Mai Valentine Mai Valentine , known as Mai Kujaku in the manga and Japanese anime , is a recurring and supporting character in the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " manga and anime . Design . Appearance . Mai ' s character design was overseen by Kazuki Takahashi . In the anime , in Duelist Kingdom , Mai wore a short - sleeved purple coat over her white tube top , which shows her belly button , along with recurring purple high - heeled boots . From Battle City on , she changed to a sleeveless light purple vest and a white tank top and wore long white fingerless gloves . She wears a dark purple mini - skirt and a Deck holder strapped to her thigh in the Duelist Kingdom and Battle City arcs and her cameo appearances at KC Grand Championship arc , but in Waking the Dragons , she wears dark purple shorts and now wears purple gloves . In " " , she is seen in an outfit similar to the one she wore in Waking the Dragons . However , her top is white / grey instead of purple . In the manga , in Duelist Kingdom , she largely wore the same outfit as the anime , but her top was open , revealing the middle of her chest and held together using strings , like a corset . In Battle City , she changed to wearing a black leather vest and mini - skirt , and wore a similar tube top as her Duelist Kingdom self , but with the front closed . In the dub , from Season 2 onwards , her cleavage and lines of cleavage are digitally reduced or erased , and her skirt is lengthened . Personality . At the beginning of the series , Mai is a self - absorbed woman who is only set out for prize money , personal satisfaction and power . She was also very arrogant and prideful of her Dueling skills and looks . At first , Mai often used her beauty to seduce men into giving her what she wants and making them her tools . She used her beauty to easily steal Rex Raptor ' s luxury room on the cruise to Duelist Kingdom by offering him a kiss if he could beat her in a Duel , and later manipulated him into Dueling Joey for her as revenge on Joey for defeating her in an earlier Duel . Mai is extremely lonely and at first , is convinced that she doesn ' t need friends . At one point , she believed her " Harpie Lady " cards were the closest she would ever have to friends . Mai ' s selfish attitude and outlook on life continues until she meets and finds meaning with Yugi Muto and his three best friends . After she meets them and Yugi fought Panik for her to regain her Star Chips , Mai begins seeing Yugi , Joey Wheeler , Tristan Taylor , and Téa as her friends . She even offered Yugi her extra Star Chips so he could enter the Duelist Kingdom ' s Finals and rescue his grandfather after Yugi lost to Kaiba , and gave Joey her entry fee card for the finals when his was stolen by Bandit Keith . From there , she continued meeting up with the four on occassions and helping them out from time to time on their adventures . Mai ' s feelings of loneliness and emptiness return when she is forced to face Marik Ishtar in the Battle City finals . Marik enters her into a Shadow Game , where with each of her monsters destroyed she begins losing the memory of a former friend . In the end , Marik defeats her and leaves her mind trapped in the Shadow Realm for a long time while she continues feeling more and more alone , miserable , and isolated every minute , until Yugi finally defeats Marik in the final round and releases her . After being freed from the Shadow Realm and gone separate ways from her friends for a while , Mai ' s wins become empty to her and her feelings of loneliness return even more . Eventually , she is unable to cope with the mental trauma and turns against her friends , joining the evil Dartz to assist him in his quest for power . However , Joey seems to eventually return her to her old self and she recovers her self - esteem and pride as a true Duelist , but was unable to face her former friends again after what she had done to them . In the Japanese version ; Mai typically uses a quite informal manner of speech . She commonly omits honorifics when speaking with others , but addresses Anzu and Shizuka as " - chan . " She uses the informal and potentially condescending " anta " , a contraction of the more formal " anata " ( similar to the English " honey " ) . She uses the personal pronoun " atakushi " , which tends to be a more elegant , if not older , form of self - reference . Etymology . " Kujaku Mai " means " peacock dance " in Japanese . Her name in the dub is a pun of " My Valentine " . Biography . Prior to debut . Mai was orphaned at a young age and spent much of her time alone ( in the dub , she instead recounts that her parents were always busy and were away from home to work ) . Mai once worked as a card dealer on a ship - board casino , where she first discovered the " Harpie Lady " cards . A lot of men , who she described as boring , would pay money to get with her . Using her " aroma tactics " , she pretended she had psychic powers , as she could tell what her cards were without looking at them , since they were sprayed with different perfumes . With these tactics she defeated such men , winning their money . Although she made a lot of money , she got bored and quit . She met Jean - Claude Magnum while working there . The two Dueled , ending in the actor ' s defeat . Magnum proposed to her , to which she refused and told him to come back when he became a good Duelist . Duelist Kingdom . Mai was invited to participate in the Duelist Kingdom tournament . On the boat to the tournament , she meets Yugi Muto and Joey Wheeler and challenges Rex Raptor to a Duel . She wins using her aroma tactics , and evicts Rex from his luxury room . At the Duelist Kingdom island , Mai watches Yugi ' s Duel with Weevil Underwood and comments on how Yugi doesn ' t stand a chance - criticism that was clearly in contrast with Yugi ' s friends ' encouragement . She later Duels Joey Wheeler , psyching him out with her aroma tactics while powering up her " Harpie Lady " . Joey wins after exposing her " psychic powers " as a fraud . She wins a few off - screen Duels , and is later challenged to a rematch by Rex Raptor . She didn ' t want to face Rex since she had already defeated him , but still wanted to beat Joey . She thought it would be immature to challenge Joey again , so she offered to Duel Rex , provided he defeated Joey first . If she could beat Rex after he beat Joey , that would be like beating both of them , she thought . She caught up with Joey and his friends and got Joey to face Rex . She got mad when Rex made a bet to try to win Joey ' s " Time Wizard " , as he would be able to use it against her later . However , Joey managed to win . She shared her food with Yugi , Joey and their friends , saying they could be friends tonight , but enemies tomorrow . That night , she was targeted by Pegasus ' eliminator , PaniK . Yugi and his friends heard her scream and rushed to help her , finding that she had lost all her Star Chips to PaniK . Yugi defeated PaniK and returned Mai ' s Star Chips . After Yugi loses to Kaiba , Mai offers him some of her extra Star Chips claiming she owed him them . Yugi cannot accept them , so Téa Duels Mai for the Star Chips . Mai begins to greatly outplay Téa . But after Téa makes a comeback , Mai , impressed by Téa ' s spirit and eager to repay her debt to Yugi , surrenders so Yugi can take the Star Chips . In the finals , she is paired against Yugi in the first match . Yami Yugi was distracted by the prospect of Dueling Pegasus to win back the souls of Yugi ' s grandfather and the Kaiba brothers , and was not taking Mai seriously as an opponent , forcing Yugi and Mai to help convince him to face Mai out of principle . In the dub , Yugi was afraid of what happened in his Duel with Kaiba and wouldn ' t let Yami Duel . Mai initially dominates Yugi , but helps him face his own fears , allowing Yami to make a comeback that leaves Mai at a complete disadvantage . With her strongest monster destroyed , Mai chooses to surrender rather than see the rest of her " Harpie " monsters destroyed as well . With Bandit Keith ' s disqualification from the tournament , Mai ' s final placing in the Duelist Kingdom Tournament is 3rd . After her loss , she gives Joey one of her entry cards , to prevent him being disqualified . Legendary Heroes . Shortly after Duelist Kingdom , Mai Valentine was invited by The Big 5 to test out the new , reprogrammed version of the Virtual Game that Seto Kaiba has built . Yugi , Joey and Mokuba searched for Kaiba . On the way , Joey was forced to Duel Mai . When she finds out her opponent is Joey ( as they were both masked ) , she joins in the search for Kaiba . On the way , they were attacked by a " Sand Stone " monster , trapped in a Maze , fought an army of Winged Beasts and Insect monsters and fought the Big Five ' s " Mythic Dragon " . Each of the five Legendary Heroes had to Summon a Dragon - type monster in order to defeat the Big 5 . Mai Summoned her " Harpie ' s Pet Dragon " . Mai sacrificed her Dragon so that Yugi ' s " Black Luster Soldier " could stay on the field , therefore losing all her Life Points . She was later revived by the " Mystical Elf " . Battle City . During Battle City , Mai wins enough Duels off - screen to qualify to the quarter finals . She assists Yugi and Joey ' s friends ( Serenity , Tristan , and Duke ) by driving them to Yugi and Joey ' s Duel at the pier . She