Greninja

Quick Answers

What is the evolution line of Greninja?

Introduced in Generation VI, Greninja is the final form in the evolution line of the Water-type starter from Kalos, Froakie. It evolves from Frogadier and does not evolve further. As a Water/Dark-type Pokémon, Greninja embodies the characteristics of a frog and a ninja.

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What type is Greninja in the Pokemon series?

Greninja, introduced in Generation VI, is a Water/Dark-type Pokémon. It represents the final evolution of Froakie, the Water-type starter from Kalos. Known as a Ninja Pokémon, Greninja possesses abilities such as Torrent and Protean. It held the distinction of being the inaugural water/dark-type starter prior to Samurott's Hisuian form.

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What generation of Pokemon does Greninja belong to?

Greninja, a Water/Dark-type Pokémon, was introduced in Generation VI. It represents the final evolution of Froakie, the Water-type starter of the Kalos region.

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What is the connection between Greninja and the term 'ninja pokemon'?

Greninja, a Generation VI Pokémon, is associated with the term 'ninja pokemon' due to its connection with ninjutsu. This is influenced by the mythical ninja Jiraiya, known for his ability to transform into a giant toad. The name Greninja combines 'grenouille', French for frog, and 'ninja'. Its Japanese name, Gekkouga, also references Kōga-ryū, an ancient school of ninjutsu.

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Biology

Physiology

Greninja, like its previous evolution, has the body style of a frog. In this form, it now resembles Toxicroak and has gained the appearance of a ninja. It is dark blue in color and has its tongue wrapped around its neck like a scarf instead of the bubbles found on Froakie and Frogadier.

As Ash-Greninja, Greninja's skin turns a lighter shade of blue, while its face gains red stripes and its cheeks and side fins turn black, changing shape to resemble Ash's hair. Its legs are stronger in this form, and it gains the ability to form large Water Shurikens on its back.

Shiny Greninja changes all of the blue into black and its tongue changes color to red.

Behavior

A Greninja moves with the speed and grace of a ninja. They use swift movements to confuse their enemies while they slice them up with throwing stars made of compressed water. These throwing stars are sharp enough to split metal.

Greninja can sometimes be found hanging upside-down from tree branches or ceilings in the shadows, waiting for unwary foes to approach. They can propel themselves considerable distances by shooting jets of water at the ground beneath them (though they can often jump just as high, if not higher). Their blinding speed and incredible stealth have made Greninja popular starter Pokémon in the Kalos region for years.

Natural abilities

Greninja can create shurikens from compressed water and mucus, the shurikens can cut cleanly through steel cables and split through metal.

Greninja is capable with stretching its tongues at long distances with much elasticity.

Greninja also uses its tongue that is wrapped around the neck to sense enemies it can’t see by feeling air movements.

Special abilities

A specific Greninja is also capable of using Bond Phenomenon, in the anime as well its special ability Battle Bond in Generation VII, which can change into an alternate form called Ash-Greninja.

Evolution

Greninja evolves from Frogadier at level 36 and is the final evolved form of Froakie.

Game info

Locations

Pokédex entries

Stats

Learnset

Leveling

• Generation VII
• Generation VI

LevelingGeneration VII
Level	Move	Power	Accuracy	PP	Type	Cat.
Evolve	Water Shuriken	15	100%	20	Water	Physical
1	Night Slash	70	100%	15	Dark	Physical
1	Haze	—	—%	30	Ice	Status
1	Role Play	—	100%	10	Psychic	Status
1	Mat Block	—	—%	10	Fighting	Status
1	Pound	40	100%	35	Normal	Physical
1	Growl	—	100%	40	Normal	Status
1	Quick Attack	40	100%	30	Normal	Physical
5	Bubble	20	100%	30	Water	Special
8	Quick Attack	40	100%	30	Normal	Physical
10	Lick	20	100%	30	Ghost	Physical
14	Water Pulse	60	100%	20	Water	Special
19	Smokescreen	—	100%	20	Normal	Status
23	Shadow Sneak	40	100%	30	Ghost	Physical
28	Spikes	—	—%	20	Ground	Status
33	Feint Attack	60	—%	20	Dark	Physical
42	Substitute	—	—%	10	Normal	Status
49	Extrasensory	80	100%	20	Psychic	Special
56	Double Team	—	—%	15	Normal	Status
68	Hydro Pump	110	80%	5	Water	Special
70	Haze	—	—%	30	Ice	Status
77	Night Slash	70	100%	15	Dark	Physical
Bold indicates this Pokémon receives STAB from this move. Italic indicates an evolved or alternate form of this Pokémon receives STAB from this move.

