Yugi Mutou (武藤 遊戯 Mutō Yūgi?, Yugi Muto in the English anime). Yugi is especially adept at playing Duel Monsters. He wears the Millennium Puzzle, one of the seven Millennium Items and an ancient Egyptian artifact holding the spirit of Pharaoh Atem around his neck. When Yugi is playing a game or under stress, the spirit inside the Millennium Puzzle surfaces and the 3,000-year-old (5,000 in the English anime) pharaoh, Dark/Yami Yugi takes partial or complete control of the body.
Katsuya Jonouchi (城之内 克也 Jōnouchi Katsuya?, Joey Wheeler in the English anime) is Yugi's best friend. Initially nothing more than a street thug and former bully, Jonouchi is touched by Yugi's behavior towards him and they become loyal friends. Yugi's grandfather tutors him in how to play Duel Monsters, and he is initially rather unskilled at the game, only making his progress through additional help from Yugi, but he gains a knack for it, and eventually goes on to place second in the Duelist Kingdom Tournament, fourth in Battle City, but is eliminated early on in the KC Grand Championship Tournament. Jonouchi is shown to have a very kind soul and eager willingness to help those he loves, but he also demonstrates a near lack of modesty and can be rather rash at times, making him a source of comic relief.
Seto Kaiba (海馬 瀬人 Kaiba Seto?). He originally appeared as a mysterious boy with no specific agenda, but later is seen as somewhat helping them. Kaiba believes that he is the best card duelist in the world, and that Yugi is just second rate. He does not believe in the magic of the Millennium Items in the English dub, but is a believer and far more amiable in the Japanese show. Despite his age, he is the president of Kaiba Corporation, the biggest game company in the world and among the most influential in the United States.
Anzu Mazaki (真崎 杏子 Mazaki Anzu?, Téa Gardner in the English anime) is Yugi's childhood friend, an extremely supportive girl with a lot of spirit for her friends. Although her dueling ability is decent and she used to defeat Jonouchi in school (before Solomon Muto tutored Joey(Jonouchi.) Anzu is not a game-player and her ability is well below that of Yugi. She is athletic and secretly works at a fast food restaurant to save money; her dream is to attend a dancing school in New York City.
Hiroto Honda (本田 廣戸 Honda Hiroto?, Tristan Taylor in the English anime) who is in class 1-B at Domino High School, is a boy who became a friend of Yugi Mutou, Katsuya Jonouchi, and Anzu Mazaki. In the manga, Honda starts out as Jonouchi's street thug henchman and also at first has a crush on Miho Nosaka, who rejects him. Honda is also very intelligent, and a sharpshooter; when he was a kid, he could shoot a 100-yen piece with a BB gun from 50 feet. In the first series anime, Honda is the head of the clean-up committee at school and often cites his duty while doing things, which causes him to annoy his friends. He often argues with Jonouchi. Honda uses a Military Deck, using Warriors and Machines related to the military theme. Prior to the duel with Dinosaur Ryuzaki, Jonouchi discovers Honda's cards, including a Lava Battleguard. Jonouchi has a card called Swamp Battleguard, which works well with Lava Battleguard and uses them in the duel against Ryuzaki, and they defeat Ryuzaki's second strongest dragon. Honda uses his own strategy when he dueled against Nessbitt of the Big Five.
Ryo Bakura (獏良 了 Bakura Ryō?, Bakura) is a transfer student (British in the English version) who becomes friends with the main group of the story. Bakura, the holder of the Millennium Ring, has a dark spirit dwelling inside of the Millenium Ring, much like Dark Yugi/Yami. This dark half, Dark Bakura/Yami Bakura, intends to collect all of the Millennium items, and quite clearly does not care for anyone who might get in his way. To do so he takes control over Ryo Bakura's body against Ryo Bakura's will, since he doesn't have a body of his own. At the end of the story, its revealed that the Spirit of the Millennium Ring is the evil being Zorc.
Marik Ishtar (マリク・イシュタール Mariku Ishutāru?) in the original Japanese anime and manga, is a character in the mangaYu-Gi-Oh! and the second Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series (known in Asia as Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters). The heir to a clan of tombkeepers, Marik's hatred of the nameless Pharaoh compels him to disregard his duties and turn to a life of evil, eventually developing a split personality.
Marik's family had guarded the tomb of the pharaoh for generations. Marik holds the Millennium Rod and with his Ghouls organization (called the Rare Hunters in the English anime), he wished to obtain the three Egyptian God Cards, and with them, unlock their power for himself so he can gain the title of "Pharaoh" and set his family free of their burden. In the Japanese anime, Marik wished to get revenge on the ancient Pharaoh's soul for killing his father, as he was made to believe. Marik's backstory differs between versions, and in the English anime his desire for revenge is replaced by a desire for the Pharaoh's power. Marik's mad quest to defeat Dark Yugi made a target out of his friends, and after sending numerous minions to defeat him that each failed, he brainwashed Yugi's friends and turned them against him. When this failed, Marik entered the Battle City finals. During this, his adopted brother Rishid (Odion in the English anime) fell unconscious, and Marik's sadisticalter personality, Yami Marik, took control of his body. The alter ego proceeded to defeat Mai, Bakura and Jonouchi before facing Yugi. In their final match, Yugi and Rishid were able to restore a reformed Marik to his body, leaving Dark Marik to fade away as Marik overcame his hatred for Yugi. Fulfilling his duty as tombkeeper, Marik returned to Egypt with his family to start a new life. Marik appeared in Yu-Gi-Oh! Nightmare Troubadour, along with Yami Marik. Marik first appeared when the player found him in the game, as he named himself "Namu". But he later revealed that he is Marik and turned into Yami Marik after defeating Rishid. Unlike in the anime, the only way to make Yami Marik fade away is to beat him with the God Cards in the Shadow Game. Yami Marik is the final boss in the game. Marik is voiced by Tetsuya Iwanaga in the original version and by Jonathan Todd Ross in the English adaptation, while Akiko Kimura does his voice in flashbacks.
The Ghouls (グールズ Gūruzu?, Rare Hunters in the English anime; Jackals in some video games) are a group of card thieves that serve Marik. By stealing and selling rare cards from duelists worldwide, the Jackals provide Marik with a large supply of minions, rare cards and money. Numerous members of the Ghouls are shown, the Rare Hunter (レアハンター Reahantā?, Seeker in the English anime), Pandora (パンドラ?, Arcana in the English anime), thePantomimer (パントマイマー Pantomaimā?, Strings in the English anime), Mask of Light (光の仮面 Hikari no Kamen?, Lumis in the English anime) and Mask of Darkness (闇の仮面 Yami no Kamen?, Umbra in the English anime), and various other unnamed duelists. Following Marik's defeat they are never mentioned again and are presumably disbanded, though the "lost souls" of two of them (the Rare Hunter and Pandora) are seen in the realm of lost souls when the Pharaoh goes to see Yugi in the Waking the Dragons arc. In the English adaptation they are voiced by David Willis (Rare Hunter), Sam Riegel (Arcana), Jimmy Zoppi (Lumis) and Tony Salerno (Umbra).