explains how she knows about the Rare Hunters as a group who lie , cheat , and steal rare cards . She also wonders what is going on in the piers . Before proceeding to the quarter finals she meets Jean - Claude Magnum . She does not recognize him at first , but comes to remember him proposing and her telling him to come back when he became a better Duelist . Magnum holds her to that and Duels her again . This time if he wins , she marries him . Mai wins and Magnum tries to kidnap her in desperation using a hang glider . Mai nearly falls to her death but is saved by Joey . After Joey becomes unconscious in his Duel with Odion Ishtar , he has a dream involving his friends which helps him regain consciousness . When Mai asks if she was in his dream , Joey lies and says that she wasn ' t . This infuriates Mai and she proceeds to Duel Marik Ishtar in the next round , ignoring any help or support her friends try to give . Mai takes a clear advantage in the Duel , outplaying Marik and even stealing his Egyptian God Card , " The Winged Dragon of Ra " with " Amazoness Chain Master " . However , Marik uses the powers of his Millennium Rod to take the Duel to the Shadow Realm ( or make the Duel a Yami no Game in Japan ) , where whenever one of Mai ' s Monsters is destroyed , she loses the memory of one of her friends . Toward the end of the Duel , Mai has 3 copies of " Cyber Harpie " and is in a position to win , however she tries to Summon " Ra " , only to have it appear in Sphere mode , as she isn ' t one of the chosen ones with the power to control it . Since she couldn ' t read the Hieratic text to unlock Ra , Marik does so , using its ability to swap the card back over to his side . Her feelings of loneliness and emptiness return , despite encouragement from Yugi . Just as she is about to lose , Joey rushes onto the field , trying to stop the Duel . After Joey talks to Mai , he eventually manages to break through to her and her memory of Joey is restored , much to the shock and upset of Marik , who comments in the Japanese version that he is surprised their bond of genuine and strong friendship is actually strong enough to break though his powers . She then loses to Marik . In the dub , she is sent to the Shadow Realm after she loses to Marik , while in the Japanese version , she is trapped within her own mind , subjected to brutal mental assaults . After Marik ' s defeat , Yugi saves her . She parts ways with Joey and the others after the tournament , realizing that they indeed were her true and closest friends , she must ultimately move on . Waking the Dragons . Mai continues her Duel Monsters career by herself and wins several minor tournaments , but is overshadowed by Yugi , Kaiba , and Joey , and without her friends to show her the way again , her fear of defeat still persists . She also suffers recurring nightmares of Yami Marik . ( In the dub , Mai dreams of Yami Marik trapping her permanently in the Shadow Realm , while in the Japanese version she dreams that she ' s trapped again and Marik is trying to kill her while she helplessly calls on her friends to save her but to no avail . ) After winning one particular tournament , she shatters the trophy after hearing the runner - up and his friends say how embarrassing it is to lose to someone like her , that she isn ' t a strong Duelist like Yugi , Seto and Joey are , and believe those three , unlike her , are still eons above them in strength . Afterwards , she meets Valon , who recognizes her as a fellow Duelist who wants nothing more than to always win ( while in the dub he sees her as a loner ) . He wants her to stand by his side and he ' ll keep on winning , just for her , against anyone she wants . He says that she is " his " reason to keep on winning ( while in the dub he encourages her to forget about her friends and gain the power of " The Seal of Orichalcos " by joining Dartz ' s henchmen ) . On Dartz ' s orders , Mai ambushes and defeats Pegasus , trapping his soul . Under Dartz ' s influence , Mai believes that it was Yugi , Joey , and her other friends that abandoned her . She particularly despises Joey and wants to defeat him for herself . Valon , who has developed feelings for Mai , believes Joey to be the source of Mai ' s suffering and aims to take out Joey himself , although Mai doesn ' t agree to this . Mai saves Joey and his friends from a gang of bikers by throwing cards at them . Although the gang does not get a clear view of their rescuer , Joey gets a glimpse of one of her " Harpie Lady " cards as well as a glimpse of her in her helmet visor and begins to suspect that it is her . Yugi , Joey and their friends arrive at the Industrial Illusions headquarters to meet Pegasus but instead