Mr. Mime
Encyclopedia
Mr. Mime, known in Japan
as , is a Pokémon species in Nintendo
and Game Freak
's Pokémon
franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori
, Mr. Mime first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue
and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise. Mr. Mime is voiced by Yūji Ueda
in Japanese, and Kayzie Rogers
in English.
Known as the Barrier
Pokémon, Mr. Mime are gifted with the art of miming at a young age, and as they mature they gain the ability to psychically generate invisible objects such as walls and other barriers. In the anime
, Mr. Mime appears as early on as a house cleaner and helper to Delia, protagonist Ash Ketchum
's mother, while others are shown as entertainers or cooks. In the Pokémon Adventures
manga, its abilities are utilized to create training rooms, and surround an entire city with a barrier to prevent access from the outside world.
Mr. Mime's appearance has been heavily criticized by sources such as 1UP.com
due to its human design, as well as for combining the worst-perceived aspects of mimes and clowns and called a "creepy son of a bitch" in related podcasts. However, the character's design has also been praised by other sources in comparison to more common series characters, as in a study of Pokémon character design where it was the design was purposefully bad to invite player scrutiny and offer diversity to the series.
for the first generation of Pocket Monsters games Red and Green, which were localized outside of Japan as Pokémon Red and Blue
. Originally called "Barriered" in Japanese, Nintendo decided to give the various Pokémon species "clever and descriptive names" related to their appearance or features when translating the game for western audiences as a means to make the characters more relatable to American children. As a result they were renamed "Mr. Mime", based on their masculine appearance and behavior; The name has persisted despite the introduction of female members of the species in later games.
Appearing as an anthropomorphic
creature, it has a pink head with red cheeks and blue, frizzy hair, a round, white body with a red spot in the middle, light-pink arms and legs are connected to its body by red spheres, white, five-fingered hands, and black feet that curl upward at the tips. Their hands are depicted with four fingers and an opposable thumb, with larger fingertips and red dots on their underside. However, game representations of the character featured only three fingers on each hand until the release of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire
.
Mr. Mime are gifted with the art of miming at a young age, but as they mature, they gain the ability to make invisible objects by emitting energy from their fingers and minutely vibrating their fingertips to harden the air around them and form a wall. Barriers generated this way can repel harsh attacks, and its gestures and motions can convince watchers that something unseeable actually exists; once this is achieved, the perceived item will materialize. Mr. Mime are very prideful of their pantomime
acts, and will heavily slap anyone that interrupts them while miming. Mr. Mime has a pre-evolution, Mime Jr., which evolves when mimic
king other Pokémon.
, and Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen
. It appeared in several sequels, including Pokémon Gold and Silver
, Pokémon Diamond
, and Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
. In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Mr. Mime gains a new pre-evolved form, Mime Jr., which evolves when leveled up while knowing the move Mimic. Gym Leader Sabrina uses a female Mr. Mime in every game she appears in except Pokémon Yellow, in which she does not have a Mr. Mime. In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Elite Four Lucian owns a Mr. Mime.
Outside of the main series, Mr. Mime has appeared in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon
games and the Pokémon Ranger
games. In Pokémon Stadium 2
, Mr. Mime stars in its own minigame called "Barrier Ball." Poké Balls appear on the field and by using Mr. Mime's Barrier, send the Poké Balls to the other player's fields.
, a Mr. Mime lives with Delia Ketchum. He does housework for her in exchange for room and board. Ash
dressed as a Mr. Mime to inspire a real Mr. Mime who worked for a circus. Delia knew about this, so when a wild Mr. Mime came to her door and wanted lunch, she thought it was Ash in costume, and provided it with food. When the real Ash showed up, still in costume, she was quite puzzled, but wound up keeping Mimey as her live-in maid
. It will only listen to Delia, and if anyone else, even Ash, gives it orders, or asks it to do something, it will normally ignore them. It is unknown if Delia has actually captured Mimey, as she is never shown with its Poké Ball. When Ash and his friends returned to Pallet Town following the Orange Islands saga, it was revealed that Brock
and Mimey had become rather competitive regarding household tasks while the two of them were sharing the house with Delia.
