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Jynx (Japanese: ルージュラ Rougela) is a dual-type Ice/Psychic Pokémon introduced in Generation I.

It evolves from Smoochum starting at level 30.

Biology

Jynx is a bipedal, humanoid Pokémon that resembles a woman. It has a purple face, pink lips, saucer-like eyes, and long blonde hair. It wears a red gown with two gold circlets on the chest. While the anime has shown it to possess feet, the games show only blackness under the dress and it lacks a footprint. Despite this, it is able to learn the kicking move Triple Axel. It has white arms and five-fingered purple hands. Jynx is a female-only species with no male counterpart.

Originally, its face was colored black. Pokémon Stadium's fainting animation had it disappear leaving only its hair behind, implying that what appears to be dark-colored skin is actually just darkness.

Jynx has a language that sounds similar to human speech and includes several cry patterns. However, this language has yet to be deciphered. It prefers to communicate by using dance-like movements. There are some musicians who compose songs for Jynx to sing. These rhythmic movements often cause people to dance along with it. The Jynx in Alola are said to have wonderful precise movements. In certain parts of Galar, it has been feared and worshiped while being called the "Queen of Ice". The Jynx in Galar are said to have beautiful and delicate voices and a fanbase dedicated to them. Jynx are able to extend their lips to kiss its opponent. Jynx often is found in urban areas.

Jynx is the only known Pokémon capable of learning the move Lovely Kiss by leveling up.

Evolution

Jynx evolves from Smoochum.

(For specifics on this Pokémon's evolution in the games, refer to Game data→Evolution data.)

Game data

Pokédex entries

Game locations

In side games

Held items

Pokémon caught in Generation I must be traded to a Generation II game in order for a held item to appear. In Pokémon Emerald, Jynx can only be found in the Battle Frontier.

Stats

Base stats

Pokéathlon stats

Type effectiveness

Learnset

Jynx is available in Sword and Shield Version 1.3.0+ and Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl.

By leveling up

By TM/TR

SwSh

BDSP

By breeding

SwSh

BDSP

By tutoring

By a prior evolution

By transfer from another generation

TCG-only moves

Side game data

Pokémon Ranger Group: Poké Assist: Field move: None Loops: 9 Min. exp.: 68 Max. exp.: 82 Browser entry R-168 Jynx swings its hips as if it's dancing while walking. Beware of its kiss attack!
Pokémon Rumble Rush Walking Speed: 1.42 seconds Base HP: 52 Base Attack: 78 Base Defense: 52 Base Speed: 60

Evolution data

Sprites

In the anime

Major appearances

Multiple Jynx debuted in Holiday Hi-Jynx, where they were workers at Santa Claus's workshop. One of Santa's Jynx got lost, requiring Ash and his friends to help her return to her owner.

In The Mandarin Island Miss Match, Prima used a Jynx to send Team Rocket blasting off. This is the final episode of the English dub to show Jynx's original design.

In the banned episode EP250, the Nurse Joy of the Ice Cave Pokémon Center was shown to own a Jynx, which works in a capacity similar to the Chansey of most other Centers. Brock almost kissed her during his sickly state.

In Mean With Envy and Pacifidlog Jam, Erica's Jynx competed in the Pacifidlog Town Pokémon Contest. This also marked the first anime appearance of Jynx's purple redesign.

In Three Jynx and a Baby!, a trio of Jynx sisters living in Cremini Town were overprotective towards their sister, a Smoochum. The Smoochum evolved into a fourth Jynx at the end of the episode. This also marks the last physical appearance of a Jynx in the anime to date.

Minor appearances

In Stage Fight!, a Jynx was part of a showboat stage show. She was briefly taken by Team Rocket.

A Jynx appeared in the Japanese credits of Pikachu's Rescue Adventure.

In Pokémon Double Trouble, a Jynx was running on a treadmill at the Kumquat Island Gym. However, this appearance was cut from the English dub.

In All Things Bright and Beautifly!, a Coordinator's Jynx competed in the Rustboro City Contest. However, this appearance was cut from the English dub. This also marks the final time Jynx's original design was used in the anime.

