Darkrai is a black, ghostly creature. It has a small black head with a white substance erupting from its head covering one of its bright blue eyes, and also has a red growth around its neck. It has skinny arms and long black tatters hang from its shoulders. It has an hourglass figure and appears to be wearing an old, ripped cloak. It normally doesn't have any sort of legs, but it is able to extend stilt-like appendages in their place.
Darkrai can trap people in nightmares. It can become a shadow to move quickly, but it is still susceptible to damage in this state. It is also capable of human speech.
This Pokémon "inhabits" people's dreams and causes them to have unending nightmares. However, in the 10th movie, Darkrai sacrificed itself to save the city, meaning that perhaps Darkrai has some good in it after all.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon 2, however, portrays a Darkrai with a much more evil character, who wants a world enshrouded in darkness, going to the edge of almost destroying time and space to accomplish that.
Habitat
Whilst Darkrai isn't nesting in the dreams of humans, it lingers around a lost island called Newmoon Island.
Possibly dreams, characterized by its association with never-ending nightmares and the ability to learn the move Dream Eater.
In the anime
Darkrai co-starred in The Rise of Darkrai as one of the protagonists, taking the task of ceasing the fighting between Dialga and Palkia upon itself. In the movie, Darkrai feels that Alice is trustworthy, whose grandmother Alicia assisted Darkrai when it was injured. Darkrai even went so far as to save Alice after she fell off a crumbling cliff.
In the manga
Darkrai likewise appeared in the manga adaptation of The Rise of Darkrai.
Darkrai was featured as one of the Poké Ball Pokémon in the Super Smash Bros. Brawl demo at Whobby 2008. However, it was later cut from the final version, appearing as a trophy instead.
Game data
NPC appearances
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon 2: Darkrai is revealed to be the main antagonist of the game in the post-game story. He wants to cover the world in darkness, and was behind the collapse of the Temporal Tower in the main storyline of the game. His interference is also the reason the player was separated from Grovyle and turned into a Pokémon. In the post-game story, he turns his attention to distorting the fabric of space to cover the world in darkness.
Pokédex entries
This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation IV.
Darkrai was given out via Mystery Gift in Japan to celebrate the release of Movie 10. This Darkrai came with the moves Spacial Rend and Roar of Time and it came at level 50. An identical Darkrai was given out at Toys "R" Us locations in the US on May 31 and June 1, 2008 to coincide with the release of the movie on DVD in the United States.
Darkrai was officially revealed to Japan in the March 2007 edition of Coro Coro and to America on January 25th 2008, on Pokémon.com.
Darkrai is the first Dark-type legendary Pokémon. This is also the first event legendary Pokémon of Generation IV, which can only be received during a Pokémon event or a Nintendo event. However in the Japanese version of Diamond and Pearl, it can be caught through the Surf glitch.
Despite being classified as a pure Dark-type, Darkrai displays a lot of Ghost-like traits.
Whilst in the tenth movie Darkrai is portrayed as a hero, in the games it's the only Pokémon truly portrayed as evil, in a sense.
Cheaters can reach Darkrai by using the infamous walk anywhere cheat. If they start at Fullmoon Island and walk across the water to the right, they will reach Newmoon Island. Between these islands is the Mystery Zone. From the island, they can simply take a boat back to Canalave City.
The boy of the sailor who owns the boat that normally goes to Iron Island says "Dar... Dark... Is watching me..." He probably means Darkrai, as it is known to give its victims horrific nightmares.
If Darkrai was the cause of the sailor's son's nightmares, it can be assumed Darkrai is aware that the player cured the boy using Cresselia's Lunar Wing: When the player takes the Member's Card to the Canalave Inn, the innkeeper (presumably a shade of Darkrai) states that he has been waiting for the player's arrival. The player then falls asleep at the inn, only to 'awaken' at an abandoned Newmoon Island, where Darkrai must be caught or defeated in order for the player to awaken from their nightmare and 'return' to the inn.
There were events giving away Darkrai through Mystery Gift that were held at participating theaters in Japan when Movie 10 was first released and also in some Toys "R" Us Stores in the United States from May 31 to June 1, 2008. These special edition Darkrai were contained in a Cherish Ball, with the OT of えいがかんMovie Theatre and an ID No. of 07147 for the Japanese version and with the OT of ALAMOS and an ID No. of 05318 for the American version. They were also holding an Enigma and had the normally unobtainable moves, Roar of Time and Spacial Rend.
As of yet, Darkrai is one of five Pokémon who were available on video games before having a set location, the others being Mew, Farfetch'd, Latias and Latios.
Origin
Darkrai's appearance suggests it is based on the concept of nightmares. It also resembles a shadow.
Name origin
Darkrai's name is a combination of the word dark and the Japanese word for "dark" (暗いkurai).
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 Darkrai images on Bulbagarden Archives.
