Yu-Gi-Oh Card Game: D / Characters

Characters from the Yu-Gi-Oh! card game, sorted alphabetically from D.

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D.D.

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2397.jpg

D.D. (short for Different Dimension) is a series of DARK, LIGHT and EARTH monsters whose playstyle largely focuses on banishing cards, including themselves when defeated, and Special Summoning their own banished allies.

Death-Activated Superpower: Most of their members require themselves to be destroyed and/or sent to the Graveyard in order for their effects to work.
Face of a Thug: Despite their horrific appearances, the Different Dimension natives are actually quite friendly toward humans.
The Homeward Journey: The Different Dimension Gate allows anyone who passes through it to leave the Different Dimension and return home to their world, with the catch being that the other end of the gate is in midair as portrayed in Return From The Different Dimension.
No-Sell: Different Dimension Dragon cannot be destroyed by Spells or Traps that don’t target it or by battle with monsters that have less than 1900 ATK.
Stone Wall: D.D. Trainer has 2000 DEF, but only 100 ATK.
Taking You with Me: Their playstyle largely involves banishing the monsters that destroy them from the field.
Trapped in Another World: D.D. Trainer is a goblin who was dragged into the Different Dimension by D.D. Crazy Beast and now tries to make the most of his new life there.

D/D / D/D/D / Dark Contract

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dddduodawnkingkaliyuga_madu_en_vg_artwork.png

History come to life...to bring you to death.

D/D (DD in the OCG) is an archetype of Fiend-Type monsters used by Reiji Akaba in Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V. They focus on swarming the field and searching cards in order to facilitate the summoning of their "boss" monsters, the D/D/D (DDD in the OCG), all of them being either Fusion, Synchro, Xyz or Pendulum Monsters. They also make use of the Dark Contract cards, Spell and Trap Cards with powerful effects that cause their controller to lose life points as long as they are on the field.

Absurdly Sharp Claws: D/D/D Dragonbane King Beowulf attacks with his claws.
Anti-Magic: The D/D archetype has access to multiple cards able to deal with Spell/Trap cards, be it their opponent's or their own.
- D/D/D Duo-Dawn King Kali Yuga can destroy all Spell and Trap Cards on the field during either player's turn.
- D/D/D Dragonbane King Beowulf can destroy all Spell and Trap Cards in each player's Spell & Trap Zones during your Standby Phase.
- D/D/D Cursed King Siegfried can negate 1 face-up Spell/Trap Card's effects until the next Standby Phase. His effect can be activated during either player's turn.
Armor-Piercing Attack: Beowulf's Continuous Effect allows every D/D monster you control to inflict Piercing Damage. Zero Maxwell and Zero Laplace can also deal piercing damage on their own and both have effects, reducing the DEF of a monster to 0 for Maxwell and having its ATK become double the original ATK of the monster it battles for Laplace, which let them increase the amount of damage they can do with said ability.
Badass Cape: Abyss Ragnarok, Caesar Ragnarok, Alexander, Gilgamesh, Kaiser and Leonidas wear those.
Battle Aura: Most of the D/D/D monsters are covered by auras.
BFS: Wielded by Genghis, Alexander, Caesar, Kaiser, Siegfried and Leonidas.
Call-Back: The artworks of the Dark Contracts feature older cards.
Cast from Hit Points: The Dark Contracts as well as some of the D/D monsters have an effect that damage their controller while they are on the field.
Combat Medic: Oracle King d'Arc has 2800 ATK and instead of taking effect damage, you gain Life Points instead.
Cool Chair: Abyss Ragnarok and Kali Yuga sit on thrones◊, and they even attack while sitting on their thrones. The anime features Caesar Ragnarok sitting on a throne when he is summoned, but it breaks when the summon is complete.
- Doubles as Visual Pun for Abyss Ragnarok, whose Punny Name in Japanese evokes the corporate title of chairman.
Corrupt Corporate Executive: Between them being Fiend-Types, their support cards being called Dark Contracts, and the corporate-based puns in their original names, the entire archetype comes off as one big "evil corporation" joke.
Dark Is Not Evil: Despite the archetype being very sinister, they are this trope, thanks to their user in the anime, Supporting Leader Reiji.
Deal with the Devil: The Dark Contract cards seem to invoke this trope.
Did You Just Scam Cthulhu?: The archetype contains a few ways to get around effect damage, including the damage that Dark Contract cards inflict on the controller. In essence, this enables the controller to reap the benefits of a Deal with the Devil without having to pay the associated cost. Some of their cards also do this by removing the Dark Contracts from the field, allowing you to avoid paying the LP cost since the cards are no longer in play. As Declan puts it in the dubbed anime, "A contract is only as good as the card it's written on."
Dub Name Change: From DD to D/D, and DDD to D/D/D. In the dub, instead of saying "DD" or "DDD", they say "Double D" and "Triple D".
- Temujin —> Genghis.
- Hell Armageddon —> Armageddon.
- Zero God Reiji —> Zero King Rage.
Evil Laugh: Some of them have a menacing laugh in the anime, most notably Kali Yuga.
Evil Overlord: The D/D/D monsters are all this, but rather than evil, they are sinister at worst.
Fashionable Asymmetry: Under Kali Yuga's left eye, there is a lightning mark on his mask. And his right leg is not covered by his black cloth.
Fun with Acronyms: D/D(/D) stands for Different Dimension (Demon). However, this doesn't apply to the actual card game.
Fusion Dance: Genghis, d'Arc, Beowulf, High King Genghis, Purple Armageddon and Caesar Ragnarok are all Fusion Monsters, but only the latter is a literal fusion of Wave King Caesar and Oblivion King Abyss Ragnarok, as evidenced by the name.
Hell Hound: D/D Cerberus and D/D Orthros, if their names aren't obvious enough.
High Collar of Doom: D/D/D Duo-Dawn King Kali Yuga has one.
Horned Humanoid: Abyss Ragnarok and his evolutions: Caesar Ragnarok and Kali Yuga.
Knightly Sword and Shield: The knightly armored Flame King Genghis and Rebel King Leonidas are equipped with sword and shield. Their choice in weaponry is fitting as both are respected leaders for their kingdoms.
Mechanical Monster: Hell Armageddon, its evolutions and Chaos Apocalypse look mechanical. The D/D Savants count as well.
Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Flame High King Genghis is this, gaining an additional pair of arms over his base form and wielding a pair of swords, in addition to the sword and shield his previous form already had.
Mythology Gag:
- Dragonbane King Beowulf may be a mockery of the franchise's trend to give rival characters Dragon-Type ace cards with 3000 ATK, which was broken by Reiji Akaba. Beowulf is called a "Dragonbane King" but is not a Dragon-Type monster (and does not even look like one), has 3000 ATK but is not Reiji's ace monster, and is named after someone who mutually killed a dragon (and was killed by one).
- In the anime, Wave High King Caesar had an effect that negated the activation of an effect that would Special Summon a monster, and then raised its ATK by the ATK of the monster that would have been Summoned. Another effect allowed it to grant this ATK boost to a "D/D" monster on the controller's field. The OCG card combines both of these effects into a single effect that negated the activation of an effect that would Special Summon a monster, and then raised the ATK of both Caesar and another D/D monster on the controller's field by 1800. That amount may sound arbitrary, but it is a reference to how the effect was used in the anime, where Reiji negated Z-ARC's attempt to Special Summon Supreme King Dragon Darkwurm, which had 1800 ATK.
- Purple, Bright and Dark Armageddon are based on the final villains from previous eras. Purple Armageddon's appearance is inspired by Duel Monster's Zorc Necrophades and GX's Darkness. Bright Armageddon is a reference to Z-One from 5D's, and Dark Armageddon is a reference to Don Thousand from ZEXAL and has Darkness's name in his own in the OCG.
Necromancer: Genghis, Alexander, Abyss Ragnarok and D/D Night Howling can all revive D/D monsters.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: A sizable chunk of D/D/D monsters are named after the end of the world (Oblivion King Abyss Ragnarok, Chaos King Apocalypse, etc). Taken to the extreme (or parodied) with D/D/D Super Doom King Dark Armageddon.
- Reaches Overly Long Name with "D/D/D/D Super-Dimensional Sovereign Emperor Zero Paradox", which had the longest English name in the game at the time of its printing.
Next Tier Power-Up: Abyss Ragnarok has two evolutions so far: Caesar Ragnarok (a Fusion Dance with Caesar) and Kali Yuga. Genghis, Alexander, and Caesar receive this in the form of the High King monsters. Armageddon has three: Purple, Bright and Dark. None of these monsters require their original forms to summon them, though.
Non-Indicative Name: D/D/D Supreme King Kaiser is a member of the Supreme King archetype, but since Supreme Kings are divided into two sub-archetypes (Supreme King Dragon and Supreme King Gate), Kaiser doesn't get support from either of them nor does he support the archetype at all.
One-Steve Limit: The archetype's name is similar to the D.D. series of cards. This is even referenced on the artwork of D/D Recruits, which shows four D.D. monsters.
Our Dragons Are Different: D/D/D Dragon King Pendragon might look like a dragon, but it's a Fiend-Type monster.
Overly Long Name: The most prominent example was D/D/D (Different Dimension Demon) Wave Oblivion King Caesar Ragnarok until Different Dimension Demon Superdoom King Purplish [Hell] Armageddon, Different Dimension Demon Superdoom King Whitest [Hell] Armageddon and Different Dimension Demon Superdoom King Darkness [Hell] Armageddon made their appearance.
Power Nullifier: D/D/D Duo-Dawn King Kali Yuga; when he is Xyz Summoned, the effects of every other card on the field are negated until the End Phase, and neither cards nor effects can be activated on the field for the rest of the turn.
Power Trio: Genghis, Alexander, and Caesar, as shown in the anime. In the real life card game, it's still completely possible to summon all three of them in one turn due to the effects of the former two.
Punny Name: In Japanese, many D/D/D monsters' "King" titles are puns on corporate positions. For example, [Hell] Armageddon's title of "Doom King" or 死偉王 (Shi'iō) is a pun on CEO.
Scarf of Asskicking: Cursed King Siegfried wears a long red scarf that looks similar to Reiji's. Zero King Rage naturally also sports one, being based on Reiji himself.
Shadow Archetype: The D/D/D archetype is the Fiend-Type counterpart to the Odd-Eyes archetype, both of their anime users being rivals. Both archetypes are focused on different Special Summon mechanics and have several boss monsters.
- Dragon King Pendragon is the counterpart to Odd-Eyes Saber Dragon, both of them being a reference to King Arthur and both of them being featured in the 2015 Starter Deck.
- [Hell] Armageddon becomes this to Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon at the end of the era, as it receives Fusion/Synchro/Xyz-Pendulum hybrids as its upgrades, just like Odd-Eyes Pendulum Dragon.
She Is the King: D/D/D Oracle King d'Arc, despite being female.
Smurfette Principle: d'Arc is the only female D/D/D monster so far.
Theme Naming: Aside from the name inspirations, the D/D/D monsters have all the title "King" in their names.
- Named After Somebody Famous: The D/D/D monsters are named after famous conquerors, rulers, and other military figures, such as Alexander the Great, Genghis Khan, and Joan of Arc. The D/D Savants are named after historical scientists, as are two of the D/D/D monsters Reiji used in the manga.
- Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: Most of the D/D monsters, on the other hand, derive their names from mythological and religious figures like Lilith or Cerberus, while some D/D/D monsters are named after end-of-the-world events (such as Apocalypse, Ragnarok, and Armageddon).
Too Many Belts: D/D/D Oblivion King Abyss Ragnarok has many of them and uses them as Combat Tentacles.
Walking Armory: D/D/D Abyss King Gilgamesh has multiple weapons on him.
Winged Humanoid: Oracle King d'Arc has devil wings.

Danger!

Pick a card. Any card.

Danger! is an archetype of DARK monsters based on various cryptids from around the world. Their monsters all share a common effect: by revealing it from your hand, you can make your opponent pick a random card in your hand to discard. If you didn't discard the one you revealed, it gets summoned from your hand and you can draw a new card. Of course, they all also have effects that activate when discarded, so ideally you win either way.

