Machoke is a bipedal, humanoid Pokémon covered in gray skin. It has a vaguely reptilian face with a short snout, narrow red eyes, and four pointed teeth visible inside its mouth. Two of these teeth are in the upper jaw, while two are in the lower jaw. On top of its head are three, light brown ridges. Its arms are muscular with dark red, vertical stripes on them. It possesses large pectoral muscles that protrude slightly over its belt. It wears tight black shorts, and a golden belt with a buckle that has a red "P" design. This power-save belt regulates Machoke's strength.
Machoke is a Pokémon of immense strength. Its muscles are as hard as steel, and it is capable of lifting extremely heavy objects with only one finger. Despite its immense strength, it is modest and often helps people with manual labor. It can be found in the mountains, where it trains daily.
In the anime
Machoke in the anime
Major appearances
Two Machoke were present on the expedition crew in Shell Shock!. They rescued Ash, Misty, Tracey and the crew from a runaway boulder heading for them.
Blue also had a Machoke that evolved into Machamp under Red's care, but was traded back afterwards..
Machoke was seen again in Volume 18 as one of Brawly's Pokémon; it is unconfirmed if this Machoke evolved from the Machop he had in Volume 16. Machoke attempted to fight Blaise's fiery illusions in Volume 20 at the Lilycove Museum, but failed miserably and ended up getting burned. His Hariyama succeeded in doing so, however.
Machoke's thoroughly toned muscles possess the hardness of steel. This Pokémon has so much strength, it can easily hold aloft a sumo wrestler on just one finger.
Machoke undertakes bodybuilding every day even as it helps people with tough, physically demanding labor. On its days off, this Pokémon heads to the fields and mountains to exercise and train.
In the Pokémon Red and Blue beta, Machoke was originally known as "Kung-Foo". This name is a corruption of kung fu, a Chinese martial art.
In The Official Pokémon Handbook, Machoke is described as being extremely narcissistic; "Machoke, [...]likes its own body way too much. Sometimes it's too busy looking at itself in the mirror to train", which is exactly the opposite of the description given in Pokémon Stadium; "Although it is incredibly strong, it is always modest".
Machoke appears to be based on a bodybuilder or wrestler with some reptilian traits.
Name origin
Machoke may be a combination of macho (Spanish for overly masculine or chauvinist) and choke. Macho has come to mean tough or masculine in English. Akin to Mr. Mime, the masculine attribute has no reflection on gender assignment, as both species can be male and female; however, Machop's evolutionary line does have a 3:1 male:female ratio, making the species predominantly—but not entirely—male.
Goriky is a corruption of 剛力 gōriki (herculean strength).
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.