OOC Duel: Profile Meme
[Character Name]His fanonly accepted name (for the people that are geeks for the Japanese version anyway) is "Yami Yuugi", and that's the name I'll be using in the text for third person posts to prevent confusion (and out of habit). In canon, however, he really doesn't have a name; he still hasn't regained (most of) his memories yet at the point I'm taking him from. Characters that know what he is in the series refer to him as "the Nameless Pharaoh". Everyone else however, either just calls him "Yuugi" or "the other Yuugi"; he will also call himself Yuugi here in Somarium.
[Canon]Yuugiou: Duel Monsters (manga)
[Age] About 3000 (in this body he's somewhere around the 15-17 mark)
[Gender] Male
[Sexual Orientation] Questionable, and I don't say that because Yuugiou is a massive pile of "teh ghey" and any time Yami Yuugi is with Anzu he doesn't even need to try to look any less than interested. I'm saying this because of where he's coming from, and how the Ancient Egyptians used to view sex and sexuality; most things short of rape were a-okay as long as the other person agreed to it. That combined with aforementioned obvious lack of interest makes me say he could go either way... although good luck getting to know him well enough for that.
[Eye Color] Purplish-red
[Hair Color] Red/black/blonde
[Height] About 5'1" (he's a little taller than his other half, but not by much).
[Other] Dude... just look at the picture. vvvv
[Clothing] ...yeah, I'm not even gonna try. Have a pic (one that I drew, ironically enough).
[Background (Short Version)]
Yuugi puts together a three thousand year old puzzle. Yami Yuugi appears. Yami Yuugi kills people. Yami Yuugi then duels peoples' asses into the floor to get three God Cards and the other Millennium Items. Yami Yuugi then goes to Egypt, and ends up getting thrown off a cliff to his supposed doom.
[Background (You're-Probably-Going-to-Ignore-This Version)]
Three thousand years ago in Ancient Egypt, a calamity struck the kingdom that nearly brought it to utter ruin. A brave pharaoh used the power of the gods to fight back against the darkness, sealing it and himself away for all eternity.
Or at least, that's what the hieroglyphs say.
Valley of the Kings, 1960; Sugoroku Mutou was a renowned game player and thrill seeker, so when he heard of a the fabled treasure that was the ultimate game -- the game of darkness -- hidden within the Egyptian sands, he had to find it. Taking with him two locals that knew the Valley of the Kings well, he sought out the tomb of the nameless pharaoh (though at the time he didn't know that's what it was). Inside were numerous traps, one of which killed one of his guides. The other turned on Sugoroku, forcing him to solve the rest of the tombs puzzles and then shooting him off the side of a cavernous walkway when they were standing before the ultimate treasure of the tomb.
But the man's heart was full of darkness, and as he approached the treasure that was waiting, his own demons consumed him. As Sugoroku clung to the edge of the walkway for dear life... a vision appeared before him. It was of a young man with hair like his, dressed in the regalia of a pharaoh. "I have been waiting for you, Shimon," the boy said, reaching out to help him up... and then Sugoroku awoke, alone and unharmed on the walkway, the ultimate treasure waiting patiently for him to take:
The Millennium Puzzle.
Flash forward to modern day. Sugoroku is now an elderly man living with his daughter and grandson in a family owned Game Shop in Domino City, Japan. His grandson is a shy teenager, ironically named Yuugi (which means "game" in Japanese), who has difficulty getting along with other kids his age and is often bullied. To avoid said bullies, Yuugi usually brings games with him to play with during recess at school; one of them being a dusty old Egyptian box that had golden puzzle pieces inside...
One day while he was attempting to put the Puzzle together during recess, two of the bullies that would "try to make him more of a man" -- a blonde by the name of Katsuya Jounouchi and a brunette named Hiroto Honda -- nearly stole the box and all of the pieces. Jounouchi told him that Yuugi needed to be more of a man, but Yuugi did not like to do such things like Jounouchi did. Fortunately, though, Yuugi's childhood friend, Anzu Mazaki, saved the day. Jounouchi did not get away completely empty handed; he had stolen the center piece of the puzzle, and tossed it into the swimming pool at the school.
Their bullying did not go unnoticed, however. The next day Yuugi found himself confronted by Ushou, the leader of the schools student-run disciplinary team. Ushou brought him around the school yard, where he revealed Jounouchi and Honda laying on the ground, having already received a hell of a beating from the other disciplinary team members. Ushou told Yuugi that his bodyguard has protected him, and to take a shot at kicking them while they were down. Yuugi refused, however, declaring that they weren't really bullies, but friends that wanted to help him be a man. Ushou ended up beating Yuugi up instead, before informing him that he owed the bodyguard's fee: 200,000 yen.
Depressed, Yuugi went home, not telling his grandfather about what happened at school and instead going upstairs to his room. Instead of working on his homework, he found himself working on the puzzle instead... and he found the puzzle pieces just seemed to want to be put together this time, each piece going where it was supposed to go. Before long, Yuugi found himself staring at a nearly completed puzzle; all he needed was one more piece...
...that wasn't in the box.
Yuugi searched frantically, trying to find it, but of course it was no where in his room. Just as he was about to give up hope, his grandfather came into the room, praising him for coming so close to completing the puzzle... and then presenting him with the final piece, telling him that a young blonde came by the shop to give it to him (and he was dripping wet even though it wasn't raining). As Sugoroku left, he slipped 200,000 yen in Yuugi's backpack, as Jounouchi had also told him what happened at school that day.
Left alone with the last piece, Yuugi placed it in it's proper slot... and his life was changed forever. The Puzzle's power activated, and Yuugi ended up blacking out... as another Yuugi went to call Ushou over to the school to play a little game. Yuugi of course remembers nothing that happened, so when he went to school the next day to find out that Ushou went insane? Genuinely surprised of course.
