Name: (English) Seto
Kaiba
Name: (English) Seto
Kaiba
Birthday: October 25
Age: 15 (at Japanese debut - 16 at English), 20 (at end)
Hair: Brown
Eyes: Blue
Height: 6'1"
Weight: 143lbs (someone feed him! My brother is 6' and weighs 150lbs, and he's so thin it's scary...)
Blood Type: A
Family: Mokuba Kaiba, younger brother; Gozaburo Kaiba, adoptive father (deceased); Noa Kaiba, adoptive brother (deceased)
Status: President Kaiba Corp., high school student (1st year at Japanese debut?), Duel Monsters World Champion (at debut)
Quote:
Anime: Yu-Gi-Oh! Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Voice: (English) Eric Stuart (Japanese) 1st series: Hikaru Midorikawa, 2nd series: Kenjiro Tsuda
History and Personality: Seto Kaiba , is the main rival of Yugi Mutou (Yugi Muto in the English anime) in the trading card game Duel Monsters (originally Magic and Wizards). In the English Yu-Gi-Oh! Eternal Duelist's Soul video game, Kaiba's name is given in surname first order, and rendered Kaiba Seto. In all versions of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Kaiba is called by his family name, Kaiba, by most of the characters.
Kaiba is the majority shareholder and President of his own multi-national company, KaibaCorp. Arrogant and self-centered, Kaiba aims to become the world's greatest duelist; to do so he must defeat Yugi, who to his humiliation, defeats him numerous times. Kaiba was the reigning World Champion, and was undefeated, before he dueled Yugi.
One of Seto's recurring traits is his absolute refusal to believe in the powers of magic often used in the series; he convinces himself where necessary that it is all tricks and illusion. This is often very exaggerated in the English version of the anime; later on during sagas like Waking the Dragons - in the Japanese he openly admits to believing in all the supernatural events occurring around him by this time instead of just ignorantly saying they don't exist as he does in the English anime. He also has a certain contempt for Yugi's group of friends: he refers to them constantly with derisive nicknames such as, in the English anime, "the dweeb patrol" or "the geek squad".
Anime series 1 (not aired outside of Japan) and manga- In the first series anime, Kaiba has green hair, while in the manga, Toei's Yu-Gi-Oh! movie, and the second series, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, Kaiba has brown hair. The first series TV series has not been translated into English and therefore not shown on TV in English-speaking nations. In the original Japanese version of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Kaiba omits honorifics and has a "rude" pattern of speech. Kaiba uses the word ore to mean "I" instead of the usual boku; ore is a boastful way to say "I" in Japanese. Kaiba usually calls Katsuya Jonouchi (Joey Wheeler) names, such as bonkotsu (mediocre), make inu (pathetic dog, loser), and zako (small fry, weakling). This name calling was carried over to the English anime.
Certain cards that come into Kaiba's possession play a significant role in the series. Kaiba acquires 3 of the 4 Blue-Eyes White Dragons in the world (the fourth belonging to Sugoroku Mutou (Solomon Muto in the English anime), which Kaiba later destroys). Later, in the Battle City Tournament, he is given the Egyptian God Card, called The God of the Obelisk in the English manga, and Obelisk the Tormentor in the English anime (the card is known in Japan as Obelisk no Kyoshinhei). In the English Dubbed anime, Kaiba claims that his first words were "Neutron Blast Attack". In the manga, the four Blue-Eyes White Dragon cards were possessed by an American, a German, a Hong Konger, and Sugoroku Mutou (Solomon Moto in the English anime) of Japan, Yugi's grandfather. Kaiba took the cards belonging to the former three using force: by either forcing the person into bankruptcy, by making deals with the mafia, or by forcing the person to commit suicide.
