In the Pokémon franchise, the focus is around capturing and battling Pokémon. Trainers embark on a journey at ten years old to receive their first partner and explore the world, defeating the eight gym leaders and challenging the Elite Four, with the hope of becoming the Champion. Part of that process is catching powerful Pokémon for their team, so they can defeat just about anyone that challenges them.

The trick is that not all Pokémon are created equally. Each creature has a different set of stats and moves that make them more or less useful than others. Even each Pokémon of the same species is created differently. It makes many trainers wonder who the strongest Pokémon in the world is and how they can use it for their team.

That brings us to Mewtwo. Created as a clone of the legendary Pokémon, Mew, Mewtwo was designed to be the “world’s strongest Pokémon.” However, all of the experiments they ran on the Pokémon caused it to be tough, and it broke out to roam the world. Trainers in the Kanto Region brave enough to enter the Cerulean Cave would soon find that the legendary Mewtwo was waiting for them.

Because of how strong this legendary Pokémon was (and still is), it has convinced many that it is downright overpowered. With a look at Mewtwo’s history in games, movies, and cards, we’d have to agree. If you don’t believe us, we present you with 25 reasons that Mewtwo is overpowered.

25 Just A Little Psychic

Mewtwo is one of the strongest Pokémon partially due to its type. Having access to all kinds of psychic abilities, it means that he can simply toss people and Pokémon aside with just a flick of his wrist. It makes him nearly impossible to battle, as there are few beings in the universe that have the raw strength to overcome his abilities. He can make quick work out of anyone that tries to get in his way by simply throwing them off the ground.

24 Two Mega Evolutions

Mewtwo was already strong on his own, but his popularity prompted Game Freak to include him in the Mega Evolution craze of Gen VI. However, instead of giving him one just like most of the other Pokémon, they decided to grant him two separate ones instead. The worst part is that either Mega Evolution is equally viable, so Mewtwo suddenly gained a lot more potential in battle. If someone uses a Mewtwo and doesn’t have a Mega Evolution for it, they’re doing it wrong.

23 From The Best Genetic Material

Mewtwo is a clone of the Pokémon Mew. This translates into Mewtwo’s raw strength because of how powerful Mew is, despite what its appearance may tell you. Mew can learn any move in the Pokémon series as well as transform into anything it likes. It’s elusive but extremely powerful. Using it as a template to create an all-new Pokémon guarantees that the result is going to be something as strong if not stronger. There is reason to believe that Mew might still be better.

22 No Need To Talk

One hindrance of Pokémon is that they usually can’t talk. Without any effective way of communicating with humans, that limits what they can do. However, Mewtwo is a psychic genius and figured out a way to speak telepathically. Not only can he communicate with anyone in the world, but he can get inside their heads and talk to them. This means that, if he had an army at his side, he would always be able to command them directly and guide them to victory.

21 Stats To Be Envious Of

While Mewtwo might be the strongest Pokémon on paper, it’s another thing when he’s actually used in the game. Unfortunately for everyone that didn’t have one, Mewtwo remains one of the best in digital form as well. One of the reasons for this is that Mewtwo’s stats are extremely good, providing him with just enough attack power to blast through anyone that’s thrown his way. His other stats aren’t lacking either, giving him an edge over the competition.

20 Supreme Intelligence

It’s one thing to have a lot of strength, but that’s almost useless if one doesn’t know how to use it. That’s where Mewtwo bucks this trend by having a superior intellect to almost any other Pokémon or human in the world. Mewtwo is one of the smartest beings ever created. Capable of hatching nearly foolproof plans to create armies of clones and even defeat the world’s strongest Pokémon trainers. Furthermore, he can use this intelligence in battle to outsmart rather than outpower his victims.

19 Using The Aura Sphere

In Gen IV, a new Fighting-type move was introduced called Aura Sphere. This powerful attack could deal heavy amounts of damage and was thought to be exclusive to Lucario. That’s not the case. If moved to a high enough level, Mewtwo could also naturally learn Aura Sphere. A Psychic Pokémon can learn a Fighting type move, giving him a lot more coverage on the battlefield. Normal, Ice, Rock, Steel, and Dark are no longer a problem for him with this move on his side.

18 Making A Recovery

While Mewtwo is strong in the games, it is possible to get a few hits on him. He may hit back harder, but dealing damage isn’t the difficult part when fighting him. The problem is that Mewtwo can learn the move recover, and heal most if not all of the damage that he took in the turns prior. Without a proper counter to him, he could just heal back all of his health and begin to loop the opponent into a never ending cycle of attacking with no payoff.

