Arcanine is a four-legged, dog-like Pokémon with an orange coat striped in jagged black. It has diamond-shaped ears with beige insides, a round black nose, and two pointed fangs poking from its upper jaw. The shaggy beige fur covering its head, muzzle, and chest contrasts with its black underside, and it's got distinctive oval patches around each eye and ear. Long fur tufts grow behind its elbows and around its ankles, while its bent, billowing tail is also beige. Each paw has three toes and a pink pad.
Arcanine is known for being fiercely loyal and brave. Its most famous trait is speed—it can supposedly cover 6,200 miles in a single day, moving with such grace it seems almost to fly. Throughout history it's been admired for both its beauty and power, and there's an old saying that anyone who hears its bark will kneel before it. Its strength comes from intense flames burning inside its body. Since Arcanine only exists through evolution via stone, it's rarely spotted in the wild, though when it does appear, it usually inhabits grasslands or volcanic regions. The show has depicted it stashing food in its mane to bring back to its young, and apparently it sleeps in incredibly cozy spots—so peacefully you'd think it was an innocent kid dozing off.
In certain regions like China, Arcanine holds legendary status, revered for its speed and power. It's even categorized as a Legendary Pokémon in some official documentation.
Regional Variant: Hisuian Arcanine
The volcanic environment of Hisui shaped a drastically different form. Here, Arcanine's body is red-orange while its muzzle, mane, tail, eyebrows, and limb tufts are gray—specifically gray made from igneous rock components. Its ears have light gray insides, and those gray sections curl and wave distinctively. The elbow tufts even resemble wings. A large central horn crowns its head, with three smaller horns nestled between its head and ears, and its mane forms both tight curls at the back of the neck and large rectangular chunks down the sides and front.
Despite looking bulky, Hisuian Arcanine moves with surprising nimbleness, almost like a dancer, letting it toy with opponents and slip away just as easily. It breathes flames while snapping at foes with its fangs and lives in coastal mountain regions.
A special Hisuian Arcanine is actually worshiped by the Hisui people—it's descended from one of ten ancient Pokémon blessed long ago. This noble individual lives in Cobalt Coastlands under the care of a Warden named Palina.
Evolution
Arcanine evolves from Growlithe. Hisuian Arcanine evolves from Hisuian Growlithe.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
