Gengar is a dark-purple Pokémon with a roundish body. Gengar's hands now connect to the rest of its body and it now has a pair of legs. Gengar has a spike-covered back. Upon evolution, Gengar's eyes are now red. Also, its mouth is usually curled into a sinister grin. When Gengar makes noise, its mouth does not open, so it always flashes its evil grin.
Gengar has the ability to hide perfectly in the shadow of any object, granting it exceptional stealth. However, Gengar's body acts as a heat sink; its presence cools the temperature of the surrounding area by nearly 10°F. In addition, Gengar possesses the ability to fly through the air, as demonstrated by Morty's Gengar. Since Gengar is a fully evolved Pokémon, it can use Hyper Beam and Giga Impact.
Behavior
Gengars are very mischievous, and at some times, malicious. They enjoy playing practical jokes, such as pretending to be one's shadow, then behaving erratically. When the quarry notices, the Gengar takes delight in its victim's terror. Gengar may also cast curses.
Gengar live in shadows of rooms, caves, and dark places where shadows form, especially in urban areas such as cities and back alleys but only during the night. Gengar are also known to live in mountains.
Gengar first appeared in the opening of the first episode, Pokémon - I Choose You!, where it and a Nidorino battled in a Colosseum on TV.
Ash first saw a Gengar in person in Lavender Town in The Tower of Terror while searching for a Template:Type2 Pokémon to fight Sabrina with. Due to a close call, Ash got to spend some unexpected time with the ghostly trio, Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar. It, along with Haunter, seemed to have a fondness for Japanese stand-up, and attempt to (unsuccessfully) amuse Ash by acting as a pair of performers.
Gengar, the Shadow Pokémon. Gengar hides in the shadows. If a Gengar is nearby it is said to feel ten degrees colder than normal.
In the manga
In Pokémon Adventures, Agatha has two Gengar on her team. One of them was used to attack Blue and Koga from the shadows, draining the latter's life force as it possessed his shadow.
Another Gengar was seen at the beginning of the FireRed and LeafGreen saga in Volume 23. It was used by a kid from Pallet Town in an attempt to capture a Nidorino, thus replicating the opening sequence of the Generation I video games.
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gengar is the leader of Team Meanies. While often accompanied by Ekans and Medicham, Gengar will often act alone and spends much of the game causing trouble, even convincing the village to exile the hero, blaming him or her for the natural disasters. However, it is later revealed that he is the cursed human.
Pokédex entries
This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation I.
Sometimes, on a dark night, your shadow thrown by a streetlight will suddenly and startlingly overtake you. It is actually a Gengar running past you, pretending to be your shadow.
Sometimes, on a dark night, your shadow thrown by a streetlight will suddenly and startlingly overtake you. It is actually a Gengar running past you, pretending to be your shadow.
Deep in the night, your shadow cast by a streetlight may suddenly overtake you. It is actually a Gengar running past you, pretending to be your shadow.
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"Phantom" was the original English name for Gengar.
Gengar, along with Nidorino, who it battles in the beginning of Red, Blue, Green, FireRed and LeafGreen, and probably a couple of other Pokémon, originate from the old manga, Capsule Monsters, which is considered pre-cursor to the Pokémon franchise.
Gengar can be caught in the wild in Generation IV through the dongle method, as can another Pokémon previously obtainable only via trading, Steelix, though Steelix can be battled normally.
Even though Gengar is part Template:Type2, like its pre-evolutions, it cannot learn any Poison-type moves via level up.
Oddly, Special Attack was it highest stat, even though the Ghost-type was previously an all-physical type.
Despite its ability to hide in shadows, Gengar is unable to learn Shadow Sneak.
Originally, its shiny color in the games was actually closer to that of the Sugimori artwork than the non-shiny color. This was corrected in HeartGold and SoulSilver.
Gengar received a new back sprite in Platinum.
Origin
It seems to be simply based on general cartoonish ghosts, and possibly on a distorted shadow of a human being like shadow people. The overall appearance could also be an homage to the Cheshire Cat. Gengar also has some similarities to Gremlins with both looks and personality (violent, rude, and wild).
Name origin
Gengar's name is possibly a shortening of doppelgänger - a ghostly double of a person, which would be a fitting name for a Pokémon with a habit of pretending to be a person's shadow. The kanji 幻, which can be read "gen", can be used for words meaning "phantom" or "illusion".
There is also a striking pronouncation similarity between Gengar's name and the Danish word "genganger", which simply is a spirit that after its death chose not to go to the other world but to return to the world of humans in the shape of a ghost. "Gen" is translated as "again" or simply "re" and "ganger" is an old-fashioned word meaning "walker" or "someone that walks".
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.
For other sprites and images, please see Gengar images on Bulbagarden Archives.
