Téa Gardner, known as Anzu Mazaki in the Japanese version and manga, is one of Yugi Muto's best friends. Téa doesn't usually play games with Yugi and his friends, but at the start of the anime, she could beat Joey Wheeler in Duel Monsters and was later shown to be more than competent against others. Téa is also very good at dancing and wants to be a pro dancer when she grows up. Throughout the series, Téa serves as the love interest of the main protagonist Yugi Muto, joining him and their companions on a number of adventures, serving as the lone female member of the group for the majority of the series. She is warm, supportive, and kindhearted, possessing a strong will and determined philosophy of standing by her friends no matter the cost. Though not a full-time duelist like Yugi and their acquaintance Kaiba, Téa has demonstrated impressive dueling skills on a number of occasions, unbelievably having never lost a match despite her lack of experience in actually playing the game herself.
Appearance[]
Téa Gardner
In the manga, Anzu originally had a conventional, short hairstyle. Her first color image, seen in Duel 1, featured dark brown hair and amber eyes. As Takahashi continued drawing the manga, Anzu gained more feminine and cute facial features. Her hair style became longer and less conventional. Color images from Volume 3 and onward portray her hair as a lighter brown color. Sometimes her eyes are blue and sometimes they are reddish brown. By the last volume of the manga, Anzu's hair touches her shoulders. Anzu's usual outfit is the standard female Domino High School uniform, consising of a pink coat, a white oxford shirt, a blue tie, and a blue pleated skirt, though she does not stick to any usual casual outfit and wears several throughout the series.
In the first series anime, her hair and eyes are of a reddish brown color. Her school uniform color differs; her coat is orange and her tie and skirt are green. In the amusement park episode, she wore a light-green bikini.
In the second series anime, Téa is shown as a very lovely young woman with brown hair and blue eyes. On occasions she wore the school uniform colored in the same manner as in the manga. Her brown shoulder-length hair is sectioned into two layers, consisting of a darker shade of brown inner layer, with the outer layer of a lighter shade.
During the first season of the anime, her usual outfit is comprised of a yellow shirt, which flows like a skirt at her thighs, with a pink waistcoat over it, and a blue miniskirt. A pair of brown knee-high boots completed her ensemble.
In the second and third season, her clothes consists of a light green tank buttoned shirt with yellow collar, pink and blue bracelets, jean short shorts with a light blue belt, white thigh-high socks, and blue platform sandals. She also wears a yellow tank-top with the word "SPIRIT" on it (which was removed from the dub) and a red skirt on occasion in the second season.
She also wears another outfit: a yellow tube-top, red choker, light pink shorts, black thigh-high socks, red platform sandals, and a pink jacket. In the fourth and fifth season she wears a black sleeveless shirt that reveals her belly button, a red skirt and a pair of white high-heeled boots. During the trip to Industrial Illusions, she wears a white jacket over a red tank top, a pleated yellow skirt, and tan boots and she also wears the same outfit at the KC Grand Championship.
In the 4th season, she wears a yellow jacket, blue shirt and short shorts. In the 4th episode of said season, she wears a black tank top which slightly covers her belly button, navy short shorts with a gray belt, and yellow wristbands.
In the Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monsters miniseries, her clothes consist of a dark pink jacket, light green shirt, with a beige and necktie, an emerald-green skirt and brown boots.
Personality[]
At the beginning of the manga, Anzu has a spunky, tomboyish personality and was able to scare away Joey (Jonouchi) and Tristan (Honda) after they bully Yugi. She's very kind-hearted, strong-willed and supportive.
In the second series anime, she is usually shown to be cheering her friends on and standing up for what she believes in; it is also shown that she will do anything to help her friends. She plays the role of the strong, down-to-earth, caring, compassionate voice of reason of the group.
She is also shown to feel more affection towards Yugi than the Pharaoh in this series (hinted at during the final Duel, and during the Waking the Dragons arc). She is also shown to get easily jealous, such as when Mai (initially), Rebecca and Vivian flirt with Yugi — sometimes to the point where she has an explosive outburst.
Despite her strong bond of friendship, Téa is not above keeping the others, mainly Joey and Tristan, in line when they get out of control or act foolishly. She often says "I need more female friends", yet she loves them deeply. Because of this, Téa serves as something of a sister-figure to her friends.
Etymology[]
Her Japanese name "Anzu" means "apricot" while her surname "Mazaki" means "Cape of truth".
Her English dub name "Téa" is a shortened form of "Dorothea" or "Theodora" means "gift of god" while her surname "Gardner" could be a corruption of the word "guard" or "the one who guards", reflecting her role as Yugi's "guardian" to some degree. It's also possible that her name is a joke on Tea and Gardening.
Biography[]
Duelist Kingdom[]
Téa defeats Joey in Duel Monsters five times at school, with four of the Duels being off-screen.
Téa draws symbols on her, Yugi, Joey and Tristan's hands to symbolize their friendship before Yugi faces Kaiba, after Kaiba tears up Solomon Muto's "Blue-Eyes White Dragon".
Téa and Tristan sneak onto the boat to Duelist Kingdom to support Yugi and Joey in the tournament. Téa mostly stands on the sidelines giving the boys encouraging speeches.
Yugi and his friends faced Yami Bakura in a Shadow Game of Duel Monsters, where the players are trapped in cards similar to their Monster World pieces. Téa becomes the card "Magician of Faith" in the Duel. As she is upset over Joey's sacrifice, she uses her effect to return "Monster Reborn" to Yami Yugi's hand, which allows him to revive Joey.
