Characteristic

Characteristics are a feature in the Pokémon games, introduced in Generation IV. A Pokémon's Characteristic indicates which stat contains a Pokémon's highest IV. It is displayed on the Pokémon's profile screen where its Nature, date met, place met, and flavor preference (Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum only) are shown.

A Pokémon's Characteristic is determined by the remainder of its highest IV divided by 5 (known as modulo operation in programming). Since it is built this way, Pokémon transferred from the games of Generation III via Pal Park have a Characteristic without their stats being changed.

List of Characteristics

Possible Individual Values	HP	Attack	Defense	Special Attack	Special Defense	Speed
0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30	Loves to eat	Proud of its power	Sturdy body	Highly curious	Strong willed	Likes to run
1, 6, 11, 16, 21, 26, 31	Takes plenty of siestas	Likes to thrash about	Capable of taking hits	Mischievous	Somewhat vain	Alert to sounds
2, 7, 12, 17, 22, 27	Nods off a lot	A little quick tempered	Highly persistent	Thoroughly cunning	Strongly defiant	Impetuous and silly
3, 8, 13, 18, 23, 28	Scatters things often	Likes to fight	Good endurance	Often lost in thought	Hates to lose	Somewhat of a clown
4, 9, 14, 19, 24, 29	Likes to relax	Quick tempered	Good perseverance	Very finicky	Somewhat stubborn	Quick to flee

Note that having a certain Characteristic does not necessarily imply that the highest possible value for an IV is present. A Pokémon with an "Alert to sounds" Characteristic could have a 6 in Speed (and thus very low IVs across all of its stats since none could be higher than 6) instead of a 31 in Speed.

Mistranslations

In Generations IV and V, two of the Characteristics were not properly translated from the Japanese releases. The HP Characteristics corresponding to IVs of 1 and 2 were accidentally replaced by the Characteristics corresponding to IVs of 2 and 3, respectively. So, rather than the HP Characteristics being ordered "Takes plenty of siestas", "Nods off a lot" (i.e., "Often dozes off"), and "Scatters things often" as they should have been, they were ordered "Often dozes off", "Often scatters things", "Scatters things often" (note that the last two are different, but only trivially).

Ties

In the event of a tie in highest IVs, the IV that determines the Pokémon's Characteristic is decided in the following manner:

Start with the Pokémon's personality value mod 6. The result is an index number of a stat in this order: HP, Attack, Defense, Speed, Special Attack, Special Defense. In the event of a tie in IVs, the first IV checked is the IV corresponding to that index number. If that IV is not part of the tie, the game moves on to the next index number in the aforementioned order. If it goes past 5 (Special Defense), it wraps around back to 0 (HP). When the game finds an IV that is part of the tie, that is the IV that will determine the Characteristic displayed.

Examples

A Mudkip has the following IVs:

	Hit Points	Attack	Defense	Speed	Sp. Attack	Sp. Defense
	24	18	17	29	24	27

Since its highest IV is 29 in Speed, its Characteristic will be "Quick to flee."

A Ditto has the following IVs and a personality value of 1467750821 in base 10:

	Hit Points	Attack	Defense	Speed	Sp. Attack	Sp. Defense
	8	0	0	17	17	10

Since its highest IV is 17 in both Speed and Special Attack, the result of 1467750821 mod 6, or 5, is used to check against the IV in Special Defense. Since the Special Defense is not part of the tie, the game moves on and wraps back until it reaches Speed, which is part of the tie. Its Characteristic will be "Impetuous and silly."

