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Marik Ishtar (マリク・イシュタール Mariku Ishutāru) in the original Japanese anime and manga, is a character in the manga Yu-Gi-Oh! and the anime Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (known internationally as simply Yu-Gi-Oh!). His name is also commonly read as "Malik".

Marik Ishtar is a later antagonist of Yu-Gi-Oh!. His family has guarded the tomb of the pharaoh for generations. Marik holds the Millennium Rod and with his Ghouls organization (called the Rare Hunters in the English anime), he wishes to obtain the three God Cards, and with them, unlock the power of the pharaoh for himself. He also has a hidden agenda - to get revenge on the ancient Pharaoh's soul for killing his father, as he was made to believe. The character's sister is Ishizu Ishtar.

Dark Marik (Yami Marik) is an entity was created by Marik's hatred for being a tombkeeper. Dark Marik slowly grew by Malik's hatred, he was ordered to be a Tombkeeper (as he had come of age) he unwantingly unleashed Dark Marik, who took the Millenium Rod for himself. In the manga, Marik specifically skinned his father with it and then threw his father's back onto Rishid. Marik killed his father in the Japanese version of the Duel Monsters anime as well, though the reason was that the man was about to kill Rishid (In the English anime, it is explained that he sent his father to the Shadow Realm). Dark Marik is sealed away in Marik's body by Marik's step-brother Rishid (Odion in the English anime), and remains sealed away until Rishid is knocked out in his battle with Katsuya Jonouchi (Joey Wheeler in the English anime) on Kaiba Craft 3 - The Battle City Semi-Finals.

Dark Marik unleashes himself when Rishid ends up in a coma. Dark Marik then traps the soul of Mai Kujaku (Mai Valentine in the English anime). In the English anime, Mai's soul goes to the Shadow Realm. After this, Jonouchi is determined to duel Marik and save Mai. Dark Bakura (Yami Bakura) teams with Marik's soul to stop Dark Marik, but fails as well and loses the Millenium Ring. Jonouchi becomes severely injured to the point where he can no longer duel. As time well, Dark Marik becomes the dominant host of Marik's body, with the real Marik's soul slowly fading out of existence. Dark Yugi (Yami Yugi) is the only who could stop Marik. In the manga and the Japanese anime, the bodiless soul of the loser is destroyed. In the English anime, Yami Yugi is fighting in a duel where the bodiless soul of the loser is forever trapped in the Shadow Realm. When Rishid wakes up, he makes Marik realized he had to accept his responsibility for being a tombkeeper. With this confidence, Marik overpowers his evil self and forfeits, destroying Dark Marik. Marik gives Yugi the Millenium Rod and Sun Dragon Ra a.k.a. The Winged Dragon of Ra. Marik then reveals the Tomb Keeper's initiation. The carving of the pharaoh's (Dark Yugi a.k.a. Yu-Gi-Oh a.k.a. Dark Yugi) memory onto back of tomb guardian involves using either a hot dagger (as in the manga), a normal dagger (in the Japanese version of the second series anime), or a tattoo (in the English second series anime) on his back. Fulfilling his duty as tomb keeper, Marik returns to to Egypt to start a new life.

Marik's name presumably derives from the Arabic word Malik ("king") and the Mesopotamian deity Ishtar.

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