Any Pokémon fanatic could probably tell you that a Pokémon’s nature isn’t inherently evil, but is nurtured by the trainers themselves. Henceforth, if a Pokémon’s master is evil, so will be that particular pocket monster. Despite that being the rule of thumb for the Pokémon universe, it’s hard to imagine that some of these critters could be evil to begin with.

Ranging from the ferocious to the “let me pick you up and squeeze you” adorable, some of the most popular Pokémon are so cute, they couldn’t possibly have a mean bone in their body. Right? Strangely enough, a lot of the Pokémon lore is hidden within the depths of the Pokédex and some of these creatures that you think of as the cutest are actually some of the most twisted creatures to exist in the world of Pokémon. A lot of your favorites have a dark side that's been there all along, that you would have noticed had you taken the time to look a bit into their backstory. Here are fifteen Pokémon whose cute exteriors cover up the evil that’s hidden within.

15 Meowth

Probably the first Pokémon that comes to mind when thinking of a Pokémon who is cute but actually evil is Meowth. Meowth as a species aren’t actually evil per se, but there’s no denying that Meowth is a staple in the Pokémon universe as the first real villain Pokémon, mainly because of him being one of the lead members of the Team Rocket gang in the anime series as well as one of the only cute Pokémon to actually be used by Team Rocket in Pokémon Yellow. Even though he’s part of a team that is composed of mostly bumbling idiots, he still follows the ideals of Team Rocket, scheming to steal other people’s Pokémon so their syndicate can rise in power. Meowth from the anime gets a few extra bonus points since he is probably the most intelligent of the trio out of him, Jesse, and James.

14 Cubone

via: guanchaoge.com

Poor Cubone. Super adorable, yet it holds one of the most tragic backstories out of any of the existing 800-plus Pokémon. It’s hard not to be sympathetic for Cubones as all of them wear the skull of their deceased mother, sort of as a helmet, covering up its actual face. Its tears stain the sides of the skull and Cubone is found frequently crying as it thinks of its dead mother, specifically when it sees her likeness in a full moon. Even though Cubone’s backstory seems tragic, there’s a part of it that has always come off as a little unnerving. It’s not so much that Cubone wears the skull of its dead mother as a fashion accessory, but it’s how it even got access to her skull to begin with. The only natural, yet disturbing, explanation is that Cubone dismembered its mother’s body and tore her skull away from the flesh so that it could wear it. I know some animals do things that would be deemed questionable in human nature, but Cubone takes it to the next level.

13 Drowzee

Drowzee wearing scientific equipment on its head in the Pokemon Anime.
via: getmovienews.com

It is probably debatable as to whether or not Drowzee is actually considered a cute Pokémon. Regardless, I’ve always found something adorable about its chubby look and sleepy demeanor. It’s cute in the way that a sloth is. You know they’re kind of ugly, but in a super cute way. What makes Drowzee such a great asset to this list is that it is known for feeding on people’s dreams. No harm comes to anyone whose dreams get eaten, yet there is something kind of cruel about stealing someone’s dreams while they sleep. It should be noted that it only steals the good dreams as nightmares make it sick and that it also prefers the dreams of children as their dreams tend to be more jovial in nature. So keeping a Drowzee in the house means that your nights will be absent of any pleasant dreams and you’ll most likely only be remembering the bad ones. To make this whole scenario a little more unsettling, it steals the dreams by hovering over you in your sleep and taking them through your nostrils. Gross.

12 Drifloon

Be prepared to see quite a few ghost-type Pokémon on this list, as most of them tend to have the most disturbing backstories. Drifloon looks innocent enough with its beady eyes and its purple balloon-like exterior, yet there is something terrifying about this silly Pokémon. It kidnaps children, or tries to at least. Though it is mostly told through lore in the Pokémon universe, it is said that if a child were to grab on to its hands, resembling strings hanging from a balloon, that the child would end up missing. Despite Drifloon’s evil intentions, it still tends to be tugged around by children who end up grabbing on to it due to its small frame and weight. Your intentions might be cruel, Drifloon, but you’re probably too small and cute to pull anything off that evil.

