Yugi Muto

Yugi Mutou (武藤 遊戯, Mutō Yūgi; pronounced "Moto" in the English dubbed anime) is the main character of Yu-Gi-Oh!.

His name is Romanized as Yugi Mutou in the English-language manga and Yugi Muto in the English-language anime.

Character design


Yugi's character design was overseen by Kazuki Takahashi. His usual outfit consists of the standard male Domino High uniform complete with a closed buckled collar. His extremely extravagant hair features multiple layers including long blond crocked, pointy locks for his fringe, the rest features a six large spikes colored black with purple rims all along the edges. He wears the Millennium Puzzle on a lace around his neck. The lace is later replaced with a chain. He often wears a KaibaCorp Duel Disk on his left arm.

Character biography
A not-so-average teenager, Yugi is pure-hearted and child-like. He lives with his grandfather Sugoroku Mutou (Solomon Muto in the English anime) and mother, although he never speaks of the latter in the English anime and a scene of Yugi talking to his mother in Episode 50, The Mystery Duelist - Part 1 (Challenge from the Past: Horrifying Zera) was cut in the US version. In the Japanese manga, it's explained that Yugi's father is a traveling businessman and Yugi rarely sees him. Yugi is good at games and puzzles, especially Duel Monsters" (Magic and Wizards" in the Japanese version). Yugi's favorite monster in the game is the Dark Magician (Black Magician in the Japanese version), but he thinks that he is most like Maha Vailo, as explained in Episode 103, Freeze Play, Part II (Shine, the Jewel of the Sage).

A freshman in Domino High School, Yugi is part of a close-knit group of friends: Katsuya Jonouchi (Joey Wheeler in the English-language anime), Hiroto Honda (Tristan Taylor), and Anzu Mazaki (Téa Gardner). Miho Nosaka, in the first series anime, is also one of Yugi's friends. Yugi's friends often cheer him on from the sidelines, and Jonouchi has dueled at his side. Yugi has been friends with Anzu since childhood and is in love with her. Anzu is in love with both Yugi and the spirit of the Millennium Puzzle to different degrees. In Japanese, the first characters of "Yūgi" and "Jōnouchi" combine to form "Yūjō" (友情), which means "friendship". The "Yu-Jo Friendship" card (the Yu-Jyo (友情 Yūjō) card in the Japanese version) is named after the word and the fellowship between the characters.

Yami Yugi
Yugi was given the Millennium Puzzle in pieces by his grandfather. When he assembled it towards the beginning of the anime and manga, his body became the host for the spirit of a 3,000-year-old (in the English anime, 5,000-year-old) Egyptian Pharaoh, who, like Yami Bakura is an alter ego. The pharaoh sacrificed his life and sealed his soul into the Millennium Puzzle to stop the Dark God, Zorc Necrophades, from destroying the world. (In the English anime, the pharaoh was sealed into the puzzle to lock in the Shadow Game's magic, to prevent the destruction of the world.) The pharaoh was known as "Yami Yugi" or "Dark Yugi." During those 5,000 years in the puzzle, the pharaoh forgot everything about him and his past, including his own name, which he found out was Atemu in Episode 219, In the Name of the Pharaoh. "Atemu" is actually a variant of the name of the Sun god "Atum". After finding out his real name, he is told by Ishizu Ishtar that in order for his spirit to be freed and return to where he belongs, he must be defeated in a Duel in the tomb where the Millennium Items are held. Yugi decides to duel his other half. The two put up a good fight, but in the end, Yugi manages to defeat all three Egyptian God Cards and win the duel. The pharaoh then returns to the spirit world and the Millennium Items are sealed up. NOTE: In the Doma Arc after Yami defeats Gerimo and he takes his orichalcos necklace. Later in the arc when Yami duels Rafael in the desert mesa he had a orichalcos stone necklace around his neck which after Rafael gave him The Seal of Orichalcos with his Exchange spell card messed with his head. It is unknown whether the necklace Yami had on for the duration of the duel (after Rafael defeats Yami he takes the necklace from him assuming Yami's soul was captured) was the old man's necklace or not.

When Atemu lived in the puzzle, there were two "chambers" in Yugi's mind. One belongs to the kid Yugi himself and the other to Atemu. When Yugi is under stress or playing a game, Atemu's spirit takes full or partial control of the body. The character is often referred to as Yu-Gi-Oh (遊戯王 Yūgiō), the king of games.

Because there is frequent interaction between the two selves, the name Yugi refers to both the high school student and the ancient pharaoh. Between themselves, Yugi refers to the Pharaoh as "the other me" or "my other self" or, in the English anime, "Yami". Once Yugi learns more about Dark Yugi's past in the English anime he refers to him as "Pharaoh" until Dark Yugi learns his true name. Dark Yugi refers to his younger counterpart as "partner,"/"aibou" "the other me," or by his name. Others call Dark Yugi "the other Yugi". Later in the anime, Yugi and his friends refer to Atemu as "pharaoh.

Yugi in the Manga
In the manga Yugi is first forced to pay a bodyguard fee to Ushio for "protecting" him. Later Dark Yugi challenges him to a Shadow Game and wins. In Vol. 6 of the manga a boy named Nezumi leads him and Jonouchi to where Hirutani's gang is hiding. In an effort to force Jonouchi to re-join his gang, Hirutani's members attach a small hook to Yugi's Millennium Puzzle the hook attached to a chain which would eventually strangle him. However, Joey unhooks him safely and the 2 team up to defeat Ushio's gang. Earlier in Vol. 6 Yugi is challenged to a Shadow Game by a boy named Imori using Chinese Dragon cards. Yugi loses and his soul is sucked into the soul-eating jar. However he seizes the puzzle just in time and Dark Yugi challenges him to a re-match defeating Imori and setting the captured Yugi's soul free while at the same time imprisoning Imori's.

Appearance in "Yu-Gi-Oh! GX"
In Yu-Gi-Oh! GX (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX), Yugi appears in the first episode with only half of his face shown. He, Seto Kaiba, and Joey Wheeler have become "legendary duelists." Yugi is older, taller, and has a lower voice in both the Japanese and English versions (resembling Atemu). The main character of Yu-Gi-Oh GX, Jaden Yuki (Judai Yuki in the Japanese version), bumps into him on the way to the Duel Academy. Yugi gives Jaden the Winged Kuriboh (Hane Kuribo) card. This scene is different in the English and Japanese versions; in the English version, Yugi speaks with Yami's voice saying he feels the card belongs with Jaden, whereas in the Japanese version he sounds more like regular Yugi and says he believes the card is lucky.

Yugi's deck goes on display in the episodes "The King of Copycats" Part 1 and Part 2.

Deck
Yugi's deck is most famous for his Dark Magician. Yugi's deck probably has the most variety and balance of any other character's deck in the series, and is sometimes referred to as a Strategy deck. His original deck mostly composed of low level Earth monsters and Dark monsters. During the Battle City Arc, he keeps the theme of having Earth and Dark monsters with dangerous effects. His Magnet Warriors become a major part of his deck, as does his Dark Magician Girl. His deck from Battle City onward focuses more not only on his Dark Magician, but also on his manipulation of his Spell Cards that are designed to destroy and/or negate the effects of his opponent's Spell and Trap Cards.

When Yugi's deck goes on tour at the Academy, the Copycat duelist Dimitri (Kagurazaka) steals it and copies Yugi's voice, mannerisms and dueling style. While Dimitri copies Yugi's moves very well, he loses because he lacks the bond with the deck that Yugi has. This deck is based around the Dark Magician and retrained Chaos varients of Yugi's Ritual Monsters.