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Crimson Dragon
Crimson Dragon
The embodiment of the Red Star worshiped by the People of the Stars 5000 years ago. After sealing the Jibakushin within the Nazca Lines, its power was divided into 5 separate pieces and infused as Dragon's Birthmarks into the 5 individuals known as Signers. The 5 Dragons who protect the Signers are its servants.
A sixth birthmark later appears as the Crimson Dragon's "heart", and is given to Lua alongside a 6th Signer Dragon, the Life Stream Dragon. At the very end of the series, once Neo Domino City is permanently at peace, the Crimson Dragon takes back the six birthmarks and disappears, its duties having been fulfilled.
- All Your Powers Combined:
- When a Signer is fighting with great determination the Dragon's Birthmarks can unite onto their back, forming the Full Dragon's Birthmark and allowing them to draw Savior Dragon. Godwin later turns this on them when he gets the Dragon Head.
- Again with Shooting Quasar Dragon. It's summoned using all of the Synchro Monsters except Stardust Dragon as Synchro Material (although it is an evolution of Stardust Dragon anyway), its card artwork
◊ features tuning rings the same colors as all the Signer Dragons, and as noted here, it has effects somewhat reminiscent of all the Signer Dragons.
- Because Destiny Says So: The Signers having to come together and face the Dark Signers and Earthbound Gods every 5000 years.
- Chekhov's Gun: Life Stream Dragon, appearing to Lua as the final Signer Dragon over two years after it initially cameoed in the second ED, Cross Game, and again in Luca's vision in Episode 30.
- Chekhov's Skill: Doubles with Chekhov's Gun above. At first, Lua's Life Stream Dragon being a Synchro Tuner monster and having the effect to manipulate the levels of other monsters on the field (in the anime) seems fairly random and a waste. However, after Lua lends it to Yusei for the final battle with Z-One, Yusei tunes it to all the other Signer Dragons (minus Stardust Dragon) to Synchro Summon Shooting Quasar Dragon.
- Deus ex Machina: Savior Dragon and the Synchro Monsters it summons, Savior Star Dragon and Savior Demons' Dragon. Aside from the two Synchro monsters being incredibly powerful (although the real life card game Nerfs them to a degree), Savior Dragon only appears after the Crimson Dragon adds it on top a Signer (in this case Yusei and Jack's) decks. This means that Yusei and Jack are battling using a card not even in their decks.
- Awesome, but Impractical: The Savior Dragons revert back to their original forms at the end of the turn, making them unfavorable in the actual card game. This comes up In-Universe where Yusei is aware that he cannot use Savior Star Dragon because Placido's setup makes it useless and would cause Stardust to get absorbed.
- Elemental Powers: The Signer Dragons and their attributes.
- Blow You Away: Yusei's Stardust Dragon
- Casting a Shadow: Jack's Red Demons' Dragon, and Crow's Blackfeather Dragon.
- Dishing Out Dirt: Lua's Life Stream Dragon
- Light 'em Up: Luca's Ancient Fairy Dragon
- Playing with Fire: Aki's Black Rose Dragon
- Making a Splash: The only attribute not represented by a Signer Dragon.
- Everything's Better with Sparkles: The Savior Dragons, again.
- Evil Counterpart: The manga versions of Ancient Fairy and Power Tool look to be these. The Crimson Dragon gains one in Ultimaya Tzolkin.
- Foreshadowing: The Crimson Dragon showed the Signers a vision of Satellite being engulfed by the flames of the Spider Geoglyph.
- God: The Yu-Gi-Oh version of Quetzalcoatl to be precise. Its level of power is shown to be even stronger than the gods of the previous Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise, especially in the 10th anniversary movie, where the Crimson Dragon is the being that allows Yusei to travel back to Judai and Yugi's time periods.
- Jesus Taboo: Because of this, the 'Savior' in the Savior Dragons is replaced with 'Majestic' in the TCG and in the English dub, and Savior Demons' Dragon being renamed Majestic Red Dragon. Also a lesser example, "Red Demons' Dragon" being re-named "Red Dragon Archfiend" like other Archfiend monsters.
