Ryou's father was the owner and curator of Domino City Museum. Recently there had been news that a new exhibit had been installed in the museum, so today Ryou decided to pay a visit to see it.
He arrived at the museum and went straight to see the new exhibit, which was a large stone tablet that depicted a scene where a pharaoh was dueling a high priest. Interestingly enough, the pharaoh looked exactly like Yami Yugi, and the high priest looked like Seto Kaiba.
As Ryou examined the stone tablet, he didn't notice that somebody was standing next to him, staring at him.
"Hey."
Ryou turned around to see who had spoken. It was none other than Malik Ishtar, the former criminal who had tried to kill Yugi during the Battle City tournament, but in the end transformed into Yugi's friend. Malik was from a family of Tomb Guardians whose role was to guard the Millennium Items and make sure they don't fall into the wrong hands, and also pass down information that would help the Pharaoh return to the afterlife once he returned. For a while Malik abused his role as a Tomb Guardian to try to become Pharaoh himself instead of helping Yami Yugi return to the afterlife, however he reformed and now fulfilled his role the way he was supposed to.
"Oh hey! It's nice to see you!" Ryou said smiling.
Even though Malik had hurt Ryou quite badly during the Battle City, Ryou had forgiven everything Malik did and considered them to be friends.
"How have you been?" Ryou said, all cheerful and friendly.
"I've been fine. How have you been?"
"Good! Good! What brings you to Domino?"
"I'm on a business trip with my siblings. My sister works with your father. She's the one who donated this stone tablet to your father's museum," Malik replied.
"Oh! You mean this tablet right here!" Ryou exclaimed.
"Yes, that's the Tablet of Lost Memories, which depicts a scene from Ancient Egypt. Here you see the Pharaoh dueling Priest Set engaged in an ancient battle."
"The priest kind of looks like Seto Kaiba," Ryou noted.
"Because that's Kaiba in a past life," Malik explained.
"Ooh. I see."
"Someday the Pharaoh is going to use this tablet to regain his lost memories, and in order to do so he must collect all seven Millennium Items and the three Egyptian God Cards," Malik said. "He's already got the God Cards. Now all he needs are the Millennium Items."
"Oh right." Ryou started to fidget..
"So far he's got the Puzzle, the Rod, the Necklace, and he was supposed to have the Ring but it appears to be missing." Malik said, eyeing Ryou suspiciously.
Ryou rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Missing, huh?"
"Yeah. Missing. You wouldn't happen to have any ideas as to where it could've gone, would you?"
"I…I wouldn't…" Ryou stammered.
"It's okay. We can tell him," the Spirit's voice spoke through a shared mind-link into Ryou's head.
"Are you sure?" Ryou answered back.
"Yes. Malik is an insider. He and I have gotten to know each other before"
That's right, Ryou thought. He remembered that the Spirit and Malik had worked together during Battle City. The Spirit acted as a double agent, pretending to be a villain in order to gain Malik's trust so that he could thwart Malik's evil schemes. The unfortunate consequence was that Yugi and the rest of the main group believed the Spirit to be a real villain, resulting in distrust and fear, which is why Ryou had to keep a secret that he was wearing the Millennium Ring.
"Actually, I do have a confession to make," Ryou said quietly. "You see, I kind of sort of took the Millennium Ring out of Yugi's room when he wasn't looking."
"I see. That would explain where it went," Malik said unsurprised. He had been expecting this."So where is the Ring now? You didn't put it on, did you?"
"Um…" Ryou stammered.
"You did," Malik stated.
Ryou laughed nervously. "Well, you understand, don't you? The Ring has a spirit living inside it, just like Yugi's Puzzle. I can't just leave him alone. He needs me."
"The Spirit of the Ring is not a benevolent spirit. He's dangerous, Ryou."
"You don't know what you're talking about!" Ryou said, starting to get angry. "He is not dangerous! He might've done a lot of hurtful things in the past, but he's not like that anymore! He's reformed!"
"You're really sure about that?"
"Yes I'm sure! He's been perfectly kind to me for the past couple of months, and he's been helping Yugi from the sidelines. Plus, the Pharaoh isn't the only one who needs to regain his memories and pass on to the next life. The Ring Spirit lost his memories too, and he deserves his chance to find them just as much as the Pharaoh does. Also he's been trapped inside the Millennium Ring for three thousand years, and he needs to find a way to move on to the afterlife. I'm going to help him."
