Pokémon/Characters/Generation I Families

A list of Pokémon who debuted in Pokémon Red and Blue, along with their relatives.

The original generation, at 151 Pokémon, was the largest one until Generation V surpassed it. However, due to the introduction of many relatives of Pokémon of this gen in Pokémon Gold and Silver and Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, it is technically the largest gen, as a total of 181 Pokémon are originally from this gen or are an evolutionary relative, and another 2 have very close ties with Pokémon introduced here.

As the first gen, some patterns now taken for granted first appear here: Grass/Fire/Water starters, early game bugs, birds, and mammals, an Electric rodent, part Rock fossils, a legendary trio, a 3-stage draconic family with a late evolution and very high stats, a bonus legendary with stats beyond anything in the game, and a secret Pokémon not obtainable via normal ways and with balanced high stats; all originate from here.

For other generations, go here.

Bulbasaur, Ivysaur, and Venusaur (Fushigidane, Fushigisou, and Fushigibana)


A green-blue, toad-like creature which has a bulb planted on its back, its evolution pretty much consists of bodily growth and the bulb flowering and eventually turning into a large plant. This family is the first in many aspects: The first Pokémon in National Dex order, the first Grass-type, Poison-type and Dual-typed ones too, and, as a starter in the Kanto-based games, the first Pokémon of roughly one third of the first Pokémon players. In battle, it is more of an utility Pokémon, as its offensive options are somewhat limited. Still, as a Starter Pokémon, it is quite well-rounded and can be used offensively without much problem.


 * Acrofatic: If it has Chlorophyll, sunlight will boost the normally-slow and tubby Venusaur's speed to lightning-quick levels.
 * Badass: Venusaur. One of the few outright manly Grass-types, and by far the most useful (in-game and competitively) of the Kanto starters.
 * Cartoon Creature: Are they toads? Lizards? Dinosaurs? The most popular guess is mammal like reptiles of the Permian period but as Bulbasaur's Japanese name translates into "strange, isn't it" some ambiguity was probably intended.
 * Character Select Forcing: Bulbasaur almost made Red and Blue ridiculously easy thanks to its favorable match-ups against a large number of gyms. In order, it is: super effective against Brock and Misty, resistant to Surge and Erika, and then super effective against the last gym leader, with only Sabrina and Blaine standing much of a chance against it, but by that point, you should either have another Pokémon that can take them out or have leveled Venusaur up to such ridiculous levels that the type disadvantage doesn't matter.
 * Dinosaurs Are Dragons: Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee would allow it to learn the Dragon-move Outrage via TM, a move shared by plenty of other saurian Pokemon with draconic features.
 * Early Installment Weirdness: Bulbasaur stands out for being an anomaly among starters: it actually has a dual typing to start out with unlike others that gain one later in life. Until we got Rowlett in the Alola games, this would not be repeated with any starters and even after Alola, the Sword and Shield went right back to the "all monotype" tradition.
 * Energy Ball: From Gen 4 and beyond, this is a move they can learn.
 * Everything's Better with Dinosaurs: In name only.
 * Frogs and Toads: They have elements of this in their designs, but it's most apparent with Venusaur. Not only does it have warts like a toad, but it also hops like one in the Let's Go games.
 * Gonk: A far cry from most Grass types, Venusaur's got a face that only a mother could love.
 * Green Thumb
 * Kevlard: Mega Venusaur's Thick Fat ability lets it resist the Fire and Ice attacks it would normally be weak to.
 * Land, Sea, Sky: While the Charmander line eventually grows wings and Squirtle's family swims, the Bulbasaur line's firmly associated with the Earth.
 * Life Drain: Along with being able to get moves like Mega Drain and Giga Drain through breeding and TM's, Bulbasaur learns Leech Seed early on.
 * Lightning Bruiser: By default, Venusaur can hit like a Mack truck and take hits about as well as one too. But if it has Chlorophyll for its ability, then a Venusaur in the sun becomes downright scary thanks to its speed doubling.
 * Magic Knight: They're decently hard-hitting from both physical and special attacking standpoints.
 * Mighty Glacier: Speed is not the forte of this line, but thankfully they're built to last and can give as good as they can get. Mega Venusaur plays this up further by giving Venusaur Thick Fat to help it resist two of its weaknesses, as well as beefing up its offensive and defensive stats even further.
 * If it's a Venusaur with Chlorophyll, though...
 * Petal Power: Ingnoring the impressive petals shown off by Ivysaur and beyond, they naturally learn the powerful Petal Dance and Petal Blizzard.
 * Planimal: Moreso than anything else released in Red and Blue.
 * Poisonous Person: It has never had a large number of Poison moves to choose from though. This actually makes Bulbasaur special among starters, because until the Grass/Flying Rowlett in Gen 7, it was the only starter to begin with a dual-typing.
 * Poor Predictable Rock: Bulbasaur and friends are unfortunate victims of "Grass type moveset syndrome", because their level-up movepools mostly consist of Grass and Normal moves for damage-dealing purposes. TM's can alleviate this somewhat since they give them access to Poison, Ground, and even a single Dark or Dragon move, but they're not really ideal for optimal Bulbasaur/Ivysaur/Venusaur usage.
 * The Power of the Sun: The most famous user of Solar Beam thanks to adaptations and being the first Grass-type of many players. It can also heal itself with Synthesis. And if they have Chlorophyll for their ability, they are a competitive terror thanks to all their sun-related boons: their speed doubles in sunny weather, Solarbeam can be fired off without taking a turn to charge, Weather Ball becomes a Fire move which gives it some much-needed coverage against Ice types, and Growth gives its attacking stats a massive boost.
 * Prehistoric Monster: A lot more vaguely-defined than most examples, but they all give off the vibe of creatures you'd run into while exploring a prehistoric jungle.
 * Rated M For Manly: Venusaur is a huge, imposing monster that looks like a bullfrog and a dinosaur had a badass baby.
 * Red Eyes Take Warning: Not only do these guys have red pupils to begin with, but in the Stadium/Colosseum/Battle Revolution games, Venusaur's eyes get heavily bloodshot when it uses certain attacks.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Bulbasaur. Just look at those big puppy-dog eyes!
 * Standard Status Effects: Sleep Powder and Poison Powder are among Bulbasaur's early moves.
 * Signature Move: Frenzy Plant was exclusive to Venusaur before XD, and nowadays it is the Signature Move of the fully evolved Grass starters. Grass Pledge, too, as it is a Grass Starter.
 * Super Mode: Got two over the years:
 * Mega Venusaur is a freaking tank that not only gets huge boosts to its Defenses, but also gets the coveted Thick Fat to protect it from not one, but two of its weaknesses. Its Special Attack boost also isn't half-bad.
 * Gigantamax Venusaur gets the special G-Max Vine Lash, which continuously damages all Pokemon on the field for a few turns, provided they aren't also Grass types, of course.
 * Turns Red: Overgrow boosts Grass attacks when health becomes low.
 * Technicolor Eyes
 * Whip It Good: This line heavily relies on Vine Whip in the anime and Super Smash Brothers Brawl. Gigantamax Venusaur's special G-Max Vine Lash also gets in on this.

Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard (Hitokage, Lizard, and Lizardon)


A bipedal, orange, lizard-like creature with a flame on the tip of its tail, it first evolves into a more feral version of itself with red coloring and a horn on the top of its head, then regains its original color at the next stage as it grows wings and the single horn becomes a pair. The first Fire-type and single type in National Dex order, as well as the first change of type upon evolution. An offensive-oriented fighter, it has some crippling weaknesses due to its typing, but it may be able to take down an opponent before they can exploit its weaknesses.


 * Acrofatic: Charizard may have a big belly, but it's way faster than the other Kanto starters, and Mega Charizard X doesn't get a speed cut despite gaining some weight. This is taken Up to 11 with Gigantamax Charizard, who's even fatter but tends to make good use of strategies centered around boosting its speed with Max Airstream.
 * The Artifact: In later games, blatantly draconic Pokemon are guaranteed to have a Dragon typing. Charizard however never had its typing adjusted to accommodate this. But since it would get a Dragon subtyping as Mega Charizard X, such complaints are a moot point.
 * Awesome but Impractical: Sadly, various new moves and abilities (mostly Stealth Rock) have decreased Charizard's usability in the competitive metagame during Gens 4 and 5, although it can still hold its own if set up just right. It fits this trope to a T in Generation V: Charizard's Dream World ability Solar Power boosts its Special Attack to ridiculous proportions (higher than Reshiram), but hampers its already-low survivability by making it lose 1/8 of its health each turn. Without Stealth Rock, it would very easily be one of the biggest threats on the competitive scene.
 * Also fits this trope very well in the TCG. Usually has extremely powerful attacks (in the 100-200 base damage range) that require tons of Energy and/or have crippling drawbacks; the Base Set Charizard was infamous for this. Not to mention that its cards, despite this, usually fetch ridiculously high prices on the secondary market.
 * In earlier generations, if you see a Charizard in competitive play, you can safely assume that it's using Belly Drum, Substitute, Flare Blitz (or Fire Punch), a move that can score super-effective hits on stuff that resists Fire, like Earthquake, and a Salac Berry. This set tries to bring together the boosts from Blaze and Belly Drum to inflict insane physical damage, while also using Substitute both to ensure that it loses enough health to activate Blaze and to ensure that it doesn't lose all of its health. Good luck on predicting the move to get to that point though.
 * Gens 6 and beyond however avert this with a vengeance. Why? Mega Charizard X, Mega Charizard Y, and Gigantamax Charizard, that's why.
 * Badass: Charizard, needless to say. It's one of the best-known examples in the franchise.
 * Blood Knight: Charmeleon loves a good fight and gets particularly excited when it runs into a powerful opponent. Charizard is this as well, but usually doesn't bother fighting weaker opponents.
 * Blow You Away: Charizard. It's part Flying-type, and has some wind-based attacks.
 * Breakout Character: Charizard; by way of Popularity Power, it became one of the most-recognized characters in the franchise (in the West) and is prominently featured in many pieces of Pokémon media and marketing.
 * Confusion Fu: Charizard's got a deceptively wide movepool that along with the standard Fire, Flying, and Normal moves it naturally includes, also includes multiple Steel, Rock, Ground, Dragon, Dark, and Fighting moves. They can also come packing moves like Thunder Punch, Shadow Claw, and Solarbeam, two of which give it valued coverage against a few weaknesses.
 * Its Mega Evolutions take this further: Charizard has two that play completely differently and thus require far different tactics to beat, and unless you happen to have a Pokemon with Frisk to detect its Mega Stone, you won't be able to tell which one it is until its already Mega Evolved.
 * Dinosaurs Are Dragons: Charmander and especially Charmeleon have a distinctly saurian look to them, and can learn plenty of Dragon moves much like their more draconic big brother.
 * Evolution Gives You Wings
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Despite not being part-Steel, this line learns Metal Claw naturally to help in dealing with Rock-types (an addition to the remakes made to help against the first gym leader, whose Rock Pokémon resisted Fire). Charizard, on top of that, is the only Pokémon that can learn Metal Claw, Iron Tail, and Steel Wing, all attacks involving an impact with a metallified body part.
 * Final Boss: If you picked Bulbasaur as your starter, Charizard is Blue's strongest Pokemon in the Kanto games. It's also the ace of Champion Leon in Sword and Shield.
 * Flight
 * For Massive Damage: Rock-type attacks for Charizard. Thanks to Stealth Rock being THE bread and butter competitive move, this made it hard for pre-Gen 6 Charizard to fight affectively in competitive play.
 * Giant Flyer
 * Glass Cannon: Charizard's defenses aren't terrible, but it's not quite as good at taking hits as the other Kanto starters and has a ton of weaknesses thanks to being a Fire/Flying type. It's better utilized as a heavy hitter, which is further emphasized with its Mega Evolutions.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Its Generation V Dream World ability, "Solar Power", makes it even more of one. Granted, it isn't easy to use by any means, but can be devastating if set up properly.
 * Mega Charizard Y isn't good at taking physical hits at all and has the same amount of weaknesses as its base form, but thanks to its huge Special Attack boost, its instant Solarbeams and Drought-powered Fire moves let it hit like a nuke. It is pretty good at taking Special hits thanks to a small buff in its Special Defense, however.
 * Honor Before Reason: According to its description in Super Smash Bros. (and, for that matter, the official Pokédex), Charizard will never spit flames at a weaker foe unless directly ordered to do so by its Trainer. Apparently, Playing with Fire is only extended to equals.
 * Hot-Blooded: Visual Pun aside, Charmeleon is described as being barbaric in its love of battle and loves to pick fights with other Pokemon whenever it can. Charizard is cut from a similar cloth, but has a better handle on its bloodlust and won't fight opponents that are weaker than it unless explicitly ordered to do so by a trainer.
 * Incendiary Exponent: Fire-type, and the tail-tip being alight is a vital sign.
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons/Our Dragons Are Different: Despite looking like a stereotypical Western dragon, Charizard is oddly not a Dragon type (however, it is in the Dragon egg group, learns many moves of the type and is often treated as a dragon in-universe, though). Chalk this one up to competitive balance and Early Installment Weirdness.
 * Mega Charizard X is Fire/Dragon however, and is a terrifying physical brawler thanks to its Tough Claws ability.
 * Jack of All Stats: Mega Charizard X has all-around excellent stats, with both its attacking stats and Defense getting buffed while keeping its decently high Speed and average Special Defense. Its stat boosts aren't as extreme as other Mega Evolutions though, but the boost Tough Claws gives to its contact moves help it keep up with them.
 * Non-Indicative Name: Charmander is a reptile and not an amphibian (as real-life salamanders are), Charmeleon looks more like a dinosaur than any chameleon out there, and Charizard resembles a dragon rather than a lizard.
 * Charmander's name more likely refers to the mythical salamander, which was a reptile that lived within flames.
 * Non-Malicious Monster: This evolutionary line was said to occasionally cause forest fires by accident.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Charizard was a well-regarded competitive threat in the early days of competitive Pokemon, but thanks to the advent of Stealth Rock in Gens 4 and 5, other Fire-types (and Salamence) were often preferred due to their being easier to use and harder to kill, although in Generation V Solar Power finally gave it a niche that made it usable in the higher tiers. This would be heavily averted with its Mega Evolutions, with both considered to be high, if not outright top-tier thanks to their abilities and stat boosts.
 * Playing with Fire
 * Proud Warrior Race Guy: The best Pokémon to be seen as this. It helps that the one most well-known in the anime constantly displays such behavior.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Charmander is a cute little fella with a big head and enormous, soulful blue eyes.
 * Signature Move: Blast Burn was exclusive to Charizard before XD, and nowadays it is the Signature Move of the fully evolved Fire starters. Fire Pledge too, as it is a Fire Starter.
 * Stout Strength: Charizard's got a belly, and is the designated GlassCannon among the starters. Mega Charizard X is even fatter, with its newfound bulk being proportionate to its status as a physical powerhouse. Fatter still is Gigantamax Charizard, which is a top-tier heavy hitter in its own right.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Thanks to Stealth Rock's introduction in Gen 4 being devastating for Charizard's competitive viability, it became a common punching bag among competitive players who made fun of it for its perceived weakness. Those detractors would come to eat their words when Charizard would get not one, but two badass Mega Evolutions and a Gigantamax form in later games, all of which would turn out to be top-tier competitive threats.
 * Turns Red: Blaze boosts Fire attacks when health becomes low.
 * Undying Loyalty: Charmander. For Charmeleon and Charizard, though... well, you have to earn their respect first, let alone their loyalty.
 * Vertebrate with Extra Limbs: Charizard grows wings.
 * You Have Researched Breathing: Despite being a big flying dragon, Charizard couldn't learn Fly in Red and Blue. Thankfully, this would quickly be rectified in Yellow.
 * Your Size May Vary: Officially, a Charizard is about as tall as an average adult human, standing at around 5'07" (1.7m) in height - but aside from the main games, you'd be hard-pressed to find a human-sized Charizard in any other form of Pokémon media, be it the anime, various manga, or fanart. Charizard are more usually shown to be around 8 to 25 feet tall, depending mostly on how badass the writer or artist feels like portraying it. Keep in mind that Venusaur is actually supposed to be the largest out of the Kanto starter trio.

Squirtle, Wartortle, and Blastoise (Zenigame, Kameil, and Kamex)


A light blue bipedal turtle with a light brown shell, it first evolves into a navy-blue version of itself with feathery ears and tail, and then into a massive, dark blue tortoise with two high-pressure water cannons jutting out of its back. The first Water-types (of many), and the first pure-typed line, these guys are defense-based fighters, but, as a starter, they are quite well-rounded and can play both styles, specially after Gen I, when they started to get support moves.


 * Arm Cannon: Along with the giant cannon poking out of its shell, Mega Blastoise gets an arm-mounted gun on each hand.
 * Backpack Cannon: Which becomes a Backpack Gun Battery in its Gigantamax form.
 * Badass: Blastoise. It's a big turtle with cannons coming out of its shell!
 * Boring but Practical: A given considering that this is the role of pretty much most Water Pokemon, and amongst the three starters. Venusaur is The Mario with multitudes of useful moves that can let it be a sweeper (especially with its Dream World ability), and a supporter. Charizard is an offensive beast in terms of both physical and special attack, and has a good offensive movepool (Not to mention an ability that INCREASES its offensive power when its HP is low, and a dream world ability that makes it even MORE so.). Blastoise, on the other hand, is a Stone Wall, and its stats, combined with its limited movepool, make it hard to sweep. On the other hand, Blastoise has several support moves, notably Rapid Spin, and a priority move. This turns Blastoise into a capable Anti Lead and an all around useful teammate.
 * Later games would give it a few more fun toys to play with: Sword and Shield give it Shell Smash which can let it potentially become a dangerous physical sweeper, and to coincide with Mega Blastoise's Mega Launcher ability, Blastoise gets moves Dark Pulse, Dragon Pulse, and Aura Sphere.
 * Cute Little Fangs: Wartortle has a pair of these, but loses them upon evolving.
 * Expy: Blastoise bears a mild, but noticeable, resemblance to Bowser.
 * Healing Factor: Its Dream World ability, Rain Dish, serves this purpose during rain.
 * Improbable Aiming Skills: According to the Pokédex, the water jets from Blastoise's cannons are accurate enough to hit empty cans from over 160 feet away.
 * Making a Splash
 * Kill It with Ice: Like most Water-types, they can use Ice attacks to cover one of their weaknesses.
 * Mighty Glacier: Quite similar to the Bulbasaur line in this regard.
 * Stone Wall: Its defenses are higher than its offenses, though it can learn several powerful offensive moves such as Kyogre's Water Spout.
 * One of These Is Not Like the Others: Wartortle's furry tail and ears make it the odd ball out. Apparently, beta builds of Pokemon Red and Green show that it would have originally evolved into a Pokemon that kept its fluff and grew it out longer until they decided to merge Squirtle's line with the-then unrelated Blastoise line.
 * Rated M For Manly: Need we say it again? Big badass turtle with CANNONS in its back. Gigantamax Blastoise goes even further by being a GIANT badass turtle with an ENTIRE GUN BATTERY ON ITS BACK.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Squirtle. It's an adorably chubby baby turtle with eyes that are just as big and adorable as the other starters.
 * Time Abyss: Wartortle is said to live 10,000 years. How long Blastoise lives is not mentioned.
 * Turns Red: Torrent boosts Water attacks when Squirtle/Wartortle/Blastoise's health becomes low.
 * Turtle Power
 * Signature Move: Hydro Cannon was exclusive to Blastoise before XD, and nowadays it is the Signature Move of the fully evolved Water starters. Water Pledge, too, as it is a Water Starter.
 * Weaponized Animal: Blastoise's cannons.

Caterpie, Metapod (Trancell), and Butterfree


A green caterpillar with red antennae and an eye-like pattern, its evolution goes along as metamorphosis, first becoming a green chrysalis, then a purple-bodied, blue-winged butterfly. First Bug-types in the Pokédex, and first common Mons, are used fairly commonly early in-game, before being ditched. It is mostly used as a status inducer, but, like most butterfly and moth Pokémon, also learns Psychic attacks, and thus is a good alternative to a proper Psychic Pokémon until one can be obtained.


