Yu-Gi-Oh! has a vast range of characters that many fans adore. From the protagonist Yugi Muto himself to his friends Joey, Tristan, Téa, and more, fans found themselves enchanted by their personalities and various actions throughout the series.
However, there are some characters that fans wish they saw more. From Serenity, whose expensive surgery was Joey's motivation for participating in the Duelist Kingdom, to favorites from the Waking The Dragons and KC Grand Championship arcs such as Rafael and Zigfried, many wish that these particular characters were more heavily involved in the anime, or showed up in specific arcs.
10 Serenity Wheeler Was Under-Utilized In The Anime
A major reason why Joey Wheeler participated in the Duelist Kingdom tournament during its titular arc was so he could use the money to pay for his sister Serenity's surgery. However, Serenity herself never played a huge role in the series after this, other than Duke Devlin and Tristan fighting over her during the Battle City arc.
Unlike Téa Gardner, who at least participated in a couple of duels during the series and took a more active role in some harrowing situations, Serenity didn't get the same chances to show her strengths. Fans felt that she was under-utilized in the anime and could have done a lot more.
9 Pegasus Should Have Been Involved In The Battle City And Final Arcs
Even though the Battle City arc took place immediately after the amazing Duelist Kingdom arc, the fact that Maximillion Pegasus was linked so heavily to the creation of the God cards and knew of Duel Monsters' Egyptian origins extremely well would have been a great opportunity for him to be involved as an ally - aside from in the Pyramid of Light movie and his short-lived role in the Waking The Dragons arc before his soul was taken by Mai Valentine.
Some fans argue that his assistance would be handy during the Battle City and final arcs of the series, considering his connections and knowledge. Others argue that Pegasus likely would not have been available during Battle City, since he was still recovering from Bakura taking his Millennium Eye at the time, but wish he was present in the final arc to help Yugi and the others.
8 Mai Valentine Should Have Participated In The KC Grand Championship Arc
Mai barely had the chance for redemption after the events of the Waking The Dragons arc. She did reappear in the KC Grand Championship arc, but only as an observer rather than dueling like Yugi and his other friends did. Some felt that this was a wasted opportunity and that Mai participating in the tournament as a duelist would have been a great chance for her to redeem herself and develop more confidence in her abilities, especially after all the beatdowns she had during the Battle City and Waking The Dragons arcs.
7 Some Fans Wish The Ishtar Family Returned During The Final Arc
Considering that the Ishtar family as a whole was involved in keeping the Pharaoh's tomb safe, many were surprised when Ishizu and her brothers Marik and Rishid didn't show up in the anime's final arc.
Fans felt that the lack of their involvement was a detriment to the show's final arc, considering that it heavily involved the Pharaoh and the others traveling into the past and eventually facing off against Zorc, as well as giving Yami Yugi the chance to go into the afterlife in the finale.
6 Some Wish The Von Schroeder Family Showed Up Sooner In The Show
Zigfried Von Schroeder and his brother, Leon Von Schroeder, were introduced in the last season of the series. Despite their short appearance on the show, fans loved them and wished that they showed up sooner, especially since they were apparently such major rivals to Seto Kaiba due to the competition between their companies.
Instead of the KC Championship arc, the Von Schroeders could have shown up in the Battle City arc since that was also another tournament currently run by Kaiba and a sooner opportunity to straight-up destroy his company.
5 Rafael Needed A Chance To Redeem Himself After The Waking The Dragons Arc
Despite Rafael coming from the Doma organization and taking Yugi Muto's soul, fans wish that Rafael got the chance to properly redeem himself. They loved learning of his tragic backstory and his partial redemption after the Seal of Oricalchos failed to take his soul when Yami Yugi defeated him in their second duel.
Because of this, they hoped that Rafael would show up in a later arc and maybe participate in the KC Grand Championship as a competitor. But unfortunately, Rafael never showed up again after the Waking The Dragons arc, disappointing some fans.
4 Mako Tsunami Could Have Appeared During The KC Grand Championship
Despite being a minor character, Mako Tsunami's appearance in the Duelist Kingdom and Battle City arcs was well-liked. His nice attitude towards Yugi and his friends certainly helped, along with his well-strategized water-centric deck.
Fans wish that he at least appeared during the KC Grand Championship as a competitor since they enjoyed seeing him in the few episodes where he appeared so much. They also enjoyed the fact that he was one of the few, if not the only Duelist during the Battle City arc that actually played by the rules and didn't try cheating or twisting the situation to his favor in any way with overpowered cards.
3 It's Unknown What Happened To Arkana After Battle City
Arkana, known as Pandora in the Japanese version and the manga, appeared briefly during the Battle City arc after being controlled by Marik to fight Yugi. His tragic backstory revealed why he wears the mask, as well as the loss of his fiancée.
Some fans sympathized with him and wondered what happened to him after the events of the Battle City arc since he never showed up again later in the anime.
2 Many Wonder How Bandit Keith Lost His Soul In Waking The Dragons
Bandit Keith mainly showed up during the Duelist Kingdom arc, cheating his way into being one of the top four finalists and eventually being thrown into the sea after his exploits were discovered. He was mind-controlled by Marik Ishtar during the Battle City arc, but after that, he was last seen as one of the lost souls during the Waking The Dragons arc.
Fans wonder who took Keith's soul and when exactly it happened. Others think that Keith's character was wasted during the Waking The Dragons arc, since, unlike Mai, Keith didn't have a chance to fight Dartz and his organization on-screen or even be part of it.
1 The Paradox Brothers Should Have Showed Up More In The Original Series
The Paradox Brothers took part in the Duelist Kingdom arc, dueling both Joey and Yugi to try to bar their way to Pegasus' castle. Unfortunately for the brothers, Yugi and Joey ended up beating them in the end, but fans enjoyed watching the brothers so much that they wondered what happened to them after the events of the Duelist Kingdom arc.
Though they were seen in the end credits of the finale with a shot of them dueling Vivian and Mai, as well as reappearing during Yu-Gi-Oh GX to fight Jaden and Syrus, fans wish that they appeared more in the original anime series.