11 Mawile

via: pokemon.wikia.com

Mawile is an interesting Pokémon as it has the benefit of looking adorable and ferocious at the same time. Though many people probably focus initially on Mawile’s innocent looking face, it is hard to really ignore the set of giant horns extending from its head, especially since they are used as a giant jawline to chomp on its enemies with. What makes Mawile evil is that it knows of its cute exterior. It uses it to charm its prey and take their guard down. Once the enemy has lowered their guard, it quickly spins around and crushes its opponent with its horned jaw. Oh, and it is strong enough to chew through iron beams. These are the kind of creatures that you’re warned about before camping in the wild.

10 Litwick

via: pokemon.com

Litwick is probably the cutest Pokémon in the ghost type family. Even though it obviously isn’t meant to pack the punch of its evolved forms Lampent and Chandelure, it is one of the many, many Pokémon I had difficulty evolving simply because I thought it was so cute in its initial form. So what makes this Pokémon particularly evil? It turns out that the flame on its wick is actually emitting a light that absorbs the life energy of people or other Pokémon. Its evolutions only make this Pokémon more ruthless as Lampent arrives near people on the brink of death while Chandelure simply attacks a spirit and leaves the body behind. Though Litwick’s evil starts off in the minor leagues, it literally becomes a parasite devouring spirits to keep its flame alive. This is one candle that I would not recommend burning on your nightstand.

9 Sneasel

via: deviantart.com (All0412)

Surprisingly, a lot of dark type Pokémon didn’t make the cut, which is odd since one might consider dark type Pokémon to be inherently evil by nature. Unlike their ghost type counterparts, which rely mostly on creepy backstories that would seem more common in a horror film, dark types tend to be more sly and cunning while creeping in the shadows. Sneasel isn’t particularly the most evil of the Pokémon on this list, but it makes up for it by being naturally vicious and sneaky. This Pokémon’s cruelty keeps it in the rankings as it tries to drive wild Pidgies from their nests… another cute, but definitely not evil species of Pokémon. While a Pidgey is gone from its nest, the Sneasel snatches the Pidgey’s eggs and consumes them. Sneasel definitely isn’t the most evil as it does this as a means of survival, but sometimes there is just nothing crueler than nature itself.

8 Phantump

What is it about pre-evolved forms of ghost Pokémon that are so gosh darned adorable? Phantump is no exception and like many other ghost type Pokémon in the series, it has some of the most interesting and creepy lore in the series. Phantumps start as a normal tree stump in the woods, yet they don’t actually become a living Pokemon (or should I say undead Pokémon?) until a deceased child’s spirit inhabits the tree stump, possessing it and becoming Phantump. These are children who got lost and passed away in the woods, so Phantump is basically a combination of a tree killed from being chopped down and a child who passed away in the forest. Its true evil comes from what it grows up to be in its evolved form, Trevenant. Obviously bitter about being chopped down into nothing more of a stump, it's grown a heavy grudge against people over the years and will devour anyone who tries to harm the forest it resides in.

7 Purrloin

via: pokemon.wikia.com

Yes, there are two cats on this list, and yes, I am more of a dog person. Despite that, Purrloin has a perfectly good reason for making this list. Unlike Meowth, who made this list mainly because of his role in the Pokemon anime series, Purrloin makes it on to this list due to its inherent nature as a species. Though Purrloin comes across as the typical adorable household cat, a look into those eyes shows that it is mischievous by default. Though far from the most evil of the cutest Pokémon, it makes the list due to its constant thievery as it steals items simply for entertainment. Much like Mawile, it uses its cute looks as a ruse to trick the victim, thus easily being forgiven. It’s like if your pet cat knocked over an expensive glass of wine at the dinner table for attention. You’d be furious, but how long are you going to stay mad at an adorable cat? Evil.

6 Bewear

Bewear was really tough to put on this list. One, he’s one of the few fully evolved Pokémon that I could even consider putting on this list, but secondly, it is debatable if its actions are truly evil as they kind of stem from it loving its trainer. Though not as cute as its pre-evolved form, Stufful, is still maintains the cute, pink teddy bear features as its predecessor and it looks anything but harmful. Unfortunately, that’s just not the case as Bewear is no longer a little cub, but a full grown bear, capable of massive power and strength. The truth is, Bewear is actually quite loving, making him an odd choice for this list. So loving, in fact, that it often times tries to hug its trainer, but with such “unbear-able” strength that it ends up breaking the trainer’s spine, sending him or her to the afterlife. Bewear, you are adorable, but I just don’t think I’m the right trainer for you.

