List of unused Pokémon and character designs
There are Pokémon and characters that were just a few of many different designs that Game Freak created. Only a few were added, and even those often went through redesigns before making it into the final product.
Unreleased Pokémon
Capsule Monsters designs
Nothing is known about this Pokémon other than its Pokédex number, #124, the same as Jynx's. This number is also shared with Caterpie, as its index number. | ||
Debut | Capsule Monsters |
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Nothing is known about this Pokémon other than its Pokédex number, #211, the same as Qwilfish's. | ||
Debut | Capsule Monsters |
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In the artwork featuring early versions of Red and Rhydon inside a cave, an unidentified Pokémon can be seen. It appears to be hatching from an Egg. | ||
Debut | Capsule Monsters |
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Nothing is known about this first Pokémon 'Godzillante'. It may have been Fire-type, as it is shown to be breathing fire. As its name implies, it was most likely based on Godzilla. Godzillante notably shares a resemblance to one of the fake Pokémon toys shown in the Pokémon Pocket Monsters manga Volume 1 (p. 107). The Japanese name of Tyranitar is also based on Godzilla. Nothing is known about the second Pokémon 'Gorillaimo'. Its hat could be a reference to the character Ninten from the Ape Inc. game, Mother. It also resembles the Nintendo character Donkey Kong. Gorillaimo could also be based on King Kong. Later generations have introduced many ape-based Pokémon. Slaking is the most notable, as it shares the most physical traits with Gorillaimo. | ||
Debut | Capsule Monsters |
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This Pokémon's Pokédex number is #174, the same as Igglybuff's. It knows a move called 'Fire Breath' that requires 70 TP. It has short arms, a long tail, two horns on the back of its head and average dragon-like wings, just like Charizard. | ||
Debut | Capsule Monsters |
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Not much is know about this Pokémon, except that it is roughly humanoid with a body shape similar to a Jigglypuff. It was seen being captured by an early protagonist without being weakened first; in fact, no Pokémon were sent out. | ||
Debut | Capsule Monsters |
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Pokémon designs
Kurusu | ||
The only known information about this creature is its name and image. In the playable alpha demo of Gold and Silver, its National Pokédex number was 212, it was a Water-type, and knew the moves Growl, Water Gun, and Tackle. Despite its Pokédex numbering, it was the Water-type starter in said demo. Since it resembles a seal, some fans believe it may have inspired Spheal's design, but they are no more similar than either of them is to Seel. | ||
Debut | Pokémon Gold and Silver beta |
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Honōguma | ||
Like Kurusu above, its name and image are all that is known about it. While not confirmed, its name, a combination of 炎 honō, flame, and 熊 kuma, bear, almost definitely indicates it was a Fire-type Pokémon. In the alpha, it was a Fire-type, and knew the moves Ember, Scratch, and Leer; it was the Fire-type starter. Given its name refers to it as a bear, some fans believe it could have been an early version of the Teddiursa evolution family. | ||
Debut | Pokémon Gold and Silver beta |
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Unnamed creature | ||
Artwork was created for this strange creature, even though it was never given a name. Its extremely odd appearance is somewhat similar to Hitmontop; namely, the multiple feet around its midsection. Although this creature has its point located on its bottom, and Hitmontop has its point located on its head, this creature may have been redesigned as Hitmontop. Due to its size, it would seem unlikely that it was originally part of the Tyrogue evolution line. It also bears some resemblance to Clefairy. | ||
Debut | Pokémon Gold and Silver beta |
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Unnamed turtle | ||
Nothing is known about this turtle Pokémon. Notably, it barely resembles anything that was released in Generation II. It bears a resemblance to Tirtouga from Generation V. | ||
Debut | Pokémon Gold and Silver beta |
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Nothing is known about this Pokémon, nor is there any artwork of it known to exist. Junichi Masuda and Ken Sugimori revealed in an interview with @Gamer magazine that there was a rejected Pokémon design based on the first cloned sheep, Dolly. They removed it after deeming it "too controversial" for Pokémon. Since Dolly was born almost eight months after the Japanese release of Pokémon Red and Green, it is likely that this Pokémon would have been intended for Generation II. Some fans believe that instead of being abandoned entirely, the rejected design was reworked into Mareep or Flaaffy. | ||
Debut | Game Freak interview |
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Altered Pokémon
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Debut | Capsule Monsters |
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Debut | Pokémon Red and Green beta |
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The evolution of Kokana. This was one of several Pokémon sprites shown on Game Freak's official Japanese website circa 1997. It was replaced by Kakuna, although they share few similarities. | ||
Debut | Pokémon Red and Green beta |
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The evolution of Kasanagi. This was one of several Pokémon sprites shown on Game Freak's official Japanese website circa 1997, labelled as "undecided". Like its pre-evolution, it was replaced by Beedrill, but it somewhat resembles Ledian and a cockroach. | ||
Debut | Pokémon Red and Green beta |
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Debut | Pokémon Red and Green Beta |
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Debut | Pokémon Red and Green Beta |
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Not much is known about this Pokémon, except that its name roughly means "Rock." It was shown being released from a Monster Capsule. It seems to have features of a Rhydon, shrunken down to fit into the ball. | ||
Debut | Game Freak interview |
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Debut | Pokémon Red and Green Beta |
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Happa | ||
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Debut | Pokémon Gold and Silver beta |
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Debut | Pokémon Gold and Silver beta |
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Marill | ||
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Debut | Pokémon Gold and Silver beta |
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Debut | Pokémon Gold and Silver beta |
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Bukū | ||
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Debut | Pokémon Gold and Silver beta |
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Debut | Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire beta |
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Debut | Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire beta |
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Debut | Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire beta |
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Hydreigon's evolutionary line was originally meant to be army/military styled Dragon designs.
