Mew is a pink, bipedal Pokémon with mammalian features. Its snout is short and wide, and it has triangular ears and large, blue eyes. It has short arms with three-fingered paws, large hind legs and feet with oval markings on the soles, and a long, thin tail ending in an ovoid tip. Its fur is so fine and thin, it can only be seen under a microscope. Mew is said to have the DNA of every single Pokémon contained within its body, and as such is able to learn any attack.
As demonstrated by its behavior in the first and eighth Pokémon movies, it shows signs of intelligence, curiosity, playfulness, and even selflessness. Mew is incredibly adaptable, able to travel freely in the air or underwater. As seen in Pokémon Snap, it can create a green/yellow/pink orb of energy around itself for protection.
Reports found in Cinnabar Island's Pokémon Mansion note scientific expeditions that have sighted Mew in Guyana, South America, the place where it was first discovered. Since Mew can make itself invisible at will, very few people have knowingly seen it, leading some scientists to declare it extinct and most to assume it to be a mirage. It will only show itself to a person who is pure of heart.
In the anime
Spoiler warning: this article may contain major plot or ending details.
In this movie, Mew made a couple of cameo appearances at the start of the movie. A Mewtwo was cloned from Mew's DNA, extracted from Mew's eyelash. Later, Mew started appearing around New Island while Mewtwo was testing his starter Pokémon clones. Mew followed Team Rocket into the main part of the island so it could stop Mewtwo from destroying the world. After the end credits of the movie, Mew is shown flying to the mountains.
In the Japanese version, Mew's characterization was different. Mew's intention was to wipe out cloned Pokémon, Mewtwo included, because it viewed them as inferior, in stark contrast to Mewtwo, who wished to eliminate natural-born.
Mew makes a small appearance in the hour-length special Mewtwo Returns, the sequel to Mewtwo Strikes Back: Mew is first shown in flashbacks of the first movie and then named by Mewtwo when it reflects about its creation before the title screen appears (though this dialogue was changed in the dub and Mew is not named). Mewtwo also sees Mew after being thrown into the Purity Spring, but this Mew is just part of Mewtwo's imagination.
After taking them to an attic, Kidd Summers sent her two Weavile after it. To escape, it teleported itself, along with Pikachu and Meowth. It then transformed once again into a Pidgeot and flew the Pokémon to the Tree of Beginning. While Ash and the others were looking for Pikachu, Mew kept it entertained with toys.
Mew also nearly sacrificed itself to save the Tree of Beginning. Lucario stepped in and was able to save Mew, but ended up sacrificing itself. Mew is believed to still reside at the Tree of Beginning. It is last seen playing with a Bonsly.
Mew debuted in the first round of the Red, Green & Blue arc, A Glimpse of the Glow. Here, Red and Blue see one in Pallet Town and try to catch it, but fail. It is known as the "Phantom Pokémon" and was chased by Team Rocket. It is revealed later on, that Mew inhabits the area near Pallet Town because it lacks the pollution created by humans in other areas.
Team Rocket's chase would continue all the way in The Jynx Jinx, where they attempt to regain the disc containing Mew's habitat and information from Green, but fail and are tricked into stealing an empty one she prepared. They catch up to Green and her unwilling ally Red soon afterward, and interrupt them when they tracked down and attempted to capture the rare Pokémon. However, when their Jynx was able to almost succeed, Mew's powerful Psychic attack left them listless, and soon escaped. The small samples of its DNA that the Rockets acquired, however, led to the creation of its powerful clone.
When Blaine was explaining about Mewtwo's origin to Red, in And Mewtwo Too?! Mew appeared as a silhouette. Mew is later briefly seen looking into Indigo Plateau in A Charizard...and a Champion after Red wins the Pokémon League championship and decides to return to Pallet Town with his two fellow Pokédex Holders.
It later reappeared in the FireRed & LeafGreen arc, where it saved Red and the people of Vermilion City from the impending crash of the TR helicopter. Mewtwo notices this, and realizes that he too had a root to trace itself back to, as it was born from Mew's eyelash.
A Mew appeared in Obtain the Moon Stone!!. This one is actually a woman who was accidentally transformed after an experiment went wrong. She turns back later to her normal form.
Giovanni catches Mew as part of the supplies used for the creation of Mewtwo. It was released along with Mewtwo after the creation was unsuccessful.
In Super Smash Bros. Mew will sometimes appear out of a Poké Ball. When summoned, it will use Fly to leave the arena. In single player, the summoner is awarded the "Mew Catcher" bonus, worth 10,000 points.
After unlocking every character in Melee, there is a 1 in 251 chance of Mew appearing from a Poké Ball. The thrower of the Poké Ball receives the same "Mew Catcher" bonus.
Mew returns again as a rare Pokémon in Brawl, the chance of it appearing is 1 in 493 this time. Like the other "secret" Pokémon, it drops rare items instead of just flying away. In Mew's case, the items are CDs. However, once all the pick-up CDs are obtained, it will drop Stickers instead.
Mew is an extremely rare Pokémon that has been seen by only a few people. Information on every Pokémon in the world is contained in Mew's cell structure, so it has the ability to use any and all TMs and HMs. Some Pokémon scholars believe Mew to be the ancestor of all existing Pokémon, but the idea is debatable.
