Shadow Duel

Shadow Duel
Rōmaji	Yami no Duel
Japanese translated	Duel of Darkness
English	Shadow Duel
Appears in (anime)	Yu-Gi-Oh! Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL
Appears in (manga)	Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Shadow Duels, known as Duels of Darkness in the Japanese version, are Shadow Games involving Duel Monsters. It causes the players to suffer real damage from the effects of any card played on the Duel.

Shadow Duels have been featured in all anime and manga series until Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V. Similar concepts which are not Shadow Duels have appeared in all anime and manga series.

Yu-Gi-Oh!

The first Shadow Duel to occur in the series was Dark Yugi's Duel with Seto Kaiba in the manga, during which the monsters were materialized and the loser suffered a Penalty Game. Kaiba was defeated and subjected to the Experience of Death.

The next Shadow Duels took place between Yami Yugi and Maximillion Pegasus during the Duelist Kingdom arc. Pegasus Dueled Yami Yugi through a videotape and defeated him when the timer ran out before Yami Yugi launch a winning attack, capturing Solomon Muto's soul as a Penalty Game. The two later had a rematch as the prize of the finals of the Duelist Kingdom tournament, though it was not played as a Shadow Game until after "Toon World" was destroyed. This time, Yami Yugi was able to emerge victorious. Yami Yugi also played a Shadow Duel with Yami Bakura in the anime only, defeating him.

Despite the claims of deathtraps that would send the loser to the Shadow Realm in the dub, none of the Duels played in the Battle City preliminaries were Shadow Games. It was not until Yami Marik took over Marik Ishtar that Shadow Duels began to appear, and all of the subsequent Duels that he took part in were Shadow Duels, save the four-way Duel to decide the semi-finals match-up.

During the Dawn of the Duel arc, Yami Bakura took part in two Shadow Duels, though these differed between the anime and the manga; Dueling Seto Kaiba inconclusively in the anime and Jonouchi in the manga, in addition to Yugi Muto in both versions. Only his Duel with Yugi ended conclusively; the others ended with no result.

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX

Jaden Yuki mentions that the King of Games, Yugi Muto, faced many Shadow Duels and triumphed; the fact that Yugi took part in Duels involving magic thus appears to be common knowledge in GX. During Jaden's first Duel against Nightshroud, he realized that Shadow Duels really existed. Unlike the Shadow Duels in the Yu-Gi-Oh!, which were invoked with a Millennium Item, these Duels were invoked by spirits of Duel Monsters or by Shadow Charms.

Shadow Duels featured in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX:

Players	Episode(s)	Winner	Notes
Atticus Rhodes vs. Lyman Banner	-	Lyman Banner	The loser was trapped in the darkness.
Nightshroud vs. Gravekeeper's Chief	-	Nightshroud	The spirit lost, so he let Nightshroud escape.
Jaden Yuki vs. Titan	6	Jaden Yuki	It was called "Yami no Game". The loser was trapped in the darkness.
Jaden Yuki vs. Jinzo	14	Jaden Yuki	It was revealed to be a Shadow Duel in episode 29. The spirit lost, so it disappeared.
Jaden Yuki vs. Gravekeeper's Chief	27 - 28	Jaden Yuki	It was revealed to be a Shadow Duel in episode 29. The spirit lost, so he let Jaden and his friends escape.
Jaden Yuki vs. Nightshroud	29 - 30	Jaden Yuki	The loser's soul was trapped in a card.
Vellian Crowler vs. Camula	31	Camula	The loser's soul was trapped in a doll.
Zane Truesdale vs. Camula	32	Camula	The loser's soul was trapped in a doll.
Jaden Yuki vs. Camula	33	Jaden Yuki	The loser's soul was trapped by the Illusion Gate.
Chazz Princeton vs. Don Zaloog	39	Chazz Princeton	This Shadow Duel was played without the knowlege of Chazz and his friends. The loser's soul was trapped in a card.
Jaden Yuki vs. Abidos the Third	40	Jaden Yuki	The loser went to the afterlife.
Alexis Rhodes vs. Titan	41	Alexis Rhodes	The loser was trapped in the darkness.
Alexis Rhodes vs. Amnael	44	Amnael	The loser was trapped in the Emerald Tablet.
Chazz Princeton vs. Amnael	44	Amnael	The loser was trapped in the Emerald Tablet.
Jaden Yuki vs. Amnael	45 - 46	Jaden Yuki	The loser was banished.
Jaden Yuki vs. Kagemaru	48 - 49	Jaden Yuki	The loser's energy and life was supposed to be given to the winner, although when the Duel ended, nothing happened.

