Many Pokemon designs are classic and memorable, and most are beloved by the mainstream. But with almost a thousand Pokemon currently known, not every design is going to be a fan-favorite home run.
The Pokemon world has its fair share of just outright uglies. Some Pokemon are ugly to the point of being unsettling while others would qualify in the "uncanny valley" rank. Whatever version of creepy or off-putting these Pokemon are, one thing they have in common is that they are ugly. So here are the ugliest Pokemon of each Pokemon type for your viewing (dis)pleasure.
Updated February 8th, 2021 by Michael Christopher: With every new generation, there are dozens of added Pokemon designs for the world to love, hate, and give their opinions on. As we spend more time with those generations, though, our opinions can change. Some of the designs we initially hated can grow on us, and some that we loved can fall out of favor. We always think it's wise to revisit things like this from time to time and shake them up a bit.
18 Rock: Rhyperior
Rhyperior might be one of the strongest evolutions of Gen IV but it is not a looker of a Pokemon. This evolution of Rhydon takes a pretty cool design and just makes it blocky, discolored, and squat.
Its overbite and life-vest-like orange design over a lumpy stump-looking Pokemon are not very appealing. Its nose horn looks more like it's been lying to its fairy godmother than drilling something. Overall, poor Rhyperior seems to look more like it's made for function than fashion.
17 Ground: Hippopotas
This hippo looks much more like a bug-eyed muppet. Everything about it looks like a hippo until you look at those dead eyes that are side-by-side. There's something strange about the shape of Hippopotas' face, with its tiny little mouth and eyes but gigantic nostrils.
Moving those eyes side to side must be painful, as they grind against each other in a Sonic the hedgehog effect. Additionally, both the male and female forms of this Pokemon suffer from a blotchy brown and yellow color palette.
16 Ghost: Cursola
This Pokemon is meant to be a political point, and that's reflected in the fact that its design makes you think of dying coral reefs, but not aesthetically-pleasing appearances.
Corsola, its pre-evolution, is typically pink and happy but takes on a more ghostly form in Galar to make a comment about coral bleaching and climate change. In this form, both Galarian Corsola and Cursola are a bit disturbing.
15 Electric: Toxel
Toxel looks like the biggest, mopiest, and grouchiest Pokemon. It looks less like a Pokemon and more like a purple alien cartoon with the voice of some biker guy when it baby-screams.
It's frankly uncanny to look at. And it's more disturbing because of its natural diaper, because there is nothing in the natural world that has a diaper at birth, so it's supposed to remind you of a human. The fact that it's a Poison-type with that diaper also raises some terrible ideas.
14 Fairy: Slurpuff
Fairy types have a lot of interesting candidates for their ugliest contender, but Slurpuff takes the throne. This is even worse knowing how many Fairy-types are cute and cuddly.
While this thing looks straight from Candyland, the thing that is unsettling about it is the mouth and the way the tongue always sticking out. It almost has a Pac-man feel with its huge mouth. It also has some of the vibes of a clown, with its haircut and clown-white skin.
13 Flying: Vullaby
This thing is outright ugly with its angry eyes and eggshell diaper. Why do they love putting diapers on Pokemon?
The concept of projecting a human baby with a human baby's needs over a bird really makes it unsettling, especially considering that Vullaby is probably using that eggshell as a diaper. Nobody likes to think about bird poop covering their car or hitting them while they're walking, so it's not pleasant to think of an eggshell bowl filled with it. On top of all of this, Vullaby is just not a nice Pokemon to look at. Its angry face and bald pink head are unappealing in the extreme.
12 Grass: Amoonguss
Besides the existential horror of a living mushroom, its lack of appeal isn't made better by its design. Overall, Amoonguss is way too curvy in a weird way, giving it a beer belly and some sort of alien mouth to boot, just to freak out your brain.
It also doesn't help that, like other Pokemon on this list, Amoonguss has eyes that almost always look angry. If your brain isn't offset enough, it has Pokeballs on it for some reason. This Pokemon is widely-hated, and it's easy to see why.
11 Dark: Guzzlord
Guzzlord is an Ultra Beast, most of which are intentionally alien-like and ugly to indicate that they came to the Pokemon world from a weird, twisted dimension. Fortunately for the people that were trying to evoke this vibe, Guzzlord fits the bill perfectly.
This Dark/Dragon-type is hideous, from its horrible gnashing yellow teeth to the arms coming out of its mouth, to its spike-ball tail and tiny little face and weird round claws. Good job on this one, Game Freak.
