Jynx is a bipedal, humanoid Pokémon that resembles a woman. Jynx wears a red gown that hides its feet and has white arms with purple hands. There are golden circles on the chest area of its gown. Jynx has a purple face, pink lips, saucer-like eyes, and long blonde hair. Originally, its face was colored black, causing controversy in the United States due to its perceived racial insensitivity. Jynx is a female-only species with no true male counterpart.
Jynx has a language that sounds similar to human speech and includes several cry patterns. However, this language has yet to be deciphered. It prefers to communicate by using dance-like movements. These rhythmic movements often cause people to dance along with it. It puts its enemies to sleep using its signature move, Lovely Kiss. Jynx often is found in urban areas.
A trio of Jynx sisters were in Three Jynx and a Baby!. These three Jynx were overly-protective towards their sister, a Smoochum. The Smoochum evolved into a Jynx at the end of the episode.
Jynx, the Human Shape Pokémon. This Pokémon has some very unusual powers. Its special attack is the Lovely Kiss, which puts its opponent into a deep sleep.
A fortune-telling Jynx appears in the manga Magical Pokémon Journey. Arbok goes to Jynx's fortune-telling hut to find out if he has a chance with his crush, Wigglytuff.
In the Pokémon Adventures manga
Jynx debuts in The Jynx Jinx under the ownership of Ken. She is used to attack Red and Green after they trick Team Rocket and take Mew. When she attacks Mew, Red and Green try to defend it, only to be defeated. Mew retaliates against her and freezes her and Ken while sparing Red and Green.
Most notably, there is a Jynx under the ownership of Lorelei which first appeared in Jigglypuff Jive. Lorelei's Jynx is noted for having the ability to generate voodoo dolls out of ice using its Ice Beam. When Lorelei draws crosses on any part of the dolls using her lipstick, ice shackles form on the specified body parts of her targets, eventually freezing the victim over completely. Even after the victims have broken free, the freeze induces lasting numbness in the areas where it was applied. Both Red and Sabrina suffer this condition and have to seek a cure atop Mt. Silver by bathing in the hotsprings there. Another ability of Lorelei's Jynx is revealed in the Sevii Islands saga: she can create a wispy band of ice around targets, which Lorelei can use to track them down using her powder case.
Jynx walks rhythmically, swaying and shaking its hips as if it were dancing. Its motions are so bouncingly alluring, people seeing it are compelled to shake their hips without giving any thought to what they are doing.
A Jynx sashays rhythmically as if it were dancing. Its motions are so bouncingly alluring, people seeing it are compelled to shake their hips without noticing.
Jynx walks rhythmically, swaying and shaking its hips as if it were dancing. Its motions are so bouncingly alluring, people seeing it are compelled to shake their hips without giving any thought to what they are doing.
These sprites are not used in the Virtual Console releases.
Gold
Silver
Crystal
Gold/Silver back
Crystal back
Virtual Console sprites
The picture used in this article is unsatisfactory. Please feel free to replace it so it conforms to Bulbapedia conventions. Reason: Backsprite taken from Miiverse/slightly wrong colors, and artifacts.
As its Pokédex entries state that Jynx speaks an incomprehensible language, the player, as a Pokémon, cannot understand anything it says in the Mystery Dungeon series.
When Jynx faints in the Pokémon Stadium series, everything but its hair vanishes, implying that its armor and black "skin" is darkness. Similarly, in Colosseum and XD, it simply vanishes upon fainting.
Although Jynx has been seen to possess feet in the anime, it does not have a footprint.
When Jynx is viewed from underneath via the 3D-rendered Pokédex in the Stadium and X and Y games, nothing but darkness is shown underneath its dress.
Jynx has the longest cry of any Pokémon, lasting 2.238 seconds.
Jynx's sprite in the Virtual Console re-release of Yellow is technically impossible for a Game Boy Color game. Its Virtual Console sprite contains five different colors (black, white, red, yellow, and purple), but actual Game Boy Color games can only store up to four colors per sprite (the original sprite used black, white, red, and yellow).
Controversy
Jynx's original design in the anime
Carole Boston Weatherford, a cultural critic, claimed that Jynx, which appeared in Holiday Hi-Jynx, was a negative racial stereotype of African-Americans in an article titled "Politically Incorrect Pokémon" on the magazine Black World Today. She chiefly compared Jynx to the racist characters in The Story of Little Black Sambo, and further compared Jynx to Mr. Popo of the Dragon Ball franchise, a character who is also potentially offensive in his design.
Weatherford's complaint caused many repercussions in the Pokémon franchise. The sprites of Jynx in the Western releases of Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal were edited, and EP250 was cut from international airings of the anime. A sequence depicting Jynx in its original design in All Things Bright and Beautifly! was also cut from the dub. Jynx's design was officially revised by Game Freak to be purple rather than black, including in Japan and South Korea; this change was reflected in later core series games (starting with Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire) and in the Pokémon anime starting in Mean With Envy. Although the manga is colored in black-and-white, Jynx appearing in VIZ Media's reissues of Pokémon Adventures are recolored as a dark gray rather than a straight black, suggesting that they are purple instead of black. It is also recolored to purple on the back cover of the reissue of Volume 4. The Virtual Console versions of Pokémon Snap, Pokémon Trading Card Game, and international Pokémon Yellow also recolor Jynx's face. Jynx was recolored in the ending credits of PK01 and PK04 for the 2012 Japanese Blu-ray release. A recolored version of Holiday Hi-Jynx aired in Japan and is available on the Japanese Amazon Video and Netflix. Since 2014, English language DVD releases do not include Holiday Hi-Jynx, Stage Fight!, and The Mandarin Island Miss Match, which all feature Jynx in its original design.
In recent years, some fans of Pokémon have noted that Jynx may be inspired by ganguro, a Japanese fashion where women tan heavily, bleach their hair, and apply large amounts of makeup, instead of a black stereotype. This theory is mainly based on Jynx's long, straight, blonde hair, a common attribute of ganguro fashion. Another theory is that Jynx is based on the Nordic goddess Hel, who was often depicted has having a face half white-half black and who ruled Niflheim, primarily depicted as a land of primordial ice and cold. Some fans say this is supported by Jynx sharing traits with the iconic opera singing "Fat Lady," who is pop-culturally portrayed dressed as the valkyrieBrünnhilde. Another possible origin is Yama-uba, the mountain Crone.
What Jynx is based on is a controversial topic within the fandom, although common interpretations are a Nordic or a Viking woman (possibly Hel, goddess of the underworld), or ganguro (face-black). Also, the fact that Jynx are depicted as Santa's helpers in the anime may reference the folklore character Zwarte Piet.
Jynx also has the traits of a female opera singer, especially the iconic cartoon depiction of the fat lady; Pokémon Snap and its third generation sprites depict it singing, especially the Emerald sprite that animates it singing a high note. Jynx may also have origins in the Japanese spirits known as Yuki-onna, who lack feet, akin to Jynx's feet being covered by its dress.
It may also be based on Yama-uba (also called Yamanba), a yōkai which is described as always wearing a tattered red kimono, having whitish-blonde hair, control over snow, dark-colored skin, and large lips, traits which are evident in Jynx. "Yamanba" is also a slang for the extreme end of ganguro fashion, which involves bleached hair, artificial tanning, and heavy applying of brightly-colored lipstick.
Its revised coloring may be based on purple discoloration of the skin, a common symptom of frostbite. This fits with Jynx's Ice type and how it is found in very cold places.
Name origin
Jynx is a corruption of jinx, a curse or hex of bad luck.
Rougela may be a feminized corruption of rouge, a type of makeup and also the French word for red.