Talk:MissingNo.

File:000G.png

Due to special coding in place in the article to illustrate Missingno.'s forms, certain displays will change showing Missingno. as though it has an index number of B8 and is in Red or Blue version, therefore being a Bird/Template:Type2 Pokémon, in its Ghost form. This will only affect the sprite shown in the infobox, the type showed in the infobox, the type-themed color displays, the base stats entry which is unhidden, the type effectiveness entry which is unhidden, the learnset entries which are unhidden, and the evolution (form change) which is unhidden. This changes every day, so when the time comes, click here to return to the page and change the display.

Previous discussion

Archive 1 (2 October 2005 - 25 October 2009)

Split

Missingno. (Red/Blue) and Missingno. (Yellow) are very different from each other. They should be separate pages. Compare [1] and [2]. Also compare [3] and [4]. --SnorlaxMonster 11:17, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

Is there a tag for this? Because I can't find one. --SnorlaxMonster 05:58, 27 October 2009 (UTC)

No. It's still the same glitch, it just manifests different effects in different games. —darklordtrom 06:16, 27 October 2009 (UTC)

It's really as different as 'M and 3TrainerPoké, other than the fact that they have the same name. The stats are completely different, Yellow's types are Normal/Glitch whereas RB's types are Bird/Normal, Yellow's Starting moves are Water Gun, Bind, Pay Day whereas RB's starting moves are Water Gun, Water Gun, Sky Attack.--SnorlaxMonster 07:12, 27 October 2009 (UTC)

We count Missingno.'s Yellow version counterpart as an alternate form here. It's the same species. Missingno. Master wants YOU! Join the Order of the Glitch! (my talk page) 14:00, 3 November 2009 (UTC)

But that would make 3TrainerPoké an alternate form of 'M. The only difference between the relationship of those two, and the relationship of the two Missingno.s is that the Missingno.s have the same name. --SnorlaxMonster 06:07, 4 November 2009 (UTC)

And that difference makes all the difference. They're the same species, just as Sandy Cloak and Trash Cloak Wormadam are the same species, or Normal and Defense Deoxys. Missingno. Master wants YOU! Join the Order of the Glitch! (my talk page) 12:12, 9 November 2009 (UTC)

OK fine, but is there any way to have both Bird/Normal and Normal/999 in the top box? SnorlaxMonster

More rumours

Not mentioned on the rumours page is a theory about missingo's origin and why cubone and marowak seem so similar to kangaskhan. The theory is easy to believe even if it comes from a 4chan post. see [5] for a screencap of the argument. --Iain7 23:45, 17 December 2009 (GMT)

There are quite a few problems with that theory, the first being that its speculation and does not belong on the article. Secondly, I don't think it is that complex or time consuming to delete an evolution. Also, Missingno. is completely unrelated to both Kangaskhan and Cubone. Also, if you look at the Hex list, you'll see that Missingno. has multiple index numbers.--SnorlaxMonster. Help here 00:21, 17 December 2009 (UTC)

Can Yellow Missingno. replicate 128 of an item?

I read somewhere that Missingno. in Yellow can replicate 128 of an item, but elsewhere that it cannot. Which is true? Blueapple128 17:46, 21 February 2010 (UTC)

First another question, can Missingno. (in either game) replicate items when encountered using the Mew glitch? If no, then it cannot. If yes it might be able to. --SnorlaxMonster 06:40, 22 February 2010 (UTC)

Never mind, found the answer here: http://forums.glitchcity.info/index.php/topic,5904.0.html. When encountered through the Mew glitch in any of RBY, it will still duplicate items. However, it will only do so in Yellow if the game doesn't freeze. Apparently it will always freeze in an emulator since it can't detect the glitchy game code properly, unlike a cartridge which has a small chance of not freezing. Blueapple128 03:38, 23 February 2010 (UTC)

