Changes

| el_name = ραφαήλ Рαφαήλ| zh_name = 拉斐爾

* Unnamed parents (deceasedin Japanese version only)* [[Julian]] (brother; deceasedin Japanese version only)* [[Sonia]] (sister; deceasedin Japanese version only)

'''Rafael''' (ラフェール ''Rafēru'') is a character in the [[Yu-Gi-Oh! (anime)|''Yu-Gi-Oh!'']] anime and one of the main antagonists of the [[Waking the Dragons]] arc. He is the strongest of [[Doma]]'s Swordsmen and the most mysterious in his strategy. He is the only swordsman to have defeated his target once. He is also the only swordsman to not lose his soul after being defeated by his target, and was one of the first characters shown to be able to see Duel Spirits. He and [[Alister]] were responsible for bringing [[Rex Raptor]] and [[Weevil Underwood]] to [[Dartz]]. He is one of the few characters to have defeated [[Yami Yugi]] in a Duel, the others being [[Seto Kaiba]] and [[Yugi Muto]].

===Appearance===[[File:Rafael Linework.jpg|thumb|180px190px|left|Rafael's design incorporates multiple layers of clothing and a wide range of expressions. Depicted here is the [[Duelist]] in "Doma Swordsman" regalia from front and rear views and alongside views of his head from different angles.]]Rafael's usual outfit consists of a large open full-body purple coat with padded shoulders and belted sleeves and fingerless gloves with studded knuckles. He wears this over a tight tan tank top, black pants and boots. His blonde hair is raised and points upwards behind his head it also features two locks in front of his ears turning through ninety degrees and pointing forward. His [[Orichalcos Stone]] is worn around his neck. He carries a [[Chaos Duel Disk]] on his left hand.{{Clear left}}

===Etymology===The names of Rafaeland his fellows (known as Doma's usual outfit consists of a large open full-body coat with padded shoulders and belted sleeves and fingerless gloves with studded knuckles. His blonde hair is raised and points upwards behind his head it also features two locks Three Swordsman in the Japanese version) in front of his ears turning through ninety degrees and pointing forward. His addition to Dartz himself are drawn from [[Orichalcos Stonewikipedia:The_Three_Musketeers|The Three Musketeers]] ; Rafael's name is worn around his neck. He carries a derived from [[Chaos Duel Diskwikipedia:Athos_(character)|Athos, Count de la Fère]] on his left hand.

<div style="float:right">[[File:GuardianEatos-EN-Anime-DM-2.jpg|thumb|180px190px|right|Rafael receives "[[Guardian Eatos (anime)|Guardian Eatos]]" as a birthday present.]]</div>Rafael came from a very wealthy family, and led a perfect life. He had a little sister and brother, and two parents. During his birthday when he received his gift of "[[Guardian Eatos (anime)|Guardian Eatos]]", Rafael was separated from his family, on a luxury cruise, the boat went off course and directly into a tidal wave. As a result the family was killed and he was the only survivor (In in the dub the story was changed to say that the family survived and had forgotten about him). In the Japanese version, [[Rebecca Hawkins|Rebecca]] stated that when she became the American champion, there were rumors that it was actually Rafael instead, even though he never participated in public Duels.

In the original dub, Rafael's parents were presumed dead as he visited their graves. His surviving relatives took his dad's inheritance and wanted nothing to do with Rafael. Meanwhile, strangers simply wanted his fame. As a result he had no real friends. In the original dub, Rafael made his living by becoming duelinga Duelist, eventually becoming the first duelist Duelist to become the first national champion in the United States, a feat that was believed to be accomplished by [[Rebecca Hawkins|Rebecca]]. However, he never appeared in public outside of duels Duels since people simply wanted to take advantage of him. In the dub, his family survived but forgotten about him.

