Yami Bakura

Almost every other Bakura fan I've encountered appreciates Yami Bakura as much as his host, sometimes to the extent of professing attraction to him. Meanwhile, I regard him with a mixture of fear and loathing, which is mild only by virtue of him being fictional.

My dislike of Yami Bakura sometimes confuses me, for without him, there is not much to distinguish the real Bakura. The sharp contrast between the two is very attention-getting, and made me wonder how the real Bakura was affected.

However, all this becomes moot when I consider the character himself. Strong feelings for any character stem from a combination of what they do and what they represent. Yami Bakura represents interesting ideas, and to an extent my fascination with Bakura. Yet he steals Bakura's freedom, and hurts other characters I like, and people they care about. When he appears, I imagine Bakura has become a prisoner in his own body. I also imagine Yami Bakura is the reason Bakura is often seen alone, that he will never become a full member of Yuugi's inner posse. This cancels out my academic reasons for "liking" Yami Bakura.

Yami Bakura may snarl and sneer about conquering the world like a third-rate cartoon villain, but there's nothing third-rate about his creepiness, which is related to my reasons for liking Bakura in the first place. It seems I have found in him a common archetype that should have appealed to me earlier, but did not. Yami Bakura is symbolic of the darkness in ourselves that we struggle to control. When he appears, darkness has won. For someone who feels she often fights a constant war against her appetites and impulses, this triumph is a little frightening. This, coupled with Yami Bakura's deeds within the story, make liking the character impossible.

Thus, my definition of his personality is one of sheer, irreversible nastiness. "My" Yami Bakura is characterized by a ruthless, predatory aravice. Nearly everything he does is with some end in mind, some concrete reason. However, Yami Bakura is possessed of a malicious sense of humor, and may diverge from his intended goal to have some "fun". He also has some skill at psychological manipulation. He was once an Egyptian tomb robber, whose soul is sealed inside the Millennium Ring.

It is worth nothing that although they share basically the same goals, the original and dub incarnations of Yami Bakura are slightly different. The former has a more manic, more overtly vicious mein, while the latter comes off as more restrained, like a terror waiting in the wings. This is partially attributable to edits, but not wholly. I dislike both equally, but think the dub version would be more fun to write as a character.

Yami Bakura appears to have some degree of control as to how strongly he blocks out his host. In "The Metamol Pot's Trap! The Flame Swordsman's Crisis!", Bakura Ryou seemed to understand what was happening, but in "Fusion of Light and Darkness, Black Chaos Descends" he was bewildered when Tristan told him that Yami Bakura had appeared again. In "Challenge from the Past! The Terriying Zera!", Yami Bakura and Bakura trade places swiftly, with neither of them being confused. This could indicate that Yami Bakura allows his host to be conscious of events, but unable to change them (Some fans also consider this evidence that Yami Bakura and Bakura are in fact an equally evil team working together).

Yami Bakura's manisfestation is represented by a more wild-looking hairstyle, an altered voice, and differently shaped eyes (in his post-Duelist Kingdom character model, two parts of his hair stick up like devil's horns). It's likely this transformation is only meant to be seen by the audience, since characters never seem to notice it.