History Sandbox / BeerBaron2

[[quoteright:500:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/starletsniper_9.jpg]]

Reorganizing to match some of the series other sub-pages (DiscOneNuke, CrutchCharacter, etc.). No entries were outright deleted, just reorganized. Cleaned up some wording, expanded some examples with additional context, removed some conflicting statements (we don't need to give detailed reasons why a specific example isn't "that bad", if they count, they count) and cleaned up some formatting/indentation.

-> '''''Report''': ...I'd like to make an aside and say this: Mount Moon has made me hate Zubat with no end. Zubat Zubat Zubat. Endless swarms of damnnable Zubat. I was breathing Zubat with every breath. I couldn't move my arm without hitting a dozen Zubat into about a hundred other Zubat, causing them to all get pissed off and start divebombing me... (it goes on and it continues about 3/4 down this page)''
-->-- '''LetsPlay/{{Chorocojo}}''', ''Let's Play VideoGame/PokemonFireRed''

Examples of GoddamnedBats in the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' franchise.

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[[foldercontrol]]

[[folder:Zubat - The Trope Codifier]]
* Zubat, and their evolution Golbat, were part of the original 151 Pokémon introduced in the [[VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue first generation]], serve as the TropeCodifier for GoddamnedBats, and recur throughout the series. There are multiple factors as to just why they are so annoying to gamers:
** '''Sheer Numbers, Distribution, and Encounter Frequency'''. RandomEncounters are a staple of the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' series. There are generally a decent variety of Pokémon in each area, which tend to differ from those in other areas, keeping encounters fresh. The major exception are [[UndergroundLevel caves]], which are ''full'' of Zubat. Unlike outdoor areas, where you can typically avoid random encounters by staying away from the tall grass, ''every single'' tile within a cave can generate a random encounter, and most of the time, it will be a Zubat. Caves with puzzles (darkness, rock-smashing, [[BlockPuzzle rock-pushing]], etc.) add to the frustration, as you'll be traversing the same areas repeatedly, encountering Zubat every stept of the way. Every third step you take, the [[FightWoosh screen flashes]] and you find yourself fighting ''yet another'' Zubat, to the point where you can easily feel {{Zerg Rush}}ed by them. They also tend to be popular picks among the local "Evil Team", whose trainers sometimes have 2-3 Zubat at a time, meaning you'll be seeing them even more while clearing out those teams' hideouts.
** '''Typing'''. A dual Poison/Flying-type, Zubat resist the Grass-type, one of the standard StarterMons typing, while being neutral to the other two. A good Electric-type (strong against Flying-types) can fry them easily enough, but as they almost always spawn in caves which also include plentiful Ground-types (immune to Electric-types), leading with an Electric-type is risky. Good Psychic-types (strong against Poison-types) can also trounce them, but these are more rare, especially in the early part of the game. Thus, it's rare to find a single Pokémon who can deal with Zubat and not have a disadvantage to the other Pokémon who spawn along with Zubat.
** '''Stats and Moveset'''. Zubat are inherently {{Fragile Speedster}}s, meaning they often attack first at lower levels and are difficult to run away from (the Speed difference between your Pokémon and the opponent being a determining factor in escape success). Zubat learn "Supersonic" early on to [[StatusEffects confuse your Pokémon]], causing it to attack itself about half the time. Later in the game, they learn "Confuse Ray," which is like Supersonic but ''100% accurate'', and gain the power to prevent you from running away entirely, or even switching Pokémon, with the move "Mean Look". Beyond their {{Status Infliction Attack}}s, they come knowing Leech Life, a LifeDrain that while weak, can still be frustrating in the early stages of the game when you lack the power to knock them out quickly. Later, they tend to learn Bite, which can cause Flinching.
** '''Golbat'''. Zubat's evolution can be even worse, crossing into DemonicSpider territory. They're just as fast, can hit even harder thanks to their increased stats, know the same moves, and learn some even more frustrating moves, including the Poison-inducing Poison Fang and Flinch-causing Air Slash. The only upside to Golbat in comparison to Zubat is that, as an evolved Pokémon, they give out more experience upon defeat.

