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The Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters anime series had a plethora of interesting and terrifying villains for the heroes to duel against. From a heartbroken CEO trying to bring his late wife back to life to ancient spirits looking to destroy the world, Yugi and his friends fought valiantly against some of animes most dangerous criminals.

Still, among the many antagonists in the series, one stands out for how violent and horrifying his actions were: Marik Ishtar. The heir of the gravekeeper family is better known for becoming possessed by his dark side during the exciting and sometimes infuriating final duels of the Battle City Tournament. Yet, his actions during the beginning of season 2 prove that his original personality is severely more dangerous than his evil side.

Related Yu-Gi-Oh's Biggest Villain Shouldn't Have Been Beaten By Yugi

Although Yugi was the one to eventually defeat the villain Marik in Yu-Gi-Oh!, another...

Quick Links Yami Yugi Stole the Match Against Kaiba in Battle City Battle City Reminded Me That Yami Yugi is a Munchkin Protagonist Yu-Gi-Oh!'s Rules Are Part of the Problem Following the Rules Creates a Different Issue Yu-Gi-Oh! anime cheats and breaks its own rules, ruining the appeal for many fans. Yami Yugi is a munchkin protagonist who breaks rules to win at all costs. Manga and anime change Yu-Gi-Oh! card game rules frequently, leading to confusion and dissatisfaction.

Yu-Gi-Oh! is one of my earliest anime fixations from childhood, a brilliantly entertaining Shonen Jump series from before the days of the Big Three. I followed it religiously, collecting its cards and becoming an experienced player. I've long since fallen off the hobby, though, and looking back, I was irked by how its series touted yet broke its rules. While the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game is incredibly fun to play,...

Whether it's the anime, manga, trading card game or another form of media, the coolest part of the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise is easily its iconic monsters. Now, one of the many dragons from the series is getting a fearsome new figure, courtesy of a Bandai collector's line.

The Figure-rise Standard Amplified series has a new entry in the release of the Winged Dragon of Ra. One of the three Phantom Gods from Yu-Gi-Oh!, the monster itself has a long history with the franchise. Now, fans can own a top-shelf recreation through one of Bandai's premiere model kit lines.

Related Yu-Gi-Oh's Newest Figure Toy Collection Doubles as Duel-Worthy Stationery Accessories

A new line of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters collectibles brings the card, manga and anime characters to life as cute yet useful desktop accessories.

Figure-Rise Standard's Winged Dragon of Ra Model Kit Is Ready to Duel

Cutting a regal and sharp presence,...

The Yu-Gi-Oh! anime often gave exclusive effects to cards to make them look cool, but these effects didn't always translate well to the real-world card game. Kaiba played some of the strongest real-world cards in the anime, including Chaos Emperor Dragon - Envoy of the End, which was banned from competitive play. Kaiba's philosophy of treating his cards as powerful tools aligns with his use of prestigious and rare cards, while Yugi's card choices are generally more underpowered but he elevates them through his bond and belief in the Heart of the Cards.

Many characters in the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime used some incredibly powerful cards, but oftentimes those cards weren't as strong when they were added to the real-world card game. However, some cards did retain their power in the real world and went on to warp the game. One character in the anime played these cards at a higher rate than any other.

Isekai anime almost always follow characters who are transported from one world to another, generally going from the mundane human world to a fantasy world. Some isekai are reversed, where a magical creature or person travels to the human world. Most isekai anime tend to be for a shonen audience, but there are some written and produced for a shojo audience of young females.

Shojo isekai series tend to be sweeping and romantic with whimsical and sumptuous settings, and on many occasions, they feature historically-inspired characters. The stakes are high because these worlds are generally historically-inspired, mixing political treachery and intrigue with magical antagonists.

Related 30 Powerful Isekai Anime Characters, Ranked Isekai characters like Dr. Stone's Senku Ishigami and Sao's Kirito are extremely overpowered, making them fearsome forces in their new worlds. Fushigi Yugi Combines Isekai Adventure with Swashbuckling Romance

Date of Release

April 6, 1995

Total Episodes

52

Animation Studio

Pierrot

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In Fushigi Yugi,...

