Can I just say that Yugi is one of my favorite protagonists of all time.
Yugi is so fucking powerful.
And I don’t mean Atem. I mean Yugi.
Forgiveness is so fucking powerful. He’s so intensely, ferociously kind and completely unstoppable at the same time.
To be able to recognize that someone who is hurting you is doing so because they’re in pain and then doing everything in your power to help them is the strongest fucking thing you can do. And he’s not a pushover. He’s not weak. But the cycle of hatred and revenge ends with him because he is strong.
He stood up for two people who bullied him because he knew hurting people was wrong and wanted to end it. He wasn’t going to gleefully watch. When he learned what happened to Marik he was horrified even after everything Marik has done, and he did literally everything he could do to make sure this was set right. (Leading to Marik getting my favorite redemption arc of all time.) Yugi will do whatever it takes to protect everyone and help those who need it.
The idea that Atem is Yugi’s mentor is so fucking backwards. Yugi was always strong. Atem didn’t teach him that, he taught Yugi to be confident in his strength.