Arceus (Pokémon)

Arceus アルセウス Arceus

Artwork from Platinum

Type Species  Fire  Alpha Pokémon Ability Exp. at 100 Multitype 1,250,000 Pokédex National #493 Johto #— Hoenn #— Sinnoh #— Browser Fiore R— Almia R— Height Weight 10'06" 705.5 lbs. Pokédex color Body style Footprint Catch rate Gray 3 Gender ratio Genderless Egg groups Egg cycles No eggs 121 (30855 steps) EV yield HP 3 Atk 0 Def 0 Sp.Atk 0 Sp.Def 0 Speed 0 Exp. 255 External links On Legendary Pokémon Pokédex On Smogon Pokédex On Eevee's Pokédex On Psypoke Pokédex On Pokecharms Pokédex On Marriland Pokédex On Serebii's Pokédex: Generation IV (Spin-Off games) On Ultimate Pokémon Center Pokédex Artwork on Bulbagarden Archives

Arceus (Japanese: アルセウス Arceus) is a Normal-type legendary Pokémon.

It is currently the final Pokémon in the National Pokédex. Like Darkrai and Shaymin before it, Arceus was not "officially" a Pokémon recognized by Nintendo until February 2009, the year of its debut movie, appearing as a feature in the March issue of CoroCoro.

Arceus is known as "The Original One," as it is said that it created the Pokémon universe and the lake and dragon trios. The only known way to get Arceus is with the Azure Flute.

Due to special coding in place on this page to illustrate Arceus's wildcard ability, Multitype, all type-themed appearances will display Arceus as if it were holding the Flame Plate, therefore being a Fire-type. This does not affect anything besides which sprites are shown, which moves are noted as STAB and the type effectiveness entry which is unhidden. Click here to change the type.

Biology

Physiology

Arceus is an equine being similar to a Qilin or Centaur. Its body is white with a gray underside, and its four pointed feet are tipped with gold hooves. Its mane is quite long and its face is gray with green eyes with red pupils. It also has a golden cross-like wheel attached to its body, which changes color along with its eyes and hooves based on Arceus's current type. The wheel also has four jewels attached to it.

Gender differences

Arceus is genderless.

Special abilities

An animation displaying Arceus's different colorings while holding plates

According to legend, Arceus created the universe, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, and the lake trio.

While Arceus is normally a pure Normal-type, it has the ability to change its type and appearance when in contact with special plates.

Arceus also has the unique ability to call down shots of light on its foes. Arceus can also use many attacks of various types, but to a lesser extent than Smeargle or Mew.

Behavior

Habitat

Arceus lives at the Hall of Origin which can only be accessed by use of the Azure Flute at Spear Pillar.

Diet

Main article: Pokémon food

In the anime

Arceus will make its debut in Arceus: To a Conquering Spacetime. In it, it will fight against the dragon trio.

In the manga

Arceus has not made any manga appearances yet.

In the TCG

Main article: Arceus (TCG)

Arceus appears in the TCG in all nine elemental types, and a player can have as many Arceus cards in their deck as they like, unlike all other cards in the game (besides Basic Energy cards). Cards based on Arceus first appeared in the Japanese Advent of Arceus expansion.

Game data

Pokédex entries

Game locations

In side games

Arceus hasn't appeared in any side games as of yet.

Base stats

Learnset

Arceus is capable of learning the following moves:

Moves in bold get STAB for the Fire-type, meaning that Arceus must be holding the Flame Plate. Judgment, the type of which is dependent on the plate Arceus is holding (or lack thereof) will always receive STAB, while damaging moves of other types can receive STAB depending on which plate Arceus holds.

By leveling up

By TM/HM

By tutoring

Evolution

	Flame Plate
	Arceus Fire Forme  Fire

Sprites

Gen	Game
I	Red	Blue	Yellow	Red (Ja)	Green	Back
	This Pokémon did not appear during Generation I.
II	Gold	Silver	Crystal			Back
	This Pokémon did not appear during Generation II.
III	Ruby	Sapphire	Emerald	FireRed	LeafGreen	Back
	This Pokémon did not appear during Generation III.
IV	Diamond	Pearl	Platinum	HeartGold	SoulSilver	Back
				NO SPRITES AVAILABLE

For other sprites and images, please see Arceus images on Bulbagarden Archives.

Trivia

Normal-color sprite for ???-type Arceus

Alternate-color sprite for ???-type Arceus

• At level 80, Arceus is the second highest level non-glitch Pokémon available for capture. The highest is Magikarp which can be caught at level 100 in Pokémon Platinum. It is, however, still the highest level legendary Pokémon available for capture.
• In its base form, Arceus has the highest base stat in Defense of all Normal-type Pokémon.
• Arceus's base stat total is 720, higher than any other Pokémon. Previous Pokémon, among them Mewtwo, have only had a maximum total of 680.
• Arceus has the highest base experience yield of all Pokémon, tied with Happiny, Chansey, and Blissey. That means an Arceus would yield 13,933 experience points when defeated if it is at level 100 and belongs to a Trainer.
• The code for Diamond and Pearl has sprites for Arceus using its Multitype ability with all 18 types, including ???-type. It is disputed whether the ???-type Arceus is obtainable, as there is no plate in the code that can be used for this. It is possible this sprite was programmed in to prevent game crashes caused by tampering with Arceus's type.
• Arceus's signature move, Judgment, is the only move that Arceus is guaranteed STAB for, as it is always the same type as Arceus itself. However, on the battle screen, Judgment is always displayed as a Normal-type attack.
• Even though it is said that Arceus created the world with its thousand arms, it is not shown to have any arms at all.
• Holding the Sky Plate, Arceus is the only Pokémon able to become a pure Flying-type outside of battle (other Pokémon can be in battle through the use of Conversion, Conversion 2, and Color Change).
• With the appropriate plate, Arceus is the only legendary Poison-, Bug-, or Fighting-type Pokémon.
• Arceus has its own unique battle music when it is encountered. It shares this trait with Deoxys, as well as Giratina (in Platinum only).
• Earth Power is the only move with a fixed base power, besides Judgment, that Arceus learns by level-up which can receive STAB with a plate attached.

Origin

Arceus may be a reference to the Chinese mythical creature, the Qilin. Its myth is nearly identical to that of the Pangu, the Chinese creation deity.

Arceus may also be inspired by (or a representation of) Avalokiteśvara who, in Buddhism, is either pictured with eleven heads and one thousand arms (the latter of which is mentioned in Arceus's flavor text) or in a white four-armed manifestation (which could look similar to Arceus's Normal form).

Some inspiration may have come from a horse, because of its Platinum sprite and attack movements in Pokémon Battle Revolution.

Name origin

Arceus's name may come from the words arch (highest) and deus, which is Latin and Greek for god. It may also have a root in the Latin word arcanus, which means secret; sacred mystery.

Arceus's name may also come from the word archaic (ancient), which comes from the Greek arkhaios, and is derived from the ancient Greek word for "beginning", arkhē. It could have also come from the Latin word archetypus (original). Alternatively, Arceus's name can be seen as a portmanteau of Zeus, the most powerful of Greek gods and arch (highest).

In other languages

• German: Arceus
• French: Arceus
• Korean: 아르세우스 Arceus

Notes

This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon as a species.