All about Bakura-sama

[PsYcho Baku]

Yami Bakura

While on a trip in Egypt, Bakura's father, the curator of the Domino City Museum, purchased an ornamental ring from a street peddler, which he gave to his son because - according to the animated series - it was connected with the Duel Monsters card game, which Bakura was fond of. In truth, this unassuming object was the Millennium Ring, one of the seven mystically-empowered Millennium Items. Contained within the Millennium Ring was an evil spirit, which took possession of Bakura, and came to be known as Yami Bakura ("Dark Bakura," in English). Unlike the similar relationship between Yugi Mutou and the spirit of his Millennium Puzzle, the spirit of the ring is a malignant entity, and completely suppresses Bakura's soul when it takes over his body.

Beyond these facts, however, the actual identity of the Spirit of the Ring is fraught with complication. Writings about the series would often state that the spirit within the ring was that of a tomb robber from ancient Egypt (who would later be named "Thief King Bakura", detailed below) and Yami Bakura delivered several remarks that corroborated the claim, without explicitly identifying himself. Conversely, however, during the manga version of the final story arc of the series, Dark Bakura explicitly identifies himself as a fragment of the soul of the Dark God, Zorc Necrophades... and yet, within the same story, also refers to the thief's soul existing within the Millennium Ring. Although not discussed in detail in the anime (where the reference to the thief's soul is not made, and Yami Bakura is identified only as Zorc), the manga establishes that Zorc is capable of possessing other beings, and that eventually, his soul becomes "as one" with those of these victims (specifically, this was described as happening to the High Priest Ahkenaden), so from this, it may be presumed that the Spirit of the Ring is the soul of Thief King Bakura, subsumed by that of Zorc Necrophades.