In the Pokémon Adventures
manga, Mr. Mime was first seen under the control of Sabrina, generating a Light Screen to seal off the whole of Saffron City. The same Mr. Mime was seen again during the Gym Leader faceoff, using its miming powers to trap Bugsy and defeat his Heracross. Mr. Mime has also appeared under the ownership of Crystal and has the ability to create invisible walls and rooms, much like Sabrina's Mr. Mime. It creates a training room for Ruby and Sapphire and Emerald to teach their Pokémon the ultimate moves Blast Burn, Hydro Cannon, and Frenzy Plant.
named Mr. Mime the "Lamest Pokémon" in the franchise, stating "Mr. Mime makes you shake your head and question what reality we actually inhabit. Surely proto-human-clown-mime Pokémon don't arise in any ordinary universe." In an analysis of the article on 1UP FM, the hosts agreed with the statement, describing him as hideous and "kinda a Krusty the Clown...malformed...thing". Retronauts stated similar, calling it out specifically as a "creepy son of a bitch", and a Pokémon that should not be part of the series due to its blatantly human appearance, further describing it as "everything that's wrong with mimes and clowns". GamesRadar
named it one of the most "fugly Pokémon" in the series, describing it as "just...creepy", citing specifically its humanoid shape and dangling arms. However, they also noted that while one of the more weird characters in the series, it was also one of the more popular. IGN editor "Pokémon of the Day Chick" has expressed her dislike of the character in multiple articles, describing it as an "abomination" and jokingly alluded that designers were on drugs when they created it. GamesRadar
editor Carolyn Gudmundson listed "humanoid" as one of the most overused Pokémon designs, listing Mr. Mime and Jynx
as two of "the most infamous" examples.
Other sources have instead praised the character's appearance. The book Gaming Cultures and Place in Asia-Pacific defended Mr. Mime's design. Suggesting Sugimori developed it along with Jynx to draw upon the humor of heta-uma (a term meaning bad/nice), the book notes the design oscillates between the poles of good and bad, and as a result offers diversity within the game and invites scrutiny from players. The Coventry Evening Telegraph
also praised its design, stating the character was "more interesting" in comparison to more commonly seen Pokémon such as Squirtle
.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
as , is a Pokémon species in Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
and Game Freak
Game Freak
is a Japanese video game developer that currently creates games exclusively for Nintendo. It has developed the Pokémon series of role-playing games and several other games.-History:...
's Pokémon
Pokémon
is a media franchise published and owned by the video game company Nintendo and created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996. Originally released as a pair of interlinkable Game Boy role-playing video games developed by Game Freak, Pokémon has since become the second most successful and lucrative video...
franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori
Ken Sugimori
is a Japanese video game designer, illustrator, manga artist, and director. He is most famous as the character designer and art director for the Pokémon franchise. Sugimori is also credited with the art direction for other titles, including Pulseman. Sugimori drew all of the original 151 Pokémon...
, Mr. Mime first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue
Pokémon Red and Blue
Pokémon Red Version and Blue Version, originally released in Japan as , are role-playing games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. They are the first installments to the Pokémon series. They were first released in Japan in 1996 as Red and Green, with Blue being...
and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise. Mr. Mime is voiced by Yūji Ueda
Yuji Ueda
is a popular Japanese seiyū.He is most known for the roles of Sagara Sanosuke , Akito Tenkawa , Takeshi , Horohoro , Johannes Krauser II and Keitaro Urashima ....
in Japanese, and Kayzie Rogers
Kayzie Rogers
Kayzie Rogers is an American voice actress. She is best known for her work in animated television series....
in English.
Known as the Barrier
Barricade
Barricade, from the French barrique , is any object or structure that creates a barrier or obstacle to control, block passage or force the flow of traffic in the desired direction...
