When it comes to the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, friendship is one of the most important parts of the show. Well, that and playing horrible, horrible cards and somehow still being considered the King of Games. But that's not what we're here for today. Anyway, the most prominent friendships that we see throughout the show are the ones between Yugi and his group of friends, Bakura, Tristan, Tea, Joey and for some reason Duke Devlin.
These five are mostly together throughout the length of the anime, lending their support to Yugi and Joey through their toughest duels. Today, we'll be ranking each of these friends because yeah why not tear some anime characters down a bit? Without any further ado, let's jump into it.
8 Bakura
Bakura is a horrible friend! Sure, the actual Bakura is a really nice guy who is a genuinely great friend of the crew, but ya know, there's kind of another soul inside of him. You know the one, the evil spirit living inside of Bakura that controls him a good 90% of the time.
Realistically, Bakura is a good friend, which is why these idiots (or the Dweeb Patrol as Kaiba calls them) trust him so incessantly. But you really just never know which Bakura you're going to get, it's a gamble. If we're talking post-Dark Side of Dimensions then Bakura would be a lot higher on the list. But due to the article being centered more around the main run of the show, Bakura takes the bottom spot on this list.
7 Mokuba
While Mokuba isn't the closest to Yugi and friends, he's certainly more friendly with them than his brother is. He's shown to help out the group or at least supportive of them throughout the series, usually during events that he and his brother are hosting.
While Mokuba cares about the group, his brother always comes first to him, no matter the situation.
6 Duke
Duke Devlin is the edgiest character in all of Yu-Gi-Oh! Truly, you cannot get edgier than throwing dice at people as a method of attack. An attack on a bunch of men who are trying to take over the world that are attacking your friend. The friend that's helping your other friend's blind sister get around town. These are actual real the scenarios that this show comes up with.
Nevertheless, Duke Devlin sticks around through much of the series, filler arcs and all. While at first his only goal was to take down Yugi due to misguided thoughts that he ruined his impending deal with Pegasus, he soon became friends with the group. So what if he broadcasted his humiliation of Joey on TV for fun? He's remorseful so it's totally okay! This group is way too forgiving seriously.
5 Rebecca Hawkins
An anime exclusive character, Rebecca Hawkins is the youngest American Duel Monsters champion, and also went to college at ten. Okay icon go off. She appears only during filler arcs, including Waking The Dragons and KC Grand Championship. While she has a good relationship with everyone in the group, she does butt heads with Tea at times due to her massive crush on Yugi.
She also just decides sometimes that they're in a relationship. Once again, go off icon. A talented duelist who provides a ton of help to Yugi and the gang throughout Waking the Dragons, Rebecca is a great friend to the gang.
4 Mai Valentine
Mai is so low on the list due to her also becoming evil and betraying the group, Bakura inspirations. Well... actually her evil period was in the non-canon Waking The Dragons arc, so does it really even count? Nevertheless, Mai slowly came around to the idea of friends, and Yugi, Joey, Tea and Tristan were the first real ones she's ever had.
She even gave Yugi her excess star chips, along with giving Joey her entry card for Duelist Kingdom after she had lost. Mai transforms throughout the show, and in her final moments featured she realizes that the group really are her best friends, something she's truly grateful for.
3 Tristan
Tristan Taylor. An icon. A legend. Tristan has been with the gang since the first episode of the anime. But we don't talk about Tristan in that episode. Or the second. Or the third. Look once he got a new voice actor in episode 11 things got much better alright?
Tristan is a resident idiot of the group (a title he proudly holds with Joey), but that usually comes with a nice bit of comedic relief, so we'll let it slide. Nevertheless, Tristan is just as invested in his friends as the rest of the group, and will gladly help them in any way that he can. He has even gone so far as to forfeit his own life for the sake of Serenity during the Virtual World arc. Wow, he even cares about the side characters. What a good guy.
2 Tea
Tea Gardner is the friendship glue that holds the friendship group of friendship together. Tea believes and roots for her friends no matter what, and will stop at nothing to... well save the world with them when need be. She was also the one who created the markers symbolizing the group's friendship.
While Tea tends to hang out on the sidelines of duels with Tristan, she has been known to duel here and there if need be, even winning Star Chips in Yugi's name during her battle with Mai. She won with a card called Shining Friendship how much more meta can you possibly get? Surprisingly, she is the only character in the entire anime to have never lost a duel that we are aware of, even beating Yugi's record. The cards that she uses are complete trash, but hey she believes in friendship so it's okay don't worry about it. Tea is known to stick with her friends through thick and thin, which is why she lands at the second-place spot on this list.
1 Joey
The Godfather of Games himself, we have Jumpin' Joey Wheeler. While he starts out a complete dueling rookie, he ends up making it to the final round of the Duelist Kingdom tournament, which he wants to win in order to pay for his sister's eye surgery to restore her sight (aww). While his dueling skills did take some time to grow, his love for his friends was a quality of his that he always had.
The boy jumped into the ocean for Yugi to save his Exodia cards. If that's not dedication what is? Besides that, he's not one to mess with. This guy managed to stay standing through a direct blast from an Egyptian God. And then he didn't even go to the Shadow Realm! Make all the jokes you want about Joey, but he's a great duelist and an even greater friend.