History Woolseyism / YuGiOh

* A case of FrothyMugsOfWater also managed to make sense as well -- Pegasus is shown to eat cheese and drink wine while watching a cartoon, but [=4kids=] changed it to "fruit juice" and cheese. Given that Pegasus is a ManChild, it's actually much more in-character for him to sip fruit juice from a fancy wine glass rather than drink real alcohol. [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in TheMovie in which Pegasus drinks wine spritzers.

* In the Yami vs. Weevil rematch, the dub replaces Yami Yugi shouting "MONSTAH CARDO" with Creator/DanGreen's glorious poison-tipped snark. ([[LargeHam "THIS JUST ISN'T YOUR DAY!"]])

* When Noah defeats Kaiba in a duel through dishonest means. In the original Yami calls Noah out by stating that Kaiba could have at least ended the duel in a draw if he used Different Dimension Dragon instead of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, which he summoned through tributing the former in order to save Mokuba. The dub has Yami state that Kaiba would have ''won'' the duel when right before delivering the finishing blow with Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, Noah used Mokuba as a HumanShield. This makes Yami statement against Noah more powerful and logical than the original.

* In the Orichalcos Arc, the dub had Dartz be responsible for the Knights' transformation into the Legendary Dragons. Which is significantly more of an explanation than the original gave, where Dartz didn't even know about their "true form".

* A minor point in the duel between Joey and Odion. Odion seals the Winged Dragon of Ra in the ark on his Temple of the Kings card, then tributes Mystical Beast Serket and pays half his Life Points to summon Ra, and all of Serket's ATK points transfer to Ra. The dub makes it sound like this is an effect of Temple of the Kings, circumventing the need to tribute three monsters to summon Ra and powering it up another way since it has no Tributes to gain ATK from. The Japanese anime (and the original manga as well) instead treat this like a normal Tribute Summon, with Serket acting as three Tributes since it had previously destroyed and absorbed three of Jounochi's monsters. Aside from this rule being ridiculous, it begs the question of what the point was to seal Ra in Temple of the Kings and why Rishid has to pay half his Life Points to summon it, when he could have just kept it in his hand and Tribute Summoned it normally.

* During the Yugi vs. Kaiba match with Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, when Celtic Guardian is about to deliver the finishing blow to the rotting Blue-Eyes, Yugi Muto takes control from Yami Yugi and Celtic Guardian magically stops. In the English dub, Yugi yells, [[FillingTheSilence "STOP!"]] before Celtic Guardian's attack connects, which makes more sense than in the original and further confirms that Yugi is back in control.

* A case of FrothyMugsOfWater also managed to make sense as well -- Pegasus is shown to eat cheese and drink wine while watching a cartoon, but [=4kids=] changed it to "fruit juice" and cheese. Given that Pegasus is a ManChild, it's actually much more in-character for him to sip fruit juice from a fancy wine glass rather than drink real alcohol. [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in TheMovie in which Pegasus drinks wine spritzers.
* Para and Dox's whole rhyming and finishing each others sentences shtick was something that was not present during the original version where they just spoke normally, the changes helped make them considerably more interesting (and gave the Abridged Series fodder for even more jokes, including an instance where [[GotMeDoingIt Yugi and his friends start rhyming as well]]).
* In the dub version of episode 28 of Duelist Kingdom, Pegasus plans to send Tea, Tristan, and Bakura to the Shadow Realm after they learn his secrets, explaining that the dueling rituals they discovered channel the magic of the Shadow Realm, every soul sent there increases the power of his Millennium Eye, and he needs Bakura's Ring as well as the other Items in order to have the power of life over death, so Yami Bakura stops him before harm can come to the others or his host. In the Japanese version of the same episode, Pegasus demonstrated his mind-reading powers before Yami Bakura stopped him, with no explanation for the ancient duel rituals or the cult in his basement. The same episode has Yugi's grandpa and the Kaiba brothers, pleading with Yugi to stop Pegasus for the world's sake, since his powers would be amplified even further with the Puzzle, and with ''all'' the Items he could unleash Armageddon (it's hinted that it would be by ''accident'', which is true to canon as putting all seven Items together at this point would resurrect Zorc the Dark One). The original had Grandpa tell Yugi he was in pain and to rescue him quickly, which doesn't explain the Kaiba brothers' presence in the vision or have the same sense of urgency.
* During his duel with Yugi in episode two, in the dub Pegasus talks about the Egyptian origins of Duel Monsters, including the Shadow Games and the Millennium Items. This probably intrigues Yami Yugi and helps motivate him to confront Pegasus to learn more about his past and his powers, and also provides a convenient InfoDump to set up backstory. In the original, Pegasus is just delivering exposition about the tournament Yugi is invited to, which is repeated two episodes later anyway, and the information about the Millennium Items and Ancient Egypt was given more gradually over the course of the first and second seasons.