Bigfoot, Sasquatch, and Yeti: Bigfoot! was one of the first cards of the archetype to be revealed, furthermore, a 2021 reprint debuted a new art where a Yeti version of the monster was depicted. In terms of raw attack power, it is the most powerful card in the set.
Chupacabra: Chupacabra! is depicted as a green demon with a Lamprey Mouth for a tongue.
Cool Versus Awesome: "Danger! Zone" shows Bigfoot! fighting Nessie!
Fearsome Critters of American Folklore: Jackalope, a jackrabbit with antelope antlers. Much like in the legends, it's an elusive and shy animal that is being hunted in its card artwork.
Funny Background Event: Most every piece of card artwork features groups of khaki-clad human explorers. More often than not they are in peril due to a Danger! monster (they do better against the Danger? monsters).
Morton's Fork: The archetype's gimmick is this in a nutshell. If your opponent doesn't make you discard the monster you revealed, then you'll get to summon it while, on the other hand, if they do pick the right card, this will only cause the discarded monster's effect to activate.
The Mothman: Mothman! makes an appearance, and is depicted as a Winged Humanoid with glowing eyes much like its most popular interpretation.
Our Cryptids Are More Mysterious: The archetype's theme. All the monsters are based on creatures whose existence is based entirely on anecdotal evidence and local folklore.
Our Werewolves Are Different: Dogman! is based on the Michigan Dogman, a humanoid wolf whose sight is usually regarded as a bad omen. Unlike traditional werewolves, the dogman is incapable of shapeshifting and is more commonly considered just a dangerous animal.
Painting the Medium: Two Danger! monsters (Jackalope? and Tsuchinoko?) feature an additional question mark after the archetype name string, turning the standard exclamation mark into an interrobang, as if the one making the exclamation was confused by what they are seeing. To drive the point further, the monsters' names are not punctuated with an exclamation mark, but a question mark instead. Sure enough, those monsters are not the large and threatening beasts that comprise the rest of the archetype, but Ridiculously Cute Critters instead.
Punctuated! For! Emphasis!: The archetype's name string ends with an exclamation mark, and most of its cards do this with their names as well.
Sinister Silhouettes: Not much can be seen in Mothman!'s artwork, only its glowing eyes and the part of its body where the flashlight is shining on.
Stock Ness Monster: Nessie! is based on the Trope Namer itself, while Ogopogo! is a reference to the Canadian monster thought to inhabit Okanagan Lake. In terms of appearance they are differed up with Nessie! appearing a plesiosaur-like dragon whereas Ogopogo! looks more like a type of catfish-like sea serprent.
Youkai: Tsuchinoko, a snake whose central girth is wider than its head and tail. Ironically, while in the legends it's a nimble, intelligent and highly venomous reptile, in the card artwork it's an adorable and harmless little snake.

Darklords

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thefirstdarklord_madu_en_vg_artwork.png

Better to reign in hell, than serve in the Sanctuary.

The Darklords, known as Fallen Angel (堕天使 Datenshi) in the OCG, are an archetype of DARK Fairy-Type monsters representing fallen angels. They are almost universally high-level and thus hard to summon, but have generally high power and potent effects. Later members of the group have effects that lets discard themselves and/or other Darklords card as well as the ability to copy the effect of their Spell and Trap Cards in the Graveyard. They are used by Midori Hibiki in the GX manga.

Anti-Regeneration: Nurse Reficule's effect causes any effect that would make the opponent gain LP instead inflict the same amount of damage to them.
Arc Welding: "Condemned Darklord" is the final transformation of the "Forbidden" maiden as the result of her misuse of the Forbidden items.
Armor-Piercing Attack: Edeh Arae's gains this effect if he is Special Summoned from the Graveyard.
Ascended Demon: Nasten is featured on the artwork of Darklord Contact standing at an altar, and then in the artwork of The Sanctified Darklord kneeling before a figure resembling the man in the Solemn cards (implied to be God) inside a church-like building. This suggests that Nasten was trying to contact God in the former card's artwork and and is seeking redemption from him in the artwork of the latter card.
Bilingual Bonus: Superbia's name is the latin word for "pride". While this emotion is commonly viewed as a sin, it can also be interpreted as the positive feeling of fulfillment one has towards their own beliefs, as a result of being praised by those whom they are attached to. This ties in with Superbia's effect, as it Special Summons a fellow Fairy monster from the GY, symbolizing him recruiting a friend to the Darklords' cause.
Bowdlerise:
- The archetype is known as "Fallen Angel" in the OCG. The TCG initially translated this as "Fallen One", and later "Darklord", which became the name of the series, and later archetype as a whole.
- Given that the OCG name of "Fallen Angel Lucifer" would be likely deemed inappropriate for a card marketed to western children, the TCG changed his name to "Darklord Morningstar", which makes sense, as "Lucifer" was the Latin name for Venus as the morning star in the ancient Roman era. Likewise, his Fusion counterpart was changed from "Lucifer, Fallen Angel of the Morning Star" to simply "The First Darklord".
- A more obscure example with Darklord Ixchel, who was "Fallen Angel Ixtab" in the OCG. While it's not exactly common knowledge to children in general, Ixtab was the Mayan goddess of suicide by hanging, and for obvious reasons the name was changed to reference Ixchel, a goddess of midwifery and medicine instead.
Came Back Strong: Superbia and Edeh Arae gain their effects when they are Special Summoned from the Graveyard.
Cast from Hit Points: The later Darklords can pay 1000 LP to activate the effect of a Darklord Spell/Trap from the Graveyard and then shuffle that card into the deck.
Dark Is Not Evil: The Darklords are fallen angels planning a rebellion against God, yet they are the signature cards of Midori Hibiki, the Big Good of the GX manga. They also have a Foil dynamic with the Archlord cards.
Early-Installment Weirdness: Marie, the first member of the archetype, is a Fiend-Type monster rather than Fairy-Type like the others. Possibly justified in that she was released much earlier than any subsequent members, and it would be several years before Darklord became a series with consistent traits across its members, let alone an archetype.
Evil Costume Switch: Darklord Zerato being an evil version of Archlord Zerato can be inferred by the artwork on Darklord Zerato; what appears to be the ruins of The Sanctuary in the Sky appears in the background of this card. It is possible that he may have been responsible for the destruction of the sanctuary.
Fallen Angel: It's all in the name.
Fusion Dance:
- Darklord Marie is the fallen version of St. Joan. Her fusion with The Forgiving Maiden is symbolic; her sins are forgiven and she becomes a saint. Later, she becomes Guardian Angel Joan. Reflecting that she was accused of witchcraft and when she was proven right, she became a Saint.
- Darklord Morningstar can fuse with two other DARK Fairies (which will most likely be Darklords) to become The First Darklord, being of the Power Booster type. To enforce its usage as fusion material, The First Darklord gains a nuke effect if summoned with Morningstar.
Hellish Horse: Amdusc is a Winged Unicorn. He is based on Amdusias, a demon that is usually depicted as a Humanoid Abomination with claws and a horse's face.
Holy Halo: Defied. Several of the newer members feature a halo above their heads, symbolizing their former holy nature, which was curiously not edited out in their TCG releases. However, rather than the traditional iteration of this trope, the Darklords' halos are red-colored and feature spikes radiating outwards from them, highlighting their "fallen" status.
Irony: All the Darklord monsters are implied to be Archlords who fell from grace and revolted against the others. However, Archlord Kristya has spectacular synergy with the archetype, as it can be easily Summoned via Superbia (either by Special Summoning Kristya from the Graveyard with its effect or by Tributing Superbia and the monster it Special Summoned for a Tribute Summon) and can recycle Ixchel from the Graveyard. However, Capricious Darklord and Indulged Darklord, which were formerly angels in Solemn Scolding, does show that they recruit other angels to fall with them.
The Leader: An article by Konami names Morningstar as this to the other Darklords.
Literal Split Personality: Asmodeus's effect. When destroyed, it Special Summons to two Token Monsters called Asmo and Deus.
Meaningful Rename: The first two members of the archetype were named "Marie the Fallen One" and "Nurse Reficule the Fallen One" when they were released in the TCG, and thus, their names did not include the archetype's name string. This was understandable, given that their introduction long predated "Darklord" becoming a series with consistent traits across its members, and it would be several more years after that before the group even became an archetype. This only became an issue in gameplay once the Destiny Soldiers pack introduced the first archetype support, necessitating that the TCG rename the cards to "Darklord Marie" and "Darklord Nurse Reficule". Averted for the French translations, as they consistently translated "Darklord" as "Ange Déchue" for all the members from the start, including Marie and Reficule, thus a rename was not necessary.
The Medic: Among her other effects, Condemned Darklord can heal her controller by 500 LP for each Fairy they control during the End Phase.
Person of Mass Destruction: Zerato's effect destroys all of the opponent's monsters, as well as himself at the end of the turn.
Power Copying: The Darklords introduced in Destiny Soldiers, except Morningstar, all have a common effect where at the cost of 1000 LP, the controller can apply the effect of a Darklord Spell or Trap Card in their Graveyard as the monster's own effect (effectively copying it), and then return that card to their Deck.
Religious and Mythological Theme Naming: They are named after various mythological demons, fallen angels, deities, or spirits. Quite fitting for a group of Fallen Angels.
Reviving Enemy: Superbia's effect Special Summons a Fairy-Type monster from the Graveyard.
Satan: One of them is literally Lucifer.
Sdrawkcab Alias: "Reficule" is a romanization of "Lucifer" written backwards, with an extra e. Lucifer is a name for the morningstar and the fallen angel. In later times, his name became another alias for the Devil.

Dark Magician

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/blackmagician.png

The ultimate wizard in terms of attack and defense.

One of the most iconic monsters of the franchise, Dark Magician, called Black Magician in the OCG, is Yugi's signature monster. He and his related cards are DARK Spellcasters that heavily rely on powerful support cards to make up for their mediocre or non-existent effects. He has numerous retrains, including the Magician of Black Chaos/Dark Magician of Chaos and Ebon Illusion Magician. Originally, he was Palladium Oracle Mahad

, one of Atem's six High Priests and the original wielder of the Millennium Ring.

The Dark Magician archetype is supported indirectly by the Magician Girl archetype, a group of six young witches led by Dark Magician Girl.

For information on their role in the anime, see Yu-Gi-Oh! Anime And Manga Cards.

