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It is not known to evolve into or from any other Pokémon. However, as of Generation III, Unown has 28 derivative shapes. There are 26 Latin alphabet characters, plus two punctuation marks: ? (question mark) and ! (exclamation mark). In Generation II its shape is determined by its individual values, whereas in Generation III and beyond, it is determined by its personality value.
They tend to stick to walls or orbit other Unown when in a group.
Physiology
Unown are floating, flat, eye-shaped Pokémon with appendages that make them resemble letters. They are black all over. All alphabetic Unown have fully open eyes while the two punctuation Unown have half-closed eyes.
Gender differences
This Pokémon is genderless.
Different forms
Unown has 28 different forms, one for each letter of the alphabet, as well as a form for an exclamation point (!) and a question mark (?). These are chronicled in the Unown Dex in Generation II and the Unown Report in HeartGold and SoulSilver.
The exclamation point and question mark forms were not introduced until Generation III.
There are also many glitch forms.
Special abilities
Unown's only known move in battle is the enigmatic Hidden Power.
In the anime, they are capable of reading the thoughts of other lifeforms. Great numbers of them are capable of warping reality to suit the dreams and wishes of whoever they read the thoughts of and is in control of the Unown.
Their mind reading ability seems to suggest that they should be able to learn Mind Reader. However, they can only do this when more Unown are present, so it could be a shared effort rather than an ability unique to each Unown.
Behavior
Unown can make telepathic contact with humans (as well as many other creatures). Unown have a timidness that makes them rarely venture outside of their dimension.
Unown play a large role in the third movie, creating the illusions which drive the plot.
Notes about Unown can be seen on Professor Oak's computer at the beginning of the movie. The information (as presented in the Japanese version) has been cleaned up and transcribed here:
Because of their very timid and careful character, Unown do not want to go out to the external world.
Unown have the power to perceive the feelings of other creatures (including human beings).
Unown communicate with each other over electromagnetic waves but cannot use telepathy.
Given all this, Unown are still classified as a species of Pokémon, as opposed to any other sort of creature.
Other
An Unown fell out of the Unown dimension in Address Unown. After it was healed by the group, it helped defend against Team Rocket and its mind merged with that of Ash's Larvitar so that the group could help it to address its inner pain.
The tablet
Markings of Unown were on a tablet in Top-Down Training. Many Unown appeared in Journey to the Unown!, also the same tablet from it's previous appearance is shown.
The tablet is written (in Romaji):
FRIEND SUBETE NO INOCHI HA BETSU NO INOCHI TO DEAI NANIKA WO UMIDASU (In the dub, Dawn reads it as "When every life meets another life, something will be born").
Minor appearances
Multiple Unown also made a brief appearance in The Rise of Darkrai fleeing from Dialga and Palkia in a different dimension.
Unown, the Symbol Pokémon. Unown are said to have existed since ancient times. There are many in form and shape but little is known about this mysterious Pokémon.
Unown, the Symbol Pokémon. Unown use telepathy to communicate with each other. Many different shapes of Unown have been discovered.
In the manga
Pokémon Adventures
Unown first appeared in Volume 8 when Gold and Bugsy were in the Ruins of Alph. Gold had his Sunkern use Flash to blind Team Rocket, but accidentally disturbed the Unown from their slumber with the light from Flash. Bugsy later returns to study the Ruins further in Volume 11, where he captures an Unown (G).
Unown later appear in Volume 24, having been awakened by Sird from the Tanoby Ruins to use as a distraction while she fought Lorelei. The Unown later appear again throughout the volume, being employed by Team Rocket as living security cameras while impeding the progress of Red, Blue and Green.
It also appeared in DP saga when Diamond, Pearl and Platinum were visiting Solaceon Town. Diamond and Pearl befriended two Unown (D and P) who behaved like them.
Unown's most recent appearance is in the HGSS saga, being summoned forth at the Sinjoh Ruins while Arceus is attempting a creation ritual much like on the games. Unlike the games however, no Cynthia is present, all three of Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina appear, most likely under the influence of the Executives, known as the Four Generals in the manga.
When one Unown is released from a Poké Ball it will fly off the screen. It then returns with a large swarm similar to what Beedrill did in the original Super Smash Bros. The only difference is that Beedrill only attack from left or right while Unown can come from any direction. Any opponent caught in this is damaged and juggled.