* A minor point in the duel between Joey and Odion. Odion seals the Winged Dragon of Ra in the ark on his Temple of the Kings card, then tributes Mystical Beast Serket and pays half his Life Points to summon Ra, and all of Serket's ATK points transfer to Ra. The dub makes it sound like this is an effect of Temple of the Kings, circumventing the need to tribute three monsters to summon Ra and powering it up another way since it has no Tributes to gain ATK from. The Japanese anime (and the original manga as well) instead treat this like a normal Tribute Summon, with Serket acting as three Tributes since it had previously destroyed and absorbed three of Jounochi's monsters. Aside from this rule being ridiculous, it begs the question of what the point was to seal Ra in Temple of the Kings and why Rishid has to pay half his Life Points to summon it, when he could have just kept it in his hand and Tribute Summoned it normally.

* When Noah defeats Kaiba in a duel through dishonest means. In the original Yami calls Noah out by stating that Kaiba could have ended the duel in a draw if he used Different Dimension Dragon instead of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon, which he summoned through tributing the former in order to save Mokuba. The dub has Yami state that Kaiba would have ''won'' the duel when right before delivering the finishing blow with Twin-Headed Thunder Dragon, Noah used Mokuba as a HumanShield. This makes Yami statement against Noah more powerful and logical than the original.

* After Yugi's soul is taken by the Orichalcos, the original Japanese has Yami crying out "Aibou! Aibou!" ("Aibou" means "Partner", what Yami has been calling Yugi.) The English dub changes this so that Yami is owning up to the fact that it's his fault for activating the Seal in the first place.
--> '''Yami:''' ItsAllMyFault! Yugi, come back! ''(slams his fists on the ground)'' It should have been ''me'', not ''him''! It's not fair!

* Bakura from ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' uses a polite speech pattern. The dub gave him a [[FakeBrit British accent]]. The creator of WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries, who is actually British, had a ''lot'' of fun with this, to the point where Bakura became the abridged series's BreakoutCharacter. By contrast, the dub took Jonouchi's ruder speech pattern and gave Joey Wheeler a Brooklyn accent. The Abridged Series ran with this as well, making Joey the TropeNamer for BrooklynRage.

* Bakura from ''Franchise/YuGiOh'' also uses a polite speech pattern. The dub gave him a [[FakeBrit British accent]]. The creator of WebVideo/YuGiOhTheAbridgedSeries, who is actually British, had a ''lot'' of fun with this, to the point where Bakura became the abridged series's BreakoutCharacter. By contrast, the dub took Jonouchi's ruder speech pattern and gave Joey Wheeler a Brooklyn accent. The Abridged Series ran with this as well, making Joey the TropeNamer for BrooklynRage.

* The biggest change is the Shadow Realm, something that didn't exist in the original anime. In an attempt to {{Bowdlerize}} the implications of violence and/or death for losing a Shadow Game, 4kids changed many of these moments into the loser having their soul (and in rare cases, their body as well) imprisoned in the Shadow Realm. This also came with the explanation that defeating someone who had sent souls to the Shadow Realm previously would release those souls, which made it easier to swallow when those "dead" characters came back to life after the season's BigBad was defeated. This has the additional benefit of turning Yugi's duel against a mind-controlled Joey (the one duel in the first series where the threat of death is not {{Bowdlerize}}d [[note]]They probably got away with this because [[EverybodyLives it ended in a draw]].[[/note]]) into an even more shocking moment than it would otherwise have been.

* During the Yugi vs. Kaiba match with Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, when Celtic Guardian is about to deliver the finishing blow to the rotting Blue-Eyes, Yugi Muto takes control from Yami Yugi and Celtic Guardian magically stops. In the English dub, Yugi yells, [[FillingTheSilence "STOP!"]] before Celtic Guardian's attack connects, which makes more sense than in the original and further confirms that Yugi is back in control.* During Yugi's duel with Mai in the original version, Yugi's mind was only focused on dueling Pegasus, causing him to become cocky and not take Mai seriously. In the dub, Yugi is holding back Yami because he's still traumatized by Yami nearly killing Kaiba in the last duel and isn't sure he can trust the spirit. The dub also foreshadows the fate of Pegasus's wife by having him give an internal monologue about it, which his VA Darren Dunstan delivers excellently. In the original version it was a filler conversation between Yugi's friends and Bakura.

