The Pokédex - Extended Fanon Edition

No strict procedure. Just ask to make sure someone hasn't claimed the subject yet. There's a template linked in the first post, but you're free and encouraged to adapt the structure to your needs.

They grow extra skulls for there babies to use.

They grow extra skulls for there babies to use.

That's weird—for some reason I thought we already had an article on Cubone. Huh.

Anyway, it might be an ancestral thing—upon evolution into Marowak, it removes the "skull" it posessed as Cubone in order to make room for a new one. Then, when the female gives birth they hand it down to their offspring, and so on and so forth. The Cubone skull is an artificial thing, whereas the Marowak skull is an actual part of the creature's anatomy.

Hmm, I think I'm leaning towards going the direction that Sullen Frog proposed, as Marowak's bone-based fighting style is apparently not natural (so there's precedent for developed behaviors), and it's evident from the 'dex entry that wherever that thing on Cubone's head came from, it's not on very tightly (hence the whole mournful echoing thing...). That said, if I did go that direction, I'm not sure if I could successfully handwave why no one can give a straight answer as to what is really under that mask...

edited 2nd Aug '10 7:26:08 AM by CaptainNapalm

I call chingling and Chimecho, unless anyone has any objections.

I don't know if it's been mentioned but Cubone's skull could simply be the shed remains of a Marowak's skullcap, the mother sheds one and gives it to the baby to protect it's vulnerable head.

You should also mention that "Marowak Graveyard" thing, presumably that is where they get their bone weapons. Scavenging bones from dead Marowak or something.

(*Index*)

The helmet could be a fashioned item by the mother, or a shed casing.

Or, it's a real Marowak skull, but usually not from the Cubone's immediate parents. The skulls of ancestors get passed down as a tribal tradition.

...Which would mean Cubone raised in captivity need to be considered. If their parents hold the tradition, then they may steal away to attempt to retrieve a skull from the graveyard. But if it's inaccessible (landmass with no Marowak population), the parents weren't passed the tradition, or the parents aren't even present... I guess the Cubone would instinctively seek out something suitable for protection, like a bicycle helmet or plastic bucket .

The slain Marowak's child probably does have the sad distinction of wearing its mother's skull. Hope Red or Fuji adopted the poor guy. ._.

^ If the skulls are things that are passed down, I would assume that captive-bred Cubone would probably wear synthetic helmets that any two-bit trainer could pick up from a hobby shop (or their wild parent's helmet). What I'm concerned about if I took this direction though is how to explain how no one, not even the big shots running the Pokedex project, seems to know what Cubone look like underneath their helmet. Also, I'm a little hesitant to embrace the "shed helmet" theory put forth by Neo Crimson simply due to the significant size and structural differences between Cubone's "helmet" (if it even is one) and a Marowak's bony head (e.g. size, snout length, etc.), otherwise it would work well...

EDIT: ^ Your notion of Cubone having vulnerable heads is also a pretty elegant handwave for why the little guys never take their helmets off...

EDIT 2: I think I might have figured a handwave around Cubone's true head structure. What if their head structures change as they mature and near evolution? That way, any scarce observations of Cubone sans helmet would vary widely and there wouldn't be any one structure that could be reliably cataloged (Also this would be a handy time to insert something about how only some Cubone have the Rock Head ability...).

edited 2nd Aug '10 9:53:43 AM by CaptainNapalm

I always had the notion that wild Cubone and Marowak would try to either get fossils for their bone masks, or use the skulls of their ancestors. They'd totally have a culture around it. Where they couldn't find any fossils or spare skulls to use, they'd make crude masks out of a mixture of materials, including clay and saliva, and wear those until they could trade up.

It would not be unusual to see a domesticated Cubone steal a skull-mask from a Halloween costume and try to keep it.

Generally, I'd say "nobody knows what it looks like underneath"-type entries from the games can be safely ignored.

We don't want to reveal Diglett's underground appearance simply due to Rule of Funny, but that's an exception, and we can assume the Pokédex authors do in fact know.

Cubone's head isn't really worth keeping that much of a mystery. Besides, a scientist could just raise one with a transparent helmet if they were really curious.

^ Someone needs to draw that.

edited 2nd Aug '10 10:37:41 AM by Tangent128

Mari: C'mon, Cubone, gimme back my skull-mask! I can't go as a Grim Reaper without my Skull-mask!

Cubone: Grrrrrrr! (Never! This shall be my mask, and will adorn my face until I find something better!)

The reason I'm leery of having them use real skulls is just a matter of conservation. Even the most durable dead-tissue skull will wear down rather quickly if exposed to the elements and battle, which means you won't have very good ones beyond a few generations at the most, even if they're hoarded and handed down. Couple that with the natural ebb and flow of wild populations and occasional booms for whatever reason, and eventually you'll have skull-less Cubone running around.

My guess would be either external growth, the Marowak can shed layers of its own external (attached) skull, or either the Cubone or Marowak fashions one from very tough clay that bakes white to look like a skull.

edited 2nd Aug '10 12:21:39 PM by Pykrete

Well, half of Marowak have Rock Head; their skulls would likely last a bit longer.

When they're attached, certainly. Not a whole lot of dead tissue lasts long when exposed though, especially given warm, dusty, craggy areas you'd expect ground-types to prefer.

For reference. A human skeleton typically takes about twenty years to dissolve completely via natural acids. A Marowak skull would be about the same size, and the process is sped considerably in the skull due to its being hollow and thus decomposed from both sides. Such a skull would additionally be exposed to weather, dusty winds, the sweat of the wearer, and fricking exploding seeds and shit.

edited 2nd Aug '10 1:14:31 PM by Pykrete

If a Marowak skull is simply bone, yeah. On the other hand, if there's a biological system for growing mineral crystals in/around the skull, they would presumably last a bit longer.

Though clay-fashioned masks do give more of a tribal feel to the species. Pokémon culture is always a fun topic. (And, that makes the Lavender orphan that much more Bad Ass for adopting a real skull.)

Perhaps Cubone and Marowak were more technologically developed in the past, before competition with humans forced them to regress to a more primitive state?

I dunno why you couldn't just say that they have super strong skeletons made of some sorta mineral/metal. Wouldn't be the first time they've used that particular handwave in the Pokéverse.

I'd like to sign on to do a joint article for Cubone.

In which case 500 years down the road the world is covered with skeletons made of nigh indestructable metal and super-bone that never decay.

^ Why do you think there's giant a Marowak graveyard?

Infact, you can make it so that the graveyard has a certain type of gas in high abundance that slowly eats away at the bones.

No, I think eventually there will be just so much detritus from dead mons (graveyard or not) that never gets around to decaying that eventually it just starts piling up all over the place and there's no way to get rid of it. I'm thinking like an episode of Hoarders, but with corpses.

Even the steel-types have some kind of organic component that breaks it down, or we'd be up to our ears in Lairon plates that have been around since the dawn of civilization.

Though clay-fashioned masks do give more of a tribal feel to the species. Pokémon culture is always a fun topic. (And, that makes the Lavender orphan that much more Bad Ass for adopting a real skull.)

This is making me want to write a fanfic about that orphan Cubone growing up to be a Bad Ass Marowak that hunts down Team Rocket members and viciously beats them to death.

You know why we're here, Cubones; to get revenge on the Rockets who killed our mother! We must not treat them with respect; if they want to take our skulls, then we shall return the favor! We are not going home until we have collected one. Hundred! Rocket!! Skulls!!!

They bring back two hundred just to show off.