Harpie

The Harpies are a special group of female monsters identified by having "Harpie" (ハーピィ) in their Japanese name. "Harpie's Brother" is not a Harpie, since his Japanese name is バードマン (Birdman).

Maximum of 3 Rule
Some Harpies have the phrase This card's name is treated as "Harpie Lady" in their effect text. Their name is also treated as "Harpie Lady" while in the player's Deck; a player can only have a combination of 3 cards whose name is treated as "Harpie Lady" in their Deck. "Harpie Queen" is the only exception to this rule, since "Harpie Queen" effect only has her name treated as "Harpie Lady" while she is on the field and in the Graveyard. However this also mean that she is the only Harpie Lady that can't be searched VIA Birdface.

Harpie Ladies 1, 2, and 3, as well as Cyber are treated as if their name is "Harpie Lady" at all times for all rules of the game, including in the Deck, hand and Side Deck.

Media Appearances
In the anime the "Harpies" are the signature cards of Mai Valentine. She often begins with one "Harpie" card and uses support cards to accessorize and multiply it. Joey Wheeler has also used some Harpie cards as a reminder of his promise to save Mai from the Shadow Realm.

In the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force series, Jasmine plays a Harpie Deck.

When Harpies were released, they were an archetype without a lot of support. However, with the release of Rise of Destiny, Harpies became a more balanced and powerful archetype. With the release of Structure Deck 8: Lord of the Storm, players were more easily able to get Harpie support cards such as Harpie Lady Sisters, Bladefly, Birdface, Silpheed, Harpie Lady 1, Harpie Lady 2, Harpie Lady 3, Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon, Elegant Egotist, Harpie's Hunting Ground, Triangle Ecstasy Spark, Hysteric Party, Aqua Chorus and Icarus Attack.

Censoring
Most Harpies in the international release of the game, including all language prints except Japanese, and in the anime have been edited to appear to wear bodysuits while in the Japanese versions they wear much more revealing clothing. "Cyber Harpie Lady" and "Harpie Lady Sisters" have had the spikes extruding from their armor removed due to the suggestiveness. However, some earlier printings of a few of the Harpie cards outside of Japan (Specifically the original "Harpie Lady" and "Harpie Girl") were printed without being censored.

Play Style
Harpies combine the ability to be rapidly summoned, to destroy the opponent's Spell and Trap Cards, to increase each others attack points and abilities, and to work together to protect each other. They do not have the ability to destroy spell and trap cards innately, but the Field Spell Card Harpies' Hunting Ground allows the controller of the summoned Harpie or harpies to destroy one Spell or Trap Card when a Harpie Lady card is Summoned in any way. They are one of the very few cards that can be Summoned en masse' from the Graveyard. Their support cards, Harpie's Pet Baby Dragon and Harpie's Pet Dragon, rapidly gain in power and usefulness through effects including protecting other Harpie cards and card destruction as the Harpies swarm the field. Properly played, Harpies can overwhelm the opponent in moments with high attack power and powerful effects, but they are individually not too strong, so they are vulnerable to opponents who Summon strong single Monsters early to whittle down the number of Harpies on the field.

The tendency of WIND Monsters to destroy Spell and Trap cards (Raiza the Storm Monarch & Harpies' Hunting Ground, even Icarus Attack) leaves you able to attack in relative safety.

A weakness of this deck is that most of the time your cards target all WIND Monsters, and not just your own, such as the ATK boost from cards like Harpie Lady 1, Bladefly, and Rising Air Current. This makes commonly played cards like Elemental Hero Stratos, Guardian Eatos and Raiza the Storm Monarch benefit from your own card effects. You may also add Monster-destroying cards such as Fissure & Icarus Attack. Since WIND Monsters usually have low ATK, they may not able to destroy today's commonly used Monsters. However, support from the new Harpie cards can be very powerful.

Many cards from various packs can be quite useful if made an addition to a Harpie Lady deck. Many WIND Monsters, such as Hunter Owl, Simorgh, Bird of Ancestry or Twin-Headed Behemoth, have useful effects that can help out in tough situations. In particular, the new Stardust Dragon card fits perfectly into this type of deck: it is a high level WIND Monster, and its effect allows you to negate a destructive effect, such as that of Lightning Vortex, Mystical Space Typhoon, each turn, as long as you can keep reviving Stardust Dragon with its own effect, making it a great boost to the Deck's theme of destroying and negating your opponent's Spell and Trap cards.

Real names
Harpie Lady 1 - Aero

Harpie Lady 2 - Ocupete Harpie Lady 3 - Ceraino

The real names are a take off the Greek myth of the 3 harpy sisters

Aello ("storm swift")

Ocypete ("the swift wing")

Celaeno ("the dark")

Note: Harpie Lady Aero was seen in Season 3 of Yu-Gi-Oh! GX trying to kidnap Vellian Crowler. Jesse Anderson used Sapphire Pegasus to free him from her claws, and she flew away, afraid to be beaten by  Sapphire Pegasus.

Monsters

 * Flying Kamakiri
 * Hunter Owl
 * Mist Valley Soldier
 * Raiza the Storm Monarch
 * Simorgh, Bird of Ancestry
 * Simorgh, Bird of Divinity
 * Sonic Shooter
 * Swift Birdman Joe
 * Blackwing - Gale the Whirlwind
 * Battlestorm
 * Summoner Monk
 * Lady Ninja Yae
 * Alector, Sovereign of Birds
 * Bladefly
 * Silpheed
 * Sangan

Spells

 * Rising Air Current
 * Phalanx Pike
 * Lightning Vortex
 * United We Stand
 * Solidarity
 * Swallow's Nest
 * Card Destruction
 * Shrink
 * Symbol of Heritage

Traps

 * Icarus Attack
 * Phoenix Wing Wind Blast
 * Aqua Chorus
 * Final Attack Orders
 * Starlight Road
 * Ojama Trio