Mentions in other media

Yu-Gi-Oh! has been continually referred to in different non-related media.

Anime, manga and manhwa

• In episode 4 of A Certain Scientific Railgun S, Misaka is shown to be reading a manga with Yu-Gi-Oh! cards printed on the cover called called "Hydra – Battle Monsters" (九頭蛇). The same set of cards appeared in the anime Waiting in the Summer, which was created by the same publisher, studio and director.
• In chapter 104 of the manga series Bobobo-Bo bo-bobo, "Terrifying Sugoroku Battle", Dark Yugi appears from Bobobo's afro, Summoning "Slifer the Sky Dragon " against Halekulani.
• In episode 54 of Cardfight!! Vanguard, Bright, Yuma and Nataly, from the Tag Force games, make a brief appearance as part of an unnamed team. In the English dub, they were replaced with other miscellaneous characters.
• In episode 3 of the ONA Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Lite, "Yu-Hel-Something card game" is mentioned in the dialogue.
• In chapter 12 of Dead Tube, an unnamed person attempts to make a facial expression referencing Joey Wheeler's creepy chin, while explaining the purpose of their video.
• In episode 3 of D-Frag, Sakura Mizukami says "kaado opun" before revealing her cards.
• In chapter 32 of Domina no Do!, Harigata Mitsuru and Satoru Onahori Duel each other using a parody of Duel Monsters cards in a Dueling Arena. Numerous sexual references are made in the cards used, including "Blue-Eyes White Dragon".
• In episode 9 of Dragon Crisis!, Misaki mentions the phrase "Watashi no taan". In episode 11, Masato mentions the phrase "Ore no taan".
• Fairy Tail
  • In episodes 138 and 139, objects which bear a resemblance to the Millennium Puzzle can be seen as decorations in the background. A similar structure resembling a giant pyramid with the Eye of Wdjat serves as the HQ of the Zentopia church.
  • The entire episode 210 was dedicated to a card battle called "Guild Battle". The duel starts on episode 208, showing half of the first turn. Episode 209 contains the rest of turn 1, episode 211 contains the end of the duel. It's rules are very similar to Yu-Gi-Oh.
    • A Shadow Duel was conducted between Cana and Eclipse Scorpio. 4 Lamps represent Life Points, if Cana loses, she will be sealed into a card.
    • Each player starts with 6 cards, the players each makes up their own deck with cards based on their comrades. As such, this heavily parodies the New Rules as the Plot Demands trope often used by Yami Yugi. Cana frequently states "What? You can do that?", "Even though it's my turn! That's going too far!", "Do you really have that effect?" and Scorpio replies with "I'm going to ignore you and continue."
    • At the start of each turn, there is a "Draw Sequence". This is followed by the "Standby Sequence" which is a combination of the Standby Phase and Main Phase 1, where the player can Summon monsters and place Field Cards on Standby (Standby = Set, Field Card = Spell/Trap Card). Then the "Battle Sequence", with destroyed cards being sent to the "Trash Zone".
    • Monsters have special effects, e.g. when Gemini is destroyed by battle, you can activate a Field Card from your hand.
    • Each player can be up to 3 copies of a card, shown with 3 copies of "Happy" (although it seems that there were only 1 copy of every other card). Monsters can be Sacrificed for Special Summons. There are also a Fairy Merge (Fusion Summon) where "Happy" fused with "Natsu" to make "Winged Nappy Dragneel". Effects to increase ATK points and effects to allow monsters to attack directly are also present.
• In chapter 22 of Gal Gohan, Shinji Yabe is shown playing a card game with his nephew, where the cards have backings very similar to those of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.
• In episode 162 of Gin Tama, two of the main characters conduct their final competition in a match of card games using a Duel Disk system that uses a similar platform as the first Duel Disk built by Seto Kaiba, and an arm attachment similar to the more commonly recognized Duel Disk. The cards are all characters from the show, and the front of the cards are structured the same as in the TCG/OCG, save for Level stars. Each player begins with 2000 LP, and must reduce the other player's to 0.
