Alright, my Zekrom article is nearly finished; if all goes well, I should be able to post it here tonight or tomorrow for your reviewing pleasure.

The Danse Macabre Codex

Actually, that's Thundurus. No, seriously.

Guess so. Legendary power levels do vary, after all.

Sounds good, and I should have at least a pastebin of Thundurus by Christmas.

More suggestions on expanding Tornadus would help a lot, and I'm thinking about putting a Final Fantasy VIII reference in there...

edited 23rd Dec '11 8:06:45 PM by Umbramatic

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Enough pastebins - here's the aritcle in and of itself. it's still about 200 words short of my last-shortest article, so if anyone has suggestions I'll gladly take them.

Now, here's Cloud Butt #1:

Tornadus

Morphs [Oak Catalog #]

• Tornadus [#641]

Physical Description

Tornadus, like his two apparent relatives Thundurus and Landorus, resembles a two-meter tall, muscular, ogre-like humanoid from the waist up. His skin is green, with distinctive purple spots, some of which are cyclone-shaped, as well as a similarly purple patch on his chest. He has two sharp purple horns, and large eyes with yellow scleras. He has a jagged white moustache, underneath which is a small black mouth, and a large wavy tuft of white hair on his head. Whatever body he may have below his waist is covered by a voluminous white cloud held together by some indeterminable “energy.” Extending from this cloud is a purple tail that’s longer than Tornadus is tall, with a curly tip and golden curly ridges along its entire length.

Attempts by misguided Trainers at catching Tornadus have shown that while he’s immune to seismic attacks and vulnerable to electricity, cold, and thrown rocks, the fact that he can be hit by umbrate-based attacks while resisting Aura-based ones has led to Tornadus being classified as the first pure Flying-type. Additionally, attempts to communicate using Psychic-types have shown that Tornadus refers to himself as male, much like the two other legendaries related to him.

Lore and History

Tornadus is known as a combination of a trickster deity and a force of destruction in Unovan culture. His ability to summon powerful storms of wind and rain is widely feared, but he fortunately tends to be satisfied with mundane pranks such as soaking travelers with smaller rain showers or blowing things out of people’s hands with gusts of wind. However, Unovan farmers are known to pray to Tornadus to bring rain to their crops – though sometimes they get far too much.

Tornadus‘ nature as a trickster has led to stories of him tricking other legendaries for knowledge or some other benefit, which sometimes works for him (and at the same time benefits humanity) but more often backfires. He also has been said to flirt with human females, which almost always backfires. It is said that Tornadus once gathered all the psychic-types of Unova for their knowledge, but Thundurus startled them and the psychic-types panicked, sending their knowledge to humans instead.

Tornadus is also said to be sometimes mistaken for a “genie” and asked to grant wishes; he promptly tricks the person into thinking he can, only to “grant” the wishes in a twisted fashion that inconveniences the foolish human far more than it helps them.

Tornadus is known for working with another member of his trio, Thundurus; however, due to the destruction they wreak with the combined power of their windstorms and thunderstorms, they are usually stopped by the third member, Landorus. It is said that if the two are in close enough proximity, especially in Landorus’ territory, that Landorus will appear to make sure they aren't up to something.

Known Sightings

Tornadus has been sighted all over the Unova region; a popular folk legend is that he flies north in the evenings and south in the mornings, a notion backed up by patterns in sightings. A common sign that Tornadus is in the area is heavy rain and strong winds, especially in areas where such weather is not typical.

Tornadus’ usual response when encountering trainers is to flee, only attacking when somehow trapped or when he thinks the Trainer or Pokémon pose a significant threat. Trainers that persist in chasing him often find themselves besieged by strong gusts of wind or sudden rain showers whenever it’s most inconvenient. Further pursuit can potentially enrage Tornadus, and is not recommended.

Two areas are particularly well known for Tornadus sightings. The area just north of Mistralon City is a common place to spot him, as is Milos Island off the coast of Driftveil City, where shrines to all three members of his trio exist.

While relationships with other legendaries other than Thundurus and are currently vague, One eyewitness reported seeing Suicune fighting Tornadus before both saw the eyewitness and ran and flew off, respectively. While the report is still being investigated, and the notion that Suicune has ever ventured as far as Unova is highly questionable, the fact that both legendaries have ties to wind may suggest they see each other as competition, if the interaction did indeed occur.

Abilities

Tornadus is a master of the air, rivaled only by other powerful legendaries like Rayquaza. He can summon windstorms, torrential rain that powers up the windstorms, and even “blades” of air that according to eyewitnesses resemble enormous shirukens. However, he has also been observed using his powerful fists, blasts of Aura, a strong bite, pulses of “darkness”, plant control, globs of sludge, rocks, acrobatic feats, small flames, theivery and even psychic powers when he chooses to fight. As well as being extremely versatile he is extremely fast – one sighting clocked him as flying at 200 miles per hour.

An interesting trait of Tornadus is his unusual quickness and fast reflexes when using certain attacks, such as taunting the opponent or summoning rain. This trait is similar to strains of certain Pokémon, such as Whimsicott, for which the trait is referred to as “Prankster” by Trainers. Many such trainers have been taken by surprise when Tornadus strikes their fastest Pokemon first with ease.