* During Season 4, 4Kids' infamous NeverSayDie policies actually ''benefitted'' Raphael's backstory since it gave him a more plausible reason to think HumansAreTheRealMonsters. In the original version, Dartz drove the cruise ship he was on with his family into a tidal wave and only he survived, lived on an island for awhile, then after he was rescued, decided HumansAreTheRealMonsters for no discernible reason. In the dub, however, Dartz drove the ship into a tidal wave, he was washed onto an island, then came back and found out his family supposedly ''forgot about him''. Just about ''anyone'' would MaddenIntoMisanthropy if your own family "moved on" and didn't seem to accept you even when you came back after ''xx'' years...

* During Yugi's duel with Mai in the original version, Yugi's mind was only focused on dueling Pegasus, causing him to become cocky and not take Mai seriously. In the dub, Yugi is holding back Yami because he's still traumatized by Yami nearly killing Kaiba in the last duel and isn't sure he can trust the spirit. The dub also foreshadows the fate of Pegasus's wife by having him give an internal monologue about it, which his VA Darren Dunstan delivers excellently. In the original version it was a filler conversation between Yugi's friends and Bakura.
** In addition, the dub adds a line where Yami vows to never again defy Yugi's wishes. This makes it even sadder in season 4 when Yami plays the Seal of Orichalcos, ignoring Yugi pleading with him to not do so. It shows just how consumed he is by his own pride and refusal to lose.
--->'''Yami:''' Now let me ''go'', Yugi!\\
'''Yugi:''' ''(softly)'' Please...don't play that card.
* Pegasus' goal in the original is to recreate his wife via holograms, and to do that, he has to defeat Yugi to gain control of Kaiba Corp's technology. This made sense in the manga, but ''not'' in the anime [[AdaptationInducedPlotHole in which he already has access to hologram technology that's just as good as Kaiba Corp's.]] The dub changes it so that his needing to defeat Yugi is a little more necessary: he wishes to collect his Millennium Puzzle, along with the other Millennium Items, to bring back his wife's soul and put her inside a new mechanical body rather than a hologram. While a little convoluted for what amounts to just ''asking'' him for the item, it does work, especially at the end where it's revealed that collecting the seven items ''does'' indeed open a portal to the afterlife.
** In a similar vein, there's Marik's reason for dueling Yugi. In the original, Marik simply wants to kill Yugi, which really doesn't explain his convoluted plans that center around a children's card game when he could simply find a gun and shoot Yugi. In the dub, Marik wants the power within the Millennium Puzzle, which by the laws of magic requires him (or a mind-controlled minion) to defeat Yugi in a duel.
* Noah had ''no idea'' Gozaburo was alive and inside the Virtual World in the original, which made no sense given how long he's been there and how much control he has over it. In the dub, Noah was always working for Gozaburo, rather than it being a HijackedByGanon situation.
* Yugi's duel with Bandit Keith (which is not in the manga; it's an ''extremely'' loose adaptation of the last chunk of the Dungeon Dice Monsters arc, which the anime split off into almost-pure {{Filler}}) has Marik brainwash Keith into stealing the Millennium Puzzle and hold the duel, as Yugi will be a much easier opponent to defeat without the Pharaoh's help. The Japanese version has Marik make Yugi and Keith duel so he can confirm that the Pharaoh sleeps in the Millennium Puzzle and Yugi is his host, things that, between his Tombkeeper upbringing and control of Keith's mind, he already knows anyway. The Japanese version also mentions Yami Yugi staying in the Millennium Puzzle and not helping Yugi because he senses Marik watching them. Not only is this a flimsy justification for him not getting involved, but the idea that Yami Yugi could take control of Yugi's body when he's not wearing the puzzle is a VoodooShark that raises a lot more questions. The dub simplifies this to "their bond is too weak for them to switch places without Yugi wearing the Puzzle."
* A minor point in the duel between Joey and Odion. Odion seals the Winged Dragon of Ra in the ark on his Temple of the Kings card, then tributes Mystical Beast Serket and pays half his Life Points to summon Ra, and all of Serket's ATK points transfer to Ra. The dub makes it sound like this is an effect of Temple of the Kings, circumventing the need to tribute three monsters to summon Ra and powering it up another way since it has no Tributes to gain ATK from. The Japanese anime (and the original manga as well) instead treat this like a normal Tribute Summon, with Serket acting as three Tributes since it had previously destroyed and absorbed three of Jounochi's monsters. Aside from this rule being ridiculous, it begs the question of what the point was to seal Ra in Temple of the Kings and why Rishid has to pay half his Life Points to summon it, when he could have just kept it in his hand and Tribute Summoned it normally.
* In the Orichalcos filler arc (specifically, the Yami vs. Weevil rematch), the dub replaces Yami Yugi shouting "MONSTAH CARDO" with Creator/DanGreen's glorious poison-tipped snark. ([[LargeHam "THIS JUST ISN'T YOUR DAY!"]])

