Strings

Strings, known as the Doll (, Ningyō) in the manga and Japanese version and also as the Quiet One in the English version and the Pantomimer (パントマイマ, Pantomimer) in the Japanese version is one of Marik Ishtar's Rare Hunters during the Battle City arc.

Design
Strings is bald, has strangely pointed ears, and his perpetually wide eyes have very small blue pupils. He has many piercings all over his head: three near his right eye, one on each ear, three near his lip, one nose ring, and one lip piercing. He wears a black shirt and red pants with yellow suspenders. He wears a green bag across his chest. He wears clown-like black shoes and has four spiked cuffs on his arms, one at his wrist and one near his shoulder on each arm. He also wears a chain around his neck with a keyhole pendant at the bottom. For some reason there is a large black outline around his eyes so he could be using eye makeup or have insomnia, the true answer is unknown. When he is under Marik's control (which is whenever he is not standing motionless) a gold Eye of Wdjat on his forehead.

Biography
In the manga, it was explained that he was a mime that went mad after killing his parents, and sealed his own conscience away out of guilt (this was mentioned in the anime, but omitted in the English dub). Eventually, he came into Marik's mind control, and due to his crushed mind, became very easy for Marik to bend to his will. Marik programmed Strings to kill Yugi at all cost should he win the duel against him.

At first, he appears to be a stationary mime in the park and is a curiosity for many of the people there, but when Marik takes control of him, he goes to confront Yugi and duel him.

Strings has a huge advantage up his sleeve, the Egyptian God Card "Slifer the Sky Dragon". Using a five card combo involving "Slifer", "Revival Jam", "Infinite Cards", "Jam Defender", and "Card of Safe Return", Strings puts Yami in a tight situation. Every time he attacks, Strings can redirect the attack to "Revival Jam", which regenerates itself after being destroyed (this is neither an automatic nor immediate effect in the OCG/TCG) and thanks to "Card of Safe Return", he draws three cards from his Deck whenever this happens and because of "Infinite Cards", he can hold as many cards as he wants. With Slifer's attack and defense proportional to the number of cards its controller holds, and with "Revival Jam" able to absorb and reform from any attack Yugi is able to make with the aid of "Jam Defender", Marik boasts the strategy is unbeatable.

Yami is just about to give up until Kaiba arrives and encourages him to fight on. The two manage to figure out the weakness of this combo and turn it against Marik. Yami attacks "Revival Jam" with "Buster Blader", and then uses "Brain Control" to take control of "Revival Jam" as it regenerates so it regenerates under his control, forcing "Slifer" to attack it with its second mouth. Then "Revival Jam" is destroyed and regenerates, forcing Strings to draw three more cards due to "Card of Safe Return". Then "Slifer" must attack "Revival Jam" again, since it reformed under Yami's control, destroying it and allowing it to regenerate again, and forcing Strings to continue drawing due to "Card of Safe Return". This continues in a never-ending loop until Strings' Deck is empty, and thus he loses the Duel through a Deck Out; this is the only time in the Yu-Gi-Oh! series that anyone loses due to a Deck Out. Yami gets "Slifer the Sky Dragon" for his victory.

Strings' only additional appearance was during Yami Marik's duel with Mai Valentine at the Battle City Finals. After damage was inflicted to Marik's lifepoints during their Shadow Game, Marik's memory of Strings was erased; to which Marik responded that no one in his mind was worth remembering anyways.

Strings himself is entirely devoid of personality, and is merely a shell for Marik's will. This worked to Marik's advantage: since the Egyptian Gods normally do not obey one without a Millennium Item, Strings' empty mind allowed Marik to bypass this restriction: "Slifer" obeyed Marik's will, though Marik didn't have to be there in person. However, Strings' lack of mental awareness also served another end: he had no conscience and could feel no pain, so would hold nothing back. After Strings' loss to Yugi, Marik decided to talk through Strings one last time then released control of him and he collapsed. However, he was heard moaning so it is believed that he wasn't dead (or sent to the Shadow Realmin the English dub).

Anime
Strings uses a Slifer Deck, which focuses on getting cards in Strings' hand to increase Slifer's ATK to be terrifyingly high and for the most part invincible in battle. Other than that, it appears to be a Slime Deck. The amorphous forms of the Slimes could represent Strings' mind being formed and shaped by Marik.

Strings' ultimate strategy is to get five specific cards out onto the field, which, in the manga and original Japanese anime, is called the "God Five" combo. These five cards are as followed:
 * "Slifer the Sky Dragon": The main attack force with near infinite attack power and which also weakened if not outright destroyed the opponent's monsters.
 * "Revival Jam": The ultimate defense, to defend "Slifer" in case necessary.
 * "Jam Defender": To allow "Revival Jam" to automatically defend "Slifer".
 * "Card of Safe Return": Every time "Revival Jam" is Special Summoned from the Graveyard, Strings must draw three cards, and "Slifer" gains 3000 ATK points.
 * "Infinite Cards": Removes hand limit, allowing "Slifer's" attack to climb virtually infinitely.

However, despite Marik's claim that this combo will allow "Slifer" to be indestructible, Yami Yugi proved otherwise, as he brainwashed "Revival Jam" and forced "Slifer" to constantly attack the reviving monster, forcing Strings to keep drawing until a Deck Out occurred, thus losing. Therefore, this combo's greatest weakness is that Slifer's power is limited by the number of cards within the player's deck.

Yami Marik re-uses various cards used by Strings during the Battle City finals.