Are Dark-types supposed to be evil?

[Windfall]

Read up on their Pokedex stuff. Crawdaunt kicks other Pokemon out if its pond for no reason. Just stuff like that.

One of the Pokedex things says that Sneasel beats things until it is completely dead. Seems innocent enough.

 

[Mand"alor te Siit]

@Mand"alor te Siit; I believe there is only one Darkrai.

Even if the Darkrai in DP104 is the same one that's in DP183, I doubt it's the same as the one in M10.

 

[Mythicalzoe]

the japanese name is Evil type so yes they are suppose to kill heck they should try to kill you the games just to make that clear

 

[raychuu]

I'd say Dark Types are generally perceived as evil by people and other Pokémon. That is, some dark-types will be evil and mean while others have an innocent side to them - a big example of this is Absol, who means to help people by warning others of disasters and instead is deemed as their cause. Others are purely mischevious, and are more of a "get off my lawn!" evil. However, as @Avarus-Cantus; pointed out there are some dark-types who do heidous things and are evil beyond appearances.

All in all, I would say they are relatively evil.

 

[zakisrage]

I don't think Dark-types are evil. Absol is the biggest subversion - it tries to give people vital information about natural disasters. While Tyranitar may not care about humans, it is shown as a good mother towards Larvitar. Even ones that just look sinister have roles. Mandibuzz may be a shady Pokemon, but by eating dead things, she is probably just helping the environment. In real life, vultures are important in the ecosystems that they live in for that very reason.

You could probably say that many people in the Pokemon world believe in the whole "dark is evil" mentality. But all media has shown otherwise - with all non-cute Pokemon. One episode of the anime features Misty's Togepi encountering a Houndoom. As it turns out, Houndoom does not want to eat Togepi and is actually very nice to it. A girl in FireRed and LeafGreen talks about how much she loves her Koffing. And some really nice Trainers use very scary Pokemon (Bertha, a sweet little old lady, uses the rather frightening Rhyperior in Platinum). One Trainer in one of the movies uses a Hydreigon, and that Trainer isn't a villain as far as I know.

Real-world people have the same attitude towards animals that have seemingly cruel behaviour. Sure the feeding habits of vultures and hyenas might look repulsive, but we kind of need them to eat dead things. To cat-haters, cats may look cruel for eating mice, but they were bred for that purpose for thousands of years! And as ugly as spiders are, they eat a lot of pest insects. My maternal grandmother actually likes having spiders in her garden because they eat a lot of the bugs that attack the plants.

And the Dark-type Trainers aren't shown as particularly bad - at least the Elite Four members. Karen may be a bit cold towards you at first, but she turns out to be rather friendly after you beat her. Sidney helps the other Elite Four members stop Groudon and Kyogre in Pokemon Special. Grimsley does have a gambling problem, but in the manga he is shown to be quite helpful.

However, a lot of fanfics portray Grimsley as a jerk or a snob. This is often on the basis that he's a Dark-type, or possibly because he's from a rich family (fanfic writers love to do that to rich characters. Even Steven Stone gets this treatment because he's rich, and he's very sweet). Read the fanfic "Darkest Night", which is one of the biggest dehumanizations of any Pokemon character. In it, Grimsley is portrayed as a sadist who rapes female challengers and did it to Shauntal. It is almost as bad as those "OMG Edward/Jacob slash" fanfics.

 

[Midorikawa]

In Japan evil isn't necessarily taken the same way we do in our countries, assuming others are similar to us Americans in that perception. I'm going to use another anime as an example to make my point: In the anime Inazuma Eleven there are moves that the characters use, and one of the moves is called Majin (means Devil) the hand, and it's better than God Hand. Darkness isn't always equal to evil either. Are owls and bats evil because they prefer the dark? No they're innocent animals. Any pokemon can be bad or good. The type means nothing.

Also @Takaki; There is by no way a single Darkrai in the anime. There's the one from the movie that doesn't leave the movie's town, the one that he meets in and episode with Cresselia, and then there's Takuto/Tobias' Darkrai that he uses in the league. There's also most likely more than one in games too, just not met in the same games timeline

 

[TwistedSpoon]

A dark side to Pokemon wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing. Without darkness, nobody would recognize the light. The contrast has to be there in order for the world to be balanced. I think that's why they created the Dark-type. This doesn't mean that all Dark-types are evil though. I think 'evil' Pokemon can be found regardless of species and type. It's more of an individual thing, if it even exists.

 

[SimH5]

Well any pokemon can be good. Good characters have Dark pokemon like Harrison's Houndoom

 

[Dragonfyre]

I really don't think so. Don't prejudge the poor Dark-types. You're so Typist.

/kidding.

Seriously, I don't think so. The Dark type seems more associated with mischief than actual evil.

 

[SirOni]

Many Dark-type Pokemon are mischievous, tricky, aggressive, scary, and selfish. Others are Dark-types because the inspirations for these Pokemon are associated with wicked things or have bad reputations, such as Absol. They may be more susceptible to evil if it benefits them.

 

[99unownoak]

I always thought that Dark-types invoked fear in others and hence why they are good against Psychics; because they're too frightened to mentally concentrate. Although I'm not sure if that makes them "evil" or not.

 

[Drakon]

I don't see them as evil. They draw their power from the night and the moon (hence the appellation "Dark type").

Yeah they're scary but they could be heroic or evil.

 

[Green Zubat]

Yes, they are. That's why their name is literally "evil type" in Japanese. I think Darkrai best embodies this, because although it is seen as evil for his power to give people horrible nightmare comas, it's a power it can't really control (at least, in game), which is really the most fundamental aspect of evil--misunderstanding.

 

[Gengarzilla]

Nope, they can't be evil on their own. Remember that everyting is usually up to the trainer.

 

[Green Zubat]

Nope, they can't be evil on their own. Remember that everyting is usually up to the trainer.

According to the anime.

 

[KrystalDragon13]

Nah, I don't think so. They're ment to be a bit spine chilling though (I think). Not evil though.

 

[Pyradox]

Some of them definitely are, but not all. "Dark" isn't exactly "evil", more like "shadowy". Misunderstood, I suppose.

 

[Windfall]

@Gengarzilla; Dark types can't be evil on their own? I call BS.

Some Pokedex examples of why Dark types ARE evil.

Hydreigon: "The heads on their arms do not have brains. They use all three heads to consume and destroy everything."

Sneasel: "It is extremely vicious and will not stop attacking until its foe is incapable of moving."

Darkrai: "Folklore has it that on moonless nights, this Pokémon will make people see horrific nightmares."

Even if Darkrai only uses Nightmares to protect itself, that's still something many people would consider "evil" if it happened to them.

 

[Rixen]

But they're just considered evil by their victim, it may just be their behavior

/Dark type trainer will defend her favorite type

 

[GliscorMan]

I still maintain my stance that Dark types aren't evil, simply misunderstood. Maybe Crawdaunt just wants its privacy? Or Sneasel beats things up because that way there's no chance of them attacking back (a real-world trait, I believe)? Darkrai and Umbreon use nightmares/fear to keep people and other Pokemon away. It's a simple self-defense tactic. And Hydreigon was intended to be a cyborg tank that went insane and began to rampage all over the place. That's insanity, not evil intentions. Mightyena travel in packs, making them like hyenas. Hyenas just have a crazy laugh, nothing more. Shiftry just makes things fall asleep, to keep them from getting to their young. Not evil, simply misunderstood.