Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Paldean Wooper is the first Poison Ground Pokemon since Gen 1

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There’s more to this Wooper than we originally thought

Paldean Wooper - Pokemon Scarlet and Violet
(Image credit: Game Freak)

It turns out that the newly introduced Paldean Wooper from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is more special than we originally thought. 

Following yesterday’s Pokemon Presents livestream, the internet has been digesting all of the reveals we got about Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Surprisingly, there's been a lot of chatter around the new region specific Wooper, which seems to be more interesting than we all realised at first. 

The first detail that has since come out about Paldean Wooper is that this will be the first Poison/Ground type Pokemon since Gen 1. Other members of this classification include Nidoqueen and Nidoking - both of which were introduced in the first generation of Pokemon from the mid-90s. 

Additionally, despite its adorable - if not slightly empty headed - appearance, it turns out that Paldean Wooper is potentially more powerful than any of us expected. According to the official Pokemon Scarlet and Violet website , Paldean Wooper’s abilities are 'Poison Point' and 'Water Absorb'. If you know your Pokemon types well, you’ll already know that Poison/Ground types are weak to water attacks, but with 'Water Absorb', our little friend would be able to heal itself instead of taking double damage. This essentially eliminates a quarter of this Pokemon’s weaknesses.

Another thing that has been pointed out since we all met Paldean Wooper is that it could actually be based on a real-life amphibian. As pointed out by u/unlimi_Ted in the Pokemon subreddit, it’s possible that Wooper’s redesign was inspired by the real-life creature, the Iberian ribbed newt (aka the sharp-ribbed newt). The telltale signs that this newt is related to our Paldean Wooper go deeper than just its brown coloration though. 

the_reallife_inspiration_for_paldean_wooper_is from r/pokemon

According to the official website, Paldean Woopers "protect themselves by shooting powerful poisonous liquid from their gills." They also "cover their bodies with a poisonous film" to keep themselves from drying out when on land. Both of which sound a lot like the real-life counterpart. 

If you didn’t know, the real-life newt is known for attacking predators by pushing its own ribs through its skin and secreting a poisonous substance. It probably isn’t a coincidence that Paldean Wooper also sports a rib-like pattern on its belly and has head appendages that look like tiny bones. Not to mention, it's literally a Poison type Pokemon. 

In case you missed it, here's what else we learnt about the upcoming gen 9 game during yesterday's presentation. First of all, we found out that the official name of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet’s region is Paldea. We also now know more about Game Freak’s new take on Legendary Pokemon, as well as the fact that Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will ditch linear storytelling, 

We also now know about the new Terastallize mechanic coming to Scarlet and Violet and were introduced to a new Pokemon: a puppy made out of bread, appropriately named Fidough.  

Want to know even more about the upcoming Pokemon game? Take a look at our Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Pokedex list.

Hope Bellingham
Hope Bellingham
News Writer

After studying Film Studies and Creative Writing at university, I was lucky enough to land a job as an intern at Player Two PR where I helped to release a number of indie titles. I then got even luckier when I became a Trainee News Writer at GamesRadar+ before being promoted to a fully-fledged News Writer after a year and a half of training.  My expertise lies in Animal Crossing: New Horizons, cozy indies, and The Last of Us, but especially in the Kingdom Hearts series. I'm also known to write about the odd Korean drama for the Entertainment team every now and then.