* Zubat in specific generations:
** Kanto games (and remakes):
*** Zubat, along with their evolved form Golbat, appear in every cave in the game (you pass through no fewer than ''four'' different caves to complete the game). They're not particularly powerful on their own, but their encounter rate is annoyingly high, they're fast (which makes fleeing from them difficult), and they will gleefully confuse your Pokémon with Supersonic at lower levels and the more-accurate Confuse Ray at higher ones. Come the remakes, they're given the Ghost-type move "Astonish" at low levels, and the Dark-type move Bite at higher levels, meaning Psychics aren't as foolproof against them now, and both moves have a chance to cause flinching. Further, because they tend to share their cave habitats with part Ground-types like the Geodude line, leading with an Electric-type is also risky.
*** ''VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndLetsGoEevee'' switch to PreexistingEncounters, but Zubat and Golbat manage remain Goddamned Bats anyway. Zubat are relatively fast on the overworld and fly eratically, meaning they can suddenly veer into your path and disrupt combos. Golbat also have an issue with HitboxDissonance, having large sprites to begin with and even larger hitboxes, meaning you can trigger encounters with them despite visible space between you and them. Finally, both of them tend to move around during catch attempts, making them more frustrating to actually try to capture.
** In [[VideoGame/PokemonSunandMoon Alola]], Zubat and Golbat are again found in nearly every cave. Because most of the Pokémon in Alola are fairly slow compared to other regions, running from them is harder, a problem compounded by the new SOS battles, which cause them to call for help and summon another copy of themselves. This is further exacerbated by both Leech Life, one of Zubat's evolutionary family's signature moves, having its power increased from 20 to ''80,'' as well as the Alolan Diglett and Dugtrio (part Steel-types) that appear in most of the same places, causing use of the Electric-types to be risky. It's to the point where, if you don't think that you can knock out a Zubat or a Golbat in one hit, just ''RUN''.
** Just when you thought that "Dexit" cut them for good in ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', the Zubat line returns in the ''Crown Tundra'' ExpansionPack. Here, at least, they appear in PreexistingEncounters rather than random ones, so they're much more avoidable.
** While Zubat itself isn't too bad in ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'', Golbat can be frustrating to deal with. They're common to find in the Wayward Woods of the Coronet Highlands, are aggressive, and fly around quickly, so they can distract you while you're trying to sneak up on a more valuable wild Pokémon. In battle, they're fast enough to outspeed slower Pokémon, and while they don't have Zubat's usual annoying trick of Supersonic, they instead pack Air Slash to deal surprisingly high damage to less specially bulky Pokémon, so even Rock-types like Graveler aren't a surefire answer to them.
** They're worse in ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'', where their constant Supersonic attacks confuse you and mess your controls around.
** ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' eliminates needing to battle anything (there is battling, but all of it is optional), so how bad can Zubat be? Just as awful as any of its previous appearances. For one, when encountered, it's far from the player, making it difficult to aim at properly, particularly with curved throws (which give a bonus to catch rate when they connect), so it's naturally tricky to hit at all, let alone in the target circle to get a bonus to experience/catch rate. Plus, they fly a bit erratically even when not performing their dodge/attack animation, so it's even harder to connect with a throw. Finally, their dodge animation involves them zipping around the screen randomly, making it nigh impossible to connect with a throw if they start it (and woe betide the player if they start spamming their dodge). It's rather telling that, despite having much lower base catch rates, players rather would attempt to catch Golbat and Crobat (its evolutions) because the latter two are much easier to target with throws due to eliminating pretty much all of the things that make Zubat so frustrating. There are other Pokemon in the games with similar behavior (like Yanma), but Zubat is still the game's gold standard for frustrating catches.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Other Recurring Examples]]
* The early game Bug-types are usually weak LevelGrinding fodder, possessing poor stats and movesets. However, those which can poison your Pokémon qualify due to how irritating that status is early in the games. Weedle (Gen I) and Wurmple (Gen III) are classics, spamming Poison Sting and eventually poisoning you, forcing you to waste an Antidote and rush back to the Pokémon Center. These are also favorite Pokémon of the early game "Bug Catcher" trainers, removing the possibility of simply fleeing from those you encounter.
* Geodude and its evolution, Graveler (often found in the same caves, at that), vary between this trope and DemonicSpiders depending on their levels. While they have [[MightyGlacier high physical Attack and Defense]], they aren't too difficult to take down quickly, with poor Special Defense and an easy to take advantage of 4x weakness to the common Grass and Water-types, they have a frustrating tendency to use the insanely powerful [[TakingYouWithMe "suicide" moves]] "Self-Destruct" and "Explosion" before you manage to land the final blow on them. This usually screws you out of experience points and a usable Pokémon (especially if you're using the "faint = death" rule of a Nuzlocke SelfImposedChallenge). They're also quite fond of the move Defense Curl, which increases their already-high Defense stat and powers up Rollout (a STAB snowballing move). Further, they frequently possess the "Sturdy" ability, which ensures they can't be knocked out in one hit, and they'll often use that opportunity to use one of their suicide moves. In ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'', they're found in every map and frequently attack the player while they're mining Tumblestones for Poké Balls. Additionally, they exhibit "aggressive" behavior in the overworld, meaning their species attacks humans on sight which hinders exploration.
* Koffing[[note]]Whose original Japanese name is "Dogas", possibly partially derived from the onomatopoeia for explosions and the word for "poison gas".[[/note]] and its evolution, Weezing, are defensive {{Stone Wall}}s who, like the Geodude line, are fond of spamming "suicide" attacks while being difficult to defeat quickly. In addition, they are Poison-types with numerous moves that can also poison your Pokémon. They're not so difficult to take down and aren't as widespread as some other examples in the series, but it's frustrating to risk a heap of damage and/or getting poisoned in every encounter with them.
* Voltorb and its evolution, Electrode, are also frequent "suicide" attackers with extremely high speed (which makes fleeing difficult and makes them more likely to attack first) and, as Electric-types, are fond of using Paralysis-causing attacks to add to the frustration. Even in the series' {{Random Encounter|s}} days, they typically appear as {{Chest Monster}}s disguised as Pokéballs, meaning instead of a useful item, you get a frustrating battle.
* Diglett and its evolution, Dugtrio, are hard-hitting physical sweepers with high Speed and Attack. In Gen I, their speed allows them to achieve an insane CriticalHit rate of 20%+, with ''regular moves''. Throw in the "higher critical rate" Slash and they land a critical hit ''almost 100%'' of the time, putting them closer to DemonicSpiders. The Gen III Kanto remakes thankfully reduce their critical hit rates, but add in another frustrating factor - they can now have the ability "Arena Trap", which prevents non-Flying-types from running away. Throw in Sand Attack (reducing your accuracy) and Dig (which makes them all-but invulnerable during the turn it is used), and you've got a recipe for pain. In Alola, players will find Alolan Diglett and Dugtrio; while easier to run away from due to not having Arena Trap and being slower than their regular forms, they're still a nuisance. Their Tangling Hair ability reduces the speed of any Pokémon that makes contact when attacking, and resist several types of attacks thanks to having the Steel-type. While not quite as fast as the regular form, they're still faster than most of the Pokémon available in the game, and appear in most caves. They also get to start an SOS battle and call for help, which forces the player to fight two of them at once. Alolan Dugtrio also appear in the desert in Alola, where a Sandstorm rages at night and activates their Sand Veil, to make them even more annoying, while also giving them a chance to summon a powerful Gabite to attack the player instead.
* Most games have an inevitable "power station" level, which tend to be home to swarms of Magnemite and/or their evolution, Magneton. They would merely be annoying annoying if you lead with a Ground-type, which is immune to their Electric-type attacks and can deal 4x damage to them as dual Electric/Steel-types (starting in Gen II), but they usually have the ability "Levitate", making them ''immune'' to Ground-type attacks instead. They have good defenses, supplemented by their Steel-typing resisting common Normal-type moves, and they also have a FixedDamageAttack (Sonic Boom) that will whittle away at nearly anything, a Confusion-inducing move (Supersonic), ''and'' a Paralysis-inducing move (Thunder Wave, with it as a secondary effect of other moves they know).
* Most games have a "haunted area", in which you can expect to see Gastly and/or their evolution, Haunter. This line comes with the irritating combination of Confuse Ray and Hypnosis, the latter of which [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard always seems to hit you despite its poor accuracy]]. They're also pretty damn fast, so expect to be locked in a loop of hitting yourself and sleeping before you can land a hit on them or escape. Haunter is even worse, as it hits shockingly hard for a middle-stage Pokémon and has even greater speed. If you can get around these annoyances, they are offset by their [[FragileSpeedster poor defenses]], so if you do manage to get a hit off of them, chances are they'll go down rather easily.
