Darmanitan is a fire-type Pokemon introduced in Pokemon Black and White that evolves from Darumaka starting at level 35. Darmanitan can change forms during battle depending on its Ability and HP via the ability Zen Mode. That will see Darmanitan can become a psychic and fire-type Pokemon. When the HP of a Standard Mode Darmanitan, with the ability Zen Mode, is below half at the end of the turn then Darmanitan will change into Zen Mode.
If the HP of a Zen Mode Darmanitan, with the Ability Zen Mode, is above half at the end of a turn, it will change back into its Standard Mode. Darmanitan has an ice-type variant in the form of Galarian Darmanitan which evolves from Galarian Darumaka when exposed to an Ice Stone. When Galarian Darmanitan enters Zen Mode, it becomes an ice and fire-type Pokemon.
About Darmanitan
| First appearance in anime | Pokemon the Series: Black and White |
| First appearance in game | Black and White |
| Region | Unova |
| Evolution | N/A |
| 1st Evo level | N/A |
| 2nd Evo level | N/A |
| Pokedex Entry | Unovan: Its internal fire burns at 2,500° F, making enough power that it can destroy a dump truck with one punch. When weakened in battle, it transforms into a stone statue. Then it sharpens its mind and fights on mentally. Galarian Standard Mode: On days when blizzards blow through, it comes down to where people live. It stashes food in the snowball on its head, taking it home for later. Though it has a gentle disposition, it's also very strong. It will quickly freeze the snowball on its head before going for a headbutt. Galarian Zen Mode: Anger has reignited its atrophied flame sac. This Pokémon spews fire everywhere as it rampages indiscriminately. Darmanitan takes this form when enraged. It won't stop spewing flames until its rage has settled, even if its body starts to melt. |
Darmanitan Base stats
Standard Mode:
| HP | 105 |
| ATTACK | 140 |
| DEFENCE | 55 |
| SP. ATTACK | 30 |
| SP. DEFENCE | 55 |
| SPEED | 95 |
| TOTAL | 480 |
Unovan Zen Mode:
| HP | 105 |
| ATTACK | 30 |
| DEFENCE | 105 |
| SP. ATTACK | 140 |
| SP. DEFENCE | 105 |
| SPEED | 55 |
| TOTAL | 540 |
Galarian Zen Mode:
| HP | 105 |
| ATTACK | 160 |
| DEFENCE | 55 |
| SP. ATTACK | 30 |
| SP. DEFENCE | 55 |
| SPEED | 135 |
| TOTAL | 540 |
Appearance
Darmanitan is a red, ape-like Pokemon with long, bushy flame eyebrows that curl at the base and it has round, black-ringed eyes. The upper portion of Darmanitan’s tan face is separated from the lower portion by a diagonal red stripe. It has a large mouth which showcases it’s spiked teeth but no discernible neck to distinguish it from the rest of the body. Darmanitan has long arms with spiky hair on its wrists and large tan hands with its hind limbs being similar to its front limbs. Darmanitan has three tan ovals on its underside with a rounded back and stubby tail.
Behavior
Darmanitan is immensely strong physically and a single punch is capable of destroying a dump truck. Darmanitan has a flame sac organ which burns at 2,500° F with a short-tempered and manic disposition.
Strengths and Weaknesses
Darmanitan has high attack and speed stats which allow it to act as an effective sweeper or a wallbreaker. As a fire-type Pokemon, Darmanitan is weak to ground, rock, and water-type Pokemon and is resistant to bug, steel, fire, grass, ice, and fairy-type attacks.
In its Unovan Zen Mode, Darmanitan is weak to ground, rock, ghost, water, and dark-types and is resistant to fighting, steel, fire, grass, psychic, ice, and fairy-types due to it being a fire and psychic-type.
As an ice-type Galarian Darmanitan is weak to fighting, rock, steel, and fire-types and is resistant to ice-types. Finally, within its Galarian Zen Mode, Darmanitan is weak to fighting, ground, rock and water-types and is resistant to bug, grass, ice, and fairy-type attacks due to it being an ice and fire-type Pokemon.
