Pokémon is a franchise whose battling system has become a training ground for video game players getting acclimated to turn-based combat in role-playing games. The rock, scissors, paper approach to type advantages has led to the fanbase taking a closer look at Pokémon typing and through this, the community has found several examples of their favorite Pokémon having the wrong typing.
It seems it's only right to take a look at the top 10 Pokémon from Pokémon Red & Blue to the latest and rank the ones with the worst typing.
Updated on November 8th by Josh Davison: With almost 1,000 Pokémon, there are a lot of design choices and small details to analyze in retrospect. The typing system itself is a bit peculiar on the whole given that a type can range from the four basic elements to whether a Pokémon prefers psychic abilities or likes to throw fists, and even whether the Pokémon fits the increasingly nebulous concept of a "dragon." Given that a Pokémon can be no more than two of these 18 types, the designers really have to pigeon-hole some of these creatures. All of this is a preamble to say that there are a lot of Pokémon with questionable typing, and 10 only scratches the surface. That's why today we're going to dive back into this phenomenon with an additional five entries.
15 Flygon
This is a petty observation perhaps, but this Pokémon literally has "fly" in its name, and it has wings. However, it evolves from the desert-dwelling Trapinch and Vibrava, so it has Ground in its typing. From a design standpoint, this actually does make a good deal of sense given that Salamence, Altaria, and the legendary Rayquaza came from the same generation and had both Dragon and Flying in their typing. To address the fact that Flygon has wings, the designers gave it the powerful Levitate ability to keep it ironically immune from Ground-Type attacks.
14 Dratini And Dragonair
Dratini and Dragonair represent the larval stages of the first Dragon-Type evolution tree that Pokémon ever had. They ultimately evolve into a Dragonite, which is a Flying and Dragon-type. Dratini and Dragonair themselves are only Dragon-type, which seems already peculiar given that Dragonair may be able to fly already. That said, Dratini and Dragonair are both primarily water-dwellers, so it seems odd that they didn't have Water in their typing. But this was Generation I, so maybe they thought that it would give players a potential reason to prefer Dragonair to Dragonite given that Water would balance out its Ice-type weakness.
13 Toucannon
Toucannon has a pretty interesting design despite it more-or-less just looking like an angry toucan. Toucannon's beak actually changes colors as it heats up, ultimately manifesting in its powerful Beak Blast attack. If a Pokémon attacks Toucannon with a physical attack while Toucannon is charging up for Beak Blast, it receives a burn. Given that Beak Blast is Toucannon's signature move and heat is a basic part of its physiology, one would be forgiven for thinking that Toucannon was a Fire-type in addition to being a Flying-type, but that's not the case. Toucannon is one of many Flying and Normal-type Pokémon to occupy the franchise. The reason for this decision may be the anomaly that was the Talonflame evolution line from the previous generation which broke the Flying and Normal tradition with a Fire and Flying Pokémon available to players in the early game.
12 Solgaleo
Solgaleo is the avatar of the sun in Alola, and it's a Psychic and Steel-type. Now, yes, stars aren't technically on fire, and they do actually develop a lot of metal as they age. That said, that requires a degree of scientific thinking that's not really encouraged when playing Pokémon (mathematical for the meta-game, yes, scientific, no). All this to say that Fire-type aficionados were robbed with Solgaleo, as it should have been Fire and Psychic —Psychic remaining present because it's one of those common Legendary Pokémon types that connects Solgaleo to Lunala. That said, Fire-type lovers did receive some solace in the fact that Solgaleo can be tutored the powerful Flare Blitz attack.
11 Empoleon
The Empoleon evolutionary line is the first time that there was an honest penguin Pokémon (Delibird is close but seems to be more of a puffin) in the franchise. Anyone would be forgiven for believing that the final form would have the Ice-typing, but it doesn't. Empoleon is a Water and Steel-type. That means it's actually at a disadvantage to both other starters of Generation IV, Torterra and Infernape. Admittedly, Ice-typing would also give Empoleon a disadvantage to Infernape given that it's also a Fighting-type. That said, Steel actually makes Empoleon no longer weak to the Grass-type attacks of Torterra, but it's still weak to Torterra's other type, Ground. The whole thing is just a bit of a weird web despite Generation IV having some of the best aesthetically-designed starters in the series and their overall designs being cool outside of their relation to one another.
10 Mew
Does Mew's typing of simply being psychic seem incorrect? For most people, they'd likely say it seems pretty correct considering everything we know about the legendary creature. That being said, it's hard to deny that the addition of a secondary-typing of fairy wouldn't also feel right for this little thing.