Pokémon, Mr. Mime are gifted with the art of miming at a young age, and as they mature they gain the ability to psychically generate invisible objects such as walls and other barriers. In the anime
Pokémon (anime)
, abbreviated from , is a children's TV anime series, which has since been adapted for the North and South American, Australian and European television markets...
, Mr. Mime appears as early on as a house cleaner and helper to Delia, protagonist Ash Ketchum
Ash Ketchum
Ash Ketchum, known as for all appearances in Japan, is a fictional character in the Pokémon franchise owned by Nintendo. He was created by, and named after, Satoshi Tajiri as the protagonist of the anime and manga series, as well as on various merchandise related to the franchise...
's mother, while others are shown as entertainers or cooks. In the Pokémon Adventures
Pokémon Adventures
Pokémon Adventures, released in Japan as , is a Pokémon-related manga based on the video games. Satoshi Tajiri once stated that the Pocket Monsters Special series is closest to what he imagined the Pokémon world to be:...
manga, its abilities are utilized to create training rooms, and surround an entire city with a barrier to prevent access from the outside world.
Mr. Mime's appearance has been heavily criticized by sources such as 1UP.com
1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
due to its human design, as well as for combining the worst-perceived aspects of mimes and clowns and called a "creepy son of a bitch" in related podcasts. However, the character's design has also been praised by other sources in comparison to more common series characters, as in a study of Pokémon character design where it was the design was purposefully bad to invite player scrutiny and offer diversity to the series.
Design and characteristics
Mr. Mime was one of several different designs conceived by Game Freak's character development team and finalized by Ken SugimoriKen Sugimori
is a Japanese video game designer, illustrator, manga artist, and director. He is most famous as the character designer and art director for the Pokémon franchise. Sugimori is also credited with the art direction for other titles, including Pulseman. Sugimori drew all of the original 151 Pokémon...
for the first generation of Pocket Monsters games Red and Green, which were localized outside of Japan as Pokémon Red and Blue
Pokémon Red and Blue
Pokémon Red Version and Blue Version, originally released in Japan as , are role-playing games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. They are the first installments to the Pokémon series. They were first released in Japan in 1996 as Red and Green, with Blue being...
. Originally called "Barriered" in Japanese, Nintendo decided to give the various Pokémon species "clever and descriptive names" related to their appearance or features when translating the game for western audiences as a means to make the characters more relatable to American children. As a result they were renamed "Mr. Mime", based on their masculine appearance and behavior; The name has persisted despite the introduction of female members of the species in later games.
Appearing as an anthropomorphic
Anthropomorphism
Anthropomorphism is any attribution of human characteristics to animals, non-living things, phenomena, material states, objects or abstract concepts, such as organizations, governments, spirits or deities. The term was coined in the mid 1700s...
creature, it has a pink head with red cheeks and blue, frizzy hair, a round, white body with a red spot in the middle, light-pink arms and legs are connected to its body by red spheres, white, five-fingered hands, and black feet that curl upward at the tips. Their hands are depicted with four fingers and an opposable thumb, with larger fingertips and red dots on their underside. However, game representations of the character featured only three fingers on each hand until the release of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire
Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire
are the third installments of the Pokémon series of role-playing games, developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. The games were first released in Japan in late 2002 and later released to the rest of the world in 2003 . Pokémon Emerald, a special edition version,...
.
Mr. Mime are gifted with the art of miming at a young age, but as they mature, they gain the ability to make invisible objects by emitting energy from their fingers and minutely vibrating their fingertips to harden the air around them and form a wall. Barriers generated this way can repel harsh attacks, and its gestures and motions can convince watchers that something unseeable actually exists; once this is achieved, the perceived item will materialize. Mr. Mime are very prideful of their pantomime
Mime artist
A mime artist is someone who uses mime as a theatrical medium or as a performance art, involving miming, or the acting out a story through body motions, without use of speech. In earlier times, in English, such a performer was referred to as a mummer...
acts, and will heavily slap anyone that interrupts them while miming. Mr. Mime has a pre-evolution, Mime Jr., which evolves when mimic
Impressionist (entertainment)
An impressionist or a mimic is a performer whose act consists of imitating the voice and mannerisms of others. The word usually refers to a professional comedian/entertainer who specializes in such performances and has developed a wide repertoire of impressions, including adding to them, often to...
king other Pokémon.
