Priest Seto

Seto is one of the six high priests that guard the Millennium Items, and is the first cousin of Pharaoh Atem. Seto Kaiba is the modern reincarnation of Priest Seto. Seto is named after the Egyptian God Set.

Battle City
Before the Battle City tournament, a tablet showing Priest Seto fighting Pharaoh Atem, with Blue Eyes White Dragon and Dark Magician, respectively was on display at the museum.

Anime and manga
Three thousand years before the present day events of the anime and manga (5000 in the English anime), Priest Seto and Pharaoh Atem (the past incarnation of Yugi Muto) were friends and rivals who help each other by testing their mystical skills. Although technically Atem's cousin by blood, Seto is raised as a commoner; his identity as Priest Akhenaden's son (who is the brother of Atem's deceased father, Pharaoh Akhenamkhanen) is hidden from him out of fear for his personal safety. He is eventually able to become a part of the Pharaoh's court not because of his lineage, but because of his test scores, which were the highest the court had ever seen. This high degree of intelligence has apparently carried over to his modern reincarnation. Another trait carried to his later reincarnation is his ruthlessness and belief in power, as he suggested brutal torture and death sentences for criminals and would sacrifice comrades in order to achieve what he perceives as the greater good.

When Bakura - the arc's main antagonist - appears at the royal court with his powerful Ka Diabound, Seto decides that Bakura needs to be stopped and begins his search for Ka powerful enough to defeat Diabound. People could be tortured into revealing their Ka, so he decides to try rounding up and torturing criminals. This plan, he believes, would accomplish two things: both finding a Ka that could destroy Diabound and reducing the number of criminals that incite anarchy in the Pharaoh's kingdom.



During his search, he encounters Kisara, who is being stoned because of her unorthodox appearance (snow white hair, pale tan skin, and deep blue eyes). Shada senses the great power within her ("even surpassing that of the gods") and Seto takes her back with him to the palace. There he remembers the first time they met: as children, Seto had saved Kisara from slave traders, who had kidnapped her from her home country and were planning to sell her for a high price. She repaid him by unconsciously releasing her inner spirit--the Blue-Eyes White Dragon--after the traders set fire to his village and killed his mother in retaliation.

Akhenaden, after being possessed by Zorc, later attempts to test Kisara's immeasurable power by forcing her to fight in a battle against two other prisoners. Seto steps in and saves her, but the two fall into danger, causing Kisara to release her inner spirit dragon and save them both.

Akhenaden then orders Seto to kill Kisara and extract her Ka, claiming that the tremendous energy and power of the white dragon can surpass the enemy and even the Pharaoh's three gods. If Seto can obtain it, Seto can become the new king. Seto refuses, and Akhenaden kidnaps him in an attempt to corrupt his mind with darkness. At this point Akhenaden reveals that he is in fact Seto's father, and that his lifelong desire has been to see Seto ascend to the throne.

Before Seto can decide against this, however, Kisara runs to save him. He leaves Akhenaden/Zorc behind. Enraged, Akhenaden questions how his son can abandon the chance to rule over Egypt. Seto answers: "What is there to benefit from a world of darkness ruled by Zorc? Since I met Kisara, I realized how much of the world was dark and dry. And the solution to make this darkness disappear is through this light called love." At this point Akhenaden fires off a beam of dark energy, and Kisara dies taking the blow meant for Seto.

After Kisara's death, Seto attempts to kill his father, but instead his mind is taken over by Akhenaden/Zorc and he is forced to duel Pharaoh Atem. Kisara saves Seto once more by using her "pure light" to purge Akhenaden from his mind, making Seto the new keeper of the Blue Eyes White Dragon. Seto sheds tears in front of the "Blue Eyes" tablet, with Kisara's dead body in his arms. Notably, this is the "vision" which appears to Kaiba during his duel with Ishizu Ishtar in the Battle City arc (as well as his later duel with Yami Bakura).

Subsequently, Seto fights bravely by Atem's side in the battle against Zorc Necrophades using the "Blue Eyes White Dragon." When Zorc is defeated, Atem tells the priest his reign is over, and passes the throne on to Seto. Seto then creates the famous stone carving of the two of them, as a tribute to his friendship with Pharaoh Atem.

Non-canon appearances
In Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories, Seto is portrayed more as an antagonist. He is the high mage Heishin's right hand man and rival to the prince (Atem, although the player names him).

He first appears dueling and defeating Jono. He mocks Jono's dueling skills, but Jono tells him that he isn't good enough to beat Atem. Seto cannot duel as he is called to meet Heishin, but agrees to duel Atem later. Seto later arrives at the Dueling Grounds, to face Atem. After Atem defeats him, he recognizes him as the Prince. None of Atem's friends had been aware of this.

After the Mages, take over, Seto finds Atem at the Forbidden Ruins. He explains the meaning of the map Atem has, that it gives the location of each Millennium Item. He advises Atem to defeat each High Mage at each of the shrines on the map. Sadin advises Atem not to trust Seto. Regardless, Atem follows Seto's orders.

After Atem defeats one of the High Mages, Seto kidnaps Teana and holds her hostage to draw Atem to him. Jono and Atem arrive at the Dark Shrine to rescue her. Heishin orders Seto to defeat Atem and take the Millennium Puzzle as his prize for winning. Seto drags Teana into a secret room, where he duels Atem. After Seto loses he gloats about the Mages don't stand a chance against Atem.

After Atem defeats the remaining High Mages and takes their Millennium Items, Seto approaches him and tells him to go to the now unguarded Dark Shrine, where he can face Heishin. Atem complies and meets Seto at the Dark Shrine. Here Seto shows him the way to Heishin. After Heishin loses, Seto takes Atem to the ruins. Here he reveals his true plan. He had gotten Atem to gather all the Millennium Items and take them to the Forbidden Ruins. Now Seto could use them to acquire great power, by summoning DarkNite, but Heishin appears and holds a knife to Seto's neck demanding the Items from Atem or he would kill Seto. Atem gives Heishin the Items, which Heishin uses to summon DarkNite.

After Atem defeats DarkNite, Seto disappears and is never heard from, within the kingdom, again.

Deck/Ka
In the anime and manga Seto Summons the following Monster spirits:
 * La Jinn the Mystical Genie of the Lamp (As seen in the flashback from Ishizu's Millennium Necklace)
 * Battle Ox
 * Blue-Eyes White Dragon
 * Duos
 * Duos Dragon (fusion of Duos and Karim's Curse of Dragon)
 * Galestgoras
 * Mystic Horseman
 * Rabid Horseman (fusion of Battle Ox and Mystic Horseman)

In Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories, the first time the player (Atem) faces Seto, his Deck contains many strong cards for such an early stage in the game, like "Gaia the Fierce Knight" and "Ushi Oni". The second time he's faced, he now uses "Blue-eyes White Dragons". The third time faced, Seto uses many powerful cards like three copies of "Blue-eyes Ultimate Dragon".