Pharaoh Atem

Atem is an ancient Egyptian Pharaoh who sealed his soul within the Millennium Puzzle. His soul took on the entity Yami Yugi, which resided in the body of Yugi Muto, after Yugi solved the Millennium Puzzle.

3,000 years before the pilot (5000 in English dub)
As son of king Aknamkanon, Atem became heir to the throne and the Millennium Puzzle. During his childhood he befriended Mana and was protected by Mahad.

Atem defeated Zorc Necrophades by using a spell which included his name, he then sealed Zorc in the Millennium Ring. He then sealed himself within the Millennium Puzzle, erasing his mind in the process to keep the spell from ever being used to resurrect Zorc. The Millennium Puzzle was shattered and sealed within his tomb.

Yami Yugi

 * Main article: Yami Yugi

3,000 years later (5,000 in the English anime), the Millennium Puzzle was found by Solomon Muto. According to Solomon his companion tried to kill him to take the Pharaoh's treasure for himself, but Solomon had been saved by the apparent spirit of Atem.

Solomon's grandson Yugi Muto solved the Millennium Puzzle, causing Atem, now a disembodied, amnesiac spirit, to reside in Yugi's body. He aided Yugi many times over the course of his adventures, in a form known as "Yami Yugi". Yugi attempts to return the favor by finding the secret of Atem's past.

Shadow RPG
After Yami Yugi completed all his tasks, he presented the Egyptian God Cards to the ancient tablet at the museum. After doing so Yami Yugi was brought to a table, where he played a Shadow RPG with Yami Bakura. Pharaoh Atem was one of Yami Yugi's characters and had all of Yami's memories.

Atem wakes up on the balcony of the Palace, where Shimon Muran Tells him the people are eager to meet their New Pharaoh. Although still stripped of his memories prior to sealing himself in the Millennium Puzzle. Atem Greets His subjects. Shimon Muran takes Atem to the Throne room, and invites him to sit down on this throne, mentioning "The Big gold chair right in front of you". Atem sits and upon seeing Shimon's face, (he was wearing a vail/mask prior to Atem sitting down), mistakenly calls him Grandpa because of his resemblance to Yugi's Grandfather. Atem learns that there are six chosen priests in this world, who guard the Millennium Items.

He is quick to learn the Ancient Egyptian style of dueling. He witnesses the priests extract the ba from a criminal and seal it in a tablet. Thief King Bakura then arrives, after plundering the tomb of Atem's father, Pharaoh Aknamkanon and dragging the treasures and his corpse as far as the palace. Seto and Bakura Summon Monster Kas, which battle. Bakura's Diabound defeats Seto's dragon. He mocks Atem by trampling on his father's corpse. As the priests Summon more monsters to fight Diabound, Atem walks over and takes his father's body from Bakura. The priests desperately use their monsters to protect Atem as he does so. Atem steps in to avenge his father and summons Obelisk the Tormentor. Obelisk battles Diabound. Bakura realizes he can't win, so he and Diabound flee.

Atem spots Bakura leaving the palace, after he had snuck in to possess Aknadin with Zorc. Atem chases after Bakura on horseback and battles Diabound, now powered by the Millennium Ring. Atem summons Slifer the Sky Dragon, but Bakura is able to take advantage of Slifer protecting the civilians. Diabound manages to defeat Slifer and Atem runs out of ba. Atem's friends from the modern world, Yugi, Téa, Joey and Tristan come to his assistance. Yugi combines ba with Atem and together they summon the third Egyptian God, The Winged Dragon of Ra. Ra transforms into God Phoenix and manages to defeat Diabound, but Zorc, in control of Aknadin, reverses time bringing back Diabound and pulling Atem's friends away from him. Without Yugi's ba, Ra leaves. Diabound shatters the ground below Atem, leaving him hang off an edge. Here Bakura takes the Millennium Puzzle and leaves him fall.

Atem is left injured in an underground cavarn, believed to be dead for a while. He is guided out by Hassan and spotted by Isis' ka Spiria.

Atem orders the Priests and soldiers to go with him to Kul Elna to face Bakura, rather than let him prepare another attack in their city, with innocent lives at stake.

At Kul Elna, Bakura tells Atem how the Millennium Items were created, by sacrificing the lives of the villagers of Kul Elna. He tried attacking Atem with the ghosts of the villagers seeking revenge, but Mahad now fused with his Illusion Magician ka, returned from the dead as Dark Magician. The Dark Magician fends off the ghosts and fights Diabound. He assures Atem that his father had not known about how the Items were created. With the help of the priests and Mana, Atem and Mahad defeat Diabound, but relinquish the Millennium Key and Scales in the process. Yami Bakura then freezes time in the RPG, allowing Aknadin corrupted by Zorc to gather the remaining Items off the other priests.

Using the Items Aknadin performed the ritual to Summon Zorc Necrophades, while Atem watched helplessly. Zorc attacked Atem and his companions, while they were still frozen, but Hassan arrived just in time to defend them from the attack.

