Character and Archetype: The Double Personality

The personality of the protagonist is very important. They are the one you stick with throughout the story, root for when times get tough and provide empathy for when they fall on hard times. But what happens if the main character has more than one personality? This is shown in the TV show Yu-gi-oh!¹ where the main character, Yugi Muto, has a second personality provided by his Millennium Puzzle.

Fig 1, Yugi and Pharaoh Atem character differences

Yugi² is a happy, innocent character, trying to search for the best in people and help out his grandpa. He is kind and thoughtful and gives everyone a second chance. He is also a big advocate for ‘the heart of the cards’ when during a match of Duel Monsters, where he tries to help people believe in themselves as well as their card decks. But he can become quite emotional and usually uses his friendships to guide and strengthen him. Other characters like this are Lucy from The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe³ and Bubbles from Powerpuff Girls⁴.

When Yugi fixes his Millennium Puzzle, which is an ancient item from Egypt where the game of Duel Monsters was supposed to have been founded, he unlocked a secret ancient personality embedded into it. That of Pharaoh Atem, also known as Yami Yugi, Yugi’s dark side and the Nameless Pharaoh⁵.

Atem is the anti-hero, a vigilante type character who has his own set of morals and values that differ from Yugi’s. Yugi will think of the safety of others before anything else, whereas Atem would think of the task at hand and doing anything to get the result he wants. Atem is a lot more confident in his abilities and helps to keep Yugi on task, trying to be emotional support for him. He takes control of Yugi’s body and mind when he feels Yugi or one of his friends is in danger. This results in Yugi’s entire character to shift back and forth between the two, and often there are internal battles between the two over what to do about the situation.

The change in character design is subtle but gets the point across. Although the two characters have the same voice actor⁶ he changes the tone of his voice from being quite high pitched and excitable for Yugi, to being deeper and more serious for Atem. They also change his appearance, keeping the same clothes and hairstyle but changing his eyes from being large and childlike to angular and more narrowed, giving him a more matured appearance. They also gave Yugi a bigger head and more clumsy appearance whereas Atem has a smaller head and has a longer, more confident stance.

Although they are both different personalities, you end up rooting for both of them and wanting them to get through to the end of their task, as in the end they just want to make a better world for the human race and that is something they both agree on.

Reference:

   (1)    Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, (2000)

   (2)    Wikia, (2015)

   (3)    CS Lewis, (1950)

   (4)    Powerpuff Girls, (1998)

   (5)    Wikia, (2015)

   (6)    Wikia, (2015)

Bibliography:

C. S. Lewis, 2002. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe (The Chronicles of Narnia, Book 1). Edition. London: HarperCollins.

Dan Green - Yu-Gi-Oh!. 2015. Dan Green - Yu-Gi-Oh!. [ONLINE] Available at: http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Dan_Green. [Accessed 22 March 2015].

Powerpuff Girls, The, 1998. [DVD] Craig McCracken, United States: Cartoon Network Studios.

Yami Yugi - Yu-Gi-Oh!. 2015. Yami Yugi - Yu-Gi-Oh!. [ONLINE] Available at: http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Yami_Yugi. [Accessed 22 March 2015].

Yugi Muto - Yu-Gi-Oh!. 2015. Yugi Muto - Yu-Gi-Oh!. [ONLINE] Available at:http://yugioh.wikia.com/wiki/Yugi_Muto. [Accessed 22 March 2015].

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, 2000. [DVD] Kunihisa Sugishima, Japan: Nickelodeon.