Watching through the original Yugioh and...

[jak]

I find it interesting that Yugi's friends seem to care more Atem than they do Yugi. Was it like that in the manga as well?

 

[Zephyrus]

I barely remember the first season if Yugioh. Not entirely sure If I know who Atem is. Is that his alter-ego?

 

[ununseti]

His real name is definitely Yami It's been a while since I read Yu-Gi-Oh, but as I recall, Atem is the name of the Pharaoh who was sealed inside Yugi's Millennium Puzzle, i.e., Yugi's darker alter-ego. Though I think Atem's name wasn't revealed until the end of the series.

 

[BZo1480]

Know it's been 5 months since the question was asked, but I hope this helps.

Here's the thing about Yugi/Atem: When they switch, there's no actual physical change, just a personality change(lighthearted = Yugi, aggressive = Atem). It's more established in the chapters of the manga before where the anime starts with the first Seto Kaiba duel/Duelist Kingdom arc. A lot of them showing major concern for Yugi himself comes from the arcs that either weren't animated or were in the little-known original season. The anime doesn't really bother explaining how Jounouchi and the others can tell them apart, sadly.

 

[Asriel]

The name is absolute gold.

Atem in German means "breath"

Maybe the name is really taken from the German word rather than any Egyptian, because Atem breathes life into Yugi, without him he's just a wimpy useless guy until the very end of the series.

 

[BZo1480]

Eh, he had plenty of bad ass moments throughout the series, it's just that the anime does him no justice outside of when he dueled possessed Jounouchi in Battle City..

 

[Tikibo]

Let's get it straight, are you talking about the one with card fights or the one in which people are brutally murdered/sent into shadow realm after losing weird games?

 

[Tennouji]

Which series are we talking about here, the first one or the duel monster focused Toei adaptation?

 

[AkiraFudo]

@Asriel Actually Atem is an Egyptian deity https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atum

Atum, sometimes rendered as Atem or Tem, is an important deity in Egyptian mythology.

Atum's name is thought to be derived from the verb tm which means to complete or finish. Thus he has been interpreted as being the "complete one" and also the finisher of the world, which he returns to watery chaos at the end of the creative cycle. As creator he was seen as the underlying substance of the world, the deities and all things being made of his flesh or alternatively being his ka.

@jak Also, are you talking about the dub of Yu-Gi-Oh! or the original Japanese?

 

[jak]

@AkiraFudo

Sub of the card focused anime series. Forgot they did an anime of the manga that was a lot darker.