Timelord

"Timelord", known as "Time Machine God" (, Jikaishin), sometimes also as "Temporal Machine God" in Japan, is an archetype of Monster Cards used by Z-one. In the OCG, the archetype is exclusively supported by Boss Duel cards.

According to Z-one, there are ten of them, and he refers to them as cards to the Almighty God, the eleventh member ("Sephylon, the Ultimate Timelord").

The first ten "Timelords" are based on the ten attributes/emanations of the Tree of Life (also known as the Sephirot), the mystic symbol used in Kabbalah, with "Sephylon, the Ultimate Timelord" being named after the Sephirot itself. The "Timelords" all are shown as machines with screens on their chest that shows faces, which accordingly are the face of angels. The bodies are then metal suits of armor being manipulated by the angel whose face it contains.

"Necrolancer the Timelord" is not in this archetype, since its Japanese name does not contain "".

Members
The "Timelords" are Level 10 Fairy-Type monsters of various Attributes (except DARK). The vast majority have 0 ATK and 0 DEF, except for the last two ("Sandaion, the Timelord" and "Sephylon, the Ultimate Timelord"), which have 4000 ATK and DEF ("Sandaion" is changed to have 0 DEF outside of the anime).

The first ten "Timelords" (excluding "Sephylon") all share the following effects:
 * "Cannot be Special Summoned from the Deck. If you control no monsters, you can Normal Summon this card without Tributing. Cannot be destroyed by battle or by card effects. You take no battle damage from attacks involving this face-up Attack Position card. [...] During your Standby Phase: Shuffle this card into the Deck."

Sandaion's text is slightly different, in that neither player takes battle damage from battles involving it. Also, in the anime, "Timelord" monsters prevented the controller from Summoning other monsters.

In addition the above, the first ten "Timelords" also each have a unique effect; in the anime, the effect activates right after they battle; outside of the anime, the effect activates at the end of the Battle Phase instead (except for "Raphion"). The vast majority of these effects involve returning cards back to the hand or Deck and/or dealing Effect Damage to the opponent. "Lazion" and "Zaphion" (anime only) also have another effect in addition to their Battle Phase effect. A full list of unique effects follows:
 * "Metaion" returns all other monsters on the field back to the hand, and inflicts 300 damage per monster to the opponent.
 * "Lazion" returns all cards in the opponent's Graveyard and all monsters the opponent controls to their Deck. In addition, it inflicts 1000 damage when the opponent draw a card(s) during their Draw Phase. Outside of the anime, "Lazion" only returns cards in the Graveyard and not the field; also, the damage from the additional effect was reduced to 500 but activated whenever the opponent drew a card(s), including outside of their Draw Phase.
 * "Zaphion" returns all Spell/Trap Cards the opponent controls to their Deck. In the anime, it had the additional effect of allowing its controller to draw cards until they had 5 cards in their hand when it left the field.
 * "Sadion" makes its controller's LP 4000 when it battles, provided their LP were less than 4000 at that point.
 * "Kamion" returns all monsters the opponent controls to their Deck and inflicts 500 damage per monster; outside of the anime, it only returns 1 monster and inflicts 500 damage.
 * "Raphion" inflicts damage to the opponent equal to the ATK of the monster it battled; in the anime only, it also returned that monster to the hand.
 * "Hailon" inflicts damage to your opponent equal to the difference between your and your opponent's LP; outside of the anime, this effect only activates if your LP are lower than your opponent's.
 * "Michion" halves your opponent's LP.
 * "Gabrion" returns all cards your opponent controls to the Deck; outside of the anime, it only returns 1 card.
 * "Sandaion" inflicts 4000 effect damage; outside of the anime, the damage is reduced to 2000 and the opponent also takes no battle damage from its 4000 ATK score.

"Sephylon" is in a class of its own, possessing none of the effects of the first ten "Timelords". In the anime, it could only be Special Summoned through "Infinite Light" after the previous 10 "Timelords" had been Summoned. While it was on the field, it could also Special Summon as many of the other "Timelords" as possible back from the hand, Deck, or Graveyard once per turn, make all of their ATK 4000, and gain ATK equal to the total ATK of those monsters. Finally, it could negate the effect of any monster it battled and could protect itself from destruction by banishing another "Timelord".

Outside of the anime, its effect was heavily reduced. While it could be Summoned simply by having ten or more monsters in the Graveyard without relying on a particular archetype or Trap Card, it also had no attack-boosting, destruction-preventing, or battle-negating abilities. It could Special Summon 1 Level 8 or higher Fairy-Type monster once per turn and make its ATK 4000, but its effects would be negated.

So far, the only "Timelords" released in the OCG and TCG are "Metaion" and "Sephylon".

Inspiration
Each of the "Timelords" reflect a part of the Sephirot, as well as one of the archangels (except "Sephylon", which is based on the mystical state Da'at, the divine light, where all Sephirot become one).

However, when all of the cards appear in the Tree of Life (as seen in the anime, shown right is an edited version), "Michion" and "Raphion" are in each others' places.

Weaknesses
While the "Timelords" cannot be destroyed, they are not invincible, and can still be removed from the field by other means, such as by being banished or Tributed. It is also possible to remove them from the field by returning them to the hand or Deck, although returning them to the hand is less useful since they can simply be Summoned again next turn.

In addition, cards that can negate a "Timelord"'s effects are extremely useful, as that will strip them of all their protection, generally leaving the opponent with a 0 ATK monster that cannot do anything. (However, this will be less useful against "Sandaion" and "Sephylon".)

Since all "Timelords" are Level 10, cards like "Level Limit - Area B" and "Gravity Bind" can easily prevent them from attacking and being able to use their powerful effects. Since it is very difficult to control more than 1 "Timelord", cards like "Scrap-Iron Scarecrow" and "Hook the Hidden Knight" are also very effective at stopping their attacks.

Cards that can attack the opponent directly, such as "Earthbound Immortal" or "Toon" monsters can be very useful against "Timelords", as they can bypass their protection and effects and deal your opponent significant damage in the process.

Timelords rely on attacking for their effects to go off, so any number of basic stall cards that aim to block the opponent's attacks will stop them as well.

Trivia

 * In the anime, all the Timelords have a Rare rarity with exception of "Sephylon, the Ultimate Timelord", which has an Ultra Rare rarity instead.