Darkness—literally, it means "darkness."
But in the world of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, it's not just a name. It's a real being.
Its true form is a six-winged, goat-headed demon that represents the law of the world: Darkness. Its actual identity? The doomed future of humanity.
Yes, its very existence is the "end" of mankind.
In terms of cosmological rank, this isn't some mid-arc villain you can casually compare to others.
In fact, with powers like mind control, memory erasure, memory reading and rewriting—not to mention being outrageously shameless—even in the final arc, no one could match it.
Even the protagonist, Jaden Yuki, only avoided brainwashing and being banished to the "World of Darkness" because he had two souls inside one body by that point.
And here's something many misunderstand:
In the world of Yu-Gi-Oh, it's never just about dueling.
You need to "spirit clash" first. If you can survive that, then you earn the right to play cards.
Across Yu-Gi-Oh!, GX, 5D's, and ZEXAL, every time the supernatural couldn't kill someone, the villain had to fall back on a guaranteed-kill Shadow Duel.
In the original timeline, Atticus Rhodes lost his memory due to an accident and was brainwashed by Darkness, believing himself to be Darkness, becoming one of the Seven Stars tasked with unsealing the Sacred Beasts.
It wasn't until two years later, when the world began to change, that he began searching for his lost memories. He asked Jaden for help and finally realized the world was truly heading toward destruction.
But now, it seems due to the altered development of this world's dimensional dynamics, the final boss himself has sent an avatar to the stage early to stir things up.
Hikaru Amagi frowned and looked at Alexis Rhodes.
She looked completely torn, like she was fighting a war inside her own mind.
Hikaru wasn't surprised.
Darkness might act all high-and-mighty, posturing like it's an unstoppable god by the series' end—but why do fans still call it the most embarrassing final boss?
Simple.
It's because it's really just that shameless.
Plenty of characters could've beaten it in duels. Axel Brodie, for example, had a real chance—but Darkness manipulated his memories, made him think he killed his mother, and crushed him in despair.
This thing will do anything.
"Alexis… Are you really going to stand by again and let your brother fall?" said Dark Atticus, hand over his heart. "You saw it, didn't you?"
"I…" Alexis swayed unsteadily, the world spinning.
Yeah…
Her brother walked through that dimensional portal and never came back. She should've stopped him—but didn't. Why didn't she?
Wait. Why didn't she remember any of this until now?
"If you had stopped him… he would've stayed," Darkness whispered. "You know it. Doesn't matter how—you just had to do something."
"I…" Alexis clutched her head, trembling, tears in her eyes as she looked to Hikaru.
"Tch," Hikaru clicked his tongue.
Figures.
In the original, Alexis was only dragged into that world when Jaden was teleported. Now? It was Darkness's plan all along to bring her here.
"I activate Blazing Sword Field's effect!" Hikaru shouted, completely unfazed. He revealed a card in his hand. "I send Ancient Gear Knight to the Graveyard—Fusion Summon! Flame Swordsman!"
"Wait! Hikaru—please—!" Alexis moved as if possessed, grabbing onto his arm, pleading desperately.
"Alexis."
"!?"
"You do realize this is a Shadow Game, right?"
"...I do," she whispered, looking fragile and powerless. "But… there has to be another way! There must be! That's… that's my brother's body!"
She was practically on her knees. One more push and she'd probably say "I'll do anything."
Hikaru forcefully pulled her up.
"Listen to me, Alexis. This is a Shadow Game. Whoever loses has their soul sealed into that card."
"Yeah…"
"But don't you get it yet?"
"Get… what?"
"That's your brother's body!"
"!!"
Dark Atticus's expression twisted into irritation. "Alexis?"
"You really want this bastard to keep using your brother? To hurt more people? You want to become his pawn, blocking every challenger that comes after me?
"Or do you want me to beat this bastard, seal his soul into the card, and rescue your brother's body?"
"Because even a battered body is better than one stolen."
"…"
Alexis wiped away her tears, light returning to her eyes. The fog Darkness had cast over her mind began to lift, and she returned to being the Ice Queen of Obelisk Blue.
She let go of Hikaru's hand, turned around, and slapped herself twice—hard—forcing herself to calm down.
"I understand now. Hikaru, please… you must defeat him. Please… bring my brother back!"
She sniffled, then blushed, perhaps trying to lighten the mood. "And feel free to punch him a few times. It's his fault for disappearing without a word."
Looks like she was finally free from the mind control.
Hikaru shook his head.
This Darkness—its avatar wasn't very good. If it were stronger, Alexis wouldn't have snapped out of it so fast.
"Don't worry."
"You…" Darkness's expression darkened. "A girl clings to your arm and you're still thinking about something else? That's really starting to piss off the romance expert here."
Still pretending to be Atticus, huh?
"What nonsense," Hikaru muttered. "I'm going to become the strongest Fusion Duelist in the multiverse. Romance? It only gets in the way."
"…."
"…."
"I activate Future Fusion+ again—this time sending Burstinatrix to the Graveyard! Then I play Miracle Fusion!"
"I banish Burstinatrix and Avian from my Graveyard—Fusion Summon! Elemental HERO Flame Wingman!"
"But my monster still has higher ATK!"
"Blazing Sword Field effect! When a Warrior-type monster attacks, one Warrior on the field loses 1000 ATK, and all others gain 1000!"
"This is over—Flame Wingman, attack!"
Flame Wingman launched himself toward Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon.
"Tch—fine! I activate my face-down—Metalmorph!"
"This equips to a monster and increases its ATK by 300—"
"Heh." Hikaru smirked at the sight of that card.
Darkness may possess incredible supernatural powers—
But his dueling? Absolutely trash.
Why does he rely so much on tricks during duels?
Because he can't actually duel!
What good is that card now!?
"Then I activate my Trap—Flame Shackled Chain Dragon! I equip it to Flame Swordsman. Then I activate its effect—flip Red-Eyes Darkness Dragon face-down!"
Just as the dark dragon was about to receive its upgrade, a flaming chain lashed out, wrapped around it, and slammed it face-down into the ground, smothering its fire.
"Tch…" Darkness growled beneath the crackling flames. "Hikaru Amagi, huh… I'll remember you."
Darkness LP: 1050 → 0.
Heh.
"Brother!!" Alexis cried, noticing the glowing platform beneath them was fading fast.
In the next instant—
A flash of white light.
When Hikaru came to, he was lying on the beach near Duel Academy.
"Hikaru!?" "Alexis!?" Several students and teachers came running—drawn by the resonance of their keys.
Alexis immediately dashed to her brother's side and, realizing he was still breathing, sighed with relief.
Heh.
Conniving, underhanded, prone to dirty tricks, and absolutely terrible at dueling—but at least Darkness kept his word.
Hikaru smiled and stretched. The sun was rising.
Even if it was just an avatar, dueling someone of that level probably gave him a huge surge of energy, right?
Sure enough, he felt a warm current rising through his body.
Ah… thank y—wait.
Wait!!
Something was wrong.
His entire body felt hot. Too hot. His temperature was rising—fast!
Even just an avatar… it was too much energy!
His knees buckled, vision swimming.
"Hikaru!!!"
Thud.
As he collapsed, his last thought was—
At least… now I can try fusing a new card.