#❛ ɴᴏᴛʜɪɴɢ ꜱᴀᴛɪꜱꜰɪᴇꜱ ʙᴜᴛ ʏᴏᴜʀ ꜱᴏᴜʟ ❜ ☾ • ☼ headcanon // about

[iilahalzili]

Marik's Shadows are different than what are described as the shadows in the show. His shadows are a mix of his own power that had been festering for thousands of years, the shadows we hear of in the show, and the remnant power of Apophis. It is what thrives in the area Marik refers to as the Shadow Realm ( a branch off of what is used in the show ). With these shadows, it can be used to infect others. Nobody else can become a Shadow Creature without thousands of years going through the same molding process Marik went through--and it would take an extremely powerful soul to be able to survive the process. However, people can be infected with these, which means they: 1) act as a conduit for Marik, meaning that if he remains in their vicinity, he will be strengthened and they will be strengthened to a lesser degree around him, 2) allow the person to use shadow magic ( meld into shadows with side effects, use it to discover people's fears, small bits of infecting others // marking them for Marik to find ), 3) Marik can know where they are at all times and travel quickly to their position, 4) an unknown side effect is that Marik can have the shadows tear out the person's soul if they are deeply infected by it. High ranking followers of the God of Shadows will be shadow infused, which will also give them an advantage to blend in but be able to sense the shadows in others.

[iilahalzili]

. . . thinking about more stuff with the merfolk AU, that there are two sacred locations for both main Kingdoms: the Auroras for the Sunlight Kingdom and the Abyss for the Deep Sea Kingdom. These areas are where certain individuals are allowed to go to become "mystics" ( aka the ones who are magicians, seers or healers ). Both are off limits to those who are not one of the three classes of mystics, for they are extremely dangerous to get to and are equally dangerous if somebody spends too much time there. The only other people who are allowed near these locations are the royal families, since it is rumored the first of the linage for both came from the Auroras // Abyss. Marik, being the descendent of the Deep-Sea royal, went there after his banishment and dabbled in the darkest magic. Also, there are two main kingdoms, but smaller providences with Lords are present--those who live closer to the sunlight are under the Sunlight Zone Kingdom while those where the sun does not touch is under the Deep Sea Kingdom. Despite the differences, both are kind and friendly to each other, but most Deep Sea merfolk are having a small war with the humans for the hunting of their species. Most Sunlight Zone merfolk are neutral with humans, but can have their qualms if humans overstep their boundaries.

[iilahalzili]

"I bow to no god, for I AM A GOD!"

As it has been mentioned numerous times, Marik is the Son of Ra--the original incarnation of Ra, not of Amun-Ra but the Creator & Sun God Ra ( og Ra ). Though born of a god, Marik was not a god when he was Medjay, more of a demi-god. He was still mortal in certain senses that he could die if mortally wounded, still had to eat and sleep but not as much as a normal human. Think of it kinda like Hercules: he had to prove that he was a god, had to achieve that status in order to ascend to the Plain of the Gods and be with his family. The big issue was Apophis had other plans. Apophis is considered the God of Chaos, but is technically a being separate from the gods, a devourer. Through the rivalry between Ra and Apophis, the serpent god learned of Ra's decision to create another child--one who would be of pure light and fire to assist in the destruction of the Chaos God--using this opportunity to turn one of the children against him. If opprotunity was given and Ra had interfered, there was a high chance Marik would have remained light--but he didn't. Marik eventually succumbed to the darkness of Apophis and ascended in the way Ra never wanted. He became the God of Shadows, the Gift of Ra and what little bit of good remaining behind, sealed away in his tomb. What remains of the Son of Ra is a fledgling World Devourer, Apophis planning to guide him to assist in the destruction of order and all of Ra's light. Marik does not regard any incarnations of Ra or Apophis as the ones he knows--any other soul tied to these gods are considered not to be his and will be regarded to the same level as the other Egyptian Gods--with some respect but he will not listen to them

[iilahalzili]

