In the anime, "The Seal of Orichalcos" was used by the forces of Dartz in the Doma ("Waking the Dragons") story arc in an attempt to gather souls in order to resurrect The Great Leviathan.
According to Konami[1], the anime effect text of "The Seal of Orichalcos" also included the following effects, consistent with the released TCG/OCG text:
"Once per turn, this card cannot be destroyed by card effects." This is inconsistent with Gurimo's claim that the Seal was entirely indestructible by card effects, but it is impossible to verify, as in the anime, Yugi Muto only ever attempted to destroy the Seal once and never tried again. Konami states that Gurimo was lying about his claim.
"You cannot Special Summon monsters from the Extra Deck." This is not consistent with the anime, as RexFusion Summoned "Horned Saurus" while he controlled the Seal (however, no one else did).
"You can only activate "The Seal of Orichalcos" once per Duel." This was never said by anyone in the anime, but is consistent with its appearances and matches up with the fact that the loser of the Duel will be sealed within the card (requiring the winner to get a new copy if they wish to use it again).
In the anime, the card also was shown to have a number of non-gameplay effects:
The Seal would form a dome-shaped barrier (curiously, almost identical to the one depicted in "Field Barrier") around the field, preventing either Duelist from leaving or anyone else from entering, unless one possessed a fragment of the Orichalcos Stone, which could unlock the Seal. Breaking the Seal in this way would automatically end the Duel.
In addition, this barrier was shown to remove obstructions that would disrupt its path, as seen in episodes 150 and 166 where part of the Dueling arena and part of the KC plane vanished respectively, leaving Alister and Kaiba floating in mid-air.
The controller of the Seal and all of their monsters will bear the symbol of the Orichalcos on their forehead, controlling their mind and making them "dark" (evil). Their eyes will glow red, and darkness will be infused within the player's body causing them to be full of anger and hatred. Many Duelists were shown displaying blatant disregard for those they once respected, including their friends and families.
The loser of the Duel would lose their soul.
If a Duel resulted in a Draw, neither player's soul would be taken.
If this card's controller lost but was able to break the Seal's influence on their mind, such as by acting 'purer' by giving up their Life Points to save their monsters, their soul would be spared. It is unknown if there is any way for the controller's opponent to have their soul spared.
A list of players who have activated this card, in order of appearance:
In the first duel between Yami Yugi and Rafael, Rafael gave Yami "The Seal of Orichalcos" via "Exchange" and Yami was consumed by his inner darkness and therefore disrespected his monsters by selfishly sacrificing them with "Catapult Turtle" as Rafael said and therefore Yami was hated by his monsters. In that duel Yami would do anything to win which eventually cost him the duel. However Yami Yugi was able to conquer the darkness in his heart later on in the Stone Wastelands and this was enough for his monsters to forgive him.
In the second duel between Yami Yugi and Rafael, at first Rafael remembers the bond with his monsters, but after "Guardian Eatos" was destroyed, his darker side was released—in other words, his dark guardian was "Guardian Dreadscythe". (In the Japanese, Rafael said that "Eatos" was reborn into a new being.) Once "Dreadscythe" was out, Rafael sacrificed his monsters to power it up. Unlike Yami, Rafael wasn't intially affected by "The Seal", but after "Dreadscythe" was destroyed, Rafael saved his monsters with "Soul Charge" as an apology for ruthlessly Tributing them.
In Mai's second duel with Joey after she attacks with her "Cyber Harpie Lady" destroying "Flame Swordsman" she cannot bring herself to attack. However Joey starts to collapse and the Seal begins to shrink. Although Joey hadn't techinally lost the duel because Mai hadn't attacked ("'Cyber Harpie' attack him-" then she stopped therefore she hadn't declared her attack). According to Joey he was too exhausted to finish (therefore, losing the Duel by default despite the fact that neither duelists Life Points had hit 0) and the seal took his soul.
Rafael lost his soul because he had found out that Dartz was responsible for his, Valon's and Alister's losses in life. He said to Dartz "You ruined my life, you monster!!" After that "Guardian Eatos" comes to help Rafael. He attempts to stop Dartz by playing "The Seal of Orichalcos" but his dark mind was gone because he was freed from the Orichalcos influence in his last duel against Yami Yugi when Yami with the help of "Eatos" and Joey's "The Claw of Hermos" card destroyed "Guardian Dreadscythe" therefore destroying Rafael's dark mind and thus the Seal takes his soul by mistake.
