Yu-Gi-Oh!‘s Egyptian God cards are iconic, being one of the major centerpieces of the first anime in the franchise, which makes it especially disappointing that the franchise’s other god cards, the Nordic Gods (Polar Gods in the original Japanese), were basically forgotten after their introduction. This wouldn’t be the first time that the franchise would introduce an interesting concept and squander its potential, but this doesn’t make this missed opportunity any less disappointing.
The introduction of these new god cards actually comes in the third anime of the franchise Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s, which many consider the best Yu-Gi-Oh! series. Interestingly enough, 5D’s focused on another set of powerful ancient cards known as the Signer Dragons. Many of the main characters in the series wield these powerful monsters, and they are incredibly important for stopping the threat of the evil Earthbound Immortals in the first season. The second season however shifts focus to a futuristic threat that isn’t as intrinsically tied to these cards, allowing another group of characters with powerful ancient cards to try and take on this evil as well.
Team Ragnarok And The Nordic Gods Could Have Had Their Own Yu-Gi-Oh! Anime
Team Ragnarok is introduced initially as a group of antagonists for 5D’s main characters, despite both groups wanting the same thing. Team Ragnarok is made up of three characters Halldor, Dragan, and Broder who were chosen by the ancient Norse gods (Aesir) for some greater purpose. They each possess one of the Nordic Gods cards, Thor, Loki, and Odin, all of which are shown to be incredibly strong in their duel against Team 5D’s. However, since only one of the groups can confront the ultimate evil threatening New Domino City, Team Ragnarok is cast aside after losing this team duel to Yusei and his friends. While they do later assist the Signers in their final battle, it is very underwhelming given their great potential.
The premise of Team Ragnarok is fertile enough to spawn its very own series. After all, it combined elements of both the original Yu-Gi-Oh! series (a set of god cards) and 5D’s (the concept of duelists chosen for a specific purpose by ancient entities). On top of this, it would have enabled the series to delve into elements of Norse culture and mythology, which would have likely made this series different from other entries in the franchise. Even if a full season wasn’t devoted to Team Ragnarok, the idea of two competing sets of protagonists chosen for a specific grand destiny is incredibly unique, and could have easily carried a full arc’s worth of plot in Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D’s itself. Instead, these characters were wasted on a one-off duel.
While Team Ragnarok did technically help the Signers defeat Z-One and his allies at the end of the arc, they never appeared in the franchise again. This is an incredible waste of their awesome potential and unfortunately given the current focus of the Yu-Gi-Oh! anime on Rush Duels, there is likely no way to salvage this wasted opportunity by bringing them back. Hopefully the Yu-Gi-Oh! franchise learns from their misstep with Team Ragnarok and the Nordic Gods cards and more fully develops their interesting concepts in the future.
