30 Funny, Terrifying and Weird Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards

1. Hungry Burger

Coming to us from the nightmare dimension where food eats people, Hungry Burger will make you look twice at every sandwich for the rest of your life!

With a set of razor-sharp teeth and who knows how many tomato seeds, this guy gives “Angry Whopper” a new meaning.

A product of the Ritual Monsters mechanic launched in 2002, Hungry Burger is actually a pretty powerful card. If you’re not careful though, these ghastly buns can eat your life points faster than you can say, “Hold the pickles”.

2. Firegrass

One of many normal monsters with low stats, Firegrass is basically as useless as it looks.

With a creepy walnut face and what looks like two depressed Bellsprouts sticking out the top, Firegrass might be a contender for the worst Yu-Gi-Oh! card art ever.

Still, as unpleasant as he looks, Firegrass is one of those classic normal monster cards most players don’t have the heart to throw away. We’d say that Firegrass is like the Magikarp of Yu-Gi-Oh!, but that wouldn’t be a fair comparison since Magikarp can eventually evolve into something useful.

Firegrass is just… Firegrass.

3. Doom Donuts

Thought Hungry Burger was scary? Well, get ready for dessert.

Not only are the teeth sharper than Hungry Burger’s, but this terrible torus also has a pair of hate-filled eyes it’ll use to subdue your soul while it digests you one limb at a time. How? We’re not eager to find out.

Also, the name “Doom Donuts” implies more than one of them rolling around. Protect your ankles!

4. Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon

Interplanetarypurplythorny Dragon feels like it was named around 4:45 on a Friday afternoon.

Seriously…it’s got decent stats and intimidating artwork, but that name is ridiculous. This card is either the result of pure laziness or a brilliant satire – we’re not sure which yet.

What makes the name even funnier is imagining your opponent trying to say it during their turn. It’s worth adding to your deck for the laughs alone, and we do love a good laugh around here.

5. House Of Adhesive Tape

This card illustrates why you always inspect a property before buying it.

Even the chimney’s evil! What’s the dynamic between the chimney and the house? Do you think they’re separate entities that are only angry because they’re stuck together? Is the chimney bound by the main house’s evil adhesion? This card art leaves us with a lot of unresolved questions.

While House Of Adhesive Tape doesn’t get much competitive use anymore, it still ranks high in every fan’s list of brilliant and silly Yu-Gi-Oh! cards.

6. Ghost Beef

Described as “The Ghost of Christmas Dinner”, Ghost Beef is here to help you reduce your red meat intake in a really creative way.

As spooky as this supernatural livestock is, we’d be lying if we said those belly cuts didn’t look tasty! Can you overcook spectral steak?

Thanks to its Pendulum mechanic (which allows you to activate it as a Spell Card), Ghost Beef can be integral to many deck builds. Just keep him away from Hungry Burger – we have a feeling they wouldn’t get along very well.

7. Pot of Greed

Pot of Greed is arguably one of the most iconic, broken, and funny Yu-Gi-Oh! cards ever made.

Despite its green skin and grotesque grin, the most sickening aspect of this Spell Card is its game effect.

By allowing you to draw two cards from your deck without any kind of drawback, Pot of Greed makes it easy to steamroll the battle phase with little strategic thought. The card is so broken it’s actually been banned from Yu-Gi-Oh! tournaments for over fifteen years.

Pot of Greed is also notorious in the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime because characters would dramatically explain its simple effect every time they played it, sometimes multiple times in the same duel. Seriously, check out the hilarious compilation below to see for yourself.

But hey, if you just can’t get enough of this weirdo, you can always bag yourself a Yu-Gi-Oh Pot of Greed Plush from our affiliate partner Entertainment Earth! It helps us out a lot, you get the eternal nightmares you’re after – everyone wins!

8. Humpty Grumpty

Humpty Dumpty’s crabby cousin, this “devilled” egg looks like he’s running away from a few questionable life choices.

While his game effect is nothing to write a nursery rhyme about, he certainly has one of the most peculiar card designs the game artists ever came up with. Seriously, what’s up with the tongue? And the toes?

Humpty Dumpty is a textbook example of how realistic human features will make any creature instantly more difficult to look at.

9. Crass Clown

If you’ve never understood coulrophobia (fear of clowns), this card might help you empathize with the afflicted.

Looking like a nightmarish mix of Pennywise and the Violator, Crass Clown is one nasty piece of work. Don’t let his whimsical pompoms and ruffles fool you!

Oh, and you can’t tell from the artwork, but he’s actually carrying a giant scythe.

You’re welcome!

10. Hoshiningen

Hoshiningen, or “Superstar” in Japan, is a card that leaves us with a lot of questions.

