The Winged Dragon of Ra ( character ) The Winged Dragon of Ra , known as Winged God Dragon of Ra in the Japanese version is a character version of the card " The Winged Dragon of Ra " . Ra appears in the " Yu - Gi - Oh ! " anime , as one of the most powerful monster spirits , the Egyptian God s . In - series , its " Duel Monsters " card is considered to be the most powerful in the game . Appearance . Ra is a giant golden dragon that appears to be composed of or covered in golden metal . It has a saurian posture and bird - like features ; its head and neck are sculpted to resemble that of a bird of prey , with feather - like ornaments on each side of its head and at the elbows , and a jagged cone surrounding its neck . Its wings have the appearance of being feathered . Ra has a large arch connecting its shoulder pauldrons that is where its " Blaze Cannon " attack is generated before being channeled to its mouth through the feather - like ornaments on its head . During the Memory World arc , Ra ' s beak is toothless and more bird - like in shape and its tail is thinner . This is the form it uses in its first legal artwork , though in that artwork it also possesses a feather - like plume rather than a bony tail . In Ra ' s Sphere Mode it appears as an orb of golden metal that unfolds into its Battle Mode . In its Phoenix Mode Ra becomes a giant flaming bird with its wings and head shaped in a similar manner to its Battle Mode . Biography . Ancient Egypt . Ra is one of the three Egyptian God s , along with Obelisk the Tormentor and Slifer the Sky Dragon . These monsters were only capable of being summoned by the Pharaoh . Battle City . 3000 ( 5000 in the dub ) years later , Maximillion Pegasus created cards depicting the three Egyptian Gods , for his game " Duel Monsters " . Pegasus was unable to decipher the hidden powers of Ra , which were written in Hieratic text , so he transcribed the Hieratic text onto the card . This text was only visible in the light emitted from ' Ra ' and had to be recited in order to Summon " The Winged Dragon of Ra " . The souls of the Gods came to dwell in the cards , making them powerful weapons . On realizing this , Pegasus regarded their creation as one of his greatest mistakes . He tried to destroy the God Cards , but could not bring himself to do it , so he had the Egyptian supreme council of antiquities bury the cards in different locations in the Valley of the Kings . The Rare Hunters managed to steal the " Slifer the Sky Dragon " and " The Winged Dragon of Ra " cards . However the Egyptian supreme council of antiquities was able to prevent them finding the " Obelisk the Tormentor " card . Ishizu Ishtar , from the council , later gave it to Seto Kaiba , so that he would host the Battle City tournament to retrieve the other two . The leader of the Rare Hunters , Marik Ishtar entered the Battle City tournament with the " Slifer " and " Ra " God cards . Odion , posing as Marik , Dueled Joey Wheeler in the quarter finals . Towards the end of the Duel , Joey expressed disbelief that his opponent was Marik . Marik then tried to create some false proof by having Odion Summon " The Winged Dragon of Ra " . He believed Odion would be capable of Summoning it . However the card was a counterfeit and this angered the real Ra , who smote the Dueling arena with lightning , hitting both Duelists . During Mai Valentine and Yami Marik ' s quarter final Duel , Mai took " The Winged Dragon of Ra " using the effect of " Amazoness Chain Master " . However when she Summoned Ra , it appeared in its Sphere Mode . Unable to read the Hieratic text , Mai could not Summon it . On his next turn , Yami Marik recited the inscription and Summoned Ra to his side of the field . He prepared to attack Mai , who was held still by his torture cards . The nature of the Shadow Game , meant that this attack would kill Mai . However as Joey tried to free her , Yami Yugi stood between them and Ra and took its blast on his back , preventing Mai from dying . Kaiba used satellites to get images of the Hieratic text and was surprised to find that he was able to read them . In the night , Yami Bakura , with the help of Marik , Dueled Yami Marik . However Yami Marik defeated them with Ra ' s Point - to - Point Transfer ability . During the semi - final Duel between Joey and Yami Marik , Yami Marik Special Summon ed " The Winged Dragon of Ra " . Since he did not Tribute any monsters , its ATK and DEF became 0 . However Yami Marik