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Physiology
Darkrai is a black, shadow-like creature. It has a small head with a white fog-like ghostly substance billowing from its head covering one of its bright blue eyes, and also has a red spiky growth around its neck. It has skinny arms and long black tatters hanging from its shoulders, similar to the tail of Raichu. It has the slight appearance of an hourglass figure and appears to be wearing an old, ripped cloak. It normally doesn't have any sort of legs, but it is able to extend stilt-like appendages in their place. In self-defense, Darkrai also appears capable of retracting its head and white "plume" into the pit atop its torso fringed by the aforementioned red growth.

Gender differences
Darkrai is a genderless species.

Special abilities
Darkrai is notable for its ability to Nightmare|cause nightmares and trap people in them. It can become a shadow to move quickly, but it is still susceptible to damage in this state. It is also capable of human speech. In The Rise of Darkrai, it was shown his power rivaled of that of Dialga and Palkia.

Darkrai is the only known Pokémon that learns Dark Void.

Behavior
This Pokémon "inhabits" people's dreams and causes them to have unending terrible nightmares. In Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, it is stated that the only way a person can wake from one of these nightmares is to be exposed to the Lunar Wing of Cresselia. Contrary to popular belief, this "unleashing of nightmares" is in fact a defense mechanism, rather than something of malicious intent.

In the 10th movie, Darkrai tried to protect Alamos Town from being destroyed by Dialga and Palkia and sacrificed itself in the process, although by the end of the movie it was revived. Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness, however, portrays a Darkrai with a much more evil character, who wants a world enshrouded in darkness, going to the edge of almost destroying time and space to accomplish that. However, after it is recruited, it shows surprising loyalty, even going as far as to say that it will never leave the player, no matter the danger. This is mainly due to the fact that Darkrai lost its memory when it was attacked by Palkia while trying to escape through a dimensional hole. It is worth noting that this Darkrai's personality after being attacked by Palkia is similar to the original Darkrai, who was very loyal to those it cared about.

As seen in its first appearance in an episode, Darkrai do not only cause nightmares. They are also attracted to them. They also go around objects they are attracted to several times, as seen in the mentioned episode and Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia.

Habitat
Whilst Darkrai isn't nesting in the realm of human dreams, it lingers around a lost island called Newmoon Island, which can only be reached by using a Member Card in Canalave City at the Harbor Inn above the Pokémon Center.

After the battle with Darkrai on Newmoon Island in, the following text appears on screen:

"...A voice called out from somewhere...

''???: DARKRAI... Your power is strong. Though you don't will it, you make people and Pokémon around you see terrible nightmares... That is why you came here... Newmoon Island... There is no one but you here... There is none that can be drawn into your nightmare... If anyone were to fall into a nightmare, the Fullmoon Island is close by... ... ...''"

This reveals that Darkrai chooses to inhabit Newmoon Island due to its immense, uncontrollable power, as well as because of the island's closeness to Fullmoon Island, the home of Cresselia, who is capable of healing those inflicted by Darkrai's nightmares. Though it is never revealed whose voice this was, it is possible that it was the effect of Cresselia's psychic powers. It also is speculated to be the voice of Arceus. The fact that Darkrai choses to protect others from its power is similar to Lugia and how it resides at the bottom of the sea in deep slumber in order to not cause unintended damage.

Diet
Darkrai possibly feeds off of dreams, characterized by its association with never-ending nightmares and the ability to learn the move Dream Eater.

In the anime
Darkrai co-starred in The Rise of Darkrai as one of the protagonists, taking the task of ceasing the fighting between Dialga and Palkia upon itself.

Darkrai made its anime debut in Sleepless in Pre-Battle!. Unlike the Darkrai in the film, this Darkrai was causing nightmares, much like in the games. According to Officer Jenny, it comes at a certain time every year. In the episode, however, it came earlier due to Team Rocket's machine that was causing nightmares. Cresselia is normally in the same place as Darkrai to stop it giving nightmares but due to Darkrai's early coming, the people in Canalave City had nightmares for several days. One night, it was concealing itself when Cresselia used its abilities to reveal it from the darkness. The two then battled and Darkrai hid itself once more in the shadows.