Yu-Gi-Oh! is an incredibly unique anime, being based almost entirely around a trading card game, but despite this there are a variety of similar shows that fans of the franchise would likely enjoy. These shows of course include a variety of other anime based around card games, but they also include other series that are more similar in other aspects. For whatever reason someone enjoys the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, there should be something on this list to scratch that itch.

Yu-Gi-Oh! is one of the most iconic anime of the early 2000s. The show follows a young boy named Yugi who unlocks the power of an ancient relic known as the Millennium Puzzle, releasing the spirit of an Ancient Pharaoh. With this newfound ally, Yugi and his friends defeat a variety of powerful enemies through high stakes card games while uncovering the mysteries of the Pharaoh's past. The show spawned a...

While Yu-Gi-Oh! and Pokémon are wildly different, the former series has featured a hilarious take on the latter's mascot Pikachu. This pseudo-parody is perfect given how often the two franchises are compared. Yu-Gi-Oh!'s twisted version of Pikachu clearly and definitively displays some of the major differences between the two series.

With both Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh! being popular anime targeted towards children that spawned vast franchises of games and other media, it is easy to view the two shows as similar. Indeed, both anime featured young protagonists battling each other using monsters that became iconic in their own right. The two even had a pseudo crossover in America, with Ash and Yugi dueling in a 4Kids commercial. However, the two shows are more different than they are similar. While most Pokémon are based around animals or plants, Yu-Gi-Oh!'s monsters are less uniform, ranging from humans like the Dark Magician...

There is one set of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards appearing in the anime that, despite being incredibly cool, would be too dangerous to print in a real set. Most Yu-Gi-Oh! battles occur through monster proxies in duels, but one archetype of cards gave them a real physical weight that let duelists physically harm each other. This elevated armor cards above the other various games in the series, giving Duel Monsters a much more dangerous edge.

Throughout the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, in order to raise the stakes of the battles, various special effects and stipulations have been used to make the game more dangerous. Outside of things like using Millennium Objects to manifest Shadow Games and send people to Yu-Gi-Oh!'s terrifying Shadow Realm, there have been certain cards that can cause actual damage on their own. The Egyptian Gods are perhaps the most iconic example of this, as these cards are able...

Most iconic Yu-Gi-Oh! cards become nearly irrelevant in the anime after the series they debut in concludes, but one classic card, Mirror Force, actually went on to warp the games of a later series as well. This is surprising given how much the game has evolved over the years, but while Yu-GiOh!'s new summoning mechanics - such as the Link Summoning used in Vrains - may have made the overall power level of the game higher, it also has occasionally made certain iconic cards seemingly better than they were before.

As the franchise has evolved, its associated card game has also changed drastically. After Yu-Gi-Oh! Gx, each new anime has introduced a new summoning mechanic. These new rules often made it easier for duelists to bring out their most powerful monsters and thus increased the general power level of the game. This is partially why the newest Yu-Gi-Oh! series changed the game completely.

Yami Yugi may seem like a kind spirit most of the time, but Yu-Gi-Oh!'s darkest scene shows how brutal the spirit can be. This shouldn't be too surprising, given in the manga the character was originally a murderous psychopath, but in the well-known anime adaptation, that part of his personality was omitted, making this scene quite shocking.

Another reason why this scene is especially shocking is that it takes place in a filler arc. Yu-Gi-Oh!'s fourth season Waking the Dragons is an anime-exclusive arc that sees Yugi and his friends fight the ancient Cult of Orichalcos. This is a group of duelists who deal people's souls away after they lose a duel. The arc actually greatly develops Yami Yugi's character after he loses a duel against the cult member Rafael and the regular Yugi sacrifices himself to save the Pharaoh. This causes Yami Yugi to go through...

Yu-Gi-Oh! is a thrilling anime full of unique characters, but few have the depth of Yami Yugi. Yami Yugi is technically two people at the same time, which means that there's always a lot going on in the combined character's psyche. After all, Yami Yugi has the personality traits of two very different people from unique time periods who are supposed to work together in harmony.

Related: Yu-Gi-Oh: 15 Best Decks For Newcomers (Who Want To Win)

Yami Yugi's Yu-Gi-Oh! journey is far from easy. However, many great moments exist where Yami Yugi asserts his authority through distinct actions and powerful quotes. Yami Yugi's Duel Monsters strategies are unforgettable, but his sharp quotes do even better work to define his character and the anime's themes.

