ghost type pokemon

let's get right into this with haunter. from the pokemon stadium pokedex entry:

If you trip and fall for no apparent reason or hear a sound when no one is around, it may be a Haunter. 

and from the yellow entry:

By licking, it saps the victim's life. It causes shaking that won't stop until the victim's demise.

the entries from silver and the gen 3 games mention the licking as well. the gen 3 entries also come right out and call it dangerous. it's also mentioned that haunter hides in the dark, and that the feeling of being watched when alone in a room is a haunter staring at you. it's final form, gengar, is much more of the same. from the yellow pokedex:

A Gengar is close by if you feel a sudden chill. It may be trying to lay a curse on you.

other entries mention that it loves to pretend to be people's shadows and then scare them, and that it waits in dark corners, so tat it can steal life energy from a passerby. the diamond entry also mentions that it may cool the surrounding air by 10 degrees. gastly, the first form from this line, is much less mischievous, but is still pretty dangerous.

gen 2 only added one new ghost pokemon, misdreavus. this is pokemon loves to play tricks on people. from the silver pokedex:

It loves to bite and yank people's hair from behind without warning, just to see their shocked reactions.

and from the ruby/sapphire pokedex:

Misdreavus frightens people with a creepy, sobbing cry. The Pokémon apparently uses its red spheres to absorb the fearful feelings of foes and turn them into nutrition.

it's very easy to see how it got it's name.

in gen 3, we start to come across some of the darker ghost pokemon. shuppet, is one of these. from the ruby and sapphire pokedexes:

ruby: Shuppet is attracted by feelings of jealousy and vindictiveness. If someone develops strong feelings of vengeance, this Pokémon will appear in a swarm and line up beneath the eaves of that person's home.

sapphire: Shuppet grows by feeding on dark emotions, such as vengefulness and envy, in the hearts of people. It roams through cities in search of grudges that taint people.

already, they're moving away from the slightly more playful ghosts of the first two generations. it gets a bit darker with banette, it's evolved form. from the gen 3 pokedexes:

ruby: Banette generates energy for laying strong curses by sticking pins into its own body. This Pokémon was originally a pitiful plush doll that was thrown away.

sapphire: A cursed energy permeated the stuffing of a discarded and forgotten plush doll, giving it new life as Banette. The Pokémon's energy would escape if it were to ever open its mouth.

emerald: An abandoned plush doll became this Pokémon. They are said to live in garbage dumps and wander about in search of the children that threw them away.

it's creepy enough that it curses people by sticking pins in its body, but it holds a grudge against the kid that threw it away. could it lay curses on children?

dusclops is another gen 3 ghost. from the ruby pokedex:

Dusclops's body is completely hollow - there is nothing at all inside. It is said that its body is like a black hole. This Pokémon will absorb anything into its body, but nothing will ever come back out.

i think that's all that needs to be said.

one last ghost for gen 3. shendinja is one of the evlolved forms of nincada the other being ninjask. what makes this pokemon different (and quite peculiar) is that it nincada doesnt actually evolve into it. it appears when nicada evolves into ninjask if the player has a free spot in the team and extra pokeballs. from the gen 3 pokedexes:

ruby: Shedinja's hard body doesn't move - not even a twitch. In fact, its body appears to be merely a hollow shell. It is believed that this Pokémon will steal the spirit of anyone peering into its hollow body from its back.

sapphire: Shedinja is a peculiar Pokémon. It seems to appear unsought in a Poké Ball after a Nincada evolves. This bizarre Pokémon is entirely immobile - it doesn't even breathe.

emerald: A peculiar Pokémon that floats in air even though its wings remain completely still. The inside of its body is hollow and utterly dark.

 apparently, shedinja is the shell that a nincada shed when it evolved that turned sentient. literally the ghost of a pokemon, of sorts. it is unique in that way.

gen 4 brings a few new ghosts to the table. drifloon and drifblim are two interesting ones. from the gen 4 pokedexes for both:

pearl (drifloon): It tugs on the hands of children to steal them away. However, it gets pulled around instead.

platinum (drifloon): Because of the way it floats aimlessly, an old folktale calls it a "Signpost for Wandering Spirits."

platinum (drifblim): At dusk, swarms of them are carried aloft on winds. When noticed, they suddenly vanish. 

 in the almia region, these two pokemon can carry people over obstructions and to higher ground.

spiritomb is another interesting pokemon form this gen. from the gen 4 pokedexes:

diamond: A Pokémon that was formed by 108 spirits. It is bound to a fissure in an Odd Keystone.

pearl: It was bound to a fissure in an Odd Keystone as punishment for misdeeds 500 years ago.

platinum: Its constant mischief and misdeeds resulted in it being bound to an Odd Keystone by a mysterious spell.

this pokemon is found at the hallowed tower at route 209. it's interesting that even though the tower is in ruins (it looks more like a large pile of rocks) and the keystone displaced, the pokemon is still entombed.

gen 4 also has the final evolved forms of duskull and misdreavus, mismagius and dusknoir. from the pear entries for both:

mismagius: It chants incantations. While they usually torment targets, some chants bring happiness.

dusknoir: The antenna on its head captures radio waves from theworld of spirits that command it to take people there.

gen 4 also has froslass and rotom. giratina, one of the dragon trio of sinnoh, is also half ghost.

gen 5 brings, in my opinion, some of the creepiest ghost pokemon yet. i'll start with the litwick line. one thing all three pokemon have in common is that the flames on their bodies are use to steal the spirits of people, which is how they stay burning. while lampent takes spirits from those on the verge of death, chandelure will kill people and take their souls, leaving the body behind.

frilish and jellicent are two more disturbing pokemon. while frillish isn't so bad, though it uses a very troubling method to find food, jellicent causes more trouble. from the black pokedex:

The fate of the ships and crew that wander into Jellicent's habitat: all sunken, all lost, all vanished.

the white entry mentions that its favorite food is life energy.

two other ghosts are yamask and cofagrigus. from the gen 5 pokedex entries for both:

yamask-

black: Each of them carries a mask that used to be its face when it was human. Sometimes they look at it and cry.
white: These Pokémon arose from the spirits of people interred in graves in past ages. Each retains memories of its former life.

cofagrigus-

black: It has been said that they swallow those who get too close and turn them into mummies. They like to eat gold nuggets.
white: They pretend to be elaborate coffins to teach lessons to grave robbers. Their bodies are covered in pure gold.

i think it's worth mentioning that these are my least favorite ghost pokemon. these two are the only two that are the actual spirits of dead creatures

the last two gen 5 ghosts are golett and golurk. these are two pokemon supposedly left behind by advanced civilization and powered by an unknown power. they were made to protect the people who made them. it's interesting that these pokemon are ghost type, as most ancient pokemon are psychic type (excluding fossils)

that's all for ghost pokemon. i'm not sure what my next post will be about, but i hope you enjoyed it!