Pokémon

Last Halloween, I looked at the original Ghost-types in the Pokémon franchise: Gastly and its evolved forms, Haunter and Gengar (including Gengar’s Mega Evolution and Gigantamax form). This year, I’m casting an eye over a Ghost from the third generation, Shuppet. It has a straightforward design – it’s a shadowy little sheet-ghost with strange, psychedelic eyes, a slightly wobbly mouth, and what seems to be a single upright horn, as though some invisible hand is holding Shuppet by the top of its head and dangling it around.

This horn, according to the Pokédex, collects the negative emotions of people, on which Shuppet sustains itself. The feelings it feeds upon include anger, jealousy, resentment, and malice, so some people are grateful for this Pokémon’s presence. Commonly found in cities and other urban settings, Shuppet often appears in swarms beneath the eaves of houses where people tainted by dark emotions live. As such, there exists an old proverb – ‘Shun the house where Shuppet gather in the growing dusk’ – because the people that live there typically have vengefulness or envy in their hearts. This Pokémon is very active at night, but when the sun rises again, it returns to its nest.

Shuppet superficially resembles an amateur hand puppet that someone might have cobbled together on their own, and its name, as you might be able to work out, comes from shadow and puppet. But there’s a bit more to it than that. Shuppet is based on a specific type of small, smiling, handmade Japanese doll called teru teru bōzu. These little charms are typically white, ghost-like, made from tissue paper or cloth, and designed to bring good weather and stop rain. They are traditionally hung up outside windows or under eaves, which is a neat echo of Shuppet’s Pokédex behaviour.

Shuppet’s Japanese name is Kagebouzu, a combination of kage, meaning shadow, and teru teru bōzu. This brings to mind a dark, corrupted version of the usually cheery weather charm, which, instead of warding off rain and bringing the sun, feeds on unhappiness, jealousy, and hate.

Next time, we look at Shuppet’s evolved form, Banette, which has a fascinating (and very dark) backstory.