Animate the Dead
Legend of the Five Rings card from Obsidian Edition, Imperial Edition, Emerald Edition
Open in Oracle of the Void
- Card Type
- Spell
- Gold Cost
- 3
- Card Text
- Repeatable Limited: Bow this Shugenja to target a Follower in any discard pile that has been in play this game, target your Personality, attach the Follower to him ignoring costs, lose 2 Honor, and permanently give the Follower Shadowlands and the ability, "Battle: Fear 3."
- Focus Value
- 2
- Legality
- Clan Wars (Imperial)
- Deck
- Fate
Printings
Obsidian Edition
- Rarity
- Uncommon
- Flavor Text
- "The scouts tell of a shugenja who makes the dead walk again, my lord. We must learn more of this dark magic... for research, of course." - Kuni Yori
- Artist
- David Bollt
- Publisher
- Five Rings Publishing Group
Imperial Edition
- Rarity
- Uncommon
- Flavor Text
- If you want to know "How" I cannot say. "Why" should be obvious enough. - Kitsu Toju
- Artist
- David Bollt
- Publisher
- Five Rings Publishing Group
Emerald Edition
- Rarity
- Uncommon
- Flavor Text
- If you want to know "How," I cannot say. "Why" should be obvious enough. - Kitsu Toju
- Artist
- David Bollt
- Publisher
- Five Rings Publishing Group
Rulings
- Erratum: Reads, "Animate the Dead 3G 2FV Limited: Bow this Shugenja to bring a Follower back into play from any discard pile and attach it to any of your Personalities. Lose 2 Honor. This Follower permanently gains Shadowlands, and the ability Battle: Fear 3." [MRP, Obsidian Edition] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 61
- Can attach a Follower to an opponent's Personality if the Follower normally allows it. [DW, email, 9/8/97] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 61
- Cannot retrieve discarded followers, only those that were in play and destroyed. [FAQ] Rules Archive, August 18, 2007, p. 61
- Followers are bound by their normal attachment restrictions. [card text] Accumulated Rulings, February 8, 2000, p. 14
- Erratum: Changed: Follower can come from any player's dead pile. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 7
- Erratum: Added: animated Follower also gains the Shadowlands trait. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 7
- Clarified: the Fear and Shadowlands effects are permanent. Text Change & Errata List, February 15, 2000, p. 7
- Erratum: Changed: Follower can come from any player's dead pile. Added: animated Follower also gains the Shadowlands trait. Legend of the Five Rings FAQ, Version 3.4 & errata, June 1997, p. 24
- Q: I just discarded a Follower card. Can I use Animate the Dead to attach him to a Personality? A: Nope. Animate the Dead specifically says "...back into play," and discarded Followers never made it into play in the first place. You only get to Animate those cards which are authentically Dead. Legend of the Five Rings FAQ, Version 3.6.2, May 1998, p. 17
- Q: If I use Animate the Dead to bring back a dead Follower, do I still have to meet honor requirements? A: I'm afraid so. I'd love to be able to answer "no," but I can't justify it from the card text. Someday maybe an errata to the card will be issued, but until then, dead Followers have the same high standards as living ones. The Imperial Herald, Vol. 1, Issue 3, p. 7