Spiritomb is a ghostly purple Pokémon attached to a stone. Although lacking a physical body, Spiritomb projects its appearance out of a small rock called the Odd Keystone. The rock is trapezoidal in shape and has two small dots. There is a crack running down the middle, splitting in two near the bottom. The crack in combination with the two dots appears to form a frowning face. Spiritomb's projected appearance is an ethereal composition of swirling purple fog. Its face is set in the middle of the fog and contains green, crescent eyes that are connected to its jagged mouth. Its pupils are composed of a spiral and it is sometimes only seen with one. Swirling around its face are green orbs with yellow centers.
Spiritomb is formed by a collection of 108 spirits, some of which are ill-natured. This collection of spirits is known for its misdeeds; thus, as punishment, the spirits were trapped to its Odd Keystone by a traveler using a mysterious spell. Some Spiritomb are up to 500 years old. The Pokémon creates curses with its wicked thoughts. As seen in the anime, Spiritomb can be just as aggressive and destructive as the spirits that it is composed of. It will lash out at anyone with little thought, often exercising short-sightedness in its pursuit of vengeance. The anime also revealed that anyone possessed by one of Spiritomb's spirits will start to cause misdeeds, and their face will eventually start to resemble Spiritomb. Losing one of these spirits will cause Spiritomb to go on an uncontrollable rampage until the lost spirit is returned.
Spiritomb is rarely encountered in the wild, but may very occasionally appear in ruins.
Spiritomb debuted in The Keystone Pops!. Ash and Buizel were having a training match with Dawn and Aipom when Buizel accidentally knocked down Hallowed Tower, upon which Spiritomb emerged from the tower's keystone. It then wreaked havoc on a nearby town until Ash succeeded in defeating and resealing it.
A Spiritomb appeared in The Spectral Express!. When Ash touched its keystone, one of its spirits entered his body and possessed him into doing mischievous deeds. Angered by this, Spiritomb went on a rampage until the lost spirit was returned to it. It reappeared in a flashback in The Winding Path to Greatness!.
A Spiritomb first appeared in Ring Around the Roserade II, under the ownership of Cynthia. It helped Platinum train for her upcoming Gym challenge against Gardenia. With her Psychic abilities, she was able to seal Tru's Razor Leaf alongside Prinplup's Water attack and used them to save Rad Rickshaw, inadvertently getting Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum a set of bicycles when Rad mistook them as his helpers. Spiritomb was later used against Cyrus, where she defeated his Honchkrow, but was then defeated by Weavile.
In Pokémon GO, it is encountered at the end of a Special Research quest involving feeding 108 Berries to Pokémon and catching 108 Pokémon.
In Legends: Arceus, it is encountered at the end of a request in which the player must gather 108 wisps scattered throughout Hisui.
Prior to the introduction of the Fairy type in Generation VI, Spiritomb had no weaknesses under normal conditions. It shared this distinction with Sableye.
As of Legends: Arceus, the main body of Spiritomb's model is opaque, and its normals (the direction of the model's faces) are flipped. Due to backface culling, the outside can be seen through, but the inside cannot, allowing for its green orbs (which are three-dimensional and swirl within its body) to be seen with an opaque background from any angle. This is in contrast to previous 3D games, in which Spiritomb's main body is slightly transparent and has normals pointing outwards. The difference can be most easily seen when viewing Spiritomb from the side.
Nob Ogasawara, the translator of the Pokémon games to English, had suggested "Phantomb" for Spiritomb's English name, although it was not accepted by Nintendo of America.[1]
One of the wisps gives you the Eerie Apperations In The Night in Legends Arceus, disguised as Vessa, which may be dirived from Vessel.
Spiritomb may be based on a Jibakurei, a spirit bound to a single place, or a Deildegast, a Norwegian folklore spirit that is forced to haul around a boundary stone as punishment for moving one while it was alive. It might also be based on a Buddhist tradition performed on New Year's Eve in Japan in which a bell is rung 108 times to chase away the 108 temptations in order to achieve Nirvana. The wisps of spirits surrounding its face also resemble a set of prayer beads, a possible reference to Japa.
Spiritomb may also be based on Water Margin, one of the Classic Chinese Novels, which is also very well known in Japan. In the novel's first chapter, a foolish army marshal orders the removal of a stone monument guarded by monks for generations, causing the spirits of 108 demons sealed therein to be released. These 108 souls, having atoned for their sins, become the 108 Stars of Destiny. They are reincarnated centuries later as 108 outlaws, the heroes of the novel.
Name origin
Spiritomb may be a combination of spirit and tomb. It may also be a play on the Latin spiritum.
Mikaruge may be a combination of 御影石 mikageishi (granite) and 軽石 karuishi (pumice). It may also involve karma.
In other languages
Language
Title
Meaning
Japanese
ミカルゲ Mikaruge
From 御影石 mikageishi, 軽石 karuishi, and possibly karma
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.
Smoke Ball (100%)
For other sprites and images, please see Spiritomb images on the Bulbagarden Archives.