* Watery areas staring in Gen III are often home to Wingull, pesky and speedy fliers who can learn Supersonic, just like Zubat. Particularly in their introductory generation, you'll spend a lot of time on the water, meaning you'll be swatting these away nonstop. Thankfully, they have a double weakness to Electric-type attacks and, unlike Zubat, don't share their environment with Electric-immune Ground-types, so they're easier to counter. Their evolution, Pelipper, isn't much better, as it has the healing move Roost to restore whatever damage you're able to do to it. In later games, such as Ancient Poni Path from ''Sun and Moon'', wild Pelipper up their game to also spamming Protect (wasting your PP) and often Stockpile. Stockpile is usually paired with Spit Up (for damage) or Swallow (for healing), but wild Pelipper will often just have Stockpile by itself in order to waste your time.
* While Trapinch (introduced in Gen III) only appears in about one area for every game it's in, it ''will'' appear every third step you take in that area, and most will have the ability Arena Trap, which prevents your Pokémon from running away. Most likely they will also know Sand Attack, decreasing your accuracy. This is even worse in ''Emerald'', as you have to climb Mirage Tower, which is full of the things.
* Bronzor, introdcued in Gen IV, is another bane for players wherever it appears. As a Steel/Psychic type whose only weaknesses are Fire and Ground, each of its potential abilities cancels out one of the two weaknesses, meaning that each time you fight one, [[LuckBasedMission you have no idea which it's weak to]]. They also come with the move Hypnosis [[StatusEffects which can put your Pokémon to sleep]] and have [[StoneWall some of the greatest defense stats in the game]]. And there's only two Fire-type Pokémon (not counting their evolutions) in ''Diamond/Pearl'' [[ExtendedGameplay pre-National Dex]], giving you fewer options to deal with them. Thankfully, they're extremely slow, which makes escaping easier, and they lose their Ghost and Dark-type resistances from Gev VI onward, removing some of the frustration. In ''Legends: Arceus'', not only do they attack the player on sight as "aggressive", but their cries draw attention from nearby Pokémon, meaning players must be wary lest they be swarmed.
* '''Any''' Pokémon with the ability Cute Charm (of which there are mercifully only 12...), which has a 30% chance to make an opposite-sex Pokémon that hits it with a physical attack "infatuated". Conveniently enough, the Pokémon that can have it (with the exception of Milotic) also have skewed gender ratios in favor of females.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Generation I Examples]]
!! ''VideoGame/PokemonRedAndBlue'' and ''Yellow'':
* Tentacool and Tentacruel are the Zubat/Golbat of the sea, attacking every couple of steps on water routes. They have the confusion-causing Supersonic, the poison-inducing Poison Sting, and, worst of all, ''Wrap'', which the target from attacking or running away. Their weaknesses are easy enough to take advantage of and they aren't too difficult to run from, but dammit if they aren't annoying for how frequently they appear.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Generation II Examples]]
!! ''VideoGame/PokemonGoldAndSilver'' and ''Crystal'':
* Due to the game's poor leveling curve, wild Pokémon between the fifth and the eighth gym are largely the same level, while trainers (and especially gym leaders) will have Pokémon 10-20 levels higher, turning ''all'' wild Pokémon into annoyances as they provide so little experience while disrupting your travel.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Generation III Examples]]
!! ''VideoGame/PokemonRubyAndSapphire'':
* Volbeat and Illumise. While they're not that strong, they specialize in annoying the hell out of you by spamming Confuse Ray and Double Team. Just when you think you can hit them, you miss, and if your confusion expired last turn, you get a faceful of Confuse Ray again. And again. ''AND AGAIN.'' This is even worse if there's a Double Battle involving BOTH of them as the enemy, and if there's one, don't expect to get out of there shortly.
* Oddish are very common in R/S/E's Safari Zone ''despite'' the fact that they can be encountered in five different routes and are not rare at all. Even worse, Route 120 is right next to the Safari Zone and said route already has a lot of them (Oddish in general learn annoying powder moves that either poison you, paralyze you, or put you to sleep). Why do you have to encounter them in the Safari Zone again, a place where you can catch Pokémon you shouldn't be able to encounter outside of the zone (or at least not as often)?!
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Generation IV Examples]]
!! ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' and ''Platinum'':
* Fearow in the later areas of ''Diamond and Pearl'' is another pain in the rear, because more often than not, you can't get away from them even when you hit the run button and they love to spam the hell out of [[HealThyself Roost]].
* Staravia can be this if the Pokémon you're trying to level can't OHKO it. If it gets down into the red, it'll use Endeavor and bring you down to the same amount of HP as it. The only thing that keeps it out of DemonicSpider territory is its pathetic defenses to begin with, so thankfully this won't happen too often. A further issue is that Staravia get the ability Intimidate, which lowers your physical Attack, causing you to do less physical damage to them.
* Wild Floatzel are already quite fast and have a moderately high Attack, but then it uses Agility, which raises Speed two levels, and Aqua Jet, where it always attacks first. It wouldn't be so bad if your chances of running away weren't partially determined by the Speed of the opponent... And before you throw out a Grass-Type, bear in mind that there's a chance it knows Ice Fang.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Generation V Examples]]
!! ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'', ''VideoGame/PokemonBlack2AndWhite2'':
* The first set of games in this generation introduces an entirely new set of Pokémon and doesn't have any from previous generations until the post-game. This CastOfExpies includes ''numerous'' {{Suspiciously Similar Substitute}}s of previous gen Pokémon, including several prominent Goddamn Bats. To note:
** Woobat and Swoobat are the new Zubat and Golbat, being annoying FragileSpeedster fliers who swarm you in caves. They're Psychic/Flying-types instead of Zubat's Poison/Flying, but can still hit you hard with a STAB Confusion that they learn at level ''five'' and, yes, like their predecessor, can leave your Pokémon confused. Their evolution, Swoobat, thankfully doesn't appear in the wild in the first set of games, but trainers who use them are quick to abuse the Attract/Calm Mind/Air Slash combo to lock up your Pokémon, boost their stats, and then hit hard.
** Roggenrola and Boldore, commonly found in caves, are expies of the Geodude line. A Rock-type with good attack and defense, accuracy-reducing attacks, Self-Destruct, Explosion, and the ability Sturdy. However, Sturdy has been buffed into giving the Pokémon a LastChanceHitPoint if it was hit with lethal damage when its health was full. Yes, means you need ''at least'' two turns to defeat one unless you have some form of multi-hitting move or the ability Mold Breaker, and if you're unlucky, it blows up in your face on that first turn. Keep in mind, they are ''pure'' Rock-types, unlike the Geodude line's Rock/Ground, meaning they don't have an easily exploitable double weakness to Grass and Water. Further, in the Challenger's Cave, accessible after the Elite Four, you can find Boldore ''and'' Graveler ''together''. Both have Sturdy, and Graveler still has its insane tendency to explode at the tiniest provocation. Enjoy your stay.
** Frillish and Jellicent, found in pretty much every water route, are the new Tentacool and Tentacruel, swapping the latter's secondary Poison-type with ''Ghost''-type, meaning you can't hit them with common Normal-type moves. They're also somewhat bulky, with high Special Defense, and learn [[HealThyself Recover]] at level 17, which make defeating them quickly more challenging.
* Patrat are a royal pain early in Unova because they learn Detect at level 11, which allows them to negate any attack; most Pokémon that learn either it or the functionally identical Protect don't get the move until the twenties at the earliest. While the majority of wild Patrat are too weak to know Detect, the sheer number of them used by Trainers (including Team Plasma) ensures you'll be dealing with rats that refuse to take damage for a while while wasting your PP. Its evolution, Watchog, can learn Hypnosis, Confuse Ray, AND Super Fang (slashes your Pokémon's HP down to half). Have fun.
* Liepard. Not only is it (like Watchog) found once the wild Pokémon hit level 20, it's all over the place. They're very fast, and learn a lot of annoying moves like Fake Out (instant flinch, but only if used in first turn), Torment (keeps you from using the same move twice in a row, which can be bad if your move options are limited which is common early in the game), and Night Slash (increased CriticalHit chance on top of being a 70-base power STAB move). Until you've got a faster mon or some Bug or Fighting-type attacks, these cats will irritate you to no end.
* Looking for Pokémon in Unova's lakes, rivers, oceans, etc.? Hope you like [[PiranhaProblem Basculin]]! Trying to get rare/strong Pokémon from the special fishing/surfing spots in the same areas? Hope you like a slightly different Basculin. Oh, and were you planning to simply run away from said Basculin, especially if your lead Pokémon has anything but top-shelf Speed? Hope you like being trapped while that Basculin pounds the crap out of you -- the stupid little fish are ''fast'' and have surprisingly good Attack and pack a number of strong moves, like Aqua Tail and Double-Edge. And don't forget [[TakingYouWithMe Final Gambit]], if you happen to run into one above Level 51.
* Durant. There's a 40% chance of seeing them in all floors of Victory Road, and you will be seeing a lot of them. The little jerks pack a punch with their 112 base Attack, and have a nice 109 base Speed to strike first with. They have some strong moves in Iron Head and Crunch when you find them, and they hurt. Woe to those who don't bring [[KillItWithFire its one weakness]], because the little bugger has ''nine'' resistances, and an immunity to Poison. The only saving grace is their low Special Defense and HP, making them more ''annoying'' than anything worse.