Adaptation Dye-Job: Duel Monsters changed Dark Magician's blue/green skin color into a normal looking one, his hair went from blonde to dark purple, his dark purple/dark blue attire became bright purple, and his wand became green (also green in his LOB artwork). Takahashi changed the color of his hair and attire to white and black respectively for his anniversary design. The DSOD design is based on the anniversary one.
Alternate Self:
- The Apprentice Illusion Magician is a counterpart to the Dark Magician Girl. With her dark skin and pale hair she serves as a nod both to Mana (especially Mana's light-haired manga self) and to the Dark Magician's Evil Twin, who has similar skin and hair tones.
- Palladium Oracle Mahad and Palladium Oracle Mana are the Dark Magician's and Dark Magician Girl's original selves as LIGHT Spellcasters. (In franchise lore, Mahad and Mana were an ancient Egyptian priest and his student whose reincarnations are the Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl).
Amazing Technicolor Population: Dark Magician has blue or green skin on almost every artwork other than the iconic anime artwork from Duel Monsters and the one used by Pandora. This reflects his nature of being a supernatural being who sacrificed his mortal life to become the Pharaoh's eternal servant. Black Chaos also continues this trope.
Anti-Magic: Dark Magic Attack destroys every Trap and Spell card the opponent controls, but can only be played when Dark Magician is on the field. This card is based on Dark Magician's Signature Move in the anime.
Badass Adorable: Dark Magician Girl is this for the entire archetype, being very cute as a button while slightly weaker than her master the Dark Magician. Don't let her cute looks fool you, she's more than capable of pulling her own weight in a duel, especially if she's paired up with Dark Magician (who she can either fuse with to form The Dark Magicans or gain 300 Attack if he's in the graveyard), she even has her own archtype that's partially separate from the Dark Magician in the form of the Magician Girls which are based on food.
Back from the Dead:
- If Palladium Oracle Mahad or Mana are destroyed by battle or card effect, a Dark Magician or Dark Magician Girl respectively can be summoned from the Hand, Deck, or Graveyard, a direct reflection of the ancient Egyptian Mahad and Mana being reborn as those monsters in the story.
- If The Dark Magicians is destroyed by battle or card effect, both a Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl can be summoned from the Hand, Deck and/or Graveyard. Esentially "splitting" The Dark Magicians back into Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl.
- If Dark Magician the Knight of Dragon Magic is destroyed by battle or card effect, both a Dark Magician and Gaia the Dragon Champion can be summoned from the Hand, (Extra) Deck and/or Graveyard.
Combination Attack: The Spell Card "Dark Burning Magic" destroys all cards on the opponent's side of the field if you have both Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl. It combines the effects and requirements of "Dark Magic Attack" (Destroys all your opponent's spells and traps if you control Dark Magician) and "Dark Burning Attack" (Destroys all your opponent's face-up monsters if you control Dark Magician Girl) into one spell.
Dark Is Not Evil: Much like several of Yugi's other prominent monsters, they are of the DARK attribute, but are consistently portrayed as heroic.
Dragon Knight: Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon is a Fusion Dance between Dark Magician and Red-Eyes Black Dragon, with Red-Eyes becoming his armor. He's also a Magic Knight, wielding a sword but keeping his Spellcaster type and magical abilities judging from the card's artwork.
Dragon Rider:
- Dark Magician can fuse with any dragon-type monster to become "Amulet Dragon" or "Dark Magician the Dragon Knight". Both cards' artwork depict him riding the Eye of Timaeus, hinting that this is the card supposed to bring them out. Dark Magician the Knight of Dragon Magic depicts Dark Magician riding a Curse of Dragon styled dragon similar to Gaia the Dragon Champion.
- Dark Magician Girl can also fuse with Timaeus to become a Dragon Knight.
Dub Name Change:
- Black Magician —> Dark Magician.
- Black Magician Girl —> Dark Magician Girl.
The Dividual: "The Dark Magicians" are the Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl teaming up and sharing a Fusion Monster card, rather than a singular monster.
Evil Twin: The alternate art version of Dark Magician's card, which resembles the sinister-looking crimson-robed version used by Pandora/Arcana in the anime, is most often perceived this way.
Foil: To the Blue-Eyes White Dragon.
- In the old days, the Blue-Eyes was a mighty 3000 Attack beatstick that would outclass the Dark Magician in a straight fight, but the Dark Magician had the support to make up the difference.
- Modern Blue-Eyes decks generally consist of monsters that can get the Blue-Eyes and its variants onto the field, at which point their high ATK and cards that let them attack multiple times devastate the opponent's monsters through battle. Dark Magician decks rely on Spell and Trap cards to get the Dark Magician and his variants into play, and then protect him while using other support cards to destroy/banish the opponent's cards through their effects.
- Blue-Eyes has Level 1 Tuners it can combine with to Synchro Summon stronger versions of itself; Dark Magician has the Dark Magician Girl that he can combine with to use stronger support Spell and Trap Cards and he has Xyz versions of himself.
Fountain of Expies:
- Internal to the franchise, the Dark Magician's level-7, 2500 attack statline becomes the baseline for every protagonist's Ace Monster after it ^note, such as Elemental HERO Neos, and Stardust Dragon, slightly weaker than the rival's blue-eyes-like 3000 point beatstick, but still coming out on top through card effects anyway.
- The Dark Magician and his spiral-wrapped robes also set the fashion standard for a host of Spellcaster monsters.
Fusion Dance: The Dark Magician has numerous fusions with other famous monsters used by Yugi or even Joey Wheeler.
- Aged by the Time Wizard and thus given a thousand years to study magic, the Dark Magician becomes a Dark Sage.
- Dark Magician + Buster Blader = Dark Paladin.
- The Eye of Timaeus can turn the Dark Magician into the Amulet Dragon or Dark Magician the Dragon Knight and the Dark Magician Girl into Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight^note.
- Dark Magician + Gaia the Fierce Knight^note = Dark Cavalry.
- Dark Magician or Dark Magician Girl + Spellcaster-Type Monster = The Dark Magicians.
- Dark Magician + Flame Swordsman = Dark Flare Knight.
- Dark Magician + Red-Eyes Black Dragon or a Dragon-Type Effect Monster = Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon.
- Dark Magician + Black Luster Soldier^note = Master of Chaos
- Dark Magician + Gaia the Dragon Champion^note = Dark Magician the Knight of Dragon Magic
The Juggernaut: Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon has 3000 points and can't be destroyed or targeted by card effects, with it's main effect going off as soon it hits the field (destroying any monsters on the opponent's field which is tied to the number of normal monsters that are used for the Fusion summon and dealing direct damage via said monster's Attack points). If a player does find a way around these immunities, it still can negate the activation of a card or effect per turn, which destroys the card in question and gives it an extra 1000 attack points.
Luck-Based Mission: Dark Sage is one of the very few cards in the game that quite literally requires pure luck to summon, requiring you to Tribute Dark Magician after calling Time Wizard's coin toss correctly.
Magic Knight:
- Dark Magician Knight must be Special Summoned with Knight's Title and cannot be Special Summoned by other ways. When this card is Special Summoned: Target 1 card on the field; destroy that target.
- Dark Paladin is a fusion of a Spellcaster (Dark Magician) & Warrior (Buster Blader). For bonus points, Dark Paladin also has his very own BFS.
- Dark Flare Knight is also an example for the same reasons, but this time as a fusion of the Dark Magician and Flame Swordsman.
- Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight is Dark Magician Girl in plate armor riding the Legendary Dragon Timaeus.
- Dark Cavalry is a fusion of Dark Magician and a Warrior monster (Gaia the Fierce Knight).
- Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon is Dark Magician in dragoon armor resembling Red-Eyes Black Dragon and wielding a sword.
- Master of Chaos is Dark Magician in a Black Luster Soldier themed suit of armor, wielding a similarly styled sword and shield.
- Dark Magician the Knight of Dragon Magic is visually Dark Magician fused with Gaia the Dragon Champion.
Merlin and Nimue: The Dark Magician and his Lovely Assistant the Dark Magician Girl, both as spellcasters and as their Ancient Egyptian selves Mahad and Mana.
- While the DMG is clearly younger than main man, both are of a Vague Age so it's hard to tell by how much. While the Dark Magician Girl's main effect is to get stronger for each Dark Magician in either graveyard, the effect is consistently portrayed in the series as her avenging the fallen rather than exploiting him.
- Another link between the two is the Spell Card "The Sage's Stone" which allows the player to summon Dark Magician if he controls Dark Magician Girl. (There's also an anime-only card that does the exact opposite.)
- This link is also referenced with Dark Magician of Illusions's alternate way of Xyz Summoning with Magi Magi ☆ Magician Gal.
- The two even get a Fusion Monster form known as The Dark Magicians.
Mythology Gag: The artwork for Dark Magic Attack is based on the final scene of the battle between the Thief King Bakura and Mahad shortly after he fuses his soul with his spirit Ka (Vol. 31 in Japanese, Millennium World Vol. 2 in the U.S.).
No-Sell: Eternal Soul makes all Dark Magicians you control unaffected by card effects (albeit at the cost of giving him a nasty Achilles' Heel, as removing Eternal Soul itself will also destroy all of your monsters) and Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon cannot be targeted or destroyed by card effects.
Older and Wiser: Dark Sage is the aged version of Dark Magician; due to the magic of Time Wizard, he is now over 1000 years old and has unmatched knowledge of magic.
The Rival: The Dark Magician archetype has an understated rivalry with the Blue-Eyes White Dragon archetype, inherited from Yami Yugi's rivalry with Seto Kaiba in the series. Notably, the Dark Magician has yet to have a fusion or team up card with the Blue-Eyes despite their longstanding preeminence in the franchise; the Blue-Eyes has so far only teamed up with the Black Luster Soldier. Later cards have brought their rivalry into the spotlight, usually by supporting both Blue-Eyes White Dragon and Dark Magician specifically while not thematically being associated with either.
Sliding Scale of Gameplay and Story Integration: Dark Magician's flavor text states that he's "the ultimate wizard in terms of offense and defense". It initially appears to be Gameplay and Story Segregation, due his stats being just 2500 ATK and 2100 DEF, making him weaker than other Spellcaster-Types like Cosmo Queen (2950 ATK/2450 DEF) or Skull Knight (2650 ATK/2250 DEF) who debuted around the time as Dark Magician did. However, as the years went by, the lore text may actually not refer to his ATK and DEF, but to his high amount of Spell and Trap Cards he has access to. Many of his support cards give Dark Magician high offensive power and defensive power, even if they may or may not alter his stats.
Status Buff:
- Dark Magician Girl gains 300 ATK for each Dark Magician and Magician of Black Chaos in either player's Graveyard.
- Apprentice Illusion Magician can be send from the field or hand to the Graveyard to increase the ATK and DEF of your battling DARK Spellcaster-Type monster by 2000.
- Dark Paladin gains 500 ATK for each Dragon-Type monster on the field and in either player's Graveyard.
- Dark Cavalry gains 100 ATK for each Spell and Trap card on the field and in either player's Graveyard.
- Red-Eyes Dark Dragoon gains 1000 ATK each time it negates a card or effect activation.
Status Effects: Apple's first effect as well as Lemon and Choco's second effects all halve the ATK of the attacking monster, making it easier for the monster they summoned to survive the attack.
Stronger with Age: The Dark Sage is a Dark Magician who has spent a thousand years studying the mystic arts and has grown empowered from that knowledge.
Student–Master Team: Dark Magician and Dark Magician Girl are designed to work together. This is even reflected by their Xyz counterparts — Ebon Illusion Magician needs 2 Level 7 to summon, or you can use a Rank 6 Spellcaster-type Xyz, and it so happens Magi Magi ☆ Magician Gal is such a card.
There Can Be Only One: The Rush Duel version of Dark Magician is a Legend card, and thus, players can only include one copy in their Decks, and if they do, cannot run any other Legend cards.
Unskilled, but Strong: Compared to her mentor, Dark Magician Girl is fittingly this. While a weaker, level 6 monster, her damage has the potential to surpass a Dark Magician's without the need for Spells or Traps thanks to her Effect that increases her ATK points for every Dark Magician or Magician of Black Chaos in the Graveyard^note, and her Dark Burning Attack support card allows her to destroy all Face-Up monsters on the Opponent's side of the field so long as she's in play, which potentially allow her to attack the opponent directly. However, aside from ones she shares with Dark Magician, the aforementioned Dark Burning Attack is her only Support Card, making her more easily susceptible to Trap and Spells when on her own.
Weak, but Skilled: Only a select few of them are very powerful in battle, while the others are either mediocre or weak (even in the early days, Dark Magician's 2500 ATK could easily be matched by cards like Summoned Skull, and he had no effects to make up for it). However, many of them have quite useful effects to balance their weakness and their presence alone is often enough for combos, especially with Dark Magician having one of the widest and most diverse libraries of dedicated Spell and Trap support in the game.
Wizard Classic: The Dark Sage is an older Dark Magician with a full gray beard and more flowing robes to better invoke the wise old spellcaster.
Yin-Yang Bomb: Dedication Through Light and Darkness suggests that in order to become the Dark Magician of Chaos, the Dark Magician must first learn to use LIGHT magic in addition to his regular DARK magic, effectively giving him the power of Chaos.

Dark Master – Zorc

Dark Master – Zorc is a Level 8 DARK Fiend-Type Ritual Monster based off the titular character used by Yami Bakura in his "Monster World" game in the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series. His effect revolves around rolling a six-sided die to destroy one or all of your opponent's monsters, or your own, depending on the outcome.

Glass Cannon: Zorc has 2700 ATK, but only 1500 DEF.
Herd-Hitting Attack: Rolling a 3, 4, or 5 allows you to destroy all of your opponent's monsters, or your own if you roll a 6.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Zorc's effect can target you instead of your opponent if you roll a 6, leaving you in a potentially tight spot.
Luck-Based Mission: Zorc's effect is basically a die version of Time Wizard’s. Once per turn, you can roll a six-sided die. Rolling a 1 or 2 destroys all monsters your opponent controls, rolling a 3, 4, or 5 destroys only one of them, and rolling a 6 destroys all monsters you control.
Mythology Gag: Zorc's design and dice roll effect is a direct reference to Dark Master Zorc in the "Monster World" story arc of the first Yu-Gi-Oh! series in the way that getting a low dice roll, a "super-critical" resulted in the best outcome and getting the highest, a "fumble," was the worst.

Dark Necrofear

Mummy will take good care of you...

Dark Necrofear, formerly known as Dark Necrophilia, is a Level 8 DARK Fiend-Type Effect Monster with 2200 ATK and 2800 DEF. She is one of Yami Bakura's signature monsters and she has a direct connection with the Trap Card Destiny Board, the initator of an Instant-Win Condition. According to the Master Guide, she is the Queen of all Fiend-Type Monsters. In Duelist Pack: Legend Duelist 5, she received a retrained counterpart, Curse Necrofear.

An Arm and a Leg: In the manga, it was Dark Necrofear's whole body who writes the message. In the anime, it's only her disembodied hand, which is also the case in Destiny Board's manga card artwork.
The Artifact: In the manga, in order for Destiny Board to accumulate letters, Dark Necrofear had to be in the controller's Graveyard. And in the anime, she had to be destroyed and sent to the Graveyard before Dark Sanctuary could be activated. In the OCG, neither Destiny Board nor Dark Sanctuary require her at all. However, some video games do depict her in a cutscene spelling out the message with an ouija board if the player wins via Destiny Board, and Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links in particular re-integrates her into the Destiny Board skill by requiring her to be in the Graveyard to activate it. Dark Spirit's Mastery does make reference to the connection between Dark Necrofear and Destiny Board, however, as it can either add a Level 8 Fiend-Type monster (which Dark Necrofear is) or Destiny Board itself from the Deck or Graveyard to the hand.
Bald of Evil: She is completely bald and is very evil.
Battle Aura: Her dark aura is also present in the anime.
Bowdlerise: Dark Necrofear was originally named Dark Necrophilia when she was introduced in Weekly Shounen Jump, but this was changed the next week. This also happened to most of the support when it was imported into the TCG, which makes heavy reference to death and the occult. Destiny Board, for example, is simply Ouija Board in the original, and its message spells DEATH rather than FINAL. Dark Spirit's Mastery is even called Dark Occultism in the original.
Black Eyes of Evil: Her sclera are black.
Brainwashed and Crazy: If Dark Necrofear is destroyed by an opponent's card, either through battle or card effect, and sent to the Graveyard, the controller can equip her to an opposing monster and then take control of it. In the manga, she can possess any opposing monster once per turn as long she is in the Graveyard.
The Cameo: In some video games, Dark Necrofear will appear after the last letter is on the field and she will spell the message.
Creepy Doll/Killer Teddy Bear: Her doll resembles Necroface. In the dub, the dilapidated doll that she holds is removed as it resembled a mutilated child. Dark Necrofear herself resembles a doll, since her limbs look like doll limbs.
Dark Action Girl: While better in Defense Position, her ATK is not that bad. Curse Necrofear, her retrained form, fits this trope better, as its ATK and DEF are swapped from the original Dark Necrofear.
Dark Is Evil: In the manga, Dark Necrofear tries to kill the opponent with the Destiny Board.
Death-Activated Superpower:
- Across the various mediums, Dark Necrofear applied an effect if she is destroyed and sent to the Graveyard. In the manga, this is a prerequisite for activating Destiny Board. In the anime, she had an effect that allowed the controller to activate Dark Sanctuary from the hand, Deck, field, or Graveyard if destroyed this way. In the OCG, during the End Phase of the turn she is destroyed this way, the controller could equip her to an opponent's monster and take control of said monster.
- Curse Necrofear similarly also has an effect that triggers if destroyed and sent to the Graveyard by an opponent's card. In this case, during the End Phase of the turn that occurs, she can Special Summon herself and then the controller can destroy cards on the opponent's field equal to the number of Spell and Trap Cards the controller has on their field.
Decomposite Character: In the manga, if destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, Dark Necrofear had an effect known as "Marionette's Spirit" wherein once during the opponent's turn, the controller can pick an opposing monster and should the opponent attack with that monster, the attack is negated and the opponent takes half of that monster's ATK as damage while the controller gains an equal amount of LP. In the anime, however, this effect is transferred to Dark Sanctuary, a Field Spell Card created for that medium, and named the "Ghost of Dark Sanctuary", with Dark Necrofear herself instead triggering the activation of Dark Sanctuary when she is destroyed.
Demonic Possession: Dark Necrofear's equip effect is meant to simulate this.
Eye Beam: How she attacks in the anime. It's called Murder Gaze.
God Save Us from the Queen!: Considered as the Queen of all Fiend-Type Monsters.
Gratuitous English: Regardless in which country, the message will always be in English.
Mythology Gag: In the manga, if destroyed and sent to the Graveyard, Dark Necrofear applied an effect wherein during each of the opponent's turns, she could "possess" an opposing monster of the controller's choice, and should the opponent attempt to attack with the "possessed" monster, the attack would be negated, and they would take half that monster's ATK as damage while the controller gained an equal amount of LP. Dark Necrofear's OCG incarnation instead has a literal possession effect where she equipped herself to an opponent's monster and gave control of it to her controller. The fact the the OCG card equipped herself to a target monster this way may be a reference to the anime's take on the manga effect, which was transferred to Dark Sanctuary as the "Ghost of Dark Sanctuary".
Sudden Name Change: Dark Necrofear was first introduced as Dark Necrophilia in the Weekly Shounen Jump. The next issue changed her name.