A Coordinator's Jynx appeared in Hi Ho Silver Wind!.

A Jynx appeared in the opening sequence of Lucario and the Mystery of Mew.

A Jynx made a brief cameo in the intro sequence of Kyurem VS. The Sword of Justice, along with every other Pokémon from the first five generations, excluding Genesect.

Pokédex entries

In the manga

Magical Pokémon Journey

A fortune-telling Jynx appears in Magical Pokémon Journey. Arbok goes to Jynx's fortune-telling hut to find out if he has a chance with his crush, Wigglytuff.

Pocket Monsters HGSS

A Jynx appeared in PMHGSS11.

Pokémon Adventures

Red, Green & Blue arc

Jynx debuted in The Jynx Jinx, under the ownership of Ken. She was used to attack Red and Green after they tricked Team Rocket and take Mew. When she attacked Mew, Red and Green tried to defend it, only to be defeated. Mew retaliated against Jynx and defeated her and Ken, while sparing Red and Green.

Yellow arc

Most notably, Lorelei's Jynx first appeared in Jigglypuff Jive. It is noted for having the ability to generate voodoo dolls out of ice using its Ice Beam. When Lorelei draws crosses on any part of the dolls using her lipstick, ice shackles form on the specified body parts of her targets, eventually freezing the victim over completely.

Gold, Silver & Crystal arc

Red and Sabrina had been suffering from a lasting numbness due to having been frozen by Lorelei's Jynx, so they sought a cure atop Mt. Silver by bathing in the hotsprings there.

In The Last Battle XIII, a Jynx participated in the fight in Ilex Forest.

A Jynx belonging to the Chairman of the Pokémon Association appeared in The Last Battle XIV.

FireRed & LeafGreen arc

It was revealed that Lorelei's Jynx can create a wispy band of ice around targets, which Lorelei can use to track them down using her powder case.

Sword & Shield arc

A Jynx appeared in PASS40, being one of many Pokémon to suddenly Dynamax.

Pokémon Gotta Catch 'Em All

Shu caught a Jynx, as seen in GDZ48.

A female Trainer's Jynx appeared in GDZ78.

Pokémon Pocket Monsters

A Jynx appeared in Fierce Competition at the Pokémon Baseball Tournament!, where it took part in a baseball match. She was seen with Red during the game.

Lorelei's Jynx appeared in To the Pokémon League!!,.

A Jynx appeared in Clefairy, a Doctor!?.

A Jynx appeared in Team Rocket's Downfall!!.

A Jynx appeared in Pikachu's Birthday Party.

A Jynx appeared in Protect Jynx!!.

A Jynx appeared in Clefairy, a Supernatural Being?!.

A Jynx appeared in The End of the Journey!!.

A Jynx appeared in Tyrogue's In Love?!.

A Jynx appeared in Clefairy's Grand Diet Plan.

In the TCG

Trivia

• As its Pokédex entries state that Jynx speaks an incomprehensible language, the player, as a Pokémon, cannot understand anything it says in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team.
• A Capsule Monsters concept sketch depicts an unused Pokémon design with the same Pokédex number as Jynx.
• Jynx's sprite in the Virtual Console re-release of Pokémon Yellow uses five colors instead of four. To achieve this effect, some of the 8×8 tiles composing the sprite use an altered palette, where black is replaced with purple, which is technically possible on a Game Boy Color game.
• The Pokémon Stadium games feature a kicking animation for Jynx, in which its feet appear out of nowhere, disconnected from its body, to perform moves such as Mega Kick. This is one of the rare instances where its feet can be seen in the games, considering Jynx's lack of footprints.
• Jynx is the only Pokémon to have Dry Skin as its Hidden Ability.

Controversy

Carole Boston Weatherford, a cultural critic, claimed that Jynx, which appeared in Holiday Hi-Jynx, was a negative stereotype of African-Americans in an article titled "Politically Incorrect Pokémon" on the magazine Black World Today. She chiefly compared Jynx to the racist characters in The Story of Little Black Sambo and further compared Jynx to Drag Queens and Mr. Popo of the Dragon Ball franchise, another character who is also potentially offensive in his design.

