Yu-Gi-Oh! is one of the most original pieces of media there is. The idea of an ancient card game that players competed in where they unleashed monsters from cards to fight another's card monsters is brilliant. Hence, why it took the world by storm via anime, videogames, and of course an actual competitive card game.
However, did you know that not all the actual monsters from this game aren't so original? Many Yu-Gi-Oh! cards actually heavily reference pop culture and it's the coolest thing ever when you notice. If you're wondering which of your favorite card monsters reference your favorite shows then stick around for this list!
10 KOZMO: STAR WARS
The Kozmo archetype deck of cards features a series of light and dark pilots and a great supply of spaceship monsters to go with them. These pilots and ships contain many references to the Star Wars series with a card being the Psychic of the pilot monsters being a big reference to the force-sensitive beings of the Star Wars universe.
Taking a closer look at more cards in this series you'll find designs right from the galaxy far, far away such as various ships, weapons like lightsabers, concepts like one of the characters being a farmgirl on a sand planet, and even Stormtroopers called Soartroopers.
9 INZEKTOR & MASKED HERO: KAMEN RIDER
The Inzektor series of Yu-Gi-Oh! monsters is a series of dark insect archetype cards. However, these insects aren't necessarily insects but humanoids wearing insect armor much like the original Showa era Kamen Riders. The designs of these characters featured on these cards are just about one-to-one with them.
The Kamen Rider love doesn't just stop there, as the Masked Hero monsters also reference these tokusatsu heroes. However, whereas the Inzektors reference Showa era riders, the Masked Heroes reference the newer Heisei era ones.
8 ELEMENTAL HERO: WESTERN HEROES
If you've ever laid your eyes on the anime sequel to the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series, Yu-Gi-Oh! GX then you're definitely familiar with the Elemental Hero monsters due to the fact that they were series protagonist, Jaden's main deck. This deck of hero sub-archetypes is heavily differed from past hero series of Yu-Gi-Oh! for one reason.
While the original five Elemental Heroes were based on Super Sentai, the new GX group was based on Western heroes instead. This is why so many male Elemental Heroes have the word "man" in their titles.
7 KAIJU: GODZILLA AND OTHER KAIJU
This is probably the most obvious reference when it comes to Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. The Kaiju archetype features many high-level monsters and has become rather infamous due to the fact that it's very cheap when it comes to competitive play. However, it retains a bit of popularity due to the awesome references it holds.
Each Kaiju in this series of cards references a different piece of Kaiju media. The series references include the likes of Godzilla, Pacific Rim, Ultraman, Gamera, and more.
6 ALIENS: ALIENS AND CONSPIRACIES
While the name simply references the extraterrestrial, the Yu-Gi-Oh! archetype, Aliens, doesn't stop at just referencing the western conspiracies of the little green and grey men, but other theories as well. This series holds tons of references to how humans have viewed invaders from another planet in science fiction for years.
Not only are there cards such as "Crop Circles" included in this type, but other pop culture conspiracy cards like Planet Pollutant Virus, Mass Hypnosis, Mysterious Triangle, The "A" Zone, and "A" Cell Breeding Device.
5 VENDREAD: SPAWN, THE THING, AND RESIDENT EVIL
If you're a fan of all things horror whether it be comics, movies, or videogames then the Vendread series of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards are the ones for you. This dark zombie archetype features tons of mutant creatures that are very obviously inspired by many pop culture horror series.
This line features a ton of nods to Spawn, The Thing, and Resident Evil. Examples of this are Vendread Chimera being The Thing, Revendread Slayer being Spawn, Avendread Savior being Leon Kennedy, and Vendread Battlelord being a mix of Spawn and Nemesis.
4 DESKBOT: TRANSFORMERS
The Deskbot series of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards is an Earth machine monster type. These monsters are little toys that use school supplies as armor and weapons. Their designs and them being toys is a direct reference to the Robots in Disguise, The Transformers.
Not only is their life as toys a direct reference to the Transformers toyline but their designs also resemble some of the more popular characters from the series. Most notably is the appearances of 001, 002, and 003 who are references to Optimus Prime, Hound, and Bumblebee.
3 SUPER QUANTUM: SUPER SENTAI
If you thought because Yu-Gi-Oh! already covered the tokusatsu heroes of Kamen Rider they wouldn't go more in-depth with Super Sentai then you're big-time wrong. The Super Quantum Ranger archetype is a sub-archetype of the Super Quaint type. This line, of course, features various colored heroes like Super Quantum Red Layer.
Besides the Sentai team members, there are also the Super Quantum Mech Beasts to accompany them which are their Zords that fuse into their mechs such as, Neo Super Quantal Mech King Blaster Magna.
2 KONAMI ARCADE GAMES
With Konami being the owners of the Yu-Gi-Oh! series, it was only a matter of time before they created a series of cards based on their huge and iconic videogames library. This group of cards was originally created with only the Gradius series in mind as well as a few other shoot-em-ups from the Konami library.
However soon after Konami decided to drop a few other cards based around more series that they own. These series include Castlevania and Metal Gear Solid.
1 INFERNOIDS: RELIGIOUS DEMONS
The archetype of fire fiend monsters called the Infernoids debuted in the card pack titled Secrets of Eternity, which is a very fitting title because of what these cards are based on. The lore behind them carries a quote that describes them as, "The messengers of Inferno who burn everything in their path!"
This, of course, is a direct reference to demons from Hell which these monsters are based on. Originally these monsters were named after Biblical demons from many different religions but that was recently changed to avoid references to these occult entities.