Dark Scorpions

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/386px_darkscorpionburglars_tf04_jp_vg.png

The gang's all here.

The Dark Scorpions, called as Black Scorpions in the OCG, are five (with a sixth card representing all of them) DARK Warrior monsters. They're a gang of thieves that allow the player to use one of two effects when they damage the opponent. Though they lack offensive monster, their effects are very potent. They are used by the Seven Star Assassin Don Zaloog in GX.

The Big Guy: Gorg, because he is the largest of the Five Dark Scorpions.
Bowdlerization: Zig-zagged. The English card changes Don Zaloog's pistols to daggers but he retains his pistols in the dub, most likely because he uses a "Double Blast Attack" twice and no bullets are seen being fired.
Can't Spit It Out: According to the "Master Guide", Gorg seems to have a crush on Meanae but can't express his feelings due to his stone-face nature and lack of emotions.
Caper Crew: As a band of thieves, they fit nicely into the expected roles: Don Zaloog is the leader, Chick is the escape expert, Cliff is the trap remover, and Gorg is the muscle. Meanae's role is not as explicit but based on their support and her depiction in the anime, is likely a Femme Fatale intended as an infiltrator or distraction.
Carry a Big Stick: Gorg's weapon, because he's quite strong.
The Hero: Don Zaloog, as he leads the Dark Scorpions.
Hospital Hottie: Meanae's disguise in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. It works because she's the Team Mom.
My Friends... and Zoidberg: For the longest time, Cliff the Trap Remover did not have "Dark Scorpion" in his card name, and as such their support cards had to specify that they worked for Dark Scorpion monsters and Cliff the Trap Remover. Konami eventually did the sensible thing and gave Cliff an erratum that added him to the archetype.
No Celebrities Were Harmed: In the English Dub of the anime, Don Zaloog's voice actor pulls off his best Christopher Walken impression.
Official Couple: A card that only appears in the anime and a few video games (in which it's playable) implies Zaloog and Meanae are this. It's called "Dark Scorpion Tragedy of Love" and allows Meanae to take the bullet for Zaloog.
The Smart Guy: Chick, who seems to be smart enough to rob places at a young age.
Spiky Hair: Chick the Yellow, used to indicate his immaturity.
Weak, but Skilled: Dark Scorpion monsters have low attack score values and they can't win battles often; but they're going to have to (or direct attack) in order to pop off their debilitating effects. This also marks one of the problems with making a dark scorpion deck; the balance is quite difficult to maintain, with excessive trap and spell protection being a must for a deck like this.
Whip of Dominance: Meanae wields a whip and is a leather-clad Femme Fatale with a domineering air.
Zerg Rush: As the anime demonstrates, if you manage to get off "Dark Scorpion Combination" to use all their effects, the opponent will not be in very good condition to fight back next turn.

Dark World

The Dragon Lord himself, Grapha

The Dark World monsters are a series of DARK Fiends that rule the Dark World alluded to in a lot of flavor text. Ruled by Grapha, Dragon Lord of Dark World, they activate powerful effects when discarded from the hand, letting them manipulate the field and hand without warning. In the GX anime, a Dark World deck is used by Brron, Mad King of Dark World.

Adaptational Villainy: In the card games, they're a group of be Affably Evil Noble Demons who NEVER oppress commoners for no legitimate reason. In the GX anime, they're a group of Always Chaotic Evil dictators.
Affably Evil: Despite being scary, demonic, and villainous in appearance, they're often pleasant to hang around with.
Appendage Assimilation: Implied with Broww, since his right forearm doesn't match the rest of his body.
Authority in Name Only: Brron is supposed to be their king (as in "Mad King of Dark World") and he is portrayed as such in the anime. However, as the Master Guide 2 claims, Brron is actually subordinate to Goldd, Wu-Lord of Dark World and Sillva, Warlord of Dark World, who in turn report to Reign-Beaux, Overlord of Dark World, and they worship Grapha, who in the Japanese version was called "Dragon God of Dark World." To make this even more complicated, the anime version of Brron suggested that the ultimate ruler of Dark World was someone called "Colorless, Chaos King of Dark World". Basically, Dark World's government is confusing.
Axe-Crazy: Whether they are evil, or at best, neutral, Brron more than likely is mad, seeing as his chains are supposedly meant to be a straightjacket.
Back from the Dead: Many of them revive when discarded to the Graveyard. The most famous one is Grapha, who can be revived from the Graveyard by returning a Dark World monster back to the hand, so Grapha can be revived many times.
Bishounen Line: Colorless has a significantly slimmer and more human-like figure than Reign-Beux, or other high level monsters for that matter.
Big Bad: Grapha, Dragon Lord/God of Dark World. Before Grapha was revealed, Reign-Beaux (according to Master Guide 2) is the political and religious head of the Dark World, with Goldd and Sillva below him as commanders of the military. However, according to the Master Guides mentioning that some of them, such as Zure, are decent people, he might be an Anti-Villain instead.
Canon Immigrant: Ceruli was intially an anime-exclusive monster card who was ultimately created as an official one.
Chained by Fashion: Brron.
Color-Coded Characters: A specific part of their bodies are colored. Heck, even they are named after colors.
- Beiige is named after Beige. His head, thong, chest, shoulders, and knees are colored beige.
- Broww is named after Brown. His right forearm is colored brown.
- Brron is named after Bronze. His fingers, thong and hair are colored greenish bronze.
- Ceruli is named after Cerulean. His huge shoulder pads and chest are colored cerulean.
- Cobal is named after Cobalt. His shoulders, back, shorts, right hand, and left forearm are colored cobalt blue.
- Goldd is named after Gold.
- Grapha is named after Graphite.
- Gren is named after Gren. His cloak and eyes are colored green.
- Kahkki is named after Khaki. His scalp is colored khaki.
- Latinum is named after Platinum.
- Lucent is named after Translucent. His Japanese name is Kelto, derived from the terms "Skeleton" and "sukeru," the Japanese term for "translucent."
- Reign-Beaux is named after Rainbow.
- Renge is named after Orange. His palms are colored orange.
- Scarr is named after Scarlet. Nearly all of his entire body is colored scarlet.
- Sillva is named after Silver.
- Snoww is named after Snow White. Her skirt, cloak, and hair are colored white.
- Zure is named after Azure. His mohawk and cloak are colored azure.
- Colorless has elements of both black (the color of his stole), white (the lower portion of his robes), and transparent (his face and upper body).
Dark Is Not Evil: According to the Master Guides, some of them are actually pretty decent guys. This also means they were hit with Adaptational Villainy in the anime. Let Zure, Knight of the Dark World's Flavor Text speak for itself:
The name of this illustrious knight is known by all residents of Dark World. He never oppresses the commoners.
Dem Bones: Every single one of them are modeled after skeletons. However, their appearances seem to mix machinery into their bodies.
Dual Wielding: Sillva has two swords.
Exact Words: Dark World monsters get their effects when they are discarded by effect. Due to the ruling distinguishing between discard by effect and discard for a cost, their effects had to be written very carefully in order to work.
Face of a Thug: As mentioned above, they may look scary, they're not Always Chaotic Evil.
Knight in Shining Armor: Zure is a really weird version of this, as his Flavor Text mentioned above reveals that, despite looking downright evil and monstrous, he's pretty heroic.
Lightning Bruiser: A well-built Dark World deck can swarm the field with powerful monsters while depleting the opponent's field and hand with their effects, and still maintain a good sized hand and back row for ensurance.
Medusa: Snoww appears to be an homage to Medusa herself. Her dreadlocked hair resembles snakes like her original mythological counterpart, and a stylized version of her face appears on the shield of Minerva, Lightsworn Athena.
Nebulous Evil Organisation: As seen in Dark Deal, Dark Scheme and Dark World Dealings, they engage in a lot of shady practices to further their power.
Noble Demon: Most prominently Zure, but the creators say all of them are Anti-Villains.
Our Dragons Are Different: Grapha, a Fiend-Type monster resembling a dragon.
Physical God:
- Grapha appears to be the deity of Dark World based on its title of "Dragon God of the Dark World".
- Latinum, Exarch of Dark World alludes to a Dark World religion since Exarch is a religious position of authority and its abilities can be seen as blessings from Grapha itself.
- Sillva and Goldd's Japanese titles are refer to them respectively as "Army God of Dark World" and "War God of Dark World", but they rank below Reign-Beaux, whose Japanese title is "Devil of Dark World", so it's unclear if that title means anything.
Religion of Evil: Has shades, particularly in the anime where Brron tries to use a tome and rune cards to summon Colorless.
Slasher Smile: Brron's grin is nightmarish.
Sorting Algorithm of Evil: The Master Guides provide a hierarchy for the upper ranks: Brron is subordinate to Sillva and Goldd, who run the military (and it's in fact Sillva who is more senior of the two), and they in turn report to Reign-Beaux, who is head of state and religion. Grapha appears to be the deity of said religion.
The Smurfette Principle: Snoww is the first, and by far the only, female inhabitant of the Dark World.
Token Evil Teammate: Brron is the most evil among the Dark World monsters. Zure on the other hand...
Toyless Toyline Character: Cobal is the only Dark World member who does not yet have an offical monster card of his own.

Demise and Ruin

Not even god can save you from this royal family.

The Demise and Ruin series are a group of DARK Fiend-type and LIGHT Fairy-type Ritual Monsters. The progenitors of the series, Demise, King of Armageddon

and Ruin, Queen of Oblivion

are notable for being the first two Ritual Monsters to share a Ritual Spell Card that names them both - End of the World

. Ruin and her counterparts focus on dominance through battle, while Demise's forms have effects based around mass effect destruction.

