Duelist Kingdom


 * This article is about the tournament, for the story arc or location, see: Duelist Kingdom (arc) or Duelist Kingdom (island).

Duelist Kingdom was a tournament organized by Maximillion Pegasus, which took place on his island of the same name.

Duelist Kingdom was a tournament, in which some of Japan's strongest duelists were invited to compete for the title "King of Games" and a prize money of ¥3,000,000 (About $27,959 US at the time, but changed to $3,000,000 in the English anime and $200,000 in the English manga). Yugi Muto entered the tournament with best friend Joey Wheeler in tow, Yugi having been forced to participate after Pegasus stole Solomon Muto's (Yugi's grandfather) soul in a Shadow Game.

Structure
Forty people were invited to participate in the tournament. Each of them were given two Star Chips and the cards "Glory of the King's Hand" and "Glory of the King's Opposite Hand".

In the preliminary stage of the tournament, the participants faced each other battle royal style for 48 hours. They challenged each other to Duels, wagering Star Chips in the process. Anyone who ran out of Star Chips was eliminated from the tournament; exchanging Star Chips outside of a duel is a violation, and being caught would result in disqualification. The first four to gain ten Star Chips got to enter the finals. Eliminators hired by Pegasus were also able to challenge players to Duels. Since the participants had a total of eighty Star Chips among them, while only forty were needed to get four finalists, the Eliminators' job was to obtain the other forty Star Chips.

Although Pegasus invited 40 specific participants, there are two known stowaways who participated, in which Pegasus did not seem to care.

The finals consisted of single-elimination playoffs. At least one of the cards "Glory of the King's Opposite Hand" or "Glory of the King's Hand" was required to take part in the playoffs.

The winner of the playoffs advanced to face Pegasus in a Duel for the title "King of Games". "Glory of the King's Opposite Hand" was required to face Pegasus in this Duel. "Glory of the King's Hand" was required to take the cash prize.

Rules

 * Each player begins the Duel with 2000 Life Points.
 * Direct attacking the opponent's life points is not allowed.
 * Only one monster is allowed to declare an attack per turn.
 * Players can Summon any Level Monster without a Tribute.
 * When a monster is destroyed by a card effect, the controller of that card receives damage equal to half of that monster's ATK.

Purpose and planning
Following the death of Maximillion Pegasus' lover Cecelia, Pegasus became interested in the ancient Egyptian beliefs about life after death and travelled to Egypt to learn more. There he followed Shadi to an underground chamber. Since only Millennium Item holders were permitted to leave, he was put on trial by the Millennium Eye, to become its owner. During the test, he was briefly embraced by an illusion of Cecelia.

After creating the game Duel Monsters, Pegasus took interest in KaibaCorp's Solid Vision technology, which could enhance the game by creating realistic projections of the monsters. He also saw it as a means of creating another lifelike projection of Cecelia. His company Industrial Illusions allied with KaibaCorp to work on using Solid Vision for Duel Monsters.

Pegasus expressed an interest in seizing KaibaCorp and had spies from Industrial Illusions employed by KaibaCorp, including Kemo. KaibaCorp's good reputation was credited to its president, Seto Kaiba, being the number one gamer in Japan. However when Kaiba was defeated in a Duel by Yugi Muto and his other self, Yami Yugi, their reputation dropped as investors lost confidence in them. In the manga, Kaiba was also left in a coma due to his Penalty Game. Pegasus made a secret business deal with KaibaCorp's largest shareholders, The Big Five, which would result in him becoming CEO of KaibaCorp. As part of the deal Pegasus was required to defeat Yugi Muto in an official Duel to restore KaibaCorp's reputation. Afterwards, Pegasus set up the Duelist Kingdom tournament in order to face Yugi in an official Duel.

Invitations
Pegasus sent invitations to some of Japan's top duelists, including Yugi. He also sent Yugi a videotape, which enabled the two of them to Duel though a TV. He defeated Yugi and stripped the soul of Yugi's grandfather, Solomon Muto, from his body as Yugi's Penalty Game. Yugi was forced to enter the tournament in order to return his grandfather to normal.

Finalists from the Japanese National Duel Monsters Championship were invited and were the only participants given their own room on the boat ride. They included, Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood.

Other invited Duelists included Bonz, Sid, Mako Tsunami, Mai Valentine and Zygor.

Joey Wheeler was not to be invited to the tournament, but he desperately needed the prize money in order to pay for eye surgery for his sister Serenity, who was in danger of going blind. Yugi gave one of his Star Chips to Joey, allowing him to compete. Keith Howard was not invited either, but he snuck his way into the tournament, hoping to get revenge on Pegasus for an earlier defeat.

