Anyone who completed Pokémon Red & Blue was given a chance to capture the most powerful Pokémon in the game. The player had previously read mysterious journal entries within the Pokémon Mansion, which talked about horrible experiments that were used to create a brand new creature. This Pokémon was so powerful that it destroyed the mansion and vanished off the face of the planet. The player won't be allowed to search for Mewtwo until they have become the Champion. Once you have done this, then you will be allowed to enter the Cerulean Cave and hunt down the most powerful Pokémon of them all.
Mewtwo has remained one of the most powerful and intriguing Pokémon in the series. It has a dark history which sets it apart from many of the other cartoonish Pokémon that you will encounter. Mewtwo's life is a story of body horror, death, and science going too far. It is the ultimate warrior, yet its power comes with a terrible price. Mewtwo is the end boss of many Pokémon games. If you face it in combat, then you better have a Master Ball, or you will be in for the fight of your life. Even a team of high-level Pokémon will struggle to match the might of Mewtwo in battle.
We are here today to look at the most disturbing facts about Mewtwo: from how his motivations were changed in the first Pokémon movie to the dark inspiration behind his design.
Here are Fifteen Disturbing Facts About Mewtwo!
15 There Is More Than One Mewtwo In The World
It's hard to say exactly how many Mewtwos there are in the video game world of Pokémon, though we assume that there is only supposed to be one. This isn't true in a meta sense, as every player can have multiple Mewtwos that they find across the games. Canonically: only one Mewtwo was created.
The Pokémon anime has established that there are multiple Mewtwos running around in the world. We know that one of them was created in similar circumstances to the original Mewtwo, which means that another group of scientists found Mew's DNA and decided to perform the same disastrous experiments as the original creators of Mewtwo. This second Mewtwo is also a female, meaning it may be possible for the Mewtwos of that world to breed and create powerful progeny of their own...
14 The Original Mewtwo From MOTHER
There are a lot of similarities between the MOTHER series (better known as EarthBound outside of Japan) and the Pokémon franchise. This is no coincidence, as some of the developers who worked on the first two MOTHER games moved over to Creatures Inc. and contributed to the production of Pokémon Red & Blue.
The most striking similarity between the two series is the end boss of MOTHER and Mewtwo. The alien known as Giygas bears a strong resemblance to Mewtwo, as they are both cat-like aliens with gray skin and powerful psychic abilities. Giygas would go on to become a god-like being that loses its mind and needs to be contained within a machine. Mewtwo has managed to keep its mind intact... so far.
13 4Kids Turned Him Into A Villain In The Pokémon Movie
The first Pokémon movie featured Mewtwo as the villain. He planned to destroy all of mankind, while leaving the Pokémon alive. Mewtwo also created clones of Pokémon and commanded them in battle. Mewtwo intended to create a storm so powerful that it would wipe out all of humanity. It was up to Ash Ketchum to stop Mewtwo and save the day.
When the movie was being localized into English, the people at Warner Bros. asked 4Kids to alter Mewtwo's dialogue, in order to make him more villainous. Mewtwo was originally depicted as more naive and unsure of his place in the world. He was changed into more of a cartoon villain, as the distributors were worried that the movie wouldn't do as well without a clear antagonist. The idea of Mewtwo using a storm to wipe out mankind was created for the English dub.
12 Mewtwo & The Deleted Memories
It wasn't just Mewtwo's motivations that were changed in the original Pokémon movie. The original English language version of the movie omitted a part of the film that was created for the television version, though it was added as a bonus in later home releases of the movie.
The extra ten minutes of footage explains the origins of Mewtwo. He was created by Dr. Fuji, along with clones of the Kanto starters. There is also a clone of a human girl among the group. It is revealed that the reason Mewtwo was created was that Dr. Fuji was trying to create a clone of his daughter who had passed away. The other clones degrade, leaving Mewtwo alone. The scientists remove his memory of the events, which eventually lead to him killing Dr. Fuji and destroying the lab.
