It’s hard not to notice the recent surge of interest in the Pokemon trading card game — headlines about fans spending millions, YouTube videos about which are the best to invest in, news of international card shortages — like it or not, Pokemon cards are at a popularity level unseen since the early 2000s.
Since their inception in 1996, the design of these cards has stayed roughly the same — a playing-card size list of attacks, powers and weaknesses combined with an illustration of your monster. As the series has progressed, the list of illustrators working on these cards has expanded, meaning that fans have been treated to an incredible range of styles and interpretations of their favorite Pokemon. With over 6,000 different cards printed, naturally, there are going to be some cuter than others, some funnier, and some much, much spookier.
10 Janine’s Arbok
Three and a half meters long and full of poison, Arbok is a cobra that’s pretty terrifying as is — its most notable feature being the face-like pattern on its chest which is used to intimidate and immobilize prey, the features of which varying depending on the region in which it lives. In addition to its sinister patterns, it also has the strength to crush oil drums.
Evidently, Arbok is an unsettling creature, but in the Japan-only Pokemon VS expansion Tomokazu Komiya manages to take this a step further by using stark coloring, an uncanny grin and an angle that says ’this thing is going to strike at you in 0.5 seconds, run.'
9 Slugma
Slugma is not a Pokemon that is often brought up when fans are discussing their favorites — it is a slug made out of magma. Slug. Magma. Slugma. Despite this incredible creativity, it’s not one that is often at the front of people’s minds. However, due to this card, it may appear in a few nightmares.
There is no canon reason why it would be this close to someone, but one can imagine they would be in incredible pain considering it is literally molten rock. This, paired with the fact that Slugma is staring straight forward with the transfixed gaze of someone that hasn’t eaten in a week makes this a particularly uncomfortable illustration. Thanks, Aya Kusube!
8 Dark Hypno
Hypno is one of the Pokemon that could fill the entire article with uncomfortable card art, and this, quite simply put, is because Hypno is absolutely terrifying. Hypno is a 5-feet tall bipedal tapir with a penchant for eating dreams — and a pendant to hypnotize its next unsuspecting meal. Some Pokedex entries even report it carrying off children — if this was a ‘Scariest Pokemon’ list, it would no doubt be top.
Admittedly, it was difficult to choose between this card and Aquapolis’s Hypno, though Dark Hypno takes the cake. In the Team Rocket expansion, Kagemaru Himeno allows you to experience what you might see seconds before this Pokemon puts you to sleep — reality begins to fade and distort around the one remaining focal point — Hypno.
7 Feraligatr Ex
Many of the ex and Prime cards use artwork that makes the Pokemon look particularly menacing and/or cool, but it’s Hikaru Koike’s take on Feraligatr that stands out among them.
What makes this piece particularly terrifying is the way that Feraligatr’s eye is looking back a little at the viewer, as though it’s just spotted them mid-roar and is about to attack. The heavy use of shadow makes the eye and sharp fangs stand out even more than usual.
6 Mareanie
A relatively new card compared to the others on this list, what is pictured here is a card only available in a Japan-exclusive deck themed around Ash and Team Rocket’s appearances in the Sun and Moon anime. Many of the cards use art from the anime itself, but whoever chose this one deserves a medal.
The scene wonderfully combines hilarious and disturbing as Mareanie is overjoyed to be in the company of their trainer, who has just been injected with a cocktail of toxins. It is incredible how a few extra wrinkles drawn onto a character can really sell that feeling of ‘I am in absolute agony.’ Seeing a character so well-known and recognizable distorted in this way makes for a very uncomfortable image.
5 Dark Machoke
The Team Rocket card expansion lends itself to this list quite well (hence the two on here) — it was the first time fans saw Pokemon acting in a way that could be considered evil or unpleasant in the trading card game. Throughout the set we see Pokemon acting violent, devious or, at the very least, a little shifty.
While Dark Hypno is utterly creepy, Dark Machoke is scary in a completely different way. The expression on its face is one of pure anger and, coupled with the huge boulder in its hands, one can assume its intention is to cause extreme bodily harm to its target. With a few exceptions, even the most violent Pokemon tend to look more determined than homicidal. This, on the other hand, is emanating pure hatred.
4 Charizard
The Pokemon that needs no introduction, the most recognizable Pokemon second only to Pikachu and the Pokemon that’s breaking every TCG fan’s bank — Charizard. This card is a secret rare from the EX Dragon set, drawn by series veteran Mitsuhiro Arita.
Often, Charizard cards show the big lizard breathing fire or attacking in some way, shape or form, though it never truly looks menacing. There are, of course, one or two exceptions to this. Case in point, we have a card where the fire Charizard is breathing is so hot it is lighting up the inside of its mouth and illuminating the rest of its body. The whole illustration glows with a very intense, very real heat and gives us the most ferocious Charizard card printed to date.
3 Dark Omastar
Tomokazu Komiya’s art style is one that is incredibly versatile as it can lend itself to humor and cuteness, but also incredibly well to the frightening. Neo Destiny’s Dark Omastar is a prime example of this.
The fact that Omastar is stretched all the way across the illustration creates a real feeling of being unable to escape. Omastar is already probably not at the top of most fans’ cutest Pokémon list, but having it catapulting itself at your face, tentacles splayed, really cements this as one of the most terrifying cards printed.
2 Gyarados
In the theme of ’no escape’ we have Skyridge’s Gyarados. Gyarados cards are, on the whole, pretty terrifying — this is aided by the fact that Gyarados is, on the whole, pretty terrifying. Everything about it, from Pokedex entries describing it as ‘ferociously violent’ to its particularly gruesome appearance in the Detective Pikachu movie, is scary.
Many Gyarados cards look like something out of some gritty sea-epic but none so much as Skyridge’s iteration. Gyarados faces the viewer head-on, flame surrounding it for who-knows-what reason. The closer it’s studied the more its colossal body appears and, as Gyarados is usually seen in the water, one can assume that the viewer too is in the water with it. Uh oh.
1 Alakazam
Pure nightmare fuel. Thanks, Skyridge! So many things about this card work together to make it so unnerving. Firstly, Alakazam’s stance. Usually, Alakazam is seen holding its spoons aloft with a straighter back — in this piece, Alakazam is leaning forward, almost resting on its fists, staring dead ahead. It looks hungry. Secondly, Alakazam is the only bright thing in the shot — it looks as though it has appeared on a very dark night in front of the viewer and purposely revealed itself to you, as it knows you can’t escape. Lastly, Alakazam is standing in such a way that its whole head is on display, which gives it a strong resemblance to Baphomet — all this rolled into one makes for one seriously spooky piece of card.
NEXT: Uri Geller Gives Nintendo Permission To Print Kadabra On Pokémon Cards Again
