How Zayn Malik’s Love of Yu-Gi-Oh! Influences His Life and Career

On the heels of being revealed as Nocturne during the Yu-Gi–Oh! Master Duel Shadow Duelist livestream, multi-platinum recording artist Zayn Malik said that the experience made him feel like “a kid living out (his) dream.”

Following the event, the singer / songwriter sat down with host Steven Kangas and Konami’s Billy Brake to answer IGN’s questions about his favorite cards, if his Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom influences his music, and what he’d like to see in the series’ next video game.

We just wrapped up the Shadow Duelist tournament, I want to get your initial reactions. What’s on your mind after the event’s all wrapped up?

Zayn Malik, Multi-Platinum Recording Artist: I feel like it was an amazing event. (I was) massively honored to be a part of it. I enjoyed wearing the mask and being Nocturne was a real fun day for me for sure.

Was it stuffy in the mask at all? Was it comfortable for you?

Zayn: It was fine. I thought it was going to be a bit more warm in there, but it was actually fine. I just tried not to breathe too heavy. It would fog up the lenses a little bit, but aside from that it was chill.

You mentioned before you love costumes. In terms of masks that you have worn for costumes, where does this rank on the tier list? Is this towards the top? Is it like eh, you’ve had better masks?

Zayn: Oh no, I definitely haven’t had a better mask. The mask itself is amazing and the outfit I felt like went really well with it too. It felt like Nocturne was about to do a GQ cover shoot, so I enjoyed the costume. But yeah, it wasn’t the most elaborate costume I’ve ever worn. I’ve had full prosthetics and stuff before and that gets a bit uncomfortable for sure.

(What are) your thoughts on Fictinium, the duelist that took the entire event and your opinion of how Fictinium played the duel?

Zayn: I just felt like Fictinium is one of the duelists that you just definitely don’t want to come across when you’re playing yourself. He just seemed to know a lot of tricks and know his deck very well. The cards just seemed to come out for him at the right time. So I felt like he played very well and hopefully I’ll be as good as Fictinium at the game myself some day.

You shared that your favorite card is probably Shooting Star Dragon. Is that still the case? And if not, what is your favorite card?

Zayn: Yeah, it’s still the case. It’s probably one of the best cards I have. I have the Shooting Quasar Dragon too. And they’re both probably the most powerful cards I have, so they’re definitely my favorites.

Is there anything about the aesthetic that spoke to you?

Zayn: Yeah, I’ve always been a sucker for a shiny, so as soon as there’s a bit of foil on there, I’m all about it.

Do you have a favorite deck to duel with either in the past when you were a kid or currently today?

Zayn: I like to mix the cards up. I’ve never specifically known enough to put specific cards with the right decks and stuff. I kind of just guess it, wing it from what I’ve seen other people doing. But yeah, I’ve definitely have more favorite cards than I do have a favorite deck.

What’s the most treasured card that you own?

Zayn: I guess the most useful card I would say is Pot of Greed. It helps me switch my play up a bit. Pull some extra cards out the deck that might help me. So yeah, that’s a go-to. And the (Dark) Hole too.

If you could duel any character, who would you choose and why?

Zayn: If I could duel anybody, I’d probably duel Kaiba just because it’s definitely one of my favorite characters and he’s a bit of a rockstar. He’s got the attitude and stuff, so I’d like to put him in his place.

The style style points on that dueling stage between you and Kaiba would be off the charts.

Zayn: For sure. Kaiba’s got a serious haircut too.

How would you rate Kaiba’s style? He’s got the white trench coat with the big collar.

Zayn: It’s an iconic look for sure. It would be very hard to beat Kaiba’s look.

Have you ever owned a Duel Disc?

Zayn: I haven’t actually ever owned one. I wanted one when I was a kid, but it was too expensive for me. But there were a couple of friends of mine that I knew as a kid that had it. And I would go to their house and play with it, but I never had one myself.

Do you want one now? Is modern Zayn interested? Because I’m sure we might have the right strings to pull here.

Zayn: For sure. Yeah, I’d never say no. I might have to get one for myself.

How do you prefer to store your cards?

Zayn: I store mine in a binder. I actually have the binder here now. And there’s individual sleeves in there. So you can just put ’em in between.

So sleeved up and in the binder itself, that’s extra protection right there.

Zayn: For sure. Yeah. Double wrapped.

Do you feel like any of your songs at any point throughout your career as a songwriter have related to what you have learned and feel about Yu-Gi-Oh! and the influence that it had on your life from childhood?

Zayn: I wouldn’t say Yu-Gi-Oh! necessarily influenced my music sense, but Yu-Gi-Oh! itself, the sentiment of the entire show I feel like is if you work hard and your intentions are in the right place, you can prevail. And that’s definitely something I took in my life.

I always like to pretend I’m the protagonist in my own version of an anime and I’m going to overcome. I think that’s something people could take from Yu-Gi-Oh! in general. When I’m writing, even though times are difficult at a certain point, it doesn’t mean you can’t overcome it with a lot of hard work and perseverance.

Do you have a favorite quote from the Yu-Gi-Oh! series?

Zayn: It’s kind of hard for me to pick a favorite quote. There’s so many iconic lines. People are throwing things around all the time in that show, so it’s hard for me to pick one. But yeah, probably just “Let’s duel.” When Yugi does his little transformation when he turns into Yami, that’s always my favorite part of the show. His eyes change and his hair sticks up a little bit different and he just looks like a badass.

What does “Heart of the Cards” mean to you?

Zayn: I guess “Heart of the Cards” could mean a few things. Heart in general to me, again, I think it ties back to what we were talking about a minute ago where you have the perseverance to overcome something. So Heart of the Cards” may mean “believe in your cards and hope that the right one comes out at the right time.”

You’ve mentioned playing a few different Yu-Gi-Oh! video games. Which one was your first and which is your favorite?

Zayn: I think the first one I played is probably my favorite. I like the new one though too. But the original’s definitely got a sacred place in my memories and my childhood, so I’ll always be more biased towards the first one that I played.

Yeah, relive the nostalgia just straight to the veins.

Zayn: Yeah, a few pointers if they want to get me on the game design next time. I’ve got a few things that I’d like to see in that game. I don’t how you guys feel about it, but I’d like to see the actual character come out of the card more rather than it just be a cutscene. So you see the character on the battlefield and then maybe, when you actually attack, the two characters actually fight like they’re doing in the anime.

Any final closing statements that you want to give?

Zayn: I’d just like to say thank you to you guys. It was amazing, honestly, thank you for today. It was really fun. And yeah, thanks for letting me do this. I felt like a kid today living out my dream. So I’ve enjoyed it thoroughly.

This interview has been formatted and condensed for clarity.