The Phoenix Set

The Phoenix Set is an archetype introduced in The Force of the Phoenix!. Phoenix cards are noted by 「 HERO(ヒーロー) 」 in the card's Japanese name.

Although currently divided into Elemental Heroes, Evil Heroes and Destiny Heroes, the apparent trend in the Anime/Manga is that of an eventual unification of the three.

Five cards whose text specifically reference this possible unification are "Elemental Hero Stratos" and "Elemental Hero Ocean", "Elemental Hero God Neos", "Hero's Bond" and "D - Time", and "Evil Hero Infernal Prodigy", where the effects are based on cards present on the field whose names contain "Hero", allowing them to be used with either the "Elemental Heroes", "Evil Heroes" or "Destiny Heroes".

The Japanese cards use 「 Ｅ・ＨＥＲＯ(エレメンタルヒーロー) 」, 「 Ｅ－ＨＥＲＯ</rb>(</rp>イービルヒーロー</rt>)</rp> 」 and 「 Ｄ－ＨＥＲＯ</rb>(</rp>デステニーヒーロー</rt>)</rp> 」 at the start of their applicable cards, so 「 HERO</rb>(</rp>ヒーロー</rt>)</rp> 」 would only work for those three. Note that Elemental Hero and Evil Hero use 「Ｅ・ＨＥＲＯ」 and 「Ｅ－ＨＥＲＯ」, and their furigana is different: Elemental Heroes have 「エレメンタルヒーロー」 and Evil Heroes have 「イービルヒーロー」.

The Korean cards use "히어로" to indicate Heroes. Elemental Heroes and Evil Heroes are denoted by "엘리멘틀 히어로" and Destiny Heroes are denoted by "데스티니 히어로".

In English and other languages, they have since changed the text to allow only Destiny Heroes and Elemental Heroes to work with these related card effects. Most cards still need to be updated with the release of the "Evil Heroes" to include them. "Elemental Hero Stratos" has been the only card erratered so far, with Elemental Hero Ocean expected to eventually follow suit.



Elemental Heroes
The Elemental Hero series are a set of Warrior-Type monsters without a specific Attribute, most frequently used by Jaden Yuki in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX.

While most of them draw inspiration from American super heroes, the cards appearing in the manga resemble Japanese heroes. They are mostly fused in order to summon more powerful monsters. The Fusion Monsters are generally very strong, and are used for getting the upper hand on the opponent.

The Elemental Heroes are also supported by many Spell and Trap Cards and can be easily used in combination, besides their fusions, granting the player a myriad of strategies.

Elemental Hero is one of the most supported archetypes in the game, if not the most supported which can be further supplemented by cards that target them as Warriors. For example, you can call "Elemental Hero Clayman" with "Reinforcement of the Army".

Destiny Heroes


The Destiny Hero series are a set of DARK-Attribute Warrior-Type monsters and support cards introduced by Aster Phoenix. Since their debut, they have been believed to be an anti-thesis to the Elemental Heroes as specific cards can resemble Elemental Heroes somewhat.

In the original Japanese version, the names of the basic Destiny Heroes all begin with "D", with the exception of a few cards created as customs in the series. In the same respect, the basic Destiny Heroes names end with "Guy". With some exceptions like"Destiny Hero - Bloo-D" (Destiny Hero - Plasma in the TCG) Bloo-D has the "D" at the end instead of the beginning of its name and "Dread Servant" doesn't have "Guy" at the end of its names.

These cards resemble British anti-heroes and there are several references to British culture within the cards. There is an emphasis in the passage of time in most Destiny Hero card effects, as opposed to the more immediate effects of Elemental Heroes.

Currently, the only Destiny Hero-related card that involves Elemental Heroes is "D - Time". However, Elemental Hero cards such as "Elemental Hero Stratos", "Elemental Hero Ocean", "Elemental Hero God Neos", and "Hero's Bond" include Destiny Heroes in their support. "Elemental Hero Phoenix Enforcer" and "Elemental Hero Shining Phoenix Enforcer" can be considered pseudo-Destiny Heroes as they have only been owned and used to date by Aster Phoenix and their Japanese name also have "Guy" at the end.

Although Destiny End Dragoon (a card used by Aster in the anime in his duel against Chazz) does not have "Destiny Hero" in its card name, many people still consider it to be a Destiny Hero monster, and the ultimate D-monster.

The Ultimate D is Destiny Hero - Plasma and Destiny End Dragoon is the Final D-card.

Evil Heroes
The Evil Heroes are a series of monsters used by Jaden Yuki (Judai Yuki) after being turned evil himself by the Supreme King. They seem to be twisted versions of Jaden's Elemental Heroes. Most of the Evil Heroes are Fusion Summoned by fusing Elemental Heroes with "Dark Fusion", instead of the traditional "Polymerization" card. The Evil Heroes are the most powerful of the hero cards, possessing improved versions of the Elemental Heroes effects, or the same effect with an extra effect of their own; plus, the effect of "Dark Fusion" prevents Evil Hero fusions from being targeted by card effects the turn they are summoned. However, they lack the support of the Elemental and Destiny Heroes. The "Evil Hero Infernal Prodigy" supports all of the above Hero types.

The Evil Heroes resemble notable demonic superheroes and supervillians.