LevelingGeneration VI
Level	Move	Power	Accuracy	PP	Type	Cat.	Contest Cat.	Appeal	Jam
1	Night Slash	70	100%	15	Dark	Physical
1	Role Play	—	100%	10	Psychic	Status
1	Mat Block	—	—%	10	Fighting	Status
1	Pound	40	100%	35	Normal	Physical
1	Growl	—	100%	40	Normal	Status
5	Bubble	20	100%	30	Water	Special
8	Quick Attack	40	100%	30	Normal	Physical
10	Lick	20	100%	30	Ghost	Physical
14	Water Pulse	60	100%	20	Water	Special
20	Smokescreen	—	100%	20	Normal	Status
23	Shadow Sneak	40	100%	30	Ghost	Physical
28	Spikes	—	—%	20	Ground	Status
33	Fling	—	100%	10	Dark	Physical
36	Water Shuriken	15	100%	20	Water	Physical
43	Substitute	—	—%	10	Normal	Status
49	Extrasensory	80	100%	20	Psychic	Special
52	Double Team	—	—%	15	Normal	Status
56	Haze	—	—%	30	Ice	Status
60	Hydro Pump	110	80%	5	Water	Special
70	Night Slash	70	100%	15	Dark	Physical
75	Water Shuriken	15	100%	20	Water	Physical
Bold indicates this Pokémon receives STAB from this move. Italic indicates an evolved or alternate form of this Pokémon receives STAB from this move.

Breeding

TM/HM

• Generation VII
• Generation VI

TMs, TRs, and HMs Generation VII
TM/HM/TR	Move	Power	Accuracy	PP	Type	Cat.
TM01	Work Up	—	—%	30	Normal	Status
TM06	Toxic	—	90%	10	Poison	Status
TM10	Hidden Power	60	100%	15	Normal	Special
TM12	Taunt	—	100%	20	Dark	Status
TM13	Ice Beam	90	100%	10	Ice	Special
TM14	Blizzard	110	70%	5	Ice	Special
TM15	Hyper Beam	150	90%	5	Normal	Special
TM17	Protect	—	—%	10	Normal	Status
TM18	Rain Dance	—	—%	5	Water	Status
TM21	Frustration	—	100%	20	Normal	Physical
TM23	Smack Down	50	100%	15	Rock	Physical
TM27	Return	—	100%	20	Normal	Physical
TM32	Double Team	—	—%	15	Normal	Status
TM39	Rock Tomb	60	95%	15	Rock	Physical
TM40	Aerial Ace	60	—%	20	Flying	Physical
TM42	Facade	70	100%	20	Normal	Physical
TM44	Rest	—	—%	10	Psychic	Status
TM45	Attract	—	100%	15	Normal	Status
TM46	Thief	60	100%	25	Dark	Physical
TM48	Round	60	100%	15	Normal	Special
TM55	Scald	80	100%	15	Water	Special
TM56	Fling	—	100%	10	Dark	Special
TM59	Brutal Swing	60	100%	50	Dark	Physical
TM62	Acrobatics	55	100%	15	Flying	Physical
TM68	Giga Impact	150	90%	5	Normal	Physical
TM80	Rock Slide	75	90%	10	Rock	Physical
TM86	Grass Knot	—	100%	20	Grass	Special
TM87	Swagger	—	85%	15	Normal	Status
TM88	Sleep Talk	—	—%	10	Normal	Status
TM89	U-turn	70	100%	20	Bug	Physical
TM90	Substitute	—	—%	10	Normal	Status
TM94	Surf	90	100%	15	Water	Special
TM97	Dark Pulse	80	100%	15	Dark	Special
TM98	Waterfall	80	100%	15	Water	Special
TM100	Confide	—	—%	20	Normal	Status
Bold indicates this Pokémon receives STAB from this move. Italic indicates an evolved or alternate form of this Pokémon receives STAB from this move.

