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32 Pokemon Facts More Fun Than a Bidoof

By:: Cracked Writers; Brian C. Miller

October 26, 2023

32 Pokemon Facts More Fun Than a Bidoof

We love a Bidoof. After all, what better Pokemon to load up with HMs to get through the games’ various roadblocks? We’re just saying that these facts are more fun. For example, did you know that Mawile is a Futakuchi Onna. In Japanese folklore, these are cursed women that turn into supernatural creatures with a second mouth on the back of their head, covered by hairlike tentacles. More on that and many other Pokemon facts below…

32

VOLTORB IS A TSUKUMOGAMI GRAGKED.COM Some tools and other inanimate objects in Japanese folklore may acquire a spirit if enough time has passed, becoming a tsukumogami, or tool kami. In the games, Voltorb is said to have a connection to the introduction of Poké Balls, and if it were a tool kami that would mean it couldn't exist before the devices were invented. — Source: 16 Pokémon We Didn’t Know Had Mythical Origins

31

MAWILE IS A FUTAKUCHI ONNA GRACKED.COM The Futakuchi Onna are cursed women that have turned into supernatural creatures with a second mouth on the back of their head, covered by hair-like tentacles. In folklore, this can happen when the spirit of a deceased child possesses their step-mother, who starved them in favor of their biological children, to consume the food they were denied in life. — Source: 16 Pokémon We Didn’t Know Had Mythical Origins

30

FROSLASS IS A YUKI-ONNA YOKAI GRAGKED.COM As a ghost, Froslass has some dark Pokédex entries, and an even darker inspiration. The legend of the yuki-onna yokai, which Froslass comes from, tells of ghostly women who make their home on the snowy mountaintops, known for stealing children and feeding on their life-force. — Source: 16 Pokémon We Didn’t Know Had Mythical Origins

29

LICKITUNG IS AN AKANAME GRACKED.COM With its acidic saliva, the akaname, or filth licker, tongue-massages dirty bathrooms clean, making sure to slop over every grimey corner. It's said to have been invented as a story to incentivize children to keep a tidy bathroom, assumedly because a tedious chore is nothing compared to a visit from the toilet demon. — Source: 16 Pokémon We Didn’t Know Had Mythical Origins

28

RAICHU IS A RAIJŪ CRACKED.COM The Raijū, or thunder beast, is a legendary creature in Japanese mythology. Though their bodies are made of lightning, they take the form of a variety of woodland mammals like rabbits and badgers. They might also curl up for a nap in your bellybutton if you sleep outside during bad weather. — Source: 16 Pokémon We Didn’t Know Had Mythical Origins

27

BEHIND-THE-SCENES SFACTS CUBONE'S FIRST INTRODUCTION WAS EVEN SADDER. CRACKED.COM Cubone has one of the more depressing backstories, often depicted wailing and alone, with the skull of its dead mother worn like a mask. This was more apparent with its original name Orphon, basically leaving nothing to the imagination. — Source: 16 Facts About Pokémon Red & Blue

26

BEHIND-THE-SCENESFACTS THE DRAGON TYPE WAS SEVERELY UNDERPOWERED. CRACKED.COM Despite characters remarking on their fearsome strength, the Dragon type was only given one offensive move, Dragon Rage, which could only do a set amount of damage-a paltry 40 HP. — Source: 16 Facts About Pokémon Red & Blue

25

BEHIND-THE-SCENESPACTS THE SERIES WAS INSPIRED BY BUG COLLECTING. GRACKED.COM As a child, Pokémon's creator Satoshi Tajiri was so enamored by bug collecting he wanted to become an entomologist, before ultimately finding his love of video games. The idea behind the Pokémon games is a marriage of these two loves. — Source: 16 Facts About Pokémon Red & Blue

24

BEHIND-THE-SCENES SFACTS THE FLYING TYPE WAS GOING TO BE MUCH MORE SPECIFIC. GRACKED.COM During development, Bird type was meant to be attributed to airborne Pokémon, but was later changed to Flying. You can still see this in the game's code, with the glitch character Missingno. being part Bird and part Normal. — Source: 16 Facts About Pokémon Red & Blue

23

BEHIND-THE-SCENESPACTS PARAS' ORIGINAL NAME WAS A LOT DARKER. CRACKED.COM Paras, and its evolution Parasect, are based on insects that have been infected by a fungus called Massospora, which eventually take over their brains and motor functions. Early promotional material for the game gives Paras a name in direct response to this relationship: Parasyte. — Source: 16 Facts About Pokémon Red & Blue

