Sudowoodo
| Sudowoodo Azumarill (#184) - Sudowoodo - Politoed (#186) | |
| General | |
|---|---|
| Name (Japanese), Number | Sudowoodo (Usokki), 185 |
| Stage | Basic |
| Evolves from | (none) |
| Evolves to | (none) |
| Battle¹ | |
| Hit points | 70 |
| Attack | 100 |
| Defense | 115 |
| Speed | 30 |
| Special attack | 30 |
| Special defense | 65 |
| Biological | |
| Species | Imitation Pokémon |
| Types | Rock |
| Height | 1.2 m (3 ft 11 in) |
| Weight | 38 kg (84.0 lb) |
| Shiny color | Its "leaves" become orange, and its body becomes either yellow-green (on the Game Boy) or deep green (in Colosseum}. |
| Ability | Rock Head |
| Signature Attack | Mimic |
| Gender distribution | 50.0% male, 50.0% female |
| ¹ Stats for trading card versions may vary. | |
Sudowoodo, a fictional character, is a basic Rock-type Pokémon that first appeared in the Pokemon Gold and Silver video games, and is also available in Crystal, and Ruby and Sapphire. It is Pokémon #185 in the National Pokédex, and #106 in Johto. It resembles an anthropomorphic tree, despite its actual type, with a branched, leafless twig on the top of its head and branches with leaves for arms. As it is a Rock-type, it more specifically resembles a specimen of petrified wood.
Its appearance near Ecruteak City is indicated by a small tree icon blocking an important junction between routes. Upon using the Water-Spray item that is given to the player in Goldenrod City, the player then enters battle against Sudowoodo.
Name origin
"Sudo" is a purposeful misspelling of "pseudo" (false), and "woodo" refers to its tree-like appearance; hence, Sudowoodo is a specimen of "pseudo-wood". The japanese name, ウソッキ (usokki), shares the same joke; it is derived from the words 嘘 (うそ uso false) and 木 (き ki tree, wood).
Anime appearances
The major appearance of a Sudowoodo in the Pokémon anime was in the episode "Usokki wa doko ni iru!?", which was named "Type Casting" when translated. In the episode, Team Rocket attempt to steal a Sudowoodo, and after doing so, stand perplexed at what type it actually is. In a notable scene, Team Rocket continually asked the Sudowoodo what its type was. They could not receive a straight answer, as, since "uso" means "false" or "lie" in Japanese and the extent of a Pokémon's speech patterns is its name, any answer the Sudowoodo could give would be negative. The scene was translated to English, but the original joke was largely lost.
The confusion was compounded when Jessie's Wobbuffet released itself (as it tends to do in the anime). Since Wobbuffet's Japanese name (ソーナンス sōnansu) is a transcription of a common phrase of agreement (そうなんす sō nan 'su, a contraction of そうなんです sō nan desu), the only replies that Team Rocket received from the two Pokémon were strings of "yes" and "no".