The latest generations ofPokemongames have gotten a bad rap for some of their more ridiculous Pokemon designs. However, strange or unsettlingPokemondesigns are not an invention of the 21st century. Going way back to 1995, Generation I has plenty of offenders when it comes to weird Pokemon.
Many of these aren’t often included when fans discuss weird Pokemon — perhaps they’ve been around so long that players simply don’t think about them anymore. But inRedandBlue, Kanto featured plenty of bizarre creatures that players could get their hands on. Here are a few of Gen I’s weirder ideas.
Updated Jul 23, 2025, by Demaris Oxman:With a new generation ofPokemongames set to release likely before the end of the year, plenty of fans are speculating on what new pocket monsters will be added to the canon. There are sure to be a few that will have players scratching their heads, as every new game release — even the first ones — have held a few bizarre design choices. Many players like to point to more recent games as the worst offenders, but with a new game on the horizon, the time felt right to point out a few more weird designs that have been around for more than 25 years.
11The Gengar Line
There’s no doubt that Gastly and its evolutions are excellently designed Pokemon. As Ghost-types, they’re supposed to be a little creepy, and their appearance perfectly depicts their mischievous, devious nature. However, the concept is a little bizarre: a ghost that attacks its enemies with poisonous licks. Where does it get its toxic slime? Is it this world’s form of ectoplasm? Their Pokedex entries rarely touch on their secondary Poison-typing, instead discussingtheir ghostly nature.
The Gengar line is also well known for the way it affected the gameplay and meta in Gen 1. Since the only Ghost-type Pokemon were also Poison-type, they were weak to Psychic-type attacks, effectively removing one of the Psychic-type’s two possible counters in Gen 1. The first set of Pokemon games were notorious for being wildly imbalanced, and this line’s dual typing is one reason for it.
10Voltorb & Electrode
Once again, these two have a fun, entertaining design, and can be quite useful in battle as well thanks to their explosive nature. The strangeness here lies in lore implications that have never been truly explained.
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Various Pokedex entries for Voltorb state that the reasoning behind its resemblance to PokeBalls is unknown, and that it appeared around the same time PokeBalls were first manufactured. Did the makers of PokeBalls draw inspiration from this Pokemon, or did Voltorb and Electrode evolve to disguise themselves as PokeBalls?Pokemon Legends: Arceushas only complicatedthis chicken-or-egg problemby introducing Hisuian forms of Voltorb and Electrode.
9Geodude
Players have criticized some recent Pokemon designs as “just an inanimate object.“Vanillish is just an ice cream cone, Klefki is just a ring of keys. However, this design philosophy is nothing new — it started way back inRed & Bluewith Geodude, who is just a sentient rock.
Fans don’t often consider Geodude or Graveler among the stranger Pokemon designs, perhaps in part because they’re classics at this point, having appeared in almost every game. But from an objective standpoint, the concept of “living rock with muscular arms” is a bit strange.
8Parasect
It’s not until one reads its Pokedex entries that it becomes clear how creepy Parasect really is. While its pre-evolution, Paras, is simply a cute little bug with mushrooms growing on its back, Parasect has been completely overtaken by the fungal infection. It is controlled by the massive mushroom that has now overtaken its entire shell.
What’s more, science-savvyPokemonfans have long beenirked by this Pokemon’s type combination. Grass-type Pokemon are, essentially, plants — mushrooms and other fungi belong to a different biological kingdom entirely. Since Gen 1, nearly all fungal Pokemon have been at least part Grass-type, which feels a bit out of place.
7Drowzee & Hypno
This evolutionary pair might look a bit odd, but they become downright strange when one reads their Pokedex entries. According to the lore, Drowzee and Hypno can put people to sleep, sense that person’s dreams, and consume those dreams for sustenance.
Their design becomes less strange when one considers their origin: a myth regarding a tapir who eats dreams through a sleeping person’s nose. Still, itsbasis in real-world folkloredoesn’t make the concept any less creepy — especially considering that a Hypno has been known to steal a child at least once, with the intent of feeding on its dreams.
6Exeggcute
Anytime multiple entities appear to make up a single conscious creature, it raises questions. Unlike Diglett and Dugtrio, which are implied to be multiple heads on a single body, Exeggcute’s eggs are clearly all separate — yet it takes six of them to make a single Pokemon. Certain Pokedex entries across the games claim that six at a time are needed to “maintain balance,” though the entries are rather vague on what exactly this means.
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Furthermore, Exeggcute’s Pokedex entries contain conflicting information across the generations. Gen 1 describes this Pokemon as seeds that are often mistaken for eggs — which makes sense, considering its Grass typing. However, some games (for example, the Gen 3 games) simply refer to them as “eggs.” What is the true nature of Exeggcute?
5Mr. Mime
To this day, plenty of fansfind Mr. Mime’s design a bit disturbing. Many feel that this Pokemon’s design falls into what is known as the “uncanny valley”: it appears mostly human, but features just enough deviations that something feels off. With its garish colors and huge, vacant smile, players have often found it creepy.
This Psychic-type’s lore isn’t particularly strange or concerning, as it is said to take pride in bringing joy through its performances. However, its appearance might make that difficult. Though his name and routine reference the art of pantomime, his general design is more reminiscent of a clown, which have becomepopular horror villainsin the past few decades.
4Jynx
Much like Mr. Mime, some fans are put off by Jynx’s near-human appearance and its exaggerated features. This Ice/Psychic-type also has an intense, unblinking expression, and though its singing sounds like human speech, it is said to be forever unintelligible. A Pokemon that constantly sounds like it’s speaking in tongues might be a little unsettling.
Jynx’s look was likely inspired bygyarufashion in Japan, bycertain Norse deitiesor folklore creatures, or a combination of the above. However, it garnered controversy in the West due to its similarities to blackface, a type of racist caricature mocking people of African descent. This spurred the change in Jynx’s skin color from black to purple. Though the resemblence may have been unintentional, it certainly marks Jynx as one of Gen 1’s notably poorer design choices.
3Lickitung
There’s something weird and uncomfortable about a Pokemon whose entire design is based around its tongue. Lickitung’s tongue is twice as long as its entire body, and according to its Pokedex entries, is covered in a sticky, smelly saliva that causes rashes.
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What’s more, this tongue can apparantly act as a sort of extra limb, attacking and grabbing food with great dexterity. The idea of a massive tongue thrashing around the arena during a Pokemon battle isa little disturbing. Battles in the Gen 1 games featured limited animation, but had this been depicted, players might have been a little grossed out by Lickitung.
2Grimer & Muk
There’s no getting around it: these Pokemon areliving piles of toxic goo. According to its entry inPokemon Stadium, Grimer was first created when lunar X-rays somehow animated a pile of sludge. It feeds on garbage, and when it has eaten enough, evolves into Muk.
Both members of this evolutionary family are massive biohazards, toxic enough to kill any and all plant life wherever they leave their ooze. Pokemon trainers (often children) who possess a Grimer or Muk are essentially carrying around a bioweapon given sentience by outer space science/magic. It’s an unsettling concept, to say the least.