Hazards

Tornadus normally flees from humans, and most of his pranks aren’t particularly life-threatening so much as they are annoying to his victims. However, when sufficiently incensed for whatever reason, Tornadus is one of the most dangerous and feared legendaries known. When angry, Tornadus has been known to destroy large houses with hurricane-force winds, and to send enough rain to flood entire cities. He is not easily stopped once sent on a rampage, and if his counterpart Thundurus is a part of it – whether they are working with or against each other – the destruction grows even more thorough.

The only way to stop Tornadus’ rampaging is to wait for him to calm down or summon Landorus, who is one of the few beings powerful enough to stop him. The only occasion that Landorus has been successfully summoned by humans was on Milos Island in 19XX, and Landorus needed to be healed by said humans before defeating his two “brothers.”

Other

During harvest festivals in Unova, as opposed to Landorus, who is portrayed as bringing gifts to good children, Tornadus is said to arrive and punish bad children by carrying them away with his winds.

Tornadus is often seen in artwork alongside his counterpart and fellow trio member Thundurus, usually causing either destruction or mischief. Both are also often depicted with Landorus, with statues of all three being a common sight in Unovan shrines.

Tornadus has also made a few appearances in a series of gory fighting games (abeit significantly anthropomorphized), as well as having his name used by the sidekick of a rival character in an installment of a wildly popular RPG series.

---

Hopefully I can generate more material for the other two...

edited 24th Dec '11 8:43:37 AM by Umbramatic

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Added some comments in the chatroom, mostly about Prankster. Hopefully they are of service.

Also, I'm still delayed with the Totodile v2 revision. Since I intended to have it before holidays, I'll probably have to break it and release at its current stage. Will publish a 2nd pastebin later, hopefully.

On another news, I'm trying to contact the author of this piece to use at the Nidoran article.

Fanfic Recs orwellianretcon'd: cutlocked for committee or for Google?

They were

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Alright, I've more or less completed my first draft of the Zekrom article; due to events IRL I haven't had a chance to incorporate your suggestion for reducing the Lore and History section just yet, Umbramatic, but I intend to do so at a later date. Suggestions for how the article could be revised and edited, and feedback in general, would be most welcome; I would appreciate suggestions on how to expand the In Popular Culture section in particular, as I feel it's somewhat lacking in comparison to the rest of the article.

I should warn you, though—this article is rather long. Too long, perhaps...

Zekrom

Morphs [Oak Catalog #]

• Zekrom [644]

Physical Descriptions

Zekrom is a large, somewhat humanoid draconian Pokémon notable for its dark colouration and rugged physique. Its body is covered with sleek scales that are primarily black or dark grey in hue, and in many places they have seemingly fused together to form plates of a highly flexible armour; these plates are separated from one another by narrow, linear gaps, and these lines have been noted to pulse with an electric blue light in time to the creature’s heartbeat. It is extremely muscular, sporting pronounced pectorals, biceps and triceps, large thighs, and a thick and rigid neck; in addition, the dark patch of scales on its lower torso resembles abdominal muscles, and its shoulders and shoulder blades are readily apparent.

Like many fully-evolved dragons, Zekrom possesses six limbs: two broad legs, two arms and a pair of wings. Its legs jut from its lower body at an angle and are perpetually bent like those of a Feraligatr or Krookadile, most likely to provide balance and stability; as mentioned above, they are thick and muscular, far more so than any of its four upper limbs, and terminate in a pair of broad feet with three blunt, rounded talons along with a sharper spur on the heel.

Zekrom’s arms and wings both start at the shoulder, with the wings being slightly above the arms, and are nearly identical in terms of structure and appearance; it is not until the elbows that these upper limbs begin to differentiate, slight though these differences may be. The wings themselves consist of two small membranes stretched between three broad, flat appendages, making them seem more like the webbing between a Golduck’s fingers than the leathery wings of an Aerodactyl or Dragonite, and also feature a small spike where the thumb would be in a more conventional wing structure.

The creature’s arms possess these characteristics as well, though here the spike is instead located at the back of the forearm just beneath the elbow and the webbing structures are smaller and slanted downward slightly; these structures have often been mistaken for the creature’s hands due to their appearance, but in fact Zekrom’s actual hands—small, round things consisting of little more than a palm and three wickedly-curved talons for fingers—are located on the underside of the arms a short distance behind them. Most likely, these ‘mitts’ as they are sometimes called are intended to assist the creature while in flight by allowing the arms serve as an extra pair of wings.

Zekrom’s head extends into a blunted snout, and its entire lower jaw is covered in dark scales in contrast to the lighter grey of the rest of its body; its upper jaw features a sharp hook as might be found on the beak of a raptor, and its mouth is full of sharp, conical teeth. Its eyes resemble inverted trapezoids with the larger base serving as its brow, and its sclerae are blood red; accounts differ as to whether its irises, which are clearly separated from the sclera, share this crimson colouration or if they are actually white. Its snout features a short, severely backswept horn and an undulating crest bearing a slight resemblance to a lightning bolt or plume protrudes from the back of its skull; the tip of this crest is translucent and icy blue.