And then it started becoming... almost common. A man being set on fire here, people going insane there... he thought he just passed out when these strange things happened. He had no idea it was a spirit inside of him using his body to commit these horrible acts. Even the Duel Monsters champion, Seto Kaiba, had suffered from this other Yuugi, leading to the arrogant young millionaire developing a deep seated rivalry with Yuugi that bordered on hatred. That was until he encountered a man from Egypt one day while visiting a new exhibit on Ancient Egypt. Earlier in the day, Yuugi had loaned the Puzzle to the museum curator to display as part of the special exhibit just for the day. Of course the curator, a greedy old man, had other ideas and planned on keeping the Puzzle to sell, just like he had done with so many other priceless Egyptian treasures.
His judgment came in the form of an Egyptian man wearing white robes, carrying a Scale and wearing an Ankh around his neck. Though Yuugi had no knowledge of this, the Egyptian man weighed the museum curator's heart with his Scale, letting Amit devour him when he failed to keep the Scale balanced. It was then that the man noticed the Millennium Puzzle resting on the man's desk and took it... only to later encounter Yuugi, who had come back to the museum after hours to get his Puzzle back.
Shocked when he realized that Yuugi was the one that finally solved the Millennium Puzzle after three thousand years, the Egyptian man used his Millennium Ankh (or Key; both names are TECHNICALLY correct, but I like Ankh better >>;) to see into Yuugi's mind. When he looked into his mind, however, he was even more shocked to find that there were two separate doors in the young boy's mind; one was wide open with toys scattered about: totally innocent, not a wicked thought to be found. The other, however, was branded with an eye-shaped symbol and firmly closed... until he approached the door, that is. When the Egyptian man approached, the door opened on it's own... revealing a darker form of Yuugi on the other side. The other Yuugi invited him in, letting him know that the game had already been set up for him... if he had the courage to play, that is.
Hesitantly the Egyptian man entered the dark mind room, only to find it much like a tomb one would find in Egypt; cold and dark, and full of sadness. The other Yuugi, certainly not used to people visiting him in such a way, asked how the man had been able to do so; and the man revealed that he knew of the existence of the Puzzle and all other Millennium Items, and he had been assuring that they were kept safe in the Valley of the Kings. He then told him that his Millennium Ankh was one of those items, that allowed him to enter the Mind Room of those he wished. The other Yuugi was annoyed that the man entered his room just to pry into his mind in order to find the "power" of the Millennium Puzzle, and dragged him into a game where the Egyptian man had to find that "power" he was looking for for himself by locating the other Yuugi's true mind room.
When the game began, the Egyptian man found himself in a massive maze that looked much like an Escher painting. There were doors and stairs everywhere... and also traps. The man found himself encountering several before he found the other Yuugi in what he assumed was the "true room", but even that was a trap as he nearly fell into the darkness of Yuugi's mind. The other Yuugi saved him, however, telling the Egyptian man that he hoped he learned his lesson when it came to messing around in other people's minds.
The man left the shared mind, realizing that he had been the one tested. He gave Yuugi back the Puzzle, telling him that he was indebted to his other self. Yuugi laughed, however; how could there be any other self but himself? The man, shocked that Yuugi didn't realize he had two personalities, warned him to be mindful of his other self, and that one day he would discover the Puzzle's true power would show him his other personality. He left then, finally introducing himself: Shadi.
That wasn't the last either Yuugi would see of Shadi however. Not long after Shadi set up a trap for Yuugi, using all of his friends and grandfather as the bait, in an effort to bring out the other Yuugi. He succeeded once he turned Anzu into a mindless puppet, threatening to order her to kill herself if the other Yuugi did not come out to face him. A second game began, one in which Yuugi had to face Shadi's three challenges in order to save his friends. The other Yuugi had no choice of course, irritated that Shadi would try to bring out a power even he did not understand. He won of course, though barely, as Anzu ended up almost falling off of the wooden platform she had been forced to stand on.
Not long after, after many months of privately scheming, Seto Kaiba finally made his move. He drew Yuugi and his friends into Death-T, a massive amusement park set up specifically to kill them through the games within. After a deadly laser game, a murder mansion, an electrifying horror ride, a tower of falling bricks, and a deadly game of Capsule Monsters that ended with Seto sacrificing his own brother, Yuugi beat his way through the games, saved Mokuba, and challenged Seto himself at the top of Death T. With his friends being held at gunpoint, the other Yuugi played against Seto in a life or death game of Duel Monsters. Though Kaiba had the stronger deck backed up by three ferocious Blue Eyes White Dragons, the other Yuugi did what no other duelist had been able to do before by gathering all five cards of the legendary Exodia the Sealed One, an accomplishment that granted him an instant win. As punishment, the other Yuugi used a penalty game of Mind Crush, crushing Kaiba's evil filled heart and leaving him in a coma.
Mokuba thanked Yuugi for saving his life, revealing to him and his friends just why his brother was the way he was, and how much he had changed from the loving brother he used to be. The other Yuugi assured him that everything would be all right, and that his brother was somewhere in the dark, gathering the shattered pieces of his heart, and with any luck, he would be able to heal the darkness within him himself.
Despite everything that happened at Death T, however, Yuugi had yet to encounter his other self. Everyone else knew of his existence (and Anzu actually looked forward to his appearances), but Yuugi had yet to find a way to speak to him himself... that was, until a new student arrived at class. This new student also had a Millennium Item and two minds just like Yuugi did, only his other mind made the other Yuugi look... well, nice in comparison.
Ryou Bakura was a fan of the game Monster World, and invited Yuugi and his friends over to play. The game was going well at first... until the other Bakura revealed himself, locking the souls of Yuugi and his friends into the playing pieces they were using to play the game. With no one to roll the dice and play the game, it seemed as if they had lost... until the other Yuugi was able to take over, rolling them all to victory, even against the dangerous final boss monster that the other Bakura brought out against them. The other Bakura was locked inside of the Millennium Ring and it seemed like everything was peaceful again.
