Druddigon #621: the cave dragon that shuts down in the cold

Druddigon is the dragon that lives in the dark. This pure Dragon-type Pokémon, discovered in the Unova region, roams narrow caves, corners its prey there and rams them headfirst. But it has an unexpected weak spot: as soon as its body temperature drops, it can't move at all, and has to climb back up to spread its wings in the sun.

Contents

• Who is Druddigon, Unova's Cave Pokémon?
• Pure Dragon type, three weaknesses and two Abilities
• Evolution: Druddigon stands alone in its line
• The unloved dragon with a gargoyle's looks
• The dragon of Unova's Champions, from Iris to Alder
• Druddigon Fact Sheet
• Frequently Asked Questions

Who is Druddigon, Unova's Cave Pokémon?

Listed as #621 in the National Pokédex, Druddigon (Drakkarmin in French) made its debut in Pokémon Black and White, in the Unova region. Its official category sums up its lifestyle: it's the Cave Pokémon, a label it shares only with Gabite.

It stands 1.6 meters tall and weighs 139 kilograms, with a blue body bristling with red spikes, a belly covered in olive-colored scales and a scarlet, rather forbidding head. Its arms, longer than its legs, give it a hunchbacked look, and its wings are shaped like thistle leaves.

Its Pokédex entries are specific. The Pokémon Black entry explains that it stores the sun's heat in its wings, and that if its body temperature drops, it can no longer move. The Pokémon White entry shows it charging through narrow caves, sharp claws leading the way, with a face as hard as rock.

The rest of its file confirms the character: according to Ultra Sun, it corners its enemies in caves and attacks them with headbutts; according to Ultra Moon, it slips into the tunnels dug by Diglett to lie in wait for prey. Pokémon Shield flatly calls it vicious and cunning.

Pure Dragon type, three weaknesses and two Abilities

Druddigon is a pure Dragon type, with no secondary type whatsoever. Its matchups are those of every Dragon: it takes half damage from Fire, Water, Grass and Electric attacks, but double damage from Ice, Dragon and Fairy.

That third weakness was tacked on later: when Druddigon came out, the Fairy type didn't exist, and it only feared Ice and Dragon. The sixth generation added it without giving anything in return, and even took away any grip it had on Fairy types, which its Dragon moves no longer affect at all.

Its stats paint the picture of a lumbering bruiser: 120 in Attack, 90 in both Defense and Special Defense, but 60 in Special Attack and 48 in Speed, which dooms it to strike second. With 77 HP, its base stat total tops out at 485.

It has two regular Abilities. Rough Skin damages the attacker every time it's hit by a contact move, while Sheer Force raises the power of its moves that have additional effects by 30%, but removes those effects. Its hidden Ability, Mold Breaker, lets it ignore opposing Abilities that would otherwise hinder it.

Evolution: Druddigon stands alone in its line

Druddigon doesn't evolve and isn't evolved from any Pokémon. Its chain has just one slot: the dragon you run into at the foot of Dragonspiral Tower is already in its final form, with no level to reach, no stone to use and no item to hold.

There is likewise no Mega Evolution, Gigantamax form or regional form: the games give it only one official look. Only its Shiny version changes things up, turning its blue to green, its red to orange and its yellow to beige.

This solitude is no accident. The fifth generation is the only one, going all the way back to the first, that introduced no evolution or pre-evolution for an existing Pokémon: a baby Druddigon was impossible by design. It still belongs to both the Dragon and Monster Egg Groups.

✨ Looking to gift a dragon unlike any other? Take a look through our Pokémon gift ideas.

The unloved dragon with a gargoyle's looks

Druddigon never had the looks of a cover-star dragon. Its model isn't a mythical serpent but a very real lizard—the red-headed agama, from which it takes the contrast between a blue body and a scarlet head. Its squat silhouette also calls to mind gargoyles and trolls, creatures that turn to stone.

