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Lugia

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Lugia
File:Lugia.png
National Pokédex
Tyranitar - Lugia (#249) - Ho-oh
Johto Pokédex
Tyranitar - Lugia (#247) - Ho-oh
Japanese nameRugia
Evolves fromNone
Evolves intoNone
GenerationSecond
SpeciesDiving Pokémon
Height17 ft 1 in (5.21 m)
Weight476.0 pounds (215.9 kg)
AbilityPressure

Lugia (ルギア, Rugia) is a fictional character in the Pokémon franchise. He was first introduced in the movie Pokémon The Movie 2000: The Power of One (also Revelation Lugia), and then in the video games Pokémon Gold and Silver, where this Pokémon represents the Silver version of the game.

A mythic beast comparable to Lugia other than the Shinto kami Ryujin is the mythical Greek Halcyon. Lugia might have also been based on Hurakan, the Mayan god of storms and winds(hence his ability to create strong winds)

Before the release of Gold and Silver Version, Lugia was referred to as "Pokémon X". A few characters in the anime also refer to Lugia as Pokémon X.

Lugia's name is most likely to be a variant of that of the Shinto kami Ryujin, which is also referred to as he "umi no kami" in Japanese religious/mythological writings. This same term is used in the original Japanese script of the second Pokémon movie to refer to Lugia; the term itself translates roughly to "guardian of the sea" or "god of the sea", somewhat interchangeably. There are also myths regarding Ryujin which have similar elements to Lugia, such as control of storms, the seas, as well as a story regarding the "jewels of the sea", which bear some similarities to the orblike "treasures" obtained by Ash/Satoshi in the course of the film. The English name of Lugia may also be formed around the Spanish words "Luz" (light) and "Rugía" (roared); as well as "Beluga", one species of white whale with characteristics similar to Lugia.

Characteristics

Lugia's appearance seems to borrow from the stegosaur (back fins and tail spikes) and the plesiosaur or Mute Swan (long neck and swimming ability). It has mostly been seen as a bird with dinosaur traits although it is officially referred to as "One of the five legendary birds". Lugia's flexible neck and five digit wings are also similar to that of the Beluga whale, one of two white whales.

Lugia is said to be the guardian of the seas, and it has been rumored to have been seen on the night of a storm, a reference to the second Pokémon movie. It also has an amazing ability to calm raging storms. Lugia quietly spends its time at the bottom of the sea because its powers are threateningly strong; a light fluttering of its wings can blow apart regular houses. This suggests that Lugia is aware of mankind's presence on the surface and does not wish to disrupt it, making it a benevolent Pokémon.

It is extremely common to mistake Lugia's silver feathers for white. A single feather from a Lugia is called a "Silver Wing". Another common mistake is to say that Lugia has black fins on its back, tail and eyes. This is mostly because of the poorly coloured sprites from the games Ruby, Sapphire, Fire Red, Leaf Green and Emerald. They are infact a deep blue/indigo.

Lugia is intended to be the guardian of the three legendary birds: Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres. Its role is analogous to that of Ho-oh and its guardianship of the three legendary beasts (Raikou, Entei and Suicune).

In the video games

Lugia is Flying- and Psychic-type, and learns Aeroblast, the game's best Flying-type move. Of course, it is compatible with many technical machines that teach Flying-type and Psychic-type moves. Lugia is a Legendary Pokémon, and is "paired" with Ho-oh.

Lugia first appeared in the Game Boy games as part of the "second generation" (Gold, Silver, and Crystal). In Pokémon Silver, it can be encountered and caught at level 40, right before the player is required to challenge the Pokémon League. However, in Pokémon Gold, Lugia can be caught at level 70, but is encountered much later in the game. In this case, being a higher level does not make it necessarily better; only the level 40 Lugia knows its trademark Aeroblast attack. In Pokémon Crystal, Lugia is at level 60, and has to be caught during the second half of the game (when the character is exploring Kanto).