One of Marik's greatest flaws is his attention span. He is the God of Shadows, a powerful entity that is a fledgling World Devourer like Apophis. Marik is not somebody you want to mess with when he has his own body and is working on gaining more and more power. . . if he can focus long enough. If it wasn't for his focus waning so much, he probably would have grown into a full World Devourer by now. Even during the times between dying in AE and latching onto Malik's soul, he was rummaging around the Shadow Realm dragging in victims or torturing souls to shape his soul into the shadow creature he is today. He was outside the Shadow Realm for brief moments and was precise in taking souls because he was fully in the mindset of a Shadow Creature--all humanity had been torn from him. When he was brought to the waking world when connecting with Malik, that human-side came back, adding on that low attention span. He did not have this attention issue as Medjay, but he never had to desire to outright hurt people as he does get as a Shadow Creature The major flaw is he is far too invested in his own entertainment, that he can get off track when he would prefer to prolong somebody's suffering or to toy with his prey than to get it done quickly and succeed. Only thing is, the times he can focus, it is terrifying. He may not plan well, he may not be able to be quick witted or dexterous, but he has force and power behind him. Marik can level a city in Nightmare form if focused // enraged enough.

[iilahalzili]

Anonymous ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ For every 🌟 I receive, I’ll share one fun fact about the muse. ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ ☼ Fun Facts about the Shadow

Marik does a lot of wandering around. Most of the time he will not return to the cabin that is his nest unless necessary or to check in to make sure the animals there are okay // well stocked on food. He just doesn't like being in one place for too long.

[iilahalzili]

Anonymous ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ For every 🌟 I receive, I’ll share one fun fact about the muse. ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ ☼ Fun Facts about the Shadow

Marik likes to experiment with poisons. Because he does not know their names, most of the poisons are marked with symbols. Sometimes he may just slip it into a random person's drink just to see what symptoms it causes.

[iilahalzili]

The only person Marik as Medjay ever purposefully killed without first judging their soul to see if they had a chance of redemption was when he saw a guard hurt one of the children slaves. It is a hard topic for Medjay in the first place--he will always refuse any assistance of somebody who is forced into servitude--but also he believed especially children should be able to enjoy life, to live as children should ( to be loved, to be sheltered and fed, and to be carefree and happy ). There was the time he accidently burned a few people alive due to the awakening of the Winged Dragon of Ra, but this was the first time he struck the blow himself. When a child playing with her friend ran into the leg of the guard, the guard hit her. The guard got an earful from the Medjay and what sealed the fate was his response, "She is a slave, she means nothing." Marik slammed the guard into the wall so hard it broke the stone and the man's ribs. He did not survive the night due to a punctured lung and Marik's khopesh cutting the side of his neck because of the Medjay's rage. Medjay was very much against forced servitude, and would quickly vocalize it unless in front of royalty. It was also something brought along with him when he started getting corrupted by Apophis. In his growing following, there was no slavery--even prisoners were not forced into labor ( instead they were subjected to tortures of being tied out in the sun to be picked off by vultures // hyenas // lions // etc, or tied by their feet to hang from a tree // over a rocky cliffside ). The majority of his Generals were ex-slaves themselves, holding many of the same values and distaste for slavery. The work of a tomb should be done by the followers, to be done out of devotion and admiration rather than fear and lies.

[iilahalzili]

Medjay Marik stuff!

Medjay refuses to kill people lest they have no chance of redemption. He views that it is not his place to remove a life and send them for Ma'at's judgement early. If they show no remorse or have taken the lives of others, he will kill them--but it will be a swift death. He is not cruel. He will refuse to harm any animal such as a hippo or crocodile lest it is a last resort to save others. The only kind of meat he eats is fish. He will reluctantly eat it if offered it by somebody like the Pharaoh, but otherwise he will politely decline any meat. There is a hesitation for showing affection for others. Medjay was once a slave, only shown affection and love by his adoptive mother, so it takes him a very long time to show his love for another. It is easy for him to hide his affection as an act of protection--part of his duty as a medjay--but he will be hesitant to show it in other ways. He is very much about physical contact ( something that takes a long time to get to ), actions, and words of affirmation. He will also give gifts, but is not one for receiving gifts since he is on the move a lot. As well, he does not allow anyone to see the Marks of Ra on his upper back or touch his scars. The scars are painful reminders of his past, when only one person cared for him and others saw him as a tool or a freak. The marks are hidden because he is concerned people would fear him, try to kill him, or use him due to being a child of Ra. Marik was actually very frail and small as a child. He only started growing into the warrior he becomes after the Gift of Ra awoke in him, when he started accepting who he was. It was then that he was put into the harder labor of slaves, even working longer than full grown adult males--not too long after this he was brought in as a medjay.

