Ghosts in the Pokémon world: Difference between revisions

Ghosts (Japanese: ゆうれい yūrei) are disguised Pokémon and, in one case, the soul of a deceased Pokémon, that live in Lavender Town's Pokémon Tower.

In the core series games

The Marowak ghost as seen in Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!

In the Generation I games, Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, and Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, before getting a Silph Scope, several unidentified ghosts (in reality, wild Gastly, Haunter, or Cubone) appear in the Pokémon Tower. Another stronger ghost is revealed to be a mother Marowak, which haunts the tower as a result of her death at the hands of Team Rocket.

The identity of the ghosts can be revealed with the Silph Scope. Without the Silph Scope, ghosts appear as wild Pokémon in the Pokémon Tower, but cannot be battled. In Generation I and III, whenever the player orders a move against an unknown ghost the player's Pokémon will be too scared to move; additionally, if the player throws a Poké Ball (including a Master Ball) at an unidentified ghost, it will simply dodge the ball. Even with the help of the Silph Scope, the Marowak ghost cannot be caught. In Generation VII, if the player is touched by a ghost, they are warped back to the first floor of the Pokémon Tower.

During the course of the game, the player must obtain the Silph Scope and becalm the ghost Marowak, either by battling it (in Generation I and III) or reuniting it with its child, Cubone (Generation VII).

Oddities

In the Generation I games, the Pokédex still records the seen data of the wild Pokémon even without the Silph Scope.

The ghosts do not have a cry in the Generation I games, whereas they emit the cry of the undercover Pokémon in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen.

If the Generation I games are played on a Super Game Boy (or on a Game Boy Color, in the case of the international releases of Pokémon Yellow), the ghost has the same color palette as that of the Pokémon it is hiding. This means that a ghost can be seen with two different and legitimate color palettes: that of Gastly and Haunter, and that of Cubone and Marowak. If the ghost appears due to a glitch, a third palette is used.

Furthermore, in Generation I, players can exploit the ghost glitch to make the ghost reveal itself by viewing the stats of any Pokémon in the player's party, and then returning to the battle. However, this glitch is only graphical as it is still impossible to battle or catch a ghost.

Also in Generation I, if the player uses a Poké Doll against the ghost Marowak, it will disappear even if the player didn't have the Silph Scope.

One of MissingNo.'s forms in Generation I uses the ghost's sprite as a front sprite.

Quotes

• When trying to attack a ghost without the Silph Scope

"Get out...... Get out......"

• Directly before encountering the Marowak ghost

"Be gone... Intruders..."

Sprites

Sprite from Generation I	Sprite from FireRed and LeafGreen

In the anime

In the main series

The Ghost of Maiden's Peak

In The Tower of Terror, a Haunter takes Ash's and Pikachu's souls out of their bodies after they have been struck by a chandelier. Here it is shown that ghosts can fly around and remain in the form they took while living; however, living beings cannot see them.

Other ghosts appeared in The Ghost of Maiden's Peak, including the titular character. The ghost of an Orange League Champion, Captain, was featured in A Shipful of Shivers. A ghost girl was featured in Ghoul Daze!. Both of these ghosts had malicious intent, and were portrayed, in contrast to the Ghost Pokémon that Ash met in Lavender Town, as villains.

Ash and his friends met a ghost named Lon in Scary Hospitality!. He once lived at the Scary House over 200 years ago, and now haunted it as a ghost. Although his true identity as a ghost wasn't revealed until close to the end of the episode, it was hinted at by his lack of a shadow. Unlike the ghosts described above, Lon was a very friendly man.

Acerola owns a Shiny Mimikyu named Mimikins which first appeared in Why Not Give Me a Z-Ring Sometime?. Mimikins is the ghost of a deceased Mimikyu, allowing it to float and pass through solid objects.

Pokédex entries

In Pokémon Origins

A ghost in Pokémon Origins

The only ghost that appears is in File 2: Cubone. It played the same role like in the games, being dormant in the Pokémon Tower and warning intruders to stay away from Team Rocket, who had taken it over. One resident of Lavender Town noted that she saw the ghost after sneaking past Team Rocket grunts at night, and fled in terror. Blue also ran away upon seeing it, while Red attempted to fight. However, his Pokémon's attacks were ineffective. When Blue returned to give Red the Silph Scope, Red was able to identify the ghost and figure out her true identity to be Marowak. After Marowak's child, Cubone, came rushing in and embraced its deceased mother, Marowak's spirit departed for the afterlife.

Additionally, at the Pokémon Center, one lady comments on an apparent white hand on Red's shoulder, but after checking only to find nothing, the woman disappears.

In Pokémon Generations

The Old Chateau butler in Pokémon Generations

The ghost of the little girl in Pokémon Generations

In Pokémon Generations, two ghosts appeared in The Old Chateau. The first ghost was the one of a Butler, who invited Cheryl to stay for the night at the Old Chateau. After treating her to a "meal", he escorted her to her room before sinking into the floor. Next, the ghost of a little girl appeared, floating in the air behind Cheryl after she picked up and read a note. The little girl then changed to a terrifying appearance and attacked Cheryl.

The ghosts possess the ability to create illusions, as the Old Chateau appeared to be inhabited while actually being in a dilapidated state. They also made Cheryl believe she was eating a feast and had an illusion of a Haunter chase her.

In other languages

Language Title Chinese Cantonese 幽靈 Yāulìhng Mandarin 幽靈 / 幽灵 Yōulíng Danish Spøgelse Dutch Spoek Finnish Kummitus Aave French Fantôme (VII) Spectre (I-III) German Gespenst (VII) Geist (I-III) Greek φάντασμα fantasma Italian Spettro Korean 유령 Yuryeong Norwegian Spøkelse Polish Duch Brazilian Portuguese Fantasma Spanish Fantasma (VII) Ghost (I-III) Swedish Spöke Thai ผี Phi Vietnamese Ma

This game character article is part of Project CharacterDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in the Pokémon games.