Marik Ishtar

Marik Ishtar (マリク・イシュタール Mariku Ishutāru) in the original Japanese anime and manga, is a character in the manga Yu-Gi-Oh! and the anime Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (known internationally as simply Yu-Gi-Oh!).

Marik Ishtar is a later antagonist of Yu-Gi-Oh! and one of the foremost adversaries of the series. His family has guarded the tomb of the pharaoh for generations. Marik holds the Millennium Rod and with his Ghouls organization (called the Rare Hunters in the English anime), he wishes to obtain the three God Cards, and with them, unlock their power for himself so he can gain the title of "Pharaoh" and set his family free. He also has a hidden agenda - to get revenge on the ancient Pharaoh's soul for killing his father, as he was made to believe. In the English anime, he is considerably more fiendish. He wants the God Cards and the Millennium Puzzle to gain the power of the Pharaoh and rule the world. The character's sister is Ishizu Ishtar.

Dark Marik
Dark Marik (or Yami Marik as he is known in the English anime) is an entity that was created by Marik's hatred for being a tombkeeper and for his father who strictly enforced that he continue his family's lineage. Dark Marik slowly grew by Marik's hatred, percipitated by a forbidden trip outside of the Pharaoh's tomb that he convinced Ishizu to let him take (forbidden due to his father's fear that the freedom and marvels of the outside world would further divert Marik's attention away from his heritage), and when he was forced to take the initiation ritual to become a full Tombkeeper (a task his adopted brother Rishid (Odion in the English anime) failed to convince his father to take on himself), he unwillingly unleashed Dark Marik, who took the Millennium Rod for himself. In the manga, Dark Marik specifically skinned his father with it and then threw his father's back onto Rishid. Marik killed his father in the Japanese version of the Duel Monsters anime as well, though the reason was that the man was about to kill Rishid (In the English anime, it is explained that he sent his father to the Shadow Realm). Dark Marik is sealed away in Marik's body by Rishid, and remains sealed away until Rishid is knocked out in his battle with Katsuya Jonouchi (Joey Wheeler in the English anime) on the Battle Ship during the Battle City semi-finals. Dark Marik has no specific goal or purpose. He simply enjoys killing, and especially wants to kill the Pharaoh since he is the embodiment of Marik's hatred of the Pharaoh. In the English anime, Dark Marik wants to gain the power of the Pharaoh and rule the world just like his counterpart.

Dark Marik unleashes himself when Rishid ends up in a coma. Dark Marik then traps the soul of Mai Kujaku (Mai Valentine in the English anime). In the English anime, Mai's mind is slowly erased in the Shadow Realm. After this, Jonouchi is determined to duel Marik and save Mai. Dark Bakura (Yami Bakura) teams with Marik's soul to stop Dark Marik, but fails as well and loses the Millennium Ring. Jonouchi becomes severely injured to the point where he can no longer duel. As time goes on, Dark Marik becomes the dominant host of Marik's body, with the real Marik's soul slowly fading out of existence. Dark Yugi (Yami Yugi) is the only who could stop Marik. When Dark Yugi and Dark Marik duel, Rishid wakes up and he makes Marik realize he had to accept his responsibility for being a tombkeeper. With this confidence, Marik overpowers his evil self and forfeits, destroying Dark Marik. Marik gives Yugi the Millennium Rod and Sun Dragon Ra a.k.a. The Winged Dragon of Ra. Marik then reveals the Tomb Keeper's initiation. The carving of the pharaoh's (Dark Yugi a.k.a. Yu-Gi-Oh a.k.a. Dark Yugi) memory onto the back of a tomb guardian involves using either a hot dagger (as in the manga), a normal dagger (in the Japanese version of the second series anime), or a tattoo (in the English second series anime) on his back (see below right image). Fulfilling his duty as tomb keeper, Marik returns to Egypt to start a new life.

Although never said in the English dubbed anime, Dark Marik is an alter-ego of Marik. When he received the Tombkeeper's initiation and was tattooed, Marik created a second personality to deal with the pain and agony of the ritual. This can be used to explain Dark Marik's obsession with pain: he was a vent through which Marik's pain was shunted. Overall, Dark Marik and Marik are most likely suffering form dissociative identity disorder, more commonly known as suffering from multiple personalities. Because this is never mentioned in the English dub, some English dub fans believe that Dark Marik is an evil spirit like Dark Bakura and Dark Yugi. This theory is further strengthened by the fact that in the English anime Marik could be banished to the Shadow Realm while Dark Marik was safe. This theory is faulty because it is the mind that is banished to the Shadow Realm, and sufferers of DID can be said to have separate minds.

Naming
His name is also commonly read as Malik by fans. There is no conclusive evidence that the character's name was originally meant to be romanized as Malik; most fans believe that it was made fairly obvious that it was meant to be romanized that way given the meaning of the name "Malik", and given the fact that Malik is a fairly common Arabic name. Marik Ishtar is known as "Malik Ishtar" in Indonesia.

Notable Dueling Cards
Marik's deck theme is Immortality. While slowly torturing his opponents and watching them squirm, he plays and replays The Winged Dragon of Ra in the ways he finds most evoking of pain. In addition, many of his cards use debilitating effects to slowly drain opponents, and several others (Nightmare Wheel, Viser Shock/Death) are modeled after torture devices.

Monster Cards

 * The Winged Dragon of Ra (The Winged God Dragon of Ra)
 * Revival Jam (Revival Slime)
 * Melchid the Four-Faced Beast
 * Masked Beast Des Guardius (Masked Beast Death Guardius)
 * Makyura the Destructor (Executioner - Makyura)
 * Holding Arms (Viser Death in the manga)
 * Holding Legs (Byser Shock in the manga)
 * Drillago
 * Lekunga
 * Newdoria
 * Lord Poison
 * Dark Jeroid
 * Gil Garth
 * Helpoemer (Hellpoemer)
 * Plasma Eel (Viser Death in the manga)
 * Legendary Fiend (Legend Devil)
 * Lava Golem
 * Vampiric Leech (Quick-Attacking Leech)
 * Juragedo
 * Bowganian (Bowgunian)
 * Granadora (Referred to as "Swallowtail Spike Lizard" in English Anime)

Spell Cards

 * Monster Reborn (Resurrection of the Dead)
 * Jam Breeding Machine (Slime Reactor)
 * Remove Trap
 * Pot of Greed
 * Mask of Remnants
 * Black Pendant
 * Card of Sanctity (Treasure from Heaven)
 * Vengeful Bog Spirit
 * Spell of Pain
 * Tribute Burial
 * Premature Burial
 * Dark Wall of Wind
 * Machine Duplication (Machine Duplication Technique)
 * Dark Spell Regeneration
 * Polymerization (Fusion)
 * Mining for Magical Stones
 * Surprise Attack from Beyond
 * Class System (anime-only)

Trap Cards

 * Rope of Life
 * Card of Last Will (Testament)
 * Nightmare Wheel (Torture Wheel)
 * Joyful Doom (Happy Ending)
 * Mirror Force (Holy Barrier - Mirror Force)
 * Hidden Soldiers (Ambush Soldiers)
 * Coffin Seller
 * Malevolent Catastrophe
 * Relieve Monster (Monster Relief)
 * Nightmare Mirror
 * Left Arm Offering
 * Zombie's Jewel
 * Metal Reflect Slime
 * Jam Defender (Defend Slime)