Malamar

❧

Wikipedia

Malamar
Pokémon character
A large purple creature that resembles an upside down squid with a bird's face and beak, its eyes glaring
Malamar artwork by Ken Sugimori
First gamePokémon X and Y (2013)
Created byHitoshi Ariga[1]
Designed byHitoshi Ariga[1]
Ken Sugimori (finalized)[2]
Voiced byKensuke Satō[3]
In-universe information
SpeciesPokémon
TypeDark and Psychic

Malamar (/ˈmæləmɑːr/ ⓘ), known in Japan as Calamanero (Japanese: カラマネロ, Hepburn: Karamanero), is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. First appearing in the 2013 games Pokémon X and Y, Malamar was designed by artist Hitoshi Ariga, was designed to resemble how squids appear in scientific textbooks, often with their tentacles facing upwards; Ariga believed this would also give a clue to players on how to obtain Malamar, as the game console being used must be flipped upside-down in order to evolve Malamar from its pre-evolved form, Inkay. Ariga made flipping a part of Inkay and Malamar's visual identity to further this connection.

Resembling an upside-down squid, Malamar is classified as a Dark and Psychic type Pokémon. In the franchise's fictional universe, Malamar have strong hypnotism abilities, which they use to lure in prey to feed on them. Since its introduction, Malamar has appeared in numerous games within the series, with a group of them serving as recurring antagonists in the Pokémon anime series. An additional form of Malamar, dubbed Mega Malamar, was introduced in the 2025 game Pokémon Legends: Z-A. To promote this inclusion, a marketing campaign dubbed "My Friend Malamar" was held, depicting characters being hypnotized by Mega Malamar into admiring and praising it.

Since its inception, Malamar has been considered an interesting inclusion due to its unique method of evolution. Other critics have commented on its more malicious nature within the franchise, as well as aspects of its visual design, including the design of Mega Malamar.

Conception and development

Malamar is a species of fictional creatures called Pokémon created for the Pokémon media franchise. Developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo, the Japanese franchise began in 1996 with the video games Pokémon Red and Green for the Game Boy, which were later released in North America as Pokémon Red and Blue in 1998.[4] In these games and their sequels, the player assumes the role of a Trainer whose goal is to capture and use the creatures' special abilities to combat other Pokémon. Some Pokémon can transform into stronger species through a process called evolution via various means, such as exposure to specific items.[5] Each Pokémon has one or two elemental types, which define its advantages and disadvantages when battling other Pokémon.[6] A major goal in each game is to complete the Pokédex, a comprehensive Pokémon encyclopedia, by capturing, evolving, and trading with other Trainers to obtain individuals from all Pokémon species.[5]

When designing the 2013 sequels Pokémon X and Y, Director Junichi Masuda chose the three main themes to be beauty, bonds and evolution.[7] More focus than usual was placed on giving new Pokémon unique elements for this generation.[8] A major design change for the franchise was the shift from two-dimensional sprites to three-dimensional polygons.[9] During the development for the games, emphasis was placed on retaining the iconic style of Pokémon art director Ken Sugimori, who has been designing Pokémon and creating the franchise's official artwork since Red and Green.[10][11] Sugimori then draws the finalized art of each species so they had a uniform presentation.[2] Malamar and its pre-evolution, Inkay, were created by manga artist Hitoshi Ariga, who had been requested to assist in creating Pokémon for X and Y.[1]

Design

Standing 4 ft 11 in (150 cm) tall,[12] Malamar resembles an upside-down squid in design. It is psychic, and is considered one of the strongest hypnotists among Pokémon species. It uses its lights on its body to hypnotize prey before using digestive fluids to consume them.[13] The Pokémon anime series frequently depicts Malamar as generally malicious in nature.[14] In-game, to evolve an Inkay into Malamar, players must flip their Nintendo 3DS or Switch consoles upside-down,[15] while in spin-off mobile game Pokémon Go, a player's phone must be flipped upside-down to evolve it.[16] Malamar's name is derived from "mal", a Spanish word meaning "bad". Its Japanese name similarly contains the syllable "ma", which is Japanese for demon.[14]

