Yu-Gi-Oh!: Yami Yugi/The Pharaoh's Complicated History, Explained (2024)

The central card game in the Yu-Gi-Oh franchise goes back thousands of years. Even though Pegasus was the one to give the iconic beings that defined the anime a physical card, the spirits of these monsters existed long before that. In line with this sentiment, the story of Yami Yugi dates back thousands of years ago.

Ancient Egypt was a place where sorcerers could use magic to have monsters fight on their behalf. Including figures such as the legendary Blue Eyes White Dragon and the Dark Magician, they relied on these beings to defeat their opponents for them.When Yami Yugi was merged with Yugi Muto, the boy who managed to put together the Millennium Puzzle, he lost access to some of the memories of his past. One of these secrets included his name. By the end of Yu-Gi-Oh, it was revealed that Yami Yugi’s true name was Atem.

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Atem’s father was the one whose decisions led to the creation of the Millennium Items. Aknamkanon was a Pharaoh in Egypt who had to deal with onslaught from invading forces. If these enemies weren’t dealt with, Egypt was sure to face many casualties. In light of this situation, his brother Aknadin insisted that he approve of the creation of the Millennium Items. While this Pharaoh was at first reluctant, the fact that the enemy’s forces continued pressing closer caused him to agree. These Millennium Items were granted to high-ranking officials in Egypt, with the Millennium Puzzle eventually being passed down to Atem.

After Atem’s death, the Gravekeepers tended to the Pharaoh's tomb. It was inscribed that one day the Pharaoh would return to the world of the living, and so it was the duty of the Gravekeepers to prepare for his return. This legacy was passed down from generation to generation, with the sacred words being inscribed on their backs in anticipation for this day. However, by the time that Marik Ishtar.

Yami Yugi’s first challenge came through ghosts of his past. Particularly, his major challenge came in the form of dealing with many people that possessed the Millennium Items. Whether it be Pegasus with the Millennium Eye, Bakura with the Millennium Ring, or Marik with the Millennium Rod, each of them used the powers of their tools to fight Yami Yugi. While each of them put up a fair fight against Yugi’s comrades, they struggled to face the Pharaoh.

The Battle City arc was something that solidified the rules of dueling in the Yu-Gi-Oh universe. In the times of Duelist Kingdom, there were some duels that stretched the interpretation of various effects. Yugi’s duel against Panik served as a prime example of duels going beyond what would be stated in the game’s card text. However, under the rules that Kaiba established in the Battle City tournament arc, duels became more about the ways duelists used their cards to take away victory.

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For Yugi, the Battle City tournament arc provided one of the greatest villains in the form of Marik Ishtar. Corrupted by the influence of the Millennium Rod while loathing the fact that he had to commit so much of his early life to the Pharaoh, he came onto the scene of Battle City with the intent to crush the competition. His presence in the arc couldn’t be ignored, whether it be through the various Rare Hunters that acted on his behalf or his notable duels against Mai Valentine and Joey Wheeler later in the series.

Meanwhile, Yami Bakura became the means by which the Pharaoh was directly confronted with his past life. The Millennium Ring served as a vessel for many evils from the times of Ancient Egypt. In one of the latter arcs of Yu-Gi-Oh, Yami Yugi participated in a shadow game against Yami Bakura that forced him to look into this past. In this battle Yami Yugi was forced to deal with Zorc, a malevolent force of evil that was strong enough to even fight against the Egyptian Gods and Exodia in this shadow game.

Yami Yugi’s journey concluded with the journey to his final resting place. While he'd dealt with many forces which threatened the state of the world, he eventually came to the point where he wished to rest. Putting all of the Millennium Items on the line, Yami Yugi faced off against Yugi Muto in the Ceremonial Duel. This duel served multiple purposes, not only giving some finality to the relationship between these two duelists but ultimately proving that Yugi had grown as a duelist. He no longer needed to rely on the Pharaoh to defeat his opponents in battle. With all of Yugi’s friends and Kaiba witnessing the climax of this fight, Atem went away, along with the Millennium Items which were buried under the ground.

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