Brawl trophy information
"A New Species Pokémon. An extremely rare Pokémon that contains the DNA of all other Pokémon, it is thought by many scholars to be a Pokémon ancestor, considering the wide range of moves it can use. On top of being able to make itself invisible, Mew can also transform into any opponent Pokémon and use characteristics and moves in exactly the same way."
3DS/Wii U trophy information
NA: Mew is a Pokémon previously thought to be extinct but rediscovered by Dr. Fuji. This Legendary Pokémon doesn't often show itself to humans, so it is considered quite lucky to see one. In Smash Bros., Mew will appear and then use Fly to sail away, leaving behind a gift. Thanks, Mew!
PAL: Mew was thought to be extinct until it was rediscovered by Dr Fuji in Guyana. This Mythical Pokémon doesn't often show itself to humans, so it's considered very lucky to see one. In this game, it will float upwards and leave a present behind. If only Mew would turn up more often, eh?
Mew appears in the seventh course, Rainbow Cloud. Although the game is not combat-oriented, the difficulty of photographing Mew effectively makes it the game's boss. Mew floats in a bubble that turns opaque when the zoom is activated, so players must throw a series of Pester Balls or Food at it to break the bubble so Mew will come out for a clear shot. Photographing Mew gets an automatic bonus of 2500 points, making it the highest ranking Pokémon in the game with a highest possible score of 10,000 points with perfect positioning, size and pose.
In PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure Mew takes Pikachu and their friends Chikorita, Piplup, and Charmander to the PokéPark. He then appears to Pikachu in a dream once they've arrived in the PokéPark and tells Pikachu to collect pieces of the Sky Prism so that peace can be restored to the PokéPark. Once all the pieces have been obtained Mew awaits Pikachu at the Sky Pavilion where he plays. In this game, Mew is referred to as male, despite being genderless in the main series.
Mew is said to possess the genetic composition of all Pokémon. It is capable of making itself invisible at will, so it entirely avoids notice even if it approaches people.
A Mew is said to possess the genes of all Pokémon. It is capable of making itself invisible at will, so it entirely avoids notice even if it approaches people.
Mew is said to possess the genetic composition of all Pokémon. It is capable of making itself invisible at will, so it entirely avoids notice even if it approaches people.
Despite being a clone of Mew, Mewtwo appears before Mew in the Pokédex.
Mew was the only Pokémon of the first 151 to be left out of the original version of the Pokérap.
Mew was a little-known secret when Pokémon Red and Green were first released in Japan. Even Nintendo was not initially aware that Shigeki Morimoto had programmed it into the game.[1]
In the games, lost scientific reports state that Mew was found in the forests of Guyana.
In Generation III, Mew is the only Generation I Pokémon that cannot be encountered in FireRed and LeafGreen, as well as the only Generation I Legendary or Mythical Pokémon that can be encountered in Emerald.
Mew is tied with Mewtwo for the most anime opening appearances of any Legendary or Mythical Pokémon, with seven in Japan.
Mew is the only genderless Pokémon able to learn Captivate, and the only genderless Pokémon besides Cryogonal to learn Attract; however, when used by genderless Pokémon, these moves will always fail.
Mew shares the move Transform with Ditto, along with also sharing the same Shiny coloration and the same weight. In addition, in Pokémon Yellow, Ditto can be encountered in the Pokémon Mansion on Cinnabar Island, where diary entries on Mew can be found.
There is a glitch in Generation I where if a Mew is encountered, by use of the Mew Glitch or any other hacking device, and uses Transform, it will be treated as a Ditto from that point on and, even when caught, will never revert back to its original form.
Mew started the trend of every generation (through Generation V) introducing a Mythical Pokémon with a base stat total of 600 and a stat distribution of 100 all around. Others that follow this trend include Celebi, Jirachi, Manaphy, Land FormeShaymin, and Victini.
Mew (then spelled ミュー, not ミュウ) was the first Pokémon trademark ever registered (granted on March 31, 1994, registration number 2636685 part 12), before even Pocket Monsters (ポケットモンスター), which was granted on December 26, 1997.
ミュウ was registered on August 6, 1999, registration number 4302090.
Mew is also the first Pokémon trademark ever applied for; the application was submitted on May 9, 1990, application number 平2-51989; before even Pocket Monsters, which was submitted September 11, 1995.
ミュウ was submitted on June 17, 1997, application number 平9-128909.
Mew is similar to a vertebrate embryo. It shares many traits with cats. Its morphology is also vaguely similar to a jerboa, having large hind legs and a long skinny tail. It is believed by scientists to be the ancestor of all other Pokémon, which, along with its resemblance to an embryo, may be a reference to the recapitulation theory.
Name origin
Mew may be derived from 妙 myō (strange/unusual), mew (the sound a kitten makes, referring to its size and cat-like appearance), or mutant (myūtanto), or it may be a combination of mystery and new (considering that it is mysterious and "newly" discovered).
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.
Lum Berry (100%)
Salac Berry (100%)
For other sprites and images, please see Mew images on the Bulbagarden Archives.