* A case of FrothyMugsOfWater also managed to make sense as well -- Pegasus is shown to eat cheese and drink wine while watching a cartoon, but [=4kids=] changed it to "fruit juice" and cheese. Given that Pegasus is a ManChild, it's actually much more in-character for him to sip fruit juice from a fancy wine glass rather than drink real alcohol. [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in TheMovie in which Pegasus drinks wine spritzers.
* Para and Dox's whole rhyming and finishing each others sentences shtick was something that was not present during the original version where they just spoke normally, the changes helped make them considerably more interesting (and gave the Abridged Series fodder for even more jokes, including an instance where [[GotMeDoingIt Yugi and his friends start rhyming as well]]).
* In the Orichalcos Arc, the dub had Dartz be responsible for the Knights' transformation into the Legendary Dragons. Which is significantly more of an explanation than the original gave, where Dartz didn't even know about their "true form".
* The biggest change is the Shadow Realm, something that didn't exist in the original anime. In an attempt to {{Bowdlerize}} the implications of violence and/or death for losing a Shadow Game, 4kids changed many of these moments into the loser having their soul (and in rare cases, their body as well) imprisoned in the Shadow Realm. This also came with the explanation that defeating someone who had sent souls to the Shadow Realm previously would release those souls, which made it easier to swallow when those "dead" characters came back to life after the season's BigBad was defeated. This has the additional benefit of turning Yugi's duel against a mind-controlled Joey (the one duel in the first series where the threat of death is not {{Bowdlerize}}d [[note]]They probably got away with this because [[EverybodyLives it ended in a draw]].[[/note]]) into an even more shocking moment than it would otherwise have been.

* In the dub version of episode 28 of Duelist Kingdom, Pegasus plans to send Tea, Tristan, and Bakura to the Shadow Realm after they learn his secrets, explaining that the dueling rituals they discovered channel the magic of the Shadow Realm, every soul sent there increases the power of his Millennium Eye, and he needs Bakura's Ring as well as the other Items in order to have the power of life over death, so Yami Bakura stops him before harm can come to the others or his host. In the Japanese version of the same episode, Pegasus demonstrated his mind-reading powers before Yami Bakura stopped him, with no explanation for the ancient duel rituals or the cult in his basement. The same episode has Yugi's grandpa and the Kaiba brothers, pleading with Yugi to stop Pegasus for the world's sake, since his powers would be amplified even further with the Puzzle, and with ''all'' the Items he could unleash Armageddon (it's hinted that it would be by ''accident'', which is true to canon as putting all seven Items together at this point would resurrect Zorc the Dark One). The original had Grandpa tell Yugi he was in pain and to rescue him quickly, which doesn't explain the Kaiba brothers' presence in the vision or have the same sense of urgency.
* During his duel with Yugi in episode two, in the dub Pegasus talks about the Egyptian origins of Duel Monsters, including the Shadow Games and the Millennium Items. This probably intrigues Yami Yugi and helps motivate him to confront Pegasus to learn more about his past and his powers, and also provides a convenient InfoDump to set up backstory. In the original, Pegasus is just delivering exposition about the tournament Yugi is invited to, which is repeated two episodes later anyway, and the information about the Millennium Items and Ancient Egypt was given more gradually over the course of the first and second seasons.
* In the duel where Yami Yugi battles a Rare Hunter with all five pieces of Exodia the Forbidden One, his Exodia cards are all fakes in the original, while in the dub they're real cards marked with invisible ink so that he can scan them with special contact lenses to see when he's about to draw a piece. While using fake cards is certainly illegal and amoral, using marked cards is a far more serious violation; this also patches up a later plot hole where it is stated that fake cards won't work in [=KaibaCorp=] duel disks anyway. Also, this change is more in-line with the manga, as the Rare Hunter used real cards marked with invisible ink instead of fake cards in his duel against Yami Yugi.
* Kaiba's reaction to losing to Yugi in the Battle City Finals is somewhat less immature and slightly more dignified in the dub than it was in the Japanese anime.
* The anime's take on Yugi's encounter with Ushio omits Yami Yugi beating Ushio in a shadow game and only covers the part where Yugi tries to keep him from beating Jonouchi and Honda up. As his fate is never mentioned, it ends up unintentionally implying Ushio went on to be a KarmaHoudini. The dub adds in a few lines where Joey reveals that Ushio was expelled for his actions, showing that he still ended up facing some sort of punishment.

