Eternatus is a gigantic, draconic alienPokémon. Its body has a vaguely draconic shape and skeletal appearance, and it is largely dark violet with red highlights. Its main body and tail are long and thin and resemble a spinal column, and it has four small, thin limbs ending in claws formed from spindly appendages attached at right angles. Its torso is formed from a cage of appendages resembling ribs, and inside is a glowing pink core that serves as Eternatus's energy source, absorbing energy to sustain it. Its head is triangular and has a pair of white, eye-like markings in the form of three connected circles, as well as a spindly lower jaw with several diamond-shaped teeth. Over its head is a translucent red film held between five long spikes extending toward its body's rear. It also has a pair of thin tendrils extending from its back, formed from numerous triangular segments. Eternatus's gigantic size makes it thetallest known Pokémon with the exception ofDynamax andGigantamax Pokémon.
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
Eternatus is anextraterrestrial Pokémon that came to thePokémon world inside an asteroid around 20,000 years ago. It's implied byPeonia that Eternatus's asteroid (referred to as a massive Wishing Star) landed at theCrown Tundra, specifically inSlippery Slope, creating a cavern now known as theMax Lair.[1] It serves as the source of theDynamax phenomenon inGalar due to its power leaking out in the form ofGalar particles following its defeat 3000 years ago byZacian,Zamazenta, andtwo human youths. Pieces of its body imbued with its power rained down throughout Galar in the form ofWishing Pieces andWishing Stars. After it reawakened in the present day, Eternatus's core needed to reabsorb the Galar particles in order to remain active, apparently due to its past defeat weakening it. InPokémon Masters EX, it can replace Galar particles by absorbingsync stone energy in massive amounts instead. Its core can project its absorbed energy intomassive blasts fired directly from its center, which cause moredamage to Dynamax and Gigantamax Pokémon. It can also keep other Pokémon from Dynamaxing in its presence. Despite this connection to the phenomenon, it cannot Dynamax itself, as itsEternamax form replaces that effect. Eternatus' power is so great thatRose attempted to use it to solve the imminent energy crisis that would befall Galar in a thousand years.
As depicted in thePokémon Journeys: The Series episodeSword and Shield: "From Here to Eternatus!",Eternatus can use its core to force Pokémon to Dynamax or Gigantamax. Conversely, it can prevent Dynamaxing by absorbing the Galar particles around it to make them unavailable to use, forcibly reverting any Dynamax or Gigantamax Pokémon back to normal in the process.Rose was the one to coin Eternatus's name, but in the past, it was known as theDarkest Day, as referred to by the people of Galar who feared it 3000 years ago. The animated series shows that Eternatus is not an inherently malicious Pokémon, with its triggering of the Darkest Day being in part due to its inability to fully control its power. After mastering it, it is even shown to become docile and a protector of Galar, much like thelegendary heroes who defeated it. As seen in chapterOh My!! The Disappearance of Henry of thePokémon Adventuresmanga, Eternatus's poison has the capability of altering people's behavior and making them violent and selfish, which is demonstrated withHenry Sword after he touched it.
When Eternatus absorbs all the energy in the Galar region or usesEternabeam, it transforms into its original form,Eternamax Eternatus. Its larger size makes it the tallest known Pokémon in existence, dwarfing even Gigantamax Pokémon. In this form, Eternatus's shape drastically changes. Its body becomes incredibly long and serpentine, with most of its body forming a massive coil. Its entire body glows red, and at regular intervals across its length are black rings with spikes extending outward. Its back tendrils now curl around its main body. Its energy core rests at the center of the coil inside a cage of violet spikes. Eternatus's head takes on the form of a giant hand, with its "fingers" covered in black armor with spikes extending from the back of each segment. At the tip of each finger there's a mouth-like opening on its armor revealing pink insides. According toCasey Shield, Eternatus's five fingers are actually heads.
