Mark of the Dragon

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Marks of the Dragon

A Mark of the Dragon, known as a Dragon Birthmark (竜の痣 Ryū no Aza) in the Japanese version, is a special mark in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's that indicates that a person is a Signer.

Five thousand years before the present-day events of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, an ancient civilization known as the People of the Stars worshiped a mystical light called the Dragon Star, which was prayed on by the leader of the People of the Stars, the Star Dragon King, at the top of the Stairway to the Dragon Star.

When the star shined, the King knew it would be a message from their god, the Crimson Dragon. The dragon was then Summoned to imprison an incarnation of an ancient evil in the earth. This evil is represented in the Nazca Lines.

According to legend, the Crimson Dragon could only be Summoned with the help of the Signers, whose individual marks either represented the Heart, Hand, Tail, Wings, Foot and Head of the dragon. These people were being searched for by a group known as Iliaster, disguised as the Sector Security. According to what Rex Goodwin told Yusei Fudo, he organized the Fortune Cup not only to confirm the identities of Yusei, Akiza Izinski and Luna as Signers, but also in order to awaken their powers so that they could fight against their nemesis, the Dark Signers.

Owners[edit]

Mark Name[1] Signer Time frame
English Japanese
Mark of the Dragon - Head.jpg
Head ドラゴン・ヘッド
Dragon Head
Yusei Fudo ep. 64154
Rex Goodwin ep. 6264
Roman Goodwin Birth – Zero Reverse
Mark of the Dragon - Wings.jpg
Wings ドラゴン・ウィング
Dragon Wings
Jack Atlas Birth – ep. 154
Mark of the Dragon - Foot.jpg
Foot ドラゴン・レッグ
Dragon Leg
Akiza Izinski Early childhood – ep. 154
Mark of the Dragon - Hand.jpg
Hand ドラゴン・クロー
Dragon Claw
Luna Early childhood – ep. 154
Mark of the Dragon - Tail.jpg
Tail ドラゴン・テイル
Dragon Tail
Crow Hogan ep. 64154
Yusei Fudo ep. 564
Mark of the Dragon - Heart.jpg
Heart ドラゴンズ・ハート
Dragon Heart
Leo ep. 142154

Five of the six marks were previously owned by the People of the Stars. It has not been specified if the heart existed before being given to Leo.

History[edit]

Roman Goodwin's arm once possessed the head mark, but was then severed from his body when Roman became a Dark Signer. Rex Goodwin later attached Roman's severed arm to himself through the powers of the Dark Signers though he stated that there was some resistance. Regardless he was able to call forth the marks of the other Signers as well. Towards the end of episode 64, Rex lost his head mark when it transferred to Yusei Fudo, whose tail mark selected Crow Hogan as its new owner.

In the dub, Yusei assumes that his birthmark is the head (which at the time was the tail) after seeing Tenzen Yanagi's sketch of the Crimson Dragon. However, it is proven to be a mistake as in the dub of episode 62 Rex confirms that his brother's mark is the head and not the tail.

Abilities and behavior[edit]

The Marks of the Dragon indicate a deep connection between the Signers, and represent this by glowing and throbbing at certain times, such as when a Signer is about to Duel against a Dark Signer.[2]

The marks also rival the Dark Signer's Mark of the Shadows. Whenever a Signer is in the presence of one of the Dark Signers, both of their marks react.[3] At times the Signer's mark will pulse very painfully on the arm it is on.[4]

The marks give the Signer in question powers and abilities that no normal being possesses. They can be used to locate other Signers if they focus enough, even if the Signer in question is moving. So far, only Akiza Izinski used this ability to locate Yusei when he was kidnapped by a rival team.[5] Also, a Mark of the Dragon will always shield the Signer itself or any companions close to them from harm or any other effect, like having their souls absorbed into an Earthbound Immortal or changes in the timeline.[6][7]

The marks allow Signers to see the Divine Temple.[7] Anyone else touching the Signer is able to see it as well.[8] They also allow the Signer to activate the small, Ener-D reactors in his Duel Runner and continue to ride it, when all others in the city have stopped functioning.

In Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D Bonds Beyond Time, the mark gives the ability to communicate with both Duel Monster and human spirits.

Combining Marks[edit]

Crimson Dragon's original seal
The Crimson Dragon's evolved seal

It is possible for a Signer to, temporarily, take control of all 6 Marks of the Dragon at once as the entire Crimson Dragon's seal, however the criteria for doing so is sketchy. Yusei Fudo, Jack Atlas, Rex Goodwin and Leo are the only Signers (past or present) to have done this, with the Legendary Signer (who possessed the whole mark on his chest) being the only one to (apparently) do so at will. Rex Goodwin was the second Signer to have the entire seal on his chest (as opposed to the others who had it on their back) due to him having the condor mark on his back (but unlike the Legendary Signer (who had it on his left pectoral, over his heart), Rex had it in the middle of his chest).

Yusei and Jack did this inadvertently while trying to save Kalin Kessler and Carly Carmine, respectively, and possessing all 5 marks allowed them to draw "Majestic Dragon", with which to summon their respective "Majestic" Synchro Monsters. Rex was instead able to do so at will during the 3-vs-1 Shadow Turbo Duel against Yusei, Jack and Crow Hogan. However doing so did not seem to afford him anything non-cosmetic. Yusei was also able to take control of all 5 marks at the end of his Duel with Primo. Leo obtained the seal after being on the verge of death. While at this, the Heart Mark formed itself along Luna's hand mark within the seal, thus revealing it's true form of the original seal.

In episode 150, Yusei receives again the Marks from his friends, and his clothes along with his Duel Runner turn gold when he is about to perform an Over Top Clear Mind.

in Yu-Gi-Oh! 3D Bonds Beyond Time, The completed mark appears again on Yusei's back. It allowed him the ability to travel through time on his Duel Runner to save Maximillion Pegasus from Paradox with the help of Jaden Yuki and Yugi Muto. It also allowed Yusei to use the Crimson Dragon to defend Jaden from a blast from Paradox's monster.

Video games[edit]

Yu-Gi-Oh! World Championship[edit]

The player's Mark of the Dragon

In Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's World Championship 2009: Stardust Accelerator, the player's character has a Mark of the Dragon on their arm. This mark was artificially placed there by Rex Goodwin in an attempt to awaken the Crimson Dragon. It is possible this mark is meant to represent the Crimson Dragon's body.

In Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's World Championship 2010: Reverse of Arcadia the player's character gets a Mark of the Dragon at the end of the game. Which mark is not clear since the full mark of the Crimson Dragon is shown. The three main theories are that the player receives the Head, as Yusei doesn't mention a change in his mark, the Tail, giving Yusei the Head, or an unknown mark such as the Body mark, which returns from WC09, as The Shining Darkness is not available in-game, and therefore, Crow does not have Black-Winged Dragon in the game.

In Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's World Championship 2009: Stardust Accelerator and Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's World Championship 2010: Reverse of Arcadia, the Crimson Dragon full mark already had the heart mark on it, despite both of them being released before its anime appearance.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links[edit]

In Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links, the Marks of the Dragon are represented by Skills that add that character's relevant Signer Dragon to the Extra Deck and two copies of an appropriate Tuner to the Main Deck.

The full Mark of the Dragon is visible on Dark Signer Rex Goodwin's chest.

Manga[edit]

The Mark of the Dragon appears on blank Duel Dragon cards in the Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's manga.

References[edit]

  1. Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Links: "Mark of the Dragon" Skills
  2. Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's episode 03232: "Dark Signs, Part 1"
  3. Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's episode 04545: "Mark of the Spider, Part 1"
  4. Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's episode 02727: "A Web of Deceit, Part 1"
  5. Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's episode 07171: "French Twist, Part 1"
  6. Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's episode 03939: "Digging Deeper, Part 3"
  7. a b Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's episode 117117: "The Distorted Past"
  8. Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's episode 131131: "The Beginning of the End"