Forbidden One

"Forbidden One", known as "Sealed One" (されし Fūinsareshi) in the Japanese version and also referred to as "Exodia" (エクゾディア, Ekuzodia), is an archetype of cards first released in Legend of Blue Eyes White Dragon and was the first group of cards to provide an automatic win. The main card, "Exodia the Forbidden One" (often referred to as "Exodia's head"), is also one of the first five Effect Monsters ever to be released. The "Forbidden One" cards are some of the most iconic cards in the series, being well known for their Automatic Win effect and how, in the anime, Yugi was the first person to ever Summon "Exodia" (and in the first episode). While many people simply refer to these cards as "Exodia" cards, only the head of Exodia actually contains the name, while the other pieces are called "Forbidden One" in any card effect that refers to them; when used elsewhere on this page, "Exodia" refers only to the card "Exodia the Forbidden One" or the completed monster.

While the original "Forbidden One" set was extremely hard to obtain (all five pieces were Ultra Rare), they have since been reprinted in lesser rarities; a common practice is to print "Exodia" as an Ultra Rare and the limbs as Commons, making the set much easier to obtain. While the "Forbidden One" Deck was perhaps one of the first Deck types, it still remains a popular one, being supported through several new cards (specifically, new draw engines and draw loops).

Notably, "Exodia" was the only monster ever specifically mentioned in the rulebooks, even having the rule that should the five pieces be in your hand at any time you win the duel. This was, however, prior to other cards being released with effects that declared an automatic win. "Exodia" has since been removed from the rulebooks, as the effects written on the head are sufficient enough.



"Exodia" was, at first, a beast of such incalculable and intimidating might that he was split up into five distinctive parts - each one of them chained and sealed away by magic from all the other monsters (hence "the Forbidden One"). This would prevent his power from ever being used again. It was used by Shimon against Zorc Necrophades, against whom he was equal; however, "Exodia" was defeated due to the fact that Shimon is a mortal man whereas Zorc has his own power source.

As a result, in the Yu-Gi-Oh card game, there are five distinct "Forbidden One" cards, each one symbolizing a part of the complete "Exodia". In order for "Exodia" to regain his tremendous power, all of the five cards must be reunited in the player's hand. This brings the parts of the Forbidden One together, allowing "Exodia" to break free - his strength being so great that he guarantees the Summoner an automatic win, regardless of the situation.

The effect of "Exodia" makes it one of the most godlike monsters in Duel Monsters; unlike the rest of the monsters used in duels, "Exodia" doesn't rely on attack and defense - it declares an immediate victory whenever complete & uncut - every time all five cards are assembled in the hand, the owner wins.

Exodia cards


While the primary purpose of "Exodia" is to declare an automatic win through having all five pieces, there have been other methods to using it. The first of these was "Exodia Necross", which had to be summoned via "Contract with Exodia" and possesses the near-invulnerability of the anime version of "Exodia" as long as the actual "Forbidden One" pieces remain in the Graveyard. It gains 500 ATK during each of the player's Standby Phases and cannot be destroyed in battle or by Spell and Trap effects. It is automatically destroyed if any of the five "Forbidden One" pieces do not exist in the Graveyard. Due to its near-invincibility and increasing strength, it serves as either a trump card that cannot be defeated or as a backup plan if too many "Forbidden One" pieces end up in the Graveyard.

The next such incarnation was "Exodius the Ultimate Forbidden Lord", which provided an alternate method of winning with "Exodia". "Exodius" can only be Summoned by returning all monsters in the Graveyard to the Deck. When "Exodius" attacks, a monster must be sent from either the hand or Deck to the Graveyard. "Exodius" gains 1000 ATK for each Normal Monster in the Graveyard. Should all five pieces of "Exodia" exist in the Graveyard as a result of being sent there via the effect of "Exodius", the player automatically wins the duel. Since the "Forbidden One" limbs are Normal Monsters, they power up "Exodius" when sent to the Graveyard by its effect, allowing field presence to be maintained, while also contributing to the possibility of an automatic win. Since its Summoning condition puts monsters from the Graveyard back into the Deck, it allows the possibility of an automatic win even if "Forbidden One" pieces are sent to the Graveyard, and in fact makes it beneficial to send them there again.

In addition, there is "Exxod, Master of The Guard" which greatly resembles "Exodia", though without an automatic win effect. In the same vein as "Necross" being the Zombie counterpart of "Exodia", "Exxod" resembles a completed, though still sealed, "Exodia".

Yu-Gi-Oh!
In the second anime series, the "Forbidden One" cards were notable for never having been successfully played until Yugi Muto was able to assemble all five pieces during his duel against Seto Kaiba during episode 1. "Exodia" appeared in this duel when Yugi gathered all five pieces in his hand, after which it launched an attack, prompted by the line "Exodia, Obliterate" ("Hellfire's Rage, Exodo Flame!" in the original version) from Yugi. The attack wiped out all three of Seto's "Blue-Eyes White Dragons" and reduced his Life Points to zero.

However, Yugi never used the "Exodia" cards again in the series because Weevil Underwood threw them overboard during the boat trip to Duelist Kingdom; despite the best efforts of Joey Wheeler, only two pieces were recovered.



