There are a lot of Pokemon. There were 721 at the end of the last generation and now with Pokemon: Sun and Moon on its way, we’re set to get a lot more. Is it any surprise with so many that things occasionally get a little…strange? Whether it’s out-of-nowhere creepy powers or just bizarre design choices, there are some really odd Pokemon out there. So let’s take a look at some of the most bizarre Nintendo and Game Freak have to offer.
And tune in next week where I talk about some of the most cool and interesting Pokemon (the line between "cool and interesting" and "weird" is very thin, I'll admit, so if you don't see your favorite bizarre Pokemon on this list, you might see them next week).
Magneton
Magneton is just one of those Pokemon that “evolved” from a bunch of Pokemon gathering together, which doesn’t seem to like an evolution as much as forming a clique, but whatever. It’s basically just a bunch of magnets. And the descriptons of the weird effects these magnets can have is often different for each game. They can: genereate radio waves, dry up all moisture around it, disrupt radio waves, break electronics, raise the temperature, cause a magnetic storm and cause earaches. They cause so much chaos that there are apparently specific sirens warning for an outbreak in some towns. Fear these magnets.
Dugtrio
Dugtrio is just unsettling. It’s supposed to be a mole but it’s kinda…phallic and brown. A guy in this funny "news segment" calls it "floor sh*t" and that's kinda accurate.
At best it’s like three corndogs just decided to become sentient and chill in the dirt. Also apparently those three heads are Siamese triplets coming from a single body and they all think exactly like each other. And they can cause earthquakes? Those are some dangerous corn dogs.
KlinKlang
Much like Magneton is a bunch of magnets, Klinklang are bunch of gears that “evolve” through just gathering in a group. One of those gears is spiked, so I guess the third evolution makes it decide to go punk. The first gear, Klink, also looks perpetually surprised and has an x-shaped bandage for one eye. What happened to that eye? Did the spiked gear gouge it out?
Swalot
Swalot is basically a purple blob with a noodly blonde mustache. Its appearance is weird enough, but as you might be able to guess from its name, it swallows its prey whole. Not only that, but as a poison Pokemon it sweats horrible poison that can dissolve almost anything. “Its cavernous mouth yawns widely” is one chilling official description. We’re also told that an automobile tire could fit in its mouth. It’ll gulp down anything too, so trainers better keep their distance.
Vanilite
Vanillite is basically an ice-cream cone as a Pokemon and not the most appetizing looking one. It evolves into Vanillux...
...which has two heads and a little ice straw just to make sure we get the ice cream thing. Unlike Dugtrio though, its heads seem to be independent. One is always drooling, but over what? Does it wanna eat itself? The descriptions says if they both get angry they create giant blizzards. So don’t tick off the ice cream.
Luvdisk
Luvdisk is…just a heart. A heart that’s also a fish, I guess. It’s a “rendezvous pokemon”, whatever that means. Actually, it means that it stalks couples that it sees in the ocean because its obsessed with romance. But on the plus side, couples who run into it are said to be granted eternal love. I guess that makes up for it.
Klefki
Klefki is just a ring of keys. Just a ring of keys that’ is a Pokemon and that’s it. At least Magenite has something going for it, but Klefki can’t even evolve. And it’s description says “it threatens any attackers by fiercely jingling its keys at them.” Yeah, that must be effective.
Garbador
This is a garbage Pokemon. And I don’t mean that as an insult, it’s literally what it is, a walking pile of garbage as a Pokemon. It’s gonna finish you off with toxic gas. This is definitely the grossest Pokemon.
Drifloon
Drifloon is a purple balloon thing with an x for a mouth. Already, it looks a little bizarre, but it also looks harmless. But then things get really weird when you read its character description. Drifloon, which after all is a ghost and flying type Pokemon, is a “signpost for wandering sprits”. And children who mistake it for a balloon have been known to go missing. Where does Drifloon take these children? Does it kill them? We don’t know! But we do know that we’re toting around a purple, child-kidnapping balloon as a pet.
Gengar
See that mischevious smile on Gengar’s face? That’s because it wants to lurk in your shadow and steal your life-force. Yep, that is the agenda of this little hellbeast. Gengars emerge during the full moon and they can make the temperature drop ten degrees- and steal your body heat and then your life. If you get off easy, it will just terrify you and then “laugh at your fear”. Also, it can curse you.
