Zigfried von Schroeder



Zigfried von Schroeder, known in Japan as Siegfried von Schroider 「ジークフリード・フォン・シュレイダー, Jīkufurīdo fon Shureidā」 is the main antagonist of the KC Grand Championship story arc of the Yu-Gi-Oh! second series anime (Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters in Japan). He does not exist in the manga. In both incarnations, his name is derived from the name of Siegfried, a character in the opera, Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of Nibelung). In the English version, Zigfried is voiced by Pete Zarustica, and speaks with a distinct German accent, while Eisuke Tsuda takes the role in the Japanese version.

Character biography
Zigfried von Schroeder is the CEO of Schroeder Corp, a rival of KaibaCorp. As the champion of Europe, he participates in Kaiba's KC Grand Championship under the name "Zigfried Lloyd" (Sieg Lloyd; ジーク・ロイド Jīku Roido). He is Leon von Schroeder's (Leonhart von Schroider) older brother. Zigfried seeks to take down KaibaCorp as revenge because he feels that Seto Kaiba stole his plans for holographic dueling technology (in the Japanese version, it is because Kaiba's project was accepted before he arrived to display his own technology). He comes across as arrogant and vain, but he has a kind side, as evidenced by how regretful he feels at the end of the arc for lying to his brother Leon, so Leon would help him with his plot. He genuinely loves his brother, as Seto loves Mokuba.

He entered the KC Grand Championships. He was scheduled to duel Fortune Salim at the Flower Clock. However, Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood impersonated him after taking the real one out, but were caught by Mokuba. Zigfried persuaded Mokuba to let them duel him. Zigfried defeated them in one turn with his Ride of the Valkyries card.

Zigfried then goes on to defeat Balfry Ginger and even duels Joey Wheeler. Zigfried used his Goddess Spell cards and Nibelung's Ring strategy to defeat Joey. When it came to the finals where Zigfried was to duel Leon, Seto Kaiba intervened when he found out who Zigfried really is. Even though Zigfried tried the same strategy on Seto, he was defeated.

Though Zigfried's revenge wasn't done yet. He manages to give the Golden Castle of Stromberg card to Leon in his duel with Yugi Muto. During the duel, Leon's identity as Zigfried's brother is also known. When Leon does play the Golden Castle of Stromberg card, it was revealed that it was illegal as Zigfried revealed that he engineered a virus to be sent into the KaibaCorp's databanks and even explains the card's dueling effects. With Leon forced to continue dueling, Seto rushed to stop the virus. The Golden Castle of Stromberg was removed when Yugi doesn't have the required amount of cards left. With Leon defeated, Zigfried found out that Seto had stopped the virus. Though Zigfried and Seto managed to settle their differences.

Deck
Zigfried plays a Valkyrie Deck, the concept of which is derived from Norse mythology. By combining his three Goddess Spell cards with "Nibelung's Ring", he is able to gradually destroy his opponent's deck while removing their cards from play. His most famous maneuver, however, is the summoning of all his Valkyrie cards simultaneously using "Ride of the Valkyries", thereby defeating the enemy with one unified strike. Most cards in this Zigfried's Deck are named after characters and concepts from Richard Wagner's Der Ring des Nibelungen.