Bakura Ryou Bakura Ryou ( " Bakura Ryō " ) , known as Ryo Bakura in the Japanese version , is a recurring character in the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " anime . He is a classmate and friend of Yugi Muto . He is the modern - day counterpart to Bandit King Bakura . Yami Bakura is his other self , released from the power of the Millennium Ring . The two rarely directly converse . Unlike the close , cooperative relationship between Yugi Muto and Yami Yugi , Yami Bakura is a malignant entity that completely suppresses Bakura ' s spirit when he takes him over . Design . Appearance . Bakura ' s character design was overseen by Kazuki Takahashi . In the Duelist Kingdom arc , he wears a white wool sweater and green undershirt . His usual outfit in following seasons consists of a blue opened shirt over a light blue and white horizontally striped t - shirt . Bakura has brown eyes and white hair . His hair is pointed downwards in various directions and trails half way down his back . He wears the Millennium Ring on a lace around his neck . In the manga , during the Ceremonial Battle , he wore a different white t - shirt . Bakura is fair - skinned . He is fair - skinned . Voice and mannerisms . In the original version , Bakura has a polite speaking matter , using many honorifics for others . In the English dub , Bakura has a British - English accent . In the Singaporean dub , Bakura speaks with a Southern - American accent . Etymology . " Ryou " can mean " cool , refreshing , " " distant , " or " reality . " It is a variant of " Ryo . " Biography . Obtaining the Millennium Ring . When Bakura was a child , his father had bought the Millennium Ring , and gave it to him . Unbeknownst to them , the Ring contained Yami Bakura , an ancient and malignant spirit . Duelist Kingdom . Bakura is briefly seen in the first episode , watching Yugi Muto duel Joey Wheeler , and then again when Joey is Dueling Téa Gardner , although his face is not seen . Bakura somehow bypasses security and boards the ship to Duelist Kingdom despite not being selected by Maximillion Pegasus to be an official duelist in the tournament . He is spotted by Téa on the ship and on the Duelist Kingdom island . After Yugi and Joey have won a number of duels in the tournament , Bakura approaches the group ( which also includes Téa and Tristan Taylor ) . He spends some time with them and they all discuss what their favorite " Duel Monsters " cards are . Bakura reveals his favorite card to be " Change of Heart " . Yugi and Bakura agree to a Duel with Yugi ' s Deck including his friends ' favorite cards . As the Duel starts , Bakura turns into Yami Bakura with his Millennium Ring . Yami Bakura traps Yugi , his friends and the normal Bakura into their favorite Duel Monster cards , leaving Yami Yugi to save his friends lives . When Yami Bakura plays " Change of Heart " , Bakura appears as the card . Bakura asks Yugi to kill him , as he cannot bear to be controlled by the evil spirit inside his ring . Instead , Yami Yugi switches the souls of Bakura and Yami Bakura , then Yugi sends Yami Bakura to the Graveyard . After the incident , Bakura accompanies the group as Yugi and Joey continue to battle through the tournament . Bakura ' s Ring helps them escape from a cave . During the night before the tournament finals , Bakura , Téa and Tristan decide to explore Pegasus ' castle for clues on how he is able to beat his opponents so easily . Pegasus finds them and traps them in a vision of Ancient Egypt , but Yami Bakura helps them escape . They return to their beds thinking it was a dream . During the final duel between Yami Yugi and Pegasus , Tristan sneaks off , and Yami Bakura follows him . After a confrontation between the two , Tristan figures out that Bakura is being controlled by an evil spirit in his Millennium Ring , so Tristan throws it out of a window . When Yami Yugi defeats Pegasus , Yami Bakura again takes control of Bakura , and the Ring reappears . Yami Bakura challenges Pegasus to a Shadow Game ( between their Millennium Items instead of in " Duel Monsters " ) , and defeats him , taking his Millennium Eye . After the tournament finishes , Bakura regains consciousness . He , along with the rest of the group , returns to school . Battle City . After Yugi ' s Millennium Puzzle is stolen , Téa informs Bakura . Yami Bakura takes over and uses his Ring to track down the Puzzle . When he is taken to an old warehouse , he sees that Yugi is dueling with Bandit Keith , possessed by Marik Ishtar . Yami Bakura tries to break Marik ' s control over Keith , sending Keith on a rampage where he breaks the Millennium Puzzle . The normal Bakura takes over and knocks Keith back to rescue Yugi . Bakura then returns to school . When the Battle City tournament is taking place , Bakura is stabbed in the arm by Yami Bakura as part of Yami Bakura and Marik Ishtar ' s plan to get the trust of Yugi . Bakura explains that he doesn ' t know how he got the injury , but Marik helps him out , winning the trust of Yugi ' s friends . Bakura is taken to hospital by Solomon Muto . While Bakura recovers in the hospital , Yami Bakura takes over and escapes by overpowering Solomon . He acquires a Duel Disk and the required number of Locator Cards to enter the finals . Bakura arrives at the quarterfinals , seemingly unaware of his injury . He ignores everyone ' s protests that he isn ' t well enough to duel and boards Kaiba Craft 3 where the duels are taking place . When asked how he made it to the finals , he tells his friends that he acquired the Locator Cards himself , but doesn ' t go into details on how he got them . Bakura is paired up against Yugi . When the Duel starts , Bakura turns into Yami Bakura . When Yami Bakura is about to win , Yugi plays " Slifer the Sky Dragon " , guaranteeing Yami Yugi ' s victory . To avoid defeat , Marik orders Yami Bakura to let Bakura take control . When this happens , Bakura emerges in the duel , still injured from the stab , and an attack from " Slifer the Sky Dragon " would risk his life . Yami Bakura refuses to take the risk , as he needs Bakura to survive . He retakes control and lets Yami Yugi defeat him . Bakura is left in a coma , and the Ring is lost in the duel , but is returned by Téa being controlled by Marik . Virtual Realm . A flashback of Yami Yugi asking Yami Marik what happened to Bakura appears in Yugi ' s mind . He resolved to free Bakura from the Shadow Realm . Battle City Finals . After Yami Yugi defeats Yami Marik , Marik relinquishes the Ring to Yugi for Bakura ' s own safety . Bakura wakes from his coma after Yami Yugi defeats Yami Marik and returns home . Waking the Dragons . Bakura doesn ' t show up in this arc , but Yami Bakura shows up in a vision involving the Millennium Puzzle . Surprisingly , Bakura was mentioned by Joey on one occasion . Dawn of the Duel . At the beginning of the Pharaoh ' s Memories arc , Bakura runs away from a voice , and attempts to hide in a church . That voice tells him that he still needs to acquire the other Millennium Items . That voice - Yami Bakura - then possesses him . Later on , Yami Bakura takes the Millennium Ring back from Rex Raptor and Weevil Underwood , who mistakenly took Yugi ' s Millennium Items while trying to steal his Egyptian God Cards . Soon after Yami Bakura engages in a Dark RPG which recreated the events of Yami Yugi ' s own life . After Yami Bakura ventures to the Memory World through the Dark RPG , Bakura is finally free from his control following the destruction of Zorc and the subsequent destruction of Yami Bakura . After the game , Bakura was seen collapsed on the stairs leading to the Tablet of Lost Memories , and Joey thought it was a good idea to give Bakura ' s Ring back to Yugi . Bakura travels with Yugi and his friends to Egypt to witness Atem ' s departure and the Ceremonial Battle . The building where Bakura witnesses the Duel begins to collapse , but he escapes . Deck . While Bakura himself hasn ' t ever been shown using the deck in either the manga or anime , it ' s implied that the first two decks that Yami Bakura used were actually built by Bakura . During Duelist Kingdom , Bakura ' s deck is based on disrupting , or breaking his opponent ' s strategies through various cards including " White Magical Hat " , " Morphing Jar " and Bakura ' s favorite card " Change of Heart " . His Yami uses this deck for his extempore Tarot - Session with Pegasus , and it is implied , that the entire deck was created under this point of view , since the Japanese name of Bakura ' s " Lady of Faith " is " Highpriestess " , one of the traditional cards in a Tarot - Deck ( usually associated with wisdom and love ) . Bakura used an Occult Deck during Battle City , focusing on the darker side of the occult by making extensive use of Fiend monsters . The signature card of this deck is " Dark Necrofear " . Using " Dark Necrofear " with " Dark Sanctuary " , " The Dark Door " and " Dark Spirit of the Silent " he had total control over opposing monsters while " Destiny Board " gathered " Spirit Messages " to declare an automatic win . Although only Yami Bakura was shown using the Occult Deck , Ryo claimed to be fond of grotesque cards and that he had a pretty good Occult Deck . During Millennium World , Bakura further adds to his Occult Deck , and it now incorporates monsters that reflect on his ancient self Thief King Bakura , such as the " Diabound Kernel " , which refers to Thief King Bakura ' s Ka " Diabound " , as well as using " Spirit Shield " , which Thief King also used to protect his Ka and the tablet cards . His monsters resemble creatures from role - playing games , which makes certain sense as in the first series , He was into RPGs . Duel Monsters . Bakura uses assorted low - Level monsters as a first - tier opponent in " Yu - Gi - Oh ! Duel Monsters " . He appears in the common area of the ship headed to Duelist Kingdom . He uses mostly DARK Fiend Monsters . Nightmare Troubadour . Bakura uses a Zombie Deck .