* Emolga. It's lightning-quick (no pun intended), naturally learns ''Double Team'' which raises evasiveness, and thanks to it's secondary Flying-type, is immune to the Electric-types top weakness, Ground-types. Thankfully, they only appear in shaking grass, but can be a real nuisance when you're trying to farm shaking grass for [[MetalSlime Audino]] for LevelGrinding.
* Zebstrika has high Speed and Attack status, meaning it's likely to go first and hit hard. Second, it just '''loves''' to spam the move "Spark" in the wild, which has a chance of paralyzing your Pokémon. And, just to make matters worse, it also loves to spam "Flame Charge", a move that's not only super-effective against Grass-Types (which normally have a resistance against Electric-Type Pokémon), but it also ''increases'' Zebstrika's already high Speed stats '''every''' time it's used.
* Minccino. While they can be defeated pretty easily, they can be rather annoying to battle. One reason is that one of the Abilities that they have increases the number of times a multi-hit attack strikes the opponent (So moves like Double-Slap and Tail-Slap are more likely to hit 4-5 times in a row instead of just 2-3). Not only that, but it can learn the move "Attract" (or some of them simply have the Ability "Cute Charm"), which causes its opponent to be Infatuated. What would otherwise be an easy battle is rendered '''annoyingly cheap''' thanks to your Pokémon being slapped silly while it's unable to fight back due to being ''in love'' with its opponent. Then they start learning Encore (forces your Pokémon to keep using the same move) and [[StatusEffects Sing]]...
* Mienfoo are somewhat fast and difficult to run away from, and have quite high attack stats for being unevolved. Plus, they have very strong attacks like Jump Kick and Drain Punch, the latter of which ''[[LifeDrain heals them]]''. They can also know U-Turn, which is strong against any Psychic-types you'd want to use against them. To make them even more troublesome, they have such poor experience yields that fighting them in the wild isn't worth it.
* Tranquill as of ''Black 2'' and ''White 2'' falls under this. Not only are they relatively common mid-game, but they are also annoyingly hard to fight due to their high speed. And, to make matters worse, they have a nasty habit of spamming moves like Roost (which restores a good portion of their HP), Quick Attack (which allows them to hit first every time), and Detect (which causes your Pokémon to instantly miss whatever attack you selected that turn). This makes battling them (even with using Pokémon that have a type-advantage against it) an utter annoyance.
* The ''entirety'' of Chargestone Cave in ''Black 2'' and ''White 2''. The encounter rate there is the definition of ridiculous. It won't be long before you'll hate seeing the Pokémon that swarm here, and in BW the place is swarmed with Team Plasma grunts the first time you enter. [=B2W2=] doesn't, but it trades them for a few Ace Trainers with powerful Pokémon who fight you in Triple or Rotation Battles instead. To quote Marriland: "My best advice for going through the Chargestone Cave in any generation is to just use the stinking Repels!". Please, heed this advice.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Generation VI Examples]]
!! ''VideoGame/PokemonXAndY'':
* Generation VI has some old and new faces for annoyance. Horde Encounters will take the troublesome encounters to new levels of annoyance, and the infamous Zubat, Geodude, and Graveler can appear in such formations, as can a few others. It is not only deceptively dangerous, especially after being repeatedly debuffed and chipped away at by a bunch of lower-leveled Pokémon, but can be very time-consuming without area-of-effect attacks that can hit the whole formation.
* Spinda occur in hordes later in the game, where they like to spam Hypnosis or Teeter Dance to cause sleep and confusion, respectively. Since you're fighting up to five at at time, failing to take them all out in one HerdHittingAttack means any remaining ''will'' spam these moves against you.
* Weepinbell deserves special mention for having a moveset seemingly tailor-made to cause aggravation: Stun Spore, Sleep Powder, Poison Powder, and Acid. This means that it has ''three'' StatusEffects to throw around -- enough to cover just about anything you throw at it -- and if you send in a Grass-type to soak up the powder moves, you get hit with a super-effective Acid attack instead. Unless you take out the entire horde in one shot, expect a long, hard fight.
* Route 12 also has Miltank, with great defenses and a really annoying movepool, and Tauros, with its annoying tendency to spam Rest, making it surprisingly hard to knock out. In fact, it's nearly impossible to level grind before facing Korrina, as all nearby locations have more than their fair share of Goddamn Bats[=/=]DemonicSpiders.
* Like the Gen V games, Woobat are all over the Coastal portion's caves. They like to swoop down at you if you cross easy-to-overlook shadows on the floor and ''Repels have no effect on this''.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Generation VII Examples]]
!! ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', ''VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon''
* ''Sun and Moon'' presents Trumbeak. Any common Pokémon with both Supersonic and Roost cannot be good for your sanity. To make things worse, these games also introduce the ability for wild Pokémon to call for backup... which may very well include Trumbeak on the routes where they are found. Which in turn leads to situations where a Pokémon you're trying to catch calls in a Trumbeak which then takes forever to take down because your Pokémon is hurting itself half the time, and any damage dealt during the other half is promptly healed off.
* Crabrawler is quite annoying if you're collecting berries, as they often interrupt you, and must be defeated in order to collect the berries. The fact that they're the only Pokémon to be triggered like this adds the annoyance. Granted, this is also the only way to encounter Crabrawler, but once you've caught one there's no reason you'd ever want to see one again unless you're Shiny hunting.
* The ''Ultra'' versions turn Sharpedo into this when you're doing the Mantine Surf. While the Tentacool and Wailmer sit still and can be avoided, Sharpedo will chase you even if you pass them by. And if you're trying to get to and from Poni Island, you have to deal with them attacking in groups of ''three''.
* Wailord is another annoying encounter in Mantine Surf, for two reasons. One, they're really freaking huge, making them hard to avoid when the waves are low. Two, unlike every other obstacle which simply slows you down, hitting a Wailord instantly sends you into the drink, costing you a lot of speed and therefore points.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Generation VIII Examples]]
!! ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'':
* In ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', like in the ''[[VideoGame/PokemonLetsGoPikachuAndEevee Let's Go]]'' games, this game has [[PreexistingEncounters mons walking around out in the open]]. Unlike in ''Let's Go'', many of them will actively pursue you, and some of them run incredibly fast, making them hard to escape unless you have a bike boost primed. Sneasel are particularly annoying — small, stealthy, lightning-fast, and aggressive, and their high Speed stat makes them hard to run from once they force you into battle. In non-snowy areas, Tyrogue becomes the biggest pest, with Croagunk not too far behind. Then during thunderstorm conditions there's Electrike as well in addition to the above mentioned Tyrogue, if you're in the Rolling Fields. Slow-moving ones can also be a problem if they're tiny and well-camouflaged, making them almost invisible in tall grass and effectively RandomEncounters. Many large Pokémon are also incredibly frustrating because their size makes it difficult to avoid them, especially in narrow passageways; this becomes especially apparent in the Crown Tundra.
* Galarian Zigzagoon and Linoone deserve special mention. Most Pokémon, before spotting you, move at a nearly glacial pace, with them only picking up speed when they spot you. However, Zigzagoon and Linoone go against that, and move as fast as Pokémon that've spotted you ''without spotting you''. If that wasn't bad enough, they move in extremely unpredictable patterns, making dodging them when you're in a patch of grass with them difficult. What makes this worse is that Zigzagoon's encountered in the overworld as early as ''Route 2''. Thankfully, their final evolution, Obstagoon, while fast, only goes at that speed when chasing you, and they have a giant delay when they spot you, so even in the Lake Of Outrage, the only place that they spawn naturally, they're not a problem.
* Skwovet and Greedent that get shaken out of any Berry tree in Galar if you get greedy and try to harvest too much loot from the tree [[note]]When the tree starts shaking quickly and you shake it two more times, this causes these mons to appear to guard their hoard[[/note]], and being forced to fight these things is not only a chore in its own right due to their bulkiness but also causes you to lose a bunch of Berries, making Berry harvesting way more tedious than it should be. Greedent becomes even worse in the post-game Wild Area since they come at level 60 with Super Fang and Counter, and they're more than durable enough to survive a turn and take a huge chunk out of your Pokémon's health with either of those moves. And in case you thought you were smart to send out a Ghost-Type, it knows Bullet Seed.
* The Isle of Armor update gives us Sharpedo. They appear in every major body of water on the Isle, and they ''immediately'' spawn and start the chase once the player sets foot in it. While they're easy enough to spot, their speed means that, unless the player manages to boost the speed of their Rotom Bike or get to land fast enough, they're always going to catch up and attack. What's worse is that they sometimes come at you in pairs, or in rare occasions, ''packs!'' [[note]]There ''is'' a trick to avoiding these guys, however; if you boost on the Rotom Bike and circle around the Sharpedo right as it's about to catch up, it gets confused and goes forwards, leaving you alone, much like a [[Franchise/SuperMarioBros Bull's-Eye Bill.]][[/note]]

!! ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus''
* ''Paras'', [[LowTierLetdown of all Pokémon]]. They spawn virtually everywhere, at any time of day, during the first third of the game. They are hard to spot, especially in tall grass, and they have a deceptively wide line of sight. Every probability exists they '''will''' see you first, and inflict you with poison or paralysis. Not your Pokémon. ''You''. Meaning if you have just escaped a close shave with an alpha, or barely survived a fall, Paras can easily scuttle in and chip you to death. Heaven help your satchel.
* Carnivine. Similarly to Paras, they love to inflict status conditions on the player character, and also spawn in large clusters. While they are larger than Paras and Parasect and are therefore easier to spot, they otherwise share many of the same problems.
* While Starly and Staraptor avoid humans by running away or sticking to the skies, Staravia are actively hostile and attack the player on sight in many areas of the game. Thankfully they're diurnal so they're gone by nightfall, which would be a relief if not for the fact that they're ''immediately'' replaced by Drifloon and Drifblim who are just as bad, if not worse since they attack the player in the ocean as well.
* Stunky and Skuntank, especially in the Crimson Bog area. Prepare to be constantly poisoned the entire time you’re there.
* Croagunk and Toxicroak are even worse. They're absurdly common, have a high aggro range, and are fast runners. Toxicroak also now gets Earth Power, an insanely dangerous move that'll send any Steel-types you may have sent out in a feeble attempt to fight it packing. They're at their worst in the Holm of Trials, where they practically infest the place and ''will'' interrupt your attempts at catching the powerful Alpha Torterra.
* Drifloon and Drifblim. Contrary to how absurdly rare they were in the modern-era Sinnoh games, Hisui is completely littered with these ghostly balloons at night, spawning in three of the game's five areas. Like many species, they are immediately hostile when they spot the player, and possess a few long-range attacks to hit any players that are trying to keep their distance.
* Murkrow. Like Drifloon, they only spawn at night and have a long-range attack. However, they can see the player from much farther away than other Pokemon, making it difficult to get by them without being seen, and they possess a unique behavior that will make them call for help, rallying any nearby Murkrow or Honchkrow to come help them harass you. They are very common nighttime spawns in the Crimson Mirelands and Cobalt Coastlands, making exploration of these areas a hassle once the sun goes down.
* Shinx and its evolutions, Luxio and Luxray. They're very common and quite aggressive (in fact, Shinx is the example of an aggressive Pokémon in the tutorial to contrast with the cautious Starly and the passive Bidoof), but what makes them particularly annoying is that they always seem to be around in areas with rare and cowardly catches, such as the west end of the Obsidian Fieldlands, where the cautious Abra and Mr. Mime families propagate, and they aggro very easily, making a StealthBasedMission twice as difficult.
* Gligar can be extremely annoying when trying to walk around the Coronet Highlands especially if you're trying to scale the mountains on Sneasler. They can spot you from miles away, they are often found in ''very'' large groups, and they can spam attacks from a long distance away. Not to mention they often follow the trainer around for a very long time and this doesn't help as they're mainly found around the mountains where there is not too much room to run around to avoid their attacks without risking falling off the mountain.
* Riolu, the pre-evolution of BreakoutCharacter Lucario, during mass outbreaks. Generally, Riolu aren't found in large clusters, but mass outbreaks show how annoying they can get in groups. This is because of how easily they're alerted to you, combined with the potency of their attacks; even when hiding in the grass near them, using Stealth Spray, baiting them with food and using Smoke Bombs, they will often notice you as soon as you catch or defeat one of their brethren ([[GameplayAndStoryIntegration likely due to their aura abilities]]) and start pelting you with near-unavoidable and extremely damaging ''homing'' Aura Spheres. ''Then'', if you pick one off to fight it, the other Riolu will run away and you have to scour the area of the map you're in to find where the others went off to, all while they all continuously aggro you one after the other. Have fun shiny hunting!
* The good news is that wild Dartrix and Hisuian Decidueye can't be found until the post game, and even then they're exclusive to mass outbreaks and space-time distortions. The bad news is that they're insanely aggressive, and ''will'' aggro you if you so much as breathe the wrong way. Even if you use Stealth Spray and Smoke Bombs, be prepared to get sliced and diced by flocks of these irritable owls. They're at their worst in mass outbreaks, due to their tendency to spawn on the slopes of the Coronet Highlands, essentially making Smoke Bombs useless thanks to the uneven terrain.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Generation IX Examples]]
!! ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'':
* Extremely small Pokémon such as Flittle, Capsakid, or worse, Floette[[note]]who is an evolved Pokémon unlike the previous two[[/note]] are difficult to see on the map and can be encountered by accident. Foongus can even disguise themselves as Poké Balls too!
* Tauros can be found in massive herds early-game, and are extremely annoying due to their aggressiveness and high (for that point in the game) stats. Worse still, their high Speed stats make it hard to run away from them, and they're much faster than even your mount in the overworld.
* Varoom are small, aggressive, and very fast in the overworld, meaning that if you stray into their line of sight they will run you down at breakneck speed. They also pack a bunch of resistances to early attacking types, so they can take a couple of hits to bring down if you don't have one of their two weaknesses handy.
* Veluza (commonly found in Casseroya Lake and other late-game water areas) are '''extremely annoying''' in the overworld. Once they acknowledge you, they will swim at a breakneck speed to encounter you, and it's possible to have one ambush you out of nowhere just because of this. This can be annoying if you're trying to focus on other Pokémon for auto battles, especially for shiny hunting. [[GameplayAndStorySegregation Ironically enough, their speed isn't even their highest stat]] (in fact, it's their second lowest). Fortunately, they're a JackOfAllStats Pokémon with slightly higher attack and as long as you have something that counters Psychic and/or Water types (most notably Meowscarada, for those that picked Sprigatito as their starter), they're not hard to take down at all.
* Despite having been welcomed by the fandom for their design and endearing backstories, Greavard and Houndstone can be problematic for players not interested in encounters while standing in one place, especially when exiting the pause screen or a Tera Raid menu, as they spawn from underground almost anywhere and have the aggressive overworld personality of chasing the player down and initiating a battle upon contact. It also doesn't help that Greavard's candle flame, while still buried, can be mistaken for a sparkling hidden item, triggering a sudden battle instead of expecting to make a quick pick-up.
* Lokix of any level tend to have priority moves in their arsenal, ranging from the weak Feint to the rather powerful Sucker Punch and First Impression, the latter two of which Lokix gain STAB on. Farming Lokix for their Attack EV can become tedious as they will whittle down your Pokémon's health, forcing you to heal in between farming.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Spin-Off Games]]
* Trubbish in ''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity'', purely because they know Poison Gas. Poison Gas has high accuracy and poisons your target. This is bad because it also disables [[RegeneratingHealth passive healing]], and sapping 4 health every few steps. Unless you can find the stairs, you'll have to risk running into an enemy with lowered health, get by with only healing at low health, or use a precious Heal Seed to save yourself. Trubbish also have a good deal of health, and know Stockpile, which gives a boost to both of their Defense stats.
* Ghost-Type Pokémon in general fall under this in ''Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Explorers Of Time/Darkness/Sky''. It's not their attacks that are annoying. No, it's rather the fact that they can travel ''anywhere''. This means, most of the time, they'll pretty much spam their attacks on you (and your partner) while they're floating in a wall, making them ''impossible'' to hit.
* Shedinja deserves special mention. Unless you have an item to throw at it, or a team member with a super-effective move, it is notoriously annoying to defeat in battle. Made arguably worse in '' Rescue Team DX'' since other enemies will attack and KO Shedinja to gain the Empowered status. Have fun with the newly mega evolved opponent.
* The Finneon and Shellos lines in the games are the bane of Water-type players everywhere. To put it bluntly, these relatively common dungeon enemies have the ability "Storm Drain". Use a Water-type attack, and they'll absorb it and increase their Special Attack. Did we mention this happens ''every'' time you use a Water-type attack, even if you're not directly fighting them? That's right, a dungeon floor just needs '''one''' Finneon/Lumineon and/or Shellos/Gastrodon to be in the area and it will screw you out of using your Water-Type moves. Now keep in mind that a floor can have ''several'' of these Pokémon at once.
* Nidoqueen. While not as common as other foes, she has the [[SarcasmMode lovely habit]] of spamming the move "Earth Power". Not only does this cause '''a lot''' of damage to you (and your partner), she can also do it while she's out of your sight or in an area where you can't fight her back. By the time you even get ''close'' to her, she will have already made you waste tons of Reviver Seeds just from the sheer amount of times she uses Earth Power against you. And that's not even getting into times when there are multiple Nidoqueen.
* Lampent, because they just ''love'' to hit you with [[ThatOneAttack Memento]], which gives a ''huge'' offensive debuff to '''everyone in the room''', and Flame Burst, which is a long-ranged attack that hits everyone around you for 10 damage. And unlike in the main games, they merely teleport away to use Memento again if they so wish after using it. They also know Night Shade, which deals damage to everyone in the room equivalent to their level. They fortunately lack the hiding-in-walls ability of previous ''Mystery Dungeon'' games, but still...
* [=Porygon2=] in Sky Tower in ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonRescueTeam'' and the Temporal Tower ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers'', They spam Agility, which in the ''Mystery Dungeon'' series causes allies to perform actions (such as moving or attacking) twice in 1 turn. Woe be to any team that encounters one in a Monster House.
* In the original ''Pokémon Ranger'', Corphish were incredibly common in the Fall City Waterworks, which by itself would be okay. What brings it into this category is that it is an aggressive Pokémon, so it will run towards you every time it sees you, and there are often two very close together, so it's very likely that to proceed you will have to engage them.
* There are also Arbok in the Sekra Range area, which are also aggressive and will always chase you.
* Jynx and Zubat are both capable of [[InterfaceScrew scrambling your controls]], which can make it difficult to get around. Have fun navigating through a Zubat swarm without encountering every single one.
[[/folder]]
----

