Throughout the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, there have been several different filler arcs and characters that have come and gone. Season five gave viewers the KC Grand Championship arc, which introduced several characters like Leon and Zigfried.
Leon was positioned as a secret villain of the show that wasn’t revealed until the final duel. There were several aspects of his character that were done really well, but some aspects of Leon were just done very dirty.
He Had A Horrible Childhood
![Yu-Gi-Oh!: 10 Ways Leon Deserved More](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Leon-Yu-Gi-Oh-as-a-kid.jpeg)
Leon had a pretty terrible childhood. He was ignored from day to night and basically had to teach himself everything. This is why he became enveloped in fairytales.
He had to find some sort of a way to cope with everything that he went through. One of the worst aspects of being ignored so much by his family is that he never had the chance to lend his talents to the Schroeder family business.
He Never Got A Chance To Help The Family
![Rebecca Vs. Leon Yu-Gi-Oh!](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/pjimage-2021-03-04T084005.763.jpg)
Sadly, Leon never got a chance to contribute to the family business. His family never even tried to see if he had what it took to be of use.
While this was a tough situation for Leon to be in, it was just as bad for Zigfried. Everything was on his shoulders from day one. Perhaps having Leon help out would have turned things around for him. There’s just no way to know, unfortunately.
His Brother Only Reached Out After His Skill Was Found Out
![Zigfried being laughed at by Kaiba in Yu-Gi-Oh!](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Zigfried-being-laughed-at-by-Kaiba-in-Yu-Gi-Oh.jpeg)
Once Zigfried realized what sort of potential Leon had, he reached out and hatched a plan to destroy KaibaCorp with his brother. Before that, though, Leon continued to be on his own, with no strong relationships with his family.
Leon was simply used by his brother to achieve his own goals. Before Zigfried realized that he could be useful to him, he just ignored Leon as he always had. This was obviously something very difficult for Leon to deal with.
He Was Turned Against Yugi
![Yugi at their final duel with Atem](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Yugi-at-their-final-duel-with-Atem.jpg)
Yugi is an icon to duelists around the world due to his title as King of Games. The chance to duel Yugi is once in a lifetime, but this was sort of squandered by Zigfried.
While Leon did get the chance to duel Yugi, it was all predicated on a lie. He was turned against Yugi as some sort of a villain, despite Yugi having nothing to do with the feud between the Schroeders and the Kaibas. He was tricked by Zigfried.
He Was Tricked By His Brother
![Yu-Gi-Oh Golden Castle Of Stromberg card art](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Yu-Gi-Oh-Golden-Castle-Of-Stromberg.jpg)
Leon played the Golden Castle of Stromberg card not knowing that it was a ploy to hack Kaiba’s systems. He thought that it was simply a good card that Zigfried was giving him in order to help him in his duel against Yugi.
While it was likely that Leon wouldn’t have used the card if he knew what it actually was, it was still sad to see that Zigfried was so willing to lie to his own brother in order to get what he wanted.
And He Looked Like A Cheater
![Yu-Gi-Oh! Yugi battles Leon](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Yugi-vs.-Leon.jpg)
Because of Zigfried’s actions in giving Leon the Golden Castle of Stromberg card to play, Leon looked like a huge cheater in what was the biggest duel of his life. It was a shame.
His reputation very likely suffered a hit because of things that his own brother did to him. Hopefully, he was able to recover and continue to be a force in the duel circuit.
He Didn’t Get A Real Duel With Yugi
![Dark Magician Girl Yu-Gi-Oh!](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Dark-Magician-Girl-yugioh.jpg)
Because of the entire situation with Zigfried, Leon never got a real duel with Yugi where he got to go full force against his idol. This chance was ruined for him by his brother and the family business.
While Yugi was able to just wipe the floor with Leon like it was nothing with only a single card left in his deck, the duel would have been very different if they were both actually able to really give it their all. Who knows, maybe a different outcome would have been reached.
His Sudden Attitude Change
![Rebecca Vs. Leon Yu-Gi-Oh!](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/pjimage-2021-03-04T084005.763.jpg)
Leon was having a fantastic time during the beginning of the tournament, getting a chance to do what he loves. And then, the second his duel starts with Yugi, he is furious.
And then, it flips right back once he realizes what Zigfried has done to him. He’s absolutely all over the place throughout the arc. He doesn’t actually get a chance to be himself.
Most Of His Duels Aren’t Showcased
![Zigfried using his Goddess card against Kaiba in Yu-Gi-Oh!](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Zigfried-using-his-Goddess-card-against-Kaiba-in-Yu-Gi-Oh.jpeg)
Throughout the KC Grand Championship Arc, basically none of Leon’s duels are shown off. His duel with Rebecca is highlighted, and that’s it before he faces off with Yugi. Zigfried’s duels are much more of a focus overall.
This does server the narrative in a smart way to take the focus off Leon for the big reveal, but seeing these duels could have been really fun.
He Was Never Really Seen Again
![Zigfried and Leon Pitching an idea to Pegasus](https://static1.srcdn.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2021/04/Zigfried-and-Leon-Pitching-an-idea-to-Pegasus.jpeg)
After Leon and Zigfried parted ways with everyone at the conclusion of the KC Grand Championship arc, they were never seen again save for a very small clip in the subbed finale. It was cut from the dub.
At the very least his arc was actually closed well, unlike Mai, who had hers thrown right off of a cliff.