• In episode 8 of Haiyore! Nyaruko-san, an "Enemy Controller" with color matching its manga artwork was shown.
• Hayate the Combat Butler
  • At the end of episode 29, Hayate is suddenly challenged to a duel by the "Duel Butler". Hayate performs a "One Turn Kill" by summoning Klaus (the head butler) and using the rare card "Ayasaki Hayate". Hayate himself references Yugi and Yami Yugi, saying "Let's go, partner!" as a more innocent-looking double of Hayate appears saying "Yeah, other me!"
  • In episode 39, a Yu-Tsu-Oh (遊通王) sign is shown in the stadium.
  • In episode 19 of the 2nd Season, a few turns of a card game was shown.
• In chapter 37, page 48 of Hikaru No Go: A small cameo of Yami Yugi appeared on the computer, along with all other characters from Shonen JUMP on the site, when Touya pulled Hikaru out of the way.
• In episode 11 of Hetalia: Axis Powers, monsters which bear a strong resemblance to "Sunny Pixie" and "Sunlight Unicorn" are shown.
• In episode 6 of Jinrui wa Suitai Shimashita (Humanity Has Declined), Oyage says "Let's see if you can draw a rare card from your ultimate deck!".
• In a Katekyo Hitman Reborn! episode, one of the main characters, Reborn, explains Tsuna that we are currently in the video game and card battle era, and as examples, he is shown playing a video game, and playing Yu-Gi-Oh!, with a Duel Disk, a card, and a Millennium Puzzle made by his chameleon Leon.
• In episode 13 of Lucky Star, Konata makes a reference to Yu-Gi-Oh! which includes her dressing like Yugi Mutou.
• Medaka Box
  • In chapter 116, Najimi Ajimu references Yugi Muto from among a list of many different main characters from different manga, in an attempt to convince Zenkichi Hitoyoshi to become the main character of the manga.
  • In chapter 125, Najimi Ajimu references Yu-Gi-Oh! cards in her explanation to Zenkichi Hitoyoshi of what victory means.
• In the 8th episode of the Moetan anime, "Ah-kun" become crazy after entering girl's public bath and start saying "ore no turn" ("my turn") with a Trap Card displayed.
• In episode 13 part 9 of Mayoi Neko Overrun!, Chise and Nozomi makes a reference to both Yu-Gi-Oh! and Cardfight!! Vanguard by saying "I'll have Satou and Suzuki guard Nozomi!", "Nya!~ I'll have Otome attack. Guard cancel", "In that case, I Summon Kikuchi the Otaku! Using the Kouga-chan Insider to attack and activate his trap!".
• Murenase! Shiiton Gakuen
  • In general, whenever Mashima Chloe and her donkey friends make an appearance, they can frequently be seen with their "Magic: The Donkey" cards, which have backings very similar to those of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.
  • Chapter 8
    • Mashima Chloe is shown on 2 separate occasions wearing a coat and belt that heavily resemble those that Seto Kaiba wore during the Battle City tournament.
    • One of her donkey friends claims that a herd isn't about numbers - rather, it's about the power of unity. This is a reference to the concept of "the power of unity" in Yu-Gi-Oh!, which prevented Maximillion Pegasus from reading Yami Yugi's mind near the end of their Duelist Kingdom Duel, and what Yami Yugi urged Seto Kaiba to believe in during their Tag-Team Duel against Lumis & Umbra.
    • A table-sized Dueling Arena makes an appearance.
  • Chapter 42
    • Mashima Chloe faces an opponent who wears attire similar to what Yami Yugi wore during the Battle City tournament.
    • In the omake for chapter 42, Mashima Chloe describes how she faced a robot opponent on the 68th floor of "Duel Tower," which is a reference to the Duel Tower on Alcatraz both in name and appearance. A table-sized Dueling Arena also makes an appearance.
• In episode 30 of Naruto Spin-Off: Rock Lee & His Ninja Pals, Deidara and Tobi dressed up as Yami Yugi and Seto Kaiba.
