Wooper is a mostly blue, amphibious Pokémon that resembles an upright, armless axolotl. Wooper's head is large compared to its body, and it has small, round, black eyes. It has purple, branching gills on either side of its head; the males have more branches in its gills than the females. Wooper stands on two small, round feet, and it has a large, thick tail. On its belly are dark blue curved markings.
It is implied in the anime that Wooper is a dull-witted Pokémon oblivious to its surroundings. Wooper lives in cold water most of the time. When sleeping, it partially buries itself in the mud at the bottom. It will occasionally leave the water when the air cools in the evening to search for food along the shore. While walking on land, it coats its body with a slimy, toxic film that keeps its skin from dehydrating and insulates against the cold. The film causes a shooting pain if touched barehanded.
A Wooper was also one of the Pokémon that Ash and his friends were taking care of while Nurse Joy was ill in Pinch Healing!. Wooper was being babysat by a Poké-Sitter named Matt. Brock took care of Wooper by having his Marshtomp use Water Gun to heal its wounds.
Another Wooper appeared under the ownership of Leona's parents in Hot Springing a Leak!. They used Wooper to investigate a pipe line when they noticed their water was being drained and helped discover that Team Rocket were responsible.
Wooper, the Water Fish Pokémon. Though they prefer to live in cold water, these appealing Pokémon forage for food on land. They are kept warm by a layer of insulating body fluid. Wooper is the pre-evolved form of Quagsire.
Several wild Wooper appeared in a river in Ecruteak City in The Adventure. Pikachu attempted to attack the Wooper with Thunder Shock from a tree above, but it was ineffective due to their immunity to electricity. The Wooper strike back with Mud Shot, sending Pikachu flying.
Wooper made a cameo in The Legend where one was seen by the lake when Green had finished her message to Silver in Johto.
Wooper formally debuts in Murkrow Row where it was seen as one of the Pokémon in Joey's bag after Gold helped him get it back.
In Who Gives a Hoothoot?, a conman uses a swarm of Wooper as a part of his game stall, however after Gold and Aibo had revealed his secret to the crowd, they were possibly boxed or released.
In The Final Battle V, during the Trick Master's story of the homeland soil, a Wooper appeared in the flashback when it was one of the Pokémon calmed down by it.
Out of all the Pokéfloats, Wooper spends the most time on-screen. It first appears when play is on Slowpoke's tail and it then floats past Sudowoodo, Snorlax, Venusaur, and Seel before finally floating away from play. While its head is small, players can also stand on the gills.
Game data
Pokédex entries
This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation II.
Wooper seems to be based on a larval salamander, which has a flat tail and feathery, external gills. Its Shiny sprite gives it a similar coloration to that of albino, leucistic, and flavistic color mutants.
Name origin
Wooper and Upah are derived from wooper looper, a marketing term created in Japan that started a pet salamander raising fad. Wooper loopers are the Japanese term for the axolotl, a species of salamander.
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.