During the four year run of Yu-Gi-Oh!'s original series, Yugi and the gang were faced with foe after foe set on world domination. From Maximillion Pegasus to Zorc Necrophades, the show certainly had no shortage of dastardly evils to be defeated in a race to save the world, and with each season came a whole new world of darkness.
However, the subsequent spin-offs introduced some interesting antagonists of their own and showed viewers that evil didn't suddenly disappear after the original show ended. With such a wide variety of villains to choose from, it is safe to say that some left their mark better than others.
10 Zigfried Von Schroeder
When season five of the original series came around, many viewers were eager to put the filler of the previous season behind them and finally uncover the secrets of ancient Egypt. The show's creators, on the other hand, had different ideas. During the KC Grand Championship arc, several noteworthy duelists test their mettle against one another.
It is here we are introduced to Zigfired, a pompous and rich man with many parallels to Kaiba. Yet, despite the obvious comparison to everyone's favorite spoiled millionaire, Zigfried is out of the picture rather quickly and he doesn't quite measure up in the villain department.
9 Noah Kaiba
During yet another filler arc of the original series, the gang enter a virtual world and find themselves at the mercy of its mysterious architect.
The boy reveals himself to be Seto and Mokuba's step-brother, who almost lost his life in an accident and had his mind preserved in this world by Gozaburo, his biological father and the adoptive father of the other two Kaiba boys. Noah ends the arc by redeeming himself, but it's still an unexciting end to an unexciting storyline and he is soon forgotten along with the world he controlled.
8 Nightshroud
Yu-Gi-Oh! GX is far more lighthearted for most of its run than its predecessor, but its answer to the previous series's final villain is Nightshroud, a mysterious entity teased since the first season.
When he finally reveals himself, he threatens to engulf the world in darkness unless Jaden can defeat him in a duel. Pretty high stakes, and Nightshroud certainly comes off as threatening, but there are more memorable villains still and he ends up fading into the darkness he swore to unleash on the world.
7 Zorc Necrophades
During the climax of the original series, Zorc reveals himself as the true evil that was behind what happened in Egypt all those years ago, and he will stop at nothing to see to the destruction of the Pharaoh who opposed him.
All hope seems lost when he defeats the most powerful god monsters, along with the unstoppable Exodia, but the Pharaoh proves himself the true savior of the world by calling forth Holactie and banishing Zorc for good. He's a terrifying and powerful villain, if a bit one-dimensional.
6 Number 96
During Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL, it is revealed that Astral went up against Don Thousand thousands of years prior and sealed him away to protect everyone else. But when a portion of Don Thousand's soul was placed within Astral, Number 96 was born.
A menacing force, Number 96 desired the destruction of the world while also claiming all the Numbers did, too. He is not to be trifled with, and comes tantalizingly close to defeating Yuma and Astral over the course of the series.
5 Yubel
Despite the fact that Yu-Gi-Oh! GX starts off light-hearted and easygoing, the later seasons grow darker and pack more of an emotional punch. Nobody exemplifies this more than Yubel, who feels abandoned by Jaden when he sends her dueling card into space, hoping she will take on more heroic traits like his other cards.
As he is a reincarnation of the boy she swore to protect in a past life, she wants nothing more than to be with him forever, even if that means destroying any and all who would stand in her way. In the end, she redeems herself and fuses her own soul with Jaden's to save him, renouncing her villainous actions.
4 Dartz
The fourth season of Yu-Gi-Oh!'s original run is widely regarded as the worst for deviating from the show's Egyptian roots and ignoring the rules of the game, but the main antagonist of the Waking The Dragons arc is no joke. The former King of Atlantis, Dartz's mind has been corrupted by the power of the Orichalcos and he seeks the soul of the Pharaoh and the power of his Egyptian Gods to awaken the Great Leviathan.
Some of the season's twists and turns might be ridiculous, but Dartz cements himself as one of the show's most evil and merciless bad guys, making the freeing of his mind and return to his former, good-natured self all the sweeter by the end.
3 Maximillion Pegasus
Pegasus is a staple of the Yu-Gi-Oh! name even twenty-one years later, due in no small part to the fact that he is the first major antagonist faced by Yugi and co. An eccentric, flamboyant man, he lures Yugi to his private island for a tournament so he can seize the boy's Millennium Puzzle and seal his soul away.
His motives turn out to be quite a bit more tragic than other villains, as he is seeking to resurrect his deceased wife with the power of the Millennium Items, and viewers cannot help but feel sorry for him. It's an emotional level no other villain has really achieved since.
2 Marik Ishtar/Yami Marik
Marik initially seeks to claim all three Egyptian God cards so he can unlock the power of the Pharaoh, harboring a resentment towards the ancient Egyptian king for being forced to guard his tomb for years. But it is only when his darker half emerges and takes control of his body that he realises how terrible he has been, as Yami Marik is miles more sadistic and twisted than his good half.
It's easy to understand how both versions of the young tomb keeper are fan favorites, with both bringing their own unique flavor of deviousness to the table and earning their spot on this list.
1 Yami Bakura/Thief King Bakura
In the first season of the original series, the spirit of the Millennium Ring possesses the young and innocent Bakura to challenge the Pharaoh to a duel. He crops up again several times throughout the show to take on Yugi's iconic deck, but it is not until the final season that he reveals himself as the true evil that has been hiding in plain sight all this time.
In the Memory World, he takes control of Thief King Bakura and puts his grand plan in motion in an attempt to reawaken Zorc Necrophades. While Yami Bakura and the Thief King are technically two separate entities(Yami Bakura is a combination of Zorc and Thief King Bakura's souls), they serve much the same purpose and are often confused for one another.
But the wait is worthwhile when Yami Bakura reveals himself and his battle with the Pharaoh throughout the season is incredibly memorable, earning him the top spot as the best villain Yu-Gi-Oh! has to offer.