As they approached Pegasus Castle, Téa wonders if there really are two Yugi's. She thinks back to when she first meets Yugi and Joey at Burgerpalooza. She then wonders what they are doing there and thinks they could get her in trouble since she had to be 18 to work at the restaurant and if they let it slip that she is still in school, she'll get fired and won't have enough money to pay for her dance lessons. As she serves Joey and Yugi their food, she gives a sinister glare and pours ketchup all over their food. She reveals she wants to study dance in New York.
But instead of laughing, Yugi and Joey support Téa. The next day Tea gets a letter from Yugi saying they found a warehouse in Spring St. for Téa to use as a dance studio. When she arrives, a mugger holds her hostage and Yami Yugi saves her when she blacked out.
Kaiba defeats Yugi in the tournament by standing on the edge of the castle, so Yugi's last attack would knock him off. Yugi relinquishes the Duel to Kaiba. Téa then argues with Kaiba over his strategy. Kaiba explains how Duelists are given one chip and must use it in whatever way allows them to win. Téa argues back that Kaiba only won because he couldn't live without the chip and insists that Yugi won the Duel.
After losing to Kaiba, Yugi no longer has enough Star Chips to enter the tournament finals. Mai offers Yugi her excessive Star Chips. Yugi initially refuses, feeling unworthy. Téa Duels Mai for the Star Chips. Using a combination of Magic Cards, Téa makes her "Shining Friendship" card defeat Mai's "Harpie Lady". Although Mai is able to turn the Duel around, using "Harpie's Feather Duster", she is impressed by Téa's performance and wants to give Yugi the Chips, so she surrenders saying "Harpie Lady" was her best monster and Téa defeated it.
Kemo doesn't allow Téa, Tristan or Bakura to enter the castle, where the finals are held, as they are not finalists, but Mai distracts him long enough for them to sneak in.
Inside they witness Kaiba and Pegasus Dueling. Pegasus was able to predict Kaiba's moves and easily win. Tristan suspects that Pegasus cheated, so that night he talks with Téa and Bakura on the subject. The three inspect the Duel arena and find a hole that shines moonlight directly at the Duel arena. Tristan spots a tower and the three head towards it. In the tower, they are confronted by Pegasus, who uses his Millennium Eye to transport them to another dimension. They wake up and enter a room, where a Shadow Game between two robed men is taking place while others are chanting. The winning man, Pegasus confronts the three and tries to take Bakura's Millennium Ring. Yami Bakura takes over Bakura's body and sends Téa and Tristan back to their rooms and erases their memories.
During the final rounds, Téa cheers on Yugi and Joey in their Duels. She is unable to watch the end of Yugi's Duel with Pegasus, as Pegasus takes the Duel to the Shadow Realm. Despite this Yugi feels his friends are with him in spirit and manages to defeat Pegasus.
Pegasus disappears after the Duel. The gang proceed to a tower, where they find Pegasus' diary, which Téa reads. She learns that Pegasus had a wife, Cecelia, who died and Pegasus was trying to revive her using the Millennium Items and Kaiba Corporation technology.
Téa and her friends are taken home by Seto Kaiba in his helicopter.
Battle City[]
Yugi asks Téa to go out with Yami. After visiting many shops and attractions, they enter an arcade. Inside Téa beats Johnny Steps in a dance game. Not taking his loss too well, Johnny later catches up with Yami and Téa, and challenges Téa to another game with a condition: if she loses, she must become his girlfriend. Yami instead challenges Johnny to a game of Duel Monsters. If he wins, Johnny must leave Téa alone. If Johnny wins, Téa must go on a date with him. Yami reveals himself to be Yugi Muto, towards the end of the Duel Johnny recognizes Yugi Muto as the one who beat Pegasus, causing Johnny to surrender and run. Téa stops him to tell him how quitting isn't going to get him far, and he must keep trying to achieve his goals.
Afterwards Téa and Yami go to an Ancient Egyptian exhibition to find clues to Yami's past. Here they meet Ishizu Ishtar, who shows Yami some information about his past as a pharaoh and tells him he must enter the Battle City tournament to learn more.
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Téa captured by a Rare Hunter.
Téa attempting to escape from the warehouse she's been imprisoned within.
During the preliminary rounds, Téa encourages Joey along the side lines for his Duels, before being captured by the Rare Hunters along with Joey. Téa is possessed by Marik, who turns her into one of his mind slaves, with her eyes having no sunlight reflection in them as her voice merges with his (In the original Japanese version only, Marik's voice takes over Téa's completely), and while she's being controlled, Téa is moving around much slower than usual, to lure the Pharaoh into a Duel with Joey, who is also possessed by the same man. The Duel is set up, so the loser would drown. Téa is made to sit on a chair under a large crate hanging from a crane. A push of a button will release the crate and crush her, should Yugi refuse to Duel Joey or anyone else interfere. Téa is then released from Marik's control after she explains the provisions to the Duel and helplessly tries to help Joey break free of Marik's control several times while also doing her best to remain brave and cheer Yugi on, despite the fact that her own life was in danger. Mokuba frees her after Joey and Yugi end the Duel in a Draw.
Téa, along with Tristan, Serenity and Duke Devlin proceed to the KaibaCorp blimp to cheer for Yugi, Joey and Mai in the finals. Roland initially refuses to let them board, as they aren't finalists, but Mokuba talks him into letting them on. Despite Joey's objections, all of them take residence in Joey's room for the finals.
Téa cheers for Yugi and Joey, during their quarter-final Duels. When Joey tells Mai she wasn't in his dream, which his friends appeared in and jokes about it, Téa seizes him after Mai leaves and tells him off.
During this time, Marik's spirit inhabits Téa's body and occasionally possesses her since Yami Marik took over her body, using her to try to talk to Yami Marik and Ishizu.
Virtual World[]
Being hunted[]
Téa screaming as she falls through the virtual portal.