In the manga
Darkrai appeared in the manga adaptation of The Rise of Darkrai. In this canon, Darkrai is portrayed as a good character, unlike its appearance in the anime. This is more in line with the events of the film.

Super Smash Bros. Brawl
Darkrai was rumored to be featured as one of the Poké Ball Pokémon in the Super Smash Bros. Brawl demo at Whobby 2008. However, it was later confirmed to not be in the final version, appearing as a trophy instead.

Trophy Information
''A Pitch-Black Pokémon. It becomes active on nights of the new moon. This legendary Pokémon has the power to lull people to sleep and fill their heads with dreams. Proverbs say that Darkrai will make people have terrifying dreams on moonless nights. A Dark Pokémon, Darkrai uses the Dark Void move, along with Embargo, which stops foes from using held items.''

NPC appearances

 * Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness: Darkrai is revealed to be the main antagonist of the game in the post-game story. He wants to cover the world in darkness, and was behind the collapse of the Temporal Tower in the main storyline of the game. His interference is also the reason the player was separated from Grovyle and turned into a Pokémon. In the post-game story, he turns his attention to distorting the fabric of space to cover the world in darkness.

In events

 * }

Trivia

 * Darkrai is the only Dark-type Legendary Pokémon (not including Arceus when holding the Dread Plate).
 * Darkrai and Weavile are the fastest Dark-types, both having a base Speed of 125.
 * Darkrai also has the highest Special Attack of any Dark-type, with a base stat of 135.
 * Although it is clearly depicted as levitating in the anime and in the games, Darkrai does not have the ability Levitate and thus remains susceptible to Ground-type moves.
 * Darkrai is the only legendary Pokémon and the only Dark that can naturally learn Nightmare.
 * While in the tenth movie and Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia Darkrai is portrayed as a hero; in the main games, it's the only Pokémon truly portrayed as evil, in a sense, especially in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness (though the nightmare-inducing effects are merely a self-defense mechanism, as it was in The Rise of Darkrai and in Platinum's Pokédex entry).
 * Darkrai has similarities with Dusknoir. Both are villains in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness, but are portrayed as misunderstood heroes in their debut appearances.
 * Also, both Dusknoir and Darkrai are used by Blake Hall in Pokémon Ranger: Shadows of Almia.
 * Darkrai has two different portrait pictures in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness.
 * The boy of the sailor who owns the boat that normally goes to Iron Island says "Dar... Dark... Is watching me..." It is assumed that he is talking about Darkrai, as it is known to give its victims horrific nightmares.
 * If Darkrai was the cause of the sailor's son's nightmares, it can be assumed Darkrai is aware that the player cured the boy using Cresselia's Lunar Wing: When the player takes the Member Card to the Harbor Inn, the innkeeper (presumably an illusion created by Darkrai) states that he has been waiting for the player's arrival.
 * In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness, Darkrai is referred to as male, despite being genderless in the main series.
 * It is interesting to note that Darkrai was able to transform into its supposed opposite, Cresselia, in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness.
 * In the early Japanese versions of, Darkrai can be caught with the surf glitch. However, this glitch was fixed in other language versions. Another glitch has been discovered that allows the players to reach Darkrai.
 * This has been remedied in, however, as Darkrai itself will not appear on the island without the event ticket.
 * Darkrai is one of the few Pokémon that can talk in the anime.

Origin
Resembling a shadow, Darkrai's appearance suggests it is based on the concept of nightmares. It may have been inspired by Arabic myths about genies (or djinn), the Boogie Man or perhaps the Dementors from the Harry Potter universe.

Name origin
Darkrai's name is a combination of the word dark and 暗い kurai, the Japanese word for "dark".

In other languages

 * German: Darkrai
 * French: Darkrai
 * Korean: 다크라이 Darkrai

Related articles

 * Darkrai (movie 10)
 * Darkrai (Explorers of Time, Darkness, and Sky)