Earthbound Immortal

Earthbound Immortal, known as Earthbound God in the OCG and Japanese anime, are an archetype of Level 10 DARK monsters. All of them have the common effect of being able to attack the opponent directly, and cannot be selected as an attack target (In the anime, if they're the only monster on the field, you can attack the opponent directly instead, which Yusei stated during his first Duel with Roman in episode 046. The anime also gives them Spell/Trap immunity). They have been used by the Dark Signers in the anime.

Being that all but one of them have high original ATK, they are often able to easily and brutally thrash opponents. However, this power comes with 2 drawbacks:


 * Any given player can only control 1 "Earthbound Immortal" at a time - and
 * an "Earthbound Immortal" will immediately destroy itself when no Field Spell Card is in play.

"Earthbound Immortals" also have a small but very potent series of support cards that allow them to further oppress the opponent. Their artworks all feature them emerging from a hole in the ground from which blue flames are emerging.

Backstory
The Earthbound Immortals are incarnations of evil entities that were sealed in the Nazca Lines by the Dragon Star and its servants 5000 years before the events of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's.

Each of these "Evil Gods" are shaped in the form of a corresponding Nazca Line and each member of the Dark Signers wear striped robes bearing the color of their corresponding "Earthbound Immortals".

Their colors come from Wiphala, Banner of the Inca Empire, with only white missing from the range of currently known colors. In addition, each color of the "Earthbound Immortals" is also a color of the rainbow.

The "Earthbound Immortals" serve as to the antithesis to the Crimson Dragon and the Signer Dragons. As after a millennium of confinement, these monstrous beings were released after the Ener-D accident occurred, separating New Domino City into 2 halves and creating the district which is now known as the Satellite.

It was a mistake with terrible repercussions. The power generator, which was supposed to spin clockwise to generate an infinite positive power supply instead spun counter clockwise, creating infinite negative energy and resulting in the occurrence of the "Zero Reverse Effect" which ultimately opened a hole to the underworld, allowing the "Earthbound Immortals" to escape.

Further information on this controversial topic was later revealed that Roman Goodwin, who, upon learning of the 5,000 year battle between the Crimson Dragon and the "Evil Gods" that were sealed away, was taken over by their dark, controlling powers.

In order to resurrect himself as the future leader of the Dark Signers, he killed himself by overloading the Ener-D Reactor, thus causing the horrible incident. In Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's - Episode 109, it is revealed that this event was actually manipulated and controlled by the Three Pure Nobles.

It has been revealed that each corresponding "Earthbound Immortal" stands for a codename relating to the original Ener-D Reactor.

While Earthbound Immortal Uru stands for the codename referring to the Ener-D Reactor itself, the other 4 Gods' names each stand for a codename for each of the reactor's control units. Chacu Challhua and Wiraqocha Rasca do not have control units.

The archetype name "Earthbound Immortal" is based on the corresponding Nazca Lines that each were imprisoned in. Each "Earthbound Immortal" is featured rising from the depths of the "Underworld" and each of them are shown with a different ground texture on their corresponding game card.

They are polar opposites of the Signer Dragons, as they fight as the servants of the King of the Netherworld, which is mentioned by Roman before he dies. This is similar to how the Signer Dragons fight for the Crimson Dragon.

In episode 111, Greiger told Yusei and Jack that the "Earthbound Immortals" "could be used again by another evil." Whether this is really foreshadowing or not remains unknown.

All of them have been released in OCG and TCG, except Red Nova, who exists not in his original form, but as Red Nova Dragon.

Members
Each Dark Signer possesses 1 of the "Earthbound Immortals", with it being their signature card. In the episode where the ancient battle was seen, the 5 "original" "Earthbound Immortals" were seen battling against the Crimson Dragon, its servants and a condor geoglyph was seen foreshadowing the appearance of Rex Goodwin's Wiraqocha Rasca.

2 additional "Earthbound Immortals" were introduced throughout the course of the story; after Greiger was transformed into a Dark Signer, a 6th "Earthbound Immortal", Chacu Challhua, was given to him.

Long after the fight against the Dark Signers, Jack Atlas acquires the power of the last and strongest "Earthbound Immortal", Red Nova, previously absent because the Dark Signers did not dare attempt to harness its brutal power, and combines it with Red Dragon Archfiend, represented in the card Red Nova Dragon.