As the KaibaCorp blimp traveled to the Duel Tower, Téa slept in Serenity’s room after being released from Marik's possession, causing her to drop to her knees having been rendered unconscious (Although she might've done this subconsciously) until the blimp started shaking causing her to wake up. Soon after, it was sucked into an underground lair by Noah Kaiba. Téa, along with Yugi, Joey, Tristan, Duke Devlin, Serenity (Joey's younger sister), Mokuba and Seto Kaiba emerge from the blimp to investigate. The gang encounter Noah and the Big Five, all of whom seek revenge on Seto Kaiba and require a body to return to the real world. To do this, they intend to defeat the protagonists in individual duels and then download their minds into their bodies, taking them for themselves. After the 5 explained their goals, the Big Five open hidden trap doors under the protagonists’ feet causing them to fall in.
Téa finding herself alone in the barren gorge of a desert wasteland.
Téa is among the first to fall, and while some of her friends are sent down the same hole, others, like her, are sent down alone. As she falls down the glowing and seemingly bottomless pit, Téa screams in fright before being consumed by a glowing light at the very bottom. She passes out from her exposure to the light upon being consumed by it. When Téa comes to, she finds herself stranded and alone in a large rock canyon of a desert-region. As she gazes upon the landscape, dazed and confused on how she has arrived here, Noah secretly watches her from on a digital holographic screen system in his virtual command center. With nothing else to do, Téa has no other choice but to begin walking straight ahead through the canyon. She wanders deeper into the canyon hoping to find her friends, unaware, that she is indeed not alone in the eerie surroundings.
An unknowing Téa being hunted by the Hitotsu-Me Giants.
As she goes, she calls out if anyone is out there but receives no reply. Believing herself to be alone, she talks out loud to herself as she continues down the gorge, remarking how it is similar to a virtual Grand Canyon as she takes a moment to stop. Though she finds the landscape creepy and uncomfortable, she continues to walk through it, still hoping to find someone. The girl is oblivious, however, to the fact that she is being watched. Behind the rock formations of the canyon lies a strange, blueish, and one-eyed creature that is stalking her as she continues on her way. In his hand is a large stone-bladed axe. Unaware of the beast, Téa continues to walk all the while complaining about how hot it is.
Téa finds herself surrounded by a fearsome group of Hitotsu-Me Giant hunters.
Her walking comes to an end soon when she hears the noise of rocks falling from the cliffs of the canyon. When she looks up, she sees the creature that was stalking her looking right down at her. Realizing he has been spotted, the beast makes a hasty retreat back behind the formations. Téa is startled by the monster and openly questions what it was. Her question is answered when four savaged cyclopes, Hitotsu-Me Giants, emerge from behind the rocks and surround Téa. Wielding stone aged weapons and wearing animal skin clothing, the giants have their eyes set on Téa, their prey, staring at her intently as they lurk atop the cliffs and down on the rocks of the canyon. Caught off-guard by the monsters' arrival, Téa unleashes a loud “I’m surrounded” as she comes to realize her situation.
Téa’s shoe accidentally stepping on a loose rock, provoking the Hitotsu-Me Giants into attacking her
Though scared, Téa makes an attempt to leave peacefully without provoking her foes. She nervously thinks to herself to just stay calm and walk back slowly, believing that so long as she doesn’t do anything to upset them, they won’t attack her (In the original Japanese version, Téa remains silent while backing up). With this in mind, she very slowly but nervously takes a step back with her left foot. As this happens, Téa opens her right hand due to her fear and puts her left one close to her face in a fist for similar reasons while her beautifully short hair sways a bit to her left with her movements. But her first step accidentally lands on a loose pebble and flings it off the ground. The giants spooked and are soon enraged by the noise and thus, with their leader’s signal, a loud roar echoing across the canyon, they begin their attack.
Téa receiving an actual scar from the grouped Hitotsu-Me Giants
The leader, the first giant Téa spotted, is the first to strike. After his loud roar, he jumps off the cliff and while in midair throws his axe which spins through the air, seemingly coming for Téa. However, the leader is merely using his attack as a distraction. While Téa is focused on his attack, one of the 4 giants sneaks away and hides behind some rocks a good distance from Téa’s position.
Téa attempts to flee from her cyclops captors.
The axe misses Téa’s position, instead landing several feet behind her. Its impact on the rocky ground, however, flings several small but very sharp rocks up into the air, that scatter in all directions. One of these rocks lands on Téa just as she is turning her head towards where the axe hit the ground. The rock leaves Téa with a small bleeding wound under her left eye. After the leader’s "failed" attack, Téa places a hand on her wound, groaning in agony as she reels from said painful wound while putting her beautifully cute socking-covered knees closer together from said pain despite the fact that everything in the Virtual World is supposed to be a total illusion (In the U.S.A. dub, Téa's cut is censored due to brutal violence). But she has no time to rest and ponder this mystery as the other giants move closer to her. Frightened and knowing she can’t just walk away, Téa makes a run for it. Téa quickly notices this as one of the giants takes big steps towards her from her front. Upon seeing this, it takes Téa literally only a second to react. Frightened and knowing she can’t just walk away, Téa makes a desperate run for it. Seeing an opening Téa flees towards the left side of the canyon; the girl wastes no time in fleeing towards that direction in the hopes that it will lead to a way out of the canyon and away from the monsters as they begin to pursue after her. With her mind only focused on escaping, Téa ignores the pain of her gash and runs off towards what appears to be her only hope for survival.
Téa screams for help as she is pursued by the Hitotsu-Me Giants.
She has unknowingly done just as her attackers wished for her to do. She fails to notice that only 3 giants, including the leader, are after her; while she was distracted by the axe, the fourth giant slipped away behind the rock formations. Now she is unknowingly, running to his position in fright as the other giants chase after her to ensure she goes no where else. She is running into another trap. She desperately calls out for someone to save her, but no replies; no one will come to her rescue.