Name Capitalization

Just wondering, why is MissingNo. spelled with a lowercase N in the article? It doesn't make sense. The "No." is obviously meant to be a separate word from "Missing", so it should be capitalized, just like what has been done to many names of moves and items in Generation IV. Now, before you say "But it's never been officially spelled like that!", it's also never been officially spelled with any lowercase letters, just in all capitals, so the current capitalization that you're using can't be considered officially correct, either. "MissingNo." with a capital N is the most logical capitalization, so why not use it? Also, using the current article's capitalization is just encouraging the common mispronunciation "Missing-No" instead of "Missing-Number", how it should be pronounced. —Tyeforce 07:36, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

Based on what you just said, your version of the capitalization is no more correct or incorrect than this one. This one just looks better. And based on the fact that nobody's changed it back in the months since I moved the page to this name indicates that the vast majority of Bulbapedia would agree with me. - unsigned comment from Missingno. Master (talk • contribs) 12:14, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

Perhaps even MISSINGNO. would be a better location. But for now, this location is fine. --SnorlaxMonster 12:24, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

But although the game refers to the 30 odd variations of these glitches as just "MISSINGNO." that doesn't mean we need to change the article names of Pikachu, Bulbasaur and Mewtwo to PIKACHU, BULBASAUR and MEWTWO either. We are a Pokémon encyclopaedia, not a Pokémon mechanics encyclopaedia. I can confirm though that Nintendo does refer to these glitches as "MissingNO" here [6] --Chickasaurus 12:31, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

We don't capitalize the Pokémon names because that's not the right way to spell them. They're in all capitals in the main games, but that's just because that's always how been. I'm sure they would have changed the capitalization format for Pokémon names in Generation IV if it weren't the Generation III compatibility (because that would look extremely weird if all the Pokémon you caught in your DS game had proper capitalization, while any Pokémon you migrated from your GBA games would be in all caps). We've seen Pokémon names spelled with correct capitalization in official places outside of the main games themselves, so it's safe to assume that the correct spelling of Pokémon names isn't in all caps. And you could take Nintendo's quotes as evidence, but they contradict themselves in the spelling. First they call it "MissngNO" with a capital "NO" and no period, and then they call "MissingNo", with the O being lowercase and still no period. Obviously, there's supposed to be a period in its name, so Nintendo's spellings of the name in that particular instance can't be correct. But even if it's not 100% correct, it does provide evidence that "Missing" is separate from "No." and should be capitalized to show that. Think of how some items and moves are spelled in Generation IV that were previously in all caps. SquirtBottle, SolarBeam, DynamicPunch, etc. It's just the most logical way to spell the name. —Tyeforce 15:59, 5 April 2010 (UTC)

Yes, a lot of things do use the camelcase to separate two words, but then Pokéwalker and Pokédex come up (there are other examples, but that's off the top of my head). Anyway, we won't be calling it MissingNO., but the rule here is that allcaps in the games goes to Proper noun. But when we're quoting the game we keep the original case (as seen in the Pokédex entries). --SnorlaxMonster 06:07, 6 April 2010 (UTC)

Pokéwalker and Pokédex are made up words, though. They're not two separate words fused together, like Missing and Number. "Missingno." just looks plain weird. It just looks better when written as "MissingNo.", and it implies that it's "Missing Number", not "Missingno". —Tyeforce 05:19, 7 April 2010 (UTC)

Pokéwalker is more two words than Pokédex, but you also have Pokégear. Anyway, allcaps in the games goes to Proper noun unless otherwise specified. And to me, MissingNo. looks much weirder than Missingno., plus saying that a word looks funny is no excuse. --SnorlaxMonster 08:28, 7 April 2010 (UTC)

(resetting indent) But the "Poké" in those words isn't a real word. Typically, words that being with "Poké" just flow together as a brand new word, without any capitalization other than the "P", like Pokémon, Pokédex, etc. Either that, or the "Poké" is a separate word and is followed by a space, in the case of Poké Ball, etc. But anyway, yes, I know that we can't change the spelling based on opinion, which is why I gave another reason; spelling it "MissingNo." implies that it's "Missing Number", not "Missingno", as many people think it is. That, and the fact that Nintendo has spelled it "MissingNO" and "MissingNo", in both cases capitalizing the "No." part. —Tyeforce 14:24, 7 April 2010 (UTC)