 * Big Creepy-Crawlies: First Bug-types in the Dex. Plus, Butterfree is 3'07".
 * Big Eater: Caterpie is a Very Hungry Caterpillar, much like the bugs in question are in real life. It can eat leaves bigger than its entire body, and as one of its Pokedex entries indicates, it can eat hundreds of these in one day.
 * Blow You Away: Butterfree; Whirlwind is even called this in Japanese.
 * Com Mons: The early areas of Kanto and Johto are filled with them.
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Butterfree's low stats make it easy to underestimate, but do so at your own peril: its Compoundeyes ability make it a hell of a lot more likely to hit with the otherwise inaccurate Sleep Powder, allowing it to set up with Quiver Dance or outright beat you down before you wake up.
 * Crutch Character: Fully evolved at level 10. Outclassed when your starter or anything else evolves. Also subverted; the Standard Status Effects attacks that Butterfree has are useful for quite some time.
 * Magikarp Power: Caterpie and Metapod are fairly useless by themselves, especially Metapod if you catch one in the wild, because it can only use the Defense-boosting Harden.
 * Joke Character: For a fully evolved Pokemon, Butterfree's Base Stat Total (a not-so-whopping 395) is absolutely horrible.
 * Lethal Joke Character: It also has the most accurate sleep attack outside of Spore, and a movepool that is most useful for fighting - believe it or not - BRUNO of the ELITE FOUR! A surprising amount of Nuzlockers will vouch for Butterfree being a surprisingly useful option throughout Nuzlocke challenges done in FireRed and LeafGreen because of this.
 * Flight: Butterfree.
 * Kaiju: Gigantamax Butterfree is basically Mothra as a Pokemon.
 * The Load: If you catch a Metapod because you wanted to use a Butterfree, it won't be too long until you realized that you messed up. Badly. A freshly-caught Metapod has no attacks of its own and can only use Harden, meaning that if you want to evolve it you'll have to endure a long, boring switch-training session until it hits level ten. So for the sake of your sanity, just catch Caterpie instead. Please.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Venomoth is a Pokémon that does everything Butterfree does, but (somewhat) better.
 * Palette Swap: Butterfree has the honor of being one of the first Pokemon species to be shown with differently-colored individuals: the anime had a special pink Butterfree that Ash's own Butterfree fell in love with. Sadly, pink Butterfree is not a shiny Butterfree, leading to many a gamer being disappointed that the far different-looking shiny means that they'll never raise one of their own.
 * Psychic Powers: Butterfree, for some reason.
 * Ryu and Ken: With the Beautifly and Beedrill families.
 * Seldom-Seen Species: Caterpie is almost exactly modeled off of am obscure real life caterpillar, specifically the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail.
 * Standard Status Effects: Poison Powder, Stun Spore, and Sleep Powder. Other Pokemon get them as well, but Butterfree's one of the more common abusers due to its being too weak to be useful with anything else.
 * Super Mode: Gains a Gigantamax form in Sword and Shield. Its signature move G-Max Befuddle can randomly inflict Poison, Paralysis, or Sleep on its victims.
 * Took a Level in Badass
 * In Gen III, we have CompoundEyes, which raises accuracy by a third. In other words, Stun Spore, PoisonPowder, and Sleep Powder now hit 97.5% of the time. It's stats still suck, but for in-game purposes it's still perfectly usable.
 * Gen V clearly attempted to do this by giving it Tinted Lens and Quiver Dance. However, since Venomoth already had Tinted Lens and also gained Quiver Dance in Gen V, combining CompoundEyes with its Status-inducing moves is still really the only thing Butterfree can do that Venomoth can't do far better.

Weedle, Kakuna, and Beedrill (Beedle, Cocoon, and Spear)


A yellowish worm with a poisonous stinger on the top of its head, it also experiences a metamorphosis, first turning into a immobile yellow nymph, then into a giant hornet with 2 additional stingers as hands. Has many things in common with the Caterpie line and is always found at the same locations (but encounter rates tend to change with versions). Beedrill itself is a physically based Pokémon, also able to learn stat boosting moves and pass them to other team mates. However, those moves are not obtainable at low levels, and thus its usefulness is reduced in comparison to Butterfree.


 * Badass: Mega Beedrill. It looks a hell of a lot meaner than Beedrill, its hand stingers get a lot bigger, and its legs become stingers on top of that! It's also insanely fast and insanely strong.
 * Bee Afraid: Not only is Beedrill a toddler-sized hornet with stingers for hands, but it also attacks in swarms. You're goddamn right to Bee Afraid.
 * Berserk Button: Do not approach a Beedrill nest. Ever. Not unless you want an entire hive of angry 3 foot tall bees with giant stingers for hands to chase you to the ends of the Earth, that is.
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies: Beedrill is a 3 feet tall hornet.
 * Com Mons: Shares its habitat with the Caterpie family in every game they appear.
 * Crutch Character: Same as the Caterpie family. However, Beedrill is quite a bit less versatile than Butterfree, and has fewer attacks to take advantage of in its usable time-span.
 * Magikarp Power: Again, Weedle and Kakuna are pretty much useless, apart from Poisoning opponents. Kakuna especially since like with Metapod, catching one in the wild means that it will only know Harden until it evolves.
 * Joke Character: Like Butterfree, Beedrill's base stat total isn't very high for being fully evolved.
 * Lethal Joke Character: Later games would expand its movepool to include powerful attacks like X-Scissor, Poison Jab, Brick Break, and Outrage which can at least make use of its decent Attack stat. But in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, it truly moves into this territory by way of Mega Beedrill, which is a terrifying force to be reckoned with.
 * Expy: Weedle is a Wiggler, but with a stinger instead of a flower.
 * Flight: Beedril. Well, at least their Pokédex entry says they're capable of this.
 * Glass Cannon: Very fragile, but can hurt. Mega Beedrill dials this Up to Eleven with its stat distribution: it physical Defense becomes paper-thin while its attack stat is 150, which is on par with multiple legendaries. And then it has Adaptability to boost its STAB attacks on top of that.
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons: Not in terms of typing or appearance, but in movepool. In Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee, its movepool now includes the powerful Dragon-type move Outrage, possibly as a nod to its status as an easily angered, territorial bee. It's still a baffling addition either way.
 * The Load: Like with Butterfree, do yourself a favor and just raise a Weedle if you want to use a Beedrill. Don't take a shortcut by catching Kakuna, because it will have no attacking moves until it evolves, which will force you to slowly switch train it up to level 10.
 * Min-Maxing: Swords Dance, Agility and Baton Pass to something more effective is also a viable strategy, but...
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Scyther does everything Beedrill does, but better. And also evolves into one of the best Pokémon in the game, that also does everything that Beedrill does, better. Beedrill also had access to the only 2 attacks (that weren't so hilariously weak as to be completely and utterly useless) that could score a Super Effective hit on Psychics - too bad those attacks would often do less damage than the widespread (back then) Hyper Beam, and Scyther, again, could do that better without being also hit by super effective damage from Psychics. As the final nail in the Cofagrigus, Beedrill doesn't really have any niche that can make it useful in spite of its pathetic stats (Ninjask is far superior to it as a Baton Passer, and Scyther and Scizor handily trump it at offense). At least Butterfree's good at abusing Standard Status Effects.
 * All this, however, would change once Mega Beedrill was introduced, and gave it a new lease on life on the competitive scene as a formidable Glass Cannon... or at least it did until Megas were removed from Sword and Shield.
 * Poisonous Person: It begins life as a poisonous caterpillar and keeps that typing all the way until its final stage.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning: Just in case the gigantic stingers didn't tip you off, its eyes will. Especially Mega Beedrill's eyes, which look downright angry.
 * Ryu and Ken: With the Dustox and Butterfree families.
 * Signature Move: Twinneedle for Beedrill, although it is no longer exclusive to it as of Black and White.
 * Super Form: Mega Beedrill, which turns Beedrill from a mediocre Com Mon to a force of destruction.
 * They Call Him "Sword": Beedrill's Japanese name is simply "Spear".
 * This Is a Drill: Despite not knowing any drill based moves and the above info. This would change once it finally got one in the form of Drill Run.
 * Took a Level In Badass: Beedrill's movepool got a lot better as time went on, culminating in it learning the 120 damage Dragon move Outrage of all things in the Let's Go games. It also got a massive buff in viability in Gens 6 and 7 thanks to getting a Mega Evolution. Mega Beedrill has a horrifying attack stat that turns downright monstrous thanks to Adaptability, and its speed means that it's a formidably agile Glass Cannon in competitive play.

Pidgey, Pidgeotto, and Pidgeot (Poppo, Pigeon, and Pigeot)


A brown bird with a cream-colored belly and elements of both pigeons and birds of prey, still in the chick stage, that evolves into a quite large, more mature version of itself with a small red crest of feathers, and then into a human-sized version of itself with the crest now going all the way down its back. The first Normal-types in the Dex, and also often one of the first Pokémon caught by anybody in the Kanto and Johto games. Their stats are fairly balanced and not weak in any particular regard, but, sadly, they are not very strong in any particular regard either; as a result, they tend to be overshadowed by more specialized Pokémon of the same typing. Still, it tends to be a staple of in-game teams, since somebody has to be on Fly detail.


 * Always Accurate Attack: Every move Mega Pidgeot uses is this thanks to No Guard, meaning that it can spam the otherwise unreliable (outside of rain) Hurricane with impunity.
 * Anime Hair: Pidgeot sports a truly majestic, multi-colored mullet. Upon mega-evolving, it's hair gets a lot shorter but makes up for it by not just becoming spiky, but also having one long strand run down the length of its body.
 * Badass Long Hair: Pidgeot. Just get a load of that majestic 'do!
 * Big Badass Bird of Prey: Pidgeotto, and especially Pidgeot, which is well-known for hunting Magikarp. Mega Pidgeot is even bigger, and more powerful than either of them.
 * Blow You Away: Pidgey is one of the most well-known users of Gust, ditto for Pidgeotto with Whirlwind. The line in general gets access to plenty of powerful wind-based attacks, such as Air Slash, Hurricane, and Heat Wave (which is a powerful gust of burning wind).
 * Boss Battle: Pidgeotto is Falkner's ace in the Johto games, and thus the biggest threat in his Gym battle. It's not too threatening in Gold and Silver since it's at a pathetic level 9, but his Pidgeotto in Heart Gold and Soul Silver puts up a better fight due to being at level 13 and knowing Roost to heal itself.
 * Pidgeot is also Blue's ace in games where his best Pokemon isn't a Kanto starter, such as in the Johto games.
 * Casting a Shadow: They can learn the Ghost-type Ominous Wind with the help of a move tutor.
 * Com Mons: Pidgey and Pidgeotto are found in almost all of the routes of Kanto and Johto.
 * Drunken Master: If their ability is Tangled Feet, their evasiveness improves any time they're confused.
 * Flight
 * Foil: To Spearow and Fearow. Pidgey and Spearow are both early-game Tiny Bird Pokemon that become a lot more imposing once they evolve. However, Fearow's a hell of a lot crueler and fouler tempered than Pidgeot, and is rail-thin while Pidgeot's a good deal bulkier. Spearow and Fearow are also pretty fragile but make up for it with their speed and power while Pidgey, Pidgeotto, and Pidgeot are generally well-rounded with Mega Pidgeot focusing more on Special Attack.
 * Gameplay and Story Segregation: Most of its Dex entries say that Pidgeot can fly as fast as mach 2. In game, however, its base speed is only slightly above average - infamously, it's lower than that of Miltank, a cow. (Skarmory and Dragonite suffer from similar exaggeration issues.)
 * Giant Flyer: Pidgeot is a flying bird, complete with a compact build, as tall as an emu. Mega Pidgeot's even bigger than that.
 * Jack of All Stats: Pidgeot has quite well-rounded stats - too well-rounded, in fact, leading to...
 * Master of None: Its typing is not good for defense, and it's overshadowed in the offensive department by other Com Mons of its ilk.
 * Non-Indicative Name: Have relatively little in common with pigeons, more strongly resembling finches.
 * Non-Elemental: First Normal-types in the Pokédex.
 * Off-Model: Pidgeot's Gold/Silver/Crystal sprites had a far shorter crest than in the normal design, despite having the signature long crest in Red/Blue/Green/Yellow. Because the back sprites for the first- and second-gen Pokemon were revamped and carried over to the 3rd-gen games, despite the front sprites in that generation being fixed.
 * One-Winged Angel: Rival Trace from Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee gets the ability to Mega Evolve his Pidgeot just in time for the champion battle, and it's his first Pokemon to boot. However, thanks to the Let's Go game's general easiness it's not as big of a threat as you'd expect: it only has three moves, for starters.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Fearow and Dodrio had Drill Peck and better stats in the first 2 gens, Swellow was much better in the 3rd, and Staraptor just nailed the coffin for poor Pidgeot. Although the 4th gen did give Pidgeot a much stronger Flying STAB move than Drill Peck in Brave Bird, 5th gen struck back by giving Fearow Drill Run, which allows Fearow to handle grounded Steels, something most physical based Normal/Flying Pokémon have hassles with. (Plus, Staraptor also gets Brave Bird and Close Combat, letting it both hit hard with STAB and pulverize Rock and Steel-type Pokemon.) Though it does learn Hurricane by level-up as of Gen V, letting it use its Special Attack stat for offense (something that Fearow and Staraptor can't do very well at all.)
 * Come Gen 6, Pidgeot would be the one overshadowing the other Com Mon birds (Except Talonflame) with its Mega Evolution. Not only are Mega Pidgeot's stats better than just about all of them, but perfectly accurate No Guard Hurricanes and Heat Waves are a force to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, it wasn't meant to last and thanks to Sword and Shield removing Mega Evolutions, the poor bird is overshadowed once again.
 * Signature Move: FeatherDance, but it could be bred into other Pokémon in its debut, and as of Gen IV was no longer exclusive via level up. Gust, in a way, too, as nothing else could learn it until Yellow (but nowadays it is a common move).
 * Spell My Name with an "S": Pidgeot's Japanese name has been officially Romanized as "Pigeot" and "Pijotto".
 * Super Mode: Mega Pidgeot, which gives Pidgeot a massive boost in Special Attack and Speed, as well as slight boosts to its Defenses. Its ability also gets replaced with No Guard meaning that none of its moves, not even Hurricane, will miss.
 * You Cannot Research Breathing: Cannot learn Peck, since having both that and Gust for its low-level Flying move would be redundant.

Rattata and Raticate (Koratta and Ratta)


A purple rat with a cream-colored belly that evolves into a brown-backed, cream-bellied nutria/musk rat. The first line in National Dex order made up of two rather than three stages, they are one of the most common species in Kanto and especially Johto, being found in pretty much all Routes and a few caves. In battle, they are rather fast (though not absurdly so), but statistically unremarkable otherwise from the get-go. However, they learn strong moves early on and tricky moves later, that, combined with these traits, makes them competent if unconventional fighters.

Overseas, the tropical Alola region has its own Regional variant of these rascally rodents, both of which are black-furred and a lot meaner-looking with Rattata having prominent mustache-shaped whiskers while Raticate is both grotesquely fat and in possession of some seriously chubby cheeks. These changes came from being hunted by the local Yungoos and Gumshoos population, which caused them to adopt a nocturnal lifestyle as well as a newfound Dark/Normal typing in the process.


 * Acrofatic: The Totem Alolan Raticate in Moon/Ultra Moon is quite agile, as shown by the way it flips when it comes down to challenge the player.
 * Adipose Rex: Alolan Rattata are basically minions to Alolan Raticates, and are in charge of gathering food for their superiors to stuff their faces with.
 * Armor-Piercing Attack: Super Fang halves the current HP of the target. No exceptions. Well, except Ghosts.
 * Badass Moustache: Alolan Rattata has whiskers that resemble an impressively spiffy mustache. Their ability Hustle also allows them to hit harder than their Kanto cousins which gives them a bit of badass credential... provided that they actually hit their targets, of course.
 * Big Eater: Alolan Raticate are incredibly gluttonous and love to hoarde food that their Rattata minions gather.
 * Boss Battle: In Moon and Ultra Moon, Totem Alolan Raticate is the first Totem Pokemon you fight in the story and the boss of Ilima's trial.
 * Com Mons: Found everywhere in Johto and Kanto. Especially Johto.
 * Combat Pragmatist: They get several Dark-type moves.
 * Crutch Character: Hyper Fang is twice as strong as most attacks you are using by the point you get it, and Raticate has the Speed and Attack to use it effectively, only being hampered by slightly low Accuracy. It gets overshadowed later when other things also get strong moves, but it may even step into being a Disc One Nuke if you play with its additional tricks.
 * Dark Is Evil: Alolan Raticate are basically crime lords in Pokemon form, and their Alolan Rattata minions are likewise petty criminals that break into houses and steal food on their command. This puts them at odds with Yungoos and Gumshoos, which are the Pokemon equivalent to law-abiding detectives.
 * The Don: Alolan Raticate are the Pokemon equivalent to a fat mafioso, as mentioned above.
 * Explosive Breeder: Rattata are notorious amount of offspring they can produce. As their Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee dex entries say, if you see one, there are bound to be fourty others hanging around out of sight.
 * Fat Bastard: Alolan Raticate are obese, greedy rats who are responsible for food thefts by way of their Rattata lackeys.
 * Fragile Speedster: Not very strong, quite fast... until it gets the fang attacks and becomes a Glass Cannon.
 * Glass Cannon: As mentioned above, Raticate can actually hit pretty hard with Hyper Fang, and gets plenty of other strong moves. Its strength doesn't compare to proper powerhouse Pokemon, but their Guts and Hustle abilities can lit them hit even harder if you're willing to deal with the drawbacks.
 * Kevlard: Alolan Raticate's fatness isn't just for show: it has beefier HP and defenses than its Kanto cousins and can have Thick Fat for its ability, which protects it from Fire and Ice attacks.
 * Lethal Joke Character: The F.E.A.R. (Focus Sash, Endeavour, Quick Attack, Rattata ) strategy has lead to low-level Rattatas being quite deadly. It Only Works Once, though, and the common Sandstorm and entry hazards render it unusable. (Plus, Aron has provided Rattatta with some stiff competition as of Gen V.)
 * Nocturnal Mooks: Alolan Rattata and Raticate can only be encountered at night.
 * Non-Elemental
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Super Fang becoming a tutor move (as well as learned by the more sturdy Bibarel) hurt Raticate. Hyper Fang also gets overshadowed by Strength or Return, learnable by most other Normal-types.
 * The Power Creep of the most recent generations has also hurt Raticate's reputation as a speedy Pokemon, as it's base Speed is only about 97 - which means that Hydreigion is faster than it. Ouch.
 * Playing with Fire: Flame Wheel can be bred on to them.
 * Psychic Powers: Rattata can be bred with Zen Headbutt as an egg move. It can help cover their weakness to Fighting type, but be careful: if Raticate isn't able to KO its opponent, then its own knockout is all but assured.
 * Rodents of Unusual Size
 * Signature Move: Super Fang and Hyper Fang, although no longer exclusive as of Gen IV.
 * Technicolor Eyes: Rattata.
 * You Dirty Rat: In comparison to the Pikachu family, they're much more unpleasant-looking and are often used by Team Rocket grunts. Their Alolan variation take this even further by the virtue of being partially Dark-typed thieves.

Spearow and Fearow (Onisuzume and Onidrill)


An alternative if you don't want to use Pidgey. Unlike Pidgey, however, they are pretty mean and scrappy birds. Spearow is supposed to resemble a sparrow, with a bit of crow mixed in; it has short wings and a short beak. Fearow, on the other hand, has longer wings and a longer beak, and it looks more like a vulture or a crane.


 * Big Badass Bird of Prey: Just as big as Pidgeot (though a lot less bulkier) and just as good a fighter.
 * Blow You Away: Like most Flying types, they get wind-based moves (specifically Whirlwind and Razor Wind), but it's heavily downplayed in favor of simply pecking and slapping their opponents with their wings.
 * Com Mons: Spearow's usually able to be caught around the same time as Pidgey, and both it and Fearow tend to be common sights in regions where they're catchable.
 * Crutch Character: Useful early on since Spearow learns a Flying-type move before Pidgey, making it useful against all the Bug-types you'll meet in the first few areas of the game. However, while it's not the best Flying type out there, it's still pretty good as far as Com Mons go.
 * Delinquent Hair: Downplayed, but Fearow's crest looks like a mohawk.
 * Feathered Fiend: They are this trope incarnate.
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Fearow, Onidrill.
 * Flight
 * Fragile Speedster: They're pretty fast, but if they take so much as one solid hit they're likely not getting back up.
 * Glass Cannon: They're pretty good at dishing out punishment, but aren't good at taking it.
 * Jerkass: Spearow and Fearow are known for their unpleasant, temperamental demeanor and as shown in the anime, Spearow in particular will attack humans and other Pokemon at the slightest provocation.
 * Lean and Mean: Fearow is very lean, and very mean.
 * Non-Elemental: Both are part Normal type.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Dodrio is essentially Fearow with better stats. And in Gen 6 and 7, fellow early-route bird Pidgeot would get a Mega Evolution while Fearow got left in the dust.
 * Power Copying: Mirror Move, which lets Fearow use the last move their target used.
 * This Is a Drill: It learns Drill Peck and Drill Run (and the latter coupled with its Dream World Ability... hoo boy). Fearow's Japanese name is even Onidrill.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Its Dream World ability is Sniper. Better? It learns Drill Run, which has an increased critical ratio. Not to mention that Drill Run is a Ground-type move. Rock-, Electric-, and Steel-type Pokémon, prepare to cower in Fearow.

Ekans (Arbo) and Arbok


Effectively purple snakes, Ekans resembles a rattlesnake while Arbok is a cobra. A pure Poison-type with a fierce reputation, the first version exclusive monsters in National Dex order, only widely available in the Red version, while Green, Blue, and Yellow players had to trade for it. This often carries over to later games, where it's still found in only one version or another.


