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is listed as Pokémon #143 in the Pokédex. Snorlax was also the heaviest Pokémon before the release of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire.

Snorlax's name is a portmanteau of snore and lax, meaning slack (hence lazy or negligent). However, it is also possible that lax refers to "relax."

Characteristics

Snorlax resembles a giant stuffed animal vaguely in the shape of a bear whose eyes always seem to be closed. All Snorlax will do all day is eat and sleep, only being awake to eat. Snorlax will eat about anything, even moldy and rotten food. The digestive juices in Snorlax's stomach can dissolve any kind of poison, thus giving it Immunity in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald, Fire Red and Leaf Green. It is such a docile Pokémon that children use its large, expansive belly as a place to play. Snorlax did not have an evolutionary family until the release of Diamond and Pearl, (To be announced 2006 in Japan.) It's pre-evolution is Munchlax, but how Munchlax evolves into Snorlax is as yet unknown. Some people believe that Munchlax evolves into Snorlax through happiness like other normal types (eg. Cleffa into Clefairy and Igglybuff into Jigglypuff).

Sometimes, instead of blocking routes, they become a problem because of all they eat as happened with a Snorlax Ash found in the Orange Islands that was eating several farmers' grapefruit and later in Hoenn, bananas from a zoo containing Slakoth. Also, in one episode, a Snorlax was found blocking a river. Ash used the Pokéflute to awaken him.

Snorlax make their home in grassy forest areas. Also, according to Brock, Snorlax normally lives in mountains.

Snorlax may be based on the giant ground sloth or a large bear.

Contrary to appearance, Snorlax can swim.

In the video games

Snorlax is found blocking Routes 12 and 16 in Pokémon Red, Blue, FireRed, LeafGreen, and Pokémon Yellow. In Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal it is found in Vermillion City blocking the entrance to Diglett's Cave, which is the only way to access Pewter City, Viridian City, and Pallet Town. Snorlax is not available in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, but it can be traded from Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. You can also snag it from Cipher Admin Ardos in Pokemon XD.

Snorlax is excellent in battle for several reasons: Its high HP, very good Attack and Special Defense, and powerful Normal type attacks. Its defense and special were low in the original Red, Green and Blue games, however with the division of special into special attack and special defense, Snorlax received a huge special defense boost and has become a statistical tank . Snorlax still has low physical defense, but its mammoth HP more than make up for these shortcomings especially when coupled with defence boosting skills such as Curse. Strong Normal moves such as Return, Frustration and Body Slam are horrendously powerful when used by Snorlax. This is due to his notable Attack score, coupled the Same Type Attack Bonus. Snorlax can sweep an entire enemy team if it is unprepared. Even ghost types are unsafe since Snorlax learns Shadow Ball and Earthquake. In Pokemon slang, a Snorlax is usually referred to as a Curselax if it is a sweeper/tank that abuses Curse in the manner described.

It also has minor cameos in the Super Smash Bros. series, first in Super Smash Bros. as one of several Pokémon which may emerge from thrown Pokéballs, crushing opponents with its massive Body Slam, then reprising that role in Super Smash Bros. Melee while also appearing as a trophy.

In the anime

Probably Snorlax's most dangerous action is rolling over. Because of its great size, and tendency to oversleep, anybody can end up being squashed underneath it for several days; such as Houndour in Pikachu and Pichu and Pichu Bros. in Party Panic Or a Pokémon Anime episode where Ken and Mary (two members of the "Pokémon Mystery Club") discover some crop circles caused by a Snorlax, who then turns around and squashes them. At the end of one episode, even Team Rocket ended up being squashed by a Snorlax.

Ash caught a Snorlax of his own in the Orange Islands episode "Snack Attack", where the crew had to stop a Snorlax from eating all the Grapefruit from the Grapefruit Islands. Paired up with Jigglypuff's Sing attack to make him go to sleep, this catch was easier than most. Ash sent him to the lab in Pallet Town later when he found it wouldn't wake up in time for his Orange League Championship battle, opting to instead use Tauros. He left it at the lab after that, as he couldn't afford to keep feeding him. Ash later used Snorlax in a Sumo contest in the Johto Region, where Snorlax defeated a Feraligatr to win the contest, and then ate one half of the prize - a year's supply of Pokémon food. (The other half was a King's Rock.) Snorlax was part of Ash's team in the Johto finals, defeating Gary's Arcanine and Nidoqueen, and then Harrison's Hypno and Steelix. In both matches, Snorlax is ultimately defeated, losing to Gary's Scizor and Harrison's Houndoom. Snorlax later meets and gets to be friends with May's younger Munchlax. He next appears for Ash's match against Greta, Arena Captain of the Battle Arena.