The Nintendo part does however seem unreliable due to the inconsistencies as well as lack of period after MissingNO and MissingNo. This discussion will not be enough to move a page on such a well known topic, especially a featured article, but since an official source decided to separate the two with camelcase, it should be moved. I suggest you take it to the editorial board to see what they think about it. But I do agree with you that "MISSING" and "NO." are separate and that "NO." clearly stands for number, it may not be appropriate to assume that it should be separated by camelcase. --SnorlaxMonster 00:06, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

Maybe we could have some sort of community poll? —Tyeforce 01:23, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

Bulbapedia is not a democracy. It's a policy somewhere. Anyway, you can make a poll and have people say why they think so, then the EB will review it and decide from their. I have made one below --SnorlaxMonster 01:46, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

Moving

Sign and say why you think it should be moved, kept here. If you vote "move it somewhere else" say where you want it moved to.

Keep it at Missingno.

• Nintendo hates Missingno., so their capitalization of it can hardly be called official. Besides, I think they just spell it "MissingNO." to emphasize the word "no" to subconsciously deter us from abusing the glitch. Plus, it'd look really weird that way. - unsigned comment from Missingno. Master (talk • contribs) 19:31, 9 April 2010 (UTC)
• Yeah, I agree, Nintendo can't be trusted in this case. CuboneKing 23:48, 10 April 2010 (UTC)
• Me too. - unsigned comment from TORTERRA (talk • contribs)
• I agree. Nintendo didn't intend for it to be there, so it isn't really an official source. It just wants to get rid of it. Also, I've seen Missingno. used way more. Another thing, please sign your comments with ~~~~.Turtwig A (talk | contribs) 14:51, 2 May 2010 (UTC)
• the no stands for numberarceusLX leveled up! 01:17, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Move it to MissingNo.

SnorlaxMonster 01:46, 8 April 2010 (UTC) - Nintendo has officially referred to it with a capital "n" in every case, despite other inconsistencies, also stands for Missing Number.

I agree with what many others have said: MissingNo. is a reference to "Missing Number." To have it written in the current format of Missingno. suggests that it is a word of its own or a single word, rather than a contraction of the two words, "Missing Number." Also, Nintendo has officially referred to it as MissingNO. Besides, it's a matter of basic English more than anything else; considering the fact that Nintendo doesn't really consider this an official Pokemon, we can't really go to them for the way it should be written, nor can we competently search for sources on the matter.--Aureol 07:42, 12 April 2010 (UTC)

Tyeforce 22:41, 10 April 2010 (UTC) - I'm all for the move, as I have stated here.

I agree with Aureol. What else is No. supposed to be? --Valorum27 22:00, 8 May 2010 (UTC)

But Missingno. IS a word of its own- the name of a Pokémon. Beedrill is made up of the words bee and drill, and yet we don't spell it BeeDrill. Besides, how do we do this with anything else? We spell it with just the first letter capitalized until OFFICIAL AND RELIABLE sources contradict this! The garbage source SnorlaxMonster gives us means nothing, as it also says that capturing Missingno. is harmful to your game and to fix the graphic scrambling, you have to release Missingno., and if that doesn't work, to restart your game! Bull****! - unsigned comment from Missingno. Master (talk • contribs) 22:46, 8 May 2010 (UTC)

Beedrill is a name that is always spelt Beedrill by official sources (or BEEDRILL on other occasions). Some Pokémon like Ho-Oh are capitalised mid-name, because that's what their names are. All official sources use a capital N; there are NO official sources that use "Missingno.", or anything that is closer to "Missingno." than to "MissingNo.". Regardless of reliability, it is all we have, so it's what we use. If Nintendo/Game Freak/The Pokémon Company International came out and spelled MISSINGNO. differently, we would use that.--SnorlaxMonster 14:35, 9 May 2010 (UTC)

