Thiefshipping

Thiefshipping is the slash ship between Yami Bakura and Marik Ishtar from the Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom.

Manga
During the Battle City tournament, Yami Bakura, who inhabits the body of Ryo Bakura, senses his Millennium Ring reacting to another Millennium Item, which is Marik's Millennium Rod. Yami Bakura locates Marik, demanding that he hand over the Millennium Rod and threatening to kill him if he does not comply. When Marik notices that Yami Bakura also holds a Millennium Item, he leads him to a pier, where he asks Yami Bakura why he is collecting the Millennium Items. Yami Bakura explains that he is doing so for power since inserting the seven Millennium Items in the Tablet of the Pharaoh's Memories opens the Door of Darkness and evil power is granted to the one who opened it. Marik is surprised that Yami Bakura knows about the tablet but informs him that more than just the Millennium Items are needed to open the Door of Darkness. Marik then claims that he is not interested in the Millennium Items and only wants to kill Yugi Mutou, the vessel of the pharaoh Atem, whom Marik believes is responsible for his father's death. He says that if Yami Bakura helps him, he will gladly give him the Millennium Rod once everything is over and threatens to kill him if he refuses. Believing Marik to hold the key to the Door of Darkness, Yami Bakura agrees to side with him and explains that the easiest way to hurt Yugi is to go through his friends. He informs Marik that his host, Ryo, is one of Yugi's friends and that they can use him to help Marik win their trust. Yami Bakura proceeds to stab himself in the arm and gives control back to Ryo, who falls unconscious. Marik then brings Ryo to Yugi's friends and claims that he found Ryo lying in the street and treated him as best as he could, gaining their trust.

Before Yami Bakura's duel with Atem, Marik mentally communicates with Yami Bakura through the Millennium Rod and informs him that if things do not go well, he can take control of Ryo to defeat Atem but Yami Bakura orders him to stay out of the duel. During the duel, Yami Bakura traps Atem with his occult combo and Marik is satisfied to see that Yami Bakura does have a strategy. However, when Atem claims that he will destroy Yami Bakura's combo on his next turn, Yami Bakura starts to worry and Marik mentally communicates with him, complimenting his strategy but pointing out its weakness. Marik tries to offer Yami Bakura another solution but the latter tells him that his advice is no longer needed. Atem then summons "Slifer the Sky Dragon", one of the Three Legendary God cards, and plans to use it to defeat Yami Bakura. Before Atem can attack, Marik has Yami Bakura return control to Ryo, who is consumed by the pain of the stab wound and may die if Atem attacks him with "Slifer the Sky Dragon". As Marik intended, Atem is unwilling to attack Ryo. However, since his host's life is at stake, Yami Bakura is unhappy with Marik's plan and takes back control of Ryo's body. Yami Bakura urges Atem to attack him, insisting that he will not let Ryo die since he still needs him. Atem complies and wins the duel.

After Marik is consumed by his malevolent spilt personality Yami Marik, a portion of his consciousness still resides in Ryo's body from when he possessed him, which enables Marik to communicate with Yami Bakura. Marik learns that Atem is not responsible for his father's death and that Yami Marik is the one who killed his father. Marik then teams up with Yami Bakura to stop Yami Marik in exchange for the Millennium Rod and the secret of the carvings on Marik's back. Yami Bakura and Yami Marik agree to duel each other in a Shadow Game, where the loser's body and soul will be consumed by the darkness. Before the duel, Yami Bakura reminds Marik of their agreement and states that he will burn Marik's body to ashes if he wins, a condition which Marik has no problem with. However, Yami Bakura loses when Yami Marik summons his God card, "The Sun Dragon Ra", and uses the God's abilities on him. As Yami Bakura's body and the portion of Marik's consciousness are consumed by the darkness, Yami Bakura vows that he will revive, claiming to have originally come from the darkness. Following the duel, Yami Marik takes the Millennium Ring.

During the final duel between Yami Marik and Atem, Marik is able to overpower Yami Marik with the help of his adoptive brother Rishid. He then apologizes to Atem for his crimes and surrenders, destroying Yami Marik. Yami Bakura is later revived and resides in the Millennium Ring, which Marik gives to Atem, along with the Millennium Rod. While Marik returns to Egypt with Rishid and his sister Ishizu to start a new life, an unsuspecting Ryo retrieves the Millennium Ring, allowing Yami Bakura to return.

Fanon
Thiefshipping is one of the most popular pairings in the Yu-Gi-Oh! fandom, mainly due to their dynamic as antagonists who wanted to kill each other when they first met until they decided to work together, planning to selfishly use each other, but ended up sharing an unexpected bond with occasional banter. Fics often explore this aspect of their relationship and how it becomes romantic while sticking closely to their canon personalities, having them bicker constantly and commit crimes together. They are often depicted as having a codependent relationship, with some fics delving into their past trauma and having them find comfort in each other.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

ART

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