Seto Kaiba is one of the most beloved characters in Yu-Gi-Oh! history, and for good reason. The man is an absolute icon. He has countless amazing quotes, duel wins that others could only dream of, and was one of the most impactful characters in the original series. At the same time though, not all of his moments in the series were golden.
Kaiba did some bad things in his time, and today, we're going to be going over the five best things that he ever did, along with the five worse. Let's jump right into it with some of the good.
10 Best: Help Yugi Find Joey & Saving Tea
While Kaiba certainly had his own motives for helping Yugi in this instance, he was instrumental in helping him find Joey when he was under the mind control of Marik. In the same duel, Kaiba was key in making sure that Tea escaped the duel unharmed, as she was mind-controlled and strapped to a chair under a hanging crate that could have easily killed her. He saved her by straight-up throwing his Blue-Eyes card at a Rare Hunter. Who else is doing it like him?
9 Worst: Threaten Suicide
Look, was Kaiba right to threaten suicide in a battle with Yugi? No. Was his goal to save his little brother completely justified? Yes, yes it was.
When Pegasus captured Mokuba, Kaiba would risk anything in order to get into the castle and rescue him, and unfortunately, Yugi was going through the exact same thing at the time. In the end, things worked out for the both of them, but cornering Yugi into surrendering by threatening suicide might not have been the best idea.
8 Best: Taking The Company From Gozaburo
By all accounts, Gozaburo Kaiba was a pretty awful man. Besides being abusive toward Kaiba, he made his vast fortune off supplying the world with arms. When Kaiba was still very young, he staged a coup with Mokuba and the Big 5 in order to steal Gozaburo's company right out from under him. It was a sneaky move, sure, but Kaiba was totally justified in his actions, and he managed to rid the world of Gozaburo (mostly) with this action.
7 Worst: Digging Up The Millenium Items
In The Dark Side of Dimensions movie, Kaiba is willing to go to any length in order to duel the Pharaoh one more time. He even goes so far as to dig the Millennium Items from their resting place in order to bring Atem back. Besides being incredibly disrespectful with this act, he was also willing to interrupt Atem's eternal sleep in order to duel him once more. Petty.
6 Best: Helping Yugi To Defeat Marik
Despite the fact that Mai and Joey both should have been able to take out Marik, Yugi is the one who has to knock him out of the tournament in Duelist Kingdom, and it's a tough fight.
In fact, it's so tough that Yugi wouldn't have been able to beat him without the help of Kaiba's Fiend's Sanctuary card. Kaiba singlehandedly saved the world by giving Yugi this card before his battle with Marik, so that's a pretty great moment of his.
5 Worst: Claiming Everything Is Mumbo Jumbo
Despite the fact that Kaiba is constantly engaged in Shadow Games and other events fueled by Egyptian magic, he refuses to believe any of it is real until just about the end of the show. It's ignorant, sure, but it's also dangerous, which we'll get into a little bit later. At the very least, Kaiba manages to redeem himself a bit here by finally admitting that all of it is very much so real.
4 Best: His Insults
Whether it be his constant put-downs of third-rate duelist Joey Wheeler, his insulting of Zigfried and his horrible hair, or his comments at just about anyone else that he ever encounters, Kaiba is constantly laying down sick burns left and right. It's nothing short of iconic. Kaiba's comments in Dark Side of Dimensions made an entire audience burst into laughter constantly. The wit of this man is just too much.
3 Worst: Continuing Battle City Despite Marik's Shadow Games
Despite the fact that Mai, Odion, Bakura, and Joey all basically die during the Battle City finals, Kaiba 100% intends for them to continue. This is all due to his lust for power. He's so concerned with having all three Egyptian God Cards in his deck that he's willing to risk any and all lives that he needs to in order to acquire them.
2 Best: Summoning Obelisk In Dark Side Of Dimensions
In Dark Side of Dimensions, Kaiba does the unthinkable and summons Obelisk the Tormentor in his duel with Diva. His link with the monster goes all the way back to Ancient Egypt, and thus, he doesn't need the physical card in order to summon the power of the God. He simply wills it into existence. This was easily one of the straight-up coolest moments that Kaiba has ever had.
1 Worst: Everything He Did To Yugi's Grandpa
In the first episode of the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, Kaiba destroys Yugi's grandpa's favorite card, devastates him in a duel, and sends him to the hospital. This is all in about a 10-minute period. Of course, his actions are so horrible that it causes Atem to Mind Crush him, which eventually sends him down a better path.