The "Earthbound Immortals" are known to to be nearly unbeatable, since their effects negate any chance of a counter attack by a duelist.

These effects are tied up in the use of any Field Spell Card and will disappear once the field is taken out of play.

This is a major weakness which until episode 050 no one had taken advantage of. (Mainly because most duels involving the Immortals were Turbo Duels, so the field spell couldn't be destroyed.)

Luna and Leo are the only ones who have used it against them. By removing the field spell, they were able to destroy Devack's "Earthbound Immortal". The field problem is a major issue in a Turbo Duel since it can never be destroyed until the Duel ends.

Ancient Fairy Dragon is one of only 2 of the Signer Dragons that can also destroy Field Spell Cards by its own effect and it can gain Life Points for it as well. The other is Black Rose Dragon, who can destroy all cards on the field when it is Synchro Summoned.

The problem with Black Rose Dragon is that if a card like Field Barrier is in play and protecting the Field Spell from being destroyed, then it cannot be removed from the field by the effect of Black Rose Dragon. This was shown in episode 39 in the duel between Misty Tredwell and Akiza Izinski.

All "Earthbound Immortals" share a few similar effects: only 1 of them can be on the field, the opponent can never attack them, and they can attack the opponent directly.

They are destroyed instantly if there is no face-up Field Spell (the anime destroys them at the End Phase and just negates their effects until then).

Aside from those, each one has a unique effect, most likely to counter or match the strategy the duelist each card's controller faced.

In the real card game, if an "Earthbound Immortal" is the only monster on your opponent's side of the field, you cannot declare an attack at all unless it's a Direct Attacker, creating a huge advantage for the controller of the "Earthbound Immortal" and making it a one-sided battle.

In the anime, whenever an "Earthbound Immortal" is Summoned, the bodies and souls of anyone trapped inside of a geoglyph are sacrificed for its summoning. The sacrificed individuals turn into energy of the same purple color as a dark mark, which is then absorbed into a floating stone of characteristic shape.

A beam of purple light then descends from the geoglyph in the sky, destroys the stone (that resembles a heart) and strikes the ground, causing the "Earthbound Immortal" to rise from the "Netherworld". This has occurred in both Satellite and New Domino City;


 * Any person trapped within its respective geoglyph is sacrificed in this way and for the moment it is unknown what happens to the sacrificed people.


 * During the first duel between Yusei and Roman, it is revealed that an "Earthbound Immortal" will continue to harvest the souls of anyone not protected by a Signer as long as it stays on the field, as shown when Martha was sacrificed to Uru when she fell into the geoglyph even though Uru had already been summoned.


 * There are, however, several conditions under which a person is not absorbed into an "Earthbound Immortal":
 * That person is dueling (stated by Devack when he dueled Leo).
 * That person is a Signer or approximate to a Signer (which Misty explained in episode 39).
 * The "Earthbound Immortal" does not use human sacrifices, as in the following cases:
 * Cusillu used the souls of the Duel Monsters spirits.
 * Chacu Challhua used the souls of the people from Greiger's village.

Furthermore on the series, there had been speculation about if these people could really come back if the Dark Signers are defeated.

After Greiger's defeat, the souls sacrificed for Chacu Challhua were indeed returned to life, and when Devack lost the souls of the Duel Monsters spirits were returned back into the Spirit World. The spirits of the villagers were shown to be suffering inside of the Chacu Challhua during the duel between Greiger and Crow.

Apparently these Gods are fueled by whatever reason of anger and revenge their corresponding Dark Signer carries. However for the same reason it appears that they disapprove the moment that 1 of these individuals no longer carries on this hatred.

And so they can interfere by taking possession of the Dark Signers body as it occurred to Greiger when he dueled against Crow, after he learns that they are actually the ones that were behind his village's destruction. Wanting to continue the duel when Grieger wanted to stop, Greiger's body was taken over by Chacu Challhua's spirit.

This also happens in the duel between Jack and Carly and the Duel between Akiza and Misty.

However, if the Dark Signer is strong enough, they can maintain contact with other people (Greiger literally breaks the control for a few seconds, Carly connected through Majestic Dragon and Misty used card Attacks as means of communication.)

Rex Goodwin doesn't seem to apply in these cases. It can be also noted that each Dark Signer except Misty had 1 of the "Earthbound Immortals" support cards, except Roman who has several.

