The Legendary Dragon Cards
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The Legendary Dragon Cards are a series of cards found in Yu-Gi-Oh! (and in particular, the Waking the Dragons story arc of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters). They consist of the Legendary Dragon Timaeus, Legendary Dragon Critias, and Legendary Dragon Hermos. Like the Egyptian God Cards and the Legendary Demon Cards, the cards are considered to be powerful, and are one-of-a-kind. However, unlike the other two sets of cards, the Legendary Dragons colours would suggest that they are all Ritual Monster Cards although in practice, they are used as if they were Magic Cards instead of monster cards, allowing each Legendary Dragon to combine with other cards to form more powerful monsters or Equip Magic cards.
To date, there has been no real-world version of the Legendary Dragon Cards.
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[edit] Story
The Legendary Knights of Atlantis were the defenders of the Atlantean realm against the forces of the Orichalcos. However, in the final battle, the three were turned into the forms of Dragons, and sealed within the world of the beasts. For a long time, the three stood as the guardians of this world, until Dartz was nearly complete in his attempt to revive the Great Leviathan.
Three of the best duelists in the world were chosen to wield the power of the three legendary dragons - Yugi Muto with Timaeus, Seto Kaiba with Critias, and Joey Wheeler (Katsuya Jonouchi in the Japanese version of the anime and the English and Japanese versions of the manga) with Hermos. Yet, Maximillion Pegasus, creator of Duel Monsters, knew the true power behind the dragons, and needed to tell Yugi before it was too late. Pegasus would be defeated by Mai in a duel and lost to the Leviathan, leaving behind only one card - a blank card that appeared to have no purpose.
Later on, when the situation grew worse as the battle against Dartz rages on, Yugi manages to draw the blank card - only for it to have changed into the Legend of Heart - a card which can unlock the power of all three dragons, and free the Knights within. The Knights, with the help of the chosen duelists, defeat the Great Leviathan and the power of the Orichalcos, and return to the world of the beasts.
[edit] Cards
[edit] Naming
The names of the three Legendary Dragons were most likely to have been derived from two Socratic dialogues by Plato (which in turn were named after two Greek philosophers):
- Eye of Timaeus - Derived from the name of Plato's dialogue. Timaeus may also be named after Tiamat.
- Fang of Critias - Derived from the name of Plato's dialogue.
- Claw of Hermos - Name is likely to be a corruption of Helmos, a mountain known today as Aroania in modern Greece. Another possibility is that Hermos is a corruption of "Hermocrates", another Greek philosopher mentioned in the two dialogues by Plato mentioned above.
[edit] Abilities
Each of the three dragons are wielded by a different duelist, and the appearance of their Legendary Knight form is a spitting image thereof. The three dragon cards, unlike the Egyptian God Cards whose power they parallel, are Ritual Monster Cards. In this form, they are often referred to by their card names - the Eye of Timaeus, Fang of Critias, and Claw of Hermos. Timaeus creates new monsters by tributing other monsters, while Critias creates monsters out of Trap Cards. Hermos, however, requires a Tribute of a monster to create an Equip Spell Card which can then be equipped to another monster. Different choices of cards can create new combinations of monsters or equipment cards, and several of them have been shown throughout the story arc.
The Legend of Heart is a card that can unlock the Legendary Knights of Atlantis, by first requiring that all three Legendary Dragons be in the Graveyard, as well as 1000 life points and the sacrifice of monsters. There are three main points of view as to what is to be tributed, all stemming from the fact that Yugi had sacrificed Obnoxious Celtic Guardian, his sole monster on the field:
- The most common interpretation is that only one monster is to be tributed
- Another common interpretation is that all monsters on the user's side is to be tributed
- A less common interpretation is that a Warrior monster (of which Obnoxious Celtic Guardian is one) is to be tributed
The three Knights of Atlantis are similar to their associated duelists in appearance, and are adorned in different colors of armour - green for Timaeus, blue for Critias, and red for Hermos. Each Knight has a special ability similar to that of their Dragon form effect:
- Timaeus can absorb the effect of monsters or Spell Cards that have been destroyed.
- Critias can immediately set and play any Trap Card that has been destroyed.
- Hermos can absorb the effect of any monster in the Graveyard (it is not known whether the monster in question is removed from play or not). Hermos also has the ability of repelling any attack directed at it with triple the power by discarding three monsters.
Furthermore, Timaeus can use its special ability to combine the Knights of Atlantis into the Knight of Destiny (United Divine Dragon), which instantly destroys an opposing monster when summoned. However, the most notable ability of the Knights of Atlantis is that when summoned, they instantly destroy the Seal of Orichalcos (it is not explained whether it is simply destroyed or taken out of play) - the only way in which the Field Spell Card can be removed.