Battle Couple: Ruin, Supreme Queen of Oblivion and Demise, Supreme King of Armageddon seem to have this dynamic if the controller Ritual Summons and controls both of them at the same time. The former's effect can protect her from being destroyed by the latter's effect, while the latter can prevent the former from being destroyed by battle.
Bowdlerise: Demise, Agent of Armageddon was termed the Demon of Armageddon in the OCG. Also in the OCG, Ruin's original form was termed the Goddess of Destruction, while her upgraded form was termed the Beautiful Goddess of Destruction. Naturally, these were all changed in the TCG languages to avoid religious references.
Brought Down to Normal: Downplayed. The respective effects of Demise and Ruin are watered-down copies of the effects of Chaos Emperor Dragon, Envoy of the End and Black Luster Soldier, Envoy of the Beginning.
Cast from Hit Points: The original Demise and Demise, Supreme King of Armageddon can destroy all other cards on the field at the cost of 2000 LP. However, a Supreme King that was Ritual Summoned using only Ritual Monsters as Tribute can use his effect without paying LP.
Death-Activated Superpower: If Ruin or Demise's younger forms are sent to the Graveyard, the controller can target a Ritual Monster they control and an effect is applied to the target while it is face-up on the field. In the case of the former, the opponent cannot activate card effects when the controller's Ritual Monsters declare an attack. In the case of the latter, the opponent cannot activate card effects in response to the activation of the controller's Ritual Monster effects.
Destroyer Deity: You don't get titles like "King of Armageddon" and "Queen of Oblivion" without something to back it up. Heck, their Ritual Spell is titled End of the World.
Eternal Recurrence: Their role in the cosmic order is to bring about an endless cycle of destruction and rebuilding. While Demise breaks down the old world, Ruin brings about "gentle destruction" to allow rebirth. Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel elaborates that Ruin’s job is to rewind time when evil would bring about the end of the world, eradicating the current timeline so that the new one has a chance to avert disaster. If the world repeatedly falls prey to the same mistakes, however, Demise comes in to finish the job for good.
Female Angel, Male Demon: The LIGHT Fairy-type Ruin is the former, the DARK Fiend-type Demise is the latter.
Foil: Internally, Ruin is a LIGHT Fairy to Demise's DARK Fiend, and her effect relies on making her a One-Man Army while his casts him as a Destroyer Deity. Supreme Queen Ruin is able to protect all Ritual Monsters from effect destruction, while Supreme King Demise protects Ritual monsters from destruction in battle.
Guys Smash, Girls Shoot: Ruin wields a Magic Staff, while Demise hefts around a giant battleaxe. Interestingly, their effects suggest the inverse: Ruin has to get up close and personal with enemy monsters, while Demise simply obliterates everything without needing to attack.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Demise, Agent of Armageddon destroys a face-up monster on the field if he is Ritual Summoned. This effect is mandatory and triggers if there is an avaliable monster to destoy. If the opponent controls no monsters at the time, the controller would then be forced to destroy one of their own monsters, including, but not limited to, Agent himself.
Hot Goddess: In contrast to the monstrous Demise, Ruin is quite conventionally attractive. In fact, Supreme Queen of Oblivion's name in the OCG was "Beautiful God of Destruction".
The Juggernaut: While you control a Ritual Summoned Ruin, Supreme Queen of Oblivion, none of your Ritual Monsters can be destroyed by card effects; Demise, Supreme King of Armageddon similarly confers immunity to destruction by battle. Just getting one of them onto the field can give your opponent a serious uphill battle; putting them both into play means trouble.
The Man Behind the Man: Downplayed. A shadowy, ethereal Demise lurks behind Ruin in the card art for each of her possible stages but stands alone in his own cards; his presence behind Ruin suggests some kind of influence on her, and taking their Dark Fiend and Light Fairy natures into consideration suggests Demise may be acting as The Corrupter.
Person of Mass Destruction: The original Demise and its upgraded form can both destroy every other card on the field at the cost of 2000 LP.
Skull for a Head: All of Demise's forms have skull-like faces.
Suspiciously Similar Substitute: Zigzagged. Ruin and Demise are deliberate echoes of Black Luster Soldier, Envoy of the Beginning and Chaos Emperor Dragon, Envoy of the End, respectively.
- Like Black Luster Soldier, Ruin is a LIGHT monster, and has an effect in common with him, in that she can attack again if she destroys a monster by battle. Her younger and upgraded forms guarantee her the ability to attack twice as well, if certain conditions are met.
- Like Chaos Emperor Dragon, Demise is a DARK monster, and features a Nerfed version of the former's effect, requiring a cost of 2000 LP to activate (in contrast to Chaos Emperor Dragon requiring 1000 LP) and destroying all other cards on the field, regardless of controller (in contrast to Chaos Emperor Dragon sending only all of the opponent's cards in the hand and on the field to the Graveyard). His upgraded form furthers this connection, as it inflict 200 damage to the opponent for each destroyed card (compared to Chaos Emperor Dragon inflicting 300 damage for each card it sends).

Deskbot

Back to school never looked so good...or so hard to get rid of.

The Deskbot, called Bunborg in the OCG, are a group of (primarily) low-levelled EARTH Machine-Type monsters whose effects allow them to swarm the field and increase their ATK and DEF. Extra Deck-wise, Deskbots are reliant on Synchro and Pendulum Summoning. They are used by Tatsuya/Tate in the ARC-V anime.

Art Attacker: The archetype's monsters are constructed from stationery and art supplies, which they also use as a means of attack.
Awesome Personnel Carrier: Their Synchro Monster, Deskbot Jet, is depicted as this.
Back from the Dead: If two or more Machine-Type monsters are special summoned at the same time, Deskbot 001 can return from the graveyard to the field.
Meaningful Name: They are robots who use desktop items as weapons.
Status Buff: All ten of them have an effect that either increases their own ATK and DEF or that other monsters.
Weak, but Skilled: The Deskbots only have 500 ATK and DEF but their effects make up for it, often allowing them to build up huge fields, huge stats, or both.
Zerg Rush: They are good at swarming the field.

Digital Bug

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/bugmatrix_madu_en_vg_artwork.png

It'll turn your deck on and off!

The Digital Bug series is comprised of LIGHT Insect-Type monsters with a focus on Xyz Summoning. The Main Deck monsters can grant effects when used as Xyz Materials, and some of their Xyz Monsters are able to summon themselves using one of the lower-Rank monsters as Xyz Material. Most of them have effects that involve changing monsters, be it themselves or the opponent's, to Defense Position or benefit from doing so.

Anti-Magic: If any Xyz Monster Summoned with Cocoondenser attacks a Defense Position monster, the opponent can't activate any cards or effects during that attack.
Armor-Piercing Attack: Rhinocebus can inflict piercing damage.
The Assimilator: Scaradiator can attach any one monster it destroys in battle to itself as material.
Mechanical Insects: The archetype has traits of this, as the bugs have a lot of digital-covered body parts and are mechanical in appearance. They also simultaneously reference how errors in computers are called "bugs" as their lore has them as inhabitants of the inside of a computer.
One-Man Army: Any Xyz Monster Summoned with Centibit can make an attack on every Defense Position monster the opponent controls.
Power Nullifier: Scaradiator can negate the effect of a monster that had its battle position changed with its effect.
Punny Name: The Digital Bugs are insects that live inside computers, if the artwork of Matrix and Emergency is any indication, a reference to how computer errors are often called "bugs".
Status Buff: Their Field Spell, Bug Matrix, grants an extra 300 ATK/DEF to any Insect monster on the controller's field. Resistrider can also grant 1000 ATK/DEF to any Xyz Monster it was used to Summon.
Status Effects: The moment that any Xyz Monster Summoned with Websolder hits the field, it instantly switches the opponent's monsters to Defense Position, and reduces their DEF to zero.
Visual Pun: They are insects that live in computers, hence "software bugs".

Dinomorphia

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/fji5r0wucaahjf1.jpg

"Bakuryū Change!"^note

Dinomorphia is an archetype of DARK Dinosaur monsters. High-risk and high-reward, many of their cards require either half their controller's Life Points as a cost to use them, or to have less than 2000 before they can be used at all, but have powerful effects in return.

Animal Mecha: According to the Valuable Book EX 2 lore, Stealthbergia and Rexterm are highly advanced animal mecha that don't require a pilot to function.
Beware My Stinger Tail: In a fight, Diplos uses his needle-like tail in a low combat stance.
Blood Knight: Because of her dinosaur blood, Kentregina's personality is super-focused on battling.
Cast From HP: Most of the cards, their Traps in particular, require half your LP as a cost. Stealthbergia's effect can keep you from needing to pay the cost at all for any Trap or in-archetype monster effect, but only while your LP is 2000 or less—though if your opponent activates a monster effect, its second effect can damage them equal to that monster's ATK.
Critical Status Buff: Kentregina's ATK and Rexterm's effect/ATK suppression effect get stronger as the player's health gets lower.
- Kentregina loses ATK (from a high base of 4000) equal to the player's LP.
- Rexterm suppresses the effect activations all opposing monsters with ATKs higher than the controlling player's current LP value and for only once per turn at a cost of paying half the controlling player’s LP, can change their ATK value to be the same as the player's LP value as a quick effect, meaning that the lower the controlling player's current LP value is, the more monsters he can suppress and the lower the opponent monsters' ATK value will be.
Cyborg: The monsters in this deck are cyborgs with a dinosaur aesthetic. Their unusual eyes and metallic bodysuits with unusual attachments that give them this vibe.
Difficult, but Awesome: The entire archetype as a whole rewards risky maneuvers for big damage. In particular, Dinomorphia Kentregina has the distinction of a massive 4000 atk. Its effect can make using that 4000 attack difficult but there are ways around it.
Expy: Artwork-wise, the Dinomorphia bear a resemblance to Raiden from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance.
Flowers of Femininity: In addition to being designed after the dorsal fin of a dinosaur, Kentregina's hair ties are based on a flower to show that she's still feminine underneath the bloodlust.
Living Dinosaurs: According to the Valuable Book EX 2 lore, the Dinomorphia are the descendants of dinosaurs, with human-like intelligence and bodies.
Shout-Out: The Trap Card Dinomorphia Frenzy◊ is a reference to one of the opening scenes of the tokusatsu series Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger/Power Rangers: Dino Thunder as they feature three heroes standing in a dark city while a Tyrannosaurus rex robot roars in the background.
Status Buff: Therizia can gain 500 ATK if she's Normal or Special Summoned while your LP are 2000 or less. According to her concept art, this increase is called Destruction Mode.
Status Effects: Kentregina is unusual in that she applies this on herself, starting at a whopping 4000 ATK and then losing ATK equal to your LP.
Taking You with Me: The Normal Trap Card Dinomorphia Brute destroys a Dinomorphia on your field and a card on your opponent's field. Neither is targeted on destruction, which can bypass certain pesky defensive effects.

Dinowrestler

LEMME TELL YA SOMETHIN', BROARTHER!

The Dinowrestlers are an archetype of Dinosaur monsters, most of which have the EARTH attribute. Their playstyle revolves around controlling what happens during the Battle Phase, and several of the cards in this archetype reward the player for controlling less monsters than the opponent. They are used by Go Onizuka in Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS.

Anti-Magic: King T Wrextle, Chimera T Wrextle and Giga Spinosavate have the same ability as the Ancient Gear monsters, namely that preventing the opponent from activating spell/trap cards until the end of the damage step whenever they battle.
Armor-Piercing Attack: Chimera T Wrextle has the ability to inflict piercing damage.
Foil: To the Gouki. Both are wrestler-themed archetypes that are used by the same character and their monsters both have 0 DEF. However, the Gouki focus on a straightforward Beatdown strategy while using the effects of their monsters to ensure they don't run out of steam while the Dinowrestlers add some defensive and control elements to ensure the Battle Phase goes as they want it to.
Fusion Dance: Chimera T Wrextle is a Fusion monster meant to be an evolution of King T Wrextle, using the other Dinowrestler monster as a power booster.
Glass Cannon: Like the Gouki, the Dinowrestlers all have 0 DEF.
No-Sell: While in attack position, Capoeiraptor can avoid being destroyed by battle.
- A Dinowrestler Fusion monster summoned with Tyrant Dino Fusion will be able to escape from destruction by battle or card effect the first time said destruction would occur.
- Martial Anga can discard itself to protect a Dinowrestler from being destroyed by battle and then end the Battle Phase.
Status Buff: Their field spell, World Dino Wrestling, has the ability to increase the ATK of attacking Dinowrestlers by 200.
- Capaptera can also increase the ATK of a Dinowrestler Link monster it was used to summon by 1000 until the end phase.
- Chimera T Wrextle gains 500 ATK each time it destroys a monster by battle.
Taking You with Me: Chimera T Wrextle, if destroyed by a card effect, will take all of the opponent's attack position monsters down with it.
Theme Naming: Each Dinowrestler are named after a fighting style and a species of dinosaur.

Divine Arsenal / Super Starslayer

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rsz_1divinearsenalaazeusskythunder.png

Divine Arsenal AA-ZEUS - Sky Thunder and Super Starslayer TY-PHON - Sky Crisis are a duo of Rank 12 Xyz Monsters. They share a unique trait of possessing a summoning condition that allows them to be summoned by using only a single monster as Xyz Material to serve as a Comeback Mechanic.

"A diabolic nightmare ironically crowned with the name of a God, it was originally constructed to counter a threat. Matching its title of 'Sky Thunder', it can burn the sky with thunder, shatter the stars themselves, and slay even the Gods. "WE. SHOULD. DESTROY. THE. DISASTER. WITH. THE. LAST. AND. ULTIMATE. ATTACK. BY. MANKIND..." The "Counter-Offensive Weapon AA-ZEUS" is the 12th Weapon, designed to fight fate, that humanity created in the face of countless threats of extinction."

Animal Motifs: TY-PHON has a snake motif, according to its concept art. It has a snake coming out of its back. Its shoulder parts can detach and turn into a snake. The arm parts can also extend and lash out, presumably like a snake.
Gameplay and Story Integration: The 12th Weapon designed by mankind to counter its extinction, is also a Rank 12 monster. Befitting of its lore status as the ultimate backup plan, it can only be Xyz Summoned during a player's Main Phase 2 (which assumes that the player's opponent has survived the initial onslaught) and has an incredibly devastating effect, being able to wipe every other card off the board except for itself by detaching 2 Xyz Materials.
Humongous Mecha: Though there is no clear reference object to judge AA-ZEUS's size, the fact that it appears to be standing in space and the details on its body suggests that AA-ZEUS is a massive mecha.
Ironic Name: As detailed on The Valuable Book EX, the god-slayer is ironically crowned with the name of a god.
Light Is Good: Played with. Zeus is a LIGHT Machine whose purpose is to protect humanity from extinction level threats, but it's also described as a "diabolic nightmare."
Meaningful Name: "TY-PHON" is named after Typhon, a beast with godlike power in Greek mythology who was one of Zeus's archenemies. This is reflected in TY-PHON being specifically designed to counter AA-ZEUS by preventing it from activating its effect to wipe the field.
Mechanical Abomination: Referred to as one on its description, with the power to slay the gods.
Nonstandard Character Design: Even the card art designer for AA-ZEUS notes how out of place AA-ZEUS is compared to the rest of the monsters. According to an unofficial translation of the illustrator's comments:
“Even I think it’s not a very OCG-like design. But even so, I decided on this design by prioritizing how cool and strong it looks, trying to approach the idea of ‘the ultimate weapon that can kill even god(s)’. If the weapons in its claws and shoulders, the wings that wrap around it like a cloak, and so on give you that kind of feeling, then that’s great. The wings are something that came to mind at the very last minute when I had no time to spare, but now that I look at them, I feel that I accomplished what I wanted and should be praising myself more. To all of you, don’t worry, [I’m/we’re] preparing its finishing move!”
Kill the God: A diabolical weapon created to slay the gods.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: In Yu-Gi-Oh CARD GAME THE CHRONICLES, TY-PHON's eyes ominously flash red as it prepares to challenge AA-ZEUS.
Shock and Awe: Portrayed on its artwork, "Zeus" is capable of rending the sky apart with thunder.
Snakes Are Sinister: TY-PHON has a visual snake motif and in THE CHRONICLES it fights AA-ZEUS using snake-like tendrils of energy.
Wave-Motion Gun: In THE CHRONICLES, AA-ZEUS transforms its shoulder-mounted thrusters into a massive cannon that fires a destructive array of laser beams at TY-PHON.