In Rafael's fit of rage against Dartz he isn't actually shown placing the Seal in his duel disk but it is implied he did because the Orichalcos symbol appeared on his forehead. When "Eatos" attempts to help him she is also imbued with the seal's power and seems to be charging her sword with power. However when Rafael's soul is about to be taken it appears that "Eatos'" sword backfired against her because she was destroyed afterwards. It is unknown how Rafael's "Seal of Orichalcos" card could activate with Dartz's already in play.
In episode 145, Gurimo uses this card during his Duel against Yami Yugi. He activates this card on the second turn of the Duel. From that point onward, all of Gurimo's monsters gained 500 ATK. After finding out what happens when a person loses while this card is face-up. Yami Yugi tries to use his Millennium Puzzle to get rid of this card, but it fails as the "Orichalcos" was older than the Millennium Items. In the next episode, Yami Yugi tries to destroy this card with "Dust Tornado", but it doesn't work as this card can't be destroyed by cards effects. Yami Yugi wins the Duel, so the Seal takes Gurimo's soul. Before his soul is taken, Gurimo tosses "Obelisk the Tormentor" to Rafael.
During the above-mentioned Duel, Rafael reveals that he, Valon, and Alister had already taken Weevil and Rex's souls. Their captured souls were shown within the cards. After Yami defeats Gurimo, Rafael chose to give Rex and Weevil their souls back.
In episode 149, Alister uses this card during his Duel against Kaiba. Alister activates this card after he reveals himself to Kaiba (he was initially disguised as Pegasus and used the latter's Deck, but after Kaiba destroyed "Toon World" with a "A Wingbeat of Giant Dragon", Alister reveals himself). From that point onward, all of Alister's monsters gained 500 ATK. In the next episode, Kaiba nearly loses, but he got "The Fang of Critias" and was able to use it to destroy all of Alister's monsters. "Doom Virus Dragon" then attacks Alister directly, but Alister activates "Contagion of Madness" to end the Duel in a Draw. As a result, neither player lost his soul.
In episode 151, Yugi and his friends meet up with Mai in Industrial Illusions, she reveals she is now working for Doma. She reveals to the group that she took Pegasus' soul. His captured soul is then shown within the card. After revealing this, Mai challenges Joey to a Duel. Mai uses this card during her Duel against Joey Wheeler. The latter refuses to Duel Mai as he knows what will happen when someone loses a Duel involving this card. Regardless, Mai activates this card. From that point onward, all of Mai's monsters gained 500 ATK. In the next episode, Joey realizes that defending is useless, so he tries to fight back, but Mai barely takes any damage and easily counters most of his moves. In the following episode, Joey runs out of options, but he gains "The Claw of Hermos". In the next episode, Joey is able to use "The Claw of Hermos" turn the Duel around in his favor. Joey becomes determined to end the Duel in a Draw, so that this card takes no soul, however Mai fears that she is in danger of losing. Valon gets concerned about Mai, but Rafael assures him that they will get a soul regardless of the winner. When it becomes apparent Mai will lose, Valon uses an Orichalcos fragment to unlock the Seal, ending the Duel with no result.
In the first above-mentioned episode, this card appears in a flashback Mokuba Kaiba has when he remembers Alister claiming that Kaiba Corp. is responsible for what happened to his brother.
In the first above-mentioned episode, this card appears in a flashback explained by Mai. Mai uses this card during her Duel against Pegasus. Mai defeats Pegasus, so this card takes away his soul.
In the second above-mentioned episode, this card appears in a flashback Kaiba has when he remembers using "Crush Card Virus" with "The Fang of Critias" in his Duel against Alister.
In episode 155, this card appears in a flashback Mai has when she yells at Valon for interfering with her Duel with Joey when she was about to win(which in reality was going towards Joey's favor though he was trying to end the Duel in a Draw).