Well, for a little while at least. As Duel Monsters became more and more popular in Japan, so too did the rumors of a little high school kid beating the great champion Seto Kaiba. One day a package was delivered to Yuugi's home, and inside was a video tape. Playing the video tape revealed Pegasus J. Crawford, the creator of Duel Monsters, on the recording... only it wasn't just a recording. Somehow, the Pegasus on the tape was able to draw the other Yuugi into a Game of Darkness, only this game was timed: if the other Yuugi could beat Pegasus by either depleting his life points or having it lower than Yuugi's by the time was up, Yuugi was free to go about his life; but if he lost, he would have to attend Pegasus' new Duel Monster's tournament. Unfortunately, Yuugi lost by a fraction of a second, and just to make sure Yuugi would attend his tournament, Pegasus used the power of his Millennium Eye to seal Sugoroku into the video tape.
Having no other choice, Yuugi left for the Duelist Kingdom tournament, armed with his grandfather's deck, his video bound grandfather, and his best friends. He faced many challenges there, including Insector Haga, who destroyed the Exodia cards that had granted him his miraculous victory against Kaiba. He also met up again with Mokuba, who had been captured by Pegasus, and revealed to the others that if Yuugi lost against Pegasus, than the Big Five of Kaiba Corporation would sell the company to him. Meeting Mokuba again, however, led to a confrontation with a pupeteer that claimed to be channeling Kaiba's soul, and even using his deck stolen from the Kaiba Manor. Though the other Yuugi was able to defeat this opponent as he had all the others, Mokuba had been kidnapped yet again; and Yuugi realized that he was no longer fighting just for his grandfather.
The tournament continued, and the other Yuugi found himself battling against duelists that had been specifically hired by Pegasus' company, Industrial Illusions, to beat him. Together with Jounouchi, they soundly trounced everyone on the way to get to the castle at the center of Duelist Kingdom. When they did get to the castle, however, a surprise was waiting for them in the form of one Seto Kaiba, having finally pieced together the fragments of his heart. He had come to the island once he found out about the plot to steal his company out from under his nose, and was forced into challenging Yuugi again to save Mokuba's life. Though the other Yuugi was reluctant after everything it took to get this far, he agreed. What followed was a grueling duel using Kaiba's new Duel Disk system, during which the other Yuugi struggled against Kaiba's powerful deck. Though he would have come out on top in the end, Kaiba threatened to throw himself off the edge of the castle if Yuugi succeeded; for him, if he did not succeed, then he may as well be dead. While the other Yuugi was more than willing to push Kaiba to his death, Yuugi stopped him, throwing the duel.
Crestfallen, Yuugi almost gave up, but with the help of Mai Kuzaku and Jounouchi, he was able to get his confidence back and enter the castle just in time for a special match between Kaiba and Pegasus. Kaiba, however, was no match for the mind reading powers of Pegasus' Millennium Eye, and his soul was sealed inside of a card. Even more determined, the other Yuugi proceeded on to the semi-finals, battling against Mai in the first half, and then against Jounouchi in the second, winning both duels. All that was left was Pegasus himself.
The battle was the hardest the other Yuugi had yet to face; no matter what move he could make, Pegasus saw through it and was able to counter attack him easily. Just when it looked like he was going to lose, a small miracle occurred: Yuugi was finally able to connect and communicate with his dark half, switching places with him just in the nick of time. While Pegasus could read minds, he could not read two minds at once. Backed into a corner, Pegasus used the power of the Eye to draw Yuugi into the Shadows, where the normal Yuugi would not be able to last. Putting his faith in one last move, Yuugi continued to play until Pegasus finally over taxed his soul, nearly destroying him completely. The other Yuugi picked up the rest of the duel, and was able to best Pegasus with the final move his partner had left for him, defeating the Duel Monsters creator, breaking the Shadows he had summoned, and saving Yuugi. Defeated, Pegasus released the souls of Sugoroku and the Kaiba brothers as promised; he also revealed to him his reasons for taking up the power of the Millennium Eye and also warned him that there was evil behind the Items' power.
Oh, yeah, and the other Bakura kills Pegasus after this. While it's never stated if Yuugi or the other Yuugi know it was Bakura that killed him, it's pretty safe to assume they are aware of his death.
With everything more or less back to normal, Yuugi and the others returned home (with Kaiba making it up to them by being bribed generous enough to provide the helicopter). Just when Yuugi thought he could go back to his everyday life (with a new friend in his head that enjoyed teasing him about his lack of fashion sense) however, a new game store called Black Crown opened up across the street, owned and operated by a young man named Otogi Ryuji, though Yuugi did not know that.
A confrontation at school that led to Jounouchi being humiliated forced the other Yuugi to come out and challenge Otogi, easily beating him at a simple game of cards. As revenge, when Yuugi visited his store the next day, Otogi had him set up as a shoplifter, and forced into playing his own game of Dungeon Dice Monsters to clear his name. This, of course, was all a ruse; Otogi was doing all of this for the sake of his father, a man that had challenged Sugoroku years ago for ownership of the Millennium Puzzle and ended up loosing more than just a game.
Long story short, the Puzzle had been broken during the encounter, leaving the other Yuugi stuck sitting it out while his partner beat Otogi at his own game. Enraged that his son lost, Otogi's father snagged the Millennium Puzzle, nearly strangling Yuugi with the chain it was attached to and then knocking him out cold. Otogi's father pegged the chain to a table before trying to assemble the Puzzle, but something in the Puzzle activated, driving him temporarily insane and knocking down some candles in the room, setting it on fire. He escaped, but Yuugi stayed behind as the whole building was turned into an inferno, assembling the Puzzle in the middle of the blaze so he could have his partner back, and was eventually rescued by Jounouchi.
Almost immediately after Yuugi recovered, however, he set his other self up on a date with Anzu, knowing that his childhood friend was quite fond of his cooler other half. Though they ended up in a brief confrontation with Steps Johnny, they enjoyed themselves, and the experience helped the other Yuugi get his confidence back. Together, the two of them traveled to the museum, where a new Egyptian exhibit was being displayed. The manga glosses over (er, rather, SKIPS ENTIRELY) this part, as it was already discussed with Kaiba in the chapter before, but here's the gist: Anzu and the other Yuugi meet Ishizu, who informs them of the fact that the other Yuugi is really the spirit of a three thousand year old pharaoh, and that the three God Cards and the seven Millennium Items would be the key to unlocking the pharaoh's memories. She also reveals herself as the owner of the Millennium Tauk, and warns the other Yuugi that the final possessor of a Millennium Item would soon present himself.
