Talk:Signature Ability

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Dream World abilities

Do they also count for the loss of exclusiveness? Say for example, Slakoth's Truant is available as a DW ability for Aianto, should the note "Prior to Generation V" be included for Slakoth? --Kaoz 19:58, 11 October 2010 (UTC)

Past signature abilities

Most of past signature abilities lost that status in Generation V. Only two did so in Generation IV. Marked +-+-+ 17:23, 14 July 2011 (UTC)

Template

I am tired of hovering, we need a template like the one on the signature move page. TorchicBlaziken (talkedits) 23:43, 1 June 2013 (UTC)

  • Made it myself, but Zen Mode is not working. I am not good with templates. TorchicBlaziken (talkedits) 23:10, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

A Question

Why are the Abilities being linked to as moves? Reshi643 (talk) 23:11, 11 June 2013 (UTC)

Problem with the template

There is a problem, I see only one ability and not two for the Flabébé line, will anyone fix this? --Cinday123 (Talk) 22:23, 24 January 2014 (UTC)

There are both abilities listed if you edit the page, but forever reason this one doesn't work like Signature Moves does. It's a question about editing the template, I think. You might have to go directly to the template's discussion page, if that's even a thing. --KiANGLO (TALK) 00:14, 13 March 2014 (UTC)
In my experience, staff can be slow at getting around to updating protected templates. Luckily, since it's the current gen, it's easy enough to hack a fix up. (Even if it weren't the current gen, though, I'd have just written out the code for those rows.) Tiddlywinks (talk) 01:36, 13 March 2014 (UTC)

Ultra Beasts

We need to redefine what "Signature Move/Ability" means. Currently, it's only limited to evolutionary families, but clear "groups" of Pokemon like the Ultra Beasts should qualify. - unsigned comment from Kungfuyu (talkcontribs)

Yeah, I think we should clarify it; I sense an edit war starting. The only reason I added it in the first place was because it said so here. Unowninator (talk) 17:57, 27 January 2017 (UTC)
I feel like ultra beasts should qualify as well (though that's probably obvious given my prior edit)--they're clearly a related group of Pokémon and they are the only ones to have the ability. --Felthry (talk) 21:47, 27 January 2017 (UTC)
Signature move considers the Swords of Justice to have a signature move among themselves even though they are not evolutionarily related, so I think this is a similar situation and the UBs' Beast Boost can be considered a signature Ability. However, we need a satisfactory way to draw a line (on both articles) so that actual, legitimate groups qualify and arbitrary ones don't qualify (like starters + elemental monkeys for Overgrow/Blaze/Torrent, or butterflies and moths for Quiver Dance). I'm not sure of the best wording to use to draw that line. Pumpkinking0192 (talk) 17:35, 28 January 2017 (UTC)
Here's my two cents... Starters are a maybe, the only thing keeping me from saying "yes" is that they're scattered across every generation. Butterflies and moths are a definite no - they're not really directly linked.
Another thing: I think that if an ability is an ability of one Pokemon and then a hidden ability for another, it should still be here, for example Cloud Nine. Just a suggestion. --Celadonkey 18:28, 28 January 2017 (UTC)
Nah, I was saying that both of those arbitrary groups I named are examples of what would not count, because they're arbitrary. (The monkeys disqualify the starter group.)
If we were still back in Gen V I might agree with you on Hidden Abilities, but they're so easily achievable now that I don't personally think HAs should be treated differently than standard Abilities. Pumpkinking0192 (talk) 18:34, 28 January 2017 (UTC)
Wait, why would starters not count? --Celadonkey 18:38, 28 January 2017 (UTC)
Starters aren't the only Pokemon with Overgrow/Blaze/Torrent. Pansage/Pansear/Panpour and their evolutions have them too, and that's what disqualifies it. Pumpkinking0192 (talk) 19:01, 28 January 2017 (UTC)
Oh, that makes sense. --Celadonkey 19:10, 28 January 2017 (UTC)

How do I add protean?

Protean was Kecleon's signature ability in Generation 5. I tried to add it to the table, but it didn't show up. What do I type to get it to show up? sumwun (talk) 05:47, 29 January 2017 (UTC)

No it wasn't; Protean didn't exist in gen 5. Like Plusle & Ferrothorn, Kecleon didn't have a hidden ability until gen 6. Unowninator (talk) 06:16, 29 January 2017 (UTC)

Signature abilities only in X and Y

Mega Pinsir, Tyrunt-Tyrantrum and Amaura-Aurorus have a signature ability (Aerilate, Strong Jaw and Refrigerate, respectively) in X and Y, but not in the other games. Maybe you should edit the template adding an asterisk with "Only in".--Snorlite (talk) 18:06, 13 February 2017 (UTC)

Signature Abilities only in specific games

Not counting event distributions and the Dream World, this is a summary of all Pokémon with signature Abilities only in specific games (only at the time of their release):

Ruby, Sapphire and Colosseum
Ability Pokémon Signature
in Colosseum
Speed Boost  
Battle Armor   
Damp   
Volt Absorb   
Insomnia   
Immunity  
Shield Dust   
Suction Cups   
Effect Spore   
Trace    
Hustle  
Overgrow    
Blaze    
Torrent    
Arena Trap  
Vital Spirit  
All Abilities in this table are signature Abilities in Ruby and Sapphire.
Only select few were signature Abilities even in Colosseum.
None of them were signature Abilities in FireRed and LeafGreen.
X and Y
Ability Pokémon
Strong Jaw   
Refrigerate   
Aerilate  
Sword and Shield until the Crown Tundra
Ability Pokémon
Electric Surge  
Psychic Surge   
Misty Surge  
Grassy Surge    

