Mind Crush (Penalty Game)

The original Mind Crush.

Mind Crush, known as Collapse of the Heart - MIND CRUSH (ＭＩＮＤ (マインド) —ＣＲＵＳＨ (クラッシュ) —心 (こころ) の崩壊 (ほうかい) , Maindo Kurasshu - Kokoro no Hōkai) in the Japanese version, was a Penalty Game that Dark Yugi inflicted on Seto Kaiba in the original manga at the end of Death-T. It was used to metaphorically shatter Kaiba's heart, destroying the evil that corrupted it and leaving him to reassemble the broken heart as a puzzle. Physically, Kaiba remained in a coma until he was ready to reawaken.

In the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, the term "Mind Crush" has been used for all of Yami Yugi's (Dark Yugi's) Penalty Games, where it has the effect of exorcising an evil spirit or rendering the victim unconscious.

In the Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL manga, Kyoji Yagumo also inflicts a Penalty Game called Mind Crush on Eviluder, causing a spider to appear on his heart.

The card "Mind Crush" is based on the original version of this Penalty Game.

Original Mind Crush

Kaiba, solving the puzzle of his heart.

Seto Kaiba forced Yugi Mutou to participate in Death-T, a theme park designed to kill him. Dark Yugi defeated Kaiba in a game of Duel Monsters in the final stage and inflicted the Mind Crush Penalty Game on him as punishment for his crimes, having presumably realized that the last Penalty Game he had inflicted on Kaiba had not worked. The part of Kaiba's soul that was filled with evil was destroyed and Kaiba was left motionless in his chair, slipping into a coma as a result. Dark Yugi stated to Mokuba that Kaiba was now reassembling the broken puzzle of his heart, one piece at a time and with his own strength so that he would not make any mistakes. He told Mokuba Kaiba that Kaiba would return one day when he completed the puzzle. Mokuba, who had compared Kaiba's change in personality over the last few years to him being possessed by a gaming demon, was glad that Kaiba's evil part had been dispelled and promised to wait forever for him to wake up.

Kaiba spent the next few months in hospital and was sometimes visited by Yugi. The world's best doctors looked at him and thought that he would spend the rest of his life in the coma. He was later put under 24 hour care in Kaiba Manor. Over time, Mokuba came to resent Dark Yugi for doing this to him. Kaiba's absence also gave Maximillion J. Pegasus an opportunity to take over KaibaCorp.

Kaiba completes the puzzle.

The Ventriloquist of the Dead used a Kaiba puppet, which he claimed to house the soul of the real Kaiba and was seeking revenge on Dark Yugi. During Dark Yugi and the ventriloquist's Duel, the ventriloquist got the puppet to play Kaiba's cards, including "Blue-Eyes White Dragon". However the real Kaiba woke up from his coma during this Duel, causing the "Blue-Eyes White Dragon" to self-destruct and the ventriloquist to abandon his use of the puppet.

Despite his revival, Kaiba maintained his cruel personality. However when he was saved from Pegasus by the Yugis, an apparition of his younger self appeared and led him to Mokuba. When the two of them were reunited, the apparition of Kaiba inserted the final piece into the puzzle of his heart.

In the anime, the Mind Crush is not so drastic; Yami Yugi simply "opened his mind" by destroying the dark half of Kaiba. Though Kaiba maintained his usual gruff and seemingly cruel demeanor, he had a good heart and often covered it up by snapping at others and making snarky remarks.

Other versions

Kyoji's version of "Mind Crush".

In the Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL manga, Kyoji Yagumo applies a Penalty Game on Eviluder after he loses his Duel against Yuma, and calls it "Mind Crush". He somehow introduced a spider in Eviluder's heart previously, and then makes it attack his heart, which quickly causes him to collapse after feeling enormous pain.