It is based on a lion cub or kitten. Its fur is mostly blue, yet there is black fur under its torso. It has a long black tail with a gold four-pointed star on the end. Its forelegs each have a gold ring around them; these are electricity glands, similar to Pikachu's cheeks. It has large, oval ears with gold, star-like "fleur de lis" symbols on them. It has gold-pupiled eyes, and a pink-red nose. It has tufts of hair which will eventually grow into a mane; these can be seen on top and on the rear sides of its head. Whenever its mouth is shown open, small fangs can be seen developing.
Gender differences
A female's mane doesn't stick up as much as a male's. Also, all four paws of a female Shinx are blue while the hind-paws of a male are black.
In the wild, Shinx, Luxio, and Luxray generally hunt for food. Evidence of this is plainly given in Luxray's Pokédex entry: "It has eyes that can see through anything... it can spot prey hidden behind solid objects."
Shinx bears a resemblance to a hoax Pokémon that was created on April Fool's Day 2005.
Shinx's English name was originally thought to be "Spinx" because of a low quality photo with its name on it.
When Shinx's name in turned upside-down its letters remain the same.
Origin
Shinx is based of off a lion cub. It also bears some resemblance to the classic anime character Kimba.
Name origin
Shinx seems to come from shining and lynx. It may also be a portmanteau of the words shock or shine and either lynx, Sphynx or Sphinx. Its Japanese name may come from 子ko, child, and blink or lynx.
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.