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Luxray is a quadrupedal Pokémon resembling a fully-grown lion. While its face, hind legs, torso, and the back of its front legs are blue, much of its body is covered with shaggy, black fur. The fur is longer around the shoulders and the base of the tail, and forms a mane on its head. The mane is larger on the male than on the female. It has yellow eyes with red sclera, a blunt muzzle, and rounded ears with yellow insides. There are three yellow, half rings on the back of each foreleg. Its long, thin tail is tipped with a yellow four-pointed star. Luxray has powerful eyesight that is capable of seeing through most objects and walls, like x-ray vision. It uses this ability for hunting and keeping track of its offspring.
Three Luxray appeared in Arceus and the Jewel of Life, under the ownership of Damos. In the original timeline set up by the movie, they were used by Damos, who was under Hypnosis, to attack Arceus with Shock Wave. When Ash and his friends traveled to the past to prevent this, Marcus, the one responsible for hypnotizing Damos, managed to use the Luxray again to attack Arceus.
A Luxray appeared in I Choose You!, during a flashback, as a Pokémon that Sorrel befriended. It died trying to protect Sorrel from the cold.
Minor appearances
Luxray debuted in The Rise of Darkrai. During Alice's flashback, Alicia saw Luxray fire a Hyper Beam upon Darkrai, but Darkrai retaliated with a Dark Void, trapping Luxray in a nightmare. However, Alice played Oración, allowing it and the other affected Pokémon to sleep peacefully.
Luxray, the Gleam Eyes Pokémon, and the evolved form of Luxio. Using the power to see through walls, Luxray can track down hidden opponents and even locate lost children.
Luxray is the only Pokémon with a base stat total of 523.
Origin
Luxray is based on an adult male lynx or lion, and possibly the constellations Lynx or Leo, due to Luxray's resemblance to these animals and it and its pre-evolutions bearing a signature star shape on the end of their tail. Its Japanese name suggests at least some minor influence from tigers.
Furthermore, in European mythology, the lynx was said to have the power to see through solid objects, exactly like Luxray. This ability is similar to a modern radiograph or "x-ray machine", explaining the basis for Luxray's name and Electric typing. Luxray may or may not have also been inspired by the mythical sphinx, due to its catlike body being similar to a sphinx's design.
Name origin
Luxray may be a combination of lux (Latin for light), x-ray (referring to its x-ray vision), and lynx. The word lynx itself derives from the root word leuk-, meaning "light/brightness", so named because of a lynx's luminescent and reflective eyes.
Rentorar may be derived from レントゲン rentogen (discoverer of x-ray radiation), 虎 tora (tiger) and rar/rawr, meaning a roar-like sound.
In other languages
Language
Title
Meaning
Japanese
レントラー Rentorar
From レントゲン rentogen (x-ray/Wilhelm Röntgen) and 虎 tora (tiger)
This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.