10 Poison: Alolan Grimer
Grimer is not normally a pretty Pokemon in its original form, but add onto it the big goofy teeth and yellow outline around its mouth, and you get why a simple color palette swap makes all the difference.
It looks as though it has leftover puke running around its mouth, as if Grimer wasn't gross enough. The shade of green used for its Alolan form is also sickly and awful. However, like Guzzlord, Grimer was probably made to be gross-looking. They succeeded.
9 Ice: Crabominable
Crabominable like some disturbing punching egg with anime hillbilly hair on top. But, like most ugly Pokemon, its main ugly features are in the face. Adding on goofy teeth with crazy eyes was a mistake for this design.
Many people were excited to see what an evolution for Crabrawler would look like when it was teased ahead of Gen VII's release. Most of them were extremely disappointed to see this poor creature when it was finally revealed.
8 Normal: Exploud
Exploud looks like an angry mess of Majin Buu Tentacles. This thing definitely wasn't designed with appeal in mind. Its giant gaping mouth that's constantly screaming is awful, and its terrible red eyes are not nice to look at it. Fortunately, it doesn't look as bad when its mouth is closed.
But, like some other unfortunate candidates on this list, it's once again hurt by more ugly teeth. Why does it only have a couple, and why are they where they are?
7 Bug: Kricketune
Kricketune is fine in most of its design, until you get to the mustache and the concept of "bug hair." Why would a cricket have a mustache? Sure, it's meant to make it look like a music composer, but it's really gross to think about.
Kricketune also activates that uncanny valley vibe from the fact that its mustache grows above its nose.
6 Water: Bruxish
Bruxish is almost nightmarish with its bright colors and human parts over a fish body.
Much like how your mind would warp an image in your dreams, this highly colorful fish comes equipped with a woman's lips, sharp piranha teeth, and weirdly-seductive eyelashes. Sorry, Bruxish you are not flirty, you are nightmare fuel.
5 Psychic: Galarian Mr. Mime
Mr. Mime was already a Pokemon that turned off many fans with its weird vibes and creepy nature. In Galar, it received a new regional variant that isn't much better. Rather than being a creepy, silent mime, Galarian Mr. Mime is a tap-dancer that moves in a strange way while again, just staring silently forward.
The way it steps is unnatural, its huge unblinking eyes are creepy, and its sharp triangle nose is weird. The weird horns on its head also look like bird wings drawn by a child. All around, this Pokemon is unsettling.
4 Steel: Probopass
There are three huge features here that make this one of the ugliest Pokemon designs: the overwhelming nose is frightening, the big round eyes give it a serial killer vibe, and the fluffy mustache is strange.
One can only wonder what happens when Probopass sneezes. It probably sounds like a cannon blast. Nosepass, its pre-evolution, was fine. It was meant to be like a compass with a pointer for a nose. Probopass just took a good thing and made it...too much.
3 Fighting: Gurrdurr
It's a toss-up between Conkeldurr and Gurdurr for the ugliest Fighting-type Pokemon, and they basically come out as a tie. There are a few reasons why each beats out the other, but they're definitely both ugly.
It wasn't bad enough this thing was supposed to look like a clown — the hair doesn't actually give off the impression of an afro and instead looks like a boiling tumor on top of its head. Add on its Vegeta eyes and clown nose that just looks unnatural and this thing is just plain ugly.
2 Fire: Darmanitan
Yokai Watch creatures were never pegged to be pretty, and this very reminiscent design also holds true to that sentiment. Darmanitan's not a pretty Pokemon. It has strange, gnashing teeth, creepy staring eyes, and its overall shape is like a sphere with arms that are too long for it.
This thing gets even worse in its Zen Mode, where it loses its pupils and starts to floats around. At least the colors in Zen Mode aren't so garish.
1 Dragon: Dracovish
All the chimeric creations that come from fossils in Pokemon Sword and Shield all have an existential horror factor when you see they are just body parts lumped together. They all fight the bill for "Existence is Misery" vibes and Dracovish is a shining example of that, being a giant fish head put on a clean, cut-off dragon tail.
It's hard to decide which of the Galar fossils are the most cursed, but Dracovish is definitely in the running. The color palette is awful, the jagged teeth are terrifying, and its mismatched body is unsettling. According to the Pokedex, this Pokemon is capable of running at speeds of up to 60 km/h (40 mph), but it can't breathe above water. This little bit of trivia doesn't help redeem this poor creature.