It is not known to evolve into or from any other Pokémon.
It is often considered to be closely related to Ho-Oh as a duo, even sometimes as its polar opposite. Silver represents Lugia as "guardian of the seas", and Gold represents Ho-Oh as "guardian of the skies."
Lugia is a large Pokémon that resembles a dragon, a plesiosaur, and a bird. It is primarily pale silver-white, but it has blue undersides with slightly varying tones. It has a ridged mouth similar to a beak, although it has pointed teeth on its lower jaw. Its head has a point to the back, and Lugia’s eyes have pointed blue or black spikes on them. Lugia has a long, slender neck and a smooth, streamlined body, with the exception of dark blue or black plate-like protrusions that run down the length of its back, and two smaller ones on the ends of their tails. It can fold back these plates to increase its speed. It has large wings that resemble hands. Though it is genderless, young Lugia has been observed, suggesting that there is a breeding population. Lugia has been shown to be fiercely protective of its young.
Lugia leads the Legendary birds. When they fight over territory, Lugia is the only Pokémon that can quell their ceaseless fighting, as observed in the second Pokémon movie. Much like the birds, it possesses the ability to control the weather; most notably, it can calm and give rise to storms. It is said that a light flutter of its wings is capable of causing winds powerful enough to tear down cliffs. If it were to flap its wings, it could hypothetically spawn storms lasting as long as 40 days. It is highly intelligent, and because of the devastating power it could accidentally inflict, it isolates itself deep underwater and tends to sleep in solitude. Lugia is the only known Pokémon that learns Aeroblast. It is extremely rare and is hardly ever seen.
A parent Lugia and its child (nicknamed Silver by Oliver) lived near Silver Rock Isle in the Whirl Islands. Dr. Namba attempted to capture both the parent Lugia and Silver for Giovanni in The Mystery is History, A Parent Trapped!. and A Promise is a Promise. Ash and Misty (Brock was not along with them) act as if this was their first time seeing a Lugia, as if the second movie never took place. Meowth, as well, said that he'd "never seen a Pokémon like that before!" On the contrary, the dub pays mention of the Lugia that was seen in the Orange Islands, with both James and Ash stating that it was "like" the one they'd seen in the Orange Islands. In both versions, Ash first refers to the baby Lugia as a "mysterious Pokémon."
A Lugia is set to appear in M18, along with the creation trio, the Tao trio, the Eon duo, Arceus, and Regigigas. It's currently unknown if it's the same Lugia as the one in M02 or just a wild one.
In the manga
Lugia in Pokémon Pocket Monsters
In the Pokémon Adventures manga
The Elite Four tried to exterminate humans using a Lugia (unnamed at the time) in the Yellow arc. The Masked Man apparently caught Lugia twice (its plucked feather item Silver Wing is shown under his possession several years ago, only to be stolen by Green), but both times it went back to the wild along with Ho-Oh. It was first encountered in Volume 7 as a being of shimmering light (long before most Generation II Pokémon were known) when Lance summoned it to aid his schemes of eliminating most of mankind, but it wasn't until much later in Volume 12 that it was properly identified as Lugia. Besides the two, it was also controlled for some time by Will and Karen while they were under the Masked Man's jurisdiction.
In The Electric Tale of Pikachu manga
Lugia makes a brief appearance at the end of the chapter Epilogue: Wild Type.
In the Pokémon Gotta Catch 'Em All manga
Shu captured Lugia once, but released it in order to let it continue protecting the ocean.
When released from a Poké Ball, Lugia will fly up out of the stage and return in the background, where it unleashes a powerful Aeroblast on the stage.
Melee trophy information
The waters of the Whirl Islands are home to this legendary Pokémon, whom very few have seen. Lugia live quietly in the deepest ocean trenches for one very good reason: its combined aerial and psychic powers are so strong as to be extremely dangerous. The special moves of this gargantuan creature include the destructive wind assault known as Aeroblast.
Brawl trophy information
"A Diving Pokémon. A legendary Pokémon often referred to as 'guardian of the seas,' it has the impressive ability to control the wind. Lugia typically spends its time quietly at the bottom of the ocean. Highly powerful in all areas, Lugia's Aeroblast move is especially powerful. It uses strong flapping of its wings to target damage on a foe's weak spot."
3DS trophy information
NA: Despite being a Psychic/Flying-type Pokémon, Lugia sleeps on the ocean floor. Legend says the flapping of Lugia's wings can create storms that last up to 40 days. It's impossible to know for sure, but in Smash Bros., Lugia definitely brings a storm with its Aeroblast attack.
PAL: Despite being a Psychic- and Flying-type, Lugia sleeps on the ocean floor. It's said that if it were to flap its wings on waking up, it could cause a storm lasting 40 days. No one can say whether that's true or not, but Lugia's attacks certainly make it seem so. It flies behind the stage and creates a mighty gust of wind with its Aeroblast attack.
Game data
Pokédex entries
This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation II.
Lugia's wings pack devastating power - a light fluttering of its wings can blow apart regular houses. As a result, this Pokémon chooses to live out of sight deep under the sea.
Lugia's wings pack devastating power — a light fluttering of its wings can blow apart regular houses. As a result, this Pokémon chooses to live out of sight deep under the sea.
Lugia's Generation IV, V, and VI Pokédex entries that mention it being able to cause a 40-day storm may be a biblical reference to Noah's Ark.
When Lugia's Shiny form is shown in Pokémon Stadium 2, it is green rather than pink.
Origin
Lugia's tendency for being underwater resembles plesiosaurs. It is also possible that Lugia is based on Ryūjin, a dragon who lived on the ocean floor and was the Shinto god of the sea. The two have similarities in mythology, and Lugia's Shiny colors (red and white) are the same colors as the coral Ryujin's palace was made of. The beluga whale, a white whale with a similar body shape and coloration to Lugia, may also be a basis for Lugia's design and name. Lugia's back fins and tail spikes are reminiscent of the Stegosaurus.
Name origin
Lugia may be derived from lutetium (a silverish element), which in turn is named after Lutetia (the Roman name for Paris, the city of light). It may also involve Lugeo (Latin for to lie dormant, alluding to the way Lugia lies at the bottom of the sea) and luna (Latin for moon). Alternatively, it may come from beluga whale.
In other languages
Language
Title
Meaning
Japanese
ルギア Lugia
From lutetium, Lutetia, lugeo, luna, and beluga whale
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.
For other sprites and images, please see Lugia images on the Bulbagarden Archives.