The most talked-about paradox is still its wings. It has a fine pair of them, yet it's a poor flier — in fact, it can't even learn the move Fly. Officially, they're only there to soak up sunlight.

Add a base stat total of 485, far below the 540 of Haxorus or the 600 of Hydreigon, its regional neighbors, and it's easy to see why it gets upstaged. It makes up for it in raw power, with Superpower at level 55 and Outrage at the end of its level-up moveset.

Still, a dragon with a gargoyle's head is hard to forget. That grumpy, just-woke-up bruiser face translates really well into 3D, over in our Pokémon plushies, where its sulky snout is the whole appeal.

The dragon of Unova's Champions, from Iris to Alder

Druddigon holds a record nobody can take from it: it's the only Pokémon fielded by both Champions of the Unova League. Alder sends it out at level 75 in Pokémon Black and White, and Iris brings it back in Black 2 and White 2 when she succeeds him.

Iris already knew it well. In Pokémon White Version, she runs the Opelucid City Gym and sends out a level 41 female Druddigon, between her Fraxure and her Haxorus. Having become League Champion in Black 2 and White 2, she brings it back at level 57, holding a Life Orb.

Here's a fun detail: Drayden, her counterpart in Pokémon Black Version, fields the same team with just three differences. His Pokémon are male where Iris's are female, his Druddigon has Rough Skin where Iris's runs Sheer Force, and his Haxorus has Rivalry where Iris's has Mold Breaker.

The anime hasn't forgotten it either: in episode 793, Clair, the Blackthorn City Gym Leader, catches a Druddigon that's Shiny. Reason enough to give it a spot on a shelf of Pokémon figures.

Druddigon Fact Sheet

Frequently Asked Questions

• Does Druddigon evolve?
  No. Druddigon doesn't evolve and isn't evolved from any Pokémon: it makes up its entire evolutionary line on its own. The one you catch is already in its final form, and no stone, item or level will ever change it. Its generation, the fifth, didn't introduce a single evolution or pre-evolution of an existing Pokémon, either.
• What are Druddigon's Abilities?
  It has two regular Abilities and one hidden Ability. Rough Skin damages the attacker when Druddigon is hit by a contact move. Sheer Force raises the power of its moves that have additional effects by 30%, but removes those effects. Its hidden Ability is Mold Breaker: its moves ignore opposing Abilities that could get in their way. Watch out for a common mix-up: Unnerve, the Ability that makes the opponent too nervous to eat Berries, does not belong to Druddigon.
• What are Druddigon's weaknesses?
  As a pure Dragon type, it takes double damage from Ice-, Dragon- and Fairy-type attacks, and it has no immunities. On the other hand, it resists Fire, Water, Grass and Electric. Its Fairy weakness dates back to the sixth generation: before that, Druddigon only feared Ice and Dragon. Its Speed of 48 is its other weak spot, since it almost always moves after its opponent.
• Does Druddigon have a Mega Evolution or a Gigantamax form?
  No. Druddigon has no Mega Evolution, no Gigantamax form and no regional form, including among the Mega Evolutions introduced in Pokémon Legends: Z-A. Its only variant is its Shiny version, in which its blue body turns green, its red spikes turn orange and its yellow turns beige.
• Does Iris have a Druddigon?
  Yes. In Pokémon White Version, Iris is the Opelucid City Gym Leader and sends out a level 41 female Druddigon with the Sheer Force Ability. In Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, now League Champion, she fields it at level 57 with a Life Orb. Alder, the Champion in Pokémon Black and White, has one too, at level 75: Druddigon is the only Pokémon the two Unova Champions have in common.
• Why can't Druddigon fly despite its wings?
  Because its wings aren't made for that. The Pokédex explains that it uses them to store the sun's heat, which it can't do without, since it becomes immobile when its body cools down. In the games, this shows up very concretely: Druddigon can't learn the move Fly in any generation.

In short

No evolutionary line, no Mega and no grace, yet Druddigon holds its own thanks to a base Attack of 120 and cave-predator lore that few Pokémon can rival.