Malik pursed his lips, holding back his opinions. "You have a kind heart, and I understand you wanting to help the Spirit regain his lost memories and move on to the afterlife. But I do advise you to be cautious. The Ring Spirit is a thief, prone to lying and trickery. You don't know if he has hidden motives."
"Hidden motives or not, I firmly believe he deserves a second chance," Ryou argued back. "How would we know we know if we didn't try? Plus, his skills as a thief have proven to be quite useful in many situations."
Malik shrugged. "Suit yourself. But in case something goes wrong and you need help, don't hesitate to ask me. I'll be hanging around the museum all afternoon most days. Would you like to exchange phone numbers? That way you'll be able to find me if you need my help."
"I told you, there's nothing to worry about! The Ring Spirit has reformed, and I probably won't need any help," Ryou said. "However, I'd love to exchange phone numbers. Maybe we can hang out more and be friends." He got out his phone and handed it to Malik, who entered his number into the contact list before handing it back. Ryou quickly sent Malik a text so that his number could be entered into Malik's phone.
"Alright then, I'll see you around," Malik said, starting to turn away.
"Wait." Suddenly Ryou's voice spoke in a much louder, harsher tone than a moment ago.
Malik halted in his tracks. "Yes? What is it?"
"Uh...I didn't say that. The Spirit did," Ryou said awkwardly.
"I want to talk to Malik," the Spirit said into the mind-link.
"He says he wants to talk to you," Ryou said aloud.
"What for?" Malik asked.
"Um…" Ryou paused, and was silent for a moment as he heard the Spirit's explanation. A minute passed, and Ryou's face was mostly blank while he was in a mental conversation. Then he smiled and bounced with happiness. "That's great! I'm so glad you decided that! Malik I have good news! The Spirit wants to be friends with you!"
"What!?" Malik exclaimed, completely taken off guard.
"How wonderful! This will be a great opportunity for the Spirit to prove to you that he's really reformed!"
"Is there a reason for this?" Malik said suspiciously.
"Well, the other day I expressed concern about the Spirit being cooped up inside the Millennium Ring with nobody to talk to except for me, and he agrees with me. It gets stifling being cooped up alone most of the day," Ryou explained. "It would be great if you and him could hang out every once in a while so he can have more opportunities to leave the Ring."
Malik narrowed his eyes, as if skeptical. This didn't sound like the Ring Spirit's personality. It was too innocent. The Ring Spirit was always planning something; whatever he did sounded innocuous on the outside but there was something sinister underneath. Whatever it was, Malik had to find out.
"Alright, I'll do it. I'll talk to him." Malik said.
Ryou flapped his hands happily and bounced up and down. "Yay! Thanks so much! Okay, here goes." Ryou closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, Bakura was in control.
"Hello Tomb Guardian," Bakura said with a sly grin. "It's such a pleasure to see you."
Malik sniffed. "Cut the pleasantries, Tomb Robber. I know you don't actually want to be friends. What's the real reason you want to talk to me?"
Bakura laughed. "Quite insightful. Alright, I'll cut to the chase. I have a plan to open the Door of Darkness to summon Zorc, and I require your assistance."
"Typical. Just as I expected," Malik remarked dryly. "You really do have your host wrapped tightly around your finger, don't you. What exactly did you say to him to make him trust you so much?"
"Oh, I have my ways. He is easily won over through speeches about friendship and sweet-talking."
"Yeah, I figured."
Malik pitied Ryou. The poor boy had such a big heart, and he just had to get stuck with someone as lying and scheming as the Ring Spirit. But it wasn't Malik's place to tell Ryou what the Ring Spirit was really plotting. He had to play a role, and that role was to assist the Ring Spirit in his schemes, whatever they may be.
