#Supreme King Z ARC

[shitpostingkats]

*SHAKES YOU AGGRESSIVELY*

TELL ME ABOUT YOUR “Zarc is an incarnation of The Supreme King” THEORY I NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THIS YOU HAVE GOT ME HOOKED I AM OBSESSED WITH THESE FIRE TAKES YOU ARE SPITTING OP

Jaden and Yuya are now my favorite dynamic of all time, and now that I’m being shown the similarities I’m wondering if it’s really just a coincidence GX and Arc-V are my absolute favorites out of all the Yugioh series this is insane 👀

Hehe. Gladly <3

(Uh. This got long so it's going beneath the cut for the sake of people's dashboards)

Well, first off, there's just a lot of similarities between Zarc (the original Zarc, before he split into the Yu-bois) and Jaden. Both can talk to duel spirits, both start out chipper and are driven to the edge by grief, both split into various personas/people (Jaden with himself and the supreme king, Zarc obviously into the Yu-bois), both fuse with their ace monster(s), and both carry the title of "Supreme King". Most interesting, to me at least, is how both shape a lot of their identities around what they think people want from them.

Zarc was content to be an amazing duelist, but felt pressured to put on a good show, to be more brutal. Jaden, more subtly, constructs most of his personality off being easygoing, chill, and carefree, because he internalized that his emotions are dangerous, and people would rather deal with happy Jaden than the emotional disregulation mess that he actually is.

And both of them, when they get overwhelmed, adopt a mentality of "Well, the world might as well burn with me."

Jaden, rather than feel his grief, locks off his own trauma behind a brick wall and goes on smiling. Yuya, rather than deal with his dads disappearance, does the same.

I'd also like it noted that supreme king Jaden and supreme king Yuya have yellow eyes.

And some teal/orange eye asymmetry

Honestly, even dragon form Yuya and the Supreme Kings armor have similar silhouettes.

Mostly its in the spikes on the shoulders and elbows, and the fact that Zarc Yuya forms a weird chestplate (and that this is the same art team and visual style)

Another thing I get hung up on is that both Jaden and Yuri have super poly. In GX, Jaden had to go through an entire arc of misery to get that card, and Yuri just? Has it?

So my little headcanon, is that in the original timeline, before the dimensions were split, Zarc had the spirit of The Supreme King, able to command duel monsters and wield The Gentle Dark. Unfortunately for everyone, he got a teensy bit traumatized before he could enact his destiny of defeating The Light Of Destruction. Using his powers, he fused with his dragons, nearly destroyed the world, etc, etc. When he split, the Supreme King couldn't just split into four the same way the rest of his soul could, and so while the dimensions split, the past was rewritten to attach the power to a different soul, with a different guardian to boot. Similar to how the timeline got all borked to set everything back to a late nineties world of duel monsters.

Which would make Yuya 1/4 of an alternate universe version of Jaden. And I think there's a lot of fun to be had with that idea :)

[bphantom01]

Y'ALL REJOICE FOR ZARCRAY IS F*CKING CANON

Like, REEEEEEEEE its name is literally ARC-RAY like BRO

Ppl who only play the game complain abt the effects whilst arc v fans just enjoy.

BTW THIS ALSO MEANS ZARC IS REDEEMED AAAAAAHHHHH

[bloomboxygo]

I still remember when the new Supreme King support which included Arcray Dragon and Exceed the Pendulum focused on kinda having, in terms of references, Ray being an anchor for Yuya, previously Z-ARC, with how her link cards work well with the redeemed Supreme Kings.

And now, the Melodious Pendulums work very well with RAY!

The Melodious Cards are steadily being used as a LIGHT Pendulum engine to easily make Beyond and go further, leading into great combos that support the redeemed Supreme King cards this way.

And a Pendulum variation also got a 2nd place in the OCG, of all things! (small tourney but still)

It's hard to see from here, but it's the top right build and it also includes Solfachords!

Heh... First Ray being Yuya's companion in-game, and now Yuzu joined in...