Finally, Zekrom’s most notable and distinctive feature is its tail; rigid and inflexible, it is a bizarre, conical structure which resembles both the stinger of a Beedrill and an electrical turbine. Much of its structure is covered by a series of small slats and holes which bear an uncanny resemblance to heat sinks or cooling vents, further reinforcing the appendage’s unnatural appearance. Two bands of lighter scales exist on this tail, a segmented one at its base and a smaller one roughly two-thirds of the way up from the first; this second band possesses a triad of thin spikes akin to the blades of a simple fan.

Lore and History

Zekrom features prominently in the creation myths of the Unova region alongside its counterpart, Reshiram; the two dragons are considered siblings to one another, equals and opposites in every respect—where Zekrom is masculine and tangible in aspect, Reshiram is feminine and ethereal; where Zekrom appears technological and artificial, Reshiram by contrast appears natural. This contrast is readily apparent in their very forms, whether it be their diametrically-opposed colour schemes—Zekrom’s scales are black and its eyes are red, while Reshiram’s plumage is white and its eyes are blue—or the inverted orientations of their tail structures (while both are conical, the point of this cone serves as the tip of Zekrom’s tail; for Reshiram, the cone’s base is instead the end of its tail). Their complimentary appearances and natures are believed to be intentional and not some quirk of fate by Unovan mythologists, as most legends posit that the two were at one point a single entity.

While the specific details of this myth vary from one version to another, its fundamental aspects remain the same: in days long past, before the Unova region properly existed, the land was wracked by strife; people and Pokémon warred with one another, and the region was a barren and wild place slowly descending in chaos and destruction. It seemed that nothing would survive the constant battle, but when all hope seemed lost and the end was near, two brothers came down from the mysterious lands to the north; at their side was a single Pokémon, a dragon of great power and splendour, and with the aid of this magnificent drake and their own charisma they were able to unite the warring denizens behind their banner and transform the Unova region from a dying wasteland to an idyllic paradise. For ending countless years of war and bloodshed, the brothers were proclaimed as heroes and instated as kings of the reborn land; theirs was a golden age, and for a time all was good.

But this peace could not last forever; while the brothers had been united in purpose when they first came to Unova, as time went on and they grew older their desires began to change, and slowly but surely they began to drift apart. The elder brother grew to desire truth while the younger brother sought ideals, and as their arguments escalated into animosity they both appealed for the great dragon’s assistance; but the drake’s bond with the two was so great that it could not side with one over the other…but nor could it refuse their desires, and to accommodate their growing feud it used its vast powers to split itself in twain. The sundered halves of the dragon became a pair of diametrically opposed Pokémon, and each sided with one of the brothers; to the elder king went pale Reshiram, the dragon of fire and truth, and to the younger hero went dark Zekrom, the dragon of lightning and ideals. So armed, the two brothers went to war with one another, and the powers of these twin demigods shook the very landscape; as the fight wore on, however, it became apparent that they were evenly matched—as Reshiram and Zekrom had been born of the same almighty dragon, they were equal and opposite in all respects and one could not defeat the other. Recognizing the futility of their struggle and filled with remorse for sundering their most loyal companion in this fashion, the two brothers declared that there was no right side in this ideological struggle and reconciled; they attempted to merge the two dragons back into their original whole, but their efforts only met with failure and they were forced to accept that their mighty dragon would forever be divided in two.

Peace returned for many years, and in time the brothers married and started families; each passed down their desires to their eldest sons in an effort to give them aspirations and goals in life. But their sons, who had been born in a time of peace and did not understand war as their parents did, embraced these ideologies with excessive zeal and refused to see eye-to-eye with one another; having inherited control of the dragons from their fathers, they sought to prove their superiority by pitting Zekrom and Reshiram against one another—and the resulting cataclysm razed Unova to the ground. With all of their accomplishments undone in a maelstrom of fire and lightning, the aged brothers exiled their wayward sons and set about trying to repair the devastation; they realized that the dragons were too powerful to be allowed to roam free, for such power was easily abused, and each vowed to make sure that their Pokémon could never again be used for such evil.

The passage of time has muddled the details of what occurred next: one of the brothers is said to have travelled north and built the edifice known as Dragonspiral Tower and sealed his respective dragon away on the tower’s highest floor; and the other, venturing south with his dragon, built the ancient temple now known as Relic Castle, then used powerful and ancient magic to transmute his Pokémon into a small gemstone. Exactly which Pokémon was sealed away and which one became a stone is unclear, but a prophecy states that in a time of strife, the dragons shall heed the call of a worthy hero and awaken to do battle once more.

In addition to this myth, some scholars have speculated that Zekrom and Reshiram may be related in some fashion to the Pokemon known as Kyurem, citing similarities in body structure and nature; but while it cannot be denied that the three dragons are similar in several respects, no conclusive evidence of a connection between them has ever been discovered. Indeed, Kyurem does not factor into any myths or legends featuring Zekrom and Reshiram, as far as are currently known.