[iilahalzili]

Anonymous ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ What kind of music does the shadow lord like?

"Not really a music kind of creature." He never really enjoys the music most mortals listen to these days. An odd contrast to the music he had grown accustomed to during the years of traveling the endless deserts of Egypt. Although, even with how loud and chaotic some music sounds, that rock music has caught his attention more than the other ones.

[iilahalzili]

// the thing that makes Ra-mun laugh is the fact Marik in modern times soaks up compliments, is on the side of egotistical, and embracing the fact he is a god. But back in AE as Medjay, Marik would just sort of stop responding when people complimented his appearance. He is okay with compliments to his combat skills and his kindness, but compliments about his looks were foreign to him--considering many found him to be unnatural for having golden hair, purple eyes and the Markings of Ra. When he would be complimented about his appearance, it would be a nervous chuckle and an awkward response of 'idk how to reply to this'

[iilahalzili]

Reminded about the fact Marik in Nightmare form is not a creature you want to fight. It can be halted on its rage if enough light is used, but it is a terrifying creature to face. 1) it is 11'13 and the more damage it gets, the larger it grows. The shadows work to compensate for any damage done to the flesh since it does not heal quickly. The larger the body, the less damage the wound will do. Think of it in the terms of a cut on a kid vs. a cut on an adult. The more surface area the wound is on, the more likely damage will be done. 2) It has multiple ways to hold its prey down: 4 arms, two feet with large talons, 3 tails with mouth-like structures that can hold something in place, and its own mouth. Its bite can easily break through bone and metal. 3) It does not know when to stop, especially if it's enraged. Nightmare will keep going and going at an enemy // prey until it either cannot move anymore or it kills its target. Thing is, it takes a lot for Marik to get to this point, and really only happens if he shifts when in heightened emotions or somebody can damage Nightmare enough to anger it. Despite how it acts, Nightmare isn't exactly angry. It will put on the act to scare its target, but to really anger it is highly dangerous but not the easiest thing to get. Luckily for others, it takes a lot for this state to come out. Marik mostly prefers to deal with his prey // enemies either humanoid or in his natural form, since Nightmare cannot be maintained easily in the Waking World ( not including his "main verse" when he is married to Seto, since he has an anchor that allows the Nightmare to be more stable mentally ). And any time the Nightmare is out, it's more messing with people than going full battle mode.

[iilahalzili]

Anonymous ☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ When Marik would win against the Pharaoh or even in the possible upcoming event. Would he use his Nightmare form most of the time then? And how strong is the nightmare form compared to his human looking form?

Oh ho ho~ Nonny friend, if I revealed if he'd be using his other forms in the event coming up that would ruin some of the fun I've got planned for the event~ >:3c you'll just have to wait and see if it happens and, if so, how it gets implemented~ I also love the "when" instead of "if" with that. I love your confidence in Marik winning. But honestly, he would primarily use his nightmare form if he ever went into a fight to the death with the Pharaoh. Gotta drag his biggest enemy into his domain to eat.

As for that second part oh boy. Considering Nightmare is 13'11 // 4.25m // 425cm and weighs 456lbs // 206.84kg, it is immensely stronger than when he is in his human appearance. Not saying that Marik is weak in his human form tho ( he can still lift more than the average human being a god and all ), but Nightmare could--at its strongest in the Waking World ( meaning pretty much having the hunger satiated )--lift an entire semi-truck. Human-looking or even Natural form Marik could not achieve that ( natural form he could probably lift a Subaru forester for a bit ), and human form could probably lift a smaller car for a bit but not for a long time. Nightmare is a powerhouse. It is built mainly for destruction and consuming flesh and souls. It could level a city if enraged // focused enough. But, that strength comes with the cost of needing lots of energy.