I agree it should be moved to MissingNo. based on spellings from official sources.--Nintenfreak 02:21, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Have you not been paying attention? There IS no official source. Closest thing we have is one page where it's capitalized 2 different ways! - unsigned comment from Missingno. Master (talk • contribs) 10:54, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

Maybe you haven't been paying attention. It's OFFICIAL, but not overly RELIABLE; however, more reliable than nothing at all (which is the official sources for its current location).--SnorlaxMonster 12:30, 17 May 2010 (UTC)

"Not overly reliable" is an understatement. It has two different capitalizations on the same friggin' page! And which of those are you considering for this page, anyway? MissingNo or MissingNO? They don't even add the period at the end, which is undeniably part of the name, in either instance. They don't even spell the name correctly, and you want to use one of their two contradiction capitalizations as Missingno.'s official name? I don't think so. And SnorlaxMonster, why are you all of a sudden so for the move? In the section above, you spoke against the move. - unsigned comment from Missingno. Master (talk • contribs) 13:27, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

I was against the move before, but I changed my mind and saw that it was more reasonable to go by official sources than to assume. Sure they don't use the period at the end of the name, but I'm not suggesting we move it. I suggesting that we go by the ONLY official source there is. There is no reason to leave it at Missingno. when we have a source (and Wikipedia) spelling it MissingNo. --SnorlaxMonster 08:38, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

We're going by a source that contradicts itself by using two different capitalizations.... and Wikipedia? The same Wikipedia that decided that not all Pokémon were notable enough for their own articles? The same Wikipedia that some bum off the street can edit? The same Wikipedia that once claimed that Woodrow Wilson invented dental floss, for several consecutive months? THAT Wikipedia??? Not to mention, your source also claims that the only way to fix the glitched graphics Missingno. sometimes causes is to release it, and if that fails, to restart the game. Says absolutely nothing about looking at another Pokémon's stats. So let's see... Your basis for moving the page is, number one, a source that offers two different capitalizations of the name, which are, for all intents and purposes, misspelled in every instance, and gives false information on how to fix the glitched graphics, and number two, an online encyclopedia that any old bum off the street can come in and edit. When I was in high school, they NEVER allowed us to use Wikipedia as a source for reports. They were always very specific about that. And that source? It's like trusting a small-time fansite that's "revealing" a trick to obtain Pikablu or some PokéGod. - unsigned comment from Missingno. Master (talk • contribs) 11:29, 3 June 2010 (UTC)

Per nom 欠番 14:28, 21 July 2010 (UTC)

I agree that "Missingno." should be moved to "MissingNo.". A lot of things about this issue were talked, in addition to those things I'd like to add this: some people would said it should be better to move it to "Missing No." because the name doesn't has separation because of the 10 chars space... But... Nintendo wrote MissingNo and MissingNO without the dot, what gave them the chance to write it with the space between Missing and No, but they choose not to do this, that is clearly a way to show us there's no such space separation. They predicted we would discuss MissingNo. name right now and left a hidden message to us: "there's no separation, look here, even with the space left of the dot we haven't wrote it separated!" ;) AND MORE: one time they wrote it MissingNo and just after it they wrote it MissingNO, which was a mental pulse of the writer, a way to mask us that Nintendo doesn't cares about MissingNo.: by leaving the last character of what they wrote one time uppercase and in the other time lowercase they meant "we don't really care about MissingNo. we just write it like we don't care if the o turned out uppercase or lowercase". The uppercase N doesn't changes in the two writings. And my conclusion is that's why it should be called "MissingNo." and no other thing. ^^ From someone who doesn't cares about this discussion but UnderstaND --Rafaelluik 06:44, 26 July 2010 (UTC)

Move it somewhere else

Obviously it should be moved to MISSI░░N░▒▒FU▒▒▓▓▓▓ 梅子^❀_✿ 01:57, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

