Xerneas is a blue and black, quadruped, deer-like Pokémon with an eight-horned set of antlers extending out from its head, two on each side. Each horn is beige and adorned with a colorful, three-part protrusion twining through the horn (orange, red, purple, and teal-blue), one side mirroring the other. The colors gradually turn lighter to darker when moving from base to tip. Xerneas's head is blue with two horns on either side of its head, and the root of its horns mark its face, just below the eye and over the nose. Its eyes are the same color as its fur, and its pupils are X-shaped. The blue portion of its body ends at the chest area where the "fur" jousts outward, similar to the blue horns on its face.
The rest of its body is black with small, multicolored spots on its back (the same color and order as its horn adornments, the teal-blue colored-spot on the base of its tail) and a blue stripe running along its spine. It has a small, fluffy black tail where the blue stripe ends. Its legs are fashioned like blades with forward-pointing "hooks" at the tips, creating a cross shape, with the main "edges" trimmed with the same beige as the horns; the trim on its forelegs further map a crude sword-like pattern.
Special abilities
Xerneas has the power to share eternal life.
Origin
Xerneas's appearance is based on a cervid in the shape of the letter X (known as a saltire in heraldry) or an X mark. It may incorporate elements of Eikþyrnir and the four stags Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór. Eikþyrnir resides in Valhalla eating the foliage of Læraðr with glowing horns that drip with dew. According to the Poetic Edda, the four stags resided in the trunk of the World Tree Yggdrasill and ate its branches and fresh shoots.
Xerneas, along with Yveltal, was designed by art designers Ken Sugimori and Yusuke Ohmura. Initial design for the two legendary Pokémon was started by Sugimori, but he encountered 'artist's block', having a hard time coming up with concepts. For the first time, he gave the work over to another designer, Ohmura. Ohmura furthered the designs, after which Sugimori resumed to finish them.[1]
Name origin
Xerneas comes from the letter X. It may be derived from cervus (Latin for deer), Cernunnos (horned Celtic god), and Ceryneian Hind.