Atlantis Atlantis is a legendary island . In the anime universe it was a real island that existed 10 , 000 years before the present day ' s events . The origins of Duel Monsters can be traced back to Atlantis , where the monsters existed as Duel Spirits . History . Early civilization . Atlantis was once a perfect city , surrounded by the ocean isolating it from the rest of the world . It was inhabited by Duel Monster Spirits and humans , who coexisted peacefully . They were said to have known nothing of violence . Atlantis was governed by Ironheart and later his son Dartz . One day darkness descended on the city . A volcano erupted and fragments of the Orichalcos stone showered down upon the city . The Orichalcos granted the citizens knowledge of power . The Orichalcos could also be used to produce energy . Atlantis quickly began to advance technologically and in a few years became the most advanced civilization in the world , even more so than the modern world . The Battle of Atlantis . As the city progressed , people became more corrupt , greedy and violent . Dartz saw it as his duty to correct this . The people who had become corrupt on the inside , physical appearance started to change to reflect it . Dartz ' s wife , Iona even changed to a hideous beast . She proceeded to attack him , but he killed her with his sword . Wondering how a perfect society could crumble like this , Dartz consulted the Orichalcos stone . He was given the impression that the people of Atlantis were evil and he must wipe them out and start fresh . Unable to accomplish this task by himself , the Orichalcos told him to revive its master The Great Leviathan to assist him in his battle against humanity . But Ironheart stood in Dartz ' s way and advised him to destroy the Orichalcos stones and return to their old way of life . Having seen the true nature of the people , Dartz refused , convinced he must wipe them out . Ironheart and Dartz ' s daughter Chris refused to side with Dartz . As Dartz unleashed an army of Orichalcos Soldier s on the city , Ironheart and Chris led a group of refugees from the city to the nearby mountains where Ironheart searched for the creatures of ancient power ; the knights Timaeus , Critias and Hermos , to assist them in a battle against Dartz . However the knights were turned into dragons by Dartz to weaken their power . Ironheart led an army of Duel Monster Spirits and the Legendary Dragons to battle Dartz , the Orichalcos Soldiers and The Great Leviathan . Neither side was victorious and Atlantis sunk to the bottom of the ocean . The Duel Spirits were sealed away and scattered across the world , until they would be needed again , the dragons were sealed in crystals and The Great Leviathan had its power drained before being sealed back to its world . Resurrection . Over the course of 10 , 000 years , Dartz collected souls to use to revive The Great Leviathan . One such soul he believed to be necessary was that of the pharaoh , who he met 7000 years after the destruction of Atlantis ( 5000 in the English version ) . Dartz missed his chance to get his soul as it was sealed away . However the pharaoh reappeared as Yami Yugi 3000 years later ( 5000 in the English ) . As Dartz relived the ancient battle , he resurrected the city outside Florida to use as the final stage of the battle . The chosen duelists , Yugi , Joey and Kaiba managed to defeat the Leviathan with the assistance of The Legendary Dragons , who were turned into their true knight forms . After Dartz and the Leviathan were defeated , the city sank into the sea again .