Falling into their trap, a horrified Téa is intercepted and knocked out by the hidden Hitotsu-Me Giant.
Finally, the third phase of the giants’ plan begins and succeeds; Téa has been driven to the hidden one’s position and now he can make his move. Revealing himself, the hidden giant cuts in front of Téa, stopping her in her tracks. With a loud gasp, she looks up to see the giant, towering over her by several feet, as he stares down at her ready to strike. Her face filled with horror and her body frozen with fear, all Téa can do is look up helplessly as the cyclops readies to finish her off. In but a second, the Hitotsu-Me Giant enters into a striking position, raising his clawed right arm high in the air before bringing it down with all his might and slashing the petrified young woman in the stomach (Due to the obvious fact that this anime is made specifically for a younger audience in the U.S.A. version, Tea received no more wounds after being initially hurt as by the next scene of her stomach being shown, it's clean, regardless of which version one watches). With this single blow, Téa was knocked down to the desert floor, the pain being too much for her to remain conscious (In all versions of this scene of this episode, this scene was censored around the world due to its graphic content).
Taken prisoner[]
The Hitotsu-Me Giants make their way across the desert, with their leader carrying Téa in front.
The other giants soon arrive; they all look down upon the unconscious girl, lying and moaning in pain at their very feet. Rather than finish her off, the Hitotsu-Me Giants have other plans. Though the hidden Hitotsu-Me Giant was the one that caught her, the leader of the pack takes the honor of toting the pack’s prize. He scoops the unconscious Téa off the ground and then throws her over his right shoulder, wrapping his right arm around her white socking-covered legs while holding his axe with his left hand. With the girl now draped over his shoulder, her beautifully thick and brown hair falling completely upside-down as she hangs down his back, the leader orders his pack to march through the canyon. Being both the leader and the one toting the human girl they believe to be a hunting prize, the leader marches in front with the others following close behind. Almost walking beside him, is the giant that struck down Téa with its claws, having received the honor of marching in front of the others due to knocking her out.
Noah’s screen showing Téa being carried off through the desert.
After only a few minutes of walking through the canyon, the giants’ virtual creator, Noah Kaiba, checks in on their progress. Sinisterly laughing, Noah is pleased and entertained as he watches the giants marching through the canyon with Téa draped over their leader’s shoulder. Taking a second to watch using his virtual image screens, he giddily remarks how “Téa has come to meet his Hitotsu-Me Giants”. Originally showing the beasts from a distance, Noah zooms in on their position, centering on Téa. The screen then shows her face; her head pointing towards the right allowing her face to be seen, her eyes closed due to being unconscious, and her beautifully thick and brown-layered hair falling completely upside down as her upper body hangs falls down the leader’s back. Deciding to move on, Noah shifts the screen away, as the giants carry her deeper and deeper into the canyon. Sometime later, the giants march out of the gorge and up atop a hill. At the very top lies a large hole, the only entrance and exit to and from a huge stalagmite filled cave.
The Hitotsu-Me Giants arriving at their cave with Téa.
Climbing down into their den, the giants lay down their weapons before dealing with their unconscious captive. The leader carries the lovely Téa up a stalactite like stone structure in the center of the cave, with two others following behind him. Once at the top, the leader, without sympathy or respect to his lovely captive, throws Téa off his shoulder down onto the flat but solid stone surface of the structure.
Téa lying in a bed of rock atop the flat surfaced stalactite.
Landing hip-first on the surface, Téa releases a large gasp (Only in the original Japanese version) before she starts to usher moans of pain as her body makes futile squirms, struggling on the uncomfortable surface she now has to lay upon. The leader and his tribemates take amusement in her suffering, smiling as they look above her, their single red eyes glowing. The three savage cyclopes take amusement in the girl’s suffering, smiling as they look down on her. As they delight at the prospect of the feast to come, their single red eyes begin glowing. They then climb back down the structure back into the den below, taking some time to rest and relax before dinner, leaving Téa alone on the structure, defenseless.
Escaping the cave[]
Regaining consciousness, Téa finds herself trapped in the Hitotsu-Me Giants’ cave.
Hours pass as Téa lies on the structure, still unconscious, until a drop of water from an above stalagmite lands right on the cut of her left cheek. Groaning as she comes to, Téa finally awakens. Upon awakening, she initially has no memory of how she arrived at the cave, or even where it is. As she ponders a way to escape, she hears a loud roar echo through the cave. Scared at its familiar sounding, she openly asks what it was. Down below, at the bottom of the cave are the Hitotsu-Me Giants, lurking, resting, and relaxing after their successful hunting trip.
A trapped Téa watches the Hitotsu-Me Giants linger in their den.
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Téa winces in pain over her wound, placing a few of her cute little left fingers on it in an attempt to hold back said pain.
The leader, who gave Téa her scratch and carried her on his shoulder, is the first to notice that she has awakened. Looking up at her, the fiendish creature gives her a threatening snarl. Upon seeing her captors down below, Téa gasps in fear as the sight of the monsters causes her to instantly remember. As she finishes recalling the events, Téa, once again, winces in agony as she once again feels the pain of her partially still bleeding cut (In the U.S.A. dub, Téa's cut isn't bleeding and it simply starts stinging her), placing a few of her cute little left fingers on it in an attempt to hold back said pain. Trapped on the shelf and the cyclopses down below, Téa has seemingly no way of escape. With nothing else to do, she spends some time watching the beasts from the shelf as they continue to lurk below. Though they are aware the girl is awake, they leave her be for the time being, convinced she has no way to escape what they have in store for her.
Téa finds a loose vine to climb out of the cave with.