* After Yugi's soul is taken by the Orichalcos, the original Japanese has Yami crying out "Aibou! Aibou!" ("Aibou" means "Partner", what Yami has been calling Yugi.) The English dub changes this so that Yami is owning up to the fact that it's his fault for activating the Seal in the first place.
--> '''Yami:''' ItsAllMyFault! Yugi, come back! ''(slams his fists on the ground)'' It should have been ''me'', not ''him''! It's not fair!
* "The Heart of the Cards" was something made up for the English dub, explaining that a duelist can draw the right card in a tight spot by believing in their deck and themselves, and their cards will respond to that. This ended up fitting perfectly with future spin-offs that do examine the bonds between a duelist and their cards, and confirm that a duelist's deck actually can respond to their wishes and grant them the card they need. In the Japanese version, they're hoping to get lucky and explicitly ask the "Goddess of Luck" to help them out, which stretches the suspense of disbelief when it keeps happening.
** As a side-effect, "The Heart of the Cards" gave greater meaning to the Pharoah and Kaiba's connection to the two Dark Magicians and Blue-Eyes White Dragon, respectively. In the last arc of the show, it's revealed that Mahad reincarnates as the spirit of the Dark Magician, Mana was his apprentice (and childhood friend of the Pharoah) and would summon the Dark Magician Girl after his death, while Kisara held the soul of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and protected High Priest Seto with her life. In the original, this is merely symbolic, but in the dub it's far more of a bond that transcends time itself.

* During the Yugi vs. Kaiba match with Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, when Celtic Guardian is about to deliver the finishing blow to the rotting Blue-Eyes, Yugi Muto takes control from Yami Yugi and Celtic Guardian magically stops. In the English dub, Yugi yells, [[FillingTheSilence "STOP!"]] before Celtic Guardian's attack connects, which makes more sense than in the original and further confirms that Yugi is back in control.

* A case of FrothyMugsOfWater also managed to make sense as well -- Pegasus is shown to eat cheese and drink wine while watching a cartoon, but [=4kids=] changed it to "fruit juice" and cheese. Given that Pegasus is a ManChild, this is entirely in-character for him. [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in TheMovie in which Pegasus drinks wine spritzers.

* During the filler season, the dubbing and 4Kids famous NeverSayDie policies probably had the unintended consequence of giving Raphael a more plausible reason to think HumansAreTheRealMonsters. In the original version, Dartz drove the cruise ship he was on with his family into a tidal wave and only he survived, lived on an island for awhile, then after he was rescued, decided HumansAreTheRealMonsters for no discernible reason. In the dub, however, Dartz drove the ship into a tidal wave, he was washed onto an island, then came back and his family supposedly ''forgot about him''. Just about ''anyone'' would MaddenIntoMisanthropy if your own family "moved on" and didn't seem to accept you even when you came back after ''xx'' years...

* In the dub, Yami Yugi's internal monologue while dueling is in Yugi's voice, while in the Japanese version, it's Yami Yugi's voice. The dub lends a better picture to the pair's teamwork and how Yugi grows as a duelist over the course of the series. It also helps to highlight those times when little Yugi is out of commission and Yami is dueling on his own (such as against Pegasus).