In the Battle City arc, Seeker of the Rare Hunters uses "Exodia" to defeat Joey in a duel and also take his Red-Eyes Black Dragon. In the duel against Yugi that follows, the Rare Hunter almost wins, but is defeated when Yugi is able to wipe out every single copy of "Exodia the Forbidden One" in his Deck using "Chain Destruction." Following this, Yugi rips up the "Forbidden One" cards as they were counterfeits. However in the dub, he does this since the "Forbidden One" cards were marked with invisible ink so the Rare Hunter knew when he would draw one.

In the Virtual World arc, Gozaburo Kaiba uses an Exodia Deck against Seto Kaiba, believing that since Yugi defeated Kaiba with "Exodia", Kaiba would fear it. Instead of collecting the various "Forbidden One" monsters in his hand, he sends them to his Graveyard so he can Summon "Exodia Necross". However, Kaiba is able to overcome his fears and see the weakness in "Exodia Necross", and so removes the "Forbidden One" monsters in the Graveyard from play using "Soul Demolition", thus rendering "Exodia Necross" powerless.

"Exodia Necross'" effect was marginally different in the anime. It gained a different effect for each "Exodia" piece in the Graveyard. It was immune to Spells if the Left Leg was in the Graveyard, immune to Traps if the Right Leg was in the Graveyard, immune to Monster effects if the Right Arm was in the Graveyard and gained 1000 ATK each time damage that involved it was calculated if the Left Arm was in the Graveyard. Having "the head" in in the Graveyard granted it the effect of not being destroyed in battle.

Exodia vs Zorc Necrophades
Exodia makes one final appearance during the Dawn of the Duel arc, in episode 216, as the Ka spirit of Shimon Muran. Shimon had sealed "Exodia" a long time ago away due to its godly strength but released him now to engage in battle with Zorc Necrophades. Despite a strong effort, "Exodia" was defeated by Zorc, because "Exodia" drew his power from Shimon, while Zorc used the power of the darkness. Initially, though, both of them seemed imperishable, but as The Forbidden One's life force was drawn from a single human, any damage caused to "Exodia" was also caused to Shimon himself, and Shimon, being a sole mortal, wasn't able to stand up to the power of Zorc, thus allowing the Dark Demon to easily cleave "Exodia" in half, killing Shimon in the process.

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX
In Yu-Gi-Oh! GX, "Exodia" is used by two separate duelists. The Yubel-possessed Marcel Bonaparte uses an Exodia Deck, which he discards after obtaining the three Sacred Beasts. He gives the five "Forbidden One" card to Adrian Gecko as part of a deal.

Later in the season, Adrian discovers the seal of "Exodia" in the third alternate dimension and realizes he must sacrifice the Duel Energy of someone close to him in order to free "Exodia". He decides to sacrifice Echo, whom he loved, but he was opposed by Aster Phoenix. The two Duel and Aster is able to block Adrian from achieving the victory condition of "Exodia" using "Force of Four." However, Adrian is able to make a comeback with "Exodius the Ultimate Forbidden Lord". Echo willingly sacrifices herself to release "Exodia", and despite Aster coming close to victory, Adrian is able to Summon "Exodia" using the victory condition of "Exodius".

Adrian uses his Exodia Deck against the Yubel-possessed Jesse Anderson in order to become King of the third alternate dimension. He is defeated when his opponent Summons "Yubel", whose effect defeats Adrian as she attacks "Grinder Golem". Had this not happened, Adrian would have won, as he had four different "Forbidden One" monsters in his hand and was about to draw the fifth, having placed it on top of his Deck using "A Feather of the Phoenix".

In the anime, the effect of "Exodius" effect was marginally different. It needed be Summoned via "Ritual of the Ultimate Forbidden Lord" and was immune to Monster, Spell and Trap effects controlled by the player's opponent. Rather than gaining ATK for Normal Monsters in the Graveyard, it gained ATK only for "Forbidden One" monsters in the Graveyard, and it could only send "Forbidden One" monsters from the Deck or hand to the Graveyard when it attacked.

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's
In the dub of Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's, Yusei Fudo compared the "Earthbound Immortals" to "Exodia", though he was likely using the size and similar body shapes of "Exodia" and "Earthbound Immortal Ccapac Apu" as his main comparison.

Trivia

 * Exodia's backstory and pharaoh-like appearance seem to be a reference to the famous Egyptian legend of Osiris. Osiris was the god Egyptians believed brought them civilization, such as the knowledge of architecture, farming, and establishing the line of pharaohs. However, Osiris was betrayed by his jealous brother Set and cut into several pieces, which were then scattered across Egypt. Osiris' wife Isis recovered the pieces and brought Osiris back to life long enough for them to bear a son, Horus, before Osiris departed to the Land of the Dead where he became its ruler.
 * The chance of drawing all 5 pieces of Exodia in the first five cards out of a 40 card deck is 1/658008, if there is 1 of each piece, as there is. (Calculation: 5/40 * 4/39 * 3/38 * 2/37 * 1/36 = 1.52*10^-6 or 0.000152%.)
 * In Yu-Gi-Oh! Capsule Monster Coliseum, the player can fuse the five pieces of "Exodia" to Summon "Summoned Lord Exodia", the complete Exodia, (but it will be only like a normal fusion piece) with an ability to cause massive damage on the monsters that is in range, that is known by "Obliterate". "Summoned Lord Exodia" can also be unlocked in Yu-Gi-Oh! The Duelists of the Roses in the library when you successfully summon Exodia, but will be impossible to see him in 3D and the only available status will be his Type, which is Spellcaster, and his Attribute, which is Dark.
 * In the TCG version, the seal behind "Exodia" is "Spellbinding Circle".