As TCG fanatics will know, Yu-Gi-Oh! is one of the most beloved and longest-running card games out there. Which make perfect sense, really. In the anime itself, the battles are completely preposterous, with Godzilla-esque beasts storming around the virtual battlefield, and it only follows that a real-life version would be a great success.

However, when it comes to card art, Yu-Gi-Oh! has hit a bit of a stumbling block over the years. That’s always the case with these games; just look at Pokémon and the occasional miscue. As games spread from their native Japan to other regions, the artwork on certain cards has had to be redrawn and even censored.

In the Yu-Gi-Oh! world, tons of cards have received this treatment. Some cards featured a little too much skin. Others have been pretty gosh darn aggressive. And others were accused of demonic imagery. Let’s check out twenty of the most disturbing cards ever released, and how they had to be changed.

20 Dark Ruler Ha Des Had His Horns Removed

1- A Deal With Dark Ruler

The card, A Deal With Dark Ruler, is a neat spell, allowing the player to special summon a Berserk Dragon if a high-level monster of theirs was sent to the graveyard this turn. Its artwork is notable for being different from that seen in the anime, and also for being significantly altered for the international release.

The huge curved horns you see were present only on the Japanese version of the card. Overseas, they were replaced with those twin orbs, to avoid supposed Satanic references.

19 Toning Down Final Flame

3- Final Flame

As we know, Yu-Gi-Oh! can be pretty darn intense. This is a harsh world, right here, a world where furious slavering dragons try to beat their way past your monsters to swing directly at your sweet, sweet life points.

As such, a lot of the artwork can be surprisingly shocking. Final Flame is a simple spell card, dealing 600 points of damage to your opponent’s life points when activated. Such burn damage is a staple of a lot of decks, but did they have to take the concept so horrifyingly literally?

The poor guy being ended at the stake certainly illustrated what Final Flame was all about, but we're glad that this just became Generic Monster With Fire #472 on its international release.

18 Cure Mermaid Was Re-Designed

2- Cure Mermaid

Now, we all know the old legends of Sirens and mermaids. They put on the whole beautiful, distressing damsels façade, fluttering their eyelashes to lure sailors to them. When their victims get close enough, they reveal their true selves, usually dragging the poor sailors to the bottom of the ocean.

There are several Yu-Gi-Oh! cards that feature these iconic mythical creatures. Unfortunately, some of the cards were a bit too revealing in Japan and had to be toned-down stateside. Cure Mermaid is a great example of this.

17 Archfiend Heiress' Energy Ball Was Given The Boot

4- Archfiend Heiress

All Yu-Gi-Oh! players will be familiar with the idea of archetypes. These are a particular type of Monster, which often have a range of support cards and are utilized in themed decks. There are a huge range of different archetypes; anything from an Insect deck to a Toon or Dinosaur-themed deck is possible.

One of the earliest and most enduring archetypes in the game is Archfiends. These guys have been lurking around for a long darn time, the focus of beatdown decks that cost your own lifepoints to run.

With names like Terrorking Archfiend and Archfiend Emperor, the First Lord of Horror, one gets the impression that these guys aren’t to be messed with, either. Archfiend Heiress was even accused of "giving the finger" in her card art. It looked a little that way, anyway, which is why that ball of energy was given the boot.

16 Man, Was 'Soul Of The Pure' Impure

5- Soul Of The Pure

Yu-Gi-Oh! deals with some dark subject matter and some horrifying monsters (wait until you see the Worm Apocalypse creatures, pure nightmare fuel). It’s all combat, all the time.

There aren’t many examples of cards that feature blood, but there was that time that Soul of the Pure — which is named Angel’s Lifeblood in Japanese — got a little too grisly for the censors. The card dropped the bloody aesthetic for a more favorable design Internationally.

15 Dramatic Rescue Was Way Too Dramatic 

6- Dramatic Rescue

Speaking of card archetypes, one of the more curious ones is the Amazoness series. These cards focus on Earth Monsters, specializing in buffing themselves and debuffing opponents. This particular card, Dramatic Rescue, can be used for or against an Amazoness deck. It’s activated when a Monster of the archetype is targeted by an effect, sending said Monster back to the owner’s hand and allowing them to Special Summon another Monster.

