In Generation II, its shape is determined by itsindividual values; in Generation III, it is determined by itspersonality value; fromGeneration IV onwards, it is determined by a separate form identifier.
Unown is a flat, thinPokémon shaped like a circular eye with appendages that make it resemble a letter or a punctuation mark. It is entirely black, except for its white sclerae. All 26 alphabetic forms of Unown have fully open eyes, while the two punctuation forms have half-closed eyes. Though each of its forms has a counterpart in the Latin alphabet, Unown is said to resemble ancient writing and hieroglyphs calledUnown symbols. It is a mystery whether Unown predates or postdates written language, and therefore which one is based on the other. Unown can move its appendages independently like tentacles or fingers.
ThePokédex,Unown Mode,Unown Report,Unown Research Notes, andProfessor Oak's research disagree on whether Unown communicates using electromagnetic waves (specifically radio waves) or telepathy. Either way, it can be detected by thePokégear radio, which interprets it as the melody of theAzure Flute. Unown has an unknown connection toArceus. It is said that an "odd power" emerges when more than one Unown come together. Certain Unown loose in theHisuiregion were capable of repellingPoké Balls that contained Pokémon, preventing them from beingbattled.Professor Laventon's research observed that Unown resemble human writing from other lands, though no one took him seriously. In thePokémon movieSpell of the Unown: Entei, Unown is shown to be capable of reading the thoughts of other life forms. Great numbers of Unown are capable of distorting reality to suit the dreams and wishes of whoever is in control of the Unown. However, they can only do this when more Unown are present, so it could be a shared effort rather than an ability unique to each Unown.
Unown is an extremelyrare Pokémon that lives inits own dimension and rarely ventures outside. When it moves to thePokémon world, Unown tends to stick to walls like engravings of ancient texts, or orbit other Unown, usually inruins.
In Pokémon Crystal, the Unown are said to share a cooperative bond withSuicune.[2]
Unown has 28 separate forms, all referred to as "One form".Pokédex 3D Pro, thePokémon Trading Card Game, and other supplemental materials such as official guidebooks refer to each form by the letter or symbol they represent. In Pokédex 3D Pro, the names of the "!" and "?" forms are read as "Exclamation" and "Question", respectively.
A
B
C
D
E
F
G
H
I
J
K
L
M
N
O
P
Q
R
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T
U
V
W
X
Y
Z
!
?
Unown
Game data
Pokédex entries
This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation II.
Their shapes look like hieroglyphs on ancient tablets. It is said that the two are somehow related.(Pokémon Red, Silver, or Crystal inserted) Its flat, thin body is always stuck on walls. Its shape appears to have some meaning.(Pokémon Blue, Gold, or Yellow inserted)
ThisPokémon is shaped like ancient writing. It is a mystery as to which came first, the ancient writings or the variousUnown. Research into this topic is ongoing but nothing is known.
ThisPokémon is shaped like ancient text characters. Although research is ongoing, it is a mystery as to which came first, the ancient writings or the variousUnown.
This Pokémon is shaped like ancient writing. It is a mystery as to which came first, the ancient writings or the various Unown. Research into this topic is ongoing but nothing is known.
It is hard to believe these strangely shaped Pokémon are truly living creatures. I've pointed out that the species' many forms resemble writing from other lands; no one will take me seriously.
Unown has 28 non-interchangeable forms, each corresponding to a typographic character. All Unown forms are known as "One form", as seen in thePokédex.
Unown was the first Pokémon to have multiple forms in the games. In its debut inGeneration II, there were 26 forms of Unown, corresponding to each of the 26 letters of theLatin alphabet. In theGeneration III games, Unown gained two additional forms, corresponding to thequestion mark andexclamation mark.
In the Generation II games, Unown's form is determined by itsIVs, which results in some strange phenomena; for example, in Generation II, only Unown I and V can beShiny due to Shininess also being determined by IVs in these games. In theGeneration III games, Unown's form is determined by itspersonality value. From the Generation IV games onward, Unown's form is determined by aseparate form identifier, unrelated to the personality value.
While Unown's form has no bearing onbase stats, punctuation Unown have differentperformance stats than alphabetical Unown.
Notes about Unown can be seen onProfessor Oak's computer at the beginning of the movie. The information (as presented in the Japanese version) has been cleaned up and transcribed here:
Because of their very timid and careful character, Unown do not want to go out to the external world.
Unown have the power to perceive the feelings of other creatures (including human beings).
Unown communicate with each other over electromagnetic waves but cannot use telepathy.
Given all this, Unown are still classified as a species of Pokémon, as opposed to any other sort of creature.
Other
InAddress Unown!, an Unown G fell out of theUnown Dimension. After it was healed by the group, it helped defend them againstTeam Rocket, and its mind merged with that ofAsh's Larvitar so that the group could help it address its inner pain.
InPK21, an Unown F fell out of theUnown Dimension following an unspecified incident, andPikachu and his friends had to help it return to the Unown Dimension so it could reunite with the other Unown.
InStar Night, Star Flight!, five Unown covered a town inJohto with an endless night in order to helpTiara accept parting ways with herCleffa. Once she finally realized it was time to say goodbye, the Unown returned day to the town and departed.
