Jynx is a bipedal, humanoidPokémon that resembles a woman. It has a purple face, pink lips, saucer-like eyes, and long blonde hair. It wears a red gown with two gold circlets on the chest. While the anime has shown it to possess feet, the games show only blackness under the dress and it lacks a footprint. Despite this, it is able to learn the kicking move Triple Axel. It has white arms and five-fingered purple hands. Jynx is a female-only species with no male counterpart.
Originally, its face was colored black. Pokémon Stadium's fainting animation had it disappear leaving only its hair behind, implying that what appears to be dark-colored skin is actually just darkness.
Jynx has a language that sounds similar to human speech and includes several cry patterns. However, this language has yet to be deciphered. It prefers to communicate by using dance-like movements. There are some musicians who compose songs for Jynx to sing. These rhythmic movements often cause people to dance along with it. The Jynx in Alola are said to have wonderful precise movements. In certain parts of Galar, it has been feared and worshiped while being called the "Queen of Ice". The Jynx in Galar are said to have beautiful and delicate voices and a fanbase dedicated to them. Jynx often is found in urban areas.
Jynx in the animeJynx's original design in the anime
Major appearances
Multiple Jynx debuted in Holiday Hi-Jynx, where they were workers at Santa Claus's workshop. One of Santa's Jynx got lost, requiring Ash and his friends to help her return to her owner.
In Three Jynx and a Baby!, a trio of Jynx sisters living in Cremini Town were overprotective towards their sister, a Smoochum. The Smoochum evolved into a fourth Jynx at the end of the episode. This also marks the last physical appearance of a Jynx in the anime to date.
Minor appearances
In Stage Fight!, a Jynx was part of a showboat stage show. It was briefly taken by Team Rocket.
In Pokémon Double Trouble, a Jynx was running on a treadmill. However, this appearance was cut from the English dub.
In All Things Bright and Beautifly!, a Coordinator's Jynx competed in the Rustboro City Contest. However, this appearance was cut from the English dub. This also marks the final time Jynx's original design was used in the anime.
Jynx, the Human Shape Pokémon. This Pokémon has some very unusual powers. Its special attack is the Lovely Kiss, which puts its opponent into a deep sleep.
A fortune-telling Jynx appears in Magical Pokémon Journey. Arbok goes to Jynx's fortune-telling hut to find out if he has a chance with his crush, Wigglytuff.
Jynx debuted in The Jynx Jinx, under the ownership of Ken. She was used to attack Red and Green after they tricked Team Rocket and take Mew. When she attacked Mew, Red and Green tried to defend it, only to be defeated. Mew retaliated against Jynx and defeated her and Ken, while sparing Red and Green.
Most notably, Lorelei's Jynx first appeared in Jigglypuff Jive. It is noted for having the ability to generate voodoo dolls out of ice using its Ice Beam. When Lorelei draws crosses on any part of the dolls using her lipstick, ice shackles form on the specified body parts of her targets, eventually freezing the victim over completely.
Red and Sabrina had been suffering from a lasting numbness due to having been frozen by Lorelei's Jynx, so they sought a cure atop Mt. Silver by bathing in the hotsprings there.
Jynx walks rhythmically, swaying and shaking its hips as if it were dancing. Its motions are so bouncingly alluring, people seeing it are compelled to shake their hips without giving any thought to what they are doing.
A Jynx sashays rhythmically as if it were dancing. Its motions are so bouncingly alluring, people seeing it are compelled to shake their hips without noticing.
Jynx walks rhythmically, swaying and shaking its hips as if it were dancing. Its motions are so bouncingly alluring, people seeing it are compelled to shake their hips without giving any thought to what they are doing.
I’ve heard that Jynx can make all sorts of things happen just by wishing for them. We did see some odd occurrences in the Shiver Snowfields involving Jynx, so there may be some truth to that claim.
As its Pokédex entries state that Jynx speaks an incomprehensible language, the player, as a Pokémon, cannot understand anything it says in the Mystery Dungeon series.
Jynx's sprite in the Virtual Console re-release of Pokémon Yellow uses five colors instead of four. To achieve this effect, some of the 8x8 tiles composing the sprite use an altered palette, where black is replaced with purple, which is technically possible on a Game Boy Color game.
The Pokémon Stadium games feature a kicking animation for Jynx, in which its feet appear out of nowhere, disconnected from its body, to perform moves such as Mega Kick. This is one of the rare instances where its feet can be seen in the games, considering Jynx's lack of footprints.
