Card Trivia:The Winged Dragon of Ra

Egyptian History

 * Ra (Rê and later Amun-Ra; reconstructed as *ri:ʕu) is the ancient Egyptian sun god. He was a major deity in ancient Egyptian religion by the fifth dynasty. Identified primarily with the mid-day sun, the chief cult centre of Ra first was based in Heliopolis (ancient Inunu) meaning "City of the Sun".


 * In later Egyptian dynastic times, Ra was subsumed into the god Horus, as Re-Horakhty (and many variant spellings). He commanded sky, earth, underworld.


 * According to E. A. Wallis Budge he was the one god of Egyptian monotheism, of which all other deities were aspects, manifestations, phases, or forms of this deity. Ra itself, however, was also a monotheistic god. A Hymn to Ra (approx. 1370s BC) was written to stress the pantheistic nature of Ra to combat encroaching polytheism. In it, several deities are described, not as beings in their own right, but certain forms of Ra. For example:


 * ''"Praise be unto thee, O Ra, thou exalted Power, who dost enter into the habitations of Ament, behold [thy] body is Atum."
 * "Praise be unto thee, O Ra, thou exalted Power, who dost enter into the hidden palace of Anubis, behold [thy] body is Khepera."''


 * The Bennu bird (the egyptian correspondence to the phoenix) is Ra's ba (soul) and a symbol of fire and rebirth. The sun disk, also shown as the hieroglyphic ⊙ ; Ankh, symbolizing the life given by the sun; Obelisk, representative of the rays of the sun and worshiped as a home of a solar god; Pyramids, aligned east/west Falcon; Bull; Uraeus, a cobra commonly seen wrapped around the sun disk. As the sun, Ra was thought to see everything.


 * Together with Atum, Ra was believed to have fathered Shu and Tefnut, who in turn bore Geb, Nut. These in turn were the parents of Osiris, Isis, Seth and Nephthys. All nine made up the Heliopolitan Ennead.

Hieratic Text

 * According to the Japanese version of the anime and manga, the Hieratic Text printed on the card records the following three groups of Ra's abilities (quoted from Seto Kaiba's own translation of the Text in Duel 248 of the Japanese manga):


 * (1st ability) "太陽神は３体の生贄を束ねてその力を得る　ただし神を従えし者古の呪文を天に捧げよ "
 * (2nd ability) "神は地より蘇生する　再生の術と術者の命を与えよ　時はひとつであろうとも戦場の敵は炎によって屍と化す  "
 * (3rd ability) "時ひとつとして神は不死鳥となる　選ばれし魔物は大地に眠る  "


 * When (roughly) translated to English, it reads:


 * (1st ability) "Ra shall acquire the power of three tributes. However, only those who offer the ancient incantation to heaven shall God follow."
 * (2nd ability) "God shall revive from earth. By offering the Ritual of Revival and his own life, one shall be united with God, and all enemies on the battlefield shall be incinerated."
 * (3rd ability) "In an instant, God shall become a Phoenix, and all evil spirits chosen by it shall repose on earth."


 * In the English version of Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, though, the Hieratic Text appears to have a different meaning. This can be seen when Marik recited the Text while gaining control of Ra during his duel with Mai Valentine in episode 92:


 * "Great beast of the sky, please hear my cry.
 * Transform thyself from orb of light and bring me victory in this fight.
 * Envelop the desert with your glow and cast your rage upon my foe.
 * Unlock your powers from deep within so that together we may win.
 * Appear now in this Shadow Game as I call your name,
 * Winged Dragon of Ra!"


 * Note that in the English version of Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, when Marik Ishtar attempted to gain control of Ra in his duel with Mai, the viewer can hear him speaking understandable words. However, in the Japanese version of Yu-Gi-Oh! anime and manga, what he recited was the Hieratic Text itself (in the anime, Marik recites some unknown words; in the manga, his speech bubbles are filled with Hieratic Text). In the English episode 221 when Atemu (Pharaoh Atem in the English anime) summoned Ra, he uses the chant but it is changed (the Japanese version uses the incomprehensible Hieratic). Here is this chant:


 * "Almighty protector of the sun and sky, I beg of thee, please heed my cry.
 * Transform thyself from orb of light and bring me victory in this fight. 
 * I beseech thee, grace our humble game.
 * But first I shall...call out thy name,
 * Winged Dragon of Ra!"