This became... Right all of a sudden.

[saint-of-ossaville]

(TRANS)Dimensional DRAGons

[42wv]

SUPREME Drip Z-ARC

[yugiohcardsdaily]

Supreme King Z-ARC - Synchro Universe

"Pendulum Effect: You can Tribute 1 'Supreme King Dragon' or 'Supreme King Gate' Pendulum Monster; Special Summon this card. You can only use this effect of 'Supreme King Z-ARC - Synchro Universe' once per turn.

Monster Effect: 1 Tuner + 1+ non-Tuner DARK Pendulum Monsters This card's name becomes 'Supreme King Z-ARC' while on field. After damage calculation, if this card destroyed an opponent's monster by battle, OR when this card inflicts battle damage to your opponent: You can Special Summon up to 2 'Supreme King Dragon' monsters from your Deck, Extra Deck, and/or GY in Defense Position. If this card in the Monster Zone is destroyed by battle or card effect: You can place this card in your Pendulum Zone."

[pinkprimrose05]

"Don't talk to me or my son ever again"

[blastthechaos]

Honestly as bad as Zarc's dub voice is and the memetic "What?" I do like Zarc's dub dialogues, the one-liners, the trash talk, the comebacks, the jokes, the sheer confidence and "I'm the boss" energy he commands is amazing, definitely what I expected from him.

[omarwolaeth]

Mid-way through designing a fan monster for AU reasons, and I end up realising that the yuboys die due to Zarc-related complications in the exact order needed for the process to create a philosopher's stone (assuming you see Yuuri and Yuuya dying to one another simultaneously)

Literally Zarc's posthumous magnum opus that revives him in the end. what the hell

[luna-the-duel-chronologist]

Yu-Gi-Oh News Report 3/27/23

Good morning, Duelists! It’s me, Luna, the Duel Reporter, with today’s Yu-Gi-Oh OCG/TCG news! The next set name has been revealed as “Age of Overlord”!

It’s set to drop in Japan on July 22, 23.

As always, expect new cards and legacy support.

So, I’d like to try and figure out what archetype is going to be the cover card. Only two archetypes stand out to me as obvious “Overlords”, being Zarc’s “Supreme King” deck from Yu-Gi-Oh ARC-V or Supreme King Judai’s “Evil HERO” deck from Yu-Gi-Oh GX.

I feel like Evil HERO support is kinda inevitable with how newer HERO support feels more nostalgia geared. Last year had Power of the Elements, bring in a whole slew of Neos support and even a new Neos that fuses with a “Flame Wingman”, and Flame Wingman is getting a retrain soon as “Elemental HERO Flame Wingman - Infernal Rage”.

On the other hand, I would adore to see new Zarc support, despite being a badass boss monster, Supreme King Z-ARC is incredibly hard to bring out and not just be a beat stick. One of my least favorite schticks with anime decks is having awesome boss monsters and no way to summon them, or just not having much of a deck in general. So, Supreme Kings getting new support would be neat. Highly unlikely to happen, as are many things in the face of HEROs, but, it is what it is.

Honestly, I wouldn’t mind it if both these archetypes got support. I love it when old decks get new cards. I think the more ways to play a deck in a viable way in the modern format, the better. Yu-Gi-Oh is such a great game, it’s a shame that it feels like a lot of archetypes get left in the dust.

Who knows, maybe Konami will make new Gimmick Puppet support in a response to Branded players running Gimmick Puppet Nightmare to create a Summon Lock?

Source: https://ygorganization.com/haohohohoh/

[magpiejay1234]

https://yu-gi-oh.jp/news_detail.php?page=details&&id=1597

Transcription:

https://yugioh-starlight.com/archives/57538048.html

Cover archetype of Age of Overlord features new LIGHT Z-ARC support, including:

**A retrain of Astrograph Sorcerer, called Supreme King Gate Magician, or Magician of Supreme King Gate.

**A Tuner Darkwurm retrain called Supreme King (Servant) Dragon Lightwurm.

**A retrain of Z-ARC called Supreme King Heavenly Dragon - Odd-Eyes Arcray Dragon.

***Yes, this card’s name is literally a combination of Z-ARC, and Ray. Its “Heavenly” title comes from Odd-Eyes Revolution Dragon.

