Serenity Wheeler Serenity Wheeler , known as Shizuka Kawai in the Japanese version , is Joey Wheeler ' s younger sister . The two were separated at a very young age when their parents got divorced . Serenity is depicted as being a sweet - natured , gentle , fragile and dependent young girl . She has a small fragile body , flowing auburn ( brown / red ) hair , and gentle dull greenish brown eyes . Throughout the whole series she is pictured as gentle but strong , with a never changing attitude of high spirits . Design . Appearance . Serenity ' s character design was overseen by Kazuki Takahashi . Serenity wears light blue denim shorts and long white socks with blue sneakers . Her top is a sleeveless pink and white shirt with a high collar that is worn on top of a short - sleeved yellow shirt . She does not change this outfit throughout the series except when she is in the hospital , where she wears simple pink pajamas . The photo Joey Wheeler has of her in his wallet shows her dressed in a sailor fuku common to middle school students in Japan . She has light brown hair and green / brown eyes . Personality . Serenity is a gentle - natured and compassionate girl who is rather dependent on her friends and seems to be generally more timid than the other females . She is also shown to be extremely trusting to the point of naivety , believing Tristan when he says , in an attempt to impress her during her recovery from her operation , that he taught Joey everything he knows about Duel Monsters . However Serenity has shown to have her own inner strength , such as when she took off her bandages to see for the first time , to save Joey by diving into the water . Serenity also after an inward struggle of self blame , was the key to defeating Nezbitt and she pulled through . Optimism seems to be one of her key features , which one would need to survive nearly going blind , being aware she may not get the operation . ( Prior to Duelist Kingdom . ) Serenity was separated from her older brother Joey to live with their mother when their parents divorced , but they seemed to have kept in contact over the years , as Serenity looks up to him and they both love each other dearly ; during Duelist Kingdom Joey is seen to have a picture of her in his wallet . Joey often states that Serenity was his biggest inspiration throughout Duelist Kingdom and Battle City . She shares a strong bond with Téa Gardner and Mai Valentine , and Tea even takes her sight - seeing at one point . Serenity ' s character is portrayed as a very beautiful young girl , capturing the romantic interests of both Tristan and Duke . This leads them to constantly argue over her during the Battle City arc and both eventually end up giving her their number . It is never shown if she ever liked either of them as more than friends , though she is always amused at their antics and even looks relieved at one point where Tristan drags Duke away from her . But she did seem to be more fond of Tristan than of Duke . Her innocent nature was even able to make one as self - centered as Seto Kaiba be considerate enough to get medical help for Bakura even during the Battle City tournament . Etymology . Shizuka is written with the kanji for " silence " and " fragrance " . Serenity was chosen likely to the similarity to her Japanese Name in meaning . Biography . Early life . Serenity and Joey were separated when she was only seven years old due to their parents ' divorce , and Serenity went to live with her mother who was working as a nurse while Joey with his father who was an alcoholic gambler . Duelist Kingdom . Joey receives a video tape from Serenity . In it , she tells him that time is running out for her because she needs an operation to repair her eyesight or else she will go blind . The operation , however , is very expensive and to pay for it , Joey needs to win the three million dollar prize at the Duelist Kingdom tournament . Despite not having an invitation , Joey is allowed on the ship after Yugi gives him one of his Star Chips . Yugi also gives the three million dollars he won to Joey so he can pay for Serenity ' s eye operation . Battle City . After her operation , Battle City begins . Serenity spends most of the tournament in the hospital recovering with Tristan taking care of her . She finally removes the bandages around her eyes and sees clearly for the first time when the entire gang is sent to the Domino Pier , where Yugi and a Marik Ishtar - controlled Joey are Dueling . After Joey breaks free from Marik , he and Yugi are dragged into the ocean . Joey sets Yugi free from his shackles and Serenity dives in with the key for Joey ' s chains and saves him . In the manga Shizuka is present , but Joey Wheeler is instead rescued by Kaiba , who simply drops the key needed into the water . Afterwards , she hangs out with the gang for the finals and becomes friends with Mai Valentine and Téa Gardner , who both treat her like a younger sister . Virtual World . Serenity ' s role is probably more prominent in this arc than in the others . During the Virtual World arc , she is rescued from a Mad Sword Beast by Tristan Taylor and Duke Devlin . She duels once alongside Tristan and Duke against Nezbitt , a member of the Big Five , but is not very experienced . Tristan loses the duel to protect her , sending her into a state of shock , feeling responsible for getting him involved in the first place . After a pep talk from Joey and Duke she regains her confidence and , reflecting on the basic rules she learned from Tristan earlier , barely wins , with her making the move that defeats Nezbitt . Throughout the rest of the arc she looks after Tristan who is in the form of a robot monkey since he had lost his body in the duel . Battle City finals . Serenity was in charge of taking care of Mai Valentine , who was unconscious after losing to Yami Marik . During Joey ' s Duel she was asked by Ishizu Ishtar to go and see the Duel while she took care of Mai , but when she arrived , Joey fainted and lost the Duel . When the tournament ended , she went back to Japan . One day , Téa was walking through Domino City and met with Serenity . Téa showed the city to Serenity , she explained where some Duels took place and other important events . Post Battle City . Serenity is seen briefly in the Waking the Dragons arc , when Joey calls her to say goodbye , as well as a montage narrated by Maximillion Pegasus just before the Ceremonial Battle , as Pegasus says that everyone whom Yugi and his friends met was destined to play a role in his journey . She is not seen again until the last episode during the Japanese version ' s end credits , though in the Japanese version , she is mentioned by Tristan saying greetings to her in the Grand Championship arc when he realizes he is on live TV . Deck . Anime . Her Deck is comprised of EARTH and LIGHT female monsters that she thought were cute . Serenity only Dueled once , in a three on one Duel with Tristan and Duke against Nezbitt during the Virtual Realm arc . Most of the cards in her Deck are from " Labyrinth of Nightmare " and " Legacy of Darkness " . In the Japanese version she mentions choosing cards that are cute ( episode 106 ) . Nightmare Troubadour . Decks . In " Yu - Gi - Oh ! Nightmare Troubadour " , she uses a Deck with a similar theme , titled " Cute Sister " .