Maximillion Pegasus

Maximillion J. Pegasus, known in Japan as Pegasus J. Crawford is the President of Industrial Illusions and the creator of the game of Duel Monsters, and owns many cards that have never been released to the public. He owns a private Island called Duelist Kingdom, in which Pegasus resides in a castle in the center of the island. He possesses the Millennium Eye during the Duelist Kingdom saga. He tries to take over KaibaCorp and gain possession of the Millennium Items to combine KaibaCorp technology with the items in the hope of reviving his dead wife, Cecelia.

Pegasus in Yu-Gi-Oh!
Pegasus first met Cecelia at a party thrown by his businessman father in Las Vegas 14 years ago. She died when they were 17. It was unclear whether or not they married in the original Japanese anime, and no mention of their marriage was mentioned in the manga.

In the anime, Pegasus searched the world looking for anything that could possibly revive the dead. His quest led him to Egypt, where their beliefs of an afterlife intrigued him. There he met Shadi, the ghost of a guardian of the Millennium Items, who gouged Pegasus's left eye out and replaced it with the Millennium Eye after Pegasus passed its test.

In the original manga, Pegasus travels to Egypt to try to inspire his lost interest in painting after Cecilia dies. He never tried to revive his wife, but rather attempts to defeat Yugi and take control of KaibaCorp so that he could use the Solid Vision to conjure a lifelike image of her. Pegasus soon learned of the ancient Shadow Games that were played in ancient Egypt and became obsessed with their powers. He created a new game in the United States, basing a card game on the duels of ancient times. Combining the magic of the Millennium Items with these cards had the same effect as using them with the stone slabs originally used. One notable problem he had was the Egyptian God Cards, whose powers were too great for him to manage. Fearing for his life, he returned to Egypt, and had Ishizu Ishtar, a current guardian, bury them in the Pharaoh's tomb.

In the manga, Dark Bakura tears out his Millennium Eye and gives Pegasus a replacement ball instead, leading Pegasus to disappear without a trace under the presumption that he is dead.

In the second series of the Japanese anime, Pegasus is the inspiration for Dungeon Dice Monsters, a game that Duke Devlin created. Pegasus's defeat at the hands of Yugi is the reason that Duke challenges Yugi in both second series anime versions.

In the anime only, Pegasus returns in the Waking the Dragons and gathers information on Paradius company and the company's true intentions. His soul is taken by Mai Valentine, but is restored by the end of the arc. At the end of the Japanese version of the anime, he is seen making a business deal with Zigfried von Schroeder.

Pegasus in ''Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light
Pegasus also appears in Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light, which takes place between the end of Battle City and the start of the Waking The Dragons arc, though it was produced and released when the TV series was in its final arc in Japan. Kaiba approaches Pegasus and demands to know what card can compete against Yugi. Although Pegasus had the card Kaiba wanted, he said he would only give it if Kaiba could defeat him in a Duel. Kaiba accepts the challenge and defeats Pegasus to gain the two cards that he needs to combat Yugi. This surprises Pegasus as there should have been only one card. Pegasus later assists the protagonists in the movie, including saving Tea Gardner, Solomon Muto, and Mokuba from being crushed in a collapsing building.

Pegasus' role in Yu-Gi-Oh! R
In Yu-Gi-Oh! R, Pegasus's kōhai (protégé) and adopted son, Yakou Tenma, takes over Industrial Illusions after Pegasus is defeated.

Pegasus in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Pegasus makes frequent appearances in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. At the end of the first year, he calls upon Chumley to work as a designer for I², and later makes his return during the GX tournament when one of his employees, Frantz, steals the only remaining copy of The Winged Dragon of Ra.

Sometime later, he issues a Triangle Duel against Crowler and Vice-Chancellor Bonaparte for their right to work at Industrial Illusions, after the two believe themselves to be fired by Chancellor Sheppard. A bit after that, Pegasus and Sheppard meet in private to discuss the threat of the "Ultimate D-Card" that Aster's father stole from him.

After his meeting with Sheppard, Pegasus doesn't appear again until twenty episodes into the third season. Before that, however, Aster recalls a meeting he had with Pegasus a few months ago on the Crystal Beasts and their owner. Pegasus reveals that in his opinion the best duelists in the world are: 1. Yugi Muto, 2. Seto Kaiba, 3. Joey Wheeler, 4. Aster Phoenix, and 5. Jesse Anderson. Having discovered the Rainbow Dragon lithograph, Pegasus fulfills his promise to Jesse to create a corresponding card, and has it sent to the other dimension where Duel Academy had been transported via wormhole.

Naming
In all Japanese versions, Pegasus is known as Pegasus J. Crawford. In the English anime and manga, the name is instead Maximillion Pegasus.

In the English Yu-Gi-Oh! The Duelists of the Roses video game, and in the instruction booklet for Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories, his original name, Pegasus Crawford is used, while in the other games his English anime and manga name is used. Pegasus is unusual in that his English name is used in the English manga while most Yu-Gi-Oh! human characters keep their Japanese names in the English manga. In the video game, Yu-Gi-Oh! The Falsebound Kingdom, the character representing Pegasus within the virtual world of the game is named Pegasus J. Kroitzel.

In Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction, Pegasus takes an alias. In the Japanese version, he takes the name Taiyō Tenma (天馬太陽, Tenma Taiyō). In the English version, he takes the name Sol Chevalsky.

Voice/Mannerisms
Pegasus has a habit of calling Yugi "Yugi-boy" and Kaiba "Kaiba-boy" in the Japanese and edited English versions of the anime and manga. This trend continues in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. It is assumed he is trying to get under their skin or is simply showing his childish personality. However, when sufficiently provoked he can have a temper. Pegasus is also notable for his foppish manner, dandified appearance, and effeminate hairstyle, all of which have led to him being referred to as "cutie-pie" and an "overdressed prima donna." In the Japanese versions, Pegasus often uses English words inter-spliced with Japanese, including English curse words like "Goddamn" and "Shit", replacing all second-person pronouns with the English word "you", and tends to end his sentences with a long, drawn-out "desu". His most common expression is "Oh!I' so ambiguously camp!".

Deck
Pegasus uses a Toon Deck focused around the card Toon World which, in the anime, is a one of a kind card that allows him to play special Toon Monsters. Also, only in the anime, Toon World seems to have the ability to transform other monsters into their Toon counterparts. Specifically for his duel with Yugi Muto, Pegasus created the cards Relinquished, Thousand-Eyes Restrict, Thousand-Eyes Idol, and Dark-Eyes Illusionist. However in his first Duel with Yugi, Pegasus uses a weak amateur Deck to test Yugi.