Divine Dragon

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thekingofd_madu_en_vg_artwork.png

Really improves the Force of your Dragons

The Divine Dragon series consists of Dragon-Type monsters and two human commands, Lord of D. and Lady of D. They have no connecting effect, but provide general Dragon-Type support. Lord of D. and Lady of D. can fuse with their members to form King Dragun and Queen Dragun Djinn.

Distaff Counterpart: Lady of D. is the female counterpart of Lord of D.. They share the same DEF, Attribute, Type, and Level. She protects Dragons from battle while he protects them from targeting effects. Each are seen in the artworks of different Dragon-Type monsters that are stored in the Extra Deck, have upgraded versions of their respective effects, and depict them as having merged with a Divine Dragon and holding an instrument of summoning dragons.
Fusion Dance: King Dragun (Ragnarok and Lord of D.) and Queen Dragun Djinn (Apocralyph and Lady of D.)
Lady of Black Magic: Lady of D. and Queen Dragun Djinn.
Magic Music: Lord Of D has this as a consistent theme; he owns the Flute of Summoning Dragon, is depicted with an epic guitar in The Melody of Awakening Dragon, and gets an even more epic one as The King of D and in Dragon Revival Rhapsody.
Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Divine Dragon Ragnarok and Divine Dragon Apocralyph. Both are named religious events, the end of the world.
Our Dragons Are Different; Since they can fuse with humans and create draconic centuars.
Wreathed in Flames: Divine Dragon Apocralyph is a dragon covered in fire or is made of fire.

Divine Serpent Geh

"Ah summon Cownewius da Snake level 12, mayn!"

Divine Serpent Geh is a lone monster notable for being the highest-Leveled Reptile-Type Monster in the entire game and its (literally) infinite ATK in the anime. It was notably the ultimate monster used by Dartz during the climax of the Waking The Dragons Arc in the anime, and required what was probably the single loosest interpretation of the rules on Yugi's part to defeat. Despite being the ace of the Big Bad, it was not adapted into the game proper until over a decade later.

Final Boss: Dartz's final ace-in-the-hole, and the last hurdle Yugi needed to overcome in the Waking the Dragons arc.
Moving the Goalposts: In the anime, summoning Divine Serpent Geh required Dartz to pay ALL of his Life Points and pay 10 cards from his deck every time it attacks, but it also made him unable to lose the Duel while it was on the field. At that point, the win condition changed from "deplete the opponent's LP" (because Dartz had none) to "destroy Geh".
Physical God: The "Divine" in its title and it being Level 12 aren't just for show. It has ATK equal to the strongest monster on the field and halves the ATK of whatever it attacks, referencing how in the original anime it literally had infinite ATK. Also, it is immune to any card effect that targets it, meaning it can attack pretty freely.

Doll Monster

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/boxoffriends_lod2_jp_vg_artwork.png

"Welcome to our home! Cologne, Grandpa Demetto, and lots of other dolls live here!"

Doll Monster is an archetype of Normal Monsters used by Cologne in the Yu-Gi-Oh! ZEXAL manga. The archetype focuses on rapidly swarming the field with Normal Monsters that have 0 ATK or DEF, and then using them as Materials to Xyz Summon high ranked Monsters.

Adaptation Name Change: In the English language manga, Box of Friends was referred to as "Toy Box", while Zombowwow was called "Zombie Dog".
Adaptational Attractiveness: A minor example, as in the manga, Grandpa Demetto's right eye was dangling out of its socket by a thread, which looks creepy enough to be commented on by the protagonists. This is not the case in the artwork of his OCG card.
Adaptational Superpower Change: The archetype utilizes a distinctly different playstyle in the manga compared to the OCG. While it still swarms the field with the effect of Box of Friends and focuses on Xyz Summoning Number 22: Zombiestein, the archetype's manga playstyle revolves around a laddering strategy with Doll House. To wit, after swarming the field with four Level 4 Doll Monsters, the archetype is then reliant on having them be destroyed so it can use Doll House's effect to Special Summon three Level 6 Doll Monsters on the next Standby Phase. Those monsters then have to once again be destroyed to enable Doll House to Special Summon two Level 8 Doll Monsters on the next Standby Phase, which then enables the controller to use them as Xyz Materials to Xyz Summon Zombiestein.
Ambiguous Situation: Exactly who or what Grandpa Demetto is in the manga is never elaborated on, as is his exact relationship to Cologne.
Came Back Wrong: In the manga, the Field Spell Card Doll House's effect is visually manifested by Grandpa Demetto stitching the pieces of the destroyed monsters together, resulting in the Summoned monsters visually appering as hideous amalgamations of parts from said destroyed monsters.
Death-Activated Superpower: Box of Friends and Zombowwow share this effect.
Face of a Thug: Being based off of Frankenstein's Monster, Number 22: Zombiestein unsurprisingly has one of these, which he normally hides with a cowl.
Flowers of Romance: Number 22: Zombiestein is capable of transforming the nails in his head into bouquets, and does this in the manga in an attempt to court Gagaga Girl.
Frankenstein's Monster: Number 22: Zombiestein is one of these, as evidenced by his name and the fact that he is a Zombie-Type Flesh Golem with visible stitching across his body. Zombiestein's Japanese OCG name, Franken, is even more explicit about his inspiration. Zombowwow is another example, as it is a stitched zombie dog.
Glass Cannon: Number 22: Zombiestein has a hard-hitting 4500 ATK, but a paltry 1000 DEF. This trope becomes all the more prevalent if the controller uses his detach effect,which changes Zombiestein to Defense Position.
Gratuitous German: Mädchen (from Doll Monster Miss Mädchen's name) is German for "maiden"
Heroic Sacrifice: Upon her defeat by Yuma in the manga, Cologne is thrown into Doll House by the force of Yuma's attack, all while the house is on fire. Grandpa Demetto pulls one of these by carrying her out of the house to safety, whilst transferring his soul to her (as her loss would have caused her soul to beomce forfeit), allowing her to remain alive. He is then engulfed by the flames and perishes in the blaze.
Hollywood Giftwrap: Box of Friends is a box that has been wrapped in this manner. Fittingly, its effect triggers if it is destroyed, likely representing the box being unwrapped and opened.
I Just Want to Be Loved: Number 22: Zombiestein is depicted as having this trait in the manga, as his manga-only effect prevents him from attacking female monsters. When ordered by Cologne (who forgot about his effect) to attack Gagaga Girl, he instead tries to court her with Flowers of Romance, and is heartbroken when she rejects him on account of his ugliness and her already having feelings for Gagaga Magician.
In the Hood: Number 22: Zombiestein wears a cowl that completely conceals his head and face, leaving only his eyes visible. In the manga, it is revealed that his face is so hideous that other monsters, such as Gagaga Girl, are repulsed by it.
Living Toys: The archetype's monsters have this aesthetic. As do Grandpa Demetto and Princess Cologne, who in the manga, were dolls that were animated through souls imbued in them by Dr. Faker.
Meaningful Name: Number 22: Zombiestein's Japanese OCG name (不乱健) can be translated as "Un-Rebelling Strength", which is fitting, considering its 4500 ATK.
My Hero, Zero: The Doll Monsters all have 0 ATK and DEF, as do Box of Friends and Grandpa Demetto. Additionally, Box of Friends, Grandpa Demetto, Zombowwow, and Doll Happiness all support monsters with 0 ATK or DEF.
Mythology Gag:
- Grandpa Demetto's effects reference his role in the manga, both as part of Doll House's scenery, and his relationship with Cologne.
- Princess Cologne has a collection of effects that reference her ace monster, Zombiestein, her usage of Normal Monsters in the manga, and the then-unreleased Doll House Field Spell.
One-Steve Limit: Played with. Number 22: Zombiestein and Zombowwow's names have the same kana (フランケン) and are thus pronounced the same in the Japanese OCG. However, the base kanji in their Japanese OCG names are different (不乱健 for Zombiestein and 腐乱犬 for Zombowwow), and thus, they do not technically have the same name.
Power Nullifier: The detach effect of Number 22: Zombiestein allows the controller to negate the effects of a face-up card the opponent controls until the end of the turn.
Promoted to Playable:
- In the manga, Grandpa Demetto was simply part of the scenery of Cologne's manga-only Doll House Field Spell Card, and Doll House's effect to Special Summon higher Leveled Doll Monsters from the Deck when lower Leveled ones were destroyed was visually manifested by him fixing said Doll Monsters when they were destroyed. In the OCG, he receives his own Monster Card.
- Princess Cologne was not a Monster Card in the manga, but the duelist who used the Doll Monster archetype. The OCG gives her a card representation designed to be used alongside Box of Friends.
Raising the Steaks: Zombowwow is zombie dog.
Shout-Out:
- Grandpa Demetto is possibly a reference to Gepetto, the woodcarver who created Pinocchio in The Adventures of Pinocchio. Apart from having a similar name to Gepetto, Demetto is seen in the manga repairing Cologne's Doll Monsters when they are destroyed by the opponent, so they can be brought back stronger.
- Princess Cologne, who in the manga, is a doll that was given life by Dr. Faker, may be based on the Princess Koron line of dolls sold in Japan. While the doll's name is written in hiragana (ころん) and Cologne's name is written in katakana (コロン), both have the same pronounciation.
- Number 22: Zombiestein and Zombowwow are clear references to Frankenstein's Monster. The former's Japanese OCG name, "Franken", may also allude to the Ken doll, in reference to his original owner Cologne's love of dolls (and being a living doll herself).
Status Buff: Zombowwow gains 500 ATK when it declares an attack.
Verbal Tic Name: Zombowwow, a zombified dog, has "bow wow" in its name, a sound frequently made by dogs.
Weak, but Skilled: The Doll Monsters are an archetype of Level 4 Normal Monsters with 0 ATK and DEF. Additionally, nearly all of their starters have similarly low stats. However, the archetype is very adept at swarming the field to amass monsters to use as Xyz Material for Rank 4 Xyz Monsters, which can in turn be revived as material for Rank 6 and Rank 8 Monsters. This includes their technical boss monster, Number 22: Zombiestein, a juggernaut with 4500 ATK and the strongest monster they can Xyz Summon with their playstyle.
Would Not Hit a Girl: Number 22: Zombiestein cannot attack female monsters in the manga.

Dragon Horn Hunter / Dragon Core Hexer

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/dragonhornhunter_lod2_jp_vg_artwork.png

The horns were needed to prepare a medicine for her village, suffering from a plague. Unknown to her, the dragons burned and trampled her village, once displaced from their den.

^{Dragon Core Hexer}

Dragon Horn Hunter is a card that holds the honor of being the very first TCG-exclusive Pendulum Monster, with her being a Level 6 DARK Warrior-Type Normal and Pendulum Monster whose Pendulum Effects support other Normal Monsters.

Horn Hunter’s lore describes her as having hunted dragons in order to procure their horns needed to make medicine for her village. However, the dragons ended up destroying the village and caused the warrior’s hatred for the monsters she hunted to turn her into Dragon Core Hexer, a remorseless killing machine who has forgotten why she started her crusade against the dragons in the first place.

The Dragonslayer: Horn Hunter was this initially out of the desire to collect dragon horns to make medicine for her village, until said dragons destroyed her village and put her on a revenge crusade that eventually turned her into a shell of her former self. This is highlighted in Revenge Rally where Horn Hunter is seen fighting Masked Dragon (which also suggests that this is how the latter became Unmasked Dragon).
Fallen Hero: From a noble and good-intentioned warrior trying to help her people to a remorseless killing machine blinded by her hatred of the dragons who destroyed her village, to the point that she has forgotten her own past and no village is willing to take her in.
Glass Cannon: Horn Hunter has 2300 ATK, but only 1000 DEF.
He Who Fights Monsters: Core Hexer is an almost literal example. While Horn Hunter was a warrior type, years of exposure to dragons' blood has caused her to become a dragon-type, with her description saying her "cursed body spreads the dragontaint like an epidemic".
Status Buff: Horn Hunter’s first Pendulum Effect gives all Normal monsters 200 ATK.
Stone Wall: Core Hexer has 2300 ATK like Horn Hunter, which is low for a level eight monster, but also has 3000 DEF.

Dragonmaid

Serve up destruction with a smile!^note

The Dragonmaids are an archetype of Dragon monsters that can be divided into two categories. The first half, the "maids", are formed of Level 2 to 4 monsters with 500 ATK, who can build up resources when they're Summoned. The second half are the maids' draconic counterparts, Level 7 or 8 monsters that cannot be destroyed by card effects while their controller has a Fusion Monster, and can discard themselves to activate various effects. Each monster can "switch" from one form to the other at the start of the Battle Phase, and back again when it ends. They are led by House Dragonmaid/Dragonmaid Sheou.