 * Cast of Snowflakes: In-game, no two Arbok are supposed to have the same markings.
 * Death Glare: Along with the common move Leer, they can also learn the much rarer Glare, which is capable of paralyzing its targets.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Surprisingly, the Ground type Mud Bomb is a move they naturally learn. It can also learn other Ground and Rock moves like Rock Slide, Stomping Tantrum, Earthquake, and Rock Tomb.
 * The Dreaded: Ekans and Arbok can naturally have Intimidate for their ability, as well as Unnerve as a Hidden Ability. Fitting, seeing as how many people are terrified of snakes in real life.
 * Eyes of Gold: Ekans.
 * Gasshole: They can naturally learn Belch.
 * Glass Cannon: Attack is its best stat, everything else is rather mediocre.
 * Man Bites Man: Naturally, these snake Pokemon learn a lot of biting moves. Along with... well, Bite and Crunch, they can also be taught all elemental fangs via Move Reminder as well as be bred with the move Poison Fang.
 * Poisonous Person: Scary poisonous snakes. Need we say more?
 * Sdrawkcab Name
 * Signature Move: Glare, but only in Generation I.
 * Snakes Are Evil: Ekans and Arbok are used by a lot of Team Rocket members, most notably Jessie and Ariana.
 * You Have Researched Breathing: Ekans and Arbok may be poisonous snakes, but for some reason they can't naturally learn Poison Fang. You have to specifically breed the move onto an Ekans to actually get it.

Pichu, Pikachu, and Raichu
Pichu debuts in Gen II

A yellow mouse-like creature with ruby-red cheeks, brown stripes on its back and a tail that resembles a thunderbolt. It's cute, but it can appeal to both boys and girls, making it the perfect Mascot for the entire franchise. Practically half of all merchandise has this guy's mug on it. It's also gained a baby form in Pichu (which is also heavily promoted), and a few signature items and moves (mainly Volt Tackle). Raichu is its stronger form, but it isn't given as much exposure as its younger forms. Which isn't to say that it's bad per se; it's still a very good Pokémon to take well beyond the beginning of the game. It's one of your best bets when facing Misty.

Pikachu from the Alola region don't evolve into ordinary Raichu, but into a special regional variant that's Electric/Psychic and capable of surfing on its enlarged tail with its psychic powers. Why? No idea, but some people believe it's due an extremely pancake-heavy diet. Just roll with it.


 * Abnormal Ammo: Cramorant from Sword and Shield can randomly scoop up and spit out a Pikachu instead of a typical fish Pokemon at times.
 * Absentee Actor: In a rare change of pace, Pikachu's family has absolutely zero presence in the Gen 5 games. It doesn't matter if you're playing the more restrictive Black and White or the more generous Black and White 2, unless you transfer one from a Gen 4 game, you're not using Pikachu and friends.
 * Action Fashionista: The Cosplay Pikachu from the Hoenn remakes is always female, and can wear one of five different outfits that can give it a special move with each costume.
 * Adaptational Badass: In the games, it wouldn't be a stretch to say that Pikachu isn't bad as far as unevolved mons found early in the story go. In the anime, however, it is shown taking down Pokémon that would be more than twice as powerful as it, base-stats wise. Let's not even get started on Super Smash Bros....
 * Adaptational Villainy: Downplayed in the sense that most Raichu in the anime aren't evil, but are often antagonistic bullies for Ash and Pikachu to thwart.
 * Awesome Yet Impractical: If you never want to evolve your Pikachu like Ash, you're going to have a hard time. In gen 1 Pikachu's middling stats catch up to it in a hurry, which becomes a problem in Yellow since Pikachu is your starter there and can't ever evolve. Gen 2 would somewhat rectify this with the introduction of the Light Ball ability which cranks Pikachu's Attack and Special Attack up to ridiculous levels... but you'd better hope it can outspeed whatever it's fighting, because if it gets hit first, there's no way it's staying in the fight with such paper-thin defenses. Thankfully, your starter Pikachu in Let's Go Pikachu has buffed-up stats and perfect IV's, which show that Gamefreak went through great pains to avert this.
 * Badass Adorable: Pikachu is so cuuuute! Raichu is also this trope, but with more emphasis on the "Badass" aspect.
 * Badass Baritone: Detective Pikachu from his spinoff games has an impressively deep, manly voice. In the movie however, it's a lot higher due to being provided by Ryan Reynolds himself!
 * Bare Your Midriff: The female-only Cosplay Pikachu's Pop Star outfit shows off a sliver of her belly.
 * Blush Sticker
 * Boss Battle: Raichu is Lt. Surge's ace and in Yellow, his only Pokemon. Pikachu is also Red's strongest Pokemon whenever he appears, being not only higher leveled than everything else he uses, but also packing a Glass Cannon for extra "oomph".
 * Breakout Character: You wouldn't know it, but Pikachu was originally just a rare, cute Pokemon that was never meant to be the outrageously popular merchandising giant that it is today. Clefairy was supposed to be the series' mascot, until Pikachu proved to have more general appeal!
 * Crutch Character: Pichu and/or unevolved Pikachu can be found early in the Kanto, Kalos, and Alola games and are often the first Electric type you can run into. They can provide helpful type coverage early on, but their paltry stats mean that they struggle to keep up the pace in later fights, encouraging you to either evolve them into Raichu or use a better Electric type. If you find a Light Ball, however...
 * Cute Giant: Gigantamax Pikachu is Kaiju-sized and regains the line's original pudgy physique from Red and Blue. It's adorable!
 * Disc One Nuke: If you're lucky enough to catch a Pikachu with Light Ball in the games where it appears early, you've basically got an electric nuke on your hands. Keep in mind, if it's holding the item in question it hits as hard as RAYQUAZA.
 * Early Installment Weirdness: Pikachu was a lot chubbier and stubbier in the original Kanto games, only to slim down as time went on. Gigantamax Pikachu from Sword and Shield is a throwback to this design and makes Pikachu just as pleasingly plump as it was in the old days (as well as gigantic).
 * The Everyman: Pikachu, to a certain extent.
 * Final Boss: Of the Johto games, where a Light Ball-wielding Pikachu is Red's ace in the hole and the highest level Pokemon you'll fight.
 * Fountain of Expies: There is at least one Electric Rodent Pikaclone in every generation.
 * Genius' Sweet Tooth: This is the prevailing theory for why Pikachu evolves into Alolan Raichu and develops Psychic powers in the process: it eats too many pancakes.
 * Glass Cannon: A Pikachu with a Light Ball strikes really hard, but dies very easily. (If only it was just a bit faster, it could probably be considered a legitimate threat...) Raichu needs Choice Band/Specs to hit as hard, is faster, and may be able to take a single attack.
 * Growling Gut: Ignoring the times this has happened to Ash's Pikachu in the anime, it's present in the games: In Let's Go Pikachu, the partner Pikachu's stomach growls at one point.
 * Informed Flaw: Pichu's Pokedex entries make a big deal about how it's too small and young to properly control its electric powers and will often shock and hurt itself when it tries. While this is reflected in its Smash Bros appearances, Pichu will never hurt itself in the games unless you have it use recoil-inducing moves like Volt Tackle and Wild Charge.
 * Kid Appeal Character: Pichu was basically designed to be this. Pikachu too, especially when Pichu isn't around.
 * Lightning Bruiser: If it's holding a Light Ball, Pikachu becomes an utter monster when Dynamaxed or Gigantamaxed: along with the existing attack boosts, its HP is doubled which makes it a genuine force to be reckoned with, albeit not quite on par with other Dyna/Gigantamaxed Pokemon.
 * Making a Splash: Will be able to learn Surf in every generation, one way or another. It's always an unconventional method, though, because the HM won't work.
 * Masked Luchador: Cosplay Pikachu's Pikachu Libre costume is this, and she'd go on to make appearances in Smash Bros and Pokken.
 * Not Quite Flight: You can obtain a Pikachu with FLY from a Pokéwalker course. According to the card game, it flies via Balloonacy.
 * Out of Focus: Poor Raichu really suffers from being the unwanted big brother to the series' mascot. While Pikachu gets multiple unique moves and variants as well as an item dedicated to making it even more powerful, and even Pichu gets a role in Smash Bros, Raichu gets diddly squat. Thankfully, the devs would throw it a bone by introducing Alolan Raichu in Sun and Moon, as well as its own Z-Move.
 * Pokémon-Speak: Notable because it's the only Pokémon to have its actual spoken name as a cry in the main series games. It originally only had in Yellow to play up its status as being closer to the anime, but X and Y and beyond would adopt this for good while Pichu and Raichu have updated versions of their 8-bit cries.
 * Power Floats: Alolan Raichu is always seen levitating above the ground, surfing on its boardlike tail.
 * Power Incontinence: Pichu shocks itself because of youth and inexperience. This carries over into Super Smash Bros. Melee, where it cripples it so much it's the weakest character in the game.
 * Promotional Powerless Piece of Garbage: In HeartGold and SoulSilver, you can obtain a special Pichu with three spikes on one of its ears (Spiky-Eared Pichu). Too bad it can't evolve or be traded to any other game, not even Black and White, which came after these games.
 * Psychic Powers: Thanks to eating a lot of pancakes, Alolan Raichu is somehow part Psychic.
 * Riddle for the Ages: Why is Alolan Raichu part Psychic? No one knows for sure, and even the "Ate too many pancakes" line of speculation is just that: speculation.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: THE. WHOLE. FREAKING. LINE. Pichu is an already cute Pokémon, made even more marketable. Even Raichu has not lost everything here.
 * Series Mascot: Pikachu usurped Clefairy's intended role due to better reception.
 * Mascot with Attitude: See Adaptational Badass and Tsundere.
 * Mascot Mook: Definitely counts as this if you consider its role in the main games alone.
 * Shock and Awe
 * Signature Move: Volt Tackle, from Generation III onwards.
 * Shout-Out: it was based on Pulseman's Voltteccer attack, which in turn was based on Tekkaman.
 * Stout Strength: Gigantamax Pikachu brings back Pikachu's formerly tubby physique, and is a force to be reckoned with if it's holding a Light Ball.
 * Super Mode: Pikachu gains a Gigantamax form in Sword and Shield, which is the original fatter design but Kaiju sized.
 * Third Option Adaptation: Former Trope Namer in regards to the anime.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Gen II gives Pikachu the unique Light Ball item which DOUBLES Pikachu's special attack stat, taking it from "decent" to "devastating with same type attack bonus." This does mean that you can't evolve Pikachu, however.
 * Tsundere: Pikachu as a whole seem to have a knack for being Type 2 in various different continuities.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: Aside from being a literal mouse, it's oddly unobtainable in Pokémon Black and White via normal gameplay despite its status as the series mascot and a relatively common Pokémon in all prior games (even making a few cameos in the game and being heavily promoted in related material).

Sandshrew and Sandslash (Sand and Sandpan)


Sandshrew and Sandslash don't really resemble shrews as much as they do armadillos or pangolins. They're the creatures you'll find in place of Ekans and Arbok if you have the Blue or Green versions in the original set of games. Often found in drier, or at least rougher terrain, these Ground type rodents try to avoid moisture when they can and get their water from their food.

Alolan Sandshrew and Sandslash however? These guys live all around moisture, specifically snow. Thanks to being scared off from their preferred desert environments by erupting volcanos in Alola, they'd retreat to adapt to life on the region's snow-capped mountains. Becoming Ice/Steel types in the process, these guys have developed harder shells and metallic claws that are ideal for ripping through and attaching to ice, as well as burrowing through snow.


 * An Ice Person: The Alolan versions of Sandshrew and Sandslash.
 * Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: Sandshrew's hide looks like its been constructed from gold/yellow bricks, almost like those seen in desert ruins. Alolan Sandshrew however looks more like an igloo, complete with a smaller snout that looks like the entry hole of one and white brick-like hide. When it evolves, Alolan Sandslash ditches the igloo aesthetics in favor of humongous spines that look like icicles.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: The original Sandshrew and Sandslash, though if you want to get proper mileage out of them with damaging Ground moves in the pre-Black 2/White 2 games, you'd better be ready to throw a few TM's their way.
 * Everything Is Better With Spinning: Despite being fairly slow, Sandshrew and Sandslash get quite a few high-mobility moves like Rapid Spin.
 * Be the Ball: They're decent Rollout users thanks to also being able to learn Defense Curl, which gives it a respectable boost in power.
 * Rolling Attack: As mentioned above.
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Alolan Sandshrew and Sandslash have hides as thick as steel, with Sandslash's spikes even being actual frozen steel. Unsurprisingly, they're partially Steel-typed.
 * Kryptonite Is Everywhere: It's bad enough that Alolan Sandshrew and Sandslash are slow defensive Ice types, because their plethora of common weaknesses mean that they're very much not good at tanking hits. But they're also part Steel, which means that Fire and Fighting moves hit even harder, as well as opening them up to a newfound Ground weakness.
 * Mighty Glacier: Speed is not Sandslash's forte, but it's a physical powerhouse with the Defense to last. Same with Alolan Sandslash, who gets bonus points for its Ice typing making it a more literal example.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Its Dream World ability doubles its speed under Sandstorm.
 * Non-Indicative Name: As mentioned above, albeit only in the English releases.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Generation 1 was the only time Sandslash had to shine as an effective ground type, after which it was eclipsed entirely by Donphan, Marowak (in Generation 2), and other faster, sturdier, or more versatile monsters. Generation V brought it Sand Rush, and its long lost cousin Excadrill, which has the colossal attack and slightly better speed to use the ability far more effectively than Sandslash ever could hope to.
 * Picky Eater: Sandshrew.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Sandshrew.
 * Spikes of Doom: Sandslash. Taken Up to Eleven with its Alolan counterpart.
 * Wolverine Claws: Sandslash has an impressive set of these.
 * You Have Researched Breathing: You'd think that a pair of Ground-type rodents that are famous for their digging prowess would naturally learn Dig... but nope. They didn't for a long time. They didn't even have any naturally-learned Ground moves until the wimpy Sand Tomb in Gen 3, and would need to be taught moves like Dig and Earthquake via TM until they were finally introduced to their movepools in Black 2 and White 2.

Nidoran, Nidorino/a, and Nidoking/queen


One of the most notable things about these guys is that the males and females are different species. This is because the first generation of games (Red/Green/Blue/Yellow) didn't assign sexes for Pokémon yet. They vaguely resemble rabbits at first, but they grow to be reptilian upon evolution. Both Nidoqueen and Nidoking are very dependable Pokémon. Nidoqueen is more defensive while Nidoking is more offensive, but both are extremely well-rounded.


 * Badass: Nidoking is a big, burly Kaiju-looking Pokemon covered in spikes, and a formidable fighter. Nidoqueen's got a similar appeal going for her, if a bit downplayed compared to the King.
 * Bizarre Sexual Dimorphism: So much that they count as separate species.
 * Bizarrely, it is also averted, as the differences account pretty much to coloration and horn size. The different species is justified, as they predate gender differences, and even gender.
 * Boobs of Steel: Nidoqueen's got big boobs, and is a rather solid (if competitively overshadowed) fighter.
 * Cartoon Creature: Bulbapedia describes Nidoking and Nidoqueen as "sharing traits of rhinoceroses, gorillas, rabbits and porcupines." Lord knows what species Game Freak was really thinking of when they made these things, if any.
 * Considering Nidoking and Nidoqueen also strongly resemble Baragon, it's likely a Shout-Out of sorts.
 * Confusion Fu: Take a look at their movepool. They can throw anything at you, and have the stats to make good use of both Physical and Special moves.
 * Disc One Nuke: In the games that put you in Kanto or Johto, you can find a Nidoran and get it evolved into Nidoking before you challenge the third gym. The third gym in Kanto is Electric and the third in Johto is Normal. As a Ground-type Nidoking is immune to Electric, learns Double Kick for handling the Normal types, and resists Rock so it can handle Miltank's Rollout better.
 * Dishing Out Dirt: Nidoking and Nidoqueen.
 * Jack of All Stats: Nidoking/queen have overall balanced stats, and can learn a very wide array of moves.
 * Jiggle Physics: Nidoqueen's boobs have a noticeable bounce to them in the Stadium games.
 * Kaiju: Nidoking and Nidoqueen are huge, vaguely draconic monsters that bear a strong resemblance to Baragon.
 * Killer Rabbit: Both Nidorans and Nidorino are literal examples, being tough bunny-looking Pokemon that can poison their opponents.
 * Lunacy: First in the National Dex to require the Moon Stone for evolution.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Sure, they're balanced, but no base stat over 100 means they are So Okay It's Average, with far better choices in general. However, the Dream World variations get Sheer Force, which, coupled with the huge array of moves with secondary effects they learn, makes Nidoking a feasible threat (Nidoqueen, being more defensive statistically, understandably doesn't benefit as much, even with basically identical movesets between the two).
 * Master of None: Prior to Generation V, when it didn't have Sheer Force to give them that extra "oomph."
 * Pink Girl, Blue Boy: Their shiny versions (Except Nidoqueen's, who's is mostly green).
 * Poisonous Person
 * Rhino Rampage: They've both got a bit of a rhino aesthetic to them. Kinda.
 * Shout-Out: Both Nidoking and Nidoqueen look like Baragon, a giant monster from the Godzilla films that is quite popular in Japan.
 * Stout Strength: Nidoqueen's got a bulky gut, which only reinforces how sturdy and powerful she is.

Cleffa, Clefairy, and Clefable (Pi, Pippi, and Pixie )
Cleffa debuts in Gen II

These pink cute Pokémon can be thought of as a Distaff Counterpart to Pikachu's family. Their stats don't seem remarkable, but they learn a fantastic number of moves, plus later games introduced an ability that prevents damage from anything other than direct attacks. Their Metronome technique makes them very unpredictable in battle. This family is thought to come from space, as they're found on mountains with a history behind them (Mt. Moon and Mt. Coronet).


 * Blush Sticker
 * Confusion Fu: Like the Nidos, massive movepool, and all around decent stats that allows them to run both defense or offense with ease. Their main move, Metronome, also counts.
 * Epileptic Trees: In-universe, it's widely believed that they came from the moon.
 * Jack of All Stats: Slighty slow, but good balance.
 * Lunacy
 * Won't Work On Me: Magic Guard works as this for indirect damage: It just doesn't work. Life Orb? The only penalty is not using Leftovers. Sandstorm? Not a problem (for them, anyways.) Stealth Rock? Nope. Toxic? Great, now they don't even have to worry about Paralysis or Sleep. Leech Seed? Enjoy your fat load of nothing.
 * Non-Elemental
 * Our Fairies Are Different
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: To Blissey.
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Depending on who you ask, even more so than Pikachu.
 * Shrinking Violet: All members of the Clef-line are rarely seen, but Clefable is particularly reclusive.
 * Signature Move: In Generation I, it was the only Pokémon to learn Metronome by level up (aside from Mew).
 * What Could Have Been: As noted in the Pikachu section, Clefairy was originally planned to be the Mascot of the Pokémon franchise.
 * Wings Do Nothing: They're only there for appearance, apparently. They can't fly, nor even learn Wing-associated attacks.
 * They're said to absorb moonlight to enable Clefable (and Clefairy) to float. You'll never get to see this happen in-game.

Vulpix and Ninetales (Rokon and Kyukon)


If you didn't pick Charmander, you're in luck, because there's Vulpix... if you're playing the Blue or Green version that is, as they're only found on those versions (Red players get Growlithe instead). Vulpix resembles an adorable six-tailed red fox, while Ninetales is a large golden fox with... nine tails.


 * A Worldwide Punomenon: Ninetales looks like a case of Rouge Angles of Satin until you realize it's supposedly 9 people fused. one could suppose that if they were separated, they would have quite the stories to tale about being being transformed into nine tails.
 * Brown Eyes/Technicolor Eyes
 * Disproportionate Retribution: Touch one of Ninetales', well, tails, and prepare to be cursed for life. (Specifically 1,000 years - if you're not Immortal, there's no way you're living that long.)
 * Knowing them, they probably know that you're not going to live that long, so maybe it hits your descendants, too...
 * Or you're still cursed in the afterlife.
 * Dropped a Bridget On Him: They are feminine looking and most of them are female, but it's possible for them to be male.
 * Fantastic Foxes: The line is based in part on mythological Kitsune, Japanese trickster fox spirits. Reflected in the Ghost-type moves Vulpix and Ninetales can learn.
 * Fusion Dance:
 * According to a in-universe legend mentioned in a pokedex entry, 9 saints were united and reincarnated as Ninetales.
 * Another pokedex entry says that nine wizards possessing sacred powers merged into one. Whether this is a Retcon, a mistranslation or a separate legend is not clear.
 * Glowing Eyes of Doom/Hypnotic Eyes/Red Eyes, Take Warning: Ninetales can control minds with its red eyes. They glow when it does this.
 * Kitsune
 * Light Is Not Good: Both are cute and Ninetales is light colored, but Vulpix is deceptive if nothing else and Ninetales is a extremely vindictive Mon with the potentially Nightmare Fuel inducing power of controlling minds.
 * Especially if it's the shiny Ninetales.
 * Mind Manipulation
 * No Ontological Inertia: Possibly. Both Ninetales curse and it's life span last 1,000 years.
 * Playing with Fire
 * Punny Name
 * Really 700 Years Old: Ninetales lives for 1,000 years.
 * Soul Power: They learn quite a lot of Ghost-type moves.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Getting Drought as an ability really gave a boost to their usefulness. Said ability was previous only known by Groudon.
 * Weather Control Pokémon

Igglybuff, Jigglypuff, and Wigglytuff (Pupurin, Purin, and Pukurin)
Igglybuff debuts in Gen II

Another family of pink Pokémon. These Pokémon have balloon-like bodies, huge eyes and a tuff of hair on their heads. They have a high HP stat, and can learn a large number of moves, but their other stats are very average. Their talents include sleep-inducing singing. Jigglypuff is particularly notable for being the only Pokémon besides Pikachu to be a playable character in all three Super Smash Bros. games.


