Gender: Difference between revisions

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Revision as of 03:58, 20 August 2019

Gender (Japanese: 性別 sex) is a characteristic of Pokémon and humans in the Pokémon world.

Starting in the Generation II games, most Pokémon have a gender: male (Japanese: オス male) or female (Japanese: メス female); however, some species of Pokémon have unknown gender (Japanese: 不明 unknown). The gender mechanic is fundamental to Pokémon breeding.

In the core series games, starting in Pokémon Crystal, the player can choose between a male (Japanese: 男性 male) or female (Japanese: 女性 female) player character. However, human men and women have appeared in all core series Pokémon games.

Pokémon

Determining gender

One factor that determines gender is each Pokémon species's gender ratio, which is approximately how likely a Pokémon is a specific gender instead of the other.

In Generation II

In Generation II, a Pokémon's gender is determined based solely on its physical Attack when compared to its gender ratio. A Pokémon is female if its physical Attack IV is less than or equal to its species' gender ratio, otherwise it is male. For species that are exclusively one gender or have no gender, the calculation based on the physical Attack IV is ignored.

Due to this calculation, it is impossible to obtain a female Pokémon with high physical Attack, unless the Pokémon is a member of an all-female species like Jynx or Chansey. Starter Pokémon and others with a gender ratio of seven males to one female suffer the most, with the maximum physical Attack IV for a female Pokémon of those species being 1.

Attack IV Nominal ratio
(♂:♀)
Frequency
Male Female Male Female
N/A N/A Genderless Genderless
0-15 N/A Male 100.0% 0.0%
2-15 0-1 7:1 87.5% 12.5%
4-15 0-3 3:1 75.0% 25.0%
8-15 0-7 1:1 50.0% 50.0%
12-15 0-11 1:3 25.0% 75.0%
N/A 0-15 Female 0.0% 100.0%

Example
For two Cyndaquil obtained from Professor Elm:

Pokémon Gender HP Attack Defense Speed Sp. Atk Sp. Def
Cyndaquil A 20 10 9 12 11 10
13
(1101)
1
(0001)
3
(0011)
10
(1010)
9
(1001)
Cyndaquil B 19 11 10 12 11 10
6
(0110)
14
(1110)
7
(0111)
11
(1011)
2
(0010)


In Generations III to V

00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000

From Generation III to Generation V, Pokémon's gender is determined by the personality value's lowest eight digits (the lowest byte, highlighted in red above) of p in binary form. Mathematically, this can be derived by calculating p % 256. Below, this value will be referred to as pgender.

In a Pokémon species' base stat structure, there is a value called the gender threshold, a byte with a value ranging from 0 to 255. With the exception of a few special cases, pgender is compared to the gender threshold to determine if the Pokémon is male or female.

If the gender threshold is not a special value (0, 254, or 255), pgender is compared to the gender threshold. If pgender is greater than or equal to the gender threshold, the Pokémon is male, otherwise it is female. Because the comparison to determine gender is greater than or equal, Pokémon are slightly more likely to be male than they would be according to the ideal ratios.

If a species has a gender threshold of 255, it is genderless species (such as Magnemite). If a species has a gender threshold of 254, it is a female-only species (such as Nidoran♀). If a species has a gender threshold of 0, it is a male-only species (such as Nidoran♂).

Gender threshold Nominal ratio
(♂:♀)
Frequency
Binary Decimal Male Female
11111111 255 Genderless Genderless
11111110 254 Female 0.00% 100.00%
‭‭11100001‬ 225 1:7 (No species)
10111111 191 1:3 25.39% 74.61%
01111111 127 1:1 50.39% 49.61%
00111111 63 3:1 75.39% 24.61%
00011111 31 7:1 87.89% 12.11%
00000000 0 Male 100.00% 0.00%

From Pokémon Emerald onwards, if a Pokémon with Cute Charm is in the first place in the party (even if fainted), there is a 66.7% chance that the game will force an encountered Pokémon to be the opposite gender to the Pokémon with Cute Charm if it can be that gender. This does not affect a swarming Pokémon species or Pokémon found in Hidden Grottos.

