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The "Sacred Beasts", known in Japan as the Three Phantasms (三幻魔 Sangenma), also romanized as "Three Phantom Demons", are a series of three powerful monsters, released in Shadow of Infinity and later defined in Structure Deck: Sacred Beasts of Chaos. They are DIVINE Divine-Beast monsters used by Kagemaru and Yubel in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime after being unsealed with the seven Spirit Keys, with the latter also using their fused form, "Armityle the Chaos Phantasm". Eve from the Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V manga also utilizes these cards with "Phantasm Emperor Trilojig".

The three Sacred Beast cards are:

The three Sacred Beasts' signature moves are: "Hyper Blaze", "Shimmering Scraper" and "Cerulean Skyfire", respectively.

Each monster resembles one of the Egyptian Gods because they are darker homologous counterparts to them, in a similar vein to the Wicked Gods (contrary, the Sacred Beasts are never stated in-series to have any relation to the Egyptian Gods). In terms of gameplay, they also have similarities to the Egyptian Gods - they must be summoned by sacrificing three cards on the field. However, the Sacred Beasts are not limited to using monsters, and they are substantially easier to summon than the Egyptian Gods, which comes at the cost of being generally weaker. However, unlike the Egyptian Gods, the three Sacred Beast cards were changed to FIRE/Pyro, DARK/Fiend and LIGHT/Thunder monsters in the OCG/TCG.

This series is closely related to the "Phantasm" archetype: the three Sacred Beasts can be used to Fusion Summon either "Phantasm Emperor Trilojig", "Armityle the Chaos Phantasm" or its retrained-signature move version "Armityle the Chaos Phantasm - Phantom of Fury".

Design[]

Sacred Beasts Linework

Linework

The designs of the Sacred Beasts, "Uria", "Hamon" and "Raviel" cards were overseen by Kenichi Hara. Each of them resembles one of the three Egyptian Gods; "Uria" is the counterpart in "Slifer the Sky Dragon", "Hamon" in "The Winged Dragon of Ra", and "Raviel" in "Obelisk the Tormentor". Also, like the God Cards, all three Sacred Beast Cards have similar image background styles. However, the Sacred Beasts Cards possess certain visual cues that make them distinct from their predecessors, including translucent wings, more pronounced claws and skeletal-fiendish features.

Armityle the Chaos Phantasm Linework

"Armityle" linework

The three Sacred Beasts are named after characters in Judeo-Christianity, noted by their field spell "Fallen Paradise". Uria's name is an alternate spelling of the name of Uriah, a man who was murdered by King David because David had an affair with Uriah's wife. "Uria" is a reference to the archangel, Uriel, whose name means "God's Flame", is the angel of repentance who guards the Garden of Eden and wields the flames of Purgatory with it sword of fire. Hamon's name originates from the Book of Esther (Hamon is considered an alternate spelling of Haman, a villain who tried to overthrow the King of Persia and kill all the nation's Jewish population. "Hamon" is an alternative name of the archangel, Gabriel, used in the Book of Enoch: Enoch 3. Also, the word "Hamon" is based off the Goetic Demon, Amon. Finally, "Raviel" is an alternate spelling of the name of Raziel, the angel of mysteries who is depicted as the author of the Sefer Raziel HaMalakh which he gives to Adam and Eve shortly after their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Armityle, the fusion of all three Sacred Beasts, is named after Almisael, guardian angel of pregnant women and unborn children.

Three Sacred Beasts

Sacred Beasts (anime)

Similarly to the Egyptian Gods using Egyptian hieroglyphs, the Sacred Beasts use Biblical Hebrew, an old-style Hebrew language used to dictate the Old Testament. This script is featured on the seven Spirit Keys and on the OCG/TCG counterparts' card image background of the three Sacred Beasts.

Anime history[]

Daitokuji Sangema Tomb

The stone tablets depicting the Sacred Beasts.

In Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, the Sacred Beasts are legendary creatures whose cards were sealed by Chairman Kagemaru underneath Duel Academy behind the Spirit Gates. The gates require seven Spirit Keys to open, as Kagemaru could not unlock their power at the time. Should they ever be set free from their stronghold, chaos and darkness will envelop the world, destroying everything.

Their stone tablets were originally unearthed by Amnael and later stored in his hidden alchemy laboratory under the Abandoned Dorm. These tablets were displayed in the background during the alchemist's duel with Jaden Yuki.

Rise of the Sacred Beasts arc

The three "Sacred Beasts" in card form.

The Shadow Riders, secretly employed by Kagemaru, sought to acquire the Spirit Keys and revive the Sacred Beasts in the first season. In order for the keys to work, a duelist who possesses a key must be defeated in a duel. Nothing will occur if the keys are simply stolen (as attempted by Don Zaloog). To meet the challenge of the Shadow Riders, seven of Duel Academy's finest Duelists were selected: students Jaden Yuki, Zane Truesdale, Chazz Princeton, Alexis Rhodes, Bastion Misawa, and faculty Vellian Crowler and Lyman Banner (the only Shadow Rider to get his key by default, due to the fact his true identity was unknown at the time). Although the Shadow Riders were defeated, Kagemaru managed to awaken the Sacred Beasts at the Spirit Gates due to the Dueling energy released from the previous Duels. In exchange for liberation, "Uria", "Hamon" and "Raviel" slowly returned Kagemaru to a youthful state, empowering him with the energy sapped from Duel Monster spirits around the world. But Jaden Yuki's interference resulted in the man's downfall as such the Sacred Beasts were locked away once more, this time, forever. During this early stage, the three Sacred Beasts required simple Spells, Traps and Monster Cards to be summoned onto the field. As stated by Kagemaru, they were also similar to the Egyptian God cards, possessing immunity to Trap cards, and resistance to Spell cards not activated this turn.

