Corbeau
Corbeau (Japanese: カラスバ Karasuba) is a character introduced in Pokémon Legends: Z-A. He is the current boss of the Rust Syndicate, a shady organization in Lumiose City. He specializes in Poison-type Pokémon.
| Corbeau カラスバ Karasuba | |
 Art from Legends: Z-A | |
| Age | Unknown |
|---|---|
| Gender | Male |
| Eye color | Orange |
| Hair color | Dark purple |
| Hometown | Lumiose City (original hometown unknown) |
| Region | Kalos |
| Trainer class | Rust Syndicate |
| Generation | IX |
| Games | Legends: Z-A |
| Member of | Rust Syndicate |
| Rank | Boss |
| Specializes in | Poison types |
His partner Pokémon is Scolipede.
In the core series games
Appearance
Corbeau is a skinny young man with pale complexion and sharp, angular eyes. Corbeau is notably rather short, being shorter than his Rust Syndicate grunts and around the same height as the player character. His hair is swept to his left side, while the right side of his head has a buzz cut.
Corbeau wears a large, black, custom knee-length suit jacket over a purple dress shirt and black trousers. His suit jacket is designed as though there are drips of poison all over it, with droplet-shaped magenta strips of cloth hanging from the bottom of the jacket and the lapels, and the inside of the jacket having an orange and magenta dripping pattern. Corbeau also wears a white necktie with five black notches on each side, black socks, and dark purple dress shoes from Masterpiece with lighter purple toe caps. Additionally, he wears round glasses, also from Masterpiece, held in place by a drip-like, purple retainer; the bridge of his glasses has an inverted "Y" shape. Finally, Corbeau wears a pin of the Rust Syndicate logo on the left lapel of his jacket, where he keeps his Key Stone.
Corbeau is left-handed, as shown in his key art and when he throws Poké Balls.
Personality
As the head of the Rust Syndicate, Corbeau demands respect and obedience from his subordinates, and is prone to anger when things don't go according to his plans. Despite never really wanting the position of boss to begin with (Philippe abdicated the position in awe of Corbeau's talents), Corbeau is an effective leader. He has his personal code of honor and leads by example — this is best seen when he helps the Rust Syndicate form a human ladder for the player to climb on during the final act of the Pokémon Legends: Z-A story.
Corbeau has a cordial, yet generally intimidating presence, and is not above using extortion to get others to do his bidding, such as threatening to raise the interest of Team MZ's debt to him as a way to stop the player from leaking his personal secrets. However, despite his demeanor and shady tactics, Corbeau is well-liked by the people of Lumiose City who know him, and genuinely wishes the best for the city he calls home. He has a unique method of having his subordinates help the people of the city on his behalf — he forces the player to do various odd jobs to clear Urbain/Taunie's debt to the Rust Syndicate, which turn out to be little more than community service.
According to Philippe, Corbeau is a savvy businessman, and made a name for himself by setting up various enterprises such as security services, Pokémon couriers, and other ventures that seem legally dubious. Corbeau looks up to and idolizes Lysandre, who gave him support as a child and invested money into his business schemes. In contrast, the fact that Corbeau had to work his way to the top likely explains his disdain for an elite socialite such as Jacinthe — Corbeau almost never has anything nice to say about her, especially when the two are in one place together.
History
Background
Prior to the events of Pokémon Legends: Z-A, a child Corbeau was an outsider to Lumiose City, and had no family to rely on. He was taken care of by the boss of an organization from Kanto who happened to visit Lumiose. Lysandre was the one who helped and supported Corbeau when he was struggling during his early years. This relationship continues into Corbeau's adulthood, as he convinced Lysandre to give him seed funding for his various businesses. Philippe and his gang tried to put a stop to Corbeau and his ventures, but eventually had to admit defeat, and Philippe relinquished the position of the Rust Syndicate's boss to Corbeau despite the latter's hesitance.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A
The player is introduced to Corbeau after reaching Rank D in the Z-A Royale, as he invites them and Lida to his office to discuss an unpaid debt Urbain/Taunie has with the Rust Syndicate. Both Corbeau and Philippe explain that they offered Urbain/Taunie a $100,000 loan to shoot promotional videos for Hotel Z, but the loan hasn't been paid back and has now accrued a tenfold interest of $1,000,000. Despite Lida's protest, both Rust Syndicate men argue that they had indicated the terms and warned Urbain/Taunie that they might not be able to pay back the loan. Knowing no one at Team MZ can repay the interest, Corbeau offers the player a proposal: to do various jobs on the Rust Syndicate's behalf so that Corbeau will clear the interest, or have the entirety of the Rust Syndicate storm Hotel Z for a Pokémon showdown if they refuse the offer. Intimidated by the latter option, Lida accepts the proposal regardless of the player's dialogue.
