Malik Ishtar

(Marik Ishtar)

The heir to a clan of tombkeepers and the younger brother of Ishizu Ishtar. Marik's hatred of the nameless Pharaoh compels him to disregard his duties and turn to a life of crime, as well as developing a split personality, during his childhood after he underwent the tombkeeper's initiation ritual (which burned a key to the Pharaoh's memory on his back with a hot dagger) and was forever destined for a confined life in the darkness apart from the rest of the world. After breaking one of the laws of their clan, his dark personality emerged and brutally murdered his father (sent him to the Shadow Realm in the English anime); however his adoptive older brother Rishid (known as Odion in the English version of the anime adaptation) managed to seal his dark side away, leaving him with no memory of his actions. He believed that the Pharaoh had his father murdered and became obsessed with killing the Pharaoh to avenge his father and put an end to the suffering of his clan, never knowing about the murder or his other personality. To this end, he created the rare hunters, a gang of thieves who stole and collected rare Duel Monsters cards, and used his millennium item, the Millennium Rod, to manipulate people. Although he was originally innocent and kind as a child, he became very cruel and uncaring; killing his servants when they displeased him and developing a love for torturing people.

Dark Marik eventually is able to reemerge and take control of the normal Marik's body later on in the story and replaces him as the main antagonist. Dark Marik proves to be even more vicious than the original Marik. While the real Marik enjoyed violence and cruelty, he would only use it when he was angry or when it would further his own desires, but his dark side would attack anyone who crossed his path and would prolong their suffering for as long as possible; in the manga and Japanese Duel Monsters anime, he explicitly stated that he liked killing people because it was "fun" and "was the only thing that bought him Happiness". He only cares for his own survival and actively tries to kill the normal Marik so he can have sole possession of their body. He also dislikes Rishid for sealing him away and actively tries to kill him, although he is unable to for a multitude of reasons. While he is connected to the Millennium Rod, Dark Marik differs from Dark Yugi and Dark Bakura in that he is an inhuman entity born from Marik Ishtar's pain and despair and can exist on his own without a host. (He explains that Dark Yugi would cease to exist if Yugi were destroyed, but the normal Marik's destruction wouldn't affect him.) Although not explicitly stated, it is hinted in the manga that he manipulated Marik into committing some of his later crimes, as he told Dark Yugi that he "took away" Marik's guilt for the things he did. Following Marik's surrender against Yugi, Dark Marik is destroyed.

## Physical abilities

DefenseAt first glance, Malik/Marik is a teenage boy with a pretty average physique. In episode 70 he takes two hits in the stomach and face and is thrown to the ground as a result, but suffers no further damage by the assault. In episode 144, Malik reveals his moderately trained body when he shows the hieroglyphs on his back to Yami Yugi.

Malik's absAs Malik never attacks anyone physically in the series, his combat abilities can only be estimated. It can be assumed that Malik's fighting abilities should be somewhere below those of Joey or Tristan.

\*assumed because of Malik's Egyptian/muslim descendance

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1. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List\_of\_Yu-Gi-Oh!\_characters