Game of Darkness
From WikiFic
A Game of Darkness (from the Japanese Yami no Geemu 闇のゲーム, or "Yami no Game", called a "Shadow Game" in the dub) is a contest generally between two people that involves a harsh penalty (sometimes called a "penalty game" in and of itself, though the Game of Darkness itself has also been called a "penalty game.") for the loser. In the dub, the loser of a Shadow Game is sent to the Shadow Realm, a concept which does not exist in the original anime or manga. In the dub universe, it is possible to stage a Shadow Game within the Shadow Realm, which is what Dark Bakura has done in most of his duels, especially those against Dark Yuugi. However, in the original manga and anime, the ability to change the battle field, link monsters to their owner, and so forth is simply a feature of a "Game of Darkness," not specific to being in a particular realm or location.
The Games of Darkness do not have to be in the form of a duel. They have also taken the form of physical challenges, such as the ability to stay completely silent, the ability to stab wads of money without stabbing one's hand, and so forth. More often in the anime and in latter parts of the manga, the Games only take the form of a duel involving monsters, magic, and traps.
In the Playstation video game Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories is revealed that Nitemare created the "Shadow Games."
In some versions of the Yu-Gi-Oh! story, the Games of Darkness are games played wherein the loser or someone who attempts to cheat at the games suffers a harsh penalty, such as being killed, losing his or her vision, and/or losing his or her soul, an illusion forced upon the loser, etc. In other versions, the games involve releasing monsters from stone tablets. This latter version of the game was played by Egyptian Pharaohs, and priests, with the fate of the world at stake.
The power of the monsters shown in duels is best be harnessed by the Millennium Items. Created for the purpose of defending Egypt, they were put into the possession of the Pharaoh and his six priests. However, Dark Bakura wishes to steal the Items all for himself, and tries to take the Items, both in Ancient Egypt and in the modern world. To do so, Bakura must play Games of Darkness, as the true ownership of the Item(s) in question will not transfer over if they are taken by any other means.
Generally, the rules of each "Game of Darkness" change based on the contestants in it. For example, when Pegasus J. Crawford duels Yuugi Mutou, the summoning of monsters and any subsequent destruction of monsters would drain the souls of the duelists. Moreover, the Games of Darkness can commence only after the challenger makes certain rules that do not give anybody an advantage, but can test the stamina of the duelists as well as the duelists' skills. For example, Dark Malik cannot simply say that all his monsters get an additional 10,000 attack points, but he can state that the destruction of monsters erases memory or drains life energy.
Millennium Items and the Games of Darkness
In the modern world, the possessor of a Millennium Item can challenge another person to a Game of Darkness, and if the other person loses, the loser is subjected to a certain power of the item (typically against their will). However, the challenge need not be accepted. Clever challengers will attempt to entice the other person into accepting the challenge by offering a reward if they win; in the English anime, the Shadow Realm would ensure the promised reward is given. The Millennium Puzzle can temporarily force foolproof illusions onto people involving any sense if they are defeated in a Game of Darkness. The Millennium Ring and Millennium Eye have been used to steal souls of losers and imprison them, typically in another object such as a card or stone tablet.
All Games of Darkness are possible for the person who is challenged to win. In the English dub of the anime, the Shadow Realm prevents anyone from cheating, even if the challenger attempts to rig the game.
A well-chosen Game of Darkness is difficult for the challenger to lose if the challenger takes advantage of knowledge about the other player's character flaws and/or weaknesses. A clever challenger will set the rules of the shadow game in such a way that unless the person overcomes the character flaw or weakness, they will lose, and there is a lot of flexibility in setting the rules. And the average victim is unaware of the fact that they are being tested that way, so they tend to fall right into the trap set by the challenger. An example is the duel between Malik Ishtar and Mai Kujaku during the Battle City quarter-finals, when each time they lose a monster, they lose a memory of a friend. This preys on Mai's fear of being alone, but while this stipulation also applies to Malik, he doesn't care, as he prefers to be alone. In this way, the rules of the Game of Darkness affect both players, but only one of the players suffers from such rules.