Carole Boston Weatherford, a cultural critic, claimed that Jynx, which appeared in Holiday Hi-Jynx, was a negative stereotype of African-Americans in an article titled "Politically Incorrect Pokémon" on the magazine Black World Today. She chiefly compared Jynx to the racist characters in The Story of Little Black Sambo and further compared Jynx to Drag Queens and Mr. Popo of the Dragon Ball franchise, another character who is also potentially offensive in his design.
Weatherford's complaint caused many repercussions in the Pokémon franchise. The sprites of Jynx in the Western releases of Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal were edited, and EP250 was cut from international airings of the anime. A sequence depicting Jynx in its original design in All Things Bright and Beautifly! was also cut from the dub. Jynx's design was officially revised by Game Freak to be purple rather than black, including in Japan and South Korea; this change was reflected in later core series games (starting with Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire) and in the Pokémon anime starting in Mean With Envy. However, Jynx's last anime appearance came just 53 episodes after the redesign. Although the manga is colored in black-and-white, Jynx appearing in VIZ Media's reissues of Pokémon Adventures are recolored as a dark gray rather than a straight black, suggesting that they are purple instead of black. It is also recolored to purple on the back cover of the reissue of Volume 4. The Virtual Console versions of Pokémon Snap, Pokémon Trading Card Game, international Pokémon Yellow, and Japanese Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal also recolor Jynx's face. Jynx was recolored in the ending credits of PK01 and PK04 for the 2012 Japanese Blu-ray release. A recolored version of Holiday Hi-Jynx aired in Japan and is available on the Japanese Prime Video and Netflix. Since 2014, Holiday Hi-Jynx, Stage Fight!, and The Mandarin Island Miss Match, which all feature Jynx in its original design, have not been in circulation of the English dub.
In recent years, some fans of Pokémon have noted that Jynx may be inspired by ganguro, a Japanese fashion where women tan heavily, bleach their hair, and apply large amounts of makeup, instead of a black stereotype. This theory is mainly based on Jynx's long, straight, blonde hair, a common attribute of ganguro fashion. However, this particular hypothesis at least has often been criticized due to the timeline of ganguro fashion not matching up with the development of Pokémon games.[1] Another theory is that Jynx is based on the Nordic goddess Hel, who was often depicted as having a face half white-half black and who ruled Niflheim, primarily depicted as a land of primordial ice and cold. Some fans say this is supported by Jynx sharing traits with the iconic opera singing "Fat Lady," who is typically portrayed in pop culture dressed as the valkyrieBrünnhilde. Another possible origin is Yama-uba, the mountain Crone.
What Jynx is based on is a controversial topic within the fandom, although common interpretations are a Nordic or a Viking woman (possibly Hel, goddess of the underworld), or ganguro (face-black). The original Jynx's black skin and prominent lips bore a startling resemblance to the "darky" iconography now largely abandoned in media. Also, the fact that Jynx are depicted as Santa's helpers in the anime may reference the folklore character Zwarte Piet.
Jynx also has the traits of a female opera singer, especially the iconic cartoon depiction of the fat lady; Pokémon Snap and its third generation sprites depict it singing, especially the Emerald sprite that animates it singing a high note. Specifically, it may be inspired by the Ride of the Valkyries, from the opera Die Walküre, the second of four operas by Richard Wagner based on Norse mythology. In this context, it's possible that the Valkyries, mythical warrior-maidens who gathered the souls of those slain in battle, are another inspiration for Jynx.
Jynx may also have origins in the Japanese spirits known as Yuki-onna, who lack feet, akin to Jynx's feet being covered by its dress. It may also be based on Yama-uba (also called Yamanba), a yōkai that is described as always wearing a tattered red kimono, having whitish-blonde hair, control over snow, dark-colored skin, and large lips, traits which are evident in Jynx. "Yamanba" is also slang for the extreme end of ganguro fashion, which involves bleached hair, artificial tanning, and heavy applying of brightly-colored lipstick.
Jynx's revised coloring may be based on purple discoloration of the skin, a common symptom of frostbite. This fits with Jynx's Ice type and how it is found in very cold places.
Name origin
Jynx may be a corruption of jinx, a curse or hex of bad luck.
Rougela may be derived from rouge, a type of makeup and also the French word for red.
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.
Aspear Berry (100%)
For other sprites and images, please see Jynx images on the Bulbagarden Archives.
