Priest Seto Seto was one of the six priests who served under Pharaoh Atem . The wielder of the Millennium Rod , he was the son of Priest Akhenaden and first cousin of Pharaoh Atem , later succeeding him as Pharaoh . Seto Kaiba is his modern reincarnation . Seto is named after the Egyptian God . In the Philippine Dub , it changes into Ministro Seto due to his role change from a " Priest " to " Minister . " Personality . Unlike his reincarnation , Seto Kaiba , Priest Seto was more open - minded and willing to work with others . Despite this , he was shown to be quite cruel , once considering ordering the guards to draw and quarter a prisoner , even though he had just had his evil spirit exorcised from him and would not be likely to perform any more crimes without it . However , when advised to exercise restraint for such prisoners , he agreed . Seto also had a high degree of intelligence , which carried over to his modern reincarnation . Another trait carried to his later reincarnation was 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 perceived to be " the greater good . " Biography . Ancient Egypt . Childhood . Although technically Prince Atem ' s cousin by blood , Seto was raised as a commoner ; his identity as Priest Akhenaden ' s son ( who was the brother of Atem ' s deceased father , Pharaoh Akhenamkenan ) was hidden from him out of fear for his personal safety . Due to this , Seto grew up an orphan , and initially believed his father to have been a soldier who died in battle . At one point , he saved a girl from slave traders . When the traders set fire to his village and killed his mother in retaliation , the girl , named Kisara , unknowingly repaid him by unconsciously releasing her inner spirit , the White Dragon , who killed the traders and saved Seto . Priesthood . Priest Seto and Pharaoh Atem were friends and rivals who helped each other by testing their mystical skills . He was eventually able to become a part of the Pharaoh ' s court and own the Millennium Rod , not because of his lineage , but because of his test scores , which were the highest the court had ever seen . When Bakura appeared at the royal court with his powerful Ka Diabound , Seto and the other Priests tried to fight him off , but with no success . Eventually , Atem was able to summon Obelisk the Tormentor , which forced Bakura to retreat . Seto then decided that Bakura needed to be stopped and began a search for Ka powerful enough to defeat Diabound . People could be tortured into revealing their Ka , so , without the Pharaoh ' s knowledge , he decided to try rounding up and torturing criminals . This plan , he believed , 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 reencountered Kisara , now a grown woman , who was being stoned because of her unorthodox appearance ( snow white hair , pale tan skin , and deep blue eyes ) . Shada sensed a great power within her ( " even surpassing that of the gods " ) and Seto took her back with him to the palace . There he remembered the first time they met . Akhenaden , after being possessed by Zorc , later attempted to test Kisara ' s immeasurable power by forcing her to fight in a battle against two other prisoners . Seto stepped in and saved her , but the two fell into danger , which caused Kisara to release her Ka and save them both . Later on , the High Priests and Atem went to Kul Elna to battle and defeat Bakura once and for all . Diabound was eventually destroyed by Mahad , who became the Dark Magician , but Akhenaden was eventually able to summon Zorc Necrophades . Zorc then transformed the former priest into the Great Shadow Magus , revealing that Akhenaden was Seto ' s father in the process , and his lifelong desire was to make Seto rise to the throne . Akhenaden then kidnapped Seto and took him to the Palace . He then instructed his son to extract the White Dragon from Kisara , and possess a power greater than the three Gods . Before Seto could decide against this , Kisara ran to save him . Enraged , Akhenaden questioned how his son could abandon the chance to rule over Egypt . Seto answered that there would be no benefit from a world ruled by Zorc , and that Kisara showed Seto a light , a light known as love . At this point , Akhenaden fired off a beam of dark energy , and Kisara dies taking the blow meant for Seto . After Kisara ' s death , Seto attempted to kill his father , but instead had his mind taken over by Akhenaden and was forced to battle Atem . Kisara then saved Seto once more by using her " pure light " to purge Akhenaden from his mind , making Seto the new keeper of the the White Dragon . Seto shed tears in front of the " Blue - Eyes " tablet as he held Kisara ' s dead body in his arms . ( Notably , this is the " vision " Kaiba witnessed during his Duel with Ishizu Ishtar in the Battle City arc , as well as during his later Duel with Yami Bakura . ) Subsequently , Seto fought bravely by Atem ' s side in the battle against Zorc Necrophades , using the White Dragon . After Atem sealed himself and Zorc within the Millennium Puzzle , Seto succeeded him as Pharaoh . Seto then constructed the Tablet of Lost Memories , as a tribute to Atem . Sometime later in his reign , Seto presumably ordered all traces of Atem ' s name to be destroyed so as to prevent anyone from using it to resurrect Zorc , as Atem used his name as the key to free and seal Zorc away . Battle City . In the late twentieth century , Ishizu Ishtar exhibited the tablet , depicting Seto and Atem ' s battle , at the Domino City Museum . Before convincing Seto Kaiba to host the Battle City " Duel Monsters " tournament , she showed him the tablet and noted similarities between his and Priest Seto ' s use of the White Dragon . However , Kaiba was skeptical of its authenticity . Ishizu then showed Kaiba the battle between Atem and Seto . When Yami Yugi saw the tablet , he was immediately convinced the tablet depicted himself and Kaiba . During Kaiba ' s quarter - final Duel against Ishizu , Kaiba saw a vision of Priest Seto holding Kisara before the White Dragon tablet , after her death . This prompted Kaiba to use the White Dragon ' s card , " Blue - Eyes White Dragon , " to win the Duel . This interference disrupted Ishizu ' s prediction of Kaiba losing using " Obelisk the Tormentor . " During Kaiba ' s semi - final Duel against Yami Yugi , the destruction of their Egyptian God cards triggered another vision , in which they saw the battle between Seto , possessed by Akhenaden , and Atem . The vision ended during the summoning of the White Dragon and Dark Magician . Kaiba and Yami Yugi then Summoned the " Blue - Eyes White Dragon " and " Dark Magician " cards . Yami Yugi believed they were fated to continue the battle , while Kaiba believed the vision to have been an illusion created by subliminal suggestion . Dark RPG . During the Dark RPG in the twentieth century , Seto was a character on Yami Yugi ' s side . Events concerning Seto were largely the same in the RPG as the past . Major differences included : Deck / Ka . Seto Summons the following Monster spirits : Trivia . Sometime later in his reign as Pharaoh , Seto is believed to have been the one who shattered the Millennium Pendant and established the Tomb Keepers to guard Atem ' s tomb .