Pokémon Red and Blue hit North American shelves in 1998. Several iconic Pokémon came from these games, but Mewtwo intrigued fans with his unique and dark history. The dark history of Mewtwo led him to being one of the most beloved Pokémon of all time. How could anyone not love the brooding cat-like creature? He is every child’s dream Pokémon: dark, mysterious, rare, and strong. Personally, I am a huge fan of him, and I know that I am not alone in my admiration. Mewtwo is consistently rated as one 𝐆of the most favorited Pokémon among fans. The Pokémon Company had determined among Japanese fans, but he may be even more popular among American fans. The President of the Pokémon Company, Tsunekazu Ishihara, had stated that Mewtwo was expected to be popular in America becauseꦕ of Mewtwo’s strength.
Publishers are also well aware of our love for Mewtwo, and as a result, Mewtwo has appeared in various different Pokémon-related video games, manga, and anime adaptions. Most fans know about Mewtwo from their nostalgic childhood. Perhaps you have seen him in the dramatic movie, Pokémon: The First Movie - Mewtwo Strikes Back, or perhaps you have caught him in a stressful battle in the mysterious Cerulean Cave. However, there is much more to Mewtwo than a strong Pokémon that you saw in a movie or caught in a dark cave. With all of the different mediums Mewtwo has appeared in, it is hard to keep track of him even for the most die-hard Pokémon fans.
These are the 15 dark sec💃💛rets even die-hard fans never knew about Mewtwo.
15 🅰 Science Expe🍬riments
The word “horrific” is commonly used to refer to the experiments that led to Mewtwo’s creation. The Pokémon Red Pokédex entry on Mewtwo states: “It was created by a scientist after years of horrific gene splicing and DNA engineering experiments.” The entries for Mewtwo in Pokémon LeafGreen and Pokémon X use the exact same wording.
The Pokémon Mansion journals that can be ℱfound and read in the Cinnabar Island Pokémon Mansion shed some light onto the experiments. According to the journal, Mew was discovered deep in a South American jungle. They used Mew to give birth to a new Pokémon: Mewtwo. While the journals do not explicitly say this, it is believed that an embryo contained within Mew was experimented on. One of the most interesting details about the journals is that the Japanese version suggested there was one scientist that crea✃ted Mewtwo, which matches the Pokédex entry, but the English version of the journals suggests that there was a team of scientists.
14 Creat🌊ed From Human D𓆏NA
There is only so ꦰmuch information that can be extrapolated from the Pokémon Man🍷sion journal entries found on Cinnabar island and the Pokédex entries about Mewtwo. What we know for sure from these sources is that at least one scientist worked on Mew to create Mewtwo and Mewtwo is the result of experiments related to DNA and genetics.
The Pokémon Adventures manga series has some answers. It was based more strictly on the games than the Pokémon anime series, but still needed to fill in some details that were not present in the game. In this series, Cinnabar City gym leader Blaine was a Team Rocket scientist who created Mewtwo. There was not enough genetic material from Mew’s cells to finish Mewtwo’s body, so Blaine used some of his own cells to finish Mewtwo. Some of Mew♎two’s cells found 𒀰their way into Blaine’s body as well, so the two are inextricably genetically tied.
13 ൩ Influenced By Frankenstein?
Frankenstein’s monster first appeared in Mary Shelley’s 1818 novel The Modern Prometheus. Dr. Victor Frankenstein🐼 created Frankenstein’s monster, which attempted to fit in to modern society. The monster found that he was unlike humans and was unable to fit in. He was shunned by everyone he encountered. As a result, he sought revenge against his creator.
Does that sound familiar? Mewtwo has been compared to Frankenstein’s monster and it is hard not to see the parallels when they are pointed out. Mewtwo, like Frankenstein’s monster, was created by a scientist in a lab. They both have some sort of existential dread. In the film Pokémon: The First Movie, Mewtwo questions why he was born and wants to get revenge on his creators. This is strikingly similar to re🧜venge that Frankenstein’s monster sought after.
12 ꦫ Too Dangerous 🐼
Mewtwo resides deep within the Cerulean Cave, which is also referred to as the Unknown Dungeon. He stands on a platform by himself where you can catch the level 70 creature. However, it is not as simple as walking into the cave and catching him; you need to prove yourself in order to enter the cave. The cave is regulated by the Pokémon League, and they only allow Trainers that have entered the Hall of Fame to face the dangers of the cave. In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, trainers need to have ꦗbeaten the Pokémon League and obtained the additional eight Kanto badges.
The Cerulean Cave is even too dangerous for the pokedex! The pokedex “nest” features which shows there Pokémon can be caught does not display any Pokémon for the Cerulean Cave in Pokémon Red and Blue. This was later fixed for future games.
