Zorua is a slate gray, fox-like Pokémon with red and black accents. Its ears are triangular with dark insides, and it has a large tuft of fur tipped with red on top of its head. It has greenish blue eyes with red eyelids. There are circular, red markings above the eyes that resemble eyebrows. Its muzzle is short and tapered with two small fangs seen in the upper jaw when its mouth is open. Zorua possesses a ruff of black fur around its neck and four short limbs tipped with red. Its tail is short and bushy. Zorua can change its physical appearance, though this transformation is merely an illusion as it keeps its own type and moves.
Zorua keeps its true form hidden to ensure its safety, and takes on the appearance of other Pokémon to frighten off enemies. Sometimes it will take the form of a silent child. As evident in its movie debut, whenever a Zorua takes on a human form, its tail remains. When the tail is touched or grabbed, it reverts to its true form instantly. It is mischievous and loves to surprise others. Zorua and Zoroark are the only Pokémon capable of learning Night Daze.
Zorua debuted in the thirteenth Pokémon movie, Zoroark: Master of Illusions, where it was used by the antagonist, Grings Kodai, to blackmail its foster mother Zoroark into attacking Crown City. It escaped and met Ash and his friends, before befriending Celebi. Zorua and Celebi were captured by Kodai, but were able to defeat him with help from Zoroark and the three Shinylegendary beasts serving as Crown City's guardians.
A Zorua appeared in a flashback in The Island of Illusions!. It was a Pokémon taken care by the Nurse Joy years in the past. It eventually evolved into a Zoroark.
A Zorua appeared in Castelia City where it fought Black's Tep, teasing it throughout the entire battle before escaping. The same Zorua later appears to wreak havoc on the Driftveil Drawbridge. Later, it is revealed that this Zorua worked alongside N.
In the Pokémon RéBURST manga
Hariru has a Zorua, which evolved into Zoroark, in which he can use it as a Burst form.
Pokémon Rumble Blast; Zorua is one of Cobalion's minions. It acts as a guide during Chapter 3, and helps the player to Firebreathing Mountain where it reveals its true intentions and calls in an army of Fossil Pokémon as well as a Zoroark. It was later rusted when Cobalion's forces tried to infiltrate the World Axle. After the game's events, it makes a full recovery and returns to Westerly Town.
Pokédex entries
This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation V.
Zorua was first revealed with its evolved form, Zoroark, in the March 2010 issue of CoroCoro.
Zorua and Zoroark are the only two non-legendary Pokémon to ever have once been event-exclusive, discounting Rotom's alternate forms in Platinum, and Phione, whose legendary status is disputed.
Origin
Zorua is likely based on a fox cub, with facial markings resembling Kabuki or Noh theatre makeup. The concept of a Zorua still having its tail while in human form, is similar to the Japanese folklore of the Kitsune, a shape-shifting fox who, in some stories, has difficulty of hiding its tail when it takes on human forms. Zorua may also be based on ninjas due to its special ability to use and fight with illusions, which can be considered a genjutsu (illusion technique).
Name origin
Zorua may be a combination of zorro (Spanish for fox) and rua (Irish for red, possibly referring to its red fur; madra rua is Irish for fox).
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 Zorua images on the Bulbagarden Archives.
