Ghost-type Pokemon are typically really cool, with great designs that many people love. As a result, it's hard to find Ghost-types with bad shinies — but they do exist. They aren't as egregious as some other types, but Ghost-types have some shinies that just miss the mark when it comes to visual appeal.
A bad shiny can be really disappointing. With how rare they are and how exciting it is to find one, a shiny being somewhat unappealing can kill a buzz pretty quickly. That's why these Ghost-types might be a little less thrilling than others.
10 Drakloak
Drakloak, the Ghost/Dragon-type middle stage of Dreepy's evolutionary line, has a shiny form that's more disappointing than anything. All three members of this evolutionary family have similar shiny forms, swapping out some of the red detailing for bright yellow and trading some of their green parts for a different shade of greenish-blue.
Drakloak's change, though, is easily the most subtle. And, where it does change, it's not better than its original form. Luckily, you can just evolve into the great shiny Dragapult.
9 Chandelure
Chandelure, the Ghost/Fire-type from Generation V, has a shiny form that isn't necessarily bad or ugly, it just missed out on some great potential. In its normal coloring, Chandelure is a ghostly chandelier with cool, ethereal purple flames.
When shiny, the purple of its flames change to a very boring orange. It's a nice change, but it could have been so much cooler. There's no shortage of orange flames on Pokemon, so something different like grey, green, or white would have been super cool while still retaining the ghostly vibe. Its pre-evolution, Litwick, has a teal flame when shiny, and the middle stage, Lampent, has a pink flame. Both are way better.
8 Non-Zenith Marshadow
Marshadow is a Ghost/Fighting-type Mythical Pokemon from the Alola region, introduced in Generation VII. It has two forms, one of which it is seen in most of the time, and a second that it "transforms" into when attacking — Zenith Marshadow. This is just a temporary change that makes part of its design green and yellow.
When shiny, the green parts of Zenith Marshadow turn a deep purple, which is super cool. However, its "normal" Gloomdweller form doesn't change at all, which is the form it is usually seen in, making this a huge letdown.
7 Misdreavus
Misdreavus is a cool Ghost-type Pokemon with a pretty interesting color palette. It's a strange shade of dark green-blue that isn't common in the series, and it has nice soft pink accents on the ends of its hair.
However, this cool unique color palette is swapped out when Misdreavus is shiny. It becomes an awful sickly green. It retains the pink hair tips but they don't look nice against the terrible shade of green.
6 Shedinja
At first glance, it seems like poor Shedinja is one of those Pokemon whose shiny forms looks completely indistinguishable from its normal coloring. It does change, fortunately, but it's hard to notice unless you see the two forms right next to one another.
Either way, it's disappointing for a pretty cool Pokemon. It would be cool if it were dark grey or even black, but sadly it's just a brighter version of the same brown it starts as.
5 Mimikyu
Mimikyu, the Ghost/Fairy-type from Generation VII, is both kind of boring and also nonsensical. Starting with the boring side of things — Mimikyu is a pallid shade of gray that's mostly uninteresting. It's also very similar to its normal coloring, meaning there isn't a huge change between its forms.
However, the second part of why Mimikyu's shiny is not great is that it doesn't make sense. The visible part of this Pokemon isn't actually part of its body — it's just a costume that it uses to look like Pikachu. Mimikyu, the actual Pokemon, isn't visible. Therefore, it makes no sense that its costume changes color when shiny. If anything, it should be the orange-yellow that shiny Pikachu is.
4 Rotom
Starting in Generation V, only Rotom's normal form is Ghost/Electric-type, but in Gen IV, they all were. Regardless of their types, though, they all retain the same color changes when shiny — swapping the differently-colored ethereal glow in each form for a yellow-orange one across all of them.
This is disappointing for two reasons. First, it just isn't an interesting color, washing out a bit next to the red portion of Rotom's main body portion. Second, it diminishes the individuality and personality of each form, making them look completely uniform, instead of unique.
3 Shadow Rider Calyrex
This is such a letdown, but it's understandable. Before fusing with Calyrex, Spectrier, the Ghost-type steed, is an amazing-looking Pokemon. It's black with purple and white smoke-like hair and hoof trails. When shiny, it swaps out the purple for a fantastic deep red.
However, when fused with Calyrex, it technically ceases to exist and Calyrex becomes Shadow Rider Calyrex. As a result, Spectrier, even if shiny, is back to its purple coloring as a fused part of Shadow Rider Calyrex. It's super disappointing, but it makes sense, since Calyrex being shiny or not is what determines its fused forms.
2 Mismagius
That's right — Misdreavus appeared on this list earlier and its evolution, Mismagius, is making an appearance as well. It seems you can't win with this evolutionary family. While Misdreavus becomes a sickly yellow-green, Mismagius takes it a step further and is an even grosser shade of yellow.
Poor Mismagius also has a super cool color palette when not shiny, just like its pre-evolution. Mismagius is a nice deep purple with pink elements. Unfortunately, it doesn't retain its pink details like Misdreavus does, instead swapping them for a terrible yellow.
1 Gengar
Fans of shiny Pokemon are probably completely unsurprised to see Gengar at the top of this list. This Ghost/Poison-type has been held up as the master of terrible shinies for years. Poor Gengar is almost the exact same color in both its shiny and non-shiny forms.
Even placing the two next to each other fails to help in the wrong lighting. They are almost indistinguishable from one another, which is such a shame given how cool shiny Gastly is with its cool blue gas. Luckily, Mega Gengar has one of the best shinies ever, which is somewhat redeeming.