Best Yu-Gi-Oh! Manga and Anime Characters

Though portrayed as the true antagonist of the series, Yami Bakura has reasons for his actions and hatred toward Atem. He is the fusion of the souls of Zorc Necrophades and Bandit King Bakura, and there are elements in the latter that may have caused Yami Bakura's personality to exhibit cold and indifferent behavior as seen in the manga and anime.

For one, in ancient Egypt, Bandit King Bakura was the only survivor of his village, Kul Elna. Everyone, even his family, was sacrificed to create the Millennium items. Considering his soul was combined with Zorc's, what the present-day series begins with is a shattered individual with the mind of a dark adversary.

Imagine this: Your family and friends were killed for some powerful items, and later on, you were fused with darkness that, at least to Bakura at the time, could possibly help you seek revenge on those connected to the ringleader of the tragedy. Yami Bakura harnesses the power of the Millennium Ring, using it to ensure nobody messes with him, period. This curt attitude, along with his sarcastic yet comedic remarks, makes him an interesting character.

To quote the abridged series, "Screw the rules, I have money!" He is the Batman of Yu-Gi-Oh. So many others have some kind of superpower upgrades, and he uses his cash and his wits.

Like Yugi, you little cheater, using your Millennium Puzzle to win. Plus, I like his snarky attitude. He's not all "the power of friendship" or "the heart of the cards." Come on, really? I didn't realize I was watching My Little Ponies playing cards.

He can be pretty ruthless, but he's always looking out for his little brother, who for some reason likes to act like Princess Peach and get captured every other episode.

Yami Yugi is stellar, like the tenor of the animation world. Very respectable and powerful in speech. Cool to be at least bronze for Yugi.

King of Games, undefeated, can't be tamed, icon of Yu-Gi-Oh! as a whole. He will always be the best, and every duelist knows him. He is close to my heart forever.

VOLUNTEERED to be imprisoned in a puzzle with no identity to save his people, even if they forgot him. He never complains about his lot in life!

Kaiba is great, but if I had to choose a favorite, it would be Joey. I loved Yugi (and Yami Yugi, don't worry) for a long time, and he still is a favorite of mine, but I think I like Joey slightly more. He's so cool and he had quite a bit of character development.

He was so determined to go from an inexperienced duelist to an expert, and did he achieve that? Well, yes, kinda. Too bad he doesn't get the respect he deserves. He also never gives up.

I think Joey is a relatable character, and he has a good relationship with his friends and little sister. You go, man!

He is skilled, brave, and had the toughest life ever as a kid. I think Marik is amazing and the best character. He is overall a very interesting character and, face it, he is one of the best!

Yugi was a great duelist before Atem, but when he arrived, Yugi was taught by him. With his lessons, Yugi turned into the real King of Games. He accomplished three impossible feats in just one duel: defeating the protagonist, defeating the three Egyptian gods, and, most impossibly, making Kaiba admit that he was wrong to call him weak.

Yugi is one of the best characters, but he gets picked on by Kaiba, who says he's not the true King of Games. Kaiba puts him down, and Yami doesn't do anything about it.

He's one cute boy (if this is Muto).

He's one handsome boy (if this is Yami).

I actually like his character. Though he was very malevolent in the first season, he loosened up and became more enlightened after Bakura stole his eye. I don't know if it was the creator's intention, but I believe since the Millennium items have such power, the eye was corrupting him and turned him into what we saw in season one.

After season one, they went into his whole backstory (which was very tragic), and we could see his true intentions. He was an intelligent archaeologist with noble intent to try and save his wife from her inevitable demise.

A cruel person whose deck is designed to make the opponent feel as much pain as possible.

Okay. This woman's decks? Brilliant. Iconic. Epic. Sure, the Harpy deck in the beginning seemed to only have Harpy Lady and Harpie's Pet Dragon for monsters, but she had a solid strategy and is probably the strongest female duelist we saw in Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (aside from Ishizu, but since we haven't seen her duel without the help of her Millennium item, I'm not sure how good she is without it).

Her Amazoness deck was also amazing, although I might be biased about strong women. It was an interesting addition to her character, since up until then we only saw her using Harpy Ladies. I only have a vague recollection of the Orichalcos Arc, but her deck there was also very powerful. Love her character and her strategies.

He's so underrated! Duke genuinely was probably one of the lighter characters, and his more carefree attitude made it far more amusing to watch! He should have had more screen time because a lot could've come from his past with his father, like in the manga.

At first, it looks like he has weak monsters in his deck, but wow, the way he uses them in battle is just incredible, making his deck a force to be reckoned with. He is a phenomenal duelist, a skillful engineer, and amazing when riding his bike!

Yusei is my favorite character and is in my favorite generation, Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's. Cool deck, great tactics, good personality. He had a sad life and tried to unlock his dream and save his city from danger. He is a great duelist.

He's great at thinking up tactical ways to beat opponents. He has a great ace monster, namely Stardust. The voice actor in both sub and dub sounds great, and he cares a great deal about his friends and New Domino City.

Oh, come on! She's really not that bad like y'all say she is! At least she stands by her friends and doesn't abandon 'em like some of mine did.

She even looks sad in the picture... It's okay, Tea. You might not have a lot of friends, but some of us out here like you, even if it's not a lot of people.

Compared to Mai, she's actually won duels. She won against Mai, Crump, and Joey too!

Plus, she's supportive, kind, and very passionate about those she cares about. Tea has all the qualities you need in a friend.

He should at least be in the top 5 because he saved the world from the beast cards. But it is sad that he was the Supreme King for some time.

Why is he ranked so low? He had the most duels and a pretty good character arc. He should at least be in the top 15.

Why is he at 22?

He's a "flawless" character.

At least this adorable little cutie pie can see right through his big brother's ice-cold, distant exterior.

In fact, baby brothers are adorably cute, especially him (Mokuba Kaiba).

In fact, the poor little baby boy got kidnapped by Seto Kaiba's enemies.