Mr . Ishtar ( manga ) Mr . Ishtar is a character in the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " manga . He is the father of Ishizu and Marik Ishtar and adoptive father to Rishid . Although , he did not grant Rishid the right to call him " father " , and instead treated him with low regard . Biography . Little is known for Mr . Ishtar ' s early life , but as the first born son of the Ishtar clan , he had the Pharaoh ' s stone tablet symbol carved onto his back at age twelve . Sometime later , he got married . When Rishid was adopted , Mrs . Ishtar , who loved Rishid as a real son , considered to allow him to become the heir of the clan if they did not have a son by Rishid ' s tenth birthday . Her husband , who did not share the same love for the boy , reluctantly agreed . When Ishizu was born , the couple was disappointed for not having a boy . However , four years later , Marik was born , and though Mrs . Ishtar died giving birth , the clan finally had its heir . Rishid was then assigned as a carer for Marik , on his father ' s instructions . When Marik got bitten by a cobra , Mr . Ishtar was furious with Rishid ' s lack of carefulness , and ordered him not to leave Marik ' s bedside until he was fully cured , threatening him with death for any future failures . When Marik was reaching his age of taking the clan ' s tradition of bearing the carvings on one ' s back through a ritual , Marik tried to refuse , and Rishid offered to take his place , but Mr . Ishtar refused , angrily stating that he was " just a servant " , and threatened to cut off his tongue if he asked again . It was this point that he revealed that he never once considered Rishid as a full - fledged member of the clan , and even refused to accept him as a son . Mr . Ishtar then proceeded to use the Millennium Rod ' s concealed knife to carve the Pharaoh ' s stone tablet symbol onto his son ' s back , ignoring his protests and cries of pain , which also spawned an alternate personality . When Rishid cut his own face with his own carvings to ease Marik ' s anger , Mr . Ishtar finds them repulsive , and kept ordering Rishid to wear something over his face , and continued to refuse him as a member of the family . About a year later , Marik convinced Ishizu to go see the outside world , while Rishid kept watch from letting their father find out . Unfortunately , when the siblings departed , they unknowingly triggered a silent alarm , which alerted their father . Mr . Ishtar was beyond furious , and punished Rishid by slicing him with heated blades . When Marik returned , he tried to stop his father from hurting Rishid , but the man merely pushed him aside and proceeded to torture Rishid to a presumed death . He then proceeded to order his son to accept his punishment . However , as Rishid was unconscious , nothing was to stop Dark Marik from awakening . Dark Marik then sarcastically thanked his father for " killing " Rishid . His father , who was unaware of this split personality , was unamused and attempted to punish Marik . However , when Dark Marik took the Millennium Rod , his father ' s indifference turned into fury , ordering him to put it down and accept his punishment . When Marik refused , he tried to lunge at his son . Dark Marik then used the Millennium Rod to slam his father against a pillar , and then proceeded to do the same to a protesting Ishizu . With his mobility disabled by the Rod ' s power , Mr . Ishtar ' s became horrified as he realized that his son is filled with intent of killing him . Stammering for Marik to stop , his last words were utterly ignored as Dark Marik approached him with the Rod ' s concealed blade , skinning the elder man ' s tattooed back and threw the skin onto the unconscious Rishid . As Mr . Ishtar screamed in agony at the torturous death he experienced , Ishizu could do nothing but look away as she could not intervene . When Marik woke up , he saw , to his horror , his father ' s mutilated corpse tied to pillars , and believes it was the doing of the Pharaoh , as Shadi rose behind his father ' s body and told him the Pharaoh would be coming soon . Neither Ishizu nor Rishid had the heart to tell Marik the truth , thus leading Marik to abandon his clan to seek revenge and freedom . It was only 5 years later did Marik overhear the truth of this tragedy .