Chacu Challhua, Aslla piscu and Wiraqocha Rasca are the only three Immortals that are not the same Type as the Decks played by their respective Dark Signers.

In Episode 112, it is discovered there was a lost "Earthbound Immortal", "The Crimson Devil," Red Nova. The strongest of all of them who was defeated prior to the ancient battle by the Crimson Dragon itself in a 1-on-1 single contest.

Red Nova's servant planned on using Jack Atlas as a sacrifice to resurrect his sleeping master. Interestingly, it stated that the battle between Red Nova and the Crimson Dragon occurred 10,000 years ago.

Playing Style
"Earthbound Immortal" based Decks focus on Summoning 1 of the many different "Earthbound Immortal" monsters, and quickly finishing a duel.

The main weakness of this Deck is keeping a Field Spell in play. This can be overcome with cards like Field Barrier, Hardened Armed Dragon and Magic Reflector (or Magical Citadel of Endymion even on its own).

Since the "Earthbound Immortals" are all DARK monsters, they can easily be Tribute Summoned with cards like Double Coston, Fires of Doomsday and Mausoleum of the Emperor.

Their high ATK points and the ability to attack directly, while not being able to be selected as an attack target, make powerful attackers but are still vulnerable to Magic Cylinder and Draining Shield. An attack lock-down can be made using their effects.

An "Earthbound Immortal" can be used in almost any Deck that relies on a Field Spell Card.

OTK

 * 1. Activate Wild Nature's Release, targeting Earthbound Immortal Cusillu.
 * 2. Attack directly dealing 5200 damage to your opponent.
 * 3. Activate Beast Soul Swap, switching out Earthbound Immortal Cusillu for another one (or the same one).
 * 4. Attack directly again dealing 2800 more damage to your opponent. (Total damage = (2800 + 2400) + 2800 = 8000)

or:


 * 1. Have Earthbound Immortal Cusillu and Beast Soul Swap on the field.
 * 2. Special Summon Grinder Golem.
 * 3. Equip Cusillu with Twin Swords of Flashing Light - Tryce.
 * 4. Cusillu Attacks Grinder Golem twice. (Tribute both Tokens to halve your opponent's Life Points twice)
 * 5. Activate Beast Soul Swap, swapping Cusillu for another Cusillu.
 * 6. The new Cusillu attacks directly. (Opponent's Life Points / 2 / 2 - 2800 = game if your opponent had 11200 or less Life Points)

OTK

 * 1. Have a "Clock Tower Prison" with 4 or more counters on it, a face-up "Earthbound Immortal Ccarayhua", "Destiny HERO - Dreadmaster" in your Deck and 2 or more copies of "Destiny HERO - Dasher" in your Graveyard.
 * 2. Destroy "Earthbound Immortal Ccarayhua", thus destroying all cards on the field, including the "Clock Tower Prison".
 * 3. Special Summon "Destiny HERO - Dreadmaster" and use his effect to Special Summon 2 copies of "Destiny HERO - Dasher".
 * 4. Have all 3 monsters attack directly. (Total damage = 2100 + 2100 + 4200 = 8400).

OTK

 * 1. Have "Evil HERO Infernal Gainer" face-up on the field without using your Normal Summon.
 * 2. Activate "Mausoleum of the Emperor".
 * 3. Pay 2000 Life Points (or Tribute 2 monsters) to Summon "Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu".
 * 4. Activate "Mage Power"/"Axe of Despair"/etc.
 * 5. Activate the effect of "Evil HERO Infernal Gainer" to attack twice.
 * 6. Attack directly twice. (Total damage = (3000 + 1000) x 2 = 8000)

or:


 * 1. Activate "Mausoleum of the Emperor".
 * 2. Pay 2000 Life Points (or Tribute 2 monsters) to Summon "Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu".
 * 2. Activate "Mage Power" and "Twin Swords of Flashing Light - Tryce".
 * 4. Attack directly twice. (Total damage = (3000 + 1500 - 500) x 2 = 8000)

or:


