Seto Kaiba

Name: Seto Kaiba

Age: 16

Nationality: Japanese-American

Special Skills: Business management, computer programming and hacking

Likes: Gaming, winning, Mokuba Kaiba, Tea Gardner

Best Friend: Mokuba Kaiba

Image Songs: Field of Innocence by Evanescence

Where Will You Go? by Evanescence (EP version)

Numb by Linkin Park (Seto to Gozaburo)

Believer by Imagine Dragons

Background: Seto was a sweet and thoughtful child who had to take over as the parents as well as the big brother when his and Mokuba's parents died. He was open and happy and always tried to keep things cheerful for Mokuba even in the worst circumstances. After their adoption by Gozaburo Kaiba, however, Seto changed. Gozaburo was cruel and hard, and tragically molded Seto from an innocent child who didn't think he had enemies to a ruthless businessman who refused to trust anyone for fear of betrayal.

Even in the face of these heavy personality changes, Seto never lost his love for his brother Mokuba, nor his determination to make sure Mokuba had a good and happy life. He also still carried in his heart their dream of a worldwide chain of Kaiba Land amusement parks, for which all the underprivileged children would be allowed in free.

Seto struggled for years, drowning in hatred and rage, but slowly and surely, Atem and the rest of Yugi-tachi began to break through that harsh exterior. Although he abhorred relying on anyone for help, still fearing betrayal, eventually he learned to work with the group when needed and became a hero, helping to save the world from Dartz's madness and Zorc's evil. He continues to be a vital ally in the group as they face more bizarre enemies.

Recently he has also been charged with using a magical ring once owned by his ancestor in ancient Egypt to help protect the world. He hates this, of course, but is willing to do it to protect Mokuba. The Big Five own the other rings in the set.

Personality: Seto is cold, hard, and sometimes rude, but he genuinely doesn't want to see good people hurt. He loves his brother more than anything else in the world and will do anything to save or protect him. And deep down, though he couldn't admit it out loud for a long time, he thinks of Yugi and the others as his friends. He's also starting to realize that he may actually have romantic feelings for Tea.

He vehemently wants to deny that supernatural things can happen. Originally he believed in them and was open about that belief, realizing that Pegasus truly had stolen Mokuba's soul. But when Pegasus later stole Seto's soul, the experience was so horrifying that Seto tried to deny later that it happened. He also proceeded to deny any other supernatural events. But deep down, he knows they've all been real. And he did finally acknowledge out loud that the Memory World events had happened and that there really were "two Yugis."

He has an obsession about winning, feeling that anything else means he is a complete failure. This was why he became so bent on defeating Yugi during Battle City, even to the point that he became very hateful. But when Mokuba pointed out what was happening, Seto realized its truth and tried to overcome those feelings. Perhaps it was losing to Pegasus and having his soul stolen that was part of what made Seto so bent on winning during Battle City. Losing to Pegasus truly had meant failure in more ways than one, and that plus Gozaburo's harsh teachings about winning must have only drilled those ideas into Seto's heart more than ever before.

Differences between the timelines: The old Seto was much more open with Yugi-tachi, as I fully believed he would change for the better after Duelist Kingdom. When he grew worse instead, I half-unconsciously started to write him harsher to match. The new timeline incorporates all of canon, yet eliminates many of Seto's dub-only insults and his dub-only shortness with Mokuba. He privately acknowledged Yugi-tachi as friends, and eventually he actually told them.

Seto and Tea didn't get together in the old timeline until several stories set in the future, but in the new timeline, they seem to be heading in that direction much sooner.