Giratina Lore
A collection of Giratina-related lore. Special thanks to user Executor N0, whose blog post on Legendary Pokemon lore was invaluable to this research.
Table of contents
Data
Giratina appears in its Altered Form in our world, and in the Origin Form in the Distortion World. If Giratina holds a Griseous Orb (or Griseous Core) in our world, it can take on the Origin Form.
In Diamond and Pearl, Giratina is found at Turnback Cave. In Platinum, Giratina is found in the Distortion World, but if you can't capture it there, it will appear later in Turnback. A new Giratina can also be created at Sinjoh Ruins if you have an Event Arceus.
Pokedex Entries
Only unique entries have been included here.
Diamond/Pearl: A Pokémon that is said to live in a world on the reverse side of ours. It appears in an ancient cemetery.
Platinum: It was banished for its violence. It silently gazed upon the old world from the Distortion World.
HeartGold/SoulSilver: This Pokémon is said to live in a world on the reverse side of ours, where common knowledge is distorted and strange.
Legends: Arceus: (Altered Form) There is one Hisuian verse that tells of a powerful light creating a deep shadow. I imagine that this deep shadow is Giratina.
Legends: Arceus: (Origin Form) Giratina loses its legs upon changing into this form. I believe this Pokémon must hail from a world where the heavens and the earth are as one, though I have no way of proving it.
Platinum Story Lore
At Spear Pillar
Cyrus: "Interesting. So, there is a Pokémon that can only appear as a shadow."
Cyrus: "Regardless, the effort is rash and foolish. I have harnessed the powers of Dialga and Palkia..."
Cyrus: "I, Cyrus, won't have any more interferererererere...!"
[Giratina appears, sends Cyrus to the Distortion World. Then Azelf, Uxie, go into distortion world and Mesprit looks at you before going in]
Cynthia: No...!
Cynthia: I’m sorry I took so long. I think I finally found the answer from studying the myths. When this world was made, DIALGA and PALKIA appeared. Apparently, there was one more Pokémon that appeared at the same time. A Pokémon with as much power as DIALGA and PALKIA... But also one whose name was never to be spoken--GIRATINA! It’s said to lurk in another world... A world on the opposite side of ours... That’s what the shadow was. It must have been GIRATINA.
Cynthia: The pillars are distorting... It’s because of that portal. It’s joined us to the other world. If it’s not closed, the distortion will spread to Sinnoh and beyond... Our world will be destroyed...
When you first enter the Distortion World
Cynthia: This place...
Cynthia: Can you feel it? There are no Pokémon here at all. Time isn’t flowing. And space isn’t stable. A world where the rules are broken. A space one might call the Distortion World...
Cynthia: Let’s find GIRATINA. We need it to stop the spreading distortion at the Spear Pillar...
[Giratina flies overhead]
Cynthia: That was... GIRATINA...!
Cynthia: We have to hurry! If something’s not done, the distortion will swallow not only our world, it will overwhelm the Distortion World...
While solving puzzles
Cynthia: This rock slab... It appears to move if you step on a certain spot.
Cynthia: On the ground here... Why is it colored differently?
Cynthia: Will we get to see GIRATINA if we keep going down? ...In the Distortion World, are we really traveling downward?
MESPRIT: Piih!
Cynthia: The legend of GIRATINA has been all but forgotten but to a few... The legend told of a world on the other side of ours. This world. Why does this world exist? Why is GIRATINA here all alone? ...There’s so much that can’t be explained, but we have things to do. Let’s split up. We have to find the right way.
Upon meeting Cyrus in the Distortion World
Cyrus: "...The shadowy Pokémon isn't here. It abandoned me here, then disappeared somewhere farther down... Was it content to merely interfere with my plan...? Incidentally, do you understand the concept of genes?"
Cyrus if player says Yes: "...If it's true, you've impressed me."
Cyrus if player says No: "...No, of course, you wouldn't."
Cyrus: "Genes can be considered the blueprints of all life-forms. That includes humans and Pokémon alike. Genes are contained in a DNA strand. A DNA strand consists of 2 chains of opposing characteristics in a spiral. If one of the chains were to be broken, the other could replicate it. One or the other cannot exist without its opposite."
Cyrus: "Do you understand where I am going with this? This is a bizarre world. Time doesn't flow. Space isn't stable. Only that shadowy Pokémon lives here. This world is the opposite of our world-- our world I wish to change. It is like the two chains composing the strand of DNA. The two worlds must be balancing each other to remain in existence. Without one, the other cannot exist. The shadowy Pokémon must play a role in keeping the worlds in balance. That is why it must have interfered and brought me here. The shadowy Pokémon must have made this bizarre world. That's why trying to change our world disturbed it and made it reveal itself. But that is all irrelevant. What matters is defeating that Pokémon and making this world disappear. I won't allow it to interfere with me again. With it gone, neither world will be able to revert to its original state..."