In episode 157, this card can be seen in Rafael's hand during his Duel against Yami Yugi. When Rafael activates "Exchange", both players swapped the only cards that were in their hands. To Yami's shock, the card he got was this card. Rafael claims he doesn't have to play it. Knowing how evil this card is, Yami Yugi tries to use his willpower to prevent himself from playing it, however this proves to be useless after "Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight" gets immobilized by "Crystal Seal" as Yami continues to take damage while Rafael barely loses any Life Points. When the pressure becomes too much, Yami Yugi plays this card. From that point onward, all of Yami Yugi's monsters gained 500 ATK. In the next episode, playing this card releases "Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight" from the effect of "Crystal Seal", but it also destroys "Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight" and replaces it with "Dark Magician Girl" as Timaeus had abandoned Yami Yugi for playing this card. This causes all of the darkness and rage inside Yami Yugi to consume him, causing him to lose control of his emotions and ruthlessly use his monsters for selfish gain. He doesn't see this until he sees his monsters are angry at him for his selfish actions (which was when they were about to be absorbed into "Celestial Sword - Eatos"). Yami begs his monsters for forgiveness, but it's too late as he is struck by the final blow, defeating him. Before this card takes his soul, Yugi pushes him out at the last second, letting the Seal take his soul instead
In episode 159, Rafael tells Dartz that he captured Yami Yugi's soul, but Dartz and Valon reveal that he captured Yugi's soul, not Yami Yugi's. A shocked Rafael protests he was dueling Yami, so his soul should have been taken when he lost. Dartz states that both Yugi and Yami Yugi inhabit the same body and that is why Rafael took the wrong soul. Rafael becomes furious and demands to Dartz another chance, but Dartz ignores this. Weevil and Rex then request to Dartz to let them join their group, Dartz hands them two blank copies of this card and two Orichalcos stones. Rex and Weevil reach out for the stones and barely pass the test, thereby obtaining a copy of this card for both of them.
This card also appears in a flashback Mokuba has when he asks Seto if he is going to face Alister again as he can understand Alister's feelings of sorrow, grief, and anger.
In episode 160, Rex uses this card during his Duel against Joey. He activates this card as his opening move. From that point onward, all of Rex's monsters gained 500 ATK. Later Weevil uses this card during his Duel against Yami Yugi. He activates this card as his opening move. From that point onward, all of Weevil's monsters gained 500 ATK. In the next episode, Rex initially had the upper hand, but Joey fought back. At the same time, Weevil easily counters most of Yami's strategies and even takes away a large amount of his Life Points. In the following episode, Joey defeated Rex with the help of "The Claw of Hermos". Because Rex lost, this card takes his soul away. At the same time, Yami tries to use "The Eye of Timaeus" to turn the Duel around, but it destroys itself since "Timaeus" has abandoned Yami for what he did in his previous Duel against Rafael. When Weevil creates a strategy that will assure him victory. Yami counters with another strategy that will allow him to win the Duel. Yami wins the Duel in the end, but relentlessly attacks Weevil even when the latter's Life Points had already hit 0. He stops only when Téa tells him he won. Because Weevil lost, this card takes his soul away.
In the first above-mentioned episode, this card appears in a flashback Yami Yugi has when he remembers using "Dark Magician Girl" for "Catapult Turtle's" effect.
In the first above-mentioned episode, this card appears in a flashback Yami Yugi has when he saw that his own monsters were angry at him for his selfish actions and when he lost his Duel with Rafael.
In the third above-mentioned episode, this card appears in a flashback Weevil has when he realizes that Yugi had been planning out his strategy from the very start of his current turn.
In episode 163, Yugi uses this card during his Duel against Yami Yugi. Yugi challenges Yami to a Duel to see if the darkness in his heart still stains him. Yugi plays this card on the fifth turn of the Duel. From that point onward, all of Yugi's monsters gained 500 ATK. Yugi gains the upper hand after playing this card. When Yugi tries to finish Yami off via "Catapult Turtle's" effect, Yami activates "Divine Wind" to deflect the damage back at Yugi and double the said damage, winning him the Duel. Because Yami won, he was able to conquer the darkness in his heart and regain control of his emotions.
This card appears in a dream that Yami Yugi has when he remembers losing against Rafael and Yugi letting "The Seal of Orichalcos" take his soul instead of Yami's.
This card also appears in a flashback that Yami Yugi has when he remembers the strategy he used against Rafael that was not only ruthless but also selfish.