* During the Yugi vs. Kaiba match with Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon, when Celtic Guardian is about to deliver the finishing blow to the rotting Blue-Eyes, Yugi Muto takes over for Yami Yugi and Celtic Guardian magically stops. In the English dub, Yugi yells, [[FillingTheSilence "STOP!"]] before Celtic Guardian's attack connects, which makes more sense than in the original.

* "The Heart of the Cards" was something made up for the English dub, explaining that a duelist can draw the right card in a tight spot by believing in their deck and themselves, and their cards will respond to that. This ended up fitting perfectly with future spin-offs that do examine the bonds between a duelist and their cards, and confirm that a duelist's deck actually can respond to their wishes and grant them the card they need. In the Japanese version, they're hoping to get lucky and explicitly ask the "Goddess of Luck" to help them out, which stretches the suspense of disbelief when it keeps happening. As a side-effect, "The Heart of the Cards" gave greater meaning to the Pharoah and Kaiba's connection to the two Dark Magicians and Blue-Eyes White Dragon, respectively. In the last arc of the show, it's revealed that Mahad reincarnates as the spirit of the Dark Magician, Mana was his apprentice (and childhood friend of the Pharoah) and would summon the Dark Magician Girl after his death, while Kisara held the soul of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and protected High Priest Seto with her life. In the original, this is merely symbolic, but in the dub it's far more of a bond that transcends time itself.

* Some moments in the original anime of Tea and Tristan mocking Joey before or during duels were either cut or turned into one or both of them supporting him in the dub, which makes more sense since they're all friends and the teasing that they give him is almost as bad as the teasing Kaiba gives him, which makes the treatment that Joey gets from his friends very needlessly mean-spirited. This is especially noticeable during the Duelist Kingdom arc in the dub where even though they still teased him occasionally, they were still very supportive of Joey and believed in his abilities, which is also more closer to how the manga portrays the support Joey gets, whereas the original version of the anime has Joey being belittled by his friends practically all the way through.

* The biggest change is the Shadow Realm, something that didn't exist in the original anime. In an attempt to {{Bowdlerize}} the implications of violence and/or death for losing a Shadow Game, 4kids changed many of these moments into the loser having their soul (and in rare cases, their body as well) imprisoned in the Shadow Realm. This also came with the explanation that defeating someone who had sent souls to the Shadow Realm previously would release those souls, which made it easier to swallow when those "dead" characters came back to life after the season's BigBad was defeated. This has the additional benefit of turning Yugi's duel against a mind-controlled Joey (the one duel in the first series where the threat of death is not {{Bowdlerize}}d [[note]]They probably got away with this because [[EverybodyLives it ended in a draw]].[[/note]]) into an even more shocking moment then it would otherwise have been.

* Pegasus's DubNameChange was also notable. In the Japanese version, Pegasus was his given name, with his full name being Pegasus J. Crawford. The dub more appropriately made Pegasus his surname, and his first name became Maximillion, a fitting name conveying he is a man of great wealth and taste. Further cementing it as a Woolseyism, this was one of the few name changes that stuck for the English manga translation.
* A case of FrothyMugsOfWater also managed to make sense as well -- Pegasus is shown to eat cheese and drink wine while watching a cartoon, but [=4kids=] changed it to "fruit juice" and cheese. Given that Pegasus is a ManChild, and fruit juice is more child-friendly than alcohol, this is in-character for him. [[AvertedTrope Averted]] in TheMovie in which Pegasus drinks wine spritzers.

* In the Orichalcos Arc, the dub had Dartz be responsible for the Knights' transformation into the Legendary Dragons. Which is significantly more of an explanation than the original gave for that, where Dartz didn't even know about their "true form".
* The biggest change is the Shadow Realm, something that didn't exist in the original anime. In an attempt to {{Bowdlerize}} the implications of violence and/or death for losing a Shadow Game, 4kids changed many of these moments into the loser having their soul (and in rare cases, their body as well) imprisoned in the Shadow Realm. This also came with the explanation that defeating someone who had sent souls to the Shadow Realm previously would release those souls, which made it easier to swallow when those "dead" characters came back to life after the season's BigBad was defeated. This has the additional benefit of turning Yugi's duel against a mind-controlled Joey (the one duel in the first series where the threat of death is not {{Bowdlerize}}d [[note]]They probably got away with this because [[EverybodyLives it ended in a draw]] [[/note]]) into an even more shocking moment then it would otherwise have been.
* Some moments in the original anime of Tea and Tristan mocking Joey before or during duels were either cut or turned into one or both of them supporting him in the dub, which makes more sense since they're all friends and the teasing that they give him is almost as bad as the teasing Kaiba gives him, which makes the treatment that Joey gets from his friends very needlessly mean-spirited. This is especially noticed during the Duelist Kingdom arc in the dub where even though they still teased him occasionally, they were still very supportive of Joey and believed in his abilities, which is also more closer to how the manga portrays the support Joey gets, whereas the original version of the anime has Joey being belittled by his friends practically all the way through.

