Name:
(English) Yami Bakura
Name:
(English) Yami Bakura
Alias(es): Dark Bakura, Theif King Bakura, Soul-stealer, Tomb Raider, Tomb Robber
Age: 3000-5000 + (depending on which season we're looking at, they weren't very consistent)
Hair: White
Eyes: Brown bordering on red at times, black at others
Family: killed in the ancient past as sacrifices to create the Millennium items
Status: Soul within the ring, duelist, thief
Quote: You cannot kill me! For I am the shadows, and the shadows never die!
Anime: Yu-Gi-Oh!
Voice: (English) Ted Lewis (Japanese) Tsutomu Kashiwakura, You Inoue, Rika Matsumoto
History and Personality: Though he shares the body of the innocent teen Bakura, Yami Bakura is actually an ancient and sinister soul hidden within the Millennium Ring. Yami Bakura is the soul of a grave robber who had been on a quest to seek out the seven Millennium Items in order to throw open the dark gates that they sealed. But something went wrong. His soul became trapped within the Millennium Ring.
As time went by, the Ring changed hands, until it eventually came into the possession of a boy named Ryou Bakura. It was around this time that the other Millennium items (such as Yugi's Millennium Puzzle) began to awaken to their power. The Ring (and this Yami Bakura) could sense those items, and so he began to "nudge" his host towards the items. When necessary, he can awaken from the Millennium Ring and take over his host's body.
Like Yami Yugi, Yami Bakura is a bit of an unknown. All that is known about him is that he seeks the seven Millennium Items, which when brought together open a gateway to unimaginable dark powers. He seems extremely ruthless in his quest for the items (we see that both in Duelist Kingdom and in Battle City). We also know that, unlike Yami Yugi, Yami Bakura managed to retain some (but not all) of his ancient memories.
Yami Bakura is dark and cruel, often abusing his host's body to attain his own ends. He seems to enjoy sending souls to the shadow realm. he is impatient, and angry, and entirely selfish.
Though the English dub begins with the "Second series" of Yu-Gi-Oh! (the Japanese Duel Monster series - known in America as Duelist Kingdom.) Bakura does play a relatively large role in the first series and the early manga.
Volumes 1-7 and First Series Anime - In the manga, Bakura first meets Yugi and his friends, Katsuya Jonouchi (Joey Wheeler in the English anime), Hiroto Honda (Tristan Taylor), and Anzu Mazaki (Téa Gardner) when he transfers to Domino High School. Bakura - who quickly garners a host of girls in admiration over him - explains that he loves playing the RPG "Monster World" (a parody of Dungeons and Dragons) but cautions the four that everyone who played with him fell into a coma. Because of this, he has to keep transferring schools. When he held Yugi's Millennium Puzzle, he felt a pain in his chest. In Toei's anime, Bakura already has been going to Domino High School for some time when he decided to play a RPG with Yugi.
Later that night, as he is writing to his younger sister, Amane (who later dies in a car accident), a voice in his head announced that he is its new host. Bakura opens his shirt to find the sharp points of the Ring sticking into his skin.
The voice is that of the Dark (Yami) Bakura, a 3,000-year old spirit from ancient Egypt (in the English anime he is a 5,000 year old spirit). Yami Bakura, at the time, had his mind set on taking the Millennium Puzzle for himself.
After sealing the soul of a P.E. teacher, Mr. Karita (who earlier had bullied Bakura over his effeminate looks and long hair) into a miniature, Bakura set up the Monster World game. The next day, Yugi and his three friends play Bakura (in the Toei anime Miho Nosaka also comes to Bakura's apartment). Yugi (as Yugi (ユーギ Yugi)) plays as a monster tamer, Jonouchi (as Joey (Joe, ジョ Jō, in the Japanese version)) plays as a warrior, Honda (as Hiroto (ヒロト)) plays as a magic gunman, and Anzu (as Anzu (アンズ)) plays as a magician. In the Toei anime, Miho plays as a gypsy. Their souls were sealed into their respective miniatures through the powers of the Millennium Ring. Dark Yugi (Yami Yugi, Yami no Yugi), being the only soul still occupying a flesh-and-blood body, challenges Yami Bakura to a game.
The host personality managed to emerge during the RPG, taking control of the body's left hand. The host Bakura intentionally fumbled several critical dice rolls, giving Yami Yugi an edge in the game. Once he realized this, Yami Bakura impaled his host's controlled hand on a tower spire of the game board's castle, laughing madly. However, host Bakura would not be defeated and sealed his soul into a pair of possessed dice. He caused the dice to shatter, effectively ending the game and killing himself in the process. Yami Bakura was banished in a penalty game.
