#094 Gengar

And then Haunter became less cool

I’ve never liked Gengar. I liked Gastly. I loved Haunter. But I’ve never liked Gengar.

First off, lets look at this guy. I may not like Gengar as a whole, but I’m a big fan of its design. It looks like someone literally took Haunter, and used Gastly’s mist to form the missing parts of a body. It has regular teeth now, and not those creepy purple incisors that lined Haunter’s mouth, and its eyes are red now., Gengar has a tail. It’s not exactly easy to see in that image, but it’s there, and I’ve never really felt like it was necessary. The other parts of its anatomy are fine, but the tail is kinda weird.

Cute!

Random insertion. I completely forgot to insert that image into the last one. It’s from a cute as heck children’s book and I wish I had all the page but I don’t. So enjoy!

Check out that tail

Interruptions aside, there’s one thing about Gengar that I think is pretty cool. I can’t confirm the details behind this at all, but Gengar has most certainly been toned down a bit in terms of spookiness. Maybe children were complaining, maybe parents were complaining, either way, it’s gotten much friendlier in appearance since it first appeared, with some depictions of Gengar looking downright cute.

The top is Gengar’s Pokemon Crystal sprite. That creepy leer, those focused eyes, and that super dark palette make the entire thing really creepy and menacing. Meanwhile, the bottom is Gengar’s Pokemon Dream World art. It may still have that creepy smirk, but it’s also significantly lighter in color, and it’s looking up at you, not down at you. Not much in terms of changes aside from resolution, but they make all the difference.

The only thing I really like about Gengar is just how much it’s been a staple of Pokemon. It was fighting alongside Nidorino in the opening to Pokemon Red and Blue. This is reused and claimed to be an Elite 4 battle in the anime, and reused again as the opening for Pokemon Origins. Gengar also has a Pokemon Index number of  14, meaning there are only 13 more Pokemon that were envisioned before it. It’s also seen in an extremely early form here.

Fighting what I’ve been told is an early Nidorino?

So what is that? From what I’ve been reading it sounds like it’s an ancient manga, though I’m not sure why the term manga is used. It seems to basically be a pitch for what would eventually become Pokemon. And right there on the cover is supposedly an extremely early version of Gengar, one of the most popular Pokemon to this very day.

I still don’t like it though.

Gengar’s original art looks a bit more deranged too.

DID YOU KNOW?

Are you familiar with this man?

JAPANESE MAN?

Even if you’re not familiar with him as a person, you’re familiar with his work. I say this with certainty because this man is Ken Sugimori. He’s worked on Pokemon since the very beginning, and is the lead guy in charge of creating the actual Pokemon we know and love so much. Every single entry on this blog begins with his art of the Pokemon I’m doing (Aside from Ponyta, though I did post it right after as a joke). He’s a great artist, and I love the man for creating the things he’s created.

Also, his favorite Pokemon is Gengar.

booo

Now, don’t get me wrong, I love the man and his work, but I really don’t like Gengar. But, that’s besides the point. Sugimori says part of the reason he loves Gengar so much is because of his easy, and simplistic design. He revealed this in interviews about Generation 6, and how he plans to make Pokemon more simple, and less detailed in future games. A lot of people took this as a sign of doom, the dreaded genwunners took this as a sign that they were right all along, and others, like me, took it with a grain of salt. Maybe it’ll be good, maybe it’ll be bad! Who knows?

The important thing is that in this same interview he says that to make up for less detail on the Pokemon, he wants to add LOTS of things to the games, like a ton more new moves, and new items per Generation. And honestly, if simpler Pokemon comes with the addition of a LOT of new moves and items, then I’m all for it.

Keep it up you crazy, creative man.

USING GENGAR IN BATTLE

stats via pokemondb

Now this is a good spread. Fantastically high Special Attack, and very high Speed. Again, I’d like to mention that these sets are for the base Pokemon. I’ll get to Mega evolutions one day, but for now, because of the unique… nature (Mega broken, in other words) of Mega-Gengar, you shouldn’t apply this data to it.

So, how do you use Gengar? Go Timid, and pump EV’s into its Special Attack and Speed. Substitute is a necessity now, because Gengar is made of paper and dies easily via stiff wind. Then you’ll need to decide if you want to continue the SubDisable route, or if you want to be a little more attacking based. If you’re going to be SubDisable, then Black Sludge is the item you’ll want, but Life Orb is the way to go for attacking. Either way, Shadow Ball is definitely the way to go for a STAB, since Ghost is a better attacking type than Poison. If you want that secondary STAB anyway, then go for Sludge Wave, over the Sludge Bomb you’ve been using for the previous two evolutions.

If you want some healing, then Pain Split will help the attacking Gengar, while the SubDisable’s Gengar is now wondering about that last slot. Well, like I’ve said from the beginning, the other good options are Psychic, Psywave, Energy Ball, Thunderbolt, Dazzling Gleam, and Dark Pulse. Gengar gets a couple new moves though, like the aforementioned Sludge Wave, and Focus Blast a super powerful but low accuracy Fighting typed attack. Will-O-Wisp will help you neuter physical attackers, and if you don’t care about a riskier playstyle, then Destiny Bond will also help when you’re about to meet your maker.

Gengar is good, and has been good forever. A lot of people like to believe that Sugimori’s continued influence in the company means that Gengar gets special treatment, and while I’d like to believe that’s just conspiracy theories, Mega Gengar was given Shadow Tag. An ability so brokenly powerful on Gengar that I don’t know what to believe anymore.

ARBITRARY SCORES

APPEARANCES: 3/5
Not a fan of Gengar’s look, honestly.

DESIGN: 5/5
There’s a theory floating around that the Gastly line is from another dimension, and that it regains part of its body everytime it evolves. Haunter gains hands, and a vague head, and Gengar completes it. This is even supported by the Pokedex saying that Haunter is straight up from another dimension. It’s a cool theory that I think is plausible, but even if it’s not trust (Which it’s probably not) it’s a great way to really appreciate the design behind the family.

BATTLE: 5/5
Good initially and still good. I hate how good Gengar is.

I DON’T CONSIDER IT: ANOTHER DAY/UNTIL I SLEEP
And I haven’t slept yet SO THAT’S 3 IN ONE DAY.

OVERALL: 4.3/5

Hard to look intimidating when you bounce around so much.