In video games
In the video game series Mr. Mime can be acquired from an in-game trade in Pokémon Red and BluePokémon Red and Blue
Pokémon Red Version and Blue Version, originally released in Japan as , are role-playing games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. They are the first installments to the Pokémon series. They were first released in Japan in 1996 as Red and Green, with Blue being...
, and Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen
Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen
are enhanced remakes of the original Pokémon Red and Blue video games, which were released in 1996. The new titles were developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance and have compatibility with the Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter, which originally came bundled with...
. It appeared in several sequels, including Pokémon Gold and Silver
Pokémon Gold and Silver
are the second installments of the Pokémon series of role-playing video games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Color. The games have dual-mode capabilities allowing them to also be played on earlier Game Boy models. They were first released in Japan in 1999 and to...
, Pokémon Diamond
Pokémon Diamond and Pearl
are role-playing games developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS. With the enhanced remake Pokémon Platinum, the games comprise the fifth installment and fourth generation of the Pokémon series of RPGs...
, and Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver
are enhanced remakes of the 1999 video games Pokémon Gold and Silver. The games are part of the Pokémon series of role-playing video games, and were developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS...
. In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Mr. Mime gains a new pre-evolved form, Mime Jr., which evolves when leveled up while knowing the move Mimic. Gym Leader Sabrina uses a female Mr. Mime in every game she appears in except Pokémon Yellow, in which she does not have a Mr. Mime. In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Elite Four Lucian owns a Mr. Mime.
Outside of the main series, Mr. Mime has appeared in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon
- Manga :*Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Ginji's Rescue Team, manga adaption of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team and Red Rescue Team*Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blazing Exploration Team, manga adaption of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time, Explorers of Darkness, and Explorers of Sky.-...
games and the Pokémon Ranger
Pokémon Ranger
is an action/role-playing video game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo DS video game console. The game was released at various dates, varying between continents. The game was first released in Japan on March 22, 2006 and was later released in North America and...
games. In Pokémon Stadium 2
Pokémon Stadium 2
Pokémon Stadium 2, known as in Japan, is a video game for the Nintendo 64. It features all 251 Pokémon from the first and second generations. It was released in North America as simply Pokémon Stadium 2, as it was the second Stadium game to be released there. In Japan, Pokémon Stadium Kin Gin was...
, Mr. Mime stars in its own minigame called "Barrier Ball." Poké Balls appear on the field and by using Mr. Mime's Barrier, send the Poké Balls to the other player's fields.
In other media
In the animePokémon (anime)
, abbreviated from , is a children's TV anime series, which has since been adapted for the North and South American, Australian and European television markets...
, a Mr. Mime lives with Delia Ketchum. He does housework for her in exchange for room and board. Ash
Ash Ketchum
Ash Ketchum, known as for all appearances in Japan, is a fictional character in the Pokémon franchise owned by Nintendo. He was created by, and named after, Satoshi Tajiri as the protagonist of the anime and manga series, as well as on various merchandise related to the franchise...
dressed as a Mr. Mime to inspire a real Mr. Mime who worked for a circus. Delia knew about this, so when a wild Mr. Mime came to her door and wanted lunch, she thought it was Ash in costume, and provided it with food. When the real Ash showed up, still in costume, she was quite puzzled, but wound up keeping Mimey as her live-in maid
Maid
A maidservant or in current usage housemaid or maid is a female employed in domestic service.-Description:Once part of an elaborate hierarchy in great houses, today a single maid may be the only domestic worker that upper and even middle-income households can afford, as was historically the case...