Known Sightings

Despite the prevalence of myths and legends claiming that both dragons have been sealed away in remote locales, Zekrom has been observed on a number of occasions and in different locations throughout the Unova region; such sightings are typically fleeting affairs, where the dragon might briefly be glimpsed within the heart of a raging thunderstorm and vanish before any photographs can be taken, thus making it difficult to confirm their authenticity—indeed, several of these sightings were eventually revealed as elaborate hoaxes not unlike claims of having witnessed unidentified flying objects. Yet for every false account there is a kernel of truth, and despite Zekrom’s reclusive nature a number of confirmed sightings have been documented over the last several decades; in particular the dragon has been known to frequent the area around Dragonspiral Tower from time to time, and an archeological expedition has confirmed that the creature occasionally roosts on its topmost floor. This expedition was able to gather a great deal of information regarding this legendary Pokémon’s appearance, abilities and temperament, for so long as the researchers did nothing to disturb or anger it Zekrom was content to let them watch from a distance.

Beyond such observations and sightings, Zekrom played a significant role in the recently-concluded ‘Plasma incident’; in his misguided quest to separate humans from Pokémon Team Plasma’s leader, the controversial Pokémon rights activist known only as N. Harmonia, was able to sway one of the twin dragons to his cause with the strength of his convictions and used it to take on the regional Pokémon League, soundly defeating both the Elite Four and the champion Alder in short order. Having vanquished the very best that Unova had to offer, it seemed that nothing could stand in the way of N’s warped desires; but before the terrorist could make his dreams a reality with the power of his chosen dragon, a young Trainer from Nuvema Town stepped forth to oppose him. Through means unknown, this youth was able to call forth and capture the second dragon, and the two Trainers pitted their respective legendary Pokémon against each other in a titanic battle of clashing ideologies; precisely which party Zekrom had sided with remains unknown, but in any event when the dust settled the anonymous youth stood triumphant.

Abilities

As with any legendary Pokémon, Zekrom commands incredible power. Careful study has revealed that its tail functions as an electrical generator, and while exactly how this organic dynamo functions will most likely never be explained, the creature has been observed using this appendage to generate currents of such impressive voltage that their tension can only be measured in terms of teravolts—that is, trillions of volts. By contrast, the average bolt of naturally-occurring lightning typically has of voltage of a mere one hundred megavolts, two orders of magnitude smaller than what Zekrom can produce.

In addition to the generator in its tail, Zekrom has demonstrated a proficiency in the use of psionic abilities despite not being a Psychic-type Pokémon; while it cannot speak verbally, lacking the necessary vocal cords to produce human speech, the dragon can communicate telepathically, and witnesses have confirmed that its mental ‘voice’ is deep and masculine. Beyond this, Zekrom’s mental powers are not as refined as those of some legendary Pokémon; its primary uses of these abilities are to create a simplistic mental block within the minds of other Pokémon which prevents them from using moves and techniques similar to the ones Zekrom itself knows, and to concentrate the power of Aura within its skull to deliver a telekinetically-enhanced headbutt.

The creature is also capable of hovering and flying without actually flapping its wings; whether this levitation is psionic or electromagnetic in nature remains unknown.

Hazards

Given the sheer power Zekrom possesses, it should come as no surprise that the creature can become exceedingly dangerous if provoked; the might of his electrical abilities equals or exceeds that of similar legendary Pokémon like Zapdos, Raikou and Thundurus , and the beast’s raw physical strength is unmatched. It prefers direct, physical attacks over indirect, ranged ones, and will not hesitate to bite, claw or head-butt anything foolish enough to challenge it directly; highly-specialized glands exist within Zekrom’s teeth and claws, allowing it to augment its attacks by wreathing them in electricity, searing green flames or withering Umbrate energy. Similar glands line the creature’s entire body, allowing it to engulf itself in a blazing corona of energy and fly into a violent yet exhaustive rage for a brief period, and it can also expel torrents of blue energy and gouts of noxious, rancid gas from its mouth or unleash deafening bellows of concentrated sonic force.

Beyond these generic abilities, Zekrom has been observed performing two moves unique to itself. For the first of these, the creature generates a massive electrical charge within its tail generator and uses this current to surround itself in a crackling orb of blue electricity; somehow, Zekrom then physically grabs hold of this electricity, shapes it into a bolt of lightning and hurls it at its opponent like a javelin. Eyewitness accounts of the battle between Zekrom and Reshiram at the Unovan Pokémon League attest that this ability seemed closely related to one used by Reshiram, wherein the Vast White Pokémon launches a monstrous fireball at its foes; if Zekrom threw its blue lightning bolt immediately after Reshiram launched this fireball, witnesses claim that the bolt was visibly larger in size and seemed more powerful—and by contrast, if Reshiram used its fireball after Zekrom’s lightning bolt, the ball of flame was visibly twice as large and far hotter. Because of this, these attacks have been dubbed the Fusion Bolt and the Fusion Flare, respectively.

