Games - Tangela

	Games - Tangela

Tangela (モンジャラ Monjara in Japanese, Tangela in German and Saquedeneu in French) is a fictional character of the Pokémon franchise.

The name "Tangela" is a corrupted form of the word "tangle", which is both what it appears visually and what its vines often do to opponents.

In the beta version of the English translation, Tangela was originally going to be called "Meduza", a reference to how its vines resemble hair made of serpents, much like the mythical creature that served as its namesake, Medusa.

Appearance/Biology

Tangela is mostly hidden by a mass of blue vines. Besides the vines, all that is visible is a pair of eyes deep inside the hedge-like tangle and a pair of red shoes/feet.

Tangela's exact form is unknown because it is almost completely covered in lots of thick, wide, blueish vines which are akin to seaweed. The vines grow continuously during Tangela's life and, once they are long enough, jiggle and shake as it walks. Tangela capitalizes on this in battle in an effort to annoy, unnerve or intimidate its opponents.

Thanks to its vines Tangela can entagle itself with practically anything, either accidentally or on purpose. Once it has ensnared an opponent, Tangela can weaken it further by tickling it with its vines.

Tangela can make its vines snap easily and painlessly to escape an enemy who has grabbed them. The price is a small one to pay, since the lost vines will regrow within a day. This escape tactic is similar to that of some real world lizards, which can detach their tail to run away from a predicament, only to have it regrow later.

In the video games

Tangela is rather uncommon. In Pokémon Red, Blue, FireRed and LeafGreen, Tangela is found in Route 21. In the last two games, Tangela is additionally found in the Treasure Cave. In Pokémon Yellow Tangela is found in the Safari Zone. In Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal, Tangela is found in Routes 21, 28, 44 and in Mount Mortar.

Tangela has pretty good stats, excelling in defense and special attack. Its special defence is low, however. Tangela can learn many disrupting and status-inducing moves. It can also learn some powerful attacks, mainly through Technical Machines.

A player can also take advantage of Tangela's Chlorophyll ability and use Sunny Day, which will increase Tangela's speed, double the healing power of its Synthesis move and allow it to use the Solarbeam attack consecutively. However, since Sunny Day also doubles the power of Fire-type attacks against which Tangela is already weak as it is, this strategy should be employed with caution.

Since Tangela is a first generation unevolving Pokemon, it is the perfect candidate for a new evolvution in Pokemon Diamond and Pearl.

In the animé

Tangela has made two major appearances. Gym Leader Erica used one against Ash's Pokémon in episode #26 (Pokémon Scent-sation). In episode #341 (Gulpin it down), a police officer used a Tangela against some troublesome Gulpin, despite Tangela's type disadvantage against the Poison-type Pokémon.

In the trading card game

Tangela, for a first-generation Pokémon, has appeared only occasionally in the Trading Card Game. It is Basic and Grass-type in each appearance:

Jungle
Gym Heroes (as Erika’s Tangela)
Gym Challenge (as Koga’s Tangela)
Aquapolis
EX Firered & Leafgreen
EX Legend Maker

[ Visit the complete Wikipedia entry for Tangela ]

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