Lugia

About Lugia

Lugia is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Lugia first appeared as a central character in the film Pokémon: The Movie 2000, and later serves as the version mascot of the video game Pokémon Silver and its remake, Pokémon SoulSilver, appearing on the box art of both, and appearing in-game. It later appears in the Pokémon anime, various merchandise, spin-off titles and printed adaptations of the franchise, such as Pokémon Adventures. In animated appearances, Lugia is voiced in Japanese by Koichi Yamadera and in English localizations by Eric Rath.
Within the world of the Pokémon franchise, Lugia are strongly associated with the sea and the element of water in general, in contrast to Ho-Oh, the version mascot of Pokémon Gold and Pokémon HeartGold, which is associated with the element of fire. As a Psychic-type and Flying-type Pokémon, Lugia possesses multiple psychic abilities, such as telepathy, and can fly, but also possesses abilities related to water. Lugia has received mixed reception from critics.

Design and characteristics

Considered a "legendary bird" within the setting of the games, Lugia is characterized as the "Diving Pokémon" in the Pokédex and the latter states that Lugia is known as "The Guardian of the Sea". It has been more often compared to a dragon, bird, wyvern or sea monster, 1UP.com calling it a "sleek, draconic creature".^[1][2][3] The Hartford Courant described Lugia as resembling a "flying white lizard", adding that it's wings more closely resembled "huge cartoon paws".^[4] They are primarily pale silver-white, but have blue undersides with slightly varying tones. They have a somewhat beak-like, ridged mouth, although they have teeth on their lower jaw. Their head has a point to the back, and their eyes have pointed blue spikes on them. Lugia have long slender necks and their bodies are smooth and covered with streamlined feathers, with the exception of dark blue or black spike-like protrusions which run down the length of their back, and two smaller ones on the ends of their tails. They have large wings that resemble hands, similar to a personified bird wing. Lugia possess the ability to calm storms and are said to appear when storms start.^[5] They are also said to be able to spawn a storm lasting as long as 40 days by flapping their wings.^[6] A light flutter of a Lugia's wings is capable of causing winds powerful enough to blow apart regular houses.^[7] Lugia are highly intelligent, and isolates itself at the bottom of the sea, where it tends to slumber in solitude at the bottom of a deep oceanic trench, in order to avoid accidentally causing damage with the devastating power it packs.^[8]

Appearances

In video games

In Pokémon Gold and Silver and Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, a Lugia plays the role of a powerful legendary Pokémon that lives at a far-off location and has to be caught by the player. It can be found in the depths of a sea cave located at the Whirl Islands, a group of isolated islands surrounded by whirlpools. In these games, the player must obtain an item called "Silver Wing", in order to catch that Lugia.
A Lugia is one of the main characters of Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness. The storyline of the game depicts an evil Lugia, known as "Shadow Lugia", terrorizing the locals and wreaking havoc. The player has to catch and purify it for it to return to its original, normal state. A Lugia is also featured in Super Smash Bros. Melee and Brawl, where, when released from a Poké Ball, will fly up and unleash an attack.

In other media

In Pokémon: The Movie 2000, a Lugia, voiced by Eric Rath, arises from the sea when the three legendary birds Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres are roused by a Pokémon collector who tries to catch the trio. Lugia then battles the raging birds and, with the help of Ash Ketchum and Team Rocket, manages to calm them and restore peace to nature. In the anime, a young Lugia named Silver makes an appearance when the protagonist, Ash, travels to the Whirl Islands where he meets a friend of his, called Richie, to help stop a Team Rocket scientist from separating Silver from her parent, another Lugia.^[9]
In Pokémon Adventures, the Elite Four tried to exterminate humans using a Lugia in the Yellow chapter. The Masked Man apparently caught a Lugia twice to get an item called "Silver Wing", but both times Lugia went back to the wild, along with Ho-Oh.