17 The Chance To Disable

If there’s a chance that someone had a Pokémon with a move that worked well against Mewtwo, they would have one shot to land it. The reason for this is that Mewtwo can learn the move disable. What it does it target one of the opponent’s moves and essentially makes it unusable for the next few turns. In a lot of battles, this can be the difference between victory and defeat. Mewtwo can disrupt move combos by just disabling the chain.

16 The EX Card Advantage

It’s not good enough that Mewtwo is effective in both the anime and the video games. He had to have some of the best cards in the Trading Card Game as well. When the EX cards were introduced, Mewtwo got the longer end of the stick on that deal. A few variants have moves that are better depending on how many energies he and the defending Pokémon stack as well as attacks that recover a good chunk of his health for almost no energy cost.

15 Savage Heart

Mewtwo was one of the few Pokémon created in a lab. Because of this, he was also the subject of a lot of experimentation and gene splicing that had a serious negative effect on his mind. When he finally broke out, he ended up having the most savage heart of any Pokémon to date. He would destroy anything he wanted and got rid of any person that he associated with his birth. This savage heart made him much more potent in battle.

14 Taking Control

In Pokémon The First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back, we see the trainers of Kanto being invited to New Island by a mysterious woman with a robotic voice. It’s later revealed that she was a Nurse Joy that the Mewtwo had mind controlled into being his slave. With this type of power on his side, Mewtwo could essentially take over the world if he wanted to. All he would have to do is get in range of the world leaders and tap into their brains.

13 The Power Of Flight

Mewtwo, on top of his power and telepathic abilities, also has the ability to levitate. While a natural extension of his psychic powers, it’s another addition that just makes him broken. Right after he destroyed the Viridian City Gym, Mewtwo launched himself into the sky and did away with the armor that Giovanni gave him. With being able to propel himself through the air at high speeds, there is no place in the universe where he couldn’t travel- and nowhere for anyone to hide.

12 Breaking Bonds

After Mewtwo was first created, he awoke to discover himself contained in a lab full of machines to make sure that he would stay in place. When he was taken by Giovanni and used in the Viridian Gym, it was more of the same as well. However, none of these man-made objects were strong enough to keep the clone Pokémon in bondage. With almost no effort, he busted out of his chains and travelled to a place where he could bide his time.

11 Shadow Mewtwo

Pokken Tournament was a Pokémon fighting game released on the Wii U and Nintendo Switch, and another entry in the Pokémon franchise that proved that Mewtwo is the best. In this case, it was Shadow Mewtwo that was so problematic. When the game first came out, Shadow Mewtwo had a combo move that could infinitely juggle opponents until they perished. There were constant patches released that continuously nerfed the character. It wasn’t until months later that he was actually balanced.

10 Excellent STAB

For those that aren’t aware, “STAB” is an abbreviation for “Same Type Attack Boost.” This is a mechanic in the main Pokémon games that allow a Pokémon’s moves to become stronger if it is the same type as them. Mewtwo, being a pure psychic type, has a lot of attacks that are boosted by this mechanic. Moves like Confusion and Psychic become much more useful in his hands. Furthermore, Mega Mewtwo X is part Fighting-type, making Aura Sphere that much more dangerous.

9 Wide Move Pool

As if Mewtwo’s STAB and impressive stats weren’t enough, he can also learn a lot of different attacks. While most of his moves learned through experience are Psychic, TMs can provide him with a wide range of different attacks to give him much better coverage in battle. He can learn Ghost, Normal, and even Ice-type attacks for an added competitive edge. Because of this, there’s no telling what kinds of moves he’ll use in battle, making trainers that face him constantly on their guard.

8 The World’s Strongest Pokémon

When the DNA of Mew was grabbed to clone it, there was one guiding principle throughout the whole process: to create the world’s strongest Pokémon. After Mewtwo awoke, broke out of the lab, and destroyed it, we’re left with the scientist saying that not only did they want to create the world’s strongest Pokémon, but they succeeded. From the start, Mewtwo was fundamentally designed to be overpowered. After all, it was Giovanni who wanted him created in the first place.

7 Blocking Moves With Ease

When it’s finally revealed that Mewtwo is the antagonist of Mewtwo Strikes Back, some of the trainers decide to launch attacks against the Pokémon. However, the attacks just stop before they reach Mewtwo, as he can just block or deflect them without moving a muscle. Anyone that tries to fight Mewtwo that isn’t on his same power level is at an instant disadvantage. The only one that was strong enough to even hope to take him on was Mew, who was just messing around anyway.

6 Never Losing A Fight

When we first see Mewtwo in the anime, he is the champion of all Pokémon battles. From the very start, he never lost a fight. However, in Mewtwo Strikes Back, he is destined to battle against Mew while all of his clones fight their original versions. Despite the movie ending with him losing and being taken away somewhere, Mewtwo never loses a fight. He just decides to stop battling because of a personal revelation. Just keep in mind that he was unbeatable.