Meeting with Cynthia again
Cynthia: I guess the Pokémon of the lakes must have gone home. I understand they can keep balance against either PALKIA or DIALGA. Does it mean they can’t do that with GIRATINA? ...Oops. This is no time for idle chitchat.
After defeating Cyrus
Cyrus: "... Don't think that you can defeat or capture that Pokémon. This bizarre world is none other than that Pokémon itself! Capturing it or defeating it will make this world disappear! Very well! Do what you will! Rather than repairing the world, you're going to destroy it for me! Do it. You inherit my legacy."
Cynthia: "Don't believe his lies. It's not possible that a Pokémon can make the world disappear. The world awaited your birth. Not only yours, either. The Pokémon with you. The people close to you. All the Pokémon and people were born because they have a part in the world. I'm convinced of that. Giratina won't go out of existence. The Distortion World won't disappear. Our world won't disappear, either. Let's go meet Giratina. ...Oops. I should do something about your hardworking Pokémon first. Now let's go meet Giratina!"
Cynthia: "Giratina is enraged because the two worlds are endangered. It has merged the Distortion World and our world at the Spear Pillar. That's why both worlds are becoming distorted. But there's nothing to fear. You can defeat Giratina and show the tight bond you share with your Pokémon. Or you can demonstrate how much you want it to join you. If you succeed in doing either, Giratina will understand. The distortion of the two worlds will stop!"
After Giratina battle
Cynthia: “Giratina seems to have understood us!”
Cyrus: "That Pokémon... That shadowy Pokémon was captured/defeated?!/That shadowy Pokémon... You quelled its rage by refusing to battle it?! Your doing so means that this irrational world will remain in existence! Does that make it impossible for me to create a new world? Even if I made new Red Chains, the new world can't be made! Why?! What compels you to protect the two worlds? Is spirit, a vague and incomplete thing, so important to you?!"
Leaving the Distortion World
Cynthia: ...This place?!
Cynthia: It’s the Sendoff Spring... It’s said to somehow lead to the great beyond... And GIRATINA was said to live in a world on the opposite side of ours...
Cynthia:! I’m sincerely sorry! It’s very rude of me! [PLAYER], you’re incredible! You really are a fantastic Trainer! Let me say this on behalf of all Sinnoh: [PLAYER], thank you! Oh! That’s right! You have to go tell Prof. Rowan! He was very worried about you. You should visit him at his lab.
Cynthia: You have to go tell Prof. Rowan about this at his lab. He was very worried about you.
Cynthia: (after you talk to Rowan) Sigh... I wish I could have battled GIRATINA. Oh, don’t mind me. I’m only musing out loud. You deserve the glory and all the thanks for what you did.
At Celestic Town after entering the Hall of Fame.
Cynthia: This cave painting... It's always been described this way.
The light in the center represents either Dialga or Palkia appearing at the Spear Pillar.
The three lights around it were thought to be Uxie, Mesprit, and Azelf.
But, then, I realized that there may be another way of interpreting this.
Could this triangle of lights actually represent a different trio?
Could they be Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina instead?
And the large light in the center. Does it represent something else?
Could it be what created this world of ours?
Do you know of the ancient Plates they find all over Sinnoh?
One of them had this engraved on it.
"Two beings of time and space set free from the Original One."
I think this quote, too, points to the presence of another Pokémon.
A Pokémon even more powerful than Dialga or Palkia.
Does that sound plausible to you?
I'm not quite sure how Giratina fits into this scheme of things, but...
It's said that in the Distortion World, neither time nor space were stable.
I think that tells us something about Giratina, the only Pokémon there.
It must have been as powerful as Dialga and Palkia, the rulers of time and space.
In some way, though, Giratina has to have a power opposite of theirs.
A long time ago, I wonder what sort of person painted this?
Dialga's Roar of Time... Palkia's Spacial Rend...
To the people back then, those Pokémon really must have appeared to rule over time and space.
Seeing them must have shaken the people to their very core.
This painting represents those feelings of awe, wonder, and everything else.
It passed that memory to countless people, eventually becoming a myth...
That's what I believe as a researcher of myths.
I think I let myself get carried away and talked for far too long.
I'm sorry, and thank you. Let's meet again.
Interviews
IGN: What was the inspiration for the new concepts in Pokemon Platinum? Do you think the process for coming up with new concepts has changed since the first Pokemon games were developed?
