The Emperor's Key (皇の鍵, Ō no Kagi), sometimes shortened to the Key in both versions and also called the Golden Key in the dub, is a pendant that originated from the Astral World in the Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL series.

It is able to initiate Shadow Games and corresponding Penalty Games that Dark Yugi used to punish those who harmed Yugi or his friends. In the Memory World arc, Atem couldn't summon the Egyptian Gods without the immense power of the puzzle. It can cast illusions, and (in the anime) can manipulate the minds and souls of others, such as when Yami Bakura put Bakura's soul inside of " Change of Heart" but Yami Yugi changed it to Yami Bakura's soul in the card. It can even interfere with the magic of other Millennium Items, and at its full power it can repel the dark Seal of Orichalcos.

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After the RPG ended, Yugi returned to the real world and once again had the Puzzle, which was laid to rest, before the Ceremonial Battle. After the battle the Puzzle, along with the other items, was buried underground in pieces. In the first series anime, Shadi entered Yugi's mind room belonging to Dark Yugi, looking for the secret powers of the Millennium Puzzle. Dark Yugi confronted him and challenged him to a game, where he was to find the true mind room amongst the countless mazes of doors that were riddled with traps. Shadi was seemingly unable to alter the room with his Millennium Key. He failed, and was very nearly killed by a particular trap which caused the floor of the room to collapse (in the manga, he stated that if he fell, he'd be trapped in Yugi's soul forever). Dark Yugi saved him and Shadi left, defeated. A similar event happens in the second series anime during the Duelist Kingdom arc, but it is Yugi who rescues Shadi, not Yami Yugi. Yami Yugi also explains to Shadi that the Millennium Puzzle holds the power of unity, just as the many pieces of the Millennium Puzzle assembled and united. After Aknamkanon became aware how the Items were created, he fell ill and died shortly afterward. The Pendant was inherited by his son Pharaoh Atem.

The Pendant also has the ability to create Fusion Monsters such as " Rune-Eyes Pendulum Dragon" [2] and " Beast-Eyes Pendulum Dragon" [3], Xyz/Pendulum Monsters such as " Odd-Eyes Rebellion Dragon" [4] and " Odd-Eyes Raging Dragon" [5], Synchro Monsters such as " Enlightenment Paladin" [6], and Synchro/Pendulum Monsters such as " Nirvana High Paladin". [7] Reaction to Dimensional Counterparts [ ] The puzzle is extremely complex and difficult to solve, having taken Yugi at least eight years to successfully assemble it. In addition, in the manga, when Mr. Otogi tried to rebuild it after he shattered it, he ended up almost trapped in an illusion of the puzzle's maze, indicating that only a wise, chosen one can build it, as Ryuji Otogi could also not fit the pieces in. Seto Kaiba relied on the KaibaCorp space station’s advanced supercomputer and zero gravity chamber to reassemble the pieces. It could also be that the puzzle has some will of its own, as Yugi was unable to solve it until the night he played his first Shadow Game; up to this point he hadn't needed the power the puzzle could grant.

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Originally, it was said that the Millennium Puzzle had been discovered by a team of British archaeologists in the Valley of the Kings at the beginning of the 20th century. Each of them suffered mysterious deaths, with the last one uttering "The Shadow Games" in his dying breath. [5] [6] This plot detail was later changed. In Reshef of Destruction, the ritual to revive Reshef the Dark Being scatters the Millennium Items, including the Puzzle, across the globe. Yugi is frantic to find it and save his other self. It's eventually revealed that Bandit Keith came into possession of the Puzzle; he uses it and the other Items in a ritual to attempt to awaken Ra. When this attempt fails, the Puzzle is taken from him and Yami Yugi reemerges, frying Keith with lightning from Ra.