FINALLY, we're at Battle City. Jesus Christ. The results of his conversation with Ishizu lead Kaiba to hold the Battle City tournament, a grand event where the loser has to give up their rarest card to the winner. Of course, the tournament is a ploy in order to draw out the GHOULS Rare Hunters, con-artists that steal cards and then make hundreds of counterfeits and in turn an insane amount of money off of those that don't know any better. The GHOULS' leader also had in his possession two of the three God Cards (Kaiba had received the third from Ishizu), so both Kaiba and the other Yuugi were out to challenge them, though the other Yuugi also had the other reason of the GHOULS' leader also possessing the final Millennium Item.
MANY increasingly ridiculous duels later (including a duel with a soulless puppet of a human being after which the other Yuugi came into possession of Saint Dragon, the God of Osiris, a tag team duel in which Kaiba and the other Yuugi had to cooperate with each other to win, and a duel to the death against a possessed Jounouchi that nearly killed Yuugi, Jounouchi, and Anzu), the other Yuugi and the gang made it to the Battle City finals. They boarded a massive blimp, on which they dueled yet again, this time thousands of feet up in the air. The other Yuugi started the finals off first, pitted against the other Bakura and his occult deck; I don't think I need to mention that he pulled another victory out of his ass, do I? And yes, I'm getting frustrated with this background section.
Okay, this is getting ridiculously tl;dr, so I'm glossing over the rest of Battle City (I swear I'll fix this later when I actually give two shits). Jounouchi went up against Rishid who was posing as Malik the leader of GHOULS. Both their asses got fried when Rishid used a fake copy of God of Sun Dragon, Ra, but Jounouchi emerged victorious. The real Malik, who was standing practically right next to the other Yuugi, suddenly flipped out, his dark persona taking over, and later dueling against Mai and nearly killing her. ~INTERMISSION~ Shadi manages to poof himself onto the Duel Blimp and talk to the other Yuugi, giving him more background on Egypt and the Gravekeepers while Malik's Darkness tries to kill people. Next morning they make it to Alcatraz Duel Tower, where the semi-finals take place. Malik duels against Jounouchi, whips out God of Sun Dragon Ra on his ass and nearly kills him. The other Yuugi is depressed and pissed off, but ends up fighting his duel against Kaiba anyway. Naturally, he wins, and Kaiba gives him a card that will help him defeat Malik as well as the God of Obelisk. Battle City Finals is the other Yuugi versus Malik, the later of which is an asshole and turns it into a twisted Game of Darkness in which their outer personalities (the real Yuugi and Malik) represent their life points: the lower the life, the more of their outer personalities disappear. They go at it, whipping out God Cards left and right, somewhere in the middle of that the real Malik is able to regain himself and SURRENDERS, locking his dark personality into the darkness forever. The other Yuugi receives the Millennium Rod from Malik as well as the last of the God Cards.
OY! Wake up! We're finally at the part where Yami Yuugi is actually taken from. With all three God Cards, the other Yuugi presents them to the Memory Tablet and ends up transported three thousand years into the past, or so he thinks anyway. He finds himself as he was when he was pharaoh, surrounded by his court... and pretty damn clueless as he still has no memory of anything that happened in the past. Of course, he doesn't get much of a chance to ponder this, as none other than Bakura storms into his court, dragging the mummified corpse of the previous pharaoh -- the other Yuugi's father -- along behind him, though he is soon chased off by the other Yuugi himself. Slowly, the other Yuugi's past memory starts to come back as he lives through this time in Ancient Egypt, though he still does not know his own name.
Bakura does not stay away for very long, and eventually he ends up dragging the other Yuugi and his priests out into the desert for a confrontation. The God of Osiris that the pharaoh summons is destroyed, and desperate to try and make Bakura stop, the other Yuugi follows him up the side of a cliff. Not a very smart move on his part, as Bakura's summoned beast destroys the cliff, leaving the other Yuugi dangling by the tips of his fingers. Bakura yoinks the Puzzle from the pharaoh before giving his fingers a nice SMASH, sending the pharaoh tumbling to his doom...
Well, not really, but that's the point where Yami Yuugi comes to Somarium AND I FINISH THIS GODDAMN BACKGROUND SECTION.
[Personality]
Yami Yuugi is a very complicated person, with varying sides to his personality.
-In a new situation or around people he doesn't know, he's usually quiet, carefully observing what's going on before taking any action. He's not quick to trust others, but he does have a bit of almost naive faith in people that's rubbed off on him from Yuugi.
-Once he gets to know a person though, he's quite casual and cocky, almost bordering on arrogance. He's a natural leader and easily takes charge when in a group of friends.
-When playing a game... whoa boy. Yami Yuugi is good, he knows he's good, and he knows that you know that he's good, and if you don't know, you're going to find out the hard way. He is very confident, and is not afraid to let you know you've lost long before you realize it yourself.
[Specialties/Abilities]
The mere fact that he's in a body of his own is an ability in and of itself, which is why I pulled him from this point in the story line. Yami Yuugi, instead of being transported back to the past, is actually in the middle of a Memory RPG of Darkness; though he doesn't know it, he's been granted a temporary body in order to play the game against the other Bakura.
Because he no longer has the Puzzle on him, his summoning ability is restricted, and he can only summon with a medium (either a card or a crude drawing like on the Egyptian stone tablets). He can only summon one monster at a time.
Oh, and he has mad gaming skills; seriously, most people in Somarium would be hard pressed to beat him at ANYTHING.
[Affection]
Yami Yuugi typically doesn't respond too well to affection, especially with those that he isn't totally familiar with. Even when Anzu looped an arm around his, he looked at her like he was going to bite her hand off. Of course this eventually changed, but it takes him a long time to warm up to people.
