Mudkip

Concept and characteristics

Mudkip, known as the Mud Fish Pokémon, are small blue Pokémon with a large fin on their head that allows them to sense movements within the air and water, acting as a radar. While in the water, they use the orange, spiky gills on their cheeks to breathe while using their large tail fin to propel themselves. They are extremely strong, despite their small bodies; they are able to lift or crush large boulders. When sleeping, they bury themselves within the soil at the edge of the water. Mudkip and members of its evolution family dwell in swamps or other wetlands, deep inside isolated islands, because of their dislike of fresh water lakes and ponds. According to The Illustrated Encyclopedia of North American Reptiles and Amphibians, Mudkip and its evolutions are based on salamanders, although IGN has said that it was "like the real-life creature known as the mudskipper, which inspired both the monster’s design and its name".

In video games

Mudkip first appeared in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire and its remake Pokémon Emerald. Mudkip is one of the three starting Pokémon that players may choose from including Treecko and Torchic. After gaining enough experience in battle, Mudkip evolves into Marshtomp, which will then evolve into Swampert. In Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, Mudkip, along with Treecko and Torchic, can be obtained from the character Steven Stone after obtaining all 16 badges and beating the final boss, Red.

Outside of the main Pokémon titles, they appear in Pokémon Pinball: Ruby & Sapphire, Pokémon Trozei!, the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon titles, the Pokémon Ranger titles, Pokémon Channel, and PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure. Mudkip appears in Super Smash Bros. Brawl as a trophy that can be obtained through special means.

In anime

In the Pokémon anime, Brock, a Pokémon breeder and former Gym leader, saves a Mudkip from being washed away in a stream when him and his companions come across a group of young Mudkips. Brock's Lotad and Mudkip then work together to defeat Team Rocket, at which point the Mudkip decides to join Brock's team. Mudkip's primary role is to assist Brock during water related situations, such as searching for objects in the ocean, such as an Illumise and a pearl belonging to a Spoink. Mudkip also guides the Pokémon when Brock, Ash and May aren't around. It evolves into Marshtomp during a training battle versus Ash's Grovyle. A separate Mudkip also appears when the group meet a trainer called Nicolai, a young trainer, who is training his first Pokémon, Mudkip, which later defeats May's Torchic in a battle. Nicolai connects with his Pokémon in battle by dressing up in a suit resembling his Pokémon, wearing both Mudkip and Zigzagoon outfits in the episode.

In manga

In the manga Pokémon Adventures during the arc based on Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire, Ruby, the male protagonist, obtains a Mudkip named Zuzu as his starter Pokémon from Professor Birch. Ruby becomes a Pokémon coordinator, a person who uses their Pokémon for contests rather than battles, and uses Zuzu in those contests. At the beginning Ruby was disappointed with it because it wasn't pretty enough like his other Pokémon, but then he decided that Tough Contests would be perfect for it. Zuzu was first used to battle against Sapphire, Ruby's rival in the manga. Zuzu evolved into a Marshtomp unexpectedly while Ruby was in Slateport City, and again into a Swampert, while training near Fortree City.

A Mudkip also made a minor appearance in Pocket Monsters Chamo-Chamo ★ Pretty ♪, a sequel to Magical Pokémon Journey.

Reception

Kotaku called Mudkip a recognized Pokémon. Mudkip has received many tribute videos on YouTube due to the popular internet meme, "so I herd u liek mudkipz." GameFAQs's sixth and seventh annual character battles featured Mudkip, with him losing in round one against Luigi in 2007, and against Mega Man X in 2008. GamesRadar listed 4chan memes as one of the pieces of "game-culture shit we're sick of constantly hearing about" and used the Mudkipz meme as an example. On April 1, 2008, DeviantArt played an April Fool's Day joke on its members, changing all their users avatars to images of Mudkip.

An IGN article opined that "Mudkip isn't anything very special" when considering its later forms and that "[t]he ecology of the Mudkip is similarly bland". GameZone editor "jkdmedia" commented on Mudkip's design, stating that he cannot even describe what it is beyond a "funny-looking water creature". GameSpot's Greg Kasavin wrote that Mudkip "fit[s] in well with the tried-and-true classics like Pikachu, Psyduck, and Koffing". IGN wrote that while Mudkip was unpopular, is the best starter in Ruby and Sapphire due to its advantage over the early gyms and its Ground/Water type combination. GameSpy's Michael Vreeland called Mudkip "bizarre" and "balanced". IGN's Pokémon Chick chose Mudkip as her starter, but was disappointed with how Swampert turned out and argued that other Water types were better. Comics Alliance's Chris Sims wrote that the starter Pokémon found in games after Red and Blue were inferior and cited Mudkip as an example.