What Yugi and his friends didn't know was that in order to return to the afterlife, the Pharaoh first had to pass certain obstacles. According to prophecy, the Pharaoh was going to fight against the ultimate enemy in a battle between good and evil, a Shadow Game. This Shadow Game would determine the fate of the Millennium Items once and for all. If the Pharaoh won, he would get to return to the afterlife and be with his friends and family, and the Millennium Items would become buried underground, ever to be seen again. If the Pharaoh lost, it would mean the end of the world. A large, evil and powerful demon named Zorc would be unleashed upon the world to wreck havoc, destroying everything on Earth. And the ultimate enemy the Pharaoh was going to fight against was none other than the Spirit of the Millennium Ring, Yami Bakura himself.
"What's the real reason you came to Domino City?" Bakura asked. "Your sister is on a business trip, but you don't seem to have any real reason to be here. Why are you here?"
Malik huffed. "I think you probably already know why I'm here. It's because of you. The Tomb Guardians put me with the task of helping you prepare for the final battle against the Pharaoh."
"How sweet. You came all the way to Japan just to see me."
"Don't flatter yourself. I'm not helping you because I like you. I'm just fulfilling my duties as a Tomb Guardian."
"I respect that."
It was the role of the Tomb Guardians to ensure that the prophecy came true, which was why someone from the clan had to assist the villain in preparation for the Shadow Game. Assisting Yami Bakura was a dirty job that no one really wanted to do. Malik volunteered to do it because he had worked with the villain before, and because nobody wanted to do it. He supposed this was a fitting punishment for all the crimes he had committed during Battle City.
"So what is it you're planning? What kind of Shadow Game are you planning to challenge the Pharaoh to?" Malik asked.
"I'm going to challenge him to the Ultimate Tabletop RPG."
"A tabletop RPG?" Malik contemplated. "Hmm, I understand. Your host is skilled at tabletop games, which means you adopted his interest."
During Battle City, Malik had used the Millennium Rod to take control of Ryou's mind. As a result, Malik had seen all of the memories of Ryou's mind and knew everything about Ryou's life. He knew that Ryou liked to play tabletop games, especially Monster World.
"Yes, it's genius isn't it?" Bakura said. "The Pharaoh's final battle is centered around him finding his lost memories. What better way to conduct the final battle than to replay his life in Ancient Egypt? Everything that happened three thousand years ago shall be replayed in a Shadow Game. The Pharaoh's goal would be to find his name, which is the key to defeating Zorc. And I shall play the role of the Thief King, whose goal is to summon Zorc. I call it the World of Memories."
"In order to conduct this kind of Shadow Game, you would need a tabletop of Ancient Egypt," Malik noted. "I understand now.. You need your host to build a tabletop of Ancient Egypt for you."
"Yes, but while he's building it he's not allowed to know that the true purpose for the tabletop is to be used in a Shadow Game. Otherwise he'll never do it."
Malik pitied Ryou more than ever. However he had no choice but to help Bakura with the project.
"I think I know a way," said Malik. "What if Domino Museum were to open up a new exhibition on Ancient Egypt? We could convince your host to build a diorama of Ancient Egypt to add to the museum's collection of artifacts, and before the exhibition opens, you can use that diorama for your Shadow Game against the Pharaoh."
Bakura's eyes brightened at the idea. "Fantastic. That's an excellent idea."
"I know. But it's your responsibility to convince him to do it. I'm not going to ask him."
"Fair enough," Bakura said with a shrug. "Now, let's bring him back out." He activated the Millennium Ring's powers and switched back with Ryou.
Ryou blinked, zoning into reality. "Oh! How much time did I miss?"
"Only about ten minutes," Malik said.
"Ten minutes huh? Hmm."
Whenever the Ring Spirit took control of Ryou's body, Ryou blacked out and became totally unconscious. He didn't remember anything that happened in the last ten minutes.
"I don't get why I always black out when the Spirit of the Ring takes over. From what Yugi told me, he's usually co-conscious when the Spirit of the Puzzle takes over his body," Ryou sighed. But he quickly perked up and asked, "How did the conversation go with the Ring Spirit? What did you guys talk about?"
"Nothing particularly interesting. We were just talking about what we've been doing since we last met during Battle City. Oh, and I informed him that my sister's donating many new artifacts to your father's museum, so many that he's going to open up a new exhibition on Ancient Egypt here."