All Your Powers Combined: Dragonmaid Welcome shows all five maids together.
The Baby of the Bunch: Laundry appears to be the youngest of the Dragonmaids.
Badass Adorable: The entire archetype fits this to a tee to some degree with them starting off as cute girls with dragon ears and tails who then can under specific conditions turn into powerful dragons that are capable of winning with the right play. Parlor has her adorable cat smile whenever she shows up and Laundry is clearly this by default due to being the youngest of the Dragonmaids and is just as cute when she turns into Nudryal, her dragon form, who's rather fluffy. Laundry is moreso on the adorable side when she's a selectable buyable mate in Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel (where she will cost 500 gems due to being a Deluxe Mate), where she does some rather cute poses depending on the circumstances (such as, looking around before pointing at the opponent during the coin toss, properly bowing to the opponent when the duel starts, crying and covering her eyes upon the player taking direct damage (or if a monster is destroyed), and she evens turn into the fluffy Nudyarl when the player enters battle phase and after the phase ends, turns back into Laundry who proceeds to sweep up her mate base with a broom. Laundry will strike a victory pose if the player wins a duel or wave her hands in a scared position should the player lose a duel.)
Big Eater: Parlor seems to fit the type, since she's seen sneaking a bite out of the desserts in the background of Dragonmaid Hospitality. In the alt art of Dragonmaid Hospitality, she's even licking her lips in anticipation. In the VBEX3 lore, she's described as having a taste for every meal.
"Blind Idiot" Translation: Seems to be the case with the French translation of "Dragonirène" of the archetype's name, as the "-irène" part of the translated name may come from the word "sirène" which means "mermaid" in French.
Dojikko: Laundry fits the trope to a T, with her own card art depicting her dropping the sheets she's tasked to wash, Laundry Trap and Dragonmaid Tidying having her struggle with the bedsheets, and Downtime showing her completely beat after a long day of work. Laundry's concept art even has her forgetting what she's supposed to be doing, causing both Nurse and Parlor to fall over in embarassment.
The Dividual: The alternate artwork for House Dragonmaid shows Chamber Dragonmaid assisting her.
Dub Name Change:
- Dragonmaid Tillroo was renamed to Kitchen Dragonmaid to avoid any references to alcohol^note.
- The high-level monsters' names were changed from German words related to the Attributes to the names of the low-level monsters with the letters rearranged.
Foreshadowing: Dragonmaid Changeover shows House turning into Sheou before the latter was released in the OCG.
Former Teen Rebel: House's concept art states that she used to be a rascal before becoming a maid.
Gratuitous German: The high-Level monsters' OCG names are derived from German words for their respective Attributes. Erde for EARTH, Fluss ("River") for WATER, Luft ("Air") for WIND, Flamme ("Flame") for FIRE, and Strahl ("Ray") for LIGHT.
Hikikomori: Chamber used to be a Hikikomori before becoming a maid. She even has the personality of one, as she finds it hard to express herself. In fact, the designer orginally wanted her horns to hide her face, but they held back.
Little Bit Beastly: The low-Level monsters (and House) are humanoid women who have visible dragon ears, horns, and tails under their maid dresses. Some of them also have dragon arms as well.
Luminescent Blush: A note for Kitchen Dragonmaid states that she's not used to getting compliments, while showing her blushing in embarassment.
Mundane Utility:
- Parlor uses wind magic to adjust her hair, according to her concept art.
- Chamber plucks her own wing feathers for her dusters because they're easier for her to use.
No-Sell: The higher Leveled draconian monsters cannot be destroyed by card effects while the controller controls a Fusion Monster.
Our Dragons Are Different: They are all Dragon-Type, and while the high Level monsters resemble conventional dragons, the low Level ones are humanoid women with draconic traits. House's concept art even has her deciding on what her form should look like in order to serve her master in a humble manner.
Planimal: Lorpar is described by her concept art to be a tree/wood-like dragon.
Playful Cat Smile: Parlor is depicted with one of these every time she appears. This playful cat-smile is indicative of her shrewd nature and her ability to play up her feminine wiles.
Power Nullifier: The player can discard Lorpar and target a monster on the field. That turn, the target's effects cannot be activated.
Prompting Nudge: Nurse is shown giving a variation to Laundry in the artwork of Send-Off.
Shout-Out: The archetype is loosely inspired by Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid. Cool-Kyou Shinsha, creator of the series, tweeted his excitement and interest in building the deck soon after the archetype was first revealed.
Sixth Ranger: Chamber, who was added as support some time after the archetype's debut. Notably, she's the only Dragonmaid without a dragon form so far.
Status Buff:
- The controller can discard Tinkhec as a cost to increase the ATK of a Dragonmaid monster they control by 2000 until the end of the turn.
- Welcome has an effect that grants the controller's monsters 100 ATK/DEF for each Dragonmaid monster among them which can stack up to 300, if all 3 copies of Welcome are on the field.
Sweet Tooth: Parlor is seen around sweets in the card artwork she appears in. She sneaks a bite in the artwork of Dragonmaid Hospitality and even holds up a picture of sweets on them in the art of Sweet Room-Maid to Kitchen.
Teasing Creator: One of the concept arts for Chamber Dragonmaid hints at a higher-level form for her, but it's deliberately obscured. The artist even notes, "I look forward to the day I can create her dragon form"
Theme Naming: The lower-level Dragonmaids have names corresponding to different parts of a house (e.g. Nasary = "nursery"), while their higher-level counterparts are German words that correspond to their Attributes (Erde = "earth"). The TCG translations reference those positions directly ("Dragonmaid Nasary" = "Nurse Dragonmaid"), while the high-level Dragonmaids' names are the jumbled forms of their counterparts' names ("Nurse Dragonmaid" = "Dragonmaid Ernus").
Time for Plan B: The higher Leveled monsters all have an effect that lets the controller discard them as a cost to use. This keeps them from being stuck in, and bricking, the hand if the controller cannot easily Summon them. This does not really affect the archetype's strategy, as the lower Leveled monsters can Special Summon the higher Leveled ones from the Graveyard.
Voluntary Shapeshifter: The archetype's gimmick involves Summoning the lower Leveled humanoid monsters, then returning them to the hand to Special Summon the higher Leveled draconian monsters from the hand or Graveyard at the start of the Battle Phase to battle with. At the end of the Battle Phase, the higher Leveled monsters can be returned to the hand to Special Summon the lower Leveled ones from the hand. This is incentivized by the fact that the lower Leveled monsters have effects that trigger when they are Normal or Special Summoned. And though House, as a Fusion Monster, does not have this ability, Sheou can return herself to the Extra Deck after applying her effect and Special Summon House in her place.

Dragon Ruler

The dragon rulers (from top left): Tempest, Redox, Blaster, and Tidal.

The Dragon Rulers, known as Conquest Dragons (征竜 Seiryū) in the OCG, are an archetype of Dragon-Type monsters representing the four Attributes other than LIGHT and DARK. The four shared the following set of three effects (with a hard one-effect once-per-turn limit):

A Special Summon effect: A Dragon Ruler can Special Summon itself from the hand or graveyard by banishing two monsters with their own Attribute and/or Dragon Type from the hand/GY. It's returned to the hand in the opponent's end phase.
A discard effect: A Dragon Ruler can discard itself and a monster of the same Attribute to the Graveyard to trigger a positive effect.
A banish effect: A Dragon Ruler triggers a Deck search for a Dragon-Type monster with their own Attribute if they're banished.

The Dragon Rulers also had a set of four "baby" support monsters that can Special Summon their corresponding Attribute Dragon Ruler from the Deck by discarding themselves alongside another monster with the same Attribute.

The Dragon Rulers proved to be far too synergistic with their platter of effects. As a result, the entire archetype was put on the Forbidden list a while after release. Currently, only the Dragon Ruler support monsters and the WIND Dragon Ruler are not Forbidden, with the latter being Limited.

Back from the Dead: In keeping with their theme, they can Special Summon themselves from the Graveyard like they can from the hand. Redox's hand discard effect is also this.
Balance of Power: The power unleashed by the Dragon Rulers when they die spreads evenly across the world, giving power to desolated lands. And as the Dragon Rulers grow to adulthood, taking over the energy of the other Attributes again, conquering and absorbing the other Attributes of the land into their bodies, the circulation caused by the Dragon Rulers keeps a balance of power between the Attributes of nature.
Breath Weapon: Blaster can be seen, well, blasting fire from his mouth in some artwork.
The Cameo: Blaster is the star of a Rush Card of all things; Fire Dragon's Heatflash.
Classical Elements Ensemble: They cover FIRE, WATER, WIND and EARTH and support said Attributes, with LIGHT and DARK going completely ignored.
Elemental Embodiment: By absorbing the forces of nature into their bodies, the Dragon Rulers continue to grow into huge dragons as those forces are condensed and stored into their bodies.
He's Back!: "Storm Dragon's Return" depicts Tempest returning from a, well, tempest, to fit with Tempest being the first Dragon Ruler to come off the banlist. The effect of the card itself allows a banished Dragon Ruler to be played again, too.
Reincarnation: The Dragon Rulers grow to a certain size, expanding their regions of power against the power of the other Attributes. They perform a cycle of condensing and purifying their energy inside their bodies. And, when each of them reaches their limit, the Dragon Rulers unleash their power, and their body, which carried that power, reincarnates into the form of a younger Dragon Ruler.

Dream Mirror

Dream Mirror, or Dream Magic Mirror in the OCG, is an archetype of LIGHT and DARK monsters. Their central cards are their Field Spells, the Dream Mirrors of Joy and Terror, which allows their monsters (Ikelos, Phantasos, and Morpheus) to switch betweeen their two versions: their defensively-minded LIGHT counterparts, and their more offensive DARK forms.

Anti-Magic:
- Dream Mirror Oneiromancy is able to negate effects based on what dream mirror is currently active. If both are live then the trap is able to act like a Solemn Judgement without the lifepoint cost, negating monsters and magicall effects alike.
- Once per turn, Oneiros, the Dream Mirror Tormentor is able to shut down any monster effect on the field provided Dream Mirror of Terror is on the field. However it doesn't detroy them meaning it is useless against those that are not once per turn.
Big Friendly Dog: Phantasos, the Dream Mirror Friend, a giant friendly pooch that is able to retrieve other Dream Mirror monsters from the graveyard. In the real world, it is a girl dreamer's pet dog.
Black Knight: Morpheus, the Dream Mirror Black Knight is clad in jet black armor and is also one of the strongest main deck monsters the archetype has access to.
But You Were There, and You, and You: The art of Oneiromancy, Fantasy, and Recap imply that the entire Dream Mirror archetype is the product of a young girl's dream, with the monsters based on people she knows. Morpheus the Black Knight (and perhaps Morpheus the White Knight) seems to be inspired by the boy the young girl is speaking with in the artwork of Recap. According to the Valuable Book lore, both the dog and the boy experienced the same dream.
Death by a Thousand Cuts: Terror's effect inflicts 300 damage to your opponent each time they Special Summon, while you control a DARK monster.
Dreams vs. Nightmares: The general theme of the archetype with the LIGHT attribute members representing pleasant dreams while the DARK members stands for nightmares.
Dude Looks Like a Lady: Neiroy, the Dream Mirror Disciple is a young boy who looks incredibly girly to the point that he could easily mistaken for one. According to the lore, he is a follower of Oneiros who uses the "Dream Mirrors" to lure humans into the world of dreams.
Freeze-Frame Bonus:
- Look closely at the reflections of Ikelos, Phantasos, and Morpheus in the mirrors behind them, and you'll see their counterparts in exactly the same pose as their card form.
- A keen enough eye can see that the castle depicted in both Joy and Terror is the same one, just mirrored and with some minor alterations befitting their respective names.
I Am Your Opponent: Joy's effect prevents your opponent's card effects and attacks from targeting any Dream Mirror monster on your field, save the one with the highest level, while you control a LIGHT monster. This works just dandy for Morpheus, the Dream Mirror White Knight—a LIGHT monster that, when Special Summoned by one of its brethren's effects, can't be destroyed by battle or card effects that turn.
Knight in Shining Armor: Morpheus, the Dream Mirror White Knight is about as a stereotypical a knight as you can get, in contrast to his dark counterpart.
Mirror Self: Natch. Almost every monster has two forms that provide different effects, and can Tribute themselves to Summon each other while their associated Field Spell is on the field. The Main Deck monsters, while they have the same Level and Type as one another, have opposing ATK/DEF and Attributes. According to the Valuable Book lore, they are interchangeable forms that dreamers take on in “Dream Mirror” world, and they experience fantastic stories.
Status Effects: Dream Mirror Phantasms can buff your own monsters by 500 ATK/DEF, or drain enemy monsters by the same amount, depending on whether Joy or Terror, respectively, are in a Field Zone.
Swap Fighter: The entire archetype is based around the players monsters tagging out with their opposing counterpart with the monsters often synergising with each other in various ways. The light based members are usually defensive while the dark ones focus on offense. This swapping mechanic happens because the monsters can shift forms in various parts of the “Dream Mirror” world.

Drytron

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/100415032.jpg

The hopes of the world coalesce into a single star! ...Ritual Summon?