Is there any way any staff member could edit the {{SignatureAbility}} template to list these? --Bfdifan2006something to say? · My work documentation 12:51, 18 July 2021 (UTC)

It'd be great if all of this could somehow be incorporated into the article as well. Pale Prism (talk) 23:59, 22 July 2021 (UTC)
Sword and Shield
Ability Pokémon
Immunity  
Simple   
Truant  
Tangled Feet  
Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl
Ability Pokémon
Sand Rush   
No Guard    
Download    
Huge Power    
Shadow Tag   
Truant   
White Smoke  
Klutz   
Snow Warning   
Motor Drive  

Pikcahu (talk) 10:27, 27 December 2021 (UTC)

Where to add

Where can I add the Signature Abilities on the particular pages of the species? They aren't on them. CrazyPikmin (talk) 11:19, 23 May 2022 (UTC)

Not a fan term?

I should point out that the term has been used officially, on a promotion for a Salazzle event and the Necrozma page on the official USUM site. PinkYoshiGaming (talk) 16:55, 24 July 2022 (UTC)

Do you have any links to these sources? Landfish7 07:47, 30 July 2022 (UTC)
For Signature Ability, I initially could only find three links with none being the USUM site. (If USUM has a standalone site not integrated with the Pokémon official website, then that is why.) To quote,"Coalossal debuted with a new signature Ability in the world of Pokémon. Steam Engine raises Coalossal's...; "Glastrier can then boost its Attack further via its signature Ability, Chilling Neigh..." - "Combine Regieleki’s move set with its signature Transistor Ability, which boosts..."; "...Coalossal, whose signature Ability Steam Engine boosts Coalossal's Speed through the roof when it's hit by a Water- or Fire-type attack." All three of these links are part of the "Pokémon TCG and Video Game Strategy" section on the official website. However, I did try another search to find situations where the ability name came between signature and ability, as with Regieleki above, and received one more match. "...making it harder to knock Golisopod out. Its signature Emergency Exit Ability gives extra pivoting options at the cost of having to switch out before attacking." Still part of the competitive side of things, but it was submitted under the Pokémon News section instead. Other than that, I don't see anything else outside the mentions of signature moves. --Super goku (talk) 11:45, 16 December 2022 (UTC)
Bumping this. Landfish7 13:16, 20 December 2022 (UTC)
You're bumping this because..? Nescientist (talk) 22:43, 20 December 2022 (UTC)
I want to know what people think? Landfish7 02:51, 21 December 2022 (UTC)

The term "Signature" has become so muddled over the years and we really need to do something about it

Please tell me i'm not the only one who thinks Bulbapedia's whole "signature move/Ability" definition has become so muddled over the years. Like take Flower Veil for example:

  • Is signature to Flabébé etc in Gen 6
  • Is no longer signature to Flabebe in Gen 7 because they gave it to Comfey
  • Is signature to Comfey in Gen 8 because Flabebe doesn't appear in SwSh
  • So since Comfey isn't in Gen 9 but Flabebe is, i guess it's signature to Flabebe again????????

Like, wtf is this??? Why do we distinguish signature moves/abilities by whether or not a mon appears in a game? Just because Flabebe doesn't appear in any of the Gen 8 games doesn't mean it suddenly somehow lost its Flower Veil ability (it still keeps it in like HOME or something). The system we have rn for determining "signature" moves/Abilities really unnecessarily complicates things.

I talked about this on the Discord (both BP's own and another i'm in), and fellow editor TrainerSplash made a suggestion: instead of us continuing to use the term "signature" and run it into the ground, we use another term, exclusive, for mons with a "signature" move/Ability because other mons with that move/Ability aren't in the games. Eg.:

  • Instead of saying "In Generation 8, Water Shuriken is Accelgor's signature move" (because Greninja isn't in the game), we say "In SwSh, Water Shuriken is exclusive to Accelgor".
  • Or something like this:
    • Prior to Generation 7, Flower Gift is Flabebe's signature Ability.
      • In SwSh, Flower Gift is exclusive to Comfey.
      • In SV, Flower Gift is exclusive to Flabebe.

It makes it so much simpler and less cluttered. If it's no longer signature, it's no longer signature; doesn't matter if the other mons appear in the games or not; their data still exists in HOME or something similar. If it's exclusive, we say it as exclusive, not signature.

Idk, what do you guys think?

Anzasquiddles (talk) 08:56, 30 November 2022 (UTC)

I agree with this, imo signature should just be used for a move or ability that was exclusive to a family (or group of pokemon, in some cases) the generation or game it debuted in. Meervo (talk) 17:09, 25 January 2023 (UTC)

Starmobile

Should the Starmobiles be added as Pokémon or as their own section? For the former, we'd need to remove Stamina, Toxic Debris and Speed Boost and add in Misty Surge. For the latter, we should only list the one with Misty Surge. Oneofthosedf (talk) (contribs) 19:57, 12 February 2023 (UTC)

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