While on the surface the Pokemon world appears to be this kid-friendly place full of quirky and interesting monsters to capture and fight with, there lies a darker, viler reality. For every cute and cuddly Pokemon, there are monsters that stalk humans, strip people of their free will, and consume the living.
Though some might frown on the exploitation of critters to fight for mankind’s amusement, partner Pokemon also serve as faithful protectors against the more wicked among their kind.
Updated on April 23rd, 2023 by Quinton O'Connor: Wouldn't you know it, but the last time we updated this list, Pokemon Scarlet & Violet weren't out yet. Did we go ahead, then, and include a couple of choice Paldean candidates? You're darn right we did.
15 Drifloon
Drifloon is undeniably adorable. It's a cute purple balloon with heart-shaped hands. Who wouldn't want to hold those hands and frolic freely in one of Pokemon's seemingly endless number of hilly rural areas? Heck, in the Sinnoh games, a small girl is delighted to note that "maybe the balloon Pokemon will come back now" after the player defeats the Team Galactic goons terrorizing her father's power plant.
Maybe she shouldn't be so happy about that. The Ghost/Flying-type Drifloon has a bit of a hobby, you see, and it involves abducting children. Drifloon sightings are reported in the cases of missing kids; it's a whole thing. A particularly dark moment in Pokemon Legends: Arceus has the protagonist find a child behind a shack at night who swears Drifloon just wants to play, and yet adds — entirely too casually — that he can't seem to let go of Drifloon no matter how hard he tries.
14 Cacturne
Cacturne is Grass/Dark-type Pokemon that has a creepy, yet vague Pokedex entry that implies it's particularly bad-natured. The entry's bluntness adds to the mood. "Packs of them follow travelers through the desert until the travelers can no longer move." When you are four years old, you might think they're out there to help you get back home safely. By the time you're nine or ten, the truth starts sinking in. When you're in your thirties, you're downright petrified.
See, here's the thing. There's another Cacturne Pokedex entry. Call it complementary. It clears things up all nice and dandy. "It becomes active at night, seeking prey that is exhausted from the day's desert heat." Don't show this one to that four-year-old. Let them live in ignorance for at least a few more years.
13 Gorebyss
The cute, pink Water-type Pokemon Gorebyss might look super innocent, but its sweet facade masks its sinister intent. Is it fair of us to be thankful that in this particular case, the evil deeds are committed upon not people but fellow Pokemon instead? Does that make us horrible people? Yes, but whatever.
Gorebyss is cruel. It uses its long nose to stab into other Pokemon and then drain them of their bodily fluids, killing them slowly and not at all softly. Another Pokedex entry mentions that the deep sea terror is known to feast on seaweed. So wait, Gorebyss can totally subsist on vegetation? It chooses to drain its oceanic peers of their blood like a strainer pulls water free from macaroni? Gorebyss, what is wrong with you?
12 Mimikyu
Nearly every new generation, there is a Pokemon who looks like Pikachu. It's a given. It's hard not to wonder if there's some mandate from on high at The Pokemon Company, this bizarre, out-of-touch gesture in the hopes that something new will eclipse Pikachu in popularity. It will never, ever happen.
Enter Mimikyu. Well, at least this time they're not trying. The Ghost/Fairy-type's body is covered almost completely by a rag decorated with what may just be history's worst attempt at Pikachu-drawing. "I'm not like the other girls," it says, "or squirrels, in the case of Pachirisu." That's cute in its own right, but surely there's something dangerous lurking beneath it all?
Aside from the fact that anyone who gets a glimpse of its true form is cursed to die a horrible death, Mimkyu will also mercilessly attack anyone who breaks the neck of its fake Pikachu costume. That former bit's inexcusable, though in fairness to the latter, why would anyone do that?
11 Honedge
Honedge is a Steel/Ghost Pokemon that bears a striking resemblance to a sword. Which is no doubt intentional, seeing as it's said to be created when a departed spirit inhabits a sword. So now we've got a haunted sword in our hands. Some departed spirits just really want to be swords, it seems.
Also, anyone who dares to grab its hilt will have their life energy sucked clean through what we can only envision to be an invisible straw-like apparatus.
If this were a mindless creature doing what it needed to survive that would be one thing, but this is a haunted sword, meaning a spirit (probably a human one) decided to inhabit the steel blade and is now actively sapping people of their energy. Maybe these people ought to have been Gengar'd. That's a verb now.
10 Guzzlord
Standing 18 feet tall, this Dark/Dragon behemoth has a voracious appetite and is said to be constantly eating. Pokemon Sun reveals that it will eat essentially anything and has been known to consume “mountains” and “whole buildings”.
It’s also said this creature never leaves any droppings, meaning that Guzzlord is either burning a ton of calories or it doesn’t possess a standard digestive system and is merely eating buildings for the sake of it. Either way, it's capable of mass destruction. And if you happen to be inside a building it has in mind, you're just one small morsel in the meal.