**A new Pendulum Continuous Spell, called Pendulum Evolution. Its artwork features the Pendulums of all the Yu-boys.

**One new Quick-Play Spell, called Dragon of Light Wing, or Light Wing Dragon.

**Two new Normal Traps.

***One of them is called Miracle of the Supreme King Dragon.

***The other is called the Supreme King Heavenly Dragon’s Soul.

****First card is a homage to Beyond the Pendulum’s Kanji name, which is read as Kiseki (Miracle), but means Trajectory.

****Second card is a homage to Soul of the Supreme King.

********************************

Because Judai is confirmed to be in this set, we might get support for the other Supreme King as well, presumably also uncorrupted.

Since early sets of each series tend to have additional cards, there is likely going to be another card to match this.

Edit:

https://ygorganization.com/ihavewaited5yearsforthis/

The translations are here.

Edit 2: Corrected the tag.

[ludoka]

So, I don't know if the heat has already made me crazy but... is it possible that Seto Kaiba would have beaten Supreme King Z-ARC?

It is that I was seeing the attacks and effects of Blue-Eyes Chaos MAX Dragon and Blue-Eyes Alternative Ultimate Dragon. And well... They kind of have good effects and a great attack. Zarc had like 4000 attack (and an absurd amount of text that could be summarized as "cannot be targeted by opponent's card effects") While Ultimate Dragon has 4500 and MAX Dragon 4000 and both have the effect of not being destroyed or selected by cards from your opponent.

So that... Kaiba could see him put up a fight at least.

[rozamasu]

Dragon Ball Z/Super: Comparing and contrasting Goku and Zamasu— two sides of the same coin? (Long post full of yapping!)

The Goku Black arc consistently portrays Black/Zamasu to be ideological parallels to Trunks for obvious reasons (Hope vs Despair, Selfishness vs Selflessness, he's the protagonist of this arc, etc.), but I think it's an interesting exercise to compare Zamasu's journey to Goku's. In my opinion, it really hammers in why Zamasu failed to reach enlightenment and fell from grace besides "mortals = stupid and barbaric" and plain old narcissism.

Everyone knows Goku's story by now, but I want to hone in on the part that I believe Zamasu's own parallels.

The beginning of Z features Goku gradually being introduced to entirely new realms of power and scale. He has to team up with the guy he worked his ass off to defeat 5 years ago just to barely defeat Raditz, a mid class Saiyan, sacrificing his own life in the process.

He is informed constantly by Vegeta that he is nothing but low-class scum, born at the bottom of the interplanetary Saiyan "totem pole", compared to Vegeta's own super-elite-royalty-goodness.

Then, by Namek, he manages to surpass Vegeta, and even trounces the emperor of the universe who subjugated the entire Saiyan race. After Namek, Goku grows so much that the conceptions of "class" that he was blindsided by quickly become faint memories, only brief blips in his life's work to always get stronger.

Not to be the strongest, or even to become "the strongest Saiyan who ever lived", simply to get stronger. Goku's goal is forever ongoing; he will never feel as if his duty is complete. If it ever was, he'd be restless and unsatisfied.

The key thread throughout the Saiyan and Frieza Sagas is that Goku never uses the labels ascribed to him or his opponents as anything more than momentary benchmarks in service of his overarching, everlasting goal to achieve more and more strength. He does not hear Vegeta's boasts about his status and go "okay, guess I'll be good enough once I can beat Vegeta in a 1 on 1, since I'll basically be a super elite!". He hears King Kai's fervent warnings about Frieza's terrible strength and gets curious rather than demotivated.

He doesn't use either of these as an excuse to run away or quit training.