 * Blue Eyes
 * Breakout Character: Jigglypuff is popular enough (in Japan) that it's made multiple appearances in the anime, merchandise, and all games in the Super Smash Bros. franchise.
 * Dude Looks Like a Lady: 25 percent of them are male.
 * Killer Rabbit: According to its Pokédex entry, Jigglypuff's cuteness is really a form of self defense, luring enemies in only to put them to sleep and give them a beating.
 * Lunacy
 * Make Me Wanna Shout
 * Name's the Same: Both Jigglypuff and Aerodactyl are called "PUD" in Pokémon Vietnamese Crystal.
 * Non-Elemental
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: The Clefairy line is generally regarded as superior.
 * Signature Move: Sing, despite being able to be learned by a large number of Pokémon, is strongly associated with Jigglypuff.

Zubat, Golbat, and Crobat
Crobat debuts in Gen II

The bane of trainers everywhere. These bats are found in almost every cave for almost four generations of games. What makes them so annoying is their speed (where your chances of running away is determined by speed stats) and their ability to confuse or poison you. Crobat is excused from this hatred for not being available in the wild. You'll need to befriend a Zubat or Golbat in order to evolve it. It has one of the fastest speeds in the game.


 * Bat Out of Hell: Golbat and Crobat are person-sized vampire bats, and even Zubat is quite larger than most real bats, as well as being poisonous and generally annoying.
 * Blow You Away
 * Com Mons: Every cave in Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh is filled with Zubat. Except those filled with Golbat. Despite that, Crobat is actually a pretty good Pokémon, with stats on par with the evolved starters.
 * Eyeless Face: Zubat, but this makes some sense, as it is a blind bat that depends on echolocation.
 * Flight
 * Goddamn Bats: The game itself even warns you to be wary of them when you first get to Mt. Moon.
 * Jack of All Stats: Pretty well-balanced stats, except for the Speed, with Crobat's being the 6th best in the game.
 * Magikarp Power: Zubat is much, much weaker than its evolved forms.
 * Disc One Nuke: Crobat is roughly as strong as the evolved starters, and due to how happiness works, can be obtained one level after evolving into the already respectable Golbat with just a little tender loving care. Also, in Platinum, wild Golbat are capturable (but rare) before the first gym, and theoretically one could get a Crobat under level 10.
 * Overly Long Tongue: Golbat in its Red and Blue sprite.
 * Poisonous Pokémon
 * The Power of Friendship: Arguably the first time it's applied as a game element in the series; it's the only way to evolve Golbat into Crobat.

Oddish, Gloom, Vileplume, and Bellossom (Nazonokusa, Kusaihana, Rafflesia, and Kireihana)
Bellossom debuts in Gen II

One of the archetypal Grass-type families, Oddish and its evolved forms are a good choice if you didn't start with Bulbasaur. Oddish resembles a radish that's blue in color and it walks on two feet. As it matures into a Gloom, it gains arms and becomes very smelly, much like a rafflesia. Finally can evolve into either a Vileplume, or a Bellossom... if you have one of the appropriate stones, that is. Bellossom is somewhat unique in that it shrinks in size and loses its Poison typing upon evolution, as well as losing its legs, which are replaced by a leaf-dress of sorts.


 * Com Mons: In Hoenn, where they are much more common than in Kanto or Johto.
 * Dance Battler: Bellossom.
 * Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Gloom's Japanese name is Kusaihana, which literally translates to "smelly flower". Also, Bellossom's Japanese name is Kireihana, which literally translates to "beautiful flower".
 * Green Thumb
 * Hula and Luaus: Bellossom.
 * Meaningful Name: A Rafflesia (Vileplume's name in the Japanese version) is the largest flower in the world and produces a highly foul odor, and the flower on its head highly resembles one.
 * This may also go to explain why Gloom smells so bad.
 * Mighty Glacier: Both Vileplume and Bellossom have decent attack stats, but their speed stat is rather lacking.
 * Petal Power
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: As noted above, Bellossom is the smallest form of the family, yet its stats are on par with the alternative evolution Vileplume.
 * Plant Person
 * Poisonous Pokémon: As noted above, Bellossom is the only one that isn't this.
 * Real Pokémon Wear Grass Skirts: Bellossom has an even chance of being male.
 * Signature Move: Petal Dance, but only in Generation I.

Paras and Parasect


Paras and Parasect are an interesting family. It's a cicada-like insect that's in a symbiotic [read:parasitic] relationship with a mushroom that only grows on the bug. Thus, it is capable of using both Bug and Grass type moves. This comes with a cost, though: Upon evolution, the mushroom takes over the insect's brain and it seems that it's the mushroom that is in control of the creature. It's considered a great Pokémon to catch other Pokémon with though, since it has access to Spore, one of the best sleep-inducing moves in the game, and False Swipe, which will never reduce a target's health below one. Just keep it away from heat.


 * Blank White Eyes: Parasect, as a result of losing its mind to the mushroom.
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies
 * For Massive Damage: Fire-type attacks will do huge damage (it is the only Pokémon family that can have a 5x weakness to a type), as well as flying-type attacks.
 * Without Dry Skin, it "merely" takes quadruple damage from Fire-type attacks. That still hurts a lot.
 * If you're playing Red, Blue, Yellow, or Green, Poison also does x4 Damage, as it and Bug were super effective on each other in those games.
 * Green Thumb
 * Puppeteer Parasite: The mushrooms on Paras's back are influencing its thoughts.
 * Signature Move: Spore, of them and the other two mushroom-based families - in fact, the move's Japanese name is Mushroom Spore.
 * There's also Effect Spore, which is a signature ability. Again, only the Paras line and the other two mushroom-based families get it naturally (though Vileplume can get it through the Dream World.)
 * Took a Level in Badass: Dry Skin gave it viability in Rain Dance teams.

Venonat and Venomoth (Kongpang and Morphon)


A furry bug-like creature that evolves into a moth with poisonous scales. It's kinda unremarkable, apart from the fact that it is a far better choice as a Bug Pokémon than Beedrill or Butterfree, except that it comes far later than both of them.


 * Blow You Away: Venomoth, despite not being a Flying type.
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies
 * Flight: Venomoth, in just the same way as Beedrill.
 * Standard Status Effects: Like Butterfree, they learn the 3 powder moves.
 * Poisonous Pokémon
 * Pretty Butterfly
 * Psychic Powers: They learn the 3 main offensive Psychic moves via level up.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Venomoth seems to have simply gotten better and better as time's gone by. Generation 2 brought it Poison STAB (Sludge Bomb), Generation 3 brought it a cool ability called Shield Dust which prevents the enemy's added effects of moves (like Flamethrower's burn), Generation 4 gave it the physical/special split, giving it good special STAB (Bug Buzz+Sludge Bomb), and more importantly Tinted Lens which is a new ability that increases damage if the foe resists Venomoth's attack (ie, x.5 damage becomes x1, x.25 becomes .5), meaning it has fewer safe switch-ins. Generation 5 gives it Quiver Dance, a new boosting move that increases Special Attack, Special Defense and Speed by one stage. And it can Baton Pass it. Venomoth is making quite a fuss in the lower tiers, and for good reason!

Diglett (Digda) and Dugtrio


Based on Whack-a-Moles, these are probably tied with Voltorb and Magnemite for the Pokémon with the simplest design. Diglett appears to be only a half-buried brown nub with a bright red nose. Dugtrio appears to be no different, except that it's three of them. What's also unusual about this Ground type (mostly populated by tanks) is that it's also lighting-fast, but can't take a hit well. It's also got the ability to trap land-based opponents.


 * Bigger on the Inside: Fanart frequently depicts the tiny, adorable Diglett/Dugtrio as being a surface appendage for a massive subterranean abomination.
 * Crutch Character: Can't defeat Lt. Surge because his Raichu is mopping the floor with your Squirtle? Don't worry; just go to the nearby Diglett's Cave and catch a Diglett (or a Dugtrio should one happen to crop up), then proceed to destroy Surge with a well-placed Dig.
 * The Dev Team Thinks of Everything: They really go out of their way to ensure that Diglett and Dugtrio is never seen leaving the ground, to the point of giving them special animations for when any other Pokémon uses a non-animated hop (Pokéathlon, Poké Transfer) or just appear in mid-air (When sent into battle in Black and White) anyways.
 * Dishing Out Dirt
 * Fragile Speedster: In its own right, and especially by the standards of its type.
 * Multiple Head Case: Dugtrio.
 * Won't Work On Me: Electricity.
 * Riddle for the Ages: We will likely never see what the rest of Diglett or Dugtrio's body looks like.
 * Signature Move: Despite being a widespread move, prior to Generation III, they are the only ones to learn Dig naturally.
 * Starfish Alien: Diglett and Dugtrio may be this. We just aren't sure. Given that Dugtrio has three heads from a one-headed Diglett, it's not out of the field of possibility.
 * The Unseen: Their lower bodies will never be seen, only implied. They seem to have claws and feet at least.
 * You Will Not Evade Me: Again, Arena Trap.

Meowth (Nyarth) and Persian


These Pokémon are probably some of the most recognized Pokémon in the franchise after Pikachu, due to one individual being a main antagonist in the anime and because that particular one is unique in that it can speak human languages, something very few other Pokémon can do (and most of those use telepathy). It's only natural to have a cat Pokémon as an antagonist when your protagonist is a mouse. These cats are based on Maneki Neko, a lucky cat that's supposed to grant its owner wealth. Persian has a regal air to it and is quite fast, but nothing note-worthy about it otherwise.


 * Badass Normal: This housecat made it to Overused in the days of the Red/Blue/Yellow games because of the fact that, due to the critical hit rate being based on speed, Slash always yielded one.
 * Combat Pragmatist: Their natural movepool is not one made up of orthodox moves.
 * Confusion Fu: They've got a massive movepool. That's par for the course for Normal-types, but Meowth and Persian still get more options than most.
 * Fragile Speedster
 * Item Caddy: Meowth can have the Pickup ability.
 * Non-Elemental
 * Panthera Awesome: Persian, a housecat.
 * Signature Move: Pay Day for Meowth; the attack has actually been steadingly limited to Meowth and only Meowth over the gens (even vanishing from Persian's learnset in Gen IV). Averted slightly in Gen V, as Purrloin has this as an Egg Move, and in Gen3, where it was possible to get a Skitty with this thorough Pokemon Box.
 * Also averted in Gen 1, where Pay Day was a TM.
 * Weak but Skilled: Their attacking stats are average at best, and their defenses are lacking, but their ability, speed, and movepool make them stand out, specially in Gen I.

Psyduck (Koduck) and Golduck


One of the most recognizable Pokémon, Psyduck is an eternally confused yellow duck-thing (some call it a platypus, though). It's got a headache that can somehow enable it to tap into mysterious psychic powers. Golduck is less silly though.


 * Everything's Better with Platypi
 * Jack of All Stats
 * Making a Splash
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Water is the most widespread type of all, so there will always be a better alternative to these guys.
 * Psychic Powers: Despite not being Psychic-type at all.
 * Weather Control Creatures: It's under a different name, but one of their abilities is essentially Rayquaza's Air Lock.
 * Youkai: Golduck is based on the Kappa.

Mankey and Primeape (Okorizaru)


Mankey and Primeape resemble puff-balls as much as they resemble monkeys and apes. They're fighting-types that always seem to be angry at something. In the Yellow version, this is the guy you want to use to fight against Brock, since Pikachu really cannot do squat against him.


 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Primeape's main fighting style.
 * Cross-Popping Veins: Primeape
 * Everything's Better with Monkeys
 * Fragile Speedster: Primeape is the third-fastest Fighting type (among the Fighting-types, only Infernape and Step Forme Meloetta are faster,) but it can only take one hit... if said hit is absurdly weak and/or comes from a type that Primeape resists.
 * Glass Cannon: High powered moves coming from a high attack spell this.
 * Hair-Trigger Temper: Mankey and Primeape spend most of their lives in perpetual fury, going aggro on anything that even looks at them sideways.
 * Status Buff: Two of its abilities. Anger Point maxes out its Attack if it gets hit by a critical attack, and Defiant increases its Attack by two stages if one of its stats gets reduced by the opponent, including Attack - a great way to turn Intimidate users's strategy on its head.
 * Unstoppable Rage: Hoo boy. Mankey is very prone to this, and this is pretty much Primeape's default mood. You can still get a Calm-natured Mankey.
 * Implacable Monkey: Once it's gotten riled up at something, Primape will never stop chasing the offending party until it has caught up and beaten the everloving crap out of it.
 * Heck, Pokedex entries state that in tree colonies, if one Mankey goes nuts, they all do.

Growlithe and Arcanine (Gardie and Windie)


These Fire-type dog-like Pokémon are based on Shisa. They vaguely resemble lions and tigers along with their more canine features. Arcanine has one of the highest stats for a non-legendary and access to a wide variety of moves, making it one of the best choices as far as Fire-types are concerned.


 * Canis Major: Arcanine is 6'03".
 * Big Badass Wolf
 * Precious Puppies
 * Gameplay and Story Segregation: Despite all the Pokédex entries rambling on about how it's probably the fastest Pokémon in existence, it's really not that hard to find something with a higher base Speed stat than Arcanine. Even its direct counterpart, Ninetales, is faster than it.
 * Worth noting that ExtremeSpeed was its Signature Move in Gen II, so it held some merit.
 * Heroic Dog
 * Jack of All Stats: Its stats are very well rounded, though it isn't min-maxed enough to excel in competitive battles, with speed falling just short of the key 100 (it is 95, forcing a scarf, using Agility, or using Extremespeed to sweep).
 * Lightning Bruiser: It can hit like a truck, is fairly speedy, and has pretty good defenses.
 * Playing with Fire
 * Took a Level in Badass: It seems like every generation makes sure to give Arcanine some handy new moves to move it up another level.
 * Signature Move: ExtremeSpeed for Arcanine, on Gen II only.

Poliwag, Poliwhirl, Poliwrath, and Politoed (Nyoromo, Nyorozo, Nyorobon, and Nyorotono)
Politoed debuts in Gen II

These water Pokémon are based on tadpoles and frogs. They also happen to be Satoshi Tajiri's favorite Pokémon, and as such, they get plenty of showcasing. They're blue in color and have swirling bellies that can make their opponents sleepy by simply undualating it. Politoed is very different in that it's a fully mature green frog.


 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Poliwrath, as a Fighting type.
 * Awesome Moment of Crowning: The player needs a King's Rock (shaped like a crown) for evolving Poliwhirl into Politoed.
 * Frogs and Toads
 * Hypnotic Intestines: The swirl pattern they show is perfect for making opponents fall asleep.
 * Jack of All Stats: Politoed
 * Make Me Wanna Shout: Politoed can learn Hyper Voice.
 * Making a Splash
 * Took a Level in Badass: Poliwhirl's evolution into Poliwrath; a meekly toad becomes a part-Fighting type which specializes in punching things, hard.
 * Poliwrath and especially Politoed got excellent Dream World abilities.
 * Weather Control Creature: Politoed can now have Kyogre's Drizzle ability.

Abra, Kadabra, and Alakazam (Casie, Yungerer, and Foodin)


The first psychic type you might encounter, Abra and its kin were one of the best Pokémon in the game in the days of Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow, mainly due to how broken Psychic Pokémon were at the time. Abra was notable for teleporting away as soon as it appeared, so you only had one chance to catch it before it ran. Once caught though, its lightning fast and hits very hard with its special attacks.


 * Badass Mustache: Grows one as it evolves.
 * Baleful Polymorph/Was Once a Man: According to the Pokédex, a boy with psychic powers transformed into the first Kadabra.
 * Disc One Nuke: In game Alakazam was second only to Mewtwo in the first gen, and could be captured before the second badge.
 * Metal Slime: But good luck catching an Abra!
 * Magikarp Power: And good luck evolving it, as it lacks damaging moves. However, with some TMs, Abra becomes a dangerous creature itself, as it already has respectable Special attack and Speed.
 * Eyes Always Shut: Abra. The only glimpse of an Abra eye is the Gold sprite, where its left eye is half-open.
 * Foil: Alakazam to Machamp. Both have similar stats and methods of evolving (trade), but opposing types and ways of fighting.
 * Gameplay and Story Segregation: Abra supposedly teleports while sleeping, but putting it to sleep is the most effective way to catch one.
 * Glass Cannon: Incredible speed and special attack, pathetic HP and defense. The Special defense is passable, but the low HP shoots down that.
 * Heal Thyself: Fortunately it learns Recover.
 * Heavy Sleeper: Abra spends most of the day asleep, and can teleport away from danger even if sleeping.
 * Intelligent Gerbil: Alakazam has an IQ that exceeds 5,000, making it the smartest Pokémon in existence.
 * Improbably High IQ: Not the first (or last) time that the Pokedex is hilariously inaccurate, but given the way the IQ scale works, Alakazam's stated intelligence just breaks it into tiny whimpering pieces.
 * No Celebrities Were Harmed: Kadabra is based on Uri Geller (its Japanese name is even a corruption of his name), a man who claimed to be able to bend spoons with his mind. Geller was not impressed, and sued Nintendo over it (he lost).
 * Won't Work On Me: Any variant of indirect damage, due to its Dream World ability Magic Guard.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Not getting anything meaningfully new over the generations, as well as Psychic receiving gradual nerfs, meant Alakazam was to be overshadowed not only by its foil, Machamp, but by other Psychic types like Espeon and Reuniclus.
 * Took a Level in Badass: In Gen V, thanks to getting the Psyshock move and (even more so) the Magic Guard ability, which essentially makes it a Glass Ninja version of Reuniclus.
 * Psychic Powers
 * Signature Move: Kinesis for Kadabra and Alakazam.
 * Synchronization
 * Teleport Spam: Abra is known for teleporting away before you can catch it.
 * Theme Naming: even the pre-production names of Abra and Kadabra (Hocus and Pocus, respectively) have a theme.

Machop, Machoke, and Machamp (Wanriky, Goriky, and Kairiky)


In the same way that the Abra kin represents brains, the Machop line represents brawn. These Pokémon are fantastically strong and use their muscles very effectively when it comes to manual labour. In order to get the four-armed Machamp, you need to trade it into another game.


 * Bare-Fisted Monk: With four fists!
 * Bicep-Polishing Gesture: Machoke; on some sprites, Machop, too.
 * Foil: Machamp to Alakazam, as mentioned above.
 * Lady Looks Like a Dude: Their male-female ratio is 3:1, yeah, but females don't even get any visible difference.
 * Mighty Glacier: They're not that fast, but their defenses are solid.
 * Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Machamp.
 * Name's the Same: Both Machamp and Dragonite are called "GUAIL" in Pokémon Vietnamese Crystal.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: In early games, despite being a physical counterpart to the Abra line, due to Psychic (its prime weakness) being overpowered. Since then however, because of nerfs to Psychic, an expanding of its movepool, and a new ability that's Difficult but Awesome, this has gone away.
 * Pec Flex: Machoke in its Crystal sprites.
 * Power Limiter: According to the Dex, their belts.
 * Signature Move: The only ones to learn Submission naturally in Generation I.
 * Smarter Than You Look: It's stated that Machop is actually quite intelligent. Whether or not this applies to its evolutions is unknown.
 * Super Strength: As expected from the Superpower Pokémon.
 * Machop can hold a sumo wrestler aloft on one finger, Machamp can lift dump trucks without effort, and Machamp can punch a man with enough force to send him flying away. Ridiculous strength much? The pokedex entries could be exaggerating though.
 * Wrestler in All of Us

Bellsprout, Weepinbell, and Victreebel (Madatsubomi, Utsudon, and Utsubot)


This family of carnivorus plants were exclusive to the Green and Blue versions of the original games, in place of the Oddish family. Much like them, they're Grass/Poison-types. You would need a Leaf Stone to get a Victreebel though.


 * Big Eater: It can digest pretty much everything it can swallow, except for itself.
 * Character Name Limits: Victreebel is missing the second "l" that Weepinbell had room for.
 * Glass Cannon
 * Green Thumb
 * Hidden Elf Village: Apparently, they live in huge colonies in jungles.
 * Man-Eating Plant: It's implied that Victreebels have eaten any and all explorers who stumble upon their secret society in the jungles.
 * Poisonous Pokémon

Tentacool and Tentacruel (Menokurage and Dokukurage)


Whenever you go surfing on the seas of Kanto, Jotho, Hoenn, and Sinnoh, you're bound to encounter these Jellyfish Pokémon. Lots of them. Luckily for you, you could handle these guys in the same way one handles Zubats: Electric and Psychic moves will normally do the job.