find Mai and are locked in . Mai faces Joey in a Duel , using " The Seal of Orichalcos " , putting both players ' souls at stake . Although Mai dominates most of the Duel , Joey makes a comeback after acquiring his Legendary Dragon . When it becomes apparent that Joey is about to win ( when he actually is trying to end it in a draw to save them both ) , Valon intervenes , using his fragment of the Orichalcos to break the seal , saving Mai . This greatly angers Mai as she claims to have had the Duel under control . Valon takes matters into his own hands and tries to defeat Joey before Mai can face him again . Joey manages to win and change Valon ' s attitude . Mai catches the end of the Duel and Valon tries telling her that Joey is a good guy . Regardless , Mai gets possessed by the powers of the Orichalchos again and faces Joey again . Joey accepts , realizing that he can never truly get through to her until she is freed from Dartz ' s control . Joey tries to convince Mai that Dartz has deceived her . Exhausted from both Duels , Joey nearly passes out as Mai is about to win . Mai finally sees through all of the deception and remembers everything that they went through , and as a result , doesn ' t declare her final attack and rushes over to catch Joey . The Seal , however , proceeds to take Joey ' s spirit because he no longer has the strength to continue , and therefore , loses the Duel . Devastated , she holds Joey close in her arms and tearfully tells him she won ' t let the Orichalchos take him away , as the Seal closes in . Before losing his soul , Joey pushes Mai away and throws her fragment of the Orichalchos in the air . She screams in agony as Joey loses his soul while breaking the fragment , her strong emotions finally freeing her from Dartz ' s influence . In an attempt to pay back Joey and Valon , she tries to take on Dartz to beat him and win back their souls , but is instead confronted and defeated by Rafael at their headquarters , resulting in the loss of her own soul . Rafael later saves her life by pulling her unconscious body from the wreckage of the collapsing headquarters . After Yugi , Kaiba and Joey defeat Dartz , Mai ' s soul is freed alongside Valon ' s , as well as all others who were victim to the Orichalchos . Life Reevaluation . Mai spends the rest of the series alone and out of the picture , reevaluating her life , and trying to rediscover her passion for Dueling . In the dub , Mai claims she cannot face Joey and the others until she can " face up " to what she ' s done . Mai leaves one of her " Harpie Lady " cards with Valon ( in this case , " Cyber Harpie " ) ; she also promises to return one day to both Joey and Valon . However , in the dub , Mai and Valon ' s relationship seems to end , and she doesn ' t say whether she will go back to Joey . She is on the invitation list to participate in the KC Grand Prix but only attends the final Duel as a spectator to witness Yugi defeat Leon von Schroeder . Though not a part of the action of the final season , she is seen in passing a few times , such as being shown as one of the Duelists destined to be a part of the Pharaoh ' s journey according to Pegasus ( when Mai is shown , she is sitting alone in her car looking up to the clear skies ) . The ending credits in the Japanese version shows her Dueling alongside Vivian Wong against the Meikyū Brothers ( Paradox Brothers ) on top of the Great Wall of China . However in " Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX " , there is no record of this Duel , as it was said that the Paradox Brothers ' had only ever lost once , which was in their last Duel , before facing Jaden and Syrus . This referred to their Duel with Yugi and Joey , so it is unclear whether the brothers were lying as per usual , or whether they defeated or tied Mai and Vivian . Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX . She is mentioned only once in " Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX " . When Professor Banner teaches the students about Dueling legends like Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba , a Slifer Red shouts from the crowd , " I like Mai Valentine ! " However , that line is not present in the Japanese version . Yu - Gi - Oh ! 5D ' s . In " Yu - Gi - Oh ! 5D ' s " , a parody of her named Maizuru Kujyaku is listed as one the Duelists defeated by Hunter Pace . Relationships . Joey Wheeler . She is often paired up with her dearest and closest friend , Joey Wheeler . There is no clear - cut indicator that they are deeply romantically interested in one another throughout the manga or anime , though it has been implied in the anime ( more so in the dub ) . Mai is viewed as a role model by Serenity Wheeler .