Card colors
Yu-Gi-Oh! cards in the OCG, TCG, and various anime series, except in the Toei anime series, are categorized according to the color of the card's frame (the background upon which the text, artwork, and various icons are overlaid). There are 11 colors used in total, though the dark gray of Dark Synchro Monsters only appears in the anime: various types of Monster Cards use nine colors, and Spell and Trap Cards use one color each. In addition, the card's name is also colored: most categories of cards use black text, but white text is used on Dark Synchro and Xyz Monsters and on Spell and Trap Cards, to ensure enough contrast for the name to be readable.
Cards in the manga series have black text on a white frame, regardless of the card's category; this is true even for cards shown on the covers of volumes or in full-color pages.
| Color | Card type |
|---|---|
| Red | "Slifer the Sky Dragon" |
| Orange | Effect Monster[n 1] |
| Yellow | Normal Monster / "The Winged Dragon of Ra" |
| Green[n 2] | Pendulum Monster |
| Green | Spell Card |
| Blue | Ritual Monster / "Legendary Dragon" / "Obelisk the Tormentor" |
| Violet | Fusion Monster |
| Purple | Trap Card |
| White | Synchro Monster |
| Gray | Token Monster |
| Dark gray | Dark Synchro Monster |
| Black | Xyz Monster |
Notes
- ↑ Effect Monsters that are also another monster type (for example, Synchro/Effect) use the color of the other type instead of the Effect Monster color.
- ↑ Pendulum Monsters, because they are effectively a combination of another monster type and a Spell Card, use a vertical gradient that fades from the other monster type's card color to the green color used for Spell Cards.