TMs, TRs, and HMs Generation VI
TM/HM/TR	Move	Power	Accuracy	PP	Type	Cat.	Contest Cat.	Appeal	Jam
TM06	Toxic	—	90%	10	Poison	Status
TM10	Hidden Power	60	100%	15	Normal	Special
TM12	Taunt	—	100%	20	Dark	Status
TM13	Ice Beam	90	100%	10	Ice	Special
TM14	Blizzard	110	70%	5	Ice	Special
TM15	Hyper Beam	150	90%	5	Normal	Special
TM17	Protect	—	—%	10	Normal	Status
TM18	Rain Dance	—	—%	5	Water	Status
TM21	Frustration	—	100%	20	Normal	Physical
TM23	Smack Down	50	100%	15	Rock	Physical
TM27	Return	—	100%	20	Normal	Physical
TM32	Double Team	—	—%	15	Normal	Status
TM39	Rock Tomb	60	95%	15	Rock	Physical
TM40	Aerial Ace	60	—%	20	Flying	Physical
TM42	Facade	70	100%	20	Normal	Physical
TM44	Rest	—	—%	10	Psychic	Status
TM45	Attract	—	100%	15	Normal	Status
TM46	Thief	60	100%	25	Dark	Physical
TM48	Round	60	100%	15	Normal	Special
TM55	Scald	80	100%	15	Water	Special
TM56	Fling	—	100%	10	Dark	Special
TM62	Acrobatics	55	100%	15	Flying	Physical
TM68	Giga Impact	150	90%	5	Normal	Physical
TM80	Rock Slide	75	90%	10	Rock	Physical
TM86	Grass Knot	—	100%	20	Grass	Special
TM87	Swagger	—	85%	15	Normal	Status
TM88	Sleep Talk	—	—%	10	Normal	Status
TM89	U-turn	70	100%	20	Bug	Physical
TM90	Substitute	—	—%	10	Normal	Status
TM94	Rock Smash (XY)	40	100%	15	Fighting	Physical
TM94	Secret Power (ORAS)	70	100%	20	Normal	Physical
TM97	Dark Pulse	80	100%	15	Dark	Special
TM98	Power-Up Punch	40	100%	20	Fighting	Physical
TM100	Confide	—	—%	20	Normal	Status
HM01	Cut	50	95%	30	Normal	Physical
HM03	Surf	90	100%	15	Water	Special
HM04	Strength	80	100%	15	Normal	Physical
HM05	Waterfall	80	100%	15	Water	Physical
HM06	Rock Smash (ORAS)	40	100%	15	Fighting	Physical
HM07	Dive (ORAS)	80	100%	10	Water	Physical
Bold indicates this Pokémon receives STAB from this move. Italic indicates an evolved or alternate form of this Pokémon receives STAB from this move.

Sprites

• Generation VI

Greninja's sprite

Greninja's Shiny sprite

Greninja's back sprite

Greninja's Shiny back sprite

Appearances

Anime

In the anime, Ash's Greninja is arguably the most powerful Pokémon aside from other Greninja trainers, particularly ninjas from the Ninja Village. He has an alternate form known as Ash-Greninja form which it can transforms this form via Bond Phenomenon and its power rivals the power from the Mega Evolved Pokémon. Ash's Greninja also gains a rivalry with Sawyer's Sceptile and its pre-evolution stage that can evolved into its mega form, Mega Sceptile via Key Stone.

• Riot's Greninja
• Sanpei's Greninja
• Ippei's Greninja

Crossover

Super Smash Bros. series

A Greninja is featured as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

Trivia

• When transformed into Ash-Greninja, Greninja has the highest base stat total of all starter Pokémon at 640.

• Greninja is the lightest water-type final evolved starter Pokémon.
• It is the only Pokémon with the ability Battle Bond.
• It shares the same species name as Ninjask, as both are called the Ninja Pokémon.
• Greninja placed 1st in a special poll created to see which Pokémon was the most popular to be distributed for the movie Volcanion and the Mechanical Marvel.
  • Another poll wall held for Pokémon of the Year 2020. During this poll, Greninja ranked the most popular among all Kalos Pokémon and all Pokémon altogether, giving it first place in the poll, even though it was unavailable in, but untransferable to Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, the Isle of Armor and the Crown Tundra, and also, even though was one of the popular species of Pokémon to appear almost in the Pokémon Journeys: The Series, thus far.
• Greninja is the only Pokémon in Pokémon UNITE that is was unavailable in, but unobtainable to Pokémon Sword and Pokémon Shield, the Isle of Armor and the Crown Tundra, leaving players upset and disappointed due to Greninja being many peoples popular Pokémon until Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero, where it became available.
• Greninja is one of the popular Pokémon that isn't playable and didn't appear in Pokkén Tournament or DX.
• Greninja was the first water/dark-type starter until the introduction of Samurott's Hisuian form.

Origin

Greninja is based on a frog, specifically a horned frog due to the horns it sports. The bumps on its elbows, knees, and head may be based on the bumps of toads. Its association with ninjutsu is inspired by the mythical ninja: Jiraiya, a Ninja who uses magic and could summon or transform into a giant toad. It may also be based on the rouge class in some RPG games.

Etymology

Greninja comes from grenouille (French for "frog") and ninja.

Its Japanese name, Gekkouga, is a combination of the word geko (croak) and Kōga-ryū, the ancient school of ninjutsu. It may also derive from 月光 (gekkō, moonlight).

Gallery

Ash-Greninja's artwork

Greninja's artwork from Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

Greninja's bonus artwork for Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

References