• In chapter 32 of Need a Girl, Yami Yugi and some Yu-Gi-Oh! cards made a cameo appearance.
• In episode 8 of No Game, No LIfe, both Sora and Shiro can be found in a coliseum with cards resembling a Ritual Monster, Normal Monster, Spell Card, and Fusion Monster. Shiro also wears a device resembling a Duel Disk while holding another card.
• In episode 6 of Pop Team Epic, during a gag parodying the "sports & games" genre of anime with a game of shogi, Pipimi can be seen holding a playing card bearing a darker version of the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga card backing, specifically while flaring her arms in the middle of her match against Popuko.
• In the re-airing of The Prince of Tennis episode 158, two girls resembling recolors of Téa Gardner and Serenity Wheeler can be seen among the spectators.
• In chapter 13 of Real Account, Yuuma uploads multiple selfies with weird facial expressions to his Real Account profile, one of which references Joey Wheeler's creepy chin.
• In episode 11 of Sakura Trick, Yuzu Īzuka says "Atashi no taan".
• In chapter 10 of Seishun For-get!, when Taiyo is in the Moe Moe Maid Cafe and has an expensive list of options for his maid, Hinata, to do, he states "Take a look at my deck! *Here is my trump card!*" as he whips out three "Yukichi Fukuzawa" (10,000 yen) similar to Kaiba does with three Blue-Eyes White Dragons.
• In episode 2 of Seitokai no Ichizon, Mayafuyu uses a scenario involving the Battle Phase to test the Student Council's Japanese: "If your opponent attacks, you can open your Trap Card. Now all Spell Cards on the field are sent to the Graveyard." When the Student Council President guesses wrong, Mayafuyu corrects her: "Face-down card activate! This trap nullifies the effects of your Trap Card." The Trap is based on the Council President and even contains a chibi-image of the Student Council President.
• In episodes 23 and 29 of Sket Dance, some Yu-Gi-Oh! cards were shown.
• In Strike the Blood, Kensei Kanase wears a necklace that is almost identical to the Millennium Ring.
• The cover page of chapter 7 of Syomin Sample (manga form) describes Aika Tenkūbashi using the Series 3 (or higher) card layout of a Yu-Gi-Oh! card.
• In episode 5 of The iDOLM@STER, during the long train-trip, Haruka brings out cookies that she baked, Ami suggests trading for the cookies and Mami (Ami's twin) says "I pay two chocolates from my hand to summon four of Harurun's cookies!"
• They Are My Noble Masters
  • In episode 6, mentions to many anime were included, including one from Yu-Gi-Oh!. During the fight against the monster Kuman, after Shinra dealt an ineffective attack, Miyu joined the battle while saying "Watashi no taan" and uses "Cutter Shower" (parody of Psycho Kaede from Shuffle!). After being hit, Kuman says "Ore no taan" and uses Miracle Beam (parody of "Mikuru Beam" from Haruhi).
  • In episode 11, after Ren runs out from the bathroom half naked into the hallway, Benisu kicks Ren in the balls, dropping Ren's Life Points to 0.
• In episode 14 of Toradora!, when Kushieda Minori was asking to show each other which pictures they got, she states "Takasu-kun, it's time to begin... our destined duel-down! I now sacrifice 90 yen to summon nine pictures. Then I will reveal my face-down card, Quick-Play Spell Card "Immediate Discovery", activate! I just found a picture with my softball teammates, number 93, I summon by paying the cost of 10 yen. Turn end! Yes, Takasu-kun, it's your turn!".
• In episode 19 of Uchuu Kyoudai (Space Brothers), during a short flashback some kids were shown playing a card game with design and mechanics similar to Yu-Gi-Oh!.
• In episode 10 of Waiting in the Summer, some kids were shown playing a card game very similar to Yu-Gi-Oh! called "Hydra – Battle Monsters" (九頭蛇). The cards shown are from Cthulhu Mythos are called "Yog Sothoth", "Nyarlathotep", "The Elder Sign", "The Mirror of Nitocris" and "Azathoth". These cards use the same colors as Effect Monsters, Ritual Monsters and Spell Cards.
• In episode 8 of WataMote, Tomoko dresses up as Yami Yugi.