After Yugi defeats a manifestation of Bakura, Yami learns his own name (from the help of Joey, Tea and Yugi going in search for him), enabling Atem, in the game, to summon The Creator God of Light, Horakhty, to defeat Zorc before Bakura can summon him to the present.

The Ceremonial Battle
After the Ceremonial Battle, Yami crosses to the afterlife and becomes Atem once again, free to join his friends in the next world.

Getting sealed in the Puzzle
In Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories, Atem serves as the main protagonist, appearing as the prince of the Amenhotep Dynasty in Ancient Egypt. His name is chosen by the player. With the exception of one scene in the game, he is a silent protagonist. Atem often sneaks out of the palace to spend time at the Dueling Grounds, with the villagers particularly Teana and Jono, who are unaware of his royalty.

After returning to the palace one night, he finds the mage Heishin, now in possession of the Millennium Rod has attacked the palace and demands the Millennium Puzzle. Atem's attendant, Simon Muran, gives Atem the Puzzle and tells him to run. He cannot escape and is confronted by Heishin. Heishin demands the Puzzle. Atem duels him in an attempt to escape. After losing, Simon convinces Atem to shatter the Puzzle.

Present times
After shattering the puzzle, Simon seals Atem and his spirit inside it. He remains there, asleep for a Millennia, until Yugi Muto enters a competition hosted by Seto Kaiba. Shadi, holder of the Millennium Key and Millennium Scale appears and says that he came because of Yugi's Millennium Item. He uses the Key to open Yugi's mind, where he can meet Atem. Atem gives Yugi six cards. Although he doesn't speak, Yugi understands what he wants of him. Yugi defeats all the present day holders of the Millennium Items in the tournament, each time sealing their Item in one of the cards. Using the six cards, Yugi is able to send Atem home.

Battling the Mages
When Atem arrives home the Mages have taken over the dynasty. He heads to the King's Valley in search of the Forbidden Ruins. Here he meets Sadin, who recognizes him as Prince, but does not know the location of the Forbidden Ruins. So Atem returns to the Pharaoh's Palace, which is now in ruins. After confronting and defeating a Mage Soldier here Atem finds a map to the Forbidden Ruins. Atem returns to the King's Valley, where the Sadin now escorts him to the ruins. Here he finds a map to the locations of the Millennium Items. Seto meets him at the ruins. He informs Atem of the map that shows the location of where Heishin has hidden the Items and that he plans to betray Heishin.

After defeating the first of the High Mages, Atem meets Jono, who tells him that the Mages have kidnapped Teana. Jono leads him to the Dark Shrine, after passing through the Labyrinth Mage(s), the boys find her held hostage by Seto and Heishin. Heishin orders Seto to defeat Atem and keep the Millennium Puzzle as his prize. After Atem defeats Seto, Seto applauds his skill, gloating that the High Mages don't stand a chance. Teana is released and she, Atem, and Jono leave. Atem is confused by why Seto was pleased. He thinks Seto must have a different agenda.

Ritual at the Dark Shrine
The Prince proceeds to defeat the High Mages and acquire all Millennium Items bar the Rod, which is held by Seto. After doing so he is met by Seto, who tells him to go to the Dark Shrine, now unguarded. Here he can defeat Heishin. Atem heads to the Dark Shrine, where Seto leads him to Heishin. The prince proceeds and defeats the Guardians Sebek and Neku before finding and defeating Heishin.

After Heishin's defeat, Seto takes Atem to the Forbidden Ruins, where he confronts him and explains that he used him to gather all the Items. He tells Atem about the power of the Items, that they can be used to summon a great power. As Seto is about to claim the power, Heishin appears with a knife to Seto's neck and demands the Items. Atem hands them over and Heishin uses them to Summon DarkNite. DarkNite refuses to obey Heishin and turns him into a card, which he burns. Atem uses the Millennium Item Cards to hold back DarkNite and force him to a duel to send him back where he came from. After Atem wins, DarkNite turns into Nitemare and demands a final Duel. The Prince plays on and defeats Nitemare.

Afterwards, Atem rules on as King.

Deck/Monster Spirits
In the anime and manga, Atem has Summoned the following monster spirits.


 * Egyptian Gods
 * The Creator God of Light, Horakhty
 * Kuriboh
 * Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1
 * Dark Magician

It is also a likely case that Black Luster Soldier or something similar served as Atem's natural Ka, as he donned it's armor to face Zorc Necrophades in a fashion similar to Mahad donning the Illusion Magician's visage.

In Yu-Gi-Oh! Forbidden Memories, to the player, the Prince's Deck originally consists of a near random assortment of 40 cards, which mainly consist of weak low Level monsters and a small number or Magic and Trap Cards. The player can improve it using cards they acquire throughout the game. The manual implies that he uses "Dark Magician" and many images show him holding "Magician of Black Chaos".