Weatherford's complaint caused many repercussions in the Pokémon franchise. The sprites of Jynx in the Western releases of Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal were edited, and EP250 was cut from international airings of the anime. A sequence depicting Jynx in its original design in All Things Bright and Beautifly! was also cut from the dub. Jynx's design was officially revised by Game Freak to be purple rather than black, including in Japan and South Korea; this change was reflected in later core series games (starting with Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire) and in the Pokémon anime starting in Mean With Envy. Mean With Envy also corrected the anime's depiction of Jynx's lower arm coloring from red to white, a change which better reflected their appearance in the main series games from the beginning. Jynx was recolored in the ending credits of PK01 and PK04 for the 2012 Japanese Blu-ray release. A recolored version of Holiday Hi-Jynx aired in Japan and is available on the Japanese Prime Video and Netflix. Since 2014, Holiday Hi-Jynx, Stage Fight!, and The Mandarin Island Miss Match, which all feature Jynx in its original design, have not been in circulation of the English dub.

Although the manga is colored in black-and-white, Jynx appearing in VIZ Media's reissues of Pokémon Adventures are recolored as a dark gray rather than a straight black, suggesting that they are purple instead of black. It is also recolored to purple on the back cover of the reissue of Volume 4. The Virtual Console versions of Pokémon Snap, Pokémon Trading Card Game, international Pokémon Yellow, and Japanese Pokémon Gold, Silver, and Crystal also recolor Jynx's face.

In recent years, some fans of Pokémon have noted that Jynx may be inspired by ganguro, a Japanese fashion where women tan heavily, bleach their hair, and apply large amounts of makeup, instead of a black stereotype. This theory is mainly based on Jynx's long, straight, blonde hair, a common attribute of ganguro fashion. However, this particular hypothesis at least has often been criticized due to the timeline of ganguro fashion not matching up with the development of Pokémon games.[1] Another theory is that Jynx is based on the Nordic goddess Hel, who was often depicted as having a face half white-half black and who ruled Niflheim, primarily depicted as a land of primordial ice and cold. Some fans say this is supported by Jynx sharing traits with the iconic opera singing "Fat Lady," who is typically portrayed in pop culture dressed as the valkyrie Brünnhilde. Another possible origin is Yama-uba, the mountain Crone.

Origin

Jynx may be based on a Nordic or Viking woman (possibly Hel, goddess of the underworld), or ganguro (face-black). The original Jynx's black skin and prominent lips bore a startling resemblance to the "darky" iconography now largely abandoned in media. Also, the fact that Jynx are depicted as Santa's helpers in the anime may reference the folklore character Zwarte Piet.

Jynx also has traits of a female opera singer, especially the iconic cartoon depiction of the fat lady; Pokémon Snap and its Generation III sprites depict it singing, especially the Pokémon Emerald sprite that animates it singing a high note. Specifically, it may be inspired by the Ride of the Valkyries, from the opera Die Walküre, the second of four operas by Richard Wagner based on Norse mythology. In this context, it is possible that the Valkyries, mythical warrior-maidens who gathered the souls of those slain in battle, are another inspiration for Jynx.

Jynx may also have origins in the Japanese snow spirits known as Yuki-onna, who lack feet, akin to Jynx's feet being covered by its dress. It may also be based on Yama-uba (also called Yamanba), a yōkai that is described as always wearing a tattered kimono, having whitish-blonde hair, and living on cold mountaintops. "Yamanba" is also slang for the extreme end of ganguro fashion, which involves bleached hair, artificial tanning, and heavy applying of brightly-colored lipstick.

Jynx's revised coloring may be based on purple discoloration of the skin, a common symptom of frostbite. This fits with Jynx's Ice type and how it is found in very cold places.

Name origin

Jynx may be a corruption of jinx, a curse or hex of bad luck.

Rougela may be derived from rouge, a type of makeup and also the French word for red, and also from the French verb geler (to freeze, to be freezing cold).

In other languages

More languages Hindi लिपिलिप Lipilip From lip Russian Джинкс Dzhinks Transcription of English name Thai รูจูลา Ruchula Transcription of Japanese name

References

Related articles

External links

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