Generation VI onward

From Generation VI onward, the gender threshold is compared to a random number between 1 and 252 (inclusive) instead of pgender (which is between 0 and 255); this causes Pokémon with a "1:1" gender ratio to actually be distributed according to the ideal ratio. All other Pokémon are more likely to be the more common gender than they would be according to their nominal ratio.

Gender threshold Nominal ratio
(♂:♀)
Frequency
Binary Decimal Male Female
11111111 255 Genderless Genderless
11111110 254 Female 0.0% 100.00%
‭‭11100001‬ 225 1:7 11.11% 88.89%
10111111 191 1:3 24.60% 75.40%
01111111 127 1:1 50.00% 50.00%
00111111 63 3:1 75.40% 24.60%
00011111 31 7:1 88.10% 11.90%
00000000 0 Male 100.00% 0.00%

Gender differences

Main article: List of Pokémon with gender differences

Generation IV premiered minimal differences in sprite between two Pokémon of the same species. For example, a male Raichu will have the full tail seen in previous games, while the female is missing the very tip of it. Generations V and VI would introduce Pokémon with more drastic differences in appearance.

The only Pokémon with gender differences that are not just aesthetic is Meowstic, which has different learnsets and Hidden Abilities depending on its gender. The male Meowstic has Prankster and the female Meowstic has Competitive as its Hidden Ability. Furthermore the male Meowstic learns mostly status moves, with all of its gender-exclusive moves being status moves, while at the same levels, the female Meowstic learns mostly special moves, with only one of its gender-exclusive moves, Me First, being a status move. Below are Meowstic's learnsets.

Lv. 678Meowstic-Male.png
Meowstic
 Psychic 
678Meowstic-Female.png
Meowstic
 Psychic 
1 Quick Guard Stored Power
Mean Look Me First
Helping Hand Magical Leaf
Scratch
Leer
Covet
Confusion
5 Covet
9 Confusion
13 Light Screen
17 Psybeam
19 Fake Out
22 Disarming Voice
25 Psyshock
28 Charm Charge Beam
31 Miracle Eye Shadow Ball
35 Reflect Extrasensory
40 Psychic
43 Role Play
45 Imprison Signal Beam
48 Sucker Punch
50 Misty Terrain Future Sight
55 Quick Guard Stored Power
Moves in bold are STAB. Moves in italics do no damage.

Single-gender Pokémon

Related species

The Nidoran family is a special case in terms of gender. Introduced in Generation I, before gender was known for all Pokémon, Nidoran♀ and Nidoran♂ are considered separate species of Pokémon and indeed have many differences, from appearance to moveset. However, Nidoran Eggs have a 50/50 chance of hatching into either Nidoran♀ or Nidoran♂.

Male Female
032Nidoran.png
Nidoran♂
029Nidoran.png
Nidoran♀
033Nidorino.png
Nidorino
030Nidorina.png
Nidorina
034Nidoking.png
Nidoking
031Nidoqueen.png
Nidoqueen

In a manner similar to Nidoran, Eggs produced by Illumise may hatch into Volbeat. While Latias and Latios are in the Undiscovered Group in the games, likely due to being Legendary Pokémon, Latias have produced Eggs containing Latios in the anime, confirming that they are similarly related.

Male Female
313Volbeat.png
Volbeat
314Illumise.png
Illumise
381Latios.png
381Latios-Mega.png
Latios
380Latias.png
380Latias-Mega.png
Latias

Gender-based evolutions

Some Pokémon may have different ways of evolving depending on their gender. These Pokémon may therefore have one or more evolutions that can only be a single gender.

Pre-evolution Evolved
281Kirlia.png
Kirlia
Male only

Dawn Stone
475Gallade.png475Gallade-Mega.png
Gallade
Either
gender

Level 30+
282Gardevoir.png282Gardevoir-Mega.png
Gardevoir
361Snorunt.png
Snorunt
Female only

Dawn Stone
478Froslass.png
Froslass
Either
gender

Level 42+
362Glalie.png362Glalie-Mega.png
Glalie
412Burmy.png
Burmy
Male only

Level 20+
414Mothim.png
Mothim
Female only

Level 20+
413Wormadam.png
Wormadam
415Combee.png
Combee
Female only*

Level 21+
416Vespiquen.png
Vespiquen
757Salandit.png
Salandit
Female only*

Level 33+
758Salazzle.png
Salazzle

The Eviolite will always work on Combee and Salandit, regardless of gender.

