ygo theory – I am Terra

New Theory (It might be old but… who knows. I’m just going to ramble all the same)

The Millennium Puzzle was originally one solid piece. It was called the Pendent not the Puzzle. It was one solid upside down pyramid shape when forged and appeared was given to Atem’s father. Thus there was no need to solve it and gain power over all other items. It just innately came with it and was the centerpiece of the tablet. Even when Atem’s father plead to the gods to not pass down the blame to his son, they did not grant forgiveness and Atem inherited the blame with the former king’s passing.

Upon Atem’s end he was cursed when he was hidden away into the Pendent and as part of that punishment, the Pendent was split apart and became unique pieces that were split apart and sealed away in a box that was later hidden. A box no one was meant to find let alone be able to begin to solve the newly made Puzzle.

The seal on the box now containing the puzzle was poorly translated and was actually a warning against putting it together. The dark power within it and the wish Solomon babbled on about to Yugi was meant to detour anyone from putting it together. However, upon solving it, the dark spirit would be freed and grant one wish not to dissimilar to a Monkey’s Paw deal. However Yugi’s pure wish for friends did not work as Yami/Atem expected it to. Yugi’s friends he obtained were instead turned around and became good as well as kind to him and in the process befriended the old spirit and changed him from a cruel overlord of old into someone new altogether.

…I need to revisit this and word it better but to me this explains my idea of Atem having been a cruel and evil pharaoh and how the Puzzle became to be and his memories lost… As well as why he was so keen on murdering people so freely upon being released and not letting Yugi remember what happened when his crimes took place. As well as why Bakura/Zorc had potential to actually be not the villain everyone saw him as but a victim who wanted justice in the way crimes of old were meant to be handled. An eye for an eye, a hand for a hand…

Okay. I’ve had this thought come to me several times so I want to share it with the fandom just to see the reaction on this idea.

What if Marik (Yami Malik) was actually the good side of Malik?

“But Terra, that’s not right! You called him Yami Malik just a second ago! And-”

Hear me out.

Malik

Has killed many people
Lied countless times
Tortured his Rare Hunters for failing him
Stolen rare/priceless items
Left out key bits of information out in an attempt to dupe his allies
Kidnapped people
Saw himself as faultless
Blamed anyone he could for his own wrongs
Was a contributor to the Black Market
Threatened his sister if she tried stopping him again
Mind controlled dozens of people
Cheated his way to the finals in Battle City
Contracted Bakura into trying to destroy his body because if he couldn’t have it no one could so… Attempted assisted suicide

Marik

Killed one known person
Tortured those who dueled him but allowed punishment to be returned, keeping it fair
Did attempt to kill the rest of his family
Refuses to give up control over the body he inhabits
Only plays high stake games where the loser will most likely die
Was actively willing to kill anyone who got in his way of revenge

That’s about it… I’m sure there is more but honestly… Malik’s negative qualities are greater than Marik’s from what I have seen over the years.
Marik is polite and greets people cheerily. Sure, he plays hard but all of his games have always been fair. He goes in knowing he can die but he believes in himself so much that he doesn’t see himself as able to lose. He is the embodiment of overkill and thus is one tough cookie to beat.

Malik though, the supposed weak/lighter half, lied at every turn and cheated in every single duel he was ever part of and everyone who wasn’t him that lost was always punished for failing him.

Yes, he shows change in the very end but up until that very tipping point… He was clearly the dark/evil half.