Mewtwo

**Mewtwo** (ミュウツー, Mewtwo) is a creature from the Pokémon series. It debuted in the series' first generation, and is present as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. 4, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. Mewtwo is a Psychic-type Pokémon that debuted in Generation I, and is categorized within the Pokédex at #150 as the "Genetic Pokémon". Unlike the overwhelming majority of Pokémon, Mewtwo was artificially created: a team of scientists performed genetic recombination on a sample of DNA derived from the Mythical Pokémon Mew in order to create the most powerful Pokémon in existence. Its creation is documented in a researcher's journals scattered across an abandoned mansion on Cinnabar Island. However, this process resulted in Mewtwo's appearance and mentality drastically differing from Mew's. Despite being a feline with embryonic features like Mew, it has a large, humanoid physique with a gray and purple coloration, instead of the pink, petite appearance of its genetic relative. Mewtwo also lacks Mew's capability to learn every Technical Machine, Hidden Machine, and Move Tutor move, but its modified genome results in its base statistic total noticeably exceeding Mew's. Although Mewtwo is reclusive like Mew, this is the only personality trait they share: due to being created solely for battle, Mewtwo has a tendency to be vicious and, upon encountering an opponent, fights savagely while thinking only of defeating them. In comparison, Mew has a gentle temperament and willingness to reveal itself to the pure of heart. After violently escaping captivity, Mewtwo decided to seclude itself from civilization; most notably, it has been seen residing in the deepest depths of Kanto's Cerulean Cave, a small cave within Kalos' Pokémon Village, and a craggy, barren alternate dimension that is accessible via Ultra Space. Due to being an immensely powerful genetic relative of a Mythical Pokémon, Mewtwo has the status of a Legendary Pokémon in spite of its man-made origin. In-game, Mewtwo was designed to be the final Pokémon of Generation I, and has traits that highlight its status as such: not only is it difficult to find and capture, it belongs to the notoriously powerful Psychic type and sports the highest base stat total in the entire game, with especially high Special and Speed stats. Due to being arguably the strongest Pokémon in existence at the time, as well as its leading role in the franchise's first movie, Mewtwo quickly garnered a good degree of fame and popularity among the Pokémon fanbase. Since then, Mewtwo's power has diminished due to various mechanical changes, although owing to its Legendary Pokémon status, it still remains significantly stronger than most common Pokémon. After receiving Psystrike as a signature move in Generation V, Mewtwo's prominence underwent a resurgence in Generation VI, with it being among the initial handful of Pokémon to gain access to Mega Evolution. Unlike most Pokémon who can Mega Evolve, it has two Mega Evolutions, a trait shared with Charizard. In Mewtwo's case, it will Mega Evolve into the larger and bulkier Mega Mewtwo X while holding Mewtwonite X, which also changes it into a Psychic/Fighting-type. Conversely, it will Mega Evolve into the smaller and lighter Mega Mewtwo Y while holding Mewtwonite Y. In the Pokémon anime and movies, Mewtwo is depicted as having been cloned from an eyelash of Mew and created at Team Rocket's behest. Given a more sympathetic backstory than in the games, Mewtwo befriends a group of clones as a child, but the cloning process results in their premature deaths—with the exception of Mewtwo itself, due to having Mew's eternal life force. The trauma of losing its friends, coupled with being dismissed as a science experiment by its creators, causes Mewtwo to develop hatred towards humans and Pokémon subservient to humans. Thus, Mewtwo sets out to prove itself superior to natural lifeforms by creating an army of cloned Pokémon created from the genetic source material of various Pokémon trainers' Pokémon. However, Mewtwo has a change of heart after witnessing Ash Ketchum sacrifice himself to stop a battle between its clone army and their originals; Mewtwo subsequently realizes that life is defined by one's actions instead of their origins. To this end, it begins to protect its fellow clones after whisking them away to Johto's Mount Quena, a mountain that is virtually inaccessible by humans. After stopping Team Rocket's attempt at recapturing it and subsequently erasing their memories of its existence, Mewtwo decides to travel the world in order to avoid detection and find a purpose in its life, whereas its fellow clones decide to live peacefully among natural Pokémon in the wild. This Mewtwo reappears in a episode of Pokémon Journeys. Despite the species' one-of-a-kind nature originally, other Mewtwo have appeared in the core series and across the various Pokémon continuities ever since. Two other Mewtwo have fully-voiced appearances: one in the sixteenth movie that is capable of undergoing Mega Evolution, and one in both the Detective Pikachu spin-off game and the live-action movie of the same name. The gender of Mewtwo is unknown, although this is not depicted consistently in other media. In the anime, the telepathically-generated voice for the first Mewtwo is male (which is reflected in the Super Smash Bros. series), whereas the second Mewtwo featured in the sixteenth movie has a feminine voice. In comparison, the Detective Pikachu film's Mewtwo possesses an artificial, androgynous voice, but is referred to with male pronouns nonetheless.