History FanonPokedex / Archen

Although Archen and Archeops have never enjoyed a favorable depiction within human media, there exists a clear dichotomy between their portrayals prior to the first successful revival of an Archen and their portrayals following this event. Prior to the first successful revival of an Archen, Archen and its evolution were depicted in what little media they appeared in as being vain and manipulative creatures. Following the first successful revivals of Archen and the first evolutions of captive Archen into Archeops, the number of depictions of Archen and Archeops in media ballooned, with a progressive shift towards a depiction of these creatures as being vicious brutes whose mindless persistent aggression when healthy was only matched by their sheer cowardice when wounded. Archen and Archeops have found themselves depicted in a wide range of visual media, including a series of blockbuster films in which Archeops are depicted [[Film/JurassicPark pursuing and hunting down human beings at facilities for a theme park built around the exhibition of fossil Pokémon]], [[VideoGame/ChronoTrigger as intelligent and vicious rivals to prehistoric humans that are driven to extinction by the arrival of a meteor bearing an extra-terrestrial parasite within an immensely popular role-playing game]], as [[Webcomic/{{XKCD}} a recurring gag within a geek humor webcomic]], and as part of a series of memetic image macros depicting crudely manipulated pictures of religious figures to have Archeops heads. A handful of sympathetic depictions of Archen and Archeops exist, including [[RaptorRed a book following a year in the life of a female Archeops.]]

Contrary to popular insinuations that healthy members of this line "know no fear," Archen and Archeops appear to be fairly easy to startle with loud noises and bright lights, especially when wounded, and have been at times been recorded attacking handlers and nearby Pokémon in such cases. In addition, many individuals from this line appear to have difficulty adjusting to the settings necessary to conduct controlled battles, which results in healthy members of this line often needing to be forcibly separated from defeated opponents for the latter party's safety, and wounded members of this line often inadvertently causing their trainer to forfeit a match by fleeing beyond the confines of an arena. This parallel lack of restraint in battle, coupled with their general reluctance to continue fighting in circumstances that most Pokémon would be comfortable with, has made the use of Archen and Archeops within the settings of a competitive battle immensely controversial, and has led a number of leagues and tournaments to ban the creatures entirely from participating in events. Other entities, including the Unova League, presently condone the use of both Archen and Archeops within their matches.

The members of the Archen Line are naturally extinct clawed and winged digigrade bipeds whose oldest fossilized specimens are believed to be almost 150 million years old. Archen and its elder counterpart Archeops are creatures with characteristics of both avian and reptillian creatures and are currently theorized to be the an intermediary organism between Pokémon of these two categories.

The initial form, Archen, is a scaled, flightless, creature with some regions of its body further covered by plumage that typically stands 60 centimeters in height and weighs just under 10 kilograms, with average male individuals trending smaller than their female counterparts. Some of the most striking features of Archen's anatomy include a red, scaly hide, with exposed regions along the lower portion of its its legs, which bear three clawed digits each, along its snout with exposed teeth and noticeable overbite, and a region of its tail excluding its base and a region beginning shortly before its tip with a banded appearance. The remainder of an Archen's body is covered in by vibrant plumage, with blue feathers covering a region encompassing the back of its head and neck, a vaguely rhombal frond-like arrangement of feathers along the tip of its tail, and feathers analogous to flight feathers among avian creatures capable of flight on its wings, red feathers covering a "collar" separating an Archen's lower neck from the rest of its body and a similar region ringing the base of its tail, with remaining regions of plumage composed of vibrant yellow feathers. Another notable facet of Archen's anatomy is the presence of two defined, clawed digits at the tips of its wings, a structure that is only present in vestigial form among its modern counterparts, and two prominent eyes with white sclera on the sides of its head lacking visibly distinguishable pupils.

Although their depiction within popular culture is undoubtedly rife with hyperbole, it should be noted that due to their often aggressive behavior, [[PintsizedPowerhouse their possession of a formidable strength belied by a small build in both of its forms,]] the comparative ease with which individuals from this line can be startled, saying that Archen and Archeops are Pokémon that are not easy to train safely would be a colossal understatement. As with other creatures of its kind, the majority of the hazards presently associated with Archen and its elder counterpart are known primarily though after-the-fact incidents within research settings. Archen and Archeops both utilize a range of high-speed tackling attacks, with the latter form capable of running in bursts at speeds in excess of 100 kilometers per hour. Attacks from the former will easily leave deep bruises and break minor bones while attacks from the latter have been known to be capable of breaking multiple major bones and causing massive internal bleeding. Both members of this line also utilize slashing and raking techniques with the claws on their wings, which are capable of necessitating medical sutures while still in the Archen stage, and are known to be able to inflict wounds capable of causing massive blood loss with relative ease in the Archeops stage. Members of this line also utilize biting attacks, which is most commonly exhibited by individuals that are either nearing or that have already attained their form as Archeops. Although bites by Archen, while painful and potentially necessitating prompt medical attention, are not likely to be life threatening, bites from the former's latter stage are quite another story. With a combination of immense strength and a borderline-instinctive targeting of vulnerable regions of opponents' bodies, Archeops bites are almost always guaranteed to be a serious, if not lethal affair.

