Tapu Lele is a vaguely butterfly-like
Legendary Pokémon. Tapu Lele has a black upper body and head with a few small white markings. Its eyes are blue with a pink line through the middle of each iris. Below each eye is a curved white line and above each is a curved pink line separated into three segments. On its upper body is another, thicker curved white line. Its thin arms have digitless hands and puffy pink bracelets on each wrist. On top of its head is a mass of dark pink, tentacle-like hair. Two longer strands of hair frame its face. Encasing its dark pink lower body and on top of its head is a shell resembling an insect.
Tapu Lele's shell is primarily light pink. The portion on top of its head is conical with a white diamond marking in the center and a white half-diamond marking below that. Both diamond shapes are framed in black. The shell around its lower body mirrors these diamond markings and has an additional half-diamond on the back. On each side is a hexagon marking consisting of five dark pink triangles and one light pink triangle all outlined in black. These resemble the
compound eyes of many insects. There are also projections on the back of the shell that resemble butterfly wings and a small black bump on the bottom similar to a curled
proboscis. When closed, the shell resembles a bug's head with small wings. Tapu Lele's strength is derived from the vital energy stored within its shell.<a href="
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Tapu_Lele_(Pokémon)#cite_note-SMsite-1"><span>[</span>1<span>]</span></a>
The people of
Akala Island worship Tapu Lele as their guardian deity. It is known to scatter glowing scales, which affect others by stimulating and healing their bodies; however, these scales are also dangerous if too many are touched at once. Tapu Lele is sometimes described as cruel for the way it weakens others as it scatters its scales for its own amusement. This indifferent disposition has earned Tapu Lele the moniker "nature incarnate". An old legend recounts that Tapu Lele ended a war between
Alola's islands by healing the tired warriors with its scales, but some accounts point to a more disturbing truth behind this story. If Tapu Lele finds itself at a disadvantage during battle, it focuses on avoiding an outright loss rather than seeking a decisive victory.<a href="
https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Tapu_Lele_(Pokémon)#cite_note-SMsite-1"><span>[</span>1<span>]</span></a> It is said to gain energy from the scent of flowers. Tapu Lele is known to defend its home from the
Ultra Beasts. As seen in
Revealing the Stuff of Legend!, Tapu Lele and the other tapu can transform a
Z-Ring into a Z-Power Ring.
Tapu Lele and the other
guardian deities are the
only known Pokémon capable of learning the move
Nature's Madness. They are also the only known Pokémon capable of using the
Z-Move Guardian of Alola.