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is one of the fictional species of Pokémon creatures from the multi-billion-dollar[1] Pokémon media franchise—a collection of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards, and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri. The purpose of Groudon in the games, anime, and manga, as with all other Pokémon, is to battle both wild Pokémon—untamed creatures encountered while the player passes through various environments—and tamed Pokémon owned by Pokémon trainers.[2]
Groudon represents Pokémon Ruby and appears on the cover art for the game. It is one of a trio of legendary Pokémon, alongside Kyogre and Rayquaza. In the legend surrounding the three, Groudon represents the land, while Kyogre and Rayquaza represent the sea and the sky, respectively. The name Groudon probably originates from the words ground and don, similar to the suffix of many dinosaur names (like the Iguanodon), owing to Groudon's dinosaur-like design. Don is also Spanish for "lord", which would make Groudon the "Lord of the Ground".
Groudon is a giant, stylized theropod with a layer of outer skin composed of a warm red, rocky substance and a stylized sloped tail with "tines" on the end like a rake; Groudon's tail is curved upward, making Groudon's contour look somewhat like an "S" shape. However, it can also stand in a more upright position. Groudon has narrow ridges on its head, long white claws, sharp teeth, and a grey chest. When angered, its black markings glow blue. Groudon resembles Godzilla in some respects as well, especially his fake clone in the Jirachi movie.
The heaviest of all Pokémon, Groudon represents the primal force of the land, as opposed to Kyogre (the primal force of the oceans) and Rayquaza (the primal force of the sky); as such, Groudon has the power to scatter rain clouds and make water evaporate with light and heat. It is literally "the land lord", as it is part of the creation myth of the Pokémon world. According to legend, it came as a savior to people who had been suffering from terrible floods by waging a titanic battle with Kyogre, creating the land and the oceans, and the two were sealed beneath their respective elements.
Groudon and Kyogre have a relationship similar to the Behemoth and Leviathan in Jewish mythology. In Jewish mythology, Behemoth is the primal unconquerable monster of the land, just as Leviathan is the primal unstoppable monster of the oceans. Rayquaza is also based on Ziz, another creature of Jewish mythology, as according to one Jewish myth the meat of the three creatures is to be served at the banquet at the End Times. Their appearances, however, are quite different from the traditional depictions of the creatures from Jewish myth: Groudon is a sloped, heavily-built dinosaur-like biped with a particularly powerful tail, while the Behemoth is often portrayed as a massive ox-like creature.
Groudon is known as the continent Pokemon, a species shared by Torterra in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl.
Team Magma wishes to capture Groudon in order to increase the world's land mass, while Team Aqua wants Kyogre to expand the oceans.
In Pokémon Ruby, after Groudon is released, Team Magma's plan goes awry: Groudon causes the entire region to suffer sweltering heat, which is only stopped when the player captures or defeats Groudon.
Groudon is only available in Pokémon Ruby and Emerald. In Pokémon Ruby, Groudon can be found in the Cave of Origin at level 45 after Team Magma leader Maxie has released it from the Seafloor Cavern. In Emerald, players must go to the Weather Institute, where a researcher will reveal the location of the Terra Cave and Groudon. Groudon has a major disadvantge against Kyogre but has a higher max speed stat. This allows Groudon's Drought ability to take over Kyogre's Drizzle, which evens the battle.
In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon, Groudon appears as the boss character of the Magma Cavern. After the player reaches Ninetales on Mt. Freeze and Ninetales clears the player's name, an earthquake shakes the mountain. Ninetales explains that the earthquakes could awaken Groudon, so Alakazam's team heads underground to calm Groudon; however, they go missing, and the player must defeat Groudon to rescue them. After the credits roll, the player can return underground, where it is revealed that Groudon can indeed speak, but is very angry at how the team returned despite Groudon's calming down from last time. But Groudon, however, is not proportional in gameplay. Although he is bigger than the usual characters, he is not as big as it could be called proportional, like other giant Pokemon such as Wailord.
This Pokémon's latest appearance is in Pokémon Ranger, in which it can fire powerful beams from its mouth and create earthquakes to try and damage the player's Capture Styler.
As in ''Pokémon Ruby'' and ''Sapphire'', in the anime, Team Magma seeks to capture Groudon and expand the land, while their rivals, Team Aqua, seek to awaken Kyogre and expand the oceans. In the episodes "Gaining Groudon" and "The Scuffle of Legends", this conflict climaxes when the orbs that control Kyogre and Groudon fall in the hands of their respective Teams, and the two Pokémon are made to wage a battle against each other. At the end of the second episode, Team Aqua and Team Magma's opposing plans are foiled by Ash Ketchum and Lance, and Groudon and Kyogre return to their respective elements after calling a truce. It also appears as part of the legend in "The Spheal of Approval" and "Unfair Weather Friends".
Groudon also plays a pseudo-role in the sixth Pokémon movie, Jirachi Wishmaker. In it, Butler, a former Team Magma member and magician, wants to leave a permanent impression on his peers by creating "a living and breathing Groudon." To achieve this, he must use an omnipotent energy that cannot be found anywhere, and the solution presents itself in the myth of Jirachi and the Millennium Comet. After Butler forces energy out of Jirachi, he uses it to create a Groudon from scratch, but it ends up in a titanic, anomalous being of evil that, although vaguely resembling Groudon, has no relation to the true Groudon (the differences are in its eyes, tentacles, perpetually glowing lines, mouth, belly, no attacks, and of course, its size because the real Groudon is only supposed to be 11 feet tall while the fake had to have been at least 50 feet). Another difference is that it shows no signs of having relations to the Blue Orb. This Groudon mutant drains the life out of the environment around it and consumes in many humans and Pokémon in the area. Realizing his mistake, Butler teams up with Ash Ketchum to reverse the process and destroy the false Groudon in order to save the Pokémon and the forest sanctuary.
Groudon has appeared quite a few times in the Pokémon Trading Card Game:
Groudon EX has the Mark of Antiquity Poké-Body that prevents it from attacking Kyogre ex or Rayquaza ex, which seems to contradict the events of the video games.
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