There are a ton of Pokémon, so it makes sense that not all of their designs are going to be a home run. However, there seems to be this pervasive idea among older, nostalgic Pokémon fans that the original 151 Pokémon were a gold standard that cannot be beat. I was there for the Pokémon craze in the ’90s, and Pokémon Blue was my first game, so I understand this instinct. However, giving an honest evaluation of the original Pokémon definitely reveals some duds.
Don’t get me wrong, I still have a lot of love for all these Pokémon, and if they hadn’t been a major hit, we would’ve never gotten some of my favorites, like Garchomp and Decidueye. Still, I can’t help but feel that if some of these Pokémon came out in later generations, they would get the same criticism as some of the franchise’s most maligned Pokémon. This isn’t necessarily to criticize these original designs, and more to point out the double standard by which some newer Pokémon are evaluated.
The Evolved Form Doesn’t Add Much To The Original
Pokémon‘s first generation features some classic evolutionary lines, perhaps none more recognizable than its three starters. However, not every evolved form was as cool as Charizard or Blastoise. A good example of a pretty boring evolution is Dodrio. Doduo is a cute two-headed bird Pokémon, and its evolution is just a three-headed bird Pokémon, with a more intimidating expression.
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Dodrio’s simplicity almost feels like it was a placeholder or proof of concept used to show the basic idea behind evolved Pokémon being bigger and more intimidating forms of their previous stage. However, as an actual Pokémon, it doesn’t have enough going on to make it a cool step up from Doduo. An extra head, some angry eyebrows, and a few tail feathers don’t add too much. While this simpler design was acceptable in the first game, I could see it getting more criticism if it came out in a later generation.
9
Rapidash Is Just A Grown-Up Horse
Rapidash Looks Like An Older Ponyta, Not An Evolved One
Ponyta is a cute and interesting design for a Pokémon. If you’ve already seen the sometimes drastic transformations that other fire Pokémon like Vulpix go through, you may have been excited the first time you stumbled onto a Ponyta to learn what it turned into. Unfortunately, Ponyta’s evolved form, Rapidash, is just a grown-up horse with the same fiery mane and a horn.
Rapidash is a somewhat boring evolution because it doesn’t look like a new Pokémon, rather just an adult version of Ponyta. When Pokémon evolution can make drastic changes, like morphing a Bellsprout into a Victreebel, it’s unfortunate to see one that is more natural looking. Were this a recent Pokémon, I could see Rapidash being criticized similarly to Dundunsparce.
8
Seaking Doesn’t Even Feel Like An Evolution
Seaking Doesn’t Share Goldeen’s Distinct Design, Aside From The Horn
Seaking has similar problems to Rapidash, but I would argue that it’s even worse. Aside from the horn, Seaking doesn’t so much look like an evolution of Goldeen as it just looks like a different, bigger fish. Although evolved forms should look different from their earlier stages, it’s important that there are still strong visual similarities between the two to show that one progressed into the other.
When I first played Pokémon Blue, I remember initially thinking that Goldeen and Seaking were just different gendered versions of the same Pokémon, like the two forms of Nidoran. I would’ve expected the evolution of Goldeen to share more of its distinct characteristics, like its heavy-lidded eyes. Seaking is also slightly more generic looking than Goldeen, whereas evolved forms are typically more exciting to look at, or have more exaggerated features.
7
Geodude Is Just A Rock With Arms
Inanimate Object Pokémon Tend To Get More Criticism
One criticism I often see of newer Pokémon designs is that they are too similar to an everyday object with few additions. For example, I’ll see complaints that Klink is just gears, or Vanillite is just an ice cream cone with eyes. Well, these same criticisms could easily be levied at Geodude, which is simply a rock with hands.
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While Graveler, and to an even greater extent Golem, have distinct characteristics, Geodude doesn’t have nearly as unique of a design. Now, I actually really like Geodude (though that could be the nostalgia talking), and I don’t hate the idea of simple Pokémon. I think ones like Vanillite are only criticized because they’re newer. If you swapped Geodude and Vanillite’s generation, I would guess that Geodude would get more criticism. That said, I do think something like Kling is a bit too simple to get a pass.
6
Muk Is A Pile Of Sludge, And Not Much Else
Muk Is A Personal Favorite, But I Can’t Deny Its Design Is Very Simple
Any Pokémon fan who takes issue with Garbodor needs to take a good hard look at Muk, without the filter of nostalgia. Muk is just a giant sludge puddle, one that isn’t even all that different from its basic form, Grimer. Personally, I really enjoy Muk, and I think certain depictions do a great job making it very imposing. However, it’s hard to deny that I might not like it as much if it had shown up in generation four or later.