In the Pokémon Chronicles episode "Snorlax Snowman", there are white Snorlax who live in arctic areas. As such, they are able to naturally learn powerful ice attacks. While they can be as troublesome as any other Snorlax, this ability comes in very handy.

In "Destiny Deoxys", a Munchlax is present for much of the film. At the end, it evolves into Snorlax.

Lucy, a Frontier Brain, owns a Snorlax of her own.

Manga, Movies and Merchandise

Snorlax appeared in Pikachu's Rescue Adventure, the short feature which was shown along with the Movie 2000. Near the climax of the short, Pikachu and his friends struggle to protect Togepi and some Exeggcute from blowing away in a tempestuous storm. Snorlax lends a hand by anchoring the others, which he accomplishes easily due to his great weight and size, despite being momentarily distracted by some food blowing past. When the storm gets worse, Pikachu and his group form a long chain by holding onto each other, which Snorlax pulls back to safety.

In the Super Smash Bros. series, Snorlax randomly pops out of Pokéballs that randomly appear, and crash through the stage. It knocks out characters that get in the way. In Super Smash Bros. Melee, Snorlax pops out of a Pokéball, stands a few seconds. Then it grows as it flies, and then it crashes through the stage, knocking out characters that get in its path.

Despite its inactive nature, Snorlax often appears on various Pokémon products, perhaps due to its cuteness. Some of the items featuring Snorlax include a "beanie" plush toy by Hasbro, a 7" tall Snorlax-shaped night-light, a tiny 3" plush figure which comes in a plastic Pokéball and a magnet from Polar Magnetics, packaged with similar magnets of Bulbasaur and Pidgeotto.

Snorlax has a chapter book centered around it, the Pokémon Junior series paperback Snorlax Takes A Stand (ISBN 0613330676). The book is number nine in the series, and the plot features Ash using Snorlax in an attempt to stop Team Rocket from stealing Pokémon food in the Orange Islands. The book was written by Sarah Heller, who also wrote several other volumes of the series.

Snorlax also stars in a children's book titled "Snorlax's Snack." It is number 10 in the Pokemon Tales series of such books, and is both written and illustrated by Sumiyoshi Kizuki.

Snorlax was one of the Pokemon Red caught in the RBG series of the Pokemon Special manga.He was caught in the middle of a bike race Red was competing in.

In the Trading Card Game

Snorlax has appeared quite a few times in the card game, normally as a Basic Colorless Pokémon, in the following sets: Jungle, Gym Heroes (as Rocket’s Snorlax), Skyridge, EX Firered & Leafgreen and EX Team Rocket Returns (Dark-type, as Rocket’s Snorlax EX).

Jungle Snorlax was a popular tank card due to its high hit points, Basic class, and its Pokémon Power that practically made it immune to status effects.

Snorlax also appeared as the 49th promotional card and as a card named Greedy Snorlax.

References

Publications
  • Barbo, Maria. The Official Pokémon Handbook. Scholastic Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0439154049.
  • Loe, Casey, ed. Pokémon Special Pikachu Edition Official Perfect Guide. Sunnydale, CA: Empire 21 Publishing, 1999. ISBN 130206151.
  • Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon FireRed Version & Pokémon LeafGreen Version Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., August 2004. ISBN 193020650X
  • Mylonas, Eric. Pokémon Pokédex Collector’s Edition: Prima’s Official Pokémon Guide. Prima Games, September 21 2004. ISBN 0761547614
  • Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Emerald Version Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., April 2005. ISBN 1930206585

External links

Fictional overeaters | Lazy fictional characters

Snorlax | Snorlax | Ronflex | Snorlax | カビゴン | Snorlax

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Snorlax".

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