Arceus
Encyclopedia
is a Pokémon species in Nintendo
and Game Freak
's Pokémon
franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori
, Arceus first appeared in the video games Pokémon Diamond and Pearl
, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise.
Pokémon, is a Normal-type legendary Pokémon, sometimes called "The Original One" and believed to have shaped the universe with its thousand arms. It has a white colored body, gray underside, a long mane, gold hooves, green eyes with red pupils, and has a large, golden wheel around its abdomen, connected by spikes filled with gems. Its origin is described in a book called "The Original Story", which states that Arceus was born from an egg in a vortex of pure chaos before the existence of the universe. It proceeded to create three beings from itself, Dialga and Palkia, which created time and space, and Giratina
, representing antimatter. It also created Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit, which created spirit, and then went into an everlasting sleep. Arceus has a special ability to use various Plates, stated to be fragments from the universe's creation filled with the power of "defeated giants", which allow it to switch to any of the seventeen types. They are found throughout the Sinnoh region, and feature inscriptions about their origins. Arceus can learn the signature move 'Judgment', which changes type with the Plate it is holding.
and later in its remake Pokémon Platinum
. It has since appeared in all subsequent titles. Notably, it was given away in promotions for the above mentioned games using a key item called the Azure Flute in the Hall of Origin above Mount Coronet or through an official Nintendo Mystery Gift event. In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
Arceus unlocks an area where either Dialga, Palkia, or Giratina
can be obtained at level one. There was a promotion where Japanese players could receive Arceus in Pokémon Black and White
in a mode called the Pokémon Dream World after winning a popularity poll of Pokémon species. Outside of the main series, Arceus only makes a significant appearance in Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs
. It makes a minor appearance in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky as a statue.
in the Japanese version and Tom Wayland
in the English dub. Arceus appears in a manga adaptation of the above mentioned film as well as the opening pages of the HeartGold and SoulSilver chapters of the Pokémon Adventures
manga.
Arceus was mentioned by Gregory House
in the season eight episode of House
entitled "Perils of Paranoia".
, and Pikachu
. Official Nintendo Magazines Chris Scullion ranked Arceus among the 10 best Pokémon due to its high versatility, strength, and rarity. GamesRadar
's Darryl Vassar wrote that while its Normal type seems "underwhelming" at first, its ability "reveals the awesome power of this god among 'mon". He adds that Arceus has "hands down the best stats of any Pokémon, exceeding the previous bests by 20%, and a huge range of available moves" and asked "after capturing the god of all Pokémon, where does Gamefreak go from here?" Destructoid
's Jonathan Holmes called it a "bad cross between a Yu Gi Oh
monster and the spirit of the forest from The Princess Mononoke
". The Escapist
's John Funk wrote an article which criticized the abundance of Pokémon that can only be obtained through a fixed event. He used Arceus as the sole Pokémon in the banner art for the article and cited it as an example of one of these Pokémon. Editors for GamesRadar
described Arceus in the film as "the Old Testament
God
" and a "pretty mean god". An editor for Japan Cinema wrote that Arceus was under-utilized in the movie and that it "could have been used better to convey the story that he’s the god pokemon but it fell short of that".
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
and Game Freak
Game Freak
is a Japanese video game developer that currently creates games exclusively for Nintendo. It has developed the Pokémon series of role-playing games and several other games.-History:...
's Pokémon
Pokémon
is a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video...
franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori
Ken Sugimori
is a Japanese video game designer, illustrator, manga artist, and director. He is most famous as the character designer and art director for the Pokémon franchise. Sugimori is also credited with the art direction for other titles, including Pulseman. Sugimori drew all of the original 151 Pokémon...
, Arceus first appeared in the video games Pokémon Diamond and Pearl
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl
are role-playing games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. With the enhanced remake Pokémon Platinum, the games comprise the fifth installment and fourth generation of the Pokémon series of RPGs...
, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise.
Concept and characteristics
Arceus, known as the AlphaAlpha
Alpha is the first letter of the Greek alphabet. Alpha or ALPHA may also refer to:-Science:*Alpha , the highest ranking individuals in a community of social animals...
Pokémon, is a Normal-type legendary Pokémon, sometimes called "The Original One" and believed to have shaped the universe with its thousand arms. It has a white colored body, gray underside, a long mane, gold hooves, green eyes with red pupils, and has a large, golden wheel around its abdomen, connected by spikes filled with gems. Its origin is described in a book called "The Original Story", which states that Arceus was born from an egg in a vortex of pure chaos before the existence of the universe. It proceeded to create three beings from itself, Dialga and Palkia, which created time and space, and Giratina
Giratina
, is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Giratina first appeared in the video games Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, but gained prominence in the remake, Pokémon Platinum, which it was made the mascot of. It later appeared in various merchandise,...
, representing antimatter. It also created Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit, which created spirit, and then went into an everlasting sleep. Arceus has a special ability to use various Plates, stated to be fragments from the universe's creation filled with the power of "defeated giants", which allow it to switch to any of the seventeen types. They are found throughout the Sinnoh region, and feature inscriptions about their origins. Arceus can learn the signature move 'Judgment', which changes type with the Plate it is holding.
In the video games
It first made its appearance in the video games Pokémon Diamond and PearlPokémon Diamond and Pearl
are role-playing games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. With the enhanced remake Pokémon Platinum, the games comprise the fifth installment and fourth generation of the Pokémon series of RPGs...
and later in its remake Pokémon Platinum
Pokémon Platinum
is a title in the Pokémon series of video games. It was developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS handheld game console. It is an enhanced remake of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl in the same vein as Pokémon Yellow, Crystal, and Emerald were for their respective games...