Pokémon fans, myself included, seemingly have a limit to how many simple designs like Muk they’re willing to tolerate before they start expecting more. Although I like Muk, I could easily see myself rolling my eyes and wondering if we really needed a mud puddle Pokémon were it to have come out more recently. While I could let this ruin Muk for me, I think I’d be better served giving some newer Pokémon I’ve disliked a second chance.
5
Polywrath Was So Boring He Got Replaced
You Now Have The Option To Evolve Polywhirl Into Polytoed
When I was younger, I loved Polywag. So much so, I actually dressed up as one for Halloween one year, and I still have the costume kicking around in storage somewhere. However, even as a massive Polywag fan, I was never super-impressed by its evolutionary line. Polywrath is probably the worst of all, as it’s just a slightly more buff and angry Polywhirl.
It would seem as though I’m not the only one that found this evolution line dull, since Pokémon ended up adding an alternative evolution for Polywhirl: Politoed. Politoed isn’t just a more interesting evolved form than Polywrath, but its existence would seem to suggest that Pokémon‘s designers wanted to spice up this line a bit. Without the nostalgia factor, I don’t think many players would claim to enjoy Polywrath.
4
Zubat’s Design Is Very Minimalist
If Zubat Came Out After More Distinct Bat Pokémon, It Would Likely Have Been Criticized
Apart from being an obnoxious addition to any cave, Zubat is also just a somewhat boring design. It looks like a minimalist drawing of a bat, without many distinct features. I think Zubat becomes much more interesting when it evolves into Golbat and Crobat, but in its original form it just leaves something to be desired.
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I think Woobat and Swoobat are great examples of how to make a cute and distinct bat Pokémon. If they had come out before Zubat, they would have made Zubat’s design look far too simple by comparison. I have a lot of nostalgia tied to Zubat, so I can’t bring myself to dislike it, but I can easily imagine things being different if I didn’t have fond memories of it from the early games and anime.
3
Dugtrio Is Just 3 Digletts
Most Evolve Forms Typically Add Some New Traits
Dugtrio takes my issue with Dodrio and dials it up to 11. This Pokémon is literally just more Digletts. Aside from some height differentials, all three heads look basically the same. This falls into the same complaint people have with Klinklang, it’s just a larger number of the original Pokémon without any majore design changes.
Alolan Dugtrio does a good job showing the bare minimum that could have been done to make the original Dugtrio more distinct. Alolan Diglett has a few sprigs of hair, and Alolan Dugtrio has beautiful flowing golden locks. While still maybe not the most exciting evolution, it’s better than just adding more of the same Pokémon. Tandemaus gets criticized for doing this, and Dugtrio doesn’t even have a fun pun name like Maushold does. I could easily see Dugtrio getting the same treatment if it came out later in Pokémon‘s history.
2
Ekans Is Just Snake Backwards
Its Design Is Also Simple, Though Arbok Would Likely Save Its Reputation
Ekans is just a basic-looking snake Pokémon whose name happens to be snake backwards. I remember this, and Arbok being a homophone for cobra backwards, being a big revelation when I was a kid. However, I can’t help but feel like this would be criticized as a lazy naming convention were it to have been a newer addition to the Pokédex.
I put Ekans here because Arbok is at least much more distinct looking. In fact, it’s such a cool design that it may have spared Ekans from criticism even if they did come out more recently. Still, I could imagine there would still have been some complaints about Ekans’ simple design and naming convention.
1
Seel Is Exactly What It Sounds Like
Seel Barely Even Feels Like A Pokémon
Seel is just a seal, and its name is so close that it’s even more egregious than Ekans. Apart from its tongue and misspelled name, it doesn’t have too many distinct characteristics stopping it from just being a cartoon seal. Imagine if the next generation introduced a Pokémon that just looked like a normal dog, and its name was Dawg. You wouldn’t accept that, and you’d be well within your rights to say that the designers were phoning it in.
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I’m not trying to be too harsh on Seel. It was the first generation of Pokémon to be fair, and the design team was likely still trying to figure out exactly how different they wanted to make Pokémon from everyday animals or objects. However, if Seel came out now, after the Pokémon Company has had so much time to develop a strong sense of what makes a good Pokémon, then it would be a different story.
- Created by
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Satoshi Taijiri, Ken Sugimori, Junichi Masuda
- Latest Film
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Pokémon the Movie: Secrets of the Jungle
- First Episode Air Date
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April 1, 1997
- Current Series
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Pokémon
