Destiny HERO

"Destiny HERO" (Ｄ－ＨＥＲＯ (デステニーヒーロー) , Desutenī Hīrō) is a "HERO" sub-archetype of DARK Warrior monsters used by Aster Phoenix in the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX anime, as well as by his alternate universe counterpart in the Yu-Gi-Oh! ARC-V anime. Since their debut, they have been seen as an antithesis to the "Elemental HERO" archetype, as specific cards somewhat resemble certain "Elemental HERO" monsters.

References to British culture

These cards resemble British anti-heroes and there are several references to British culture within the cards. There is also an emphasis in the passage of time in most "Destiny HERO" card effects, as opposed to the more immediate effects of "Elemental HERO" monsters.

Members

Destiny HERO		Origin
English	Japanese	Origin
Blade Master	Dagger Guy	-
Captain Tenacious	Die Hard Guy	Sir William Inglis
Celestial	Divine Guy	-
Dangerous	Deadly Guy	-
Dark Angel	Dark Angel	-
Dasher	Dash Guy	Spring Heeled Jack
Decider	Decision Guy	Loch Ness Monster
Defender	Defend Guy	-
Denier	Denial Guy	-
Departed	Departed Guy	The Invisible Man
Diamond Dude	Diamond Guy	Dandy
Disk Commander	Disk Guy	-
Dogma	Dogma Guy	Dogma
Dominance	Dominate Guy	-
Doom Lord	Devil Guy	Spawn
Double Dude	Double Guy	Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde
Drawhand	Draw Guy	-
Dread Servant	Dread Servant	-
Dreadmaster	Dread Guy	Man in the Iron Mask
Dreamer	Dream Guy	-
Drilldark	Drill Guy	-
Dunker	Dunk Guy	-
Dusktopia	Duskutopia Guy	Utopia
Dynatag	Dynamite Guy	Dynamite Kid
Dystopia	Dystopia Guy	Dystopia
Fear Monger	Doom Guy	-
Malicious	Diabolic Guy	Devilman
Plasma	Bloo-D	Blue blood/Count Dracula

Support

Card	Origin
Clock Tower Prison	Big Ben
Cyclone Blade	-
D - Chain	-
D - Counter	-
D - Formation	-
D - Fortune	-
D - Shield	-
D - Time	Tea Time
D-Fusion	-
D - Tactics	-
Dark City	Dark City
Destiny Draw	-
Destiny Mirage	-
Destiny Signal	Bat-Signal
Fusion Destiny	-
Over Destiny	-

Naming

In the OCG, the names of all "Destiny HERO" monsters begin with the letter "D" and end with the word "guy", with a few exceptions, such as: "Destiny HERO - Dark Angel", "Destiny HERO - Bloo-D" and "Destiny HERO - Dread Servant". This is similar to several of the Main Deck (and a few of the Fusion) "Elemental HEROes", which contain either "man" or "lady" in their names (though mostly in the OCG). In the TCG, most of their names start with the letter "D", but there are multiple exceptions; especially with the earlier members.

Appearances

The "Destiny HERO" monsters were designed by Aster Phoenix's father. After he was killed (kidnapped in the dub), Aster inherited the cards, although one was stolen by the D.

It was mentioned by Aster that, just like Neos and the Neo Spacians, the Destiny HERO monsters were infused with cosmic energies.

The stolen card was known as the "Ultimate D Card". Aster made it his business to find this card in order to avenge his father.

The "Ultimate D Card" was "Destiny HERO - Plasma", while the "Final D Card" was "Destiny End Dragoon". Aster was able to retrieve the former card after defeating the D. "Destiny End Dragoon" was initially stolen by Mike in the fourth season but it was retrieved by Jaden and Esmeralda during a Duel that Mike organized and returned to Aster.