In episode 164, an Orichalcos soldier uses this card during its Duel against Yami. It played this card as its opening move. From that point onward, the soldier's monsters gained 500 ATK. The soldier then summon "Orichalcos Gigas". Although Yugi destroys "Orichalcos Gigas" many times, it always came back even stronger. It soon turned into the soldier's favor until Ironheart, Chris, and Sky sacrifice themselves to give "The Eye of Timaeus" back to Yami Yugi. Yami Yugi then uses "The Eye of Timaeus" to destroy "Orichalcos Gigas" once and for all, winning him the Duel (Rafael who was watching the Duel was shocked Yami was able to play "The Eye of Timaeus" because of what Yami Yugi did in their previous Duel).
This card also appears in a flashback Yami Yugi has when he remembers Yugi pushing him out of the Seal at the last second in order to let the Seal take his soul instead of Yami's.
In episode 166, Alister uses this card during his Duel against Kaiba. He plays it on the fifth turn of the Duel. From that point onward, all of Alister's monsters gained 500 ATK. The activation of this card turned off the auto-pilot and forced Mokuba to steer the plane by himself. For a brief moment, Kaiba saw a bit of Alister's past. It ended when Kaiba yelled at Alister to come out and face him. In the next episode, Kaiba defeats Alister in the end and because of that, this card takes his soul.
In the first above-mentioned episode, this card appears in a flashback Mokuba has when he remembers Alister claiming to Kaiba that Gozaburo is the reason why Mikey is gone from his life forever.
In episode 169, this card appears in a flashback Joey has when he remembers Mai claiming that she was sick of her life so much that she decided to change it.
This card also appears within Valon's backstory when he explained the said backstory to Joey. After Valon is given a Deck of cards by the prison warden, he is forced to Duel against other prisoners to gain his freedom. In all the Duels he was in, he used this card. Since he won all those Duels, this card took away the souls of the prisoners.
In episode 170, Valon uses this card during his Duel against Joey. On the fourth turn of the Duel, Valon revives "Psychic Armor Head" via its own effect. Valon then activates this card. From that point onward, all of Valon's monsters gained 500 ATK. Joey and Valon fought each other to their limits. Valon was surprised Joey wasn't giving up, but Joey states that is because he won't give up until he rescues Mai. Two episodes later, Valon goes in for the final blow, but Joey activates the effect of "Big Bang Dragon Blow", Tributing "Red-Eyes B. Dragon" to destroy all of Valon's monsters and inflict their total ATK as damage to Valon. This wins Joey the Duel. Because Valon lost, this card takes his soul away. Later Mai uses this card during her Duel against Joey. Joey was willing to Duel her this time as he wanted to save her, but Mai only cared about beating him, so that she could move on with her life without him being a reminder. Mai plays this card on the fifth turn of the Duel. From that point onward, all of Mai's monsters gained 500 ATK. Joey battled Mai with all his heart to remind her that she is his friend. In the next episode, it soon leads down to Joey with his "Flame Swordsman" and Mai with two "Harpie Lady Sisters". One "Harpie Lady Sister" was able to destroy "Flame Swordsman" even when it had its ATK decreased by "Skull Dice". Mai then tries to use her remaining "Harpie Lady Sister" to attack Joey directly and win, but she finds herself unable to. She can't understand why she is hesitating as when she wins, Joey will lose his soul and she can move on. However Joey declares he can't continue as he is too exhausted to finish the Duel, so Mai wins by default. Because of that, this card takes Joey's soul away.
In the first above-mentioned episode, this card appears in two of Valon's flashbacks. In the first, Mai shows this card to Valon as proof that she is part of his team. In the second flashback, this card is shown after Mai captures Pegasus's soul. Pegasus' captured soul is shown within this card.
In the third above-mentioned episode, this card appears in a flashback Joey has when he notes to himself that his Duel with Valon really took out a lot of his strength.
