Koga
| Koga キョウ Kyō | |
| ""The Poisonous Ninja Master"" | |
| [[File:File:FL Koga.png|{{{size}}}]] Art from Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen | |
| Gender | Male |
|---|---|
| Hometown | Fuchsia City |
| Region | Kanto |
| Relatives | Janine, Aya (Anime) |
| Trainer class | Gym Leader, Elite Trainer |
| Generation | I, II, III |
| Games | Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Crystal, FireRed, LeafGreen, Stadium, Stadium 2 |
| Leader of | Fuchsia Gym |
| Badge | Soul Badge |
| Anime debut | The Ninja Poké-Showdown |
| English voice actor | Unknown |
| Japanese voice actor | Unknown |
Koga (Japanese: キョウ Kyō) was the Gym Leader of Fuchsia City's Gym, known officially as the Fuchsia Gym. He is a student of ninjutsu who specializes in Poison-type Pokémon. He handed out the Soul Badge to trainers who defeated him. Later, in the Generation II games, he is promoted to the Elite Four, leaving his daughter in charge of the Gym.
In the anime
Koga's only anime appearance was in the episode "The Ninja Poké Showdown". His English voice actor is Ken Gates.
Koga is a ninja who trains in an old mansion, the Fuchsia City Gym, in the woods outside Fuchsia City. The Gym is filled with traps such as fake mirrors, invisible walls, pits, and many Voltorb. Aya, Koga's younger sister, is one of his students.
Ash, Misty, and Brock managed to overcome the traps in the Gym and Ash was finally able to challenge Koga. Their match was interrupted when Team Rocket tried to steal Koga's large supply of Voltorb, although they had raided the Gym with the intent of geting Poison-type Pokémon. Team Rocket was stopped by Misty's Psyduck, and Ash and Koga had a rematch. Ash triumphed and won the Soul Badge.
Pokémon
This is a listing of Koga's Pokémon in the Pokémon anime.
 →  Venonat → Venomoth |
 Golbat |
At Fuschia Gym
 Voltorb (Multiple) |
In the games
Koga's is called the Poisonous Ninja Master. He likes the despair and horror that Poison-type Pokémon can inflict on others. He has many students that he trains in both ninjutsu and Pokémon. One of his students is his own daughter. He has built invisible walls in the Fuchsia City gym, constructing a confusing maze out of them. Koga awaits challengers in the center of the maze, clearly visible.
Koga has seriously studied medicine and antidotes, and makes his own potions to heal his Pokémon. Koga patrols the grounds of the Safari Zone regularly.
In addition to the Soul Badge, Koga gives out TM06, Toxic, in Pokémon Red, Blue, Green, Yellow, FireRed and LeafGreen.
In Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal, Koga has become much more powerful. He has left the Fuchsia City Gym in the hands of his daughter, Janine, and joined the Elite Four. In this position, he battles with an intricate style, designed to counfound and destroy his opponent in battle. His sinister technique is confusion, sleep, and poison, rather than brute force.
Fame Checker
This is a list of the Fame Checker’s information on Koga in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen.
- Fuchsia City - sign
- What does this person do?
- "Fuchsia City Pokémon Gym
- Leader: Koga
- The Poisonous Ninja Master"
- Fuchsia Gym - Koga
- Favorite kind of Pokémon?
- "Despair to the creeping horror of Poison-type Pokémon!"
- Fuchsia Gym - Juggler Kirk
- What is this person like?
- "Even though I’ve lost, I will keep training according to the teachings of Koga, my ninja master."
- Fuchsia City - Charine
- Family and friends?
- "My father is the Gym Leader of this town.
- I’m training to use Poison Pokémon as well as my father."
- Safari Warden's Home - Pokémon Journal
- There’s a rumor...
- "Koga is said to have a thorough knowledge of medicine.
- He even concocts medicine to nurse his Pokémon to health."
- Safari Zone - man
- What does this person do?
- "The Safari Zone<sc>’s huge, wouldn’t you say?
- <sc>Fuchsia’s Gym Leader, Koga, patrols the grounds every so often.
- Thanks to him, we can play here knowing that we’re safe."
- Message from Koga
- From: Koga
- To: [Player]
- "You and I, we must both set our sights higher and work towards meeting our chllenges.
- Now, I must go train my daughter."
Pokémon
This is a listing of Koga's Pokémon in the games in which he has appeared.
