Carnivine is a green Pokémon resembling a Venus flytrap. Its circular eyes have small pupils, and it has spiky teeth. Its stem is yellow with green spots, with red and green vines beneath with the appearance of tentacles. It can hang from tree branches using these vines, and it is said to look like a plant. It has two arms resembling leaves with three leafy 'fingers' each. Its mouth can open to about 180 degrees wide. With its mouth wide open, it attracts the prey it waits for with sweet-smelling saliva, then chomps down. It takes a whole day to eat prey. It lives in forests and marshes. Its diet consists mostly of insects and small bugs.
James has a Carnivine that debuted in Two Degrees of Separation!, where he retrieved it from one of his old mansions in Sinnoh. The episode also marked the species' debut. James was eventually forced to leave it at the Team Rocket HQ when he headed to Unova so that it wouldn't attract attention as a Pokémon not native to the region.
In Pokémon Battle Revolution, Toxic is depicted as two purple orbs spinning around each other towards the target. However, when Carnivine uses Toxic, the orbs travel erratically. The same animation is used for Spinda.
James's Carnivine is the only one of this species to have appeared in the anime.