"Oh my gosh! That's exciting!" Ryou said, happily flapping his arms. "My father must be so excited! And I'm so happy you agreed to become friends with the Ring Spirit! Do you want to make this a regular thing? You could meet with him once a week. I think it'll be good for you two to socialize on a regular basis."
"Hmm, yes, I think it's a good idea too."
"I worry about him, you know?"
"I'm sure he's fine," Malik groaned, rolling his eyes.
"No but seriously, I think something's wrong with him. He…" Ryou paused, not sure if he should be saying this out loud, but he was desperate for help. "He self-harms."
"He does?" Malik seethed, his hand balling into fists. The Ring Spirit had hurt Ryou before, and it angered him to hear that he might be doing it again.
"He doesn't harm my physical body," Ryou quickly added to reassure Malik that it wasn't as bad as it sounded. "He self-harms inside the soulroom. He says he does it several times a day, and he acts so casual about it, as if it's normal. I think he needs to seek professional help, but he doesn't want to go because he hates asking for help. Also I don't know how I'm going to explain to the therapist that he's a spirit possessing me. They're probably not going to believe me."
"You don't need to tell the therapist about the possession. Just tell them you have DID," Malik suggested.
"What's DID?"
"Dissociative Identity Disorder. It's a mental illness when two or more distinct identity states exist within the same body."
"What does that mean? I don't understand."
"It's basically having a split personality. It's similar to you sharing a body with the Ring Spirit, except it's with dissociation instead of possession. Do you ever feel like one part of you feels one way, and another part of you feels differently? Everyone does that to some extent. It's just that DID people do it to the highest extreme possible."
Ryou looked surprised. "Wait a minute, you're telling me it's possible to have more than one personality in one body without the influence of the Millennium Items?"
"Yeah. How did you think my dark half formed? Did you think he was a spirit possessing me?"
During Battle City, Malik had a second personality who took over Malik's body and terrorized everyone for a little bit before being defeated by Yami Yugi. This second personality was even more malicious than the Ring Spirit.
"I was aware that your dark half wasn't a spirit, but I thought the only reason he formed was because of the Millennium Items," said Ryou. "I believed that because you grew up underground, you lived in close proximity to the Millennium Rod and Necklace, and the magic of the Items affected your mind and enabled you to create a second personality. Also I believed that using the Millennium Rod made it more likely for your dark half to take over. I didn't know it was possible for that to happen without magic. You're telling me it's possible?"
"Yes, because I had DID, which is a mental illness that is non-magical. It's actually a more common mental illness than you'd think it is. Most people think it's rare, but it's more common than schizophrenia."
"Well how was I supposed to figure that out when no one told me?" Ryou uttered. "Nobody ever did a good job of explaining to me that you were mentally ill. Of course I was going to think that the Millennium Items did that to you. I didn't know DID existed."
"I can tell you where you can do research on it. There's a lot of misinformation spreading around so you have to be careful believing what you read. Contrary to what most people believe, alternative personalities are not dangerous. The ones with trauma or anger are more likely to harm themselves than anyone else."
"But...wasn't your dark half dangerous?"
Malik's eyes grew distant. "I'm still trying to process why he turned out that way, because persecutors are usually not that extreme. I think the most logical explanation for why he was homicidal was because I was exposed to the dark magic of the Millennium Items while growing up. Under non-magical circumstances he wouldn't have been homicidal."
Ryou nodded, processing all that Malik was telling him. "But you're telling me to fake a mental illness? Is that really going to work? I don't actually have DID. I'm possessed by a spirit."
"Possession is similar enough to DID that no professional would be able to tell the difference. You have at least two alters, and you experience amnesia during a switch. Those are the only requirements for DID. If you didn't experience amnesia due to switching, it would be OSDD. Do you find yourself winding up in random places and not remembering how you got there?"
"All the time, yeah."
"Did unfamiliar objects appear in your room and you had no recollection of buying them?"
"That did happen a couple of times, yes."
"Do people tell you 'you're not acting like yourself today' and you have to reply with, 'I'm always like this.'"
"That only happened a few times. And that was years ago."
"That's exactly like DID. No professional could tell the difference. And besides, I'd rather you pretend to have DID than to tell any therapist that magic exists. We don't want outsiders knowing about the existence of the Millennium Items."