 * Combat Tentacles
 * Com Mons: Subverted. Like Zubat and its evolutions, Tentacool/Tentacruel, despite being extremely common, are actually very good pokemon once you raise them.
 * Making a Splash
 * Poisonous Pokémon
 * Stone Wall: Tentacruel has spectacular special defense, and although it is mainly used as a wall, it also packs respectable speed and firepower.

Geodude, Graveler, and Golem (Isitsubute, Golone, and Golonya)


Simple in design, Geodude and kin look like your typical rock monsters. High physical attack and defense, but terrible speed and special stats. They're useful in the early game, but fizzle out later on.


 * Action Bomb: Learns Selfdestruct and Explosion.
 * Com Mons: You can find Geodude in almost any cave, tunnel, or mountain.
 * Crutch Character: Its powerful attacks tend to make mincement (or pancakes, if you have a Geodude, Graveler, or Golem that knows Rollout or Bulldoze) out of other common mons, but the line's many problems (low HP, low speed, low resistance to Special attacks, and inability to fully evolve it without assistance/another Game Pak/Card) tend to hamper its usefulness.
 * Dishing Out Dirt
 * For Massive Damage: Grass-type moves are the best way to defeat them. Water-types work well, too.
 * Golem: Averted; see below.
 * In Name Only: Golem is not related to the Golems of Hebrew legend.
 * Mighty Glacier: Slow, but can easily take a punch. If the punch is not watery or covered with leaves, that is.
 * Or if that punch just happens to be a Fighting type move. Which, disregarding special punches, they all should be.
 * Multi-Armed and Dangerous: Graveler has four arms.
 * Silicon Based Pokémon
 * Weaksauce Weakness: Taking advantage of their 4x weaknesses to Water and Grass is an easy way of defeating them.

Ponyta and Rapidash (Gallop)


These equine Fire-types didn't really get much use when they were first introduced back in the Gen I games; they could only be encountered once the player got to Cinnabar Island (they were found in the Pokémon Mansion in Gen I, but relocated to the Sevii Islands in the remakes), and by then, most players had a better Fire-type. The trend continued for the Gen II and III games, but it changed with Diamond and Pearl, when it was literally the only other Fire-type for those who didn't pick Chimchar. Later on, Platinum introduced the Magmar, Houndour, and Flareon lines to the region, but Ponyta is still the first Fire-type you can catch in Sinnoh.


 * Cool Horse: Rapidash. Ponyta can qualify, too, but it's more cute than cool.
 * Flaming Hair: Ponyta and Rapidash can only allow those they trust to ride with them. Anyone else would get burned by their mane.
 * Fragile Speedster: Yeah, the hooves are harder than diamond, but still...
 * In a Single Bound: Ponyta is said to be so fast, it can jump over France's Eiffel Tower and Australia's Ayers' Rock in one leap... or so their pokedex entries say.
 * ...Which explains the Bounce attack.
 * Won't Work On Me: Fire attacks if it has the Flash Fire ability.
 * Playing with Fire
 * Rearing Horse: Ponyta's Platinum sprite.
 * This Is a Drill: Rapidash can learn Horn Drill.

Slowpoke, Slowbro, and Slowking (Yadon, Yadoran, and Yadoking)
Slowking debuts in Gen II

It's kinda hard to pinpoint the exact inspiration behind this family of Pokémon, but they certainly have a lot of unusual attributes: The most notable one being its intelligence, which is unusually low for a Psychic-type Pokémon (For Slowpoke and Slowbro at least). They spend their days by the riverside in a lazy attempt to fish. They only seem to get Shellder to bite their tails and apparently this counts as an evolution. Slowking is highly intelligent, though, but that's only through its method of evolution: It requires a King's Rock and somehow, a Shellder to bite its head and release toxins into its brain.


 * Awesome Moment of Crowning: Like Poliwhirl, in order to evolve Slowpoke into Slowking, the player needs the King's Rock.
 * Delayed Reaction
 * Easy Amnesia: Slowking forgets everything it has learned if the Shellder on its head comes off.
 * Gameplay and Story Segregation: A trainer doesn't really need a Shellder to evolve a Slowpoke.
 * Genius Ditz: While Slowpoke & Slowbro are indeed ditzy, they're still Psychic types, being able to send harmful psychic waves to opponent with their minds.
 * Healing Factor: They can have Regeneration as an ability come Generation V. (They also got Slack Off in Generation IV, but that's more along the lines of Heal Thyself.)
 * Irony: The characteristically "stupid" Pokemon can become incredibly intelligent, perhaps even the smartest Pokemon. It does it when a clam bites it on the head while it's holding a special rock.
 * Making a Splash
 * Mighty Glacier
 * Playing with Fire: They can be taught Flamethrower and Fire Blast (somehow).
 * Psychic Powers
 * Reset Button: Removing the Shellder on Slowbro (supposedly) causes it to devolve. Removing it on Slowking causes it to lose its memory of what it has learned.
 * Super Intelligence: Slowking.
 * Surrounded by Idiots: Slowking tends to lead Slowpoke and Slowbro groups. Contrast their intellects.
 * The Ditz: The characterization for Slowpoke. Slowbro isn't known for its intellect, either.
 * The Symbiote
 * Uplifted Animal: Slowking.
 * Urban Legend of Zelda: According to the Pokédex, Slowbro and Slowking will revert back to an ordinary Slowpoke if they lose their attached Shellder. There is no way for this to happen in the games, though that hasn't stopped the usual band of nitwits from trying.
 * What Happened to the Mouse?: What happens to the Shellder if it is removed is not explained.

Magnemite, Magneton, and Magnezone (Coil, Rarecoil, and Jibacoil)
Magnezone debuts in Gen IV

Magnemite and its kin are robotic lifeforms that use electromagnetism to float through the air. In the Gen I games, they were pure Electric-types, but later generations made them part Steel-types as well. A Magnemite evolves by simply forming a cluster of three to make a Magneton. In Gen IV and later games, it evolves further by being exposed to a special magnetic wave that's given off in certain locations. But don't try to evolve Magnezone further by forming clusters of other Magnezones. It doesn't work.


 * Animate Inanimate Object
 * Cyber Cyclops
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Retroactively, they're the first Steel-types in the series.
 * Faceless Eye: Magnemite and Magneton are basically steel eyeballs with magnets. Magnezone has more proportionate eyes, but still no face.
 * For Massive Damage: Ground-type attacks, but thankfully, they can learn Magnet Rise to offset this.
 * Gameplay and Story Segregation: You wouldn't expect a Pokémon that can naturally float to not have Levitate.
 * They use Magnetism. Shaking earth may disrupt magnetism. Though, they can use Magnet Rise to make themselves immune to Ground-type moves for five turns, so... yeah.
 * Maybe the move just makes them exert the force even harder.
 * Magnet Hands: Literally, with the trope taking effect as the Magnet Pull ability, which attracts fellow Steel-types...
 * You Will Not Evade Me: ...and traps them as well.
 * Hoist by His Own Petard: ...and themselves, too.
 * Mighty Glacier: Having high special attack, as well as the most number of elemental resistances (13 out of 17) does say something...
 * No Biological Sex
 * Shock and Awe
 * Signature Move: The only Electric-types to learn Zap Cannon naturally, prior to Generation V. And even then, there's only one other.

Farfetch'd (Kamonegi)


Back in the Gen I games, there's a girl who's willing to trade this Pokémon for a common-as-dirt Spearow. It was literally the only way to get this Pokémon, so this might have been a once in a lifetime opportunity, right? Sort of. As it turns out, rarity doesn't really equal power. Based on a Japanese proverb, it's a duck that bears a leek. In other words, an extremely rare and extremely fortunate occurrence... although this doesn't apply for the duck.


 * Blow You Away
 * Crutch Character: It is stronger than Pidgey or Spearow. But Pidgeotto and especially Fearow greatly outclass it.
 * Endangered Species
 * Edible Bludgeon: The leek in its wing.
 * Oral Fixation Fixation: Prior to Generation IV, it can often be found between its beak.
 * Flight
 * Non-Elemental
 * Improbable Weapon User
 * Joke Character
 * Meaningful Name: According to this article, the above Japanese proverb also means something to the effect of "a sucker is born every minute".

Doduo and Dodrio (Dodo and Dodorio)


Doduo and Dodrio are an intriguing species. Their most famous attribute are their mutliple heads. Otherwise, they mostly resemble ratites. Like ostriches, they excel at running rather than flying... although, they can somehow fly without visible wings. Perhaps they just jump really really high and |fall with style?


 * Armless Biped
 * Blow You Away: One of the weirdest ways to pull this one off.
 * Flight
 * Fragile Speedster
 * Gameplay and Story Segregation: They're flightless, yet flying-type.
 * Fire, Ice, Lightning: One of the few Pokemon that can have Tri Attack.
 * In a Single Bound: Apparently, they both "fly" this way (The Japanese name of the move can also be translated "Great Leap"). Remember that these guys can take you from Lavender to Cinnabar if needed.
 * Multiple Head Case
 * Non-Elemental
 * Not Quite Flight
 * Single-Minded Twins: Played straight with Doduo; averted with Dodrio, as they have three heads and three distinct personalities, despite sharing a body.

Seel and Dewgong (Pawou and Jugon)


These pinniped Pokémon kinda resemble harp seal pups. They seem to prefer frigid marine environments best. Dewgong is named after a real sea mammal called a dugong (which isn't a seal, but a kind of sea cow). Seel is probably notable for being the only Pokémon whose name can be spelled on a calculator.


 * An Ice Person: Dewgong. Seel is also strongly associated with cold areas.
 * Jack of All Stats
 * Master of None: Yeah, they have this problem, too.
 * Making a Splash
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: To Lapras, pretty much from day one.

Grimer and Muk (Betbeter and Betbeton)


Poisonous blobs that seem to appear wherever pollution is. They were born from toxic sludge that were exposed to x-rays or something and are now living. These Pokémon may in fact be useful by absorbing poisonous material from the environment and putting it into their own bodies.


 * Blob Monster
 * Mighty Glacier
 * Muck Monster
 * Poisonous Pokémon: By far the best example in the series. If a Grimer slides along some grass, expect the soil to be so contaminated that not even weeds will grow there. Muk's toxicity is more extreme than that; one drop of its essence can turn a pristine lake into a stagnant cesspool in minutes, and touching it causes immediate illness (and, in some cases, death).
 * Of course, that makes you wonder what happens with Oak in the anime... and now we know why Ash gets a reset every season.
 * Walking Wasteland: Dear God.

Shellder and Cloyster (Parshen)


Cheeky bivalve Pokémon with extremely sturdy shells. Their highest stat has always been their defense. It's just pointless to hit it with physical attacks; try hitting it with Special ones instead.


 * An Ice Person: Cloyster; Shellder also learns several Ice attacks naturally.
 * Making a Splash
 * Signature Move: Shellder's Icicle Spear, before Generation IV.
 * Stone Wall: Cloyster has the highest defense in Gen 1...
 * Mighty Glacier: ...and it also has decent attack stats too.
 * Glass Cannon: "Cloyster used Shell Smash!"
 * Took a Level in Badass: As of Gen V, Cloyster has arguably taken the most levels in badass out of all old Pokémon. Its Icicle Spear now has 25 base power (meaning that factoring in STAB and its ability, its power is higher than that of Outrage) and has a better side effect. This also applies to all his multi-hit moves. Finally, he gets the move Shell Smash, which despite reducing its defense and special defense, raises its attack, special attack, and speed twice.
 * Vagina Dentata: It may not have been on purpose, but Cloyster shares some similarities to, well, you know.
 * Getting Crap Past the Radar: In one game, there's a couple with this Pokemon and an Onix. Seemed Gamefreak noticed.

Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar (Ghos, Ghost, and Gangar)


This family was once known for being the only Pokémon who were Ghost-types and arguably the best ones to deal with Psychic-types... in theory, as they were also part Poison-type with a weakness to Psychic-type attacks. Due to balance issues, they didn't really do their job all that well. However, each generation made them better and better. Gen II gave them strong Ghost-type attacks it can use, Gen III gave them Levitate and an immunity to Ground-type attacks, Gen IV gave them new toys to play with by making them work off their best stats. Even with the introduction of other Ghost-types, they're still one of the best.


 * Badass: Alongside Starmie(see below), Gengar has the honor of being a high tier Pokemon in all five generations so far.
 * Handicapped Badass: In Gen 1, despite Psychic types' immunity to Ghost, Gengar still managed to be OU in that generation.
 * Casting a Shadow: Since this was before the Dark type existed, they usually have Ghost-type moves with a more sinister feel to them, like Night Shade and Shadow Ball (The latter move didn't exist until Dark types did appear, but it should make a point).
 * In later generations they get Dark moves too, namely Sucker Punch, Payback and Dark Pulse.
 * Confusion Fu: Besides the Ghost, Poison, Dark, Normal and Psychic moves you'd expect given its typing, it can learn a few Electric, Fighting, Grass, Ice and Fire moves too, as well as a wide variety of status attacks.
 * Cute Little Fangs: Gastly!
 * Doppel-Gengar
 * Evil Counterpart: To the Abra family, a position the anime reinforces with Ash recruiting a Haunter to battle Sabrina's Kadabra. Their stats are also very similar—compared to Alakazam, Gengar trades a few points of Special Attack and Speed for (slightly) less horrible HP and physical stats.
 * Also of note, their original cards in the Pokémon TCG—Alakazam's Pokémon Power lets it move damage counters around on the player's Pokémon, Gengar's Pokémon Power moves around damage counters on the opponent's Pokémon.
 * Glass Cannon: Just like Alakazam, Gengar has high Special Attack and Speed but pitiful defenses. However, it has the advantage of three type immunities (Normal, Fighting, and Ground via Levitate), and more status attacks to disable enemies like Hypnosis and Confuse Ray, so Gengar is a bit more durable.
 * Larynx Dissonance: In the games, Haunter and Gengar have very deep cries, yet have a 50/50 chance of being female. Gastly only faces this Trope in the anime.
 * Living Shadow: Gengar
 * Our Ghosts Are Different: They're really more like clouds of noxious gas...
 * Overly Long Tongue: Haunter's licks are said to cause paralysis, convulsions, and death, and both its evo and preevo are quite well endowed in that department, too. As in larger than its body in the case of Gastly.
 * Poisonous Pokémon
 * Raymanian Limbs: Haunter's hands.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning: Gengar again.
 * Signature Move: Night Shade, but only in Generation I.
 * Slasher Smile: All of them, and they almost never stop smiling.
 * Soul Power: The only Ghost-types until Misdreavus came along.
 * Supernatural Is Purple
 * Took a Level in Badass: For a while Gengar was unable to take advantage of its typing because Poison and Ghost-type moves are physical. Then Generation IV came and Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb became special moves. Oh Crap.
 * Ugly Cute: Gastly, to an extent.

Onix and Steelix (Iwark and Haganeil)
Steelix debuts in Gen II

Onix are massive snakes made entirely out of boulders. Sounds pretty Badass, right? Too bad its only good stat was defense and its typing left it with a ton of weaknesses. It was a pretty terrible Pokémon. They fixed it by having it evolve into a massive snake made entirely out of steel. It isn't super-amazing, but it's still a huge improvement over Onix.


 * Dishing Out Dirt
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Steelix
 * Fake Ultimate Mook: Former trope namer; Geodude tends to hurt more when attacking.
 * Consider this: Alakazam, Glass Cannon to end all Glass Cannons, was not killed by an EXPLOSION pre-Generation V Nerf.
 * For Massive Damage: Onix to Grass and Water type attacks.
 * Silicon Based Pokémon
 * Stone Wall: Steelix moreso than Onix. Being free of crippling weaknesses helps.
 * Mighty Glacier: Its Attack isn't too bad either.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Steelix, when compared to Onix. It has two immunities (Poison and Electric), two neutral matchups (Ice and Grass), only four 2x weaknesses (Fire, Water, Ground and Fighting), and everything else not very effective, doubled Attack and tied for 2nd-highest Defense, and a larger and more varied move pool (Steelix's Speed drops from 70 to 30, though, but that also powers up its best STAB move, Gyro Ball). Special attacks are still painful, however. Steelix also gets the ability Sheer Force in Gen V, giving its moves that have secondary effects more power in exchange for removing the effects.
 * It can also relearn Thunder Fang and Ice Fang, which helps deal with Water and Ground Pokemon.

Drowzee and Hypno (Sleep and Sleeper)


Those who didn't have the luck or patience to capture Abra would have to settle for this Pokémon instead. These Pokémon love eating dreams and are willing to put anyone to sleep just to sample their dreams. Unfortunately, this habit made them earn a seedy reputation.


 * Adult Fear: Hypno likes to kidnap children and brainwash them with hypnosis [Insert pedophilia jokes here].
 * Hypno Pendulum: Hypno uses one.
 * Mighty Glacier
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: A rather strange example, Hypno is often passed up for Alakazam by appearances alone, except that among Psychic pokemon, it holds a rather dubious role of being one of the more well rounded pokemon in the game. Its stats are by no means bad and it is actually sturdy. This gives it a level of versatility without relying on pure power like Alakazam.
 * Psychic Powers
 * Standard Status Effects: Apart of the obvious hypnosis, they learn Poison Gas naturally for some unexplained reason.
 * You Have Researched Breathing: Their diet is made up of the dreams of other beings. The only way they can learn Dream Eater is by TM, and that is arguably the reason behind said move being a TM consistently across generations.
 * Youkai: They're based on the baku, spirits who devour dreams.

Krabby (Crab) and Kingler


Crab Pokémon that are bright red in color, these guys boast a respectable attack stat, although it couldn't really be utilized well by their typing until Gen IV. Other talents include slicing and walking sideways.


 * Divergent Character Evolution: Unlike most Expyed species, Kingler and Crawdaunt have steadily been made more dissimilar playwise (while keeping both equally viable) with future generations. Kingler has usable physical bulk, gained Agility (double speed) in Generation 4, and received the very nice Sheer Force ability (boost damage of moves with a chance of inflicting secondary effects by 33% but remove the effect chance) in Generation 5; Crawdaunt, on the other hand, has enough special attack to run mixed sets, gets Dragon Dance (raise speed and attack by 50% each) in Generation 4, and the very nice Adaptability ability (boost the bonus from using attacks of the same type as the user from 1.5 to double damage) in Generation 5.
 * Giant Enemy Crab
 * Left Claw Of Doom: An exaggeration of the real-life fiddler crab's oversized claw.
 * Making a Splash
 * Mighty Glacier
 * Signature Move: Crabhammer, no longer exclusive since Gen III.

Voltorb and Electrode (Biriridama and Marumine)


Pokémon that look like Poké Balls. Since their game sprites resemble item sprites, unsuspecting adventurers will get a nasty shock when they find that what they thought was an item is actually an angry Pokémon that's prone to exploding. It was once known as one of the fastest Pokémon in the game, and is still only surpassed by Deoxys, Ninjask, and Accelgor.


 * Action Bomb: They tend to explode at the slightest provocation.
 * Chest Monster
 * Fragile Speedster: The 4th fastest Pokemon overall (1st before Gen III brought in Ninjask and Deoxys), but sub-par other stats, save for decent Special Attack.
 * Squishy Wizard: With Electro Ball in play.
 * No Biological Sex
 * Shock and Awe
 * Signature Move: The most well-known users of Selfdestruct and Explosion, thanks to the anime, if only they had the attack power to back it up.
 * Wild Mass Guessing: About their origin, in-universe at that.

Exeggcute and Exeggutor (Tamatama and Nassy)


Exeggcute is a clutch of what appears to be six eggs with faces on them (actually plant seeds), each with distinctive expressions and cracks. Despite this, they all constitute as a single Pokémon, linked together by telepathy. They evolve together to form Exeggutor, a coconut tree with 3 heads, courtesy of the Leaf Stone.