Remember when using a Darmanitan, with the ability Zen Mode, there is a chance of changing strategies later on in the battle, thanks to the stat and type changes that occur when Darmanitan transforms into its Zen Mode.
Galarian Darmanitan
Galarian Darmanitan is an ice-type variant of Darmanitan which evolves from Galarian Darumaka when exposed to an Ice Stone. When a Galarian Darmanitan, with the Zen Mode ability, enters Zen Mode, it becomes an ice and fire-type Pokemon. In Galar, Darmanitan has white fur and blue skin with a giant snowball "afro" on top of its head with three ice crystals imbued in the front. Galarian Darmanitan also has a thicker coat than regular Darmanitan, and several ice gems dispersed in its fur.
In Galar, Darmanitan has adapted to the cold by developing an organ that produces cold air while Darmanitan’s flame sac becomes dormant, also storing a fighting spirit within. Galarian Darmanitan’s nature cools down from a belligerent personality to a timid one and it will pretend to be a snowman when it senses humans nearby. The snowball “afro” on its head serves as a way of preserving food and other things it finds by storing them within the snowball itself. It can also freeze the giant snowball in order to headbutt potential predators.
Darmanitan Zen Mode
When the HP of a Standard Mode Darmanitan with the Ability Zen Mode is below half at the end of the turn, Darmanitan will change into Darmanitan Zen Mode. If the HP of a Zen Mode Darmanitan, with the Ability Zen Mode, is above half at the end of a turn, it will change back into its Standard Mode. In the Unovan Darmanitan Zen Mode, Darmanitan will become a psychic and fire-type Pokemon. Unovan Zen Mode will have decreased speed and attack stats and will have increased defence, special attack, and special defence stats.
Darmanitan Zen Mode changes into a greyish blue statue resembling a Daruma doll with its eyes turning blank, and its limbs fusing with its body Unovan Zen Mode is immobile as it enters in a meditative trance to sharpen their minds and it uses its emotional and spiritual strength to battle and to perform everyday activities. It also only has three toes, as opposed to normal Unovan Darmanitan having five.
Galarian Zen Mode becomes an ice and fire-type Pokemon and will have increased attack and speed stats and a completely different disposition than Unovan Darmanitan’s Zen Mode. In this form, Darmanitan resembles a snowman with red and yellow eyes and a warped smile with a flame sticking out of the head as its "carrot nose" on its upper sphere, which acts as a false head.
It has an angry grin on its lower body, showing sharpened teeth with two orange hands resembling mittens on each side of its body. When Galarian Darmanitan enters Zen Mode, its dormant flame sac reignites back to life causing Galarian Darmanitan to change from it’s gentle disposition into a rampaging state. It will start unleashing fire everywhere without any care for its surroundings, nor its own risk of melting, making it a threat to both itself and others.
Shiny Darmanitan
Shiny Darmanitan is a version of Darmanitan which, in its Standard Mode, has a darker crimson color and in its Zen Mode has a darker blue color. Within its Galarian variant, Shiny Darmanitan is a version of Galarian Darmanitan with a light green tint instead of a light blue tint in its Standard Mode and has secondary fuschia color schemes in its Zen Mode. The main way to get a Shiny Darmanitan is to continuously breed either Darmanitans or its pre-evolutions until getting a Shiny Darumaka to evolve into a Darmanitan.
Best moveset
If using a Darmanitan with the ability Zen Mode, there is a chance of a changing strategy later on in the battle thanks to the stat and type changes that occur when Darmanitan transforms into its Zen Mode. This ability is not necessary for strategizing with a Darmanitan, since its other abilities can also serve as an effective sweeper or wall breaker strategy. Flare Blitz is a STAB (same-type attack bonus) move when used by Unovan Darmanitan and still serves as powerful type coverage for Galarian Darmanita. Icicle Crash is a STAB (same-type attack bonus) move when used by Galarian Darmanitan while Rock Slide serves as type coverage for Unovan Darmanitan. The move Earthquake can serve as powerful type coverage for both Darmanitan variations and U-Turn allows Darmanitan to escape type disadvantages.