The giants then bring out a huge cauldron and light it over a fire. As the water inside boils, Téa believes that they are readying for dinner. The leader releases a sinister laugh as he boils the cauldron, looking forward to the feast to come; a feast that includes Téa’s flesh. Realizing this, Téa gasps in fear and instantly looks for a way to escape before she is turned into “Téa soup”. Noticing that the only way out is the hole in the ceiling, Téa finds a loose vine and begins to climb along the walls of the cave.
Noticing her escaping, the Hitotsu-Me Giants begin to pursue Téa.
Her feet end up kicking down some rocks alerting the giants to her escape. Furious that their meal is getting away, the giants shake their weapons in anger towards Téa as she hastens her climbing. She manages to make it to the top but is nearly out of breath upon arriving. However, she has no time to rest as the giants have already started climbing after her, causing her to make swift run for it.
The Hitotsu-Me Giant’s axe just barely missing Téa.
She has gained much distance by the time the Hitotsu-Me Giants reach the top, but still, they are undeterred. The giant that ambushed and knocked her unconscious in the canyon is among the first of the pack to reach the top. Now armed with an axe, he furiously throws it at Téa, hoping to prevent her escape. Thankfully for her, the axe misses its target landing but inches away from Téa’s feet. With no time to lose, she continues running for her life as the Hitotsu-Me Giants chase after her, running on all fours
Téa finding herself at a dead end.
As they chase her, Téa frantically screams at the Hitotsu-Me Giants to leave her alone, but the giants do not understand her and continue to chase after her. Despite the Hitotsu-Me Giants' speed, she manages to outrun them and is seemingly on the verge of escaping them for good. This proves for naught, however, as she ends up being driven to a dead end in the form of a large chasm with a raging river at the bottom. With nowhere left to go, Téa briefly looks for a way to escape, before noticing the giants are gaining on her position. Then, she sees a rope-bridge to her left and runs for it.
Her resolve restored through the memory of her friends, Téa readies to cross the bridge.
By the time she arrives though, she is extremely nervous to cross it due to the bridge’s obviously old age. With the bridge’s poor condition and the giants getting closer to her position, Téa despairs and cowers in fear. But she then remembers the bonds she has made with her friends, which inspires her to face her fears and cross the bridge.
Téa crossing the rope-bridge.
She takes it slowly, stepping one foot at a time, all the while trying not to look down. She nearly slips, causing her to look down anyway and briefly panic, stopping in her tracks. She then begins walking again when she looks back sees how close the Hitotsu-Me Giants are to the bridge. She is slow to get across however, and is not even half-way when the giants arrive and begin crossing.
Téa screaming for someone to save her as the Hitotsu-Me Giants pursue her on the bridge.
Téa attempts to reason with the monsters, telling them to stay away as the bridge will collapse from their overwhelming weight. They do not understand her and begin crossing after her, becoming only a few feet away from her in a matter of seconds. Téa desperately tries to cross faster, yelling fearful pleas for someone to come and save her. Like before in the canyon, no one answers.
Téa screaming as the bridge falls apart.
The giants gain quickly and are mere inches away from reaching her. But before they can reclaim their prize, the bridge finally gives out under their weight and breaks in too. Both Téa and the Hitotsu-Me Giants scream as the bridge falls apart and they fall. However, only the giants fall to their deaths in the river below, as Téa has managed to hang onto a half of the bridge that is still hanging from the top.
Hanging from the surviving portion of the bridge, Téa watches as the beasts that attacked, incapacitated, kidnapped, and intended to eat her fall into the river and drown. With that she sarcastically say that she needs a vacation. She then begins climbing the remains of the old old bridge to the top of the cliff, complaining the whole way about her ordeal with the beasts and bridge.
Téa vs. Crump[]
Téa mange’s to make it to the top but passes out from exhaustion almost immediately upon getting there. While she's unconscious, Téa has a dream where she and Yugi went to see a show about Dark Magician Girl, where she is chosen as a member of the audience and gets dressed up in Dark Magician Girl's outfit. She is woken up by a penguin, who leads her across the Virtual World to a temple. Inside she meets Crump of the Big Five, who has taken the form of Nightmare Penguin.
Téa prepares to face Crump in a Duel.
Crump imposes a Duel and takes her to an icy region, where both players stand on opposite icebergs in freezing water. Téa is made to assemble a Deck, by selecting from a monitor of cards appearing before her. Remembering her dream she chooses "Dark Magician Girl" as her own Deck Master, while "Nightmare Penguin" is Crump's.
As Téa's Life Points lower, she becomes engulfed in ice. Dark Magician Girl helps her during the Duel. Towards the end of the Duel, Téa was almost completely engulfed in ice. Using her Deck Master's effect and "Sage's Stone" to Special Summon "Dark Magician" from Yugi's Deck, Téa is able to defeat Crump as she attacks him with both Magicians.
After the Duel, Téa is released from the ice and passes out. Yugi, who had witnessed the last few moments of the Duel, helps her to regain consciousness and after Téa hugs him out of relief offers her his coat to keep her warm. The two proceed to the courtroom, where Joey is Dueling Johnson.
Afterwards, everyone meets up with each other, while Tristan is trapped as a robot monkey because he lost a Duel. A few Duels happens between Kaiba and Lector, Yugi (Yami) and Joey between all the Big 5 members, Kaiba and Noah which changes to Yugi (Yami) and Noah. After this Duel Gozaburo shows up. Then, they all try to escape with Noah's help but he tricks them eventually taking over Mokuba's body and getting out into the real world, first wanting to trap their minds in the virtual world. However he then had a change of heart and realized he was wrong and helped them out instead. When they were all out, they got back to Battle City.
Back to Battle City[]
Battle City continues right after the Virtual World. They arrive at KaibaCorp Island where the Battle City finals begin at Duel Tower. Téa supports Yugi and Joey in the battle royal to determine who faces who in the semi-finals.
