One of the most iconic monsters in Yu-Gi-Oh! is without a doubt the Red-Eyes Black Dragon. This dragon that isn't very good was Joey Wheeler's ace monster in the anime, and has since been reworked time and time again into countless different (much, much better) variants of itself.
However, the original card has also received various reprints with different artworks that give it a completely different vibe. Today, we're going to take a look at all of those different artworks, and rank which is the best of the best of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
Before we get into the rankings, let's take a look at an honorable mention.
6 Honorary Mention: The Manga And Bandai Artwork
Before Konami took over the card game, Bandai had printed some of the earlier cards. Red-Eyes was one of them. It's somewhat similar to the original manga artwork. They both just kind of are standing there screaming.
Yeah, cute!
These artworks certainly aren't anything that special, but they do paint a very different look of what Red-Eyes could have been. But, they're n0t on the caliber of the newer Konami artworks, unfortunately. It's still an interesting look at the past, though. Now, let's get into the actual ranking with the lowest card on the list!
5 Fourth OCG Artwork
Before we begin, none of the Red-Eyes artworks are really that bad. While the fourth edition ranks at the very bottom of the list, it is not necessarily an unsatisfactory artwork. Anyway, let's take a look at it.
The artwork features a green background with a reddish dragon getting ready to strike. It's certainly a menacing look and overall features some pretty strong art. However, it's simply not as good as some of the other artworks on the list. It's just a so-so version of Red-Eyes Black Dragon.
The next one though, don't you worry. It is going to change the way that you look at Yu-Gi-Oh! forever. It is life-changing. Iconic. Get ready. Are you ready? You aren't ready.
4 Third OCG Artwork
It's...it's the exact same picture. The third and fourth artworks are literally the same, except for their different colored backgrounds. Well, that sure is creative. It's nice that they at least added some different touches, such as the exact same shading and colors and nothing; come on, nothing is different at all about this image. This just sounds like Konami, doesn't it?
Overall though, the black color looks better than the green. Red-Eyes and the black background pair very well, and make for an overall more menacing look than the previous card. Both are fine, it's a shame the art is recycled like this though. Red-Eyes is one of the most popular monsters in the entire franchise, so you'd think that they'd want to give it as much love as possible. The rest of the images are definitely/probably/let's hope all different from one another.
3 First OCG Artwork
The nostalgia-filled original OCG artwork takes the third-place spot on this list. This was the version of the card that Joey used throughout the duration of the anime, so this holds a special place in all of our hearts.
Honestly, though, it's some very nice artwork. That said, the card doesn't really have a background. It's just a nice blue color that looks good with our little dragon. He looks pretty threatening here, too. He's showing all his teeth and claws. He's ready to attack, as most dragons are. Overall, this is a really nice look for Red-Eyes. However, it doesn't manage to snag the top spot on the list. Let's see which Red-Eyes ends up at the runner-up spot.
2 Second OCG Artwork
The second version of Red-Eyes Black Dragon never actually made it stateside, and that sucks because it is some fantastic artwork. The art is a lot different from the rest of the artworks. It's very heavy on red and black, with a red, lightning-like pattern in the background. This background is super great, as it really helps to paint the picture of this ominous dragon flying through the sky, not a care in the world except for the blood of his enemies.
Speaking of that dragon, he looks absolutely fantastic. He looks much more menacing than he does in some of the other art styles. He looks ready to attack, and the way he is positioned on the card helps to portray this too. All-in-all, this card is just great. The design of Red-Eyes Black Dragon is superb, and the background pairs super well with it, both theming and color-wise. This is certainly a great card overall, However, there is one card that takes the top spot over every other card on this list. Let's take a look at which Red-Eyes design takes the top spot on the list.
1 Fifth OCG Artwork
The fifth OCG artwork is completely different from the rest of the card artworks, as it actually features like, something happening. That's somehow rare for this series of cards. It makes an impact though. In the card, Red-Eyes is breathing fire, something that we hadn't seen him do at this point in his artwork. Beyond that, he's standing on some sort of a magma structure that looks to be a volcano or lava river.
He's also standing in a very powerful way, which is also different for this card. All of the other versions of Red-Eyes just kind of featured him...floating there? Sure, that's fine. It's nice to see a different look on this card. Everything is more detailed. This picture of a dragon standing on its hind legs breathing fire feels more grounded than the other artworks.
All jokes aside though, this artwork is simply more fleshed out than the others. It's actually trying to do some interesting things, which is more than can be said for some of the other entries on this list. As such, this version of Red-Eyes Black Dragon takes the No. 1 spot on this list.