Millennium Rod

The second holder of the Millennium Rod in Ancient Egypt was Seto, the Millennium Rod became one of two items owned by the guardians of the Pharaoh's tomb throughout history.

In recent times, when the next tomb-keeper in line, Marik Ishtar, was unwilling to perform his duty, he was overtaken by the dark side of his personality. This "Dark Marik" stole the Millennium Rod and slew his father with the dagger concealed in the rod's shaft (A feature cut from the American version of the Duel Monsters anime), only to then be sealed away within Marik's mind by his servant, Rishid (Odion in the English anime). Nevertheless, the evil part of his mind continued to influence Marik's actions, making him believe that the Pharaoh was responsible for all his pain, and he formed the Ghouls organization (Rare Hunters in the English anime, but Rare Hunter is also the title given to individual Ghouls members in the Japanese version) in order to acquire the three Egyptian God Cards, using the Millennium Rod's power to enslave and control minds, acting through many pawns, including Katsuya Jonouchi (Joey Wheeler). When Rishid was rendered comatose, Dark Marik emerged, but when he was defeated and banished by Yugi at the completion of the Battle City tournament, Marik was freed of his influence and gave Yugi the Millennium Rod. The Millennium Rod grants its owner the power telekinesis, telapathy, and to controll others. Marik used this ability against Jonouchi during the Battle City arc. The Rod is sometimes referred to as the Millennium Sceptre.