* Route 12 also has Miltank, with great defenses and a really annoying movepool, and Tauros, with its annoying tendency to spam Rest, making it surprisingly hard to knock out. In fact, it's nearly impossible to level grind before facing Korrina, as all nearby locations have more than their fair share of Goddamn Bats/DemonicSpiders.

* Tentacool and Tentacruel are the Zubat/Golbat of the sea, attack every couple of steps on water routes. They have the confusion-causing Supersonic, the poison-inducing Poison Sting, and, worst of all, ''Wrap'', which the target from attacking or running away. Their weaknesses are easy enough to take advantage of and they aren't too difficult to run from, but dammit if they aren't annoying for how frequently they appear.

!! ''VideoGame/PokemonBlackAndWhite'':
* The fifth generation has Roggenrola and Boldore, commonly found in caves. A Rock-type with good attack and defense, accuracy-reducing attacks, SELF-DESTRUCT, EXPLOSION, and the ability Sturdy. However, Sturdy has been buffed into giving the Pokémon a LastChanceHitPoint if it was hit with lethal damage when its health was full. Yes, that would mean that you would take ''at least'' two turns to kill one unless you had some form of multi-hitting move or the ability Mold Breaker, and if you're unlucky, it blows up in your face on that first turn.
** Here's the clincher -- in the Challenger's Cave, accessible after the Elite Four, you can find Boldore ''and'' Graveler ''together''. Both have Sturdy, and Graveler still has its insane tendency to explode at the tiniest provocation. Enjoy your stay.
** Keep in mind, Roggenrola and Boldore aren't Rock/Ground-types, they're just Rock-types, meaning they don't have a double weakness to Grass and Water.
* Patrat are a royal pain early in Unova because they learn Detect at level 11, which allows them to negate any attack; most Pokémon that learn either it or the functionally identical Protect don't get the move until the twenties at the earliest. While the majority of wild Patrat are too weak to know Detect, the sheer number of them used by Trainers (including Team Plasma) ensures you'll be dealing with rats that refuse to take damage for a while.
** Its evolution, Watchog, can learn Hypnosis (puts your Pokémon to sleep), Confuse Ray (see Zubat examples), AND Super Fang (slashes your Pokémon's HP down to half). Have fun.
* Looking for Pokémon in Unova's lakes, rivers, oceans, etc.? Hope you like [[PiranhaProblem Basculin]]! Trying to get rare/strong Pokémon from the special fishing/surfing spots in the same areas? Hope you like a slightly different Basculin.
** Oh, and were you planning to simply run away from said Basculin, especially if your lead Pokémon has anything but top-shelf Speed? Hope you like being trapped while that Basculin pounds the crap out of you -- the stupid little fish are ''fast'' and have surprisingly good Attack and pack a number of strong moves, like Aqua Tail and Double-Edge. And don't forget [[TakingYouWithMe Final Gambit]], if you happen to run into one above Level 51.
* Durant. There's a 40% chance of seeing them in all floors of Victory Road, and you will be seeing a lot of them. The little jerks pack a punch with their 112 base Attack, and have a nice 109 base Speed to strike first with. They have some strong moves in Iron Head and Crunch when you find them, and they hurt. Woe to those who don't bring [[KillItWithFire its one weakness]], or catch a Heatmor along the way, because the little bugger has ''nine'' resistances, and an immunity to Poison. The only good thing about them? Base 48 Special Defense means any strong Special attacker will take it down in no time flat. Base 58 HP doesn't help either...
* Emolga. It's lightning-quick (no pun intended) and naturally learns ''Double Team'', which raises evasiveness. Thankfully, they only appear in shaking grass.

* The ''entirety'' of Chargestone Cave in ''Black 2'' and ''White 2''. The encounter rate there is the definition of ridiculous. It won't be long before you'll hate seeing the Pokémon that swarm here (unless you run into Tynamo with its 2 or 8% appearance rate), and in BW the place is swarmed with Team Plasma grunts the first time you enter. [=B2W2=] doesn't, but it trades them for a few Ace Trainers with powerful Pokémon who fight you in Triple or Rotation Battles instead. To quote Marriland: "My best advice for going through the Chargestone Cave in any generation is to just use the stinking Repels!". Please, heed this advice.
* Zebstrika from both pairs of Unova games certainly applies. For one thing, it has high Speed and Attack status, meaning it's likely to go first and hit hard. Second, it just '''loves''' to spam the move "Spark" in the wild, which has a chance of paralyzing your Pokémon. And, just to make matters worse, it also loves to spam "Flame Charge", a move that's not only super-effective against Grass-Types (which normally have a resistance against Electric-Type Pokémon), but it also ''increases'' Zebstrika's already high Speed stats '''every''' time it uses it.
* Minccino. While they can be defeated pretty easily, they can be rather annoying to battle. One reason is that one of the Abilities that they have increases the number of times a multi-hit attack strikes the opponent (So moves like Double-Slap and Tail-Slap are more likely to hit 4-5 times in a row instead of just 2). Not only that, but it can learn the move "Attract" (or some of them simply have the Ability "Cute Charm"), which causes its opponent to be Infatuated. What would otherwise be an easy battle is rendered '''annoyingly cheap''' thanks to your Pokémon being slapped silly while it's unable to fight back due to being ''in love'' with its opponent. Then they start learning [[ThatOneAttack Encore]] and [[StatusEffects Sing]]...
* Oh, Liepard. Not only is it (like Watchog) found once the wild mons hit level 20, it's all over the place. They're very fast, and learn a lot of annoying moves like Fake Out (instant flinch, but only if used in first turn), Torment (keeps you from using the same move twice in a row, which can be bad if your options are limited), and Night Slash (increased CriticalHit chance on top of being a 70-base power STAB move). Until you've got a faster mon or some Bug or Fighting-type attacks, these cats will irritate you to no end.
* Mienfoo are somewhat fast and difficult to run away from, and have quite high attack stats for being unevolved. Plus, they have very strong attacks like Jump Kick and Drain Punch, the latter of which [[LifeDrain heals them.]] And they probably know U-Turn, which is strong against any Psychic-types you'd want to use against them. To make them even more troublesome, they have such poor experience yields that fighting them in the wild isn't worth it.