22

SLOWASENEDS THE SMART AI ACTUALLY HANDICAPPED NPCS. DRAGONITE :L62 HP: ING NIDOKING L47 47 HP: 82/159 159 Enemy DRAGONITE used AGILITY ORAGKED.COM Computer controlled trainers prioritize Super Effective moves over all others, even if they do not deal damage. This would often result in these trainers spamming non-damaging moves while you safely chipped away at their health. — Source: 16 Facts About Pokémon Red & Blue

21

THE PSYCHIC TYPE WAS CODED WRONG. ALAKAZAM :43 HP: TAUROS :L40 TYPE 2: NORMAL 126/126 20/20 GRACKED.COM Due to an oversight in Red and Blue's code, Psychic was immune to Ghost instead of being weak to it. This just helped Psychic types become overpowered in a generation where the only thing they were weak to was Bug, which had few, if any, good moves. — Source: 16 Facts About Pokémon Red & Blue

20

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS PIKACHU'S RARITY WAS DUE TO ITS DESIGNER'S FAVORITISM. 7 () - GRACKED.COM Atsuko Nishida, Pokémon designer, revealed it was her feeling of not wanting to let other people have Pikachu that led to its random encounters in Viridian Forest to be a mere 5%. — Source: 16 Facts About Pokémon Red & Blue

19

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS BLASTOISE WAS NOT ORIGINALLY THE EVOLUTION OF WARTORTLE. GRACKED.COM There was a more Wartortle-y design for Squirtles' final evolution, and even a baby Blastoise further down the Pokédex. At some point these two ideas were merged and Totartle and baby Blastoise were scrapped. — Source: 16 Facts About Pokémon Red & Blue

18

LUDICOLO IS A KAPPA CRACKED.COM A semi-aquatic imp, the kappa is most known for the dish-like basin on their heads that collect water. Taking the water out of their basins results in harming and weakening the kappa. The Pokémon Ludicolo is a large, amphibious creature with a basin on its head, which it uses in-battle to fill with water during rain to restore health. — Source: 16 Pokémon We Didn’t Know Had Mythical Origins

17

SNORUNT IS A YUKINKO GRACKED.COM Snorunt is an ice type Pokémon shown shivering under what appears to be a straw cloak. In Japanese mythology, the yukinko are the children of Yuki-onna, wearing a traditional straw coat made into a cone shape, that appear when it snows. — Source: 16 Pokémon We Didn’t Know Had Mythical Origins

16

DROWZEE IS A BAKU KH GRAGKED.COM Said to have been cobbled together with leftover pieces of animals made by the gods, the baku is a mythical chimera that devours the nightmares of children. Like the baku, Drowzee uses the Dream Eater move to restore itself from sleeping opponents. — Source: 16 Pokémon We Didn’t Know Had Mythical Origins

15

SLOWKING IS A SAZAE-ONI GRAGKED COM The Sazae-Oni, or shellfish ogre, is a transitory stage of the turban snail when they reach 30 years of age, gaining the ability to shapeshift. As an alternate evolution to Slowpoke, Slowking goes through a tremendous metamorphosis, with the Shelder attached to his head unlocking his psychic potential. — Source: 16 Pokémon We Didn’t Know Had Mythical Origins

14

MISDREAVUS IS A NUKEKUBI CRACKED.COM Mit The nukekubi are shrieking, floating heads in Japanese mythology, usually from a woman that was publicly shamed. The legend states that if you are inflicted with the nukekubi curse, your head will detach in the night and fly off in search of blood. — Source: 16 Pokémon We Didn’t Know Had Mythical Origins

13

JYNX IS A YAMA-UBA GRACKED.COM Another mountain dwelling, people-eating demon, the Yama-uba are crones that live alone and try to lure hapless travelers to their cabins, where the people-eating occurs. Although Jynx doesn't look like it would be able to lure anyone anywhere, the rhythm by which it shakes its hips is stated to be so alluring that people are compelled to sashay along with it. — Source: 16 Pokémon We Didn’t Know Had Mythical Origins

12

NINETAILS IS A KITSUNE CRACKED COM In Japanese folklore, kitsune are foxes with many tails, which are the source of their power. When a kitsune gets its ninth tail, its fur turns white or gold. They are also shapeshifters, being able to take the form of a human after 100 years. — Source: 16 Pokémon We Didn’t Know Had Mythical Origins

11

BEHIND-THE-SCENES SFACTS YOU COULD CUT YOUR CHANCE OF A CRITICAL HIT INSTEAD OF BOOSTING IT. GRACKED.COM The move Focus Energy and the item Dire Hit are intended to quadruple the critical hit rate, but they will quarter the chance instead. — Source: 16 Facts About Pokémon Red & Blue