No, it shouldn't be MissingNo, that's too depressing. MissingYes, however, is definitely better, don't you all agree? LocoforLudicolo 22:11, 9 May 2010 (UTC)

While we're at it

Let's move Ash's Pikachu to Ash's PIKACHU. After all, all instances of species names are in all-caps. TTEchidna 01:50, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

I have official merchandise which refers to them as Proper nouns rather than allcaps. --SnorlaxMonster 02:10, 8 April 2010 (UTC)

Don't move this page

What is the point of it? It's just one letter turned to caps, isn't it? Why don't we just make the 8th letter in every article capital? Breawycker 17:14, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

Because MISSING and NO. are separate words. --SnorlaxMonster 07:38, 13 April 2010 (UTC)

Unless official sources that care back you up on this, no they're not, not in this case. - unsigned comment from Missingno. Master (talk • contribs) 12:02, 13 April 2010 (UTC)

This is the official source that specifically separates the two words. Also, while not an official source, Wikipedia is generally tough on accuracy and verifiability and look at their article on MissingNo..--SnorlaxMonster 09:53, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

Also, why is this a special case assuming there is no source? If there is no source, shouldn't we go to the format that clearly states its meaning as "Missing Number," rather than go to a name that suggests it means something else entirely? According to the way we write, MissingNo. = Missing Number, while Missingno. = some other abbreviation, where "Missingno" is a part of that abbreviation. While, if we wanted to be perfectly correct, we would go and write it out as "Missing No." or "Missing Number," but MissingNo. is far more correct than Missingno., and MissingNo. is recognizable enough. While most of us would see Missingno. as the glitch we're discussing, someone who wasn't aware of Missingno. would look at the name and might not be able to find what it means, while it'd be much easier to deduce that MissingNo. is actually two words instead of one.--Aureol 22:45, 15 April 2010 (UTC)

It's name is one word, if only due to the 10char limit for names. Same reason Feraligatr and Victreebel aren't spelled "Feraligator" or "Victreebell" anywhere, least of all here. - unsigned comment from Missingno. Master (talk • contribs) 20:31, 26 April 2010 (UTC)

Exactly. Its name is Missing + Number, as confirmed by the Japanese name. MissingNo. is the two words forced together to fit the 10 character limit. Nintendo illustrated this fact by capitalizing the N in No. every time that they referred to it. For the same reason, we should too. Feraligatr and Victreebel are spelt like that everywhere, and Nintendo has always referred to them as such (anime, manga, games, TCG, TFG). MissingNo. has only ever been referred to with a capital N. --SnorlaxMonster 11:58, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

But there's a difference. Nintendo doesn't care about Missingno., so they wouldn't care about how they spelled it, would they? Besides, they spell it "MissingNO.", which I think is their not-so-subtle way of trying to dissuade people from going after it. - unsigned comment from Missingno. Master (talk • contribs) 18:59, 28 April 2010 (UTC)

That is some terrible speculation. Capitalizing NO is MISSINGNO. does not mean that they are trying to say "No" subliminally to discourage the use of the glitch (if that's what you're trying to say, without ever actually saying it). As for "Nintendo doesn't care about Missingno.", if they did not care about it then they would never have mentioned it. And even if they did not care about it, that would not impact on whether or not they choose to capitalize it in a certain way. --SnorlaxMonster 12:06, 29 April 2010 (UTC)

Well, as it turns out, your "official source" is unreliable, so why should we trust it? First paragraph spells it "MissingNO", second paragraph spells it "MissingNo". Neither one adds the period at the end of Missingno.'s name. Unless we get something consistant and different from a reliable source, the article should stay as is. And as if that weren't enough, this same so-called "reliable" source also says that restarting the game is the only way to fix the scrambled graphics Missingno. causes sometimes. And that the flashing screen happens with burns and freezing as well as poison. Yeah, I don't think so. - unsigned comment from Missingno. Master (talk • contribs) 23:04, 30 April 2010 (UTC)

