Mawile are short yellow and black Pokémon. Their legs have yellow coverings that give the appearance of a dress or bellbottom pants, and their feet and arms are black. Their most famous feature, though, is a pair of huge, black, toothy, jaw-like horns with a yellow spot on its surface that grow from the backs of their heads. They are able to open and close these jaws at will and use them to bite or ward off potential threats. Mawile also has drooping black extensions from the sides of its head which can be presumed to be ears and red eyes.
Gender differences
None.
Special abilities
Their abilities range from Hyper Cutter, which prevents the power of their attack from ever lowering, to Intimidate, which lowers the attack power of the opponent. Both abilities are used to ensure that Mawile is the Pokémon with the higher attack power in battle.
Behavior
Rather than attacking an opponent head on, this Pokémon lives up to its nickname, the deceiver. It will turn its back to its foes and cleverly use its dual horns which are disguised as a pair of huge jaws, making it look much more vicious and powerful than it really is.
Its huge steel jaws may suggest that it's a carnivore, but it is unknown for certain. However, they do have an affinity with the Occa Berry, as they are occasionally found with this berry.
In the anime
Mawile in the anime
Mawile first appeared in Once in a Mawile. The Deceiver Pokémon was owned by a woman named Samantha, a performer in a show, and had a crush on Brock's Lombre, but Lombre didn't feel any affection for Mawile. After the Jolly Pokémon evolved into a Ludicolo by finding a Water Stone in Samantha's backpack, it finally found itself affectionate toward Mawile. However, Mawile decided it didn't like the fully evolved Ludicolo and moved on to another boy's Psyduck.
Mawile, the Deceiver Pokémon. Mawile has jaw-like appendages at the ends of its steel horns. It decieves any opponent who lower its guard with its hypnotic expression, then quickly spins around to bite them.
In the manga
Ruby was attacked by a group of Mawile when he met Steven Stone in Granite Cave. Mawile also appear in volume 26, the first volume of the Emerald arc, used in a battle by Factory Head Noland.
Mawhile's huge jaws are actually steel horns that have been transformed. Its docile-looking face serves to lull its foe into letting down its guard. When the foe least expects it, Mawhile chomps it with its gaping jaws.
Don't be taken by this Pokémon's cute face - it's very dangerous. Mawile fools the foe into letting down its guard then chomps down with its massive jaws. The steel jaws are really horns that have been transformed.
Its giant jaws are actually steel horns that transformed. It fools foes into complacency with its adorable gestures, then chomps them with its huge jaws.
Mawile's Ruby Pokédex entry erroneously has its name spelled "Mawhile". This mistake is only present in the American versions and was corrected for the English versions available in other regions.
Mawile seems to be the counterpart of Sableye. Both of them are version-exclusive of Ruby and Sapphire, as well as in HeartGold and SoulSilver as Swarm Pokémon. They also have the same base stat total (Specifically, with the same amounts of base HP and Speed stats). Uniquely, Mawile is the single-type Pokémon with the most number of resistance, while Sableye is dual-types with no weakness.
In Generation III, Mawile is unable to learn any damaging Steel-type moves. In Generation IV, it can only learn one Steel-type move, Iron Head.
It may have been based on the Japanese legend of the futakuchi-onna, a woman with a mouth in the back of her head. The fact that it can learn various Template:Type2 moves may indicate a relation to a carnivorous plant, similar to Carnivine.
Name origin
Mawile's name is a combination of maw, the mouth of a voracious animal, and wile, a stratagem or trick intended to deceive or ensnare. Kucheat is a combination of 口 kuchi, mouth, and English cheat or eat.
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.