Characteristic
Characteristics are a feature in the Pokémon games, introduced in Generation IV. A Pokémon's characteristic indicates which stat contains a Pokémon's highest IV. It is displayed on the Pokémon's profile screen where its nature, date met, place met, and berry flavor preference are shown.
A Pokémon's characteristic is determined by the remainder of its highest IV divided by 5 (known as modulo operation in programming). Since it is built this way, Pokémon transferred from the games of Generation III via Pal Park have a characteristic without their stats being changed.
List of characteristics
| Possible Individual Values | HP | Attack | Defense | Special Attack | Special Defense | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 | Loves to eat | Proud of its power | Sturdy body | Highly curious | Strong willed | Likes to run |
| 1, 6, 11, 16, 21, 26, 31 | Often dozes off | Likes to thrash about | Capable of taking hits | Mischievous | Somewhat vain | Alert to sounds |
| 2, 7, 12, 17, 22, 27 | Often scatters things | A little quick tempered | Highly persistent | Thoroughly cunning | Strongly defiant | Impetuous and silly |
| 3, 8, 13, 18, 23, 28 | Scatters things often | Likes to fight | Good endurance | Often lost in thought | Hates to lose | Somewhat of a clown |
| 4, 9, 14, 19, 24, 29 | Likes to relax | Quick tempered | Good perserverance | Very finicky | Somewhat stubborn | Quick to flee |
Note that having a certain characteristic does not necessarily imply that the highest possible value for an IV is present. A Pokémon with an "Alert to sounds" characteristic could have a 6 in Speed (and thus very low IVs across all of its stats since none could be higher than 6) instead of a 31 in Speed.
Examples
A Mudkip has the following IVs:
| HP | Attack | Defense | Sp. Attack | Sp. Defense | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | 18 | 17 | 29 | 24 | 27 |
Since its highest IV is 29 in Special Attack, its characteristic will be "Very finicky."
A Ditto has the following IVs:
| HP | Attack | Defense | Sp. Attack | Sp. Defense | Speed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 17 | 10 |
Since its highest IV is 17 in Special Defense, its characteristic will be "Strongly defiant."
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This game-related article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games. |