There are some interesting plays to be made with this, but what’s most important is the art itself. International players didn’t want to see a woman having her hand guillotined.

14 Designer Frightfur Was Just Alarming

7- Designer Frightfur

Yu-Gi-Oh! fans will also be familiar with the Fluffal series of Monsters. They won’t have actually used them, presumably, because you don’t see a lot of these guys. The archetype’s whole deal is super cutesy and adorable stuffed animal-type Monsters. As their appearance suggests, these little guys aren't exactly threatening.

That said, the set still featured one alarming card. Designer Frightfur depicts Frightfur Leo, a Fluffal Monster fusion, being torn apart by saws. It was pretty tough to look at, which is why designers changed it Internationally.

13 Darksea Rescue Was A Bit Too Dark

8- Darksea Rescue

Yu-Gi-Oh! doesn’t shy away from adding horror elements to their cards. Like the Archfiends we’ve already seen, Zombies are a long-time archetype. They’ve been a staple of the game’s meta for most of its life, favoring a resurrect-from-the-graveyard-and-swarm-the-field playstyle that’s simple and effective.

With that in mind, we’ve got to expect a little horror-themed subject matter here and there in the cards. Darksea Rescue takes that whole idea a little too far though; the Japanese version features some pretty dark art.

12 The Fiend Comedian Was Simply Too Scary

9- Fiend Comedian

These guys are part of the dark-themed and evil side of Yu-Gi-Oh! These aren’t traits you’d usually associate with comedians., snarky funsters that they are, but Fiend Comedian sure embodies all of that.

This Trap Card sees you either banish every card in the opponent’s graveyard from the game, or send the same number of your own cards to the graveyard (on the outcome of a coin flip). However, the key thing here, is how beautifully horrific the original art was. The more you look at that image, the worse it gets.

11 Gimmick Puppet Dreary Doll Was A Bit Too Detailed

10- Gimmick Puppet Dreary Doll

There are some types of Monster that are really unusable at first. They might be able to be splashed into decks, if particular cards are good enough, but the set they were introduced in just didn’t give them enough space to shine. The Gimmick Puppet cards are one example of this, originally being far too few in number to have a deck themed around them.

With the introduction of more Gimmick Puppet Monsters, a deck did start to surface. These things are all a little creepy and bizarre, but none more so than Gimmick Puppet Dreary Doll.

The censored version is much more presentable, sans blood and in a nice happy Hello Kitty gift box rather than a coffin.

10 Garvas Was Indecent

11- Garvas

Garvas was originally supposed to be an imposing monster, with a fairly hefty attack and defense. Unfortunately, the original art in Japan was too humanoid and "revealing" to come stateside.

He was never released as a card outside of Japan. He does appear in several video game adaptions of the series, though, such as Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Duelists Of The Roses. In the international versions of the game, his lower body is a darker color, suggesting that the guy is wearing some kind of spiffy pants.

9 Flying Fortress SKY FIRE Was Also Seemingly Indecent

12- Flying Fortress SKY FIRE

Flying Fortress SKY FIRE (yep, it insists on having its name capitalized that way) is a super powerful Machine Monster, which can only be summoned by tributing three specific monsters together. If you can get this combo off, though, SKY FIRE can prevent your opponent from Summoning or Setting cards, destroying and burning them for doing so.

The card's visuals are pretty striking but had to be altered for an International release. It's easy to see why, even if it seems a bit silly.

8 Destiny Board Needed Its Board Censored

13- Destiny Board

Destiny Board is a curious card. In a similar fashion to Exodia, this Trap Card serves as part of an instant win condition. In Exodia’s case, all pieces of Exodia, The Forbidden One must be in the player’s hand at one time, but this one works a little differently.

The player must have all four corresponding Spell Cards active on the field at one time (Spirit Message I, N, A and L), plus the final piece: Destiny Board itself. As you can imagine, this requires a completely unique and super stally deck to pull off.

Destiny Board has changed quite a bit over its lifetime. Originally, it was designed as an out-and-out Ouija board. This whole concept was a little on the dark side, so the artwork was altered.