[iilahalzili]

Ra just gonna lay down thoughts while iconing episode 140, especially the fact of Marik's resiliency // unnatural-ness in a mortal body. One's gotta remember: Obelisk, Slifer, and Ra are not simple holograms, nor are any duel Marik is involved in just holograms with paper cards on a fancy disk. Those are the legit God Monsters in a Yami no Game. That means being punched by Obelisk should completely obliterate somebody's bones at least. Yet, Marik stands up pretty soon after--true, he is worse for wear but still stands--and is able to continue. He is resilient and especially so when in his own body. It was mentioned before on the old blog, but Marik is unnatural in a mortal body and puts a lot of strain on it as evident by what is seen when he is in Malik's body. The only reason such drastic reactions don't happen when Marik returns after Atem's passing is because the body is shaped into his own with the shadows and more of his power is awoken to appear more human-like. In Malik's body the shadows are not able to settle properly in the flesh, which causes the accentuation of the veins, an increased & erratic heartbeat, and violent twitches. It also means that he does not have as strong of a pain response and any sort of pain that gets a response is enjoyable to him--he likes feeling the pain because it's feeling something. In the main verse, it is something felt aside from the gnawing hunger that is near constant. Although, that weakened pain response does mean that he can overexert a body pretty easily, and has often been the reasoning for the stolen body to be killed and requiring Marik to find a new one--this has happened twice since his reawakening, both due to his recklessness. and arrogance

[iilahalzili]

Marik isn't one to go with combat outside of his other forms, but something beautiful yet terrifying to watch is how he fights with blades. Since the weapons used as Medjay are sealed in his tomb, in modern times he mostly uses throwing knives or knives in general to fight. Due to his size and strength, Marik has a preference for heavy attacks, but because the issues of getting such large weapons around Domino and other places, he sticks to quick strikes--of course, this is usually overridden by his other forms. He is very good at adapting his fighting styles to match what is needed for the fight. Think of him like a dps // tank mix. He applies bleeds to his targets and tanks the damage as his enemies slowly bleed out. Medjay's fight style was very graceful, precise attacks to either ensure a quick death or merely disarming an enemy. Marik in modern times, goes for strikes to prolong the pain, that removes the ability to flee successfully. Fighting Nightmare is ill advised, not only due to the 13'11 size, but also because it packs a punch. Teeth and claws are its main way of fighting, but the large taloned feet are often used to incapacitate it's victims--plus the tails can be used for sweeping or wrapping around enemies. It is nasty to fight but it is a bit slower than others due to its size. Never ever get caught by the talons, it will use it to smash its victim into the floor and to keep them held down to either crush the body beneath its weight or start biting.

[iilahalzili]

Marik is rather fond of scarabs--not only from them being a symbol of Ra, but also a symbol that was associated with the Son of Ra ( even seen on his belt as a trinket during his Medjay years ). His symbol was primarily a winged scarab with its front legs reaching towards a sun--originally colored with a sapphire blue body with purple, red and gold wings. The symbol still caries on to him as the God of Shadows, but it goes black and purple, the sun becoming an eclipsed purple one.

Ironically, scarabs were a symbol of rebirth and renewal, something that applies quite well to Marik's situation: he was reborn as the God of Shadows, what some could consider the shell left over. It is also one of the reasons why one of his favorite methods of torturing somebody is using the "brain scarabs", the same ones used against Kujaku Mai. He quite enjoys the irony that scarabs are used as a symbol of rebirth when he often uses it as a symbol of the end of a life.

[iilahalzili]

Surprisingly, Marik does not hold a lot of hatred towards Ishizu. Yes, he dislikes her, but he does not want her to suffer like he does with Rishido. He does see a lot of Priestess Isis in her, somebody who was not repulsed by his past in AE--that knew he wasn't some slave that got lucky.

He would still most likely kill her if given the chance, but it would not be an immediate reaction. Of course, Marik would get prickly considering she was adamant about him being banished. It does pull up the old memories of the "betrayal" of the Pharaoh and his priests to Medjay. Still, she is the most likely one out of the group to get a civil conversation.

As said before, it would take a lot for Marik to kill Malik due to just a bit of Medjay still in him and the desire to protect Malik. However, he would kill Rishido without thinking twice. He was the reason Marik was sealed away for years, what angered the shadow enough to desire Malik to be removed. Rishiso is one of Marik's first targets, even above Yugi and Jonouchi. A lot of his anger is towards Rishido, and what he views as the root of his failures in the plans.