He traveled more and eventually went with Dartz to a Graveyard graveyard and tortured by digging where he finds the skulls from his siblings' corpses, confirming that his family had died in the shipwreck (The the skulls were removed from the dub version). He was then seduced by a [[Guardian Dreadscythe (anime)|Dark Guardian]] and given "[[The Seal of Orichalcos (anime)|The Seal of Orichalcos]]" card and a [[Chaos Duel Disk]]. Rafael , and became one of Dartz's the many minionsof Dartz. Until Yami Yugi and [[Seto Kaiba]] Dueled Dartz, Rafael did not know that Dartz drove the ship that his family drowned on into the tidal wave.

At some point after joining Dartz, Rafael met [[Alister ]] and [[Valon]]. Like Rafael, Alister and Valon had their childhoods tragically manipulated and destroyed by Dartz. Rafael obviously cared a great deal about his partners as he showed concern for Valon after he fell in love with Mai and was visibly upset when Alister lost his soul.

Rafael believed that he was following his set destiny, and proceeded to capture many souls, including Yugi and Mai's. He believes the Pharaoh, [[Yami Yugi ]], was evil and thus desires his soul above all others. To this end During his Duel against Yami Yugi, Rafael gave his "The Seal of Orichalcos" to Yami, using "[[Exchange (anime)|Exchange]]". Yami Yugi activated "The Seal of Orichalcos" out of desperation, but proceeded to lose the Duel. [[Yugi Muto|Yugi]] pushed Yami out of "The Seal of Orichalcos" and let the Seal take his soul instead. Rafael didn't know about this until he returned to Dartz's base and Dartz and Valon revealed this to him. To make up for this, he goes after Yami Yugi after the latter and [[Téa Gardner]] fell into the Stone Wastelands. By Dartz's instructions, he throws his Orichalcos necklace where Yami Yugi and Yugi dueled in order for Dartz to summon an [[Orichalcos Soldier]]. Yami Yugi only barely manages to win after he uses "[[Eye of Timaeus|Eye of Timaeus]]" (something that surprised Rafael since in their last Duel Timaeus abandoned Yami Yugi for playing "The Seal of Orichalcos").

After discovering that he had taken Later in Florida, Rafael confronts [[Mai Valentine]] after she was freed from the wrong Orichalcos's influence and arrived to defeat Dartz and free Joey's soul. Despite Mai's efforts, Rafael beats her and captures her soul. Rafael then Duels Yami Yugi againin order to take his soul, this time playing the Seal himself. After Yami Yugi defeats "[[Guardian Eatos (anime)|Guardian Eatos]]", Rafael calls forth "[[Guardian Dreadscythe (anime)|Guardian Dreadscythe]]". Rafael proceeds to sacrifice his monsters, like Yami Yugi did in their previous Duel. Yami plays "[[Underworld Circle]]", sparking a vision of Rafael's past that snaps him out of the control of "The Seal of Orichalcos". After "Dreadscythe" was destroyed, Rafael then concedes defeat by using "[[Soul Charge (anime)|Soul Charge]]" to revive all his monsters and deplete his own [[LP|Life Points]] as a symbolic apology to them.

He rescues [[Mai Valentine|Mai]] and [[Valon]] from the collapsing building and confronts Dartz, who confessed that he was the one responsible for sinking the luxury cruise that he and his family were on, and for the suffering he and his friends had experienced all along. After this revelation, Rafael finally saw that Yami was right and that Dartz was the true evil, and as a result, Rafael was shocked, distraught, and angered. He used his remaining strength to materialize Guardian Eatos to attack Dartz, but it backfired on him and Dartz ended up taking his soul.

{| style=Rafael uses a '''"float:right; margin-bottom:5px;" border="1" width="50%"! colspan="3" style="background: #00FF00; text-align: center;" | Record|-! Opponent(s) || Episode(s) || Outcome(s)|-| [[Yami YugiGuardian]]/" Deck'''. His "Guardian" monsters require that their corresponding [[Yugi MutoEquip Spell Card]] || is already on the [[Yu-Gi-Oh! - Episode 156|156field]]-in order to be [[Yu-Gi-Oh! - Episode 158|158Summon]] || Win|-| ed. Rafael usually [[Mai Valentineequip]] || s the Equip Spell to "[[Yu-Gi-Oh! - Episode 174|174]] || Win Backup Gardna (flashbackanime)|-| [[Yami YugiBackup Gardna]] || " before Summoning the monster, then uses the effect of "Backup Gardna" to transfer that Equip Card to its corresponding "Guardian". Rafael will often use "[[Yu-Gi-Oh! - Episode 174|174Guardian Treasure]]-[[Yu-Gi-Oh! - Episode 176|176]] || Lose|}" to access his cards more quickly.