- Light Is Good: The Crimson Dragon card is LIGHT attribute and is a force of good, in contrast to the DARK and malevolent Ultimaya Tzolkin.
- The Magic Goes Away: The birthmarks, at the very end of the series. The Crimson Dragon itself also leaves, its duties having been fulfilled.
- Mayincatec: The Crimson Devil's mini-arc states that the Crimson Dragon is actually Quetzalcoatl.
- Our Dragons Are Different: It's a gigantic red dragon that appears to be made of fire or light.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: When Rex Godwin grafts the head birthmark onto himself with the intent of abusing its powers, the Crimson Dragon simply takes it away from him without the protagonists having to do a thing.
Earthbound Gods/Jibakushin (Earthbound Immortals)
Earthbound Gods/Jibakushin (Earthbound Immortals)
Embodiments of evil sealed within the Nazca Lines by the Crimson Dragon and its servants. They were unleashed from the Underworld 17 years ago, after the Zero Reverse incident blew a hole between this world and theirs. They are the driving force behind the Dark Signers, and are as follows; Uru (Spider), Cusillu (Monkey), Ccapac Apu (Giant), Aslla piscu (Hummingbird), Ccarayhua (Lizard), Chacu Challhua (Killer Whale) and lastly Wiraqocha Rasca (Condor). Much like the 5 Dragons serve the Crimson Dragon, they serve the King of the Underworld (Meikai No Oh). There is another 'lost' Earthbound God, Scar-Red Nova, which was personally sealed by the Crimson Dragon 5000 years before the others, and was too violent for the Dark Signers to use. Its power was sealed by Jack to create Scar-Red Nova Dragon.
- Achilles' Heel: Despite being immune to monster attacks, spell and trap cards, they have three:
- They're completely powerless without a Field Spell in play. Of course, when summoned in a Turbo Duel (as four of them were), this isn't an issue.
- While they can't be attacked, monster effects work on them just fine.
- They're immune to their opponent's spell and trap cards, but not their controllers. Carly exploits it for her own Earthbound Immortal and Crow exploits this to beat Bommer's.
- Animal Motifs: Most of them are based on animals, with the exception of Ccapac Apu.
- Uru is based on a spider.
- Aslla piscu vaguely resembles a hummingbird.
- Cusillu possesses the appearance of a monkey.
- Ccarayhua moderately resembles a reptile.
- Chacu Challhua looks like an orca.
- Wiraqocha Rasca is modeled after a condor.
- Attack of the 50-Foot Whatever: They are absurdly large. Ccarayhua is about three-quarters to two-thirds the height of the Arcadia building.
- Awesome, but Impractical:
- Wiraqocha Rasca. It has 100 ATK and DEF and its effect is that when it's Normal Summoned, you can return up to three cards you control to your deck to have your opponent discard that many random cards from their hand and increase Wiraqocha Rasca's ATK by 1000 for each card discarded this way. Powerful, but it requires the player to have enough cards for both the Tribute Summoning and the effect and only works when Wiraqocha Rasca is Normal Summoned, so you can't use if you Special Summon Wiraqocha Rasca.
- Cusillu's unique effect is hard to use as well since it requires it to be destroyed by battle and for you to have another monster on the field. Since the Immortals cannot be targeted for an attack, you would have to let Cusillu attack a stronger monster on purpose just to use its effect when you could keep Cusillu on the field and keep attacking directly. Another way for it to happen would be for your opponent to negate Cusillu's effect and then attack it but that would require them letting you keep a monster on the field or using effects to make sure you still have a monster by the time Cusillu is destroyed.
- Beat Still, My Heart: When Earthbound Gods are summoned, a disembodied heart appears and starts beating as it absorbs people's souls.
- Breath Weapon: Wiraqocha Rasca, and the King of the Underworld.
- Cherry Tapping: Wiraqocha Rosca's 1 ATK, meant to compliment its key anime effect.
- Dark Is Evil: Kaiju sized embodiments of evil who are pitch black aside from the colored lines on them.