7 Curse Of The Circle's Symbol Had To Be Swapped

14- Curse of the Circle

Sometimes, games and films containing featuring "Satanic" imagery have to be put through the censorship wringer in order to be suitable for an International release. But sometimes the imagery is part of a certain aesthetic.

Look at Doom, and the liberal amounts of dark imagery that are a key motif. Symbolism is a confusing business, and signs can be totally different things depending on who you’re asking. There are particular meanings and connotations that certain signs just can’t shake, regardless, and so this pentagram was removed for the international release of Curse of the Circle. Instead, the symbol found on another card, Spellbinding Circle, was featured. This card will just go ahead and lock an opponent’s monster from being Tributed either way.

6 'Infernity Randomizer': Super Weird, Super Censored

15- Infernity Randomizer

Now, we really don’t know what to make of this art. This is an all-around kooky-looking customer we’ve got on our hands. Infernity monsters are always an odd bunch, utilizing a curious combo of an empty hand and graveyard manipulation, but Infernity Randomizer takes the cake.

That dual-revolver Japanese body didn’t make it past the censors, who didn’t take kindly to the violent reference. The overseas version of Infernity Randomizer, then, sported these twin lightbulb-looking dealies instead.

5 Elf's Light Needed Clothing To Pass Censors

16- Elf's Light

Across the whole, wide and wacky world of folklore, teeny pixie creatures feature again and again. They have all kinds of different names: Fairy, doxy, elf, countless others. Generally, these little creatures have a similar sort of appearance, but their powers and abilities will differ depending on who’s telling the story.

This also accounts for visuals. Depending on which folklore you're following, these small creatures may look humanoid or a bit more monstrous. Unfortunately, the design chosen for Elf's Light was too humanoid, and the lack of clothing didn't sit well with censors.

4 A Bit Too Violent For International Release

17- Trial Of Nightmare

On the face of it, Trial of Nightmare really isn’t a big deal. It’s a plain old Fiend Monster, and quite a weak one at that. 1300 attack? Even so, you really shouldn’t underestimate this guy.

Originally, this card was dubbed Trial of Hell, and the art was really quite shocking. This monster supposedly passes judgment on people who are locked in coffins, and there it is, doing just that.

The card was later toned down, renamed Trial of Nightmare, and the red splotches removed. They did add those rather beastly red eyes, though.

3 Tragedy Was Too Scary But The Replacement Is Too

18- Tragedy

Tragedy is a devious little Trap card that destroys all Defense Position Monsters your opponent controls, when one of yours is switched from Attack to Defense. It’s a little more complex than something like Mirror Force (destroy all your opponent’s Attack position Monsters when one of them declares an attack), but, depending on what they’re running, it can be deadly.

This is all well and good, but just what’s going on with the art? The Japanese edition of Tragedy was depicted by an ominous-looking guillotine. For the international release, this was changed to a shady-looking creature scaring someone. I’m not sure which is the more disturbing.

2 The Hunter With 7 Weapons Loses His Rifle

19- The Hunter With 7 Weapons

Fortunately, The Hunter With 7 Weapons delivers on its promise. There he is with his spear, sword, and so forth. The curious thing is that an armed-to-the-teeth Arnold Schwarzenegger type guy is a-okay, as long as he doesn’t have a gun.

Unfortunately, The Hunter With 7 Weapons was a bit too violent for an International release due to his card art featuring the stock and trigger of a rifle. Outside of Japan, the gun over his shoulder was switched out for a club.

1 Faustian Bargain Had Its Thumbs Altered

20- Faustian Bargain

Faustian Bargain is yet another interesting one. With this spell, you can send a Special Summoned Monster on either side of the field to the graveyard, then Special Summon a level 4 or below Normal Monster from your hand. This is neat in Normal-based decks, of course, and works super nicely against Special Summon-heavy decks like Zombies.

It’s a fairly niche pick, but one that can be incredibly powerful. You can also appreciate the nerdly literary reference to Dr. Faustus, Christopher Marlowe’s play about a scholar who trades his soul to Satan for the ability to use magic.

The thumbs on this one were swapped between the Japanese and International releases for pretty obvious reasons.