Lyman Banner

Lyman Banner, known in Japan as Daitokuji-sensei 「大徳寺先生」, is a teacher, a fabled alchemist, as well as a member of the Shadow Riders under the name Amnael, Banner largely supports the protagonists for most of the first season of the series, though he is directly responsible for numerous events meant to orchestrate the revival of the Sacred Beasts.

Character design


Banner's character design was overseen by Kenichi Hara. His usual outfit consists of a white shirt, black pants, belt and necktie. His black hair is tied back in a ponytail. Throughout the entire series, Banner's red eyes are constantly hidden behind their lids and a pair of square-lensed glasses, except during the second half of his Duel with Jaden.

The concept illustrations for Banner's facial expressions were identical for both Amnael and Banner.

Character biography
Banner was working on his alchemic research long before his arrival at Duel Academy, intent on creating the legendary Philosopher's Stone. His studies led him to discover an ancient tomb during the same period of time when Pegasus first discovered Duel Monsters. Within, he unearthed three stone tablets adorned with the likenesses of the Sacred Beasts. In the English dub, he was cursed for this intrusion, while in the Japanese version he would later be stricken with a fatal illness. To prolong his life, Banner developed a homunculus in his own image to transfer his soul into. His new body, however, began to crumble, so he resolved to joining the Shadow Riders as its seventh and final member in order to attain the power of the Sacred Beasts to fulfill his dreams of creating the Philosopher's Stone, and use it to obtain immortality.

Banner was eventually hired as an alchemy professor and supervisor of the Slifer Red dormitory at Duel Academy. While there, he lured several Obelisk Blue students including Atticus Rhodes into the abandoned Obelisk Blue dormitory, where they disappeared (Atticus and Yusuke Fujiwara were the only students to ever reappear. Strangely, despite Banner being behind the students' disappearance, he has never been directly confronted about it, although Jaden and the others had numerous opportunities to do so, even though he is non-corporeal). He would resume his job without coming under suspicion, ultimately charged with watching over Jaden, Syrus, Chumley, as well as the rest of the students of Slifer Red.

Using the pseudonym of Amnael 「アムナエル, Amunaeru」, Banner systematically defeats Alexis Rhodes and Chazz Princeton when the Shadow Riders put their plans into motion, taking their Spirit Keys to open the gate behind which the Sacred Beasts are sealed. He locks Alexis, Chazz, and Atticus within his Shadow Charm, the Emerald Tablet, and guides Jaden to his lair with his sigil to challenge him to a Duel. Upon his defeat, Banner gives Jaden his Shadow Charm, and with it, the card, Sabatiel - The Philosopher's Stone. His original mummified body and homunculus vessel then dissolve into dust. From then on, his soul resides within the body of his pet cat, Pharaoh, though he would return on occasion in subsequent seasons to assist Jaden.

Banner's personality varies greatly from his original Japanese counterpart in terms of his actions and intentions during the Duel with Jaden. In the English dubs, Banner lies about having rigged all of Jaden's duels so that he would be chosen as one of the Key Keepers, and later on confesses that he joined the Shadow Riders to prepare him for the final battle against Kagemaru. In the Japanese version, Banner never does this, but instead views Jaden as a "fusion genius" who must face adversity head on in order to learn the secrets of alchemy which have allowed him to triumph.

In the third season, specifically during a duel between Bastion and Jaden, Banner briefly escaped from Pharaoh. He happily exclaimed his freedom, before Pharaoh swallowed him again. When Jaden was constructing his Deck for his fourth duel against Chazz Princeton, he led Jaden to the Ojama Trio in order to construct his Ojama Hero deck. He then returned to Pharaoh.

When Marcel caused the spirit gates to open up, Banner appeared again to inform Jaden what was happening. Marcel, who was angry at Banner for revealing his plan, caused him to disappear back into Pharaoh. He then appears after Marcel starts running down the stairs to the Sacred Beasts, telling Jaden that the Sacred Beasts are very dangerous and that he must stop Marcel from obtaining them.

In the first episode of season 4, Banner shows up to talk with Jaden about Yusuke Fujiwara and Trueman. He is also briefly captured and threatened with being flushed down the toilet by Jaden if he doesn't tell Jaden about what really happened in the Abandoned Dorm and about Nightshroud. Then, after Jaden defeated Nightshroud and Jaden's match against Yugi in the past, he (inside of Pharaoh) is discovered inside Jaden's backpack. He decided to stay with Jaden rather than stay in Duel Academy. Now he's traveling with Jaden.

Voice/Mannerisms
In the English version, Banner has a German accent, referencing the fact that Germany was a notable site of prolific alchemic research in the past, while his original series counterpart instead ends the majority of his sentences with "nya" (Japanese cat onomatopoeia).