Wo-Chien is a snail-like Pokémon comprising a dark-green mossy form covered in dead green and yellow leaves. Two pairs of long, curling vines form its eyestalks, which contain eyes with green eyelids, orange sclerae, and pale greenish pupils. A long row of wooden tablets curled around its backside forms its shell. Wooden tablets were once used as a writing medium in the East during ancient times, although the inscriptions written on the particular set forming Wo-Chien's shell have become too faded to be read.
Like the other treasures of ruin, Wo-Chien's true form is the row of wooden writing tablets forming its shell, having been given life by the grudges of the person punished for writing the evil deeds of a king on them long ago — while its body is a form it has constructed using its control over plant matter. Wo-Chien is able to drain the life force of vegetations in a wide area around it, causing entire forests and fields to instantly become barren. It is known as the Tablets of Ruin.
Wo-Chien is the only member of the treasures of ruin that was given life by a specific individual's emotion rather than the emotions of humanity in general.
Wo-Chien's in-game model has 92 tablets in total. In one of its animations, the tablets spiral out from under the plants that are comprised by its body, and all 92 can be seen at the peak of this animation.
Origin
Wo-Chien may be modeled after the decollate snail, predatory land snails native to the Mediterranean whose shells are blunt and conical. The snail is often considered a symbol of fertility and fortune, contrasting with Wo-Chien's perilous nature and ability to wither the plants around itself. Wo-Chien's shell is constructed from slips, narrow strips of bamboo or wood used as writing media in China prior to the introduction of paper. Its Pokédex entry in Scarlet may be a reference to the idiom 罄竹難書 / 罄竹难书qìng zhú nán shū, referring to sins that have become so numerous that it is difficult to record them all on bamboo slips. It may also refer to the heroic deed of court chroniclers of Qi in the Spring and Autumn Annals, where two brothers dedicated their lives to defend the integrity of the annals by recording the regicide of Duke Zhuang II of Qi by usurper Cui Zhu.
Wo-Chien and the other treasures of ruin may be based on the Four Perils of Chinese mythology. Specifically, Wo-Chien may be based on 檮杌 / 梼杌 Táowù, a creature that shares its name with the now-lost chronicles of the state of Chu. Since the 16th century, Taowu has been reimagined as a prophetic monster that records the evil deeds committed by ancient rulers and punishes wrongdoers from its vision, similar to the tablets that created Wo-Chien and its ability to cause perils.
Name origin
Wo-Chien may be a combination of 蝸 / 蜗 wō (Chinese for snail) and 簡 / 简 jiǎn (Chinese for bamboo slips). The name is formatted in Wade–Giles, a romanization system used in the Anglosphere for most of the 20th century.
Chionjen may be a combination of 蟲 / 虫 chóng (Chinese for bug) and 簡 / 简 jiǎn (Chinese for bamboo slips).
This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.
For other sprites and images, please see Wo-Chien images on the Bulbagarden Archives.
