Giratina

Giratina is one of the legendary Pokémon trio of Sinnoh, alongside Dialga and Palkia. Giratina has a long, platinum-colored, segmented body with six legs, and has ghostly wings with red spikes. Six rib-like yellow rings encircle its neck, and the pale yellow ornament on its head resembles a human collarbone. When it is in its own realm, the Distortion World, or holding a Griseous Orb, it takes on its "Origin Forme" (オリジンフォルム, Orijin Forumu), which differs from the "Altered Forme" ("Another Forme" (アナザーフォルム, Anazā Forumu) in Japanese) it takes in the real world. This form is a more serpentine creature with a beak-like mouth, long spiked “streamers” instead of wings, and spikes in place of legs.

It was created along with Dialga and Palkia by Arceus, though it was banished by Arceus due to its violence to the dimension called the Distortion World.[2] It has since been forgotten from the legends as "one whose name was never to be spoken." While Dialga and Palkia represent time and space, Giratina represents the dimensions besides those of time and space, the desolate void that exists between these planes, and the antimatter that suffuses it. Though residing within the Distortion World, it can also visit a cemetery-like ruin known as Turnback Cave, a place where the dimensional boundaries are said to be distorted and dead Pokémon can enter the physical world. Giratina is capable of interdimensional travel, albeit doing so causes it to change forms (Unless holding a "Griseous Orb"). It can see into the normal world through mirrors and reflective objects.

The designers of Pokémon Platinum designed Giratina's Origin Forme to be the "opposite" of Dialga and Palkia, as well as to make its existence "more fun, more interesting, cooler".[3] They paid "meticulous attention" to the Origin Forme's details; the designer "redrew Giratina’s image again and again" in order to make it "significantly different" and change its shape. The designers eventually decided to feature the Origin Forme on the cover of Platinum.[4] Designer Junichi Masuda envisioned concepts of "reversed world", "matter and anti-matter", and "E = mc²" in designing it.[5] Its location, the Distortion World, was designed by Takeshi Kawachimaru around Giratina, with the concept as "how Giratina fits in the world". When designing its theme, Masuda "thought of the front/back, life/death" to make it cover "bipolar, opposite ideas".[6]

Since appearing in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl,Giratina has received a generally positive reception. It was featured in a Pokémon Platinum-themed deck of playing cards as the Joker.[7] As a bonus for pre-ordering Platinum, select customers would receive a 2.75" sculpted figurine of Giratina's Origin Forme.[8] This was a part of a promotion called "Search for Giratina", which also encompassed a number of other promotional items.[9] In Europe, Nintendo made available a limited edition DS Lite featuring Giratina's Origin Forme through their "Stars Catalogue" which could be purchased with coins that are earned by buying Nintendo games and registering them.[10]

It is considered to be a popular Pokémon by sources such as IGN and GameSpot.[11][12] GamesRadar editor Carolyn Gudmundson called it "fearsome,"[13] while PALGN's "Toastfarmer" called it "scary."[14] Official Nintendo Magazine's Tom East bemoaned the lack of villains in the Super Smash Bros. series, suggesting that Giratina would be a good choice for a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Brawl. He described it as the "biggest badboy of them all" and cited its impressive statistics and wide variety of abilities as reason for it to appear.[15] 1UP.com's Justin Haywald described Giratina's new form as one of Platinum's "biggest draws".[16] In a poll conducted by IGN, it was voted as the thirty-ninth top Pokémon, where the staff commented that it is "kind of terrible to look at".[17]

• Giratina on Bulbapedia
• Giratina on Pokemon.com