Hydrapple is a Pokémon which comprises seven separate snake-like entities, known as syrpents, living together inside a large, red, syrup structure shaped like an apple. Each syrpent has green, leaf-shaped eyestalks containing yellow eyes; a long, green body with a pale yellow underside; and a tail tipped with green, leaf-like ornaments.
Three of the seven syrpents are always visible outside of the syrup apple: the central syrpent, which is the dominant entity in the system, rises from the center of the apple; and two of the syrpents' tails emerge from its rear. The central syrpent has the longest body and is further distinguished by its two horns. The left horn has an apple impaled on it, which appears to be the same apple that the Pokémon inhabited when it was an Applin. The four other syrpents composing Hydrapple are usually hidden within the syrup, with only the tops of their closed eyestalks visible from without. Sometimes, the four hidden syrpents emerge from the syrup so that five of Hydrapple's heads are visible. To move, Hydrapple's two tail syrpents work together to push its entire body across the ground.
The seven syrpents that form Hydrapple have inconstant and fickle temperaments, and rarely work together as a team. On the rare occasion that the syrpents' moods align, Hydrapple unleashes its full power.
Appearances[]
Main Pokémon games[]
Other Pokémon games[]
In the anime[]
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Origin[]
Hydrapple seems to be inspired by multiheaded serpent-like monsters from different myths, such as the Yamata no Orochi, an eight-headed dragon or serpent from Japanese mythology; Hachirō-Tarō or Hachi no Tarō no Daija (where daija is an alternative reading of orochi), a similar creature in the local myths of Northern Tōhoku, which Kitakami is based on; the Lernaean Hydra, a many-headed serpentine monster from Greek mythology; and Ladon, the multi-headed dragon from Greek mythology that guarded the golden apples in the Garden of the Hesperides, historically said to be located in the Iberian Peninsula or the Canary Islands. The fact, that their moods often don't align may be a reference to the golden Apple of Discord Like its evolutionary relatives, Hydrapple also appears to be based on the popular image of a worm burrowing into an apple, as well as a pun on the wyrm, a type of dragon — hence its Dragon typing. It also has visual similarities with candy apples and Flapple's and Appletun's Gigantamax-Forms, while the Shiny may be inspired by caramel apples or a golden apple.
The connection between the syrpents and the apple present in Hydrapple's design could draw inspiration from the Christian myth of the original sin, in which a serpent tempts Eve into eating the forbidden fruit, commonly represented as an apple in Western Christianity from a Latin-based visual pun on mālum (apple) and malum (evil). Along these lines, Hydrapple's seven syrpents could then reference the number of cardinal sins, as well as the seven-headed beast from the Book of Revelation. Alternatively, these may reference the number of archons (including the creator god) in Gnosticism, commonly associated with the seven luminaries, as well as the Gnostic depiction of Leviathan as world serpent. The physical world is considered intrinsically flawed and chaotic in Gnosticism. This may explain Hydrapple's signature move Fickle Beam and its special mechanism to be doubled in power when the seven syrpents are aligned at random.
Hydrapple may also be a visual pun on the Big Apple, a nickname for New York City (The location Unova is based on) from the 1920's.
Hydrapple is the only one of Applin's evolutionary relatives to be a third stage evolution.
Hydrapple appears in the Blueberry Pokédex, despite none of its evolutionary relatives appearing in it, also making it the only member of Applin's evolutionary relatives with this distinction.
Dipplin and Hydrapple are the only:
Evolutionary relatives introduced within a single generation that are not next to each other in National Pokédex order, with Dipplin being number 1011 and Hydrapple being number 1019.
Dragon-type Pokémon consisting of multiple bodies.
Hydrapple's existence was indicated before the release of The Indigo Disk by the fact that Dipplin could use the Eviolite.
Hydrapple is the only Pokémon that requires a TM to obtain, as Dipplin cannot learn Dragon Cheer without it.
Hydrapple is the only one of Applin's final forms to not have a Gigantamax form.
