Dunsparce
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Dunsparce | |
|---|---|
 National Forretress - Dunsparce (#206) - Gligar Johto Arbok - Dunsparce (#052) - Mareep |
|
| Japanese name | ノコッチ (Nokocchi) |
| Stage | Basic |
| Evolves from | None |
| Evolves to | None |
| Generation | Second |
| Species | Land Snake Pokémon |
| Type | Normal |
| Height | 4 ft 11 in (1.50 m) |
| Weight | 30.9 lb (14.0 kg) |
| Ability | Serene Grace / Run Away |
Dunsparce (ノコッチ Nokocchi?) are one of the 493 fictional species of Pokémon creatures from the multi-billion-dollar[1] Pokémon media franchise—a collection of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards, and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri. The purpose of Dunsparce in the games, anime, and manga, as with all other Pokémon, is to battle both wild Pokémon—untamed creatures encountered while the player passes through various environments—and tamed Pokémon owned by Pokémon trainers.[2]
The name Dunsparce can carry several references. It can refer to Dun (a yellow-like color), the color of its body, Dungeon, what Dunsparce typically finds shelter in, and Dunce, a derogatory term that may be a reference to its unspectacular battling abilities. The "sparce" part is a corruption of "sparse" (rare).
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[edit] Biological Characteristics
Dunsparce resembles in some respects a serpent--it is, in fact, based on the tsuchinoko of Japanese lore. Its Japanese name, Nokocchi is actually created by switching the first and second half of tsuchi/noko. It does not have arms or legs. It has a yellow hourglass shaped body, two tiny wings on its sides, a drill instead of a tail, and two spikes under its chin. Its underbelly is blue, as well as the markings on its back. Dunsparce lives in caves and deep underground in nests of complex design. Its rudimentary wings enable it to hover just above the ground, providing it with an alternate method of locomotion besides crawling.
Not much other information is known about Dunsparce, probably because it is both very rare and timid. If it realizes it has been spotted, it rapidly burrows backwards into the ground using its tail drill and disappears out of sight.
[edit] In the Pokémon video games
Dunsparce is a rather rare Pokémon. In Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal, Dunsparce is found in the Dark Cave. In Pokémon Colosseum, a Dunsparce is a Shadow Pokémon that can be snagged in Pyrite Cave. In Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, it can be found in the port of Three Isle.
Dunsparce has a good Hit Point stat and the rest of its stats are about average, but it is slow and didn't use to learn particularly noteworthy attacks. In Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal, Dunsparce was seldom used since it didn't have any remarkable traits to make it stand out in battle.
With the advent of the Ability system, Dunsparce was given the ability Serene Grace, which is also known by rare Pokémon such as Jirachi, Togetic or Blissey. Dunsparce is arguably the most common Pokémon with this ability. Flavor-wise, Dunsparce having Serene Grace at first makes little sense, since its appearance is not exactly evocative of either serenity or grace. However, the original Japanese name for this ability translates to "Heaven's Blessing", presumably what tsuchinoko must have if they can consistently elude getting caught or dependably sighted. Either way, it makes Dunsparce much more useful in battle.
Serene Grace doubles the probability of moves having their additional effect manifest, so a player can capitalise on this by teaching Dunsparce moves such as Secret Power, Body Slam, Ancientpower, Iron Tail, or Water Pulse, making their beneficial side-effects much more probable. An especially effective new strategy involves teaching Dunsparce the new attack Charge Beam, which has a 70% chance of increasing the user's Special Attack. Of course, Serene Grace increases this probability to 140%, meaning that every time Dunsparce uses Charge Beam, its Special Attack is garunteed to rise. That, plus Ice Beam, Flamethrower, and Ancientpower (now made a special move in the 4th generation), all make Dunsparce an effective special sweeper.
[edit] In the Pokemon anime
Dunsparce was featured in episode #193 (The Dunsparce Deception) where it was a very popular Pokémon for a class of school children, most of whom had managed to catch one. Ash and friends help the last boy find a Dunsparce of his own.
[edit] In the trading card game
Dunsparce is a very minor figure in the card game, for it has only made four appearances as Basic Colorless Pokémon:
- Neo Discovery
- Skyridge
- EX Sandstorm
- EX Legend Maker
[edit] References
- The following games and their instruction manuals: Pokémon Red, Green, and Blue; Pokémon Yellow; Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2; Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal; Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald; Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen; Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
- Publications
- 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 1-930206-15-1.
- Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon FireRed & Pokémon LeafGreen Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., August 2004. ISBN 1-930206-50-X
- Mylonas, Eric. Pokémon Pokédex Collector’s Edition: Prima’s Official Pokémon Guide. Prima Games, September 21 2004. ISBN 0-7615-4761-4
- Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Emerald Version Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., April 2005. ISBN 1-930206-58-5
[edit] External links
- Official Pokémon website
- Bulbapedia (a Pokémon-centric Wiki)’s article about Dunsparce as a species
- Serebii.net’s 4th Gen Pokédex entry for Dunsparce
- Pokémon Dungeon Pokédex entry, full of statistics analysis
- PsyPoke - Dunsparce Pokédex entry and Usage Overview
- Smogon.com - Dunsparce Tactical Data
- WikiKnowledge.net’s entry for Dunsparce Previously hosted by Wikibooks
