Mewtwo

File:MewtwoArtwork.png

Mewtwo has been one of the most powerful and influential Pokémon species since the franchise began.

Mewtwo (Japanese:ミュウツー, Myūtsū) is one of the 493 fictional species of Pokémon creatures hailing from the phenomenally popular and expansive Pokémon media empire. It was introduced as the "final Pokémon" in the very first games in the franchise, hence hailing from Pokémon's First Generation, and was introduced alongside Pikachu and Jigglypuff. Mewtwo enjoys a good degree of fame and popularity in the Pokémon fan community for being far more of a humanlike character than most of the other species, and it was included in Super Smash Bros. Melee as a playable character.

See Mewtwo (SSBM) for fighter info.

Character description

The very first Pokémon games were the Red and Green versions of the main RPGs, released in Japan in 1996 for the original Game Boy, and it was these games and the original 151 species of Pokémon introduced herein that propelled the Pokémon franchise into an absolutely immense cultural phenomenon. Among the 151 Pokémon introduced in this First Generation period were the likes of Pikachu and Jigglypuff, and the final two Pokémon in the games were Mewtwo as Pokémon #150 and Mew as #151. Mewtwo was made to be far away the most powerful Pokémon of all during the First Generation, enough that its presence in the RPGs made the games unbalanced, giving it infamy until the playing field in the RPGs of subsequent generations were made far better balanced and Mewtwo was made less overpowered. Even today in the Fourth Generation of RPGs Pokémon Diamond & Pearl, however, Mewtwo remains one of the most powerful of all Pokémon species in battle.

The Pokémon franchise features several separate continuities within its various media, which are primarily the full series of Pokémon handheld RPGs and spin-off games, the Pokémon anime continuity consisting of a long-running anime with one movie adventure per season, and the various Pokémon manga series which primarily includes the Pokémon Adventures manga. In each of these continuities, Mewtwo is portrayed quite differently. In the first generation of RPGs, Mewtwo is a genetically twisted "super-clone" of the rare and powerful Mew, created by scientists looking to make the most powerful of all Pokémon, but they failed to endow Mewtwo with a caring heart. Mewtwo hides away in a cave near Misty's hometown of Cerulean, and the player's trainer protagonist may enter the cave and try to capture the very powerful being for himself. In the Pokémon Adventures manga, which is a different and rather darker take on the Pokémon franchise, Mewtwo was created much the same way, but it is infused with the DNA of both Mew and his scientist creator, a "Gym Leader" trainer named Blaine who works for the criminal Team Rocket organization in the manga series. At first a rogue, Mewtwo is later caught by Blaine, and it is later released.

Perhaps what most contributes to Mewtwo's popularity in the Pokémon community is its rather large and dramatic role in the anime continuity. Mewtwo in this appearance is physically structured different from its normal game appearance, with a larger body-to-head ratio, and it possesses an inhuman amount of psychic power, able to levitate itself with enough proficiency to simulate flight, remotely levitate and hurl about others with mere hand motions, employ powerful psychokinetic attacks, and use telepathy to communicate with people and Pokémon with full knowledge of human language; it can telepathically speak coherently like a human, with the simulated voice of an adult human male. This, coupled with a disposition that allows for the virtues and failings of a human being, makes Mewtwo seem a far more humanlike character than any typical specie of Pokémon; therefore, many people refer to Mewtwo as "he" rather than "it" like what is normal with most other Pokémon species.

Mewtwo, in his starring role in the first Pokémon feature film, Pokémon the First Movie: Mewtwo Strikes Back, is portrayed as a Frankenstein-inspired laboratory experiment gone awry, destroying the laboratory of his creators in a rage over the idea that he is merely a lab specimen and a shadow of Mew, and he is portrayed in an outright villainous light as he plots and plans revenge against the humans on a global scale. When Mew appears, Mewtwo engages in an epic duel with it to prove that Pokémon clones can be superior, but when main anime trainer Ash Ketchum appears to selflessly sacrifice himself by throwing himself in the psychic crossfire, Mewtwo has a change of heart and sees that humans are indeed capable of virtue. Mewtwo uses its psychic powers to cleanse from everyone's mind all their immediate memories of him and departs for a natural place to live in peace. Mewtwo's anime saga continues in the OVA sequel released in 2002, Pokémon: Mewtwo Returns, where he must contend with his vengeful creators at Team Rocket looking to recapture him and use him to take over the world, but Ash Ketchum once again appears and goes out of his way to help the super-clone. Mewtwo is deeply moved and personally thanks Ash, and he departs once again to live a night life amongst the rooftops of a "faraway city". Since then Mewtwo's holographic likeness has appeared in Pokémon's tenth anniversary special, The Mastermind of Mirage Pokémon.