Yugi's friends Téa Gardner and Tristan Taylor accompanied Yugi and Joey to the tournament to support them. Ryou Bakura also came along to support them and learn more about the Millennium Items. In the manga, Bakura was with them, the whole time. In the anime, they didn't know he had come until midway through the preliminaries.

Boat ride
The boat to the island left from Domino Pier.

In the manga, Yugi's friends weren't shown to have any problem boarding the ship despite not being officially invited. In the anime, Téa and Tristan had to sneak into the cargo hold. Bakura also managed to sneak on. Joey got into a bit of trouble with the officials who saw him boarding without any evidence that he was in the tournament. However Yugi spotted him and gave him one of his Star Chips, entitling him to take part in the tournament. (In the manga, Yugi had already given him one of his Star Chips).

Most players had to sleep in the common area, while finalists from the previous tournament got their own rooms. In the anime, Joey took advantage of being in the common area to trade for "Baby Dragon", "Salamandra", Shield & Sword" and "Kunai with Chain". Mai was unhappy with having to sleep in the common area, so she flirted with Rex to get him to share his room. She then challenged him to a Duel to have the room to herself or be slave to Rex's desires. Using her Aroma Tactics, she easily won.

While speaking with Yugi on the Deck, Weevil asked to see Yugi's "Exodia" cards and proceeded to throw them overboard. Joey tried diving into the water to retrieve them, but only managed to get back two of them before being rescued

After arriving, participants had any extra cards confiscated so that they each only had 40 cards.

Preliminaries
In order to get revenge on Weevil for throwing the "Exodia" cards overboard, Yami Yugi challenged him to the first Duel of the tournament. Since he vowed to eliminate Weevil, but only had one Star Chip to bet, he also bet his life for Weevil's second Star Chip. (In the anime, he bet his Deck rather than his life.) Yami Yugi proceeded to win and obtained Weevil's title as the Japanese National Champion. Since Weevil was eliminated, Joey also took his Dueling Gauntlet.

Mai defeated an opponent using her Aroma Tactics. Afterwards she challenged Joey to a Duel after considering it unwise to challenge Yugi this soon. Joey struggled at first, but figured out Mai's Aroma Tactics strategy and managed to beat her, winning one Star Chip.

Yugi and his friends were lured to Mako Tsunami's territory after being attracted by the smell of his food. After sharing a meal, Mako challenged Yugi to a Duel, where he had home advantage on the Ocean terrain. Yami managed to win the Duel, winning two more Star Chips.

Yugi and his friends saw a Duelist being disqualified for running out of Star Chips, despite his insistence that they had been stolen. Yugi and Joey offered to help find the thief and return his Star Chips. The thief turned out to be Mokuba Kaiba, who had escaped Pegasus' captivity and was trying to eliminate Yugi from the tournament, so that Pegasus would not get to defeat him. However Mokuba was unable to beat Yugi and attempted to steal his Star Chips, grabbing two of them. After convincing Mokuba that he would help Kaiba, Mokuba tried giving Yugi his Star Chips, but Kemo forbid it, as Star Chips could only be own through dueling. In the anime, Kemo slapped the Star Chips into the water. Kemo then arranged an opponent for Yugi.

In the manga, Yugi's arranged opponent was the Player Killer (Eliminator), the Ventriloquist of the Dead and they each bet three Star Chips. The ventriloquist used a puppet of Seto Kaiba to hold and play his cards. He used the real Kaiba's Deck, which Pegasus' men had stolen and had the puppet claim to be the real Kaiba borrowing the body of a doll to get revenge on Yugi. During the Duel, one of the "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" cards played by the ventriloquist destroyed itself as the real Kaiba awoke from his coma. From that point, the ventriloquist Dueled without using the puppet. When Yugi won, he inflicted a Penalty Game on the ventriloquist, making him believe the puppet was taunting him, while now looking like the ventriloquist.

In the anime, Yugi's arranged opponent was the Eliminator, Ghost Kaiba, and they each bet three Star Chips. Ghost Kaiba pretended to be Kaiba at first. He also used Kaiba's Deck, which Pegasus' men had stolen. The real Kaiba hacked into Pegasus computer system during the Duel and infected one of the "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" cards with a virus, causing it to weaken and destroy itself.

At some point, Mai defeated more opponents, upping her Star Chip count to eight. Rex Raptor, who was still mad at her over the Duel they had on the boat ride, tried challenging her to a rematch, but Mai was not interested in dueling him a second time. However Mai wanted to make-up for losing to Joey earlier, but thought it shallow to challenge Joey to another Duel, so she accepted Rex's challenge under the condition that he defeat Joey first. This way if Rex won and she defeated Rex, it would be like beating both of them.