. It has since appeared in all subsequent titles. Notably, it was given away in promotions for the above mentioned games using a key item called the Azure Flute in the Hall of Origin above Mount Coronet or through an official Nintendo Mystery Gift event. In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
are enhanced remakes of the 1999 video games Pokémon Gold and Silver. The games are part of the Pokémon series of role-playing video games, and were developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS...
Arceus unlocks an area where either Dialga, Palkia, or Giratina
Giratina
, is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Giratina first appeared in the video games Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, but gained prominence in the remake, Pokémon Platinum, which it was made the mascot of. It later appeared in various merchandise,...
can be obtained at level one. There was a promotion where Japanese players could receive Arceus in Pokémon Black and White
Pokémon Black and White
are role-playing games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. They are the first installments in the fifth generation of the Pokémon series of role-playing games...
in a mode called the Pokémon Dream World after winning a popularity poll of Pokémon species. Outside of the main series, Arceus only makes a significant appearance in Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs
Pokémon Ranger: Guardian Signs
is an action role-playing game video game for the Nintendo DS. It is the sequel of Pokémon Ranger and Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia and third installment of its series. It was released in Japan on March 6, 2010, North America on October 4, 2010, and Europe on November 5, 2010. Gameplay revolves...
. It makes a minor appearance in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky as a statue.
In other media
Arceus is featured in Pokémon: Arceus and the Jewel of Life, in which it was supposedly betrayed by Damos, and thus views humans with contempt and vows to inflict judgement on them. It is voiced by Akihiro MiwaAkihiro Miwa
, is a Japanese singer, actor, drag queen, director, composer and author from Nagasaki in Nagasaki Prefecture. His real name is . He writes most of his own music and has written over 20 books. An open homosexual, he is also a drag queen who often dyes his shoulder-length hair bright yellow.-Early...
in the Japanese version and Tom Wayland
Tom Wayland
Tom Wayland is an American musician, actor, voice actor, ADR director, producer and dubbing supervisor who works for 4Kids Entertainment, DuArt Film and Video, NYAV Post, Real Recording LLC, Matlin Recording LLC, Beatstreet Studios and Audioworks Producers Group. He previously worked for Central...
in the English dub. Arceus appears in a manga adaptation of the above mentioned film as well as the opening pages of the HeartGold and SoulSilver chapters of the Pokémon Adventures
Pokémon Adventures
Pokémon Adventures, released in Japan as , is a Pokémon-related manga based on the video games. Satoshi Tajiri once stated that the Pocket Monsters Special series is closest to what he imagined the Pokémon world to be:...
manga.
Arceus was mentioned by Gregory House
Gregory House
Gregory House, M.D., or simply referred to as House, is a fictional antihero and title character of the American television series House, played by Hugh Laurie. He is the Chief of Diagnostic Medicine at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital, where he leads a team of diagnosticians...
in the season eight episode of House
House (TV series)
House is an American television medical drama that debuted on the Fox network on November 16, 2004. The show's central character is Dr. Gregory House , an unconventional and misanthropic medical genius who heads a team of diagnosticians at the fictional Princeton-Plainsboro Teaching Hospital in...
entitled "Perils of Paranoia".
Reception
In an official Pokémon popularity poll conducted by Nintendo in late 2010 spanning the first four generations, Arceus was voted into 1st place over Pokémon such as Darkrai, MewMew (Pokémon)
is one of the fictional species of Pokémon creatures from Nintendo's and Game Freak's multi-billion-dollar Pokémon media franchise—a collection of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards, and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri...
, and Pikachu
Pikachu
is one of the species of Pokémon creatures from the Pokémon media franchise—a collection of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards, and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri. As do all Pokémon, Pikachu fight other Pokémon in battles central to the anime, manga, and games of the series...
. Official Nintendo Magazines Chris Scullion ranked Arceus among the 10 best Pokémon due to its high versatility, strength, and rarity. GamesRadar
GamesRadar
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...
's Darryl Vassar wrote that while its Normal type seems "underwhelming" at first, its ability "reveals the awesome power of this god among 'mon". He adds that Arceus has "hands down the best stats of any Pokémon, exceeding the previous bests by 20%, and a huge range of available moves" and asked "after capturing the god of all Pokémon, where does Gamefreak go from here?" Destructoid
Destructoid
Destructoid is an independent video game-focused blog based in San Francisco, California that was founded in March 2006. It has since grown into one of the most widely read video game sites on the Internet, reaching more than 3 million unique visitors per month...
's Jonathan Holmes called it a "bad cross between a Yu Gi Oh
Yu-Gi-Oh!
is a Japanese manga created by Kazuki Takahashi. It has produced a franchise that includes multiple anime shows, a trading card game and numerous video games...
monster and the spirit of the forest from The Princess Mononoke
Princess Mononoke
is a 1997 epic Japanese animated historical fantasy feature film written and directed by Hayao Miyazaki of Studio Ghibli. is not a name, but a general term in the Japanese language for a spirit or monster...
". The Escapist
The Escapist (magazine)
The Escapist is an online magazine covering video games, gamers, the gaming industry, and gaming culture. Published by the Themis Group, it was edited by Julianne Greer up to June 30, 2009, then by Russ Pitts through September 2011, and is currently edited by Steve Butts. The Escapist was first...
's John Funk wrote an article which criticized the abundance of Pokémon that can only be obtained through a fixed event. He used Arceus as the sole Pokémon in the banner art for the article and cited it as an example of one of these Pokémon. Editors for GamesRadar
GamesRadar
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...
described Arceus in the film as "the Old Testament
Old Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
God
God
God is the English name given to a singular being in theistic and deistic religions who is either the sole deity in monotheism, or a single deity in polytheism....
" and a "pretty mean god". An editor for Japan Cinema wrote that Arceus was under-utilized in the movie and that it "could have been used better to convey the story that he’s the god pokemon but it fell short of that".