In the "third generation" of games for GBA, Lugia's role in the Pokédex was initially similar to that of a Promotional Legendary Pokémon, like Celebi, Mew, Jirachi, and Deoxys. It was originally found only in the FireRed/LeafGreen and Emerald versions of the game, on an island called Navel Rock, which is also home to Ho-oh. To get there, the player needed to download a special 'ticket', called the Mystic Ticket, which was only obtainable from special locations and events in the U.S. and Japan.

The inclusion of Lugia as the 'boss' legendary in Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness provided a way to obtain the Pokémon without visiting one of these locations, much like being able to get Ho-oh from Pokémon Colosseum.

Shadow Lugia

File:Shadow Lugia.jpg
Shadow Lugia

In the Nintendo GameCube game Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, the storyline of the game depicts a Shadow Lugia on the loose and terrorizing the locals. This creature is a Lugia that has been corrupted by the criminal organization known as Cipher. It is up to the hero to catch this one-of-a-kind Shadow Lugia before the entire world is destroyed. Shadow Lugia's main differences from a normal Lugia are its black feathers, talons, light blue-colored underside, jagged eye fins, a "bump" on its forehead, and glowing red eyes. It is similar to a normal Lugia with the colours inverted.

Shadow Lugia's code name is XD001, which means "ultimate shadow Pokémon". The XD itself stands for "eXtra Darkness," though the "XD" appearing in the game's title stands for "eXtra Dimension".

Shadow Lugia is Level 50. Four new Shadow attacks have been given to it: Shadow Blast, Shadow Shed, Shadow Down, and Shadow Storm. It cannot be purified by normal means; it can only be purified by using the Purify Chamber when all 9 chambers are at maximum tempo. When purified, it knows Psycho Boost, Featherdance, Earthquake, and Hydro Pump. In addition, it can be transferred to the Game Boy Advance Pokémon games once fully purified. It learns Aeroblast, the attack which Shadow blast was corrupted, at level 77.

Shadow Lugia can be captured when the hero reaches Citadark Isle in Pokémon XD to battle the leader of Cipher, Greevil. The best way to catch it is to use the Master Ball the hero receives from Prof. Krane at the Pokémon HQ Lab. Shadow Lugia can be a major help when battling the Cipher Boss, for all his Pokémon are Shadow Pokémon and Shadow Lugia doesn't take as much damage as purified (regular) Pokémon.

Sadly after purification, the pokemon will loose its amazing appearance and return to its original form and colour (as a normal Lugia) which has disappointed some gamers whom enjoy the new and wicked look.

Shadow Lugia is the only Shadow Pokemon whose phyisical appearance is different from his purfied state.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

Lugia cameos in Super Smash Bros. Melee as a Pokémon who rarely appears from a Poké Ball. When it appears, Lugia (like the Pokémon Ho-oh) flies off and, hovering in the distance, attacks the stage and any characters standing in the way with an Aeroblast attack. It is also a trophy.

Movie Appearance

Template:Spoiler-about In Pokémon The Movie 2000 Lugia comes from the sea when the three Legendary Birds Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres are roused by a Pokémon collector who tries to catch the trio. Lugia then battles the raging Birds and, with the help of Ash and Team Rocket, manages to calm them and restore peace to nature. Lugia is similar to Mewtwo in the sense that it is sentient and psychically powerful enough to communicate in English through telepathy.

The legend of Lugia goes as follows:

Disturb not the harmony of fire, ice, and lightning
Lest these titans wreak destruction upon the world in which they clash
Though the Water's Great Guardian shall arise to quell the fighting, alone its song will fail
Thus the Earth shall turn to Ash
O Chosen One, into thine hands bring together all three
Their treasures combined tame the beast of the sea
From the trio of islands, ancient spheres shall you take
For between life and death, all the difference you'll make
Climb to the shrine to right what is wrong
And the world shall be healed by the guardian's song.


Rivalry with Ho-oh?