Other single-gender Pokémon

The following is a list of all Pokémon that are either 100% male or 100% female and have not been mentioned in an above section. In particular, these Pokémon have no explicit relation to a Pokémon of the opposite gender through evolution or breeding, although some of them may have a counterpart such as with Braviary and Mandibuzz.

Male
236Tyrogue.png
Tyrogue
106Hitmonlee.png
Hitmonlee
107Hitmonchan.png
Hitmonchan
237Hitmontop.png
Hitmontop
128Tauros.png
Tauros
538Throh.png
Throh
539Sawk.png
Sawk
627Rufflet.png
Rufflet
628Braviary.png
Braviary
641Tornadus.png641Tornadus-Therian.png
Tornadus
642Thundurus.png642Thundurus-Therian.png
Thundurus
645Landorus.png645Landorus-Therian.png
Landorus
Female
440Happiny.png
Happiny
113Chansey.png
Chansey
242Blissey.png
Blissey
115Kangaskhan.png115Kangaskhan-Mega.png
Kangaskhan
238Smoochum.png
Smoochum
124Jynx.png
Jynx
241Miltank.png
Miltank
488Cresselia.png
Cresselia
548Petilil.png
Petilil
549Lilligant.png
Lilligant
629Vullaby.png
Vullaby
630Mandibuzz.png
Mandibuzz
669Flabébé.png
Flabébé
670Floette.png
Floette
671Florges.png
Florges
761Bounsweet.png
Bounsweet
762Steenee.png
Steenee
763Tsareena.png
Tsareena

In battle

The Love Ball is more effective when catching Pokémon that are of the sameGSC/oppositeHGSSSMUSUM gender of the player's Pokémon.

The following moves are dependent on gender:

Gen Move Category Contest Power Accuracy PP Target Description
II Attract Status Cute 100% 15 (max 24)
     
     
Any adjacent Pokémon
If it is the opposite gender of the user, the target becomes infatuated and less likely to attack.
IV Captivate Status Cute 100% 20 (max 32)
     
     
All adjacent foes
If any opposing Pokémon is the opposite gender of the user, it is charmed, which harshly lowers its Sp. Atk stat.
All details are accurate to Generation VII games. For details that have changed between generations, please see an individual move's page. Target data assumes user is in the lower left.

The following Abilities are dependent on gender:

Gen Ability Description
III Cute Charm Contact with the Pokémon may cause infatuation.
IV Rivalry Becomes competitive and deals more damage to Pokémon of the same gender, but deals less to Pokémon of the opposite gender.
All details are accurate to Generation VII games. For details that have changed between generations, please see an individual Ability's page.

In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, a male Pokémon has increased critical hit ratio. A female Pokémon has increased evasion.

Humans

Main article: :Category:Characters by gender

In the games

Choosing to play as male or female in Pokémon Black and White

Starting in Pokémon Crystal, players were given the option of choosing to play as a boy or girl Trainer at the start of the game. Since then, every game in the main series has included that choice. Starting in Pokémon Ruby, Sapphire, and Emerald, the opposite-gender player character can also be encountered in the game.

Some Trainer classes have male and female variants, such as Swimmers, while others appear to be counterparts, such as Campers and Picnickers. Others, such as Kimono Girls, have no opposite-gender counterpart.

Certain in-game events may differ depending on the player character's gender. For example, in Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, Curtis will be encountered if the player is female, and Yancy if the player is male. In Pokémon X and Y and Generation VII, availability of different clothing is gender-specific. Also, only the female player character has the option of changing their lip color using lipstick stored in a Makeup Bag in Generation VII.