[Fighting]
Yami Yuugi isn't totally helpless; he can defend himself physically if need be, but he's not much of a brawny person, and could probably easy be knocked aside. He prefers fighting with his brain and his mad dueling skills than physical fighting anyway.
[Other Facts] Nothing that I can think of at the moment...
[Canon]Yuugiou: Duel Monsters (manga)
[Age] About 3000 (in this body he's somewhere around the 15-17 mark)
[Gender] Male
[Sexual Orientation] Questionable, and I don't say that because Yuugiou is a massive pile of "teh ghey" and any time Yami Yuugi is with Anzu he doesn't even need to try to look any less than interested. I'm saying this because of where he's coming from, and how the Ancient Egyptians used to view sex and sexuality; most things short of rape were a-okay as long as the other person agreed to it. That combined with aforementioned obvious lack of interest makes me say he could go either way... although good luck getting to know him well enough for that.
[Eye Color] Purplish-red
[Hair Color] Red/black/blonde
[Height] About 5'1" (he's a little taller than his other half, but not by much).
[Other] Dude... just look at the picture. vvvv
[Clothing] ...yeah, I'm not even gonna try. Have a pic (one that I drew, ironically enough).
[Background (Short Version)]
Yuugi puts together a three thousand year old puzzle. Yami Yuugi appears. Yami Yuugi kills people. Yami Yuugi then duels peoples' asses into the floor to get three God Cards and the other Millennium Items. Yami Yuugi then goes to Egypt, and ends up getting thrown off a cliff to his supposed doom.
[Background (You're-Probably-Going-to-Ignore-This Version)]
Three thousand years ago in Ancient Egypt, a calamity struck the kingdom that nearly brought it to utter ruin. A brave pharaoh used the power of the gods to fight back against the darkness, sealing it and himself away for all eternity.
Or at least, that's what the hieroglyphs say.
Valley of the Kings, 1960; Sugoroku Mutou was a renowned game player and thrill seeker, so when he heard of a the fabled treasure that was the ultimate game -- the game of darkness -- hidden within the Egyptian sands, he had to find it. Taking with him two locals that knew the Valley of the Kings well, he sought out the tomb of the nameless pharaoh (though at the time he didn't know that's what it was). Inside were numerous traps, one of which killed one of his guides. The other turned on Sugoroku, forcing him to solve the rest of the tombs puzzles and then shooting him off the side of a cavernous walkway when they were standing before the ultimate treasure of the tomb.
But the man's heart was full of darkness, and as he approached the treasure that was waiting, his own demons consumed him. As Sugoroku clung to the edge of the walkway for dear life... a vision appeared before him. It was of a young man with hair like his, dressed in the regalia of a pharaoh. "I have been waiting for you, Shimon," the boy said, reaching out to help him up... and then Sugoroku awoke, alone and unharmed on the walkway, the ultimate treasure waiting patiently for him to take:
The Millennium Puzzle.
Flash forward to modern day. Sugoroku is now an elderly man living with his daughter and grandson in a family owned Game Shop in Domino City, Japan. His grandson is a shy teenager, ironically named Yuugi (which means "game" in Japanese), who has difficulty getting along with other kids his age and is often bullied. To avoid said bullies, Yuugi usually brings games with him to play with during recess at school; one of them being a dusty old Egyptian box that had golden puzzle pieces inside...
One day while he was attempting to put the Puzzle together during recess, two of the bullies that would "try to make him more of a man" -- a blonde by the name of Katsuya Jounouchi and a brunette named Hiroto Honda -- nearly stole the box and all of the pieces. Jounouchi told him that Yuugi needed to be more of a man, but Yuugi did not like to do such things like Jounouchi did. Fortunately, though, Yuugi's childhood friend, Anzu Mazaki, saved the day. Jounouchi did not get away completely empty handed; he had stolen the center piece of the puzzle, and tossed it into the swimming pool at the school.
Their bullying did not go unnoticed, however. The next day Yuugi found himself confronted by Ushou, the leader of the schools student-run disciplinary team. Ushou brought him around the school yard, where he revealed Jounouchi and Honda laying on the ground, having already received a hell of a beating from the other disciplinary team members. Ushou told Yuugi that his bodyguard has protected him, and to take a shot at kicking them while they were down. Yuugi refused, however, declaring that they weren't really bullies, but friends that wanted to help him be a man. Ushou ended up beating Yuugi up instead, before informing him that he owed the bodyguard's fee: 200,000 yen.
Depressed, Yuugi went home, not telling his grandfather about what happened at school and instead going upstairs to his room. Instead of working on his homework, he found himself working on the puzzle instead... and he found the puzzle pieces just seemed to want to be put together this time, each piece going where it was supposed to go. Before long, Yuugi found himself staring at a nearly completed puzzle; all he needed was one more piece...
...that wasn't in the box.
Yuugi searched frantically, trying to find it, but of course it was no where in his room. Just as he was about to give up hope, his grandfather came into the room, praising him for coming so close to completing the puzzle... and then presenting him with the final piece, telling him that a young blonde came by the shop to give it to him (and he was dripping wet even though it wasn't raining). As Sugoroku left, he slipped 200,000 yen in Yuugi's backpack, as Jounouchi had also told him what happened at school that day.
Left alone with the last piece, Yuugi placed it in it's proper slot... and his life was changed forever. The Puzzle's power activated, and Yuugi ended up blacking out... as another Yuugi went to call Ushou over to the school to play a little game. Yuugi of course remembers nothing that happened, so when he went to school the next day to find out that Ushou went insane? Genuinely surprised of course.
And then it started becoming... almost common. A man being set on fire here, people going insane there... he thought he just passed out when these strange things happened. He had no idea it was a spirit inside of him using his body to commit these horrible acts. Even the Duel Monsters champion, Seto Kaiba, had suffered from this other Yuugi, leading to the arrogant young millionaire developing a deep seated rivalry with Yuugi that bordered on hatred. That was until he encountered a man from Egypt one day while visiting a new exhibit on Ancient Egypt. Earlier in the day, Yuugi had loaned the Puzzle to the museum curator to display as part of the special exhibit just for the day. Of course the curator, a greedy old man, had other ideas and planned on keeping the Puzzle to sell, just like he had done with so many other priceless Egyptian treasures.
