Pegasus J. Crawford
From Janime
Pegasus J. Crawford
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|---|---|
| Yu-Gi-Oh! (manga), Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, Yu-Gi-Oh! R, Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX | |
| Dub Name | Maximillion Pegasus Maximillion J. Pegasus (English manga) |
| First Appearance | Yu-Gi-Oh! manga Vol. 7, Duel 60 |
| Birth Date | October 8th |
| Known Relatives | Cyndia (lover), Yakou Tenma (protégé), Gekkou Tenma (protégé), Mr. Crocketts (right-hand servant), Unnamed father |
| Height | 188cm. |
| Weight | 65kg. |
| Favourite Food | Wine and gorgonzola cheese |
| Least Favourite Food | Squid |
| Signature Card | Toon World |
| Seiyuu | Jiro Jay Takasugi |
| VA | Darren Dunstan |
Pegasus J. Crawford (ペガサス・ジェー・クロフォード Pegasasu Jē Kurofōdo) is the genius American creator of the Duel Monsters card game (Magic and Wizards in the original Japanese manga). He is also president of the corporation known as Industrial Illusions, often referred to as I². A wacky and carefree gentleman on the outside, Pegasus has dark motives which he will go to great lengths to achieve. The death of his lover led him to Egypt, where he received the Millennium Eye and with it the ability to read minds.
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[edit] Personality
Pegasus is outwardly friendly and energetic, very rarely seeming to take anything seriously. He jokes and makes puns, often using a mix of both Japanese and English. He loves cartoons, particularly Funny Rabbit: a cartoon in the style of Bugs Bunny. He has a tendency to exclaim "unbelievable!", along with other English phrases and swear words.
His light-hearted exterior is deceiving, however; he is merciless and cruel when attempting to reach his own ends. His Millennium Eye gives him the power to read people's minds and he delights in using this ability both for his own amusement and to further his agenda. The Eye also gives him the ability to deal out penalty games.
In the anime, the more unpleasant side of Pegasus fades away after Duelist Kingdom and he becomes far less hostile towards Yugi Mutou and his friends. In his occasional appearances in Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX, Pegasus has no malice at all and acts as an inspirational fatherly figure towards the Duel Academia students.
[edit] Biography
[edit] History
Pegasus was the son of an immensely wealthy businessman who managed casinos in Las Vegas. At a social function 14 years before Duelist Kingdom, Pegasus met Cyndia, the daughter of one of his father's friends. They quickly fell in love and planned to spend the rest of their lives together, travelling the world (Pegasus planned to earn his living as a famous painter). However, at the age of 17, Cyndia fell ill and died. Pegasus was devastated.
Over time Pegasus became interested in the Egyptian concepts of life after death, and he journeyed to Egypt. The trip did not bring him inspiration to paint, but his travels eventually brought him to Kul Elna, the village of thieves. There, Pegasus encountered Shadi, who warned him that the place was not where he would find the solution to his sadness. Intrigued that the man had apparently read his mind, Pegasus followed Shadi in secret to a hidden underground temple.
The temple housed the Tablet of the Pharaoh's Memories and several Millennium Items. Upon being discovered, Shadi forced Pegasus into a test to see if he was worthy of receiving the Millennium Eye. He told Pegasus that if he were worthy he would be granted his dearest wish: seeing Cyndia again. His left eye was torn out and replaced with the Millennium Eye. For a split second, he had himself reunited with a vision of Cyndia, but then it was gone. The Eye had accepted him.
Basing his ideas off Ancient Egptian hieroglyphs and carvings, Pegasus created the Duel Monsters card game, along with the Egyptian God Cards. He founded Industrial Illusions, a modest game company and turned it into one of the biggest in the world with his ingenious ideas. He established himself as a young genius game designer and teamed up with Kaiba Corporation to design the Virtual Battle Simulation Box. In addition, Pegasus took many orphans from around the world and trained them to work for him as game designers, or duelists. He built himself an empire, but all he really wanted was Cyndia.
[edit] Duelist Kingdom
It is Duelist Kingdom where Pegasus's fate intertwines with that of Yugi. Duelist Kingdom is the name of Pegasus's personal island, where he hosts a tournament gathering 40 strong duelists based on official and unofficial duels. The prize of the tournament is ¥3000,000. In fact, the entire tournament is merely a front for his plan with the Kaiba Corporation board of directors (known as the Big Five) to take over the company by defeating Yugi Mutou in a duel and removing him from the picture, thus restoring faith in the company after Seto Kaiba's humiliating defeat at Yugi's hands.