Rafael uses a '''"[[Guardian]]" Deck'''. The majority of his cards are very old and worn, and can be seen with wrinkled edges and discolorations. The backs of the These cards remain undamaged. Rafael's most common tactic is using "[[Guardian Treasure]]" to more quickly access his cards. His "Guardian" monsters rely on him first having the appropriate [[Equip Spell Card|Equip Magic Card]] to be on the [[field]] before they can be [[Summon]]ed, wear and he [[equip]]s them to "[[Backup Gardna]]" for the purpose of the Summoning before using the ability of "Backup Gardna" to transfer that Equip Card tear are enough to its corresponding "Guardian". make Rafael is very close to his cards and cannot tolerate their destructionglue pristine card backs onto them, thus using a variety of Spell and Trap Cards to protect so that he can use them, such as "[[Rescuer from the Grave]]" and "[[Self Tribute]]". As seen with "Self Tribute", as well as "[[Aid to the Doomed]]" and the unplayed but seen "[[My Body as a Shield (anime)|My Body as a Shield]]", Rafael will even give up without marking his hand and [[Life Points]] to protect his monstersDeck.{{citation needed}}

Rafael is very close to his cards and cannot tolerate their destruction, thus uses a variety of Spell and Trap Cards to protect them, even at the cost of his own Life Points and hand; card he uses to this end include "[[Rescuer from the Grave]]", "[[Self Tribute]]", and "[[My Body as a Shield (anime)|My Body as a Shield]]" (the latter of which was seen but never used). Rafael's dedication to protect his monsters is important due to his [[Signature card|signature card]] "[[Guardian Eatos (anime)|Guardian Eatos]]", which can be Special Summoned without any sacrifice if Rafael has no monsters in his Graveyard. When "Eatos" is [[destroy]]ed in his Duel with [[Yami Yugi]], Rafael Summons "[[Guardian Dreadscythe (anime)|Guardian Dreadscythe]]", a twisted evil incarnation of "Eatos" that represents the darkness in his heart. At this point, Rafael destroys his other Guardians to empower "Dreadscythe", his hatred and determination to defeat Yami Yugi overriding his bond with them. Furthermore, while Rafael would willingly sacrifice himself to protect his Guardians, "Dreadscythe" forces him to do so by making him discard a card to negate its destruction if it would ever be destroyed.

* [[Backup Gardna (anime)|Backup Gardna]]

* [[Kishido Spirit (anime)|KishidoSpirit]]<ref group=Notes name=hand175/><ref group=Notes name=necro>This card can been seen in his hand after Yugi uses "[[Hand Control]]" to force him to activate "[[Necromancy]]" during [[Yu-Gi-Oh! - Episode 158|episode 158]].</ref>* [[Monster Reincarnation (anime)|Monster RebirthReincarnation]]

* [[Shrink (later anime)|Shrink]]

==TriviaDuels==* In the original dub, Rafael shares a similar background to Seto and Mokuba. Their parents died and their relatives took all of their parents' inheritance and threw them out.{| class="wikitable card-list"|-! Opponent(s) || Episode(s) || Outcome(s)|-| [[Yami Yugi]]/[[Yugi Muto]] || [[Yu-Gi-Oh! - Episode 156|156]]-[[Yu-Gi-Oh! - Episode 158|158]] || Win|-| [[Mai Valentine]] || [[Yu-Gi-Oh! - Episode 174|174]] || Win (flashback)|-| [[Yami Yugi]] || [[Yu-Gi-Oh! - Episode 174|174]]-[[Yu-Gi-Oh! - Episode 176|176]] || Lose|}