Houndour is a dog-like Pokémon with short, black fur. It has a red underbelly and snout. Houndour has short, pointed ears and a tail. Houndour’s fangs protrude out of its mouth, and its nose is dark in coloration. There are white bands on Houndour's ankles, and more rib-like ones on its back. Houndour appears to have a simplistic, stylized skull on its forehead, with the orbits looking much like ‘eyebrow’ patterning commonly seen on dogs. Houndour also has circular, red-colored patterning on the underside of its paws.
Houndour hunting packs show off unparalleled teamwork.
Behavior
Houndour normally travel in packs. They are very protective of one another and will not abandon any of its pack if they are hurt. It can be presumed that, as Houndour hunt in packs, that they are fairly smart. Houndour use a variety of cries, and different ones for pursuing prey and communicating with others. Houndour convey their feelings using different cries, and corner prey by checking each other’s location using barks. Around dawn, Houndour’s ominous howl echoes through the area to announce its ownership of its territory.
Houndour made its anime debut in Hour of the Houndour. A pack of these Pokémon were stealing food to aid their badly wounded leader. Ash helped the ailing Houndour to a Pokémon Center.
A Houndour also appeared in Pikachu & Pichu. This particular Houndour can normally be seen chasing the Pichu Brothers.
A Houndour chased the Pichu Brothers twice in Pichu Bros. in Party Panic. It's unknown if this Houndour is the same in Pikachu and Pichu but it seems improbable since that Houndour made friends with the Pichu Brothers.
Houndour, the Dark Pokémon. Houndour travel in packs and communicate though barks in order to surround their prey.
In the manga
In Pokémon Adventures, Gold is attacked by and defeated by four Pokémon, including a Houndour, when he enters the Ilex Forest, and is then warned to stay out by the Masked Man.
This Houndour is later used against Lt. Surge during his battle against the Masked Man, where its howls summon a herd of wild Houndour to aid it in battle. Although their constant howling prevented Lt. Surge from moving, he is able to have multiple Electrode use Self Destruct to knock them down, allowing Surge to flee during the confusion.
Houndour hunt as a coordinated pack. They communicate with each other using a variety of cries to corner their prey. This Pokémon's remarkable teamwork is unparalleled.
Houndour is similar to a Doberman or a Rottweiler, but it may have been inspired by Cerberus or other legends of hellhounds.
Name origin
Its name is a combination of hound and dour, or harshness.
Its name could also be a misspelling of "hundur" the Icelandic word for dog.
Its Japanese name is a corruption of devil.
In other languages
German: Hunduster - A combination of Hund (dog) and düster (dire).
French: Malosse - From mal (evil) and molosse (Molossian hound). Familiarly molosse refers to a bulky dog or a watchdog.
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.