Téa cheers for Joey in his semi-final against Marik and rushes to his aid after he collapses.
As Yugi prepares to face Kaiba, Téa informs Yami that she would rather he didn't Duel, as she is afraid of what might happen to him, but Yami tells her he need to Duel Kaiba to Duel Marik so he can save the world and she understands and lets him go. She stays back with everyone to try and help Joey but is still cheering Yugi on.
Near the end of Yugi and Kaiba's Duel Joey wakes up and at first doesn't remember anything but slowly does. Then he asks Téa if Yugi started the Duel yet. She tells him he did and Joey wants to go immediately. Just then the doctors show up, but Joey demands to go and Téa tells him not to because so many people got hurt and he was just in critical condition. Joey says he made a promise to Yugi and he has to be there for him which reminds her of what Yami told her before his Duel. Then Joey, Téa, Duke and Tristan go to the Duel Tower just in time to see the ending of Yugi's Duel.
Since Yugi won he moves onto the finals to Duel Yami Marik but first Joey challenges Kaiba to a Duel to see who gets third place. Before the Duel starts Marik takes over Téa's body so he can go talk to Ishizu. He then tells Ishizu that he needs to confront Yami Marik and runs off to the Duel Tower to do so. Yami Marik is already up there trying to figure out what happened during Yugi and Kaiba's Duel then he gets annoyed and throws the rod, which lands near Téa. She picks it up and is holding it up at Yami Marik while Marik is talking to him. Yami Marik ends up getting the rod back, and he tries to get rid of Marik with the rod. Then Ishizu comes up just in time to stop him. Marik then tells Ishizu to forget about him and stops taking control of Téa. She is knocked out for a while, and Yami comes up to find out what happened to Téa and starts talking to Yami Marik, and he eventually leaves. Yami then talks to Ishizu about what was going on, and Téa wakes up, not knowing what happened. But for some reason, Yugi decides not to tell her about how Marik was taking control of her. They go back down to see how Joey's Duel was going, and they tell her that he lost, so they get ready for Yugi's Duel with Marik.
Yami's Duel with Yami Marik begins, and everyone is worried about how this Duel will turn out. Téa is cheering Yugi on the whole time but is worried because Yami Marik was able to stop Slifer the Sky Dragon and make a copy of Obelisk the Tormentor. Also, every time Yami loses life points Yugi is slowly being sent to the Shadow Realm and the same with the good Marik every time Yami Marik loses life points. During the Duel, Marik took over Téa again, this time to encourage Yami to in the duel even though victory would cost Marik his life, but he eventually went back into his own body, leaving Téa confused about what just happened, although she quickly got over that and focused on the Duel. Then Odion shows up, which gives Marik the strength to take over Yami Marik for a little while so Yami could win the Duel. Even though the Duel was finally over, Kaiba said they should get off the island because he was going to blow it up. Everyone went on the blimp, Mai was awake and they found Bakura but they noticed Kaiba and Mokuba weren't there so they went to go look for them but couldn't find them. So all of them went on the helicopter to go, and they all see Kaiba and Mokuba leave on a jet of their own.
They got back to Domino City and said goodbye to Marik, Ishizu, Odion, Duke, and Mai. The following day Téa was showing Serenity around town and remembering everything that happened during Battle City. Serenity eventually has to leave. Téa is sad at first, but Serenity tells her that it's ok and that they will always be friends. After Serenity leaves Téa is thinking about how she's not ready to say goodbye to Yugi and realizes that she should just enjoy the time she has left with him. Then she catches up with Yami.
Waking the Dragons[]
Téa is on the roof of the school wondering why Yugi left early. Joey and Tristan come up; they're wondering the same thing. They end up finding Yugi at the museum. Later they find out that someone stole the Egyptian God Cards. Yugi has a Duel with Gurimo, which is where they learn about the Seal of Orichalcos. The next day they run into Rebecca, and she calls Yugi her boyfriend, which Téa doesn't like. She takes them to see Professor Hawkins, who starts talking about how the monsters coming to life could have something to do with Atlantis. After that, everyone heads home.
Later they're all at Yugi's house. Yugi gets a package from Pegasus with a video. Pegasus asks Yugi to come and see him right away. The next day they go on a private jet then in a limo. The limo breaks down so they have to walk for a while, Téa is able to get a driver to stop and give them a ride to Industrial Illusions.
Later on, they are on a train to Florida, but the train splits apart, separating Téa and Yami from Joey and Tristan. Most of the time Téa is trying to help Pharaoh from being upset about Yugi while she herself is also upset. After a while they just focus on finding Joey and Tristan. They are reunited later when Kaiba's plane crashes and then they are all taken back by Kaiba's helicopter to try and stop Dartz.
Kaiba's company was taken over by Dartz. Joey runs off to Duel Valon and Mai. While Joey Duels, Tristan, Téa, and the Pharaoh go to look for him, only to find he lost his soul.
After Pharaoh's Duel with Rafael the gang goes to Dartz in Kaiba's helicopter. Kaiba and the Pharaoh Duel Dartz; after Kaiba loses the Duel the Pharaoh continues while Téa, Tristan, and Mokuba are unconscious.
The Duel is won by the Pharaoh. Yugi, Kaiba, and Joey come back and Mokuba, Tristan, and Téa wake up. Seeing Yugi back they have a group hug. Then they're off to finish off Dartz. Téa wishes Yugi good luck as he, along with Joey and Kaiba, have their final battle with Dartz.
Grand Championship[]
Téa does not have a prominent role in the Grand Championship arc, but as always, she is Yugi and Joey's cheerleader throughout their Duels.
