Slifer the Sky Dragon

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In the manga and anime series Yu-Gi-Oh!, Slifer the Sky Dragon (オシリスの天空竜, Oshirisu no Tenkūryū, lit. "Sky Dragon of Osiris") is one of the three Egyptian God Cards.

In the Japanese manga and anime, it is sometimes called by the English name "Saint Dragon - The God of Osiris". His name has also been mistranslated as "Osiris the Dragon of Heaven." The name in Japanese says that he is the Dragon of Osiris, not Osiris himself. Unlike the cases of the other two God Cards, Obelisk and Ra, both of which have different names in the English anime and manga, the name "Slifer the Sky Dragon" is used in both the English anime and manga of Yu-Gi-Oh!. It is also used on the English version of the real God Cards.

Initially passed by Marik Ishtar to his "puppet", the Pantomimer (Strings in the English anime), Slifer the Sky Dragon is the second God Card appearing in the Yu-Gi-Oh! manga and anime.

Slifer also makes a cameo appearance in the manga Bobobo-bo Bo-bobo, when Yugi Mutou emerges from Bo-bobo's afro.

Osiris is the Egyptian god of the underworld. The name Slifer comes from Roger Slifer, co-producer of the 4Kids English adaptation of Yu-Gi-Oh! anime. Osiris is a passive and peaceful god of vegetation, and his color is green. The red of the Dragon complements the green of Osiris, just as its activeness and violence supply what Osiris lacks.

Its Yu-Gi-Oh! GX counterpart is Uria, Lord of Searing Flames

[edit] Effects

Note: The effects stated in this section are based on the Japanese anime and/or manga of Yu-Gi-Oh!. The real Osiris/Slifer card does not have any effect printed on it, all it does say on it is this, "The heavens twist and thunder roars, signaling the coming of this ancient creature and the dawn of true power." (See Egyptian God Cards for more details.)

According to the Japanese anime and manga of Yu-Gi-Oh!, the Osiris card has the following unique statistics (unlike most other cards which text are written in Japanese, in both the Japanese anime and manga, the text on the God Cards are written in English):

• ATK (Attack Points) X000/DEF (Defense points) X000
• (Effect) "Every time the opponent summons creature into the field, the point of the player's card is cut by 2000 points. X stands for the number of the player's cards in hand." [sic]

With what are observed in various duels, a more complete description of Slifer's abilities can be concluded:

• ATK X000/DEF X000. X stands for the number of cards that the controller of this card holds in hand. This effect was first revealed by the Pantomimer in Yu-Gi-Oh! manga Duel 173 and anime episode 66.
  • e.g., player has six cards in hand, Slifer has ATK 6000/DEF 6000.
• Each time your opponent summons^[1] a monster into the field, if it is in Attack Position, decrease its ATK by 2000 points; if it is in Defense Position, decrease its DEF by 2000 points. If the ATK or DEF of that monster is reduced to 0 by this effect, destroy that monster. Triggered from Slifer's usually-closed upper (or second) mouth, this effect is known as "Thunder-Summoning Blast" (召雷弾) in the Japanese anime and manga, and "Lightning Blast" in the English anime. It was first revealed by the Pantomimer in Yu-Gi-Oh! manga Duel 174 and anime episode 66.
  • e.g.(1): Your opponent summons "Jinzo"^[2] (ATK 2400/DEF 1500) in Defense Position. This activates Slifer's effect, which decreases Jinzo's DEF to 0 (1500<2000), but leaves its ATK untouched. With its DEF reduced to 0, Jinzo (now ATK 2400/DEF 0) is destroyed.
  • e.g.(2): This time, your opponent summons Jinzo in Attack Position. This activates Slifer's effect, which decreases Jinzo's ATK to 2400-2000=400, but leaves its DEF untouched. Since Jinzo's ATK is not reduced to 0 by Slifer, Jinzo (now ATK 400/DEF 1500) remains on your opponent's side of the field in Attack Position. (This affect does apply to other god card, in that they shall be deducted of 2000 points of their position, but they shall not be destroyed if their attack or defense goes reaches 0 or lower).

In the Game Boy games 'The Sacred Cards' and 'Reshef of Destruction', Slifer has 4000 ATK and DEF points, and has the following ability: increase the ATK and DEf on this card by 1000 points for each card in your hand. Due to the odd style of card effects in 'The Sacred Cards', this ability only activates once, based on the cards in your hand when you activate it. So using the effect and discarding a card will not change Slifer's power. In 'Reshef of Destruction', Slifer's ability is constantly recalculated every time a card is played, meaning that changing the number of cards in your hand will change its power. However, it still gains 1000 points for each card in your hand, and has an original ATK and DEF of 4000.

There are also certain effects shared by all God Cards; these are listed in that entry for brevity.

Osiris' attack is known as "Superconductive Wave - Thunder Force" (超電導波サンダーフォース/雷撃砲) in the Japanese anime and manga; in the English anime, Slifer's attack is simply called "Thunder Force".

The Egyptian God Cards

Giant God-Soldier of Obelisk (Obelisk the Tormentor) | Sky Dragon of Osiris (Slifer the Sky Dragon) | Winged God-Dragon of Ra (The Winged Dragon of Ra)