After Team MZ defeats Rogue Mega-Evolved Mawile, Barbaracle, and Ampharos in the city, Corbeau sends the player to do a few Rust Syndicate jobs as per the proposal. While the jobs are initially framed by Corbeau as shady work (for instance, Corbeau asks the player to "teach a lesson" to some "troublemakers" in an old building), these jobs turn out to be purely beneficial. The "troublemakers" Corbeau asks the player to "teach a lesson" to are merely Ghost-type wild Pokémon haunting a building that a citizen had just rented, the "undesirable elements" Corbeau tells the player to clear in the sewers are simply some growths of Mega Crystals, and the outsiders he tasks the player to deal with turn out to be members of the Society of Battle Connoisseurs who were giving unwanted battle lectures to some children. After finishing these jobs, Corbeau and the player are suddenly alerted to Urbain/Taunie and Jett being confronted by members of the Lumiose Safety Group, and both help clear the situation by battling the Safety Group's representative.
Upon returning home, Corbeau summons the player to the Rust Syndicate Office. He clears Urbain/Taunie's debt interest as promised, and confesses that he would like to have a proper battle with them — the Z-A Royale app immediately announces that Corbeau serves as the player's opponent in their Z-A Royale promotion match to Rank C. Corbeau states that his wish upon reaching Rank A in the Z-A Royale is to gain more influence in Lumiose City so that he can better protect it. He gives TM100 (Gunk Shot) to the player after defeating him. Later that night, Corbeau heads to Hotel Z and checks in as a guest. Despite Team MZ's fears of retaliation or anything else unsavory, Corbeau praises the team for the room and service, and tips Urbain/Taunie the exact amount needed to repay the original debt back to the Rust Syndicate, which they give to Philippe who arrived to escort Corbeau home. After Corbeau and Philippe leave the hotel, Team MZ is left bewildered by their organization's antics, but relieved that Urbain/Taunie's debt is cleared.
Corbeau later appears in Hotel Richissime as one of the guests invited to Jacinthe's "Le Super-Tournoi de Jacinthe" tournament, and is battled by the player in the third round. During the tournament, Philippe reveals that Corbeau had asked him for battle training earlier, much to Corbeau's embarrassment.
During the game's final act, Corbeau joins the player in a Multi Battle against Rogue Mega-Evolved Pokémon, and later he, Philippe, and the rest of the Rust Syndicate help the player climb a building to reach Zygarde by forming a human ladder. In the credits, Corbeau and the other major characters are seen helping clear the rubble after the incident with Prism Tower.
Mega Dimension
Corbeau and his Rust Syndicate reached out to Team MZ, explaining they were helping out Quasartico Inc. and looking into the abnormal readings detected by the company's equipment. After being relayed information, Corbeau tasked the player with survey work in order for them to gather data on Hyperspace Lumiose and then deal with the massive distortion.
Pokémon
Corbeau keeps his Pokémon in Dusk Balls and will Mega Evolve his Scolipede at the first opportunity, except during the first Multi Battle against the representative of the Lumiose Safety Group.
First Multi Battle partner
First battle
Second battle
Second Multi Battle partner
Third battle
Rematch
Rematch (after completing Mega Dimension)
Gallery
Game assets
Sprites and models
| ||
| Profile picture in the Z-A Royale app from Legends: Z-A |
Profile picture in the Infinite Z-A Royale app from Legends: Z-A |
Overworld talk sprite from Legends: Z-A |
In the TCG
- Main article: Boss's Orders (Rebel Clash 154)
During the English Mega Evolution Series (the Japanese MEGA Series), Corbeau was featured on the recurring Boss's Orders card. It is first included in the Japanese Start Deck 100 Battle Collection before debuting in the English Ascended Heroes expansion, with artwork by akagi. A Full Art print by the same illustrator is also included in both sets. Like previous copies of Boss's Orders, the card lets the player switch in one of their opponent's Benched Pokémon to the Active Spot.
Quotes
- Main article: Corbeau/Quotes
Trivia
- During the final arc of Pokémon Legends: Z-A, if the player jumps off the roof after Corbeau's human ladder falls apart, the Rust Syndicate will rebuild it and Corbeau will get mad at the player for falling. This can be repeated two additional times; an invisible wall will prevent the player from jumping off the roof a fourth time.[1]
- For his first four matches, the only non-Poison-type Pokémon on Corbeau's team is his Gyarados. This references his respect for Lysandre, whose ace Pokémon is also Gyarados.
- He also has a Garbodor that he later adds to his team, which is another Pokémon Lysandre has, albeit after he became known as L.
- In Japanese, Corbeau speaks in the Kansai dialect.
- Besides members of Team MZ, Corbeau is the only known guest to have stayed at Hotel Z.
Names
| Language | Name | Origin |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | カラスバ Karasuba | From 烏羽 karasuba (crow wings; glossy black) |
| English | Corbeau | From corbeau (French for "crow") |
| German | Ravan | From raven |
| European Spanish | Córax | From corax (Latin for "crow") |
| Latin American Spanish | Corax | |
| French | Corvault | From corbeau (crow) |
| Italian | Corvin | From corvo (raven; crow) and corvino (raven black; corvine) |
| Korean | 카라스바 Karaseuba | Transcription of his Japanese name |
| Chinese (Traditional) | 烏羽 Wūyǔ / Wūyúh | From his Japanese name. Contains 烏 / 乌 wū (crow) and 羽 yǔ / yúh (feather; wings) |
| Chinese (Simplified) | 乌羽 Wūyǔ |
References
Related articles
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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. |