Téa also meets and despises Vivian, because of her feelings for Yugi. She also develops a habit of saying the line "I need some female friends" whenever the others start getting on her nerves.
Dawn of the Duel[]
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Téa in her clothes from the Dawn of the Duel arc onwards.
Téa, Tristan and Joey accompanied Yugi to Egypt so they could help the Pharaoh figured out his memories. She also had noticeably had a change in clothing, and was now wearing white heels, a red skirt and a black sleeveless top. Her cute and skinny legs are all completely exposed. The Pharaoh presented the Egyptian God cards to the Tablet of Lost Memories, and was pulled into the Shadow RPG, where he would find out his memories. However, after discovering that Yami Bakura followed him, the gang went after Yami.
Later, Téa figured out that the key to stopping Bakura was to tell the Pharaoh his real name, as it was also the key to unlocking his memory. The gang was betrayed by Tristan, who was possessed by Bakura and almost killed, but jumped to a cliff and saved themselves. Téa pulled Yugi up, who was hanging onto Joey and then both her and Yugi saved Joey. When they found Tristan, he revealed that he had been possessed by Bakura and Dueled Yugi.
Téa noted that Yugi had to Duel without Yami. Yugi still won, though. When they found Yami, they gave him his name by thinking of the symbols and putting them on a necklace-like item. Yami then remembered who he was and revealed that his true name was "Atem". Atem was then able to summon The Creator of Light to destroy Zorc Necrophades. The gang then returned to the real world.
Ceremonial Battle[]
Téa is mostly seen torn with the idea of Atem passing on the spirit world. As she believes that, though he deserves to reunite with those in his past and finally achieve peace, she also doesn't want him to leave because of the feelings she has for him. Thus, she usually appears having this mental debate within herself, with the outcome ending in her crying. However, whilst dealing with this emotional turmoil, she displays a happy facade to the rest of the group, especially around Yugi and Atem.
During the beginning of the Duel, she outwardly supports Yugi to win but inwardly wishes Atem to be victorious so that he can't leave. However as the Duel progresses she increasingly cheers on Yugi to the point where she shocks herself on how she changed sides of who she wanted to win.
However though Yugi won the Duel in the end, her feelings for Atem had not weakened and she is saddened to such an extent of the possibility of him leaving, that just as the spirit of the Pharaoh is about to pass through the gates of the afterlife, she tries to run after him however her attempt is stopped by Joey. All witnesses of said last match then look up at the sky in Egypt ending the anime once the last words are spoken.
Yu-Gi-Oh! GX[]
Téa is never mentioned in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX but for a brief moment she can be seen on a flier that Jaden Yuki picks up, along with Yugi, Joey, Tristan and Kaiba. As this is seen when Jaden Yuki had traveled to the past, it therefore places Battle City V2 after Battle City but before the Ceremonial Battle.
Relationships[]
Allies[]
Throughout the original anime series, other than Yugi, Joey, Bakura, Seto Kaiba (to an extent) and Tristan, Téa has additional friends.
Serenity Wheeler[]
Téa possesses a very close and sisterly bond with the younger sister of her close friend Joey Wheeler. Téa first learned about Serenity from Joey during the group’s journey to Duelist Kingdom, in which he told her about her ailing eyes and how she needed an expensive surgery to save her eyesight. Even prior to meeting her in season 2, Téa seemed to think highly of Serenity, considering her to be a truly kind and sweet girl, and showed sympathy for her condition and care for her wellbeing. When the two finally met, after she (Téa) and Joey were liberated from Marik’s mind control, Téa quickly bonded with Serenity, with the two forming a very close friendship with each other. Like with Mai Valentine, Serenity looks up to Téa as an older sister-figure, and considers her one of her best friends Téa.
This sentiment is reciprocated by Téa, who often looks out for her and will occasionally shield her from Tristan and Duke’s often obnoxious flirtatious attempts towards her. Despite this, Téa does recognize that Serenity can be quite clueless at times like her brother, which can annoy her, though she never directly criticizes her for it. During Serenity’s last day in Domino City, Téa personally took her sightseeing around the city, while reminiscing about their shared adventures together. At the end of their meeting, Serenity expressed her deep admiration for Téa and her gratitude for their deep friendship. Since then, the two have remained in contact even after Serenity left the city.
Serenity is also notably one of Téa’s few female friends, which she seems to value, due to Serenity being much more mature than most of her male friends.
Dark Magician Girl (Both real and Deck Master versions)[]
Prior to her adventures with Yugi, Téa had always considered Dark Magician Girl to be one of her favorite Duel Monsters, despite having never actually used her in a Duel herself. This admiration mostly likely stemmed from the character being a powerful female Duel Monster with each one carrying 2,000 Attack Points as well as 1,700 Defense Points. During her time in the Virtual World, Téa’s admiration for Dark Magician Girl would turn to friendship, as she unhesitatingly chose the sorceress as her Deck Master during her Duel with the Big Five accountant Crump. To Téa’s surprise, one of Dark Magician Girl’s special abilities was the ability to telepathically communicate with Téa as a means of guiding her. Despite having only just met, the two immediately became fast friends and partners in the Duel to come. During said Duel, Dark Magician Girl served as a patient, encouraging, and warm mentor to Téa, offering words of wisdom on to overcome their opponent, which often proved essential to them gaining the upper hand against him. In addition, Dark Magician Girl also showed great concern for Téa as she became increasingly affected by the cold temperatures. This concern evolved into terror for the girl, as her life points continuously degraded, causing more and more of her body to be covered in ice. Due to this, she often comforted Téa during the Duel which ultimately preserved her faith in their ability to defeat Crump, despite his superior experience with the game.
