Summary
Pokemoncome in all shapes and sizes, and while Game Freak will often get very creative when designing an entirely new creature to fit into the universe, the majority of the time, they will have an inspiration that their design and personality is based on. The shy and timid Mareep, for example, isclearly meant to resemble a young sheep, while Vanillite is inspired by a cone of ice-cream, but there’s also a select few that seem eerily close to resembling actual humans.
In fact, some of these Pokemon look and act so similar to regular humans, that it wouldn’t even come as much of a surprise if it were to be revealed down the line that, in a past life, they were just been regular people before turning into pocket monsters. There are quite a few Pokemon that fit this description, but these ones listed below are especially suspicious.
6Lucario
Bipedal and is able to speak to humans
WhileLucarioclearly has a few canine elements thrown into his design, such as hisrazor sharp teeth and long snout, it also stands up right like a human, and has even been shown to be able to speak directly with people. Known as the Aura Pokemon, Lucario uses this mystical ability to power up its moves, detect nearby enemies with improved eye-sight, and as seen in the eighth movie, communicate with trainers, which hints that their connection to humans may be stronger than many realize.
Lucario are also Pokemon that are known for being loyal to a fault, always standing by their trainer’s side and never giving in, even if the battle seems hopeless. It all suggests that Lucario could have potentially been a fearsome and mystical warrior in the past who has since become a Pokemon, which would at least explain the whole “Aura” concept if they discovered it beforehand.
5Jynx
Looks like a person pretending to be a Pokemon
In many ways,Jynx’sappearance looks more like a human than an actual Pokemon, almost seeming like it’s actually a person that’s trying to play themselves off as a Pokemon, but is doing a pretty bad job at hiding their true identity. The long golden hair, glossy red dress, and bright pink lips all make Jynx look eerily humanoid in its design, but what also hints that they could have been a human is the way that Jynx speaks.
While Jynx does usually prefer tocommunicate through dance moves, which it no doubt would have learned as a human, the Pokemon also seems to use muffled and unintelligible human speech when it speaks, rather than just repeating its name over and over again. It’s clear that Game Freak tried to make Jynx as humanoid as possible, to the point where it almost seems as though she may have been an entirely different species at one point in time.
4Mr. Mime
Has been seen partaking in human activities
As was shown with his rather creepy depiction intheDetective Pikachumovie,Mr. Mimeseems almost identical to a human in the way it looks, with the only real stand out features being the bubbly pink and white spots covering its body, and the “hair” growing out from its head. There are actually several points in the anime and even on card covers that showcase Mr. Mime partaking in regular human activities such as climbing mountains and eating food, and while they may be a little goofy in their personality, this would make perfect sense if they were a clown of some sort a few years ago.
What also suggests that Mr. Mime may have actually been a human before being seen in their current form is due to the fact that only a single one can appear in the originalPokemon Red and Bluethat can be acquired through trading. Some fans have theorized that Game Freak were intending to imply that a single human managed to dress up and portray themselves as a Pokemon because of this. There’s also a popular theory that this single Mr. Mime has actually used its mysterious pantomime abilities to trick others into thinking that it’s a Pokemon, when in reality, it’s just someone living out their fantasy of being a pocket monster.
3Hitmonlee
May have been a warrior from the Pokemon Wars
While there are definitely plenty of evil individuals within the world ofPokemon, it seems as though people have become accustomed to using Pokemon to do all their dirty work. In fact, there are plenty of hints in the early games that there was once some sort of"Pokemon War"where a bloody conflict broke out where trainers on opposing sides would send their Pokemon in to fight for them while they stood back, only getting caught in the crossfire if they were unlucky.
This would explain whyHitmonlee, a very humanoid fighting-type Pokemon who’s always looking for their next challenge, became a Pokemon in the first place if they were once a hot-blooded human warrior in their past life. There’s definitely been scenes showing humans training in dojos and gyms, but it’s only ever the Pokemon that partake in fierce battles that push them to the limits of their abilities, so Hitmonlee could have potentially joined them, since the humans have seemingly abandoned fighting altogether.
2Gardevoir
Its Mega Evolution becomes even more human-like
People have long noticed thatGardevoirhas an incredibly human-like design, but there are actually several other hints Game Freak have dropped throughout the years that make it seem very plausible that they were once a real person. The biggest one is how, as of Generation 8, Gardevoir and its previous generations are the only Pokemon that have remained within theHuman-like egg group, despite there being plenty of others involved in the previous games.
While some Pokemon will look more like a human with each subsequent evolution, every one of Gardevoir’s forms seems to take the form of a ballet dancer, especially with the white frills and pointed legs. Even with its Mega Evolution, Gardevoir doesn’t transform into a much larger or more intimidating form as with other Pokemon, but instead, it becomes even more human-like with its mouth and legs being much more visible and emphasized.
1Mewtwo
Human DNA may have been used in its creation
WhileMewtwohas clearly been made to be a superior clone of Mew, it almost seems like a given that some sort of human DNA was also involved in its creation, considering the way it looks, and how it’s able to understand human language so effortlessly. InMewtwo Returns, there’s even a scene where it starts questioning whether it’s even a Pokemon at all, which implies that it could have at least been partially human a few years before its creation.
A lot of fans have actually suspected that the human who was used to create Mewtwo was none other than Giovanni himself, which would go a long way to explain his aggressive and ruthless personality. There even seems to be a handful of physical similarities between the two, especially with their heads and eyes. It’s fascinating to speculate on the true origins of Mewtwo, and it wouldn’t be beyond the realm of possibility to say that it was at least partly a human before it became the Pokemon that fans know and love today.
