Zapdos is a large, avian Pokémon with predominantly yellow plumage. It has small, triangular eyes with black around them and a long, thin, light orange beak. Its wings and tail are a mass of spiky feathers and there are black feathers covering the back of its wings and inner tail feathers. A large crest of spiked feathers surrounds its head. Its thighs are tan, and it has thin, light orange legs. It has feet with three forward facing toes and one backward facing toe; each toe has a short talon.
When Zapdos flaps its glittering wings, it releases electricity that can potentially cause thunderstorms. It produces massive crackling and snapping sounds when it flies; these are attributed to the lightning bolts it sheds when airborne. Zapdos reportedly appears only during thunderstorms and gains power when struck by lightning. It is said to live among thunderclouds, but it is rarely seen.
Galarian Zapdos is mostly orange with black plumage, with yellow eyes and claws. Belligerent by nature and always on the hunt for strong opponents, its powerful legs allow it to perform devastating kicks and run at high speed. Its wings have atrophied to the point that it can barely fly, but its movements are so swift that they have been compared to a lightning strike. It is migratory and appears in the Crown Tundra once every few decades.[1]
In As Clear As Crystal, when Team Rocket made an attempt to steal a crystal that gave a lake the ability to heal Electric-type Pokémon, they were sidetracked when a Zapdos showed up. As a result, they changed their objective to capture Zapdos instead.
In An Electrifying Rage!, Ash and his friends witnessed a Zapdos flying across the sky. Team Rocket later made an attempt to capture the Zapdos, which infuriated it, forcing Ash to battle it with Talonflame, Hawlucha, and the newly-evolved Noivern. When Team Rocket continued their attempt, Noivern and Pikachu helped save Zapdos and calm it down.
Having captured this Legendary bird in the abandoned Power Plant in Holy Moltres as in the games, Lt. Surge appears with Zapdos in his team during the events of Volume 3, using it as a never-ending power source for his Electric types, allowing them to continually shock Red at full force, a strategy that turns against him when Red uses Saur's Razor Leaf to cut the supply cords and his insulating underwear with them. After having been merged with Articuno and Moltres into an undiscovered Pokémon, the three Pallet Town Trainers are able to defeat the combined monster, so it leaves his team, and Team Rocket afterwards to go back to the wild.
Green later captures Zapdos before the Gold, Silver & Crystal arc and uses it against Will and Karen, having caught it and its Legendary bird companions on her personal training journey to overcome her fear of birds. During this battle, it is lent to Blue when things get rough. Once returned, it is put back in its Poké Ball and isn't seen again, meaning it has either been deposited into her box or released.
In the Pokémon Battrio: Aim to be Battrio Master! manga
When released from a Poké Ball, Zapdos uses a powerful Thunder Shock that hits opponents several times to produce a substantial amount of damage.
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Zapdos flaps its wings, and summer storms appear, throwing lightning every which way. It's said that you can hear this legendary Pokémon coming, as its wings make a very distinctive popping sound as it flies. In addition to electrical moves like the dreaded Thunder, it also wields a vicious move called Drill Peck.
Zapdos appears in the background of the Prism Tower stage in the 3DS version of the game.
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NA: Gazing up at dark storm clouds gathering in the sky, many children must have once wondered if the Pokémon they saw in the second Pokémon movie was in the clouds. An innocent and childish dream, perhaps... but even today as adults, the sound of thunder might just bring back memories of this Legendary bird Pokémon.
PAL: Gazing up at dark storm clouds gathering in the sky, many children must once have wondered if the Pokémon they just saw in the latest movie was lurking somewhere in their depths. An innocent and childish dream, perhaps...but even today as adults, the sound of thunder might just bring back memories of this Legendary Bird Pokémon.
Zapdos is the first Legendary Pokémon encountered in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon. After it kidnaps Shiftry, the player must fight it at the top of Mt. Thunder. It is possible to recruit Zapdos by returning for another fight after the credits.
Zapdos is a legendary bird Pokémon that has the ability to control electricity. It usually lives in thunderclouds. The Pokémon gains power if it is stricken by lightning bolts.
Zapdos is a legendary bird Pokémon that has the ability to control electricity. It usually lives in thunderclouds. It gains power if it is stricken by lightning bolts.
Zapdos is a legendary bird Pokémon that has the ability to control electricity. It usually lives in thunderclouds. The Pokémon gains power if it is stricken by lightning bolts.
Of all Legendary Pokémon with fixed in-game locations, Zapdos can be obtained with the fewest number of Badges: 2. The player can catch Zapdos with only the Boulder Badge and either the Cascade BadgePE or the Soul BadgeRBY.
Zapdos shares its category with Elekid and Electabuzz. They are all known as the Electric Pokémon.
Zapdos and Jolteon's Japanese names are almost exactly the same as each other's, with a final s being the only difference.
Zapdos possesses a type advantage over all other members of its trio, as well as its trio master, Lugia.
This is reversed with the trio's regional forms, as Galarian Zapdos possesses a type disadvantage against Galarian Articuno and Galarian Moltres.
Zapdos may be based on the Native American legend of the thunderbird, a spirit of thunder, lightning, and rain that took the form of a giant bird. The beating of the wings was said to create thunder. It may also have been based on the lightning bird, a bird created from wherever lightning hits the earth. Aesthetically, it may be based on hummingbirds, due to the long beak, the rather simple wings, and described violent behavior.
Galarian Zapdos appears to be based on a flightless species of bird, such as an ostrich or emu.
Name origin
Zapdos is a combination of zap and dos (Spanish for two, indicating that it is the second in the series of KantoLegendary birds).
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.
BrightPowder (100%)
For other sprites and images, please see Zapdos images on the Bulbagarden Archives.