"Right, of course," Ryou said.
"And the best part is, you don't have to lie about most things. It's okay to tell a therapist about soulrooms, because people with DID have those too, only most of us call them bedrooms, headspaces, or inner worlds. Also it's okay to tell them that your alter is a three-thousand year old spirit, because it's normal to have alters who don't identify as human and are thousands of years old. The therapist won't find that strange at all. But don't tell them he's a real spirit possessing you, or that he can only possess you when you're wearing a magical object, because they're going to think you're delusional. You can say that he believes himself to be a spirit and three thousand years old, but you're not allowed to mean it literally."
"That's interesting. Good to know."
"I mean it. Don't tell anyone you're being possessed," Malik commanded, deadly serious. "Possession isn't supposed to exist. If you went around telling everyone possession was real, you could end up hurting a lot of people. The DID community already went through all that ridiculous drama. For a period of time it was popular to compare DID with possession, as if having DID made them great and special, like they were the chosen ones, and then people with DID believed that about themselves. As a result they don't seek help and they don't get treatment. People get hurt by those types of ideas. I don't want that drama starting up again because of you."
"Uh...okay," Ryou stammered. He was a bit surprised and intimidated by Malik's outburst of passion. Evidently there was a lot of baggage that DID people carried as a result of having a heavily stigmatized mental disorder.
"And I don't want you participating in any DID or OSDD spaces either, because you don't belong there," Malik continued. "There are already enough fake systems running about without adding you guys into the mix. Not to mention the annoying tuplas and endogenics who keep trying to invade our spaces."
"Uh…ok." Ryou stared at Malik, not quite following along. "Um…you lost me a little bit."
"Oh you can look it up on your own later. Let's just say there's a lot of online drama. The important part is that now you know what DID is, which means you can go to therapy."
Ryou nodded his head. "Okay, thanks Malik. I appreciate you telling me about DID. Now I can take the Ring Spirit to therapy."
"Yeah thanks a lot," Bakura fumed, taking over Ryou's body instantly.
"Ah, it's you again, Tomb Robber. That was a fast switch" Malik said coyly. He was able to tell who was fronting by the voice alone.
"I never wanted to go to therapy, and now you provided my host with a way to do it! Thanks a lot!" Bakura said angrily.
Malik just smiled and gave Bakura the middle finger. Bakura gave the middle finger right back.
"Hope you enjoy therapy, Tomb Robber."
"Hmph," Bakura said, sulking.
Terms and definitions:
Alters/parts/others = the multiple 'personalities' found in DID and OSDD-1. Contrary to popular belief, they are not actually separate personalities but rather parts of one whole identity that has been divided by dissociative barriers. Alters can be very different from each other with different opinions, tastes, desires, or ideas of who they are. Despite any differences, they are all still parts of one whole and are all of equal importance.
System = used to refer to the entire group of alters. Some people might prefer different words like collective, family, or clan.
Singlet = a person without DID or OSDD.
Host = the alter who most commonly uses the body.
Protector = an alter who protects the body, system, host, core, or other specific alters or groups of alters.
Persecutor = an alter who purposefully harms the body, system, host, core, or other alters, sabotage the system's goals or healing, or work to assist the system's abuser(s). They are sometimes called "abuser alters," but you have to be careful about labeling an alter as "abusive" because that can hinder the healing process. A persecutor is usually just a misguided protector who harms the body in an attempt to protect the system, and these alters should be valued as any other alter and guided through therapy to change their maladaptive thinking and behaviors.
Fronting = when an alter is in control of the body, they are fronting.
Spliting = the "creation" of a new alter. This happens involuntarily, in response to an overwhelming situation that exceeded the person's ability to cope. Because of that, it is commonly accompanied with dissociation or amnesia.
Trigger = anything that sets off a series of emotional events such as a flashback, panic attack, or a switch.
Switch = when an alter takes the place of another alter in the front. Switching most commonly happens involuntarily in response to a trigger and is commonly accompanied with dissociation or amnesia. These symptoms can be managed and reduced with the help of therapy.
Internal world/Inner world = an imagined scenery that some people with DID/OSDD-1 may visualize as a part of the internal interactions between their alters. Some people might use different words like headspace.