In other languages

English	Kana	Rōmaji	French	German	Italian	Spanish	Hangul	Romanized	Hànzì	Romanized
A little quick tempered	ちょっとおこりっぽい	Chotto okorippoi	Un peu coléreux	Besitzt Temperament	Si arrabbia facilmente	A veces se enfada	약간 화를 잘 내는 성미임	Yaggan hwareul jal naen'eun seongmi'im
Alert to sounds	ものおとにびんかん	Mono'oto ni binkan	Attentif aux sons	Achtet auf Geräusche	Fa attenzione ai suoni	Oído siempre alerta	주위 소리에 민감함	Juwi sorie mingamham
Capable of taking hits	うたれづよい	Utare dzuyoi	Sait encaisser les coups	Kann Treffer gut ab Kann Treffer gut verkraften	Forte in attacco	Buen fajador	맷집이 강함	Maesjip'i gangham
Good endurance	しんぼうづよい	Shinbō dzuyoi	Bonne endurance	Hat eine gute Ausdauer	Molto paziente	Muy resistente	인내심이 강함	Innaesim'i gangham
Good perseverance	がまんづよい	Gaman dzuyoi	Persévérant	Ist beharrlich	Molto tenace	Muy perseverante	잘 참음	Jal cham'eum
Hates to lose	まけずぎらい	Makezu girai	A horreur de perdre	Hasst Niederlagen	Non sopporta perdere	Odia perder	지기 싫어함	Jigi sir'eoham
Highly curious	こうきしんがつよい	Kōkishin ga tsuyoi	Extrêmement curieux	Sehr neugierig	Grande ficcanaso	Extremadamente curioso	호기심이 강함	Hogisim'i gangham
Highly persistent	ねばりづよい	Nebari dzuyoi	Très obstiné	Äußerst ausdauernd	Molto ostinato	Muy persistente	끈질김	Kkeunjilgim
Impetuous and silly	おっちょこちょい	Occhokochoi	Bête et impulsif	Ungestüm und einfältig	Irruente e semplice	Impetuoso y bobo	촐랑대는 성격임	Chollangdaeneun seonggyeok'im
Likes to fight	ケンカをするのがすき	Kenka wo suru no ga suki	Aime combattre	Liebt Kämpfe	Adora combattere	Le gusta luchar	싸움을 좋아함	Ssaum'eul jo'aham
Likes to relax	のんびりするのがすき	Nonbiri suru no ga suki	Aime se détendre	Mag es, sich zu entspannen	Adora rilassarsi	Le gusta relajarse	유유자적함을 좋아함	Yuyujajeokham'eul jo'aham
Likes to run	かけっこがすき	Kakekko ga suki	Aime courir	Liebt es zu rennen	Adora correre	Le gusta correr	약간 우쭐쟁이임	Yaggan Ujjuljaeng'iim
Likes to thrash about	あばれることがすき	Abareru koto ga suki	Aime se démener	Prügelt sich gerne	Adora dimenarsi	Le gusta revolverse	난동부리기를 좋아함	Nandong buligileul jo'aham
Loves to eat	たべるのがだいすき	Taberu no ga daisuki	Adore manger	Liebt es zu essen	Adora mangiare	Le encanta comer	먹는 것을 제일 좋아함	Meogneun geos'eul je'il jo'aham
Mischievous	イタズラがすき	Itazura ga suki	Coquin	Hinterhältig	Alquanto vivace	Travieso	매우 꼼꼼함	Maeu kkomkkomham
Often dozes off Takes plenty of siestas	ひるねをよくする	Hirune wo yoku suru	S'assoupit souvent	Nickt oft ein	Si addormenta spesso	A menudo se duerme	낮잠을 잘 잠	Naj'jam'eul jal jam
Often lost in thought	かんがえごとがおおい	Kangae goto ga ooi	Souvent dans la lune	Ist oft in Gedanken	Si perde nel suo mondo	A menudo está en Babia	걱정거리가 많음	Geogjeong'georiga Man'eum
Often scatters things Nods off a lot	いねむりがおおい	Inemuri ga ooi	Dort beaucoup	Schläft gerne	Dorme a lungo	Duerme muncho	말뚝잠이 많음	Malttugjam'i man'eum
Proud of its power	ちからがじまん	Chikara ga jiman	Est fier de sa puissance	Stolz auf seine Stärke	La forza è il suo vanto	Orgulloso de su fuerza	힘자랑이 특기임	Himjalang'i teug'giim
Quick tempered	ちのけがおおい	Chinoke ga ooi	S'emporte facilement	Impulsiv	Facilmente irritabile	Tiene mal genio	혈기가 왕성함	Hyeolgiga wangseongham
Quick to flee	にげるのがはやい	Nigeru no ga hayai	Fuit rapidement	Flüchtet schnell	Sa fuggire velocemente	Huye rápido	도망에는 선수임	Domang'eneun seonsu'im
Scatters things often	ものをよくちらかす	Mono wo yokuchira kasu	Éparpille des choses	Macht oft Unordnung	Lascia cose in giro	Suele desordenar cosas	물건을 잘 어지름	Mulgeon'eul jal eojireum
Somewhat of a clown	すこしおちょうしもの	Sukoshi occhōshimono	Aime faire le pitre	Ist fast wie ein Clown	Una specie di buffone	Es un poco payaso	약간 우쭐쟁이임	Yag'gan u'jjuljaeng'iim
Somewhat stubborn	ちょっぴりごうじょう	Choppiri gōjō	Assez entêté	Dickköpfig	Un po' testardo	Un poco cabezota	조금 고집통이임	Jogeum gojibtong'iim
Somewhat vain	ちょっぴりみえっぱり	Choppiri mieppari	Un peu vaniteux	Irgendwie eitel	Abbastanza superficiale	Algo orgulloso	조금 겉치레를 좋아함	Jogeum geotchirereul jo'aham
Strong willed	きがつよい	Ki ga tsuyoi	Très volontaire	Besitzt starken Willen	Sa il fatto suo	Voluntarioso	기가 센 성격임	Giga sen seong'gyeog'im
Strongly defiant	まけんきがつよい	Makenki ga tsuyoi	Esprit rebelle	Sehr aufsässig	Molto insolente	Muy insolente	오기가 센 성격임	Ogiga sen seong'gyeog'im
Sturdy body	からだがじょうぶ	Karada ga jōbu	Corps robuste	Hat robusten Körper	Ha un corpo robusto	Cuerpo resistente	몸이 튼튼함	Mom'i teunteunham
Thoroughly cunning	ぬけめがない	Nukeme ga nai	Très astucieux	Äußerst gerissen	Estremamente sagace	Muy astuto	빈틈이 없음	Binteum'i eobs'eum
Very finicky	とてもきちょうめん	Totemo kichōmen	Très particulier	Sehr pedantisch	Molto esigente	Muy melindroso	매우 꼼꼼함	Maeu kkomkkomham

Pokémon individuality
Level • Stats • Friendship • Gender • Ability (Hidden Ability) • Nature • Characteristic Effort values • Individual values • Go Power • Effort level Condition • Performance • Affection • Memory

This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.