Relation to other "HERO" monsters

Currently, the only "Destiny HERO"-related card that involves the "Elemental HERO" archetype is "D - Time". However, "Elemental HERO" cards such as "Elemental HERO Stratos", "Elemental HERO Ocean", "Elemental HERO Divine Neos", "HERO's Bond", and "Elemental HERO Absolute Zero" all support "Destiny HERO" monsters, as does the "Evil HERO" "Evil HERO Infernal Prodigy". "Elemental HERO Phoenix Enforcer" and "Elemental HERO Shining Phoenix Enforcer" can be considered pseudo-"Destiny HERO" monsters as they have only been owned and used to date by Aster Phoenix, and their Japanese name also have "Guy" at the end. "Destiny HERO" monsters are also supported by the "Masked HERO" and "Vision HERO" monsters, such as "Masked HERO Goka", "Masked HERO Vapor", "Mask Change", "Vision HERO Trinity", "Vision HERO Adoration" and "Vision HERO Vyon".

Playing style

Predaplant Monsters "Ophrys Scorpio" can Search for "Darlingtonia Cobra" who can Search (once per duel only) for any 1 "Fusion" Spell Card for free. The first Spell Card you may wish to Search for is "Fusion Destiny" and to avoid the mild restriction do all other Special Summoning before using this card; and then Fusion Summon "Destiny HERO - Dominance", whose effects do not matter at the moment, what does is sending three Fusion material Monsters from the Main Deck to the GY and they are all Special Summoned back by his own "When Destroyed by anything" effect and "Fusion Destiny"s "At the opposing End Phase Destroy the Summoned Monster" effect.

Destiny HEROes have a strong interest in "Send anything to GY from Main Deck" effects because of "Malicious" having no "Once per Turn only" restriction and the two Destiny HERO Monsters "Disk Commander" and "Celestial".

"Elemental HERO Shadow Mist" (When Sent to GY) and "Elemental HERO Stratos" (on Normal Summon) can Search any "HERO" Monster. "Mask Change II" can change any DARK Monster into "Masked HERO Dark Law", a powerful Banish effect that stuns your opponent's Deck only. "Elemental HERO Honest Neos" is a Hand Trap effect that adds 2500 ATK to any HERO Monster for a Battle Phase finishing a Search combo neatly & being prepared to defend for the opposing turn. "Reinforcement of the Army" (Any Level 4 or Lower Warrior) and "E - Emergency Call" ("Elemental HERO" Level 4 or lower) are used as Spell Card Searchers as this archetype can Draw easily, but cannot Search the Main Deck on it's own.

Destiny HERO Monsters are part of a Super-Archetype of DARK-Warriors that all use similar Search and Draw engines because they are all DARK or all Warrior Cards in the Main Deck. But many of these Cards that support are frequently Banned or at least Restricted; like "Allure of Darkness", "Reinforcement of the Army" and "Armageddon Knight" to name a few, so keep this in mind when adding Support cards like "Predaplant" Monsters (All DARKs).

The effect of "Diamond Dude" is also used as a centerpiece to build a Spell-Heavy Deck around: it ignores the Cost of cards to activate (e.g. "Discard 1 Card" or "Pay 1000 Life Points"); of the three Monsters is the only one still actively used and is the reason why "Destiny HERO" Decks are always Spell Card heavy.

At time of their first release, "Elemental HERO Stratos", "Destiny HERO - Disk Commander", "Destiny Draw", "Destiny HERO - Malicious" and "Reinforcement of the Army" were the fastest Draw / Tribute engine bar none, usually with the single Tribute "Monarch" Monsters and "Jinzo". "Stratos" and "Disk Commander" have no-once-per-turn restriction to their effects and basically been replaced by "Shadow Mist" and "Destiny HERO - Celestial".

Not related to the whole archetype, the combination of "Destiny HERO - Malicious", "Plaguespreader Zombie" and "Armageddon Knight"/"Dark Grepher" was commonly used (when "Reinforcement of the Army" was not on the Banlist) as a complementary engine to DARK / Zombie Synchro Decks for Level 6-8 Access.