While him being made fun of might be a bit of a running gag on the show, Joey Wheeler is still one of the strongest duelists in the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime. He has a huge heart and will jump right into the middle of danger if his friends need his help, no matter what.
As such, it makes sense that Joey has had quite a few badass moments throughout his time on the show. These start as early as the first few episodes of the series, such as when he snuck his way into the Duelist Kingdom tournament. They certainly didn’t end there, though.
Sneaking Into Duelist Kingdom
Joey wasn’t originally invited to the Duelist Kingdom tournament like Yugi was. In fact, he snuck his way onto the boat to get there in the first place. He had two goals, which were to win the prize money for his sister’s eye operation and help Yugi in his quest to save his grandpa from Pegasus, both of which he completed.
Had he not been there, Yugi might not have won the tournament at all.
Fighting Para And Dox With Yugi
Yugi and Joey’s duel with Para and Dox was an important one, as it’s more or less implied that the entire crew would have died had the duo not won, as Para and Dox explain that they will be left in the underground forever.
With this in mind, it is that much more important that Joey helped Yugi take on the maze experts, as their combined force would have been far too much for Yugi to take on alone.
Sacrificing His Life For Yugi
After Joey managed to break free of Marik’s brain control during his duel with Yugi in Battle City, he knew what he had to do. He managed to end the game in a tie, allowing both Yugi and himself a chance to live.
Joey selflessly jumps into the water in order to save Yugi. If Serenity hadn’t been there to save Joey, he would have given his life for Yugi. Thankfully, neither of them had to give up their life on that fateful day. Shockingly, almost the same thing would happen very soon.
Also Being Ready To Die For Mai
After Marik fully cheated his way to a victory against Mai that she should have had, she was about to be directly blasted by The Winged Dragon of Ra, which is honestly going to be difficult to survive in a shadow game.
Then, Joey jumped up on the platform to take the blast for her. Luckily, Atem blocked them both so that neither of them had to take what could have been a fatal blast in the end.
Going Against Marik In Battle City
Despite everything that happened to him in Battle City, Joey was still willing to go against Marik in the finals, knowing very well that it was going to end up being a shadow game. He told Yugi that he was prepared to fight against Marik no matter what, and he didn’t back down from his promise.
And he fought hard, as he was another duelist who should have beat Marik but lost due to a technicality.
Waking Up From A Coma Through Sheer Determination
Joey didn’t end up in the Shadow Realm after his duel with Marik because of friendship or something, and yeah, through the same nonsense he also woke up from his coma in order to support Yugi in his battle against Marik.
Sure, it’s 100% plot armor that this would happen in the first place, but Joey just sort of getting up from a coma because he knew that his friend needed him? Badass.
Defeating Yugi After Battle City
After the Battle City arc concluded, Joey and Yugi face off over the fate of Red-Eyes Black Dragon. Did Joey earn his dragon back? The outcome of this duel is never shown to viewers, unfortunately.
However, Joey is shown to be using Red-Eyes Black Dragon in the next arc of the series, so he did defeat Yugi. He’s one of the only duelists to ever actually pull that off, which is an absolutely incredible feat for anyone.
Straight Up Getting In A Fist Fight With Valon
While Valon and Joey’s duel in Waking the Dragons is complete anime nonsense, it’s also kind of incredibly badass. By the end of the duel, the two are basically just in a fistfight to the death.
Despite having much less experience than Valon with armor cards, he manages to take the win, which speaks to his skill with various different types of dueling styles.
His Duel With Zigfried
While Joey does eventually lose his duel with Zigfried in the KC Grand Championship, the growth that he shows in this duel is exceptional.
He survives through many huge attacks that any other duelist would have instantly lost to. It’s impressive how he manages to stand tall against the major villain of the arc for as long as he does.
Traveling To Ancient Egypt For Atem
In the final arc of the series, Joey, along with Tea and Tristan, fearlessly dive right into the Millennium Puzzle in order to join Atem in Ancient Egypt to help him discover the secrets of his past and defeat a massive evil.
Sure, the friends are all incredibly close and always support each other, but this is another level of badassery.