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's

The Dark Signers are capable of turning Duels into Shadow Duels. When a Dark Signer engages in a Duel, the arena is surrounded by a forcefield of light, taking the shape of the Dark Signers' corresponding Nazca Line and becomes a Shadow Duel. When a brainwashed Dark Signer servant engages in a Duel, the arena is instead surrounded by a circle-shaped purple glow. When a brainwashed person loses a Shadow Duel the Dark Signers' mark disappears and they return to their original state.

Shadow Duels are damaging to the Duelists and the blasts from the attacks can be fatal and often cause damage even to the surrounding observers and area; Jack and Trudge destroyed half a hospital. The Nazca Line shape around the area viciously tears up any objects in its path as it forms.

Many concepts similar to Shadow Dueling have existed throughout Yu-Gi-Oh! series, including the original Shadow Games of Duel Monsters, Dueling with the "The Seal of Orichalcos" and Psychic Dueling, as well as the technology at the disposal of Iliaster. Shadow Dueling is said to be similar to Psychic Dueling, but is much more powerful. However, unlike the past series, these Duels are never referred to as "Shadow Games."

Shadow Turbo Duel

Nazca Giant Dueling Circuit

Killer Whale Dueling Circuit

Hummingbird Dueling Circuit

Rex Goodwin within his Condor geoglyph circuit

A Shadow Turbo Duel is a derivation of a normal Shadow Duel against a Dark Signer.

It possesses all the characteristics of basic Shadow Duels, except that it occurs within the rules of a Turbo Duel. Like normal Shadow Duels, all impacts coming from monster attacks and effects are real. This results in the possible damaging of a Duel Runner as occurred to Yusei Fudo.

Another consequence of this dangerous kind of Turbo Dueling is that wherever the surroundings of the area on which the Nazca Line geoglyph materializes are destroyed. As long as a Shadow Turbo Duel is occurring, the materialized attacks of either players' monsters often indirectly results in the devastation of any objects in close proximity, as seen during the Shadow Turbo Duel between Crow and Greiger.

The five Shadow Turbo Duels that have occurred have been Yusei Fudo's two Turbo Duels against Kalin Kessler Crow Hogan against Greiger, Jack Atlas against Carly Carmine and Yusei, Jack and Crow against Rex Goodwin.

However, in the last Shadow Turbo Duel that occurred between Yusei, Jack and Crow versus Rex Goodwin, Goodwin remained at the top of altar of the Stairway to the Dragon Star, while Yusei, Jack and Crow drove their Duel Runners on the track formed by Goodwin's Condor geoglyph. This is the only Turbo Duel so far in which someone is not on a Duel Runner or a Duel Board, but as with a Duel Board, as long as someone has a "Speed World" card they can use a Duel Disk.

Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL

Shadow Game Begin

In Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL, Vector, in his past life, initiated a Shadow Duel (which he referred to as a "Shadow Game") against Shark/Nash, where whenever a player's monsters are destroyed also had their respective armies lose some of its warriors. Though Nash was victorious, his entire army was decimated due to the amount of monsters that were destroyed.

Similar to Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, there are several other concepts similar to Shadow Duels in the series. The Baria Sphere Cube damages its occupants when they take damage inside it, and this effect is applied to the Earth when it begins to merge with the Barian World. The souls of losing Duelists in the latter are sent to the Barian World. Dueling is also more intense in Astral World, during which Yuma was blown off his feet simply after one of his Defense Position monsters was destroyed.

It is important to note that while the AR Vision technology can apparently cause shockwaves that can harm Duelists, the damage from the Shadow Duel between Vector and Nash proved far more dangerous as when either player took a hit in the Duel, the damage to the player was visibly more brutal.

Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V

In Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V, while there is no direct mention of Shadow Duels, some elements are utilized in the Action Duel concept, in which the use of Solid Vision causes monsters to be physically materialized and landscapes changed according to the Action Field selected. Real damage is inflicted through shockwaves, and although harmful, they are not shown to be lethal. Noteworthy is that Duelists are allowed to physically assault the opponent, although such practices are rare. Shadow Duels have been implied when Yuto and later Shay Obsidian inflict damage without the use of an Action Field, though this appears to be a function of their Duel Disks. The only apparent mystical forms of shockwaves have occurred when Yuya Sakaki Summons "Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon". The most prominent method that strongly correlates with that of a Shadow Duel are the Duels initiated by members of Duel Academy, where the losing player is sealed in a card.