In the case of the fourth, Kaiba replaces the actual card with a copy after he asks Yugi to see it again. Yugi figures out that the card he received is a counterfeit, and Kaiba whacks him with his metal briefcase upon finding out that Yugi isn't fooled by the copy. Dark Yugi wins a game of Duel Monsters and places a penalty game on Seto, causing Seto to feel the sensation of dying while he isn't really dying; Yugi gives his grandfather the real card back. Several chapters later, Kaiba kidnaps Mr. Mutou and forced him into a duel. When Sugoroku Mutou loses, Kaiba tears up the fourth card and forces him into a virtual reality torture. Sugoroku Mutou barely survives. Yugi agreed to go through the theme park of death, Death-T. Dark Yugi (Yami Yugi) later duels Seto and wins. In revenge, Yugi places a penalty game on Kaiba, destroying the part of his heart with evil in it. The first and second series anime have similar plots at Death T. Death-T has many traps that are meant to kill Yugi, his friends, and a stubborn baby named Johji; the traps included a serial killer known as the Chopman, giant falling cubes, tazers and toy guns (which were actually real stun guns with 100,000 volts) and virtual-simulated replicas of Dark Yugi's penalty games, where the loser would die, as the pro-Kaiba audience cheered and Yugi's friends were held at gunpoint.
The first series has Jonouchi and Honda beaten up by Kaiba's suits when the two figure out that the card is a fake, and Kaiba manages to pull a draw against Dark Yugi instead of a loss, yet he still throws a fit over the draw. Kaiba then orders the four Gamemasters, Ledolly Sheldal, Ryuichi Fuha, Ailean Rao, and Daimon to defeat Dark Yugi, but they all fail, prompting Kaiba to activate the Death-T plans.
At a young age, Kaiba and his younger brother Mokuba were orphaned (their original surnames are unknown). Seto's mother died after Mokuba was born, and their father died in an accident when Seto was eight. Their relatives used up their inheritance and left them at the orphanage. When the former head of KaibaCorp, Gozaburo Kaiba, arrived at the orphanage to perform a publicity stunt, Kaiba saw the chance to challenge him to a game of chess, with Gozaburo forced to adopt Seto and Mokuba should he win. The different versions of the story differ on Seto's age: the manga and Japanese animated series states that Seto was ten years old, while the English animated series states that Seto was twelve.
Seto had won by studying Gozaburo's chess methods (cheating in the manga). But Gozaburo forced Seto into a rigorous accelerated school program, forcing him to study several subjects, including economics, social studies, foreign languages, and game strategy. Six years later, Seto Kaiba took over his step-father's company by gaining the 51% that he needed to be in control. In the manga, Gozaburo, provoked by Seto taking over and becoming CEO, committed suicide by jumping out of his office window. Gozaburo's death occurred six months before Seto dueled Sugoroku Mutou.
In the first series, Seto electrocutes Gozaburo after Seto takes over the company.
Second anime series (1st and only in English) - In the Second series Kaiba is still President of Kaiba Corp. and Yugi's primary rival. He is the reigning World champion of Duel Monsters and has never been defeated. He overhears Yugi and his friends talking about Grandpa's gaming shop and the Blue Eyes White Dragon, and show up at the shop demanding the card. he duels Granpa Moto and takes the card. He then ends up dueling Yugi. When he loses he tears the Blue Eyes so that no one else can have it. Grandpa keeps it despite this fact because it was given to him by a friend. After the duel Yami tries to cleanse the evil from Seto's mind, but this only throws Kaiba into a confused depression. Because Yugi defeated Kaiba at this time Kaiba no longer considers himself the champion and makes it his goal to defeat Yugi no matter the cost. Though he is not as 'evil' as he had been previously, he is still cold, arrogant, and rude. He appears in Duelist Kingdom when his little brother's soul is stolen by Pegasus. The demanded price for his return is for Seto to defeat him in the tournament. Seto has not previously entered so he gives him the chance to face him if he defeats Yugi Moto. Kaiba defeats Yugi by deliberately putting his own life in danger, knowing Yugi will not risk hurting even him. But he looses against Pegasus and his soul is also taken. The Kaiba brothers are saved along with everyone else when Yugi/Yami defeats Pegasus.
