Clefairy

Clefairy
National Pokédex Nidoking - Clefairy (#35) - Clefable
Series	Pokémon series
First game	Pokémon Red and Blue
Designed by	Ken Sugimori
Voiced by	Mayumi Yamaguchi

Clefairy (ピッピ^?, Pippi) is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Clefairy first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels. They have later appeared in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise. Known as the Fairy Pokémon, Clefairy is the mascot of Pokémon manga, and appears as a main character in many of them, such as Magical Pokémon Journey and Pokémon Pocket Monsters.

Design and characteristics

Clefairy is a small, bipedal Pokémon. Clefairy appears to be a pink creature, with stocky limbs and a round body which gives it a chubby appearance. It also possess large sensitive ears that have brown tips. It has small wings that seem incapable of flight, but allow it to bounce gracefully, and when store moonlight in their wings, allowing them to float in midair.^[1] Clefairy was chosen as the main character of the manga to make it more engaging for readers. However, Pikachu, who was chosen as the anime mascot, became the mascot for the whole series in order to appeal to younger female readers and their mothers.^[2]

Clefairys are popular as pets for their adorable features.^[3] The most well-known ability that a Clefairy has is the ability to use Metronome, a move that involves wiggling its fingers back and forth in order to execute any move at random. Clefairy and its evolution family are the only Pokémon that can possess the Magic Guard ability, which prevents all forms of indirect damage. Clefairy are very shy and timid creatures. As such, they rarely show themselves to humans. Clefairy also seem to have gained a reputation as kleptomaniacs, since there have been various reports of Clefairy being seen stealing random junk. Clefairy are elusive Pokémon in the wild.^[3] On every night of a full moon, groups of Clefairy come out to play. When dawn arrives, the tired Clefairy return to their quiet mountain retreats and go to sleep nestled up against each other.^[4]

Appearances

In the video games

Clefairy first appears as one of the 151 species of Pokémon in the Pokémon Red and Blue Versions. It later appeared in several sequels, including Pokémon Gold and Silver, Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, the Red and Blue remakes Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, and Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver. In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, the Slot Machines feature a bonus round function with a Clefairy which points to which reel to stop first.^[5]

Outside of the main series, Clefairy stars in the Pokémon Stadium mini-game "Clefairy Says." In it, players are given a pattern of arrows to repeat back. Each time the player fails, they will receive a strike. After five strikes, the player is out.^[6] A Clefairy is obtainable from a Poké Ball item in the non-Pokémon-exclusive video games Super Smash Bros. and Super Smash Bros Melee.

In other media

Clefairy's first anime appearance was in Clefairy and the Moon Stone, in which Ash and his friends meet a group of Clefairy at Mt. Moon, where they pray to a moon stone.^[7] In Clefairy Tales, a group of Clefairy were going around stealing random junk in Viridian City to repair their spaceship. Their leader got beaten up by Jigglypuff for stealing its microphone/pen.^[8] These Clefairy made another brief appearance in Wish Upon a Star Shape, which is the debut of their pre-evolution, Cleffa.^[9] Several Clefairy also appeared in A Real Cleffa-Hanger, when Ash and his friends visited Mt. Moon again.

Clefairy have had many major roles in various Pokémon manga series. A timid, shy Clefairy is among the main characters of the Magical Pokémon Journey manga series. A rude, crass, male Clefairy is the co-star of the Pokémon Pocket Monsters manga. In Pokémon Adventures, Green owns a Clefairy that later evolves into Clefable when Red uses his Moon Stone on it. Although it was used only once for distraction against Sabrina prior to evolving, its increased power allowed it to stall Zapmolcuno for a short period of time with its Metronome. It has since been used as a main member of her team in Green's battle against Lorelei, where it Minimized itself to retrieve her miniature ice sculptures, deliberately blowing off the arm part to let the Elite Four's guard down. In The Electric Tale of Pikachu, one of the chapters focuses on the Clefairy evolution ceremony. Another chapter also focuses on Clefairy, this time with them running wild through a city.

Reception

IGN editor "Pokémon of the Day Chick" called Clefairy an "ever-popular Pokémon", though not as much as in the United States as it is in Japan. She added that she did an article for Clefairy solely because of her dislike for Clefable, though stating that it's "cool enough".^[10] GamesRadar editor Carolyn Gudmundson compared Clefairy to Jigglypuff, stating that it is far less utilized, in spite of the fact that was initially supposed to be the mascot of the series. She also noted it as a part of an overused Pokémon design, the "huggable pink blob" design.^[11] In a discussion with children about the genders of Pokémon in author Jackie Marsh's book Popular culture, new media and digital literacy in early childhood, a girl named Emily stated that Clefairy was a girl, while a boy named Eric stated that it sucked. Emily rationalized this by saying that it did not resemble a boy, so it must be a girl. She also cited Clefairy's feminine voice. Eric provided a similar rationale, adding that if it were a boy, it would have similar characteristics to more masculine Pokémon, such as if it were blue or green instead of pink.^[12] Author Loredana Lipperini praised its techniques, describing them as "fun".^[13]

External links

• Clefairy on Bulbapedia
• Clefairy at the Internet Movie Database

References

1. ^ Game Freak. Pokémon Gold. (Nintendo). Game Boy Color. (2000-10-15) "The moonlight that it stores in the wings on its back apparently gives it the ability to float in midair."
2. ^ Pikachu's global adventure: the rise ... - Google Books. http://books.google.com/books?id=U7hthImoc5AC&pg=PA290&dq=%22Pok%C3%A9mon+Yellow%22#v=snippet&q=Pippi&f=false. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Game Freak. Pokémon Red and Blue. (Nintendo). Game Boy. (1998-09-30) "Its magical and cute appeal has many admirers. It is rare and found only in certain areas."
4. ^ Game Freak. Pokémon Ruby. (Nintendo). Game Boy Advance. (2003-03-17) "On every night of a full moon, groups of this Pokémon come out to play. When dawn arrives, the tired Clefairy return to their quiet mountain retreats and go to sleep nestled up against each other."
5. ^ Game Freak. Pokémon Diamond. (Nintendo). Nintendo DS. (2007-04-22)
6. ^ IGNguides. "Pokemon Stadium Strategy Guide". IGN. http://guides.ign.com/guides/11154/kidsclub.html. Retrieved 2010-12-29. 
7. ^ "Clefairy and the Moon Stone". Atsuhiro Tomioka (writer). Pokémon. Various. September 15, 1998. No. 6, season Indigo League.
8. ^ "Clefairy Tales". Shinzō Fujita (writer). Pokémon. Various. September 25, 1999. No. 62, season Indigo League.
9. ^ "Wish Upon a Star Shape". Junki Takegami (writer). Pokémon. Various. May 3, 2003. No. 246, season Master Quest.
10. ^ "Pokemon Crystal Version Pokemon of the Day: Clefairy (#35) - IGN FAQs". Faqs.ign.com. http://faqs.ign.com/articles/385/385360p1.html. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
11. ^ "The most overused Pokemon designs". GamesRadar. http://www.gamesradar.com/f/the-most-overused-pokemon-designs/a-2010072310344160054. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
12. ^ Popular culture, new media and ... - Google Books. 2005-06-22. http://books.google.com/books?id=6dMWD_62AC0C. Retrieved 2010-08-05. 
13. ^ http://books.google.com/books?id=MOQc163-XCcC