11 The Embryo Experiments
Mewtwo was created before the breeding mechanics of the Pokémon world had been finalized. You couldn't breed Pokémon in Red & Blue, so no one knew exactly where new Pokémon came from. Pokémon Gold & Silver offered an answer in the form of an egg that appears out of nowhere.
The journals within the Pokémon Mansion on Cinnabar Island reveal that Mewtwo was born from a pregnant Mew. This suggests that the researchers performed experiments on the pregnant Mew, otherwise it would have just given birth to another Mew. The journals weren't altered in Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen, which suggests that a Mew can indeed give birth in a similar way to humans. The nature of the experiments performed on Mew has remained a mystery, as well as the fate of Mewtwo's mother.
10 Blaine's Arm
The Pokémon Adventures manga series offers what a lot of long time Pokémon fans have been craving for. It has a long form narrative that explores a lot of the mythology of the world that is neglected in the games. You also get to see a lot more violent content and darker elements in the story.
In Pokémon Adventures, it is revealed that Blaine created Mewtwo while working for Team Rocket. He contributed his DNA to Mewtwo's creation, though his own arm was infected with Mewtwo DNA which caused it to consume his body. Blaine knows that he doesn't have much time left, so he uses his body horror Mewtwo arm to try and track it down and make amends. Blaine is forced to use Entei's healing flames to cleanse the scourge of Mewtwo's DNA from his arm.
9 Mewthree & The Clefairy Fusion
The oldest adaptation of the Pokémon video games is a comedy manga series called Pokémon Pocket Monsters. This comic even predates the anime. The series is a loose adaptation of the video games, which stars a trainer who uses a Clefairy that gets into all kinds of trouble.
In Pokémon Pocket Monsters, Mewtwo is created by Bill, who is forced to do so by Giovanni. Red's Clefairy becomes infused with Mewtwo's DNA, which turns it into Mewthree (the only canonical Pokémon with that name). Mewthree has the body of Mewtwo but the disinterested face of Clefairy.
Blue would later catch Mewtwo but would discover that it has retained some of Clefairy's DNA, which means that it has become a joke Pokémon that cannot perform a serious attack.
8 Mewtwo & The Destruction Of MechaMew2
The Pokémon franchise became so big that it received a live musical stage show in the early '00s. Pokémon Live! followed Ash and his friends as they traveled to Giovanni's Gym in order to win the Diamond badge. Little do they realize that Giovanni has created his own robotic Pokémon, called MechaMew2, that can learn and counter every attack in the world.
MechaMew2 is defeated by the real Mewtwo, who uses his psychic abilities to give MechaMew2 all of Ash's emotions. This causes MechaMew2 to rebel against Giovanni and use Self-Destruct, which kills both of them and destroys the Gym. Ash wakes up afterward with no memory of Mewtwo or MechaMew2.
That's right, Mewtwo is responsible for the murder of Giovanni, which happens in a play meant for kids.
7 The Mysterious Mural
"Mystery at the Lighthouse" was an early episode of the Pokémon anime that raised a lot of questions. These questions won't ever be answered, as this was at the point when the overall mythology of the series was still being worked out, so a lot of its revelations (such as the giant Dragonite being the last of its kind) were retconned out in later episodes.
One of the most unusual parts of "Mystery at the Lighthouse" involves a mural drawn on the door of the building, which depicts an image of Mewtwo. This is odd, as Mewtwo was still in its infancy at this point and the mural looks like it had been carved in stone a long ago. Who created this image and how did they know what Mewtwo looks like?
6 The Melee Energy Waste
We have mainly been making posts in jest about Mewtwo, but there is one thing about him that is responsible for wasting a lot of real life resources. We're talking about his appearance in Super Smash Bros. Melee.
