Poor Magikarp. At best, tolerated as a necessary step in obtaining a Gyarados. At worst, the unwanted refuse of the Pokémon kingdom. While the leviathan that Magikarp eventually evolves to is alluring in its draconian power, getting one also means putting Magikarp, and yourself, through 20 levels of training. This is made worse by its meager move set, Splash and Tackle. One does minimal damage, while the former famously does nothing at all.
But contrary to popular belief, Magikarp is no underdog. While there are those that insist Magikarp is useful only on the path to Gyarados, on the contrary: Magikarp possesses a rare, enduring appeal that other Pokémon just don’t. The truth is, we’ve all underestimated the little fish. Pokémon isn’t just a bloodsport to the death (although when it comes to that, Magikarp definitely comes up short).
It is so much more.
In the many cities you visit as a trainer, it’s easy to see that Pokémon aren’t just tools for winning battles. They are friends. Kin. Siblings. Family. While some people aspire to become trainers, rigorously training their Pokémon to become the very best, others keep them as pets. Pokémon beauty pageants are also a frequent event. Throughout their journey, the player is reminded that these creatures should be treated with kindness. Central to this universe are compassion and respect, not cold, calculated violence.
Magikarp fits within this universe not as a fighting machine, but as a sarcastic nemesis to the tremendous power of Gyarados and other absurdly powerful Pokémon. This is precisely why it is so memorable. As part of the first generation of Pokémon, Magikarp was introduced as a joke character. His signature move, Splash, is the only Pokédex that has absolutely no effect. In fact it even puts the Magikarp in danger, leaving it vulnerable to predators like the Pidgeot.
Punctuating Magikarp’s mythic status as the ultimate obscene gesture to overpowered Pokémon are rumors of its secret abilities. The longest living Magikarp are said to be able to scale mountains with the height of their Splash attack, and some even say that Splash has a 0.001% chance of instantly killing its opponents. Another rumor has it that Magikarp with this specific Splash ability are only sold by the con-man in Pokémon Red and Blue, while yet another claims that Magikarp can eventually evolving into the legendary Pokémon, Mew, when it reaches level 100. These rumors have yet to be either proven or debunked but one thing’s for certain: Magikarp inspires legend.
This mythic quality would have been impossible to achieve without the joke status Magikarp earned as a wimpy precursor to Gyarados. Magikarp is popular precisely because it’s hilarious and endearing, like a class clown. But it was also brought to life by anecdotes of Asian carps leaping ten feet out of the water and smacking people in the face, by Japanese myths of carps transforming into dragons, by the very namesake Asian carps now classified as an invasive species due to their sheer numbers. Magikarp are ubiquitous in the Pokémon games as they are in real life.
