Unown (Pokémon)

Unown アンノーン Unknown

F form artwork from FR/LG

Type Species  Psychic  Symbol Pokémon Ability Exp. at 100 Levitate 1,000,000 Pokédex National #201 Johto #061 Hoenn #346* Sinnoh #114 Browser Fiore R— Almia R— Height Weight 1'08" 11.0 lbs. Pokédex color Footprint Body style Catch rate Black 225 Gender ratio Genderless Egg groups Egg cycles No eggs 41 (10455 steps*) EV yield HP 0 Atk 1 Def 0 Sp.Atk 1 Sp.Def 0 Speed 0 Exp. 61 External links On Legendary Pokémon Pokédex: Generation III Generation IV On Smogon Pokédex: Generation II Generation III Generation IV On Eevee's Pokédex (Gen. II-IV) On Psypoke Pokédex On Pokecharms Pokédex (Gen. III-IV) On Marriland Pokédex (Gen. IV) Artwork on Bulbagarden Archives

Unown (Japanese: アンノーン Unknown) is a Psychic-type Pokémon.

It is not known to evolve into or from any other Pokémon. However, as of Generation IV, Unown has 28 derivative shapes. There are 26 English alphabet characters, plus two punctuation marks: ? (question mark) and ! (exclamation mark). That shape is determined by its personality value.

Biology

They tend to stick to walls or orbit other Unown when in a group.

Physiology

Unown are floating, flat, eye-shaped Pokémon with appendages that make them resemble letters. They are black all over.

Gender differences

This Pokémon is genderless.

Different forms

Unown has 28 different forms, one for each letter of the alphabet, as well as '!' and '?'. These are chronicled in the Unown Dex in Generation II and the Unown Notebook in HeartGold and SoulSilver. The '!' and '?' forms were not introduced until Generation III.

Special abilities

Unown's only known move in battle is the enigmatic Hidden Power. In the anime, they are capable of reading the thoughts of other lifeforms (which isn't a unique ability in itself). However, great numbers of them are capable of warping reality to suit the dreams and wishes of whoever is in control.

Behavior

Unown can make telepathic contact with humans (and many other creatures also). Unown have a timidness that rarely makes them venture outside of their dimension.

Habitat

Rare Pokémon

Unown live in their own dimension.

When they move to the Pokémon World, Unown seem to prefer to make their habitat in ancient ruins stuck to the walls, appearing only in the Ruins of Alph in Johto, Tanoby Chambers in the Sevii Islands, Solaceon Ruins in Sinnoh and Unown Relic and Aegis Cave in the Mystery Dungeon world.

Diet

Main article: Pokémon food

In the anime

Unown in the anime

The Unown play a large role in the third movie, creating the illusions which drive the plot.

Notes about Unown can be seen on Professor Oak's computer at the beginning of the movie. The information (as presented in the Japanese version) has been cleaned up and transcribed here:

• Because of their very timid and careful character, Unown do not want to go out to the external world.
• Unown have the power to perceive the feelings of other creatures (including human beings).
• Unown communicate with each other over electromagnetic waves but cannot use telepathy.
• Given all this, Unown are still classified as a species of Pokémon, as opposed to any other sort of creature.

An Unown fell out of the Unown dimension in Address Unown. After it was healed by the group, it helped defend against Team Rocket and its mind merged with that of Ash's Larvitar so that the group could help it to address its inner pain.

The tablet

Markings of Unown were on a tablet in Top-Down Training.

Many Unown appeared in Journey to the Unown!, and also the same tablet from last appearence is shown.

The tablet is written:
FRIEND
SUBETE NO INOCHI HA
BETSU NO INOCHI TO DEAI
NANIKA WO UMIDASU
(In the dub, Dawn reads it as "When every life meets another life, something will be born").

Multiple Unown also made a brief appearance in the The Rise of Darkrai fleeing from Dialga and Palkia in a different dimension.

Pokédex entries

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

Unown first appeared in Volume 8 when Gold and Bugsy were in the Ruins of Alph. Gold had his Sunkern use Flash to blind Team Rocket, but accidentally disturbed the Unown from their slumber with the light from Flash. Bugsy later returns to study the Ruins further in Volume 11, where he captures an Unown (G).

Unown later appear in Volume 24, having been awakened by Sird from the Tanoby Ruins to use as a distraction while she fought Lorelei. The Unown later appear again throughout the volume, being employed by Team Rocket as living security cameras while impeding the progress of Red, Blue and Green.

It also appeared in DP saga when Diamond, Pearl and Platinum were visiting Solaceon Town. Diamond and Pearl befriended two Unown (D and P) who behaved like them.

In the TCG

Main article: Unown (TCG)

Other appearances

Super Smash Bros. Melee

When one Unown is released from a Poké Ball it will fly off the screen. It then returns with a large swarm similar to what Beedrill did in the original Super Smash Bros. The only difference is that Beedrill only attack from left or right while Unown can come from any direction. Any opponent caught in this is damaged and juggled.