11 Owned By Team R🐎ocket
While Mewtwo does not have any affiliation or connection to Team Rocket in the Pokémon video games, the same is not true for the Pokémon anime series and the Pokémon Adventures manga. Team Rocket leader and Pallet Town gym leader Giovanni had control of Mewtwo for a brief period, and while I say control, it was mor🌳e like a partnership. Mewtwo first appeared in body armor in the gym battle Gary Oak 🐈had against Giovanni. Gary’s Pokémon had no chance against Mewtwo. It is revealed in the movie that Mewtwo agreed to work with Giovanni, who had promised to teach Mewtwo how to control his power.
Mewtwo was also “owned” by Team Rocket in the Pokémon Adventures manga. Blไaine is commonly known as the gym leader of Cinnabar Island, but he was 🐈also a Team Rocket scientist who created Mewtwo in the manga.
10 Highest Special Attack ♚
In the Generation I Pokémon gameౠs, Red and Blue, Mewtwo was insanely powerful. In fact, Mewtwo was the strongest Pokémon by far, which is why it makes sense he can only be caught at the end of the game. The reason why he was so powerful is because his “special” stat was the highest by far. In the Generation I games, the special stat was not yet separated into special attack and special defense. They were both the same stat. As a result, Mewtwo was not only very strong, but he could also take a lot of hits from special attacks.
Since Geꦐneration I, Pokémon with higher special attack stats have been released, but with the introduction of Mega Evolutions,🔥 Mewtwo once again has the highest special attack with his Mega Mewtwo Y form.
9 ꦇ Destruction
Mewtwo is a violent Pokémon and frequently destroys pretty much everything around him. The Pokémon Y Pokédex entry states: “A Pokémon created by recombining Mew's genes. It's sa꧙id to have the most savage heart among Pokémon.” Mewtwo certainly does seem to be savage from what is observable in the anime and manga adaptions.
One of the first impressions of Mewtwo most people have is the episode of the anime in which Mewtwo demolished Gary’s Pokémon in a gym battle. Someone’s second impression might have been witnessing Mewtwo destroy the lab that he was created in. Put simply: Mewtwo likes to destroy things. The inability to control his powers is one of the reasons why Mewtwo joined Team Rocket in the first place. In the Pokémon manga, Mewtwo’s outbursts were so out of c🌳ontrol that Bl꧃aine attempted to kill him.
8 𓂃 He Has A Soft Side🌄
The possibility of Mewtwo having a soft side might seem strange considering the Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire Pokédex entry on Mewtwo: “Mewtwo is a Pokémon that was created by genetic manipulation. However, even though the scientific power of humans created this Pokémon's body, they faile🌟d to endow Mewtwo with a compassionate heart.” One cannot expect a Pokédex entry to contain all the intricacies of Mewtwo’s emotional capabilities. There🐻 is a little more nuance to Mewtwo.
In Pokémon: The First Movie, Mewtwo displayed a large amount of emotional depth. While Mewtwo does engage in a lot of destruction, he becomes more contemplative and sympathetic by the end of the movie. There is a famous quote by Mewtwo that sums up his rea🦄lizations in the film: “I see now that the circumstances of one♏'s birth are irrelevant; it is what you do with the gift of life that determines who you are.”
7 🌟 Several Owners
If you have read this far, you would now know that Mewtwo has had several different owners. First of all, he was owned by his creator or creators. There are several different Mewtwo creation stories. The original Japanese versions, Pokémon Red and Green, suggested that there was only one scientist who created Mewtwo. The English translations, Pokémon Red and Blue, suggested multiple people had worked on Mౠewtwo in the Pಞokémon Mansion journal entries, but only one creator was mentioned in the Pokédex entry for Mewtwo. In the manga series, Blaine was the creator of Mewtwo, and became Mewtwo’s official trainer after catching him.
Aside from Mewtwo’s creators, he has had other owners as well. Mewtwo was owned by Team Rocket in the anime adaption. He was owned by Red in the Pokémon Origins series. Mewtwo was also owned by Blue in a less-known manga series, Pokémon Pocket Monsters. A mirage Mewtwo was controlled by the Mirage Master in The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon.
6 Clone Or Not? ꦜ
Mewtwo is often referred to as a clone of Mew, but that might✤ not be entirely accurate. The definition of a clone is: “an organism or cell, or group of organisms or cells, produced from one ancestor or stock, to which they are genetically identical.” Assuming that Mewtwo was originally an embryo inside of an already pregnant Mew, that would not be classified as ace reproduction. It would be more appropriate in that circumstance to refer to Mew as a genetically modified child of Mew rather than a “clone.” However, an embryo created from Mew’s genetic material could have been put inside of Mew by the scientists, which would imply cloning.
Regardless of the circumstances of Mewtwo’s bir𒁃th, he is not genetically identical to Mew. They are not even genetically ident✱ical enough to be the same species in the Pokédex, so how could Mewtwo be a clone?