Sacred Beast cards



The Sacred Beasts (三幻魔) are three monsters in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime, which were later adapted into cards in the Yu-Gi-Oh! Trading Card Game. The Sacred Beasts first appeared in the card game in Shadow of Infinity and were reprinted in the 2006 Collector Tin's lineup as promotional cards. The Beasts act as the series' equivalent of the Egyptian God cards and as such are portrayed as immensely powerful and dangerous in the wrong hands. They are considered among the strongest Duel Monsters in the anime, as well as being able to absorb the energy of other cards and destroy them. Unlike the God Cards, they may be legally played in a duel in the real card game. The Sacred Beasts are:

Uria, Lord of Searing Flames (神炎皇ウリア) Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder (降雷皇ハモン) Raviel, Lord of Phantasms (幻魔皇ラビエル)

Design
The designs of the Sacred Beasts were overseen by Kenichi Hara. Each of them resembles one of the three Egyptian God Cards; Uria finds a counterpart in Slifer the Sky Dragon, Hamon in The Winged Dragon of Ra, and Raviel in Obelisk the Tormentor. Unlike the God Cards, however, they possess certain visual cues that make them distinctly "evil", unlike their predecessors, such as more pronounced claws and skeletal features.

The Sacred Beasts are named after angels in Judeo-Christianity. Uria's name is an alternate spelling of the name of Uriah. Hamon's name originates from the Book of Enoch, and Raviel's name is an alternate spelling of the name of Raziel.

Anime History
In ''Yu-Gi-Oh! GX'', the Sacred Beasts are legendary creatures whose cards were sealed by Kagemaru underneath Duel Academy behind the Spirit Gate, which requires seven Spirit Keys to open. Should they ever be set free from their stronghold, chaos and darkness will envelop the world, destroying everything. They were believed to have been created as a means of bringing about a balance of power between the Egyptian God Cards.

During the first season, a group known as the Shadow Riders seeks to acquire the Spirit Keys and revive the Sacred Beasts. In order to open the gate, a strong dueling presence is required; if the keys are stolen and placed in the gate, for example, nothing will occur. To meet the challenge of the Shadow Riders, seven of Duel Academy's finest duelists were selected, and although the Shadow Riders were defeated, Kagemaru managed to awaken the Sacred Beasts regardless. In exchange for freeing them from imprisonment, the Sacred Beasts slowly returned Kagemaru to a youthful state, empowering him with the energy sapped from Duel Monster spirits, but Jaden Yuki's interference resulted in the man's downfall. They were thus locked away once more.

After Duel Academy is transported to an alternate dimension in the third season, a possessed Marcel retrieves the Sacred Beasts and adds them to his deck, revealing the beasts' combined form: Armitael, Phantasm of Chaos. After Marcel is defeated, the spirit of Yubel possessing him takes up host in Jesse Andersen and adds Armitael and the other beasts to his deck.

Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder
Hamon is the weakest of the Sacred Beasts and the dark counterpart of the Winged Dragon of Ra. Unlike Ra, a dragon, Hamon is clearly skeletal. Hamon has an ATK and DEF of 4000 and is summoned by Tributing three Continuous Spell cards. Hamon does 1000 damage to the opponent whenever it destroys a monster. It also prevents the opponent from attacking any monster besides itself while in defense position.

Uria, Lord of Searing Flames
Uria is the second-strongest Beast and the dark counterpart of Slifer the Sky Dragon. Uria's jaws and wings are designed with a more ferocious appearance than Slifer's, and unlike Slifer, whose claws and wings are separate, Uria's are connected. Uria is summoned by Tributing three Continuous Trap cards and has 1000 ATK points times the number of Continuous Trap cards in the Graveyard. Uria can also destroy one face-down Spell or Trap on the opponent's side of the field per turn, and the effects of other Spells or Traps cannot be activated to stop this ability.

Raviel, Lord of Phantasms
Raviel is the strongest Sacred Beast and the dark counterpart of Obelisk the Tormentor. Raviel is blue and purple in coloring while Obelisk is merely blue, and it also has more pronounced skeletal features and wings, as well as hooked claws. Raviel has 4000 ATK and DEF and is summoned by Tributing 3 Fiend-type monsters. It can summon a "Phantasm Token" whenever the opponent summons a monster, and can absorb the ATK of other monsters by Tributing them.

Armitael, Phantasm of Chaos
Although the Egyptian God cards have a combined form, The Creator of Light - Horakhty, the design of Armitael is completely different. While Horakhty is clearly humanoid in appearance, Armitael is instead a literal combination of the Sacred Beasts, possessing features from all of them, such as Hamon's wings with Uria's claws, Raviel's head, Uria's head as an arm, etc. Armitael original ATK of 0 can be increased to 10,000 once per turn. In addition, in the anime a player can give control of Artitael to the opponent for a turn in order to remove all of their monsters from play.