When Ariga designed Inkay and Malamar, the former was made to resemble a more familiar, friendly-looking squid, and a baby version of Malamar. Meanwhile, Malamar's design was meant to reflect how squids are often portrayed in encyclopedias and similar, with their legs upward. The upside-down design was also meant as a hint for players to figure out how to evolve Inkay into Malamar. To further this correlation, Ariga gave Game Freak's development team sketches of Inkay flipping about as it waited for instruction from the player, to make flipping a part of its identity.[17][18] He liked the idea of stimulating children's minds in this manner, citing how the Pokémon Parasect's introduction in the first games introduced them to the concept of cordyceps.[19]

The later series title Pokémon Legends: Z-A introduced a new form for Malamar dubbed Mega Malamar, a temporary transformation that greatly increases a species' power.[20] Now standing 9 ft 6 in (290 cm) tall,[21] Mega Malamar has a significantly larger brain, which grants it stronger hypnotic abilities.[22] These abilities let Malamar rewrite people's personalities and memories, changing them into completely different people if it wishes.[20]

Appearances

Malamar debuted in 2013's Pokémon X and Y.[22] It would subsequently appear in the 2017 games Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon,[23] the 2019 games Pokémon Sword and Shield,[24] the 2022 games Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's 2023 DLC expansion The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero,[25] and in the 2025 game Pokémon Legends: Z-A.[26] Malamar also appears in Pokémon Go[16] and in the Pokémon Trading Card Game.[27][28]

In the Pokémon anime series, a group of Malamar act as recurring antagonists in the seventeenth season titled Pokémon the Series: XY. A single member of this group first attempted to hypnotize people and Pokémon into aiding it in world domination, but this plot was foiled by series protagonist Ash Ketchum and his friends.[29] A trio of them later attempt to use energy crystals to cause global disruption, but the characters Clemont, Meowth, James, and James's Inkay are able to cause the crystals to merge into one, foiling their plan. The Malamar escaped into the crystal, promising to return in a future time.[14] A Malamar is later used by recurring character Alain in Pokémon Journeys: The Series, where it is defeated in battle by the character Leon.[30]

In the lead up to Pokémon Legends: Z-A, a marketing blitz dubbed "My Friend Malamar" was held by The Pokémon Company to reveal Mega Malamar,[31] with trailers depicting characters in the games' universe being hypnotized into admiring it and loving it.[32]

Critical reception

A large, upside-down squid-like creature with a rainbow colored body, a beak mouth and an emphasized brain.
Mega Malamar's design has been described as a Lovecraftian Eldritch horror.[33]

Pokémon Sun and Moon director Shigeru Ohmori stated in an interview he considered Malamar his favorite Pokémon due to how it evolved from Inkay, and led to similar ideas in his own games.[34] Connor Christie of Pocket Tactics considered it one of the best Pokémon introduced in X and Y, stating that while the franchise wasn't afraid of using "convoluted methods" to evolve Pokémon, "few are more mind-bending than that of Malamar". He further praised its design, in both how its upside-down squid appearance played into its evolution method, but also that its constantly annoyed look had "a certain energy that everyone can relate to at times".[35]

Zack Zwiezen of Kotaku stated that Malamar reflected his feelings on squids as a whole, which he considered fascinating due to how "strange and cool" they were, but also creeped out by their intelligence and how dangerous they could be. He further felt its lore painted it as one of the franchise's most dangerous Pokémon due to its hypnotic power, and in-game statements that it altered the course of history within the Pokémon franchise's universe.[13] Alyse Stanley and Jhaan Elker of The Washington Post felt Malamar's character design as an upside-down squid was clever. They further suggested that it could be seen as meta commentary that the player themselves had been manipulated by it to evolve Inkay due to its unique evolution method.[15]

Timothy Blake Donohoo of Comic Book Resources stated that Malamar's "idiosyncratic transformation, type and design belie a Pokémon who harbors immense powers", and cited how it was portrayed as using them for evil. While he felt their behavior in multiple instances indicated a possible genetic predilection for a misanthropic mindset, its name in both regions did too, with its North American name utilized the Spanish word for bad, mal, it's Japanese named utilized the syllable ma, meaning demon.[14] Meanwhile, Screen Rant's Carlyle Edmundson felt their portrayal in the anime helped indicate how dangerous actual evil Pokémon in the series could be, which she considered a terrifying concept within the scope of the series.[29]

