Drowzee

Drowzee
National Pokédex Onix - Drowzee (#96) - Hypno
Series	Pokémon series
First game	Pokémon Red and Blue
Designed by	Ken Sugimori
Voiced by	Maddie Blaustein

Drowzee, known in Japan as Sleepe (スリープ, Surīpu^?), is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Drowzee first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise.

Design and characteristics

The baku, the basis for Drowzee, both in its appearance to the animal tapir and its ability to eat dreams.

Drowzee was one of several different designs conceived by Game Freak's character development team and finalized by Ken Sugimori for the first generation of Pocket Monsters games Red and Green, which were localized outside of Japan as Pokémon Red and Blue.^[1][2] Originally called "Sleepe" in Japanese, Nintendo decided to give the various Pokémon species "clever and descriptive names" related to their appearance or features when translating the game for western audiences as a means to make the characters more relatable to American children.^[3] As a result, Nintendo renamed it to Drowzee, deriving the name from the word "drowsy".^[4]

Drowzee, known as the Hypnosis Pokémon, is a bipedal Pokémon that is based on the Baku, so it resembles a tapir.^[5] Its eyes are tired looking and it has a trunk above its mouth. Its arms are quite short in length and its hands each have three fingers. The upper half of a Drowzee's body is yellow and the lower half is brown, the two of which are separated by a wavy line. It has a round belly and its legs are quite stubby. Its feet are brown, except for its two toes, which are the same yellow color as the upper half of the body, and the bottom, which has a small, round, pink colored pad in the middle of it. Its special abilities allow it to hypnotize its enemies to eat their dreams.^[6] When it twitches its nose, it can tell where someone is sleeping and what that person is dreaming about.^[7] If a person’s nose becomes itchy when they are sleeping, it is said to be a sure sign that a Drowzee is standing above their pillow and trying to eat their dream through the person’s nostrils.^[8] Drowzee has certain preferences for the dreams it eats, and it is known to love fun dreams and rarely eat the dreams of adults, as the dreams of children are seemingly tastier.^[9] Drowzee remembers every dream it has eaten,^[9] and may show dreams it has eaten in the past to a person that often sleeps by it.^[10]

Appearances

In the video games

Drowzee first appears in the first Pokémon video game, Pokémon Red and Blue, where it evolves into Hypno. 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. Outside of the main series, Drowzee has appeared in Pokémon Pinball, the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon games, the Pokémon Ranger games, and in Pokémon Stadium.

In Pokémon Stadium, Drowzee featured in its own mini game called "Snore War", in which players must use Hypnosis when the pendulum hits the center of its swing to put the other Drowzee to sleep. In Pokémon Ranger, after the credits, a Drowzee allow the player to reexperience the events of the end of the game. In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness, Drowzee is a resident of Treasure Town who takes Azurill hostage and makes him get treasure for him. The player's team saves Azurill and gets Drowzee arrested. Later, when Azurill cannot wake up from a nightmare, the player's team looks for Drowzee's help.

In other media

In the anime, Drowzee first appeared alongside its evolved form in Hypno's Naptime. Both of the Hypnosis Pokémon were used to help the members of the Pokémon Lover's Club get sleep. Hypno was causing children to act like Pokémon and draining the energy off of the Pokémon in the local Pokémon Center. Drowzee was used to fix the mess Hypno created.^[11] Drowzee made another appearance in Pikachu Re-Volts. Butch and Cassidy used a Drowzee to brainwash Pokémon into turning against their Trainers and obeying Butch and Cassidy.^[12] Drowzee was living in an abandoned mining town with several other Psychic Pokémon in Fear Factor Phony.^[13]

Reception

Since it appeared in the Pokémon series, Drowzee has been met with generally positive reception. It has appeared in several forms of merchandise, including figures, plush toys, and the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

GamesRadar editor Brett Elston commented that while Drowzee appearance was "freakish", citing its "articulated snout and two-tone hide", the image of it "savoring a child’s dreams makes my toes shrivel into dust".^[14] In terms of gameplay, Elston noted that he has rarely seen Drowzee used in battle.^[15] Fellow GamesRadar editor Carolyn Gudmundson compared Musharna's appearance, a Pokémon from Pokémon Black and White, to Drowzee.^[16] The book Improving Writing at KS2 getting it right for the boys and girls uses Drowzee as an example of both how names of Pokémon can come from real life words as well as a good Pokémon for use in making up attributes and stories, describing it as an "elephant with psychic powers".^[17] Author Loredana Lipperini also described it as an elephant, specifically describing it as a "yellow elephant in his underwear."^[18]

