HERO

Hero is an archetype introduced in Yu-Gi-Oh! GX. Hero card are noted by 「HERO」 as well as a superscript 「ヒーロー」 (Hero) 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.

Four cards whose text specifically reference this possible unification are "Elemental Hero Stratos" and "Elemental Hero Ocean", "Hero's Bond", and "D - Time", 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 OCG uses E・HERO, E-HERO and D-HERO at the start of their applicable cards, so HERO would only work for those three. Note that Elemental Hero and Evil Hero use 「E・HERO」 and 「E-HERO」, and their superscript katakana 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 the TCG, they have since changed the text to allow ONLY Destiny Heroes and Elemental Heroes to work with these related card effects. It will need to be updated with the release of the Evil Heroes to include them.

Elemental Heroes

The Elemental Hero series are 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 taking the upper hand on the opponent. The Elemental Heroes are also supported by many Spell and Trap cards and can be easily used in combinations, besides their fusions, granting the player a myriad of strategies.

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". Destiny Hero - Plasma AKA "Bloo-D" is an example of these exceptions.

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, and Hero's Bond include Destiny Heroes in their support.

Evil Heroes

The Evil Heroes are a series of monsters are used by Jaden Yuki after being turned evil himself by Haou 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 the card, Dark Fusion, instead of the traditional Polymerization card.