While it is not known to evolve into or from any other Pokémon, Deoxys has four forms: Normal Forme, Attack Forme, Defense Forme, and Speed Forme. It can change between its forms by interacting with certain meteorites.
(Specifics may differ in past games. Refer to Game data→Form data for these details.)
Deoxys in a bipedal, alien-like, extraterrestrialPokémon that has four forms, each focused on a different stat. On its chest, there is a purple, crystalline organ, which is said to be its brain; as seen in Destiny Deoxys, this organ can appear in other colors, namely green. It has a light blue, oval pattern with a purple stripe running down the middle on its face; white, circular eyes set inside black, rectangular eye sockets; and three light blue dots arranged in a triangle on its back.
Deoxys floating in space in the form of a triangular stone tablet
Deoxys is the result of a mutation of an extraterrestrial virus caused by exposure to a laser beam. It is highly intelligent and can fire off lasers from the crystalline organ on its chest. While inactive, Deoxys takes the form of a triangular stone tablet. Deoxys is said to appear where auroras are seen and causes one to appear when changing forms; in Destiny Deoxys, the aurora's electromagnetic wavelengths are used to communicate with other Deoxys, and other sources of electromagnetism were shown to obscure its vision if given off in great amounts. Moreover, in the same movie, it demonstrated the ability to regenerate any part of its body that it lost during battle and to create clones of itself, a trait also depicted in Pokémon Adventures. The clones are much duller in color, lack eyes or the organ on their chest, and seem to be unable to change from Normal Forme.
In its Normal Forme, Deoxys has tapering legs with a segmented, vertical, blue stripe on the upper portion. The abdomen is black with vertical lines, while the majority of its skin is reddish-orange. The arms are capable of taking different forms, usually a pair of tentacles coiled in a double helix. One tentacle is the primary skin color, while the other is light blue. Alternately, it can morph its tentacles into more humanoid arms with a red top and blue underside and a five-fingered hand. This Forme has a blunt protrusion with a single blue stripe on either side of its head and stubby tail. It is the most balanced form.
Attack Forme
While in its Attack Forme, Deoxys's legs remain tapered. However, its blue stripes are no longer segmented and run the entire length of the leg and there is now a large spike on the knee. Two pairs of whip-like tentacles with pointed tips, one reddish-orange and one blue, replace its previous coiled, blunted tentacles. The protrusions on its head are now triangular with an additional one extending from the top of its head. Most of its reddish-orange skin has receded, revealing a striated, black chest and abdomen. Finally, its tail is now longer and more pointed. It is the most offensively powerful form and is said to possess an aggressive disposition.
Defense Forme
Deoxys's Defense Forme has bulky, wide legs that are somewhat flat at the end with a bluish-green spot on each knee. It retains its two pairs of red and blue tentacles, but they are now flat and broad. The head has fused with its body and all protrusions are gone, causing it to resemble a helmet. The reddish-orange skin now covers the entire body, so none of its inner black portions are visible. There is now a single blue stripe on each shoulder, and its tail has disappeared. It is the most defensively capable form.
Speed Forme
The Speed Forme of this Pokémon has a sleek black body with thin striation. The reddish-orange skin now covers only its head, hip joints, and the area around its crystal. There is now only one tentacle on each side of its body, one red and one blue. The protrusions on its head now point upward and the back of its head now forms a long spike. There is a long, thick blue stripe running down the center of this longer protrusion. More blue stripes appear on either hip joint and on its legs. It possesses the greatest agility out of the four forms.
Normal Forme
Attack Forme
Defense Forme
Speed Forme
Game data
NPC appearances
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team: Deoxys first appears after the completion of the main story, where Xatu and Blastoise mention a new cave formed by the meteorite shards destroyed by Rayquaza. Upon reaching the final floor of the dungeon, an amnesiac Deoxys will fight the player, asking for the answers of the cave's origins.
Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon: Deoxys first appears while traveling space when it is nearly hit by a fleeing Mega Rayquaza, and it's surprised that even the fellow legendary Pokémon would be frightened as such. Like the other legendaries, he learns of Dark Matter's intention to eliminate all life by sending the Tree of Life into the sun. Deoxys and Mega Rayquaza later oppose the Tree of Life's ascent from space, but when Dark Matter regenerates itself, it lets out a massive shockwave that turns all the legendary Pokémon into stone, including Deoxys and Mega Rayquaza. After Dark Matter is defeated and the petrified Pokémon are restored, Deoxys will take its residence at Meteorite Crater.
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
Detective Pikachu Returns: Deoxys plays a notable role during the climax of the game, where it's revealed that the famous jewel known as the Aurora Drop is actually the crystal core of a Deoxys. Scientist Charles Merloch restores Deoxys's body and fuses his mind with it, becoming one with Deoxys. He fights Mewtwo, until Detective Pikachu undoes the fusion, reducing Deoxys to nothing but a crystal core once more and returning Merloch's mind to his body.
