Yami Bakura Yami Bakura , known as Dark Bakura ( 獏良 ( バクラ ) " Yami Bakura " ) in the Japanese version , is the evil spirit of the Millennium Ring . He appears as a reoccurring secondary antagonist for most the series , until the final arc where he is the main antagonist . Through the Millennium Ring , Bakura Ryou became host to the spirit , allowing him to possess Bakura ; even able to mimic his host ' s personality almost perfectly to the point that he is able to fool Bakura ' s friends . Yami Bakura is the longest running and most prominent adversary in the entire series , being an antagonistic counterpart and a great adversary to Yami Yugi . Design . Yami Bakura ' s character design was overseen by Kazuki Takahashi . Yami Bakura usually wears whatever Bakura Ryou is dressed in . His white hair is pointed downwards in various directions and trails half way down his back . His hair points in more directions than Bakura ' s and becomes noticeably more stiff and rigid rather than Bakura ' s smooth flowing hair . Part of his bangs angle upward like wings or horns when Yami Bakura is in control . He wears the Millennium Ring on a cord around his neck . In the Duelist Kingdom arc , he wears a white wool sweater and green undershirt . His usual outfit in following seasons consists of a teal short sleeved collared jacket worn over a blue and white horizontally striped t - shirt . In the manga , he wears just the t - shirt more often . In the Battle City arc , he often wears a KaibaCorp Duel Disk on his left arm . In the Millennium World arc , Yami Bakura wore a black trench coat with the collar flipped up , as an addition to this outfit . Yami Bakura ' s fragment within the Millennium Puzzle still wore the teal jacket that his complete form had worn . Biography . Origin . 3 , 000 years ago ( 5 , 000 in the dub ) , a shard of Zorc Necrophades ' soul was sealed in the Millennium Ring during its creation , which later acclimated Bandit King Bakura ' s soul getting sealed within the Millennium Ring , resulting in the fusion between the two souls . This demonic composite was reawakened in the present day when someone had acquired the Millennium Ring in Egypt and presented the artifact to his son Bakura Ryou . Unbeknownst to Bakura and his father , the Millennium Ring contained the malignant spirit that became known as Yami Bakura upon possessing Bakura . He lost many memories as Bandit King Bakura and Zorc Necrophades . He seeks to obtain all seven Millennium Items so he can resurrect Zorc , and reunite so he can be complete . Five years before the events of the series , Bakura had murdered Shadi , the guardian of the Millennium Key and Scale as revealed during a flashback in The Dark Side of Dimensions . " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " . Duelist Kingdom . Although not a participating player , Bakura snuck onto the Duelist Kingdom island for the tournament . Yami Bakura traps Yugi Muto , Joey Wheeler , Tristan Taylor , Téa Gardner and Bakura Ryou in their favorite " Duel Monsters " cards in an effort to take the Millennium Puzzle , however , faces off with Yami Yugi in a Shadow Game Duel instead . Yami Bakura uses several " Morphing Jar s " to discard Yami Yugi ' s monsters while also using cards like " Man - Eater Bug " to destroy his opponent ' s monsters and " Change of Heart " to turn his opponent ' s monsters against each other . When Yami Bakura tried to use " Change of Heart " to turn Yugi ( as the " Dark Magician " ) against the others , Bakura took the form of the card and interfered with the Duel . Bakura attempted to sacrifice himself so Yugi could win , but Yami Yugi switched the places of Bakura ' s two souls , resulting in Yami Bakura ' s defeat and subsequent trip to the Graveyard . Afterward , he was assumed to be dead , trapped in the Shadow Realm . Bakura then stayed with the group until the night of the finals of Duelist Kingdom , at which point he , Tristan and Téa go on an adventure through Pegasus Castle . Maximillion Pegasus catches them and sends them to the Shadow Realm for a Shadow Game . Yami Bakura takes this opportunity to retake control over Bakura , then sends everybody back to their rooms , plotting to take both Yugi ' s Millennium Puzzle and Pegasus ' Millennium Eye . Later , at the beginning of Yugi ' s Duel with Pegasus , Bakura hears Tristan ' s idea of trying to find the bodies Pegasus took souls from , and Yami Bakura is intrigued by this plan , taking over Bakura ' s body again . He saves Tristan from Pegasus ' guards while the two of them searched for a way