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Unown

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Unown
Pokémon character
"F" Unown
National Pokédex
Misdreavus – Unown (#0201) – Wobbuffet
First gamePokémon Gold and Silver (1999)
Designed byKen Sugimori
In-universe information
SpeciesPokémon
TypePsychic

Unown (アンノーン, Annōn, /ʌnˈnoʊn, ˈʌnoʊn/) is a species of Pokémon in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Unown first appeared in the video games Pokémon Gold and Silver and most of its subsequent sequels. It has also appeared in various merchandise, spin-off titles, and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise. Unown are hieroglyph-like, thin, black ancient Pokémon usually found on walls. There are 28 forms of Unown: one for each of the 26 letters in the Latin alphabet, a question mark, and an exclamation mark. Unown is a Psychic-type Pokémon, and is not able to evolve. It was originally conceived as an alien-like creature, but while designing it, the designers noticed its resemblance to letters in the Latin alphabet, and shifted course. Their design began as a more extraterrestrial one, with Sugimori wanting to make something whose inspiration is less obvious. The designers made them resemble the alphabet after noticing their resemblance during development. It has received generally negative reception, criticized for being weak, useless, and lacking appeal, with writer Kat Bailey criticizing its gimmick as "silly." It was used as part of a research paper, where they used Unown in order to teach classification and phylogeny to students.

Concept and creation

Developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo, the Pokémon series began in Japan in 1996 with the release of the video games Pokémon Red and Blue for the Game Boy.[1] In these games, the player assumes the role of a Pokémon Trainer whose goal is to capture and train creatures called Pokémon. Players use the creatures' special abilities to combat other Pokémon, and some can transform into stronger species, or evolve.[2] The ultimate goal is to complete the Pokémon index (Pokédex), a comprehensive Pokémon encyclopedia, by capturing, evolving, and trading to obtain creatures from all Pokémon species.[3][4]

Unown were designed by series artist Ken Sugimori; where some designs in Pokémon Gold and Silver were cut content from Red and Blue, Unown were new designs. Unown came to Sugimori in a "sudden burst of inspiration," with Sugimori wanting to make something whose design inspiration was not as obvious as others. Sugimori suggested that Unown had a more "surreal design" that could have come from outer space.[5] While they were designed to resemble aliens at first, the designers noticed that they began to look like letters of the alphabet, leading them to lean into this and make 26 different forms corresponding to the Latin alphabet.[6] They are hieroglyph-like Psychic-type Pokemon that first appear in Pokémon Gold and Silver. They can be found on walls.[7][8] Originally having 26 forms, Unown gained two more, with the latter two Unowns meant to look like a question mark and an exclamation mark.[citation needed] There are also other Unown, which are modeled after Cyrillic script.[9] It is generally not used in battle due to its low stats and limited move pool.[10]

Appearances

The Unown alphabet, as depicted in Pokemon Legends: Arceus.

Unown made its debut appearance in the Pokémon series in Pokémon Gold and Silver, which is set in Johto. In this game, they can be found in the Ruins of Alph and are triggered once the player completes puzzles in the caves found in the Ruins, with a character prompting players to collect all 26 variations of Unown. It also appeared in Pokémon Crystal, where a new story connected to Unown was added.[11] It has appeared in most sequels to Gold and Silver excluding two pairs of games, Pokémon Sword and Shield and Pokémon Scarlet and Violet due to these two game pairs not having all Pokémon available.[12][13] Unown also appears in Pokémon Legends Arceus, with all 28 variants found at different points in the game, locations indicated to the player by hints written using Unown-based text.[14]

26 forms of Unown were added to Pokémon Go as part of 80 Pokemon from Gold and Silver, although it is uncommon for a player to find any of the forms.[15] It has also appeared in other Pokémon games, such as the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series.[citation needed] Unown has also appeared in the Super Smash Bros. series. It first appeared in Super Smash Bros. Melee as something that can be summoned with a Poké Ball to attack a player's opponents, as well as a collectible, including a trophy in Melee and a Spirit in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.[16][17]

The Unown appear from time to time in the Pokémon anime. They star as the main antagonists of Pokémon 3: The Movie, existing in their own dimension until they are brought out by a girl named Molly, who had recently lost her parents. Reading her mind, they make her wishes come true, including creating the Pokémon Entei to be her father, who kidnaps Ash Ketchum's mother to serve as her mother. However, Molly soon learns that her wishes come with threatening consequences and attempts to stop them, but the Unown are out of control, forcing Entei to sacrifice itself to send the Unown back to their dimension.[citation needed] Unown also appear in the Pokémon Adventures manga.[18] The different variants of Unown appear in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.[19]

Promotion and reception

To promote Pokémon 3: The Movie, a lenticular Unown decoder was included with copies of the VHS and DVD versions of the movie.[20] All 28 variants of Unown were also released as plushies in Pokemon's Sitting Cuties product line.[21]