- Demonic Possession: They will do this if they are not happy with their Dark Signer.
- Early-Bird Cameo: They are first seen in episode 30 covered by a dark fog. Despite this you can make out which is which by their colored highlights. Also the condor geoglyph can be seen as well.
- Eldritch Abomination: All of them are ginormous embodiments of evil that eat souls en masse just by being summoned. They also have effects that bend numerous rules of the game to make themselves nearly unassailable.
- Evil Is Bigger: These things are Kaiju-sized in the anime and dwarf all of the Signer Dragons.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: Dark Signers cut deals with Earthbound Gods upon death for whatever reason. If they start to have any second thoughts the Earthbound Gods will pull a Villain Override on them. Once a deal is made they will, willingly or not, continue to serve the Earthbound Gods until death.
- Generic Doomsday Villain: They don't get any dialogue. They exist as embodiments of evil that must be defeated. Luckily the Dark Signers get enough characterization to make up for it.
- Giant Eye of Doom: Ccarayhua, to the point of obscuring an entire full-floor window.
- Giant Flyer: Aslla piscu and Wiraqocha Rasca.
- Giant Spider: Uru.
- God of Evil: They are called Earthbound Gods in the Japanese variation.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The King of the Underworld is built up to be this until it is revealed that Rex Goodwin was using it the whole time.
- HP to One: Wiraqocha Rasca's anime effect.
- Kaiju: They're an interesting variation - they cause plenty of destruction, but it's their geoglyphs rather than the monsters themselves most of the time.
- Knight of Cerebus: Any time an Earthbound God is summoned in a duel it's sign things will get bad. Unlike monsters made real in duels from the previous shows, being on the wrong end of an attack by Earthbound God will actually kill you. If someone tries to reason with a Dark Signer, the Earthbound Gods will pull a Villain Override in order to make them keep fighting.
- Made of Evil: According to Bruno, they were manifested from the evil in people's hearts.
- Mayincatec: They are all based on Nazca Lines.
- Meaningful Name: Not only are their status as "Earthbound Gods/Immortals" references to their imprisonment in the Nazca Lines by the Crimson Dragon, but their individual names have rough definitions in the Quechua languagenote (e.g. "Ccapac Apu" is derived from the Quechua words "Qhapaq", which can mean "King" or "mighty", and "Apu", powerful mountain spirits in Inca mythology).
- A Million Is a Statistic: Earthbound Gods' sacrifices require the souls of other people.
- Noble Bird of Prey: Wiraqocha Rasca, particularly as it's the most powerful of the seven.
- Oh, Crap!: Prominent when they are summoned.
- Olympus Mons: They're utterly enormous monsters, in case you haven't figured it out yet.
- Our Dragons Are Different: The King of the Underworld, which appears as an Evil Counterpart to Life Stream Dragon.
It represents Death, while Life Stream represents Life. - Our Giants Are Bigger: Ccapac Apu is a giant. Though it's not any bigger than the other Earthbound Gods.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: Old Momentum being the can-opener and the Nazca Lines, of all things, being the can.
- Spell My Name With An S: No, that's not a typo, Aslla piscu really is spelt with a lowercase "p".
- Taking You with Me: In a flashback which Luca experiences as a dream, when the Earthbound Gods are destroyed by the Signer Dragons, the disembodied head of Uru uses its web strands to drag Ancient Fairy Dragon into the Nazca Lines causing her to be sealed alongside the Earthbound Gods.
- There Is No Kill Like Overkill: Boy howdy. Firstly, when they debuted they were the biggest monsters in the franchise bar the Great Leviathan. Then there's their effects. Immunity to Spells and Traps are the norm for boss monsters in the franchise, but immunity to attacks and being able to flat-out direct attack is something else. Let's not even start around the brutal effect of Aslla piscu, which not only nukes the field, but also burns the opponent.
