High school student Yugi Motou's life does a 360 when he solves the Millenium Puzzle. He now has the spirt of a 5,000 year-old pharoah inside him, and must stop the deadly Shadow Games from returning. DVA (myself, it's short for Dark Vampire Angel) gives Yu-Gi-Oh! 5 stars, for good drawings and storyline.
Yugi Motou. When this High School kid sloves an ancient puzzle his life becomes more complicated than the average 15 year old. Because he is so short sometimes he is mistaken for a Middle School-er. He is always ready to make a friend, and believes whole-heartedly in the Heart of the Cards.
The Nameless Pharoah (also known to some as Yami Yugi, Yami, or Atemu). He is the spirt which resides inside the Millenium Puzzle. When Yugi solved the puzzle he was awakened. He stopped the rampage of the Shadow games 5,000 years ago, then wiped his memory. He now struggles to remember his life as the Pharaoh and the key to locking the Shadow Games away for good, his true name. When Yugi duels the pharaoh takes over, together their teamwork has made them the unbeatable King of Games.
Salomon Motou (aka Gramps or Grandpa) Yugi's Grandfather, who Yugi lives with in his Game Shop. This old man taught Yugi how to play Duel Monsters and how to believe in the Heart of the Cards. With his past experience as an Egyptian Archeologist he comes in handy when deciphiring Egyptian Hieryoglyphs that hold clues to the Pharaoh's past.
Joey Wheeler (Jounchi Katsuya in Japan). Yugi's best friend, this one-time bully became Yugi's most reliable friend when Yugi saved him from another bully. Joey is a good duelist, but not great. He works hard to become better and 'Beat that stinkin' Kaiba!'. (DVA:I wish he would trounce Kaiba. I would LOVE to see that! ^_^; Sorry, I'll get back to the summaries!)
Serenity Wheeler (Japanese name unknown) Joey's little sister. At the beginging of the first season of Yu-Gi-Oh! Joey recieves a video tape from his sister. She tells Joey that she will soon be blind and she would like Joey to send her a video of himself so she can see him one more time. Joey enters the Duelist Kingdom tournament (with Yugi's help) and wins the $3 millon prize. Even though he comes in second place. In the second season of Yu-gi-Oh! she enters the scene personally, after getting her eye operation, and is immedately pursued romatically by Tristen (Honda) and Duke (Otogi). ( DVA: Image Joey's face when his friends start hitting on his little sister... *imagines it* XD Priceless!)
Tea Gardener (Anzu Mazakai) One of Yugi's female friends, she is one of the main charcters in the anime, but does not duel. I have watched the anime from begining to end (more or less missed one season. Season 3) and I have only seen her duel twice, in season 1 and 2. She is usually the "Damsel in Distress" of the anime.
Tristen Taylor (Hiroto Honda) No he is not a girl! Though his name suggests that, he is Yugi and Joey's best friend. He duels occansionally, but he is not that good. (DVA: He's worse than Joey is sometimes. Joey & Tristen: Hey!! DVA: Oh, shut up. You know it's true! All you Joey fans out there please accept my apologies I am not a Joey hater, it's just my opinion.)
Ryou Bakura (same in Japanese) He is one of the gang's friends, but is sometimes their greatest foe (DVA: You'll see next.) He lives by himself, his father is always off on archeological digs, and stuff. (DVA: I'm actually not sure what his father does, it's what I've gathered from manga issues and anime episodes, please correct me if I'm wrong.) He posses the Millenium Ring.
Bakura (not the same Bakura as above) The Spirit of Millenium Ring. He seeks to acquire all the Millenium Items and obtain ultimate power. He pestered the Pharaoh in the past and now does it in the present. In the past he was the King of Thieves, Touzokou Bakura (DVA: I hate his name. -.- it's so complicated. Not sure if I spelled his name right.) He posses his host (Ryou Bakura) sometimes and leaves said host with no memory of the past few hours.
Duke Devilin (Otogi) This 'game master' is the creater of Dungeon Dice. He challanges Yugi to a game of Dungeon Dice, and later is a friend of the gang. He lives in America in contrast to the gang who lives in Domino City, Japan. (DVA: not a real place. T-T unfortuntely.)