Drytron is an archetype of LIGHT Machine monsters introduced in Deck Build Pack: Genesis Impactors. They are based on stars belonging to the constellation Draco, and focus on supporting Ritual Monsters. They can repeatedly summon themselves from the hand or GY to serve as tributes for Ritual Summons, generating card advantage while doing so, and their archetypal Ritual Spell can summon any Ritual Monster, from the hand or graveyard.

The Effect Monsters are all Level 1 with 2000 ATK and 0 DEF, can't be Normal Summoned/Set, and must be Special Summoned by the effect of a Drytron card. Luckily, they each possess an effect that lets them once per turn Special Summon themselves from the hand or Graveyard by Tributing a Drytron or a Ritual Monster from the hand or the field. Once Summoned this way, each monster will also trigger an advantageous effect. However, this Special Summon effect also prevents Special Summoning monsters the turn it is activated, save those that can't be Normal Summoned/Set. Since Ritual and Extra Deck monsters can't be Normal Summoned/Set, this restriction doesn't affect them.

They have a unique Ritual Spell Card, Meteonis Drytron, which Tributes Machine monsters from the hand or field whose total ATK equal or exceed the ATK of the Ritual Monster being summoned, and can be used to summon any Ritual Monster from the hand or GY. Their boss monsters are the Drytron Meteonis duo of Draconids and Quadrantids, the first-ever Machine-Type Ritual Monsters in the game.

Anti-Magic: Meteonis Quadrantids can't be targeted by the opponent's Spells and Traps, and can, if Ritual Summoned with monsters whose total Levels are 2 or less, also destroy all such cards once per turn.
Assist Character: The Drytrons, similar to the Impcantations, are very effective generic Ritual support cards. Their archetypal Ritual Spell, Meteonis Drytron is incredibly versatile, since it can summon any Ritual Monster, tributes for ATK instead of Levels, and can even recover itself and be immediately used again in a single turn. Powerful Ritual Monsters that were once incredibly difficult to summon due to their high levels become far easier to summon with Meteonis Drytron, with the Level 12 but 2000 ATK Herald of Ultimateness being the biggest example.
Attack! Attack! Attack!: Meteonis Draconids can attack every enemy monster once each if it was Ritual Summoned by Tributing monster(s) with total Level(s) of two or less.
Back from the Dead:
- In addition to Summoning themselves from the hand, the effects of the smaller Drytrons are also able to Summon themselves from the Graveyard. Gamma Eltanin's own effect also lets it bring back another Drytron with 2000 ATK with it.
- Similarly, Meteonis Drytron allows the player to Ritual Summon a monster from the Graveyard as well as the hand. And it can be moved back to the hand at the cost of lowering the ATK of a Drytron monster by 1000 until the end of the opponent's next turn, allowing the player to essentially be able to Ritual Summon their monsters over and over ...so long as as they have the required tributes.
- Meteonis Quadrantids can, when destroyed, Special Summon Drytrons from the graveyard whose total ATK is 4000 (so either two Effect Monsters or one properly-summoned Ritual Monster).
The Battlestar: Drytron Mu-Beta Fafnir. As seen on the Drytron Field Spell, Drytron Fafnir, it's a carrier ship for the Level 1 Drytrons. Mu-Beta's own effect allows monsters attached to it to be used as tributes for a Ritual Summon, thus "deploying" the monsters it's carrying.
Bullet Hell: Meteonis Draconids can attack every monster your opponent controls under the right conditions and is seen firing off numerous orbs of light in Meteor Shower, practically exemplifying this trope as best as a card game can.
Cybernetic Mythical Beast: The Drytrons are Dragon Mechas made out of glittering metal and crystalline materials.
Fusion Dance: The archetype features cross-archetypal support with the Ursarctic archetype in the form of a Fusion Monster, "Ultimate Flagship Ursatron", and a Level 7 Effect Monster "Ultimate Knight Alpha Ursatron". "Ursarctic Polar Star" also features Ursarctic Polaris decked out in Drytron armor.
Humongous Mecha:
- All of them qualify to some extent, but the Meteonis monsters most of all, being huge and heavily armed Gundam-like dragon robots. The artwork for Meteonis Drytron gives Meteonis Draconids some presence.
- Mu-Beta Fafnir is an outright Airborne Aircraft Carrier for several of the Level 1s, which kind of says quite a bit.
Macross Missile Massacre: Meteonis Draconids appears to be doing this in the artwork of Meteor Shower, presumably to the monster whose summon it negates before shuffling back into its owner's deck.
Mechanical Lifeforms: According to the lore, Drytrons are autonomous weapons powered by the stars.
Mechanically Unusual Fighter:
- It was one thing for Nekroz to have the ability to dump monsters from the Extra Deck as the materials for their Ritual Summons, but Meteonis Drytron, currently the only Drytron Ritual Spell, uses the ATK values of the Tributed monsters (which must be Machines) rather than Levels, as it is borderline impossible for the Level 12 Meteonis Drytrons to be Ritual Summoned in their own archetype properly otherwise, and can also Ritual Summon them from the GY. Additionally, this makes it the first Ritual Spell where you can use Xyz and Link Monsters, provided they're Machines.
- Ultimate Flagship Ursatron is technically the only Fusion Monster in the game that uses Field Spells as materials, as Ursarctic Drytron requires the user to banish both Ursarctic Big Dipper and Drytron Fafnir to Special Summon it.
The Merch: The designer for the Drytrons specifically designed the Drytrons with translucent plastic model kit-like parts and admits to wanting to buy Drytron model kits if Konami allows for that to happen.
Mythology Gag:
- Likely one to the manga incarnation of Ryo Marufuji/Zane Truesdale whose deck included LIGHT Machine monsters that, just like the Drytrons, were named after stars from the constellation Draco. Some of the cards he used like Cyber Emergency and Born from Draconis even synergize well with the Drytrons with the former being reprinted in their debut pack and having the same theme in their names.
- The smaller Drytrons are also reminiscent of the Meklord Emperors in that they are all Level 1 Machine monsters that cannot be Normal Summoned or Set in exchange for having higher ATK than the usual for their Level.
  - Adding to that, the stellar theme on top of Meteonis Draconids and Meteonis Quadrantids being LIGHT, dragon-like monsters, as well as having the highest Levels, ATK, and DEF of their monster card types at 12 and 4000/4000 respectively make them quite evocative of Shooting Quasar and Cosmic Blazar.
- As a space-themed LIGHT archetype with a heavy emphasis on dragons and monsters with 2000 ATK, they're also reminiscent of the Photon and Galaxy cards.
Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: This is a Ritual archetype of colossal, crystaline robots modeled after dragons that are also spaceships of varying sorts that are themed after the stars of the Draco Constellation and the meteor showers next to it. Add in the almost divine feeling of them, they are practically an entire Deck of literal Crystal Dragon Mecha Jesus.
No Kill like Overkill: Much like the Cyber Dragons, they can pump themselves up to ludicrous ATK values, helped out in Meteonis Draconids's case by being able to attack several monsters with it's 4000 (minimum) ATK, and both it and Meteonis Quadrantids can destroy cards at a consistent pace to make for an easy board wipe or attack for game.
Our Dragons Are Different: The Drytron are Machine-type robotic dragons just like the Cyber Dragon archetype.
Star Power: The Drytron monsters are based on stars, and is likely the reason they're all LIGHT monsters.
Status Buff: Banishing Eclipse from your Graveyard grants your Drytron monster an extra 2000 ATK during that turn.
Status Effects:
- The archetype takes advantage of their monsters having high ATK by invoking this trope on themselves by having some of their cards lower the ATK of their own monsters for the cost of their effects.
- Fafnir's effect while you control a Drytron allows you to reduce the Level of a monster upon Summon by 1 for each 1000 ATK it has, which can disrupt Synchro and Xyz plays, and possibly additional effects reliant on a monster having a high Level.
Stellar Name: Each of the Level 1 Drytrons is named after a star in the constellation Draco, combining its formal name with the Greek letter that designates it (e.g. Alpha Draconis, formally named Thuban, becomes Drytron Alpha Thuban). Their Xyz monster, Mu-Beta Fafnir, follows this pattern, being named after 42 Draconis, formally named Fafnir, and using Greek numerals (40 = mu, 2 = beta). Their Ritual Monsters, Draconids and Quadrantids, meanwhile, each represent a meteor shower of the same name that largely takes place in Draco's vicinity.
- The archetype's Spell and Trap Cards follows this theme by being named after various celestial phenomenona like meteors and eclipses. The exception is Fafnir, their Field Spell, which is named after the monster in its art, Mu-Beta Fafnir.
Visual Pun: Although the puns only work in Japanese, Alpha Thuban has Sextant-like wings and a Armillary sphere-like core. According to an unofficial translator's note, "The words “sextant” (六分儀, rokubungi) and “armillary sphere” (天球儀, tenkyuugi) both use the character gi “儀”, which is one of the two characters for the word for ritual (儀式, gishiki), adding to the word play of this ritual-based theme."

Dual Avatar

The Dual Avatars, called Dual Sky in the OCG, are LIGHT Warrior monsters introduced in Phantom Rage. Much of their support is geared towards generating Dual Avatar Spirit Tokens to use as fodder for their effects or as material for their Fusion Monsters.

Animal Motifs: Lions. The Spirit Tokens are modeled after lion spirits called komainu, which guard Shinto shrines, and feature heavily in almost every card artwork within the archetype.
Anti-Magic: Both Empowered Fusion monsters display this trope; Kon-Gyo prevents the opponent from activating cards or effects if it battles, and if another friendly Dual Avatar Fusion Monster is on the field, it can also negate any one Spell or Trap activation per turn that targets it. Mi-Gyo, meanwhile, can bounce every enemy Spell and Trap back to the hand once per turn.
Came Back Strong: Return can not only revive a friendly Dual Avatar from the Graveyard, but can also generate a free Spirit Token for it to use if the revived monster was Level 4 or lower.
Mook Maker: Many of their Spells and Traps are able to Summon Spirit Tokens, which can then be used to either Summon the bigger monsters of the archetype, or to be Tributed for their effects.
Power Copying: Compact can banish another archetypal Spell or Trap to inherit its effect.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: The Effect Monsters, Yuhi and Kokoku, and their Fusion evolutions, Ah-Gyo and Un-Gyo, have shades of this. All of them are based off the Kongōrishiki, the guardian duo that protects the Buddha, and the A-un, the Buddhist equivalent of the Alpha and Omega. The duality between the two even extends to their effects:
- Yuhi must destroy another Dual Avatar monster during its controller's turn to activate its effect, while Kokoku's effect is the exact opposite, as it triggers during the opponent's turn, when a Dual Avatar monster is destroyed.
- Ah-Gyo can destroy any Attack Position enemy when it's Special Summoned, and grants physical strength to all friendly Dual Avatar Fusions. Un-Gyo, meanwhile, can protect Dual Avatar Fusions from being destroyed by card effects by destroying another Dual Avatar in their place, and can also negate the effects of an opponent's Extra Deck monster for the rest of the turn.
- Finally, the Empowered Fusions, Kon-Gyo and Mi-Gyo, embody the aggression and protection they respectively share. Kon-Gyo is able to prevent card effects from activating if it attacks, and can return an enemy monster to the hand if it attacks. Mi-Gyo can prevent each friendly Dual Avatar Fusion Monster from being destroyed by battle for the first time each turn, and can also return any enemy Spells and Traps to the hand. Finally, each of them possesses a form of defense that applies if they control at least two Fusions: Kon-Gyo can negate any Spell and Trap that targets it once every turn, and Mi-Gyo can destroy any one enemy monster per turn that activates its effect.
Status Buff: While a Dual Avatar Fusion that used an Effect Monster as material is on the field, Ah-Gyo can buff any Dual Avatar Fusions' ATK/DEF by 300 each.

Duston

They'll be sticking around, whether you like it or not.

Duston is an archetype of Level 1 Fiend-Type monsters with 0 ATK and 1000 DEF (except "Starduston", which has ? ATK and DEF) with the appearance of dust particles. Their play style revolves around using House Duston to Special Summon members of the archetype to either side of the field, ideally Special Summoning ones with negative effects to your opponent's side of the field and ones without negative effects ("White Duston" and "House Duston") to your side of the field. This reflects how dust can spread in real life.

With the release of Starduston, the Dustons utilize their swarming to set up a powerful monster while avoiding any negative effects, as Starduston does not destroy or Tribute monsters when it is Summoned.

Animate Inanimate Object: The Duston are living dust particles.
Call-Back: The "Duston" playstyle is highly reminiscent of the "Ojama" playstyle, with cartoonish low-leveled monsters that clog the opponent's monster zones, and have 0 ATK and 1000 DEF. This itself later gets a call-back in the form of the Ojama Support card Ojama Pajama, which features Dustons in its artwork.
Power Nullifier: As long as Starduston is on the field then the opponent is locked out of Special Summoning and is unable to activate any spell or trap cards, period.
Punny Name: "Starduston"'s name is a multi-layered pun:
- The name "Starduston" describes this monster as a "Duston" monster who is star-shaped and whose body is patterned with a star-filled night sky design.
- The same name also reflects this monster's status as the boss monster of the "Duston" archetype– the "star" of the group (reinforced by the presence of the other 5 "Dustons" in its artwork, seemingly admiring "Starduston", as well as the star-shaped emblem on its forehead).
- The name "Starduston" references star dust, a type of cosmic dust made up of particleized organic matter produced by stars. A spiral formation of stardust can be seen in the center of this monster's body, below its grin.

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