Penalty Game (manga)

For the card, see: Penalty Game!

A Penalty Game is a punishment given to the loser of a Shadow Game. Millennium Item holders are capable of inflicting supernatural punishments.

Penalty Games played an important part in early Yu-Gi-Oh! storylines, but are used much less frequently when the plot shifted to a Duel Monsters universe. The first series anime toned down the fatality of a number of Penalty Games, making some merely illusions.

Penalty Games

Dark Yugi's (Yami Yugi's) Penalty Games often act as poetic justice to a person, who trespassed on the souls of his friends. While some of these penalties are fatal, he has used them to help the person on times; The Mind Crush Penalty Game was used to dispel Kaiba's evil side. In the second series anime, Mind Crush is the only Penalty Game shown to be used. Aside from sealing away Kaiba's evil side, it has also been used to banish Ghost Kaiba (the living form of Kaiba's evil side, returned from the Shadow Realm by Pegasus), Panik, and a mugger to the Shadow Realm (the game in which the mugger lost was to draw a card, and whichever card is the strongest wins). The Mind Crush has not been used since Panik, or seen since the flashback with the mugger. In the Japanese version, these three victims are either killed or sent into a coma.

Shadi uses Penalty Games to punish people who disturb the territory of the gods. Professor Kanekura was one of Shadi's victims for defiled a Egyptian tomb. In the anime, Kankura had tried to sell the Millennium Puzzle. Ammit was let into Kankura's soul room to pass judgment. In the manga this causes Kankura to die. In the anime, he is driven insane. Professor Yoshimori is spared of a Shadow and Penalty Game, as Shadi uses him for a Shadow Game against Yugi.

Seto Kaiba creates artificial Penalty Games for the loser of Games in Death-T. Some include leaving the victim be attacked by a series of monster holograms, such as Doppel-ganger.

Dark Bakura's (Yami Bakura's) Penalty Games at the beginning of the manga turn the victims into figurines to use in Monster World. During Battle City, he kills "Ghost" Kotsuzuka (Bonz) after beating him in Duel Monsters. In the English second series anime, he instead sends Bonz to the Shadow Realm.

Pegasus uses Penalty Games for personal gain. Often trapping the souls of the vistims in the "Soul Prison" card. He trapped Yugi's grandfather's soul after beating Yugi, to force Yugi into entering Duelist Kingdom. He also trapped Mokuba Kaiba's in a card and later Seto Kaiba's after beating him in a Duel. In the manga, after Jonouchi beat Bandit Keith in a duel, Pegasus forced Bandit Keith to shoot himself in the head.

Dark Marik (Yami Marik) traps Mai's soul in an hourglass after defeating her. Here she is consumed by insects and given 24 hours to live. In the anime, the insects are replaced with sand and the time to live is extended. In the English anime, the hourglass exists in the Shadow Realm.

When a person loses a penalty game, they will invert colors, and shatter.