In episode 174, this card appears in a flashback that is explained by Rafael. When Mai tries to go defeat Dartz, Rafael blocked her off and declared she's of no more use to Dartz. Mai Duels Rafael so she can get to Dartz, but she is defeated. Because of that, this card takes away her soul. As she falls, she apologizes to Joey for failing him. After she falls, "Claw of Hermos" is shown in her hand. Before the rematch between Rafael and Yami Yugi began. Rafael showed this card in front of Yami Yugi, saying that it opened his eyes to the truth. Yami Yugi claims he can't tempt him with that card again. Rafael states that was not his plan, but he lets Yami Yugi have one last look at it before both players shuffled each others' Decks. Later Rafael uses this card during his Duel against Yami Yugi. He plays this card on the seventh turn of the Duel, despite Yami's objections. From that point onward, all of Rafael's monsters gained 500 ATK. In the next episode, this card did not affect Rafael that much initially. However when "Guardian Eatos" is destroyed by "Amulet Dragon", this card fully corrupted him as he was devastated to see his beloved Guardian destroyed in front of his eyes. This brought out his dark side and "Guardian Dreadscythe". He then began acting similar to Yami Yugi when he got corrupted by this card (which was ruthlessly sacrificing his monsters for victory and his own gain). In the following episode, Yami decided he needed to get rid of "Dreadscythe" in order to bring out Rafael's light half. Yami Yugi them uses Rafael's "Monster Reborn" (which he added to his hand via "Spider Web") to revive "Guardian Eatos". Yami then creates "Goddess Bow" by merging "Claw of Hermos" with "Queen's Knight". He then equips "Goddess Bow" onto "Eatos", doubling her ATK. He then attacked "Dreadscythe", and because of "Goddess Bow", Yami was able to attack "Dreadscythe" with "Eatos" over and over whenever the former's effect prevents its destruction ("Goddess Bow" also prevented "Eatos" from being destroyed by all the attacks it used against "Dreadscythe" except the last attack, allowing Yami to create the cycle without fail until Dreadscythe was finally destroyed). After Rafael ran out of cards, both "Dreadscythe" and "Eatos" were destroyed and removed from play. Rafael finally understood what this card was doing to him and decided to end the Duel right now. He used "Underworld Circle" and "Soul Charge" to revive his other Guardians, but due to "Soul Charge" he takes 1500 damage (500 for every monster he brought back through "Soul Charge"), winning Yami Yugi the Duel. However Rafael did this purposely to free his Guardians. Because Rafael unlocked the good part inside him, the Seal did not take his soul.
In the first above-mentioned episode, this card appears in a flashback Rafael has when he remembers defeating Yami Yugi back at the desert, but taking Yugi's soul instead of Yami Yugi's due to the former pushing the latter out of the way at the last second.
In the second above-mentioned episode, this card appears in a flashback Yami Yugi has when he notes to Rafael his heart was crying when this card was destroyed and when he ruthlessly sacrificed his monsters.
In the third above-mentioned episode, this card appears in a flashback shown to Yami Yugi and Rafael via "Underworld Circle". After the younger Rafael took the Chaos Duel Disk out of the hole he created, he draws this card out of the Deck inside the Duel Disk and plays it. This makes Rafael one of Dartz's loyal servants. This also caused "Eatos" to be enveloped in flames and dragged down into the hole created by Rafael. "Guardian Dreadscythe" then rose out of the ground in Eatos' place and Dartz declared to Rafael that "Dreadscythe" will be his new guardian.
In episode 177, Dartz uses this card during his Duel against Yami Yugi and Kaiba. He plays this card on the third turn of the Duel. From that point onward, all of Dartz's monsters gained 500 ATK. In the next episode, Dartz sends this card to the Graveyard to activate "Orichalcos Deuteros".
In episode 179, Rafael found out that Dartz was the one responsible for the tidal wave that caused the ship he was on as a child to be sunk down. Rafael angered, uses his remaining strength, the power of this card and "Guardian Eatos" equipped with "Celestial Sword - Eatos" to use this card against Dartz. Rafael's attempt backfired on him, however, causing "Eatos" to disappear. This card then took away Rafael's soul since he gave into the darkness inside him and remained in that state when his soul was about to be taken.
In episode 181, this card appears in a flashback Yami Yugi has when he remembers Yugi allowing his soul to be taken by the Orichalcos to save Yami Yugi from having his soul be taken.
In episode 183, this card appears in a flashback that Valon has while trapped within the Great Leviathan when he remembers Dueling against Joey and being pushed to his limits by Joey's fighting spirit as well as Joey's finishing move to the Duel.
In episode 184, this card appears within the following flashbacks that the following characters have.
Yami Yugi - When he remembers playing this card against Yugi's better judgment.
Alister - When he remembers telling Kaiba that his company killed his brother and when he remembers Kaiba declaring that he will save his own brother from the plane crash before dealing the final blow.
Valon - When he remembers himself being surprised that Joey was able to push him to his limits and when he remembers Joey dealing the final blow.
Mai - When she remembers Joey having his soul taken away by this card.