After defeating Yugi in a timed duel using a pre-recorded video, Pegasus steals the soul of Yugi's grandfather with a penalty game. This forces Yugi to enter the Duelist Kingdom tournament in order to win his grandfather's soul back back. In the manga, Seto Kaiba (current president of Kaiba Corporation) is in an indefinite coma at the time, which is why Pegasus leaps at the opportunity to gain control of the company with virtually no opposition. In the anime, Kaiba has become reclusive after his defeat and Pegasus sends some henchmen to dispose of him. At that time, Kaiba apparently jumps to his death.
Pegasus captures and imprisons Seto Kaiba's younger brother, Mokuba, who has swallowed the key to a safe of important documents needed for the Big Five to complete their deal with Pegasus. With it only being a matter of time before he obtains the key or is able to create a duplicate using scans of Mokuba's stomach, all Pegasus needs is to defeat Yugi. However, his plans are interrupted by the unexpected return of Seto Kaiba. Pegasus seals the soul of Mokuba in a card and forces Kaiba to duel once again with Yugi. Kaiba wins and earns a duel with Pegasus, with his soul on the line. Using the mind-reading powers of the Millennium Eye, Pegasus defeats Seto Kaiba and seals his soul in a card also.
As Pegasus anticipated, Yugi fights his way up to the final round: a duel with Pegasus. In the manga, Pegasus meets Bandit Keith, who lost in the semi-finals. With a knife, Keith threatens Pegasus to hand over the prize money but Pegasus inflicts a penalty game upon Keith, apparently killing him. Pegasus proceeds to the duel arena, where the two agree the odds of the duel: should Pegasus win, Yugi's soul will be sealed in a card; should Yugi win, Pegasus will release the souls of Sugoroku, Seto and Mokuba. In the fateful duel, Yugi and Dark Yugi team up for the first time to counter the abilities of Pegasus's Millennium Eye. However, Pegasus turns the duel into an intense Game of Darkness.
Despite this, Pegasus loses and is forced to free the souls of Yugi's grandfather and the Kaiba brothers. The Big Five see his defeat and Pegasus's deal is lost. In the manga, Pegasus then explains his tragic romance with Cyndia to Yugi; in the anime, a weakened Pegasus returns to his chamber only to be attacked by Dark Bakura. Bakura challenges Pegasus to a short Game of Darkness using their Millennium Items. Pegasus loses and as a prize Bakura tears out and claims Pegasus's Millennium Eye. Pegasus's body, unmoving but alive, is discovered by his guards and carried away. Yugi, Jonouchi, Anzu and Honda go up to Pegasus's chamber and Anzu reads out a note (written in English), explaining the man's motives. As he gives Yugi the tournament prize money and the Ties of Friendship card, Mr. Crocketts later explains that Pegasus has been taken to hospital.
In the manga, Pegasus is left alone at the duel table after telling his story. In the corridor outside Yugi's room, Mr. Crocketts presents Yugi with the prize money and says that the reason Pegasus wanted Kaiba Corporation was related to its increasingly realistic 'Solid Vision' technology - even more advanced than the 3-D holograms of the Kaiba Corporation Virtual Simulator. He suggests that perhaps all the measures Pegasus went through were actually tied to his dream of seeing Cyndia again, even if he had to use holographic technology to do it. Pegasus is last seen slumped at the duel table, dead, with blood running down his face from the empty eye socket where the Millennium Eye used to be. Dark Bakura is seen leaving a replica Eye on the table, next to Pegasus's blood-stained Cyndia card, as he walks away with the real eye.
[edit] Death (Manga)
In the original Manga, it is presumed that Pegasus died the moment that Dark Bakura took his Millennium Eye. During Battle City, Esper Roba claims he is communicating with the soul of Pegasus who was tragically murdered months ago. When Dark Bakura gives the Eye to Yugi, Yugi recalls that news regarding Pegasus have been unclear since Duelist Kingdom. In the anime, he is seen to have survived, as he later appears as a key role in the Doma Arc of the anime and later appears on a number of occasions in the anime Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters GX.
It was later confirmed by the spin-off Manga Yu-Gi-Oh! R that Pegasus was in fact dead and that Tenma wished to resurrect him with the power of The Devil's Avatar. However, since Yu-Gi-Oh! R has been designated as a side story not connected to the main one by its author, its presence in the canon of the Yu-Gi-Oh! Manga is questionable.
Kazuki Takahashi confirmed his status as deceased in the Gospel of Truth interview and one of the bunkoban afterwords. He also stated that Pegasus lived with Cyndia in Heaven after he atoned for his sins.
