Millennium Items



Created from an ancient spell found in the Millennium Spellbook, the Millennium Items were forged to keep the ancient magic of the Shadow Games locked up forever. The Millennium Stone in the village of Kul Elna is the origin and resting place of the seven items, and also where Akhenaden sacrificed 99 souls in order to create them.

There are seven canonical Millennium Items:
 * Millennium Puzzle
 * Millennium Eye
 * Millennium Ring
 * Millennium Scale
 * Millennium Key
 * Millennium Rod
 * Millennium Necklace

In Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light, the Pyramid of Light, was also considered a Millennium Item.

Origin of the Millennium Items
There are two different, contradictory accounts that explain how the Millennium Items were created.

Early Manga & first series anime version
In an early chapter of the manga (Duel 14: The Man From Egypt (Part 2) in Volume 2: The Cards With Teeth), Shadi explains that the Millennium Items were created by the Pharaoh's magicians of Ancient Egypt, to punish thieves who tried to rob the Pharaohs' tombs. Shadi says this is written in the Pert Em Hiru, or Coming Forth By Day (the Egyptian title of The Book of The Dead). The Yu-Gi-Oh! first series anime also uses this story.

Late Manga & second series anime version
The later chapters of the manga (published as Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium World in North America) and the Dawn of the Duel arc of the Yu-Gi-Oh! second series anime explain the origin differently, performing a retcon. With Egypt under threat from invading armies in 5,000 years ago, the Pharaoh Akhenamkhanen ("Aknamkanon" in the anime) sought to protect his land through mystical means, and laid down the command for the seven magical Millennium Items to be forged, based on ancient spell found in the Millennium Spellbook. Akhenamkhanen's brother, Akhenaden ("Aknadin" in the anime) was charged with creating the items, but Akhenaden refrained from informing his brother that in order to do so, 99 human sacrifices were required. The village of Kul Elna became the victim of the Pharaoh's unwitting decree, as Akhenaden had them slaughtered, their blood, bone and flesh melted in with the gold that was cast in the mystic rite that formed the items (in the English dub of the anime, to replace this gory concept the inhabitants' spirits were harnessed instead, to complete the rite that forges the items).

With Akhenamkhanen possessing the Millennium Puzzle, the remaining six items were entrusted to his high priests the Sacred Guardians: the Millennium Key to Siamon, the Millennium Eye to Akhenaden himself, and the Millennium Necklace, Rod, Scale, and Ring to the other 4 priests (the predecessors of Isis, Priest Seto, Karim, and Mahad). Using the Items' combined power, an army of Duel Monsters was summoned which repelled the invading foes of Egypt. However, upon discovering the dark truth behind the Items' creation, Akhenamkhanen attempted to atone by offering his soul up to the Egyptian Gods as penance, sparing his son from any future retribution for his own indirect actions.

Historical Implications
When his father died, Pharaoh Atem was given the Millennium Puzzle, and in time, Siamon Muran relinquished the Millennium Rod to the hands of Seto, a young priest who was, unknown to everyone (including himself), the son of Akhenaden. Seto became a strong friend of Atem, though both young men remained unaware that they were cousins. Thief King Bakura, the sole survivor of the slaughter in Kul Elna, stole the holy DiaDhank from the tomb of Akhenamkhanen. By using it, Bakura could summon the ka, or soul, sealed in slates in the tomb of Akhenamkhanen and the demon Diabound, which created by the ka of the deceased people in Kul Elna (originally, a Millennium Item was needed to summon Ka, except your own). After failing to beat Atem, he defeated Mahado and acquired the Millennium Ring. Then, using the Millennium Ring, Thief King Bakura injected evil thoughts into Akhenaden's Millennium Eye to corrupt his mind. Akhenaden wanted his son, Seto, to become the new Pharaoh, so he helped Bakura defeat the other priests and Atem, then he placed the Millennium Items upon the stone slab to summon the Dark God Zorc. While Zorc attempted to decimate the planet, Atem used his own name and the magics of the Shadow Games, within the Millennium Items, sealed his own soul in the Millennium Puzzle and Zorc in The Book of The Dead, wiping his memory so that he could not recall it, so that the binding might never be undone.

With Atem's eventual death, the Millennium Puzzle was entombed along with him in his crypt in the Valley of the Kings. In a chamber beneath the village of Kul Elna, a sculpted stone rested - it read "Should the seven Millennium Items be placed upon it, along with the eighth key, the Pharaoh's name, Zorc would be free again".

The magic of the Shadow Games was unleashed when the Millennium Puzzle was solved by Yugi Muto in the present day, and he embarked on a series of adventures that eventually resulted in the locations of the Millennium Items being revealed, and the three Egyptian God Cards coming into his possession. Placed on a stone tablet (the Tablet of Lost Memories) that professed to chronicle a battle between the Pharaoh and Seto, the cards and the Puzzle opened a gateway to Ancient Egypt, through which the soul of the Pharaoh was pulled. Back in his original body, but still lacking his memories, the Pharaoh was reunited with his priests, and Akhenaden's treachery was revealed as the Spirit of the Millennium Ring, which had also traveled back in time, stole the Items from their owners and used them to resurrect Zorc, only to have him be eradicated for eternity at the hands of the union of the three Egyptian Gods, The Creator of Light.

Back in the present, following Atem's defeat at the hands of his vessel, Yugi Muto, in the conclusion of the Ceremonial Battle and the series, the Millennium Items, placed onto the tablet just before the duel began, would open a gateway to the afterlife, allowing the Pharaoh Atem to be finally at rest. Afterwards, the temple would then crumble, sealing all 7 Millennium Items deep underground for eternity.