Mai Kirifuda is the wife of Shori Kirifuda and the mother of two sons, the duelists Shobu and Katta. Her background is marked by a profound personal challenge, as her second son Katta was born in a vegetative state, a circumstance that brought her a deep sense of grief. Despite this early hardship, her defining characteristic is her role as a loving and supportive parent who consistently works to nurture her children's growth and strength.

Within the narrative of the Duel Masters anime, Mai’s primary role is that of a secret mentor and trainer to her sons. She often adopts disguised personas to test their abilities without their initial knowledge. To help Shobu on various occasions, she would take on the identity of a second Dragon Mask and challenge him to duels. Years later, during the events leading up to the national tournament, she employed a similar tactic with her younger son Katta. Taking on the alias Lady Clay Pot, she designed a series of challenges to enhance his skills, mirroring the assistance she had provided Shobu in the past. She provided Katta with rigorous training and even gave him the powerful creature Onimaru Head, Victory Rush before their duel. During this encounter, she duelled with a composed demeanor and used cards that Katta himself had previously played, a strategy intended to instruct him.

Her motivations are consistently rooted in her desire to see her sons succeed and mature as duelists. Her belief in the bond between a duelist and their cards is evident; during her duel with Katta, a moment where he declared that a particular draw would decide the match reminded her strongly of Shobu and his unwavering faith in his deck. Upon Katta realizing he was duelling his own mother and securing a victory, she expressed pride in his development, hoping that he and his older brother would soon be reconciled. Her support continues into later story arcs, as she was shown attending Katta’s wedding seven years after a world-threatening apocalypse, and was later surprised and delighted to be revealed as the grandmother of Katta’s child, Joe Kirifuda.

In terms of abilities, Mai is a highly competent duelist. Her strategic knowledge is deep enough to effectively train both of her sons, who become champion-caliber players. In the Duel Masters Charge series, she has been shown using a deck that combines the Fire and Nature civilizations, based on Beast Folk, as well as a deck combining Light and Fire civilizations based on a defensive strategy. During the Duel Masters Versus series, her deck consisted of Fire creatures and Nature spells. Her duels with her sons serve as critical tests that they must pass to advance in major tournaments, and in both instances, her identity is only revealed after her defeat. Over the course of the series, her character develops from a mother protecting and guiding her children from behind a mask to a proud parent witnessing her sons reach major life milestones, including marriage and parenthood.