His judgment came in the form of an Egyptian man wearing white robes, carrying a Scale and wearing an Ankh around his neck. Though Yuugi had no knowledge of this, the Egyptian man weighed the museum curator's heart with his Scale, letting Amit devour him when he failed to keep the Scale balanced. It was then that the man noticed the Millennium Puzzle resting on the man's desk and took it... only to later encounter Yuugi, who had come back to the museum after hours to get his Puzzle back.
Shocked when he realized that Yuugi was the one that finally solved the Millennium Puzzle after three thousand years, the Egyptian man used his Millennium Ankh (or Key; both names are TECHNICALLY correct, but I like Ankh better >>;) to see into Yuugi's mind. When he looked into his mind, however, he was even more shocked to find that there were two separate doors in the young boy's mind; one was wide open with toys scattered about: totally innocent, not a wicked thought to be found. The other, however, was branded with an eye-shaped symbol and firmly closed... until he approached the door, that is. When the Egyptian man approached, the door opened on it's own... revealing a darker form of Yuugi on the other side. The other Yuugi invited him in, letting him know that the game had already been set up for him... if he had the courage to play, that is.
Hesitantly the Egyptian man entered the dark mind room, only to find it much like a tomb one would find in Egypt; cold and dark, and full of sadness. The other Yuugi, certainly not used to people visiting him in such a way, asked how the man had been able to do so; and the man revealed that he knew of the existence of the Puzzle and all other Millennium Items, and he had been assuring that they were kept safe in the Valley of the Kings. He then told him that his Millennium Ankh was one of those items, that allowed him to enter the Mind Room of those he wished. The other Yuugi was annoyed that the man entered his room just to pry into his mind in order to find the "power" of the Millennium Puzzle, and dragged him into a game where the Egyptian man had to find that "power" he was looking for for himself by locating the other Yuugi's true mind room.
When the game began, the Egyptian man found himself in a massive maze that looked much like an Escher painting. There were doors and stairs everywhere... and also traps. The man found himself encountering several before he found the other Yuugi in what he assumed was the "true room", but even that was a trap as he nearly fell into the darkness of Yuugi's mind. The other Yuugi saved him, however, telling the Egyptian man that he hoped he learned his lesson when it came to messing around in other people's minds.
The man left the shared mind, realizing that he had been the one tested. He gave Yuugi back the Puzzle, telling him that he was indebted to his other self. Yuugi laughed, however; how could there be any other self but himself? The man, shocked that Yuugi didn't realize he had two personalities, warned him to be mindful of his other self, and that one day he would discover the Puzzle's true power would show him his other personality. He left then, finally introducing himself: Shadi.
That wasn't the last either Yuugi would see of Shadi however. Not long after Shadi set up a trap for Yuugi, using all of his friends and grandfather as the bait, in an effort to bring out the other Yuugi. He succeeded once he turned Anzu into a mindless puppet, threatening to order her to kill herself if the other Yuugi did not come out to face him. A second game began, one in which Yuugi had to face Shadi's three challenges in order to save his friends. The other Yuugi had no choice of course, irritated that Shadi would try to bring out a power even he did not understand. He won of course, though barely, as Anzu ended up almost falling off of the wooden platform she had been forced to stand on.
Not long after, after many months of privately scheming, Seto Kaiba finally made his move. He drew Yuugi and his friends into Death-T, a massive amusement park set up specifically to kill them through the games within. After a deadly laser game, a murder mansion, an electrifying horror ride, a tower of falling bricks, and a deadly game of Capsule Monsters that ended with Seto sacrificing his own brother, Yuugi beat his way through the games, saved Mokuba, and challenged Seto himself at the top of Death T. With his friends being held at gunpoint, the other Yuugi played against Seto in a life or death game of Duel Monsters. Though Kaiba had the stronger deck backed up by three ferocious Blue Eyes White Dragons, the other Yuugi did what no other duelist had been able to do before by gathering all five cards of the legendary Exodia the Sealed One, an accomplishment that granted him an instant win. As punishment, the other Yuugi used a penalty game of Mind Crush, crushing Kaiba's evil filled heart and leaving him in a coma.
Mokuba thanked Yuugi for saving his life, revealing to him and his friends just why his brother was the way he was, and how much he had changed from the loving brother he used to be. The other Yuugi assured him that everything would be all right, and that his brother was somewhere in the dark, gathering the shattered pieces of his heart, and with any luck, he would be able to heal the darkness within him himself.
Despite everything that happened at Death T, however, Yuugi had yet to encounter his other self. Everyone else knew of his existence (and Anzu actually looked forward to his appearances), but Yuugi had yet to find a way to speak to him himself... that was, until a new student arrived at class. This new student also had a Millennium Item and two minds just like Yuugi did, only his other mind made the other Yuugi look... well, nice in comparison.
Ryou Bakura was a fan of the game Monster World, and invited Yuugi and his friends over to play. The game was going well at first... until the other Bakura revealed himself, locking the souls of Yuugi and his friends into the playing pieces they were using to play the game. With no one to roll the dice and play the game, it seemed as if they had lost... until the other Yuugi was able to take over, rolling them all to victory, even against the dangerous final boss monster that the other Bakura brought out against them. The other Bakura was locked inside of the Millennium Ring and it seemed like everything was peaceful again.
Well, for a little while at least. As Duel Monsters became more and more popular in Japan, so too did the rumors of a little high school kid beating the great champion Seto Kaiba. One day a package was delivered to Yuugi's home, and inside was a video tape. Playing the video tape revealed Pegasus J. Crawford, the creator of Duel Monsters, on the recording... only it wasn't just a recording. Somehow, the Pegasus on the tape was able to draw the other Yuugi into a Game of Darkness, only this game was timed: if the other Yuugi could beat Pegasus by either depleting his life points or having it lower than Yuugi's by the time was up, Yuugi was free to go about his life; but if he lost, he would have to attend Pegasus' new Duel Monster's tournament. Unfortunately, Yuugi lost by a fraction of a second, and just to make sure Yuugi would attend his tournament, Pegasus used the power of his Millennium Eye to seal Sugoroku into the video tape.