The host Bakura is dead when Yami Yugi reaches him. His avatar in the TRPG is still animated, and White Mage Bakura uses his power as a level 13 mage to bring the host Bakura back to life.
Yu-Gi-Oh! Duelist, Yu-Gi-Oh! Millennium World, and Second series anime (American Anime) - In the anime Yami Bakura is referred to as just "Bakura". Almost everyone in the cast knows that the spirit is not the same person as the host due to the incident in Duelist Kingdom where Yugi and the regular Bakura both found out they were possessed by sprits. Yami Bakura had trapped Yugi and his friends in a Shadow Game where each of them were trapped as their favorite card on the playing field. Yami Yugi battled Yami Bakura for their souls. Similar to the characters they played as in the RPG, Yugi was the Dark Magician, Joey was the Flame Swordsman, Tristan was the Cyber Commander, and Tea was the Magician of Faith. Unfortunately for Yami Bakura when he had sealed Yugi Moto's soul in his own Dark Magician card it automatically caused Yami Yugi's soul to emerge from the Puzzle and set the stage for a dangerous Shadow Game. It didn't turn out so well for him, and he had to spend precious time getting out of the Shadow Realm before returning to the Ring...just in time to come up with a new plan. Seeing the vulnerable Mokuba Kaiba ripe for the taking, he tried to get Ryou over so he could switch, but Tristan unexpectedly set him back when he snatched the Ring and threw it away. By the time the Ring was magically returned to its keeper, his opportunity had passed...but a new one had emerged. He sought out the just-defeated Pegasus and challenged him to a test of wills. He knew he could best the powerless Pegasus easily, and with that, he claimed the Millennium Eye. This expanded Bakura's collection to two Items.
As time passed, Yami Bakura could sense powers growing as the Battle City tournament progressed, but as he continued his search, another dark soul confronted him: Marik Ishtar. They soon realized that they were after different goals (Bakura the Millennium Items, Marik the God Cards) and agreed on a temporary alliance so that each could claim his prize (each thinking that he was getting the better of the deal). Their deal consists of an agreement that Marik would relinquish the Millennium Rod if Yami Bakura obtained the God Card Slifer the Sky Dragon (Saint Dragon Osiris in the Japanese version). Yami Bakura kept up his end of the deal, helping Marik get to Yugi's friends and then joining him in the Battle Ship. He stabbed his host body in the arm and presumably helped in the capture of Jonouchi and Anzu when he left his injured host to fend for himself. He later challenged Yugi and narrowly lost, his host's weakened body becoming a liability. The Ring was lost in the duel, but was returned by a controlled Anzu. Marik in Anzu's body insists on the Yami Bakura's assistance. A personality fragment of Marik (Yami Marik in the dub) had gained control of his body. Yami Bakura challenged what was now Marik, and ultimately lost. The Ring then fell into the hands of the transformed Marik, and eventually ends up in the hands of Yugi after he defeats Marik.
Neither Bakura makes another notable appearance (save for the host Bakura pigging out on food in the kitchen of the Kaiba Corp blimp and in a conversation between Dartz and Yami about their resurrection into the Millennium Items) until the beginning of the last arc of the manga/episode 199 of the anime. In the anime, the host Bakura is chased into a church in the dead of night by a voice. He is trapped and the voice reaches a crescendo, shattering the stained glass of the windows as the host Bakura is re-possessed after a brief reprieve. The manga offers no such introduction.
There are many theories about who Yami Bakura's true identity is. Some argue that he is the spirit of tomb robber from Ancient Egypt 3,000 (5,000 in the English anime) years ago named Thief King Bakura. Others argue that he is none other than a part of the soul of the Great Demon Zork Necrophades, an evil demon that threatened to destroy the world 3,000 (5,000 years ago in the English anime) years ago but was sealed up in the Millennium Puzzle by Pharaoh Atem. Still others argue that he is a composite of the two, a fusion of the souls of Bakura and Zork. The anime never states how any soul ever entered the Millennium Ring (though the manga has a brief explanation saying that Zork sealed a piece of his soul in the Ring), so it's mostly open to discussion. Given how both the anime and the manga give conflicting evidence about his identity and never clearly states with 100% assurance whether the soul in the Ring is Thief King Bakura or Zork Necrophades, it's impossible to say for certain who Yami Bakura truly is, though more often than not, the evidence (at least in the manga) points to Zork. My personal theory is that Zork sealed a portion of himself into the theif Bakura who was then sealed into the ring. I base this belief on the fact that the personality of Zork does not seem to arise in Bakura until after Zork is revived in the revisited past. Once this occurs Yami Bakura's personality (at least in the dub) undergoes something of a change, the clearest change being in his stated goals.
