Marowak (ghost)

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The ghost of a Marowak haunts the Pokémon Tower in Lavender Town. This ghost is the mother of a Cubone.

The Marowak ghost before the Silph Scope unmasks it in Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!

In the games

Marowak's spirit being calmed by its child in Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!

In the Generation I core series games, Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, and Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, before the player reaches Lavender Town, members of Team Rocket invade the Pokémon Tower and attempt to steal the skulls of Cubone in order to sell them for large amounts of money. One Cubone, however, was protected by its mother. The Cubone escaped, but its mother was killed. As a result, the Marowak's ghost remained in the Pokémon Tower, forbidding access to the topmost floor. She appears as a ghost that prevents the player from ascending to the top floor until they obtain the Silph Scope to identify her.

In the Generation I games and Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, the player has to battle her to calm her down. Despite being a wild Pokémon, she avoids all thrown Poké Balls (even while sleeping). Once she is defeated, her soul is calmed, and she departs to the afterlife, granting the player passage to the top floor.

In Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, after the player reveals her with the Silph Scope, she does not battle. Her child Cubone calms her spirit, and she departs.

Movesets

Pokémon Red and Blue	Pokémon Yellow	Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen
Type: Ground Unknown Marowak Lv.30 Bone Club Ground   --       Growl Normal   --       Leer Normal   --       Focus Energy Normal   --	Type: Ground Unknown Marowak Lv.30 Bone Club Ground   --       Tail Whip Normal   --       Headbutt Normal   --       Leer Normal   --	Type: Ground Unknown Ability: Rock Head or Lightningrod Held item: None Marowak♀ Lv.30 Headbutt Normal   --       Leer Normal   --       Focus Energy Normal   --       Bonemerang Ground   --

Quotes

• Directly before encountering the Marowak ghost

"Be gone... Intruders..."

Sprites

Sprite from Generation I	Sprite from FireRed and LeafGreen

In the anime

Pokémon Origins

Marowak in Pokémon Origins

Marowak's ghost form in Pokémon Origins

The Marowak ghost appeared in File 2: Cubone, where she played the same role that she does in the games, warning intruders to stay away. The Marowak and her child Cubone used to live peacefully until Team Rocket began poaching Pokémon in the area. When they attempted to capture Cubone as well, Marowak stepped in to protect it, only to be killed with a stun baton while her child was running away.

After her death, she haunted the Pokémon Tower to warn people of Team Rocket, who had taken it over. When Blue went inside to drive Team Rocket out, he saw the ghost and ran away from her, terrified. Red, however, decided to be brave and fight her with his Charmeleon, but his Pokémon's attacks wouldn't work on her. When Blue returned to give Red the Silph Scope, Red was able to identify the ghost and figure out her true identity.

Before he could continue their battle, Marowak's child Cubone came rushing in and embraced its deceased mother. Having found peace in seeing her child once again, Marowak's spirit calmed down and moved on to the afterlife.

Voice actors

Language Voice actor Japanese English Laura Post European Spanish Milagros Fernández

In the manga

Marowak's ghost in Pokémon Zensho

Pokémon Zensho

In PZ05, the ghost Marowak appeared when Satoshi was being attacked by Giovanni at the Pokémon Tower. Due to its immunity to physical moves, it defeated the Machamp spirit that Giovanni had summoned, leading him to withdraw Team Rocket from the tower. Afterwards, Mr. Fuji was able to calm the ghost down and allow it to pass on into the afterlife.

Unlike other depictions of the ghost Marowak, the Zensho manga's version of the ghost Marowak had it initially take the form of a Haunter and even gave it the abilities of one, allowing it to use Dream Eater,

In the guidebooks

The Official Pokémon Handbook

In The Official Pokémon Handbook: Deluxe Edition, there is a different story about the Marowak ghost which contradicts the games: "According to legend, an angry mother Marowak, upset by the cruel deaths of her children, haunts Pokémon Tower. If you defeat her in battle, her spirit will finally be at peace."

Trivia

• Marowak's quote of "Begone... Intruders..." was used at the beginning of the song Ghost Dive.
• This ghost Marowak is one of the few wild Pokémon encountered by the player after the player has access to Poké Balls that is impossible to catch. However, unlike the other cases, it is possible to throw Poké Balls at the ghost Marowak. The only others that share this trait are:
  • the Black Kyurem^B2/White Kyurem^W2 in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2,
  • Nihilego at Aether Paradise in Pokémon Sun and Moon,
  • Dusk Mane^US/Dawn Wings^UM Necrozma (Altar of the Sunne^US/Altar of the Moone^UM) and Ultra Necrozma (Ultra Megalopolis) in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon.
• Despite the fact that this Marowak is a ghost, it is not treated as a Ghost-type Pokémon by the game, and thus is still affected by Normal- and Fighting-type moves.
  • Twenty years after this Marowak's appearance, a Ghost-type Marowak would be introduced in Sun and Moon as a regional form.
• In the Generation I games, a glitch exists where a Poké Doll can be used against the Marowak, which will make it flee the fight and allow the player to pass on as if it were defeated. This allows the player to skip getting the Silph Scope and the Celadon Rocket Hideout completely. This was fixed in the Generation III remakes.
• In Pokémon Origins, its Cubone offspring is shown wearing its skull in the flashback, despite the Marowak not even having died yet.

See also

For more information on this Pokémon's species, see Marowak.

• Ghost (Pokémon Tower)
• Ghosts in the Pokémon world

This game character article is part of Project CharacterDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in the Pokémon games.