Unovan Darmanitan
| Flare Blitz | Rock Slide |
| Earthquake | U-turn |
Galarian Darmanitan
| Flare Blitz | Icicle Crash |
| Earthquake | U-turn |
How to catch Darmanitan in Pokemon Go?
Unovan Darmanitan Galarian Darmanitan can be found by hatching a 7km egg in hopes of receiving Darumaka since they cannot currently be found out in the wild.
Trivia
- No other Pokemon have the same type combination as Galarian Zen Mode Darmanitan
- Galarian Darmanitan is the only regional form Pokemon that has an alternate form
- Unovan Zen Mode Darmanitan is the only alternate Pokemon form revealed at the time that did not appear in Pokemon Super Mystery Dungeon.
- Unovan Zen Mode Darmanitan and Litwik are tied for the lowest base attack stat of all fire-type Pokemon
- Galarian Zen Mode Darmanitan has the highest base speed stat of all ice-type and fire-type Pokemon
- A Galarian Darmanitan with the ability Gorilla Tactics and holding a Choice Band has the highest possible attack on the first turn of battle
- Both of Darmanitan's forms were designed by Mana Ibe
- Zen Mode is the only Ability that begins with the letter Z
- Darmanitan is based on a Daruma doll (traditional Japanese doll modeled after Bodhidharma) and an orangutan
- Darmanitan seems to be based around the phrase of the three wise monkeys, "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil” as Zen Mode Darmanitan has blank eyes, a tightly shut mouth, and covered ears
- The varying pupils in Darmanitans Standard Mode and Zen Mode reflect the practice of painting in the eyes of a Daruma doll, and their symbolic value in relation to fulfillment
- Galarian Darmanitan is based off of a snowman (yukidaruma in Japanese) and a yeti
- Galarian Darmanitan is influenced by other Dharmic religions, with a 'beard' and 'headpiece' bearing resemblance to Hindu and Sikh elders
- Glarian Zen Mode Darmanitan is connected to atavism, the reappearance of an ancestral trait after having been lost in previous generations due to evolutionary change
- Darumaka, Darmanitan’s pre-evolution has the lowest special attack base stat of any fire-type Pokemon
- Darmanitan may be a combination of Dharma (an alternate spelling of daruma) and orangutan (a primate)
FAQs
What is Darmanitan's hidden ability?
Darmanitan’s hidden ability, Zen Mode, allows it to change forms during battle depending on its HP.
What does Zen mode do for Darmanitan?
Darmanitan can change forms during battle with the ability Zen Mode. When the HP of a Standard Mode Darmanitan with the Ability Zen Mode is below half at the end of the turn, Darmanitan will change into its Zen Mode. If the HP of a Zen Mode Darmanitan is above half at the end of a turn, it will change back into its Standard Mode.
Why is Galarian Darmanitan so good?
First of all, no other Pokemon has the same type combination as Galarian Zen Mode Darmanitan which is a very useful trait in battle. Galarian Zen Mode also makes Darmanitan even faster and stronger than it already was, which can make Galarian Darmanitan more useful than Unovan Darmanitan.
Conclusion
Darmanitan’s unique hidden ability, Zen Mode makes Darmanitan a unique choice for forming a battle strategy, in both its original Unovan form and its new Galarian form. While the Zen Mode versions of Darmanitan are different depending on its regional variant, both activate when the HP of a Standard Mode Darmanitan with the ability Zen Mode is below half at the end of the turn, which will cause Darmanitan to change into its Zen Mode. This also holds true when the HP of a Zen Mode Darmanitan, with the Ability Zen Mode, is above half at the end of a turn, it will change back into its Standard Mode regardless of regional variant. This allows for a change of strategy with the latter halves of battles, as well as the type changes that occur when Darmanitan transforms into its Zen Mode.
