Mr. Mime, known in Japan as Barrierd (Japanese: バリヤード, Hepburn: Bariyādo), is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Mr. Mime first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels, later appearing in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise. Mr. Mime is voiced by Yūji Ueda in Japanese and in English, was originally voiced by Kayzie Rogers and currently by Michele Knotz.[2]
Known as the Barrier Pokémon, Mr. Mime are gifted with the art of miming at a young age and as they mature they gain the ability to psychically generate invisible objects such as walls and other barriers. In the anime, a Mr. Mime appears as early on as a house cleaner and helper to Delia, protagonist Ash Ketchum's mother, while others are shown as entertainers or cooks. In the Pokémon Adventures manga, its abilities are utilized to create training rooms and surround an entire city with a barrier to prevent access from the outside world.
Mr. Mime's appearance has been heavily criticized by sources such as 1UP.com due to its humanoid design, as well as for combining the worst-perceived aspects of mimes and clowns. However, the character's design has also been praised by other sources in comparison to more common series characters.
Design and characteristics
Mr. Mime is a fictional species of Pokémon created for the Pokémon franchise. Developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo, the series began in Japan in 1996 with the release of the video games Pokémon Red and Blue for the Game Boy.[3] In these games, the player assumes the role of a Pokémon Trainer whose goal is to capture and train creatures called Pokémon. Players use the creatures' special abilities to combat other Pokémon, and some can transform into stronger species through a process called evolution.[4] A major goal in each game is to complete the Pokémon index (Pokédex), a comprehensive Pokémon encyclopedia,[5] by capturing, evolving, and trading to obtain individuals from all Pokémon species.[4]
Introduced in Red and Blue, the design started as pixel art sprites by the development team first, with a single color identity chosen to work within the Super Game Boy hardware limitations.[1] While conceived as a group effort by multiple developers at Game Freak,[6] the finalized design and artwork was done by Ken Sugimori. Originally tasked with drawing the characters to illustrate a planned strategy guide by Game Freak when the games released, Sugimori drew all the sprites for the game in his style to not only unify their designs visually but also modify any design elements he felt were amiss, while trying to retain the original sprite artist's unique style.[7]
The Pokémon was originally called "Barrierd" in Japanese. When the games were localized for English-speaking audiences as Red and Blue, Nintendo of America gave the various Pokémon species "clever and descriptive names" related to their appearance or features as a means to make them more relatable to American children,[8] and renamed it "Mr. Mime" based on its masculine appearance and behavior.[9] However, translator Nob Ogasawara voiced concern regarding giving Pokémon gender-specific names, worrying what would happen if the series were to introduce genders for Pokémon at a later date. Though the president of Nintendo of America dismissed his concerns, Pokémon Gold and Silver would introduce the concept of gendered Pokémon, resulting in both males and females of the species being called Mr. Mime.[10][11]
Appearing as an anthropomorphic creature, it has a pink head with red cheeks and blue, frizzy hair, a round, white body with a red spot in the middle, light-pink arms and legs are connected to its body by red spheres, white, five-fingered hands and blue feet that curl upward at the tips. Their hands are depicted with four fingers and an opposable thumb, with larger fingertips and red dots on their underside. However, game representations of the character featured only three fingers on each hand until the release of Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire.[12] When asked what to explain what exactly Mr. Mime is, The Pokémon Company responded simply "We don’t know.”[13]
Appearances
In video games
In the video game series, Mr. Mime can be acquired from an in-game trade in Pokémon Red and Blue and Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen.[14] It appeared in several sequels, including Pokémon Gold and Silver, Pokémon Diamond and Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver. In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Mr. Mime gains a new pre-evolved form, Mime Jr., which evolves when leveled up while knowing the move Mimic.[15] Gym Leader Sabrina uses a female Mr. Mime in every game she appears in except Pokémon Yellow, in which she does not have a Mr. Mime. In Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, Elite Four Lucian owns a Mr. Mime.[16] Mr. Mime is rare in Pokemon Sword and Shield, only obtainable via trading another Pokemon. However, the game also introduces a regional variant, which swaps the Fairy type for Ice. This variant can evolve into a new Pokemon called Mr. Rime.
