Lapras

Lapras was one of 151 different designs conceived by Game Freak's character development team and finalized by Ken Sugimori for the first generation of Pocket Monsters games Red and Green, which were localized outside Japan as Pokémon Red and Blue.[1][2] Its English name is a romanization of the Japanese name Rapurasu, subsequently revealed to be the Japanese way of writing Laplace, a name likely based after the mathematician Pierre-Simon Laplace.[3][4]

Lapras, known as the Transport Pokémon, is a large sea creature which resembles a plesiosaur. It may also be inspired by placodonts. It has four flippers, however its front ones are notably larger than its hind flippers. It has a long neck, and large black eyes. Lapras has unusual curled ears and a short horn in the middle of its forehead. The majority of its body is blue, while its underside is a light cream-yellow color. Its most distinguishing feature is the gray shell on its back, which is largely dotted with blunt knobs. Lapras is most known for its fondness of moving people and Pokémon across bodies of water.[5] Some Lapras are able to develop Psychic abilities such as telepathy,[6] which makes them able to understand human speech.[7] They keep track of their fellow pod members through use of high-pitched songs they constantly sing,[8] much like whales. Unfortunately due to their docile nature they do not like to fight, and this has made them an easy target for hunters,[9] which has made them very rare in the wild, due to being over hunted.[10] Despite this, wild Lapras are somewhat common in the Sinnoh region, appearing in Victory Road exclusively but at a fairly abundant rate.

In Pokémon Sword and Shield, Lapras received a Gigantamax form with access to the unique G-Max Move G-Max Resonance, the only Ice-type G-Max Move.[11]

IGN's Pokémon Chick wrote that Lapras was "amazing" and has "won the heart of many a trainer, including yours truly" due to its "great beauty, grace and gentleness."[12] UGO Networks' Chris Plante named Lapras one of the "most unconventional vehicles in games".[13] GamesRadar's Raymond Padilla wrote that it is "one of our favorite Pokémon from the original game."[14] Author Loredana Lipperini wrote that Lapras was "reliable", "placid", and "gentle".[15] Lapras has been compared to several creatures both real and mythological. IGN wrote that it was "loosely based on a plesiosaur, crossed with a tortoise".[4] Gamershell's David Jenkins compared Lapras to the Loch Ness Monster.[16] Author Ash Dekirk described it as a combination of a sea turtle and a dragon. He also described it as resembling a plesiosaur with a spiky tortoise shell on its back.[17] Official Nintendo Magazine's Thomas East compared it to a plesiosaur as well as Loosha from Professor Layton and the Last Specter.[18] Game Revolution's Johnny Liu described it as a "subservient Loch Ness monster".[19] IGN named it the 27th best Pokémon.[20] Game Informer also included it in its list of Pokémon at #29.[21] Official Nintendo Magazine's readers voted it the eighth best Water-type Pokémon.[18]

In 2019, Miyagi Prefecture in the Tōhoku region of Japan selected Lapras as its "official Pokémon".[22]

• Official Pokémon website
• Lapras on Pokemon.com