[edit] Doma and onwards
In the anime, after his encounter with Bakura, Pegasus is brought to a hospital to recover his health. He shows himself to Yugi and his friends when the Duel Monsters cards become real and start attacking the citizens. He sends a package with a video tape in it, similarly to before the events of Duelist Kingdom. In his video message he explains they must go to him as soon as possible, for he was able to discover who is behind the bizarre events. Unfortunately, he is found by Mai first, who then took his soul after a duel with the Seal of Orichalcos. Shortly after, Amelda disguising as Pegasus contacts Kaiba and tells him to come to Duelist Kingdom.
After Jonouchi's duel with Mai inside the Industrial Illusions headquarters, the group explores Pegasus' private room, in which he -or rather, a Solid Vision form of him- talks about Doma's and Dartz's motives. He also gives a blank card (later on revealed to be the Legend of Heart) to Yugi.
Pegasus is seen again as one of the Mirror Knights, his soul being under control by Dartz. He manages to break free for a brief moment to remind Dark Yugi of the card he gave him. After Dartz is defeated, his soul is restored along with everyone else.
When the group is heading to Egypt for the Ceremonial Duel, he thinks about his role in the entire matter and fate itself, how he created the path of destiny for the Pharaoh by creating Duel Monsters.
In the ending of the final episode, he is shown making a business deal with Siegfried von Schroider.
[edit] The Pyramid of Light
With the intent to overcome the God Cards, Pegasus creates the Blue-Eyes Shining Dragon card, based on the text of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon. However, the apparition of Anubis adds Pyramid of Light to his stored cards. He has been suffering of the same dream over and over again - the vision of the three Gods being captured in a strange pyramid. He gets up from his bed, thinking about the meaning of his dreams. He is visited by Kaiba the next day, who demands the cards capable of beating the God Cards from him. Pegasus forces Kaiba into an Ante Rule duel, but he loses. When Kaiba states Pegasus had two cards with him, he has no idea what he is talking about. He eventually departs to the Duel Dome himself to investigate the second card and save the two duelists from the impending danger.
He rescues Anzu, Yugi's grandfather and Mokuba when the Pyramid of Light causes an earthquake in the dome. Later on, he retrieves the soulless bodies of Honda and Jonouchi and watches the rest of the duel. When Anubis in his true form destroys the roof, he summons his Toon monsters to prevent the group from getting crushed by the rubble.
In the second half of the novelization of the movie, Pegasus is confined to a wheelchair.
[edit] Yu-Gi-Oh! R
Pegasus is seen primarily in flashbacks, focusing on his relationship with his adopted children, the Tenma twins in particular. Yakou Tenma manages to summon him with the aid of Devil's Avatar, but the process is interrupted by the restoration of the Duel Servers. He appears for the last time in Yakou's vision during the clash of Devil's Avatar and Obelisk. He looks at his protégé, then turns around without saying a word and fades away.
[edit] Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
Pegasus makes an appearance several times during the series. He praises Hayato for his artistic talents and tells him he would like to hire him as a game designer. Later on, he pays a visit to the school because one of his designers, Frantz stole the last copy of Ra's card. Pegasus shows great concern for the man's safety, since he experienced the devastating powers of the God Cards himself. He is about to challenge him to a duel when Judai interrupts them, saying he would like to battle against the legendary God. After Frantz loses the duel, Pegasus walks up to him and shows him his empty eye socket to show that power without a strong heart comes with tragedy. Frantz agrees to go back to the company.
During the events of the Genex Tournament, Samejima expects Pegasus as an important guest. Pegasus is stopped by Cronos and Napoleon on his way to the Duel Academia building. The two beg him if they could join Industrial Illusions. Pegasus makes a deal with them - if both of them can beat him in a duel, he'll hire them. However, Pegasus declares a condition: whichever of them have the higher Life Points at the end of the duel will get the better position at his company. Exploiting the ignited mistrust between the vice principal and the teacher, he wins the duel. He discusses the Society of Light and the Light of Destruction with Samejima afterwards. He also talks about the Ultimate D Card.
At a social function the tells Edo about the top five duelists of the world. They are Yugi Mutou, Seto Kaiba, Jonouchi Katsuya, Edo and Johan Andersen. Pegasus held a tournament at one point to see who would be worthy enough for the deck with the legendary Gem Beasts in it. The monsters reacted to Johan, and he decided it would be the best to give the deck to him. The deck at that time did not contain Rainbow Dragon, which Pegasus later on creates from its tablet with special painting equipment.