Gengar’s name also comes from the word doppelganger and that leads many people to believe that it might be the shadow of a Clefairy or Clefable come to life. The Clefairy is an adorable creature who is the champion of LGBT rights. Like Gengar, they come out during the full moon and, well, they have the same general shape. Of course, there’s not official confirmation of this, but it seems more plausible than most Pokemon theories. And thus, bizarre.
Mr. Mime
Mr. Mime is a Pokemon that raises a lot of questions. He doesn’t even look like a animal or an inanimate object. He’s just a tiny dude. Who can mime. It’s as if a human was kidnapped by Pokemon and raised as one of them. Combine that unsettling question with your childhood fear of clowns and mimes and you’ve got a real creeper-seeming Pokemon on your hands. It doesn’t help that his official description mentions he likes to slap people who annoy him and also cons people. This is a criminal mime! He’s dangerous!
And for all you purists, this guys been here since Red and Blue. Even the original Pokemon were weird, guys.
Spoink
As a little pig on a spring, Spoink is cute enough. But its description reveals an unsettling fact- if it stops bouncing on its little spring, its heart will literally stop and it will die. As the description says “it can’t afford to stop bouncing”. That’s really disturbing when you think of it and raises so many questions. Does Spoink sleep? CAN Spoink sleep? What about when Spoink is knocked out in battle? Does it just keep bouncing even after fainting? How? But it has to, since it doesn’t die right? Unless we’ve been using a zombie Pokemon all along?
At least if you evolve Spoink to Grumpig, its survival doesn’t depend on bouncing anymore. So remember that evolving your Spoink is a lifesaving procedure, people.
Shedinja
Shedinja may just look like a simple bug with a halo, but it is actually terrifying. According to descriptions, it never moves. Its body is said to just be a hollow shell with nothing but a vasti, unknowable void in it. It flies without moving its wings and doesn’t breathe . And if you look into the crack on its back? It will steal your soul. You could build a horror movie around this thing. Where did it come from? What is its damage?
Even the descriptions are weirded out by it calling it “peculiar”, “strange” and “bizarre”. When the Pokemon descriptions are even freaked out, you know you’re in trouble.
Jynx
Jynx is one of the few Pokemon who has actually caused social controversy and wow, there is a lot of complicated stuff here, making the origins of the character slightly mysterious and endlessly debated. I'd say spilling over to real life weirdness puts it at the top of this list.
Jynx is purple now, but it was black in its original design:
Looks kind of like blackface, doesn’t it? This did not go unnoticed and Carol Boston Weatherford wrote about it in an article titled “Politically Incorrect Pokemon” in Black World Today. The controversy rose higher after that and Jynx was quickly made purple for American releases and eventually all releases.
Many have speculate Jynx’s inspiration might have come from “ganguro”, which was a fashion trend among young women in Japan in the 1990’s. They would bleach their hair, tan deeply and wear heavy makeup, in a rebellion against traditional “pale is best” ideal of beauty. Considering that Jynx is clearly feminine and its hair is blonde and straight like the popular bleached style, that might indeed be the source.
It should be noted that “Ganguro” can be translated as “black-face” and practice could edge towards that territory. Jynx’s pitch blackness was also not really reflective of dark brown tans either.
Jynx has also been compared to a Yamauba, a traditional Japanese monster with long golden hair, dark skin, a red kimono and big mouth. Yamauba is often played by folks in blackface in the Noh theatre. This theory is supported by how its description says “it seductively wiggles its hips when it walks” and causes people to dance with it. Yamauba used dancing to seduce her victims before eating them. Yamauba also was said to live in icy mountains and Jynx is an ice type.
Incidentally, another name the monster goes by is “Yamanba” and that is the nickname for the more extreme type of ganguro where the girls use artificial tanning and even wilder makeup. So it’s likely Jynx was a reference to both.
A less likely theory regarding Jynx is that it's based on a Nordic princess whose skin was said to turn black from blistering cold.
Regardless of its origins, it still was reminiscent of a stereotype to many, so clearly the company felt it was a wise decision to change its look- the purple skin actually fits a bit with the “ice type” thing as its reminiscent of frostbite. Jynx also stands out as the only Pokemon that appears to have breasts and its description say “it cries in a sound like human speech”, which is a bit unsettling.