Duke Devlin
Duke Devlin, known as Ryuji Otogi (御伽 龍児, Otogi Ryūji) in the manga and Japanese version, is the creator of Dungeon Dice Monsters and the owner of Black Clown, a game shop that rivals Solomon Muto's Kame Game. In the manga, however, Black Clown is owned by his father, known as Mr. Clown.
| Names | Duke Devlin, Ryuji Otogi (御伽 龍児, Otogi Ryūji) |
| Gender | Male ♂ |
| Race | Human |
| Occupation | Duelist, Gamer, Designer of Dungeon Dice Monsters, Shopkeeper, Student |
| Origin | Yu-Gi-Oh! Chapter 134: "The New Game" 新遊戯 Nyū Gēmu (December 22, 1999) (tankōbon volume) |
| Alignment | Reformed |
| Age | 16[1] |
| Height | 179 cm (5ft 10in)[1] |
| Weight | 64kg (141 lbs) (10.07 st)[1] |
| Created By | Kazuo Takahashi (Japanese: 高橋 一雅) |
| Personality Type | ISTP, 4w3 (Enneagram) |
| Voice Actors |  Japanese: Ryo Naito
|
Appearance
Duke has black hair tied into a ponytail and wears a black and red headband. His attire consists of a black shirt with a red vest, black pants, and brown shoes. He accessorizes with a sword necklace, gold arm bands, and a single dice-shaped earring.
Personality
Initially, Duke enjoys impressing others—particularly girls—with his dice tricks. He is cunning and well-informed, knowing about Yugi’s victory over Pegasus and questioning its legitimacy. Determined to prove that Yugi’s win was undeserved, he challenges him to Dungeon Dice Monsters. However, after Yugi defeats him fair and square, Duke realizes his mistake, apologizes for doubting Yugi, and becomes a close ally to him and his friends. From then on, he assists them whenever needed. Duke is also highly analytical during Duels, often pointing out key turning points—even the negative aspects. Additionally, he possesses impressive hacking skills, managing to bypass most of I²’s security, except for one final lock.
Biography
Background
Duke’s father, Mr. Clown, was once an apprentice to Solomon Muto. Years ago, he challenged Solomon to the Devil’s Board Game with the Millennium Puzzle at stake. However, he lost, causing him to age fifty years overnight. His face became so disfigured that he resorted to wearing a mask to conceal it. Consumed by vengeance, he claimed that Duke was born for the sole purpose of exacting his revenge. From childhood, Duke was repeatedly told the story of his father’s humiliating defeat.
Vowing never to forgive the Mutou family, Duke dedicated himself to game design, creating numerous games—including Dungeon Dice Monsters—as a means to challenge Yugi Mutou. His ultimate goal was to strip Yugi of everything he held dear and claim the Millennium Puzzle for himself.
To further their vendetta, Mr. Clown established the Black Clown game shop in Domino City, and Duke transferred to Domino High School, where Yugi was a student. He aimed to defeat Yugi, not only for revenge but also to claim the title of King of Games (ゲーム王 Game Ou in the original Japanese version).
The day before the Black Clown's grand opening, Duke stood beside his father as he handed out promotional balloons. It was then that he saw Yugi for the first time. Initially unimpressed, he found it hard to believe that such an unassuming child was regarded as a gaming prodigy.
In the anime, Duke invents Dungeon Dice Monsters and showcases it to Maximillion Pegasus shortly before the Duelist Kingdom tournament. Pegasus, impressed by the game’s mechanics, approves of its creation and suggests expanding it further. At Pegasus' request, Duke allows him to make changes, including the addition of Dark Magician as a playable monster. Pegasus also uses the game as a means to infiltrate KaibaCorp’s computer system.
However, after Pegasus mysteriously vanishes following his defeat by Yugi Muto, Duke assumes that Yugi must have cheated to overcome such a skilled gamer. Convinced that Yugi stole his title as King of Games, Duke vows to expose him as a fraud and take revenge.
Following the Duelist Kingdom tournament, Duke opens the Black Clown game shop, directly competing with Kame Game, and transfers to Domino High School, where Yugi and his friends study. He quickly gains popularity, particularly among the female students, thanks to his charm and dice tricks. Envious of Duke's growing reputation, Joey Wheeler challenges him to a game of Duel Monsters. The two agree on a wager—if Joey wins, Duke must close Black Clown, but if Duke wins, Joey must be his servant for a week.
Despite being the Duelist Kingdom runner-up, Joey is forced to use a Deck built from newly opened Booster Packs, as per Duke's rules. The Duel is held at Black Clown and is broadcast to an audience, with Duke hoping to publicly humiliate Joey. Initially, Joey dominates the match, dealing heavy damage to Duke’s Life Points while remaining unscathed. However, Duke ultimately turns the Duel around, depleting all of Joey’s Life Points in a single devastating move.
After losing his Duel against Duke, Joey was forced to uphold his end of the wager and became Duke’s servant. Taking the humiliation further, Duke made Joey wear a dog costume, much to the amusement of onlookers. Disgusted by Duke’s treatment of Joey, Yami Yugi stepped in, challenging Duke to a Duel to win back Joey’s freedom. However, Duke refused to play Duel Monsters and instead challenged Yugi to a match of Dungeon Dice Monsters. If Yugi won, Joey would be released, but if Duke won, Yugi would have to swear—on his grandfather’s life—never to play Duel Monsters again.