Zekrom’s other signature technique is similar in nature to Fusion Bolt, as it begins by building up a massive charge within its tail before wreathing itself in the resulting electricity; here, however, said electricity is of a more conventional yellow hue and clings tightly to its body like a corona. Rather than manipulate and shape this electricity, Zekrom simply charges at its foe while wreathed in it in a move similar to Volt Tackle, albeit far more powerful and without the risk of Zekrom damaging itself from the recoil. Due to its nature, this technique has been dubbed Bolt Strike by the Unovan scientific community, and its voltage is so high that anyone on the receiving end of this attack may become paralyzed from the shock.

Beyond its physical abilities and techniques, the staggering voltage generated by its tail dynamo is so great that it can cause mild disruptions to the laws of physics and override certain forms of electrical resistance; for example, Pokémon that are normally able to redirect all electrical attacks towards themselves like living lightningrods are incapable of diverting Zekrom’s electrical techniques, and Pokémon which are normally healed by exposure to other sources of electricity instead suffer injury from the dragon’s lightning bolts. Furthermore, Zekrom itself is resistant to aerokinetic-, steel-, fire-, water- and plant-based attacks, and electrical attacks are almost completely useless against it; these traits, when coupled with a formidable resistance to physical attacks and a respectable tolerance for special attacks, make the creature a formidable opponent indeed. Fortunately, the Deep Black Pokémon is not without its own flaws: it has the common draconic vulnerability to extreme cold and the destructive power of other dragons, and like most Electric-Pokémon Zekrom has proven vulnerable to seismic attacks. Should one run afoul of Zekrom in the wild and conflict is unavoidable, a strong Ground-type Pokémon or one with access to Ice-type moves would be a trainer’s best defence against the creature.

In Popular Culture

Due to its fearsome appearance and the ambiguity which pervades all myths and legends pertaining to it, Zekrom has something of a bad reputation as far as the popular consciousness is concerned; to the layperson, it is often assumed to be an evil demon in contrast to the perceived good, angelic Reshiram, and is seen more as a destructive and malicious force of nature than anything else. Because of this, Zekrom has often been depicted in a somewhat negative light and associated with villains; indeed, outside of the Unova region the Deep Black Pokémon’s most well-known portrayal is as the loyal servant of a ruthless warlord in the latest installment of a long-running strategic roleplaying game, and in its native region Zekrom was most recently featured as the main antagonist of the critically-acclaimed videogame Worldedge, in which it is depicted as a malevolent god of destruction and the ruler and progenitor of an evil race of dragons seeking to destroy the world. Such portrayals naturally do the creature no justice, for they overlook the fact that Zekrom and Reshiram complement as well as contrast with one another; Zekrom is no more evil than any other dark Pokémon, and Reshiram is not necessarily good—after all, the founding myths state that Unova was destroyed by both dragons rather than one.

edited 27th Dec '11 8:16:34 PM by SullenFrog

The Danse Macabre Codex

Yiu made them Santa and the Krampus? Was it just the spirit of the season?

Let's make a TCG!

That... was BEAUTIFUL.

Seriously, it's great. I especially like how you made it vague which legend sided with N and which sided with the player. And you already said you were going to edit the one problem I had, so everything looks good. You could have Zekrom be the eqivalent of Cherbonog or some other demonic entity opposed to a force of good (Ex. D&D Tiamat, who was also split from a single dragon)for your issues with the pop culture section.

...say, you mind helping me with the Kami trio? Maybe collaborating to revise Tornadus and do Thundurus and Landorus?

Pretty much

edited 24th Dec '11 9:18:22 AM by Umbramatic

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Making Zekrom the equivalent of D&D Tiamat or Chernabog, eh? I like the sound of that, Umbramatic; I'll see what I can do to incorporate it into my next revision. As for assisting you with the Kami Trio (or the Legendary Genies, as I like to think of 'em), I'd like to help you with those, but I'm going to be rather busy with other stuff IRL over the next few weeks; still, I'll try to help if I can.

The Danse Macabre Codex

This will probably be early for most of you but in my timezone it's correct.

Merry Christmas Pokedexer's

Beware the shadows. You never know what might be waiting to strike.

OK, I should have a pastebin of Thundurus sometime tomorrow, if you have time to make edits to that.

Same to you, though it's only Eve where I am.

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Well, it has been a while and it's not complete yet (there is a list of missing stuff) but it would be good time to post it to collect comments. Here you have the Obvious Beta of second revision for the Totodile entry. Brackets indicate pending corrections or adjustments.

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Totodile Line

Morphs [Oak Catalog #]

• Totodile (Aquacrocodilus impiger) [158]
• Croconaw (A. sempermordis) [159]
• Feraligatr (A. deimophobos) [160]

The "Totodile" species of Pokémon take on the appearance of blue crocodilian bipeds, with series of red ridges adorning their head and spine. Their belly is also of a cream colouration and has a distinctive structure and pattern depending on their evolutionary level. One of their more easily recognizable traits is the set of red spikes adorning their spine. All stages have one spike near the tip of the tail.

