Gouki

"Gouki" is an archetype of EARTH Warrior monsters used by George Gore, Kenmochi, and Yoroizaka in the Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS anime. They debuted in Code of the Duelist.

Appearance
"Gouki" have wrestling themes in design and name, shown in the fact that they wear tights and golden championship belts. While each of the Main Deck monsters are based on an animal, the Extra Deck monsters are based on Ogres which they draw heavy elements from. Their championship belts have the face of their themed animal, and their helmets fit the theme of their animal as well. They are also suited up in padded armor and wield weapons. They possess a predominantly single colored theme. So far, the Main Deck monsters each have a primary/secondary color while the Link Monsters are a neutral color. These monsters resemble, in terms of style, the "Elemental HEROes".

Etymology
"Gouki" (剛鬼) can be translated as "strong ogre", but it's likely a pun on the word 剛毅 gōki ("hardiness, manliness"). The Main Deck "Gouki" monsters are named after wrestling moves, such as Suplex, and then their appearance is based off an animal whose name is in the wrestling move name, being based off of their respective animal, or creates a pun based off that animal's name, that phonetically sounds in their romaji, such as "Gouki Suprex" being a pun on T-Rex (SupREX).

Playing style
The "Gouki" monsters seem to focus on a straightforward aggressive strategy, using effects to increase their ATKs or decrease the opponent's. The Main Deck monsters have 0 DEF, being immune to the effect of "Gouki The Great Ogre", who, in turn, has no DEF; that makes it so that they generally have an advantage over the ATK of opponent's monsters', since theirs' will likely end up reduced while yours' w'on't.

Additionally, the Main Deck "Gouki" monsters released up to Cybernetic Horizon all share this effect "If this card is sent from the field to the Graveyard: You can add 1 "Gouki" card from your Deck to your hand, except [itself]". This keeps you from losing unneeded card advantage upon using them as Synchro/Link Materials, or with cards like "Transmodify", "Downbeat", and "Spiritual Earth Art - Kurogane".

Weaknesses
As previously mentioned, all of the "Gouki" Main Deck monsters have 0 DEF; using cards that can put them in Defense Position such as “No Entry!!”, “Earthquake”, "Level Limit - Area B", "Swords of Concealing Light" and “Quaking Mirror Force can cause problems for them, especially with "Swords" and “Quaking Mirror Force” since it would prevent the Main Deck monsters from being used as Link Materials for a Link Summon. This makes the Main Deck members easily destroyed if they ever forced to be switched to Defense Position, especially if monsters that battle them have piercing effects or can instantly destroy Defense monsters (e.g. "Ninja Grandmaster Sasuke" and "Paladin of White Dragon".) “Blackwing - Jin the Rain Shadow" is a problem for the Main Deck monsters due to its effect to destroy any monster whose DEF is lower than its ATK. Link Monsters have no problem with “Jin the Rain Shadow” due to not having any DEF at all. Also, all of the “Gouki” monsters will have difficulty with “Superheavy Samurai” monsters, as some of the monsters are capable of attacking while in Defense Position, in which case their DEF is applied for Damage Calculation.

"Forbidden Graveyard", "Skull Meister" and "Abyss Dweller" will surcease "Gouki"s from using their effects while in the GY.

While Hand traps can be annoying for most Decks, they can particularly put a check on "Gouki"s comprehensively. "Ash Blossom & Joyous Spring" and "Droll & Lock Bird" along with the "Mistake" Continuous Trap and the Spell "Mistaken Arrest" can be particularly effective as they can stop the Main Deck "Gouki" monsters from tutoring other "Gouki"s beside themselves as well as interdict "Isolde, Two Tales of the Noble Knights" from appending a Warrior resource upon its Summon. Conversely, "Shared Ride" can supply you with a boatload of Hand resources if the "Gouki" player extensively searches multiple times in one turn. "Ghost Ogre & Snow Rabbit" can plug "Gouki Suprex"'s swarming ability and "Ghost Belle & Haunted Mansion" can desist "Gouki Rematch"'s effect. "Ghost Reaper & Winter Cherries" can also seal key Extra Deck monsters vital to this Deck's success.

Finally, "Gouki"s by themselves lack card effect destruction abilities and card effect immunity and thus, are easily vulnerable to backrow floodgates and mass-removal. The "Drain" Continuous Trap Cards can effectively shut this Deck down. Additionally, the "Kaiju"s, "Lava Golem", "The Winged Dragon of Ra - Sphere Mode" and "The Monarchs Stormforth" can Tribute Link Monsters that "Gouki"s aggressively seek to establish; worse of all though, "Chimeratech Megafleet Dragon" can also do away with them by using them as Fusion Material. Cards that banish like "Different Dimension Ground", "Macro Cosmos" and "Evenly Matched" can remove Link Monsters and Main Deck "Gouki"s long term, which particularly for the latter, also suspends any searching of other "Gouki" cards.