Haunter is a purple Pokémon with a gaseous body. It has a round head flanked by three large, spiked protrusions on either side. It has triangular eyes with small pupils and a mouth with a long, pink tongue. The gases composing its head curve into its mouth to form several pointed teeth. Disembodied hands with three clawed fingers each float in front of its body. Its body tapers into a jagged tail. Haunter's gaseous form makes it one of the lightest Pokémon in existence.
Haunter hides in very dark places, such as caves, and is afraid of light. If a human or a Pokémon comes near Haunter, it will stalk the victim while floating and beckon it to come closer. Once approached it will then lick the victim with its gaseous tongue, inflicting convulsions in the victim that last until death. It can also float through walls. It has been shown in the anime that it can control its hands from far away and can control any Pokémon that it touches with its hands. Despite its predatory nature, it has been known to entertain and prank people in the anime. Additionally, it has even been shown to feel intense loyalty to a deceased Trainer. In Generation I, Night Shade was its signature move.
In The Tower of Terror, Ash befriended a Haunter. He then attempted to use it to battle Sabrina in the hopes of freeing his friends, who were captured by Sabrina, but Haunter decided to goof off instead. Eventually, at the end of Haunter Versus Kadabra, Haunter helped Ash succeed in his endeavor and decided to stay with Sabrina afterwards.
In Illusion Confusion!, a group of Haunter and Gengar created illusions that impeded progress for Ash and his friends as they wandered through a deep forest.
In Fear Factor Phony, a Haunter was living an abandoned mining colony. The Ghost Pokémon were having difficulty with the partying Psychic Pokémon living nearby.
In Scary Hospitality!, Lon used a Haunter with his Gastly and Gengar to scare visitors of the "Scary House". This included Ash, his friends, and later Team Rocket.
In Haunting My Dreams, Ash encountered a giant Haunter called the Black Fog, notorious for using its Dream Eater attack to kill people and Pokémon by stealing their souls. Sabrina had a vendetta against this Haunter, as some of her Pokémon were attacked and killed by it when she was eleven, but she fell victim as well in her attempt to protect a team of people trying to hunt it down. With the combined efforts of Ash and the team of hunters, the Black Fog was weakened enough for capture, only for it to promptly use Self-Destruct, killing itself right before Ash's Ultra Ball could reach it.
In a flashback in Lapras Lazily, a boy who 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, which first appeared in said round.
In A Flaaffy Kerfuffle, a Haunter appeared as one of the Pokémon in Professor Oak's fantasy, when he explains that Trainers should only have six Pokémon with them.
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.
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 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.
This frightful, malevolent spirit can glide through walls, appearing wherever it likes. According to rumor, victims of a Haunter's lick will wither to death day by day.
Evolves from Gastly when its Attack is 99 or higher Evolves into Gengar when it has a link of 60% or higher, after knocking out a Warrior's Pokémon in a manner that allows recruitment
No other Pokémon have the same type combination as Haunter and its evolutionary relatives.
Haunter is the Pokémon with the most cry changes throughout the core series games, having been changed in Generations II, III, and VI.
Haunter's Generation I artworks and Generation III sprites depict Haunter with three fingers and one thumb. However, many of Haunter's depiction in other mediums, including the original series of the anime, has always depicted it with two fingers and a thumb.
Haunter is the only Pokémon that weighs exactly the same as its pre-evolution.
Haunter is the only Ghost-type Pokémon featured in Pokémon Snap.
Haunter's Japanese name, ゴースト Ghost, is exactly the same as the Japanese name for the Ghost type.
Origin
Haunter appears to be based on a generic sort of cartoonish ghost. Like Gengar, Haunter may also be based on the Cheshire Cat, as it possesses what may be pointed ears; a large, toothy grin; and the ability to vanish at will. While many Japanese yōkai - ghosts and ghouls - are depicted with long tongues, Haunter's vampiric licking may have come specifically from the Dila, a Philippine spirit that licked the life energy of sick people until they died.
Name origin
Haunter may be derived from haunt and the agentive suffix-er or possibly hunter.
Spell Tag (5%)
Ghost Gem (100%)
For other sprites and images, please see Haunter images on the Bulbagarden Archives.