* "The Heart of the Cards" was something made up for the English dub, explaining that a duelist can draw the rights in a tight spot by believing in their deck and themselves and their cards will respond to that. This ended up fitting perfectly with future spin-offs that do examine the bonds between a duelist and their cards, and confirm that a duelist's deck actually can respond to their wishes and grant them the card they need. In the Japanese version, they're hoping to get lucky and explicitly ask the "Goddess of Luck" to help them out, which stretches the suspense of disbelief when it keeps happening. As a side-effect, "The Heart of the Cards" gave greater meaning to the Pharoah and Kaiba's connection to the two Dark Magicians and Blue-Eyes White Dragon, respectively. In the last arc of the show, it's revealed that Mahad reincarnates as the spirit of the Dark Magician, Mana was his apprentice (and childhood friend of the Pharoah) and would summon the Dark Magician Girl after his death, while Kisara held the soul of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon and protected High Priest Seto with her life. In the original, this is merely symbolic, but in the dub it's far more of a bond that transcends time itself.

* In the dub of the Virtual World arc, Noah's research was on ways to expand the digital world across the internet to improve its capabilities, and Gozaburo used that research for his plan to digitize all of mankind so he could rule the virtual world as a GodEmperor of humanity. In the original Japanese anime, Noah's research was on how to use Kaiba Corps' weapons systems to destroy most of the world's major cities, killing all but 3% of mankind, and he conducted this project just to prove his capabilities as a superhuman. Then when Noah failed to defeat Seto in their duel, Gozaburo decides to put Noah's plan into action because... because. It's implied the two have begun to go mad with power from being in the virtual world and transcending their humanity, but still; ''ruling'' the world makes much more sense than ''destroying'' it, at least for the Kaibas. In addition, Noah had ''no idea'' Gozaburo was alive and inside the Virtual World in the original, which made no sense given how long he's been there and how much control he has over it. In the dub, Noah was always working for Gozaburo, rather than it being a HijackedByGanon situation.

** Kaiba has a special disdain for Joey, who even gets dissed by his friends in the original. They are changed to be much more encouraging in the dub, so Kaiba's bullying stands out more. This makes a special, sometimes hilarious relationship between them that makes Joey seem plucky and less of a loser.

* In the Orichalcos filler arc (specifically, the Yami vs. Weevil rematch), the dub replaces Yami Yugi shouting "MONSTAH CARDO" with Creator/DanGreen's glorious poison-tipped snark. ([[LargeHam "THIS JUST ISN'T YOUR DAY!!!"]])

* The biggest change is the Shadow Realm, something that didn't exist in the original anime. In an attempt to {{Bowdlerize}} the implications of violence and/or death for losing a Shadow Game, 4kids changed many of these moments into the loser having their soul (and in rare cases, their body as well) imprisoned in the Shadow Realm. This also came with the explanation that defeating someone who had sent souls to the Shadow Realm previously would release those souls, which made it easier to swallow when those "dead" characters came back to life after the season's BigBad was defeated. This has the additional benefit of turning Yugi's duel against mind-controlled Joey (the one duel in the first series where the threat of death is not {{Bowdlerize}}d [[note]]They probably got away with this because [[EverybodyLives it ended in a draw]] [[/note]]) into an even more shocking moment then it would otherwise have been.

* In the duel where Yami Yugi battles a Rare Hunter with all five pieces of Exodia the Forbidden One, in the Japanese version his Exodia cards are all fakes, while in the dub they're real cards marked with invisible ink so that he can scan with special contact lenses so he can see when he's about to draw a piece. While using fake cards is certainly illegal and amoral, using marked cards is a far more serious violation. This also patches up a later plot hole where it is stated that fake cards won't work in [=KaibaCorp=] duel disks anyway. Also, this change is more in-line with the manga as the Rare Hunter used real cards marked with invisible ink instead of fake cards in his duel against Yami Yugi in the manga.

