Marc Thompson

Played Duke Devlin, Valon, Raphael

1. How did you first become involved with Yu-Gi-Oh?

I had started working with 4Kids Entertainment on Pokémon. They ended up producing a lot of shows that I ended up getting cast in. One of them was Yugioh

2. When you first went in to read for Duke, did you know he was going to become a regular character, or at that time did everyone think he was only in the Dungeon Dice Monsters episodes?

I think that I thought it was just a one off character. But was pleasantly surprised that he stuck around for a while🤪

3. Duke has a deeper and gruffer voice in his intro episodes than in season 2 and beyond. Did you decide to change his voice or was that a direction you were given?

No. Any changes were unintentional. It might be because in the earlier episodes he is an adversary, but in future episodes he becomes more of a friend that might change slightly how his voice sounded in scenes. But sometimes over the course of recording where you start off is not always where the character settles as you keep recording episodes. If you look at Homer Simpson in the early episodes of The Simpsons versus where he is now. It’s quite different. Sometimes that just happens gradually overtime.

4. Tristan and Duke have that infamous rivalry over wanting to date Joey Wheeler's sister Serenity. Did you have a preference for which one should get her or which one she seemed to favor?

She needs to end up with Duke!!!

5. How did you come to be asked to play both Valon and Raphael in season 4?

They had a casting session and I was invited to it. Once the director gets to know you, if they like you and what you can do, they will generally include you in their “talent pool”, when they have to find new characters.

6. Was it strange playing both Valon and Raphael, especially in scenes where they would interact with each other?

No, I’ve gotten to do that quite a bit. For me it’s a lot of fun. A bit of a challenge, but I try to make the voices distinct enough so that you don’t confuse them. I like having conversations with myself🤪

7. Did you ever idly come up with hobbies for your characters or other things they might do or enjoy in their spare time?

No. Although that would be a great acting exercise for me to try.

8. What was it like to return, even just briefly, for the Dark Side of Dimensions movie?

Well. I was really hoping for more. I guess it was cool to see him waiting tables. But I would’ve loved more of a substantial scene to do. Maybe get to throw a dice at Joey’s head while he’s wearing a dog suit again. Just for old time sake...

9. Do you know if there are any plans to use Duke in the Duel Links mobile game? Some people have found that Tristan talks to Duke in the audio files of the game, but nothing has come of including him.

I can neither confirm nor deny that information

10. Do you have a favorite episode or scene involving any of your Yu-Gi-Oh! characters?

Putting Joey in the dog suit is pretty epic. LOL.