 * Badass : In generation 1, its considered as the most annoying pokemon in the metagame, and actualy considered even better than Alakazam. That says something.
 * For Massive Damage: Bug-types will wreck it with 4x damage, but why stop there? It has six other weaknesses (Ice, Dark, Flying, Poison, Ghost, and Fire) and there are a lot of Pokemon out there that have these types (or know moves that are these types).
 * Kryptonite Is Everywhere: The family has 7 weaknesses in total, giving it the most weaknesses out of every Pokemon, not counting Celebi, which shares its typing. Though it somewhat averted this trope in Gen I, having only 5 weaknesses, with the Dark type not made yet and Psychics being immune to Ghost type attacks.
 * Green Thumb
 * Hive Mind: Six distinct seeds form an individual Exeggcute
 * Mighty Glacier: Exeggutor has a monstrous Special Attack stat (among Grass types, only Roserade matches it), but it's rather slow.
 * Lightning Bruiser: If it uses Sunny Day to activate Chlorophyll.
 * Multiple Head Case: Though how a group of six eggs only evolves into a three-headed coconut tree is rather puzzling.
 * Our Monsters Are Weird: Six egg-shaped seeds with random bruises, cracks and holes in them (plus faces on all six of them) which can turn into a giant pineapple-tree hybrid with three coconut heads (also with faces). And both of these forms have psychic powers. How it makes sense is beyond anyone's understanding.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: One of the most commonly used choices early on due to its resistance to Psychic and ability to abuse Leech Seed, plus a near-total lack of usable Bug attacks (the stray Jolteon with Pin Missile was the only real worry). Pretty much any Psychic or Grass type outclasses it now, with the Special split and the much wider movepools of Pokemon.
 * Psychic Powers: A half-dozen eggs (or egg-like seeds) and a coconut tree with psychic powers. What.
 * Signature Move: Barrage
 * Status Buff: Their Dream World ability "Harvest" effectively gives unlimited berries.
 * Youkai: May be based off of the Jinmenju, a supernatural tree that has human heads for fruit that constantly smile and laugh.

Cubone and Marowak (Karakara and Garagara)


These Pokémon resemble dinosaurs that wear skulls as helmets. In Cubone's case, the skull it wears is that of its dead mother, and the stains on it are the poor creature's tears as it cries for its long-gone mommy. This made sense back in Gen I when breeding didn't exist. Starting with Gen II and the introduction of breeding, the story has been called into question, since Cubone can be bred complete with the skull and with no ill effects on the mother, so it might be an urban legend. Either way, Marowak is still a badass. Especially when holding a Thick Club.


 * Bad with the Bone
 * Combat Pragmatist: Marowak is addressed as such (despite not being a Dark-type, as Dark-types didn't come until later and it wasn't retconned like Magnemite and Magneton were), being weak but using bones as weapons.
 * Dishing Out Dirt
 * Game Breaking Bug: Victim of one in Generation 2, where a max attack Marowak that used Swords Dance would hit the damage cap and wrap around to very low damage. The most common solution was to run a lower attack and take advantage of it to use Hidden Power Bug.
 * Mighty Glacier: Marowak's not too fast, but with a Thick Club, it can hit like a Mack truck.
 * Stone Wall: Without a Thick Club, Marowak's attacks aren't especially strong, and are surpassed by its (still only middle-of-the-road) defensive stats.
 * Glass Cannon: In competitive play, its very-low-for-a-defensive-Pokémon defense stats will not stop any Pokémon that is meant to attack from scoring a one-hit KO on Marowak.
 * Signature Move: Bone Club and Bonemerang. Also Bone Rush in Gen II, but no longer is exclusive to the family.
 * Skeletons in the Coat Closet: Cubone wears the skull of its dead mother.
 * Stock Femur Bone
 * The Woobie: Cubone because his mother is DEAD!
 * Took a Level in Badass: With the introduction of the Thick Club item, which doubles both Cubone and Marowak's Attack if held, putting them at having the highest Attack stat possible in the game, only trumped by Power Trick Shuckle (which isn't a reliable tactic anyway).
 * You Killed My Mother

Tyrogue, Hitmonlee, Hitmonchan, and Hitmontop (Balkie, Sawamular, Ebiwalar, and Kapoerer)
Tyrogue and Hitmontop debut in Gen II

In Gen I, when you defeated the Karate King in the Fighting Dojo, you were given a choice between two fighting Pokémon: Hitmonlee, who specializes in kicking attacks and Hitmonchan, who specializes in punching attacks. Both these Pokémon seemed to be related but didn't evolve into one another. That changed with Gen II when they introduced Tyrogue, a fighting type that didn't seem to specialize in anything—yet. It needed to be trained in a certain stat to evolve into Hitmonlee (higher attack), Hitmonchan (higher defense) or the new third member, Hitmontop, who specializes in spinning on its head (its attack and defense are even).


 * Bare-Fisted Monk: Hitmonchan is supposed to be the punching specialist, but moves like Mach Punch can be passed down to the other two via Tyrogue.
 * Dance Battler: Hitmontop is based on Capoeira.
 * Elemental Punch: Hitmonchan can learn all of the Elemental Punch attacks in the games...
 * Cool but Inefficient: ...but until Diamond and Pearl, they were tied to the wrong attack stat for Hitmonchan to use them well.
 * Everything's Better with Spinning/Spin to Deflect Stuff: Hitmontop.
 * Extremity Extremist: Hitmonchan mainly attacks with punches, Hitmonlee mainly attacks with kicks.
 * Hurricane Kick: Hitmonlee and Hitmontop both learn their own spinning kicks, though the former is more of a roundhouse.
 * Kick Chick: Gender Inverted.
 * No Mouth: Hitmonlee
 * One-Gender Race: Always male.
 * Red Boxing Gloves: Hitmonchan
 * Rubber Man: some adaptations indicate that Hitmonlee's legs can be this.
 * Sarashi: Tyrogue
 * Shout-Out Theme Naming: in both original and English, in fact. But, respectively...
 * Odd Name Out: Hitmonlee is Tadashi Sawamura/BruceLee, Hitmonchan is Hiroyuki Ebihara/JackieChan, and Hitmontop is...capoeira/a top.
 * Signature Move: Hitmonlee is the only Pokémon able to learn Mega Kick via level up, and was the only Pokémon able to learn Rolling Kick, Jump Kick and Hi Jump Kick in Gen I. Hitmonchan remains associated with Mega Punch (one of 3 Pokémon to learn it via level up), the elemental punches (only Pokémon able to learn all 3 in Gen I, and one out of 2 to learn each one) and Mach Punch (only one to be able to learn it in Gen II). Hitmontop gets Triple Kick.
 * Mega Kick, Mega Punch, and the Elemental Punches, however, were TMs or tutor moves, with a large number of Pokémon able to learn them.
 * Stealth Pun: Tyrogue evolves into Hitmontop when it has a balance of attack and defence. Hitmontop balances on its head.

Lickitung and Lickilicky (Beroringa and Berobelt)
Lickilicky debuts in Gen IV

Lickitung is a weird lizard-like Pokémon known for having a very long and sticky tongue, reminiscent of a chameleon or a skink. It had a pretty wide movepool, but it wasn't spectacular. It was never common (it was only available via an in-game trade back in Gen I) and it was largely ignored. However, in Gen IV, it gained a new evolution that had the stats to utilize its impressive movepool. It can learn Explosion, made more powerful via STAB.


 * Action Bomb: Lickilicky is often used for its absurdly strong Explosion. It can destroy anything that isn't a Rock, Steel, or Ghost type (and a few things that are,) but it makes Lickilicky faint.
 * Big Eater
 * Non-Elemental
 * Overly Long Tongue
 * Retcon: Lickitung became able to evolve into Lickilicky by leveling up while knowing Rollout, a move it could already learn in earlier generations.
 * You Have Researched Breathing: Lickitung could not learn Lick until Gen II

Koffing and Weezing (Dogars and Matadogas)


Koffing and Weezing are strange Pokémon with origins that are hard to pinpoint. It might be the anthromorphic personification of smog, or it might be a levitating Sea Mine. Either way, it's a very good defensive wall, with only a single weakness (once abilities came about in Gen III) and a high defense. It may be odd, but it's also the offical mascot of at least three Pokémon fansites, Smogon being one example.


 * Action Bomb
 * Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Though not exactly a "moron" unless you consider its role in the anime, you probably wouldn't guess at first that Weezing has a base stat total of 490, the same as Alakazam, Electabuzz and Kangaskhan, among other heavy hitters. It also has a larger movepool than you might expect too, including Shadow Ball, Flamethrower and Thunderbolt.
 * Deadly Gas
 * Early Installment Weirdness/Off-Model: In the Japanese Blue/international Red and Blue, Koffing's skull-and-crossbones marking is above its eyes. In every single other official depiction, it's below the mouth.
 * Floating Wasteland
 * Mighty Glacier: Fair offensive stats and great Defense, but pitiful Speed and HP.
 * Muck Monster: Like the Grimer family, they are animated waste, but not such a literal example.
 * Multiple Head Case: Weezing, although the two heads are conjoined. According to a few Pokédex profiles, there are occasionally three-headed Weezings.
 * Perpetual Frowner: Weezing.
 * Perpetual Smiler: Koffing.
 * Poisonous Pokémon
 * Signature Move: most commonly associated with Smog, and the only poison-types to learn it until Generation IV.

Rhyhorn, Rhydon, and Rhyperior (Sihorn, Sidon, and Dosidon)
Rhyperior debuts in Gen IV

Rhyhorn and Rhydon vaguely resemble rhinoceros or ceratopian dinosaurs. It's a great physical Pokémon, but its special stats and speed are rather lacking. Its nose horn may draw electrical attacks to it, but luckily, it's immune to the damage due to being a Ground-type (except for in the anime). Rhyperior is basically Rhydon on steroids; it's even chunkier then before, and it's now gained some armor in the form of orange rocks which reduce super-effective damage by a third.


 * Arm Cannon: Rhyperior.
 * Ascended Meme: Rhydon having the Lightningrod ability
 * Confusion Fu: While not as varied, due to its poor Special Attack stat, Rhyhorn and evolutions have an incredibly diverse movepool, and can use almost all of the elements in one form or another (Psychic can't be used at all).
 * Dishing Out Dirt
 * The Ditz: Rhyhorn is said to be so dumb that it has rocks for brains and can charge into a brick wall and not feel any pain until the next day.
 * For Massive Damage: Grass and water-type attacks. One of Rhyperior's abilities, Solid Rock, reduces damage from such attacks as well as several other weaknesses.
 * Mighty Glacier
 * Mythology Gag: Rhydon was the first Pokemon ever created, and appropriately its index number was 1 in Gen 1.
 * Won't Work On Me: Ground Type moves.
 * Rhino Rampage: Will charge straight ahead (no matter what—or who—is in its path) and only stop when it either hits a wall or forgets why it's charging in the first place.
 * Signature Move: Rock Wrecker for Rhyperior, although no longer exclusive as of Gen V.
 * This Is a Drill: Rhydon and Rhyperior are the Drill Pokémon, and have drill nose horns.

Happiny, Chansey, and Blissey (Pinpuku, Lucky, and Happinas)
Blissey debuts in Gen II, while Happiny debuts in Gen IV

Chansey is a much sought-after Pokémon. Catching it is literally all up to chance, as it's normally only found in the Safari Zone; an area of the game where you don't battle the Pokémon (thus making them very hard to capture) and the Pokémon can run away from you at any time. Once caught, though, it can prove to be one of the best special walls in the game. With access to a number of healing moves and the highest HP stat (and a fantastic special defense) of any Pokémon, it can last for quite a while... unless it has to deal with a Pokémon with strong physical attacks, at which point it's screwed eight ways to Sunday. Unlike Chansey or Blissey, Happiny is too young to lay its own eggs, so instead it carries an egg-shaped rock in its pouch in imitation of its evolved forms.


 * The Medic: Chanseys are used as nursing assistants in Pokemon centers (except in Unova, where Audino are used)
 * Metal Slime: Insanely rare, hard to catch, and prone to fleeing.
 * Bonus points for also having a small chance of holding a very desirable item.
 * Less rare in Sinnoh, but still not easy to find. Aside from that guy who gives you a free Happiny egg.
 * They weren't as rare in Gen I either, as in addition to appearing in the Safari Zone, they could also appear in the Cerulean Cave at an abnormally common rate (5% or 10% chance, depending on what floor you're on and the game). This was fixed in Fire Red/Leaf Green, where the only place to get a Chansey in that game (and indeed that entire gen, XD aside) was the Safari Zone.
 * Non-Elemental
 * Ridiculously Cute Critter: Happiny, full stop.
 * One-Gender Race: Always female.
 * Signature Move: Softboiled, outside of Generation III and Mew in Generation I.
 * Stone Wall: On the special side; the physical side, not so much.
 * More of a Mighty Glacier in Gen 1, due to the special stat not being split yet, meaning Chansey was as formidable an attacker as she was a wall. Really.
 * Unskilled but Strong: The evolutionary line has enough HP to make them broken (Blissey's HP can go the highest out of any stat of any pokemon!) but their attack and defense is SEVERELY lacking.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Thanks to the new Eviolite item, which boosts the Defense and Special Defense of Chansey only and not Blissey, Chansey replaces her evolution as one of the best special walls.

Tangela and Tangrowth (Monjara and Mojumbo)
Tangrowth debuts in Gen IV

Tangela was a pretty dull Pokémon back in Gen I; the only notable attribute was that it was a pure Grass type (all the others were dual-types, mostly Grass and Poison), but that wasn't anything to write home about. When Tangrowth was introduced in Gen IV, its usefulness jumped tendfold since it's a great physical wall, and capable of utilizing physical and special moves.


 * Green Thumb: Tangela is the only of the original 151 to be a pure Grass-type.
 * Healing Factor
 * The Mass of Vines that Walks
 * Mighty Glacier: Decent Attack (both physical and special) and Defense, but has crippling Special Defense and Speed...
 * Lightning Bruiser: ...but turns into this in sunny weather, thanks to one of its possible abilities.

Kangaskhan (Garura)


Another Safari Zone exclusive, Kangaskhan is supposed to be a kangaroo, but it also resembles a dinosaur. It's usually depicted with a baby in its pouch. Don't try and mess with the baby; if you do, it will kill you.


 * Action Mom
 * Mama Bear: See above warning about messing with its baby.
 * Boxing Kangaroo
 * Names to Run Away From Really Fast: Having one based off of Genghis Khan will do that.
 * Non-Elemental
 * One-Gender Race: Always female.
 * Signature Move: Dizzy Punch, until Crystal.

Horsea (Tattu), Seadra, and Kingdra
Kingdra debuts in Gen II

Based on seahorses, Horsea and Seadra were typical water types, although that isn't saying much since there are a lot of water types to choose from. Then Gen II came around and it gained an evolution in the form of Kingdra, and a new typing which leaves it with a big number of resistances. Dragon-type is the only type that can be super-effective, but this is risky since Kingdra is likely to pack Dragon-type moves itself.


 * Jack of All Stats: Kingdra's stats are well balanced and somewhat above average, and is the first Dragon-type to withstand their dreaded weakness; the only other mons that possess this kind of resistance are Legendaries. In fact, its only weakness is Dragon.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Face one with Swift Swim in the rain and you are plain boned. It gets worse in Generation 5, thanks to permanent rain being obtainable in OU. The fact that Water+Dragon is awesome STAB (resisted only by Shedinja, Empoleon, and Ferrothorn) helps.
 * Making a Splash
 * Our Dragons Are Different: Kingdra. Who, like the rest of its family, is a seahorse. And said rest of the family is identified as the Dragon Pokémon in the Pokédex.
 * Makes sense, because Kingdra is based off the Weedy Sea Dragon.
 * Perpetual Frowner: Seadra.
 * Seahorse Steed: technically, since they can be taught Surf.
 * Technicolor Eyes: Horsea and Kingdra.

Goldeen and Seaking (Tosakinto and Azumao)
These Pokémon are goldfish with horns on their heads, what else can be said about them, besides the fact that they naturally learn an HM move?


 * Blue Eyes: Goldeen.
 * Making a Splash
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: There are much better Water types around; in particular, the also-readily-available Gyarados outdoes them throughly.
 * Signature Move: Waterfall, in the first Generation.
 * Even to this day, Goldeen and Seaking are the only two Pokémon that can learn it by leveling up, putting them among the very, very few Pokémon that can learn HMs by such method, putting them alongside Salamence and Rayquaza (Fly), Volbeat (Flash), and Sawk (Rock Smash)
 * Took a Level in Badass: Got the improved Lightning Rod in the fifth gen, transforming one of its weaknesses into an immunity.

Staryu (Hitodeman) and Starmie


Staryu and Starmie are very unusual Pokémon. Unlike real starfish, which move by creeping along the bottom, Staryu and Starmie are best known for speeding around at high speeds like shuriken. They also have amazing healing powers, but don't have much in the way of a face, which is just a glowing red gem and the source of their power. Starmie is part psychic as well, and learns a variety of special-based attacks: Surf, Psychic, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, and you're good to go.


 * Badass: Starmie is one of the two Pokemon, along with Gengar, to have the distinction if being a high tier Pokemon for all five generations.
 * Cool but Inefficient: Starmie is way too fast to be able to make good use of Analytic, its Dream World ability (which boosts the power of moves if the user goes last.)
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: Starmie has another star attached to its back that is constantly spinning, which it uses to propel itself along. They also learn moves such as Rapid Spin.
 * The Faceless
 * Healing Factor: Can regenerate any part of its body as long as the core is intact, learns the move Recover, and can have the Natural Cure ability.
 * Jack of All Stats: While its base stats easily favor various Lightning Bruiser special-based builds, its absurdly broad movepool allow it to do nearly anything - even both agility-based (Minimize/Recover) and defense-based (Cosmic Power/Recover) Stone Wall builds. Its only real flaw is its comparatively low hit points, and the various Healing Factor moves handle that.
 * Lightning Bruiser
 * Making a Splash
 * It also commonly uses Ice Beam and, somehow, Thunderbolt, in addition to the usual Water and Psychic moves.
 * No Biological Sex: One of the only examples of a fully biological, non-legendary Pokemon to be this.
 * Power Crystal
 * Psychic Powers: Starmie.
 * Signature Move: Camouflage (Generation III only).
 * Starfish Aliens: Literally.
 * Supernatural Is Purple: Starmie.

Mime Jr. and Mr. Mime (Manene and Barrierd)
Mime Jr. debuts in Gen IV

Mr. Mime is a clown Pokémon with a talent for mimicking and miming, It is especially talented at creating transparent walls, which is very useful for repeling attacks. The English name Mr. Mime may imply that it's supposed to be male, but they can be either male or female. In the Gen I games, there was an NPC who was willing to trade their Mr. Mime for an Abra, and it was the only way to get it. In later generations it became more common, and it even received a baby with the name Mime Jr., going with the theme of having a title in their name. Just like its evolved form, it's good at mimicking people and Pokémon.


 * Ditto Fighter: to a certain extent, as Mime Jr. can learn Mimic (the requisite for its evolution into Mr. Mime), as expected from the Mime Pokémon.
 * Enemy Mime
 * Glass Cannon/Fragile Speedster: high Special and Speed stats to make up for low HP and mediocre physical defense. Its signature Filter ability slightly decreases its vulnerability, but not by much.
 * Monster Clown: When it's attacking you.
 * It Can Be Either Gender In Japan: The English localization turned Barrierd, a gender-neutral name, into Mr. Mime, implying a One-Gender Race, back when there wasn't gender data.
 * Perpetual Smiler: Mime Jr.
 * Psychic Powers
 * Signature Move: Barrier

Scyther and Scizor (Strike and Hassam)
Scizor debuts in Gen II

Savage mantis bug-types, Scyther and Scizor have a lot of fans, and for good reason. Scyther is a green person-sized Pokémon with a raptor-like head and scythes for arms. It's a pretty cool Pokémon, but it suffers a bit for being a Bug/Flying type. It later gained an evolved form in Scizor. It loses its dinosaur-like characteristics and its blinding speed, but it more then makes up for it in terms of attack, defenses, resistances, and moves.


 * Badass: In both forms!
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies: Person-sized ninja mantis-dinosaurs.
 * Blow You Away: Scyther
 * Divergent Character Evolution: With Pinsir. They started as direct counterparts as version exclusive Bug Pokémon that didn't suck, but then Scyther got an evolution, and Pinsir became part of a Japanese Beetle Brothers duo with Heracross. Still quite close, however.
 * Also applies inside the same species: Scyther is a Glass Cannon, while Scizor is a Mighty Glacier, and the former is a quite usable Pokémon even though it's unevolved (in fact, the stat total DOESN'T CHANGE upon evolution), so 2 identical Scythers will end up playing quite differently if one is evolved and the other is not.
 * Extra Ore Dinary: Scizor
 * For Massive Damage: Rock-type attacks to Scyther. Fire-type attacks to Scizor.
 * Scizor's Fire weakness arguably qualifies as Achilles' Heel, as that's the only type that does better than neutral damage to it.
 * Flight: Scyther (although it can't learn Fly). Scizor's ability to do so is subject of Flip-Flop of God.
 * Glass Cannon: Scyther. Unless playing against other unevolved Pokémon.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Scizor using Bullet Punch will feel like this. Scyther is this in Little Cup, as it is by far the strongest unevolved Pokémon.
 * Not just Bullet Punch,It can also use Agility too to boost its speed.
 * Mighty Glacier: Scizor.
 * Ninja: Scyther has a ninja-esque motif.
 * Ninja Pirate Zombie Robot: Both of them are person-sized ninja mantis-dinosaurs (and one's made of metal).
 * Samurai: Scizor fittingly has some samurai-ish traits.
 * Sinister Scythes As Hands: Moreso Scyther, though Scizor can count as well with its scissorhand pincers.
 * Took a Level in Badass: While these guys are plenty awesome on their own, they weren't exactly notable in the competitive scene. Along came Platinum, bringing Bullet Punch to their arsenal...

