by in
Introduction
Classic Yu-Gi-Oh! has given us so many iconic cards – Dark Magician, Blue-Eyes White Dragon, Kuriboh, Exodia, Dark Necrofear – and one of the oldest of these ions is the terrifying Reaper of the Cards! While this card may seem like just another old, outdated card from the first generation of Yu-Gi-Oh!, there is much more to this card than appears on the surface! So, hold your friends close as we journey though the graveyard and into the Shadow Realm to uncover the buried secrets of the Reaper of the Cards!
Effect
In 1999, Yu-Gi-Oh! introduced the very first Effect Monsters in the game. Booster pack Vol. 3 gave us Armed Ninja, Man-Eater Bug, Hane-Hane, Skelengel, and – you guessed it! – Reaper of the Cards! These are all Flip Effect Monsters, and demonstrate the very earliest Effect Monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh! These old monsters have simple and direct effects.
Reaper’s effect is, “FLIP: Select 1 Trap Card on the field and destroy it. If the selected card is Set, pick up and see the card. If it is a Trap Card, it is destroyed. If it is a Spell Card, return it to its original position.” This effect is identical to Trap Master, a Lv. 3 Warrior monster that would be released later in the same year. While this effect is quite simple, it was effective in early Yu-Gi-Oh! But, it’s not Reaper’s effect that makes it interesting, it’s the weird stats and eerie backstory.
Lore
Firstly, the weird stats. The vast majority of Yu-Gi-Oh! monsters have ATK and DEF stats that are divisible by 50. This makes the math easy to figure out. However, there are a few monsters with stats that deviate from this, such as Castle of Dark Illusions with 920 ATK and 1930 DEF or Dark Chimera with 1610 ATK and 1460 DEF. Reaper of the Cards also has weird stats: 1380 ATK and 1930 DEF. But, why?
The Japanese name of Reaper of the Cards translates to Card-Hunting Death God. A shinigami in Japanese folklore. In Japanese folklore, a shinigami leads humans down dangerous paths, ending in their demise. Reaper’s stats are actually wordplay. In the Japanese goroawase, the numbers 1-3-8-0 sound like “I’ll lead you,” or “going to the mountain.” And 1-9-3-0 sounds like “go to the mountain,” or “secret mountain.” The stats mean, “you are going to the secret mountain” and the Reaper of the Cards is taking you there.
Anime
In the Duel Monsters anime, Reaper of the Cards first appears in the Shadow Realm pursuing Tristan Taylor and Joey Wheeler. The souls of the two friends were tied to their cards Cyber Commander and Flame Swordsman. When these cards were sent to Graveyard by Yami Bakura, the relentless Reaper of the Cards chased the two down, and almost claimed their souls. But, before the Reaper could harvest their souls, Yami Yugi rescued them with Monster Reborn. After his defeat, Yami Bakura is seen being pursued by the Reaper, but he somehow evades his dark fate and is seen later on in the series.
Reaper of the Cards was used by one of Pegasus’ goons, PaniK, in a duel against Yugi. PaniK summons the Reaper and attempts to destroy Yugi’s Swords of Revealing Light. However, PaniK got it wrong. The card Yugi had set was actually Spellbinding Circle, which ultimately led to Yugi’s victory over PaniK.
After Bakura and Yugi’s battle in Episode 13, Yami Bakura makes another appearance and kills some of Pegasus’ guards (cough cough sends them to the Shadow Realm). The guards are then claimed by the Reaper of the Cards.
The Reaper of the Cards was one of the very first Effect Monsters ever released, and it was even an actual character/entity in the anime, not just a card. And the story behind why its stats are so weird is very cool! Unless Reaper of the Cards gets a new, updated retrain, there is no chance it will rear its head in modern Yu-Gi-Oh!, but, it will forever remain an icon from the early days of Yu-Gi-Oh!
Other Trivia
- Reaper of the Cards appears on the artwork of the anime exclusive card “Double Tribute”
- Reaper of the Cards also appears in some versions of Card of Demise.
- A mistranslation of the name of Reaper of the Cards from Japanese to Spanish led to “Ripper of the Cards.”
- The manga version, anime version, and actual OCG/TCG version of Reaper of the Cards are all different. Th manga version can destroy a Spell or a Trap; the anime version only destroys a Spell; and the OCG/TCG version can destroy only a Trap.