to escape , utilizing the card " Man - Eater Bug " and the magic of his Millennium Ring . Tristan is still somewhat disturbed by Bakura ' s sadistic enjoyment from torturing the guards before killing them . After Tristan realizes who Bakura really is , Yami Bakura revealed what he wants with him ( in the Japanese version , he wanted the KaibaCorp data card in the Japanese version ; he wanted to use Mokuba Kaiba as his new host body in the dub ) , and threatens to kill Tristan if anything is tried . Tristan , however , manages to catch Yami Bakura off guard , knocking him out . Tristan then throws the Millennium Ring into the jungle . Because the Millennium Ring has a bond with its owner , it found its way back to Bakura , causing Yami Bakura to once again be in control , which went unbeknownst to Yugi and company . After Pegasus ' defeat at Yami Yugi ' s hands , Bakura challenged Pegasus to another Shadow Game . After using several of his cards as tarot cards , Pegasus is freaked out when Yami Bakura revealed that he has lived for centuries . He then tells his intentions to Pegasus and takes the Millennium Eye . As Bakura left with Yugi and the gang off Pegasus Island on the Kaiba helicopter , Yami Bakura licked the Millennium Eye . Battle City . Yami Bakura detected the Millennium Puzzle was in distress due to the possessed Bandit Keith . He used the power of his Millennium Ring to release Keith from the possession , causing to Keith shatter the Millennium Puzzle in a rage . Impersonating his own host , he came to the rescue , knocking Keith back . Yami Bakura took advantage of the opportunity to seal a fragment of his soul into a piece of the Millennium Puzzle . The Millennium Ring later detected the Millennium Necklace , though Yami Bakura was unable to locate its owner as he was distracted upon seeing the Tablet of the Pharaoh ' s Memories . Later , he sensed the Millennium Rod and tracked down its owner Marik Ishtar . He agreed to cooperate with Marik in a verbal pact consisting of Marik ' s relinquishment of the Millennium Rod if Yami Bakura defeated Yugi Muto for Marik . Yami Bakura suggests to Marik to use Yugi ' s friends , citing it as a huge weakness . As part of their plan , Yami Bakura stabbed himself , then released his host . Marik ( as Namu ) pretended to rescue Bakura for Joey Wheeler and Téa Gardner . While Bakura was sleeping in the hospital , Yami Bakura ' s mind encountered Marik . In the Japanese version , Yami Bakura protested that he lent Marik his host , and Marik was supposed to hand over the Millennium Rod . Marik told Yami Bakura that he needed to enter the Battle City finals in order to receive the Millennium Rod . Bakura was awoken by Solomon Muto , however , turned into Yami Bakura . Solomon told him that Yugi and Joey are qualified for the Battle City finals . When Bakura got up to leave to try to find them , he was stopped by Solomon because he was still injured . Yami Bakura knocked out Solomon with the Millennium Ring and left the hospital . Yami Bakura acquired a place in the Battle City finals by stealing another Duelist ' s Duel Disk and Locator Card , but disliked the Duelist ' s Deck and threw the cards back to the Duelist . He found out from a group of teenagers that Bonz ' s gang were in the cemetery ; he set out to find this gang as he wanted to take their locator cards . When he found them , Bonz ' s gang used scare tactics which worked previously on other Duelists , but Yami Bakura was not fazed and saw right through the disguises , disarming Zygor with ease . Yami Bakura then challenged Bonz to a winner - takes - all Duel , where the winner takes six Locator Cards . Without telling Bonz , Zygor and Sid , he turned their Duel into a Shadow Game . Yami Bakura launched his " Headless Knight " at Bonz several times but Bonz called out " Great Mammoth of Goldfine " . Yami Bakura Summoned " The Earl of Demise " with twice its ATK and destroyed Bonz ' s monster . Bonz trapped Yami Bakura in " Nightmare ' s Steelcage " but Yami Bakura activated " Ectoplasmer " to attack directly and win . Yami Bakura obtained six Locator Cards and claimed both that he was going to send the three to the ' Dark World ' instead by Summoning Grim Reapers inside of the Dark Game ' s space and that he was going to send the three to Hell ( he simply sends them to the Shadow Realm in the dub ) . During the Battle City quarter - finals , Yami Bakura and Yami Yugi Duel each other . Yami Bakura allowed Yugi to destroy four of his monsters , losing most of his Life Points in the process , but activated " Dark Sanctuary " to turn Yugi ' s monsters against each other , as well as " The Dark Door " to limit Yugi ' s attacking choices . He also used " Destiny Board " to allow him to declare an automatic win after playing all five " Spirit Message " letters . Before the final letter was placed on the field , Yugi Summoned " Slifer the Sky Dragon " , shocking Yami Bakura . As Yami Bakura was about to lose , Odion Ishtar ( pretending to be Marik ) supposedly released Bakura from Yami Bakura ' s control ( which Yami Bakura actually did himself ) , knowing that Yugi would not attack Bakura , since Bakura was still injured and unabled to withstand Slifer ' s attack . But when Marik mentioned that Yugi may still attack with the fate of the world at stake , Yami Bakura decided that leaving Bakura ' s vulnerable state posed too much of a risk , taking over his host ' s body , challenging Yugi to attack . When Yugi declared the attack , Yugi won the Duel but left Bakura comatose . The Millennium Ring was lost in the Duel , but was recovered by Téa ( controlled by Marik ) . When Marik ( via Téa ) later returned the Millennium Ring to its host , Yami Bakura then challenged Yami Marik to a Shadow Game ; Yami Bakura teaming up with the real Marik to as long as he acquires the Millennium Rod . Marik ' s Shadow Game caused the darkness to devour parts of their bodies as they lost Life Points . Yami Bakura lost most of his Life Points but obtained " The Winged Dragon of Ra " . Despite this , Marik weakened Ra to be useless . Yami Bakura got rid of Ra as a Tribute to Summon " The Dark Ruler " , thinking that no one could use Ra buried in the Graveyard but Marik brought Ra back from the Graveyard with " Monster Reborn " , revealing Ra ' s Point - to - Point Transfer abilities to win the Duel , resulting in Yami Bakura ' s destruction . Before disappearing , Yami Bakura vowed to return and claimed that he was the darkness , vanishing with a laugh , leaving only the Millennium Ring behind . However , the portion of his soul within the Millennium Puzzle allowed him to continue existing in secret , attempting to find the secret of the Millennium Puzzle ' s power . Enter the Shadow Realm . The Millennium Ring appears as a trophy shown during Yami Marik ' s Duel with Yami Yugi . After Yami Marik was destroyed by Yami Yugi , all of Marik ' s Penalty Game s were undone , allowing Bakura and Yami Bakura to return . Although the Millennium Ring wasn ' t in its initial owner ' s possession , the fraction of his spirit still remained within the Millennium Puzzle . Waking the Dragons . During a vision involving the Millennium Puzzle , Yami Bakura briefly appeared among Dartz ' s monologue about the Pharaoh ' s various rivals . Dawn of the Duel . Despite the Millennium Ring being in Yugi ' s possession , Yami Bakura had a lingering link to Bakura and began tormenting him . Bakura was running away from Yami Bakura . Not wanting to be possessed again , Bakura attempted to hide in a church . However , Yami Bakura cornered him and told him that the Millennium Items were in possession of only three individuals . Bakura had to find the eight key , the secret of which was hidden somewhere in the Nameless Pharaoh ' s world of memories . As he possessed Bakura , Yami Bakura claimed that the doors of the nameless Pharaoh ' s memory opened and the Ultimate Shadow Game would begin . He takes the Millennium Ring back when Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood were trying to steal the Egyptian God Cards but mistakenly also took several Millennium Items , knocking the two out ( temporarily sending them to the Shadow Realm in the dub ) . After Yugi Muto eventually catches up with Rex and Weevil , Yami Bakura returns Yugi ' s Millennium Items and the Egyptian God cards that were in the box the Millennium Puzzle came in , chastising Yugi for failing to protect the various items . However , Bakura kept the Millennium Ring , as he wasn ' t ready to part with his own Millennium Item yet . He reassures Yugi that he ' d return the Millennium Ring once Yugi has all seven Millennium Items to return to the Millennium Stone in Kul Elna to which Yami Yugi asks him what he ' s plotting . However , he merely responds that they are souls sealed in an Millennium Item ; Yami Bakura doesn ' t know much more than that albeit much more than Yami Yugi does about being a king . Yami Bakura then challenges Yami Yugi to settle their ' pending scores ' in a fitting place for them : the Ultimate Shadow Game RPG . Nevertheless , Yami Yugi accepts Yami Bakura ' s challenge . Yami Bakura departs by saying that it begins once the doors of the Memory World opened . Yami Bakura next challenges Seto Kaiba to a Duel in an effort to obtain the power of the " Blue - Eyes White Dragon " . He first abducted Mokuba Kaiba to get Kaiba to the top of the KaibaCorp building . With Mokuba ' s life at stake , Yami Bakura repeatedly taunted Kaiba ' s denial . He almost beats Kaiba with " Diabound Kernel " , giving his monster the power that can rival the Egyptian Gods . But when the sun begins to rise , Yami Bakura leaves before they can finish their Duel . He gives Kaiba the Millennium Eye that he took from Duelist Kingdom so Kaiba too may also enter the Memory World . With his real purpose to gain the power to stand up to the Egyptian Gods accomplished , Yami Bakura mockingly refers to Kaiba as Seto , before leaving the Duel inconclusive . Yami Bakura later arrived in Egypt and entered the Memory World via the Tablet of Lost Memories alongside Yami Yugi , reuniting himself with the fragment that was inside the Millennium Puzzle and being complete . He would be playing the Dark RPG with Yami Yugi while simultaneously controlling the body of Bandit King Bakura , similar to Yami Yugi as Pharaoh Atem . As each player had a character piece in the Dark RPG , Yami Yugi had the Pharaoh while Yami Bakura had his ancient self , Aknadin and Zorc Necrophades . Although he initially didn ' t seem to care , his ancient counterpart ' s anger would sometimes motivate his actions as Thief King Bakura had a series of fights with the Pharaoh and the priests . At the RPG table , Yami Bakura used three Hourglass Token s ; the first was to reverse time after Yugi ' s friends ' presence altered the reality ' s normal flow of events , the second to freeze time for seven Millennium Items to be gathered together , and the third in Zorc ' s resurrection . As the Dark RPG would affect the modern world , Yami Bakura revealed he is a portion of the ultimate evil ' s soul to Yami Yugi . He then made him and Yami Yugi enter the Memory World to merge with their Egyptian counterparts , with Yami Yugi as the Pharaoh while Bakura is one with Zorc . Meanwhile , the fragment of Yami Bakura ' s soul possessing Tristan Taylor acted as a spy after Yugi ' s friends got into the Millennium World . To prevent the revelation of the Pharaoh ' s true name , the clone eventually reveals himself and challenges Yugi to a Shadow Game Duel . During the Duel , Yami Bakura utilizes " Necro " monsters , limited Yugi ' s attacking options using " Narrow Corridor " and focused on a Deck Out strategy with " Cursed Twin Dolls " and " Counterbalance " . He ultimately reduces Yugi to 1 card but that card turns out to be " Gandora the Dragon of Destruction " which destroys Bakura ' s cards and his strategy . Yugi is then able to use " Silent Swordsman LV0 " with 4500 ATK , killing the clone and releasing Tristan in the process . When Zorc is ultimately killed by the Egyptian Gods ' divine fusion , the Millennium Ring ' s malevolent spirit lost the Ultimate Shadow Game and perished once and for all . " Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX " . Yami Bakura appeared in a flashback after Franz stole the copy of " The Winged Dragon of Ra " . When Franz told Jaden Yuki about the Egyptian God cards , footage from Yami Yugi ' s Duel with Yami Bakura from Battle City was played . Deck . Yami Bakura runs Occult Decks focused on Fiend and Zombie - Type monsters . His Decks often employ lockdown strategies while concurrently disrupting and stunning his opponent from employing their strategic moves while trying to either instantly win through activating his " Destiny Board " by fueling his graveyard through Deck thinning Fiend - Type monsters or through using the " Cursed Twin Dolls " and " Goblin Zombie " to mill his opponent Decks . Yami Bakura makes use of lower level Fiend - Type monsters such as " Headless Knight " and " The Gross Ghost of Fled Dreams " to bait opponents into attacking them for fueling his Graveyard with Fiend monsters in order to Summon and activate his signature card " Dark Necrofear " effect . He also employs the use of monster effects to turn his opponent ' s attacks against them such as using his boss monster " Dark Necrofear " to control his opponents monsters or crippling his opponent Life Points when using " Zoma the Spirit " . < nowiki > < / nowiki > It seems that his deck was built by Bakura , and its monsters resemble Role - playing games characters . This makes sense due to Bakura being into RPGs in the Toei Anime .