• 

  Yu-Gi-Oh! in A Certain Scientific Railgun S.

• 

  Yami coming from Bobobo's hair.

• 

  Bright, Yuma and Nataly, in Cardfight!! Vanguard.

• 

  Yu-Gi-Oh! in Chuunibyou demo Koi ga Shitai! Lite.

• 

  A duel in Domina no Do!.

• 

  Millennium Puzzle-like objects in Fairy Tail.

• 

  Gintama's Yu-Gi-Oh! cards parody

• 

  2 Otsus portrayed as monsters in a similar fashion to the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, while using the same LP Gauge in the Japanese Yu-Gi-Oh! anime

• 

  An "Enemy Controller" in Haiyore! Nyaruko-san.

• 

  Yu-Gi-Oh! in Hayate the Combat Butler.

• 

  Hayate and his partner.

• 

  Yu-Gi-Oh! in Hayate the Combat Butler.

• 

  Yu-Gi-Oh! in Hayate the Combat Butler 2nd Season.

• 

  Monsters which bear a resemblance to "Sunny Pixie" and "Sunlight Unicorn" in Hetalia: Axis Powers.

• 

  Reborn playing Yu-Gi-Oh! in Katekyo Hitman Reborn!.

• 

  Konata dressed as Yugi in Lucky Star.

• 

  Yami Yugi in Hikaru No Go on the computer in left panel.

• 

  Deidara and Tobi in Naruto Spin-Off: Rock Lee & His Ninja Pals.

• 

  Yu-Gi-Oh! cards and Yami Yugi in Need a Girl.

• 

  Yu-Gi-Oh! in No Game No Life.

• 

  Yu-Gi-Oh! in No Game No Life.

• 

  Yu-Gi-Oh! in Pop Team Epic.

• 

  Yu-Gi-Oh! in Seitokai no Ichizon.

• 

  Yu-Gi-Oh! in Sket Dance.

• 

  Yu-Gi-Oh! in Sket Dance.

• 

  Yu-Gi-Oh! in Uchuu Kyoudai.

• 

  Yu-Gi-Oh! in Uchuu Kyoudai.

• 

  Yu-Gi-Oh! in Strike the Blood.

• 

  Yu-Gi-Oh! in They Are My Noble Masters.

• 

  Yu-Gi-Oh! in Waiting in the Summer.

• 

  Yu-Gi-Oh! in Watamote.

TV shows

• In the Adventure Time episode entitled "Card Wars", Finn and Jake play a card game with several similarities to the Yu-Gi-Oh! and Magic the Gathering card games. The episode "Daddy-Daughter Card Wars" also features a five-card set that is based on the "Forbidden One" cards.
• In the All Grown Up! episode aptly named "Yu-Gotta-Go", Chuckie buys cards of the episode's name and becomes obsessed with the game, hoping to obtain the rare "The Red Mirror Dragon".

Yu-Gi-Oh! referenced in Family Guy.

• In The Amazing World of Gumball episode entitled "The Matchmaker", the face that Gumball makes after seeing Darwin's photo of his "crush" on the computer resembles Joey Wheeler's "creepy chin".
• In Codename: Kids Next Door, a kid with Yugi Muto's hairstyle is a recurring minor character.
• In the 5th season of Family Guy, Stewie's teddy bear Rupert is sold at a yard sale accidently. Then when Stewie checks the FBI database for the buyer it is revealed that the buyer watches Yu-Gi-Oh!
• In the Good Luck Charlie episode entitled "L.A.R.P. in the Park", Gabe teaches Teddy how to play a card game (whose name is pronounced as "pō-kē-ō", a portmanteau of Pokémon and Yu-Gi-Oh!), since Teddy's crush in that episode also plays it.
• In the Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi episode entitled "In The Cards", Ami and Yumi play an obvious reference to the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game dubbed Stu-Pi-Doh!.
• An episode of the game show Jeopardy! that aired October 22, 2004 had the clue, "Before dueling in this game, you must greet your opponent with a friendly handshake."
• Yu-Gi-Oh! has been referenced several times in MAD:
  • In the sketch "Grey's in Anime", a patient hallucinates that one female doctor has Yugi's hair. She summons the "Dark Physician" (which looks like the "Dark Magician") to heal the patient, only to be stopped by a rival doctor's "Malpractice" Trap Card, suing "Dark Physician" and making him unable to heal. The female doctor protests that they must work together, and the male doctor says, "I can heal the patient all by myself!" holding his arm up to a similar pose that Seto Kaiba did during Yugi and Kaiba's Duel with Lumis and Umbra.
  • In the sketch "Pokémon Park", when leaving "Pokémon Island", Misty asks Ash about "Digimon Island" and "Yu-Gi-Oh! Island". Ash replies by saying that they are "more complicated, but less fun".
  • One sketch, "Yu-Gi-Bear!", is a mash-up of Yu-Gi-Oh! and Yogi Bear. The sketch features Yogi Bear wearing an item similar to the Millennium Puzzle, allowing Yogi Bear to transform into Yugi Bear (basically just Yogi Bear wearing a coat and hair similar to Yugi's) and he starts a Duel with Park Ranger Smith over a family's "pic-a-nic basket", despite the family's willingness to share their food. We see that Ranger Smith has an "Amazon of the Seas" Monster Card, but Yugi Bear counters with his "Smarter Than The Av-a-rage Bear" Trap Card (which looks like a bear holding a diploma and wearing a graduation hat). The Duel starts to bore the family. Regardless, Yugi Bear and Ranger Smith continue the Duel. Ranger Smith Special Summons "Gigaplant" with 2400 ATK, but Yugi Bear Summons "Boo-Boo Eyed White Dragon" (which looks like Dino from The Flintstones with Boo-Boo's head) with 3000 ATK, but just as Yugi Bear is about to explain its effect, Ranger Smith points out that the family has left.

