Unown (Pokémon)

Unown (Japanese: アンノーン Unknown) is a Pokémon.

While it is not known to evolve into or from any other Pokémon, as of Generation III, Unown has 28 derivative shapes. There are 26 Latin alphabet characters, plus two punctuation marks: ? (question mark) and ! (exclamation mark). In Generation II, its shape is determined by its individual values, whereas in Generation III and beyond, it is determined by its personality value.

Physiology
Unown are floating, flat, eye-shaped Pokémon with appendages that make them resemble letters. They are black all over. All alphabetic Unown have fully open eyes while the two punctuation Unown have half-closed eyes.

Gender differences
This Pokémon is genderless.

Different forms
Unown has 28 different forms, one for each letter of the alphabet, as well as a form for an exclamation point (!) and a question mark (?). These are chronicled in the Unown Dex in Generation II and the Unown Report in. The exclamation point and question mark forms were not introduced until Generation III. There are also many glitch forms.

Special abilities
Unown's only known move in battle is the enigmatic.

In the anime, they are capable of reading the thoughts of other lifeforms. Great numbers of them are capable of warping reality to suit the dreams and wishes of whoever they read the thoughts of and is in control of the Unown.

Their mind reading ability seems to suggest that they should be able to learn. However, they can only do this when more Unown are present, so it could be a shared effort rather than an ability unique to each Unown.

Behavior
Unown can make telepathic contact with humans (as well as many other creatures). Unown have a timidness that makes them rarely venture outside of their dimension. They tend to stick to walls or orbit other Unown when in a group.

Habitat
Unown live in their own dimension.

When they move to the Pokémon world, Unown seem to prefer to make their habitat in ancient ruins stuck to the walls, appearing only in the Ruins of Alph in Johto, the Tanoby Chambers in the Sevii Islands, the Solaceon Ruins in Sinnoh, and Unown Relic and Aegis Cave in the Mystery Dungeon world. They have also been seen at the Sinjoh Ruins.

Unown (M03)
Unown play a large role in the third movie, creating the illusions which drive the plot.

Notes about Unown can be seen on 's computer at the beginning of the movie. The information (as presented in the Japanese version) has been cleaned up and transcribed here:
 * Because of their very timid and careful character, Unown do not want to go out to the external world.
 * Unown have the power to perceive the feelings of other creatures (including human beings).
 * Unown communicate with each other over electromagnetic waves but cannot use telepathy.
 * Given all this, Unown are still classified as a species of Pokémon, as opposed to any other sort of creature.

Other
An Unown fell out of the Unown dimension in Address Unown!. After it was healed by the group, it helped defend against and its mind merged with that of Ash's Larvitar so that the group could help it to address its inner pain.

Markings of Unown were on a tablet in Top-Down Training. Many Unown appeared in Journey to the Unown!, also the same tablet from its previous appearance is shown.

The tablet is written (in Romaji): FRIEND SUBETE NO INOCHI HA BETSU NO INOCHI TO DEAI NANIKA WO UMIDASU (In the dub, Dawn reads it as "When every life meets another life, something will be born").

Minor appearances
A Mirage Unown G appeared in The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon.

Multiple Unown also made a brief appearance in The Rise of Darkrai fleeing from Dialga and Palkia in a different dimension. Multiple of them also appeared in the opening of the movie.

Multiple Unown appeared on a stone tablet in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky - Beyond Time & Darkness.