Author Shannon Knudsen used Drowzee as an example of a fictional creature based on the mythological creature baku, a creature who also eats peoples' dreams.^[19] IGN commented that while Drowzee and its evolution Hypno were inferior to Mewtwo, Mew, and Alakazam, they were worth owning.^[4] IGN editor "Pokémon of the Day Chick" commented that while Drowzee was "fugly", she loved it. She added that she remembers catching Drowzee for the first time, explaining that while she intended to capture an Abra, she lost interest when she discovered that everyone had raised one, preferring to be original. She stated that Drowzee had an "adorable pot belly".^[20][21]

References

1. ^ Staff. "2. 一新されたポケモンの世界" (in Japanese). Nintendo.com. Nintendo. p. 2. http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ds/interview/irbj/vol1/index2.html. Retrieved 2010-09-10. 
2. ^ Stuart Bishop (2003-05-30). "Game Freak on Pokémon!". CVG. Archived from the original on 2008-02-08. http://www.webcitation.org/5VSJaR6xT. Retrieved 2008-02-07. 
3. ^ Chua-Euan, Howard (November 22, 1999). "PokéMania". TIME. http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/99/1122/cover2.html. Retrieved 2008-09-15. 
4. ^ ^{a b} "Pokemon Stadium Strategy Guide - IGNguides". Guides.ign.com. http://guides.ign.com/guides/11154/drowzee.html. Retrieved 2010-10-01. 
5. ^ Game Freak. Pokémon FireRed. (Nintendo). Game Boy Advance. (2004-09-07) "A descendant of the legendary animal baku, which is said to eat dreams. It is skilled at hypnotism."
6. ^ Game Freak. Pokémon Red and Blue. (Nintendo). Game Boy. (1998-09-30) "Puts enemies to sleep, then eats their dreams. Occasionally gets sick from eating bad dreams."
7. ^ Game Freak. Pokémon Crystal. (Nintendo). Game Boy Color. (2001-07-29) "When it twitches its nose, it can tell where someone is sleeping and what that person is dreaming about."
8. ^ Game Freak. Pokémon Ruby. (Nintendo). Game Boy Advance. (2003-03-17) "If your nose becomes itchy while you are sleeping, it's a sure sign that one of these Pokémon is standing above your pillow and trying to eat your dream through your nostrils."
9. ^ ^{a b} Game Freak. Pokémon Silver. (Nintendo). Game Boy Color. (2000-10-15) "It remembers every dream it eats. It rarely eats the dreams of adults because children's are much tastier"
10. ^ Game Freak. Pokémon Yellow. (Nintendo). Game Boy. (1999-10-19) "If you sleep by it all the time, it will sometimes show you dreams it has eaten in the past."
11. ^ "Hypno's Naptime". Yukiyoshi Ōhashi (writer). Pokémon. Various. October 13, 1998. No. 27, season Indigo League.
12. ^ "Pikachu Re-Volts". Atsuhiro Tomioka (writer). Pokémon. Various. February 5, 2000. No. 86, season Adventures on the Orange Islands.
13. ^ "Fear Factor Phony". Junki Takegami (writer). Pokémon. Various. September 8, 2006. No. 146, season Battle Frontier.
14. ^ "The most disturbing Pokemon of all time". GamesRadar. http://www.gamesradar.com/f/the-most-disturbing-pokemon-of-all-time/a-2010042210464734011. Retrieved 2010-10-01. 
15. ^ "The complete Pokemon RBY pokedex, part 9, Pokemon Diamond/Pearl DS Features". GamesRadar. 2010-09-27. http://www.gamesradar.com/ds/f/the-complete-pokemon-rby-pokedex-part-9/a-2007082295639479041/g-2006100415372930075/p-8. Retrieved 2010-10-01. 
16. ^ "The most overused Pokemon designs". GamesRadar. http://www.gamesradar.com/f/the-most-overused-pokemon-designs/a-2010072310344160054. Retrieved 2010-10-01. 
17. ^ Improving Writing at KS2 getting it ... - Google Books. Books.google.com. http://books.google.com/books?id=6txO1UzgOmEC. Retrieved 2010-10-01. 
18. ^ Generazione Pókemon: i bambini e l ... - Google Books. Books.google.com. http://books.google.com/books?id=MOQc163-XCcC. Retrieved 2010-10-01. 
19. ^ Fantastical Creatures and Magical Beasts - Google Books. Books.google.com. http://books.google.com/books?id=jOtTN_apeQAC. Retrieved 2010-10-01. 
20. ^ "Pokemon Crystal Version Pok¿mon of the Day: Drowzee (#96) - IGN FAQs". Faqs.ign.com. http://faqs.ign.com/articles/378/378491p1.html. Retrieved 2010-10-01. 
21. ^ "Pokemon Ruby Version Pokemon of the Day: Hypno (#97) - IGN FAQs". Faqs.ign.com. http://faqs.ign.com/articles/431/431927p1.html. Retrieved 2010-10-01.