#the real reason kaiba quit duel monsters is because he fucking died playing duel monsters

[duelistkingdom]

kaiba going from a champion to getting got by some alantean king in s4 is an underrated character development arc

#the real reason kaiba quit duel monsters is because he fucking died playing duel monsters #he got better tho

[incorrectduellinksquotes]

Some fun blog lore

Duel Links has all sorts of funky ass lore, and I just want to establish which characters are NPCs and which ones are not. Its been a while since I made a post like this and just want update things.

DUEL MONSTERS:

Honda, Esper Roba, Haga, Ryuzaki, Isis and Rishid are the only real ones. Everyone else* is an NPC.

*Mai played somewhat in the early days, but has since quit playing. Yugi is an active player, but he plays under a fake name / avatar. Ryota became so notorious when Sea Stealth Attack dropped and he nearly one a KC cup that an NPC was made afterwards. 

GX: Judai, Judai/Yubel, Manjoume, Shou, Edo, Misawa, Johan, Rei, and Saiou are NPCs. Hell Kaiser, Professor Chronos, Asuka, Tyranno, and Yubel* are real. The Ojamas, along with all other duel spirits, were supposed to be NPCs, but have since been possessed by the real duel spirits that their cards represent. The two exception is Yubel, who has already been discussed, and Dark Master Zorc, who is Dead. Probably.

*Yubel sneaks on while Judai is asleep. Being soul fused with Judai is cool and all, but they miss having their own body at times, and Duel Links helps them with that

DSOD: Sera is an NPC. Jonouchi, Seto, Mokuba, and Scud (unfortunately) are real.

5DS: Ushio, Carly (normal), Rua, Ruka, and Jack are all real. The rest of team 5Ds and all of the Dark Signers are NPCs*

*Jury’s still out on Kalin. Ushio’s been trying to figure it out for months now and has been 100% unable to figure it out. There is a Jack NPC, but its... meh at best. Jack sometimes pretends to be said NPC to get fans off his back. 

Other: As mentioned, NPCs such as the Tour Guide from the Underworld and the Card Trader have been overshadowed by their duel spirits. Card Trader(EX) is a notable exception, and all the other NPCs are creeped out by how lifeless they are. The Vagabond & Vagrants are NPCs. “Standard Duelists” are real people. 

Roaming Duelists are real, with a possible exception to Dark Signer Kalin, whos status is already unknown even without that. Some leave after their roaming events, like Rei, or (once Professional Aster ends) Edo. Others stick around, such as Hell Kaiser ---> Hell Kaiser, and Super Joey ---> Jonouchi(DSOD).

This does leave a very interesting case for Fantastic Pegasus. Due to both DSOD and GX being canon to Duel Links, one of which being Manga Canon and the other being Anime Canon, we’ve got kind of a Schrödinger's Pegasus thing going on. Pegasus died in the manga, but was alive and kicking in GX. Is he dead? Maybe! The NPC Pegasus is very clearly based on the Manga, as seen in his eye color and white pants, and Fantastic Pegasus shares that design, so its possible Fantastic Pegasus is an NPC. 

Yami Bakura seems to be the only NPC aware of their status. Kaiba (DM) is aware of who is and who isn't an NPC, with exception to himself. Yami Bakura’s sentience perpetually confuses and frightens both Kaibas. Pegasus’ AI had to be completely overhauled because he went mad one time when he found out he was an NPC. He does not currently know.

Judai/Yubel thinks every GX Legendary Duelist is an NPC, but tries not to think about what that implies for themselves. The main reason they think this is because they think everyone from 5Ds is real, because otherwise they’re from The Future or they’re Also NPCs and that would imply MORE time travel and they just hope there was no time travel happening at all. Unbeknownst to them, there is most likely time travel at work. The other NPCs know something funky is going on because How The Hell Are There Two Judais, but nobody knows what the deal there is.

All of the 5Ds NPCs think they’re real, and think that each other are real. Dark Signer Carly has come into contact with Carly (normal) on multiple occasions, but has not seen anything odd about that at all, and they’re actually starting to become friends. Carly (normal), being a real person, is both slightly disturbed and heavily intrigued by this response. 

Carly (normal) is currently under the impression that Jack is an NPC. Ushio has respected Jack’s wishes and has not informed her that he’s real. Jack struggles remembering what she’s told him IRL and in game, and has to pretend he doesn't know certain things because that Definitely Wasn’t Him. IRL Team 5Ds finds this fucking hilarious, with exception to Aki who wants Jack to come clean.

Malik Ishtar, the real one, has been known to play, but despite their best efforts Isis and Rishid cannot find him. This wouldn't be a huge deal if he wasn't on a missing persons list and his siblings hadn’t seen him in years. Formerly Kaiba(DM) and currently Kaiba (DSOD) track his playtime, and act somewhat as correspondents to help the Ishtars on their search but attempts to track him in game have been fruitless. Yami Malik finds it interesting that he’s been separated from his other self, and has joined in on their search out of pure curiosity. Honda knows what's going on and keeps an eye out, but its a more passive effort than the others.

theres probably more stuff im forgetting but that's what I got for now