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It has been suggested that this article be merged with Magikarp to Magikarp and Gyarados. (Discuss) Proposed since December 2023.

Gyarados (ギャラドス, Gyaradosu, /ˈɡærədoʊs, ˈɡɪərə-, -dɒs/) is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Gyarados first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Pokémon Blue and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise. Gyarados was voiced by Unshō Ishizuka in both Japanese and English media until Ishizuka died from esophageal cancer. Known as the Atrocious Pokémon, Gyarados is the evolved form of Magikarp, well-known for its fierce temper and reputation for causing nothing but destruction so much so that once it has worked itself into a frenzy, it will not calm down until everything around it has been destroyed.

Gyarados appears multiple times in the anime under various trainers such as Misty, Lance, Crasher Wake, and Nurse Joy. Two different Gyarados appear in the Pokémon Adventures manga. One is originally owned by Misty, but is traded between Red and Blue. The other is a red Gyarados owned by Silver. Since it appeared in the Pokémon series, Gyarados has received generally positive reception. It has been featured in several forms of merchandise, including figurines, plush toys, and the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Gyarados has been described as both one of the most well-known and most powerful Pokémon.

Design and characteristics

Gyarados was one of 151 different designs conceived by Game Freak's character development team and finalized by Ken Sugimori for the first generation of Pocket Monsters games Red and Green, which were localized outside Japan as Pokémon Red and Blue. Originally called "Gyarados" in Japanese, Nintendo decided to give the various Pokémon species "clever and descriptive names" related to their appearance or features when translating the game for western audiences as a means to make the characters more relatable to American children. As a result, the species' beta name was "Skulkraken", a combination of "skull" or "skulk" and "kraken", but in the final release the original Japanese name was used.

Gyarados is a Pokémon whose design is inspired by dragons, specifically dragons seen in Chinese mythology. The concept of Magikarp evolving into Gyarados is based on the ancient Chinese myth about carp that can evolve into flying dragons after leaping a waterfall. Its snakelike body is largely blue, but its underbelly is pale yellow. It has four white fins down its back, and a large and gaping mouth. Gyarados is known for its fierce temper and wanton destructive tendencies. Once it has worked itself into a frenzy, it will not calm until everything around it is destroyed, and can even go on for a whole month. This violent nature is attributed to the dramatic structural changes its brain undergoes during evolution. During times of human conflict Gyarados are said to appear, burning entire cities down to the ground. Gyarados usually live in large bodies of water, such as lakes and ponds or even seas and oceans.

Appearances

In video games

Gyarados first appears in the Pokémon video game series in Pokémon Red and Blue and later appears in every subsequent sequel. Gyarados is found uncommonly when fishing with a Super Rod, and evolves from Magikarp when gaining enough experience in battle. In Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal and their remakes, a red Gyarados is found in the Lake of Rage. The player has one chance to catch it (but in HeartGold and SoulSilver, it will come back after the player defeats the Elite Four) and the incident triggers the battle against Team Rocket in the Rocket Hideout in Mahogany Town. This Gyarados is mentioned at the beginning of Diamond and Pearl when the player sets out on their quest. Gyarados is used by many notable trainers such as Blue, Clair, Lance, Wallace, Pike Queen Lucy, Crasher Wake and Cyrus. Gyarados is one of several Pokémon to gain a Mega Evolution in Pokémon X and Y. When it Mega Evolves, it becomes a Water/Dark type and gains the ability Mold Breaker.

Gyarados makes many appearances outside of the main series, including appearances in Pokémon Snap, Pokémon Trading Card Game, Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team and Red Rescue Team, Pokémon Ranger and Pokémon Go. In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness, a Gyarados appears in the Miracle Sea. He attempts to take control of Phione, but is halted by the player's team. In PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure, Gyarados tries to take over the Beach Zone in Empoleon's absence and is the host of a mini-game called "Aqua Dash". In Pokémon Go, Gyarados was the first Pokémon to cost 400 candies to evolve into. This made it one of the rarest Pokémon in the game at the time. In Pokkén Tournament and Pokkén Tournament DX, Gyarados has been shown in the Magikarp Festival as one of these arenas as only a background character, spectating a battle between the playable fighter Pokémon.

