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Haunter is a purple, ghost-like Pokémon with a roundish body with a pair of disembodied hands with three digits floating in front of it. Haunter possess a trio of spike-like protrusions on either side of its face, and what appears to be a tuft of messy fur hanging beneath it. It has triangular white eyes with tiny black pupils and a mouth with several sharp, purple teeth.
Gender differences
None.
Special abilities
Haunter's powers are stronger than a Gastly. With Haunter's newly developed hands, it can now use physical attacks, such as Poison Jab.
Behavior
Haunter hide in very dark places, where they plot to take the life of the next living thing that comes near. It then silently stalks its victims. It has the ability to float through solid walls, and many people believe that Haunter is from another dimension because of this ability. It has also been known to entertain and prank people.
Haunter live in or near graveyards, and dark, abandoned caves. They can be found primarily at night. Haunter's natural range includes Kanto and Sinnoh.
In Fear Factor Phony, a Haunter was living in an abandoned mine with several other Ghost Pokémon. The Ghost Pokémon were having difficulty with the partying Psychic Pokémon living nearby.
In The Electric Tale of Pikachu, Ash encounters a giant Haunter called the Black Fog, notorious for using its Dream Eater attack to kill people and Pokémon by stealing their souls. Sabrina has a vendetta against this Haunter, as her Pokémon were attacked and killed by it when she was eleven, but she falls victim as well in her attempt to protect a team of people trying to hunt it down. With the combined effort of Ash and the team of hunters, the Black Fog managed to be weakened enough for capture, only for it to promptly use Selfdestruct, killing itself right before Ash's Ultra Ball reaches it.
In the Pokémon Adventures manga
A boy that Blue met near the abandoned Power Plant had a Haunter in his team before it was stolen, with which he later fights Agatha's Gengar to free Blue from a coffin created by a Dream Eater attack. Agatha also had armies of Haunter that she used in her attack on Kanto.
Eusine was later seen with a Haunter in Volume 14. It proved useful in knocking out the Masked Man's Gastly after the latter wounded Suicune with its Curse.
Pokémon Pinball: Two Haunter appear in a bonus stage accessible from the Red Table. Once the player knocks out the three Gastly, the pair of Haunter appear, and upon knocking them out, the player must then proceed to defeat the Gengar that appears.
Pokédex entries
This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation I.
Haunter is a dangerous Pokémon. If one beckons you while floating in darkness, you must never approach it. This Pokémon will try to lick you with its tongue and steal your life away.
If a Haunter beckons you while it is floating in darkness, don't approach it. This Pokémon will try to lick you with its tongue and steal your life away.
Haunter and its pre-evolution Gastly are the lightest Pokémon in existence.
Haunter and Muk are the only two Pokémon who don't change weight during evolution.
Both are Poison-type Pokémon introduced in Generation I.
Though both of its "hands" have been shown to be outlined by red or blue (being normal or Shiny respectively), in FireRed and LeafGreen, only one "hand" is outlined, and in HeartGold and SoulSilver, neither "hand" is outlined.
Haunter's fingers tend to change the number of digits between games, switching back and forth between three and four fingers.
Even though HeartGold and SoulSilver don't have any hands outlined, the backsprite hands are outlined.
While it is listed at over five feet long in the games, it is only about three feet long in the anime.
Despite all of them being part Poison type, Haunter, together with its evolutionary family, are not able to learn any Poison-type moves by leveling up.
Haunter has a slightly different cry starting in Generation III.
Origin
Haunter is possibly based on the dila, a spirit that passes through walls then licks certain humans to death according to Filipino mythology. It also appears to be based on a generic sort of cartoonish ghost.
Name origin
Haunter is derived from haunt, as ghosts are known to do.
This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.