Cubone is a small, bipedal Pokémon with a light brown hide that covers most of its body, except for its cream-colored belly. Two small claws, one on each hand, serve as its thumbs, and one large nail on each foot make up its toes. It has two small spikes on its back and a short tail. On its head, Cubone wears the skull of its dead mother as a helmet. Because of this, much of its actual face has never been seen, except for its triangular, black eyes and a small area surrounding them. The skull has two rounded horns on the top of its head and a tooth-like point on the lower sides. Under the skull, Cubone has a brown snout. The small Cubone survives only through the immense skill it possesses in wielding the bone it carries as a weapon. The bone allows it to learn Bone Club and Bonemerang, two moves exclusive to Cubone and its evolution Marowak. It and its evolution are also the only Pokémon capable of using the Thick Club item.
It is called the Lonely Pokémon because of its tendency to keep to itself and avoid social situations, due to the trauma caused by the death of its mother. Cubone will often weep at night in mourning of its mother. When Cubone cries, the skull that it wears on its head vibrates and emits "a plaintive and mournful sound." On the night of a full moon, the cries are said to be especially terrible. Cubone seems to recognize its mother in the moon, and so it howls with a particular sadness. Its cries attract Mandibuzz, a natural predator. Cubone lives in rocky areas, usually on mountains or in caves. It also once inhabited the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town where deceased Pokémon were buried and mourned.
A Cubone appeared in Pichu Bros. in Party Panic, where it was helping Meowth prepare his party. It played the drums in Meowth's band and would get easily sad and gloomy whenever Meowth yelled it, but it was also easily consolable.
A Cubone appeared in PK15. It was the leader of the haunted house where various Pokémon were living. It led them in attempts to scare visitors out of the house.
A Cubone appeared in the opening sequence of Destiny Deoxys.
A Cubone appeared in Showdown at Linoone during a fantasy, where Max explained that a Thick Club they found can enhance the strength of Cubone and Marowak.
Four Trainers' Cubone appeared in Securing the Future!, where they joined the rest of Alola in showering Necrozma with light so it could return to its true form.
Crystal owns a Cubone nicknamed Bonee, which first appeared in Slugging It Out With Slugma. It notably has a star-shaped crack in his skull. Cubone's main role in the team is to take out targets from afar using his bone-based attacks. In Lively Larvitar, the origin of Crystal's Cubone is revealed: it, along with Crystal's Natu, Hitmonchan, and Parasect, were wild Pokémon living in Mt. Mortar and had fought with a local Arcanine that had gone berserk from a severe eye injury. Bonee had used several bone clubs for Crystal to use as arm casts.
In the Pokémon Stadium 2 stage, a Cubone can be seen on the Ground Terrain standing atop the highest platform built into a rock. Dugtrio and Pokémon Fossils can also be seen on the Ground Terrain.
Trophy information
"A Lonely Pokémon. It wears its mother's skull as a helmet--for this reason, no one has ever seen its face. It sometimes sees its departed mother's face in the full moon, which causes it to grow sad and cry. The stains on the skull are tracks of its tears. When it cries, the skull shakes and emits a mournful sound. When it levels up, it evolves into Marowak."
Cubone was one of the first four Pokémon designs revealed when the Pokémon 151 brand was first announced. In the shirt design, Cubone's skull is in the center of the shirt, with two Thick Clubs in crossing below it.
Cubone pines for the mother it will never see again. Seeing a likeness of its mother in the full moon, it cries. The stains on the skull the Pokémon wears are made by the tears it sheds.
It pines for the mother it will never see again. Seeing a likeness of its mother in the full moon, it cries. The stains on the skull it wears are from its tears.
Cubone pines for the mother it will never see again. Seeing a likeness of its mother in the full moon, it cries. The stains on the skull the Pokémon wears are made by the tears it sheds.
While Alolan Marowak shares the AbilityRock Head with Cubone, Cubone is unable to retain this Ability after evolving in the Alolaregion. This is because Cubone's Rock Head is its first Ability, while Alolan Marowak's Rock Head is its Hidden Ability. It shares this trait with Tyrogue and Hitmontop's Ability Steadfast.
Origin
Cubone is reptilian in nature and seems to be loosely based on bipedal dinosaurs. It also could be based on primitive cultures that wore bones for decoration and used them for weapons. The use of its bone as a boomerang and as a weapon at the same time seems to be a reference to the boomerang's original use for hunting in Indigenous Australians cultures.
Name origin
Cubone may be a combination of cute and bone, cub and bone, or cue ball (a reference to its pale white head or that its bone resembles a billiards or snooker cue) and bone. It could also be a combination of the Latin word cubo (recluse) and bone; this can refer to its lonely nature.
Karakara may be taken to mean からから (clattering). It is worth noting that karakara denotes lighter clattering than がらがら garagara.
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.
Thick Club (2%)
For other sprites and images, please see Cubone images on the Bulbagarden Archives.
