It is currently the final Pokémon in the National Pokédex. Like Darkrai and Shaymin before it, Arceus was not "officially" a Pokémon recognized by Nintendo until February 2009, the year of its debut movie, appearing as a feature in the March issue of CoroCoro.
Arceus is known as "The Original One," as it is said that it created the Pokémon universe and the lake trio. The only known way to get Arceus is with the Azure Flute.
Due to special coding in place on this page to illustrate Arceus's wildcard ability, Multitype, all type-themed appearances will display Arceus as if it were holding the Sky Plate, therefore being a Template:Type2. This does not affect anything besides which sprites are shown, which moves are noted as STAB and the type effectiveness entry which is unhidden. Click here to change the type.
Arceus is an equine being similar to a Qilin or Centaur. Its body is white with a gray underside, and its four pointed feet are tipped with gold hooves. Its mane is quite long and its face is gray with green eyes with red pupils. It also has a golden cross-like wheel attached to its body, which changes color along with its eyes and hooves based on Arceus's Template:T2. The wheel also has four jewels attached to it.
Gender differences
Arceus is genderless.
Special abilities
File:Arceus Formes.gifAn animation displaying Arceus's different colorings while holding plates
Arceus is capable of learning the following moves:
Moves in bold get STAB for the Template:Type2, meaning that Arceus must be holding the Sky Plate. Judgment, the type of which is dependent on the plate Arceus is holding (or lack thereof) will always receive STAB, while damaging moves of other types can receive STAB depending on which plate Arceus holds.
At level 80, Arceus is the second highest level non-glitch Pokémon available for capture. The highest is Magikarp which can be caught at level 100 in Pokémon Platinum. It is, however, still the highest level legendary Pokémon available for capture.
Arceus has the highest base stat total of any Pokémon: 720.
Arceus is also the only Pokémon with 720 as its base stat total. Previous Pokémon have had a maximum of 680.
Arceus has the highest base experience yield of all Pokémon, tied with Happiny, Chansey, and Blissey. That means an Arceus would yield 13,933 experience points when defeated if it is at level 100 and belongs to a Trainer.
The code for Diamond and Pearl has sprites for Arceus using its Multitype ability with all 18 types, including Template:Type2. It is disputed whether the ???-type Arceus is obtainable, as there is no plate in the code that can be used for this. It is possible this sprite was programmed in to prevent game crashes caused by tampering with Arceus's type.
Arceus's signature move, Judgment, is the only move that Arceus is guaranteed STAB for, as it is always the same type as Arceus itself. However, on the battle screen, Judgment is always displayed as a Template:Type2 attack.
Even though it is said that Arceus created the world with its thousand arms, it is not shown to have any arms at all.
Holding the Sky Plate, Arceus is the only Pokémon able to become a pure Template:Type2 outside of battle (other Pokémon can be in battle through the use of Conversion, Conversion 2, and Color Change).
Arceus has its own unique battle music when it is encountered. It shares this trait with Deoxys, as well as Giratina (in Platinum only).
Earth Power is the only move with a fixed base power, besides Judgment, that Arceus learns by level-up which can receive STAB with a plate attached.
Origin
Arceus may be a reference to the Chinese mythical creature, the Qilin. Its myth is nearly identical to that of the Pangu, the Chinese creation deity.
Arceus may also be inspired by (or a representation of) Avalokiteśvara who, in Buddhism, is either pictured with eleven heads and one thousand arms (the latter of which is mentioned in Arceus's flavor text) or in a white four-armed manifestation (which could look similar to Arceus's Normal form).
Some inspiration may have come from a horse, because of its Platinum sprite and attack movements in Pokémon Battle Revolution.
Name origin
Arceus's name may come from the words arch (highest) and deus, which is Latin and Greek for god. It may also have a root in the Latin word arcanus, which means secret; sacred mystery.
Arceus's name may also come from the word archaic (ancient), which comes from the Greek arkhaios. It could have also come from the Latin word archetypus (original). Alternatively, Arceus's name can be seen as a portmanteau of Zeus, the most powerful of Greek gods and arch (highest).
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.