In the anime, a Mr. Mime lives with Delia Ketchum. It does housework for her in exchange for room and board. Ash dressed as a Mr. Mime to inspire a real Mr. Mime who worked for a circus. Delia knew about this, so when a wild Mr. Mime came to her door and wanted lunch, she thought it was Ash in costume and provided it with food. When the real Ash showed up, still in costume, she was quite puzzled, but wound up keeping Mimey (バリちゃん, Barichan) as her live-in maid.[20] It will only listen to Delia and if anyone else, even Ash, gives it orders or asks it to do something, it will normally ignore them. It used to be unknown if Delia caught Mimey or not, as she was not seen with its Pokéball. However, as of Pokémon Journeys, it is now known that Mimey does indeed have a Pokéball and he was, in fact, caught. It is also revealed in Journeys that Mr. Mime is Ash's Pokémon all along as he used it in the Battle Frontier Flute Cup as well as living with Ash at Cerise Laboratory. When Ash and his friends returned to Pallet Town following the Orange Islands saga, it was revealed that Brock and Mimey had become rather competitive regarding household tasks while the two of them were sharing the house with Delia.[21]
In the Pokémon Adventures manga, Mr. Mime was first seen under the control of Sabrina, generating a Light Screen to seal off the whole of Saffron City.[22] The same Mr. Mime was seen again during the Gym Leader faceoff, using its miming powers to trap Bugsy and defeat his Heracross.[23] Mr. Mime has also appeared under the ownership of Crystal and has the ability to create invisible walls and rooms, much like Sabrina's Mr. Mime. It creates a training room for Ruby and Sapphire and Emerald to teach their Pokémon the ultimate moves Blast Burn, Hydro Cannon and Frenzy Plant.[24]
In live action film
Mr. Mime's scene has been described as a standout in the film and received varied reactions regarding the design
A Mr. Mime appears in the film Pokémon: Detective Pikachu, getting interrogated by the titular character Pikachu and his partner Tim Goodman, due to being an informant for the latter's father. Completely mute in the film, it communicates through hand gestures and is initially uncooperative until Goodman engages its behavior by gesturing through mime to "set it on fire" by "dousing it with gasoline and a match" if it doesn't cooperate.[25] According to director Rob Letterman, the scene was one of the earliest written for the film, and was inspired by watching the interrogation scene in the film Seven at the time. Additionally an actual mime, Trigby, was brought in for consultation and to help rehearse the scene with the actors. However, The Pokémon Company initially objected to letting the film use the character, feeling Mr. Mime was a poor fit for the film, until Letterman pitched the suggestion directly to their president Tsunekazu Ishihara, who laughed and let them proceed.[26]
Adapting Mr. Mime to a 3D model for the film proved difficult, and required a different approach than they had used towards other Pokémon in the movie in an effort to retain the design's "cartoon nature".[26] Visual effects supervisor Erik Nordby stated "When you look at the character, it instantly feels creepy. We had to figure out what aspects we could push and pull." To this end, they focused on making every surface of his model "feel like a toy", utilizing aspects such as dodgeballs for his joints, while the gloves were modeled after those given as prizes at fairs. Nordby further described his design as simple, "a series of balls and very simple shapes", and worked to add more elements to enhance the character's silhouette, such as subtle freckles which they felt helped "with it looking a bit more cute."[13] Facial hair was additionally added to try and keep his face realistic without it resembling a deformed human face, culminating in a look that Letterman felt was "funny and disturbing.”[26]
Critical reception
Since appearing in the Pokémon franchise, Mr. Mime has received a generally mixed reception, with critics, including from 1Up.com and Retronauts, disliking its mime aesthetic.[27][28] The staff of GamesRadar complained about its design, noting that while "mimes/clowns aren't the easiest material to work with in the first place," they further felt it was "creepy" due to its gangly arms and humanoid appearance compared to other Pokémon[29] Fellow contributor Carolyn Gudmundson further elaborated on the sentiment, noting that the humanoid designs were some of the most overused amongst Pokémon in the franchise, and Mr. Mime was both one of the most infamous and "horrific monstrosities" in this regard, further stating mimes "do not make good Pokémon."[30]
Despite this negative reception, Mr. Mime has been identified as among the more popular Pokémon.[31] In the book Gaming Cultures and Place in Asia-Pacific, David Surman defended Mr. Mime's design, suggesting that Sugimori developed it—along with Jynx—to draw upon the humor of heta-uma (a term meaning bad/nice). The book notes that the designs "oscillate between the poles of good and bad," and as a result offer diversity within the game and invite scrutiny from players.[32] The Coventry Evening Telegraph also praised its design, stating the character was "more interesting" in comparison to more popular Pokémon like Squirtle.[33] Elijah Watson of Complex described Mr. Mime as the best Pokémon, and stated that Mr. Mime is "weird looking," but it's also equipped with a good selection of non-damaging and damaging moves.[34] Steven Bogos of The Escapist listed Mr. Mime as their 21st favorite Pokémon, describing it as "super unique and clever."[35]
Its appearance in the Detective Pikachu film received mixed reception. Patricia Hernandez of Polygon stated that Mr. Mime "stole the show" in the film Detective Pikachu,[36] while Austen Goslin of Polygon called Mr. Mime's appearance in the movie "terrifying."[12] In an interview with GameSpot, lead actor of the film Justice Smith revealed that the Mr. Mime interrogation scene was one of his favorites.[37] Joe Anderton of Digital Spy criticized Mr. Mime, calling it the worst Pokémon and "just plain creepy."[38]
^ abAllison, Anne (May 2006). Millennial Monsters: Japanese Toys and the Global Imagination. University of California Press. pp. 192–197. ISBN9780520938991.
^"Pokémon Ruby and Pokémon Sapphire Preview". Nintendo Power. Vol. 165. February 2003. p. 102.
^Hjorth, Larissa; David Surman (2009). "9"(PDF). Gaming Cultures and Place in Asia-Pacific. Taylor and Francis. ISBN978-0-415-99627-3. Archived from the original(PDF) on June 20, 2010. Retrieved June 6, 2009.
