Pokémon

When Gastly evolves into Haunter, it begins to lose its gaseous form. However, its body still isn’t fully formed; its hands float free, not physically connected to the rest of its form. Commonly found in dark, dreary places, such as graveyards and abandoned towers, Haunter plots to take the life of the next living thing it comes across. According to Ken Sugimori, one of the turning points in the creation of any new Pokémon is whether or not Game Freak can think of something for that Pokémon to eat and survive on. And when it comes to Ghost-type Pokémon, they ‘might feed on the spirit, or reap energy from the air around them,’ Sugimori explains. Haunter steals the life force from its victims with a lick from its cold, gaseous tongue, which inflicts a continuous shuddering that persists until the victim has died – pretty dark stuff for Pokémon.

Despite its predatory nature, however, Haunter sometimes uses its ghostly abilities to merely scare or prank people, rather than kill them outright. Because it fears the light and revels in the dark, this Pokémon is rarely encountered in cities that stay brightly lit even at night.

Haunter’s ragged, legless form and tapering tail help visualise this Pokémon’s ability to levitate, while its menacing grin is similar to those carved into pumpkins at Halloween. Its disembodied, clawed fingers, which give the effect of a ghostly, reaching hand, are constantly outstretched, echoing the standard ‘haunting’ posture of stereotypical ghosts. Its ability to sap the life from its victim may have been inspired by a Filipino mythical ghost creature called the dila. The dila (meaning ‘tongue’) is a vampiric spirit that passes through the bamboo floors of provincial houses and licks the life force out of those who are sick.

As the intermediate form in this ghostly evolutionary line, Haunter seems to be on its way to forming a more solid body out of Gastly’s misty form – or as some Pokémon fans have interpreted it, manifesting itself further into our dimension. Either way, Haunter’s body hasn’t fully materialised yet, but it certainly looks more physical and corporeal than Gastly.

And when Haunter itself evolves into the malicious Gengar, it seems to gain even more physicality… at least, when it wants to. It’s just as happy melding into people’s shadows and stalking them. But I’m getting ahead of myself a bit. I’ll be looking at Gengar (and its Mega Evolution and its Gigantamax form) next time.