The egyptian god cards

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The Egyptian God cards, known in Japan as the Three Phantom Gods (三幻神, Sangenshin?), are a series of cards in ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh! Yu-Gi-Oh!]'' that serve as a focal point in the series' manga, the second series anime, and video games based on the anime and manga. Introduced as the strongest of all Duel Monsters, the cards have heavy ties to the truthful history of Ancient Egypt within the series and become central plot devices. The cards inspire events in various spin-offs of the series as well and have inspired the creation of other cards directly based on them. The real versions of the cards have become widely hunted collector's items, and are not legally playable in any sort of official tournament. However, legal versions of Obelisk and Ra have been released. The cards consist of Obelisk the Tormentor (オベリスクの巨神兵, Oberisuku no Kyoshinhei?, Giant God Warrior of the Obelisk in the original Japanese anime), Slifer the Sky Dragon (オシリスの天空竜, Oshirisu no Tenkūryū?, Heaven's Dragon of Osiris in the original Japanese anime) and Winged Dragon of Ra (ラーの翼神竜, Rā no Yokushinryū?).

Yu-Gi-Oh! history

The Egyptian Gods are one-of-a-kind all-powerful cards created by Maximillion Pegasus (Pegasus J. Crawford in the Japanese version).[1] Pegasus modeled the cards after three Ancient Egyptian beasts whose likenesses appear on the stone tablet said to hold the memories of the nameless Pharaoh. The wielder of the cards is able to acquire great power, but in the wrong hands they are capable of causing injury or even death. The cards are first mentioned by Grandpa Motou during the first part of the series, however the English Adaption doesn't mention it.

The cards are used in the series as the key to unlocking the memory of the nameless Pharaoh.[2] As such, Marik Ishtar, the main antagonist of the Battle City arc, seeks possession of the cards in addition to the Millennium Puzzle in an attempt to take possession of the Pharaoh's long lost power. He manages to acquire the Winged Dragon of Ra and Slifer the Sky Dragon, but his sister Ishizu manages to safeguard the final card.[3]

Ishizu gives the final card - Obelisk the Tormentor - to Seto Kaiba, whom she believes is destined to help the Pharaoh defeat Marik by using the power of her Millennium Necklace (another of the Seven Millennium Items). Kaiba, eager to show off his new power at a tournament he is planning to throw, but he says no to the powerful card. He later accepts the card, as Ishizu had hoped, which lures Marik and his Rare Hunters there with the promise of acquiring the final card and taking down the Pharaoh. Marik (dueling through the mind of a mime through the power of the Millennium Rod) loses Slifer the Sky Dragon to the Pharaoh in a duel.[4]

After Yugi defeats Kaiba in the Battle City Finals and claims Obelisk from him. Then with everyone's soul on the line the Pharaoh faces Marik for the championship. Marik is again up to his dirty tricks and Pharaoh now has to worry about losing Yugi's soul to the Shadow Realm (In the original Japanese version, Yugi would die if Yami lost). He uses Obelisk and Slifer in a final battle with Marik, winning and claiming the final God card, the Winged Dragon of Ra.[5]

Afterwards, the God cards are stolen in Season 4 by Dartz and his henchmen as part of a plan to revive a beast from 10 thousand years ago, the Great Leviathan, to destroy the world,[6] and are not retrieved until the end of the season when the Pharaoh turns everyone's hearts into a light strong enough to summon the Egyptian Gods. He uses them to battle against The Great Leviathan. With everyone's hearts full of light and fueling the Egyptian Gods the Pharaoh wins the battle. Then The Great Leviathan revives himself and tries to destroy the Pharaoh, but with the light that's in his own heart he seals it away forever and the world is safe.

