Blue-Eyes White Dragon is one of the most iconic Yu-Gi-Oh! cards of all time, serving as Kaiba’s ace monster. However, the card actually has a surprisingly dark origin that recontextualizes Kaiba’s obsession with it. The origin also ties into the history of the Duel Monsters card game as a whole and Kaiba’s past life as an advisor to the Pharaoh.
The original Duel Monsters game was played in Ancient Egypt, where players would call forth the souls of real monsters to fight. These monsters were often manifestations of the souls of humans, sealed away in stone tablets until they were used in battle. Many of the modern-day characters in Yu-Gi-Oh! have ancient Egyptian counterparts that engaged in these games, and Kaiba is no exception. His ancient version Seto was initially an ally to the Pharaoh version of Yugi, but eventually revolted against him after the tragic events that led him to acquire the stone tablet of Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
Blue-Eyes White Dragon Gave Her Life For Seto in Yu-Gi-Oh!'s Past
The Blue-Eyes White Dragon was originally the Ka of the girl Kisara, who Ancient Egypt Seto had saved from slavery as a child. Later in life, Seto would meet Kisara again and save her from being stoned for her unusual appearance. After finding out about Kisara’s powerful Ka, Seto’s father demanded that he extract her spirit and use it to take over Egypt. Seto had fallen in love with Kisara and thus he refused. Enraged, his father attempted to kill Seto, but Kisara saved him by sacrificing her life. After this tragedy, Seto extracted Kisara’s Ka into the White Dragon tablet and used her power in battle against both the Pharaoh and the evil spirit Zorc.
While the modern-day Kaiba was unaware of this story, his past life still unknowingly influenced him into becoming obsessed with the card. Although he may not have intended it, he has touchingly preserved Kisara’s memory better than his original counterpart. The Blue-Eyes White Dragon card is very rare, with only three copies in existence after Kaiba destroyed the copy belonging to Yugi’s Grandpa. Instead of letting this card fade into obscurity, Kaiba has plastered its image across his company’s products, even owning a private jet in the shape of a Blue-Eyes White Dragon. Some may view this as cheapening Kisara’s memory, but by doing this Kaiba has enshrined her Ka as one of the most iconic cards in the franchise.
Many other iconic Yu-Gi-Oh! cards have their roots in Ancient Egypt as well, with the Dark Magician being the Ka of one of the Pharaoh’s closest allies, Mahad. Later series would pay homage to Yu-Gi-Oh!'s iconic monsters while also giving their most iconic cards fascinating origins as well. But Kisara’s sacrifice and its impact on Seto easily makes the Blue-Eyes White Dragon’s origin the most tragic and darkest of these backstories in Yu-Gi-Oh!.
