Ekans is a purple, serpentine Pokémon. Its eyes, underbelly, stripe, and rattle are yellow. Ekans has three pairs of black lines encircling its body, as well as another line that connects each slitted eye and curves toward its nose. Its large mouth has a round, pink tongue and no visible teeth.
Ekans moves stealthily through grass and preys on Eggs from Pidgey and Spearow nests, but can strike other prey from behind. It grows longer with age and wraps itself around tree branches at night to rest. If not in a tree, it will coil itself up—a position in which it can defend itself from all directions. Its jaw can detach to swallow large prey, but such a meal can make Ekans too heavy to move. A newborn Ekans's bite is painful, but not venomous. It flicks its tongue out to detect danger and the scent of prey. It was also shown in the second movie to possess some swimming abilities. Ekans lives in grassy savannas and plains.
Jessie had an Ekans, which for most of the original series, was her only Pokémon. It was extremely loyal to her and eventually evolved into an Arbok just to make her happy.
Ekans was part of Team Meanies in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Team Go-Getters out of the Gate!. Gengar commanded the Poisonous Snake Pokémon to eat all the Berries Team Go-Getters collected. At one point, Ekans was incorrectly referred to as Arbok by Gengar. While this was an intentional error that Ekans rebuked in the original version (due to the similarities in the Japanese names), this came across as a general mistake in the dub and was corrected in reairings of the episode.
A pair of Ekans known as the Ekans Brothers are part of the supporting cast in the manga Magical Pokémon Journey. Led by Arbok, they are originally antagonists, but later befriend the main characters when Arbok gets a crush on Wigglytuff.
Ekans curls itself up in a spiral while it rests. Assuming this position allows it to quickly respond to a threat from any direction with a glare from its upraised head.
An Ekans curls itself up in a spiral while it rests. This position allows it to quickly respond to an enemy from any direction with a threat from its upraised head.
In the Pokémon Red and Blue beta, Ekans was originally known as "Arbo". This is, of course, its romanized Japanese name.
In early official art of Ekans, all of the bands on its body are yellow instead of just one. This was changed in later art.
An Ekans was originally going to be featured in Pokémon Snap, shown in an early test shot of an environment that was never featured in the final product. This is also true of its evolution, Arbok.
It appears to be based on a boa and rattlesnake, and its facial markings resemble an Indian cobra's hood. However, its lack of teeth, ability to swallow large prey, preying on Pokémon eggs, and reaction to threats are more akin to an egg-eating snake. The yellow band around its neck may refer to the ring-necked snake. Ekans and Arbok may also be inspired by the legendary basilisk since they were originally the only Pokémon to learn Glare. The basilisk was said to be a poisonous, serpentine dragon that would kill people with its stare, which may explain Ekans's place in the Dragon Egg Group.
For other sprites and images, please see Ekans images on Bulbagarden Archives.
