History Anime / PokemonTheFirstMovie

* SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome: Brock recognizes Nurse Joy in disguise ''immediately'' after meeting her in person. After all, he saw her picture only a few moments before, and is severely intrigued after what could have happened to her.

* AwardBaitSong: The [[UpToEleven whole soundtrack]] is filled with award-bait material, including [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bijxIO4GQko "It Was You"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mvqg4kEG7Y "Somewhere, Someday"]] by Music/{{NSYNC}}, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PjoFZH3PtI "We're a Miracle"]] by Music/ChristinaAguilera, [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HS89g2-rnM0 "Makin' My Way"]], [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5oGKWJKhGs "If Only Tears Can Bring You Back"]] and [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEC7tPPKAXQ "Brother, My Brother"]]; a total of '''six''' of these, when a movie usually has one or two at most. "Together with the Wind", the Japanese ending, also qualifies.

** The English dub translation completely changes the character of Mewtwo. Originally, Mewtwo was less outright evil, and more confused and lost than anything else. It was a tragic character; [[AlasPoorVillain audiences were supposed to feel sorry for the Pokémon]]. Mewtwo had no intentions of using the storm to destroy humanity, it was merely a method to filter out weaker trainers. The genetic Pokémon simply wanted to prove that as a clone, it was equal, if not stronger, than any original Pokémon. Given that the movie was targeted more towards kids in the West, Mewtwo's arc was meant to be a lot more simple to understand; hence the reason why its negative qualities are dialed UpToEleven before it undergoes a HeelFaceTurn.

* AbsenteeActor: Ash's Pidgeotto is nowhere to be seen in the main film and is the only member of Ash's team at the time to be absent from the fight. This was probably to avoid confusion with Corey's Pidgeot. It does appear a few times in the short film preceding the movie, though.

* RRatedOpening: The main anime is aimed at a younger audience, with the story revolving around Ash's [[ToBeAMaster quest to become a Pokémon Master.]] The movie, however, opens with the birth of Mewtwo, [[KillEmAll who blows up a laboratory filled with scientists]] after learning that it is a clone created by humans. Mewtwo is then greeted by [[KnightOfCerebus Giovanni]], who offers it a chance to find its purpose in the world. The next scene features Mewtwo under the service of Team Rocket, [[VileVillainSaccharineShow demonstrating the organization's darker themes that the main show rarely touches upon]]. After realizing that Giovanni is using it as a tool, Mewtwo proceeded to blow up the Rocket base and flee to its island, swearing to strike back at the humans.

* MoodWhiplash: Before the movie proper, viewers were treated with a happy little short about the heroes' Pokémon having a vacation in a park. Within a couple of minutes, the movie has skidded into an uncharacteristically dark and heart-wrenching account of [[spoiler:a scientist losing his wife and daughter and Mewtwo going nearly insane with rage and sorrow until its memories are forcibly wiped]].

* AdaptationOriginConnection: In both this movie and ''Manga/PokemonAdventures'', Team Rocket is responsible for Mewtwo's creation. In [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue the original games]], Mewtwo's creators are not part of Team Rocket. As a consequence, the idea that Team Rocket made Mewtwo has been a strong piece of {{Fanon}} ever since with regards to the games.

** The dub adds lines about "fighting is wrong" during the Pokémon battling to death scenes. The franchise is based on fighting.

* NeverTrustATrailer: The first Japanese trailer for the movie is quite infamous for this. It consisted almost entirely of {{Missing Trailer Scene}}s that never made it into the actual movie, the most well-known of which depicted what appeared to be a DistantFinale focusing on a grown-up Misty and a suspiciously familiar-looking child.

* RevivingCrying: At the end of the film, [[spoiler:Ash sacrifices himself to stop the fighting between Pokemon and their clones. Moved by his actions, they all begin to cry and their tears turn into light and turn Ash's (now stone) body into flesh and revives him.]]

* SceneryPorn: The end credits is this non-stop. We are shown breathtaking locations and scenery that Ash, Misty and Brock pass or stop by as they continue their journey. All of this is accompanied by AwesomeMusic.

Also known as ''Mewtwo Strikes Back'', [[Title1 the very first movie]] in the ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'' series of films.

* ThemeTuneExtended: The theme song for the first season of Anime/{{Pokemon}} receives a remix here, featuring the additional verses of the original theme.

A team of scientists create Mewtwo, a superior clone of legendary Pokémon Mew. Angry at having been created to serve and be used by humans, it decides it's [[IncrediblyLamePun Gotta]] [[GottaKillThemAll Kill Them All]].

* BrokenAesop: It's a {{downplayed|Trope}} case. The dub version's "Fighting Is Wrong" message sounds strange in a series that has ''glorified dog fighting'', but there's a fine distinction. In this movie, the clones and originals have a fight to the death while the rest of the series is supposed to be a friendly sport...albeit one that Pokémon are implied to sometimes die during.

->''"Who am I? Where am I? Who wanted me here? Who wished for me to be created? I curse everything I was born upon. That's why... not as an attack or a proclamation of war... against all of you responsible for my birth... I'll strike back!"''
-->-- '''Mewtwo''' (Japanese version)

* BigBad: Mewtwo, who starts off a TragicMonster, but becomes a villain thanks to Giovanni's influence ([[StuffBlowingUp not that Giovanni ends up benefitting from it]]). [[spoiler:It gets better after witnessing Ash's sacrifice and realizing that maybe not ''all'' humans are bastards.]]

