Joey Wheeler Face: Everything We Know so Far

By Mathhew Paul On Jun 23, 2022

Joseph “Joey” Wheeler, also known as Katsuya Jonouchi ( Jnouchi Katsuya) in the manga and Japanese version, is one of the major characters in Yu-Gi-Oh! He is best friends with Yugi Muto. Joey begins as an inexperienced Duelist, but he eventually becomes one of the finest Duelists in the world. He joins Yugi on his escapades.

About

Joey Wheeler’s Unsettling Chin is a series of exploitable photos based on creepy shots of the character from the 1998 Anime Yu-Gi-Oh[4], the exploitable generally originate in Japan via Twitter, but it has recently acquired popularity in America.

Origin

The meme is based on a series of still images from the first Yu-Gi-Oh anime, which debuted in 1998 and featured Joey Wheeler with a sinister smile and a sharp chin.

Spread

Despite the images existing for a decade and being used as a reaction image throughout the years, it wasn’t until late 2014 that the images gained memetic traction and spawned multiply exploitable, including replacing Joey Wheeler with characters from other media and photoshopping his chin on multiple anime characters.

Personality

Joey was a bully until meeting Yugi Muto. Joey can appear naïve, sarcastic, impetuous, and occasionally cocky, but he is also heroic, loyal, daring, kind-hearted, caring, good-natured, hilarious, brave, selfless, and loving. Though portrayed as comic relief, he is crucial to the plot and the broader concept of the series. He is an ardent Duelist who feels that Dueling is about battling to help people you care about. Joey, like Seto Kaiba, adores his little sister Serenity Wheeler and will go to any length to make her happy. He is exceedingly protective of her, as he demonstrated once by risking his own life to ensure her safety.

Joey does not utilize honorifics in the Japanese version, indicating a “rude” speech habit. Joey 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 if used incorrectly), especially to Seto Kaiba, who does not think highly of Joey.

Etymology

In the 4Kids dub and video games, as well as the Brazilian and Portuguese versions of the manga, he is referred to as Joseph “Joey” Wheeler, while in the Funimation Uncut adaptation, he is referred to as Joseph “Joey” Katsuya. In the Swedish adaptation of the anime, his name is Katsuya Jonouchi, as it is in the original Japanese, but to fit 4Kids’ modified storyline, he was given the nickname Jono. In Japanese animation, his name is written Katsuya Jyonouchi. His dub name could be inspired by the character Wheeler from Captain Planet, who similarly had a Brooklyn accent (and a voice actor named Joey). It could possibly be a tribute to Joseph Wheeler, a Civil War leader. When Ryo Bakura invited the characters to play the Monster World RPG in the manga, Jonouchi’s character was called “Joey.” As an insult, Bandit Keith also called Jonouchi “Joey.”

Biography

Joey and his sister, Serenity Wheeler, were separated when their parents split when he was ten years old. Serenity was raised by her mother, whereas Joey was raised by his father. Joey never said anything to his mum after that.

Tristan raced to Joey’s rescue after hearing he was getting into a battle with some gang members while standing up for a kid. Despite their victory, Joey believed Tristan did it because he saw Joey as a child who couldn’t stand up for himself. Years later, Joey learned Tristan did this because he was a great friend who would never desert Joey.

Joey Met Téa Gardner Through Yugi

Yu-Gi-Oh!

Duelist Kingdom

Joey develops a deep dislike for Seto Kaiba after he defeats Yugi’s grandfather, Solomon Muto, and subsequently rips up his “Blue-Eyes White Dragon” card. After picking up Duel Monsters, it becomes evident that Joey isn’t very skilled at the game at first (his Deck was full of Monster Cards and no Spells or Traps), so Yugi proposes that Joey seek lessons from Solomon. The training is difficult, but Joey perseveres and improves as a Duelist. In the regional event, he finishes in the top eight (nationals in the Japanese version).

Joey as The “flame Swordsman”

When the group meets Bakura, they are trapped into Duel Monsters cards by Yami Bakura. Yami Yugi Duels Yami Bakura using his buddies as cards. Joey is locked in the “Flame Swordsman” card, but he appears on the field when Yami Yugi Summons him. Joey promises to give himself Yugi’s “Horn of Heaven” in order to stop Yami Bakura’s “Man-Eater Bug.”

Joey’s Legendary Heroes Attire

Mokuba Kaiba arrives at Solomon’s shop shortly after the Duelist Kingdom to notify Yugi and his pals that Seto has been kidnapped and imprisoned in a Virtual World. The group traveled to KaibaCorp to assist Seto. Joey, Yugi, and Mokuba entered the MMORPG-like Virtual World, where they fulfilled missions and encountered Mai Valentine. Mai grudgingly revealed it was her attempt to keep them from believing she was their buddy. While Joey is helpful in saving Kaiba, Kaiba admits he would never consider Joey a teammate.

Monsters from The Dungeon Dice

After Duke Devlin transfers to Domino High, Joey becomes envious of his popularity and challenges him to a Duel, in which if Joey wins, Duke must close the game shop he’d just opened, because Solomon had been complaining about the loss of business his own game shop was experiencing as a result (in the original, Joey would win over Duke’s adoring fans and make them his own groupies).