Pokémon Red, Blue and Green
Pokémon Yellow
Pokémon Gold, Silver and Crystal
Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen
Pokémon Stadium
- Round 1 Pokémon
| Venomoth |
 Muk |
 Weezing |
| Venonat |
 Nidorina |
 Nidorino |
- Round 2 Pokémon
| Venomoth |
Muk |
Weezing |
 Hypno |
 Tangela |
 Parasect |
Pokémon Stadium 2
- Round 1 Pokémon
- Round 2 Pokémon
Quotes
Pokémon Red and Blue
"Fwahahaha! A mere child like you dares to challenge me? Very well, I shall show you true terror as a ninja master! You shall feel the despair of poison and sleep techniques!"
"Humph! You have proven your worth! Here! take the Soul Badge!"
Pokémon Gold and Silver
"Fwahahahaha! I am Koga of the Elite Four. I live in shadows, a ninja! My intricate style will confound and destroy you! Confusion, sleep, poison... Prepare to be the victim of my sinister technique! Fwahahahaha! Pokémon is not merely about brute force--you shall see soon enough!"
"Ah! You've proven your worth!"
"I subjected you to everything I could muster. But my efforts failed. I must hone my skills. Go on to the next room, and put your abilities to test!"
In the Pokémon Special manga
Koga is one of the three villainous heads of Team Rocket, and serves under Giovanni.
He debuts in the Red, Green & Blue chapter in Raging Rhydon searching the Moon Stone in Mt. Moon, here Koga fights with Red and Misty and forces his Rhyhorn to evolve with a mysterious injection, revelling what happened to Misty's Gyarados when was kidnapped, however the mission fails. Koga later tries to bump off Red in Lavender Town's Pokémon Tower, where he uses a Gastly to reanimate the corpses of dead Pokémon buried there. He also attacks Red with his Arbok. However, Green has his Charmeleon slice Arbok in half. Under his boss's orders, he captures Articuno and brings it to Saffron City. He is once again defeated by Green at Silph Co..
Later, Koga helps the Pallet Town trainers in the fight against the Elite Four during the Cerise Island battle. Koga is paired with Green. He then disappears for a time, leaving Janine in charge of the Gym. Janine is worried for her father, but opposes his criminal ties. At the end of the Johto adventures, Koga decides to ally himself with three other trainers who had been abandoned by evil organizations: Bruno, Will, and Karen.
Two of Koga's Pokémon have unusual powers: his Arbok can regenerate itself as long as its head remains intact (see above); and his unusually small Golbat's mouth can be used almost like a magic mirror for scrying to see things from a distance, even if walls or land are in the way. Green takes this Golbat and keeps it for quite some time before returning it to Koga at Cerise Island.
Koga also uses custom-made Poké Balls which can be thrown as shuriken - perhaps an inspiration for Falkner’s later boomerang Poké Balls.
Pokémon
This is a listing of Koga's Pokémon in the Pokémon Special manga.
| Muk |
Golbat |
 Gastly |
 Ekans |
 Arbok |
 Tentacruel |
 Grimer |
 →  Rhyhorn → Rhydon |
Weezing |
Released
In the TCG
Koga appeared in the Gym Challenge and Pokémon VS sets. One of the Gym Challenge Theme Decks is called Koga.
Artwork
Koga and the Soul Badge.
- KogaVS.jpg
Koga's updated VS art.
Pokémon
This listing is for Koga's Pokémon in the Pokémon TCG.
- Beedrill
- Ditto
- Arbok
- Muk
- Pidgeotto
- Golbat
- Kakuna
- Koffing
- Pidgey
- Weezing
- Ekans
- Grimer
- Koffing
- Pidgey
- Tangela
- Weedle
- Zubat
- Crobat
- Forretress
Trainer cards
Trivia
- In the manga Pokémon PiPiPi Adventure, the ninja-in-training Wal is an admirer of Koga.
- Koga makes a short cameo appearance in a chapter of the Electric Tale of Pikachu manga.
- Out of the original Generation I Gym Leaders, Koga has the fewest trainer cards in the Gym Leader sets of the TCG. Incidentally, his only trainer card besides the basic Koga card had to be edited because it featured a manji, which could have caused controversy between cultures; the infamous swastika is a rotated manji.
Names
| Language | Name | Reference to |
|---|---|---|
| Japanese | キョウ Kyō | |
| English, French, German, Italian, Spanish | Koga | From 甲賀流 Kōga-ryū, a school of ninjutsu. |
| Korean | 독수 Doksu | Means poison fang which refers to his speciality in Poison type. |
| Hebrew | קוגה | Transliteration of Koga. |
| Russian | Кога Koga | Transliteration of Koga. |
| Chinese (Taiwan) | 阿桔 Ā Jié | |
| Chinese (Hong Kong) | 阿梗 Ā Gěng | 梗 has the on-yomi kyō in Japanese. |
External links
- Kyō's Profile on Pokeani (Japanese)