It is likely that this impressive track record among Pokémon species is what influenced HAL laboratory to include Mewtwo as a new playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee along with mascots Pikachu and Jigglypuff, and this fighting game was developed and released while the Pokémon franchise was in its second generation in 2001. Mewtwo is physically modeled off his appearance in the Pokémon RPGs, rather than his larger-sized appearance in the anime continuity, and in the game's Japanese display in all versions Mewtwo is given spoken Japanese-language deep-voice samples as his victory taunts (compare with Marth and Roy). Unfortunately, Mewtwo's design as a fighter makes him one of the least able fighters in Melee, ironic considering his immense power and battling prowess in the normal Pokémon games. In spite of that, Mewtwo remains forever popular and famous in the Pokémon fan community, and many hope he will make an upgraded return appearance in Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

In Super Smash Bros. Melee

As a playable character

Main article: Mewtwo (SSBM)

File:Mewtwo.jpg

Mewtwo makes his Smash-series debut as an unlockable character in Melee; it is interesting to note that he could have appeared in the previous game in some form but didn't. He is much more difficult to unlock than most other secret characters in Melee, however; he can be battled to be unlocked after either playing 20 man-hours worth of Vs. Mode matches (meaning if four players at a time always play, it will take five hours), or playing 700 Vs. mode matches. Many believe the second method, though taking long to complete, is easier than the first by a fair margin.

Mewtwo uses his trademark psychic powers as his special B moves: his B move is Shadow Ball, a chargeable sphere of Ghost-element energy that can be unleashed anytime as a powerful projectile, similar to Samus' Charge Shot, but Shadow Ball follows a much more jagged path in the direction it is shot out, and characters in the vicinity of Mewtwo's charging Shadow Ball can be damaged; his Smash B is Confusion, a minor Psychic-type trick that spins and trips up an opponent; his Up & B is Teleport, which is a non-attacking Psychic-type third jump that is long and safe; and his Down & B move is Disable, a Normal-type move which affects an opponent in front of him and leaves the opponent in the dazed state that normally occurs when a shield is broken. Shadow Ball aside, these moves bear little resemblance to their appearances in Pokémon RPGs.

Mewtwo, at the highest meta-game, holds the dubious honor of being the worst fighter in Melee, holding bottom place in the current Tier list. This is attributable to his being a big-yet-light target, his lack of solid approach with his slow moves, poor sidestep dodge, slow dash, and ineffective forward throw, and his down-smash is the only down smash in the game that can hit only on one side. Mewtwo has a large collection of interesting tricks, granted: His other throws can combo and kill, his projectile is usefully powerful, he features a superbly long and safe recovery that allows him to edge-guard by jumping off the stage after the opponent and being able to recover afterward, he has a long wavedash, his airdodge turns him invisible so opponents can't tell which direction he's going in, he can moonwalk, and his DAir is a meteor smash. But this cannot compare with the power and efficiency of a character like Marth, so a Marth vs. Mewtwo match will almost always result in victory for Marth.

In the Pokémon RPGs, every Pokémon species has an extremely rare alternatively-colored version, and such individuals are called Shiny Pokémon. Shiny Mewtwo's coloration is green instead of purplish pink, and this is one of Mewtwo's alternate costumes in the game.

In Single-player

Mewtwo does not appear specifically in the game's single-player Adventure mode. He is only featured in two of the Event Matches:

• Event 40: All-Star Match 4: Mewtwo is the fourth of five opponents you must fight in this series of staged battles. Your character battles him on the Final Destination stage, and your character has 2 stock while Mewtwo has 1. With a timer of four minutes, you must defeat him and the other five characters one-by-one with the overall time and life you have: Marth, Luigi, and Jigglypuff beforehand, and Mr. Game and Watch afterwards.
• Event 44: Mewtwo Strikes!: In this unique match, your character is pit against Zelda in an untimed match on the Battlefield stage, where each character has one stock, but she must be kept alive. Fifteen seconds into the match, the real opponent, Mewtwo, will appear and join Zelda, and you must KO Mewtwo without KO'ing Zelda.

Trophies

Mewtwo, like all other playable characters, features in his three personal trophies:

• Mewtwo: This is one of Mewtwo's main game trophies, which is acquired when you beat the Classic mode with Mewtwo in any difficulty. Description: "A genetically created Pokémon, Mewtwo is the result of many long years of research by a solitary scientist. Although Mewtwo was cloned from the genes of the legendary Pokémon Mew, its size and character are far different than its ancestor. Its battle abilities have been radically heightened, making it ruthless." (Pokémon Red & Blue, 9/98)

• Mewtwo (Smash Red): This is one of Mewtwo's main game trophies, which is acquired when you beat the Adventure mode with Mewtwo in any difficulty. Description: "As Mewtwo relies mostly on its powerful brain, there are times when it scarcely uses its arms and legs. Since Mewtwo spends much of its time floating, it flies far when struck. Shadow Ball traces a jagged path once released; the longer Mewtwo holds it, the more powerful it becomes. Mewtwo uses Confusion to spin its foes around." (B: Shadow Ball, Smash B: Confusion)

• Mewtwo (Smash Blue): This is one of Mewtwo's main game trophies, which is acquired when you beat the All-Star mode with Mewtwo in any difficulty. Description: "Mewtwo is definitely not a speedy character, but its ESP-powered grab and throw moves are comparatively strong. Teleport has a short range, but doesn't leave it open to attack. It's best used as an escape move during disturbances. Mewtwo can daze a foe if it makes eye contact and uses Disable; the move is useless unless Mewtwo is facing its enemy." (Up & B: Teleport, Down & B: Disable)

In Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Currently, it is unknown whether Mewtwo will make a return appearance in the upcoming sequel, but if he does, better fighting abilities are definitely expected by the fan community.