Arceus (M12)
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Arceus (Japanese: アルセウス Arceus) is a major character who appeared in Arceus and the Jewel of Life.
In the movies
Thousands of years in the past, when the world was threatened by a meteor, Arceus summoned all of its power and tackled the massive rock, destroying it. However, in the process Arceus lost the sixteen Plates that gave it life and began to die. At this time, Damos discovered the dying Pokémon, then found one of the missing Plates and returned it, giving Arceus strength to pull back the others and thus fully recover. In gratitude for Damos's actions, Arceus detached five of its Plates and formed the Jewel of Life, which it loaned to him in order to make the desolate wasteland of Michina Town rich and fertile.
Arceus did, however, stipulate that the Jewel of Life had to be returned. The date was the next solar eclipse – an event that was a harbinger of Arceus's appearance – but when Arceus appeared to reclaim the Jewel, Damos viciously attacked it with the intent to kill, much to its abject shock. Arceus managed to fight off the attack and counter, killing Damos and then went into a deep sleep, vowing to judge humanity when it next appeared.
In the present day, Arceus's imminent awakening caused distortions in both the Spatial World and the Temporal World. Therefore, Dialga and Palkia, believing that the other had invaded its territory, battled over Alamos Town, thus setting off the events of The Rise of Darkrai. This battle caused imbalances in time and space that had to be corrected in the Reverse World guarded by Giratina, causing pollution in that world in the process and setting off the events of Giratina and the Sky Warrior.
Its next appearance came in the era of Ash and his friends, during which it appeared in Michina Town and began passing down its Judgment to destroy the area. Sheena attempted to return the Jewel of Life in this era but inadvertently gave it a fake (which had been created to further prevent it from retaking the real Jewel). When the Pokémon of Myth appeared to protect the world from Arceus, Palkia restrained it while Dialga sent the heroes back in time to Damos's betrayal.
In the ancient past, the group discovered that Damos was controlled by another man, Marcus, who had grown bitter with his belief that returning the Jewel of Life to Arceus would result in Michina Town once again becoming desolate and wished to destroy it to prevent such events, making them realize that the legend of Damos's betrayal was a lie. By manipulating Sheena, Marcus nearly succeeded in killing Arceus and permanently altering the fabric of space-time (nearly destroying Ash and all of the other heroes except Damos in the process). Fortunately, Damos managed to reach the last bit of life in Arceus's heart, giving it enough strength to reabsorb the Jewel of Life from Ash, saving it from certain death. Arceus revived the heroes, and then they returned to the future. Although Arceus was still furious when they returned, the past finally caught up with the present, and it remembered Ash's role in saving its life, thus soothing its rage and, as it later remarked, making it feel part of the world Ash and the others lived in for the "first time".
Personality and characteristics
Arceus was a trusting Pokémon to any individual who was willing to join forces with it, as demonstrated with Damos. However, after Damos betrayed Arceus due to being hypnotized by Marcus, a fact that Arceus was unaware of, it became deeply disillusioned and angry. Eventually, Arceus began to express open hostility towards humankind, even mercilessly attacking Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina when they opposed it and tried to protect humans.
These personality traits persisted until Ash, Dawn, and Brock went back in time and ultimately stopped Marcus from engineering Damos's betrayal. With the past altered, Damos and Ash managed to bond with Arceus when they both tried to return the Jewel of Life. Though Arceus continued to attack when Ash and the others returned to their own time, their involvement in these events soon led to the restoration of Arceus's original personality once it recalled its true past experience.
Appearance
| As a Fire-type | As a Ghost-type |
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Moves used
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| A † shows that the move was used recently, unless all moves fit this case or there are fewer than five known moves. | |||||||||||||||||||
Voice actors
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In the manga
Movie adaptations
Arceus appears in the manga adaptation of the twelfth movie, where it played the same role as it did in the movie.
In the TCG
Arceus is featured in the TCG. The following is a list of cards featuring Arceus.
| Arceus Cards listed with a blue background are only legal to use in the current Expanded format. Cards listed with a green background are legal to use in both the current Standard and Expanded formats. | |||||||
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| Card | Type | English Expansion |
Rarity | # | Japanese Expansion |
Rarity | # |
| Arceus | 
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DP Black Star Promos | DP50 | DPt-P Promotional cards | 041/DPt-P | ||
| Movie Commemoration Random Pack | 020/022 | ||||||
| Movie Commemoration Random Pack | 021/022 | ||||||
| Movie Commemoration Random Pack | 022/022 | ||||||
| Unnumbered Promotional cards | |||||||
Trivia
- Arceus's Plates appear as a single color and are brick-shaped in the games, but in the movie, they are coffin-shaped and glow in rainbow colors. However, in the episode Journey to the Unown!, they appear as they do in the games.
- According to ADR director Tom Wayland, Arceus was originally going to be voiced by actor Vincent D'Onofrio of Full Metal Jacket and Men in Black fame. However, before his recording session, there were difficulties with D'Onofrio's agent and he was unable to record for the movie. After re-auditioning, Tom Wayland himself was chosen to voice Arceus instead.
- In the Russian dub, Arceus was referred to as a male.
Related articles
For more information on this Pokémon's species, see Arceus.
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This movie article is part of Project Anime, a Bulbapedia project that covers all aspects of Pokémon animation. |