Whether Yami Bakura is in fact Zork or the spirit of the ancient theif in this arc we learn more about Theif King Bakura's past. Bakura grew up in the village of Kul Ena (Kuru Eruna), a town of lowlifes and thieves. One day when he was five, soldiers rode into the town and started slaughtering the villagers, with Bakura hiding out of the way. His whole town was destroyed because Pharaoh Akunumkanon approved of the creation of the Millennium Items in order to stop an invading army that was after the book that contained the recipe for the Millennium Items. Priest Akunadin told Akunumkanon about items that could be used to control an army of Gods and Demons, but but he didn't tell the Pharaoh that they needed 99 human sacrifices, around 15 for each Item. Yami Bakura's village consisted of thieves, so Akunadin (Atem's uncle, Seth's father) figured that no-one would care if it was destroyed. Yami Bakura hid while the Pharaoh's guards slaughtered his village.
Bakura started hating the Pharaoh (Akunumkanon) and wanted him to pay for his crimes. Yami Bakura didn't know that the Pharaoh didn't order the destruction of his village. When Akunumkanon died, Yami Bakura was angry because he wasn't the cause of death. His hate transferred to Atem, and when he found out what the bodies of his loved ones were used for, he went after the Items. First it was to lay his village to rest, then it was to destroy Atem. He thought of a plan to get revenge. When everything was set, he went off to the palace. He got there and got past many of the guards, killing whoever got in his way. He made it to Yami. They then had a shadow duel.
Tomb Robber Bakura escaped the shadow duel he and the Pharaoh had the first time. As the Pharaoh and his priests searched for him, he started attacking the priests to make it easier to crush the Pharaoh (guerilla tactics). He fought the priest Mahaado in a tomb, killed him, and took the Millennium Ring. Now, when the priest Akunadin created the seven Millennium Items, the ritual also created a being of pure evil. This being's name was Zork Necrophidius and he dwelled inside of the Millennium Ring. Zork offered the defeated thief Bakura power to defeat the Pharaoh in exchange for his service. Zork Necrophidius used Thief Bakura to influence the priest Akunadin turning him fully to evil, thus taking away another priest from Pharaoh Yami's side. Zork used both thief Bakura and Akunadin as tools to detroy the world. Finally, Bakura fought the Pharaoh and defeated him and took the Millennium Puzzle. Everyone presumed Yami dead, but he survived, tracked down Bakura, and they fought the final duel where the Millennium Items were created... the village of Kuru Eruna. Bakura lost eventually, and one of the penalties of the shadow duel was that he be sealed in the Millennium Ring for the 5000 years which effectively resealed Zork as well.
Now, 5,000 years later, Yami Bakura comes back, but unlike Yami, his memory hasn't been completely erased of what happened. He still remembers his mission for obtaining the Millennium Items, though he doesn't remember why he is getting revenge on Yami, he just has this urge to. He does remember Zork, and his memory returns after Battle City, after he sealed a part of himself in the Millennium Puzzle.
It is this that prompts him to repossess Bakura in the final season of the anime and renew his search for the Millennium Items. He lures Yugi and his friends to Egypt and plunges them into a recreated past where nothing is as it seems. The main group is forced to watch as the ancient past replays itself while Yami and Yami Bakura sit above controlling events as in a game. Because of this the past does not unfold exactly as it should have. In this recreated past the pharaoh (Yami) does not have his memories and so thief Bakura is able to resurrect the dark lord Zork using the Millennium items. However, Zork was using the thief king just as the spirit had used Ryou Bakura. The thief King is destroyed and Yami Bakura now claims to be a piece of Zork's soul. When Yami is able to once again defeat Zork in the past Yami Bakura disappears in the present.
Relationships: Quite frankly I don't think Yami Bakura cares about Bakura one way or the other. Bakura is just a tool to him, and occasionally an obstacle. There's no doubt that he needs Bakura, but he does not respect him. He has no qualms in hurting Bakura, physically or emotionally, to obtain his goals. For the most part the two have no interaction. The only time we really see interaction is in the final season of the anime when Bakura is fighting against repossession.