Unown has received generally negative reception since its appearance in Pokémon Gold and Silver, with IGN writer Kat Bailey identifying it as the worst Pokémon as of October 2013.[22] In another article, Bailey criticized its gimmick as well as its uselessness in combat.[23] Both IGN and Variety felt that it lacked the appeal of other Pokémon species, with IGN calling Unown one of the "most useless Pokémon in existence" due to its weakness and lack of an evolution.[24][25] In an analysis of the article on 1UP FM, Philip Kollar felt it had appeal with children, and added "another layer" for those trying to complete the Pokédex.[26] In 2006, research was done on using Unown to teach the biological concepts of classification and phylogeny to students, with the researchers finding the results to be "very encouraging".[27] While The Gamer writer Stacey Henley did not have a particular affinity for Unown in the video games, comparing it negatively to the Pokémon Castform due to its usefulness, she felt it was narratively interesting. She expressed disappointment that the writers did not explore the species more, speculating that its uselessness in the video games resulted in them being under-utilized.[28]

References

  1. ^ Hilliard, Kyle (December 25, 2016). "Pokémon Red & Blue – A Look Back At The 20-Year Journey To Catch 'Em All". Game Informer. Archived from the original on October 1, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  2. ^ Harris, Craig (June 23, 1999). "Pokemon Red Review". IGN. Archived from the original on May 16, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  3. ^ Jiang, Sisi (2022-01-28). "Pokémon Legends: Arceus: Easy Pokedex Tips That Will Make A Huge Difference". Kotaku. Archived from the original on June 3, 2023. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
  4. ^ Tapsell, Chris (2018-01-30). "Pokémon Living Pokédex guide - tips for a complete living dex in Gen 7's Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on April 23, 2023. Retrieved 2024-01-22.
  5. ^ "Ken Sugimori – Monster Designer". Shmuplations. 2000. Retrieved January 21, 2024.
  6. ^ Matthew Wanlin (October 13, 2000). "Pokémon Development Team Interview". RPGamer. Archived from the original on October 2, 2012. Retrieved April 8, 2010.
  7. ^ Game Freak (2000-10-15). Pokémon Silver (Game Boy Color). Nintendo. Pokédex: Its flat, thin body is always stuck on walls. Its shape appears to have some meaning.
  8. ^ Game Freak (2000-10-15). Pokémon Gold (Game Boy Color). Nintendo. Pokédex: Their shapes look like hieroglyphs on ancient tablets. It is said that the two are somehow related.
  9. ^ Dickson, Kelsey (October 1, 2020). "Pokémon: How the Series' MOST Mysterious Creature May Have Created Language". Comic Book Resource. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
  10. ^ Ratcliff, James (December 24, 2022). "Pokemon Fan Visiting Rome Finds Payphone With Unown Letters on It". Game Rant. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  11. ^ Harris, Craig (July 30, 2001). "Pokemon Crystal". IGN. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  12. ^ Kirk, Patrick (May 26, 2022). "Pokemon Still Missing After Pokemon Sword and Shield's Crown Tundra DLC". Game Rant. Archived from the original on August 2, 2023. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  13. ^ Faulkner, Jason (December 14, 2023). "Pokemon Scarlet & Violet Indigo Disk Missing Pokemon List: Which Pokemon Are Still Gone?". GameRevolution. Archived from the original on December 14, 2023. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  14. ^ Rehfield, Spencer (February 24, 2022). "Pokemon Legends: Arceus Sequels Should Have More Unown, Less Spiritomb Hunts". Game Rant. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  15. ^ Frank, Allegra (February 20, 2017). "Unown is in Pokémon Go, but good luck finding it". Polygon. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  16. ^ Mirabella, Fran; Schneider, Peer (June 16, 2001). "Inside Super Smash Bros. Melee, Part III (GameCube)". IGN. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  17. ^ Baird, Scott (March 19, 2022). "How Many Pokémon Are Actually in Smash Bros. Ultimate". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on December 30, 2022. Retrieved January 25, 2024.
  18. ^ Kusaka, Hidenori (w), Mato (a), Inoue, Kaori (translator). "Into the Unown" Pokémon Adventures, vol. 8 (August 3, 2010). San Francisco, CA: Viz Media, ISBN 9781421530611.
  19. ^ "Unown". Pokémon.com. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  20. ^ McCormick, Moira (July 21, 2001). "Child's Play". Billboard. Vol. 113, no. 29. Nielsen Business Media, Inc. p. 80. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  21. ^ Shea, Brian (May 17, 2019). "Every Johto Pokémon Is Getting Its Own Plushie". Game Informer. Retrieved August 2, 2023.
  22. ^ Bailey, Kat (October 9, 2013). "The Worst Pokemon of All Time". IGN. Retrieved April 21, 2014.
  23. ^ Bailey, Kat. "Top 5 Lamest Pokémon". 1UP.com. UGO Networks. Archived from the original on 25 March 2009. Retrieved 2009-06-09.
  24. ^ Koehler, Robert (2001). "Pokemon 3: Spell of the Unown (Review)". Variety. Reed Business Information.
  25. ^ Staff (2003-01-14). "Pokemon Crystal Version Pokémon of the Day: Unown (#201)". IGN. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on 2010-04-10. Retrieved 2009-10-15.
  26. ^ Phil Kohler (2008-08-25). "1UP FM – August 28, 2008". 1UP.com (Podcast). UGO Networks. Retrieved 2009-09-30.[permanent dead link]
  27. ^ Freidenberg Jr., Rolfe; Kelly, Martin (2006). "Using the Pokemon Alphabet to Teach Classification and Phylogeny". Science Scope. National Science Teachers Association.
  28. ^ Henley, Stacey (April 6, 2021). "Happy 20th Birthday To Pokemon 3, The Best Pokemon Movie". The Gamer. Retrieved November 22, 2023.
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