* BigBad: Mewtwo, who starts off a TragicMonster, but becomes a villain thanks to Giovanni's influence ([[GoneHorriblyRight Not that Giovanni ends up]] [[StuffBlowingUp benefiting from this at all.]]) [[spoiler:It gets better after witnessing Ash's sacrifice and realizing that maybe not ''all'' humans are bastards.]]

* FreakOut[=/=]GoMadFromTheRevelation: When told in the beginning of the movie that it's nothing more than a science experiment and/or a tool for the humans who created it, Mewtwo doesn't take the news very well.

* FutureCopter: A particularly cool example transports Giovanni to New Island.
* GeorgeLucasAlteredVersion: The aforementioned re-animated version used internationally.
* GigglingVillain: Mewtwo in the Japanese version.
* GlowingEyesOfDoom: Mewtwo.
* GoneHorriblyRight: The page quote on the main page is Dr. Fugi's last words as Mewtwo destroys his lab.

* GoneHorriblyRight: The page quote is a scientist's last words as Mewtwo destroys his lab. It's even the page quote for this trope.

* BewareTheNiceOnes: Mew's generally pacifistic, but if you do manage to hurt it in an unprovoked attack, it will retaliate with extreme prejudice. Case in point, it launches an EnergyBall at Mewtwo so powerful that for the first time Mewtwo is caught completely flat-footed and takes it without any chance to deflecting it.
* BewareTheSillyOnes: Mew spends most of the movie being playful and adorable...then when Mewtwo picks a fight with it, it proceeds to blast him through a wall and is the only thing in the movie capable of actually fighting him on roughly even ground.

It's noteworthy that this ''Pokémon'' movie is one of the few that is alluded to in the actual series,[[note]]Aside from minor exceptions like the ''Anime/Pokemon2000'' reference in the Whirl Islands Lugia arc, Drew's hometown being the main setting of ''Anime/PokemonDestinyDeoxys'' and having its plot mentioned in a 2-part episode, Ash's Aura from ''Anime/PokemonLucarioAndTheMysteryOfMew'', which comes up a few times in ''DP'' and when Ash gets Riolu in ''Journeys'', or Dawn possessing the Cresselia Feather that she got in ''Anime/PokemonTheRiseOfDarkrai'' during the Darkrai arc[[/note]] having plot elements set up throughout the first season of the show. It was followed a couple years later with the OVA ''Anime/PokemonMewtwoReturns'' that continues the plotline and themes.

* FamousLastWords:
--> [[spoiler:'''Ambertwo:''']] ...Thank you for your tears. But Mewtwo, don't cry. You're going to live. And I'm sure that living is wonderful.

* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Mew has no real interest in stopping Mewtwo, and is more concerned with just playing around and having fun...unfortunately for Mewtwo, he can't pass up the chance to probe himself superior to his progenitor and picks a fight with the one Pokemon present that is a realistic threat to him.

-->--'''Mewtwo''' (Japanese version)

->''"Who am I? What is my true reason for being? I will find my own purpose and purge this planet of all who oppose me, human and Pokémon alike. The world will heed my warning. The reign of Mewtwo will soon begin!"''
-->--'''Mewtwo''', in the English dub

->''"We dreamed of creating the world's strongest Pokémon...[[GoneHorriblyRight and we succeeded.]]"''
-->-- '''Dr. Fuji's''' [[FamousLastWords last words]]

[[Title1 The very first movie]] in the ''{{Anime/Pokemon}}'' series of films. Because even at that point it certainly wasn't going to be the ''last'', so why mince words? [[note]](It is also called ''Mewtwo Strikes Back'' in-film, however.)[[/note]]

* PsychicPowers: Mewtwo displays extremely potent psychic abilities of all kinds. Its [[MindOverMatter telekinesis]] can [[WeatherManipulation whip up a huge storm]], repel all forms of attack, and carry dozens of Pokémon (some of which are quite heavy) at a time. It overpowers an Alakazam, which are known for their immense psychic power, in a psychic battle while at Giovanni's gym. It speaks to others {{telepath|y}}ically, and can [[MeatPuppet suppress people's minds to make them do its bidding and speak through them]]. It's also able to [[LaserGuidedAmnesia erase events from people's memories]] and [[TeleportersAndTransporters teleport them]] back to where they were before they arrived on the island. Mew also displays great psychic power in its limited screen time when it fights evenly with Mewtwo.

It's noteworthy that this ''Pokémon'' movie is one of the few that is alluded to in the actual series,[[note]]Aside from minor exceptions like the ''Anime/Pokemon2000'' reference in the Whirl Islands Lugia arc, Drew's hometown being the main setting of Movie 7 and having its plot mentioned in a 2-part episode, Ash's Aura from movie 8, which comes up a few times in ''DP'' and when Ash gets Riolu in ''Journeys'', or Dawn possessing the Cresselia Feather that she got in Movie 10 during the Darkrai arc[[/note]] having plot elements set up throughout the first season of the show. It was followed a couple years later with the OVA ''Anime/PokemonMewtwoReturns'' that continues the plotline and themes.

* RealityEnsues: Brock recognizes Nurse Joy in disguise ''immediately'' after meeting her in person. After all, he saw her picture only a few moments before, and is severely intrigued after what could have happened to her.