. It will only listen to Delia, and if anyone else, even Ash, gives it orders, or asks it to do something, it will normally ignore them. It is unknown if Delia has actually captured Mimey, as she is never shown with its Poké Ball. When Ash and his friends returned to Pallet Town following the Orange Islands saga, it was revealed that Brock
Brock (Pokémon)
Brock, known as in Japanese versions, is a video game character in the Pokémon franchise. In the Pokémon video games, he is the Gym Leader of Pewter City and mainly uses Rock -type Pokémon; in the anime series, he left his position as a Gym Leader to travel alongside Ash Ketchum and become a...
and Mimey had become rather competitive regarding household tasks while the two of them were sharing the house with Delia.
In the Pokémon Adventures
Pokémon Adventures
Pokémon Adventures, released in Japan as , is a Pokémon-related manga based on the video games. Satoshi Tajiri once stated that the Pocket Monsters Special series is closest to what he imagined the Pokémon world to be:...
manga, Mr. Mime was first seen under the control of Sabrina, generating a Light Screen to seal off the whole of Saffron City. The same Mr. Mime was seen again during the Gym Leader faceoff, using its miming powers to trap Bugsy and defeat his Heracross. Mr. Mime has also appeared under the ownership of Crystal and has the ability to create invisible walls and rooms, much like Sabrina's Mr. Mime. It creates a training room for Ruby and Sapphire and Emerald to teach their Pokémon the ultimate moves Blast Burn, Hydro Cannon, and Frenzy Plant.
Critical reception
Since appearing in the Pokémon franchise, Mr. Mime has received generally negative reception. 1UP.com1UP.com
1UP.com is a video game website owned by IGN Entertainment, a division of News Corporation. Previously, the site was owned by Ziff Davis before being sold to UGO Entertainment in 2009....
named Mr. Mime the "Lamest Pokémon" in the franchise, stating "Mr. Mime makes you shake your head and question what reality we actually inhabit. Surely proto-human-clown-mime Pokémon don't arise in any ordinary universe." In an analysis of the article on 1UP FM, the hosts agreed with the statement, describing him as hideous and "kinda a Krusty the Clown...malformed...thing". Retronauts stated similar, calling it out specifically as a "creepy son of a bitch", and a Pokémon that should not be part of the series due to its blatantly human appearance, further describing it as "everything that's wrong with mimes and clowns". GamesRadar
GamesRadar
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...
named it one of the most "fugly Pokémon" in the series, describing it as "just...creepy", citing specifically its humanoid shape and dangling arms. However, they also noted that while one of the more weird characters in the series, it was also one of the more popular. IGN editor "Pokémon of the Day Chick" has expressed her dislike of the character in multiple articles, describing it as an "abomination" and jokingly alluded that designers were on drugs when they created it. GamesRadar
GamesRadar
GamesRadar is a multi-format video game website featuring regular news, previews, reviews, videos, and guides. It is owned and operated simultaneously in the UK and US by worldwide publisher Future Publishing...
editor Carolyn Gudmundson listed "humanoid" as one of the most overused Pokémon designs, listing Mr. Mime and Jynx
Jynx
Jynx, known in Japan as , is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Jynx first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of...
as two of "the most infamous" examples.
Other sources have instead praised the character's appearance. The book Gaming Cultures and Place in Asia-Pacific defended Mr. Mime's design. Suggesting Sugimori developed it along with Jynx to draw upon the humor of heta-uma (a term meaning bad/nice), the book notes the design oscillates between the poles of good and bad, and as a result offers diversity within the game and invites scrutiny from players. The Coventry Evening Telegraph
Coventry Evening Telegraph
The Coventry Telegraph is a local English tabloid newspaper. Originally called The Midland Daily Telegraph, it was founded in 1891 by William Isaac Iliffe as Coventry's first daily newspaper, a four-page broadsheet newspaper originally sold for a half penny...
also praised its design, stating the character was "more interesting" in comparison to more commonly seen Pokémon such as Squirtle
Squirtle
Squirtle, known as in Japan, is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. It was originally conceived by Game Freak's character development team and finalized by Ken Sugimori...
.