Junichi Masuda: We created Platinum with a new method of determining the game's direction that was based on the image of one Pokemon - Giratina. When I imagined Giratina, the idea of a "reversed world" came to my mind. I thought of concepts such as "E=mc2" and matter and antimatter. There is no top or bottom, no left or right. We increased the number of developers for Diamond and Pearl, so we wanted to clarify the game concepts for the team before we started the project. Its better to hammer out the overall vision of the game first, and then all the team members will work towards that vision by throwing out ideas. The concept of "ultimate" was what we started out with for this title.
Takeshi Kawachimaru: I was the one that set the direction for Platinum. Mr. Masuda came to me and explained the original concept for the Pokemon Giratina. He mentioned anti-matter as something -- it's there, but it's something you can't see. Mr. Masuda gave me a lot of key concepts to design around -- matter, antimatter, Einstein's theory of relativity. I was the one that had to make those concepts a realization in a Pokemon game -- both visually and implementing certain tricks into the gameplay to give the player a sense of bipolarity.
There's a concept in particle, in physics called CP violation. It helps explain the relationship between matter and antimatter. The relationship is bipolar. The reality is that anti-matter is something that's very, very fragile. This concept weighs heavily in how we came up with Pokemon Platinum's Distortion World.
G4: How are some of these concepts realized? What will gamers see and feel when they're in Distortion World?
TK: One of the things I, along with the other designers, wanted to focus on in Distortion World is creating a place that's very similar to Sinnoh [the world of Pokemon Diamond/Pearl], but very different. It's definitely a real world, but as soon as the player enters Distortion World, I want to make sure they know that it's different. For example, the sky is a little bit darker in Distortion World than it is in Sinnoh. The player will see lots of plants that they've never seen before. Waterfalls will have water flowing in strange directions. There are many similar elements between the real world and Distortion World -- whether it's movement, shape, or color -- but we want to make sure the player feels that they're in a distinct and opposite world.
Kawachimaru: The focus for the Distortion world is, of course, Giratina. So from the beginning, the concept has been how Giratina fits in the world. Mr Masuda explained to me what the distortion world is and what kind of Pokemon Giratina is. So based on that we created new music and something very visual. So as soon as you go into the distortion world, everyone will understand how different that world is. That was something very important we always kept in mind.
Junichi Masuda: When I created the music for battling Giratina, I thought of the front/back, life/death. There's bipolar, opposite ideas. So that's something I kept in mind when I created the battle music.
GP: How did you decide on the different story changes in the main game? There are certain elements of the story that have been tweaked and the villains have different motivations, so...
Kawachimaru: In Diamond & Pearl, you have Dialga and Palkia, and it has a story to each Pokemon. [It's] two different Pokemon, but one story in Diamond & Pearl. We wanted to create a different story for Platinum. That's how we developed Giratina, as something opposite of Dialga and Palkia. We wanted to make the existence of Giratina more fun, more interesting, cooler. That's how we came up with the whole scenario of Diamond & Pearl and then advanced to Platinum. We wanted to make different roles easier for the player to understand, so we used the text to explain how this is related. We set up an environment where Giratina exists, so that's something we have to add to make the storyline more appealing and approachable and accessible to players.
NINTENDO ACCION: What was the idea behind the development of Pokemon Platinum?
Masuda - When we finished Diamond and Pearl's development, I still had some ideas I couldn't add to the game. Diamond and Pearl's themes were about time and space. With Platinum, Giratina added something else, the opposite of time and space. I thought this had potential to develop a new world, and we got to it.
Nintendo Power 240
Nintendo Power: Did you have the ideas for Pokémon Platinum in mind while working on Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon Pearl, or did they come about later?
MASUDA: While developing Diamond and Pearl, Giratina originally embodied the idea of an “antiworld,” which is a paradox or Time and Space. It exists in relation to Dialga and Palkia. That’s what I had in mind when I was developing Diamond and Pearl.
Kawachimaru: “I was not aware of any of that during the Diamond & Pearl’s development. Masuda told me about it when we started developing Platinum. So it was after Diamond & Pearl for me (laughs). I normally receive key terms from Masuda in the first stage of development, but there were many random terms like ‘antimatter’ and ‘e=mc2,’ ‘Reversed Mt. Fuji’ (‘Sakasa Fuji’) and so on. He explained that ‘Sakasa Fuji’ is the reflection of Mt Fuji on the lake, and it’s the antimatter world. It was challenging to put that concept into the game, so we did extensive research. I didn’t know what exactly ‘antimatter’ was either. I personally think I comprehend it well, but I wonder….
Masuda: “Yes. It exists but it actually doesn’t. It doesn’t exist but it does. That sort of thing. The mountain exists on the lake through human eyes, but it’s only a reflection and doesn’t exist. It’s a diverse world. You see it only because you are looking at it with your eyes. I’m impressed [with Kawachimaru] for being able to take ingredients that were not substantial and incorporate them into Platinum.”