Jounouchi Katsuya

Full Name: Jounouchi Katsuya English Name: Joseph "Joey" Wheeler Age: 16-17 at debut (now 20) Birthdate: January 25 Horoscope: Aquarius Blood Type: O Family: Younger sister: Shizuka Kawai Height: 178 cm (about 6 feet and 2 inches) Weight: 62 kg (136.4 pounds)

16-year old Jonouchi, who is in class 1-B at Domino High School, is a hothead and his mouth get him in trouble often. Jonouchi starts out as a street thug and hangs in Hirutani's gang for long periods of time when he is in middle school. He becomes best friends with Yugi Mutou, who melts his tough-guy exterior to reveal his true nature. Jonouchi's friendship with Yugi is a key element of the series as a whole and Yugi has credited his friendship with Jonouchi as one of the main factors that allowed Yugi to become stronger throughout the series. However, not all of Jonouchi's influence has necessarily been positive. In the manga, he was noted more than once as having loaned Yugi hentai videos (Japanese pornography). His other two good friends are Hiroto Honda (Tristan Taylor) and Anzu Mazaki (Téa Gardner). In the first series anime, Miho Nosaka is also one of Jonouchi's friends.

The pronunciations from the first characters of "Yugi" and "Jonouchi" form the word "Yujo" (??), which means "friend" or "fellowship". The card, called "Yu-Jo Friendship" (the Japanese Duel Monsters card is "?? Yu-Jyo") is named after the word and the relationship between the characters, especially Jonouchi and Yugi. It is believed that the English name "Joey" was chosen for a similar effect.

In the original Japanese versions of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Jonouchi does not use honorifics, which means he has a "rude" speech pattern. When talking to people he doesn't like, Jonouchi uses the word "teme" (a rude form of "you" in Japanese, often translated as "you bastard") instead of his normal "omae" (a form of "you" that in context is used between friends, but can imply that the person being spoken to has a lower status than the speaker does if used incorrectly), especially to Seto Kaiba, who does not think highly of Jonouchi. The speech pattern translates into the English anime's Joey Wheeler having a Brooklyn, New York accent. In the movie, he refers to himself as "the Godfather of Games."

In the manga, Jonouchi is poor, due to his father's gambling addictions and alcoholism. Jonouchi goes to great lengths to repay his father's debts, such as working at multiple jobs (he was the "lone paperboy" in middle school, meaning that he was one of the few that were permitted to work while going to school) and going on the "Get the Million" game show. Ironically, many of his Duel Monsters cards contain a gambling theme, and often, his strong luck helps him win in the end.

Jonouchi's skill at Duel Monsters is somewhat near as good as that of Yugi's, but he still duels as part of a tag team on occasions and he strives to improve his skill. This is a frequent subplot throughout the series, although it was muted somewhat in the English anime.

Jonouchi has a sister named Shizuka Kawai (Serenity Wheeler in the English anime; Shizuka Jonouchi in the first series Yu-Gi-Oh! anime). In the Japanese versions of Yu-Gi-Oh!, Shizuka's surname is her mother's maiden name while Jonouchi's is his father's surname. Their parents divorced when Jonouchi was 10. Shizuka was brought away by her mother while Jonouchi lived with his father. In the manga and the Duel Monsters anime, Shizuka started to go blind, so Jonouchi entered the Duelist Kingdom tournament to finance her eye surgery. Jonouchi would come second to Yugi in the event, although Yugi gives him the money to finance the surgery. In the first series anime, Shizuka is chronically ill and in the hospital. Therefore Jonouchi ensures that she gets the best care in the hospital.

Jonouchi is also popularly paired by fans with his older friend, Mai Kujaku. Kazuki Takahashi, the author of Yu-Gi-Oh! deemed their situation as purely 'friendship', although even in the original manga, he dropped some rather strong hints that Mai actually does harbor deeper feelings for him. The anime writers also had a tendency to play this up, suggesting that Mai and Jonouchi might have really been starting to see each other romantically. However, like all other pairings in the show, this is ultimately never resolved and it could go either way. Mai is also a role model to Shizuka Kawai, who admires her beauty and strength.