Egyptian God cards

The Egyptian God cards or the Three Phantom Gods (三幻神) in Japan, are a series of powerful monster cards in Yu-Gi-Oh! that serve as a focal point in the series' manga, the second series anime, and video games based on the anime and manga. The cards have ties to the truthful history of Ancient Egypt within the series and become central plot devices. The real versions of the cards have become widely hunted collector's items, and are not legally playable in any sort of official tournament. However, legal versions of Obelisk and Ra have been released. The cards consist of Obelisk the Tormentor (オベリスクの巨神兵), Slifer the Sky Dragon (オシリスの天空竜) and The Winged Dragon of Ra (ラーの翼神竜) the Atem/Yami the Pharaoh''. As such, Marik Ishtar, the main antagonist of the Battle City arc, seeks possession of the cards in addition to the Millennium Puzzle in an attempt to take possession of the Pharaoh's long lost power. He manages to acquire the Winged Dragon of Ra and Slifer the Sky Dragon, but his sister Ishizu manages to safeguard the final card, Obelisk the Tormentor

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

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

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

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

The God cards appear in the movie Yu-Gi-Oh! The Movie: Pyramid of Light which occurs after Battle City and in the Paradise acrs, where the film villain Anubis uses the titular item, much like the Millennium Puzzle in an attempt to destroy the God cards and revive the power of Dark using Kaiba's Blue-Eyes White Dragon. However, the film is not considered canon to the anime or manga. The God cards are featured prominently in the video games Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards and Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction, both of which are alternate universe games based on the second season of the anime.

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

Anime God cards
The God Cards are unaffected by any Spell cards, Trap cards, or monster effects, and they are immune to Control Switch, Removal, and Destroying effects. If the God cards are in one's hand, Deck or Graveyard, Spells, Traps and Monster Effects work as normal. The God Cards also have an unofficial effect that states only someone with strong ties to Ancient Egypt, like Seto Kaiba, or a connection to a Millennium Item, like Yugi Mutou, can wield them. Anyone else is punished with death or near-fatal injury, but this is only seen happening on limited occasions. The god cards are coloured by their appearance, not the traditional colouring by type.

Slifer the Sky Dragon
Slifer the Sky Dragon (The Saint Dragon, God of Osiris in Japanese) is the second God card revealed in the anime. It was one of the two God cards owned by Marik, who gives it to one of his mind slaves, Strings, in an attempt to defeat Yugi. Yugi however defeats Strings and claims Slifer as his prize. Although reluctant to use due to its vast power, Yugi places it in his deck during the finals of the tournament, in order to battle against both Seto Kaiba's Egyptian god card Obelisk The Tormentor and later Marik Ishtar's Winged Dragon of Ra. This English dub adaptation of the card has the name "Slifer the Sky Dragon". The original name of the card in Japan is "Osiris", which is also the name of the Egyptian God of Death and Rebirth.

Slifer originally has zero attack and defense points, but it's effect allows it to gain 1,000 attack points for every card in the player's hand. In the video games, it can destroy any monster with 2,000 or less defense points if it is special summoned; in the anime, it decreases the defense of a special summoned monster by 2,000, and if its defense is decreased to zero, the monster is destroyed.

Slifer the Sky Dragon's English name comes from the 4Kids Entertainment executive producer, Roger Slifer.

Obelisk the Tormentor
Obelisk the Tormentor is the first god card revealed in the anime. It was given to Seto Kaiba by Ishizu Ishtar, who gave it to him for the Battle City Tournament, but expected the card back. Kaiba first used the card to defeat a robot controlling his Blue Eyes Ultimate Dragon, and used it several other times throughout the tournament. However, during the finals, Yugi won the card from Kaiba.

Obelisk originally has 4,000 attack and defense points. It's effect allows the player to sacrifice two monsters to destroy all your opponent's monsters (in the anime, it gains infinite attack points).

The Winged Dragon of Ra
The Winged Dragon of Ra is the third Egyptian god card revealed in the anime. It is one of the two and, after Strings was defeated, the only remaining god card owned by Marik Ishtar. It was first played by Yami Marik in a Shadow Game against Yami Bakaru and Marik's spirit, though the latter two lost. The card was later given to Yugi after he won the Battle City Tournament, giving him control of all three Egyptian god cards.

Ra originally has an unspecified amount of attack points; this is because his effect gives him attack points equal to the combined attack of the monsters used to tribute summon it. It can also gain attack points by giving up life points until the player has 100 left (in the anime, the player gives up all but one life point to power up Ra; if the player uses "De-Fusion", the player's life points are restored). You can also pay 1,000 life points to destroy one monster on your opponent's side of the field. In the anime, the controller of Ra can attack any monster their opponent controls, and afterward attack their life points directly.

Ra is also the name of the Egyptian god of the sun.

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

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

A legal version of Obelisk was released in December 2009 in the January 2010 edition of United States Shonen Jump, which displayed alternate artwork signed by Kazuki Takahashi. This card is an effect monster card and is allowed in official tournaments.

Also the December 2010 issue of Shonen Jump contained a special edition of the Winged Dragon of Ra. Like the tournament-legal version of Obelisk the Tormentor, this card is an effect monster card, and displays alternate artwork signed by Kazuki Takahashi.

It is unknown at this time whether or not a tournament-legal version of Slifer the Sky Dragon will be released, but it is not likely that Konami would re-release the first two without the third.

On October 5, 2010, Konami released Yu-Gi-Oh! Legendary Collection. It comes with the 3 Egyptian god cards (Ultra Rare), Blue-Eyes White Dragon (Ultra Rare), Dark Magician (Ultra Rare), Red-Eyes B. Dragon (Ultra Rare), and 6 of the earliest booster packs (Metal Raiders, Pharaohs Servant, Legend of Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Spell Ruler, Dark Crisis, and Invasion of Chaos) in a God Card themed binder.

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