Having no other choice, Yuugi left for the Duelist Kingdom tournament, armed with his grandfather's deck, his video bound grandfather, and his best friends. He faced many challenges there, including Insector Haga, who destroyed the Exodia cards that had granted him his miraculous victory against Kaiba. He also met up again with Mokuba, who had been captured by Pegasus, and revealed to the others that if Yuugi lost against Pegasus, than the Big Five of Kaiba Corporation would sell the company to him. Meeting Mokuba again, however, led to a confrontation with a pupeteer that claimed to be channeling Kaiba's soul, and even using his deck stolen from the Kaiba Manor. Though the other Yuugi was able to defeat this opponent as he had all the others, Mokuba had been kidnapped yet again; and Yuugi realized that he was no longer fighting just for his grandfather.
The tournament continued, and the other Yuugi found himself battling against duelists that had been specifically hired by Pegasus' company, Industrial Illusions, to beat him. Together with Jounouchi, they soundly trounced everyone on the way to get to the castle at the center of Duelist Kingdom. When they did get to the castle, however, a surprise was waiting for them in the form of one Seto Kaiba, having finally pieced together the fragments of his heart. He had come to the island once he found out about the plot to steal his company out from under his nose, and was forced into challenging Yuugi again to save Mokuba's life. Though the other Yuugi was reluctant after everything it took to get this far, he agreed. What followed was a grueling duel using Kaiba's new Duel Disk system, during which the other Yuugi struggled against Kaiba's powerful deck. Though he would have come out on top in the end, Kaiba threatened to throw himself off the edge of the castle if Yuugi succeeded; for him, if he did not succeed, then he may as well be dead. While the other Yuugi was more than willing to push Kaiba to his death, Yuugi stopped him, throwing the duel.
Crestfallen, Yuugi almost gave up, but with the help of Mai Kuzaku and Jounouchi, he was able to get his confidence back and enter the castle just in time for a special match between Kaiba and Pegasus. Kaiba, however, was no match for the mind reading powers of Pegasus' Millennium Eye, and his soul was sealed inside of a card. Even more determined, the other Yuugi proceeded on to the semi-finals, battling against Mai in the first half, and then against Jounouchi in the second, winning both duels. All that was left was Pegasus himself.
The battle was the hardest the other Yuugi had yet to face; no matter what move he could make, Pegasus saw through it and was able to counter attack him easily. Just when it looked like he was going to lose, a small miracle occurred: Yuugi was finally able to connect and communicate with his dark half, switching places with him just in the nick of time. While Pegasus could read minds, he could not read two minds at once. Backed into a corner, Pegasus used the power of the Eye to draw Yuugi into the Shadows, where the normal Yuugi would not be able to last. Putting his faith in one last move, Yuugi continued to play until Pegasus finally over taxed his soul, nearly destroying him completely. The other Yuugi picked up the rest of the duel, and was able to best Pegasus with the final move his partner had left for him, defeating the Duel Monsters creator, breaking the Shadows he had summoned, and saving Yuugi. Defeated, Pegasus released the souls of Sugoroku and the Kaiba brothers as promised; he also revealed to him his reasons for taking up the power of the Millennium Eye and also warned him that there was evil behind the Items' power.
Oh, yeah, and the other Bakura kills Pegasus after this. While it's never stated if Yuugi or the other Yuugi know it was Bakura that killed him, it's pretty safe to assume they are aware of his death.
With everything more or less back to normal, Yuugi and the others returned home (with Kaiba making it up to them by being bribed generous enough to provide the helicopter). Just when Yuugi thought he could go back to his everyday life (with a new friend in his head that enjoyed teasing him about his lack of fashion sense) however, a new game store called Black Crown opened up across the street, owned and operated by a young man named Otogi Ryuji, though Yuugi did not know that.
A confrontation at school that led to Jounouchi being humiliated forced the other Yuugi to come out and challenge Otogi, easily beating him at a simple game of cards. As revenge, when Yuugi visited his store the next day, Otogi had him set up as a shoplifter, and forced into playing his own game of Dungeon Dice Monsters to clear his name. This, of course, was all a ruse; Otogi was doing all of this for the sake of his father, a man that had challenged Sugoroku years ago for ownership of the Millennium Puzzle and ended up loosing more than just a game.
Long story short, the Puzzle had been broken during the encounter, leaving the other Yuugi stuck sitting it out while his partner beat Otogi at his own game. Enraged that his son lost, Otogi's father snagged the Millennium Puzzle, nearly strangling Yuugi with the chain it was attached to and then knocking him out cold. Otogi's father pegged the chain to a table before trying to assemble the Puzzle, but something in the Puzzle activated, driving him temporarily insane and knocking down some candles in the room, setting it on fire. He escaped, but Yuugi stayed behind as the whole building was turned into an inferno, assembling the Puzzle in the middle of the blaze so he could have his partner back, and was eventually rescued by Jounouchi.
Almost immediately after Yuugi recovered, however, he set his other self up on a date with Anzu, knowing that his childhood friend was quite fond of his cooler other half. Though they ended up in a brief confrontation with Steps Johnny, they enjoyed themselves, and the experience helped the other Yuugi get his confidence back. Together, the two of them traveled to the museum, where a new Egyptian exhibit was being displayed. The manga glosses over (er, rather, SKIPS ENTIRELY) this part, as it was already discussed with Kaiba in the chapter before, but here's the gist: Anzu and the other Yuugi meet Ishizu, who informs them of the fact that the other Yuugi is really the spirit of a three thousand year old pharaoh, and that the three God Cards and the seven Millennium Items would be the key to unlocking the pharaoh's memories. She also reveals herself as the owner of the Millennium Tauk, and warns the other Yuugi that the final possessor of a Millennium Item would soon present himself.
