Seto Kaiba
Seto Kaiba (Japanese: 海馬 瀬人, Hepburn: Kaiba Seto) is a fictional character in the manga Yu-Gi-Oh! by Kazuki Takahashi. As the majority shareholder and CEO of his own multi-national gaming company, Kaiba Corporation, Kaiba is reputed to be Japan's greatest gamer and aims to become the world's greatest player of the American card game, Duel Monsters (Magic & Wizards in the Japanese manga). In all mediums, his arch-rival is the protagonist of the series, Yugi Mutou, who is also a superb game player. He is the modern day reincarnation of one of the Pharaoh's Six High Priests, "Priest Seto", who appears in the manga's final arc. Kaiba has also appeared in related anime works and feature films.
Seto Kaiba originates from one of the stories Takahashi heard from a friend involving a selfish card collector. Like the card collector, Kaiba is obsessed with gaming, but Takahashi also gave Kaiba a calmer demeanor when developing his relationship with his rival. He was first voiced by Hikaru Midorikawa in Japanese with Kenjirō Tsuda replacing him in the sequel Duel Monsters. Eric Stuart voiced him in all of his English appearances.
Critical reception to Kaiba has been mixed for being compared to simplistic anime rivals based on his multiple attempts to defeat Yugi and become the superior Duel Monsters player. While his development in the film Dark Side of Dimensions was praised for being the major focus in the narrative, critics still felt Kaiba was obsessed with Duel Monsters to a ridiculous extent based on his continued focus on his original goal.
