Jounouchi for the meme :3
His bravery and determination! This boy has endless perseverance and six hundred yen to his name and he will make the most of both of them. An Egyptian God couldn't kill him in a way that mattered, and people really think they're going to stop him when he puts his mind to something? Please. He's also snarky and funny as hell (in the manga / English dub of the anime, at least). Love this boy.
What I dislike about them
In the early parts of the manga he was a perv toward women because haha, perversion is so funny, right? 🙃 No, it's not. Rest in peace, Takahashi, but I hate how much you included male characters being pervs in the early chapters of the manga. (Jounouchi was far from the only victim of this.)
Either when he stayed in the Black Crown to rescue Yuugi during the fire, or the pier duel when he broke through the Millennium Rod's control to save Yuugi from drowning. 😭 My heart will never recover fr.
Again, the moments in the early part of the manga when he was a perv toward the female characters . . . so fucking gross.
A situation with this character that I want to see explored more
Honestly I feel like not enough attention is paid to the fact that the home Jounouchi comes from is not only broken, but that he's scraping by by the skin of his teeth working part-time jobs (which he really shouldn't even be doing as a high school student, but does it anyway to support himself and his piece of shit dad). Like jokes are made in the manga about how Jounouchi will jump at the chance to make some money, or how he'll scarf down any food he can get his hands on, but like, yeah! He's dirt poor! His dad is a worthless scumbag who is abusive and neglectful and doesn't work! He has food insecurity because again, he's broke as hell. And yet he never makes this anyone else's problem, he doesn't resent his sister at all for getting to leave with their mom (and instead just loves her endlessly) . . . he's a great kid and doesn't get enough appreciation for the shit hand he was dealt in life and how he just bares his teeth in a grin and deals with it anyway. Kaiba could fucking never.
An interesting AU for this character
I like my AU where he still survived Ra's attack in Battle City, but did so at the cost of losing his memory (which leads to Shizuka taking him back to Hanafuda City with her to live with their mom after the tournament is over). And of course A Candle in the Dark is my magnum opus, and also counts since it's a canon divergence.
I still love my Legend of Zelda crossover, which is less a crossover and more of a blend of the Hylian cycle surviving into modern times . . . even though it's in no way canon, Jounouchi having the Spirit of the Hero is canon in my heart.
OTP (or OT3+ etc…. just… favourite ship)
Jounouchi/Yuugi, of course. I maintain this ship would be so, so much more popular if people read the manga / the anime was actually faithful to the manga.
None, tbh, although I do really like his dynamic with Anzu . . . if Yuugi didn't exist then I would probably ship Jounouchi with her. But since Yuugi exists, lol, nope.
Jounouchi & Anzu, since Yuugi exists. Their relationship development is just so good. They literally start at the very bottom of "only tolerate each other for Yuugi's sake," but then by the time Battle City rolls around they're hanging out without Yuugi and Anzu is enthusiastically cheering him on. (Not to mention how she told off Kaiba for his sake? Baller.) Their relationship is sooooo good.
And of course, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Shizuka! The little sister ever. The one who inspires Jounouchi to keep fighting, for her sake if nothing else. The one who wanted to give him courage right back! It's really unfortunate that Takahashi didn't do more with Shizuka—she deserved so much better, she deserved to show that she has the same fire her brother does!—but that's okay. I can fill in the gaps myself. <3
Jounouchi/Kaiba and Jounouchi/Mai, and to a slightly lesser extent Jounouchi/Atem because it really doesn't make sense with Yuugi there / I can't do that to Yuugi. (It doesn't make sense because canonically Jounouchi always picks Yuugi over Atem, and I can't do that to Yuugi because Yuugi already feels inferior to Atem; having his best friend pick Atem over him would be just cruel.)
An assortment of headcanons!
He's allergic to cats! He has a Kuriboh keychain on his keyring that Yuugi gave him. (He gave a Baby Dragon keychain to Yuugi in return.) He has a Sonic the Hedgehog cell phone charm while Shizuka has a Tails one. He associates miso soup with being sick because it's what his mom used to make for him when he was little. His favorite fruit is satsuma oranges, because when his parents were fighting before his mom left, he'd put orange slices in his mouth and smile around them, which would make Shizuka laugh / distract her from the fighting. He's good at math. His favorite NES game is Battletoads, though he's never beaten it. He's a decent cook, because he had to learn or he wouldn't eat after his mom left. He doesn't ever drink alcohol because of the alcohol-related trauma that comes with having an abusive alcoholic as a father. (And similarly, any partners drinking alcohol would be a massive turn-off.) He's bisexual. He likes games of chance, but never gambles for money because the reality that he could lose that money gives him (metaphorical) hives. He learned how to hotwire a car when he was thirteen, and knows how to drive even though he never gets his driver's license. He grows up to be a radio DJ with a talk show all his own after high school. He also does Let's Plays and game commentary. He doesn't have a co-host for his radio show because he talks so much he honestly doesn't need one. (He's got the gift of gab.) He's actually pretty good at basketball. His favorite band is Siam Shade.