There are also a number of Unown Pokéfloats. In the second half of the cycle, a number fly across the screen. Towards the end of the cycle, staying on the stage relies on hopping between the Unown.
Trophy Information
These Psychic-type symbol Pokémon resemble ancient hieroglyphics found on rocks, a resemblance that's said to be more than superficial. Quite a few different shapes of Unown have been confirmed, and it's believed that each type has unique abilities. These enigmatic Pokémon can be found in the Ruins of Alph.
Game data
Pokédex entries
This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation II.
This Pokémon is shaped like ancient writing. It is a mystery as to which came first, the ancient writings or the various Unown. Research into this topic is ongoing but nothing is known.
This Pokémon is shaped like ancient text characters. Although research is ongoing, it is a mystery as to which came first, the ancient writings or the various Unown.
It is the first non-legendary to be in a central role in a Pokémon movie: Spell of the Unown.
In the movie Professor Oak had some pictures of unreleased Unown on his computer. They resemble a few Greek alphabet letters, especially σ (lowercase sigma), Σ (capital sigma), Π (pi) and Ω (omega). However, lowercase letters have never been made into Unown before, so this may be an error or a misinterpretation by fans. The top-middle Unown may be also a variation of an ancient Egyptian symbol of protection, the Eye of Horus, or the Russian letter Я (ya). This may lead to the conclusion that there are more forms of Unown, being the prototypes of other known (or unknown) alphabets.
It is, however, possible that the creators of the carvings drew Unown in the form of other letters and symbols, even if actual living equivalents did not exist.
Despite being in the book of legendary Pokémon owned by Molly Hale, Unown is not considered a legendary Pokémon.
It's also stated that the Unown communicate with each other using electromagnetic waves, specifically noting that they don't use telepathy. However, this is contradicted by a later episode as well as Unown's Pearl Pokédex entry.
Unown apparently generate a radio signal where they are found in large numbers, which can be listened to by any Trainer with a Pokégear. If the player listens closely, the radio signal plays the melody of the Azure Flute.
If a player does not have Unown's Pokédex data on a Generation II game when in Oak's lab in Pokémon Stadium 2, Unown's Pokédex number is listed as 252 instead of 201. This happens regardless of which Pokédex display mode is selected.
Unown, Nidorina, Nidoqueen, and Ditto are the only non-legendary, non-baby Pokémon that cannot breed with Ditto.
Unown is the only Pokémon that has a base stat total of 336.
It has the smallest movepool of all Pokémon, learning only one move, Hidden Power, and being unable to learn any other moves through TMs, HMs, and Pokémon breeding (as it cannot breed). It shares this distinction with Ditto and Smeargle; however, unlike Unown, Ditto and Smeargle can potentially expand their movepools through the use of Transform and Sketch respectively.
Unown is the only Pokémon, barring external modification, with which it is not possible to enter a Super Contest, as Ditto can be afflicted with the Rage glitch to have more than one move.
Despite having their own movie about their power, they are relatively weak in the games due to a very shallow move pool and a low base stat total.
Their power of warping reality is rarely acknowledged in the games. Only the Pokédex data in Pokémon Platinum hints to their power, saying that "an odd power is said to emerge" when two or more are together. This is partially confirmed in HeartGold and SoulSilver when the powers of Arceus and the Unown affect each other to create a huge energy, warping the player to the Sinjoh Ruins.
Their appearances are corruptions of the modern Latin alphabet, as well as the exclamation point (!) and question mark (?) punctuation marks. The shapes of the Unown are used like runes in the Pokémon world, although in Hoenn and the Sevii Islands their place has been taken by Braille.
Name origin
Unown is a corruption of the word unknown. Its Japanese name is simply Unknown.
Senseless, only in Spell of the Unown, where it was mistakenly translated.
Norwegian (anime only)
Ukjent
Unknown, only in Address Unown!, where it was mistakenly translated.
Swedish (anime only)
Okänd
Unknown, only in Address Unown!, where it was mistakenly translated. Also of note is that Unown is often referred to with very bad grammar, for example: "the place where Unknown comes from".
This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.