Maximillion Pegasus

Were it not for a twist of fate, Pegasus may have lived the normal life of the elite. But first he fell in love with a beautiful young lady named Cecelia [Cyndia]: a woman who inspired him to art, among other things. She was the sun around which whis whole universe spun. But then, just after they had married, Cecelia was struck down by a sudden illness. Totally distraught, his world a shambles, Pegasus began to find a way... ANY way... to bring the love of his life back.

His travels took him to Egypt, where a mysterious young boy named Shadi sensed his troubles. Pegasus, despite the warnings, followed Shadi... only to learn that he had been expected. An artifact was forcefully thrust upon him: the Millennium Eye, one of the seven Millennium Items that seal the dark powers. He survived the ordeal... and caught a glimpse of his beloved Cecelia one more time. This meant he was destined for the Eye, so he was sent on his way.

Back home, Pegasus began to delve deeper into the mysteries surrounding his and the other artifacts. He realizes that he would need other Millennium Items to revive Cecelia in the flesh, but to do that, he needed a means of drawing them out. The ancient shadow games had used cards that represented various creatures and spells, so Pegasus sets about creating the dueling field. Through his company, Industrial Illusions, he recreated those ancient cards and released them to the unsuspecting public in the guise of a new trading card game: Duel Monsters.

But his resources alone were not enough for his plan. He needed the assets from one other company: the Kaiba Corporation. He knew he couldn't swing a merger offer with Seto Kaiba himself: he was too ruthless a businessman. So he decides to work with the Big 5, Kaiba's vice presidents, to acquire the company.

But then, Yugi manages to beat Kaiba in a duel, and Pegasus senses for the first time another Millennium Item: Yugi's Millennium Puzzle. He uses his own powers to draw Yugi's soul into the Shadow Realm. Caught off guard, Pegasus defeats Yugi in a duel and then dares him to take the dueling gauntlet and two Starchips offered and come to his Duelist Kingdom tournament. To ensure his attendance, he demonstrates the dark power of his Millennium Eye: stealing the soul of Yugi's grandfather, Sugoroku.

Now the stage was set. With the soul of Yugi's grandfather and Seto Kaiba's precious brother Mokuba hostage, both Yugi and Kaiba are drawn to the Duelist Kingdom. It would be Kaiba that Pegasus would face first, and using both the mind-reading power of the Millennium Eye and his perverted Dueling Deck (a Deck containing seemingly harmless creatures but also laced with the infamous power of Toon World and its twisted beings), he defeats Kaiba, sealing his soul and bringing him one step away from success.

Yugi, however, proved to be his undoing. The second time around, Yugi had a better handle of the Millennium Puzzle, so he could counter the mind-reading power of the Eye by switching between himself and Yami Yugi, the Puzzle protecting the inactive mind from search. He undoes Pegasus' Toon World strategy, forcing Pegasus to take the duel into the Shadow Realm again, where his Illusion monsters could come into play. With his friends' spirit backing him up, he continues the duel even in the Shadow Realm, and together with Yami Yugi is finally able to defeat Pegasus and force him to undo all his work.

But the last straw would not come from Yugi but from Yami Bakura. Weakened as he was from the Shadow Game and his loss to Yugi, the last thing he was expecting was an encounter with the Millennium Ring and the wicked shadow soul trapped within it. Overpowered, his Millennium Eye is thus stolen.