Game C HGSS RS E ORAS FRLG DP Pt BW B2W2 XY SM USUM PE SwSh
Male

Crystal Ethan.png

HeartGold SoulSilver Ethan.png

Ruby Sapphire Brendan.png

Emerald Brendan.png

Omega Ruby Alpha Sapphire Brendan.png

FireRed LeafGreen Red.png

Diamond Pearl Lucas.png

Platinum Lucas.png

Black White Hilbert.png

Black 2 White 2 Nate.png

XY Calem.png

Sun Moon Protagonist male.png

Ultra Sun Ultra Moon Protagonist male.png

Lets Go Pikachu Eevee Male Trainer.png

Sword Shield Male Trainer.png

Ethan Brendan Red Lucas Hilbert Nate Calem Elio Chase Victor
Female

Crystal Kris.png

HeartGold SoulSilver Lyra.png

Ruby Sapphire May.png

Emerald May.png

Omega Ruby Alpha Sapphire May.png

FireRed LeafGreen Leaf.png

Diamond Pearl Dawn.png

Platinum Dawn.png

Black White Hilda.png

Black 2 White 2 Rosa.png

XY Serena.png

Sun Moon Protagonist female.png

Ultra Sun Ultra Moon Protagonist female.png

Lets Go Pikachu Eevee Female Trainer.png

Sword Shield Female Trainer.png

Kris Lyra May Leaf Dawn Hilda Rosa Serena Selene Elaine Gloria


In the side games

In the Stadium series

In Pokémon Stadium 2, the player character, usually represented by a nameless, faceless boy, who previously appeared in the the original English release. If the player is using a Pokémon Crystal Game Pak, however, the boy's portrait is exchanged for a girl's.

Game Stadium 2
Male

S2 Hero.png

Female

S2 Heroine.png

In spin-off games

Many side games in the Pokémon franchise allow the player to choose between a male or female player character as well.

Game Card GB2 Ranger Ranger SoA Ranger GS Conquest GO
Male Mark.png Ranger Lunick.png Kellyn.png Ben.png Conquest Hero I.png GO Player M.png
Mark Lunick Kellyn Ben Hero N/A
Female Mint 2.png Ranger Solana.png Kate.png Summer.png Conquest Heroine I.png GO Player F.png
Mint Solana Kate Summer Heroine N/A

In the anime

In Kanto, O-Hina Town hosts a female-exclusive tournament during the annual Princess Festival. Porta Vista hosts a beauty pageant for women only, known as the Beach Beauty and Pokémon Costume Contest. In Kalos, Pokémon Performers are exclusively female, as only girls may participate in Pokémon Showcases.

Trivia

Nidoran♀ and Nidoran♂ show genders twice in Generation II, but only once in Generation III onward
  • In Generation II, a Pokémon's gender was determined through its Attack IV. Due to this, a female Pokémon could never have a maximized Attack stat (unless they were a member of an all-female species, such as Smoochum), because female Pokémon were given the lower portion of the IV range. This also prevented female Pokémon of a species with a gender ratio of seven males to one female, such as starter Pokémon or Eevee, from being Shiny, due to that also being based partly on the Attack IV. Because of this, their Hidden Power is always a physical type. From Generation III onward, neither of these traits are determined by IVs, allowing for Pokémon species with two genders to have females with maximized Attack and simultaneously retain their chances of being Shiny.
  • Although its English and French names suggest that it is exclusively male, Mr. Mime may be of either gender. This is due to the fact that it was given its name prior to the introduction of gender to the series.
  • Since Azurill has a different gender ratio than Marill and Azumarill, one in three female Azurill will be male after evolving into Marill, dependent on the personality value of the Azurill in question, though this no longer happens in Generation VI.
  • In the international versions of Generation II, due to how the battlefield display is programmed, Nidoran♂ and Nidoran♀ have their gender icon shown twice, once in their name, and once after the level. This does not occur in the Japanese and Korean games, however, as the gender icon was present after all Pokémon's names due to the shorter character limit there. This was addressed in all later generations, which prevent the gender icon from showing up when an un-nicknamed Nidoran of either gender is on the field.
  • In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness and Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, the gender of a wild Pokémon in a dungeon is determined by the current number of floor the player stands on. If the number is odd, all wild Pokémon that can be male will be male; if it is even, all wild Pokémon that can be female will be female.

