Rare Hunters The Rare Hunters , known as Ghouls in the Japanese version and Jackals in some video games , is an underground sect of rogue Duelists , card thieves , bootleggers , cheaters , con artists , and liars in the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " manga and anime , and " Yu - Gi - Oh ! GX " anime series . They acted as the main antagonists of the Battle City arc of " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " . In the manga and Japanese anime , the Ghouls are the main group , and the Rare Hunters is the combat section of the Ghouls . History . Origins . The Rare Hunters were formed by Marik Ishtar to collect the Egyptian God Cards and other cards of value . It is not specified exactly when they were formed , but it was some time after Marik murdered his father and left with Odion the following day . The Rare Hunters are known to be Marik ' s underlings and assist him in his goals with Odion Ishtar being the second in command . They are known to have stolen two of the three Egyptian Gods , but failed to steal Obelisk the Tormentor thanks to the intervention of Ishizu Ishtar . Also , they designed counterfeit copies of rare cards , including The Winged Dragon of Ra and the five pieces of Exodia . Battle City . The first Rare Hunter to appear ( although not addressed as one ) was Bandit Keith , who stole the Millennium Puzzle from Yugi Muto . Yugi won the Puzzle back , but not before meeting Marik through his mind control of Keith , who warned Yugi he will return . In this Duel the methods of the Rare Hunters was also set : nearly all of the Rare Hunters cheat in their duels . When Seto Kaiba organized the Battle City Tournament ( which he did to lure out the Rare Hunters who had the other two Egyptian God Cards ) , Marik ordered his minions to go to the tournament and defeat the Duelists there , hoping to seize many rare cards that the world ' s best duelists would surely have . The Rare Hunters hacked into Battle City ' s computer system and registered themselves in the tournament . However , upon discovering his sister Ishizu Ishtar gave the final God card to Kaiba , Marik traveled to Battle City himself to take the card back . Yugi was also in the tournament , giving Marik the perfect opportunity to take both the Millennium Puzzle and the final God card . As he traveled to Domino , Marik had several other Rare Hunters attempt to defeat Yugi , but they failed and ended up having their minds banished to the Shadow Realm as punishment for their failure to defeat Yugi . Marik was desperate enough to duel Yugi himself by controlling Strings using his God card , " Slifer the Sky Dragon " . When Yugi prevailed again and acquired " Slifer " , Marik attempted to have two Rare Hunters named Lumis and Umbra defeat him and Kaiba in a Tag - Team Duel . This failed as well . As Kaiba and Yugi had enough Locator Cards to enter the finals , Marik decided there was nothing else to do but face the two himself , and he and Odion entered the finals . Aftermath . After this , the fate of the Rare Hunters was not known , although the video game " Yu - Gi - Oh ! Reshef of Destruction " , which is an alternate - universe game set in the aftermath of Battle City , portrays them as still seeking the God cards with Bandit Keith as their new leader . Since Marik and Odion returned their loyalty to the Pharaoh during the tournament after Yami Marik took over his body , they are assumed to have left the Rare Hunters after the finale , thus leaving the group without a leader or second - in - command . This can be evidenced since after taking back control of his body from Yami Marik , he surrendered his Duel with the Pharaoh to " willingly " give him the last Egyptian God and rarest Duel Monsters card ( Ra ) , along with Odion only following Marik ' s " wrong " orders at the time since he was the only person who could protect Marik from his darker half emerging and possessing him . So it is unknown if the rest of the Rare Hunters either broke up or chose a different leader . GX . While Pegasus is explaining to Jaden how God cards can be dangerous during episode 85 , a flashback features some Rare Hunters who have been punished by The Winged Dragon of Ra from episode 88 of the original series . The Rare Hunters are shown as a part of Chazz ' s darkness in his heart , after he lost to Trueman and being sent to the World of Darkness . During his illusions of failing in his career as a pro and quitting it , Chazz suddenly finds himself on the street , and is challenged to an Ante Duel by a gang of Rare Hunters . Non - canon appearances . Ghouls appear as opponents in " Yu - Gi - Oh ! BAM " .