Arceus
Arceus is a white, horse-like Pokémon with an androgynous look—think qilin or centaur. Its underside features distinctive gray vertical stripes that repeat on its mane, tail, and face. The creature has four pointed feet tipped with gold hooves, a long mane that juts outward, and a gray face with green eyes and red pupils. Below its eyes is a green circular marking. Gold streaks run along its head and upright ears, and its fairly long neck has two pairs of side extrusions plus a white flap underneath. The most striking feature is a golden, cross-shaped wheel attached to its round abdomen—this wheel shifts color along with its eyes and hooves depending on Arceus's current type, with four jewels embedded in it. Despite looking like a quadruped, Arceus can actually fly.
Mythology and Power
Legend claims Arceus shaped the entire Pokémon universe with its 1,000 arms, earning it the title "The Original One." It's generally considered one of—if not the—strongest Pokémon around. Supposedly it created Sinnoh and Ransei, possibly the whole Pokémon world, plus the lake guardians and the Pokémon of Myth. That kind of godlike origin makes it probably the longest-living Pokémon species too.
The anime has shown Arceus doing some wild stuff: resurrecting things it destroyed, making things disappear, stopping time, and breaking the laws of nature itself. It can calm both Dialga and Palkia, and it's strong enough to destroy the Red Chain. Its most flexible power is shifting types at will by holding different Plates or type-specific Z-Crystals. It can also split itself into pieces—what we see is apparently just a fragment existing outside its home dimension, with its true form remaining unknown and incomprehensible.
Personality and Behavior
Despite its immense power, Arceus isn't indiscriminately destructive. It historically protected the planet from disasters like meteors and showed genuine compassion to those who treated it kindly. Even now, it watches over the world and wants people and Pokémon working together. When help is needed, though, Arceus prefers to drop hints rather than directly stepping in.
The flip side: it doesn't tolerate betrayal or deception. Betray it and you'll face a violent rampage. It holds grudges long-term against former friends who cross it. In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, it's revealed that Arceus can bless Pokémon to make them stronger—these blessed Pokémon are called noble Pokémon or Ride Pokémon, and the blessing gets passed down through families. The ancient Hisui people revered these noble Pokémon.
Arceus can create useful items for humans too, like the Arc Phone. It can also visit people in dreams and conjure various Pokémon as challenges.
Ancient History
In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, the intro shows Arceus taking a massive, golden, glowing silhouette form in its home dimension while speaking human language. The game notes that "Arceus" is just what humans call it. The Celestica, Hisui's first inhabitants, worshipped it under names like "almighty Sinnoh" and "great Sinnoh"—the term "Sinnoh" eventually became the region's name itself. The Diamond Clan and Pearl Clan also worship Arceus, though they mistakenly identified Dialga and Palkia as Arceus instead.
There's also a reference in Arceus and the Jewel of Life (M12) to Arceus "feeding" off the energy of the elemental plates.
Forms
Arceus has eighteen different forms, one for each type.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
