10 Worst Acts Committed By The Big Five In Yu-Gi-Oh!, Ranked

The Big Five first appear as minor antagonists during the Duelist Kingdom saga in Yu-Gi-Oh!. They later become the main villains in the short but memorable Legendary Heroes arc before making one last stand against the Kaiba brothers in the Virtual World saga.

These five former executives–Gansley, Crump, Johnson, Nezbitt, and Leichter–go out of their way to beat Seto Kaiba throughout their time in the anime. They commit numerous atrocities and are willing to kill anyone who gets in their way. Their efforts end up being in vain, but they still cause considerable trouble in the lives of young Kaiba and his group of frenemies.

10 Nezbitt Taking Advantage Of Serenity’s Lack Of Experience

Everyone in the group has experience dueling, even Tea. Serenity is the exception, as she had never played the game before Nezbitt forces her to battle him. Everything goes as he planned, and Serenity makes multiple rookie mistakes, eventually resulting in Tristan losing the duel and his body.

Nezbitt didn’t have to battle all three at once, but he knew that Serenity’s inexperience would affect the team. Furthermore, his ambition to possess all of their bodies instead of just settling for one speaks volumes about what kind of person he was. He ended up losing everything, although he was the only one to succeed in taking over a body.

9 Johnson Cheating In His Duel

Johson, Kaiba Corp’s former lawyer, duels Joey by using Judge Man as his Deck Master. He lives up to every stereotype about lawyers when he cheats on his duel, manipulating Joey’s chance-based cards to work in his favor. He eventually reveals he also used to cheat in real life, stating that he once convinced a jury that a hydrophobic man stole a boat.

Johnson’s tactics eventually enrage Noah, who attempts to disqualify him. However, Joey chooses to keep on with the duel, eventually winning and showing the sleazy lawyer a lesson.

8 Trying To Take Over Kaiba Corp

The Big Five constantly try to take over Kaiba Corp, but they always fail, mainly because everyone always outsmarts them.

Their first power play is when they vote out Gozaburo and place Seto as president. The young Kaiba betrays them, and so the Big Five eventually turn to Maximillion Pegasus to regain control of the company. However, this plan also fails when Yugi defeats pegasus at the end of the Duelist Kingdom arc. Their last attempt is when they trap Kaiba in the virtual world, but they instead end up getting trapped themselves.

7 Betraying Everyone

The Big Five truly do only care about themselves. They will betray everyone if that means getting ahead in the game. They first turn on Gozaburo, then on Seto, and finally on Noah.

The Big Five have no loyalty, which explains why they always end up losing. Every good executive knows they need allies if they want to reach the top of the corporate chain. The Big Five thought they didn’t need anyone else but themselves, and that was their undoing.

6 Kidnapping Seto

During their third attempt to take over Kaiba Corp, the Big Five grow more desperate and reckless. They trick Seto into trying their new virtual reality system, planning to trap him there and fake his death.

It’s bad enough that these men wanted to disappear Seto, but they don’t care if Yugi, Joey, Mokuba, and Mai, for that matter, also become trapped in the virtual world. On top of that, they send thugs to attack Tristan and Tea and would’ve probably had them taken care of had they won.

5 Turning Tristan Into A Robotic Monkey

Once Nezbitt takes over Tristan’s body, the young man’s consciousness becomes trapped in a small robotic monkey. Having Tristan’s mind preserved, even in monkey form, was probably better than losing it in cyberspace forever, but the act was still needlessly cruel.

To make matters worse, all five go into Tristan’s body, sharing it at once. The show never explores the consequences of that action, but the human body can only support so much mental strain, and Tristan must’ve suffered some repercussions from the Big Five’s presence in his body.

4 Trying To Take Over Everyone’s Body

And speaking of taking over other people’s bodies, the Big Five’s plan to escape the virtual world is far creepier than anyone realizes. Their plan is not only to steal bodies, but also entire lives.

For example, Crump would’ve become Tea, literally. He would’ve gone back to her house, mingled with her parents, and spoken to her friends. The idea of grown men inside teenagers’ bodies is far too disturbing to process, and it’s a good thing they never get away with it.

3 Enabling Gozaburo Kaiba’s Behavior

Gozaburo Kaiba might be the most despicable villain in Yu-Gi-Oh! He’s not only a terrible father, but an even more awful human being. He manipulates and uses everyone around him, including his sons. When he has no more use for Noah, he discards the young boy and replaces him with Seto and Mokuba.

The Big Five are just as guilty as Gozaburo because they enabled his behavior. Without them, he would’ve never built his empire; they encouraged his worst impulses and allowed him to continue being terrible. In more ways than one, they are responsible for the monster he would later become.

2 Making Weapons Of Mass Destruction

Kaiba Corp made its money as a military arms company. In fact, the show hints but never confirms that Gozaburo encouraged wars in remote places so that his company would sell weapons to one or both sides.

Weapons companies make millions of dollars at the expense of human lives, and nowadays, people consider them among the most morally corrupt businesses. Those are very delicate issues for a children’s cartoon to deal with, but Yu-Gi-Oh! does, albeit vaguely. The show makes sure to villainize Gozaburo and the Big Five for their dealings with wars and weapons, but they never get into the sordid details, which is probably for the best.

1 Trying To Kill Everyone

The Big Five try to kill Seto and his friends multiple times. During the Legendary Heroes arc, they even become the powerful Five-Headed Dragon monster to do so. The show never outright uses the word “kill,” but it’s implied. These five executives slowly become worse over the episodes, to the point where they’re so desperate that they’re willing to do everything to escape their prison.

In the end, the Big Five get “deleted” when the Virtual World gets destroyed, a fitting ending for these five men who were always more trouble than anything else.

About The Author

David Caballero
(802 Articles Published)

David is a twenty-eight-year-old Mexican writer and reader. Having studied Marketing in school, he spent three years working a nine-to-five desk job before deciding to pursue a writing career. He now works as a Senior Writer in ScreenRant and does some more freelancing job, talking about the entertainment business he so loves. Currently, he’s also writing his second novel while actively working to get his first one published.

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