The cards are used in Season 5 to send the Pharaoh into a world made up of his own sealed memories, allowing him to experience memories that he had in the past and defeat the opponent he defeated in the past, the God of Darkness, Zorc. During the battle, the Pharaoh learns his true name,(with the help of Yugi, Tea, Joey, and Tristan) Atem (which is the secret key to unlocking the Pharaoh's memory), and merges the Gods together into their ultimate form, The Creator of Light - Horakhty.[7] He uses the God cards in his final duel against Yugi, and they are sent to the afterlife with him at the end of the original Yu-Gi-Oh!

The God cards appear in the movie [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_The_Movie:_Pyramid_of_Light Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light] which occurs after Battle Town, but before Dartz can get a hold of them, where the film villain Anubis uses the titular item, much like the Millennium Puzzle in an attempt to destroy the God cards and revive the power of Dark using Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon. However, the film is not considered canon to the anime or manga. The God cards are featured prominently in the video games ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_The_Sacred_Cards Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards] and [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_Reshef_of_Destruction Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction]'', both of which are alternate universe games based on the second season of the anime.

The Slifer the Sky Dragon and Winged Dragon of Ra cards re-appear in ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_GX Yu-Gi-Oh! GX]''. The former is used by Yugi in the final duel against Jaden Yuki, which occurs after Jaden is transported to the past, at a time before the cards were destroyed. The latter card is seen only as a copy which is stolen by a developer for Industrial Illusions, which Jaden wins back by defeating the thief in a duel. He then gives it to Pegasus. Pegasus then leaves and Jaden is left with the memory of actually seeing an Egyptian God, the most powerful one, with his very own eyes.

Anime God cards
The God Cards are unaffected by all spell cards, trap cards, and the effects of monsters that do not designate them as a target, however when they are targeted the effect will only last for one turn,(for example when Spell binding circle was used on Slifer.) and they are immune to control, remove, and destroy effects. If the God cards are in hand, deck or graveyard, spells, traps and monster effects work as normal. This is seen in the show season episode 94 Ishizu vs. Kaiba. This episode proves that "Blast held by Tribute" is capable of effecting a God Card, however it is unclear whether it would "Destroy" a God Card. The God cards are only capable of being summoned by offering three of the player's own monsters as sacrifices. When summoned from the graveyard (usually with the Magic card Monster Reborn), the God card remains on the field for only one turn. The God cards also have an unofficial effect that states only someone with strong ties to Ancient Egypt, like Yugi Mutou, or a connection to a Millennium Item, like Seto Kaiba, can wield them. Anyone else is punished with death or near-fatal injury, but this is only seen happening on limited occasions.

Obelisk the Tormentor
Obelisk the TormentorObelisk the Tormentor or The god of obelisk(In japanese) is the first of the cards to appear in the anime. Obelisk is the only one of the three God cards Marik could not acquire, and his sister Ishizu gives the card to Seto Kaiba in the hopes he will use the card in his upcoming tournament and lure Marik out of hiding to claim it during the preliminaries, but loses to Yugi Moto in the semi-finals and thus hands the card to him. Yugi goes on to use Obelisk as a decoy to bring out his best cards against Marik in the tournament finals to free Marik's good side and make the dark side the sacrifice.

Obelisk makes sporadic appearances after the Battle City arc. It is used by Gurimo in season four of the anime, and takes part in the battle against the Leviathan. It is used to battle Bakura's Diabound in the final season; it defeats Diabound in the manga, while it is a draw in the anime against the power of the Blue-Eyes White Dragon that Diabound had absorbed. In the manga, it is the only God card that Atem uses in his duel with Yugi (in the anime, he uses all three Gods, although in the final moments of the duel, Atem attempts to summon Slifer back from the graveyard and fails).

