Since the series’ debut, many have wondered what the weirdest Pokémon is. In the distant past, in 1996, Pokémon was created by Satoshi Tajiri as an amalgamation of the words Pocket Monster. Originally conceived as the games Pokémon Red and Green in Japan and Red and Blue internationally, the first generation of catchable friend substitutes contained 150 different varieties of strange new beasts. Learning about their different types, abilities, strengths, and weaknesses consumed countless childhoods and still does now, almost 30 years later.3
To keep the franchise feeling fresh after all this time, new Pokémon have been introduced steadily, meaning there are now nine generations of monsters and over 1000 different creatures to impose Stockholm Syndrome on. Along the way, the designs have taken some, let’s say, massively weird turns and created some absolute abominations as the well of inspiration runs drier and drier. So, for your reading enjoyment, here are some freaks; presenting the weirdest Pokémon, listed in no particular order!
Klefki
Let’s begin with a long-derided design choice: a set of car keys you lost on a night out at 22. Klefki is a dual Steel/Fairy type that serves no purpose other than to be mocked.
It doesn’t evolve or have any particularly good moves, and this is its Pokedex entry: “Klefki, the Key Ring Pokémon. Klefki loves to collect keys and will confront opponents with a fierce jingle of their collection.” Nothing has instilled fear like the terrifying death jingle of some keys. In reality, Klefki is best used as a teething aid for small children.
Gholdengo
In the most recent Generation 9 influx of new monsters, it was fairly notable that there were considerably fewer goofy little dudes. However, Game Freak countered this by creating the worst-looking Pokémon of all time in Gholdengo.
Beginning as Gimmighoul, rightfully dubbed the Reddit Pokémon by fans, Gholdengo is the evolved form of the treasure chest Pokémon that requires 999 Gimmighoul coins for evolution. Unfortunately, not only is his evolution a complete disappointment after spending all that time looking for coins, but he looks like Fido Dido from the old 7-Up commercials got “Crowned” a la Viserys in Game of Thrones.
Sableye
This little weirdo comes from Gen 3 and is not only weird but also terrifying. A double whammy of unpleasantness, Sableye has horrible, blank gemstone eyes and a red gemstone instead of a belly button like a wishing troll from the 90s. In its Pokedex entry from Moon, it’s described as “… feared. When its gemstone eyes begin to glow with a sinister shine, it’s believed that Sableye will steal people’s spirits away.”
Sableye moves in a twitchy, staccato way, jittering and juddering in place as its glinting dead eyes stare through you. I imagine it sounds like the ghost from The Grudge. A tweaking nightmare, Sableye ranks highly on the creepiest and weirdest Pokémon rankings.
Blacephalon
I love Blacephalon. This brightly colored Ultra Beast from Generation 7 and the Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon games, this towering clown-like creature is most notable for getting into what was essentially a dance-off with the other Ultra Beasts in an episode of the anime. Long and spindly limbs extend from a twig-like body, atop which is perched a dot matrix head that makes no sense.
This disco Pennywise also has a horrible Pokedex entry: “It slithers toward people. Then, without warning, it triggers the explosion of its own head. It’s apparently one kind of Ultra Beast.” That’s right, this children’s entertainer gone rogue sneaks up on people and blows up his head.
Arctozolt
Take a look at Arctozolt.
Really look at it. Stare at its ludicrous proportions. Marvel at its perpetually runny nose. What is going on here?
A Gen 8 creation, Arctozolt is the product of randomly combining and resurrecting Pokémon fossils in the Sword and Shield games. There are a few different outcomes from this process, all of them ridiculous, and another variation of the fossil creatures might appear later on in this list. Arctozolt is my personal favorite version of the Jurassic Park-esque hubris of Pokémon scientists. Tiny, dumb-looking head? Check. A gigantic body that said tiny head protrudes from in a mockery of God? Check. Perpetual sinus problems due to being too cold due to its massive, icy body? Check and check. Its Pokedex entry says, “The shaking of its freezing upper half is what generates its electricity. It has a hard time walking around.”
