Haunter is a purple Pokémon with a gaseous body. It has a round head flanked by three large, spiked protrusions on either side. It has triangular eyes with small pupils and a mouth with a long, pink tongue. The gases composing its head curve into its mouth to form several pointed teeth. Disembodied hands with three clawed fingers each float in front of its body. Its body tapers into a jagged tail. Haunter's gaseous form makes it one of the lightest Pokémon in existence.
Haunter hides in very dark places, such as caves, and is afraid of light. If a human or a Pokémon comes near Haunter, it will stalk the victim while floating and beckon it to come closer. Once approached it will then lick the victim with its gaseous tongue, inflicting convulsions in the victim that last until death. It can also float through walls. It has been shown in Pokémon the Series that it can control its hands from far away and can control any Pokémon that it touches with its hands. Haunter have also been depicted as being able to create illusions,[1] pull out spirits from an individual’s body,[2] and even remove its own eyes from its face[3]. Despite its predatory nature, it is known to entertain and prank people, such as in the episode The Tower of Terror. Additionally, in A Shipful of Shivers, it is even shown to feel intense loyalty to a deceased Trainer. As mentioned in Pokémon Sleep, Haunter is known to sleep while floating.[4] A sleeping Haunter will steal the life-force of anyone who comes near using its gaseous tongue.
Pokémon Pinball: Two Haunter appear in a bonus stage accessible from the Red Table. Once the player knocks out the three Gastly, the pair of Haunter appear, and upon knocking them out, the player must then proceed to defeat the Gengar that appears.
In total darkness, where nothing is visible, Haunter lurks, silently stalking its next victim. (Pokémon Red, Silver, or Crystal inserted) Its tongue is made of gas. If licked, its victim starts shaking constantly until death eventually comes. (Pokémon Blue, Gold, or Yellow inserted)
Haunter is a dangerous Pokémon. If one beckons you while floating in darkness, you must never approach it. This Pokémon will try to lick you with its tongue and steal your life away.
If a Haunter beckons you while it is floating in darkness, don't approach it. This Pokémon will try to lick you with its tongue and steal your life away.
Haunter is a dangerous Pokémon. If one beckons you while floating in darkness, you must never approach it. This Pokémon will try to lick you with its tongue and steal your life away.
This frightful, malevolent spirit can glide through walls, appearing wherever it likes. According to rumor, victims of a Haunter's lick will wither to death day by day.
Evolves from Gastly when its Attack is 99 or higher Evolves into Gengar when it has a link of 60% or higher, after knocking out a Warrior's Pokémon in a manner that allows recruitment
Increases Snorlax's Strength by anywhere from 200 to 800.
Evolution requirements:
Gastly Candy ×80, Linking Cord ×1
This Pokémon fears the light and revels in the dark. You must never approach it, even when it's asleep. If a sleep-fogged Haunter licks you with its gaseous tongue, it may end up stealing your life-force.
In The Tower of Terror, Ash befriended a Haunter. He then attempted to use it to battle Sabrina in the hopes of freeing his friends, who were captured by Sabrina, but Haunter decided to goof off instead. Eventually, at the end of Haunter Versus Kadabra, Haunter helped Ash succeed in his endeavor, only it didn't fight Kadabra because it only wants to make Sabrina laugh. Afterwards, Haunter decided to stay with Sabrina.
In Illusion Confusion!, a group of Haunter and Gengar created illusions that impeded progress for Ash and his friends as they wandered through a deep forest.
In Fear Factor Phony, a Haunter was living an abandoned mining colony. The Ghost Pokémon were having difficulty with the partying Psychic Pokémon living nearby.
In Scary Hospitality!, Lon used a Haunter with his Gastly and Gengar to scare visitors of the "Scary House". This included Ash, his friends, and later Team Rocket.
In Haunting My Dreams, Ash encountered a giant Haunter called the Black Fog, notorious for using its Dream Eater attack to kill people and Pokémon by stealing their souls. Sabrina had a vendetta against this Haunter, as some of her Pokémon were attacked and killed by it when she was eleven, but she fell victim as well in her attempt to protect a team of people trying to hunt it down. With the combined efforts of Ash and the team of hunters, the Black Fog was weakened enough for capture, only for it to promptly use Self-Destruct, killing itself right before Ash's Ultra Ball could reach it.
In a flashback in Lapras Lazily, a boy who Blue met near the abandoned Power Plant had a Haunter in his team before it was stolen, with which he later fights Agatha's Gengar to free Blue from a coffin created by a Dream Eater attack. Agatha also had armies of Haunter that she used in her attack on Kanto, which first appeared in said chapter.
In A Flaaffy Kerfuffle, a Haunter appeared as one of the Pokémon in Professor Oak's fantasy, when he explains that Trainers should only have six Pokémon with them.
Haunter is the only Pokémon that weighs exactly the same as its pre-evolution.
Haunter is the only Ghost-type Pokémon featured in Pokémon Snap.
Haunter's Japanese name, ゴースト Ghost, is exactly the same as the Japanese name for the Ghost type.
Design variations
Haunter's Generation I artworks, Generation I sprites (except Yellow), and Generation III sprites depict Haunter with three fingers and one thumb. However, in most of Haunter's depictions in other media, such as throughout Pokémon the Series (including the original series), it has always been depicted with two fingers and a thumb.
Haunter appears to be based on a ghost. It shares many similarities with the yōkaiakaguchi, a creature with a wide mouth and a long tongue whose body is covered by dark clouds, making only its head and clawed hands visible.
While Haunter's long tongue is a recurring theme among many yōkai, its vampiric licking might have come from the Dila, a Philippine spirit that licked the life energy of sick people until they died, or from some variants of the akaname.
Some of Haunter's traits, such as its Poison type and extremely light weight, seem to be based on Fuyūrei, floating spirits said to be able to spread diseases.
Name origin
Haunter may be derived from haunt and the agentive suffix-er or possibly hunter.
This Pokémon article is part of Project Pokédex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.
Berry (100%)
Spell Tag (5%)
For other sprites and images, please see Haunter images on the Bulbagarden Archives.
Red and Green sprite
Ruby and Sapphire sprite
Red and Green art
Key art
Original series art