Obelisk's attack and defense scores are 4000. Its effect allows a player to offer two monsters as sacrifices in order to destroy all the monsters on the foe's field and inflict 4000 direct damage to the player's opponent. When used by Seto Kaiba, Obelisk was used multiple times to achieve a victory in a single turn by this effect, as in the anime and manga, a duelist only has four thousand life points at the start of the game. It is also shown that Obelisk is able to achieve infinite attack points for a single turn if two monsters are sacrificed as a tribute. Although, the manga states that this effect will not damage Ra due to its status as being of a higher rank than its two fellow God Cards. The anime instead has Marik play the Magic card Class System to avoid destruction. In ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_The_Movie:_Pyramid_of_Light Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light]'' Yugi sacrificed Ra and Slifer to use this effect twice, once in a simulation against Kaiba's Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and later to defeat Anubis and his Thenien the Great Sphinx (the latter of which was shown as the gods "combining for infinite strength" by using "Titan Firestorm Attack"; Ra and Slifer are still visible, presumably for dramatic effect).[8]

Slifer the Sky Dragon
Slifer the Sky DragonSlifer the Sky Dragon or The Saint Dragon,God of Osiris(In japanese) is the second God card revealed. It was one of the two God cards owned by Marik, who gives it to one of his mind slaves in an attempt to defeat Yugi. Yugi defeats the slave, however, and claims Slifer as his prize. Although reluctant to use due to its vast power, Yugi places it in his deck during the finals of the tournament due to the threat told and shown by Kaiba and Marik's own God cards, winning a duel against Bakura's dark side with it.

Slifer makes sporadic appearances after the Battle City arc. It is used in season four of the anime to battle the Leviathan. Also, in the final season, it battles Bakura's Diabound. However, Bakura is able to weaken and destroy it by having a brainwashed priest attack the stone tablet housing Slifer's spirit. During Atem's final duel with Yugi, Slifer is Atem's final summoned monster before the duel ends. Yugi, however, stops Slifer with the Sarcophagus, as its effect allows it to nullify an opponent's card when the same card is played.

Slifer's attack and defense scores are equal to the number of cards in its owner's hand times 1000.[9] Whenever the opponent summons a monster when Slifer is on the field, Slifer's 'second mouth' can lower the Summoned monster's attack or defense by 2000; if the score (decided by whichever position the monster is summoned in) consequently becomes zero, the monster is instantly destroyed. This English dub adaptation of the card has the name "Slifer the Sky Dragon", which comes from Roger Slifer, the Executive Producer of 4Kids Entertainment. The original name of the card in Japan is "Osiris", which is also the name of the Egyptian God of Death and Rebirth.

Winged Dragon of Ra
The Winged Dragon of RaThe Winged Dragon of Ra or The Sun of God dragon(In japanese) is the final and the so called strongest of the God cards. It is the key card of Marik Ishtar during the Battle City arc of the series, and is described as being so powerful even the two other God Cards at once cannot defeat it. To contain this power, an extra level of protection exists on the card; besides the above mentioned qualification of strong ties to Ancient Egypt or connection to a Millennium Item, a special text on the card referred to as the "Hieratic Text" (古代神官文字, ヒエラティックテキスト) prevents anyone who does not recite this text from using it. The text is described in the series as a secret code known only to the highest ranking members of the Pharaoh's court.[10] yami Marik's versison of the chant is: "Great beast of the sky, Please hear my cry, / Transform thyself from orb of light, and bring me victory in this fight, / Envelop the deserts with your glow, and cast your rage upon my foe, / Unlock your powers from deep within, so together we may win.Appear in this shadow game as i call your name:Winged Dragon of Ra"! Atem's version of the chant is: "Almighty protector of the sun and sky / I beg of thee, please heed my cry, / Transform thyself from orb of light, and bring me victory in this fight, / I beseech thee, grace our humble game, / But first I shall call out thy name, Winged Dragon of Ra!". In the Japanese version, on the other hand, the chant is read aloud in a strange tongue inaudible by ringing the characters and audience.