First, why is it wearing boots? Second, shouldn’t it also wear pants if it’s wearing boots? Does it have actual feet, or are the star tips just resting in the opening of the boots?

Not only is this Star’s wardrobe (or lack thereof) off-putting, but the face is a whole new level of disturbing. Nothing about the name “Superstar” should prompt an artist to make a card this strange, and yet, they did it anyway.

…Why does it look so mischievous?

11. Ooguchi

There’s something eerily familiar about Ooguchi’s design.

It could be because the facial expression is a classic “ugly bad guy” from countless anime, but seeing this face on a beast rather than a person makes it even more unsettling.

A truly disgusting creature. The sooner you banish Ooguchi, the better!

12. Performapal Friendonkey

The Performapal Friendonkey looks like he knows something we don’t, and it’s hard to be okay with that.

And what’s in that box decorated with a star? Let’s pray it’s not Hoshiningen. Wait… didn’t Hoshiningen have that same mischievous look? Could they be in cahoots with each other?!?

This is another one of those odd Yu-Gi-Oh! cards that would be pretty unremarkable if it wasn’t for the artist’s obsession with creepy faces.

The Hoshiningen/Performpapal Friendonkey collusion is yet to be determined.

13. Trent

Beware, the immortal guardian of the woods is here to eradicate your life points, and his name is…Trent.

A staple in Plant decks, Trent’s unassuming name belies a sturdy stat line, and hints at a relation to a certain famous industrial rock alternative band from the 90s.

While sentient trees are always a little creepy, Trent seems pretty chill. The designers may have been trying to mix the words “tree” and “ent”, but we prefer to think Trent is just an extreme dude who was transformed into a tree.

At least it doesn’t have a Head Like a Hole.

14. Ojama Cards

We know we’re cheating a little here, but the entire Ojama archetype needs to be held accountable.

While there are plenty of weird Yu-Gi-Oh! cards with similarly uncanny artwork, the entire Ojama collection feels like it was designed to be as gross and annoying as possible on purpose.

The entomology of “Ojama” can be traced back to meaning “sorry for the intrusion” or “obstacle’ in Japanese, which makes a lot of sense looking at these delightful characters. In the actual game, Ojama decks can be an insanely powerful way to swarm the field and overwhelm your opponent in a sea of sticky red bikini briefs.

Yuck.

15. Twin Long Rods

Do we really need to explain everything wrong with Twin Long Rods?

Between that disgusting grin and bulging eyes, this guy looks like a rejected Ojama (if that’s even possible).

However, while the Ojamas look like they’d enjoy harassing you, Twin Long Rods looks like he’s out for blood.

Or at least to give you nightmares.

16. Stuffed Animal

“Oh, a cute little stuffed animal, I’ll just pick it up, and AHHHHHHH”

Congratulations, you’re dead. Why? Because you’re a normal person. Only the truly unhinged would consider adding a hungry “zipper mouth” to a child’s teddy bear.

17. Bite Shoes

Everyone knows high heels are bad for your feet, but this is just ridiculous.

You don’t need to be a podiatrist to know that slipping this over your toes is a bad idea.

The only thing more horrifying than the artwork of Bite Shoes is that it only depicts one shoe. “Shoes” implies a pair, right? Where’s the other one? Behind us?

18. Thousand-Eyes Idol

Let’s be real; eyes have always had an inherent creepiness to them. Thousand-Eyes Idol takes this to the extreme.

The card description doesn’t do Thousand-Eyes Idol any favors either: “A wicked entity that controls the hearts of men, its thousand eyes are able to see and expand the negative influences in an individual’s soul.”

Yikes.

19. Flying Penguin

Everyone always asks, “Why don’t penguins fly?” But has anyone dared to ask “Should penguins fly?” If this card is anything to go by, the answer is a big NO.

What’s worse is that it’s not even flying with its proper wings. Instead, we have two giant ears connected to its eyebrows that, somehow, generate enough lift to get this creature off the ground.

At least the description calls this penguin “very rare”. We’d prefer extinct, but that’ll have to do.

20. Parasite Paracide

No, he’s not choking on a carrot; that’s a parasitic creature burrowing up through his face. The stuff of literal nightmares, you could be forgiven for wanting to torch this card rather than throw it in your deck.

With some of the best/worst Yu-Gi-Oh! card art ever, Parasite Paracide was actually censored for the newer TCG (Trading Card Game). The TCG version removes the person’s face and just has the insect on a generic background (less interesting, but also less concerning for parents).

Body horror aside, this card has a pretty cool effect, allowing it to be shuffled in your opponent’s deck face-up. If your opponent draws it, it gets a special summon to their side, deals 1000 damage, and turns all of their monsters into insects.

Now, that’s some really parasitic behavior.