Joey and Rex bet two Star Chips on their Duel. Towards the end of the Duel, they played their ace cards "Time Wizard" and "Red-Eyes Black Dragon", which they also put on ante. "Time Wizard" succeeded in aging "Red-Eyes Black Dragon" winning the Duel for Joey.

Episode 013
 * In the anime version, at night, Yugi beats Dark Bakura in a Shadow Game. This duel was adapted from the Monster World RPG game in Volumes 6 & 7 of the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga, and does not take place in the manga. No star chips are wagered.


 * Mai gets beaten by PaniK and loses 8 star chips (Duel not featured). MAI'S TOTAL: 0.

Episodes 014-015
 * Yugi beats PaniK to give Mai all of her star chips back. MAI'S TOTAL: 8.

Episode 016
 * As Seto arrives to Duelist Kingdom, his attitude angers Joey and he challenges Seto to a Duel. In the end, Seto's "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" defeats Joey's "Red-Eyes B. Dragon".

Episodes 017-018
 * Joey beats Bonz, a zombie duelist with cards from Bandit Keith. Obtains +4 star chips. JOEY'S TOTAL: 8.

Episodes 019-021
 * Joey and Yugi fight together against Para and Dox, who are "Eliminators". YUGI'S TOTAL: 10. JOEY'S TOTAL: 10.


 * Pegasus also has to get Kaiba's technology. Pegasus appeals to The Big Five, Kaiba's Board of Directors, and abducts Mokuba. Kaiba goes to Duelist Kingdom to get Mokuba back. Pegasus traps Mokuba's soul in a card.
 * In the English anime, Pegasus forces Kaiba to beat Yugi to try and get Mokuba back. The Big 5 are fired after this arc in the manga.

Episodes 022-024
 * Kaiba confronts Yugi on the top of the castle, explaining his situation to him. He also wants a rematch after losing the first Duel they played. Yugi accepts the challenge, and they each wager 5 Star Chips so that only one of them will be allowed entry into the Castle. During this Duel, Kaiba merges his three "Blue-Eyes White Dragons" to create "Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon". However, his combo is destroyed with an impenetrable wall of "Kuriboh", "Mammoth Graveyard", "Living Arrow", and "Polymerization". Kaiba threatens he'll jump off the tower if he should lose (in the English anime, Kaiba says the attack of Yugi's monster might knock him off the edge), so for fear seeing Kaiba hurt Yugi overcomes his other self (Yami) and surrenders the duel. KAIBA'S TOTAL: 10, YUGI'S TOTAL: 5.

Yugi is so shaken up by this experience that he breaks down in tears, vowing never to duel again. He fears his other self could cause someone serious harm.

Episode 025
 * In the Anime, to get Yugi back into the finals Tea decides to duel Mai Valentine (who has 16 Star Chips). Initially, Mai offers her 6 surplus Star Chips in order to repay Yugi back for his duel with PaniK but Yugi, who is still shaken up, refuses. Although Mai could have beaten Tea with the card "Harpie's Feather Duster", she instead forfeits in order to help Yugi (without admitting it). Inspired by Téa's dedication, Yugi receives the boost he needs to galvanize himself for the finals. YUGI'S TOTAL: 10.
 * In the manga, Mai simply gives the star chips to Yugi, rather than dueling Téa for them.

Seto Kaiba vs. Maximillion Pegasus (non-tournament)
Episodes 026-027
 * Before the finals, Pegasus introduces Kaiba to the finalists and the two duel. If Pegasus wins, he will take Kaiba's soul; if Kaiba wins, Mokuba's soul will be restored.


 * Kaiba's monsters are far stronger but Pegasus can see his opponent's cards and predict his strategies using the Millennium Eye.


 * Pegasus uses Continuous Spell Card "Toon World", which transforms all his monsters into toons which cannot be destroyed. Kaiba attempts to use the "Crush Card Virus" combo that he used against Yugi but Pegasus reads his mind and prevents the strategy from working.


 * In the end, Pegasus uses "Doppelganger" to copy Kaiba's "Crush Card Virus" and wins the duel.


 * After his victory, Pegasus uses his Millennium Eye to steal Kaiba's soul. Seeing this and knowing it has happened because Kaiba was trying to save his little brother, Yugi starts to cry and demands to know why Pegasus is toying with people.


 * Seconds later, Yugi's Millennium Puzzle activates and Yugi's "other self" emerges for the first time since his duel with Kaiba which nearly ended in tragedy. Yami Yugi vows to defeat Pegasus once and for all but he will first have to get through the remaining rounds of the tournament.

