Jounouchi Katsuya



The food-loving Jounouchi (Joey Wheeler in the dub) is Yugi's best friend. He and Honda (Tristan) used to be bullies to Yugi, until Yugi defended them from the bully Ushio. After that fact, Jounouchi admired Yugi for his courage and became his friend.

Jounouchi hasn't had the best life, being a part of a gang. His parents are divorced. His mother took off with his little sister, Shizuka (Serenity) when they were both little. His father is a drunk. Jounouchi tries to make extra money by delivering newspapers (his job is approved by his school).

Although he is not very intelligent (ranking lower than Yugi and Honda in class), he is determined to become a true duelist. He took part in the Duelist Kingdom tournament to give a whack at the prize money. He needed it because Shizuka was going blind and needed an expensive operation to save her vision. Yugi wound up winning the money, but he gave it to Jounouchi, telling him that he can be repaid when he is defeated one day.

After learning from his mistakes in each duel, he eventually entered the Battle City tournament. There, he lost his Red-Eyes Black Dragon, the prized card that he won from Dinosaur Ryuzaki (Rex Raptor). Yugi won it back for him, but Jounouchi refused to take it back that way. He wanted to duel Yugi for it at the end of Battle City. This "promise" that was made between the two kept Jounouchi going for the whole tournament, through every hardship that he faced. Every now and then, Kaiba makes comments about Jounouchi being a "mediocre person," a "failure," and a "horse bone." This infuriates as well as motivates Jounouchi even more.