Before the release of the Gold and Silver series, images in advertisements regarding the release of the two games featuring the two legendary birds have propped up in many game stores. Most of them had shown Ho-Oh and Lugia staring at each other on the opposite ends. Already many excited fans have started on a theory regarding the rivalries of Lugia and Ho-Oh without further explaination. But since the games weren't out at that time this theory remained a rumour.

In 2003 when the 5th Season for the anime series (which only lasted for a short time) Lugia and Ho-Oh were shown facing each other during the opening theme song. Backing up the theory of them being rivals. But many fans don't buy this since a lot of pokemons are almost always shown fighting during the theme songs.

In late 2003-2004 when Groudon and Kyogre of the RS series were release, fans used the rivalry within the two legendary pokemons to try to further the theory about the rivalry between the two.

Although few evidence have been shown, this theory of Lugia and Ho-Oh's rivalry remains unconfirm.

Anime Appearance

Lugia makes a second appearance in the TV series when Ash travels to the Whirl Islands where he teams up with Richie to help stop a Team Rocket scientist from separating a young Lugia named "Silver" from its parent. It is unclear whether Silver or the parent are male or female. Neither of these two are the Lugia from the second movie. These two are an example that "Legendary" Pokémon can bear offspring, unlike in the video games where there are only one of each as a way to prevent cheating. Neither of these Lugia appear to have the ability to talk. Numbered episodes featuring Lugia in order:

222. The Mystery Is History
223. A Parent Trapped!
224. A Promise Is A Promise

An interesting fact to note here is that Ash (& James) acknowledges that he had last met a Lugia in the Orange Islands in its appearance in Pokémon: 2000, whereas in a different episode starring Articuno (or Furiza in Japanese), Ash did not know that it existed, despite him seeing Articuno battle Lugia battles in the same movie. This is attributed to an error in dubbing. It is also important to note that later seasons and episodes would continue the tradition of disregarding all the Pokémon movies as noncanonical in the animated series.

In the trading card game

Lugia has made six appearances as of now in card format, and these cards are in these sets:

  • Neo Genesis (as a Colorless holographic)
  • Neo Revelation (as a Psychic-type rare)
  • Aquapolis (as a Colorless secret holographic with the Crystal Type Poke-Body)
  • EX Unseen Forces (as a rare Psychic-type)
  • EX Unseen Forces (as a holographic Colorless-type, as Lugia EX)

Its first appearance was in Neo Genesis as a Holographic colorless-type card with an Elemental Blast attack that did 90 damage for three different energy discarded.

Next was its appearance in E-Aquapolis as a Holographic colorless-type card with the Crystal Type Poké-Body.

Most recently, it has appeared as an EX-Pokémon modeled after Lugia's Neo Genesis debut, with an Elemental Blast that does 200 damage instead of 90.

Another card, the Shadow Lugia Jumbo Promo was given out on October 2, 2005, in the Nintendo World Store. This card is restricted from any sort of card game play and is purely for collecting purposes, and for good reason: It features 300 hit points (the record holder otherwise would be Wailord EX, at 200 HP) and a Shadow Storm attack that, for four Psychic energy, does 1000 literal damage. Further proof that it is not meant to see play in any game is the description for the attack that is printed on the card, and it does not conform to Pokémon card design guidelines: "A shadowy aura is used to whip up a vicious tornado."

The Shadow Lugia Jumbo promo card was also given away March 25, 2006 at the Pokémon 10th Anniversary celebration at Space Center Houston to the five finalists of the Pikachu freeze-dance contest. Size is about 5-3/4" x 8".

References

Books
  • Barbo, Maria. The Official Pokémon Handbook. Scholastic Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0-439-15404-9.
  • Loe, Casey, ed. Pokémon Special Pikachu Edition Official Perfect Guide. Sunnydale, CA: Empire 21 Publishing, 1999. ISBN 130206151 Template:Invalid isbn.
  • Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon FireRed Version & Pokémon LeafGreen Version Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., August 2004. ISBN 1-930206-50-X
  • Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Emerald Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., April 2005. ISBN 1-930206-58-5
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