9 Banette
Banette is a Ghost-type Pokemon that is said to have once been a plush doll that was abandoned by a child. It obtained life in some manner and now seeks revenge on the owner who threw it away. As if the thought of a Chucky-esque doll wasn’t scary enough, they also mutilate themselves with pins to build energy for curses that they want to lay on opponents.
These fiends will dwell in garbage dumps and dark alleys during their wanderings and will not stop until they find the one who abandoned them. Iris, hopefully that wasn't you.
8 Litwick
We're just going to leave one of Litwick's Pokedex entries here unabridged. "Litwick shines a light that absorbs the life energy of people and Pokémon, which becomes the fuel that it burns." Why? Why are you doing this? Litwick, what is your justification?
Again, before you think this is just a survival mechanism, Litwick doesn't consume the fuel for itself. No, it uses the fuel to power on its purplish light, lulling further living beings within its grasp. "Ah, sweet safety," a picnicker proclaims. You know the ones, they've got green shorts on, and they look as happy as the happiest Blissey who ever did live.
And then, uh. Anyway, moving on.
7 Tinkaton
Look. Tinkaton is terrible. It has a huge hammer. What does it do with that hammer? According to its Pokedex entry in Pokemon Scarlet, it launches rocks into the sky aiming for flying Corviknights. What is wrong with you, Tinkaton? Why are you doing this? We don't think you eat the Corviknights you've killed. We think you do this for sport.
You know how, in nature documentaries, mankind is always revealed as the ultimate predator, and the narrator, who is usually Richard Attenborough, remarks that man's capability for needless hate and violence is what makes our species so dreadful? We're not the only villains in town now.
6 Palossand
A Ghost/Ground Pokemon, Palossand appears to be an innocent sandcastle, but in reality, is a voracious monster with frightening abilities. Each grain of sand is sentient and cooperates to possess people to mold them into a more appealing form, like a sandcastle, before draining the person of their life essence and storing their bones beneath them.
Okay, seriously, what is with the draining-life-force thing? It's not even original, Palossand. Several Pokemon beat you to it. Please just stop doing this, no one will judge you harshly for being a good sandcastle. Except you can totally still do it to those jerks who kick sandcastles "just because they can." Yeah, well, Palossand can drain your life force just because it can. Jerks.
5 Brambleghast
Brambleghast, wait for it, drains the life energy of its prey. What's more, flocks of Brambleghasts have been known to bury entire towns. The Pokedex doesn't specify that the town-burying involving draining the life energy of the inhabitants, but at that point, we're almost hoping it does, because otherwise they've gone and suffocated hundreds of people to death without even getting anything out of it for themselves. And then they're just Tinkatons.
4 Froslass
An Ice/Ghost-type Pokemon, Froslass has a tragic backstory. It's said to have originated from a woman who died on an icy mountain and was reborn as this Pokemon. Before you go feeling sorry for it, this Pokemon utilizes its powers over ice to freeze anyone it finds interesting or attractive and takes them to its lair to serve as decorations.
Collecting, decorating, it's not so bad on its own. Maybe some of these people wanted to be accouterments. But Froslass, oh Froslass, she feasts on the souls of men. Because she can. There's asking someone to be your Animal Crossing table for a few days for free room and board, and then there's that. Froslass, we get it, men can be awful sometimes, but surely there's another way?
3 Nihilego
Finally a break in the Ghost-type Pokemon parade, Nihilego is an Ultra Beast Rock/Poison-type Pokemon that is called the “Parasite Pokemon” and for good reason. This Pokemon has been seen to behave similar to a little girl, perhaps to aid it in infecting people with a mysterious neurotoxin. The neurotoxin then drives its victims toward random acts of violence in its stead.
This rabies-inducing winner also feeds off of those it infects, be it people or other Pokemon. No doubt the inhabitants of the Pokemon world are very wary of strange Pokemon behaving like little girls wandering the streets. Then again, that's honestly fair regardless of the situation.
2 Gourgeist
This Ghost/Grass Pokemon may seem like a cute creature riding a jack-o-lantern, but in reality, it’s one of the more villainous Pokemon on the list. This creature will wander the streets at night during new moons and sing an eerie song that will curse anyone who hears it. It's not even a pop song. It's just a straightforwardly wicked beat.
If that doesn’t sound so bad, it’s also important to note that it will snare its prey with its large hair-like arms and sing joyfully while it watches them struggle. This Pokemon delights in death and misery so much so that it sings. And again, not a pop song. So many pop songs, if you think about, they're doing the same thing. Gourgeist has no time for such revelry.
It probably drains people's souls, too. Just saying.
1 Giratina
While some might argue that the Pokemon on this list are acting out of survival and not evil intent, there is no question that the Ghost/Dragon-type legendary Pokemon Giratina is evil incarnate. Created by the god of the Pokemon universe, Arceus, Giratina was so violent that Arceus banished it to the Distortion World, a place said to be on the reverse side of the real world.
With a backstory eerily similar to the devil himself, Giratina is the definition of evil incarnate as it resides in its chaotic dimension silently watching the actions of humans and Pokemon alike, waiting. That's not even getting into its appearance in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. That one's still a new game and all, so don't take our word. Go terrify yourself.