This reptilian Pokémon resembles a snake (its English name even being the word "snake" spelled backward while other languages use an anagram of the word "boa"). It has a rattle at the tip of its tail, and is mostly purple while its underbelly, eyes, rattle, and the "bands" on it are yellow.
Gender differences
None.
Special abilities
Ekans are able to detach their jaws to swallow large prey whole, although this makes their bodies heavy. It can also use its tongue to sense danger, and can move quietly through the grass.
Behavior
Like actual snakes, Ekans will lash out with a bite when frightened by anything it sees as a threat. If one happens to be bitten by a young Ekans, they are lucky. As an Ekans, it doesn't possess the ability to add poison to its bite until after it evolves into an Arbok, though this last bit of information clashes with Ekans's dungeon phrase.
Ekans' favorite food is eggs from Pidgey and Spearow nests.
In the anime
Ekans in the anime
Major appearances
Ekans was part of "Team Meanies" in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Team Go-Getters out of the Gate! Special. Gengar commanded the Poisonous Snake Pokémon to eat all the berries Team Go-Getters collected. At one point, Ekans was incorrectly referred to as Arbok by Gengar. While this was an intentional error that Ekans rebuked in the original version (due to the similarities in the Japanese names), this came across as a general mistake in the dub and was corrected in reairings of the episode.
Jessie had an Ekans, which for most of the original series, was her only Pokémon. It was extremely loyal to her and eventually evolved into an Arbok just to make her happy.
A pair of Ekans, the Ekans Brothers, are part of the supporting cast in the manga Magical Pokémon Journey. Led by Arbok, they are originally antagonists, but later they befriend the main characters when Arbok gets a crush on Wigglytuff.
An Ekans curls itself up in a spiral while it rests. This position allows it to quickly respond to an enemy from any direction with a threat from its upraised head.
Ekans was originally going to use its Japanese name as its English name, "Arbo".
Ekans' name, if spelled backwards, is "snake".
In The Power of One, it is shown that Ekans can swim, though to date it has never been able to learn Surf.
Strangely, even though Ekans was shown swimming, its evolution was seen with all the other Pokémon that were "stuck on land and unable to do a thing."
Stranger still, Arbok was shown to be able to swim without the need for air in The Misty Mermaid.
An Ekans was originally going to be featured in Pokémon Snap, shown in an early test shot of an environment that was never featured in the final product. This is also true of its evolution, Arbok.
The line in front of Ekans's eyes, which curve to meet the other eye, when seen from above, looks like the pattern of the Spectacled Cobra.
Ekans is the first pure Poison Pokémon in the National Pokédex order, though Bulbasaur's and Weedle's evolutionary lines, which are secondarily Poison, come before it.
Despite in-game text stating that young Ekans's bites are the least dangerous because they don't have any poison, in real-life, young snake's bites are the most dangerous, because not only can they secrete venom, but they inject all of their venom in a single bite, due to their inability to control their alveoli
Origin
It appears to be based upon a boa and rattlesnake. However, its lack of teeth or venom, ability to swallow large prey, reference to it eating Pokémon eggs and its reaction to threats may mean it might have been based on an egg eating snake.
Name origin
Ekans's name is snake spelled backwards. Arbo (アーボ Ābo) is anagram of Boa (ボア Boa).
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 Ekans images on Bulbagarden Archives.
