Yu -Gi-Oh! Theory: The Sacred Beasts & The Egyptian Gods

First Mosses beat his brother in a duel, then he parted the sea using a Beyblade.

This is a hilariously well-written theory, and is my new headcanon. Although I don't think that Kaiba would willingly create the Sacred Beasts if they could be used against him - I think it's a little more likely that Kagemaru used Kaiba's technology in secret, as we know that Kaibacorp has a long history of poor security when it comes to people infiltrating and using their company's tech.

This could also work to explain why the Sacred Beasts have such unique tribute mechanics. Raviel requires Fiend monsters specifically, Uria requires Trap Cards and Hamon requires Continuous Spells. If they’re Alchemical beings, then it makes sense that their summon mechanics would require you to turn a specific something into something else. Like equivalent exchange. As opposed to the God Cards who just require a large sacrifice of other Monsters, as gods often do.

The idea that Kaiba founded Duel Academy for the specific purpose of powering up some evil god cards and that the entire student body is an unwitting test group is legit so much better of a plot than whatever season 2 was doing.

Something I was hoping you'd mention that strengthens this idea that tiny bit more: The sudden foray into Judaism doesn't seem so out-of-left-field when you remember that the main character is straight-up named Judai.

As someone who's Hebrew is its language and Torah is something that I learned extensively I have to say that I'm impressed with your research

I still believe the Sacred Beasts have a strong connection to the Supreme King given Kagemaru stated he needed Jaden's soul to fully control them implying the Supreme King is the only being capable of fully controlling them and given Yubel is meant to be the King's Guardian and she absorbed so much duel energy from other duelist Jaden included this explains why she's able to control them too when she got em.

Big respect for all the research you made for this video. I'm happy that there are people treating Takahashi's legacy with such care and passion.

So Kaiba is the catalyst for everything that happens in gx and 5ds all because of his ego

Moses: Pharaoh let my people go! Pharaoh: no I will never let your people go! Moses: Then it's time to duel!

A Millenium World version of The Prince of Eqypt? You'd have to convince Konami that they'd actually make money by retelling a significant story in 2 (3?) very big and active religions that would probably target specifically fans of the manga and DM era, and that profit would have to outweigh all the foreign backlash. That said, I am all for it, take my money! I swear, you put way more though into this than the actual writers of GX. But that's what makes this so great.

Return of the king

I came here to mention that the Three Phantasms are all named after Archangels, so good work with your research finding that Hamon = Archangel Gabriel, so now I don't need to explain that part. The card Judai used to defeat Kagemaru and the Three Phantasms, 'Sabatiel - The Philosopher's Stone' is named after Sabbathiel, an alias usd by the Archangel Michael, the chief Archangel and right hand of Yahweh. Along those lines, Raviel is probably named after Raphael rather than Raziel, meaning the 4 cards all together are named after the 4 most well known Archangels (Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel) Based on that, the lore implication seems to be that the Three Phantasms are twisted apparitions of Gabriel, Raphael and Uriel, and Sabatiel is a card forged by the power of Michael to stop them from destroying the world on Yahweh's behalf, hence why Sabatiel disintegrated after the Three Phantasms were defeated. Incidentally, the text on the Three Phantasms cards is written in Hebrew in the anime. And another Phantasm card "Phantasm Emperor Trilojig" was used by a character called Eve in the Arc-V manga, named after the Judeo-Christian Eve of the creation myth. And their field spell 'Fallen Paradise' is a corrupted version of the Garden of Eden. So the Phantasm cards are clearly very deeply connected to Hebrew mythology.

Okay while I don’t think Kaiba had a hand in the sacred beasts, personally I’d be more inclined to believe that Kagemaru just did all this behind Kaiba’s back and used his company’s technology to make the cards, the sacred beasts being homunculus copies of the gods… actually makes a surprising amount of sense 😕

As a Hebrew person who learned the Torah since first grade, I can tell you that my little Hebrew heart is dancing and you are right and the timelords are also named after Hebrew angels. I say your research is correct

I already had a feeling that the Sacred Beasts related to Hebrew mythology rather than Egyptian mythology. But, your theory and explanation was still really interesting and actually makes sense in the context of the GX series. I myself think they’re not as evil as the Wicked Gods, but still represent the Egyptian Gods’ less virtuous aspects.

Brilliant! Even if this is all speculation, every single detail fits so perfectly together that its own logic feels infallible. You've really created an amazing lore theory here.

The only snag I can think of in that theory is that Kaiba would be interested in creating new gods. In the first point, Kaiba was defeated despite having a god, and he strikes me as the type to say, "I'll stick with Blue-Eyes; if a God I command can be beaten, then I don't really need its power." The other point is that, English dub and filler arcs notwithstanding, I was pretty sure Kaiba intended to retire from Duel Monsters after Battle City, and focus on expanding Kaiba Land and games development. I see Kaiba leaving his mark by building Duel Academy, but I'd suspect that Kagemaru decided to take advantage of that; and then Kaiba just letting him get away with it, since he DID wager ownership Duel Academy on a single duel, and he was cocky enough to think any student from his school could defeat Kagemaru anyway.

Interesting theory. I also proposed that the reason the Phantasm look so similar to the Egyptian Gods is meant to both display their power and mock the actual Egyptian Gods. It's kind of a similar idea to Ninetails in Okami, where the second act boss of the game sees itself as being very close to a deity similar to the various Brush Gods in the game; to the point where they'll have statues, a constellation, have a mostly white fur body with streaks of red, and even use brush techniques just like the main character, Amaterasu. It also directly mocks Amaterasu by wearing a white mask with red markings, and Ninetails' symbol is on the moon, in contrast to how Amaterasu's symbol is on the sun. However, that godhood is an illusion; It's subtly hinted at by the fact that Ninetails' white fur is noticeably off-white, dirtier than Amaterasu's pure/snow white. It's like when a toy with white plastic starts to yellow. And sure enough, once you destroy 8 out of 9 of Ninetails' tails, they're finally revealed for what they are; an old, tired red/brown, one eyed fox demon that hungers for power. Obviously, this isn't one to one applicable to the Phantasms, but I do think the mocking of the Egyptian Gods could be possible.

This video blew me away. I love the original Egyptian God cards. The lore behind them, the meaning behind their original names, and the story that revolves around them. The way Mr. Kazuki Takahashi seamlessly wove history, fantasy, horror, and gaming together to create the original Yugioh manga is why I firmly believe is why I keep returning to this series. I remember being frustrated when I was younger with GX because it lacked that. (I’ve been recommended the manga and plan to read it soon since apparently it’s closer to what I might be looking for). My biggest frustration was how the “Sacred Beasts” felt shallow. They felt like cheap clones to cash in on the original Egyptian god card’s popularity. That said I always wondered if they were meant to be Hebrew based of their names and symbols on the keys, however I never found any official evidence on it nor a satisfactory official backstory so I gave up on trying to figure them out. Recently I got back into Speed Duel and got the new GX box. I was surprised when I found Kagemaru’s speed duel deck had a field card that looks like a fallen version of Eden… and that reawakened my curiosity. I’m glad I bumped into this video. It’s a fascinating theory and the alchemy detail helps fit it in together. If I remember correctly Alchemy is a Medieval invention based of the Sefer Zohar. As I typed all this I realized maybe 4kids might have been on to something? I mean “Sacred” Beasts.