While it is true that it inconsistent, does not use a period and is not very reliable, it is much more reliable that assuming. The "O" changes, but there is always a capital "N". Unless we find a reliable source that uses something other than a capital "N" in "NO.", then the article should stay at the more accurate, logical and official location. Nintendo most likely didn't bother doing a large amount of research into solving the glitch (due to the age of the game), and simply told people to do the obvious approach. --SnorlaxMonster 02:03, 2 May 2010 (UTC)

Just leave it here, that is the easiest thing to do. Besides it is just a letter.--theMEWTHREEspy 16:41, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

We don't work on ease, we work on accuracy. It would be easier to just read Bulbapedia, but we choose to edit. --SnorlaxMonster 13:16, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

Yes I agree, we should move it if it's needed, but is it really needed?If something else is more accurate than Missingno,move it, otherwise leave it.--theMEWTHREEspy 20:03, 31 May 2010 (UTC)

The article tends to focus too much on one index number of Missingno. in Pokémon Yellow

Although variations of glitch Pokémon which use the name "Missingno." do indeed exist in Pokémon Yellow, this does not mean that there is just one index number of Missingno. in Pokémon Yellow. Different Missingno. in Pokémon Yellow commonly use different sprites, different base stats, different cries and have completely different movesets. Not all "yellow Missingno." are of the 999 type either, I think this article needs rewording to address that problem, its not as if there are 5 distinctive forms of Missingno. there are in fact (39*2) in Red/Blue and Yellow alone, not including different language games. --Chickasaurus 12:33, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

You raise a valid point. However, new comments go at the bottom of talk pages. That said, you are right. We do need information on the other Yellow Missingno. formes... - unsigned comment from Missingno. Master (talk • contribs) 13:15, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

OK thanks. --Chickasaurus 13:24, 2 June 2010 (UTC)

i dont know how to make a new section but when used a gameshark code to make it appear in the wild i caught it then it turned into a rhydon why??arceusLX leveled up! 01:23, 7 July 2010 (UTC)

Its the internal error trap (as Rhydon has an index number of 01) for when the game brings up a new Pokédex entry for an invalid Pokémon. Try capturing it again, so that the "New Pokédex entry" interface doesn't pop up again. --Chickasaurus 14:24, 8 July 2010 (UTC)

Some possibly helpful questions

1. It seems the list of characters in a player's name that can trigger Missingno.'s various forms is not exhaustive. Does anyone know what Pokemon would appear when one of those characters is used in the appropriate spot? It might be useful to have this information in the article, even if it's just a simple "having other characters in these positions will not produce Missingno. but, instead, some other Pokemon to appear".

2. The next one is more of a general programming question regarding this comment: Due to the limited space in the Game Boy memory, the programmers decided to use the space where data for wild Pokémon found in the grass is stored (which is completely blank in Viridian City; only Surfing and Fishing data is used) to save the player's name temporarily. Are there any other circumstances where a player's name has to be stored into this space? Starscream 17:06, 19 July 2010 (UTC)

1. This page should actually list less of that. That is the old man glitch. Missingno. is one possible result, so most of this info should be moved there and this to link there as a main article. In addition, Missingno. can be found via the Mew glitch, but this section only explains how it works via the old man glitch. I will fix this after replying.

2. No, not in Generation I. If there was, that would have been exploited a long time ago. --SnorlaxMonster 06:52, 20 July 2010 (UTC)

2. Regarding surfing on land strips, there is another process which could be exploited legitimately, although it is less practical than entering an Old Man battle. It is possible to make a trade within Cinnibar's Lab (as name data is stored within the RAM and recalled after trading) and then surf along any 'coast'. There are several other processes, but realistically unless messing with the RAM itself (e.g. save corruption, select bugs) they would require an external device, e.g. Professor Oak's battle mode used for catching the starter Pikachu and then surfing along a coast without encountering another Pokémon. --Chickasaurus 16:31, 20 July 2010 (UTC)