Zorua and Zoroark

Zorua (Japanese: ゾロア, Hepburn: Zoroa) (/ˈzɒruə/) and Zoroark (Japanese: ゾロアーク, Hepburn: Zoroāku) (/ˈzɒroʊɑːrk/) are Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. The two Pokémon were first introduced in 2010 and first featured in Pokémon: Zoroark: Master of Illusions, becoming available for gameplay in Pokémon Black and White.

Zorua and Zoroark
Pokémon series character
National Pokédex
Garbodor - Zorua (#570) - Zoroark (#571) - Minccino
First appearancePokémon: Zoroark: Master of Illusions
First gamePokémon Black and White
Designed byAtsuko Nishida
Voiced byZorua
Eileen Stevens (English)
Kurumi Mamiya (Japanese)
Zoroark
Romi Park

Both characters, who bear a resemblance to foxes, were designed by Atsuko Nishida. In Pokémon media, Zorua evolves into Zoroark, and both are capable of illusionary abilities. The reception for the two Pokémon are relatively mild, with generally favorable fan and critic comments, although the two consistently placed somewhat low in popularity polls.

Design and characteristics

Zorua is a small, quadrupedal fox with dark grey fur, a black fur ruff around its neck and a red-tipped tuft of fur on its head. Upon evolving into Zoroark, it now sports a larger, bipedal vulpine figure, still with dark grey fur, now gaining a long, red mane ending in a ponytail. In the games, both Pokémon are Dark-type and possess the ability "Illusion" - which allows them to appear as other Pokémon or as a human. The in-game description of the two Pokémon refers to them as the "Tricky Fox" (Zorua) and "Illusion Fox" (Zoroark) Pokémon.[1][2][3]

Both Zorua and Zoroark were designed by Atsuko Nishida, who remarked in an interview that she was inspired to design Zorua as a "cheerful-looking" fox Pokémon after watching the movie Helen the Baby Fox, which had a sad story.[4] As the design for both Pokémon were developed, the team preparing a new Pokémon movie decided to use Dark-type Pokémon as main characters, and found that Zorua and Zoroark worked well with the movie's concept. In the design, Zoroark's mane took the place of an otherwise nonexistent tail.[5]

Appearances

In video games
Zoroark cosplay

Zoroark, along with Zorua, was first teased through its silhouette during an airing of the show Pokémon Sunday and then revealed through a CoroCoro Comic release in early 2010, becoming the first Pokémon revealed for the fifth generation of the Pokémon games.[6] An in-game event in Black and White allows the player to use legendary Pokémon Raikou, Entei or Suicune in an encounter with a reclusive lady, revealing that the woman was in fact a Zoroark behind illusion,[7] and analogously, Zorua could be obtained through mythical Pokémon Celebi.[8] There were no other methods to obtain Zorua or Zoroark in Black or White normally otherwise.[9] Zorua became normally obtainable in the sequels Black 2 and White 2 through gameplay, and by extension Zoroark.[10] Zoroark was also distributed through an event held in 2015 for North American players of Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire.[11]

Zoroark is also featured in the Super Smash Bros. series as a non-playable, Poké Ball character.[12]

In other media

Zorua and Zoroark are main characters in the 2010 movie Pokémon: Zoroark: Master of Illusions where Zoroark was the mother of Zorua. In the movie, Zoroark was voiced by Romi Park, while Zorua's Japanese voice was provided by Kurumi Mamiya and the English voice by Eileen Stevens.[13] In the Pokémon anime, a Zoroark is part of the team of Ash Ketchum's rival Gladion and battled against Ash's Pikachu at the end of the Sun & Moon series.[14]

The Pokémon Company designated September 2011 as "Zoroark month", releasing merchandise of the character and holding in-game distributions of Zoroark.[15] A Zoroark character is also featured multiple times in the variety show Pokémon Smash!, which aired on TV Tokyo between 2010 and 2013.[16] Like other Pokémon, Zoroark is also featured in the Pokémon Trading Card Game, and a deck built around a Zoroark card was named by IGN as its top pick for the 2018 championships for the game.[17]

Merchandise

Following the announcement of the new Pokémon, Takara Tomy released stuffed toys and vinyl figures of the two characters as part of the movie's merchandising, and also released cooking molds in the shape of Zorua.[18] In 2019, a Zorua plush toy was released as part of a halloween merchandise line.[19][20] Tokyo's Pokémon Café also released a limited-time dish inspired by Zorua during Halloween of 2019.[21]

