Archetype condition

File:AxeofDespair-BP02-EN-C-1E.png
An **archetype condition** is a condition that specifies a card as being a member of an archetype when the card's name does not.

Most occurrences are on non-Japanese prints of cards where the card's name was established before the archetype was; the most common usages are on old "Archfiend" cards such as "Summoned Skull" and "Axe of Despair" for which the localized name is well-known and it would not be appropriate to rename the card.

For Effect Monsters, archetype conditions are always listed at the beginning of the card text (but after Materials, if any); non-Effect Monsters instead list it at the very bottom of the text box. On Japanese cards, they are simply written as a regular sentence as part of the main body; on non-Japanese cards, they are always in parentheses and on a separate line from the rest of the card text.

Because an archetype condition is a condition and not an effect, it is unaffected by cards such as "Skill Drain". It is also the only text that can be printed in the lore box of a Normal Monster that can affect gameplay in any way (and is therefore not italicized). For a Pendulum Monster, it is the only text in the lore box that can affect gameplay while the card is placed in a Pendulum Zone.

As an archetype condition includes information that would normally be contained within a card's name, if a card such as "Phantom of Chaos" copies the name of a card with an archetype condition, it would also copy the card's archetype condition and consequently also be treated as a member of the archetype listed in the copied card's archetype condition while it is copying the card's name.

## Purpose

Archetype membership is ordinarily determined by a card's name: an archetype's support (and anti-support) cards list a specific string in their effect, and a given card is a member of that archetype if its name includes that string. Because *Yu-Gi-Oh!* is originally a Japanese franchise, most such support is determined by Japanese names, and when cards are localized for non-Japanese regions, a suitable translation is chosen to name the archetype and be used in the names of all of that archetype's members and the effects of its support cards, and no other cards ever use that string in their names.

There are two cases where this system may break down: where the first support cards are released much later than the first members, and those members were localized without the archetype's string in their names (sometimes including anime localizations); and where previously-localized non-members were given names that contain the archetype's string. In both cases, there are two possible solutions: rename the card, or specify its membership status; both ways have been used in the past. For example: the English card text of "Arsenal Summoner" specifies that "Celtic Guardian", "Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1", "Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #2", "Guardian of the Labyrinth" and "The Reliable Guardian" are not "Guardian" cards; and "Oscillo Hero #2" had its English name changed to "Wattkid" to include it in the "Watt" archetype. Archetype conditions can be considered a formalized type of the first method, used where a card cannot be renamed because its current name is well-established and well-known by fans and players, as is the case for "Summoned Skull" and "Axe of Despair", or it is not feasible to rename the card to exclude it from the archetype while preserving the meaning across European languages, as is the case for "T.G. Wonder Magician" in French and "Kozmoll Dark Lady" in Italian.

## Text

### Monster

 French
 German
 Italian
 Spanish
 Japanese
 Korean

## History

This type of condition was first seen in *Absolute Powerforce* on "Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast". While "Archfiend" cards without "Archfiend" in their name had long been listed on the official website and in rulebooks, the condition text was not added to them until *Battle Pack 2: War of the Giants*.

The first Japanese card with an archetype condition was "Number 39: Utopia Beyond", a *Master Guide 4* promotional card. In *TCG* languages, this card does not include any archetype condition, as its localized name contained the required string whereas its original name did not.

In the *TCG*, archetype conditions have been used to include cards in the "Phantom Beast", "Archfiend", "Noble Arms", "Elemental HERO", "Dark Magician Girl", and "Gadget" archetypes; in the *OCG*, archetype conditions have been used to include cards in the "Utopia", "Elemental HERO", "Superheavy Samurai", "Frightfur", "Ninja", "Blue-Eyes", "Celtic Guard", "Raidraptor", "Fusion Dragon", "Synchro Dragon", "Xyz Dragon", and "Pendulum Dragon" archetypes.

In *OCG* languages, if a card has an archetype condition then it has that archetype condition in all *OCG* languages. In *TCG* languages, only the Portuguese print of "Archfiend Soldier", the German card database entry for "Gadget Soldier", the Italian card database entry for "Dark Magician Girl the Dragon Knight", and non-English *TCG* prints of "Spiritual Beast Tamer Winda" have an archetype condition that does not appear in other *TCG* languages; additionally, the Italian card database entry for "A Deal with Dark Ruler" does not include the archetype condition the card has in every other *TCG* language due to it having a database-only rename. "Edge Imp Frightfuloid", "Contrast HERO Chaos", and "Dragon Spirit of White" are the only cards to have archetype conditions in both the *OCG* and *TCG*.

## Cards with archetype conditions

### TCG/OCG

{{ #ask: Class 1::Official Misc::Archetype condition Card type::Monster Card
}}
{{ #ask: Class 1::Official Misc::Archetype condition |Trap Card
}}

### Anime

{{ #ask: Medium::Anime Misc::Archetype condition Card type::Monster Card
}}

## See also

* Archetype-exclusion condition
* Name condition