Polygon's Patricia Hernandez described her reaction to its Mega evolution as "it almost feels like peering into the abyss". Further calling it less similar to a squid and more an Eldritch horror, it managed to magnify the Pokémon's existing tendencies while resembling a cross between Lovecraftian nightmare and the Pokémon franchise's Ultra Beast designs introduced in Sun and Moon, "except with rainbows".[33] Giovanni Colantonio also for Polygon stated they had always hated Malamar's design due to it making them uncomfortable for reasons they could not quite identify, suggesting "the fact that it’s a sea monster with a beak" may be the cause, even while acknowledging squids have beaks. By comparison, he considered Mega Malamar an improvement due to its "ribbon-like limbs and its bright rainbow colors", and felt it bore a resemblance to the DreamWorks Pictures character Megamind, though was unsure if that made the design better or worse.[36]

Catherine Lewis of GamesRadar+ on the other hand poked fun at the promotional campaign to reveal it, suggesting it would have been funny if it had been for something unrelated instead and just an effort to get people to like what she described as one of the weirdest Pokémon from X and Y. She further felt there was something deeply sad about its use of mass hypnosis to make people want to be its friend.[26]

References

  1. 1 2 3 Devore, Jordan (November 15, 2013). "Here's the guy to thank for some of the best new Pokemon". Destructoid. Archived from the original on September 12, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  2. 1 2 Ken Sugimori Works (in Japanese). Tankobon Softcover. January 2014. pp. 342–343. ISBN 9784198638061.
  3. ↑ 佐藤 健輔 [Sato Kensuke]. Aksent (in Japanese). March 10, 2020. Archived from the original on May 16, 2025. Retrieved September 16, 2025.
  4. ↑ Hilliard, Kyle (December 25, 2016). "Pokémon Red & Blue – A Look Back At The 20-Year Journey To Catch 'Em All". Game Informer. Archived from the original on October 1, 2023. Retrieved January 22, 2024.
  5. 1 2 Allison, Anne (May 2006). Millennial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination. University of California Press. pp. 192–197. ISBN 9780520938991.
  6. ↑ Pokémon Deluxe Essential Handbook. Scholastic Inc. July 28, 2015. p. 5. ISBN 9780545795661.
  7. ↑ Ellis, Katy (September 20, 2013). "Junichi Masuda and Hironobu Yoshida Discuss Pokémon X and Y, Mega Evolutions and the 2DS". Nintendo Life. p. 2. Archived from the original on March 5, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  8. ↑ Masuda, Junichi; Yoshida, Hironobu (September 24, 2013). "Pokémon X and Y Interview with Game Freak". Nintendo World Report (Interview). Interviewed by Justin Berube and Josh Max. Archived from the original on January 26, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  9. ↑ Ellis, Katy (September 20, 2013). "Junichi Masuda and Hironobu Yoshida Discuss Pokémon X and Y, Mega Evolutions and the 2DS". Nintendo Life. p. 1. Archived from the original on February 29, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  10. ↑ Plunkett, Luke (May 24, 2011). "The Man Who Creates Pokémon For a Living". Kotaku. Archived from the original on October 25, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  11. ↑ Masuda, Junichi; Yoshida, Hironobu (September 19, 2013). "Men are from Mars, Pokemon X and Y are from France". IGN (Interview). Interviewed by Heidi Kemps. Archived from the original on December 15, 2015. Retrieved January 30, 2016.
  12. ↑ Kalos Region Handbook. Scholastic Inc. October 30, 2019. p. 140. ISBN 9789352758876.
  13. 1 2 Zwiezen, Zack (February 29, 2020). "Malamar Has The Strongest Hypnotic Powers Of Any Pokemon (And Might Be Evil)". Kotaku. Archived from the original on May 13, 2023. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  14. 1 2 3 4 Donohoo, Timothy Blake (April 13, 2024). "Pokemon's Most Terrifying Supervillain Is an Ordinary Psychic-Type". Comic Book Resources. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  15. 1 2 Stanley, Alyse; Elker, Jhaan (October 28, 2022). "Meet the 14 Pokémon with the most disturbing backstories". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on November 12, 2022. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  16. 1 2 Lee, Julia (February 18, 2025). "Can Inkay be shiny in Pokémon Go?". Polygon. Archived from the original on September 19, 2025. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  17. ↑ Ariga, Hitoshi [@ariga_megamix] (October 21, 2017). XYではマーイーカ（とカラマネロ）のデザインを担当させていただきました イカは頭足類で図鑑などでも正位置は足側が上（頭）なので、カラマネロはそういうデザインにまとめてるのですが、進化前のマーイーカはいわゆる親しみやすいイカに見えるようにひっくり返っています（つづく） (Tweet). Archived from the original on September 16, 2021 – via Twitter.
