Now, lots of gamers are guilty of being just a little too protective of their beloved franchises. We’ve all been there. Say you’re an ardent follower of Resident Evil, and the guntastic action movie-athon the series became after Resident Evil 4 just doesn’t appeal to you a🥂t ﷽all. It hurts, doesn’t it?

That’s just the way with any l෴ong-running game. Or TV show, band or anything else, really. It’s going to gradually change over time. Some can get on board with that, and they’ll pick up new fans along the way as a result. Others will spew rage, bile and vitriol all over the internet in response.

When it comes to Pokémon, one common criticism is the very opposite: it doesn’t change enough. However much Game Freak may rest on its laurels and stick to its formula, there’s one thing that’s always going to steadily grow and change: the roster of critters themselves. Which is where t🎉he problem comes in.

For a lot of nostalgic gamers, the original 151 Poké♍mon were where it was at. This was the pinnacle of Pokémon design (yes, there was a rock with arms and a face in there, but the polite thing would be not to mentiౠon that), and things have only gone downhill since.

Now, I’m not one to hop on the genwunne♔r bandwagon, but I’ve got to admit: there certainly were some shonky designs introduced in later generations. Join me for a look at trash bagsജ, ice cream cones, grandpa dragons and much more besides.

30 Magmortar: This Clown Is NOT Kidding

Now, Magmar, I have precisely zero issues with. As far as I’m concerned, it’𒆙s a perfectly-designed Fire-type. Charizard may be my favourite overall (there’s no purer love than that between a man and his first ever starter lizard dude, after all), but visually, Magmar is just superb.

I mꦇean, stats-wise, it ౠneeded an evolution, there’s no doubt about that. I’m super glad that it got one, but what in heckola is this? I’m sure this guy came to my fourth birthday party. I wasn’t a fan of clowns then, and I’m sure not now.

29 Castform: So Many Forms, All Of Them Horrible

Now, on the surface, I think Castform was an excellent idea. With the great prominence of weather in battles (rain teams are freaking everywhere, friends; it’s wetter than a English winter𝔍 around here), this was inspired: An artificial Pokémon acquired at the weather institute, which has a different form depending on the weather conditions.

Sadly for Castform, it’s just terrible, and it gets no stat bonuses in any of its forms. The Sunny one has the advantage of looking far too darn adorable for human eyes to process, but that doesn’t mean much competitively. It’ll be crushed into sad, defeated hun💝ks of spam regardless.

28 Trubbish: Yep, It’s The Trash Bag

That’s right, friends. Inevitably, it wasn’t going to be long before this guy made an appearance. This is one of the most-snarked desi♓gns in the entire franchise, ri🦄ght here.

Typically, when somebody refers to something as garbage, they’re not speak♍ing literally. A video game or movie might be garbage, but it’s difficult to be garbage both literally and figuratively. Generation five’s Trubbish and Garbodor manage to nail that, though.

While these Poison-types aren’t especially bad in termsꩲ of viability, they… well, just look at Trubbish. You can see where the accusations of lazy design are coming from.

27 Luvdisc: Looks Bad, Is Bad

Now🐓, granted, I c🌌an appreciate the concept of Luvdisc.

Statistically, it’s right up (or rather, down) there with the worst Pokémon ever created, but that’s not all there is to a Pokémon’s story.

The whole shtick about it being a symbol of love and devotion (“Luvdisc's heart-shaped body is a symbol of love and romance. It is said that any couple meeting this Pokémon is promised a loving relationship that never ends,” reports Pokémon Sapphire’s Pokédex) is endearing, but they went just a little too far down the ꦿroad of cheesy to fit in with that 🌺motif.

26 Vanilluxe: The Ice Cream Cone

Ah, yes. When it comes to Pokémon designs that ta♉ke the brunt of a genwunner’s snark, these tend to be the major pl﷽ayers. You’ve seen Trubbish and Garbodor, now meet the Vanillite family.

Personally, I have to say, I have no pr🍌oblems with anything that’s happening here. I’m a huge fan of Ice-type Poಞkémon, and an even huger-er (no, that’s not a thing) fan of ice cream in all its delicious forms. This Pokémon is a bit of a lazy copout, sure, but I have no issues with that.

25 Crabominable: Crab-Freaks Wobble But They Don’t Fall Down

Come on, now, Game Freak. I see w🔯hat you’ve done here. This thing is a Weeble knock-off if ever I’ve seen ꧂one.

The more decrepit gamers among you will surely remember the Weebles, those odd egg-shaped toys from yesteryear. I don’t know what I was expecting to see on Crabrawler’s evolution (I hadn’t spoilt it for myself beforehand), but it sure as heckles was not this. There are all kinds of 💜different bizarre factors at work in this design, I don’t really know where to go with it.

On the plus side, it’s the first Ice🍸- and Fighting-type, 🧸which is neat.

24 Bouffalant: The Disco Stu Of The Four-Legged World

If you’re an old🍬-school dinosaur nerd like myself, I’m sure you know all about the Pachycephalosaurus. Thi🎐s species has the unique USP of a very, very thick skull, which enabled it to engage in headbutting combat with its fellow males (typical men).

The Pokémon Bouffalant can also do this, using the power of its mighty sixties afro. I don’t know who it was at Game Freak that devised this thing, and I don’t know whether to laugh or cry about it either. It’s like Tauros crossed with Ross Geller in one of the flashback episodes of Friends.

23 Probopass: The Mighty Moustache

When it comes to Pokémon, I like to think that I’ m pretty darn open-minded. I’ve loved the series since 1998, and I’m not one to just relentless bash on everything that’s been released since just because. Love, ♒peace and Pokémon, that’s my motto.

Nevertheless, there are some things th�💫�at I just cannot condone.

One of those things would be the fact that Probopass is a gigantic, flying, magnetic nose, with a luxurious mustache of iron filings.

Where did 🦋this thing come from? Why can’t it disappear back there? It’s a scientific fact that Nosepass and/or Probopass are nobody’s favorite Pokémon, nobody anywhere ever, and don’t even try to ꧑@ me on that.

22 Klefki: It’s… A Keychain

When it comes to imaginary creatures, I’d say that it’s pretty i𒉰mportant to strike a balance in their design. You want something different and fantastical, but which retains some kind of resemblance to something in the real world. You know꧑, for relatability’s sake.

I can totally see how some Pokémon fit into that, but Klefki? As I’m sure you’ve already established, it’s a freaking keychain. Did the team just rifle through their pockets for inspiration? (“A piece of lint Pokémon? Nah. A loose change Pokémon? Nah. A slip of paper that says pick up dry cleaning Pokémon? Nah. A KEYRING Pokémon? Nailed it!”)

21 Bidoof: Well, They Got The Doof Part Right

There’s never been a more appropriate recipient of the Simple ability than this little thing, that’s for darn sure. Bidoof is the Pokémon that’s had us all dreading the day that generation four was released in Pokémon GO, purely because there’d be Bidoofs EVERYWHERE.

Sure enough, that’s exactly the case. Still, we knew that was coming, we’d mentally prepared ourselves for it, and Bidoof’s dopey-yet-cute face is nowhere to stay. Not that we can complain about its existence, because it’s pro🦄ven itself pretty darn handy over the years. Essentially, Bidoof and Bibarel exist so we can get onto all the best rides at Disneyland, while it waits for us at the bottom and holds all our HMs.