Bambi Eloriaga-Amago
The current popularity of the phenomenal game app Pokemon Go has brought about a renewed interest in the twenty-year-old multimedia franchise, Pokemon. The Pokemon anime and games focus on Pokemon Trainers and their quest to find, train for battle, and compete against each other with Pokemon—cute, animal-like monsters.
The basis for a few of the Pokemon, however, are far from cute. In fact, they are actually horrifying. Here are ten Pokemon based on mythological creatures so terrifying, they are downright nightmare fodder.
Jynx, the flesh-eater
A pregnant woman traveling home to her village is seized with birthing pains and has to take shelter in a mountain hut. The kindly-old woman who lives there assists in the birth. However, in the middle of the night, the mother wakes up to find that the kindly-old woman has transformed into Yama-uba, a frightening old crone with golden-white unkempt hair, dressed in an old red kimono, and who has plans of devouring the newly-born babe for dinner. In the world of Pokemon, Yama-uba is reborn as Jynx, an ice/psychic type who can seduce others by dancing.
Whiscash, the giant, earthquake-causing catfish
Onamazu or Namazu is a giant catfish that is being held captive by the thunder-god Kashima beneath the islands of Japan. Kashima uses a giant stone to hold Onamazu down and whenever Kashima relaxes his grip, the catfish thrashes about in the mud, causing massive earthquakes. In modern times, Onamazu is being used as the official mascot for Japan’s Earthquake Early Warning System. Pokemon enthusiasts, however, will recognize him as Whiscash, a whiskered, fish-like creature who incidentally, also has the power to create earthquakes.
