Pokemon’s Most Terrifying Supervillain Is an Ordinary Psychic-Type
Malamar’s strange design and evolution are matched only by its uniquely evil ways, making it one of the biggest threats in the Pokemon world.
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The Pokemon franchise has been host to numerous dastardly villains, which threaten both humanity and Pokemon in their quest for power and control. Most of these are human terrorist organizations such as Team Rocket and Team Galactic, while others, such as the misguided Mewtwo, are misanthropic Pokemon lashing out at the world.
One of the series’ most peculiar threats, however, is a seemingly innocuous Pokemon. Introduced in Generation VI, Malamar is the evolved form of Inkay, who in the games gets there through a rather unusual evolution method. The idiosyncratic transformation, type and design belie a Pokemon who harbors immense powers, and who in the anime has been shown to employ them for evil.
Mind Over Matter
Malamar is described as the “Overturning Pokemon.” This is a reference to its uncanny ability to affect others’ minds. A rarity in the world of Pokemon, Malamar is a Dark/Psychic type hybrid. This gives it several key advantages against opponents, but its Psychic qualities recieve greater emphasis. In the anime, video games and trading card game, Malamar is described as having the most powerful hypnotic abilities of any Pokemon in the series.
A bold statement, given how versatile several Psychic Pokemon are. Chief among these are the legendary Pokemom Mew and Mewtwo, who by virtue of their Legendary status logically shouldn’t have weaker hypnosis than such a commonplace Pokemon. These claims are bolstered, however, by the fact that it can naturally learn some of the strongest Dark and Psychich type attacks.
In the wild, the creature uses its hypnosis to lure in prey, finishing them off with gastric bile. It is unfortunately common in the Pokemon world for rogue trainers to utilize Malamar’s mental abilities for their own personal gain, mind controlling others to do their bidding. Given that the creature’s psychic strength is greater than anything else in the world, its power could be easily exploited. Even worse is the fact, as shown in the Pokemon anime, the creatures have a tendency to use these powers for their own ambitions, including world domination!
Psyched Out
Malamar became a recurring character in the Pokemon X and Y anime. This Malamar had far more agency than many non-Legendary Pokemon are ever afforded, with a diabolical plot rivaling that of Mewtwo. Using its vast mental abilities, the Malamar took hypnotic control over Officer Jenny, forcing her to masquerade as the mysterious Madame X. This gave the illusion that she was the Pokemon’s trainer, all while Malamar pulled the strings. Plotting world domination, it surrounded itself with an army of hypnotized humans and Pokemon, including Team Rocket. Kidnapping Pikachu, the maladjusted Malamar set out to enact its plan with a weapon of mass destruction. Thankfully, Clemont’s Automatic Pikachu Retrieving Device crashed into Malamar, freeing the others from its psychic control.
Another episode saw the Malamar returning, this time with two other villainous Malamars, in an attempt to cause global disruption using energy crystals. Though their vast psychic powers immobilized most in their path, Meowth, James, Clemont and an Inkay who had become enraged at the Malamars’ actions were unaffected. Together, they stopped the Malamar trio and deactivated the crystals, though a chain reaction caused the crystals to merge into one. The Malamar trio escaped into the crystal, claiming to be going into the future while promising that they would strike again.
This manipulation of others, as well as how it treats the pre-evolutionary Inkay, shows how amoral and barbaric Malamar is. The other two Malamar with the same tendencies are not shown as being mind-controlled, meaning that such a misanthropic mindset may be a genetic commonality among the species. The name Malamar itself references this evil nature, with mal being Spanish for bad. The Japanese name, Calamanero, contains the syllable ma, which is Japanese for demon. This all adds up to a Pokemon with some of the most evil intentions in all of the franchise, as well as the psychic strength to back them up.
Timothy Blake Donohoo is a graduate of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where he majored in Communication and minored in Creative Writing. A professional freelance writer and marketing expert, he’s written marketing copy and retail listings for companies such as Viatek. In his spare time, he enjoys reading, playing video games, watching documentaries and catching up on the latest Vaporwave and Electro-Swing musical releases.
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