In fact, Goku never uses anything as an excuse. He is not married to any sort of arbitrary benchmark of strength (that honor goes to Chi Chi), even in Super as he gains power that rivals Gods of Destruction.

To treat a level of strength, or a class (God of Destruction, Angel, Super Elite, Emperor of the Universe) as a stopping point for Goku or some sort of ultimate goal would imply that Goku's desire for strength has a defined end. But it doesn't, and so Goku doesn't put much stock into those things. He never loses sight of his goal, and he literally doesn't even stop training when he's dead.

As for Zamasu, the beginning of his journey is why I thought to juxtapose him with Goku in the first place. He shares a surprising similarity with early Z Goku, in that both were able to achieve greater statuses than their birth would afford them.

Zamasu started off as a normal Kai, the guardian of a universal quadrant (the North, same as King Kai). In terms of Dragon Ball's divine hierarchy, this is actually quite the low standing. It is the second lowest known class of Gods, only ranking above planetary deities like Kami and Dende. If a Core Person (Kai race) is born from a rare, special golden fruit, only then will they be qualified enough to train to be a Supreme Kai.

Zamasu is the only known canon example of a normal Kai being selected to become a Supreme Kai, and so his exceptional ascension up the divine hierarchy is a natural parallel to Goku's own defiance of his low-class nature and his comparatively low power level at birth.

Unlike Goku, however, Zamasu is absolutely obsessed with and bound by certain labels, which ultimately leads to his ideological downfall.

Firstly, we can see his fixation on the idea of godhood when he speaks to Gowasu.

When Gowasu simply tells him to temper himself and observe mortals, he immediately begins focusing on and belittling the gods' philosophy, almost outright saying "what the gods think does NOT align with justice". The way he phrases these sentences in both the dub and sub is key: he says "I thought you'd teach me justice, but...", which creates a juxtaposition between "divinity" and "REAL justice".

He even begins to doubt that a god could be considered a god if they did not align with his definition of justice.

Zamasu is young and inexperienced for a Kai (especially considering regular Kais have far shorter biological lifespans than Supreme Kais), so the reactions he displays in this scene suggest that he had a very romanticized, linear view of both godhood and justice. When Gowasu's statement suggests to Zamasu that he can't reconcile the two, it basically calls out all that Zamasu currently stands for, and he doesn't take it well.

Gowasu ends the discussion by challenging Zamasu's narrowminded belief that gods are "absolute" and perfect, but by then the two are already unable to get through to one another.

If you look at the other gods in Dragon Ball, you'll see what Gowasu means here. For example, Beerus is lazy, temperamental, and childish; none of the other gods really like him. Elder Kai is a lecher. Champa is rather undignified and just as temperamental as Beerus.

Where Goku seeks strength, Zamasu seeks virtue. Yet, unlike Goku, Zamasu has an arbitrary benchmark at where his objective stops: the abstract concept of "godhood".

When Zamasu reaches that endpoint and finds that it's not all it's cracked up to be, he constantly contorts his definition of divinity to match it— or rather, to match himself— rather than accepting that being a god is not equivalent to having a "perfect" sense of justice, or being "perfect" in general. He commits barbaric, brutal, bloodthirsty, and wanton acts, all in the name of "divine justice", despite those things being less becoming of gods and more becoming of mortals.

The dilemma extends to the very end of the arc, where in the dub Corrupted Merged Zamasu says to Vegetto: "If one can't control a world, one can't be called a god of it", instantly justifying his hypocrisy, his sadism, his violence, and his arrogance instead of looking inward and asking himself what it meant to be a god.

Like Gowasu said, Zamasu was "obsessed with the contradictions of gods and mortals", and as Trunks said, "it isn't about gods or mortals". Zamasu was so enamored with the idea and label of godhood, yet did not question whether or not his values, the values of his future counterpart, or the values of the other gods aligned with it. And how could he have questioned it if he didn't truly know what godhood meant himself— if he just used the idea as a synonym for what he believed?