 * 1. Have "Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu" and "Mystic Plasma Zone" face-up on the field without using your Normal Summon.
 * 2. Normal Summon "Evil HERO Infernal Gainer" and banish it using its effect, selecting "Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu" to attack twice this turn.
 * 3. Attack directly with "Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu" inflicting 3500 Battle Damage.
 * 4. Activate "Sebek's Blessing" from your hand letting you gain 3500 Life Points.
 * 5. Activate "Poison of the Old Man" to gain 1200 Life Points.
 * 6. You have now created an 8200 Life Point difference between you and your opponent, so finally activate "Life Equalizer" thus both player's Life Points become 3000.
 * 7. Attack directly again with "Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu" using the effect of "Evil HERO Infernal Gainer" (3000 - 3500 = - 500).

or:


 * 1. Have "Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu" already on the field.
 * 2. Special Summon "Plaguespreader Zombie" from your Graveyard.
 * 3. Special Summon "Evil HERO Infernal Gainer" and banish it to give "Ccapac Apu" 2 attacks.
 * 3. Special Summon "Grinder Golem" to your opponent's side of the field.
 * 4. Use the "Grinder Tokens" and "Plaguespreader Zombie" to Synchro Summon "Armory Arm".
 * 5. Equip "Armory Arm" to "Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu" and attack "Grinder Golem".
 * 6. Due to the effect of "Armory Arm", your opponent takes 3000 points of damage, Due to the effect of "Ccapac Apu", your opponent takes another 3000 points of damage and they take 1000 points of Battle Damage.
 * 7. Attack directly with "Ccapac Apu". (3000 + 3000 + 1000 + 4000 = 11000 points of damage)

Note: Without "Grinder Golem", you can still inflict 8000 points of damage if you can summon "Armory Arm".

OTK
1.Activate Mausoleum of the Emperor.

2.Pay 2000 Life Points (or tribute 2 monsters) to summon Earthbound Immortal Uru.

3.Activate Mage Power targeting Earthbound Immortal Uru.

4.Flip Whirlwind Weasel and activate Twin Swords of Flashing Light - Tryce targeting Earthbound Immortal Uru.

5.Attack directly twice. ((3000+1000*)+(3000+1000*))=8000*

This * means that the value can be bigger.

You must have Mausoleum of the Emperor on the field even if you tribute 2 monsters to summon Uru; or at least 1 more Spell or Trap face-down to use this OTK.

Twin Swords of Flashing Light - Tryce takes off 500 ATK points. If you have Mage Power and Twin Swords of Flashing Light - Tryce on Uru and no other Spells or Traps, Uru will have 3000 + 1000 - 500 attack, or 3500, which is not enough for an OTK even if you attack twice.

Cards that Special Summon powerful monsters on your opponent's side of the field are useful when used with "Earthbound Immortal Uru".

You can tribute weak monsters on your side of the field to control powerful monsters, such as "Lava Golem" or "Volcanic Queen", both of which inflict detrimental effects to your opponent during their turn.

Uru also works reasonably well with Swarm Decks; swarming weak monsters can be sacrificed to summon Uru and then again to control your opponent's monsters.

Typical cards
When creating a deck with Wiraqocha Rasca in it, note never to actually summon the Immortal with Mystic Tomato's effect, which makes Wiraqocha Rasca unable to activate its effect so it stays with 100 ATK.

Weaknesses
"Earthbound Immortals" are very strong, but cards like "Ancient Fairy Dragon", "Black Rose Dragon" and "Mystical Space Typhoon" could destroy an active Field Spell necessary to keep one around and take the Earthbound Immortal with it. You can use cards like "Field Barrier" to protect your Field Spell from being destroyed. Be careful though, cards like "Murmur of the Forest," "Giant Trunade," and "Codarus" can simply remove the Field Spell without destroying it, effectively not only bypassing "Field Barrier," but also disallowing you to play another Field Spell until "Field Barrier" itself is removed somehow. If you don't want to have this worry at all, you can use either "Hardened Armed Dragon" as a Tribute so that your "Earthbound Immortal" cannot be destroyed by card effects (including its own) or Summon an "Earthbound Linewalker" for the same protection. In an emergency situation, "Skill Drain" might also help to protect them.

Trivia

 * All Earthbound Immortals have been released in Ultra Rare/Ultimate Rare.
 * Earthbound Immortals are similar to "Malefic" monsters, in that they both require a Field Spell card to remain on the Field, and you can only control 1 at a time.
 * The Earthbound Immortals each represent one of the 7 colors of the rainbow like the Crystal Beasts.