Overqwil is a large, spherical piscinePokémon that resides in the sea. All over its body are overgrown conical spikes whose colors correspond to those on Overqwil's body. Its top half is black while its bottom half is light yellow; the two halves meet in the middle and form a wave pattern. The spikes on the top half of its body have parts of purple at their tips, and two very long spikes at the top and bottom of its body jut out in a straight direction. Above its eyes and around part of the top half of its body, Overqwil has circular purple dots. Its lips also have a purple coloration and appear puffy, and its small light-yellow eyes have purple pupils and are always fixated on an annoyed expression. In between its eyes are two pairs of spikes, the outer ones being longer and resembling eyebrows. Its large tail appears flat with a black outline and a purple inside, which also has a pattern that resembles the letter "Q."
Overqwil has a very aggressive personality to match its short temper, which has given it the nickname "sea fiend." Its diet consists of poison. Overqwil's poisonous spikes react automatically to targets, even while asleep. The barbed spikes will stab any moving thing that approaches Overqwil, and have been known to adhere tightly to their target. It has been recently seen along with its pre-Evolution, offshore in cold parts of the world.
In Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Overqwil evolves from Hisuian Qwilfish after it has landed 20 hits with Barb Barrage. If a single use of the move hits multiple targets (including NPCs), each target hit increments the counter.[1]
Overqwil is one of only two Pokémon to have a "Q" in its name that is not followed by a "U" (unlike most words in the English language with a "Q" in it) with the other being its pre-Evolution Qwilfish.
Overqwil and its pre-evolved form are the only dual-type Dark/Poison Pokémon to have Dark as their primary type instead of their secondary type.
Origin
Overqwil appears to be based on pufferfish or porcupinefish, which are covered in spines and are poisonous to eat. However, Overqwil's oversized spikes along with their ability to inject poison may be inspired by other venomous marine animals such as lionfish or sea urchins. Overqwil and its pre-Evolution's notoriety amongst fishermen may be a reference to the significant threat that lionfish pose as an invasive species in the Atlantic Ocean, which might be the inspiration for Overqwil's Dark type.
Alternatively, its Dark typing and poisonous diet may be based on the illegalisation of the fugu dish due to its toxicity. The law was put in place a few times in Japanese history, including the 1800s (which Pokémon Legends: Arceusappears to be based on), but the illegal fugu market continued and thrived for so long that the governing shogunate became incapable of enforcing the law. Hisuian Qwilfish and Overqwil appear to be rarer in recent times, which could be a reference to porcupinefish being threatened due to overfishing for the fugu dish.
Given Overqwil's physical appearance and the fact it is able to learn Self-Destruct (and that Qwilfish has been able to learn Explosion in many generations), it may also be reminiscent of a naval mine. It also resembles a morning star or the spiked end of a flail. Based on its Japanese category, it may also be partly inspired by the kenzan (剣山, lit. "sword mountain"), a device consisting of a plate with numerous needles or spikes on it, used to fix flowers in place for the art of ikebana (flower arranging).
Haryman may be derived from ハリーセン Harysen (Qwilfish) or 針千本 (porcupinefish), with the 千sen (thousand) part replaced with 万man (ten thousand or myriad). The Japanese name for porcupinefish, 針千本 (harisenbon), can be interpreted literally as "one thousand sewing needles". The last character in 針千本 harisenbon, 本, is a counter for slender objects. The Japanese name for Overwqil can be interpreted literally as "ten thousand sewing needles".
In other languages
Language
Title
Meaning
Japanese
ハリーマン Haryman
From ハリーセン Harysen and 針千本 harisenbon with 千 sen replaced with 万 man
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.