Okay, so like, I didn't used to care about Malik because I viewed him as the third-wheeler who got in the way of tendershipping, and neither the manga nor the anime did a good job at explaining to me that Malik was mentally ill. I thought the only reason he had a second personality is because the Millennium Items enabled his mind to split. I didn't know it was possible for that to happen without magic. But then I started doing research on DID and realized, hey, wait a minute, Yu-Gi-Oh is a lot more ableist than I ever would've thought. Is anyone going to talk about how badly written it is?
Basically, Yami Malik falls under the "evil alter" trope that often occurs in fiction. It's like what Tumblr user lesbiangender said: "if you're writing a story and your villain has (or is) dissociative identity disorder then your art is bad and you should feel bad." It's not okay to demonize a mental illness, especially one that's already so heavily stigmatized. When you demonize DID, it has real-life consequences, because everyone starts to believe that these "evil alter" tropes are realistic. And it's not just average everyday people believing in these tropes; sometimes mental health care professionals believe them. And it's not just singlets believing them; sometimes there are parts within systems that internalize these tropes and start to believe that other parts of their own systems are "evil" and need to be "defeated." When you demonize DID on TV, especially on a popular show like Yu-Gi-Oh, you make society unsafe for people who have DID.
In real life, alters are not evil, and the ones with trauma or anger are more likely to harm themselves rather than anyone else. And even if an alter is abusive, it still doesn't make them evil because there is no such thing as an evil alter. No parts are bad. Every part of the DID/OSDD system is trying to keep the system safe. The problem is that some parts are misguided, and sometimes they get in each others' way.
I can tell Takahashi didn't do his research, because he got almost all of the psychology stuff wrong. First of all, DID is not the result of suppressed anger; it's the result of prolonged early childhood trauma. It's often the result of child abuse, but it doesn't necessarily have to be child abuse; it can be things like prolonged hospitalizations and medical trauma, war, and terrorism, and neglect. According to the theory of Structural Dissociation, the child's brain is so traumatized that different ego states cannot integrate into a cohesive personality, so splitting occurs. Second, there's something very wrong with the way everything thinks Yami Malik is some kind of dangerous alter who needs to be suppressed, and that he can only be suppressed when Rishid is around, because that's not how it works. The reason why a host will front the most often around family members is because it's their job to deal with certain aspects of normal daily life. Protectors/persecutors like Yami Malik tend to only switch out when the situation calls for it, such as when Malik is in danger and Yami Malik is better at enduring trauma or fighting off a threat. Rishid cannot make Malik suppress another part. What's really happening is that Rishid's presence triggers the host to switch out because it's the host's job to do the socializing with family members. Different alters have different jobs. And the way everyone treats the regular Malik like he's the only valid alter is dehumanizing because it treats Yami Malik as if he is not valuable and doesn't deserve respect. All parts, no matter how fragmented, deserve to be treated with respect and dignity. There is a lot of debate as to whether it's possible for an "original personality" to exist at all. And lastly: this is a bit nitpicky but DID only develops before the ages of 6 to 9, so considering the traumatic event happened on Malik's 10th birthday, he would be a little bit too old to develop DID. Before the age of 9 the personality is still forming and has not been fully melded together, when trauma comes in, it basically shatters the personality, meaning a dissociative split. At the age of 10, the personality is at a stage where it is melded tight, and fully developed. So even with trauma, the personality is fully developed, meaning it cannot cause disruption to an already complete process.
(Then again, maybe Malik is a rare case. Or maybe there are other parts in his system that he doesn't know about yet).
I'll acknowledge that the field of psychology was different during the time when Takahashi first wrote the manga. The Theory of Structural Dissociation was published in 2006, and the Yu-Gi-Oh manga was published between 1996 - 2004, which means Takahashi was writing based on outdated information. Back in the 90s it was still being called MPD (Multiple Personality Disorder), and everyone believed a lot of harmful and wrong things about it because of ableism.
I could go on and on but you get the point. Can we recognize that Malik is a horrible portrayal of a person with DID? There are tons and tons of bad portrayals of DID in the media, and this one is pretty up there in levels of bad. This just might be one of the worst offenders of the "evil alter" trope in all of fiction.