Totodile is the basic morph. They reach an average height of 60 cm and average weight of just under 10 kg. They have arms that terminate in short claws with 5 digits and feet with 3 digits. The bulk of their bodies are covered in light blue scales with a chevron-shaped band of yellow scales on their torso. They have two pairs of alike spikes offset from their spine spikes, and a prominent spike at the end of their tail. They also have regions of black scales around their eyes, and have a tapering snout with two exposed fangs on the tip of its lower jaw, and a nub-like structure towards the end that houses their nostrils.

Croconaw is the adolescent stage. With an overall rounder body composition than its preevolution while still keeping the base physiology, they can reach and pass the full meter of height, and average 25 kg of weight. They have gained a head crest with three backwards-curved spikes, whereas the spike on their tail has almost fully emerged, and now resembles a diamond. The rows of spikes on his back have fused onto one two-pronged crest as well, although of notoriously smaller relative size than the other crest.

Unlike Totodile and the later evolution Feraligatr, Croconaw's belly is now patterned as a large band with notorious assymetry, reaching the shoulder on one side but only the armpit on the other, and is spotted by regions of blue. This colouration also reaches their larger and bulkier jaw. [pending]

Feraligatr is the adult stage. [pending]

Like most water Pokémon, Totodile and its evolutions possess a bladder which allows them to dive and propel jets of water. The reptile also possesses a transparent third eyelid and impressive lung capacity, allowing them to stay underwater for long periods of time without discomfort.

All members of this line are expert and insistent biters, and as the "Social Structure" section explains, biting has an important meaning for them, even when applied to friends or allies. Totodile are the most playful and exploratory, and won't hesitate to bite anything no matter it looks friendly or not. As they become more versed in battle, Totodile tend to restrain this urge until they can detect a spot particularly vulnerable to biting, and then procede to attack this weak point for great damage, if enemy, or for inescapable clamping, if ally, this much to the annoyance of their Trainers. Feraligatr on the other hand are the more powerful and are capable of combining their biting ability with their Water-type elemental powers, cloaking their fangs in pressurized water as they clamp on their foes; they also become wise enough to threaten to bite before spending their effort or risking injuries, and this is an important element of their courting rituals.

Cases of special alternate pigmentation have been observed as in all other Pokémon; individual with this trait have lighter-coloured bodies and their spikes are of a blue instead of red colouration. There's also some recognizable differences in local phenotypes as the "Habitat" section describes.

Notable Biology

The Totodile line is notable for its incredibly powerful jaws— Feraligatr in particular is commonly believed to possess the strongest bite of any Pokémon in the world. The species possesses specialized muscles that allow it to lock its jaw into place, preventing struggling prey from escaping their deadly grasp. The power of Feraligatr's jaws is such that the sole imagery of the crocodilian standing before an opponent showcasing their jaws is enough to trigger fear and intimidation responses not unlike those caused by, for example, the Ekans species.

This species's red ridges are believed to help in regulating the creature’s body temperature. They are present in three groupings in the head, spine and tail; as the Pokémon grows to its final stage, the ridges of the head fuse to form an easily recognizable crest, and, unlike the spikes of the spine and tail, the edges of the head crest become curved backwards.

A trait shared by the other water-type Pokémon usually handed over as starters is a special method of empowering dubbed "Torrent" because of its effect. When a Totodile or evolution grows weaker, they start focusing their natural aura and exerting much more power to counter the threat they are facing; the combination of these factors allows them to manipulate nearby bodies of water or to extract water from their immediate surroundings to empower their own attacks.

A few specimens of this evolutionary line exhibit another, rarely observed battle trait that is present in Pokémon such as Darmanitan and, more rarely, on Pokémon such as Nidoqueen and Makuhita as well. These Pokémon transfer some of their elemental manipulation power to assist and empower their muscular strength; as a result, their physical attacks become more powerful, a display of sheer force, but the faster, rougher and less technical fighting style that results from this prevent their attacks from materializing their secondary effects.

Yet some Feraligatr can exercise the inverse effect. As they become more experienced in elemental and weather manipulation, they learn to assume stances and mental states that allow them to exude elemental manipulation aura more easily. It has been observed that some Trainers's Feraligatr who have spent years practising Rain Dance have internalized the weather manipulation in this way to the point that they can start inducing this ability on the battlefield merely by assuming a slightly different battle stance.

Finally, in all morphs the female is up to 25% larger (and deadlier) than the male.

Naming

The binomes for this species were developed by a researcher named Sullen F. The term "impiger", while directly translating to "dilligent", also carries the connotation of "eager", as the basic morphs usually are. The final morph's term, "deimophobos", combines two terms related to fear and express the most common and expected response upon meeting members of this morph, even among other wild populations.

The last morph's technical name is "Feraligator". However, as it also happened with Victreebell, the tremendous limitations of early "iPhokéx" products, pushed upon researchers by commercial interests, and the easy escision of the "o" in common speech (as with the "l" in Victreebell) caused the name to be recorded and pronounced as "Feraligatr", a practice that has extended with time to the point it even appears as such in official catalogs, thus becoming a de facto standard.