* Generation VI has some old and new faces for annoyance. Horde Encounters will take the troublesome encounters to new levels of annoyance, and the infamous Zubat, Geodude and Graveler can appear in such formations, as can a few others. It is not only deceptively dangerous, especially after being repeatedly debuffed and chipped away at by a bunch of lower-leveled Pokémon, but can be very time-consuming without area-of-effect attacks that can hit the whole formation.
** Weepinbell and Spinda occur in respective hordes later in the game. Spinda will always spam Hypnosis or Teeter Dance to cause sleep and confusion, respectively, and Weepinbell uses Poison Powder to poison you.
** Weepinbell deserves special mention for having a moveset seemingly tailor-made to cause aggravation: Stun Spore, Sleep Powder, Poison Powder, and Acid. This means that it has ''three'' StatusEffects to throw around -- enough to cover just about anything you throw at it -- and if you send in a Grass-type to soak up the powder moves, you get hit with a super-effective Acid attack instead. Unless you take out the entire horde in one shot, expect a long, hard fight.
* Route 12 also has Miltank, with great defenses and a really annoying movepool, and Tauros, with its annoying tendency to spam Rest, making it surprisingly hard to knock out. In fact, it's nearly impossible to level grind before facing Korrina, as all nearby locations have more than their fair share of goddamn bats/DemonicSpiders.
** [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Kalos]] - Woobat are all over the Coastal portion's caves. They like to swoop down at you if you cross easy-to-overlook shadows on the floor, and ''Repels have no effect on this''.

* Crabrawler is quite annoying if you're collecting berries in Generation VII, as they often interrupt you and fight you, and must be defeated in order to collect the berries. The fact that they're the only Pokémon to be triggered like that adds the annoyance. Granted, this is also the only way to encounter Crabrawler, but once you've caught one there's no reason you'd ever want to see one again unless you're Shiny hunting.
* ''VideoGame/PokemonUltraSunAndUltraMoon'' turns Sharpedo into this when you're doing the Mantine Surf. While the Tentacool and Wailmer sit still and can be avoided, Sharpedo will chase you even if you pass them by. And if you're trying to get to and from Poni Island, you have to deal with them attacking in groups of ''three''.
** Wailord is another annoying encounter in Mantine Surf, for two reasons. One, they're really freaking huge, making them hard to avoid when the waves are low. Two, unlike every other obstacle which simply slows you down, hitting a Wailord instantly sends you into the drink, costing you a lot of speed and therefore points.

* ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'' has a number of examples in addition to Geodude, Graveler, and Bronzor above:
** ''Paras'', [[LowTierLetdown of all Pokémon]]. They spawn virtually everywhere, at any time of day, during the first third of the game. They are hard to spot, especially in tall grass, and they have a deceptively wide line of sight. Every probability exists they '''will''' see you first, and inflict you with poison or paralysis. Not your Pokémon. ''You''. Meaning if you have just escaped a close shave with an alpha, or barely survived a fall, Paras can easily scuttle in and chip you to death. Heaven help your satchel.
** Carnivine. Similarly to Paras, they love to inflict status conditions on the player character, and also spawn in large clusters. While they are larger than Paras and Parasect and are therefore easier to spot, they otherwise share many of the same problems.
** While Starly and Staraptor avoid humans by running away or sticking to the skies, Staravia are actively hostile and attack the player on sight in many areas of the game. Thankfully they're diurnal so they're gone by nightfall, which would be a relief if not for the fact that they're ''immediately'' replaced by Drifloon and Drifblim who are just as bad, if not worse since they attack the player in the ocean as well.
** Stunky and Skuntank, especially in the Crimson Bog area. Prepare to be constantly poisoned the entire time you’re there.
** Croagunk and Toxicroak are even worse. They're absurdly common, have a high aggro range, and are fast runners. Toxicroak also now gets Earth Power, an insanely dangerous move that'll send any Steel-types you may have sent out in a feeble attempt to fight it packing. They're at their worst in the Holm of Trials, where they practically infest the place and ''will'' interrupt your attempts at catching the powerful Alpha Torterra.
** Drifloon and Drifblim. Contrary to how absurdly rare they were in the modern-era Sinnoh games, Hisui is completely littered with these ghostly balloons at night, spawning in three of the game's five areas. Like many species, they are immediately hostile when they spot the player, and possess a few long-range attacks to hit any players that are trying to keep their distance.
** Murkrow. Like Drifloon, they only spawn at night and have a long-range attack. However, they can see the player from much farther away than other Pokemon, making it difficult to get by them without being seen, and they possess a unique behavior that will make them call for help, rallying any nearby Murkrow or Honchkrow to come help them harass you. They are very common nighttime spawns in the Crimson Mirelands and Cobalt Coastlands, making exploration of these areas a hassle once the sun goes down.
** Shinx and its evolutions, Luxio and Luxray. They're very common and quite aggressive (in fact, Shinx is the example of an aggressive Pokémon in the tutorial to contrast with the cautious Starly and the passive Bidoof), but what makes them particularly annoying is that they always seem to be around in areas with rare and cowardly catches, such as the west end of the Obsidian Fieldlands, where the cautious Abra and Mr. Mime families propagate, and they aggro very easily, making a StealthBasedMission twice as difficult.
** Gligar can be extremely annoying when trying to walk around the Coronet Highlands especially if you're trying to scale the mountains on Sneasler. They can spot you from miles away, they are often found in ''very'' large groups, and they can spam attacks from a long distance away. Not to mention they often follow the trainer around for a very long time and this doesn't help as they're mainly found around the mountains where there is not too much room to run around to avoid their attacks without risking falling off the mountain.
** Riolu, the pre-evolution of BreakoutCharacter Lucario, during mass outbreaks. Generally, Riolu aren't found in large clusters, but mass outbreaks show how annoying they can get in groups. This is because of how easily they're alerted to you, combined with the potency of their attacks; even when hiding in the grass near them, using Stealth Spray, baiting them with food and using Smoke Bombs, they will often notice you as soon as you catch or defeat one of their brethren ([[GameplayAndStoryIntegration likely due to their aura abilities]]) and start pelting you with near-unavoidable and extremely damaging ''homing'' Aura Spheres. ''Then'', if you pick one off to fight it, the other Riolu will run away and you have to scour the area of the map you're in to find where the others went off to, all while they all continuously aggro you one after the other. Have fun shiny hunting!
** The good news is that wild Dartrix and Hisuian Decidueye can't be found until the post game, and even then they're exclusive to mass outbreaks and space-time distortions. The bad news is that they're insanely aggressive, and ''will'' aggro you if you so much as breathe the wrong way. Even if you use Stealth Spray and Smoke Bombs, be prepared to get sliced and diced by flocks of these irritable owls. They're at their worst in mass outbreaks, due to their tendency to spawn on the slopes of the Coronet Highlands, essentially making Smoke Bombs useless thanks to the uneven terrain.

