The 15 Scariest Pokemon & the Ones Nobody Meant to Be Scary

Most Pokemon are friendly partners you catch and train. Some of them drink blood and bring nightmares.

Here are the 15 scariest Pokemon:

The 15 Scariest Pokemon

#15

Mr. Mime

Mr. Mime's behavior reminds one of pantomime, and it creates invisible walls with a force emitted from its fingertips.

Mr. Mime has a Galarian form that appears to be based on tap dancers and ice skaters, with soles that resemble tap shoes, blue spots like earmuffs, and fingers like mittens. The original's round body is reminiscent of a snowman. It is the Barrier Pokemon, 1.3 m tall and 54.5 kg.

#14

Mewtwo

Mewtwo was made by gene splicing, and its size and disposition are vastly different from Mew's.

Mewtwo is the Genetic Pokemon, and its design has traits of a domestic cat, a grey alien and a salamander. It is a legendary Pokemon, 2 m tall and 122 kg.

#13

Hypno

Hypno will try to put you to sleep with its pendulum, so avoid eye contact.

Hypno may be based on a tapir and a hypnotist, and the baku, a dream-eating spirit of Japanese mythology, may be another source. Its behavior resembles that of fairies, goblins and bogeymen in European folklore. It is the Hypnosis Pokemon, 1.6 m tall and 75.6 kg.

#12

Haunter

Haunter is a frightful, malevolent spirit, and victims of its lick are rumored to wither to death day by day.

Haunter shares many traits with the akaguchi, a yokai with a wide mouth and a big tongue. Its vampiric licking may come from the akaname, or from the Dila, a Philippine spirit that licked the life energy of sick people until they died. Its Poison type and extremely light weight may come from the fuyurei, floating spirits said to spread diseases. It is 1.6 m tall and weighs 0.1 kg.

#11

Ditto

Ditto can change into other beings, which is reminiscent of changelings, doppelgangers and skin-walkers.

Ditto was first imagined as a smiley face, and its eyes and mouth are exactly like the emoticon ":)". When it meets another Ditto, it moves faster than normal to duplicate that opponent exactly. It is the Transform Pokemon, 0.3 m tall and 4 kg.

#10

Jynx

Jynx's signature move Lovely Kiss is called Demon's Kiss in Japanese.

Jynx may come from the Yuki-onna, the Japanese snow spirits that have no feet, like Jynx's feet covered by its dress, or from the Yama-uba, a yokai in a tattered kimono who lives on cold mountaintops. The Valkyries, warrior-maidens who gathered the souls of those slain in battle, may be another source. Galar Jynx often have beautiful and delicate voices. It is 1.4 m tall and weighs 40.6 kg.

Banette

Banette is a doll that sprang into being from resentment at being cast off, and it sticks pins into its own body the way a voodoo doll is used.

Banette is based on a haunted doll. Its triangular horn resembles the headband sometimes worn by yurei, Japanese ghosts, or corpses. It has the hidden ability Cursed Body, which can disable a move that hits it. It stands 1.1 m tall and weighs 12.5 kg.

Garchomp

Garchomp has a feral disposition, and utmost caution is required if one meets a Garchomp in the wild.

Garchomp combines traits of dinosaur monsters, wyverns, aircraft and sharks. It may also be based on theropod dinosaurs, particularly Carcharodontosaurus, whose teeth are often compared to a great white shark's, and its aircraft traits allude to the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, a fighter plane nicknamed the desert shark. Mega Garchomp's skull-like head and scythe-like arms may be based on the Grim Reaper. It is the Mach Pokemon, 1.9 m tall and 95 kg.

Golbat

Golbat sinks its fangs into other creatures and slurps up their blood, and the fangs are hollow like straws.

Golbat is based on a bat, particularly a vampire bat that bites other animals to feed on their blood. Its Poison type may refer to the anticoagulant in vampire bat saliva or to the way bats are known to spread diseases such as rabies. Its gaping mouth could be a caricature of mythological vampires. It stands 1.6 m tall and weighs 55 kg.

Mew

Mew's earliest design looked like a vertebrate embryo with a large head and a small body.

Mew was designed after Mewtwo, according to its designer Shigeki Morimoto, and it was made simpler than Mewtwo to take up less space on the cartridge. Its short, fine, delicate hair can be seen when it is viewed through a microscope. It is the New Species Pokemon and a mythical Pokemon, 0.4 m tall and 4 kg.

Darkrai

Darkrai brings nightmares. On a moonless night, villagers suffered nightmares and attested that Darkrai appeared in them.

Darkrai shares traits with the nocnitsa of Slavic folklore, an evil spirit that torments children with nightmares and slowly drains their life energy. Its look has several distinct depictions, among them disheveled white hair, a body made of shadows and no legs. It is a mythical Pokemon, 1.5 m tall and 50.5 kg.

Gyarados

Gyarados is suspected to be the dragon of ancient texts that razed an entire village with white-hot beams from its maw.

Gyarados is based on a Chinese dragon and a koinobori, a carp-shaped streamer. It follows the Chinese tale of a carp that swims up a waterfall and becomes a dragon, which fits the effort it takes to evolve a Magikarp. Its design also draws on sea monsters from medieval maps, and one of its early English names, Skulkraken, referred to the kraken. It is the Atrocious Pokemon, 6.5 m tall and 235 kg.

Pikachu

Pikachu stores electricity in its cheek sacs and roasts tough berries with an electric shock before eating them.

Pikachu got its yellow coloring and lightning-bolt tail to express its electric type and make that type easy to recognize. It is the Mouse Pokemon, evolves from Pichu, stands 0.4 m tall and weighs 6 kg.

Giratina

Giratina has six wings that may be based on a scorpion's stinger or spider legs, and it is imagined to be the deep shadow that a powerful light creates in one Hisuian verse.

Giratina may also draw on the Leviathan and the ancient serpent. Its Ghost type may match the types of its counterparts, because Palkia is part Water and Dialga is part Steel, which makes the three a set of gas, liquid and solid. It is a legendary Pokemon, 4.5 m tall and 750 kg.

Gengar

Gengar possesses potential victims' shadows to steal their lives, and if your shadow begins to laugh you should take hold of a protective charm.

Gengar may be based on an ikiryo, a living person's spirit that leaves the body, in particular the doppelganger-like ones caused by a paranormal illness called shadow sickness. Its horns, large teeth and dark nature also resemble an oni mask, and its wide grin and ability to vanish resemble the Cheshire Cat. It is the Shadow Pokemon, 1.5 m tall and 40.5 kg.

Scary on Purpose and by Accident

Seven of the 15 are dangerous to people. Gengar steals shadows, Haunter's lick withers its victims, Golbat drinks blood, Gyarados razed a village, Darkrai brings nightmares, Hypno puts people to sleep and Garchomp is feral.

Pikachu, Mew, Ditto, Mewtwo, Jynx and Mr. Mime are not described as a danger to anyone.

Scariest Pokemon FAQ

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