There are also a number of Unown Pokéfloats. In the second half of the cycle, a number fly across the screen. Towards the end of the cycle, staying on the stage relies on hopping between the Unown.

Trophy Information

These Psychic-type symbol Pokémon resemble ancient hieroglyphics found on rocks, a resemblance that's said to be more than superficial. Quite a few different shapes of Unown have been confirmed, and it's believed that each type has unique abilities. These enigmatic Pokémon can be found in the Ruins of Alph.

Game data

Pokédex entries

Game locations

In side games

In Pokémon Trozei, rounds at Mr. Who's Den that contain Unown will include multiple forms at the same time.

Each form of Unown is found on different floors in the Unown Relic:

Form	Floors		Form	Floors		Form	Floors		Form	Floors
	1, 7			2, 8, 10			1, 4, 10, 11			3, 6, 10
	1, 7			3, 7, 9, 11			2, 4, 9, 10			6
	1, 5, 6, 8, 11			3, 5, 9, 10			5, 8, 10, 11			2, 6
	1, 8			3, 7, 9, 11			1, 5, 9			7
	2, 6, 9, 11			3, 9			2, 5, 8, 9, 11			1, 7
	2			4, 8, 11			3, 5, 10			2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7
	2, 5, 8, 11			4, 10			1, 6, 8			2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Stats

Base Stats

Type effectiveness

Learnset

Unown is capable of learning the following moves in Generation IV.

• Moves in bold are damaging moves to which STAB applies.

By leveling up

By TM/HM

None.

By breeding

None.

By tutoring

None.

Side game data

Pokémon Trozei!
File:Trozeiani201-C.gif	Rarity: Common	File:Trozeiani201-C.gif
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team
Body size: 1	Recruit Rate: 1.8% (A-Z) 0.1% (!?)	Friend Area: Aged Chamber
Phrases
51%-100% HP	What am I, you ask?
26%-50% HP	My HP has plunged to half...
1%-25% HP	I cannot go on... I have little power left...
Level Up	I have leveled up.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness
Body size: 1	Recruit Rate: 8.2%	IQ Group: A

Evolution

	Does not evolve
	Unown Letter C  Psychic

Sprites

Gen	Game
I	Red	Blue	Yellow	Red (Ja)	Green	Back
	This Pokémon did not appear during Generation I.
II	Gold	Silver	Crystal			Back
III	Ruby	Sapphire	Emerald	FireRed	LeafGreen	Back
			File:Spr 3e 201.gif
			File:Spr 3e 201 s.gif			File:Spr b g3 201 s.png
IV	Diamond	Pearl	Platinum	HeartGold	SoulSilver	Back

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

Trivia

Unreleased Unown

• In Spell of the Unown, Professor Oak had some pictures of unreleased Unown on his computer. They resemble a few Greek alphabet letters, especially σ (lowercase sigma), Σ (capital sigma), Π (pi) and Ω (omega). However, lowercase letters have never been made into Unown before, so this may be an error or a misinterpretation by fans. The top-middle Unown may be also a variation of an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection, the Eye of Horus, or the Russian letter Я (ya). This may lead to the conclusion that there are more forms of Unown, being the prototypes of other known (or unknown) alphabets.
• Unown apparently generate a radio signal where they are found in large numbers, which can be listened to by any Trainer with a PokéGear.
• In the third movie, Molly Hale owned a book that had Unown on the cover of it.
• It is the first non-legendary to be in a central role in a Pokémon movie.
• Unown and Ditto are the only non-legendary, non-baby Pokémon that cannot breed with Ditto.
• Despite being in the book of legendary Pokémon, Unown is not considered a legendary Pokémon.
• The two punctuation Unown have half-closed eyes; all alphabetic Unown have fully open eyes.
• If a player does not have Unown's Pokédex data on a Generation II game when in Oak's lab in Pokémon Stadium 2, Unown's Pokédex number is listed as 252 instead of 201. This happens regardless of which Pokédex display mode is selected.
• It has the smallest movepool of all Pokémon, learning only one move, Hidden Power, and being unable to learn any other moves through TMs, HMs, and Pokémon breeding (as it cannot breed). It shares this distinction with Ditto, and Smeargle, however they can potentially expand their movepools through the use of Transform and Sketch respectively.

Origin

Their appearances are corruptions of the modern Latin alphabet. The shapes of the Unown are used like runes in the Pokémon world, although in Generation III their place has been taken by Braille.

Name origin

Unown's name is a corruption of the word unknown.

In other languages

• German: Icognito - From Inkognito (incognito); similar to the English corruption of "unknown".
• French: Zarbi - From the word bizarre in verlan, a youth language.
• Korean: 안농 Annong
• Norwegian: Ukjent - Unknown, only in episode 264 - Address Unown, where it was mistakenly translated.
• Swedish: Okänd - Unknown, only in episode 264 - Address Unown, where it was mistakenly translated. Also of note was that they always referred to the Unown with very bad grammar, for example: "the place where Unknown comes from".

External links

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