Keith Howard

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Keith Howard, also called "Bandit" Keith, is a fictional character in the anime and manga series Yu-Gi-Oh!.

"Bandit" Keith Howard, from Yu-Gi-Oh! 2nd series anime
Appears in	manga: Yu-Gi-Oh! (Original manga) Yu-Gi-Oh! R anime: Yu-Gi-Oh! (Duel Monsters) (2nd series anime)
Debut	Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist Volume 3, Duel 28 Original Japanese manga Volume 10, Duel 87
Birthday	August 12
Deck	Machine
Sign	Leo
Age	26
Height	190 cm (about 6 feet and 2 inches)
Weight	85 kg (187 pounds)
Blood type	O
Favorite food	Steak
Least favorite food	Sushi
Status at debut	Former American Duelling Champion
Relations	N/A
Seiyū	Hajime Komada
Voice actor(s)	Ted Lewis

1 Duelist Kingdom
2 Found by Marik
3 Video Games
4 Dueling Cards

[edit] Duelist Kingdom

Keith first appears as one of many entries in Duelist Kingdom. In flashbacks, it is revealed that he was once the U.S. Champion of Duel Monsters, until he dueled Pegasus J. Crawford (Maximillion Pegasus in the English anime and manga) at a tournament. Pegasus used the Millennium Eye to read Keith's mind, and predict his moves, then called a young boy from the audience, and told him exactly what card to play to defeat Keith, claiming that even a child could defeat him. Keith, shocked and humiliated at being defeated by a child, fell into depression. He now plans to defeat Pegasus and reclaim his glory.

Along with two duelists (in the manga, they are unnamed, in the Japanese second series anime, they are named "Takaido" and "Satake", while in the English anime they are named "Zygor" and "Sid"), he trains a Ghost and Zombie Duelist named "Ghost" Kozuka (Bones in the English anime). He has Kotzuka duel Katsuya Jonouchi (Joey Wheeler in the English anime), and gives Kozuka several rare cards, including the powerful Call of the Haunted, to strengthen his deck. Although Keith directs nearly all of Kotzuka's moves, Kozuka still loses. Afterward, Keith calls Kozuka a loser, and ignores Jonouchi's challenge for a duel face-to-face. After leaving the arena, Keith traps the heroes in the cave, then attacks his own minions and steals their star chips, giving him enough to enter the castle as a finalist.

Keith later duels Jonouchi in the semi-finals of Duelist Kingdom. He unveils a rather devastating deck of Machine cards. His Machine cards not only have superior firepower over Jonouchi, but also are immune to any sort of magical attacks (note that this is not a real rule). Keith then cheats, pulling cards out from underneath his wristband to power up his monsters. However, Jonouchi still wins. Afterwards, Keith claims that Jonouchi should be disqualified since the card he used to enter the semi-finals wasn't his.

Jonouchi admits that Mai Kujaku (Mai Valentine in the English anime) gave him her card, but then asks how Keith knew that Jonouchi's card wasn't his. Pegasus chuckles and explains that Keith obviously stole the card, citing evidence of how he came to the conclusion (earlier, Keith was sure Jonouchi would not be able to find his entry card, and no wonder- Keith had it himself), although the truth of the matter is he found out by reading Keith's mind. Jonouchi then says that Keith should be disqualified, and Pegasus agrees, but not just because of his thievery. He tells Jonouchi that Keith was keeping his 7 Completed cards beneath his wristband, allowing him to 'draw' them when needed, and orders his security guards to take Keith away.

In the manga, Keith threatens Pegasus with a knife. Pegasus uses his Millennium Item to "turn" Keith's hand into a gun. The hand "shoots" Keith.

In the anime, Keith breaks away and confronts Pegasus (Keith holds him at gunpoint in the Japanese anime: the gun is edited out by 4Kids in English, making it appear that Keith is simply pointing at Pegasus). He demands that Pegasus hand over the 3 million dollars prize money for the tournament. Pegasus is calm and just makes fun of Keith. Keith steps forward, and Pegasus moves his foot to hit a hidden button. The floor around him falls away, and Keith plummets down a tunnel into the ocean.

[edit] Found by Marik

Note: This only happens in the 2nd series anime.

