Archetype

An archetype is a group of cards that all share at least one defining property.

Many archetypes are defined by, and draw their name from, a common term appearing in most of their members' names, such as "Elemental HERO" or "Machina". Support cards for these archetypes then typically reference that term in their name ("Elemental Recharge"), or mention it in their effect. Generally, members of the same archetype share an attribute or type, or a few attributes and types. In Japanese, monsters with the same furigana of an archetype are considered to be part of it.

Cards mentioning an archetype in their effect originally used the phrase "contains archetype in its card name"; however, most cards now refer to members of archetypes as "archetype monsters".

The concept of archetypes is often used in the manga and anime series to define a character's personality, look, state of mind or style of play. Most major players did not use archetypes early on due to a lack of archetypes, but as the game developed, Kaiba and Yugi's Decks grew around an archetype, and Decks based on archetypes such as Mai Valentine's and Maximillion Pegasus's Deck appeared. Starting with the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX series, virtually all main characters and most minor characters utilized Decks based around archetypes.

Card groups are categorized as archetypes if they have at least one support card. Membership in an archetype is dictated by the Japanese names of the cards, even if them being members may be unintentional. For example, "Thought Ruler Archfiend" is considered to be part of the "Sphere" archetype, as its Japanese name ("Mental Sphere Demon") contains the "スフィア", the text for "Sphere". Cards with the same words in their English names are not necessarily part of the same archetype. For example, "Element Valkyrie" is not a "Valkyrie" monster.

Groups of cards with similar names or artworks that are not supported by outside card effects are called a series.

There are archetypes on Yu-Gi-Oh! Wikia.