Rock Head (Ability)

If you were looking for the Rock Head Pokémon, see Bagon.

Rock Head (Japanese: いしあたま Rock Head) is an Ability introduced in Generation III.

Effect

In battle

A Pokémon with Rock Head will not take recoil damage, except when using Struggle, Shadow Rush^Colo, or Shadow End.

If a Pokémon with Rock Head uses a contact move with recoil on a target with either Lingering Aroma or Mummy, causing Rock Head to be replaced by the target's Ability, then the user will take recoil damage from this move.

Rock Head does not affect other kinds of damage, such as crash damage, damage from a Life Orb, or damage from a Jaboca or Rowap Berry. Rock Head does not prevent the user from fainting from using moves that cause the user to faint. It also does not prevent the user from taking damage when using Steel Beam or Mind Blown.

Affected moves

The table below lists the moves affected by Rock Head, as well as the Pokémon that can have Rock Head and learn those moves.

Move Type Cat. Pow. Acc. Learned by Double-Edge  Normal  Physical 120 100 ** * Flare Blitz  Fire  Physical 120 100 Head Smash  Rock  Physical 150 80 Submission  Fighting  Physical 80 80 * Take Down  Normal  Physical 90 85 * Wood Hammer  Grass  Physical 120 100 Wave Crash  Water  Physical 120 100 Wild Charge  Electric  Physical 90 100

Although the following moves are affected by the Ability, they currently cannot be learned by any Pokémon with Rock Head. They may, however, be called via Metronome, Mirror Move, Copycat, or Mimic, or be used by a Pokémon that gained Rock Head by an Ability like Trace or Receiver or a move such as Skill Swap or Role Play.

Outside of battle

Rock Head has no effect outside of battle.

Pokémon with Rock Head

#	Pokémon		Types		First Ability	Second Ability	Hidden Ability
0058		Growlithe Hisuian Form	Fire	Rock	Intimidate	Flash Fire	Gen IX+
0059		Arcanine Hisuian Form	Fire	Rock	Intimidate	Flash Fire	Gen IX+
0074		Geodude	Rock	Ground		Sturdy	Sand Veil
0075		Graveler	Rock	Ground		Sturdy	Sand Veil
0076		Golem	Rock	Ground		Sturdy	Sand Veil
0095		Onix	Rock	Ground		Sturdy	Weak Armor
0104		Cubone	Ground		Ground		Lightning Rod	Battle Armor
0105		Marowak	Ground		Ground		Lightning Rod	Battle Armor
0105		Marowak Alolan Form	Fire	Ghost	Cursed Body	Lightning Rod
0111		Rhyhorn	Ground	Rock	Lightning Rod		Reckless
0112		Rhydon	Ground	Rock	Lightning Rod		Reckless
0142		Aerodactyl	Rock	Flying		Pressure	Unnerve
0185		Sudowoodo	Rock		Rock	Sturdy		Rattled
0208		Steelix	Steel	Ground		Sturdy	Sheer Force
0304		Aron	Steel	Rock	Sturdy		Heavy Metal
0305		Lairon	Steel	Rock	Sturdy		Heavy Metal
0306		Aggron	Steel	Rock	Sturdy		Heavy Metal
0369		Relicanth	Water	Rock	Swift Swim		Sturdy
0371		Bagon	Dragon		Dragon		None	Sheer Force
0372		Shelgon	Dragon		Dragon		None	Overcoat
0438		Bonsly	Rock		Rock	Sturdy		Rattled
0550		Basculin Blue-Striped Form	Water		Water	B2W2+	Adaptability	Mold Breaker
0697		Tyrantrum	Rock	Dragon	Strong Jaw	None
Please note that Abilities marked with a superscript are only available in the stated generation or later. For Generation III and IV games, ignore Hidden Abilities.

• In Pokémon Black and White, Blue-Striped Basculin have Reckless as their second standard Ability; however, a Blue-Striped Basculin with Rock Head can be obtained from an in-game trade in White. In Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, wild Blue-Striped Basculin have Rock Head as their second standard Ability, but Blue-Striped Basculin bred in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 have Reckless as their second standard Ability. In Generation VI, Blue-Striped Basculin have Rock Head as their second standard Ability, and Blue-Striped Basculin with Reckless transferred to Pokémon Bank have their Ability changed to Rock Head.
• In Pokémon Legends: Arceus's internal code, Hisuian Growlithe's and Arcanine's Hidden Ability is Justified instead of Rock Head.

In other games

Description

In animation

Pokémon animated series

Bonsly Sudowoodo Onix Aggron
The Pokémon is protected from being affected by recoil damage.
Pokémon	Method
User	First Used In		Notes
	Bonsly is not affected by the recoil damage inflicted by its own attack.
Brock's Bonsly	From Cradle to Save		Debut Revealed in Wild in the Streets!
	Sudowoodo is not affected by the recoil damage inflicted by its own attack.
Brock's Sudowoodo	Leave it to Brocko!		Revealed in Wild in the Streets!
	Onix is not affected by the recoil damage inflicted by its own attack.
Roark's Onix	Shapes of Things to Come!		None
	Aggron is not affected by the recoil damage inflicted by its own attack.
Paul's Aggron	Familiarity Breeds Strategy!		None

In the manga

Pokémon Adventures

Onix Aerodactyl Golem
When the Pokémon uses an attack that inflicts recoil damage, it doesn't get hit with recoil.
Pokémon	Method
User	First Chapter Used In		Notes
	When Aerodactyl uses an attack that inflicts recoil damage, it doesn't get hit with recoil.
Red's Aero	Double Dealing with Deoxys		Debut
	When Golem uses an attack that inflicts recoil damage, it doesn't get hit with recoil.
The Battle Factory's Golem	Pinsir Me, I Must Be Dreaming		None
	When Onix uses an attack that inflicts recoil damage, it doesn't get hit with recoil.
Roark's Onix	A Conk on Cranidos's Cranium		None

• In the Japan Mini-volume 6 for the X & Y arc, Y's Rhyhorn, Rhyrhy, was revealed to have Rock Head as his Ability.
• Sapphire's Relicanth, Relly, Emerald's Sudowoodo, and Giovanni's Rhyhorn, Rhydon, and Aggron were revealed to have Rock Head as their Ability in the PokéSPedia data-book.
• Brock's Onix, Drake's Shelgon, and a Team Magma Grunt's Bagon were revealed to have Rock Head as their Ability.

In other languages

This article is part of Project Moves and Abilities, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on two related aspects of the Pokémon games.