"Bandit" Keith Steve Howard is obsessed with America. Throughout his appearances, he will finish almost every sentence with the words "In America", usually after a brief pause, and/or makes references to America or being American (though he only uttered that phrase once in the actual dub). His favorite movie is Pearl Harbor (which doesn't make the Japanese(?) characters nearby even blink) and he used to hang around with Bonz, Sid and Zygor, until they blasphemed against Armageddon (among other Michael Bay movies). He also believes that Hulk Hogan is the greatest American hero of all time, which is why he models himself after him.
He tried to get Joey out of the Duelist Kingdom tournament by stealing his entry card, however Mai gives Joey hers. He is later defeated by Joey, who used the Copycat in order to copy Bandit Keith's catchphrase. Keith then snaps and is carried out of the tournament, singing the Star Spangled Banner.
When he returned to confront Pegasus for being a "sorry excuse for an American", there was already a trap door conveniently under his feet. Bandit Keith is last seen in Duelist Kingdom screaming as he fell into the sea, pausing only for a second to say "...in America" before hitting the water and Pegasus is able to continue to further his plans against KaibaCorp and Yugi's group of friends.
He appears once more in episode 23, stealing Yugi's Millennium Puzzle and challenging him to a card game under Marik's control. Marik chose Bandit Keith since Americans are apparently very easy to brainwash, demonstrating by making Keith think he was the President. After failing to obtain the Millennium Puzzle, Marik punishes him with the French national anthem, as France (according to Keith) is the exact opposite of America. During this torture Bandit Keith reveals that he is actually from Canada. After escaping the warehouse he set on fire (while under Marik's control), he returns to his home (in Canada). It was later revealed, in one of the Marik's Evil Council of Doom videos, that Marik was able to take control of Bandit Keith because his middle name is Steve - "just check his Wikipedia page." (His real-world Wikipedia entry was locked due to the predictable vandalism that ensued, before he lost his separate page in a merge.)
In the 3rd Anniversary, it is mentioned that Bandit Keith gave up his catchphrase "in America" in favor of "in Canada."
He reappears in Episode 50 as the first witness against Joey Wheeler. He has begun to use the "in America" catchphrase again, but is also shown waving a Canadian flag. He testifies against Joey for copying the catchphase.
In episode 52, Kaiba wonders where Keith is and it's shown that he's become a hideous drunk, and appears to enjoy songs mostly on the basis of the use of "America" as a lyric.
He also made a cameo in a game review of Party Mania made by "The SpoonyOne" as he called himself as "The Gate Keither", and was also threatening to send Spoony into "THE BLACK HOLE". He makes cameos in other Spoony videos either as "The Gate Keither" or himself, in the DOA movie review Keith appears when Spoony starts criticizing Tina Armstrong, saying that she is his girlfriend and is in the almost American-est family. Before leaving, Bandit Keith says, "tell "Film Brain he sucks because French people are stupid" and he also sings American Women for a couple of seconds. He cameos in Marik's Evil Council of Doom as Marik's evil instructor after Marik signs up to his course on Groupon.
Trivia[]
- Despite trying to associate everything he does and says with America at every opportunity, he is actually Canadian.