameless Pharaoh. Their first trap consists of statues that attack the tomb robber if you do not pay respect to the Pharaoh. His grandfather figures out the secret because of how the statues have their feet, their left foot forward. One of the guides dies in the process. The second trap consists of tablets that contain creatures from the Shadow Realm. The other guide deceives Mr. Muto by hitting him in the shoulder with a sharp stone from a slingshot, causing a slight gash to appear. Mr. Muto falls off the side, grabbing the cliff, holding on tightly. As the other guide eventually perishes after being attacked by a shadow creature turned flesh, Mr. Muto looks above him on the ledge, to see someone standing there, but for some reason, he is dressed in Egyptian clothing, and none the less, dressed in gold. The man kneels and says, "I've been waiting for you". He then helps Mr. Muto up onto the ledge as he passes out. When he comes to, he retrieves the puzzle at the end of the corridor, and in his mind, he could swear to himself that he saw the ghost of the Nameless Pharaoh. The flashback ends, and Yugi falls asleep for the night, excited, and sad about the day to come.

His sleep is interrupted as Rex and Weevil steal the bag that contains both the Egyptian God Cards, and the Millennium Items Yugi collected. Rex and Weevil are intercepted inside an alley by a man in a black cloak, who gets the bag back. As Yugi also ventures down the alley, he recognizes the black-coated man as Bakura, the Spirit of the Millennium Ring. Yami takes control and talks with Bakura before they each go their separate ways for the night.

The next day, when they arrive in Egypt after a long journey, they meet up with Marik, Odion, and Ishizu, who asks to speak to the Pharaoh. They take a journey to the place where the Tablet of the Pharaoh was sealed, and once there, the Pharaoh holds the Egyptian God Cards up for it to see. They all get blinded by a light, which sucks the Pharaoh out of Yugi's body and the Puzzle, and travels back to the world of his past life as Pharaoh. There, he undergoes the events that happened recently before he died. He learns that his father commanded six priests, known as Seto, Guardian of the Millennium Rod, Isis, Guardian of the Millennium Necklace, Karim, Guardian of the Millennium Scales, Shada, Guardian of the Millennium Key, Mahado, Guardian of the Millennium Ring (who later sacrifices himself), and Ahknadin, Guardian of the Millennium Eye (who later betrays them all). The day Yami becomes king, the Thief King Bakura attacks the palace, filling the Pharaoh's head with lies that his father, Ahknemkhanen, was the one who created the Millennium Items, and it is also found that Bakura dragged Ahknemkhanen into the Throne Room. Yami can't bear to listen to this madman anymore, and summons Obelisk the Tormentor to combat Bakura's Diabound, his God Monster. The priests are in shock, as well as Bakura, while Yami unleashes his power, making Bakura flee to recover from battle. Days later, Mahado battles the Thief King inside a tomb. While Yami and his childhood friend Mana, whose spirit is later the Dark Magician Girl, and Mana was whom the card was based on, fight Bakura's skeleton army outside, Mahado joins together with his monster inside to defeat Bakura. Unfortunately, he escapes with the Millennium Ring, and Mahado is sealed inside a stone tablet, and his name is changed from Illusion Magician to Dark Magician. Soon after that, they face tragedy yet again as Bakura attacks Ahknadin inside the monster temple, trying to steal his Millennium Item. He just ends up putting a spell on the old priest, and escapes. The Pharaoh gives chase into the village, summoning Slifer as he does so.

At the same time, Yugi, Tea, Joey, and Tristan, who had ventured into the puzzle to find Yami with the help of Shadi, see the Pharaoh chasing the Tomb Robber, and give chase on foot. Later, after a long battle, Slifer is wiped out, leaving the Pharaoh with nothing more than a few breaths. Yugi steps in, with the other three of his friends, and give Yami more strength, allowing him to summon the Winged Dragon of Ra. After he defeats Bakura, Zorc Necrophades makes his first appearance, rewinding time, so that Yugi and his friends never get the chance to help Yami. Slifer is knocked out once again, and this time, the Pharaoh decided to combat Bakura himself. Diabound tears apart the cliff supporting Yami, and after Bakura takes the puzzle, he stomps on the cliff hard enough to knock off the slab that held Yami up. As he falls, Tristan goes to fight the Thief, but gets a spell placed on him as well, though it is not known until later. They search and search for the young Pharaoh, meeting Mana as they look. They eventually reunite, but Yami leaves soon after with Mana to go to Kul Elna, where Bakura lives.

While Yami and Mana witness the rising of the evil God Zorc, and Ahknadin betrays them all, after revealing that Seto is his son, Yugi and the others traverse through Yami's tomb to find his name. They go through the same traps that Mr. Muto did, and eventually reach where he found the Millennium Puzzle. Tristan reveals himself and how he was put under Bakura's spell, and the scale imprinted on the floor starts to tip, forcing Yugi to chose between his friends, or the name of his partner. In the end, they all get out, and later battle with Bakura in one final match. Yugi eventually beats him using a combination of Gandora, the Dragon of Destruction, and Silent Swordsman, reaching the tomb end, and finding Yami's name. Seto loses Kisara to his father, and battles Yami, who wins, and while Seto pays his respects to Kisara, Kaiba makes himself known to Yami that he has been here for quite a while now. As Kaiba watches Yami and Seto race off, he wonders why he has been sent here, and later figures out all that had happened to him in visions, and why.