In other languages

Language Title
Chinese Cantonese 性別 Singbiht
Mandarin 性別 / 性别 Xìngbié
Denmark Flag.png Danish Køn
The Netherlands Flag.png Dutch Geslacht
Finland Flag.png Finnish Sukupuoli
France Flag.png French Sexe
Germany Flag.png German Geschlecht
Greece Flag.png Greek Φύλο Fýlo
Israel Flag.png Hebrew מין Min
Indonesia Flag.png Indonesian Jenis Kelamin
Italy Flag.png Italian Sesso
South Korea Flag.png Korean 성별 Seongbyeol
Malaysia Flag.png Malaysian Jantina
Norway Flag.png Norwegian Kjønn
Poland Flag.png Polish Płeć
Portugal Flag.png Portuguese Sexo
Russia Flag.png Russian Пол Pol
Spain Flag.png Spanish Género
Sexo[1]
Sweden Flag.png Swedish Kön
Thailand Flag.png Thai เพศ Phet
Turkey Flag.png Turkish Cinsiyet
Vietnam Flag.png Vietnamese Giới tính

Male

Language Title
Chinese Cantonese 雄性 Hùhngsing
Mandarin 雄性 Xióngxìng
Denmark Flag.png Danish Han
Finland Flag.png Finnish Uros
France Flag.png French Mâle
Germany Flag.png German Männlich
Israel Flag.png Hebrew זכר Zakhar
Indonesia Flag.png Indonesian Jantan
Italy Flag.png Italian Maschio
South Korea Flag.png Korean 수컷 Sukeot
Malaysia Flag.png Malaysian Jantan
Norway Flag.png Norwegian Hann*
Mannlig*
Poland Flag.png Polish Samiec
Portuguese Brazil Flag.png Brazil Macho
Gênero Masculino (XY126)
Portugal Flag.png Portugal Macho
Spain Flag.png Spanish Macho
Sweden Flag.png Swedish Manlig
Thailand Flag.png Thai ตัวผู้ Tua phu
Turkey Flag.png Turkish Erkek
Vietnam Flag.png Vietnamese Đực

Female

Language Title
Chinese Cantonese 雌性 Chīsing
Mandarin 雌性 Cīxìng / Cíxìng
Denmark Flag.png Danish Hun
Finland Flag.png Finnish Naaras
France Flag.png French Femelle
Germany Flag.png German Weiblich
Israel Flag.png Hebrew נקבה Nekeva
Indonesia Flag.png Indonesian Betina
Italy Flag.png Italian Femmina
South Korea Flag.png Korean 암컷 Amkeot
Malaysia Flag.png Malaysian Betina
Norway Flag.png Norwegian Hunn*
Kvinnelig*
Poland Flag.png Polish Samiczka
Portugal Flag.png Portuguese Fêmea
Spain Flag.png Spanish Hembra
Sweden Flag.png Swedish Kvinnlig
Thailand Flag.png Thai ตัวเมีย Tua mia
Turkey Flag.png Turkish Dişi
Vietnam Flag.png Vietnamese Cái

Unknown

Language Title
Chinese Cantonese 不明 Bātmìhng
Mandarin 不明 Bùmíng
Denmark Flag.png Danish Ukendt
The Netherlands Flag.png Dutch Onbekend
Finland Flag.png Finnish Tuntematon
France Flag.png French Inconnu
Germany Flag.png German Unbekannt
Israel Flag.png Hebrew לא ידוע Lo Yadu'a
Italy Flag.png Italian Sconosciuto
South Korea Flag.png Korean 불명 Bulmyeong
Norway Flag.png Norwegian Ukjent
Portugal Flag.png Portuguese Desconhecido
Russia Flag.png Russian Неизвестно Neizvestno
Spain Flag.png Spanish Desconocido
Sweden Flag.png Swedish Okänt
Turkey Flag.png Turkish Belirsiz
Vietnam Flag.png Vietnamese Chưa xác định

See also

External links

References



Pokémon individuality
LevelStatsFriendshipGenderAbility (Hidden Ability) • NatureCharacteristic
Effort valuesIndividual valuesGo PowerEffort level
ConditionPerformanceAffectionMemory


Project Games logo.png This game mechanic article is part of Project Games, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on the Pokémon games.