Oshawott, Dewott, and Samurott

Concept and characteristics

Oshawott is known as the Sea Otter Pokémon. The shell on its belly, known as a Scalchop, is made of the same components as fingernails. Strangely, the Scalchop has been known to grow from Oshawott's navel. It can detach the shell from its body and use it as a blade. It fights using the shell as a blade, and can block and attack the foe back in an instant. Dewott's appearance is somewhat similar to Oshawott except that it is primarily light blue in coloration, has white whiskers, and has a blue adornment with two seashells around its waist. Like Oshawott, these shells can be detached and used as weapons. With rigorous training, Dewott acquires the ability to perform two-shell attacks with flowing swordsmanship. Unlike its pre-evolutions, Samurott is a quadruped, sea lion-like Pokémon. It can silence its enemies by glaring at them, and it can defeat an opponent by swinging the sword on its armor.

Oshawott was designed to be the "cute" one of them as well as acting as a "den mother figure" to the other two. Dewott was also the last of the second form of the starters to be designed. In an interview with Ken Sugimori, he stated that they were concerned on what to make Oshawott evolve into. After watching sea otters at a zoo, he decided to make the third evolution based on a sea lion, with Oshawott's shell turned into a sword. He also stated that Oshawott's evolution would be Japanese style of design. He also cited the powerful nature from them such as the "sound they made when they stamped on the ground." Sugimori also intended to design Samurott to be a completely different shape from Oshawott that would aid in making it a "den mother" figure. Oshawott was first revealed as a silhouette on the May 9, 2010 episode of Pokémon Sunday. In the early reveal of Oshawott (then only known by its Japanese name "Mijumaru"), English-speaking fans gave it the nickname of "Wotter".

In the video games

Oshawott, Dewott, and Samurott's first video game appearance is in Pokémon Black and White, where Oshawott is first available as a Starter Pokémon for players to choose from alongside Snivy and Tepig. After gaining enough experience, Oshawott evolves into Dewott, and then into Samurott. All three members of the line also appear in Battle & Get! Pokémon Typing DS and PokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond. Oshawott also appears in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U as a Poké Ball Pokémon.

In other media

In the first episode of the Black and White anime series, an Oshawott in Professor Juniper's lab begins to follow Ash in admiration after he considered the Oshawott to be cute. He then saves Ash and Iris from Team Rocket and reappears again where he officially joins Ash's party. Eerily, he often jumps out of his Poké Ball when Ash is considering sending out another Pokémon just like Misty's Psyduck. It also continues Brock's infamous running gag of falling in love, only to get rejected. Dewott's debut appearance was fighting a Servine at the Battle Club.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Oshawott, along with Tepig and Snivy, appears when Black accidentally drops his box containing the Pokémon. In the Pokémon Master Black & White manga, Oshawott is Bel's starter Pokémon. In the Pocket Monsters BW: Meetings with the Legends manga, Dewott is Touya's main Pokémon. In the Pocket Monsters RéBURST manga, Fraud has a Samurott he can use as a Burst form, after gaining Arcades' power.

Reception

Before the release of Black and White, Oshawott and its line received generally mixed reception. In a poll taken by Official Nintendo Magazine shortly after the official unveiling of the new games' starter Pokémon, Oshawott was shown to be by far the least popular. When the name was announced, GamesRadar's Gudmundson wrote that while it seemed like a "really lame name" due to its similarity to the fan name Wotter, she felt it was a cool name, writing that it appeared to be a combination of "Oshawa", a city in Ontario, Canada (which in turn led to a General Motors reference) which takes its name from a river crossing, and "otter". 1UP.com's Michael Vreeland found it to be the least interesting. He cited the seemingly meaningless name and compared it to Piplup though "less adorable".

After the games' release, Oshawott was more well received. They have been featured in several incarnations, including toys and the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Oshawott, along with Snivy and Tepig, was featured in costume at 14 malls across the United States. Game Informer's Jeff Marchiafava stated "I'm going to go ahead and call Oshawott a solid choice for new trainers". He also described its physical appearance as odd due to having a "blatant phallic symbol" on its chest. IGN AU and IGN UK's Cam Shea and Martin Robinson both chose Oshawott as their starting Pokémon; the first chose it as an underdog in spite of it becoming much better later, while the second commented that "any other choice is just plain wrong". Fellow IGN editor Martin Robinson described it as "characterful" and "adorable", the latter a sentiment shared by fellow IGN editor Jack DeVries. Official Nintendo Magazine's Chris Schilling used the headline "Oshawott's New?" while discussing the "safe, slightly boring designs" of Pokémon earlier in the game. IGN's Sam Claiborn described Oshawott as an "abomination".

Its final form received mixed reception. IGN's executive editor Rich George found Samurott to be "stupid" and described it as "a seal with an ice cream cone on his head". Fellow IGN editor Jack DeVries described it as "what hatches from a Poke egg after someone leaves a narwhal and a drunk bear at the Day Care Center." IGN's Lucas Thomas received Samurott more positively, noting its appeal as a "Water-type warrior" and adding that players would likely pick Oshawott as a starter just to "guarantee themselves a Samurott later on." GamesRadar's Carolyn Gudmundson wrote that Samurott was drastically different aesthetically from Oshawott due to its appearance as "more like a samurai sea lion".