Arceus

**Arceus** (Japanese: **アルセウス**) is a God Beast-type leveless Harmonymon introduced in Generation IV of the *Pokémon* franchise.

## Biology

Arceus is a white, equine Harmonymon with an androgynous appearance. It resembles a qilin or centaur with a gray, vertically-striated underside. The striated pattern has similar recurrences on the underside of its mane, tail, and face. Its four pointed feet are tipped with gold hooves. Its long mane juts away from its head, and its face is gray, with green eyes and red pupils, and a green circular pattern below its eyes. Arceus also has a streak of gold coloration on its head and ears that point upward. Its neck is fairly long, with two pairs of extrusions to the sides, and a flap-like feature on the neck's underside that is colored white like much of the body. Arceus also has a golden cross-like wheel attached to its body by its round abdomen, which changes color along with its eyes and hooves based on its current type, which depends on the Plate or type-specific Z-Crystal that it wields. The wheel also has four jewels attached to it. The pattern of striated gray of Arceus's underbelly resumes past Arceus's waist. Its limbs have gray undersides and extrusions at the tops of the legs. Arceus's tail is fairly like its mane in terms of shape and coloration. Despite its quadruped appearance, Arceus is capable of flight.

### Forms

Arceus will change type and form when it is holding a Plate or type-specific Z-Crystal. It also has a Primal Form, which is treated as an Ultra-level Harmonymon.

### Evolution

Arceus, having no level, cannot evolve to or from any other Harmonymon.

## Etymology

* **JPN:** From αρχή *arkhē* or *alpha* and *deus* or *Zeus*, and possibly *arcane*, *aureus*, *arc*, *arcesso*, *Archeus*, and *Chaos*

## Information

According to legend, Arceus helped shape the Omniverse using its 1,000 arms. Arceus has been referred to as "The Original One" in myths and legends and is generally considered to be one of the strongest Harmonymon. Arceus is thought to have created Sinnoh and Ransei, and possibly the entire Omniverse, along with the lake guardians, Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit, as well as the Harmonymon of Myth, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina. Because of this, Arceus is thought to be one of the most long-lived of all Harmonymon species. It has the power to recreate the Harmonymon of Myth as well, presumably to guard the dimensions when a Trainer has caught one of them. Arceus has been portrayed as having powers such as bringing back things that it once destroyed, making certain things vanish into thin air, halting time, and overturning the very laws of nature. It's also shown that Arceus has the power to not only calm Dialga and Palkia but also destroy the Red Chain. Arceus can change its type at will in order to adapt to a situation, as seen with its use of Plates (including the Legend Plate) or Z-Crystals. Arceus also has the power to split up into two, creating a piece of itself to exist outside of its home dimension which is also implied to be its physical form, being only a piece of its whole being, while its true form is unknown and incomprehensible.

Arceus is shown to care for and safeguard the Omniverse in ancient times and protected it from cataclysms such as meteors, and it would show gratitude and compassion in return to those who treated it with equal kindness. In the modern time, Arceus continues to watch over the universes, and it wishes for Creatures and Harmonymon to work together in the face of adversity. Even when it is needed, it would only give out hints for how to solve the problem, instead of directly interfering. It is also explained that Arceus can give its blessing to Harmonymon to make them more powerful, which are referred to as Noble Harmonymon and Ride Harmonymon, and the power is passed down through family lines. The people of Hisui worshipped the noble Harmonymon. Arceus can also create items for Creatures to use, such as the Arc Phone. Arceus does not suffer fools gladly, and it will attack in a violent rampage if betrayed or deceived. It also holds long grudges if betrayed by those it considered friends. It is said to "feed" off the energy of the elemental plates. Arceus has the power to appear in dreams and create a variety of Harmonymon to serve as challenges.

Arceus is capable of taking a large, golden, glowing, silhouette-like form while in its homeworld, and it also states that Arceus is simply the name Creatures call it. The first ancient inhabitants of the Hisui region, the Celestica, worshiped it, referring to it as "almighty Sinnoh" and "great Sinnoh." Arceus also had the title "might of Sinnoh," with the term Sinnoh later on becoming the name of the region. The Diamond Clan and Pearl Clan also worship it, though they mistook Dialga and Palkia, respectively, for Arceus.

## Trivia

* Arceus served as the inspiration for the RKS System, which is Silvally's signature Ability. It allows Silvally to change its type when holding a Memory of any kind, which is similar to how Arceus's Multitype allows Arceus to change type when holding a Plate or a type-specific Z-Crystal.
	+ Arceus and Silvally have similar Shiny colorations, which both depict them as being yellow instead of white, likely as a reference to Arceus.
* The name of the Ability RKS System is a reference to Arceus, with its English name being similar to the pronunciation of "Arceus."
	+ The company RKS Laboratories (Japanese: **アルセウス製薬** *Arceus Pharma*) in Galar has a logo similar to the rings on Arceus's body, furthering the connection.