He is last seen with Samejima and Cronos discussing the students' return from the Duel Monsters World. He mentions that he would love to explore that place as a card designer.
[edit] Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
The World Riding Duel Grand Prix is supported by the Pegasus J. Crawford Memory Foundation, implying that Pegasus is no longer alive during the series' events.
[edit] Yu-Gi-Oh! 10th Anniversary Movie: Super Fusion! Bonds That Transcend Time
Pegasus attends an event for children where he promotes the card game. At this point, Paradox appears and summons his monsters, attacking Domino City with them. The dragons' attacks cause damage to the surrounding buildings and make them collapse on the gathering, including Pegasus. His death is undone when Crimson Dragon takes Yugi back 30 minutes in time, uniting the three protagonists who then confront the incoming Paradox. After Paradox is defeated, Pegasus arrives at Domino City and the event is conducted normally. He hands out special cards and asks everyone to take one.
[edit] Other Appearances
Pegasus makes an appearance in many video games, in most of which he uses his Toon Deck. In Yu-Gi-Oh! Sugoroku's Sugoroku, he is one of the playable characters. He has a main role in Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters 8: Reshef of Destruction.
[edit] Reshef of Destruction
Pegasus takes the antagonist's role and goes by the name Taiyou Tenma (天馬太陽 Tenma Taiyō) during the game's events. His appearance also gets a makeover, his hair is tied in a ponytail and his empty eye socket is covered by an eyepatch.
After Duelist Kingdom, Pegasus gave up on his long dream of meeting Cyndia again. He wandered across the globe, being drawn by an unseen force, which led him to Egypt. He found Wicked God - Reshef sealed in a stone tablet. Having realized how destructive Reshef could be, Pegasus started deciphering the tablet in order to prevent the wicked god's escape. As he was gathering information, he slowly fell under Reshef's spell, causing him to unleash it instead. He collected the God Cards in order to seal Reshef forever, but under its control, Pegasus used them in a resurrection ritual, causing them to be turned to stone. The ritual also caused the Millennium Items to be scattered across the globe.
He appears for the first time when the player sets the video card received from the Illusionist of the Dead on his Duel Disk. He says they should play a game, to bring the revived God cards to him before the time runs out. With the Player Killers at his disposal, he is willing to stop the player, as well Yugi and his friends from getting in his way. After the player acquires the Millennium Eye, Pegasus' memories are seen, who now calls himself Taiyou Tenma. He states that his old name and self does not mean anything to him anymore. He also suggests the group should continue playing the "game".
Pegasus once again awaits for his opponents in his castle in Duelist Kingdom, now called Pegasus Island. He sends out Chevaliers, minions created by Reshef who sport Pegasus' old hairstyle, knowing no emotion or mercy. Despite their efforts, the group still makes their way to Pegasus. He sets up the final challenge: using Reshef's powers, he takes the spirits of defeated duelists and crystallizes them into dark duelists. After the player makes his way past the castle corridors, he encounters Kaiba who, after defeating a Chevalier, is not willing to duel a mind controlled Mokuba. The player beats Mokuba with the help of the God Cards, which frees him from the spell. Kaiba hands over Obelisk to the player afterwards.
When the player finally reaches Pegasus, Ishizu begs him to stop whatever he is planning to do. He protests, saying that Reshef will create a wonderful world when it reaches its full power. With the intent to sacrifice the player, he duels with him. However, the player comes out victorious, the God Cards then knock Pegasus back, causing him to return to his true self. He is shocked to relize what he has done, but it is too late - Reshef regains his form and traps everyone in the castle. Reshef initates its final ritual of the ancients, requiring a complete victory to be completed. Pegasus thinks it is hopeless, but then Dark Yugi and everyone else unite their spirits against Reshef. The player successfully defeats Reshef in their duel. At this point, the wicked god worms itself into Pegasus' soul. He says nothing and nobody can forgive him for what he has done, but he won't lose to his enemy. He asks the player to seal Reshef while it is trapped inside him. Dark Yugi explains he must respect Pegasus as a true duelist. The gods then approach Pegasus, locking away the man with the evil entity for eternity.
[edit] Quotes
- (Episode 16 - Seto Kaiba): Pegasus J. Crawford. The creator of Duel Monsters. A man with immeasurable power. His mind created all the rules, his hands created all the cards! On this island, the duelists collect star chips, trying to reach that castle... But they are merely playing in the hands of the God of Card Kingdom!