Unown, the Symbol Pokémon. Unown are said to have existed sinceancient times. They are many inform and shape, but little is known about this mysterious Pokémon.
Bugsy later returned to study the ruins further inHurray for Heracross, where hecaught an Unown G and gave it to one of his colleagues. Later, as he searched forSuicune, he found two chambers withUnown symbols.
Three Unown appeared in a flashback inRaising Raichu, being the N, G, and U forms.
The EnglishPokédex data for Unown cards in theNeo Destiny expansion say that it is believed that the variety of types of Unown is a result ofevolutionary adaptation, but this is not present in the original Japanese text.
When one Unown is released from aPoké Ball, it will fly off the screen. It then returns with a large swarm, similar to whatBeedrill did in the originalSuper Smash Bros. The only difference is that Beedrill only attacks from left or right while Unown can come from any direction. Any opponent caught in this barrage is damaged and juggled.
There are also a number of Unown Poké Floats featured in thePoké Floats stage. In the second half of the stage's cycle, numerous Unown fly across the screen. Towards the end of the cycle, staying on the stage relies on hopping between the Unown.
Trophy information
These Psychic-type symbol Pokémon resemble ancient hieroglyphics found on rocks, a resemblance that's said to be more than superficial. Quite a few different shapes of Unown have been confirmed, and it's believed that each type has unique abilities. These enigmatic Pokémon can be found in theRuins of Alph.
Unown was designed byKen Sugimori, who had wanted to make a Pokémon with a more surreal design.[3]
If a player does not have Unown's Pokédex data on aGeneration II game when in Oak's lab inPokémon Stadium 2, Unown's Pokédex number is listed as 252 instead of 201. This happens regardless of which Pokédex display mode is selected.[citation needed]
Unown is theonly Pokémon with a base stat total of 336.
After Pikachu, Unown is currently represented in theTrading Card Game by the second-highest number of cards of all Pokémon, with 92 unique cards.
Unown was previously represented by the highest number of cards, as multiple TCG sets included individual cards for each of Unown's forms.
It is also the only Generation II Pokémon that cannot have theblack clover as itsorigin mark.
Shiny Unown will always be either an I or V in these games. This in turn matches the acronym for IVs; however, this is only a coincidence, as "Individual Values" (IVs) is a fan-originated term.
Due to reusing the same IV values for multiple Pokémon, everynon-player character is technically unable to have multiple Unown of different forms on their team, and the Trainers sharing the same class and sprite would also share the same Unown form. The exception is the Battle Tower from Pokémon Crystal, where each Pokémon species has its own IVs, and therefore a single Unown form isavailable for all non-player characters, the letter Z.
Despite not being a Legendary Pokémon, Unown is specifically referred to as such in this movie, where it is shown inMolly Hale's book about Legendary Pokémon. Unown's power (in large numbers, at least) appears to match that of Legendary Pokémon. In an early trailer for this movie, the narrator refers to Unown as "more legendary thanLugia, more mysterious thanMew".
Professor Oak has some pictures of Unown on his computer which have never appeared in any other media. Some resembleGreek alphabet letters, particularly σ (lowercasesigma), Σ (capital sigma), Π (capitalpi), and Ω (capitalomega). The top left large image also resembles the Greek ligature, Ȣ (ou). Others resemble theCyrillic letters ю (yu) and б (lowercasebe). The Unown in the top-middle large image resembles the Cyrillic я (ya).
Unown is also the only Pokémon prior toGeneration V that was never obtainable via the Generation VPokémon Global Link, excluding first partner, Legendary, and Mythical Pokémon.
The two main official artworks for Unown representa G-shaped Unown (for Pokémon Gold and Silver Versions) andan F-shaped one (for Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen onward), which may allude to the acronym forGame Freak.
Despite Unown being compatible withTM10 in GenerationsVI andVII, it still cannot use it legitimately because it will always already knowHidden Power.
Unown is the only Pokémon that cannot learn anystatus moves.
Starting inGeneration IV, where moves were split intocategories based on themselves and not their types, Unown can only use its Attack (not Special Attack) stat forconfusion damage andStruggle.
InPokémon Legends: Arceus, Unown are the only Pokémon that can be found in the wild to lack any preferred foods.
Origin
Unown's appearances are eyes and corruptions of the 26 letters of the modernLatin alphabet, as well as theexclamation andquestion marks. Unown's G form specifically may be based on a double-story lowercaseG. The shapes of the Unown are used like graphic symbols in thePokémon world, although inHoenn and theSevii Islands, their place is taken byBraille. Unown being weak alone and strong together may be inspired by the idea that a single letter cannot convey much information, but many letters forming a sentence can communicate a hypothetically infinite number of interpretations and ideas.
Unown may also be inspired by the Brahmi or Siddham scripts, used in Japan to mark the graves of important Buddhist figures since at least the 8th century. Because not many people could read Siddham at the time, the script came to be regarded as a mysterious language associated with gods and the Buddha, and several characters (especially in Brahmi) either appear or can be modified to appear as very similar to various Unown.
Of the legendary POKéMON, SUICUNE is said to be the closest to HO-OH. I hear there may also be a link to POKéMON known as UNOWN. The POKéMON UNOWN must be sharing a cooperative bond with SUICUNE."
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 seeUnown images on the Bulbagarden Archives.