It's not only very adorable, but Mew also seems to exude the same type of ethereal and mystical energy that's often associated with Fairy-type Pokémon. This is probably the most unnecessary, but welcome change on this list.
9 Minccino
When it comes to the new Fairy-type it seems like the biggest qualifying factor a potential Pokémon should have is an overwhelming cuteness factor. It's a shame that with the addition of the Fairy-type that Minccino or its evolution Cinccino didn't get it alongside their normal-type.
These little precious mice-like creatures showcase everything you'd assume a Fairy-type Pokémon would have. Hopefully, this evolutionary line will receive the appropriate connection to fairy-typing via a future region-specific variant.
8 Dunsparce
Dunsparce is a Pokémon that needs a lot of things when it comes to sprucing it up and making it worthy of capturing and training. Fans have come up with some neat ideas for what Dunsparce's potential could be in future games and regions.
One neat idea is to have a region variant that's ground-type, but also comes with an evolution that has the Dunsparce taking advantage of those stubby wings on its back as it evolves into a full-blown dual-type dragon and ground Pokémon. Until that day the normal-type slug will have to live a long and lonely existence.
7 Lucario
You would assume that a Pokémon capable of sensing other living things auras and connecting with them on a psychological and emotional plane would have some connection to psychic abilities.
Well, it turns out Pokémon designers felt it made more sense to type Lucario as both fighting and steel. It's the steel part of its dual-typing that feels most egregious. Lucario is a creature capable of abnormal and incredible psychic feats, that the world around it doesn't consider as defining to the creature itself as its empty connection to steel and metals.
6 Noctowl
Noctowl isn't exactly the most glaring example of incorrect typing, but it could certainly be improved. One could make a case that the combination of normal and flying-types makes sense for a Pokémon based on owls, but there's a couple of other choices that could have made the creature more interesting.
Pairing up its obvious and appropriate flying-type with either dark or psychic could have played into the mythos of owls being terrifying hunters and/or some of the smartest and wisest creatures in existence.
5 Gyarados
Gyarados is going to be the first, but not the last ocean-dwelling serpent that we'll be discussing as a potential dragon-type. One of the Pokémon franchise's biggest head-scratchers is how on Earth they decided to make Gyarados a water and flying dual-type.
Its design is based on giant sea serpents and the original Chinese dragons of folklore. They were willing to make the jump to it being able to fly but never felt as though a secondary typing of dragon didn't feel more appropriate? You show Gyarados to anyone and the last thing they'll assume is that it's a flying-type.
4 Milotic
We just discussed another underwater creature that very obviously gives off a lot of dragon energy, and Milotic falls very much in the same camp as Gyarados. Whereas Gyarados feels like the masculine leader of the sea, Milotic is often considered the beautiful or feminine leader of the sea.
It presents itself as a large and elegant creature that finds itself at home among the waves of the ocean and the depths below. There are way too many Pokémon that are simply just water-type, and it only feels right to give a number of them a more unique identity.
3 Psyduck
The thing that's never made sense in the anime or the games is Psyduck's typing based on the creature's track record of behavior. This dunce of a Pokémon on record is known for experience headaches and if it becomes upset can unleash powerful psychic moves.
You would then assume that it's at least partially psychic-type, but you'd be wrong. For a creature in a franchise to have such a defining characteristic about itself but not have any ties to the moves, it can unleash will always be one of the franchise's weirdest decisions.
2 Chansey
Now, Chansey having the wrong typing is more of an issue with there not being the appropriate type for many of the Pokémon in the early generations. Once Fairy-type was introduced though, the creators went back and retroactively changed some earlier Pokémon to have the appropriate typing. One they forgot about though is Chansey.
Most people feel that it should have a typing that's solely fairy, but even a dual-typing of normal and fairy would suffice. It's the creature most synonymous with healing and is considered one of the cuter designs in the first generation of games.
1 Charizard
When it comes to certain Pokémon receiving the wrong typing, the biggest travesty in the entire franchise has to be Charizard. Since the beginning, the ultra-popular fire-starter from the Kanto region has been stuck with a dual-typing of fire and flying.
The problem with that is that Charizard is very clearly a dragon. It's arguably the most dragon-looking Pokémon in existence. In many ways having the dragon-typing encompasses a creature having the ability to fly. There's no reason why a creature like Charizard isn't a dragon type. It never has or never will make any sense.