In the third season, after Duel Academy was transported to an alternate dimension, a Yubel-possessed Marcel Bonaparte retrieves the Sacred Beasts and builds a Deck around them, which boosts the Summoning speed of the Sacred Beasts and also supports the Summoning of their combined form, "Chaos Phantasm Armityle". When a Yubel-possessed Jesse Anderson reappears, he uses them in a Deck based around quickly Summoning the three and "Armityle" for his Duel against Adrian Gecko. Although Yubel didn't use them in her final Duel with Jaden, "Raviel" was shown to be in her Deck. After Yubel merged with Jaden, the Sacred Beasts are safely returned to their resting place. At this late stage, the three Sacred Beasts required Continuous Spells, face-up Traps and Fiend monster cards to be summoned. This great change exhibited the Sacred Beasts' decline from DIVINE Divine-Beasts into ordinary Duel Monster cards with exact effects to their OCG/TCG counterparts.

Duel Magazine 19

Duel Magazine Issue 19 ("Sacred Beasts" Back Cover)

As a hidden advertisement, the Sacred Beasts (anime artwork and OCG/TCG cards) were featured in the Japanese dub Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime on the Duel Magazine Professional issue 19 back cover.

Hamon-based Deck[]

A Hamon Deck is based around Summoning "Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder" using Continuous Spell Cards. This type of Deck is best used with "Crystal Beasts", as they become Continuous Spell Cards upon being destroyed. It can also be used with stalling Continuous Spell Cards like "Messenger of Peace" and "Stumbling".


Uria-based Deck[]

A Uria Deck focuses on Summoning "Uria, Lord of Searing Flames". This Deck utilizes many Continuous Trap Cards like "Gravity Bind", "Imperial Custom", "Embodiment of Apophis", "Curse of Darkness" and "Solemn Wishes", controlling the field and stalling until "Uria" is summoned.

To power up "Uria", cards like "Reasoning", "Monster Gate", "Magic Planter", "Emergency Provisions", "Gryphon's Feather Duster" and "Lightsworn" monsters can send Continuous Traps from the Deck or field to the Graveyard. "Anti-Spell Fragrance" can be used to force the opponent to Set Spell Cards, which "Uria" can destroy, and it can be used with "Xing Zhen Hu" to disallow the opponent from activating them at all. Hyper Blaze is a great support card to help revive and make Uria stronger and quicker ways to send Continuous Trap.

The main drawback to this Deck is that it relies heavily on Traps, so "Jinzo" or "Royal Decree" will completely cripple it. However note that "Royal Decree", unlike "Jinzo", does not negate the activation of your Continuous Traps, so they will stay on the field. Therefore allowing you to still Summon "Uria". You can use "Royal Decree" alongside "Uria" as well.


Raviel-based Deck[]

A Raviel Deck focuses on Summoning "Raviel, Lord of Phantasms". Due to the effect of "Raviel" and its Summoning cost, the Deck has many Fiend-Type monsters. It can also afford monsters like "Giant Orc" to give "Raviel" a huge ATK boost once Summoned. Raviel also does very well in a "Dark World" Deck, as the "Dark World" cards can be Special Summoned easily.

A good combo is to get "Raviel", "Dark Ruler Ha Des" and "Doom Shaman" on the field at one time. "Doom Shaman" can Special Summon powerful monsters from your hand to be Tributed to boost the ATK of "Raviel" and "Dark Ruler Ha Des" negates the effects of cards destroyed by Fiends.

Tokens can be used to fuel Raviel's summon as well. So Tokens collected by cards like "Phantom Skyblaster" and "Fires of Doomsday" are ideal tributes over actual monsters.


Armityle-based Deck[]

This Deck type is a hybrid of the three previous decks and its goal is Summoning the three Sacred Beasts and their fusion, "Armityle the Chaos Phantasm".

While this Deck can use cards that allow the three Sacred Beasts to function, it is very taxing on Deck space and consistency. A better alternative is to focus on two or even only one of the three Sacred Beasts and use the first effect of "Dark Summoning Beast" to summon the remaining ones at a time.

Use cards like "Mad Reloader", "Hand Destruction" and "Foolish Burial" to send the Sacred Beasts from your hand or Deck to the Graveyard, allowing you to use the effect of "Phantom of Chaos" to banish the Sacred Beasts and Summon "Armityle". "Elemental HERO Prisma" is also useful in this respect: he is able to discard a Sacred Beast and be treated as that monster. "Phantom of Chaos" can copy "Dark Summoning Beast" as well.


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