Spoilers end here.
Pokédex entries
This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation III.
The DNA of a space virus underwent a sudden mutation upon exposure to a laser beam and resulted in Deoxys. The crystalline organ on this Pokémon's chest appears to be its brain.
Deoxys emerged from a virus that came from space. It is highly intelligent and wields psychokinetic powers. This Pokémon shoots lasers from the crystalline organ on its chest.
The DNA of a space virus underwent a sudden mutation upon exposure to a laser beam and resulted in Deoxys. The crystalline organ on this Pokémon's chest appears to be its brain.
Deoxys emerged from a virus that came from space. It is highly intelligent and wields psychokinetic powers. This Pokémon shoots lasers from the crystalline organ on its chest.
Deoxys has four different forms which it can switch between. It was the first Pokémon whose base stats and moves it could learn differed depending on its form.
In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, the player can win a Meteorite from an auction at the Porto Marinada Market if they own a Deoxys. When used, the Meteorite will cycle Deoxys to its next form in the order of Normal Forme, Attack Forme, Defense Forme, Speed Forme.
Deoxys's Normal Forme is the default form it takes. In this form, it has very high Attack, Special Attack, and Speed, but low Defense and Special Defense, alongside a low HP stat (which remains the same in all of its forms).
Deoxys's Attack Forme has even higher Attack and Special Attack than its other forms and learns more offensive moves. Its Defense and Special Defense are abysmal, much lower than those of its Normal Forme. Its Speed remains the same as in its Normal Forme.
Deoxys's Defense Forme has much higher Defense and Special Defense than its other forms and learns more defensive moves. Its Attack, Special Attack, and Speed are much lower than those of its Normal Forme.
Deoxys's Speed Forme has much higher Speed than its other forms (having the second highest Speed of all Pokémon) and learns many moves with increased priority. Additionally, its Defense and Special Defense are higher than in its Normal Forme, though its Attack and Special Attack are lower than in its Normal Forme.
In the Mystery Dungeon games, the drastic shift in Deoxys's stat distribution between forms is instead represented by passive stat stage modifications. In the Rescue Team and Explorers games, Deoxys gains +2 stages to each of its Attack stats in Attack Forme, but -2 to each of its Defense stats, while Defense Forme inverts these. Its Speed Forme reduces all of its stats, but increases Movement Speed. In later games, its Defense Forme instead has a Speed penalty, and its Speed Forme instead gains Speed and only suffers an offensive penalty.
Deoxys debuted in Destiny Deoxys. Two fell to the world in a meteorite; one had a green crystalline organ, and the other had the standard purple one. When the Deoxys with the green crystal (which spent most of its time as a crystal in the movie) was taken to LaRousse City, the purple crystal Deoxys followed behind and began to search for it. As Pokémon Emerald had not been released when the movie was produced, only its Defense, Normal, and Attack Formes appeared.
In Cheers on Castaways Isle!, a Deoxys was seen in all of its Formes. It crash-landed as a meteor on a deserted island in the middle of Diablo's Ocean, shattering upon impact and leaving only its crystal. As a result, the local Water-type Pokémon worked together to gather meteor fragments to help restore it. This eventually worked after receiving help from Pikachu and Piplup.
In PK21, a Deoxys saved Pikachu, Piplup, and a wildSkitty when they all fell from a stone staircase.
In Living on the Cutting Edge!, a Deoxys was battling Rayquaza in outer space. The battle accidentally caused one of the meteors to head towards Alola, though it was ultimately cut up by a Kartana, saving the region from harm. In the episode, Deoxys appeared in its Normal and Defense Formes.
Minor appearances
In the opening sequence of The Rise of Darkrai, two Deoxys were soaring across the sky in their Normal Formes.
Deoxys debuted in A Visitor From Outer Space?!, where it was first mentioned by Professor Oak while having Red obtain an orb that contained it. As Red got the orb, he competed with a guy and his Swampert, with Swampert's owner swiping the orb for a Voltorb. Deoxys appeared in Clefairy's flashback in the same chapter, where it was fighting the Swampert.
In Pokémon Ranger the Comic: Double Mission, Deoxys is the target of a mission that Lunick and Solana are assigned to after Spenser, Joel, and Elita were beaten by the Pokémon. It is controlled by the Go-Rock Quads , who use their instrument-shaped Super Stylers to change its form. Lunick is able to free it after blowing up Clyde, Garret, and Billy's Stylers and forcing it back into its Normal Forme.
An Attack Forme Deoxys will sometimes be released from a Poké Ball. It floats towards the top of the screen and does a spin. It will then shoot a powerful Hyper Beam, drawing in all the opponents near it and sending them flying. Coming in contact with Deoxys's body will do damage.