10

BEHIND-THE-SCENES SFACTS YOU COULD FIT ALL THE GAME DEVELOPERS INTO A MINIVAN. Ken Sugimori Junichi Masuda Koji Nishino art director composer planner Shigeki Morimoto Tetsuya Watanabe GRACKED.COM programmer programmer It took 6 years with a team of only 8 to bring the original game to life. By comparison, it took 100 individuals to make Let's Go: Pikachu & Eevee, an updated retelling of the first generation of games for the Nintendo Switch. — Source: 16 Facts About Pokémon Red & Blue

9

BEHIND-THE-SCENESPACTS MEW WAS ADDED TO THE GAME'S CODE AT THE VERY LAST MINUTE AS A PRANK. MEW I :L7 HP: 32/ 31 STATUS/OK No. 151 ATTACK TYPE1 2 O PSYCHIC GRACKED.COM DEFENSE After the debug features were removed for launch it freed up 300 bytes of code, just enough to slip in a Pokémon that was inaccessible by normal means. — Source: 16 Facts About Pokémon Red & Blue

8

BEHIND-THE-SCENESFACTS YOU CAN BYPASS THE NEED FOR THE SILPH SCOPE ENTIRELY. It departed to the afterlife GRAGKED.COM Without a Silph Scope to identify the ghost of Marowak at the top of Pokémon Tower, players shouldn't be able to rescue Mr. Fuji and progress through the game. By utilizing a Poké Doll against the restless spirit, the player is able to skip the battle entirely, and continue on. — Source: 16 Facts About Pokémon Red & Blue

7

BEHIND-THE-SCENESPACTS THE FIRST POKÉMON DESIGNED WAS RHYDON. GRACKED.COM Although far from the game's mascot or even a particularly popular Pokémon, the powerful Ground/Rock type was the first to be created, when Pokémon were going to be visually more dinosaur-like. — Source: 16 Facts About Pokémon Red & Blue

6

BEHIND-THE-SCENES FACTS THERE WAS (ALMOST) NO SUCH THING AS 100% ACCURACY. :L9 HP: MANKEY :L9 HP: 10/ 29 MANKEY's attack missed! CRACKED.COM There is a 1 in 256 chance to miss any move, even if they have perfect accuracy. The only exceptions were for moves that didn't check for accuracy, such as Swift and Bide. — Source: 16 Facts About Pokémon Red & Blue

5

BEHIND-THE-SCENES SFACTS THE OLD MAN THAT BLOCKS YOUR PATH IN VIRIDIAN CITY IS ACTUALLY A DRUNK. -h...... Mmn... My head hurts... GRACKED.COM Looks like I was pretty drunk! In the original Japanese release of Pokémon Green, the NPC that stops you from progressing until you deliver Professor Oak's package tells you he was pretty drunk and that his head hurts. When the game was localized for English audiences, this was changed to an old man needing his morning coffee. — Source: 16 Facts About Pokémon Red & Blue

4

MEOWTH IS A MANEKI-NEKO GRAGKED.COM The beckoning cat, maneki-neko, is a good luck figurine that is often placed at the entrance of an establishment. Like with most of Meowth's official artwork and sprites, the maneki-neko is depicted with one paw raised. The good fortune that maneki-neko are said to provide is illustrated to great effect with Meowth's signature move, Pay Day. — Source: 16 Pokémon We Didn’t Know Had Mythical Origins

3

EXEGGUTOR IS A JINMENSHI GRACKED COM The coconut-like heads of the Exeggutor are similar to the jinmenshi, which are fruit that resemble smiling, human heads. The legend states that when the fruit laughs too much, they fall. Maybe the human qualities of the fruit contribute to the psychic typing of Exeggutor's line. — Source: 16 Pokémon We Didn’t Know Had Mythical Origins

2

SNEASEL IS A KAMAITACHI GRACKED.COM Sickle clawed, dust-devil riding weasels called kamaitachi are said to be the work of an evil god, delivering swift but painless wounds with their sharpened appendages. Looking at Sneasel, it's not hard to see the connection, as they are known for their speed and slashing abilities. — Source: 16 Pokémon We Didn’t Know Had Mythical Origins

1

WHISCASH IS NAMAZU GRACKED.COM The giant, subterranean catfish Namazu is said to live under the islands of Japan, guarded by a god. When the god lets down his guard, Namazu thrashes around and causes earthquakes. Whiscash has a similar legend in the games, being known to cause massive tremors when they go on a rampage. — Source: 16 Pokémon We Didn’t Know Had Mythical Origins

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