Eternamax Eternatus's power grows so immense that it causes a great storm of Dynamax energy around it, ripping holes in spacetime amid the storm as it releases an infinite amount of energy. It is responsible for theDarkest Day, in which the massive quantities of Dynamax energy it unleashes cause Pokémon to Dynamax and rampage uncontrollably. In addition toMax Moves, it can use its mostmost powerful attack, a large beam which is shoots from the white spot in its "palm" and several smaller ones from its "fingers" or from all over its immense body. Thanks to a mysterious power, Eternatus can prevent opposing Pokémon from using any moves as it stores its energy. This power, however, can be countered by bothZacian andZamazenta in their Crowned forms.
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
Pokémon Sword and Shield:Eternatus is a main character and a boss encounter in the games. It crashlanded 20,000 years ago in theGalar region within agiant asteroid. Around 3,000 years ago, Eternatus awakened for the very first time and caused a catastrophic event known as theDarkest Day, which caused Pokémon all over the region toDynamax and go berserk. However, thelegendary heroesZacian andZamazenta allied themselves withtwo youths and managed to take Eternatus down, forcing it back into its slumber.
In the present day,Chairman Rose awakened Eternatus to use its infinite energy to save Galar from an energy crisis a thousand years into the future.Leon attempted to stop it but failed to catch theGigantic Pokémon and was defeated by it, leaving it up to theplayer andHop tobattle it. During the fight, Eternatus entered itsEternamax state, which only caused the situation to become more dire. Using theRusted Sword andRusted Shield, the player and Hop summoned Zacian and Zamazenta to fight by their side and managed to defeat Eternatus. The player then catches it to prevent it from causing any further damage.
Spoilers end here.
Pokédex entries
This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation VIII.
InPokémon GO,Eternamax Eternatus appears inMax Battles, but cannot be obtained by the player. Instead, defeating Eternamax Eternatus in a Max Battle rewards large quantities of Eternatus Candy and Eternatus Candy XL.
This form is unobtainable, but briefly appears in the move animation forEternabeam. The move is not treated as a form change internally, and Eternatus's stats and form index value remain unchanged. If Eternatus uses this move, Eternamax Eternatus will not be registered in the player'sPokédex, making it impossible to legitimately registerShiny Eternamax Eternatus. However, aShiny Eternamax Eternatus can be registered inPokémon HOME's Pokédex by depositing Shiny Eternatus into HOME's storage, as it automatically registers both forms. If a Pokémon usingTransform or withImposter, fights Eternamax Eternatus, it will instead transform into Eternatus's regular form.
Eternamax Eternatus'scry andbase stats are different to those of its regular form (with it having the highest base stats of any Pokémon to date).
Eternatus appeared in a flashback inThe Champion, where it was battled against byVictor andHop during theDarkest Day and subsequentlycaught by the former.
Eternatus is theheaviestPoison-type andDragon-type Pokémon, and also the heaviest Pokémon overall introduced in Generation VIII.
Eternatus has several similarities toTerapagos. Both areLegendaryPokémon that are responsible for the special type of transformation (Dynamax/Gigantamax andTerastallization) found within their respective originregions (Galar andPaldea). They also both have transformations exclusive to them related to these phenomena increasing theirstats (Eternatus'sEternamax form and Terapagos'sStellar Form, though the former is unobtainable) and can absorb the energy needed to use these transformations from other Pokémon, thereby rendering them unavailable. Both of them were also introduced in a game which would receive DLC and whosegame mascots comprise aLegendary duo.
Pokémontransformed into Zacian, Zamazenta, or Eternatus will also be unable to Dynamax.
Despite this, Eternatus is still capable of usingMax Moves in its Eternamax form. This makes it the only non-Dynamax Pokémon that can use Max Moves in the core series (though its normal form, Crowned Sword Zacian, and Crowned Shield Zamazenta can use Max Move versions of their signature moves inPokémon GO).
Eternatus is the first Legendary Pokémon that can becaught with anyPoké Ball without the chance of failing.