Trophy information
A DNA Pokémon born through the mutation of the DNA of a space virus. It has multiple Formes, and the abilities it possesses and the techniques it can remember change from forme to forme. It has four forms: normal, attack, defense, and speed. It can be made to change forms by using the power of a meteorite in Veilstone City.
Deoxys in Super Smash Bros. for 3DSDeoxys trophy in Super Smash Bros. for 3DS
Deoxys appears as a Poké Ball summon in the 3DS and Wii U versions of the game, its behavior unchanged from Brawl. It also appears as a trophy in both versions of the game.
Trophy information
NA:This Psychic-type Pokémon was born from a virus attached to a meteorite. It has four different Formes, but in Smash Bros. only the Attack Forme appears. In battle, it'll soar skyward before unleashing a powerful Hyper Beam attack straight downward from the crystal in its chest.
PAL:Deoxys was formed from a mutated virus that came to Earth on a meteorite. It comes in four different Formes, but in this game, it appears in Attack Forme. When summoned, it heads skywards before firing its Hyper Beam attack straight downwards from the crystal in its chest.
Its Attack Forme also has the lowest base Special Defense stat of all Psychic-type Pokémon.
Deoxys is the only Pokémon whose Forme change is triggered by different events between generations.
Deoxys is one of two Pokémon in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red and Blue Rescue Team that has defenses over 100 at level 100 if not given any vitamins or Gummis, the other being Lugia.
In Pokémon Ranger, Deoxys's Forme changes every time its Browser entry is accessed. It cycles in order from Normal Forme to Attack Forme to Defense Forme to Speed Forme and finally back to Normal Forme.
In the animated series and related media, including the movieDestiny Deoxys, as well as in Pokémon Ranger, Deoxys is able to change Formes at will regardless of where it is. While it can willingly change Forme in Pokémon Adventures, its choices are limited by the environment.
Due to the cause of Forme change in Generation III being the game Deoxys is in, only Speed Forme Deoxys is banned from the Battle Frontier, as only Speed Forme Deoxys is obtainable in Emerald.
In the games, the Sevii Islands and Orre* are the only regions where all four Formes have not been available.
Deoxys was the first Pokémon to have its own unique battle music.
Using the first letters from the names of Deoxys's three debut Formes, one can spell "DNA" (Defense, Normal, Attack). This is reflected in Deoxys's Pokédex entry in Pokémon GO, which orders its Formes on a list as such: Defense, Normal, Attack, Speed.
Before Generation V, Deoxys was the only Pokémon whose stats were recalculated (to apply gained effort points to its stats) immediately after a battle. Other Pokémon had to level up, use the box trick, or be fed a vitamin or stat-reducing Berry in order to have the effort values applied to their stats.
When in the wild, or while looking at a Deoxys belonging to another player (e.g. while trading), it will appear in its Normal Forme in Generation III.
Deoxys was the first Mythical Pokémon to be obtainable in-game in the core series without any event or distribution (in Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire). Possibly as a result, PokémonCenter.com and a Scholastic book on Legendary and Mythical Pokémon erroneously call Deoxys a Legendary Pokémon rather than a Mythical Pokémon.
Deoxys is the only Pokémon whose Japanese category name is written with characters from a foreign alphabet, being DNAポケモン.
A cryptographic cipher named Deoxys-II, after the Pokémon,[3] was selected as a finalist in the CAESAR Competition.
Deoxys and Spinda are the only Pokémon to lack a second frame of animation for their front sprite in Pokémon Emerald. In Deoxys's case, this applies to both its Normal and Speed Formes.
Deoxys was the first Pokémon to share its name with an English TCG expansion, the only other Pokémon being Arceus.
Origin
Deoxys appears to draw inspiration from certain representations of aliens and visual representations of the nucleic acid double helix. It may also be more loosely based on viruses and mutation. It also strongly resembles the shape of a chromosome, a package containing much of the DNA of an organism. This makes sense due to its ability to duplicate, just like a chromosome does during cell division.
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a molecule composed of two polynucleotide chains that coil around each other to form a double helix carrying genetic instructions for the development, functioning, growth and reproduction of all known organisms and many viruses. Normal Forme Deoxys's arms can sometimes be seen as represented by overlapping helix strands, which resemble the double helix coil of DNA.
Deoxys' association with meteorites, and its Pokédex entries which state that it is "an alien virus that fell to earth on a meteor", suggest links to the fringe scientific concept of panspermia (the concept that life itself is extraterrestrial in origin, and arrived on Earth through celestial objects such as bacteria-contaminated meteorites) and its more concretely proven counterpart pseudo-panspermia (the concept that the basic building blocks for life, such as amino acids, originated in space and arrived on Earth through celestial objects).
Name origin
Deoxys is derived from deoxyribonucleic acid—or DNA—the medium of genetic code in cellular organisms.[4]
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.