Although Archen and Archeops have never enjoyed a favorable depiction within human media, there exists a clear dichotomy between their portrayals prior to the first successful revival of an Archen and their portrayals following this event. Prior to the first successful revival of an Archen, Archen and its evolution were depicted in what little media they appeared in as being vain and manipulative creatures. Following the first successful revivals of Archen and the first evolutions of captive Archen into Archeops, the number of depictions of Archen and Archeops in media ballooned, with a progressive shift towards a depiction of these creatures as being vicious brutes whose mindless persistent aggression when healthy was only matched by their sheer cowardice when wounded. Archen and Archeops have found themselves depicted in a wide range of visual media, including a series of blockbuster films in which Archeops are depicted [[JurassicPark pursuing and hunting down human beings at facilities for a theme park built around the exhibition of fossil Pokémon]], [[VideoGame/ChronoTrigger as intelligent and vicious rivals to prehistoric humans that are driven to extinction by the arrival of a meteor bearing an extra-terrestrial parasite within an immensely popular role-playing game]], as [[Webcomic/{{XKCD}} a recurring gag within a geek humor webcomic]], and as part of a series of memetic image macros depicting crudely manipulated pictures of religious figures to have Archeops heads. A handful of sympathetic depictions of Archen and Archeops exist, including [[RaptorRed a book following a year in the life of a female Archeops.]]

Although Archen and Archeops have never enjoyed a favorable depiction within human media, there exists a clear dichotomy between their portrayals prior to the first successful revival of an Archen and their portrayals following this event. Prior to the first successful revival of an Archen, Archen and its evolution were depicted in what little media they appeared in as being vain and manipulative creatures. Following the first successful revivals of Archen and the first evolutions of captive Archen into Archeops, the number of depictions of Archen and Archeops in media ballooned, with a progressive shift towards a depiction of these creatures as being vicious brutes whose mindless persistent aggression when healthy was only matched by their sheer cowardice when wounded. Archen and Archeops have found themselves depicted in a wide range of visual media, including a series of blockbuster films in which Archeops are depicted [[JurassicPark pursuing and hunting down human beings at facilities for a theme park built around the exhibition of fossil Pokémon]], [[ChronoTrigger as intelligent and vicious rivals to prehistoric humans that are driven to extinction by the arrival of a meteor bearing an extra-terrestrial parasite within an immensely popular role-playing game]], as [[Webcomic/{{XKCD}} a recurring gag within a geek humor webcomic]], and as part of a series of memetic image macros depicting crudely manipulated pictures of religious figures to have Archeops heads. A handful of sympathetic depictions of Archen and Archeops exist, including [[RaptorRed a book following a year in the life of a female Archeops.]]

Archen and Archeops both appear to exhibit highly developed problem solving and logical skills. Archen and Archeops appear capable of using implements as improvised tools, which when coupled with their formidable strength, has led to a number of escapes from enclosures by utilizing objects such as metal bowls in order to force grates on air ducts open and keep doors from fully shutting. In one experiment, in which an Archeops was left in a maze with a series of doors to be unlocked by a single key, it was observed that the after discovering how to open the first door, the Archeops opened each successive door at an almost exponentially faster rate until it reached the end of the maze and the confines of its testing area. Although of great interest to researchers, this phenomena has lead to labs hosting Archen and Archeops for study to utilize enclosures with numerous redundant security features.

Although Archen and Archeops have never enjoyed a favorable depiction within human media, there exists a clear dichotomy between their portrayals prior to the first successful revival of an Archen and their portrayals following this event. Prior to the first successful revival of an Archen, Archen and its evolution were depicted in what little media they appeared in as being vain and manipulative creatures. Following the first successful revivals of Archen and the first evolutions of captive Archen into Archeops, the number of depictions of Archen and Archeops in media ballooned, with a progressive shift towards a depiction of these creatures as being vicious brutes whose mindless persistent aggression when healthy was only matched by their sheer cowardice when wounded. Archen and Archeops have found themselves depicted in a wide range of visual media, including a series of blockbuster films in which Archeops are depicted [[JurassicPark pursuing and hunting down human beings at facilities for a theme park built around the exhibition of fossil Pokémon]], [[ChronoTrigger as intelligent and vicious rivals to prehistoric humans that are driven to extinction by the arrival of a meteor bearing an extra-terrestrial parasite within an immensely popular role-playing game]], as [[{{XKCD}} a recurring gag within a geek humor webcomic]], and as part of a series of memetic image macros depicting crudely manipulated pictures of religious figures to have Archeops heads. A handful of sympathetic depictions of Archen and Archeops exist, including [[RaptorRed a book following a year in the life of a female Archeops.]]

Although Archen and Archeops have never enjoyed a favorable depiction within human media, there exists a clear dichotomy between their portrayals prior to the first successful revival of an Archen and their portrayals following this event. Prior to the first successful revival of an Archen, Archen and its evolution were depicted in what little media they appeared in as being vain and manipulative creatures. Following the first successful revivals of Archen and the first evolutions of captive Archen into Archeops, the number of depictions of Archen and Archeops in media ballooned, with a progressive shift towards a depiction of these creatures as being vicious brutes whose mindless persistent aggression when healthy was only matched by their sheer cowardice when wounded. Archen and Archeops have found themselves depicted in a wide range of visual media, including a series of blockbuster films in which Archeops are depicted [[JurassicPark pursuing and hunting down human beings at facilities for a theme park built around the exhibition of fossil Pokémon]], [[ChronoTrigger as intelligent and vicious rivals to prehistoric humans that are driven to extinction by the arrival of a meteor bearing an extra-terrestrial parasite within an immensely popular role-playing game]], as [[{{XKCD}} a recurring gag within a geek humor webcomic]], and as part of a series of memetic image macros depicting crudely manipulated pictures of mythological figures to have Archeops heads. A handful of sympathetic depictions of Archen and Archeops exist, including [[RaptorRed a book following a year in the life of a female Archeops.]]