Where Goku saw arbitrary labels as inconsequential to his overarching quest, Zamasu saw his life be entirely dictated by them. Zamasu allowed himself to be entrenched in the god-mortal dichotomy, whereas Goku's nature would never allow him to lose his big-picture goal like that.

When Goku's reality is challenged, whether by the introduction of some groundless measure of value (power level, Saiyan class) or by a vastly stronger opponent, he doesn't flinch. He doesn't stop. He doesn't make excuses. His overall goal doesn't change.

When Zamasu's reality was challenged, he broke and became everything he hated. He bent and twisted the rules of what he considered "just", and shattered the natural divine order by doing away with all Gods of Destruction. His goal, by then, was unrecognizable compared to his previous goal to be a benevolent Supreme Kai.

Where Goku's triumphs led him to continue being diligent and humble, Zamasu's own led him to be stagnant and arrogant. Even though Zamasu was proactive and cunning, he was stagnant in the sense that none of what he did made him more moral or virtuous, or gave him a greater understanding of the universe, even though those were the things he originally sought when studying under Gowasu.

All he did was further embed himself (literally, with Future Zamasu) within his own radical beliefs; he never progressed towards his original goal because he replaced it with "I am THE God, no more gods are needed, I will exterminate all mortals personally". His arrogance and inability to see gods as flawed beings made him lose the plot.

Goku continued working hard and getting stronger after vanquishing Frieza, whereas Zamasu's entitlement made him become a complete shell of himself.

Goku saw his growth from low-class warrior to Legendary Super Saiyan to be a testament to everything he stood for; the desire to protect and avenge his friends, his inherited Saiyan pride from Vegeta, and most importantly, his neverending journey to get stronger. Zamasu saw his ascension from North Kai to Supreme Kai as an excuse. A stopping point. An "okay, I've reached the pinnacle of the virtue I seek", refusing to accept that there was more beyond the arbitrary value and moral standing he placed on the role of a god, refusing to think mortals could ever possibly learn, and refusing to think gods could ever need to learn.

Zamasu is a dark reflection of Goku— Son Goku is everything that Zamasu is not. Zamasu is the opposite of many reasons that Goku is such a distinct and unique character, and that makes both of them all the more compelling.

[darkshadowduelist]

AGE OF OVERLORD

AGOV-JP001 Haoumon no Majutsushi / Supreme King Gate Magician

Spellcaster/Pendulum/Effect, LIGHT, Lv 7, ATK 2500, DEF 2000

Pendulum Effect

You can only use the 2nd Pendulum Effect of this card’s name once per turn.

(1) “Supreme King Z-ARC” you control cannot be banished by your opponent’s card effects.

(2) During your Main Phase: You can destroy this card, and if you do, place 1 “Supreme King Gate” Pendulum Monster from your hand or Deck in your Pendulum Zone, except “Supreme King Gate Magician”.

Monster Effect

You can only use the 1st and 2nd monster effect of this card’s name once per turn.

(1) If you have a “Supreme King Gate” card other than “Supreme King Gate Magician” in your Pendulum Zone: You can send 1 “Pendulum Dragon”, “Xyz Dragon”, “Synchro Dragon”, or “Fusion Dragon” monster from your hand or Extra Deck to the GY, and if you do, Special Summon this card from your hand.

(2) If this card is Special Summoned: You can add 1 card that mentions “Supreme King Z-ARC” from your Deck to your hand, except a Spellcaster monster.

AGOV-JP001 Haoukenryuu Lightwurm / Supreme King Dragon Lightwurm

Dragon/Pendulum/Tuner/Effect, LIGHT, Lv 4, ATK 1200, DEF 1800

Pendulum Effect

You can only use the Pendulum Effect of this card’s name once per turn.

(1) If a monster(s) is Special Summoned, and you control “Supreme King Z-ARC” and another Pendulum Monster: You can Special Summon this card, then you can choose 1 other Pendulum Monster you control, and the Attribute and Level of that monster or this card become the Attribute and Level of the other.