Effects
One of the three Egyptian God cards, The Winged Dragon of Ra is unusual in that it's flavor text is printed as it's "effect". Despite this obstacle, however, effects have been given to it in its videogame appearances.


 * In Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters IV: Battle of Great Duelist, The Winged Dragon of Ra can revive card from the player's and opponent's graveyard and control 1 of the oppenent's card.

Yu-Gi-Oh! The Sacred Cards and Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction: The Winged Dragon of Ra DIVINE/Machine/12/4000/4000 A dragon that has the power to cut its LP to 1 and hit the opponent with the LP amount that it has lost. (Requires three tributes.)


 * In Yu-Gi-Oh! Reshef of Destruction, the "Sphere Mode" and "Phoenix Mode" of Ra are treated as separate cards.

Yu-Gi-Oh! Nightmare Troubadour: The Winged Dragon of Ra DIVINE/Divine Beast/10/????/???? You must offer 3 Tributes to Tribute Summon this card. The ATK and DEF of this card becomes the sum of the respective ATK and DEF values of the Tributes. When this card is Special Summoned, it is sent to the Graveyard during the End Phase. While this card is face-up on the field, it cannot be targeted by Spells, Traps, or Monsters that designate a target. When this card is successfully Special Summoned, you may activate one of the following effects:


 * Pay 1000 Life Points to destroy one monster on the Field and remove it from the game.
 * Pay all but 1 Life Points, and increase ATK and DEF by the amount of Life Points paid.

Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force 2 and Yu-Gi-Oh! GX Tag Force 3: The Winged Dragon of Ra DIVINE/Divine Beast/10/?/? You must offer 3 Tributes to Tribute Summon this card. The ATK and DEF of this card becomes the sum of the respective ATK and DEF values of the Tributes. When this card is Special Summoned, it is sent to the Graveyard during the End Phase. While this card is face-up on the field, it cannot be targeted by Spells, Traps, or Monsters that designate a target. When this card is successfully Special Summoned, you may activate one of the following effects:


 * Pay 1000 Life Points to destroy one monster on the Field and remove it from the game.
 * Pay all but 1 Life Points, and increase ATK and DEF by the amount of Life Points paid.

Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's Stardust Accelerator: The Winged Dragon of Ra DIVINE/Divine Beast/10/?/? You must offer 3 Tributes to Tribute Summon this card. The ATK and DEF of this card becomes the sum of the respective ATK and DEF values of the Tributes. When this card is Special Summoned, it is sent to the Graveyard during the End Phase. While this card is face-up on the field, it cannot be targeted by Spells, Traps, or Monsters that designate a target. When this card is successfully Special Summoned, you may activate one of the following effects:


 * Pay 1000 Life Points to destroy one monster on the Field and remove it from the game.
 * Pay all but 1 Life Points, and increase ATK and DEF by the amount of Life Points paid.

Miscellaneous

 * UDE representatives used a copy of "The Winged Dragon of Ra" which had a different image and the Hieratic text in the place of the flavor text


 * Many fake cards exist of Ra with the alternate art.However,the flavor text varies on the card.


 * Hamon, Lord of Striking Thunder is the legal incarnate of this Card.


 * This card has an evil version called The Wicked Avatar


 * "The Winged Dragon of Ra" appears in the artwork of "Quiz Panel Ra: 10", "20" and "30".


 * In the Japanese version of Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters, this card, and the other Egyptian God Cards are in English, while still using the Japanese name.


 * Like Obelisk the Tormentor (Effect Monster) before it, Ra is due to for a reprinted, usable version in an upcoming copy of itself on Decemeber 19th, 2009. Like Obelisk, it's art will be redrawn and signed by Kazuki Takahashi.


 * The Winged Dragon of Ra looks extremely similar to Horus the Black Flame Dragon LV8. This makes sense since Ra and Horus are often considered to be one and the same. As such, the two can be considered to be different versions of the same monster.