Updated June 8, 2023, by Daniel Kurland: Yu-Gi-Oh! has accomplished the rare feat of an anime and trading card game that's endured and evolved for over 25 years.

Shonen is home to some of anime's greatest and most beloved characters. Among them, none are more adored than the iconic shonen heroes. With lovable personalities and compelling backstories, many of shonen's heroes have stolen the hearts of fans everywhere and changed the face of anime forever. But while it almost feels impossible to dislike them, plenty of shonen heroes have almost ruined their likability.

Related: 10 Most Unique Shonen Anime Of The 2000s

Whether it's due to their obnoxious personalities or because of an unforgivable act they commit, many shonen heroes have character flaws that leave their overall image tarnished and make fans think twice about them. But despite these glaring issues, they somehow manage to remain popular nonetheless, ultimately saving their reputations.

Joseph Joestar (JoJo's Bizarre Adventure)

As one of JoJo's Bizarre Adventures' earliest protagonists, Joseph Joestar has certainly made a name for himself over the years.

Despite many of the Yu-Gi-Oh series being largely disconnected from each other, there is actually one surprising monster that connects most of them together: Kuriboh. The most iconic monsters of the franchise are generally mighty creatures like Dark Magician and Blue-Eyes White Dragon, but these monsters are often too distinctive to be used by multiple characters across different series. This is especially true given the different tones and settings that each anime has.

While all Yu-Gi-Oh series are set in worlds where a card game can determine the fate of the world, beyond that their settings are very different. The original Yu-Gi-Oh is set in the relatively mundane Domino City, but Gx shifts the setting to an island school. Later series often shift to more futuristic settings, with 5D’s being set in a cyberpunk version of Domino City and Vrains taking place in a world that has access to...

Of all the creepy monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh!, Jinzo is one of the most terrifying and one cosplayer has brought this nightmare to life. Over its 25+ years of creating monsters, the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise has moved away from the unnervingly strange designs of its early series. However, these older monsters hold a lot of nostalgia for fans and perhaps the most iconic of these is Jinzo.

The cosplayer powpow1011 has made this horrifying potential a reality in a brilliant cosplay (posted to Twitter) at Anime Central 2023. The cosplay was shared on Twitter by user Dtjaaaam in a picture that captures its menacing glory. While some details like the mouthpiece's fangs and head veins are lost, some features are made even more terrifying. The eyes, instead of being flat discs of red, are now focused points that make it seem like Jinzo is glaring into the viewer's soul. Seeing the character on a...

Yugi's darker half, Yami Yugi, is one of the most iconic characters in Yu-Gi-Oh! but its successor Yu-Gi-Oh! Gx actually featured a much darker version of this for its protagonist Jaden Yuki. Interestingly enough, while the spirit of an ancient pharaoh that took control of Yugi while he dueled was always a major element of the original series, Gx's take on this was introduced partway into its third season. But despite this late inclusion, it became very important to the series as a whole.

Gx's third season went in a much darker direction than what came before it. Perhaps to differentiate Gx from the previous series, where the Pharaoh spirit possessing Yugi was an actual murderer, the earlier seasons were generally lighthearted despite occasionally having some very high-stakes duels. However, season 3 sent the main cast into grim alternate dimensions filled with death and sadness. This experience caused Jaden to go through major emotional turmoil,...

Disney and Ravensburger have teamed up for an all-new collectible trading card game, Disney Lorcana which is releasing this autumn. The game is said to be a less competitive deck builder that features popular Disney characters. Though it will be competing against the trading card giants of Magic the Gathering, Yu-Gi-Oh, and Pokémon, this entry from Disney is already gaining an excited fanbase.

Disney Lorcana is trying to avoid Pokémon's problem of being inaccessible to players because of exclusive cards and has chosen to price starter decks comparatively inexpensive. For the games release this fall, there are three announced starter decks and booster packs for each deck. Each of the three starter decks is designed to be playable immediately even without any additional booster packs and will include the rules for playing the game.

Related: The Difference Between Yu-Gi-Oh And Pokémon

Disney Lorcana First Chapter Starter Decks Center...