Donphan

**Donphan** (Japanese: **ドンファン** *Donfan*) is a Ground-type Pokémon.

It evolves from Phanpy starting at level 25.

## Biology

Donphan is a gray, elephant-like Pokémon with a thick, black band of hide running down the length of its back and extending to the tip of its long trunk, resembling a car tire. This tough hide prevents regular attack from inflicting even a scratch. A pair of white tusks, which are smaller on the female, extend from the corners of its mouth. It has thin, elongated ears held out almost perpendicular to its body. Its four short legs are each encircled with a broken, black band and have three toes.

Donphan has the ability to curl up into a ball and violently roll around like a wheel. These rolling tackles are strong enough to knock down a house. Once it starts its rampage, it will be almost unstoppable. The anime shows that this ability is further used as a form of courtship. The male Donphan have rolling competitions to demonstrate to the females how tough they are. It has been demonstrated that Donphan has a keen sense of smell, capable of sniffing out a gem known as amberite. Donphan travels in herds with a ranking system. The larger its tusks, the higher its rank in the herd will be. It lives in rough, mountainous terrain.

## In the anime

### Major appearances

#### Ash's Donphan

In *Reversing the Charges*, Ash's Phanpy evolved into Donphan. It proved to be an excellent member of his team showing its strength in every battle.

#### Makarov's Donphan

Makarov's Donphan is also a Guild Master who wears armor. Donphan is caring but isn't afraid to give the guildmates some punishment by using Rollout.

#### Other

Donphan first made a brief appearance in the beginning of *Mewtwo Strikes Back*, under the ownership of Raymond. At the time, it was an unknown Pokémon.

Donphan's first major role was in *Roll On, Pokémon!* A girl named Rochelle was using four to find amberite.

In *Date Expectations*, many Donphan were falling in love with a Shiny Donphan.

Tyson used a Donphan during the Hoenn League which first appeared in *Chose It or Lose It!*.

In *Pokémon Ranger and the Kidnapped Riolu! Part Two*, Kellyn had a Donphan smash through the cave-ins that were caused by an Aggron that belonged to Pokémon HunterJ's client.

### Minor appearances

A Donphan was one of the Pokémon seen at the Pokémon Swap Meet in *Tricks of the Trade*.

A Donphan was seen in the wild in *The Legend of Thunder!*.

Several Donphan appeared in Misty's flashback in *Gotta Catch Ya Later!*.

A Donphan also appeared in *Battling the Generation Gap!*.

Another Donphan appeared in *Challenging a Towering Figure!*.

A Donphan made a brief appearance under the ownership of a Trainer in the Lily of the Valley Conference in *An Old Family Blend!*.

Ethan battles Ash with a Donphan in the beginning of *Zoroark: Master of Illusions*.

## In the manga

### In the Pokémon Adventures manga

A silhouette of a wild Donphan appeared in *Ponyta Tale*where Professor Oak mentioned new Pokémon beyond the previously known 151 species.

A herd of Donphan were used by a thieving ruffian in*Number One Donphan*, but they were defeated by Goldafterwards. They appeared again in *Bellsprout Rout*.

In *Quilava Quandry*, the Day-Care Couple used a Donphan to train Gold.

A Donphan was one of the Pokémon sent to help the fight in Ilex Forest in *The Last Battle XIII*.

In *I'm Your Biggest Fan, Donphan*, Wattson accidentally catches Sapphire in a trap designed to catch a wild, rampaging Donphan. After 'discovering' New Mauville, Sapphire uses the wild Donphan to help Wattson shut down a power generator, adding it to her team in *Plugging Past Electrike II* and naming it Phado.

### In the Pokémon Pocket Monsters manga

A Donphan appeared in *Clefairy, the Battle Instructor* under the ownership of a Trainer who had trouble controlling it. Donphan would usually fall asleep and did so since its loss to Silver's Totodile.

## Trivia

* Donphan shares its species name with Tyranitar. They are both known as the Armor Pokémon.
* Donphan and Ursaring, along with their pre-evolutions, are the only Pokémon to swap version-exclusive status between localizations. While Phanpy and Donphan are found only in the Japanese Gold, they are not found in Gold in other languages, being found in the Silver Version of those languages instead, with Teddiursa and Ursaring getting the opposite treatment. This is corrected in the remakes HeartGold and SoulSilver, where they follow the Japanese Gold and Silver.

### Origin

It appears to have been based on an adult elephant, although it resembles the tire of an automobile when curled up or using its trademark Rollout attack. As both Phanpy and Donphan are much smaller compared to humans than conventional African or Asian elephants, they may have actually been inspired by the dwarf elephant or pygmy elephant.

#### Name origin

Donphan and Donfan are a combination of *don* and *elephant*. *Don* may refer to *lord*; a root word meaning *teeth*, referring to its tusks; or *mastodon*, a prehistoric elephant. *Don*may have also been included to reflect Donphan's robust physique and great strength, especially in comparison to Phanpy.

## Related articles

* Ash's Donphan
* Makarov's Donphan