Machine Emperors/Kikoutei (Meklord Emperors}
Machine Emperors/Kikoutei (Meklord Emperors)
A series of monsters used by the Three Emperors of Yliaster. They are: Machine Emperor Wisel, owned by Placido; Machine Emperor Skiel, owned by Lucciano; and Machine Emperor Granel, owned by Jose. Arriving on Earth one at a time via stone tablets, they have the ability to absorb Synchro monsters - and since most people in the series use them, this is a bit of a problem for anyone facing them. There is a fourth Machine Emperor, Aporia's, called Machine Divine Emperor Machinicle Infinity Cubic. Related are the three Machine Imperial Soldiers and Machine Emperor Dragon Asterisk. During the WRGP final, it is shown that an army of Machine Emperors attacked humanity at the height of its development, before Momentum went out of control and destroyed the world.
- Anti-Magic: Their deck style is against the use of Synchro monsters, culminating in their signature emperors. Although it's less "killer" and more like "absorb them into their monsters". The first time Yusei encounters them, he has nightmares about Wisel until gaining Accel Synchro, which basically teleports them before they can be snagged. Of course, Granel and Machinicle can counteract that too.
- Wisel itself can negate Spell effects.
- The Assimilator: All of them can absorb Synchro monsters.
- Cognizant Limbs: Each Meklord Emperor card only represents the machine's central core, with its limbs, base, and head all represented by separate monsters that can be destroyed separately.
- Combining Mecha: Each one is made up of 5 separate components with effects that support one another, and can be replaced or upgraded to make the Kikoutei more powerful, though only Placido used parts from another Emperor on his own.
- Cyber Cyclops: While some of them are more questionable cases, Granel & Infinity Cubic are definitely this.
- The Dreaded: Before Yusei got Shooting Star Dragon, he was terrified of them for their ability.
- E = MC Hammer: The fourth Emperor is called Infinity Cubic. How one cubes infinity is anyone's guess.
- Everything's Better with Sparkles: Wisel has a pair of boosters on its upper legs that emit a trail of sparkles.
- Feathered Fiend: Skiel, which vaguely resembles some sort of winged creature.
- Gaia's Vengeance: They were created by Momentum to eliminate the cause of the system's instability, which was due to the human race becoming greedy, apathetic, and conceited with progress.
- Greater-Scope Villain: Ultimately, they can be considered this for 5Ds as a whole, being responsible for the cataclysmic event that started Z-One's whole scheme.
- Humongous Mecha:
- While Machine Emperors Wisel and Skiel aren't that humongous, Jose's Emperor, Granel, certainly is.
- And then there's the gigantic monstrosity that is Machinicle Infinity Cubic. Look at its size compared to Machine Imperial Soldier Skiel Ein◊.
- Killer Robot: They effectively wiped out humanity in the Bad Future.
- Knight of Cerebus: All of the Machine Emperors are handled incredibly seriously, what with being The Dreaded and their terrifying presence. Granel in particular deserves special mention thanks to being directly responsible for two of the biggest despairs in Aporia's past, and partially responsible for the third.
- Manof Kryptonite: Designed to kill Synchro Monsters.
- Meaningful Name:
- Infinity Cubic attacks by shooting a stream of small energy cubes. Its attack is also called "The Cube of Despair".
- Machine Emperor Dragon Asterisk has an asterisk on its head.
- Mechanical Monster: Good lord, yes.
- Numerological Motif: They all have an infinity sign on their chest.
- Odd Name Out: Infinity Cubic and Asterisk.
- Our Dragons Are Different: Asterisk looks more like an eastern dragon then the western dragons most dragon-type monster card resemble. Then again, it's a machine-type, not a dragon-type.
- Plot-Based Photograph Obfuscation: All of them appear in the opening credits, but until they have actually appeared in the show, they are mostly hidden by shadow.
- Shout-Out: The tablets that they arrive in are similar to the monolith from 2001: A Space Odyssey. Not to mention the Ka Tablets from the original show.
- You Will Not Evade Me: Unlike Wisel and Skiel, Jose's Granel has the ability to prevent Synchros that it attacks from removing themselves from the field, as Jack finds out rather painfully. Adding more is that it can drag out the Synchro from the Graveyard into its body.