Téa for her part was deeply appreciative of Dark Magician Girl’s support and guidance, seeing her as both a wise mentor and as a loyal friend. Knowing she's at a major disadvantage in this Duel, Téa always took her thoughts into consideration and listened to her opinions on how to win the Duel. Unlike Crump, who viewed Dark Magician Girl as useless without Dark Magician, Téa believed in her strength and wisdom; with this faith in her, she ultimately defeated Crump resulting in their victory and Téa’s liberation from the ice encompassing her. In the last moments of the Duel, Dark Magician utilized her second Deck Master ability to help Téa find the card she needed to summon Dark Magician (from the nearby Yugi’s deck). It was this ability that allowed Téa to win the Duel, much to her relief. Though Dark Magician Girl faded away before Téa could thank her, she was extremely grateful for her the spellcaster’s aid, remaining eternally grateful that it was because of her that she was rescued from being frozen forever in the Virtual World, a fate worse than death. Though she no longer utilizes Dark Magician Girl in her Deck, Téa still holds great respect for her and is always joyful to her being used in Yugi’s deck.
Enemies[]
Téa has, of course, made enemies in a few people who have proven themselves unwilling to "turn over a new leaf".
But we have limited the number of Téa's enemies to just two because there are a lot of them.
Hitotsu-Me Giant Leader[]
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The leader painfully throwing Téa onto the stony ground.
The Hitotsu-Me Giant Leader, the most savage sadist of its brethren, served as Téa’s first tormentor of the arc before Crump. Out of all the Hitotsu-Me Giants, this one held a special hatred for Téa, which was completely reciprocated by her. The leader was the first of the giants she met after spotting him watching her from a nearby cliff as she walked through the barren canyon. Their hateful relationship was cemented when he was the first of the giants (As well as the first character of the second series anime) to actually hurt Téa physically. During the ambush in the canyon, the leader began the assault on Téa and seemingly attempted to kill her, which literally left a bloody gash on her cheek, which she carried for the rest of the ordeal (The gash was censored in the U.S.A. dub due to brutal violence). Like with the other giants, Téa greatly feared the leader, knowing she stood no chance against any of the savage monsters, including him, due to her own small and fragile body and also due to the obvious fact that she's way smaller than any of the monsters. Thus, all she could do was run from them all, not being able to fight back. After her capture by the monsters, Téa became the leader’s captive, with the monster being the one to personally carry her back towards his pack’s cave.
Like the three other Hitotsu-Me Giants, the leader saw the lovely teenager as nothing more than a wild animal for them to hunt and eat, not recognizing, or possibly even caring, that she too was a sentient being. Out of all the giants, the Leader was shown to be the most determined to hunt Téa, bordering on obsessive. While hunting her, the leader paid the young human lady no respect as a hunter to its prey, rather taking great delight in the thrill of the hunt and seemed to enjoy terrifying her before capturing her. Even more so, the leader also took great pleasure in inflicting pain upon Téa, visibly more so than his comrades. This was demonstrated when he brought the girl to his pack’s cave when she was unconscious and tossed her onto the rocky ground so that she could squirm in agony which he took great pleasure in watching.
During her captivity, the leader continued to mock and frighten Téa, making threatening growls towards her as she awoke atop the above stalactite seemingly enjoying the immense terror she expressed. She then winces in pain from her bleeding wound while recalling being attacked back in the desert. When he and the others were preparing the cauldron to feast on her, the leader was shown to be the most enthusiastic about the coming feast, laughing sinisterly at not only the prospect of eating but for presumably the chance to kill Téa in an exceptionally painful and cruel means.
Despite this, he and his breathren greatly underestimated Téa’s resourcefulness and her high intelligence and apparently didn’t expect her to manage an escape. After her escape, the leader’s obsession with her drove him to chase after her, this time with the intention of finishing her off for good. This obsession made him take his pack on the dangerous risk of crossing the old rope bridge across the river, despite noticing its crumbling condition (only in the Japanese version). This ultimately resulted in the whole pack’s deaths, allowing Téa to survive and escape the desert, much to her relief that her former tormentors were now dead.
Adrian Randolph Crump III[]
While he wasn't the most evil of Téa's enemies, Crump was definitely 1 of the most disturbing to her. During his Duel with her, Crump was sadistic, narcissistic and rarely kind. He took pleasure watching Téa freeze in ice and made weird faces to mock her. He had done lots of research regarding her background, some of which was incorrect or ludicrous. He lost his Duel with Téa but his presence would still always make her make facial expressions of sheer discomfort and she had no sympathy watching Noah punishing him for planning to cheat his way into stealing bodies.
Trivia[]
- Though Téa's Dueling skills are slightly better than mediocre compared to others, she is the only character in the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise who never lost a Duel she participated in; beating Mai Valentine alone (though she might've lost if Mai had played her Spell Card "Harpie's Feather Duster") and even besting Crump of The Big Five (though she had help from Dark Magician Girl when facing the latter). Knowing this, Tristan seemed to have taken her place in Capsule Monsters. Serenity, Ray and Mokuba are too insignificant to count and the Supreme King has tied.
- Téa is currently the only female lead who's only game against the main character of her series was the one time during the very first episode of the Capsule Monsters mini-series.
- On numerous occasions in seasons 2 and 3, there are several animation mistakes involving Téa’s plastic bracelets, in which they briefly shown missing, with her arms being completely uncovered, in one scene before reappearing in the next.
- In addition, in episode 100, as she is being thrown to the ground of the Hitotsu-Me Giants’ cave by their leader, the color of Téa’s bracelets are switched (with the first appearing pink and the second blue, instead of being blue then pink), as her elbow and hip hits the ground.
- In the same scene, Téa’s yellow collar appears as the same color of blue as the rest of her buttoned-shirt.
- Téa's breasts would rarely be drawn separately particularly in the Japanese version. This is more rare in the English dub.
Photo gallery[]
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