Yu-Gi-Oh! referenced in The Simpsons.

• In the Power Rangers Dino Thunder episode entitled "House of Cards", Ethan James and Devin Del Valle are shown playing a card game called "Dragon War", whose cards have varying numbers of star-emblazoned orbs in their upper-right corners, similar to the Levels of Yu-Gi-Oh! Monster Cards.
• In The Simpsons episode entitled "Margical History Tour", in the empty library there are only two remaining items, one of which is a "Yu-Gi-Oh! Price Guide".
• In The Venture Bros. episode entitled "ORB", the card "Ancient Gear Fist" is among Dean Venture's collection.

Films

• In the film 16 Blocks, Yu-Gi-Oh! is referenced by Mos Def as he talks about his passion in the film of making birthday cakes for children.
• In the movie Are We There Yet?, the main character runs a sports shop. When some children pester him, he names a list of cards he does not carry, including Yu-Gi-Oh!.
• In the film Drillbit Taylor, Yu-Gi-Oh! is used as a codename for several missions and operations by the main characters.

Comics

• In a later Sunday strip, the American comic FoxTrot had a young main character go to a Yu-Gi-Oh! tournament, complete with heavily-gelled hair that greatly resembled that of Yami Yugi.

Gaming

• In Borderlands 2, the assassin character Zer0 sometimes says "Hilarious! You just set off my Trap Card", when activating his "Decepti0n" action skill, which creates a copy of himself and turns him invisible.
• In Disgaea 3 there's a character called Se-to-oh, who can be found at random inside the Item World's Innocent Towns. He's also an optional boss battle in the post-game, being recruitable after defeated. The character makes frequent references, like saying "My Turn" and "Life Points" as well as OTKs and tributing three monsters to summon a "Black-Eyes Blue Prinny" (which is actually just a normal Prinny).
• In Kindergarten, there are twenty-five collectible MonsterMon cards. While they also function as a reference to Pokémon, the most powerful card is a one-of-a-kind "Blue Eyes Gold Dragon", which has an item description of "This is the Blue Eyes Gold Dragon card. Please don't sue."
• In the online card game Urban Rivals, two cards, Scarlett Cr and Manon Cr, dress up as a Yu-Gi-Oh! GX character in one of their evolutions.
• In Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, one of the witnesses is named Yanni Yogi. This is a possible reference to Yami Yugi, as the two "n" letters can be viewed as a single "m", and because Yogi made use of a fake, senile persona to maintain his innocence (similar to how some characters in Yu-Gi-Oh! viewed Yami Yugi as another persona of Yugi Muto).
• In the MMORPG Vindictus:
  • Commander Ikrium, one of the bosses of Twilight Desert, wears a belt with a Millennium Puzzle.
  • Xaehawk, one of the mid bosses of Misty Summit, drops an XE Hawk Card which contains the phrase "You just activated my trap card" in its description.

• 

  Commander Ikrium in Vindictus.

• 

  XE Hawk Card in Vindictus.

Magazines

• MAD Kids issue #4 parodied Yu-Gi-Oh! cards with Ug-ly-Oh! cards.