Archaludon is a tall, metallic, bipedal dinosaur-like Pokémon with an angular, cuboid body bent at its chest and hips. Its body is composed of highly durable metal and is primarily cool gray. It possesses dark blue accents on its palms and soles, as well as dark blue platings on its face and underside. The underside plating has criss-crossing patterns on the torso, and two red stripes at the bottom, with three small notches on each of them. This plating extends past Archaludon's head at the sides, forming horn-like features tipped with red. There is a continuous protrusion running the length of Archaludon's spine, three pairs of zigzag patterns on its sides, and spikes on the back of its head and the tip of its large tail.
Archaludon's head is small compared to its body and is sunken into its neck. The plating on its face is T-shaped with a few indents on the sides, and folds down the middle to partially cover its yellow eyes. Its mouth, shaped into a permanent scowl, opens at the upper jaw and contains a grooved copper-colored tube, which it uses to fire beams to attack. When it closes its mouth, the tube is concealed and resembles teeth.
Archaludon's hands and feet are large and V-shaped, each of which are connected to cuboid forelimbs and have two rectangular digits. On these hands and feet, Archaludon has tall, retractable spires near the joints, with the spires on its feet usually retracted. These spires contain pointed, yellow terminals at their tips, which gather and store static electricity from Archaludon's surroundings, as it is incapable of producing electricity on its own.[1] Similar terminal pairs are found on the spikes on Archaludon's head and tail.
When Archaludon faces danger, it will get down on all fours, straighten its body, retract its limbs, and fully extend the spires on its hands and feet, forming a shape that resembles a steel bridge. This position allows for less mobility but offers Archaludon a sturdier center of gravity. In this position, Archaludon is capable of using the static electricity stored in its terminals to fire a tremendously powerful beam of electric energy.[1] When Archaludon charges up to fire this beam, electrical energy connects the terminals on its head, tail, and limbs, in a similar fashion to bridge suspension cables. During storms and other inclement weather, Archaludon's terminals can gather static electricity more easily, allowing it to fire off its beam much faster.[1] Archaludon's defensive capabilities are so strong that it cannot be fazed by a cave-in. Archaludon resides in boreal mountains, and often digs holes in its habitat while searching for food.
Archaludon appears to draw inspiration from cable-stayed bridges and folding bridges. Its legs resemble the Iberian Guadiana International Bridge, while the X patterns might be a reference to the Portuguese 25 de Abril Bridge. Its theming of a literal dragon bridge, as well as its coloration, could take inspiration from the Puente del Dragón, a popular Sevillian monument from Alcalá de Guadaíra, with Archaludon's back when standing on two legs loosely resembling the snake-like mouth of the dragon sculpture. The bent body also resembles a staple remover. Since Archaludon was introduced in The Indigo Disk, it might also pull from the fact that Unova, where Blueberry Academy is located, stands out for its numerous bridges.
Archaludon may be a combination of arch (meaning principal or superlative, as well as referring to a type of bridge), Duraludon, and possibly Archosaur.
Briduras may be derived from bridge, ジュラルドン Duraludon, and ソーラス -saurus (Greek-derived suffix for dinosaur names).
This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.
Archaludon charging up an attack in its mouth.
Archaludon assuming the shape of a bridge and charging up.
For other sprites and images, please see Archaludon images on the Bulbagarden Archives.