21. Heart of Clear Water

Heart of Clear Water is another card that didn’t need to be creepy but is. The Yu-Gi-Oh! card designers must have had a quota for unsettling artwork!

Honestly, why does something called the “Heart of Clear Water” need a face that looks like a soul being sent to eternal damnation? We don’t know, and we’re not sure we want to anymore.

22. Gyaku-Gire Panda

Gyaku-Gire Panda translates to “Reverse-Anger Panda”, which feels like a bit of false advertising. Wouldn’t a “Reverse-Anger Panda” be happy and adorable?

The name makes more sense when you consider the card’s effect of increasing its ATK by 500 for each of the face-up monsters on your opponent’s side.

Still, would it have hurt to make this bear a little cuddlier?

Or at least less scary?

23. Avatar of The Pot

Pot of Greed is back, and he’s been hitting the weight racks.

Avatar of The Pot depicts our old friend Pot of Greed with a bizarrely muscular physique, which is something nobody needs to see.

Worse still, someone actually recreated this abomination in Soul Calibur IV (view at your own risk).

24. Overworked

Late night, messy desk, computer screen exploding in your face – anyone who’s worked a desk job can relate to this Trap Card.

While it’s easy to dismiss Overworked as just another funny Yu-Gi-Oh card, we can’t help but feel the card designers are trying to tell us something…

25. Tongue Twister

It’s rude to stick out your tongue at people, but it’s even less polite to draw a tongue with its own set of fangs.

Dripping with saliva and murderous intent, Tongue Twister makes us really happy it doesn’t exist.

26. Fortress Whale

How do you make the idea of a giant, man-eating whale even scarier? Give it a bunch of guns!

This mean mammal earns a big “nope” from all the thalassophobes out there. The worst part is that even if you make it to land, those big cannons ensure you won’t get very far.

27. Necroface

If you think the idea of a haunted doll is a little cliche, then Necroface will give you a new appreciation for how terrifying the concept can be.

Whatever innocence that porcelain baby face had is overshadowed by the tentacled horror bursting out of it.

Necroface also appears to be surrounded by fog with a stage light on it, like it’s about to perform a musical number about the thrills of being undead.

Somehow, the idea of Necroface performing show tunes makes it even scarier.

28. Worm Zero

Worm Zero is one of those funny cards where the lore behind it is the scariest part.

The artwork depicts the arrival of a race of alien worms who have come to slowly consume everything on the planet. Their giant sticky egg sits above the city and recycles the bodies of dead worms before sending them out to collect more biomass.

If you look closely, you can even make out a skull face on the surface of the alien egg. Let’s hope this worm apocalypse stays in the realm of sci-fi.

29. Il Blud

A powerful card in modern zombie decks, Il Blud is every bit as scary on the table as he is on display.

A clear homage to the legendary “Here’s Johnny” scene in The Shining, the artwork looks like Jack Nicholson trying to burst his way out of a demonic prison.

This card nails the haunted insane asylum vibe, and we love it. You know a card has great artwork when you can imagine your own horror story behind the character.

30. Outer Entity Nyarla

While other scary and weird Yu-Gi-Oh cards undoubtedly take inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft, Outer Entity Nyarla puts them all to shame. This creature design perfectly evokes the signature sense of ‘cosmic horror’ that makes Lovecraftian monsters so terrifyingly memorable.

With sickly pale skin and a healthy excess of mouths, we’re grateful for every day Nyarla remains an “outer” entity.

Can’t look away? Enjoy some more creepy cards…

Check out these suggestions for spooky Yu-Gi-Oh cards from Reddit users:

That’s enough nightmarish trading card game art for one day. We hope you had fun, and if you want more content like this and everything 90s, you can follow Rediscover 90s Toys on Instagram, Pinterest, and our other social media pages.

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Peeps Ask!

How many unique Yu-Gi-Oh! cards are there?

As of writing, there are 12,456 unique cards in the Official Card Game (OCG) and 11,145 in the Trading Card Game (TCG).

Why are Yu-Gi-Oh! cards censored?

Some Yu-Gi-Oh! cards are censored simply for marketing purposes. Yu-Gi-Oh is targeted at a wider audience than other trading card games like Magic: The Gathering, so card artwork that is considered too violent or suggestive is altered to make it more appropriate for children.

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Lee Davey

Lee is curator of nostalgia and a long-time collector of loveable junk. An 80s baby, 90s kid, he knows he had it good when it came to Saturday morning cartoons. Spends his life trying to recapture the dopamine hit of playing Game Boy for the first time and believes Beanie Babies will make a fortuitous comeback. Obsessed with everything (and anything) retro, he is your trusted guide to a world of 90s toys, games and collectables.

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