The 15 Weirdest Pokemon & Why They Only Get Weirder When They Evolve

Most Pokemon look like an animal you know. Some are a mix of a snake and a bee, or an octopus built like a tank.

Here are the 15 weirdest Pokemon:

Weirdest Pokemon

#15

Lickitung

Lickitung wields its long tongue deftly, as though it were an arm, and its saliva can be boiled down into a strong adhesive.

Lickitung may be based on lungless salamanders, some of which have projectile tongues, or on lizards with long extending tongues like chameleons. It could also draw on the Akaname, a Japanese yokai (a monster from folklore) with a gigantic tongue that licks filth out of bathhouses. (Cleaning a bathhouse with your tongue is a job we would turn down.) It is the Licking Pokemon, stands 1.2 m tall and weighs 65.5 kg.

#14

Dunsparce

Dunsparce combines bee and snake features, and its nests are mazes of tunnels that it never gets lost in, because it can tell where it is by the scent of the dirt.

Dunsparce is based on the Tsuchinoko, a snake-like cryptid (an animal people claim exists without proof) from Japan. Its design may be a pun on another name for the cryptid, bee snake. Its closed eyes and drill-like tail may come from blind snakes. It is the Land Snake Pokemon, 1.5 m tall and 14 kg.

#13

Wobbuffet

Wobbuffet lives in the darkness to keep its pitch-black tail hidden, and it is never first to attack.

Wobbuffet may be based on a punching bag, since it bounces back when it is hit, or on a roly-poly toy, a toy that stands back upright when pushed over. It may also be based on the Japanese comedian Sanpei Hayashiya, who was famous for touching his hand to his forehead while saying his trademark line. It stands 1.3 m tall and weighs 28.5 kg.

#12

Magmar

Magmar was born from the crater of a volcano and bathes in lava to heal its body, much as one would soak in a hot spring.

Magmar seems to combine a booby or duck with the mythical fire salamander, while its tail and the spikes on its back resemble those of an iguana. It is possibly based on the Karura, a birdlike, fire-breathing creature from Japanese Hindu-Buddhist mythology, and its face may come from Hyottoko masks, which show a man blowing fire through a bamboo pipe. It is the Spitfire Pokemon, 1.3 m tall and 44.5 kg.

#11

Mr. Mime

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

Mr. Mime is based on a mime artist, specifically the act of pretending to be trapped in invisible boxes. Its bright colors recall a clown and a court jester, and the blue growths on its head resemble a fool's cap. Its curled feet also look like modern pictures of elves, which may explain why it became part Fairy in Generation VI. It evolves from Mime Jr., stands 1.3 m tall and weighs 54.5 kg.

#10

Spiritomb

Spiritomb lays curses by thinking wicked thoughts.

Spiritomb may be based on a Jibakurei, a spirit bound to a single place, or on a Norwegian folklore spirit that hauls a boundary stone around as punishment for moving one. The 108 spirits inside it may refer to a Buddhist tradition in Japan in which a bell is rung 108 times on New Year's Eve to chase away 108 temptations. It is the Forbidden Pokemon, stands 1 m tall and weighs 108 kg, the same number as the spirits inside it.

Ditto

When it meets another Ditto, it moves faster than normal to duplicate that opponent exactly.

Ditto was originally based on the smiley face, according to developers Junichi Masuda and Ken Sugimori. Its eyes and mouth are exactly like the emoticon ":)". It also resembles an amoeba, a single-celled organism with no definite shape, which may explain why Ditto cannot be produced through breeding. It is the Transform Pokemon, 0.3 m tall and 4 kg.

Bidoof

Bidoof has an unsophisticated face, is rarely flustered by anything, and has been known to saunter into villages and gnaw on the houses without a single care.

Bidoof is based on a beaver or a gopher. It is particularly similar to the mountain beaver, a primitive relative of beavers that lacks a tail. (We had to look up the mountain beaver too.) It is the Plump Mouse Pokemon, 0.5 m tall and 20 kg.

Nosepass

The people of Hisui learned that the red nose of Nosepass always points north and relied on it greatly when traveling afar.

Nosepass is based on the Moai statues of Easter Island and on a compass, which makes it the Compass Pokemon. Its nasal compass may refer to the expression follow one's nose, or it may be a pun on the English words nose and north. It stands 1 m tall and weighs 97 kg. Probopass is its evolved form, and it keeps the statue face and adds the mustache.

Feebas

Feebas is a shabby and ugly Pokemon that is still very hardy and can survive on little water.

Feebas is based on a bass, possibly the largemouth bass, and it also resembles the marine hatchetfish. Its change into Milotic may be inspired by The Ugly Duckling, a fairy tale in which a small, feeble cygnet is treated as an outcast until it grows into a swan. It is 0.6 m tall and weighs 7.4 kg.

Deoxys

Deoxys emerged from a virus that came from space, is highly intelligent and shoots lasers from the crystalline organ on its chest.

Deoxys draws on aliens and on the double helix of DNA. It also resembles a chromosome, which fits its ability to duplicate itself the way a chromosome does during cell division. It is a mythical Pokemon, and it is 1.7 m tall and 60.8 kg.

Purugly

Purugly is impudent and difficult to tame but popular for its fur, the beauty of which surpasses even velveteen.

Purugly may be based on an overweight tabby cat and a stereotypical ugly woman, or on the nekomata, a cat yokai from Japanese folklore. The way it binds its stomach with its tail is similar to a corset, and its crescent-shaped head may allude to the night life of cats. It is the Tiger Cat Pokemon, 1 m tall and 43.8 kg.

Octillery

The anatomical difference between Octillery and Remoraid is so drastic that for a long time no one believed the former evolved from the latter.

Octillery is based on an octopus, with some basis on a tank or a wheeled cannon. It and Remoraid share the trait of being based on aquatic animals with suction cups. Octillery is 0.9 m tall and weighs 28.5 kg.

Jynx

Jynx is likely based on gyaru, a Japanese street fashion of fake tan and bleached hair.

Game Freak's headquarters was close to Shibuya 109, a gathering place for gyaru in the 1980s and 1990s. Its earliest known design is in a biographical manga about Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokemon. Galar Jynx often have beautiful and delicate voices. It is the Human Shape Pokemon, evolves from Smoochum, and stands 1.4 m tall and weighs 40.6 kg.

Probopass

Probopass controls the iron sand that forms its luscious mustache and uses it to form hard stones.

Probopass is based on the moai statues of Easter Island and a compass magnet, with iron filings attached to it to form its mustache. Its red hat may be based on the pukao that once sat on many moai. Its open eyes may refer to the white coral eyes that important moai originally had. It evolves from Nosepass, stands 1.4 m tall and weighs 340 kg.

Evolution Adds the Weird Part

Probopass keeps the statue face of Nosepass and adds a mustache. Octillery looks so unlike Remoraid that for a long time no one believed it evolved from it, and Jynx evolves from Smoochum.

Weirdest Pokemon FAQ

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