Habitat

All members of this line tend to live in rivers and lakes near forests, favouring swampy terrains and meanders right by forestline thickets. Feraligatr spends its time closer to the sea, living in rivers which feature plenty of sand and rocks to sun themselves on.

Some Feraligatr, better adapted to saline water, may swim out to the sea occasionally to hunt, but will generally stay close to land. It is presumed that several colonies of slightly darker than normal Feraligatr live on the extense beaches and semi-saline swamps in the lands south of Unova.

The Croconaw stage also exhibits some specific regional morphisms that are unexplained as of yet. During a period of time previous to the reengineering of the Kanjoh Magnet Train, entire families of the Johtoan crocodiles could be found that did not fully developed the head crest, resulting in a head with two crests preceded by a slanted protuberance◊. This trait was not exhibited by the other members of their evolutive family.

[to be improved]

[integrate shading differences between G4 and G5 sprites]

Locomotion

All morphs are capable of standing and walking upright, but drop to all fours when an extra burst of speed is needed; Croconaw and Feraligatr exhibit this behaviour more often due to their larger sizes making it harder to move on land. In water, all morphs tuck their feet to their sides and propel themselves with their forearms and tail. They are much faster at swimming than moving around on land.

While Totodile and Croconaw are able to stand upright, Feraligatr has become too massive for its spine to take such a strain and so it spends most of its time on all fours when not in the water. Despite this, it moves very quickly when crawling, able to put on sudden bursts of speed that belie its bulk. Provided strong enough footing, a Feraligatr can switch between quadrupedal and bipedal locomotion fast enough to take on any nearby prey by surprise, which is one of the reasons roaming Trainers are strongly advised to NOT pay attention to Totodile nests near the water.

[to be improved]

Diet

Typically freshwater fish and insects, along with the occasional mammal. Older specimens such as Croconaw and Feraligatr use their powerful jaws to crack open the shells of Squirtle, Corphish, Shellder and similar aquatic Pokémon. They will occasionally surge out of the water in order to catch drinking Stantler and other large mammals.

The later stages rely on biting and chewing meat, bark and other rough objects that they find to both clean their teeth and keep them sharp, so Trainers are advised to regularly feed them from a meatstore. Letting them chew on a controlled manner also sooths them down, as it helps them assert their own prowess while limiting damage to others. Partner Pokémon with regenerating shells can also help in this respect.

[to be improved]

Battle Ability

[integrate Hydro Crunch]

[integrate Fastwave]

Hazards

Because of their thick, scaly hides and focus on teeth, nipping one's parents is a sign of affection amongst Totodile and its evolutions. As such, they do not understand that other creatures find being bitten excruciatingly painful, and thus all variants have a marked tendency to sink their teeth into anything and everything, hanging fast to their victims with remarkable tenacity. Even Totodile’s fangs can seriously mangle flesh and bone and cause extensive damage considering that this line's upper teeths have small canals that assist in the injection of a freezing agent secreted by two small cryosac under the Pokémon's eyes.

Croconaw, being the adolescent stage, have been show to try a good variety of different tricks to specialize their hunting. Some Croconaw seem to have developed their biting technique by mixing it with a form of Aura, holding the prey with their jaws in a way that renders it unable to escape. A nastier varient of this move is capable of rendering the foe incapable of acting entirely.

Feraligatr are especially dangerous as their jaws are powerful enough to crush rocks into powder; when combined with their extremely territorial nature and overprotective attitude towards their offspring, they can do considerably worse to human bones. Should you happen upon a nest of Totodile in the wild, restrain your desire to coo and pet the creatures and stay away from them; you can be sure that the mother is watching from within the bushes nearby, and she will not be happy if you touch her babies [to be toned down].

While rare, there are reports of a subspecies of Feraligatr that has been scientifically altered to the point of gaining the Electric Type; dubbed with the suffix δ ("Delta") as with other Pokémon who underwent this procedure in the Holon Region, these Feraligatr are able to generate a sort of "Battle Aura" that strengthens allied Pokémon-δ.

[Incorporate the Roll of Death]

Courting

Feraligatr congregate once every two years at deltas in order to hold mating contests. Because the overwhelming majority of the species is male, there is often stiff competition between bulls to attract a mate. Such courtship displays have been observed to include seeing who can stay upright the longest, knocking over boulders and biting at tree trunks to see who has the strongest forelimbs and jaws, and sprinting on all fours to determine who is the fastest.

Should two or more bulls be tied in all of these events, they will attempt to intimidate each other by opening their mouths and hissing in an overt threat display. Should neither bull back down, they will resort to a duel, grappling with each other and biting to establish superiority. These duels often become extremely violent, and it is not unheard of for the loser to be maimed or even killed.

Once a victor has emerged, the bull and the female swim off to do their business and build a nest for the eggs, of which there are typically two-to-ten. Exactly how the parents mated is not certain, and it is not wise to find out, for the only thing worse than an angry Feraligatr is an angry Feraligatr in heat.