Monster Effect

You can only use the 1st and 2nd monster effect of this card’s name once per turn.

(1) If this card is Normal or Special Summoned: You can add 1 face-up “Supreme King Dragon” or “Supreme King Gate” Pendulum Monster from your Extra Deck to your hand, then, immediately after this effect resolves, you can Synchro or Xyz Summon 1 “Supreme Dragon King” monster.

(2) If a face-up Pendulum Monster(s) is destroyed by battle or card effect while this card is face-up in your Extra Deck: You can add this card to your hand.

AGOV-JP030 Haoutenryuu Odd-Eyes Arc-Ray Dragon / Supreme Celestial King Odd-Eyes Arc-Ray Dragon

Dragon/Fusion/Pendulum/Effect, LIGHT, Lv 12, ATK/DEF 4000, PS 13

Pendulum Effect

You can only use the Pendulum Effect of this card’s name once per turn.

(1) If you have 2 cards in your Pendulum Zone: You can Special Summon this card, then you can shuffle 1 card from your Pendulum Zone into the Deck, then, if it returned to your Extra Deck, you can Special Summon it, ignoring its Summoning conditions.

Monster Effect

4 Dragon monsters (1 Fusion, 1 Synchro, 1 Xyz, and 1 Pendulum)

(This card is always treated as “Supreme King Z-ARC”.)

This face-down card in the Extra Deck must first be either Fusion Summoned, or Special Summoned by Tributing 1 Level 12 DARK “Supreme King Z-ARC”.

(1) If this card is Special Summoned from the Extra Deck: You can place 1 Pendulum Monster from your Deck in your Pendulum Zone.

(2) If this card in the Monster Zone is destroyed: You can place it in your Pendulum Zone.

AGOV-JP047 Pendulum Evolution

Continuous Spell

You can only use the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd effect of this card’s name each once per turn.

(1) You can shuffle 1 Pendulum Monster from your hand into the Deck; add 1 Pendulum Monster with 2500 ATK and a different name from your Deck to your hand.

(2) If you Special Summoned a face-down Pendulum Monster(s) from your Extra Deck this turn: You can activate this effect; immediately after it resolves, Pendulum Summon a monster(s).

(3) You can target 1 “Supreme King Z-ARC” you control; it can attack all opponent’s monsters once each this turn.

AGOV-JP048 Kouyoku no Ryuu / The Light-Winged Dragon

Quick-Play Spell

You can only activate 1 card with this card’s name per turn.

(1) During the Main Phase: Add 1 “Supreme King Dragon” or “Supreme King Gate” Pendulum Monster from your Deck to your hand, or, if you control “Supreme King Z-ARC”, you can Special Summon it instead.

AGOV-JP068 Haouryuu no Kiseki / Miracle of the Supreme King

Normal Trap

(1) If you control “Supreme King Z-ARC”: Activate 1 of these effects;

● Destroy 1 “Supreme King Z-ARC” you control, and if you do, Special Summon 1 “Odd-Eyes” monster or 1 LIGHT “Supreme King Z-ARC” from your Deck or Extra Deck, ignoring its Summoning conditions.

● Place 1 face-up Pendulum Monster from your Extra Deck in your Pendulum Zone.

● Set 1 Quick-Play Spell directly from your Deck.

You can only use each effect of this card’s name once per turn.

AGOV-JP069 Haoutenryuu no Tamashii / Soul of the Supreme Celestial King

Normal Trap

You can only activate 1 card with this card’s name per turn.

(1) Tribute 1 Spellcaster Pendulum Monster with 2500 original ATK; Fusion Summon 1 “Supreme King Z-ARC” from your Extra Deck, by banishing Fusion Materials listed on it from your hand, Deck, Extra Deck, field, and/or GY, but its effects are negated unless least 1 each of your “Pendulum Dragon”, “Xyz Dragon”, “Synchro Dragon”, and “Fusion Dragon” monsters are currently banished.

