The Shadow Realm is known for being one of the Yu-Gi-Oh! the most terrifying topics in the franchise. This bizarre and cruel dimension could only be accessed with the power of the Millennium Items, with the souls of those who lost a game becoming trapped inside it forever. Once there, the hapless captured duelists would be tortured mercilessly, until their captors were defeated and their souls freed.
Despite how horrible this idea might be, the sequel series Yu-Gi-Oh! GX has its own version of this twisted world, surprisingly worse. The Dark WorldHome to the anime’s final antagonists, it was a place where humans would be forced to see their dreams shattered and confront their worst fears, until their will was broken and they became yet another slave to the Nightshroud.
The dark world breaks the will of any human being
No living person could hope to defeat his power
In episode #6 of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime, it is revealed that many Obelisk Blue students have mysteriously disappeared after performing an ancient dark ritual in their dormitory. This enigmatic occurrence was a recurring theme throughout most of the series, with one of Jaden’s best friends, Atticus, having been one of the duelists involved in the event. The truth behind the abandoned dormitory was not revealed until episode 159, in which the ritual was portrayed as performed by Fujiwara. Atticus’ best friend has successfully completed the steps to awaken the embodiment of darkness, the powerful and manipulative Nightshroud.
His actions led this evil force to take him back to his kingdom, the World of Darkness, a place full of nothing but shadows and nightmares. Those who enter this dimension are tortured every day, with the entities that live there forcing them to face their worst fears until their will is broken. When this occurs, the humans kidnapped by Nightshroud are forgotten by the people who knew them, effectively erasing them from history. They immediately become the shadowy creature’s willing puppets, following his every whim.
Nightshroud would then use them to hunt and challenge other humans, kidnapping them as well if they failed to defeat his ships. The duelists controlled by the personification of darkness were fully aware of their actions and could not free themselves from its influence. The dangerous entity did this to fulfill his desire to bring peace to the universe, as he believed that emotions and free will were the cause of all evil.
Nightshroud forced his slaves to hurt their loved ones
He used the opponent’s emotions against them
While the fact that Nightshroud used the duelists he kidnapped as harbingers of pain after depriving them of their will to live is scary enough, this isn’t by far the worst thing he’s done. Throughout the 4th season of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime, this creature’s ruthless nature was brought to light when he forced his slaves to duel against their loved ones. He would force them to do this knowing that their targets wouldn’t want to hurt them, making it easier for them to lose their duels.
This was best exemplified during episode 174, which features the infuriatingly unfair duel between Atticus and Fujiwara. The former spent most of the battle trying to appeal to his friend’s humanity, hoping to free him from Nightshroud’s control. Fujiwara took the opportunity to dominate his best friend, winning the duel and offering the soul of his once dear companion to the forces of darkness. Because he was fully aware of his actions during the encounter, Fujiwara was left with the memory of his friend being dragged into a world where he would be mercilessly tortured.
Doing so made the Blue Obelisk student feel responsible for Atticus’ fate, as proven by his fear and guilt when he was rescued from the darkness by Jaden’s powerful monsters. It’s fair to assume that most of the other duelists controlled by Nightshroud went through a similar experience, being forced to watch as they condemned their loved ones to be tortured and stripped of their humanity. A trauma like this will likely stay with them for the rest of their lives, continuing to torment them even after they are freed from their monstrous master.
Yu-Gi-Oh! GX is without a doubt one of the darkest and most innovative seasons of the franchise. While its first few episodes may seem like a light-hearted anime about a dueling school, this incredible show hides a multitude of gruesome details that prove it is a complex and mature story. This is one of the reasons why fans of this iconic series love Jaden’s adventures so much.