Archetype condition
![](https://ms.yugipedia.com//thumb/0/0a/AxeofDespair-BP02-EN-C-1E.png/300px-AxeofDespair-BP02-EN-C-1E.png)
An archetype condition is a condition that specifies a card as being a member of an archetype when the card's name would normally not.
Most occurrences are on non-Japanese prints of cards where the card's name was established before the archetype was; the most common usages are on old "Archfiend" cards such as "Summoned Skull" and "Axe of Despair" for which the English name is well-known and it would not be appropriate to rename the card.
For Effect Monsters, archetype conditions are always listed at the beginning of the card text (but after Materials, if any); non-Effect Monsters instead list it at the very bottom of the text box. On Japanese cards, they are simply written as a regular sentence as part of the main body; on non-Japanese cards, they are always in parentheses and on a separate line from the rest of the card text.
Because an archetype condition is a condition and not an effect, it is unaffected by cards such as "Skill Drain". It is also the only text that can be printed in the lore box of a Normal Monster that can affect gameplay in any way (and is therefore not italicized).
Explanation
Archetype membership is ordinarily determined by a card's name: an archetype's support (and anti-support) cards list a specific string in their effect, and a given card is a member of that archetype if its name includes that string. Because Yu-Gi-Oh! is originally a Japanese franchise, most such support is determined by Japanese names, and when cards are localized for non-Japanese regions, a suitable translation is chosen to name the archetype and be used in the names of all of that archetype's members and the effects of its support cards, and no other cards ever use that string in their names.
There are two cases where this system may break down: where the first support cards are released much later than the first members, and those members were localized without the archetype's string in their names (sometimes including anime localizations); and where previously-localized nonmembers were given names that contain the archetype's string. In both cases, there are two possible solutions: rename the card, or specify its membership status; both ways have been used in the past. For example: the English card text of "Arsenal Summoner" specifies that "Celtic Guardian", "Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #1", "Winged Dragon, Guardian of the Fortress #2", "Guardian of the Labyrinth" and "The Reliable Guardian" are not "Guardian" cards; and "Oscillo Hero #2" had its English name changed to "Wattkid" to include it in the "Watt" archetype. Archetype conditions can be considered a formalized type of the first method, used where a card cannot be renamed because its current name is well-established and well-known by fans and players, as is the case for "Summoned Skull" and "Axe of Despair".
Text
The condition is formatted as:
- (This card is always treated as a(n) "[archetype]" card.)
or if there is only support for monsters of that archetype:
- (This card is always treated as a(n) "[archetype]" monster.)
On Japanese cards, the condition is formatted as:
- このカードはルール上、「[archetype]」と名のついたカードとしても扱う。
History
This type of condition was first seen in Absolute Powerforce on "Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast". While "Archfiend" cards without "Archfiend" in their name had long been listed on the official website and in rulebooks, the condition text was not added to them until Battle Pack 2: War of the Giants.
The first Japanese card with an archetype condition was "Number 39: Utopia Beyond", a Master Guide 4 promotional card. Uniquely, this card did not need a condition printed when localized to English, as its localized name contained the required string while the original name did not.
So far, archetype conditions have only been used to include cards in the "Phantom Beast", "Archfiend", "Utopia", "Noble Arms", "Elemental HERO" and "Superheavy Samurai" archetypes. As there is only support for "Phantom Beast" monsters rather than "Phantom Beast" cards, the archetype condition used on "Chimera the Flying Mythical Beast" only includes it as a "Phantom Beast" monster, whereas other cards with archetype conditions are included as cards of that archetype.