Duel Dragons
Duel Dragons
A series of Dragon Synchro Monsters that appear only in the manga. Six of them are dark versions of the Signer Dragons — in fact, the Signer Dragons appear in the manga in alternate forms as Duel Dragons. They were used in ancient Turbo Duel rituals to seal darkness, or so Rex Godwin claims. In actuality they were worshippers of the Ultimate God, Ultimaya Tzolkin, the manga's equivalent to the Crimson Dragon. Rex Godwin intends to use the Duel Dragons to revive the God and claim its power.- Adapted Out: Oddly enough, there never was a Duel Dragon counterpart to Life Stream Dragon.
- Adaptational Villainy: In the anime, the Signer Dragons and the Crimson Dragon are benevolent. In the manga, the Duel Dragons are tools of evil and the Crimson Dragon is re-imagined as Ultimaya Tzolkin, the Greater-Scope Villain of the manga.
- Big Creepy-Crawlies: Beelze.
- Black Eyes of Crazy: When a Duelist is completely controlled by them.
- Casting a Shadow: All of them except Stardust, Black Rose, and Dragoascension.
- Dark Is Evil: Even the Signer Dragon counterparts look much darker and more ominous compared to the anime, with the exceptions of Stardust, Dragoascension, and Black Rose.
- Dark Is Not Evil: Blackfeather Darkrage Dragon after Crow obtains it.
- Demonic Possession: They can do this to the Duelists that use them.
- Drunk on the Dark Side: Tends to happen to those possessed by their Duel Dragon.
- Dub Name Change: All of the Duel Dragons names have been changed in the English manga and TCG:
- Machine Dragon - Power Tool > Power Tool Mecha Dragon
- Fairy Dragon - Ancient > Ancient Pixie Dragon
- Burning Demon Dragon - Red Demon > Hot Red Dragon Archfiend
- Flashing Karat Dragon - Stardust > Stardust Spark Dragon
- Demon King Dragon - Beezle > Beelze of the Diabolic Dragons
- Purgatory Dragon - Ogre Dragoon > Void Ogre Dragon
- Mysterious Winged Dragon - Black Feather > Blackfeather Darkrage Dragon
- Underworld Dragon Dragonecro > Dragonecro Nethersoul Dragon
- Dragoascension, the Supreme Dragon of the Heavens > Ascension Sky Dragon
- Moon Flower Dragon - Black Rose > Black Rose Moonlight Dragon
- Inconsistent Dub: Between Volumes 3 and 4, Power Tool has gone from Power Tool Mecha Dragon to Machine Dragon Power Tool, and Red Demon from Enma Dragon Red Demon to Jeweled Red Dragon Archfiend.
- Evil Counterpart: Meta-wise, they are this to the Signer Dragons, as plot-important Synchro Dragons. But where the Signer Dragons are good, the Duel Dragons are evil.
- Expy: Six of the Duel Dragons shown look exactly like the Signer Dragons, but with strange markings on their bodies. They also play a similar role to the Signer Dragons.
- Stardust is revealed to be a Synchro Tuner monster just like Life Stream Dragon.
- Stardust Sifr in appearance is very similar to Shooting Star Dragon though it has six wings instead of two. Also the way it is summoned is very similar to Shooting Quaser Dragon.
- Light Is Good: Stardust Spark and Moonlight Dragon Black Rose.
- Light Is Not Good: Dragoascension.
- Person of Mass Destruction: Red Demon can destroy every single other Attack Position Monster in play with just its effect.
- Shout-Out: Dragoascension has Osiris the Sky Dragon's signature effect.
- Super Mode: Demon King Super Dragon - Beelzeus for Beelze, Dragococytus the Impure Underworld Dragon for Dragonecro, Holy Spark Dragon God - Stardust Sifr and Stardust Chronicle Spark Dragon for Stardust and Burning Demon Dragon - Red Demon Abyss, Burning Demon Dragon - Red Demon Belial, and Burning Demon Dragon King - Red Demon Calamity for Red Demon.
Other
Other
- Maniac Monkeys: Zeman.
- Older Than They Look: Torunka due to the Minus Curse de-aging him. He's actually the Dark Sage monster.
