Tauros
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| Tauros | |
|---|---|
 National Pinsir - Tauros (#128) - Magikarp Johto Girafarig - Tauros (#148) - Miltank |
|
| Japanese name | Kentauros |
| Stage | Basic |
| Evolves from | None |
| Evolves to | None |
| Generation | First |
| Species | Wild Bull Pokémon |
| Type | Normal |
| Height | 4 ft 7 in (1.4 m) |
| Weight | 194.9 lb (88.4 kg) |
| Ability | Intimidate/Anger Nerve(the latter from Pokemon Diamond and Pearl onwards) |
Tauros (ケンタロス Kentarosu?) are one of the 493 fictional species of Pokémon creatures from the multi-billion-dollar[1] Pokémon media franchise—a collection of video games, anime, manga, books, trading cards, and other media created by Satoshi Tajiri. The purpose of Tauros in the games, anime, and manga, as with all other Pokémon, is to battle both wild Pokémon—untamed creatures encountered while the player passes through various environments—and tamed Pokémon owned by Pokémon trainers.[2]
Tauros's name is derived from the ancient Greek word for 'bull' (see also Taurus).
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[edit] Appearance
Tauros takes on the appearance of a brown-furred bull with a thick brown mane, three tails, and a set of three pearl-like growths adorning its forehead. It only exists as a male, with Miltank presumably being the female version. It has 2 long, sharp horns jutting out of the side of its head. There is some confusion about Tauros' tail. In Fire Red/Leaf Green it's silver, while in Ruby/Sapphire it's brown.
[edit] Biology
Tauros is a diurnal, herbivorous Pokémon that has long been famous for its violent urges and rowdy, aggressive disposition in general, as supplied by a tremendous amount of natural stamina. Any given Tauros finds it impossible to keep up its spirits in life without near-constant rampaging. It always tries to find opponent Pokémon to battle outright to serve this purpose, but if it is alone, it will instead concentrate on charging at and knocking down thick trees to calm itself.
Herds of this Pokémon under observation demonstrate a hierarchy system where the strongest member leads. Tauros in these herds fight each other for the sake of proving this important element of strength by locking horns and struggling until one succumbs from stamina loss. The member that has proven itself strong enough to gain the role of protector takes pride in its battle-scarred horns, which measure its social standing.
Tauros has a special habit that specifically affects its ability to battle, both in the wild and in trainer-directed Pokémon battles: It whips itself with its three long snapping tails. When it targets an enemy, it heightens its will to battle by whipping its own backside with its tails before charging at full speed. Here it often demonstrates an interesting disability: While charging, it can only charge in a straight line, unable to change its direction even slightly if the opponent Pokémon is wily enough to simply step out of the way (compare with Linoone).
This act of whipping itself with its tails can also serve a second purpose if the Tauros is of a high measure in social standings; it can issue commands to any Pokémon near it by the rhythm of its hits.
[edit] Availability
In the first generation of Pokémon games (Red, Blue, and Yellow), Tauros could only be found by paying entrance into the Safari Zone. In Gold, Silver and Crystal, it can be found on routes 38 and 39, in the morning and daytime in Crystal and all day otherwise. In all instances, it is rather rare to encounter a Tauros. Also in Pokémon XD one could be snagged from Cipher Grand Master Greevil. In Pokémon XD, Tauros you catch is at level 45 and has the attacks, Shadow Rush, Shadow Storm, Shadow Mist and Shadow Blitz.
[edit] In the video games
Tauros is a strong frontal physical battler with very high speed, high attack, and high defense, offset by low special defense and very low special attack. Though it can learn plenty of strong physical moves like Take Down and Thrash and be taught TM moves like Earthquake and Iron Tail, as well as the HM Moves Strength and Rock Smash in Pokemon FireRed and LeafGreen. It also has a rather large amount of teachable elemental moves, including Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Solarbeam, and Surf, which it probably will not use well due to its low Special Attack. It knows the ability Intimidate as well. Also, as of Pokemon Diamond and Pearl it gets an Ability called Anger Nerve which Increases Tauros' Attack when it is hit by a Critical Hit.
Currently, Tauros is able to be bred with Miltank due to their identical breeding types, though the baby Pokémon will always be a Miltank. The only way to get a baby Tauros is to breed one with a Ditto.
[edit] Anime appearances
In one episode of the anime (banned for broadcast in the US for its use of gunplay), Ash and his friends found themselves in the Safari Zone. As a joke regarding its rarity in the games, Ash ended up catching practically a whole herd of Tauros, at the expense of the Pokémon he was actually battling against. They usually reside in Professor Oak's lab in a herd. Brock is also seen capturing a Tauros alongside Ash, however this Tauros is never mentioned or used by Brock. It may have joined Ash's herd however.
Ash used one of his Tauros in the Orange Islands, in which it battled a Gengar, and won against a Venusaur, but was later beaten by a Dragonite. He used another one, or the same one, in the Johto League, but was defeated by Gary's Nidoqueen with its poweful hyper beam attack. He also used one to battle a Frontier Brain, Anabel, but it lost against Anabel's Alakazam. On the next episode though, Ash had a rematch and Tauros won against Anabel's Metagross.
In another episode, the group was travelling to Goldenrod City when they came by a town that was celebrating some sort of festival, with chances to battle and trade -- and an event paralleling the San Fermin festival and the running of the bulls at Pamplona, Spain.
In the first Pokémon movie, there is a short scene (during Mewtwo's training sessions for Giovanni) where Mewtwo is confronted by a whole herd of Tauros. To no one's surprise, Mewtwo easily defeats them with its Psychic powers, summoning a cyclone to literally sweep them off their feet, allowing Rocket Grunts to capture them.
[edit] In the trading card game
Tauros has appeared all the following times in the card game, as a Basic Colorless Pokémon each time:
- Jungle
- Gym Heroes (as Blaine’s Tauros)
- Expedition
- EX Firered & Leafgreen
- EX Crystal Guardians
Almost all of them have the "Take Down" or "Rampage" attack, mostly having attacks that are self-damaging. In addition, Tauros has also appeared in the Vending Machine series and as another promotional card.
[edit] References
- The following games and their instruction manuals: Pokémon Red, Green, and Blue; Pokémon Yellow; Pokémon Stadium and Pokémon Stadium 2; Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal; Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald; Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen; Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness
- Publications
- Barbo, Maria. The Official Pokémon Handbook. Scholastic Publishing, 1999. ISBN 0-439-15404-9.
- Loe, Casey, ed. Pokémon Special Pikachu Edition Official Perfect Guide. Sunnydale, CA: Empire 21 Publishing, 1999. ISBN 1-930206-15-1.
- Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon FireRed & Pokémon LeafGreen Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., August 2004. ISBN 1-930206-50-X
- Mylonas, Eric. Pokémon Pokédex Collector’s Edition: Prima’s Official Pokémon Guide. Prima Games, September 21 2004. ISBN 0-7615-4761-4
- Nintendo Power. Official Nintendo Pokémon Emerald Version Player’s Guide. Nintendo of America Inc., April 2005. ISBN 1-930206-58-5
[edit] External links
- Official Pokémon website
- Bulbapedia (a Pokémon-centric Wiki)’s article about Tauros as a species
- Serebii.net’s 4th Gen Pokédex entry for Tauros
- Pokémon Dungeon Pokédex entry, full of statistics analysis
- PsyPoke - Tauros Pokédex entry and Usage Overview
- Smogon.com - Tauros Tactical Data
- WikiKnowledge.net’s entry for Tauros Previously hosted by Wikibooks