Once home Kaiba builds a theme park called KaibaLand (apparently one of his dreams has always been to build an amusement park for underprivileged children - which proves he can't be all bad), works on a virtual Duel Monsters game which goes out of control, and then decides to hold a tournament to win back his title from Yugi. At this time his 'ancient past' as an Egyptian is revealed to him by Ishizu, but he will not accept it. He is completely focused on the tournament, and is only concerned that Marik and his cronies keep interrupting his plans. Despite this Seto plays a key role in the battle for the God cards. In the middle of all this a new enemy arises and his goal is to destroy Seto. Yugi and his friends are dragged with Kaiba and Mokuba into a virtual world where they are separated and forced to Duel for survival. It turns out that the person behind all of this is the natural son of Gozaburo Kaiba, Noa, who feels that Seto stole his father from him. In truth, Seto didn't know about Noa at all because Noa had been badly injured before Gozaburo adopted him. Gozaburo had transferred Noa's mind in to a computer in the hopes of saving him, but had given up eventually and adopted Seto for his genius. As a form of revenge Noa tries to steal Mokuba's affections. In this arc we learn quite a bit about Seto's past including the fact that he bought Kaiba corp out from under his adoptive father and that Kaiba Corp was originally a company specializing in the manufacture of weapons of mass destruction, but when Seto took control of KaibaCorp, KaibaCorp became a company that manufactured game equipment. When Noa is defeated and 'redeemed' (because villains in Yu-Gi-Oh! are never evil - always "misguided") and they return to Kaiba's tournament it turns out that he is holding the finals on an island that was used as a testing facility under his adoptive father. Apparently Kaiba is trying to throw off his past. Unfortunately for him he loses once again to Yugi.
In the Atlantis arc Kaiba and Joey are elevated to almost equal status with Yugi as far as being 'heroes' goes. Kaiba receives one of the three legendary dragons and the three teens must work together to save the world. Amazingly, in the ENglish, Kaiba manages to maintain both his adamant belief that magic does not exist, and his mocking scorn of Yugi and Joey through the entire ordeal. But he does help save the world (for once, he wasn't in the way ^_^) Afterwards he is found once again a primary catalyst as he starts yet another Card tournament - the Grand Prix! This one is by invitation only and, yet again, one of Kaiba's old enemies resurfaces. This time it's a crazy German who's family owned a rival gaming company. As Kaiba sees the man as beneath him Yugi ends up having to bail everyone out.
The final arc finds a reluctant Kaiba dragged into Yugi's mess (for once - usually it's Yugi having to defeat Kaiba's enemies ^_^) and headed for a vision of ancient Egypt. As far as I can recall Kaiba doesn't actually do much that is useful this season except to influence his ancient self and meet the love of his past life. However, this incident definitely forces him to accept the magic and 'spiritual' things that have been happening around him. And he might have gained a grudging respect for Yugi and the gang (finally.)
Past life - Kaiba's given name, Seto, is the Japanese phonetic equivalent of the ancient Egyptian deity Set, the god of chaos, war and storms in Egyptian mythology. That is who he is named for. Kaiba is the reincarnation of Priest Seto (a.k.a. Set, sometimes called Seth by fans), the ancient Egyptian Priest from the reign of the Pharaoh Atem (Dark Yugi a.k.a. Yami Yugi or Yu-Gi-Oh or Yami) who was Pharaoh Atem's cousin (though he did not know it). He owned the Millennium Rod and was one of the six Inner Council members guarding the Millennium Items (Atem held the seventh item, the Puzzle). Seto was in charge of enforcing peace and punishing criminals, and justice was what he cared about most. Seto rebelled against Atem at one point and lost. At this point the Memory arc and the visions shown to both Kaiba and Yami at the beginning of the Battle City Arc seem to contradict one another slightly. In the visions Seto is seen as the ultimate enemy of the Pharaoh and implied to be a villain. However, in the memory arc Seto was the one most devoted to the Pharaoh. When Aknadin revealed himself to be Seto's father, which made Atem his cousin, he became confused, this led to his being controlled by his father and forced to battle Atem. However, when his father used Kisara he was able to shake free and ended up helping Atem once again. In this arc he appears to be true and loyal and not at all evil or power hungry as the first visions implied. As if to reaffirm this, just before Atem was sealed into the puzzle he named Seto as heir to the Egyptian Throne. The battle is shown in the stone tablet Ishizu showed Seto (who refused to accept it). The Millennium Rod eventually opened Seto's eyes to accept the truth, though he still has some doubts.