Ken Sugimori: "Deino, Zweilous, Hydreigon. At first, these incorporated an army tank motif, and the marks that look like a conveyor belt on the upper part of Zweilous’s legs are the remnants of that. Initially, they didn’t work as designs and were basically ‘put to sleep’, however, a three-stage powerful Dragon-type family was ordered and they were resurrected." | ||
Debut | Pokémon Black and White beta |
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Minor alterations
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Debut | Capsule Monsters |
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Debut | Capsule Monsters |
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Debut | Pocket Monsters Carddass Trading Cards |
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Debut | Pokémon Gold and Silver beta |
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Tyranitar | ||
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Debut | Pokémon Gold and Silver beta |
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Debut | Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire beta |
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Debut | Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire beta |
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Debut | Pokémon Black and White beta |
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Debut | Pokémon Black and White beta |
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Debut | Pokémon Black and White beta |
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Unreleased characters
Early Capsule Monsters artwork was shown in the book Satoshi Tajiri: A Man Who Created Pokémon, revealing an unknown male character running a shop, or what would possibly become an early version of the Poké Mart. The character is almost bald, has long eyebrows and appears to be overweight. He is presented in a similar art style to the sumo enemies from Game Freak's debut title, Quinty (localized as Mendel Palace). | ||
Debut | Capsule Monsters |
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Female main character |
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This art of a female character (with Squirtle) was featured on the cover artwork for the official strategy guide for Red and Green, as published by Shogakukan. A similar character appears several times in unofficial artbooks that came packaged with Pokémon origami sets (bottom). The artbooks were, however, illustrated by Emiko Yoshino rather than Ken Sugimori. When Red and Green were later remade, players finally got the chance to use a female player character who was possibly based on this character. In the Pokémon Adventures manga, a similar artwork appeared at the end of Volume 3 (right). The design of the character Green seems to have drawn inspiration from this unknown female character. After the release of FireRed and LeafGreen, Green donned the same outfit as the female player character in the fifth chapter of the manga, namely due to their near exact resemblance. | ||
Debut | Pokémon Red and Green beta |
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Female Trainer | ||
This unnamed female Trainer art was revealed in a magazine prior to Generation II but never officially released. It is unknown who this Trainer was supposed to represent, be it a main character, a supporting character, or just an NPC. Visually, she has similarities to multiple Trainer classes. Her age and appearance make her appear similar to a Beauty or Cool Trainer, but her outfit is similar to a Lass or Picnicker. There is an object on her shirt that looks like what could have been a Gym Badge. This Badge has a rain drop on it, meaning she could have been a Water-type Gym Leader. | ||
Debut | Pokémon Gold and Silver beta |
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Male Trainer | ||
Hiding in the background of the same magazine as the female Trainer above was a male Trainer that was never used. As with the female Trainer, it is unknown if he was designed as a main character, or supporting character, or was simply representing a Trainer class. He has hints of multiple classes, such as a Tamer, Psychic, Juggler, Burglar, PokéManiac, Gambler and a male Rocket Executive. There is an object on his bandana that looks like what could have been a Gym Badge. This Badge has a red diamond on it. | ||
Debut | Pokémon Gold and Silver beta |
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There is an unused Trainer seen riding Latiken in early concept art. It is difficult to tell whether she was intended to be a playable character, rival, or supporting character. This character has a strong resemblance to an unknown character shown riding Latios in official artwork. | ||
Debut | Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire beta |
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Unknown cries
In Red and Blue
Within the coding of Pokémon Red and Blue, data exists for nine unused Pokémon cries. [1] The cries are defined accordingly to the Pokémon's index numbers. Whereas cry data for 30 Missingno. are left blank, resulting in voice 0 (Nidorino), pitch 0 and length 0 cries, there are a number of remaining cries which appear to have been defined intentionally. Cry 181 is notably similar to Crobat's cry in Gold and Silver.
Base 0, Pitch 128, Length 16. | ||
Debut | Pokémon Red and Green beta |
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Base 29, Pitch 244, Length 64. | ||
Debut | Pokémon Red and Green beta |
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Base 34, Pitch 255, Length 64. | ||
Debut | Pokémon Red and Green beta |
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Base 14, Pitch 224, Length 96. | ||
Debut | Pokémon Red and Green beta |
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Base 15, Pitch 64, Length 192. | ||
Debut | Pokémon Red and Green beta |
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Base 15, Pitch 32, Length 192. | ||
Debut | Pokémon Red and Green beta |
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Base 17, Pitch 32, Length 16. | ||
Debut | Pokémon Red and Green beta |
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Base 15, Pitch 64, Length 128. | ||
Debut | Pokémon Red and Green beta |
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Base 29, Pitch 0, Length 128. | ||
Debut | Pokémon Red and Green beta |
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This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here. |
In Ruby and Sapphire
In a leaked German version of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, labelled 'Debugging Version 0509A' the cries of Pokémon with index numbers 252-276 are playable in the 'Driver Test' menu. Although these Pokémon normally correspond with ?, they have the cries of existing Pokémon exclusively to the Driver Test, suggesting that they may have once been real Pokémon.
There is an unused Pokémon cry assigned to index number 266. | ||
Debut | Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire beta |
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There is an unused Pokémon cry assigned to index number 269. | ||
Debut | Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire beta |
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This video is not available on Bulbapedia; instead, you can watch the video on YouTube here. |