* In the dub version of episode 28 of Duelist Kingdom, Pegasus plans to send Tea, Tristan, and Bakura to the Shadow Realm after they learn his secrets, explaining that the dueling rituals they discovered channel the magic of the Shadow Realm, every soul sent there increases the power of his Millennium Eye, and he needs Bakura's Ring as well as the other Items in order to have the power of life over death, so Yami Bakura stops him before harm can come to the others or his host. In the Japanese version of the same episode, Pegasus demonstrated his mind-reading powers before Yami Bakura stopped him, with no explanation for the ancient duel rituals or the cult in his basement. The same episode has Yugi's grandpa and the Kaiba brothers, pleading with Yugi to stop Pegasus for the world's sake, since his powers would be amplified even further with the Puzzle, and with ''all'' the Items he could unleash Armageddon (it's hinted that it would be by ''accident'', which is true to canon as putting all seven Items together at this point would resurrect Zorc the Dark One). The sub had Grandpa tell Yugi he was in pain and to rescue him quickly, which doesn't explain the Kaiba brothers' presence in the vision or have the same sense of urgency.

** Kaiba has a special disdain for Joey, who even gets dissed by his friends in the sub. They are changed to be much more encouraging in the dub, so Kaiba's bullying stands out more. This makes a special, sometimes hilarious relationship between them that makes Joey seem plucky and less of a loser.

* The biggest change is the Shadow Realm, something that didn't exist in the original anime. In an attempt to {{Bowdlerize}} the implications of violence and/or death for losing a Shadow Game, 4kids changed many of these moments into the loser having their soul (and in rare cases, their body as well) imprisoned in the Shadow Realm. This also came with the explanation that defeating someone who had sent souls to the Shadow Realm previously would release those souls, which made it easier to swallow when those "dead" characters came back to life after the season's BigBad was defeated.

* Kaiba's reaction to losing to Yugi in the Battle City Finals is somewhat less immature and slightly more dignified in the dub than it was in the Japanese anime. For elaboration, see the Wangst entry above.

* The biggest change is the Shadow Realm, something that didn't exist in the original anime. In an attempt to {{Bowdlerize}} the implications of violence and/or death for losing a Shadow Game, 4kids changed many of these moments into the loser having their soul (and in rare cases, their body as well) imprisoned in the Shadow Realm. This also came with the explanation that defeating someone who had sent souls to the Shadow Realm previously would release those souls, which made it easier to swallow when those "dead" characters came back to life after the season's BigBad was defeated. On the other hand, this approach didn't come without repercussions as, 4kids being 4kids, they were overzealous and inserted the Shadow Realm into duels that ''weren't'' Shadow Games specifically to remove any violent implements even when they were painfully obvious (Arkana's buzzsaws[[labelnote:*]]called "Dark Energy Disks", literally just the buzzsaw digitally altered to look like it was made of light[[/labelnote]] and Lumis/Umbra's 40-story drop[[labelnote:*]]the explosive to shatter the glass roof was renamed a "Shadow Box", even though the 40-story drop was completely intact[[/labelnote]] are the biggest offenders).
* Some moments in the original anime of Tea and Tristan mocking Joey before or during duels were either cut or turned into one or both of them supporting him in the dub, which makes more sense since they're all friends and the teasing that they give him is almost as bad as the teasing Kaiba gives him, which makes the treatment that Joey gets from his friends very needlessly mean-spirited.
** This is especially noticed during the Duelist Kingdom arc in the dub where even though they still teased him occasionally, they were still very supportive of Joey and believe in his abilities, which is also more closer to how the manga portrays the support Joey gets, whereas the Japanese version of the anime has Joey being belittled by his friends practically all the way through.

* The dub makes Kaiba more of a {{Jerkass}} that refuses to believe in anything anything mystical, renouncing it all as "fairy tales". This adds to his dynamic with Yami Yugi, who tries to convince Kaiba he should learn more about their shared history and destiny. Kaiba himself had a rough past that he wants to put behind him, which gives him more reason of why he wouldn't want to address the past in general.

** In a similar vein, there's Marik's reason for dueling Yugi. In the original, Marik simply wants to kill Yugi, which really doesn't explain his convoluted plans that center around a children's card game when he could simply find a gun and shoot Yugi. In 5he dub, Marik wants the power within the Millennium Puzzle, which by the laws of magic requires him (or a mind-controlled minion) to defeat Yugi in a duel.