Yami and the Priests are taken out one by one as they battle the evil lord Zorc Necrophades, a hulking beast with a head for a stomach. Through much traversing, and after getting back the Millennium Items, Shimon also helps by summoning Exodia, but is also taken out later. Yami summons the Egyptian Gods, thinking it will be enough. The sun starts to reveal itself once more, but Zorc arises again, blacking out the sun of Egypt. He crushes the Egyptian Gods, causing Yami to pass out from the pain it causes him, and from fatigue. Seto tries to use the Blue-Eyes White Dragon he obtained from a girl his father killed named Kisara, but fails when it gets destroyed as well. Kaiba summons the Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and Yami uses the Millennium Scales to join with the beast to become the Dragon Master Knight. Even that fails as Zorc still stands strong. Shadi makes an appearance as Hasan, the Sun Protector of the Royal Tombs, when he saves the Pharaoh from Zorc's attack. After almost passing out once more, Yugi and the other arrive to help their friend, summoning Red-Eyes Black Dragon, Key Fire Sorcerer, Super Robo Yaro, and Dark Magician, with Mahado in control, after he had been wiped out earlier. Mana assists with the Dark Magician Girl the best she could, but they all eventually perish in battle from attacks. The only way to win was to tell the Pharaoh his name, but there was one problem.

Yugi confesses that his name was carved in hieroglyphics, that they couldn't read. They all work together as they think about the symbols to appear on the cartouche that Tea had given the Pharaoh earlier. Kaiba assists in defending them, and finally, Yami's name appears, allowing him to figure out who he is. He says his name to the skies, "Atem!", and re-summons the Egyptian God Monsters from their stone state. He merges them into the Creator of Light, Horakthi, and banishes Zorc for good. Later, after the sun returns, as Atem vanishes, he relinquishes his position as Pharaoh to his cousin, Seto, since Ahknadin, his father, and Atem's father, Ahknemkhanen, the older of the two, were brothers. They journey back into the real world, having the good Bakura back, and embark on their final journey that will decide Atem's fate -- whether he should stay in the present for another 5,000 years, or move onto the afterlife.

Ceremonial Battle
With the 7 Millennium Items, 3 Egyptian God cards, Zorc Necrophades defeated, his past learned, that including his name, the pharaoh can depart the mortal world, and join his faithful priests in the afterlife. In order to open the doorway to the afterlife, Yami must be defeated in a Duel, known as the Ceremonial Battle.

Yami and his friends follow the Egyptian belief that a pharaoh must depart via a boat. Joey and Kaiba both volunteer to face Yami in the battle, but Yugi insists that he shall battle Yami. Yami leaves Yugi to think in private, as he constructs a Deck for the battle. Yugi does the same for Yami.

They arrive at the Eye of Wdjat. Yami Yugi and Yugi split into two seperate bodies and begin to duel, with neither player holding back.

Yami quickly Summons the Egyptian Gods. Using "Valkyrion the Magna Warrior" in combination with "Magnet Force" and predicting Yami's moves, Yugi is able to redirect Slifer's blasts back at the Gods, lowering their ATK and eventually destroying them.

As the Duel continued, Yami's will was so strong he influenced fate to draw exactly the card he needed. After a few turns, Yami Summons "Dark Magician", who Mahad takes the form of to defend the Pharaoh. Despite Yami's best efforts, Yugi destroys his most faithful cards that Yami Summons.

Yami tries to end the Duel, by reviving "Slifer the Sky Dragon", but Yugi predicted the move earlier and revealed the card he hid with "Gold Sarcophagus" was also "Monster Reborn", negating its effect.

Yami ends his turn, ready to admit defeat. Yugi hesitates to make his last attack, as he doesn't want Yami to leave. Yugi weeps and orders "Silent Magician" to attack Yami, winning the Duel.

Yugi falls to his knees, crying, thinking that he's weak and cannot follow in Yami's footsteps. Yami tells Yugi that he is not a coward and reminds Yugi that he has taught him about the principles needed to win. Now that he is leaving, he says that there would be no one else for Yugi to follow and that there would only be one Yugi.

The Eye of Wdjat glows on the wall. Yami tells it his name, Atem, in order to open the gate to the afterlife. His friends try to talk him out of leaving at first, but come to accept he must go. Yami says his goodbyes and enters the afterlife to join his Ancient Egyptian friends.

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
In the series finale of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime, Yugi transports Jaden Yuki to the past to duel Yugi shortly after the Battle City finals. After Jaden gains an upperhand and is about to strike the finishing blow, as well as seeing Jaden to be an incredibly powerful duelist, Yami takes over Yugi's body and summons Slifer the Sky Dragon.Yami tells Jaden that only a God is suitable for being the opponent of a great duelist like him. When Jaden gets excited about fighting a God, Yami tells him that the true duel begins. At the end, Yami, Yugi, and Jaden are seen smiling.

Non-canon appearances

 * See: Yami Yugi in non-canon

Deck

 * Main article: Yami Yugi's Decks

Yami Yugi usually Duels using Yugi's Decks. On occassions he has had his own Deck, including the Ceremonial Battle. Here his Deck revolved around Summoning the Egyptian Gods and also contained a number of "Dark Magician" support cards.

When the game shifts to Yami in Yu-Gi-Oh! R, he uses his Dark Magician and other Spellcaster and Warrior-Type monsters.