Ghost (Pokémon Tower)

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Ghosts (Japanese: ゆうれい yūrei) are disguised Pokémon and, in one case, the soul of a deceased Pokémon, that roam Lavender Town's Pokémon Tower.

In the core series games

In the Kanto-based games, before getting a Silph Scope, several unidentified ghosts (in reality, wild Gastly, Haunter, or Cubone) appear in the Pokémon Tower.

The identity of the ghosts can be revealed with the Silph Scope. Without the Silph Scope, ghosts appear as wild Pokémon in the Pokémon Tower, but cannot be battled. In Generations I and III, whenever the player orders a move against an unknown ghost, the player's Pokémon will be too scared to move. Additionally, if the player throws a Poké Ball (including a Master Ball) at an unidentified ghost, it will simply dodge the ball.

In Generation VII, if the player is touched by a ghost, they are warped back to the first floor of the Pokémon Tower. Furthermore, ghosts home in slowly on the player's location and (unlike even unmasked Ghost-types) can pass through walls while doing so.

In Generation I, the ghosts use the front sprite of the specific MissingNo. with the ghost form.

Marowak

Main article: Marowak (ghost)

Another stronger ghost is revealed to be a mother Marowak, which haunts the tower as a result of her death at the hands of Team Rocket. Even with the help of the Silph Scope, the Marowak ghost cannot be caught.

During the course of the game, the player must obtain the Silph Scope and becalm the ghost Marowak by battling itRBYFRLG/reuniting it with its child, Cubone.PE

Oddities

The ghosts do not have a cry in the Generation I games, whereas they emit the cry of the disguised Pokémon in Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen.

In Generation I:

  • The Pokédex still records the seen data of the wild Pokémon even without the Silph Scope.
  • If the games are played on a Super Game Boy (or on a Game Boy Color, in the case of the international releases of Pokémon Yellow), the ghost has the same color palette as that of the Pokémon it is hiding. This means that a ghost can be seen with two different and legitimate color palettes: that of Gastly and Haunter, and that of Cubone and Marowak. If the ghost appears due to a glitch, a third palette is used.
  • Players can exploit the ghost glitch to make the ghost reveal itself by viewing the stats of any Pokémon in the player's party, and then returning to the battle. However, this glitch is only graphical as it is still impossible to battle or catch a ghost.
  • If the player uses a Poké Doll against the ghost Marowak, it will disappear even if the player didn't have the Silph Scope.

Quotes

  • When trying to attack a ghost without the Silph Scope
"Get out...... Get out......"RBYFRLG
"Get out... Begone..."PE
  • Directly before encountering the Marowak ghost
"Be gone... Intruders..."

Gallery

Sprites and models

In Generation I, the ghost uses the purple palette when it is Gastly or Haunter, and the grey palette when it is Cubone or Marowak.

Ghost I purple.png Ghost I grey.png LitGhost.png Ghost Model LGPE.png Ghost Model Marowak LGPE.png Ghost Pokémon Game Sound Library.png
Sprite from
Generation I (purple palette)
Sprite from
Generation I (grey palette)
Sprite from
FireRed and LeafGreen
Model from Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! Model of Marowak's ghost from Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! Artwork from the
Pokémon Game Sound Library

In the anime

Banette imitating the ghost sprite in the anime

Main series

In Getting to the Heart of it All!, a Banette created a shadow in the form of the original ghost sprite from the Generation I games.

Pokémon Origins

A ghost in Pokémon Origins

A ghost appeared in File 2: Cubone. It played a similar role to the ghosts in the games, lying dormant in the Pokémon Tower and warning intruders to stay away from Team Rocket, who had taken it over. One resident of Lavender Town noted that she saw the ghost after sneaking past Team Rocket Grunts at night, and fled in terror. Blue also ran away upon seeing it. Red attempted to fight it, but his Pokémon's attacks were ineffective against it. When Blue returned to give Red the Silph Scope, Red was able to identify the ghost as the spirit of Marowak. After Marowak's child, Cubone, came rushing in and embraced its deceased mother, Marowak's spirit departed for the afterlife.

In the manga

Pokémon Zensho

Main article: Marowak (ghost) → Pokémon Zensho

The Marowak ghost appeared in Pokémon Zensho.

Trivia

Ghost-type Tera Jewel


In other languages

Language Title
Chinese Cantonese 幽靈 Yāulìhng
Mandarin 幽靈 / 幽灵 Yōulíng
Denmark Flag.png Danish Spøgelse
The Netherlands Flag.png Dutch Spoek
Finland Flag.png Finnish Kummitus
Aave
France Flag.png French Fantôme (VII)
Spectre (I-III)
Germany Flag.png German Gespenst (VII)
Geist (I-III)
Greece Flag.png Greek φάντασμα fantasma
Italy Flag.png Italian Spettro
South Korea Flag.png Korean 유령 Yuryeong
Norway Flag.png Norwegian Spøkelse
Poland Flag.png Polish Duch
Brazil Flag.png Brazilian Portuguese Fantasma
Spain Flag.png Spanish Fantasma (VII)
Ghost (I-III)
Sweden Flag.png Swedish Spöke
Thailand Flag.png Thai ผี Phi
Vietnam Flag.png Vietnamese Ma

See also

Project CharacterDex logo.png This game character article is part of Project CharacterDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in the Pokémon games.