Duke broadcasted his match against Yugi, aiming to further establish the dominance of his game. With no prior experience in Dungeon Dice Monsters, Yugi initially struggled, allowing Duke to take an early lead. However, Yugi adapted quickly, making a series of comebacks and ultimately winning by utilizing the Dark Magician—a piece Pegasus had added to the game.
Realizing his mistake, Duke sincerely apologized to Yugi, admitting he had misjudged him and wrongly assumed he had cheated against Pegasus. As the match had been televised, Duke feared his actions would lead to bad publicity, making him appear as a villain. However, Yugi and his friends reassured him, praising the potential of Dungeon Dice Monsters and encouraging him to move forward. Soon after, Duke received an email from Industrial Illusions, confirming that they would assist in mass-producing Dungeon Dice Monsters and introducing it worldwide.
Battle City
Duke later returned during Seto Kaiba’s Battle City tournament, where he intervened to save Serenity Wheeler and Tristan Taylor from a group of Rare Hunters, meeting Mai Valentine in the process. He watched the rest of the tournament alongside the others and was shown to have a crush on Serenity, much to Tristan’s irritation.
Virtual World
During the Noah’s Virtual World arc, Duke was among those trapped in the digital realm when Noah Kaiba and The Big Five took control of the Battle City blimp. Alongside Serenity and Tristan, he faced off against Nezbitt of The Big Five in a Duel where the stakes were their bodies and the right to return to the real world. At a crucial moment, Duke drew the Dice Dungeon Magic Card, transforming the battlefield into a Dungeon Dice Monsters arena. With confidence, he taunted Nezbitt, saying, “You don’t know me, but let’s just say I know a thing or two about dice.”
Battle City Finals
Duke later assisted Joey after he collapsed following his grueling Duel against Yami Marik. He also cheered on Yugi during the Battle City finals. At the tournament’s conclusion, Duke parted ways with the group, discreetly slipping Serenity his phone number—an act that infuriated Tristan.
Waking the Dragons
During the Waking the Dragons arc, Duke reunited with Yugi and his friends after rescuing Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood, who had been lost in America. After confirming that they were allies of Yugi, he joined forces with the group to combat the Doma Organization. Duke later teamed up with Rebecca Hawkins in a tag-team Duel against Valon, using his cards to bolster Rebecca’s Dragon monsters. Despite summoning a powerful dragon, Duke and Rebecca were ultimately defeated by Valon’s Armor monsters. However, their souls were spared since Valon never activated The Seal of Orichalcos during the Duel. Duke was unable to support the group further, as he was elsewhere when Yugi and Kaiba faced Dartz.
KC Grand Championship
Duke accompanied Yugi and his friends during the KC Grand Championship. In the final episode, he casually mentioned having a date with Serenity, prompting both Joey and Tristan to furiously attack him—though it remained unclear whether he was joking or telling the truth.
Ceremonial Battle
During the Dawn of the Duel arc, Duke assisted in caring for Solomon Muto and contacted important figures, including Maximillion Pegasus, regarding Yugi’s absence. He later joined Yugi and the others for the Ceremonial Battle, witnessing the Pharaoh’s departure to the spirit world and the sealing of the Seven Millennium Items.
The Dark Side of Dimensions
Duke worked at his father’s café, where Jounouchi was also employed—though in a humiliating role as a dog mascot. In the English dub, when a girl commented on the oversized dog, Duke jokingly remarked that it was well-trained.
While serving Yugi, Téa, Tristan, and Bakura, Duke noticed Tristan repairing Joey’s Duel Disk and dismissed the effort as pointless. In the English dub, he instead remarked that Honda had a lot of guts for dismantling Joey's Duel Disk.
When Yugi came across news reports of people mysteriously disappearing, Duke contributed by mentioning an internet report about fifty individuals vanishing at once.
Later, Duke accompanied his friends to the airport to bid farewell to Téa, who was departing for the United States to pursue her dream of studying dance.
Powers and Statistics
Tier: 10-B
Dimensionality: 3D
Powers and Abilities: Illusion Creation (Can create holograms of monsters and cards with his Duel Disk), Skilled Strategist, Social Influencing, Hacking
Attack Potency: Human level
Speed: Average Human
Lifting Strength: Unknown
Striking Strength: Human level
Durability: Human level
Stamina: At least Average
Range: Standard Melee Range, Several meters with Illusion Creation
Standard Equipment: Deck, Dice
Deck
Random Cards
Duke’s first Deck consisted of cards obtained through a Duel against Joey Wheeler, where both Duelists agreed to build their Decks using only the cards pulled from several booster packs. Every card in this Deck came from the Thousand Eyes Bible expansion of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Official Card Game. In the TCG, this set was merged with the Pharaoh’s Servant expansion and released under the same name.
Virtual World
In the Virtual World, Duke’s Deck revolved around Dice cards, incorporating several monsters from his Dungeon Dice Monsters match with Yugi Mutou. This Deck primarily consisted of Zombie-Type monsters, complementing his dice-based strategy.
Intelligence: Above Average
Weaknesses: None notable
Theme
- ↑ Jump up to: 1.0 1.1 1.2 Yu-Gi-Oh! Character Guidebook: The Gospel of Truth. Shueisha. p. 30