In the quarter-finals of Battle City, Marik has his servant and adopted brother Odion use a counterfeit copy of the card to impersonate him. However, when Odion cannot control the card and loses to Joey Wheeler, he reveals who Marik truly is. Odion then loses consciousness and Marik becomes consumed by his evil alter-personality.[11] Marik uses the card in his duels with Mai Kujaku (Mai Valentine in the English version) and Katsuya Jonouchi (Joey Wheeler in the English version) during the finals as well as against Ryo Bakura in an unofficial duel, exploiting Ra's various powers during the duels to easily claim victory. During his duel with Yugi, Marik's evil side merges with the Winged Dragon of Ra using one of its powers, and Yugi takes the chance to destroy Marik's evil side by destroying Ra and him together. Afterwards, a reformed Marik surrenders and hands the card to Yugi.

The Winged Dragon of Ra makes sporadic appearances after the Battle City arc. It is used in season four of the anime to battle the Leviathan, and in the final season it battles Bakura's Diabound. Unlike Slifer and Obelisk, it is able to destroy Diabound, but Bakura reverses time to prevent Ra's summoning and avoid defeat. In the anime, it also takes part in the final battle between Atem and Yugi, although Atem does not use the full extent of its power in the battle. It is not used in Atem's final duel against Yugi in the manga.

When summoned by sacrificing three monsters, Ra's attack and defense points become the combined attack and defense points of the sacrificed monsters.[10] Ra also has several additional powers; its owner can sacrifice a number of life points to increase Ra's attack and defense points by the same amount and by offering monsters on the player's side of the field to increase Ra's ATK and DEF points,[12] The Winged Dragon of Ra's final effect is to turn into a Phoenix by paying 1000 life points. This "Phoenix" mode gave Ra immunity to destruction and the ability to instantly destroy one monster on the opponent's side of the field. Unless the owner keeps paying the additional 1000 during each of his/her following turns, 'Phoenix mode' only lasts until the end of the turn it is activated in.[13] However, the exact manner in which any of these powers activates varies from duel to duel in the series. Because Ra's card text is written in the unreadable Hieratic Text, its true effects cannot be determined because they are in ancient Egyptian.

It is worth noting, however, that when the Pharaoh summons Ra by offering his Queen's Knight, Jack's Knight, and King's Knight, Marik states that he can "increase the attack points of Ra to almost 15,000" if he activates the dragon's special ability, which clearly refers to its Point-to-point transfer and monster tribute ability. Atem does not use this extent of Ra's powers nor its Phoenix Mode ability (with the exception of Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light, and even then it's actually part of the effect of Obelisk the Tormentor; its effect does not happen but it still turns into a Phoenix, presumably for dramatic effect).

Trading Card Game God cards
The first version of the God Cards was released by Ubisoft as a privilege for those who made a pre-order of the Japanese Game Boy Color game Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters 4: Battle of Great Duelist released on December 7, 2000. The second set was released by Konami on April 17, 2003 as special pack-in cards in the Game Boy Advance game Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters International — Worldwide Edition, the Japanese version of the English-language [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_Worldwide_Edition:_Stairway_to_the_Destined_Duel Yu-Gi-Oh! Worldwide Edition: Stairway to the Destined Duel].

Unlike previous versions, the third version of the God Cards was not released simultaneously. The Winged Dragon of Ra was included as a limited edition card in the Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Dawn of Destiny game for Xbox, released March 23, 2004. Slifer the Sky Dragon was released as a special pack-in card for the ani-manga of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yu-Gi-Oh!_The_Movie:_The_Pyramid_of_Light Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: The Pyramid of Light], published November 23, 2004 by VIZ Media. Obelisk the Tormentor, finally, was released as a free gift to subscribers of United States Shonen Jump in May 2005.

More Recently, Obelisk was released in December 2009 in the January 2010 edition of Shonen Jump signed by Kazuki Takahashi in America. This card is an effect monster card and is allowed in official tournaments. The Winged Dragon of Ra was the next card to be re-released as a tournament-legal card in Japan. Slifer is not known to be released as tournament-legal.

Obtaining the God Cards once demanded high prices on the secondary market. This was prior to their current widespread availability. During this time, countless counterfeit copies were made and distributed throughout multiple countries, causing widespread warning articles on the internet and in card price guides on how to avoid paying for counterfeits and ensuring authenticity.