In the anime

Gyarados first appeared in Pokémon - I Choose You! swimming in a river. It was then seen in Pokémon Shipwreck, where James kicked his Magikarp out of frustration, and it evolved into a Gyarados and called the other Gyarados to unleash a Dragon Rage attack by forming a water spout. Misty owns a Gyarados. At first, she fearfully dislikes Gyarados due to a traumatic experience, but manages to get over the fear, take over the Cerulean City Gym, and add one to her team. It's revealed in the Sun and Moon anime that Misty can Mega Evolve her Gyarados. Talkin' 'Bout an Evolution and Rage Of Innocence focused on a red Gyarados. It was on a destructive rampage until Lance captured it. This Gyarados appeared again in Gaining Groudon and The Scuffle of Legends to stop the feuding of Groudon and Kyogre, and later reappeared in Pokemon Journeys: The Series. Gyarados has appeared many other times under the ownership of various trainers, such as Crasher Wake and Nurse Joy. In Coming Apart at the Dreams! a Shiny red Gyarados and its Mega Evolved form is under the ownership and usage by Team Flare Mastermind Lysandre. It is unknown what happened to it after Lysandre is engulfed in Zygarde's Core Enforcer attack in Forming a More Perfect Union!

In printed adaptations

In Pokémon Adventures, Gyarados debuts in the Red, Green & Blue chapter in Gyarados Splashes In!. Here, an enraged one attacks its own trainer, Misty, but is recaught by Red, who returns it to her. Later on, Misty traded this Gyarados to Red in exchange for Red's Krabby. When Red borrows Blue's Charizard to travel to Mt. Silver, he temporarily trades his Gyarados to Blue. It later appears as one of Blue's Pokémon in Volume 13, used against Entei, and later part of his revealed team during the Gym Leader faceoff. Prior to the FireRed and LeafGreen saga, Blue returns Gyarados to Red.

A red Gyarados was the leader of a group of Gyarados. When Team Rocket used the Goldenrod City Radio Tower to disturb Pokémon, these Gyarados went crazy. At the end, it was caught by Silver. After a battle with the Masked Man, this Gyarados was frozen and remained at the bottom of Lake of Rage until Lt. Surge discovered it. Gyarados was able to free himself and Lt. Surge returned it to Silver. Misty owns a Gyarados in the Electric Tale of Pikachu manga. It is used against Ash in their gym battle.

In film

A Gyarados appears in the film Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, evolving after Detective Pikachu threw a Magikarp to help battle against a Charizard.

Reception

Gyarados has received generally positive reception. Though GamesRadar described Magikarp as "the ultimate in useless Pokémon", they described Gyarados as one of the "most well-known" characters in the series. Gyarados has been regarded as one of the best Pokemon by both fans and critics, as well as a particularly powerful Pokémon, IGN readers voted Gyarados as the 11th best Pokémon, and IGN staff found it "epitomizes the trials and tribulations" of training a weak Pokemon into being strong. Russ Frushtick of Polygon claimed that Gyarados is a worst first-gen Pokémon that should be wiped from existence, and further stated that "its amazing if there were no Gyarados. You’d find a Magikarp in the game and painstakingly level it up, assuming that, of course, it’ll be worth the effort". IGN write Jack DeVries felt that Magikarp evolving into Gyarados in Pokemon Snap was one of his "favorite experiences".

Author Ash Dekirk wrote that Gyarados and Magikarp were inspired by the Asiatic myth of the Dragon Gate. Author Loredane Lipperini similarly described Gyarados as resembling something from the Chinese New Year. Author Tracy West named Gyarados the "fourth best Water-type Pokémon".

Gyarados also has been featured in several forms of merchandise including figurines, plush toys, and the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