Although not seen (except in flashbacks), Keith is found by Marik Ishtar and the Rare Hunters. Marik brainwashes Keith using the Millennium Rod, and through him, learns the location of Yugi Muto (romanized as Yugi Mutou in the English anime) and the Millennium Puzzle. Marik sends Keith to Domino to claim the Puzzle. Disguised as a fortune teller, Keith steals the Puzzle and flees to a hidden arena. Chaining the Puzzle to the arena, Keith says the only way for Yugi to reclaim the Puzzle is to duel for it. (In the English anime, Marik has Keith duel Yugi to win the Puzzle for him. In the Japanese anime, Marik has Keith duel Yugi in the hopes Dark Yugi will appear.)

Although Keith is hooded, Yugi quickly deduces his identity from his Machine deck. Keith's deck, augmented with rare cards courtesy of the Rare Hunters, surprisingly begins to defeat Yugi. However, the duel is watched by Ryo Bakura, under the control of Yami Bakura. Yami Bakura senses the dark energies from Keith, and realizes he has been hypnotized. Yami Bakura refuses to let Yugi lose and forfeit the Puzzle (since Yami Bakura wants it for himself), and uses the Millennium Ring to break Marik's control of Keith. While Marik and Keith struggle for control, Keith shatters the Puzzle against the console (In the English anime, he does this because Marik commands him to. In the Japanese anime Keith does it himself because he thinks the voice trying to control him is the spirit of the Puzzle). Yami Bakura then swings down, knocking Keith off the arena.

While Yami Bakura leaves Yugi to put the Puzzle back together, Keith hallucinates Marik nearby, giving him orders. Grabbing a length of pipe and attacking the images, Keith shatters the arena power unit, causing a fire. While the building burns, Joey Wheeler (as Jonouchi is known in the English anime) and Tristan Taylor (Hiroto Honda in the English manga and Japanese versions) break down the door. A terrified Keith runs past them, claiming the arena is haunted. He is not seen again, though his "lost soul" is seen when the pharoah goes to see Yugi in the realm of lost souls during the Waking the Dragons arc. As well, Kozuka and Keith's minions are seen later in Battle City, and duel (and lose to) Yami Bakura for the right to enter the Battle City finals.

[edit] Video Games

[edit] The Sacred Cards

In the Game Boy Advance game Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards, Keith is still under Marik's control. He duels several duelists around town before confronting the player. He later appears again at the Docks, trying to keep the player from Joey (as Jonouchi is known in the English game) and Téa Gardner (Anzu Mazaki). He is defeated twice.

[edit] Reshef of Destruction

In Yu-Gi-Oh!: Reshef of Destruction, Keith is the new leader of the Rare Hunters. He, like Pegasus (under the guise of Sol Chelavsky (Taiyō Tenma in the Japanese version)) and the player, is after the Millennium Items. Reshef the Dark Being has re-sealed the Egyptian God cards in their stone tablets, and the Millennium Items can free them. Keith successfully claims the Millennium Puzzle, and the Rare Hunters take Domino hostage.

While other duelists (including Weevil Underwood (Insector Haga), Rex Raptor (Dinosaur Ryuzaki), and Mai Valentine (Mai Kujaku)) help the player free Domino, the player, along with Joey and Yugi, battles through the Rare Hunters to the Museum, where Keith confronts Ishizu Ishtar. He threatens Ishizu, and orders the player to hand over the other six Millennium Items they have collected. Once this is done, Keith orders Ishizu to transform Ra using the items. Ishizu does so, but Ra's card appears in Sphere Mode (Ra's 3 forms- Sphere Mode, Battle Mode, and Phoenix Mode- all count as different cards in the game).

Keith, enraged that Ra cannot be used, duels the player. After being defeated, Ra transforms into Battle Mode, and strikes Keith down with a lightning storm for daring to use it. Afterwards, the Millennium Puzzle is retrieved, but Reshef possesses Keith and, much like in the anime, grapples with Yugi, shattering the Puzzle. While Keith collapses again afterwards, a minion of Pegasus enters the room and steals a piece of the Puzzle.

[edit] World Championship 2004

Keith is a level three duelists that becomes available after getting Barrel Dragon, but the player must not put it in the deck or he won't appear. It may be put in after beating Keith 10 times.

[edit] Worldwide Edition: Stairway to the Destined Duel

In that game, Keith becomes available once you have five more wins than losses for all other duelists except Mokuba Kaiba and Duke Devlin.

[edit] Dueling Cards

Keith's deck consists of all sorts of Machines. In his duels, he cheats by hiding cards in his wristband. Similarly, when he wears the Rare Hunter robes, a claw mechanism feeds cards directly to his hand. Because the duelists are so far from each other when dueling at an arena, Keith opponent's rarely realize he is cheating.