Shadow Realm The Shadow Realm is alleged to be a place of suffering where people could be sent to . It was designed by 4Kids Entertainment for the dubbed version of the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " second series anime . If a death or serious injury would occur in the Japanese version , the dub would censor it by having the victim be sent to the Shadow Realm instead ; hence , the Shadow Realm is regarded as a euphemism for death and other disastrous events used for the dub . Shadow Game s were depicted as occurring in another dimension which was also called the Shadow Realm . It was this dark dimension ( so named by Maximillion Pegasus ) that formed the basis for the Shadow Realm in the English version . When wagering a Duel in the Shadow Realm , Summoning and maintaining a monster requires energy . The more monsters , the more energy it seems to require . In Yugi Muto and Pegasus ' s final Duel , Yami Yugi had to take over for the large portion because of the strain it had caused Yugi . In Joey Wheeler and Yami Marik ' s Duel , Joey would have won if he hadn ' t collapsed after the attack of " The Winged Dragon of Ra " took away the rest of his stamina . The concept is also mentioned in the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX " anime . Japanese version . The Shadow Realm as presented in the English language version of the anime does not exist in the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " manga and the Japanese version of the anime . However , the concept is based on an occasionally mentioned place called the World of Darkness ( の " Yami no Sekai " ) . This was where the soul of Solomon Muto was placed after being absorbed into a " Soul Prison " card by Maximillion Pegasus . In the final manga arc , it is also mentioned by the High Priest of Darkness that the loser of the Ultimate Shadow Game would not be sent to the afterlife when they die but to " a void of eternal darkness " , reminiscent of descriptions of the Shadow Realm . In the Japanese version of " Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX " , Titan mentions that he was taken to the World of Darkness after losing to Jaden . Here , he met Kagemaru , who gave him his Shadow Charm mask , letting him return to Earth as one of the Shadow Riders . He Dueled Alexis Rhodes , one of the holders of the Spirit Key s , intending to defeat her and drag her to the World of Darkness , just as her brother previously had been . However , he lost to her and was dragged back there himself . For some reason the Crunchyroll subtitles call the World of Darkness in the GX and Duel Monsters subs as the Shadow Realm . Purpose . The Shadow Realm does not exist in Japanese media , and it is always used euphemistically . The Shadow Realm was created to serve as a substitute for a character dying . Losing a Shadow Game , a fatal wound inflicted by a Duel Monster , the power of a Millennium Item , or any other mystical means would condemn their soul to the Shadow Realm . This was less permanent than explicitly stating that the character was killed , as it was established that it is possible to retrieve a soul from the Shadow Realm . Replacements . The Shadow Realm is often criticized for censoring some of the darker aspects of the show , and for some of the more preposterous ways in which characters are banished there . For example , in Yugi Muto and Arkana ' s Duel , the loser was to be sent to the Shadow Realm if touched by the " Dark Energy Disc " . In the Japanese version , the disks were simply buzz saw blades that would dismember the loser ' s feet , presumably resulting in death from blood loss or shock . Likewise , Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba ' s had a Tag Duel against Lumis and Umbra atop a skyscraper in Domino City famous for its hollow interior , with each Duelist standing on top of a glass window rigged with a small explosive that would cause it to shatter upon losing . In the dub , the Duelist would fall into a portal to the Shadow Realm . In the Japanese version , the Duelist would simply fall to their death . This is why Umbra was prepared with a parachute , which he deployed when his window shattered . When Yami Marik banishes Mai Valentine ' s soul , her soul had been relocated to another plane in the Japanese version . In the dub , her soul was stated to have been sent to the Shadow Realm . After winning a Duel , Yami Bakura sent Bonz , Sid and Zygor to Hell in the Japanese version . In the dub , they were instead sent to the Shadow Realm . Later , both Yami Bakura and his host Bakura Ryou were sent to the Shadow Realm when they lost to Yami Marik , whereas in the Japanese version they were turned into dark vapor . Sometimes , the Shadow Realm can produce darker themes in the dub . Whenever a Rare Hunter lost a Duel to Yugi , Marik would take over their mind to talk to Yugi . Once finished , Marik would send them to the Shadow Realm without mercy , whereas in the Japanese version , the Rare Hunter would simply be knocked out . Some fans argue that being sent to the Shadow Realm is worse than being killed since the characters sent there are subjected to eternal torment rather than a peaceful " afterlife " when killed . Tying the concept together towards the show ' s conclusion , Zorc Necrophades is credited with the creation of the Shadow Realm in the dub . Some characters are pulled out of the Shadow Realm in the dub of the anime and localized video games .