Pinsir is a bipedal Pokémon with a wide, dull brown body and a large pair of grey, spiky pincers on top of its head. In its mouth are many long, flat teeth arranged horizontally. Its legs are short and thick while its arms are long and thin, and each limb ends with three grey claws. Pinsir's limbs and abdomen are divided into segments. Its eyes are simple, but usually appear angry.
It can use its pincers to crush, toss, bludgeon, or tear opponents, lift things twice its weight, and shatter logs. Captured prey are kept in place by the piercing thorns and sheer strength of Pinsir's horns, and will not be released until they are torn in half. In addition to hunting prey, the anime has shown that it enjoys tree sap. Pinsir lives deep in the forest, where it burrows underground or hides in the treetops on nights cold enough to render it immobile.
In A Sappy Ending, Pinsir were being driven into a forest that was Heracross's territory because Team Rocket was stealing the sap from the trees that were in their territory.
Pinsir makes its first appearance as the Pokémon Pika fought and lost against due to the uselessness of the fake items Red bought from Green, which fired up the boy to confront the scamming con artist and get his money back, losing his Badges this time.
Pinsir made another major appearance as one of the rental Pokémon Emerald used in the Battle Factory in his challenge against Noland, defeating the Factory Head's Mawile before losing to his Golem's Rock Slide.
Pokémon Stadium 2: Pinsir stars in a mini-game alongside Scyther called "Clear Cut Challenge." Each player chops a falling log for each round of the game. The score for each player is determined by how close the player is to the white line on the log. Cuts anywhere above the log will cause the player to lose points.
Pokédex entries
This Pokémon was unavailable prior to Generation I.
Pinsir is astoundingly strong. It can grip a foe weighing twice its weight in its horns and easily lift it. This Pokémon's movements turn sluggish in cold places.
Pinsir has a pair of massive horns. Protruding from the surface of these horns are thorns. These thorns are driven deeply into the foe's body when the pincer closes, making it tough for the foe to escape.
Additionally, Pinsir can also be seen as a counterpart to Heracross. Both are Bug-type Pokémon based on beetles who lack an evolutionary family. Unlike Heracross, Pinsir is not part Fighting-type, but it learns several Fighting-type moves by leveling up. Also, in Black 2 and White 2, they are version exclusives in the wild (although both can be found in Hidden Grottos in both versions).
Pinsir is a corruption of pincer, referring to the claws on its head. It could also involve the title sir.
Kailios may be a combination of the Greek letter Χ (カイ kai) and cross (referring to its scissor-like horns). Alternatively, it may be a combination of 傀 kai (large), 魁偉 kaii (brawny), or 刈 kai (cut) combined with κοριός korios (Greek for bug).
In other languages
Language
Title
Meaning
Japanese
カイロス Kailios
From Χ, 傀 kai, 魁偉 kaii or 刈 kai combined with κοριός korios
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.