References

1. Staff. "2. 一新されたポケモンの世界". Nintendo.com (in Japanese). Nintendo. p. 2. Retrieved 10 September 2010.
2. Stuart Bishop (30 May 2003). "Game Freak on Pokémon!". CVG. Archived from the original on 16 January 2008. Retrieved 7 February 2008.
3. Chua-Euan, Howard (22 November 1999). "PokéMania". Time. Archived from the original on 20 February 2001. Retrieved 15 September 2008.
4. "Pokemon Strategy Guide - IGNguides". IGN. Archived from the original on 25 September 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
5. "Description of the "Dragon Majesty" expansion of the Trading Card Game". NA website of Dragon Majesty. Nintendo. Archived from the original on 3 December 2018. Retrieved 27 September 2018. The Dragon Majesty expansion is loaded with Dragon-type Pokémon, plus many other Pokémon inspired by different kinds of dragons, such as Gyarados and Charizard.
6. Game Freak (15 October 2000). Pokémon Silver (Game Boy Color). Nintendo. Pokédex: Once it appears, it goes on a rampage. It remains enraged until it demolishes everything around it.
7. Game Freak (17 March 2003). Pokémon Sapphire (Game Boy Advance). Nintendo. Pokédex: Once Gyarados goes on a rampage, its ferociously violent blood doesn't calm until it has burned everything down. There are records of this Pokémon's rampages lasting a whole month.
8. Game Freak (17 March 2003). Pokémon Ruby (Game Boy Advance). Nintendo. Pokédex: When Magikarp evolves into Gyarados, its brain cells undergo a structural transformation. It is said that this transformation is to blame for this Pokémon's wildly violent nature.
9. Game Freak (29 July 2001). Pokémon Crystal (Game Boy Color). Nintendo. Pokédex: It appears whenever there is world conflict, burning down any place it travels through.
10. Tapsell, Chris (18 April 2017). "Famous red Gyarados among the first Shinies added to Pokémon Go in latest update". Eurogamer. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
11. ^ Game Freak (15 October 2000). Pokémon Gold (Game Boy Color). Nintendo. Pokédex:
12. ^ Game Freak (22 April 2007). Pokémon Diamond (Nintendo DS). Nintendo. Pokédex:
13. Game Freak (30 September 1998). Pokémon Red (Game Boy). Nintendo. Pokédex:
14. Game Freak (1 May 2005). Pokémon Emerald (Game Boy Advance). Nintendo. Pokédex:
15. "Detective Pikachu Artist Teases Scrapped Charizard vs Gyarados Battle". Anime.
16. Elston, Brett. "The complete Pokemon RBY Pokedex, part 12". GamesRadar. Future Publishing. p. 9. Archived from the original on 23 December 2017. Retrieved 3 October 2009.
17. "The 100 Best Pokémon". Paste. 27 February 2017.
18. "The Top 10 Pokemon of All Time". The Escapist. 27 February 2016.
19. "Pokemon Face-Off: IGN Readers Have Chosen Which Pocket Monster Is the Very Best". IGN Southeast Asia. 15 March 2021.
20. "Cool Pokemon". Official Nintendo Magazine. 8 October 2014. Archived from the original on 8 October 2014.
21. Webster, Andrew (27 February 2016). "The 10 best Pokemon of all time". The Verge.
22. "The 50 Best Pokemon Up to "Pokemon Crystal"". Complex.
23. John Mix Meyer (4 March 2011). "Review: Pokémon Black and White Mix New Monsters, Old Fun | GameLife". Wired. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
24. "Gyarados Biography". IGN. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved 3 October 2009.
25. Sam. "Gyarados - #11 Top Pokémon - IGN". IGN. Retrieved 4 March 2012.
26. Frushtick, Russ (26 September 2018). "37 first-gen Pokemon that should be wiped from existence". Polygon.
27. Jack DeVries (24 March 2011). "Which Pokemon Game is Better Than Pokemon Black and White? - Nintendo 64 Feature at IGN". IGN. Archived from the original on 18 October 2012. Retrieved 1 April 2011.
28. Dekirk, Ash (28 May 2017). Dragonlore: From the Archives of the Grey School of Wizardry. Career Press. ISBN 9781564148681. Retrieved 28 May 2017 – via Google Books.
29. Lipperini, Loredana (2000). Generazione Pokémon. Castelvecchi. ISBN 9788882102494. Retrieved 1 April 2011 – via Google Books.
30. West, Tracy; Noll, Katherine (September 2006). Pokémon Top 10 Handbook. Scholastic Inc. ISBN 0-439-89047-0.
31. "Venusaur and Gyarados Receive DX Pokémon Gallery Figures - Hardcore Gamer". 9 August 2020.
32. "Pikachu On These Pokemon Toys and Cards". Fatherly. 6 May 2019.
33. Dwyer, Theo (26 June 2021). "Gyarados VMAX To Feature In Pokémon TCG: Sky Stream". Bleeding Cool News And Rumors.

External links

• Gyarados on Bulbapedia
• Gyarados on Pokemon.com

• Articles to be merged from December 2023
• Dragon characters in video games
• Fictional characters who can manipulate darkness or shadows
• Fictional sea monsters
• Pokémon species
• Video game bosses
• Video game characters introduced in 1996
• Video game characters with air or wind abilities
• Video game characters with water abilities