[angeat]

I'd love to see your take on supreme king and z-arc...!

i am realizing you may have meant supreme king scary ass dragon zarc but i hope you don’t mind a supreme king judai

[hellohimawarihana]

Yu-Gi-Oh Transformations, ranked by me

I did say in this post that Yu-Gi-Oh is no stranger to transformation sequence, but the more you look at it, it's like that all series had this in some degree, so I decided to rank them from least appealing to the most mind-blowing. It was inspired to this post, by the way. Unlike the protagonists ending post before, I'll include Go Rush!! as well, but I'll only include those from the protagonists and their main anime, so no Capsule Monsters or special episodes like Bonds Beyond Time, or supporting characters in that matter.

We'll start with the series that stood out the least, which is...

8. ARC-V

Yes, it’s pretty unappealing even for me. The Awakened version (left) are just him surrounded with aura and his mutated Z-ARC (right) is… not on my book.

7. Original / Duel Monsters

I ranked DM version a bit higher than ARC-V for this list. Yes, it’s the first and longest Yu-Gi-Oh series and therefore it’s iconic but Yami Yugi a.k.a. Atem didn’t really change clothes outside of making a cape jacket from his host. It’s still good that he manages to split into two selves for his partner later in the story.

6. Duel Monsters GX

It’s like Yami Yugi and Awakened Yuya because he spent some time being possessed by Haou / Supreme King (right), but Judai does had a control of his powers after gaining that and Yubel’s (left) powers and abilities, after that he doesn’t actually transforms outside the eye changes so I can’t rank him higher.

5. SEVENS

From demonic look to Sentai hero... Though unlike other series (except number 4 that will be explained later) these came off as one-off forms as he only wears the costumes in one duel with the process akin to early Metal Heroes series. But his roll call of The Yugaman (right) is cool, by the way.

4. 5DS

While the usual preparation before Riding Duel is pretty cool, this part stands out among my brother's favorite Yu-Gi-Oh series. Yusei just turns gold for his ultimate Synchro Summon technique, but it’s still cool. There’s even non-Riding Duel version on his Duel Links portrait too.

3. Go Rush!!

This recently airing series has the protagonist surrounded by blue (sometimes green) aura to turn back into his real, alien form. But it’s just “casual *flash* battle form” so I can’t rank him too high. But I like how he keeps doing this before his own duel, even when he doesn’t use this stock footage anymore starting in Season 2. And he’s unique among the protagonists as he’s one of the two capable of transforming on his own without outside source.

2. ZEXAL

The concept is similar to DM and GX, only this time Yuma merges with Astral and can de-fuse anytime unlike the latter series. Dark ZEXAL (top right) isn’t in my book and just a palette swap between the first ZEXAL form (top left), which is my favorite. But the other ZEXAL forms (bottom) are awesome too, evolving through Yuma and Astral’s bond. I just wish that the other forms appeared in Duel Links as a skill and not just his first form. Normally, this will be all-time favorite for transformation fans for Yu-Gi-Oh, but he’s ranked here because...

Well, you know who will be my top pick:

1. VRAINS

While I grew up with DM series, my interest took at peak after seeing Yusaku’s transformation sequence when he logs into LINK VRAINS or any cyberworld. It’s cool and flashy, and I like the blue background, even though his Playmaker form has barely any blue on it. The pocket dimension where Yusaku transforms fits its technology theme too. I especially like the hair part, just look of his cool face! And he can transform by himself, just like Go Rush!! series!

The only downside is like Go Rush!!, he doesn’t do this stock footage anymore after Season 1 Episode 30, any login after that is just offscreen or the intro survives but he’s just do the login in blue flash of light, which is disappointing, he even lack the double henshin with Takeru! (his adventuring partner who has the same animation when he individually transforms) But I do like the fact that the world unlock scene in Duel Links has this transformation sequence, which is a nice callback for the first episode where Playmaker’s transformation was shown for the first time, especially for the players who had finished the anime since spoiler alert: Duel Links’s VRAINS World takes place after the end of the series.

See more of VRAINS' henshin here.