Yu-Gi-Oh! (Tabletop Game)/Metaplot
In the Yu-Gi-Oh! universe, there are many stories that one could easily miss. Particularly since they are often told only by small images and few descriptions [1] on the printed trading cards.
Since they have no official name, let's just call them Yu-Gi-Oh! Metaplot [2].
One of the most outstanding things about these stories is that they are not completely fan made speculations, and plenty of them are very easy to link if you pay attention. Perhaps one case of Show, Don't Tell at its finest.
Konami seems to have taken notice to the fan reactions, and later produced more interlinked stories on much larger scales spanning through years of card releases. These were usually compiled into guidebooks to serve as extra goodies, such as the various "card storyline" sections in the Master Guide products.
Also, some video games try to take these stories further, like World Championship 2008 having Giga Gagagigo (that fellow to your right) complaining about how he lost his soul.
Obviously, these are often used as resources for fanfic writers, trying to explain their stories or giving them new meanings.
Each of the following metaplotlines are too big to be included here, and thus were given their own pages:
- Duel Terminal
- True Draco
- World Legacy
- Abyss
Please refrain from adding examples that could be summarized in a couple sentences or less. We have a character page for those.
Please try to add a Yugipedia link to a card when it is mentioned, at least once (the first time that card is mentioned is usually good enough), in case a reader wanted to see it for themselves.
Also, only add examples which are clear enough (those with already-confirmed facts by Konami are recommended). Let's try to avoid speculation as much as possible.
Gagagigo's Journey
His story started out in his younger days, as Gigobyte serving Eria the Water Charmer as her familiar. During this time, he fought alongside her, the other elemental charmers and their familiars. He grows up into Gagagigo via Triangle Power, and when Eria sacrifices her soul before being revived by the Ribbon of Rebirth, Gagagigo possesses her, as did the other charmers and familiars.
At some point he leaves her and sets off on his path to darkness. He eventually comes upon a warrior of light, Freed the Brave Wanderer. They both engage in a battle that results in Gagagigo getting dragged into the other dimension through a Dimensional Prison that Freed creates. After being sent through Freed's Dimensional Fissure, Gagagigo finds himself trapped in another dimension (possibly Pandemonium or the Dark World). Forced to wander the area for some time, Gagagigo stumbles across what seems to be a bone yard. Trouble soon ensues and he almost gets sacrificed on the Archfiends' Altar for Tribute.
Luckily, he is rescued by the Marauding Captain and his soldiers. However, before they can escape, they are attacked by an Inpachi who was defeated by the Marauding Captain. It soon came back empowered by the fiends to become Blazing Inpachi. They battle it and it is eventually defeated by Chopman in a desperate attempt to escape his Archfiend captors, leaving Inpachi as charcoal. During the battle, the Marauding Captain saves Gagagigo by taking a direct hit from a blast launched by Blazing Inpachi. This act deeply moves Gagagigo, bringing about a catharsis that inspires him to help his new-found friend. He then joins Marauding Captain in a war against the Invader of Darkness.
During one battle, Gagagigo deflects a blast from the Invader of Darkness that is aimed at one of Marauding Captain's men, saving the man in the same fashion the Marauding Captain saved him with, and proving his redemption. Some time after the battle, a weakened Gagagigo gains aid from Kozaky in the hope of gaining the necessary power to defeat the Invader of Darkness. With the help of Kozaky, Gagagigo has his body reconstructed to become Giga Gagagigo.
However, it turns out that Kozaky was working with the Archfiends to repair their Inpachis and the archfiend cybernetics that are fitted onto him prove to corrupt his mind, reverting him back to his evil self. Kozaky then launches Giga Gagagigo with his Compulsory Evacuation Device into a Monster Gate in the sky and returns him to his native dimension. As he is mindlessly wandering the dimension in search of opponents, Giga Gagagigo comes across a Venom Cobra and battles it to test his strength.
Afterward, Giga Gagagigo stumbles across Freed again and attempts to finish him off by launching an attack . However, Freed proves to be the stronger warrior and deflects Giga Gagagigo's attack. Giga Gagagigo gets his attack redirected back at him and is soon defeated. Obsessed to continue gaining strength to defeat his rivals, Giga Gagagigo continues his rampage, transforms into Gogiga Gagagigo, and truly loses his soul to his undying craving for power.
- Big Bad: the Invader of Darkness
- Cybernetics Eat Your Soul
- Heel Face Revolving Door: Gigobyte starts out good, then turns evil once each at the Gagagigo and (Go)Giga Gagagigo stages. However, only the first turn to evil was of a conscious choice.
- He Who Fights Monsters: Much of Gagagigo's journey was to defeat the Invader of Darkness. In a bit of tragic irony, the only form of Gagagigo who could actually beat IOD in a fight is Gogiga Gagagigo.
- Hero of Another Story: The main story is about Gagagigo, but his other allies, especially Freed and the Marauding Captain, have rather lengthy adventures of their own.
- Horrible Judge of Character: Gagagigo, namely regarding Kozaky.
- Obviously Evil: Kozaky. At least his horns were reduced outside of Japan.
- Tragic Hero
The Tyrant and the Huge Revolution
Warrior Lady of the Wasteland and Warrior Dai Grepher's Rivalry
Once, there were two warriors. One was Warrior Lady of the Wasteland and one was Warrior Dai Grepher. They met each other and got into a fight, which resulted in them being catapulted into different dimensions. Dai Grepher ended up at the Paths of Destiny and Warrior Lady ended up in the Different Dimension, becoming DD Warrior Lady in the process. Dai Grepher picked the Path of Light and became Ryu Senshi. However, he lost that form when he was beaten by Guardian Baou. He beat Baou and took his sword, the Wicked Breaking Flamberge. Unfortunately, the sword corrupted Dai Grepher and Dai Grepher became Dark Lucius Lvl. 4. A while later, DD Warrior Lady and Dark Lucius ran into each other and fought again. The result was DD Warrior Lady sending Dark Lucius into another dimension. As time went by, Dark Lucius became even more demonic.
- Came Back Strong: D.D. Warrior Lady is much more useful.
- Obviously Evil: The sword is purple, glowing, and belongs to a demon. Then there's the name. Not the kind of thing one would want to pick up.
- Rival Turned Evil: Forced unto Dai Grepher as a result of wielding Wicked Breaking Flamberge
The Rise and Fall of the Goblin of Greed
There was once an Upstart Goblin. He was so rich that people prostrated in front of him for his money. When the Duel Monster World stock market crashed, he did some odd jobs, but that failed too. As a result, he decided that he will steal the Jar Of Greed and the Pot Of Greed. He was caught and was forced into servitude. The Dark Scorpions robbed the slaveowners' place. The Goblin went after them but failed. The slaveowner fired the Goblin and the Goblin had to pay for the broken jar and pot. Eventually, he worked in a Mokey-Mokey factory, but he found out that there were more pots of greed to steal over there.
- Butt Monkey: Goblin Of Greed
- Greed: Goblin of Greed
- Riches to Rags: The reason for the start of the story
The Atlantean Invasion
The Fool's Bizarre Adventure
- ↑ since they only appear in normal monsters, the less numerous monsters
- ↑ because they are Metaplot from the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game