Alevel 100 Eternamax Eternatus could reach 655 in one of these stats, which would cause the stat to overflow to 0 due to a quirk in the coding forPokémon Sword and Shield which affects no other Pokémon.
has the highest base stat total of all Pokémon, with 1125. This also makes it the only Pokémon with a four-digit base stat total.
is the only alternateform of a Legendary Pokémon that cannot be obtained or used by the player.
has several traits in common with Gigantamax forms despite not technically being one, including an unknown weight, the ability to useMax Moves, and a form index of 999 in its Pokédex data.
It also has a second unused set of Pokédex data which uses its correct form index of 1.
Eternatus andRegigigas have very similar category names in Japanese, with the only difference being in how they're written: Regigigas's category name is inhiragana (きょだいポケモン), while Eternatus's category name is inkatakana (キョダイポケモン). In either case, the category name is pronounced the same:Kyodai Pokémon.
Unlike other Pokémon in theanimated series, Eternatus is animated with 3D animation rather than 2D during theSword and Shield arc. It is the only Pokémon inPokémon the Series to have this distinction.
Eternatus is the first Pokémon animated with either 2D or 3D animations outside ofmovies.
When Eternatus was released in Pokémon GO, itsPokédex entries were erroneously swapped between its normal and Eternamax forms. This was later corrected.
In Pokémon GO, Eternatus uses the mostCandy to power up, with a minimum of60 for 1power up.
Origin
Eternatus's extraterrestrial nature anddragon-like appearance may be inspired byUther Pendragon,King Arthur's father, who acquired hisepithet and started using dragons on hisstandards after witnessing a dragon-shaped comet. Its abilities may also draw inspiration fromnuclear power, particularly its seemingly endless supply of energy whichRose attempted to use as a power source forGalar and which leaks out in the form of particles and is the source of the Dynamax phenomenon. In fiction, nuclear radiation is often used as a catalyst for granting superpowers or creatingkaiju. It also vaguely resembles aliens from various pieces of media. This is also indicated by its association with wishing stars. Eternatus aesthetically seems to also be inspired by the concept ofdiaphonization, the technique used to stain animal bones and cartilage. This being shown by Eternatus remotely resembling a skeleton. The most common dyes used for this process, alcian blue and alizarin red, could be analogous to Zacian and Zamazenta respectively.
Its overall body shape resembles the skeletal remains of aEuropean dragon, with the ribcage shaped like a cannon and the head resembling that of the common nawab or "dragonhead" caterpillar.
Eternamax Eternatus resembles ahand crossed with aserpent. It may be based on theLernaean Hydra, a multi-headed serpentine monster from Greek mythology, known for its poisonous breath and blood, with Eternatus's "fingers" representing the Hydra's heads. It may also be based on the biblicalSeven Headed Dragon that, in theBook of Revelation, throws one-third of all stars down to the Earth and is ultimately banished to Earth with theNephilim, the Hebrew giants — an event that ultimately leads to theend of time. This account may also be the origin of the itemWishing Star and theDarkest Day. It may also be inspired byAnanta Shesha, the king of Nagas in Hindu mythology who is usually portrayed as a giant, coiled serpent with a thousand heads capable of spewing venom and fire, though some depictions simplify his appearance down to five heads, again reflected in Eternatus's five "fingers". Shesha bears the deityVishnu on its coils, similar to how Eternamax Eternatus's core is mounted atop its coiled body.
Name origin
Eternatus may be derived fromaether,eternal,eternity,aeternatus (Latin for immortalized), andThanatus (Latin transliteration ofThanatos, the personification of death in Greek Mythology).
Mugendina may be a combination of 無限大なmugendaina (infinite), ダイマックスDaimax (Dynamax), and possiblydynamic.
This Pokémon article is part ofProject Pokédex, aBulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.
For other sprites and images, please seeEternatus images on the Bulbagarden Archives.
60 for 1power up.