Yami Bakura hates Yami (the Pharoah) though he doesn't always express it violently, which proves he has more self-control then we would have thought. He hates him for the simple fact that he is the son of the king who allowed the destruction of his village. For most of the anime it seems as though he doesn't quite remember this fact - which might explain some of his ummm... less violent moments since I'd never really call him calm. He definitely enjoys toying with Yami and his friends. For most of the series he seems to view Yami as more of a minor obstacle than anything else. He also likes to taunt Yami about his missing memories.
Though Marik and Yami Bakura form a partnership their relationship is all about what they can get. They use each other without any sort of affection or respect. In fact, they seem to dislike one another greatly. And Yami Bakura clearly thinks Marik is an idiot... at least by the end of their partnership.
Cards: For the initial part of the show Bakura uses an Occult Deck, using monsters that reflect his views on the supernatural. A great deal of his cards cause disruption, or breaking his opponent's strategies through various cards, which range from White Magical Hat to Morphing Jar. His favorite card is Change of Heart, a Magic Card that has the ability to take control of one of his opponent's monster for one turn.
During the Battle City arc, Bakura himself never duels. Instead Yami Bakura duels using a new deck constructed by himself, focusing on the darker side of the occult by making extensive use of Zombies (Undead) and Fiends (Demons). The signature card of this deck is Dark Necrofear , a powerful monster that can only be Special Summoned by removing three Fiend Sub-Type monsters from his Graveyard. During his duel with Yami Yugi, he shows Dark Necrofear's true power once it is destroyed, bringing forth Dark Sanctuary. Dark Sanctuary enables him to cancel one attack from his opponent's side of the field and gain Life Points equal to half that monster's attack points and deal the same amount of Life Points as damage to his opponents. Furthermore, with Dark Sanctuary, he can use his Monster card zones for his Magic and Trap cards, from which he plays Destiny Board (Ouija Board in the original Japanese version of the franchise). Destiny Board writes out a letter of the word "Final" ("Death" in the Japanese version) every turn, using Magic and Trap zones for each of the letters. When the entire word is spelled out, he will automatically be victorious. With Dark Sanctuary's ability to allow Yami Bakura to play Magic and Trap cards without restricting Destiny Board (as Destiny Board ultimately requires five Magic or Trap zones in order to fully function) and also halt his opponent's attacks, he has a huge advantage. Bakura appears to have his duel clinched against Yami Yugi until he feels the power of Yugi's Slifer the Sky Dragon.
He plays largely the same deck when he confronts Seto Kaiba in order to gain the power of his Blue-Eyes White Dragon for his own purposes, although the theme of it seems to be mix of his first two decks. Most of his cards revolve around sealing or otherwise crippling his opponent's monsters while protecting his own through cards such as Ghost Shield. He also uses various tablet cards that may be meant to symbolize the original Duel Monster spirits that were captured in stone. When he summons Diabound Kernel, it reduces the attack points of Kaiba's Blue-Eyes and manages to absorb its power via defeating it. Bakura withdraws after getting what he wanted and also since Kaiba appeared to have turned the duel in his favor.
In his final duel of the series, Yami Bakura plays an Undead Lock deck against Yugi Moto, which focuses upon winning the duel by having one's opponent running out of cards. He eventually uses cards that summons his entire Graveyard onto the field, and furthermore another card that forces Yugi to discard cards from his deck equal to the number of monsters on his side of the field. He furthermore uses cards to seal Yugi's most powerful monsters, including Yugi's Silent Swordsman.
The following is a list of his notable cards.
Monster Cards -
Magic Cards -
Trap Cards -
Trivia: In the Japanese Yami Bakura refers to Bakura as his "landlord".
Yami Bakura seems to have the power to summon monsters from the Shadow Realm into this real world.
No matter how many times he is banished Yami Bakura always manages to return from the Shadow Realm. And no matter how many times the ring is disposed of, it always manages to find its way back into poor Ryou Bakura's hands...
It was rumored that Thief King Bakura's ancient name is Akefia, but that name actually comes from Japanese fansites and is not his official name. In the official anime and manga his name is simply Bakura.
Why we love him: I really don't know. I guess it's just part of human nature to be attracted to arrogant, powerful people, even if they are dark and sinister. I think we love the rush of being attracted to a "Bad boy". Of course, Yami Bakura has that white hair going for him too... have I mentioned how much I like white/silver hair? Especially when it's long...
Links:
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