In order to unlock Mewtwo in Melee, you need to either have played twenty hours of VS. matches, or fought in 700 VS. matches. This means that there are Mewtwo fans in the world who forced themselves to play Melee for a lot longer than they would have, in order to unlock their favorite character. We can only guess how much electricity was wasted by all the people who were playing over and over again in order to earn a chance to play as Mewtwo... in a game where he is one of the worst characters.
Thankfully, Nintendo dropped this damaging practice and just made you pay for Mewtwo in the latest Smash Bros. game.
5 Mewtwo's Discarded Rage DNA
Defeating the Elite Four in Pokémon Gold & Silver gave you the chance to return to the Kanto region and conquer all of the trainers there. Those who sought out Mewtwo would only find a pile of rocks, as the Cerulean Cave had collapsed at some point after Red & Blue. The Cerulean Cave is present in Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver, with Mewtwo still inside.
If you explore the entrance to the Cerulean Cave in Pokémon Gold & Silver, then you can find an item called the Berserk Gene. This is a held item that is exclusive to Gold & Silver, that boosts the Pokémon's attack stat but makes it confused. The Berserk Gene is most likely a remnant of Mewtwo, which proves that even the smallest piece of it can inspire murderous rage.
4 Mewtwo Can Become More Powerful Than God
Mewtwo ruled the competitive scene of Pokémon for a long time. He was banned in all but the loosest of formats, where he would often be put up against other Legendary Pokémon. Mewtwo was capable of crushing everything that went up against it... until Pokémon Diamond & Pearl. This was the generation that introduced Arceus, who is the literal God of the Pokémon world. Arceus had the highest stat distribution in the game and was practically unstoppable.
The introduction of Mega Evolution in Pokémon X & Y put Mewtwo back on top. The two Mega forms of Mewtwo have higher stat distributions than Arceus, which means that Mewtwo can become more powerful than God itself. The only Mega Pokémon that can match Mewtwo X & Y in combat is Rayquaza, due to the fact that it can Mega Evolve without holding an item and has some of the best attacks in the game.
3 The Voldemort Birth Rule
The various Pokédex entries for Mewtwo across the series have revealed that the circumstances behind its creation have made it incapable of feeling compassion. We are told over and over again that Mewtwo was bred for battle, yet it was never given a warm heart that could feel for others. Mewtwo is said to only think about the destruction of its foes and nothing else. The Pokédex also claims that Mewtwo moves as little as possible so as to conserve energy at all times, just in case it needs to fight at any moment.
Mewtwo's inability to feel emotions due to his creation is similar to what happened to Tom Riddle in Harry Potter. J. K. Rowling has confirmed that Voldemort is unable to feel compassion because he was conceived under the effects of a love potion.
2 We Still Don't Know Who Created Mewtwo (Or Why)
The Pokémon anime and movies explained who the creator of Mewtwo was and the motivations for doing so, even if they were cut out of the initial American release. The video games have been less informative. We still don't know the truth behind Mewtwo's creation, or the identity of the scientist who was responsible for his birth.
The Japanese version of Pokémon FireRed & LeafGreen included a hint that Mewtwo may have been created by Mr. Fuji, as part of his name is found in the jungle area where Mew is believed to have been discovered. Mr. Fuji has almost no role in the game after Lavender Town and there is no evidence to suggest a motive as to why he would create Mewtwo. If he is responsible, then why did he do it?
1 The Human DNA Fan Theory
One of the most prevalent fan theories about Mewtwo is that he contains human DNA and is the first Pokémon/human hybrid. This is mainly supported by Mewtwo's design, as it has a more human body than a lot of other Pokémon. The fact that it uses telepathy to communicate in a recognizable language is another point in its favor, as most Pokémon cannot do this. The idea that the Mew embryo was somehow impregnated with human sperm raises some even darker theories that we don't want to think about.
The Pokémon Adventures manga actually confirmed this theory, as Blaine used his own DNA to help create Mewtwo. The Blaine of the Adventures world is basically Mewtwo's father, as he contributed his DNA to the Pokémon's creation. He shouldn't expect any Father's Day presents anytime soon.