Changes

Later on in the [[Dawn of the Duel]] arc, Marik redeems himself and fulfills his birthright as a Tombkeeper. Marik is often considered to be one of the foremost adversaries in the series.

[[File:Marik lineart.jpg|thumb|left|Marik linework.]]

Marik's usual outfit consists of a long purple cape with a gold chain at the front, the same outfit worn by the Rare Hunters, as well as a sleeveless black shirt and beige combats. He wears gold earrings, neckwear, armbands, and bracelets all up his wrists. His white-blonde hair is neatly arranged as Marik.

As a civilian, he still wears the gold earrings, neckwear, armbands, and bracelets all up to his wrists, a sleeveless purple shirt, black pants, and black shoes. While in [[Battle City]], he often wears a [[Duel Disk|KaibaCorp Duel Disk]] on his left arm.

As a child, Marik was an innocent boy who desired to see the outside world, despite his clan's laws forbidding him from doing so, and was willing to sneak out to fulfill his desire. He cared for his sister [[Ishizu Ishtar]] very much and also considered [[Odion Ishtar]] to be his brother, despite not being blood related.

While leading the [[Rare Hunters]] in his quest for world domination and freedom, Marik became cruel and uncaring, willing to brainwash people to do his bidding, force them to cheat, and use cruelty on his behalf, the victims included [[Keith Howard|Bandit Keith]] and [[Strings]]. He was not above using death to punish his subordinates for failure, such as [[Arkana]] and [[Lumis]], nor did he care about sacrificing Rare Hunters to test the fake "[[The Winged Dragon of Ra (original)|The Winged Dragon of Ra]]" cards which produced severe injuries and death. He even threatened his sister Ishizu with the [[Millennium Rod]] for getting in his way and ordered Odion to use the fake Ra card against his will. He still retained his love for his family, despite his mistreatment of them.

Marik's name is also commonly read as ''Malik'' by fans. Some fans believe that it was made fairly obvious that it was meant to be romanized as "Malik", given the meaning of the name "Malik", and given the fact that Malik is a fairly common Arabic name. Additionally, "Malik" can be defined in Arabic as "the controller," "king", or "one who rules", a well-fitting name given his excessive use of the Millennium Rod, mind slaves, and his portrayal as a dominating villain. Marik Ishtar is known as "Malik Ishtar" in Indonesia.