Absolute Anime

Marik is the possessor of the Millennium Rod, and Ishizu's younger brother. Like his sister, he comes from a line of those who await the return of the young Pharaoh. Marik's father wanted a 'true son' to carry on their legacy of devotion to the pharaoh, even if it meant spending the rest of his life living in the tomb to safeguard the Millennium Rod and Tauk.

Marik was brought up learning the teachings of the ancient writings and of the Pharaoh, but he was reluctant to give up his freedom. Then, when Marik's father ritualistically carved the Pharaoh's story into Marik's back, Marik's anger peaked, and did not fade, as if Marik was now "infused with an evil entity."

One day, Marik convinced Ishizu to sneak out of the tomb and into Cairo with him. Odion said he would cover for them. When they returned, they saw Mr. Ishtar about to kill Odion. The darkness in Marik grew again, and 'evil' within Marik surfaced. He took the Millennium Rod and used it to kill Mr. Ishtar. He was about to kill Odion, but the real Marik regained control, with no memory of what had occurred. Shadi appeared and said it was the will of the Pharaoh. Angered by this, Marik believed that the Pharaoh killed his father and swore revenge.

Marik then uses the Millennium Rod to recruit the Rare Hunters to steal the Egyptian God cards from Ishizu. But he was able to obtain the Winged Dragon of Ra and Slifer the Sky Dragon. Marik sent his Rare Hunters after the Pharaoh, who is Yami, the enigmatic spirit in Yugi's Millennium Puzzle.

Marik enters the Battle City tournament (under the alias of Namu) along with Odion and some Rare Hunters, one of which loses Slifer to Yugi. Marik becomes angry and intended to win back Slifer from Yugi, and the third God-card, Obelisk, from Seto Kaiba.

In the finals, Yami Marik resurfaced again when Odion falls unconscious from using a counterfeit Ra card without giving the words needed to control it effectively. Marik, whose soul was expelled from his body, learned the truth of his father's death and helped Yami Bakura defeat Yami Marik in a unofficial match, only to be captured by the villain.

Yami Marik's plans are eventually foiled by Yugi, thanks to Odion's presence. This allowed Marik to resume control and purge Yami Marik out of his body, allowing Yugi to win, sending the bodiless Yami Marik into the Shadow Realm. Marik took his leave, giving Yugi his Winged Dragon of Ra card.

Editor's Note: Most websites seem to list Marik's height as being 180 cm and Joey's height as being 178 cm, however in the picture to the right we can clearly see that Marik appears shorter than Joey. So why is this? Well, I can think of only three possible explainations... at least one of those heights is incorrect, the picture is somehow giving off some type of optical illusion, or Joey grew. Since the picture shown is from Episode 70: Spell of the Mask: The Skyscraper Duel, my guess is that the height listed for Joey was for the first episode, and that he grew taller by episode 70.

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