#devil dragon

[magicandwizards29anniversary]

Yugi's Pre-Duelist Kingdom Minor Monster Cards, Part 1: The Dragons

Now we're up to the cards Yugi used during the Duelist Kingdom arc. A lot of cards debuted there, so we'll once again go in roughly chronological order. We'll begin with the ones Yugi used at the arc's start!

Here's "Baby Dragon"!

As long-time fans know: yes, this was a Yugi card before it was a Jonouchi (Joey) card. Dark Yugi is shown drawing and looking at this card in the manga version of the Pegasus video tape duel in chapter 61. He opts not to use it on account of Pegasus's "Dragon Capture Jar", so it stays in his hand for the entire duel.

The next time we see this card is 10 chapters later, when Jonouchi uses it as his finisher in his duel against Mai. We even get to see Yugi give Jonouchi his "Baby Dragon" in a(n extremely) brief flashback:

Excerpt from "Yu-Gi-Oh!" chapter 70, "Things that Don't Change"

And truthfully, "Baby Dragon" works well as a representation for Jonouchi and his growth during the course of both of the card game-focused arcs. I like to think of it as a vital piece of a great metaphor in which the two Yugis help Jonouchi come into his own. You can also think of the card as a symbol of the friendship they share with him (along with "Time Magician" of course).

Though it's canon status is unclear, I'd be remiss not to mention the 1999 Yu-Gi-Oh! Jump Jbooks junior novel. The final chapter of this book contains a passage where Yugi obtains this card in a pack he got from his grandpa. (You can check out my post on "Time Magician" for more details.) Once again, if you're curious, tumblr user shinhoroko has posted translated chapters from this book on his blog; click here to see the relevant chapter.

I'm not fully sure if this is based on a Magic: the Gathering card. The basic concept behind this card may very well have nothing to do with that game.

Still, if "Baby Dragon" is based on a pre-existing MtG card, it would probably be Dragon Whelp:

Dragon Whelp, from Magic: the Gathering Limited Edition, released in August 1993. Image sourced from scryfall.com.

Of course, "Baby Dragon" wasn't the first dragon Yugi used in this duel...

That would be "Devil Dragon"!

Since it's pretty much immediately taken away from him by Pegasus, most tend to think of it as an enemy card. Maybe that's why it's always been included among Kaiba's cards in Konami's pre-built decks!

And yes, the art for this card does looks a little funky. The source for the art is this panel:

Excerpt from "Yu-Gi-Oh!" chapter 60, "Challenge!!!"

I had to do some straightening via photoshop to make the art suitable for my project. While I think my work is a little flawed, I'm personally relieved it came out as well as it did.

There you have it. Tomorrow I'll present the other cards Yugi used in this duel, including "Silver Fang"!

[frie-ice]

This Disney Villains crossover collage is of Maleficent and Cruella de Vil, as part of my crossover collage series of Disney Villains, to mark the countdown to Halloween. The time of year when Disney gives their villains control of the rains.

With two of them allies in the Once Upon A Time series and were given their own original origin films, I wanted to reference that common link they share in the collage. Otherwise I would have used their Mirrorverse counterparts or them in the Mouse of Mouse series.

[chycoin]

Look I love you and I’ll always be by your side BUT H O W WAS IT AN ACCIDENT. I HAVE THE CHATS F#CKER

[fishbird73]

Done on the back of a wedding bingo paper today

[rachaelmayo]

This is a marvelously weird character, Lucifer, that belongs to a DeviantArt friend. I made it as an art trade back in 2007. The character has completely transparent skin below his face, so all their muscles and tendons show through. I recall that the character sheet for Lucifer was especially delightful - the artist had done muscle studies for the articulation of all of those wings!

Ink and Faber-Castell Polychromos pencils.

[hyzenthlayroseart]

An angel and a devil dragon

[majingojira]

Man, Lost Tapes

I was reminded of Lost Tapes, a found footage crypto-horror TV show from Animal Planet from several years back.  Lasted a few seasons, and honestly left a largely favorable impression on me. Sure, it’s utterly cheesy, super cheap, and super silly. But I’m a sucker for monster stories, damnit, and I wanted to go through 8 of my favorite episodes from the series. 

In Chronological Order, here are my favorite episodes.   1. Bigfoot - Though the “Monster of Monterey” was the first one I saw, this is listed as Episode 2, this is officially episode 2.  The Bigfoot suit is OK, but the core concepts of the episode are pretty solid.  We have a park ranger posting cameras to catch a poacher as well as her V-Logs, and we have the poacher recording things because how do you make a poacher more repulsive?  Make him a stalker!  This allows for a lot of different camera angles, which keeps things interesting visually.  The story of the ranger and poacher confronting each other, with the bigfoot lurking in the background is pretty nice.  When the narration/story guide hints that the Bigfoot ‘likes’ the ranger, it gets a little King Kong, but in a good way.  Besides, Nature getting revenge on poachers is always satisfying. 

2. Oklahoma Octopus - “Hey, remember the short story “The Raft”?  What if it was an OCTOPUS!”  Plus it has some nice FX for the Octopus.  

3. Devil Dragon - “Survivor Man Goes Wrong” is such a great idea for a found footage film.  And the whole Blood Poisoning/Venom slowly wearing down the POV character bit is only marred by not really seeing one of the coolest prehistoric animals that man has ever met. 

4. Death Worm - Basically a small version of Tremors with spitting venom and electricity.  

5. Vampire - This one has a great monster design (from season 2, when they were less afraid to show the monsters), and the shot of the vampire in the kids' room is a perfect horror shot. 

6. Southern Sasquatch - 2 Bigfoot episodes and they are both good?  Who would have guessed? This is the more “Killer Bigfoot” sort of story and has a rather impressive gore shot in it. 

7. Death Crawler - More an original creation than anything else, but still fun.  An island of arthropods where the dominant form of life is 3ft+ centipedes?  GREAT concept.  Good FX too. 

8. Alien - Origins of the monster aside, the whole “Parasitoid Wasp uses humans as a host” is a great horror concept, and while the effect is cheap, it’s effectively used, IMO. 

But what are your favorites?  

[popkas]

I didn’t expect the Devil Dragon to start standing on its hind legs.  Its baby forms seemed pretty firmly quadrupedal, the development of proper hands is a surprise.  Also, it’s hard to tell but I think the gemstone on the forehead is a third eye now.  But most importantly, he’s got his tongue out again.  It really brings a lot of personality to the design.