5 Sandygast

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Yet another ghost Pokémon makes the list. Admittedly, I cannot help but adore Pokémon which are designed after inanimate objects. This has definitely been a more common trend in recent Pokémon games and Sandygast is no exception. Fitting in well to the Hawaiian-esque landscapes of the Alola region, Sandygast looks like the early workings of a sand castle with a small, plastic shovel impaled into its head (don’t worry, it’s made of plastic, Sandygast is fine). One main feature of Sandygast’s appearance is that its mouth is a wide open hole gaping from the front to back of its body. Of course, being a ghost type Pokémon, it can’t simply live its afterlife in peace, but needs to embody the grudges of the deceased. Sandygast is simply bitter by nature. Despite that, Alolans tempted to stick their hands through Sandygast’s mouth are in for a disturbing surprise; Sandygast can possess and take control of anyone who is foolish enough to try such a haphazard act.

4 Duskull

via: deviantart.com (requestfag)

Duskull is cute for two reasons. One, its size and stature equate to nothing more than that of an adorable hollow skull with a single glowing red eye shared between two eye sockets. Though that may sound terrifying on paper, he’s practically the Casper of the ghost type Pokémon in terms of cuteness. And two, Duskull is practically harmless as a ghost type Pokémon. It is far less vicious than other ghost type Pokémon and its only goal really is to scare people. Honestly, though, how scared can you get from a Duskull? Well, perhaps Duskull isn’t all about his cute, ghostly exterior. Due to its nature to purposely try and scare people, often pursuing its victims until sunset when it then decides to flee, it makes a spot on this list for simply just wanting to be scary. Yet what really tips this Pokémon off as evil is the fact that it intentionally goes after children because according to the Pokémon Black and White Pokédex, it “loves the crying of children.” Alright Duskull, as evil as you are, you definitely deserve a spot on this list.

3 Miltank

via: zerochan.net

Miltank makes its debut in Pokémon Gold and Silver as the gym leader Whitney’s lead Pokémon. This gym is particularly tough, but what makes it so infuriating is that Miltank uses the move attract. Attract makes Pokémon of the opposite gender “immobilized by love” as they become infatuated with the Pokémon who uses the attack. Even though attract isn’t exclusive to Whitney’s Miltank, it is probably the first time Pokémon trainers encountered this move in the series. Though Whitney’s gym is full of seemingly adorable Pokémon, attract is one of the most evil attacks in the game. Essentially, Miltank is making a Pokémon fall in love with it as it continues to pummel it with strong moves like stomp and rollout, yet the Pokémon does absolutely nothing to stop Miltank as they are simply being manipulated by their feelings. Miltank is essentially the poster Pokémon for domestic violence in the Pokémon universe.

2 Gengar

via: pokemon.wikia.com

Gengar is easily the most popular of the ghost type Pokémon and despite it being the third form of its original being Ghastly, he’s also the cutest of the three. Even though its signature mischievous grin is plastered to its face at all times, this chubby, bipedal purple ghost is actually pretty adorable. Looking at it, one might assume that it potentially would be a more evil Pokémon than the rest, simply because it looks like it’s always up to no good. Gengar is actually quite the trickster, and much like other ghost type Pokémon on this list likes to scare people. Gengar has the ability of manipulating people’s shadows, using them to act on their own, frightening the people they are cast from. Gengar gets a few bonus points as Gengar was the main antagonist of the original Pokémon Mystery Dungeon and was part of a trio which was literally called “Team Meanie.” With a title like that, there’s no denying that Gengar is bad to the bone.

1 Ditto

Ditto is far from threatening to the average eye as it resembles nothing but a gleeful lump of pink putty with a happy face drawn on it. Technically, in its original form, it only has one attack which is the transform ability that allows it to copy the genetic code for another Pokémon. This allows it to replicate the opposing Pokémon almost perfectly, move set intact. Even though transforming into another Pokémon is simply a defensive maneuver for the pink critter, I imagine this could be quite psychologically damaging for the opposing Pokémon and its trainer. Simply put, forcing a Pokémon to fight its doppelganger would be emotionally taxing for the Pokémon and I’d imagine that the same would go for the trainer not wanting to harm something that so closely resembles the Pokémon that they have cared and nurtured for all this time. Ditto literally makes a Pokémon face itself, which is why Ditto has earned a place as one of the cutest yet most evil Pokémon.