- (Chapter 109): Say, Kaiba-boy, do you like cartoons? ... I take it that means no. Well, not me. I love them. I remember, when I was growing up back in America, I watched Funny Rabbit every Saturday morning. All those great characters, running around all over the TV! They were my best friends back then. To this day, they run around in the little garden inside my heart. They never betrayed me. And they can never die. And now, Kaiba, I'll invite you to that world. I'm going to play...Toon World!
- (Episode 35):
- Pegasus: This game is based on choosing good cards during each turn and good moments to attack. The accumulation of errors gradually leads the player to defeat. I have to warn you... I never make any errors.
- Jonouchi: That Pegasus! Everyone makes some errors! Does he take himself to be a god or what?
- Bakura: Pegasus created Duel Monsters. He is like a god. The creator has the possibility of dominating his world.
- (Episode 36): There's no solution, Yugi-boy! A game is a psychological battle. The one who has the psychological lead over his opponent is the winner. Your strength doesn't enable you to take even one step into the territory of my mind... Much less into the game world I created. And I'll now prove it to you. My card is... Toon World! Toon World is the ultimate game world I've created. Toon characters are the best!
- (Chapter 132): Cyndia. I met her fourteen years ago. My father was immensely wealthy. He managed a casino in Las Vegas. At night he would take my hand and attend fancy social functions. That is where I met Cyndia, the daughter of my father's wealthy friend. Soon we were drawn to each other. We always talked about our dreams. I was going to become a famous painter and travel around the world... we swore to spend the rest of our lives together. But soon after I turned seventeen... Cyndia got sick and left this world. For months I stared at the white canvas of my heart.
- (Chapter 133 - Mr. Crocketts): Perhaps Mr. Pegasus was forever chasing the illusion of his lover...
- (Episode 181): Certainly... a human life, seen from the perspective of the galaxy's history, is so short, so powerless! However, the microscopic world we cannot see with the naked eye, the infinite space of the galaxies above, the past and the future so far away... Even if we cannot see them, people can use their imagination and comprehend a world of limitless possibilities! This is what can carve out the future... Imagination!
- (The Pyramid of Light): You must have a heart befitting enough to wield power. Power lacking heart will only bring about tragedy.
[edit] Duel Monsters / Magic and Wizards
As the inventor of the game, Pegasus is immensely skilled. His deck is a Toon Deck based on the American cartoons that he loves. His trump card, Toon World has the power to turn any monster into an invulnerable 'Toon' based on his logic that in children's cartoons the main characters are never hurt under any circumstances. They are incapable of dying, and Pegasus calls them the "perfect lifeform" on several occasions. He owns the only known versions of these cards in existence.
Pegasus's deck also contains a darker side than his glossy Toons: monsters such as Sacrifice and Thousand-Eyes Sacrifice represent the uglier side of the man, with the abilities to paralyze and manipulate his opponent's monsters. The mind-reading abilities of the Millennium Eye also allow him to see his opponents' moves before they make them, giving him a massive unfair advantage.
[edit] Trivia
- Pegasus's alias in the game Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters 8: Reshef of Destruction was Taiyou Tenma, this later paralleled to the names of his heirs in the spin-off manga Yu-Gi-Oh! R Gekkou & Yakou Tenma.
- Pegasus tends to elongate words at the end of his sentences, especially desu and masu. He emits the former in its drawn out form 265 times in total during the second series, GX, and The Pyramid of Light.
- Pegasus has J. as his middle initial just like cartoon characters such as Elmer J. Fudd or Michigan J. Frog.
- The new TCG League program, Pegasus League, is named after him.
- Both Pegasus and Cyndia are named after Greek mythological figures. Cyndia is a variant of the name Cynthia, which is one of the names of the goddess Artemis.
- Pegasus appears in the card art of Final Ritual of the Ancients.
- In the manga, Pegasus' eyes are blue. In the anime, his eyes are brown.
- In the manga, Pegasus' trousers are white. In the anime, they are red, just like his suit. Some of his suits from the manga get replaced by his red suit in the anime.
- In the volumes which cover the early parts of Duelist Kingdom, Pegasus' suit also includes a pocket square. This is not seen in later volumes. It is completely absent from the anime.
- In the manga, he is seen drinking wine on only one occasion, and that is when he is reading his Funny Rabbit comic. In the anime, however, he is witnessed enjoying his drink several times.
- Pegasus has been killed three times during the franchise's run in various materials. He died in the manga, Reshef of Destruction and the 10th Anniversary Movie, although his death in the movie was undone shortly after.