In his past life, it is suspected that Seto either loved or had a deep feeling of friendship for Kisara, a girl with the legendary Blue Eyes White Dragon as a Ka. Unfortunately, before it became clear which was the case, she died due to his father sealing her Ka into a stone tablet. This helps explain Kaiba's connection with the Blue Eyes, though only on a superficial basis. Kisara, the original manifestation of the Blue Eyes, represented sacrifice in that she would help save Priest Seto from the darkness after Seto was possessed by the then evil Akunadin, and then, as the Blue Eyes White Dragon, serve to protect Priest Set and the kingdom in the final battle against Thief King Bakura and Zorc.
Present day Seto Kaiba, on the other hand, seemed rather unaffected when he witnessed the death of Kisara when he was inside the Memory World. To him, the Blue Eyes represented only ultimate power and domination in the game of Duel Monsters. In his past life, as Priest Seto, he seemed to be a more humble, caring human being. His sense of duty prevailed over his ego, and he felt so deeply for Kisara that he actually cried at her death.
Yu-GiOh! GX - Though not seen much in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX series, Kaiba is referred as the one who set up Duel Academy (Duel Academia) and named the dormitories personally. He made several appearances, the first being when he made a bet on his ownership of the school. He seemed bold and had full confidence in the duelist representing Duel Academy, Chazz Princeton (Jun Manjoume), would win despite the unfair advantage in the duel. During the second year, he also appears in Jaden Yuki's (Judai Yuki) flashback, announcing a card illustration project, and again when he allows Sartorius (Takuma Saiou) the use of KaibaLand during the Academy's field trip. The Duel Monster spirit "Kaibaman" who duels against Jaden is based on Seto Kaiba and uses the same deck, including his three Blue-Eyes White Dragons.
Relationships: The only person Seto Kaiba seems to care for at all is his younger brother, Mokuba. When they were in the orphanage many people wanted to adopt Seto because of his intelligence, but he refused to go without Mokuba. Gozaburo was the only one willing to take them both - and that was because he wanted to use Seto to motivate Noa. Mokuba seems to almost worship his brother, who would do anything to protect him, and sees only his good points. Mokuba eventually becomes friends with Yugi and the gang and uses his influence over his older brother to get him to treat them a little better (but not much).
Seto sees Yugi as his only true rival. It has become his goal to defeat Yugi no matter the cost. He develops a grudging respect for Yugi, though not for the rest of the shorter teen's friends.
Seto's only other notable relationship is with Joey Wheeler. The two seem to have a genuine contempt for each other. Joey wants to be recognized as a formidable duelist, and Kaiba insists that he is a joke. They like to call one another names, though Seto nearly always has the upper hand even in those contests. It doesn't appear as though their 'relationship' will ever improve, as Kaiba steadfastly overlooks every helpful think Joey does and instead focuses on his (admittedly) low intelligence.
Deck: Power deck. Although Kaiba's best known cards are his three Blue-Eyes White Dragons and the fusion monster formed from the three dragons, the Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, other Duel Monsters Cards have been utilized in his deck, including the XYZ series. Kaiba appears to favor the Beatdown type of strategy, meaning using cards and monsters that completely overpower his opponents. His deck has often been referred to as a "Power Deck", and others have called it a Virus deck (referencing Giant Germ, Crush Card and Virus Cannon). In the earlier episodes, most of the cards in his deck are high attack power monsters. As the series goes on, his deck evolves even more showcasing many bizarre yet effective strategies. From Battle City onward, his deck mostly is dominate with Dragon monsters with high attack power although some of his older cards are seen. His deck now has many support cards for his Blue Eyes-White Dragons (Such as Lord of Dragons, Flute of the Summoning Dragon and Paladin of White Dragon), making summoning them an easy task. In later episodes, his deck becomes more focused on removing his monsters to the out of play zone and returning them to the field to overwhelm his opponents (especially with the XYZ monsters), yet he is able to execute this strategy while remaining consistent with his Beatdown strategy. This deck was also seen on Yu-Gi-Oh! GX being used by Kaibaman, a Duel Monster Kaiba had created in his image.
Monster Cards-
Magic Cards-
Trap Cards-
Trivia:
Why we love him: Because we're sadists... no, umm... because women are attracted to power. Plus, they always throw in these little things to remind you that Kaiba isn't as cold-hearted as he tries to make himself out to be. Sure he's full of himself, but he's also adorably over protective of his little brother. And every time you think he's completely selfish he steps in to help save the people he claims to despise. He just can't seem to help himself.
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