Joey Wheeler is definitely the comic relief character in Yu-Gi-Oh. In the English dub of the series, he talks with a strange Brooklyn accent and is constantly saying ridiculous things. No one takes him especially seriously, and while he’s an okay duelist in Duel Monsters, he isn’t ever the top dog in the game.
But he does have a lot of really funny and silly quotes that make him very easy to like. They add levity to a series that can take some pretty dark turns and create a character that everyone, both fans, and his friends, can cheer on.
10 “I found out I hate virtual dogs.”
Joey and Tristan are sent out to get some information for Yugi about a suspicious opponent he has coming up. When Yugi asks him if he found out any information, Joey responds with the above.
At the time that he says this, he also has a dog actively biting his leg, and he’s limping around with the animal attached to him. So it’s probably to be expected that he must hate dogs, at least in the present moment.
9 “And I bet it’s a trap card, but wait. Yugi knows me, and he knows I would think that, so maybe it’s not a trap, maybe it’s a monster card. But what if he knows that I would think that… so it really is a trap? But what if he knows that I know that he knows… oh, forget it, I’m just gonna attack.”
Duel Monsters is a game that requires the players to have some knowledge of their opponents and what they might possibly do during any point in the game.
So the better someone knows their opponent, the better chance they’ll have at beating them. Joey fixating on the fact that Yugi knows him so well is probably not a bad idea, but getting stuck in his own head about it is both funny and at least slightly a bad idea, since he’s distracted.
8 “That’s Yugi Moto. He defeated Seto Kaiba. And I’m his best friend. And these two are trespassers!”
Joey is definitely an important part of Yugi’s friend group, along with Tea and Tristan, but he holds himself as more important than either of the others. While he probably is Yugi’s best friend, his dismissal of Tea and Tristan, who are also Yugi’s friends, is pretty funny. He essentially tries to get them thrown out, even though they’re also his friends.
All of his relationships are contentious in this way, and it’s no wonder he’s constantly getting into fights with people.
7 “Last time I snooze with dueling cards under my pillow.”
Tristan and Joey both have a dream that Bakura turned evil and attacked them. When they wake up, they’re both startled by Bakura, who is in the room and asking if they slept well, and they end up clinging to each other in fear.
Joey thinks that the reason he had such a nightmare is that he had his dueling cards stashed under his pillow while he slept, causing him to dream about the game.
6 “I’m going to file this under the category of not good.”
As all-important anime sidekicks do, Joey is always present to throw in a good zinger and to remind everyone of what the status quo is, without drawing too much attention away from the action.
When Yugi is having a hard time during a battle, Joey very astutely points out that the situation isn’t great, without giving any more helpful information than that. But he is right that the happenings definitely fall under the category of not being good.
5 “Okay, that’s it! There’s only one duelist that could be that annoying!”
Joey and the gang are watching a duel featuring a duelist named Madame Butterfly. Joey figures out that Madame Butterfly is Mai Valentine in disguise, mostly because the two of them don’t get along in the slightest.
Joey knows the special sort of annoying that Mai is able to accomplish. It’s a special kind of relationship when a person can recognize someone who is in disguise just because of the behaviors one exhibits even in costume.
4 “Give me a piggyback, and you got a deal.”
Tristan suggests that it’s safer if they travel on foot since the two of them have just literally fallen out of a car. Joey, ever somewhat lazy and unwilling to expend any extra energy if he doesn’t have to, certainly doesn’t want to walk himself. But he is willing to go on foot if Tristan will just carry him.
It’s technically still on foot, even if he personally isn’t walking, though Tristan would probably protest the arrangement.
3 “Go ahead, Tristan, eat all the pages you like.”
Tristan and Joey get stranded in the wilderness, and Tristan isn’t particularly concerned about their survival because he brought a nature survival guide with him. Joey is more concerned about food, so he’s been asking if it’s an edible guide.
After a while of not being able to change their situation, Tristan reminds him they still have the guide and can use it, and Joey, feeling cynical and annoyed, tells him he can go ahead and eat it.
2 "Hey! I know an insult when I hear one! Look at me when I’m yelling at you!”
Seto Kaiba tries to keep Joey Wheeler from participating in a duel competition by trying to get his companion to make sure that Joey’s late for registration, which would disqualify him from participating.
Joey overhears him saying this and starts shouting at him about it, with good reason, considering Kaiba is trying to keep him out of the competition. But it’s funny that Kaiba refuses to even acknowledge being yelled at, forcing Joey to yell at him to pay attention to him yelling at him.
1 “I’ll send you to the hospital!”
Part of Joey’s character as a stereotypically weird, loud Brooklyn New Yorker is that he is constantly picking fights with people and getting irritated about the way other people talk to him.
Threatening to send someone to the hospital is probably one of the least egregious threats and shouting matches that Joey has had with people he feels have wronged him in some way, but the likelihood he is overreacting to the situation makes it pretty amusing.