I just realized I am Arctozolt.
Wiglett
I guess after almost 30 years of creating new and exciting monsters, it’s inevitable that Game Freak would eventually create the tapeworm Pokémon. That makes it a perfect entry for our list of the weirdest Pokémon.
A long, stark white worm thing with a bright pink nose, Wiglett is not the regional variation of Diglett, except it definitely is. The Pokedex entry exclaims, “Though it looks like Diglett, Wiglett is an entirely different species. The resemblance seems to be a coincidental result of environmental adaptation.” Game Freak, come on now. It’s a long, albino Diglett. You can say it; you’ve come up with worse (looking at you, Klefki.) It’s impossible to look at Wiglett and not think tapeworm, although that could be because I’ve been re-reading The Troop by Nick Cutter. It’s just bizarre to create a long Diglett and then insist it isn’t long Diglett, especially when it evolves in Wugtrio, which is long Dugtrio! Don’t gaslight me, Game Freak!
Dracovish
Next on our list of weirdest Pokémon is Dracovish, the scoliosis Pokémon is another fossil experiment gone horribly awry.
With a massive fish head from which tiny flipper arms sprout, a perpetually hunched-over C-shaped body, and massive legs, Dracovish is actually quite a good Pokémon to have on your team. Unfortunately, he’s really dumb looking. I am also frequently concerned for it as this is its Pokedex entry: “Its mighty legs are capable of running at speeds exceeding 40 mph, but this Pokémon can’t breathe unless it’s underwater.”
Dracovish is almost never underwater. Is that why it looks like that? Ash, you monster, what are you doing to this poor creature? It didn’t ask for this existence; you could at least allow it the luxury of oxygen.
Meltan
When Pokémon Go introduced a strange new Pokémon, it was all quite exciting. A new beast outside of the main games? Exciting! Then it was Meltan, and the pure wave of underwhelm that rippled through the community was tangible.
Meltan is a vaguely amorphous grey blob with a nut for a head. That’s it. Meltan looks like the result of someone forgetting they had to design a new Pokémon and saw a nut in some glue by chance and decided, “Yep. That’ll do.” Even its evolved form is rubbish. Melmetal is just a big amorphous grey blob with more random nuts included. It is not only weird looking; it is a lazy design that doesn’t even pay off after a ridiculous amount of effort to obtain and evolve.
Lickitung/Lickilicky
A combined effort from this evolutionary line warrants both being mentioned. What is Lickitung? More importantly, why is Lickitung? Is it meant to be some kind of lizard? If so, what in the fresh Hell is Lickilicky? For starters, it’s one of the weirdest Pokémon.
Lickitung has a tongue twice the length of its body, and it licks EVERYTHING new it finds. This isn’t acceptable, and we must also never forget its horrible CGI version in Detective Pikachu. Then Game Freak decided Lickitung wasn’t enough. It had to become weirder. So along came Lickilicky, an even bigger pink weirdo with a tongue whose Pokedex entry is UPSETTING. “Lickilicky can do just about anything with its tongue, which is as dexterous as the human hand. In contrast, Lickilicky’s use of its fingers is clumsy.” I do not wish to know what that tongue does, Game Freak.
Type: Null
Type: Null is weird in a lot of ways. Firstly, it’s synthetic. Secondly, it has punctuation in its name. Thirdly, it looks like that. Type: Null is a Frankenstein’s Monster of a Pokémon. A mish-mash of different parts comes together to create a really weird-looking lad. It sports a “control mask” resembling a knight’s helmet with an axe buried in it. It has a fin for a tail. It’s got dragon front legs and the body of a dog. It’s listed as being a Normal type, but there is nothing normal about the poor old Type: Null. Apparently capable of terrifying power, Type: Null will always be burdened with the looks of a child’s drawing come to life.
Wrapping Up
There are plenty of other options for the weirdest Pokémon beyond our list. These are just my personal favorite little freaks. Did I forget your favorite? Let us know in the comments below.