Semi-final #1: Mai Valentine vs. Yugi Muto
Episodes 029-030
 * In the English anime, Yugi tries to hold back Yami Yugi's dueling strength because of his willingness to beat Kaiba even if it meant his death. However, in the manga and Japanese version of the anime, Yami Yugi is concentrating on the coming duel with Pegasus and not on the duel with Mai.
 * In both cases this leads to Yugi making mistakes during the Duel. Because of these mistakes, Mai gets a huge advantage, with her "Harpie Lady Sisters" and "Harpie's Pet Dragon" (2000 ATK and an additional 300 for each Harpie on the field) while Yugi fields only "Kuriboh", "Gaia the Fierce Knight", and "Swords of Revealing Light". On the last turn however, Yugi gets "Black Luster Ritual" to summon "Black Luster Soldier" and destroys Mai's "Harpie's Pet Dragon". Being down on morale and seeing she has no monsters to counter, Mai forfeits the Duel.

Semi-final #2: Joey Wheeler vs. "Bandit" Keith Howard
Episodes 031-032
 * Keith Howard steals Joey's Playoff Entry card, nearly causing Joey to be disqualified. However, Mai gives Joey her entry card, allowing him to participate in extremis.
 * Keith uses machine cards, which are very powerful. Joey uses his Trap Cards to hold off the machines, and then copies Keith's "Metalmorph" to make his "Red-Eyes B. Dragon" a machine itself with an added 400 ATK. Furthermore, Joey uses "Dragon Nails" to power up his Red-Eyes even more to avoid being destroyed by Keith's "Blast Sphere".
 * Keith uses "Slot Machine", but cheats by putting two Spell Cards up his sleeve, each being able to power up "Slot Machine" by 700.
 * On the last turn, Keith destroys Joey's dragon and attacks it with "Slot Machine", but Joey activates "Graverobber" to grab Keith's "Time Machine", returning his monster to the way it was a turn before. Joey attacks "Slot Machine" and wins the duel.
 * Pegasus then confronts Keith and says that he saw his cheating, whereupon Keith tries to get the prize money by force. In the anime, Pegasus drops Keith down a trap door, and Keith eventually reappears prior to Battle City under the mind control of Marik Ishtar. In the manga, Pegasus inflicts a penalty game on Keith, causing his apparent death.

Final: Joey Wheeler vs. Yugi Muto
Episodes 033-034
 * Last, is the match to determine who will duel Pegasus. This duel exists only in the anime.
 * The Duel turns out a rather even battle, with Joey seemingly gaining a good lead about mid-way through. He copies Yugi's "Summoned Skull" and fuses it with "Red-Eyes B. Dragon" to create "Black Skull Dragon".
 * However, Yugi destroys it with the combo "Dark Magician", "Spellbinding Circle", and "Book of Secret Arts", and ultimately Joey's lead is completely lost due to a miscalculation on his part. As he plays the "Time Wizard"-"Baby Dragon" combo to summon "Thousand Dragon", his Time Wizard's magic turns Yugi's "Dark Magician" into "Dark Sage", which allows Yugi to play a Spell Card every turn (even during an opponent's turn and even if the Spell Card is not set).
 * Exploiting this, Yugi activates "Makiu, the Magical Mist" to counter Joey's attack, then plays "Monster Reborn" to bring back Joey's "Black Skull Dragon". After telling Joey this move is the toughest he is about to make, Yugi orders his monster to attack him and wins the duel.

Note: Pegasus skipped the match in the manga automatically making Yugi the winner.

Yugi vs. Pegasus: Match of the Millennium
Episodes 035-039
 * Pegasus applies the same strategy to Yugi as he did to Kaiba. He's able to play "Toon World", making all his monsters invincible. Pegasus saw every one of Yugi's strategies, and counters every one of them. However, Yugi then uses mind shuffle. Yugi and Dark Yugi keep changing places, and Pegasus cannot see the mind of the other. Therefore, he does not know what Yugi plans.


 * In the English anime, Pegasus then sends the duel into the Shadow Realm, where his illusion monsters come into play. In the manga and Japanese anime, Pegasus does not use the Shadow Realm as the Shadow Realm does not exist in either of those versions. In either version, the duel still turns into a Shadow game where summoning monsters creates a massive strain on the duelist's mind if they don't have the strength. Dark Yugi had the strength to work through it, but Yugi didn't, which Pegasus knew, resulting in his near death.


 * Yugi's friends are able to block Pegasus from reading Dark Yugi's mind, so his plan to be able to read his mind still doesn't work. Ultimately, Yugi wins.

Aftermath
Episode 040 In the end of it all, Pegasus's Millennium Eye gets stolen by Dark Bakura, and the souls of Mokuba Kaiba, Seto Kaiba and Solomon Muto are restored. Yugi gives Joey the money for Serenity's eye surgery.