Unown (Pokémon)


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Unown (Japanese: アンノーン Unknown) is a  introduced in Generation II.

While it is not known to evolve into or from any other Pokémon, as of Generation III, Unown has 28 derivative shapes, chronicled in the Unown Mode in Generation II and the Unown Report in. There are 26 Latin alphabet characters, plus ? (question mark) and ! (exclamation mark) introduced in Generation III. In Generation II, its shape is determined by its individual values; in Generation III, it is determined by its personality value; from Generation IV onward, it is determined by a separate form identifier.

Biology
Unown is a flat, thin Pokémon shaped like an eye with appendages that make it resemble a letter or a punctuation mark. It is entirely black, except for its white sclerae. All twenty-six alphabetic forms of Unown have fully open eyes while the two punctuation Unown 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. It is a mystery whether Unown predates or postdates written language, and therefore which one is based on the other.

The Pokédex and Professor Oak's research disagree on whether Unown communicates using electromagnetic waves or telepathy. Either way, it can be detected by the Pokégear radio, which interprets it as the melody of the Azure Flute. It is said that an "odd power" emerges when more than one Unown come together. In the anime, it is capable of reading the thoughts of other life forms. Great numbers of Unown are capable of distorting the 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 extremely that lives in its own dimension and rarely ventures outside. When it moves to the Pokémon world, Unown tends to stick to walls like engravings of ancient texts or orbit other Unown.

Unown (M03)
Unown played a large role in Spell of the Unown: Entei, creating the illusions that drive the plot.

Notes about Unown can be seen on 's computer in 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
An Unown G fell out of the Unown Dimension in Address Unown!. After it was healed by the group, it helped defend them against, and its mind merged with that of Ash's Larvitar so that the group could help it address its inner pain.

Markings of Unown were on a tablet in Top-Down Training. The tablet reads:

In the English dub, reads it as "When every life meets another life, something will be born".

Multiple Unown appeared in Journey to the Unown!, along with the tablet from Top-Down Training, where Saturn had his use  on them, causing trouble for  and. They reappeared in a flashback in Enter Galactic!.

Multiple Unown appeared in PK21. An Unown F fell out of the Unown Dimension following an incident, and and his friends had to help it return to the Unown Dimension so it could reunite with the other Unown.

Minor appearances
A Unown G appeared in The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon.

Multiple Unown briefly appeared in The Rise of Darkrai, where they were fleeing from and  in the Unown Dimension. Multiple others also appeared during the opening sequence of the movie.

Multiple Unown appeared on a stone tablet in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky - Beyond Time & Darkness.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga
Unown first appeared in Into the Unown at the Ruins of Alph. During a battle with Team Rocket, has his  use, accidentally awakening the Unown from their slumber. Angered, the Unown retaliated on the Team Rocket Elite Trio, defeating them. Bugsy later returns to study the Ruins further in Hurray for Heracross, where he captures an Unown G and gave to one of his colleagues. Later as he searches for Suicune he finds two chambers with Unown markings. Using his device to translate them, they read the following.

Three Unown appeared in a flashback in Raising Raichu, being the N, G and U forms.

In Some Things Are Better Left Unown, Sird gains the control of a small army of Unown after awakening them in the Tanoby Ruins. She initially uses them as a distraction against Lorelei, allowing her to defeat the Elite Four member. Sird later uses them to impede the progress of, and  as they head to the Trainer Tower. Also, two Unown of the ! and ? forms followed to Birth Island to relay his successful capture of  back to the Team Rocket Warehouse.

In Knowledge of the Unown I, a D and P Unown befriended, and  in Solaceon Town. The two enlisted the help of the Pokédex holders to free their friends from a chamber in the Solaceon Ruins. Later, they helped battle Team Galactic at Veilstone City.

Multiple Unown appeared in Halting Honchkrow and Chancing Upon Chingling.

In All About Arceus IV, a massive group of Unown were spawned at the Sinjoh Ruins when created, , and.

In the TCG
The English Pokédex data for Unown cards in the TCG Neo Destiny expansion say that it is believed that the variety of types of Unown is a result of, but this is not present in the original Japanese text.

Super Smash Bros. Melee
When one Unown is released from a Poké Ball, it will fly off the screen. It then returns with a large swarm, similar to what did in the original Super Smash Bros. The only difference is that Beedrill only attack 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 the Poké 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 the Ruins of Alph.''

Pokédex entries

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Game locations

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In side games

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Side game data















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Trivia

 * In Spell of the Unown: Entei, had some pictures of Unown on his computer which have never appeared in any other media. Some resemble  letters, particularly σ (lowercase sigma), Σ (capital sigma), Π (pi), and Ω (omega). The top left large image also resembles the Greek Ȣ (ou). Others resemble the  letters ю (yu) and б (be). The Unown in the top-middle large image resembles the Cyrillic я (ya).
 * If a player does not have Unown's Pokédex data on a Generation II game when in Oak's lab in Pokémon Stadium 2, Unown's Pokédex number is listed as 252 instead of 201. This happens regardless of which Pokédex display mode is selected.
 * Unown is the only Pokémon with a base stat total of 336.
 * Unown currently is represented in the by the most cards of any Pokémon, at 87 unique cards.
 * Unown has the most officially recognized alternate forms of any Pokémon, with a total of 28.
 * Unown is the only Generation II Pokémon that has not been featured in a Ranger series game.
 * Due to Unown's letter and Shininess both being determined by s in Generation II, Shiny Unown will always be either an I or V in these games.
 * Despite Unown being able to use TM10 in Generation VI, it still cannot do so legitimately because it will always already know.
 * Unown is the only Pokémon in the Sinnoh Pokédex (that is not a or Mythical Pokémon) not used by any Trainer in.
 * Unown is the only Pokémon that can't learn any status moves.

Origin
Their appearances are corruptions of the modern, as well as the exclamation mark (!) and the question mark (?), and the G form of Unown is based on a double-story lower case. The shapes of the Unown are used like graphic symbols in the Pokémon world, although in Hoenn and the Sevii Islands, their place is taken by.

Name origin
Unown is a corruption of unknown.

Unknown is literally unknown.

Related articles

 * Unown (M03)