Smoochum and Jynx (Muchul and Rougela)
Smoochum debuts in Gen II

Lots of things can be said about Jynx. It's an Ice/Psychic Pokémon with poor attack and defense, but wonderful special stats and speed. It's got a lot in common with other human-shaped Pokémon. It's been compared to Mr. Mime (Both were only available in in-game trades and both are Psychic-types that look similar and have similar stat totals) and Magmar and Electabuzz (They form a Fire, Ice, and Lighting trio, and they all received babies in Gen II). Their kisses can confuse or put its target to sleep. Jynx became the subject of controversy for allegedly promoting racist Unfortunate Implications, so its black "skin" was changed to purple skin.


 * An Ice Person
 * Distaff Counterpart: To Mr. Mime (despite its sexual ratio), AND to Magmar and Electabuzz (despite them also being able to be females).
 * Innocent Fanservice Girl: Smoochum will kiss anything that grabs her interest.
 * One-Gender Race: Always female.
 * Psychic Powers
 * Retcon: Jynx's skin was changed from black to purple due to Unfortunate Implications, this is possibly why Smoochum was introduced.
 * Signature Move: Lovely Kiss for Jynx.
 * Supernatural Is Purple: After Jynx's skin was turned to purple.
 * Took a Level in Badass: It is commonly agreed that giving Jynx the ability Dry Skin heavily increased her usefulness in the metagame, both by taking advantage of the now much more common rain, and by allowing Jynx to not only shrug off Kyogre's best attack, Jynx actually heals itself when hit with it.
 * Youkai: Jynx is probably based on a combination of the Yama-Uba, A mountain crone/witch with dark skin and white hair (explaining it's unusual typing of psychic/ice), and Yamanba, a subculture named for it's resemblance to said crone. Of course, since this was a distinctly Japanese cultural reference, it didn't translate very well.

Elekid, Electabuzz (Eleboo), and Electivire (Elekible)
Elekid debuts in Gen II, while Electivire debuts in Gen IV

The Electabuzz family are yellow and black-striped Pokémon that have great control over electricity. If they have a basis though, they appear to be based on Oni of Japanese legend. Their best moves involve pummeling their opponents with electrified fists. They seem to be direct counterparts to the Magmar family.


 * Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: Elekid having a plug-like head, Electivire having a socket on its back and live-wire twin tails.
 * Everything's Better with Spinning: Elekid spin their arms around to charge up electricity.
 * Glass Cannon: Electabuzz has high Speed and offensive stats, but low defenses and HP.
 * Mighty Glacier: Electivire has even better Attack and higher Defense and HP, but much lower Speed...
 * Lightning Bruiser: Electivire in particular; its Speed is surprisingly good. It also has the Motor Drive ability which boosts its Speed when hit with an Electric attack, boosting its Speed stat even further.
 * Electivire can still count as a Lightning Bruiser - for such a bulky-looking Pokémon, it's surprisingly fast.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome : It has good stats, and nice movepool that covers a lot of type that you can hit many pokemon super effectively and a pretty nice ability. Sadly, its lacking speed to sweep effectively, and its ability is still a gamble, and it has no moves that is strong enough to deal high damage, so much that even its Super Effective coverage cant help.
 * Psycho Electro: Natures aside, this family is said to have less-than-friendly dispositions.
 * Shock and Awe
 * Tail Slap: Electrivire is said to use its twin tails in combat.

Magby, Magmar, and Magmortar (Booby, Boober, and Booburn)
Magby debuts in Gen II, while Magmortar debuts in IV

Despite being in the humanshape egg group, Magmar and its kin don't seem to look human-like at all, seemingly having more in common with duck-billed dinosaurs. They're nominally based on a bird(the booby) but are more like anthromorphic personifications of fire itself. They've usually appeared alongside the Electabuzz family.


 * Arm Cannon: Magmortar has two and retracts its claws before using them in some materials.
 * Incendiary Exponent
 * Jack of All Stats: Magmar has all around decent Attack, Spec. Attack and Speed, though not enough Speed to be a Glass Cannon like Electabuzz.
 * Mighty Glacier: As with Electivire, Magmortar has higher offense but worse Speed than Magmar.
 * Magma Man
 * Magmortar Is About To Shoot You: in the DP sprites.
 * Playing with Fire

Pinsir (Kailios)


A stag beetle with two oversized horns, which act much like pincers. It likes to crush things with them, and anything it can't crush, it tosses far away. This Pokémon is evil. It's the version counterpart to Scyther.


 * Always Someone Better: Ever since Heracross was introduced in Gen 2, Pinsir's been overshadowed by it since Heracross does nearly all of the same things, only better. See "Overshadowed by Awesome" below.
 * Big Creepy-Crawlies
 * Divergent Character Evolution: See Scyther.
 * Japanese Beetle Brothers: A Kuwagatamushi, Heracross being the Kabutomushi.
 * Mighty Glacier
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Heracross is pretty much Pinsir doing 50% more damage. Still, Pinsir is one of the best Bugs out there. Even after getting a level in badass thanks to getting Moxie from the Dream World, it doesn't make a difference, because Heracross also got it.
 * Wrestler in All of Us: Not a Fighting type, but learns more Fighting moves than Bug ones.

Tauros (Kentauros)


A Safari Zone exclusive in Red, Green, Blue, and Yellow. Due to how rare it is in the Safari Zone, he is usually the very last guy you needed to complete your Pokédex (unless Chansey was really living up to its name). It has a very good attack stat, but what's most surprising is its speed. This made it a top-tier Pokémon back in the color generation.


 * A Load of Bull
 * One-Gender Race: Always male. After all, they're bulls.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Fast, strong, has good defenses, only the Special Attack is lacking, and that is only after the special split. This guy, other than the overpowered Psychics, was the most used Pokémon in the Red/Blue metagame.
 * Non-Elemental
 * Spear Counterpart: To Miltank.
 * Unstoppable Rage: Tauros is one of the few Pokémon with the ability Anger Point. When it gets hit by a Critical Hit and survives, its attack gets quadrupled.

Magikarp (Koiking) and Gyarados


Magikarp is infamous for being completely useless, so many don't bother to use it. Many others do bother, though, because it evolves into Gyarados, one of the best Pokémon in existence. With an awesome Attack stat, Intimidate, powerful physical STAB, respectable speed, good Special Defense, and a solid movepool, Gyarados is perfectly capable of wrecking anything in its way.

"Yellow Version: "Famous for being very unreliable [...]" Gold Version: "An underpowered, pathetic Pokemon [...]" Ruby Version: "Magikarp is a pathetic excuse for a Pokémon that is only capable of flopping and splashing. This behavior prompted scientists to undertake research into it." FireRed Version: "[...] It is the most weak and pathetic Pokémon in the world." Diamond Version: "[...] No one knows why it has managed to survive.""
 * Achilles Heel: Has a double weakness to Electric.
 * Badass: Gyarados. Averted with Magikarp.
 * Blow You Away: Gyarados, In Name Only: The only Flying move it can learn is Bounce (also Flying In Name Only), and only thanks to Magikarp learning it through the Dream World.
 * Butt Monkey: Most Pokemon get very flattering dex entries, such as Pidgeot flying at Mach 2 and Magcargo's given body temperature being hotter than the surface of the sun. Meanwhile, here are some excerpts of Magikarp's dex entries:


 * Incidentally, Magikarp isn't the weakest Pokemon in terms of base stat totals or movepools, nor does it even place in the bottom five.
 * Com Mons: Fish in a body of water, and you'll find a Magikarp. (excepting Gen V, where it's Basculin) Became Egregious when in DPPt, any body of water that yielded Magikarp could also yield Gyarados if using a better rod. Including ponds smaller than it.
 * Exclusively Evil: Gyarados is pretty much pissed as soon as it evolves. When it's pissed, it destroys everything around it. It only stops being pissed when it's already destroyed everything around it. Go figure.
 * For Massive Damage: The only thing that stops Gyarados from being banned is its crippling weakness to electric attacks.
 * Flight: Averted. Although part Flying-type, Gyarados inconsistently is not able to do so.
 * In Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver, if you walk with a Gyarados on the cliff route before the Safari Zone, it will "fly through the air with grace!" as do all Flying types.
 * Foil: They gained one in the shape of the Feebas line.
 * Hair-Trigger Temper / Unstoppable Rage: Gyarados is easily enraged. When it gets enraged, it'll destroy entire cities and villages for a month, leaving nothing alive. Considering its Omnicidal Maniac status in the Pokédex entries.
 * Joke Character: Magikarp, of course, was intended to be as weak as possible before getting some Magikarp Power.
 * Lethal Joke Character: Though there's no reason to do so except to humiliate your opponent, with the proper set-up Magikarp can sweep a team of legendaries on its own.
 * Kaiju: Gyarados.
 * Legendary Carp: Double Subverted, Magikarp is by no means legendary, but when it evolves into Gyarados...
 * Lightning Bruiser: The only bad thing about Gyarados is its special attack, which hasn't been needed as of Generation IV.
 * Magikarp Power: Trope Namer, and played as straight as possible, leading to...
 * Disc One Nuke: Gyarados is one of the most used Pokémon in competitive play, and has seen far better times. In most of the main games in the series, it can be captured early in-game, and wreck anything that isn't electric. (And it wrecks anything that is electric, save for Zapdos, Rotom, Emolga, the Eelektross line, and Thundurus, if you teach it Earthquake. And those are covered if it has Ice Fang or Stone Edge. Hell, its phenomenal Attack may allow it to just wreck the Electric-types anyways if it gets to act before them, since most of them are Glass Cannons.)
 * Also, keep this in mind: Magikarp evolves into Gyarados 12 levels earlier than the earliest-evolving starter in Red/Blue. It has a stat total of 540, higher than ANY of that generation's starters-not to mention any starter in general.
 * Making a Splash
 * Omnicidal Maniac: Gyarados, once it is enraged from its Hair-Trigger Temper, will destroy everything in sight. Cities have been destroyed from a Gyarados' rage.
 * Our Dragons Are Different: Although not a Dragon-type per se, Gyarados is a sea serpent with aspects of a Chinese dragon, learns several Dragon-type moves by level-up and is in the Dragon egg group. Like Charizard, it's essentially a non-Dragon-type dragon.
 * It was apparently planned to be half-Dragon-Type, but the idea was scrapped because that would've given it no weaknesses due to the only Dragon-Type attack in R/B/Y being a Fixed Damage Attack. Thus Charizard & Gyarados were modified to be part-flying instead of part-dragon. A few traces remain of the original sub-types however, as Gyarados can learn way more Dragon type moves than Flying type moves (It couldn't learn ANY Flying moves originally, and even as of Gen 6, the only Flying type move Gyarados can learn is Bounce). As for Charizard, it couldn't even learn Fly in Red/Blue.
 * Red Eyes, Take Warning: Gyarados.
 * Shout-Out: Magikarp and Gyarados are a reference to a Chinese legend of a carp that leapt over "The Dragon's Gate" and became a dragon. The legend is an allegory of the hard work needed to overcome a difficult task (such as getting a Magikarp up to level 20 when it doesn't learn an actual attack until level 15).
 * Signature Move: Splash is strongly associated with Magikarp, who was the only Pokémon able to learn it in Gen I.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Not that Gyarados needed one, but it gets Moxie as an ability from the Dream World. Cue its enemies soiling themselves.
 * He got a level in badass before then, with the physical/special split in Gen IV. Physical Waterfall and Aqua Tail gave him two good STAB moves. The addition of Stone Edge, physical Outrage, and Dragon Dance truly made him a beast.
 * And of course the obvious example of Magikarp turning INTO Gyarados in the first place.

Lapras (Laplace)


A gentle plesiosaur that ferries people and other Pokémon on its back, it is sadly endangered due to overhunting. In fact, only one was available in the original games, given to you by a grateful worker in Silph Co.; later games have seen it become a little more common. One is available every Friday in Gold, Silver and Crystal and their remakes.


 * An Ice Person: And has a warm personality, as well.
 * Endangered Species
 * Making a Splash
 * One-Hit Kill: Can learn 3 out of the four attacks.
 * Stock Ness Monster: Lapras's original name was even "Ness".
 * Unique Enemy: Well, only one every week in Gold/Silver and their remakes, but still counts.
 * Metal Slime: In the games it appears as a standard Pokémon, and it has less than a 5% chance of appearing.

Ditto (Metamon)


Ditto is a pink-purple blob creature with not much of a shape or form to speak of... what can it do? "What can't it do?" is the question that should be asked. It has the ability to transform into any other Pokémon and use all of their moves just as effectively as the real thing. It's also amazing at bypassing all the complications of breeding. With a Ditto's help, nearly anything can be bred to produce another of that Pokémon. The only things it can't breed with are almost all legendaries, baby Pokémon... and itself (since Gen III)... and Nidorina and Nidoqueen, for strange reasons.


 * Anything That Moves: It breeds with male, female, and even genderless Pokémon to make eggs.
 * Blob Monster
 * Ditto Fighter: Trope Namer.
 * No Biological Sex
 * Non-Elemental: In its base form. It takes on the elemental attributes of whatever it transforms into.
 * Screw Yourself: Likely invokes this during breeding.
 * Signature Move: Transform, as it is the only move it learns, and the whole concept behind it. Mew also learns it, however.
 * Team Mom and/or Team Dad: Is quite likely to be one or even both of these literally.
 * Took a Level in Badass: It gets the ability Imposter from the Dream World, which makes it automatically transform into its opponent, without wasting a turn. It went from battle gimmick and egg maker to the ultimate check to any sweeper.
 * Not to mention it copies every one of their stats except Hit Points.
 * Unstable Genetic Code
 * Voluntary Shapeshifter

Eevee, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Espeon, Umbreon, Leafeon, and Glaceon (Eievui, Showers, Thunders, Booster, Eifie, Blacky, Leafia, and Glacia)
Espeon and Umbreon debut in Gen II, while Leafeon and Glaceon debut in Gen IV

Eevee is unique in the Pokémon world as the only Pokémon with seven possible evolutions, though it started with three. Eevee and all of its evolutions are designed with a very cute, basic sort of appeal and remain fan-favorites.


 * Ascended Fanon: The fan nickname "Eeveelution", used in Pokémon Ranger.
 * Competitive Balance
 * Fragile Speedster: Jolteon
 * Glass Cannon: Espeon
 * Lightning Bruiser: Leafeon
 * Mighty Glacier: Vaporeon, Flareon, and Glaceon.
 * Stone Wall: Umbreon
 * Elemental Powers: They each have one type, all different ones.
 * An Ice Person: Glaceon
 * Casting a Shadow: Umbreon
 * Green Thumb: Leafeon
 * Making a Splash: Vaporeon
 * Playing with Fire: Flareon
 * Psychic Powers: Espeon
 * Shock and Awe: Jolteon
 * Feed It with Fire/Elemental Absorption: Flareon's ability makes it immune to Fire attacks and powers its own while Jolteon and Vaporeon get healed from Electric and Water attacks respectively.
 * Invisibility: Vaporeon is able to camouflage in water.
 * Lucky Seven
 * Power Trio: In Generation I.
 * Five-Man Band: In Pokemon XD, and in Pokemon Rumble (although only on the tickets).
 * Moon Rabbit: Umbreon is based on the legend about it.
 * Non-Elemental: Eevee itself is not only a Normal type, but has one of the least diverse movepools of said type.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: All 7 Eeveelutions suffer from some of this, due to their awkward movepools and stat distribution. Vaporeon suffers the least from that, while Flareon's lack of a decent physical movepool has become a Running Gag for the fandom.
 * In Generation V, Espeon also avoids this thanks to its Dream World ability, Magic Bounce, which automatically reflects non-damaging attacks back at their users, and is only shared by Xatu.
 * Jolteon too to an extent. It's been OU in every generation except the first (although in Gen V this was mostly due to Thundurus' banning).
 * Poor Predictable Rock: An underlying problem for all of these Pokemon, who are all hindered by having utterly pathetic movepools. Even the newly improved Espeon is used more for support than anything else.
 * Signature Move: Morning Sun for Espeon and Moonlight for Umbreon (both attacks are HP restoring moves), but no longer exclusive as of Gen III.
 * Also, Pin Missile for Jolteon in Gen I, mostly due to it being in competitive movesets to counteract Psychic types.
 * Theme Naming: All the evolution names end in -eon. In fact, Eevee's original English name was even going to be Eon.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Espeon as of Generation V (due to its Dream World ability). How does it feel to be the overshadowed one now, Alakazam?
 * Tron Lines: Umbreon. It's especially evident in the Pokémon Stadium series.
 * Unstable Genetic Code
 * Youkai: Espeon is based on a nekomata.

Porygon, Porygon2, and Porygon-Z
Porygon2 debuts in Gen II, while Porygon-Z debuts in Gen IV

Porygon is an artificial Pokémon created by SilphCo. As such, it can be upgraded to its Porygon2 model, which was created for space exploration, but became able to learn. Porygon2 itself can further be "upgraded" to Porygon-Z, a model created for interdimensional travel, though a glitch in its program allowed it to gain emotions. Unfortunately, neither upgrade succeeded in their intended purposes. This line is especially notable for being banned from the anime due to the Porygon-centric episode Dennō Senshi Porygon in which flashing lights from an explosion (caused by Pikachu, not Porygon) caused viewers (most of which were children) to have seizures. As a result, the episode is banned in a lot of countries (including its home country of Japan) and Porygon and its line are rarely mentioned in the anime series (except in the Pokerap at the end of season one's episodes).


 * Artificial Pokémon
 * Copy Protection: In-universe example, it is stated in the Emerald Dex to be why it can't be duplicated. Not that it manages to stop anything using Transform from copying it, Not to mention that the only way to breed one is with a Ditto and not with its own species.
 * Ironic, in that Emerald is the game where Pokémon Cloning is more easily done. That includes the Porygons.
 * Game Mod: In-universe. Porygon2 is stated to be an upgrade by the developer, but Porygon-Z is clearly an unauthorized hack that increases power but causes huge graphical glitches.
 * Glass Cannon: Porygon-Z, whose defenses are lower than Porygon2's while being more powerful.
 * Fire, Ice, Lightning: All three are of the few Pokemon that learn Tri Attack.
 * Jack of All Stats: Porygon2
 * No Biological Sex
 * Non-Elemental
 * Raymanian Limbs: Porygon-Z's head.
 * Retcon: It was the first manmade Pokémon created on purpose until Generation V added Golett and Golurk (two man-made robot-like golems possessed by ghosts and created to protect ancient villages from outside danger).
 * Ridiculously Pokémon-like Computer Program
 * The Scapegoat: Poor Porygon wasn't even the one who caused the seizures on that infamous Pokemon episode; it was Pikachu's lightning blowing up rockets.
 * Because of this, the entire Porygon family suffers from Ret-Gone in the anime to this day.
 * Signature Move: Conversion, Conversion 2, and, until Generation V, Sharpen. Porygon-Z is also the only Pokémon able to naturally learn Trick Room.
 * Took a Level in Badass: Porygon2 is the strongest Pokémon able to evolve (and unlike its closest competitor Scyther, its stat total increases upon doing so). With the Eviolite introduced in Gen V, it turns Porygon2 into one of the bulkiest Pokémon in the game with a decent Special Attack. While Porygon-Z is a Glass Cannon, Porygon2 turns into a Mighty Glacier.
 * Useless Useful Spell: Conversion and Conversion2 allows it to change its own typing, allowing it to get STAB or gain resistance against anything, but usually takes too much effort to set up to be useful.
 * Virtual Ghost
 * Wave Motion Gun: Due to being given evolutions within different generations, all of them can learn Hyper Beam, but Porygon-Z is one of the few that can use it at its full potential.

Omanyte and Omastar (Omnite and Omstar)


A previously extinct Pokémon and its evolution. They have seen a revival in the modern day thanks to fossil restoring technology. Since the fossil that allows Omanytes restoration is exclusive from the one which allows the restoration of Kabuto and their overall similarities they are often considered Foils to each other.


 * Badass: Despite its unfortunate typing, it still has the highest Special Attack of all non-legendary Water Pokémon, and the highest Special Attack of all Rock-types.
 * Combat Breakdown: Literally, it can have Weak Armor as its ability.
 * Dishing Out Dirt
 * Everything's Squishier with Cephalopods
 * Fossil Revival
 * Making a Splash
 * For Massive Damage: By grass-type attacks.
 * Prehistoric Monster

Kabuto and Kabutops


Another previously extinct Pokémon and its evolution, they have seen a revival in the modern day thanks to fossil restoring technology. Since the fossil that allows Kabuto's restoration is exclusive from the one which allows the restoration of Omanyte, and they have many overall similarities, they are often considered Foils to each other.


 * Combat Breakdown: Has Weak Armor as its Dream World ability.
 * Dishing Out Dirt
 * Making a Splash
 * For Massive Damage: By grass-type attacks, same as the Omanyte line.
 * Fossil Revival
 * Fragile Speedster: Kabutops, in rain.
 * Glass Ninja: "Kabutops used Swords Dance!"
 * Giant Enemy Horseshoe Crab
 * Prehistoric Monster
 * Samurai
 * Sinister Scythes As Hands

Aerodactyl (Ptera)


Yet another previously Extinct Pokémon, Aerodactyl is a Flying Pterosaur/Dragon/Wyvern with a Rock typing, rather then a Water-Rock Invertebrate. Unlike nearly every other Rock type of this generation (and most later ones), it's extremely fast, once one of the fastest.


