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Nidoqueen is a large, bipedal blue Pokémon with distinct reptilian features. Its lower jaw, chest plates and lower torso are cream-colored. It has a horn on its forehead, narrow black eyes, and large, spiny ears. There are toxic spikes running down the length of its back, and its body in encased in extremely hard scales that serves as excellent protection from any attack and stand up when Nidoqueen is excited or provoked. It has a thick, powerful tail. This is a female only species; the male counterpart is Nidoking.
Nidoqueen can be quite fierce and is very protective over its young. This Pokémon is at its strongest when it is defending its young, and will try to seal the entrance to its burrow to protect them. When in contact with foes, it can poison them with the spikes from its back or cause small tremors by slamming the ground. It is also adept at sending foes flying with harsh tackles and it uses its hefty bulk to execute powerful moves. Nidoqueen lives in hot savannas and plains.
In the anime
Nidoqueen in the anime
Major appearances
Nidoqueen's first appearance was in Mewtwo Strikes Back. A Nidoqueen owned by Fergus was one of the Pokémon that were captured and cloned by Mewtwo. The Nidoqueen clone was seen again in Mewtwo Returns, along with what was apparently a Nidoqueen baby despite the fact that Nidoqueen cannot breed and her unevolved form is Nidoran♀.
Giovanni has a Nidoqueen as well, as seen in his Gym battle against Red, where it almost fainted Snor by throwing it through the wall, but was eventually beaten by Pika's Thunderbolt. It was later seen very briefly again in the Sevii Islands when he used it and his Nidoking to manhandle a biker whom Deoxys had ambushed. Red himself also caught a Nidoqueen in the Safari Zone.
In the Pokémon Zensho manga
While taking over the Silph Co., Giovanni used Nidoqueen to hold the Silph Co. boss hostage.
Nidoqueen's body is encased in extremely hard scales. It is adept at sending foes flying with harsh tackles. This Pokémon is at its strongest when it is defending its young.
Despite being a non-legendary, gendered species, Nidoqueen are unable to breed. However, her male counterpart, Nidoking, can.
Many of her Pokédex entries state that she protects her young.
Despite being in the Undiscovered Group, Nidoqueen was shown to be capable of breeding in the anime special Mewtwo Returns, when a cloned Nidoqueen and a cloned Rhyhorn produced Eggs containing both baby Rhyhorn and baby Nidoqueen (not baby Nidoran♀).
Nidoqueen is the only Nidoran evolutionary family member whose Shiny color is not the same as her opposite-gender counterpart's normal color.
Nidoqueen and her male counterpart Nidoking share the same species name with Rhydon and Rhyperior. They are all known as the Drill Pokémon. All four are also Ground types.
Aside from Nidoking, no other Pokémon has the same typecombination as Nidoqueen.
Origin
She shares traits of rhinoceroses, gorillas, rabbits and porcupines. The coverings on her chest and her lower abdomen collectively resemble a two-piece bikini worn by human females.
Name origin
Nidoqueen may be a combination of needle and queen (reflective of its gender and being the final evolution). Nido may also be based on cnidocyte, a type of venomous cell responsible for the stings delivered by stinging animals, most notably by jellyfish. Alternatively, it may be based on 二 ni (two) or 二度 nido (two times/two degrees), referring to there being two distinct evolutionary lines using the name with similar names and traits.
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.