Reception

IGN ranked Zoroark #68 in its "Top 100 Pokémon" list,[22] and Japanese fans voted Zoroark to the 56th place of their favorite Pokémon in a 2016 official poll,[23] while Zorua placed 147th in the same poll.[24] In a 2016 Anime News Network survey of Japanese fans of "most handsome Pokémon", Zoroark ranked 20th,[25] and ranked the 5th best in the generation in a 2011 poll by the Official Nintendo Magazine.[26]

Janine Hawkins of Paste described Zoroark as having a "sophisticated skill set that relies on manipulation", contrasting it to its werewolf-like design, while referring to Zorua as "precious".[27] Oliver Cragg of International Business Times UK referred to Zorua as "the standard bearer of [the fifth] generation",[28] and similarly, Robert Grosso of TechRaptor wrote that Zoroark was "the de-facto mascot of Generation 5".[29] Newsweek described Zorua and Zoroark as fan favorites.[30] Jeff Marchiafava, writing for Game Informer, commented that Zorua was an example of a Pokémon's original form being better than its evolved form.[31]

References
  1. "Zoroark | Pokédex". pokemon.com. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  2. "Zorua | Pokédex". pokemon.com. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  3. "Zoroark Can Trick People With Illusions And Turn Into A Human". Kotaku UK. 4 May 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  4. "第7回　グラフィックデザイナー／イラストレーター　にしだあつこ". funs-project.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  5. Nintendo Dream, vol. 201 (translation)
  6. Fahey, Mike (10 February 2010). "Pokémon's Fifth Generation Begins With Zoroark". Kotaku. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  7. DeVries, Jack (19 March 2011). "How to Catch the Legendary Pokemon in Pokemon Black and White". IGN. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  8. "Pokémon Black & White Diary Final Entry: Communications And Other Miscellany". Siliconera. 13 March 2011. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  9. "Legendary Trio of Johto Pokémon Event Kicks Off Over Nintendo Wi-Fi". Siliconera. 8 February 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  10. Drake, Audrey (12 October 2012). "10 Awesome Pokémon for Your Black and White 2 Team". IGN. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  11. "Sludge Bomb Zoroark Comes To Pokemon Omega Ruby And Alpha Sapphire". Siliconera. 4 November 2015. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  12. Hoffer, Christian (8 August 2018). "New Pokemon Revealed for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate". Comic Book. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  13. "Pokémon: Zoroark: Master of Illusions (2010)". Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  14. "New Pokemon Synopsis Teases Alola's First League Champion". Comicbook.com. 8 September 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  15. Drake, Audrey (6 September 2011). "Pokemon News: September is Zoroark Month". IGN. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  16. "これまでの放送 - 第14回～第24回". tv-tokyo.co.jp (in Japanese). TV Tokyo. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  17. Yehl, Joshua (22 August 2018). "8 Best Pokemon Decks That Could Win the 2018 World Championships". IGN. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  18. "劇場版で初登場の新ポケモン・ゾロアとゾロアーク、ぬいぐるみやソフビなど立体化アイテムが続々登場". GIGAZINE (in Japanese). 21 April 2010. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  19. "Get ready for a costume-filled Pokémon Center Halloween Festival". Nintendo Wire. 16 August 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  20. "I Have Several Issues With This Year's Halloween Pokémon Toys". Kotaku Australia. 16 September 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  21. "Pokémon Café set to serve three Halloween themed dishes soon". Nintendo Wire. 18 August 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  22. "Zoroark - #68 Top Pokémon". IGN.
  23. Paget, Mat (8 June 2016). "Here Are the Top 100 Pokemon in Japan". GameSpot. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  24. ""ポケモン総選挙720"101位以下、720匹分の順位が全発表！". Famitsu (in Japanese). 23 June 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  25. Frank, Allegra (15 April 2016). "Japan's 'most handsome' Pokémon is a questionable choice". Polygon. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  26. East, Thomas (7 April 2011). "Best new Pokémon". Official Nintendo Magazine. Archived from the original on 10 April 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  27. Hawkins, Janine (30 October 2015). "The 10 Best Werewolves in Videogames". Paste. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  28. Cragg, Oliver (25 February 2016). "Gotta list 'em all! Here's our top 5 best Pokémon of each generation". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  29. "The Six Best Designed Pokemon of Generation 5". TechRaptor. 24 February 2019. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  30. Martinez, Phillip (10 January 2020). "Here's a list of every confirmed returning Pokémon in the 'Sword and Shield' expansion pass". Newsweek. Retrieved 20 January 2020.
  31. Marchiafava, Jeff (10 February 2011). "Analyzing The New Pokémon". Game Informer. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
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