converted Ra to its Egyptian God Phoenix form and destroyed Joey ' s monster . This inflicted immense pain on Joey , which Yami Marik did not expect him to withstand . Joey did manage to stay standing after the attack , but collapsed during his turn before he was able to finish the Duel . Yami Marik and Yami Yugi Dueled in the finals . Yami Marik demonstrated the rest of Ra ' s abilities , but ultimately lost the Duel . Yami Yugi then received " The Winged Dragon of Ra " card through the tournament ' s rules . Doma . In order to regain his memories , Yami Yugi presented the three Egyptian Gods to the stone tablet in the museum . However , the God cards began to crackle with dark energy as Dartz drained their power . Yami was then interrupted as Duel Monster spirits began appearing throughout the city . Later that day , Dartz ' s men broke into Kame Game and stole the God Cards . Dartz placed the cards in the mouths of three stone serpents in order to use their power to summon The Great Leviathan . After defeating Dartz in a Duel , Yami retrieved the Egyptian God cards , though their strength had already been drained . After Yami Yugi ' s soul had been absorbed into The Great Leviathan , the other souls Dartz had captured were able to lend him their strength . With it , Yami called out , " In the name of the Pharaoh , awaken ! " and summoned the three Egyptian Gods . By summoning them , Yami was also able to free himself , Joey Wheeler and Seto Kaiba from the Leviathan . Obelisk , Slifer and Ra engaged in battle with The Great Leviathan . The three were empowered by the light of other people ' s souls , defeating it . However the Leviathan reappeared in a different form within Dartz , which Yami managed to defeat . Pyramid of Light . Kaiba Dueled and defeated Pegasus to obtain a card capable of defeating the Egyptian God cards . Anubis added an extra card , " Pyramid of Light " to Kaiba ' s prize . Kaiba went on to face Yami Yugi in a Duel and used " Obligatory Summon " to force him to Summon the Egyptian God cards and then activated " Pyramid of Light " , removing the Gods from play . He later attempts a strategy involving turning the Egyptian Gods against Yugi by destroying " Pyramid of Light " . However , this fails when Anubis intervenes and knocks Kaiba out before taking over the Duel . Later , Yugi is able to destroy " Pyramid of Light " and bring the Egyptian Gods back . The Gods then combine into one monster with infinite strength ; Ra taking on its Phoenix form during the attack , and they destroy " Thenian the Great Sphinx " to win the duel . Memory World . When Yami Yugi entered the Memory World , he relived some of his life as Pharaoh Atem , and fought the battle against Thief Bakura , in which he summoned Slifer , again . This time after Slifer was defeated by Diabound , Yugi and his friends arrived on the scene and Yugi was able to lend Atem strength , allowing him to Summon Ra and defeat Diabound . However , Yami Bakura at the Shadow RPG table used an Hourglass Token to reverse time . This time , Yami Bakura distracted Yugi , so that he would not reach Atem and Ra was not Summoned . The Pharaoh used the three Egyptian Gods to battle Zorc Necrophades . However Zorc managed to overpower them and turn them into stone . Upon relearning his name , Atem was able to summon the three Gods again , this time from the cards in Yugi ' s Deck . He then combined them into The Creator God of Light , Horakhty , who defeated Zorc . Yugi and Atem constructed separate Decks for the Ceremonial Battle , which Atem needed to lose in order to pass on to the afterlife . Despite needing to lose , Atem gave the Duel his all . He included the three Egyptian God cards in his Deck and managed to Summon the three of them at once in the Duel . However Yugi was able to destroy them and win . Genex Tournament . Franz , a card designer for Industrial Illusions stole a test copy of " The Winged Dragon of Ra " and created the card " Mound of the Bound Creator " to allow him to control it . He snuck into the Genex Tournament and using " Ra " , he defeated two opponents , leaving them critically injured . Franz then Dueled Jaden Yuki . Ra was chained up with " Mound of the Bound Creator " , causing it to cry so much to Jaden ' s surprise . However Jaden managed to destroy " Mound of the Bound Creator " and " Ra " . He then revived " Ra " to his side of the field and to Pegasus ' surprise was able to control Ra , as he used him to defeat Franz .