Social Structure

Feraligatr are solitary, monogamous reptiles that mate for a single breeding season before going their separate ways. The female is then given the sole responsibility of brooding the eggs and watching over the infant Totodiles for the next eighteen months, by which point they will have become young adults (i.e., Croconaw). During this time the mother is particularly protective of her offspring, carrying them down to the water in her jaws, teaching them how to swim and utilize their water bladders, feeding them and teaching them how to catch prey, and maintaining a constant vigil over the infants while they sleep.

Once her babies have matured to this point, however, the mother loses all maternal instinct for her offspring and drives them off, seeing them as both threats to her territory and a potential meal. The Croconaw will seek out others of their kind, often crossing the land to do so, and form bands of three-to-five in order to hunt for food. These bands dissolve once the Croconaw reach adulthood and become Feraligatr.

[Exploratory patterns on land]

In Popular Culture

Surrounding Controversy

[Incorporate Status as Johto Starters]

While Totodile are considered playful and cute Pokémon by some people, even when taking their powerful bite into consideration, Croconaw and Feraligatr do not exactly enjoy the same appreciation. Even after the explosive growth of the "Pokémon walk-along" trend that was recently born in the Kanjoh region, the evolved members of this line have been seen with distrust, and some storeowners have denied access to these Pokémon.

This also happened with the "People vs. Amity Square" civil action in the region of Sinnoh, when the staff of the Park unilaterally decided to deny walking rights, and in some cases entrance, to Pokémon that the city's Contest judges didn't declare as "cute", which due to a misunderstanding included most if not all non-baby Pokémon. The situation escalated when a recording was uploaded to a well-known video site where, confronted by several Trainers of evolved League-approved Starters, one of the Contest Judges categorized several Pokémon including Feraligatr with terms such as "horribly big", "ugly" and "scaly", thus leading to the civil action after which the Park and the Contest Judges were forced to publicly apologize to the Trainer community. After this more Pokémon, including the fully evolved Starters, were granted entrance and exploration privileges to the park.

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Originally written by Sullen Frog. Editmastering by Silent Reverence.

Article History:

• Entry v2 (this entry)
• Entry v2.0alpha: (pastebin)
• Entry v1: (link pending)
• Original proposal: (link pending)

Contributors:

• Tracer: Totodile description.
• Luke924: Assistance in TCG research and interpretation.
• Umbramatic: Artwork Suggestion [pending permission].

See other entries HERE

---

Will receive comments.

Also, happy holidays to all PEFEers and visitors. Hope you can ejoy your Pokémon plushies.

Fanfic Recs orwellianretcon'd: cutlocked for committee or for Google?

Eh, her's more of a Taoist Binary than any Mideast mythology. Except for maybe the Persians.

Let's make a TCG!

Funny, I got an Arceus plushie as a gift for someone . I'll have to look more at Totodile later.

Contact Me!

About that Generation color difference. I remember reading (maybe on The Other Wiki) that some crocodiles or alligators, have darker colors depending on whether they spend more time uder trees or under open sky. Apparently the trees make some srot of chemical that affects the crocs' skin pigment. I'm not an expert non this though, so i don't know if this is true or not.

Thanks! Now that's a pointer that will help me find further research. That and the 'diles's methods of infrasonic comm. I hope I can have the release candidate on Monday. I also hope Umbramatic can get us an auth ok on the artwork usage.

Fanfic Recs orwellianretcon'd: cutlocked for committee or for Google?

With the differing numbers of Trees in the B/W verses this works! :)

(Wow, between Zelda, Transformers and Pokemon Multiverse shenanigans are taking over!!!!)

Let's make a TCG!

Sadly, due to real life business, I could not delever the Thundurus paste for Christmas. Sorry. It will be up soon, though.

edited 25th Dec '11 8:13:01 PM by Umbramatic

Contact Me!

Also on the Totadile article you may want to mention how ambient temperature around the eggs affects the gender of the babies as in real crocodilians.

Beware the shadows. You never know what might be waiting to strike.

The gender ratio still has to be brought into consideration, good point. Though I'd like to get a recap on the discussion on all the starters having that particular gender ratio?

Fanfic Recs orwellianretcon'd: cutlocked for committee or for Google?

I still think that's the ratio that they're distributed to trainers at, not the actual birth/population ratio. It's all in an effort to curb the amount of trainers breeding their own starter mons.

XP granted for befriending a giant magical spider!

Eh a bit to fanwanky to me, perhaps the temperatures jusr avarege out to that?

edited 26th Dec '11 1:42:08 PM by JusticeMan

Let's make a TCG!

Not really. Think about it- in the actual games, if you get a copy of all the starters, you basically own the entire Pokeconomy. In an attempt to curb that, they give most trainers male starters.

They call themselves seamstresses -Feet Of Clay

...I don't follow? What is the problem with trainers breeding those species over any others?

Do you highlight everything looking for secret messages?

Because they're extremely rare. If one person has a full set, obviously they would have either a Ditto or a female 'mon, they would have a factory of rare Pokemon that they could trade away.

They call themselves seamstresses -Feet Of Clay