FINALLY, we're at Battle City. Jesus Christ. The results of his conversation with Ishizu lead Kaiba to hold the Battle City tournament, a grand event where the loser has to give up their rarest card to the winner. Of course, the tournament is a ploy in order to draw out the GHOULS Rare Hunters, con-artists that steal cards and then make hundreds of counterfeits and in turn an insane amount of money off of those that don't know any better. The GHOULS' leader also had in his possession two of the three God Cards (Kaiba had received the third from Ishizu), so both Kaiba and the other Yuugi were out to challenge them, though the other Yuugi also had the other reason of the GHOULS' leader also possessing the final Millennium Item.
MANY increasingly ridiculous duels later (including a duel with a soulless puppet of a human being after which the other Yuugi came into possession of Saint Dragon, the God of Osiris, a tag team duel in which Kaiba and the other Yuugi had to cooperate with each other to win, and a duel to the death against a possessed Jounouchi that nearly killed Yuugi, Jounouchi, and Anzu), the other Yuugi and the gang made it to the Battle City finals. They boarded a massive blimp, on which they dueled yet again, this time thousands of feet up in the air. The other Yuugi started the finals off first, pitted against the other Bakura and his occult deck; I don't think I need to mention that he pulled another victory out of his ass, do I? And yes, I'm getting frustrated with this background section.
Okay, this is getting ridiculously tl;dr, so I'm glossing over the rest of Battle City (I swear I'll fix this later when I actually give two shits). Jounouchi went up against Rishid who was posing as Malik the leader of GHOULS. Both their asses got fried when Rishid used a fake copy of God of Sun Dragon, Ra, but Jounouchi emerged victorious. The real Malik, who was standing practically right next to the other Yuugi, suddenly flipped out, his dark persona taking over, and later dueling against Mai and nearly killing her. ~INTERMISSION~ Shadi manages to poof himself onto the Duel Blimp and talk to the other Yuugi, giving him more background on Egypt and the Gravekeepers while Malik's Darkness tries to kill people. Next morning they make it to Alcatraz Duel Tower, where the semi-finals take place. Malik duels against Jounouchi, whips out God of Sun Dragon Ra on his ass and nearly kills him. The other Yuugi is depressed and pissed off, but ends up fighting his duel against Kaiba anyway. Naturally, he wins, and Kaiba gives him a card that will help him defeat Malik as well as the God of Obelisk. Battle City Finals is the other Yuugi versus Malik, the later of which is an asshole and turns it into a twisted Game of Darkness in which their outer personalities (the real Yuugi and Malik) represent their life points: the lower the life, the more of their outer personalities disappear. They go at it, whipping out God Cards left and right, somewhere in the middle of that the real Malik is able to regain himself and SURRENDERS, locking his dark personality into the darkness forever. The other Yuugi receives the Millennium Rod from Malik as well as the last of the God Cards.
OY! Wake up! We're finally at the part where Yami Yuugi is actually taken from. With all three God Cards, the other Yuugi presents them to the Memory Tablet and ends up transported three thousand years into the past, or so he thinks anyway. He finds himself as he was when he was pharaoh, surrounded by his court... and pretty damn clueless as he still has no memory of anything that happened in the past. Of course, he doesn't get much of a chance to ponder this, as none other than Bakura storms into his court, dragging the mummified corpse of the previous pharaoh -- the other Yuugi's father -- along behind him, though he is soon chased off by the other Yuugi himself. Slowly, the other Yuugi's past memory starts to come back as he lives through this time in Ancient Egypt, though he still does not know his own name.
Bakura does not stay away for very long, and eventually he ends up dragging the other Yuugi and his priests out into the desert for a confrontation. The God of Osiris that the pharaoh summons is destroyed, and desperate to try and make Bakura stop, the other Yuugi follows him up the side of a cliff. Not a very smart move on his part, as Bakura's summoned beast destroys the cliff, leaving the other Yuugi dangling by the tips of his fingers. Bakura yoinks the Puzzle from the pharaoh before giving his fingers a nice SMASH, sending the pharaoh tumbling to his doom...
Well, not really, but that's the point where Yami Yuugi comes to Somarium AND I FINISH THIS GODDAMN BACKGROUND SECTION.
[Personality]
Yami Yuugi is a very complicated person, with varying sides to his personality.
-In a new situation or around people he doesn't know, he's usually quiet, carefully observing what's going on before taking any action. He's not quick to trust others, but he does have a bit of almost naive faith in people that's rubbed off on him from Yuugi.
-Once he gets to know a person though, he's quite casual and cocky, almost bordering on arrogance. He's a natural leader and easily takes charge when in a group of friends.
-When playing a game... whoa boy. Yami Yuugi is good, he knows he's good, and he knows that you know that he's good, and if you don't know, you're going to find out the hard way. He is very confident, and is not afraid to let you know you've lost long before you realize it yourself.
[Specialties/Abilities]
The mere fact that he's in a body of his own is an ability in and of itself, which is why I pulled him from this point in the story line. Yami Yuugi, instead of being transported back to the past, is actually in the middle of a Memory RPG of Darkness; though he doesn't know it, he's been granted a temporary body in order to play the game against the other Bakura.
Because he no longer has the Puzzle on him, his summoning ability is restricted, and he can only summon with a medium (either a card or a crude drawing like on the Egyptian stone tablets). He can only summon one monster at a time.
Oh, and he has mad gaming skills; seriously, most people in Somarium would be hard pressed to beat him at ANYTHING.
[Affection]
Yami Yuugi typically doesn't respond too well to affection, especially with those that he isn't totally familiar with. Even when Anzu looped an arm around his, he looked at her like he was going to bite her hand off. Of course this eventually changed, but it takes him a long time to warm up to people.
[Fighting]
Yami Yuugi isn't totally helpless; he can defend himself physically if need be, but he's not much of a brawny person, and could probably easy be knocked aside. He prefers fighting with his brain and his mad dueling skills than physical fighting anyway.
[Other Facts] Nothing that I can think of at the moment...