Gemini Elf
Gemini Elf is a Yu-Gi-Oh! Normal Monster. It's a very old card, debuting all the way back in 1999 in the game's eighth booster pack, which is called Booster 4, because it wouldn't be Yu-Gi-Oh! if it made sense. It's not a Gemini Monster, although it is stronger than the majority of Gemini Monsters.
Crunch[edit | edit source]
Gemini Elf is the first Level 4 monster to have 1900 Attack. At the time of its printing, this not only made it the strongest monster that didn't require a tribute to summon, it also made it stronger than many tribute monsters. It's also a Common, which made it easy to acquire, and as such it's become the OCG face of low-level beaters in the game to this day.
As you'd expect of a card printed before most Yu-Gi-Oh! players today were even born, it's no longer the competitive staple it once was, but it's still playable and played.
In the TCG it wasn't printed until Labyrinth of Nightmare in 2004, after other 1900 Attack Level 4s like Luster Dragon had already appeared stateside. The monster in the TCG that filled Gemini Elf's role is Mechanicalchaser, although that card only has 1850 Attack.
Fluff[edit | edit source]
The brown-skinned elf's name is Kachua, and the white-skinned elf's name is Laura. It's difficult to tell from the art, but they're both wearing bodycon dresses and boots.
Because the card is a Normal Monster, it actually has flavor text unlike the vast majority of Yu-Gi-Oh! cards, but there isn't much. All it really has to tell is that that the elves are twins and that they attack one at time rather than together.
The Japanese flavor text happens to have an amusing typo; the furigana provided for the word 「姉妹」is 「きょうだい」(siblings), rather than 「しまい」(sisters). The pronunciation きょうだい is only used in the context of brothers or a mix of brothers and sisters; this would seem to imply that at least one of the two is male. Given that the text has yet to be corrected across a dozen years worth of printings, this may actually be Konami's intent. Yu-Gi-Oh! is one of the few TCGs to have canonical dickgirls after all. In either case, this aspect of the flavor text has served as an inspiration to fanart makers, which surely has to make somebody happy.
As is the case with most cards that depict the fairer sex, the TCG mercilessly censored the art. Thank goodness too, who knows what could have happened if little Timmy had seen a little tiddy twenty years ago; he could have grown up maladjusted! All of us of course played with the censored version, causing us to grow up into the healthy extroverted normal people with great social skills we are today. But I digress.
After spending seventeen long years in horny jail, the TCG released an uncensored version of the card as a promo in 2021 in a rare act of redemption. Great job guys, you managed to unfuck your mistake before it reached the age of consent. Nice going.
The card received an alternative artwork, but only one copy of it exists. It was made as one of five prizes for the winners of Asia Championship 2001. First place got to pick which card they wanted first, and chose Blue-Eyes Ultimate Dragon. The Elves didn't get picked until fourth place's turn. Oof. You'll never get a chance to play with this card in real life, given that it's literally one-of-a-kind, but if you'd still like to it's available in many of the video games, including Tag Force.
And yes, the TCG did censor it, despite it never having been printed in English once ever. Cut me a fucking break..
Toon Gemini Elf[edit | edit source]
Gemini Elf is one of the few cards to have been turned into a Toon Monster, the game's most obscure card type. It's a rarity within a rarity, as not only is it one of the few Toon cards, it's also one of the few Toon cards that's actually ever been good.
It has the same stats as the original monster, and like most other Toons it can attack the opponent directly if you control Toon World and is destroyed if that card is. It gets summoning sickness, which is highly unusual for a Yu-Gi-Oh! card. Finally, if it deals battle damage to your opponent they discard a random card from their hand.
Hand destruction was an important part of old Yu-Gi-Oh! (Toon Gemini Elf being quite old, debuting in 2002) and this card not only has it, your opponent doesn't get to pick which card they'll discard. This card used to be very strong if you could play it on the first turn, as you can't attack anyway that turn. It plays well with quick spells and traps that modify Attack, as it will still rip up your opponent's hand while being attacked if you can beat over your opponent's monster.
It used to be a very solid card both in and outside of Toon decks, but time hasn't done it any favors and there really isn't a reason to run it in modern Yu-Gi-Oh!.
And yes, this card was censored in the TCG too. How ironic for a card based on American animation to be censored in America. Bizarrely, the TCG version alongside the usual breast augmentation gave Laura her right glove back. Why? Why even bother? The only reason anyone knows she's missing that glove as a toon is because they had her put it back on over here.
Fanart[edit | edit source]
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