 * Blow You Away
 * Boring but Practical: Despite it having potential as an offensive Pokémon, Aerodactyl rose to OU mostly to set Stealth Rock up and prevent the opponent from doing so.
 * Dishing Out Dirt
 * Fire, Ice, Lightning: Naturally learns all the elemental Fang attacks, as of Gen IV.
 * Flight
 * Fossil Revival
 * Glass Cannon: It has the highest speed stats out of every Rock-type Pokémon, and it's also a powerful attacker.
 * Name's the Same: Aside from the fact that Aerodactyl's French and German names are the same as its Japanese and English names respectively, both Aerodactyl and Jigglypuff are called "PUD" in Pokémon Vietnamese Crystal.
 * Prehistoric Monster
 * Pterosaurs Are Dragons: It can learn various Dragon-type attacks. Also, Lance owns one.
 * Stock Dinosaurs: Technically not a dinosaur, but still...
 * Ptero-Soarer. Thank you, you can all go home now.
 * Useless Useful Spell: It gets Rock Head (prevent recoil damage) as an ability, but the only move it learns that gets recoil damage is Take Down (and Double-Edge via generation 3 tutor). This is in spite of the presence of Brave Bird and Head Smash, two moves of its type that have recoil.

Munchlax and Snorlax (Gonbe and Kabigon)
Munchlax debuts in Gen IV

Snorlax is a large, gluttonous and lazy Pokémon, and because of that combination it tends to be responsible for the Broken Bridges in the games by falling asleep in the middle of roads. Of course this may have been a good thing since said solving said Broken Bridges gave the chance to catch one for yourself. Got a Pre-evolution in Generation IV in the not quite as large but still gluttonous and lazy Muchlax, who was notably harder to catch since it could only be encountered via Honey Slathering.


 * Acquired Poison Immunity: one of their abilities is Immunity, owing to their tendency to try to eat anything that's edible.
 * Badass Normal : Its been OU in four generations, and its considered as the best pokemon in generation 2 even when compared to most Ubers Legendary. That says something.
 * Big Eater
 * Implacable Mon: nothing can stand in the way of a Snorlax's appetite; the only way for it to stop is when it's time to sleep.
 * Early-Bird Cameo: Munchlax appeared in Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness before the Gen IV games came out.
 * And Pokémon Mystery Dungeon.
 * Eyes Always Shut: Snorlax
 * Gentle Giant: Snorlax has shades of this...
 * Berserk Button: ...as long as you don't interrupt its nap.
 * Heavy Sleeper
 * Item Caddy: Munchlax
 * Keet: Munchlax, in stark contrast to when it evolves.
 * Mighty Glacier: Has very good HP, defensive stats (especially Special Defense), and Attack, but is one of the slowest Pokémon out there.
 * Using Curse forms the popular Curselax set, making it even more mighty but slower. The set is known for dominating generation 2.
 * Non-Elemental
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: Snorlax is a solid Pokémon, that's true, but the 4th and 5th gens introduced very heavy hitters that both made Blissey the only 100% reliable special wall, AND grabbed Snorlax's place as a heavy hitter.
 * Psychic Powers: They can be taught Psychic and Zen Headbutt. (The former uses more Psychic power)
 * Stout Strength
 * Unique Enemy: There are 2 in Red/Blue and one in Gold/Silver, all three blocking routes. That's all the wild Snorlax you'll find in the wild so far.
 * Metal Slime: And Munchlax is the only Pokémon in the franchise to be harder to find than Feebas, and involves at least 6 hours of just waiting. Most people got Munchlax by breeding one of the Snorlax from FireRed or LeafGreen.

Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres (Freezer, Thunder, and Fire)


A trio of Birds who are the very first legendary Pokémon to appear in the series, they represent Ice, Lightning, and Fire, respectively, and are considered to have a strong connection to Lugia.


 * Big Badass Birds Of Prey
 * Blow You Away
 * The Corruption: Shadow Chill (Articuno), Shadow Bolt (Zapdos), and Shadow Fire (Moltres). Just too much for Greevil to pass up.
 * Disc One Nuke: Zapdos can be captured with 3 badges, and will utterly decimate anything it comes across. But you'll probably have five or six badges without Sequence Breaking.
 * Dub Name Change: Along with the lake trio, the only legendaries to change name in different languages, probably because of...
 * Exactly What It Says on the Tin: Their rather boring Japanese names: Freezer, Thunder, and Fire. Guess which bird has each name.
 * Awesome McCoolname: They get named after Odin, Thor, and Ra (respectively) in French.
 * Fire, Ice, Lightning: They even provide the page image.
 * Flight
 * For Massive Damage: Articuno and Moltres die if they get hit with a pebble. Stealth Rock being widespread and chipping away half of its health is what keeps Moltres out of the standard competitive scene.
 * Hellfire: Leave your Water, Rock, and Ground Pokémon at home; Shadow Fire burns them all the same.
 * An Ice Person: Articuno.
 * Infinity-1 Sword
 * Lightning Bruiser: All 3 of them have quite high all around stats.
 * No Biological Sex
 * Numerical Theme Naming
 * Olympus Mons: The first examples.
 * The Phoenix: Moltres, in a different myth.
 * Playing with Fire: Moltres.
 * Shock and Awe: Zapdos.
 * Signature Move: Moltres' Sky Attack, but only in Generation I.
 * Stone Wall: Articuno, due to an odd handling of the Special split.
 * A Worldwide Punomenon: In the original [Japanese] version, Shadow Pokémon are called Dark Pokémon (the type is called Evil), the birds are called Freezer, Thunder, and Fire, and the attacks are Dark Freeze, Dark Thunder, and Dark Fire. Dark THUNDER used DARK THUNDER.
 * You Are Number Six: Articuno, Zapdos, Moltres (Spanish equivalents for the numbers one, two, and three).
 * Naturally, this led to people thinking Missingno was a forgotten legendary.

Dratini, Dragonair, and Dragonite (Miniryu, Hakuryu, and Kairyu)


A group of serpentine dragons, and the original dragon Pokémon, period. Dragonite is notable for having the highest Attack stat in Generation I.


 * Acrofatic: Dragonite is quite chubby, but isn't the slowest dragon around and learns ExtremeSpeed.
 * Badass Adorable: Dragonite.
 * Blow You Away: Dragonite. It even learns Hurricane.
 * Boss in Mook Clothing: Pokémon Black and White has a location where there is a very small chance of fishing up one. Wild Dragonite Appeared!
 * Confusion Fu : Thanks to its rather high defense and high offensive stats combined with absurd movepool, Dragonite is a subject of this in the competitive metagame, in a much more bigger extent than its counterparts(with the exception of Tyranitar, who is just as versatile).
 * Evolution Gives You Wings
 * Flight: Dragonite. Dragonair too, in their Fire Red Pokédex entry and in Pokémon adaptations.
 * The First Of These Is Not Like The Others: Dragonite is pretty much the only pseudo-legendary that isn't supposed to be some sort of savage predatory beast.
 * The Last of These Is Not Like the Others: Dragonite's more traditional dragon design differs a lot from the more serpentine look of its pre-evolutions, although its body is still serpentine; it's just hard to notice that because of the limbs and how wide it is in proportion to its length.
 * Gameplay and Story Segregation: Dragonair is said to be able change the weather at will, yet it needs to be taught the weather-changing moves via TM.
 * Gentle Giant: Dragonite is both one of the strongest Pokémon and one of the nicest...
 * Beware the Nice Ones: ...however, DON'T make them angry; their strongest move is called Outrage for a reason.
 * Instant Awesome, Just Add Dragons: The only Dragon-types in the first generation.
 * Infinity+1 Element: Dragon is just an awesome type, except for ...
 * For Massive Damage: Ice kills Dragonite. (But at least it takes it better than Salamence).
 * Jack of All Stats: Out of the pseudo-legendaries, Dragonite has the most balanced stats, and has one of the largest array of moves out of any Pokémon.
 * Mighty Glacier: The preferred way to use it, however is to take advantage of its bulk and reliable healing moves (Roost and the XD originating Heal Bell), and Dream World ability in generation 5 (Multiscale, reduces damage by half if at full HP, not compatible with Heal Bell), as a straight physical attacker is an inferior Salamence and a straight special attacker is now an inferior Hydreigon.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Or abuse one of the few unique moves of value, ExtremeSpeed.
 * Mercury's Wings: Dragonair has these wings on it's head.
 * Name's the Same: Both Machamp and Dragonite are called "GUAIL" in the infamous Pokémon Vietnamese Crystal.
 * Our Dragons Are Different
 * Took a Level in Badass: If you got a Dragonite from the Dream World, it will have the ability Multiscale, which halves the damage it takes if it's at full HP. This is much better than Inner Focus.

Mewtwo


Possibly the best-known legendary and the definitive "evil" Pokémon, Mewtwo was cloned from Mew to be the most powerful of all Pokémon. While it's now tied with several others, it does come very, very close. Even if not truly evil (and less so in the Anime, from where it goes from Woobie, Destroyer of Worlds to Type III Anti-Hero), it is stated to be the least compassionate Pokémon in existence, with its single objective being defeating its opponents. Also a huge fan favourite.

"Dr. Fuji: We dreamed of creating the world's strongest Pokémon...and we succeeded."
 * Artificial Human: Has some human material mixed into its genes in a few continuities, and mostly behaves like one, also leading to...
 * Person of Mass Destruction
 * Badass: The only Pokemon stronger than it is basically GOD. And this is after it got nerfed.
 * Blood Knight
 * Bragging Rights Reward: Mewtwo in the original RBY was this for anyone who only played single-player (or with friends who banned it), as there is literally nothing left to do in-game after catching Mewtwo.
 * Unless you decided to use it in the Pokémon Stadium games or trade it over to the Generation II games.
 * Breakout Character: Like Pikachu, Charizard and (formerly) Jigglypuff, it's commonly regarded as one of the "staple" characters of the franchise due to its popularity and significance.
 * Cats Are Mean: It is stated to be the most savage and evil pokemon, though no explicit mention is made of its cat-like appearance
 * Subverted in the anime. Mewtwo is highly aggressive and is absolutely ruthless in battle to the point where it utterly lacks compassion while fighting. However, it simply wishes to be left in peace and protects its fellow clone Pokemon from harm.
 * Dark and Troubled Past: Was created by scientists in an attempt to create the ultimate Pokémon... and they succeeded. Mewtwo was enraged, and destroyed the facility before hiding in the Cerulean Cave.
 * Death Glare: Its glare is said to strike fear into its enemy.
 * Depending on the Writer: In the games Mewtwo is a simple Blood Knight while in the movies he started out as an Anti-Villain before his Heel Face Turn into an Anti-Hero who looks after his clone Pokemon.
 * Deus Ex Homine: Originated as "merely" a clone of the original Pokémon. Nowadays, it's even stronger than the avatars of land, sea, and balance, while equal to the avatars of the sky, time, space, and anti-matter as well as the embodiments of yin and yang. It's even in sight of the creator of the universe.
 * And the beings it resembles the most power-wise are the draconic bird that can make humongous 40-day storms by flapping its wings ONCE, and the immortal phoenix able to bring the dead back to life. Both of those are worshiped as gods.
 * Divergent Character Evolution: In the first Gen, Mewtwo and Mew were the ultimate Pokémon (the former stronger than the latter anyway), and pretty much packed together, but each getting a somewhat different treatment. In the second gen, Lugia, Ho-Oh and Celebi were introduced; the first 2 got the treatment Mewtwo usually got, while Celebi got paired with Mew, and there was no exclusive treatment for Mewtwo and Mew that did not include the newer legendaries. Nowadays, Mewtwo will get the same treatment as the different legendary version mascots, while Mew gets lumped with newer event Pokémon that have the same balanced stats; the only things they seem to have in common is that they are Psychic Pokémon banned in the Battle Tower that learn Aura Sphere by level up. Until Gen V, where Mewtwo gets his own signature move and now has even more of a reason to be banned.
 * Expy: The original ultimate Pokémon looks quite a bit like Giegue, and also resembles Freeza.
 * For Science!: In the games, Blaine, Fuji, and the rest of the scientists had no real reason to create Mewtwo.
 * Gone Horribly Right: It even provides the page quote. Or, rather, the scientist who led the project that resulted in Mewtwo's creation does:


 * Infinity+1 Sword
 * In Name Only: Mewtwo isn't related to mythology. It might have a few Urban Legends floating around about it.
 * Jigsaw Puzzle Plot: The exact details about its backstory in the game are quite vague, with hints being scattered here and there throughout the generations.
 * Lack of Empathy: It's said to have the most savage heart among Pokémon, having no compassion and only thinking of defeating its foes.
 * Leitmotif: It doesn't have one per se, but is strongly associated with the Kanto wild Pokémon music, down to getting remixes of it.
 * Lightning Bruiser: Its weak point are its defenses. They are on par with those of the starters labeled as Mighty Glaciers. (They have been nerfed a bit since Gen I...)
 * Glass Cannon: Compared to other Pokémon that fit that criteria, Mewtwo ends up as being somewhat like this, with his defenses being its weak point. Although its bulky enough to run a defensive set and having the right move to do the job.
 * No Biological Sex: Since it's a clone of Mew, which also has no defined sex either. It's treated as male
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse: Only slightly taller than the average human, but short (or even minuscule) compared to other Pokémon of its power rank.
 * Power-Up Letdown: The super secret Dream World ability for this incredibly powerful Pokémon? It prevents opponents from eating berries. That's it.
 * Psychic Powers
 * Punny Name: Well, not exactly punny, but the fact that it sounds quite similar to "mutant" managed to stop English-savvy Japanese from looking for a certain "Mew One" until GameFreak started the rumors. That included Nintendo itself.
 * Purple Eyes
 * Purple Is Powerful
 * Purposefully Overpowered: And it still remains as such AFTER its type got Nerfed. The games actively limit its use in the Battle Tower, most cups in 3D fighters, most official tournaments, and random Wifi.
 * Real Genderless Yet Masculine Legendaries Are Pale Lavender
 * Shout-Out: This picture sums it up...
 * Signature Move: Psystrike, introduced in Generation V, much to the fans' delight: It's a Special attack... which deals Physical damage. Now the very thing it feared most (special walls, AKA Blissey) will flee on sight instead of laughing in its face or forcing Mewtwo to detonate.
 * Most of Mewtwo's Purposefully Overpowered brethren have higher special defense than physical defense, making Psystrike a very powerful move even against opponents who don't use Blissey.
 * Single Specimen Species: The scientists at Cinnabar'll probably won't be making any more of these.
 * Urban Legend of Zelda: There was an infamous rumor back in the Red/Blue/Yellow days that you could evolve Mewtwo into "Mewthree" by smashing the rocks (A move which would not even exist until later generations) and picking up a non-existant item.
 * Another rumor was that Mewtwo could learn a move called "Tombstone" which would One Hit KO any Pokemon instantly. Such a move does not exist.
 * You Are Number Six

Mew


Mew is Pokémon #151. It set a trend which would later be followed by Celebi, Jirachi, and others as a rare and cute-looking Legendary Pokémon that was unable to be obtained outside of promotional events. Though its stats might be lacking compared to other Legendary Pokémon, it's notable in that it is compatible with every single TM. As its name might suggest, it's related to Mewtwo; indeed, Mewtwo was cloned from its DNA, though the games seem to imply that this was done through Mew giving birth (just like real-life cloning procedures), while the anime implies that Mewtwo's DNA was extracted directly from Mew's hair and grown independently.


 * Blue Eyes
 * Innocent Blue Eyes: Given its nature.
 * Confusion Fu: With stats that favor no one skillset and the ability to learn every TM and HM, good luck predicting its moves.
 * Cute Bruiser: It looks like a cross between a cat and a jerboa. Above average stats in everything, can learn very nearly everything, and via Metronome can certainly use everything.
 * Badass Adorable: Isn't it just the most adorable thing ever?!?
 * Cats Are Mean: Subverted as well. In the first movie, Mew's reasoning for fighting Mewtwo was because it felt clones were inferior to natural-born Pokemon. However, its feelings towards clones were more misguided than downright malevolent.
 * Likewise, Mew is shown to have a rather playful and child-like personality compared to Mewtwo's more agressive nature.
 * Disc One Nuke: Know the glitch? You can get it before beating Misty. Have fun wiping the floor with everyone in your way.
 * You can even get a second one by the time you reach Celadon City if you know the glitch well enough.
 * Divergent Character Evolution
 * Cute Kitten: Or rather what appears to be a mix between a kitten, a jerboa, and a fetus.
 * Fantastic Racism: In the subbed version of the first movie, it thinks clones are inferior.
 * Fetus Terrible: Kind of-it's primarily based off a fetus, and while not evil it's certainly powerful and dangerous to its enemies.
 * Fountain of Expies: Celibi, Jirachi, Shaymin, Manaphy, and Victini.
 * Infinity+1 Sword: You cannot get it during normal gameplay.
 * Good Bad Bugs: But you can exploit a bug to get one in the first gen games.
 * Killer Rabbit
 * Lightning Bruiser: Its stats are equal, but high.
 * Jack of All Trades: Can learn everything, has good stats for anything. Versatility, thy name is Mew.
 * Mythology Gag: Mew is said to be the ancestor of all Pokémon, and it happens to be the first one whose trademark was registered.
 * No Biological Sex: Though one Mew is described as giving birth, implying that it's either truly asexual/hermaphroditic (reproducing asexually) or female. And it's voiced by Koichi Yamadera in the anime (though his performance does sound convincingly like a small, cute pink creature).
 * Olympus Mons: The ancestor of all Pokémon.
 * Overshadowed by Awesome: In the Uber tier (and OU in Generation V), there are things so much better at offense or defense, that Mew's role is pretty much Min-Maxing and passing large stat boosts to something stronger. And now it's fallen to under used. How the mighty have fallen...
 * Pint-Sized Powerhouse
 * Psychic Powers
 * Purposefully Overpowered: Like its clone above, it has its use restricted in the Battle Tower, most cups and tournaments, and random Wi-fi.
 * Voluntary Shapeshifter: Can learn Transform.

Missingno. and 'M


The most popular and well known "glitch" Pokémon. To encounter it, the player must talk to the Old Man in Viridian City and watch his Pokémon-catching demonstration. Because of limited memory space and the need to display a name other than the players the player's name ("OLD MAN"), the player's name is temporarily held in the memory slot where wild Pokémon encounter rates are held. Normally this isn't an issue (the data is loaded, then overwritten when the player enters a new area, while the current area has no places to encounter wild Pokémon), but flying to Cinnabar Island means it is not overwritten and is read as encounter data.

The resulting gobbledegook has three types of encounters: Pokémon from whatever normal encounter zone you were just in, Pokémon over level 100, and this guy. An encounter with Missingno. causes the item in the sixth slot to gain 128 copies. Comes in several different forms, with two main variants: Missingno. and "(glitchy block)'M(glitchy block)", or M-Block/'M for short.

They're Bird/Normal types (not Flying/Normal), but as "bird" lacks programed weaknesses/resistances, Missingno. is functionally a normal type except when dealing with the "Move Zero" and "Cool T" glitch attacks.


 * Department of Redundancy Department: When first caught, 'M knows Sky Attack, Water Gun, and Water Gun.
 * Dummied Out: Its "Bird" type. Interestingly, a lot of NPCs refer to Flying as "Bird", which is even kept in the remakes.
 * Maybe Bird was the original name of Flying types?
 * Eldritch Abomination: They'd definitely be this to the character, and are described as much in many fan-work.
 * Did You Just Punch Out Cthulhu?: Missingno and M Block, strong as they are, have very low defense. Lovecraftian as they are, they aren't that hard to beat.
 * Game Breaking Bug: Some of its effects on the game. Missingno. is fairly harmless; the worst effect it's likely to have is corrupting hall of fame data or breaking things if you're stupid enough to duplicate a key item. 'M can cause far worse effects if you catch it and store it in the PC.
 * Good Bad Bug: On the other hand, who can resist the temptation of 128 Master Balls? Especially when the same glitch allows normal encounters with Safari Zone Pokémon?
 * If you catch a level 0 M' (keep a space open in your party first...or else) and give it a Rare Candy, it evolves into Kangaskhan, meaning you can get a Kangaskhan with Sky Attack. First of all, it's pure hilarity to see the big brute using a flying attack. Second of all, she can crush Fighting-type Pokemon with it.
 * Glass Cannon: The most common variation has 136 attack, with 33/0/6 defenses. Sadly lacks the attacks (only the powerful, but unwieldy Sky Attack) and speed (29) to abuse it.
 * Making a Splash: 'M knows Water Gun twice.
 * The Missingno: Trope Namer.
 * No Biological Sex: Or more like "Gender Unknown"...
 * The Unpronounceable: M-Block's ingame name.
 * Urban Legend of Zelda