  18. ↑ Ariga, Hitoshi [@ariga_megamix] (October 21, 2017). そしてマーイーカの状態では進化後への伏線として、とにかく攻撃でも待機でも何かの折にひっくり返って元に戻るという設定を図解でゲーフリさんに渡してました ひっくり返るのがアイデンティティだったのです あと、ひっくり返った時に子供のカラマネロに見えるように…という狙いもありました (Tweet). Archived from the original on July 12, 2022 – via Twitter.
  19. ↑ Ariga, Hitoshi [@ariga_megamix] (October 23, 2017). いろんな物の見ができるのは素晴らしいですね！ ポケモンは初代から割とディープなネタ（パラセクトの冬虫夏草だったり）が入ってるので、そういうムムム？と遊ぶ子供の脳みそを動かすような、ひっかかるようなのっていいなあ…と思いながらお手伝いをさせていただいております (Tweet). Archived from the original on September 16, 2021 – via Twitter.
  20. 1 2 Lynn, Lottie (September 10, 2025). "Reports of mind control exaggerated as Pokemon Legends: Z-A debuts new Mega Evolution". Eurogamer. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  21. ↑ "Mega Malamar". Pokémon Legends: Z-A. Archived from the original on September 20, 2025. Retrieved October 18, 2025.
  22. 1 2 "Mega Malamar makes its debut in Pokemon Legends: Z-A". Shacknews. September 10, 2025. Archived from the original on September 16, 2025. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  23. ↑ Tapsell, Chris (December 15, 2017). "Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon new Pokémon – all new Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon Pokédex additions and new forms listed". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on February 9, 2025. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  24. ↑ Knezevic, Kevin. "Pokemon Sword And Shield Shiny Grapploct Event Now Live Until June 27". GameSpot. Archived from the original on November 30, 2022. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  25. ↑ Lee, Julia (December 15, 2023). "How to evolve Inkay in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet: The Indigo Disk". Polygon. Archived from the original on September 17, 2025. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  26. 1 2 Lewis, Catherine (September 4, 2025). "Pokemon Legends: Z-A fans are getting hypnotized by the next likely Mega Evolution candidate, a psychic squid amassing an army for its "my friend Malamar" hype: "Greatest Pokemon of All Time!"". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on September 11, 2025. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  27. ↑ Dwyer, Theo (January 24, 2023). "The Cards Of Pokémon TCG: Silver Tempest Part 51: Gardevoir CR". Bleeding Cool. Archived from the original on January 24, 2023. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  28. ↑ Yehl, Joshua (April 14, 2020). "Weirdest Pokemon From Sword and Shield Get Crazy Cards". IGN. Archived from the original on July 1, 2022. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  29. 1 2 Edmundson, Caryle (October 9, 2023). "Only One Pokémon is Actually True Evil, & It's Not One Fans Would Expect". Screen Rant. Archived from the original on September 17, 2025. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  30. ↑ Valdez, Nick (June 18, 2022). "Pokemon Journeys Kickstarts the Masters Tournament With First Major Victory". ComicBook.com. Archived from the original on May 20, 2025. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  31. ↑ Pulliam-Moore, Charles (September 10, 2025). "Mega Malamar is (not) your friend". The Verge. Archived from the original on September 12, 2025. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  32. ↑ Issy van der Velde (September 4, 2025). "Pokemon seems to be teasing Mega Malamar for Legends: Z-A in a series of bizarre live-action videos featuring people like a taxi driver and artist proclaiming their love for one of X and Y's strangest 'mons". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on September 29, 2025. Retrieved October 13, 2025.
  33. 1 2 Hernandez, Patricia (September 10, 2025). "Pokémon Legends: Z-A's newest mega evolution is kinda messed up". Polygon. Archived from the original on September 10, 2025. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  34. ↑ Bailey, Kat (October 19, 2016). "Interview: First-time Pokémon Director Shigeru Ohmori Opens Up About Sun and Moon". USGamer. Archived from the original on December 21, 2022. Retrieved September 10, 2025 – via VG247.
  35. ↑ Christie, Connor (November 14, 2022). "The 12 best gen 6 Pokémon". Pocket Tactics. Archived from the original on December 22, 2024. Retrieved September 10, 2025.
  36. ↑ Colantonio, Giovanni (October 23, 2025). "We ranked all of Pokémon Legends: Z-A's new mega evolutions". Polygon. Retrieved October 25, 2025.