** Extremely small Pokémon such as Flittle, Capsakid, or worse, Floette[[note]]who is an evolved Pokémon unlike the previous two[[/note]] are difficult to see on the map and can be encountered by accident. Foongus can even disguise themselves as Poké Balls too!
** Tauros can be found in massive herds early-game, and are extremely annoying due to their aggressiveness and high (for that point in the game) stats. Worse still, their high Speed stats make it hard to run away from them, and they're much faster than even your mount in the overworld.
** Varoom are small, aggressive, and very fast in the overworld, meaning that if you stray into their line of sight they will run you down at breakneck speed. They also pack a bunch of resistances to early attacking types, so they can take a couple of hits to bring down if you don't have one of their two weaknesses handy.
** Veluza (commonly found in Casseroya Lake and other late-game water areas) are '''extremely annoying''' in the overworld. Once they acknowledge you, they will swim at a breakneck speed to encounter you, and it's possible to have one ambush you out of nowhere just because of this. This can be annoying if you're trying to focus on other Pokémon for auto battles, especially for shiny hunting. [[GameplayAndStorySegregation Ironically enough, their speed isn't even their highest stat]] (in fact, it's their second lowest). Fortunately, they're a JackOfAllStats Pokémon with slightly higher attack and as long as you have something that counters Psychic and/or Water types (most notably Meowscarada, for those that picked Sprigatito as their starter), they're not hard to take down at all.
** Despite having been welcomed by the fandom for their design and endearing backstories, Greavard and Houndstone can be problematic for players not interested in encounters while standing in one place, especially when exiting the pause screen or a Tera Raid menu, as they spawn from underground almost anywhere and have the aggressive overworld personality of chasing the player down and initiating a battle upon contact. It also doesn't help that Greavard's candle flame, while still buried, can be mistaken for a sparkling hidden item, triggering a sudden battle instead of expecting to make a quick pick-up.
** Lokix of any level tend to have priority moves in their arsenal, ranging from the weak Feint to the rather powerful Sucker Punch and First Impression, the latter two of which Lokix gain STAB on. Farming Lokix for their Attack EV can become tedious as they will whittle down your Pokémon's health, forcing you to heal in between farming.

** Shedinja deserves special mention. Unless you have an item to throw at it, or a team member with a super-effective move, it is notoriously annoying to defeat in battle.
*** Made arguably worse in '' Rescue Team DX'' since other enemies will attack and KO Shedinja to gain the Empowered status. Have fun with the newly mega evolved opponent.
** The Finneon and Shellos lines in the games are the bane of Water-type players everywhere. To put it bluntly, these relatively common dungeon enemies have the ability "Storm Drain". Use a Water-type attack, and they'll absorb it and increase their Special Attack. Did we mention this happens ''every'' time you use a Water-type attack, even if you're not directly fighting them? That's right, a dungeon floor just needs '''one''' Finneon/Lumineon and/or Shellos/Gastrodon to be in the area and it will screw you out of using your Water-Type moves. Now keep in mind that a floor can have ''several'' of these Pokémon at once.
** Nidoqueen. While not as common as other foes, she has the [[SarcasmMode lovely habit]] of spamming the move "Earth Power". Not only does this cause '''a lot''' of damage to you (and your partner), she can also do it while she's out of your sight or in an area where you can't fight her back. By the time you even get ''close'' to her, she will have already made you waste tons of Reviver Seeds just from the sheer amount of times she uses Earth Power against you. And that's not even getting into times when there are multiple Nidoqueen.
** Lampent, because they just ''love'' to hit you with [[ThatOneAttack Memento]], which gives a ''huge'' offensive debuff to '''everyone in the room''', and Flame Burst, which is a long-ranged attack that hits everyone around you for 10 damage. And unlike in the main games, they merely teleport away to use Memento again if they so wish after using it. They also know Night Shade, which deals damage to everyone in the room equivalent to their level. They fortunately lack the hiding-in-walls ability of previous ''Mystery Dungeon'' games, but still...
** [=Porygon2=] in Sky Tower in ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonRescueTeam'' and the Temporal Tower ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeonExplorers'', They spam Agility, which in the ''Mystery Dungeon'' series causes allies to perform actions (such as moving or attacking) twice in 1 turn. Woe be to any team that encounters one in a Monster House.

** There are also Arbok in the Sekra Range area, which are also aggressive and will always chase you.
** Jynx and Zubat are both capable of [[InterfaceScrew scrambling your controls]], which can make it difficult to get around. Have fun navigating through a Zubat swarm without encountering every single one.

* Most gamves have a "haunted area", in which you can expect to see Gastly and/or their evolution, Haunter. This line comes with the irritating combination of Confuse Ray and Hypnosis, the latter of which [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard always seems to hit you despite its poor accuracy]]. They're also pretty damn fast, so expect to be locked in a loop of hitting yourself and sleeping before you can land a hit on them or escape. Haunter is even worse, as it hits shockingly hard for a middle-stage Pokémon and has even greater speed. If you can get around these annoyances, they are offset by their [[FragileSpeedster poor defenses]], so if you do manage to get a hit off of them, chances are they'll go down rather easily.

[[folder:Gen I]]
* Another example is the Tentacool and Tentacruel in watery areas. Aside from also learning Supersonic, they learn a move called Poison Sting, which come with [[StatusEffects a possibility of poisoning your Pokémon and eating its HP every turn while battling]], and once every four steps while moving about the world. The fact that the screen does this flashy-glitchy thing every other second to remind you adds to the irritation.
** For even more fun, Tentacool often know Wrap, which can prevent you from fleeing/switching, causes damage at the same time, and lasts 2-5 turns. This was even worse in the first generation of games, as Wrap prevented the target from doing ''anything'' (though it ironically didn't prevent switching).

%%[[folder:Gen II]]
%%
%%[[/folder]]

[[folder:Gen III]]
* Volbeat and Illumise. While they're not that strong, they specialize in annoying the hell out of you by spamming Confuse Ray and Double Team. Just when you think you can hit them, you miss, and if your confusion expired last turn, you get a faceful of Confuse Ray again. And again. ''AND AGAIN.'' This is even worse if there's a Double Battle involving BOTH of them as the enemy, and if there's one, don't expect to get out of there shortly.
* Oddish are very common in R/S/E's Safari Zone ''despite'' the fact that they can be encountered in five different routes and are not rare at all. Even worse, Route 120 is right next to the Safari Zone and said route already has a lot of them (Oddish in general learn annoying powder moves that either poison you, paralyze you, or put you to sleep). Why do you have to encounter them in the Safari Zone again, a place where you can catch Pokémon you shouldn't be able to encounter outside of the zone (or at least not as often)?!

[[folder:Gen IV]]
* Fearow in the later areas of ''VideoGame/PokemonDiamondAndPearl'' is another pain in the rear, because more often than not, you can't get away from them even when you hit the run button and they love to spam the hell out of [[HealThyself Roost]].
* Staravia can be this if the Pokémon you're trying to level can't OHKO it. If it gets down into the red, it'll use Endeavor and bring you down to the same amount of HP as it. The only thing that keeps it out of DemonicSpider territory is its pathetic defenses to begin with, so thankfully this won't happen too often. A further issue is that Staravia get the ability Intimidate, which lowers your physical Attack, so unless you have Clear Body or Hyper Cutter, you'll do less damage to them.
* Wild Floatzel in ''Diamond'', ''Pearl'', and ''Platinum''. It's already quite fast and has moderately high Attack. But then it uses Agility, which raises Speed two levels, and Aqua Jet, where it always attacks first. It wouldn't be so bad if your chances of running away weren't partially determined by the Speed of the opponent... And before you throw out a Grass-Type, bear in mind that there's a chance it knows Ice Fang.

[[folder:Gen V]]

[[folder:Gen VI]]

[[folder:Gen VII]]

[[folder:Gen VIII]]

[[folder:Gen IX]]
* ''VideoGame/PokemonScarletAndViolet'':

[[folder:Other Pokémon (multiple games)]]
* There is also the equally frequent Geodude and its evolution, Graveler (often in the same caves, at that), which are a combination of this and DemonicSpiders depending on their levels. While they tend to go down quicker, they have an inexplicable tendency to use the insanely powerful [[TakingYouWithMe "suicide" moves]] "Self-Destruct" and "Explosion" before you manage to land the final blow on them. This usually screws you out of experience points and a usable Pokémon (especially if you're using the "faint = death" rule of a Nuzlocke SelfImposedChallenge). Lovely. Fortunately, they are [[NonElemental Normal-Type moves]], so sending out a [[OurGhostsAreDifferent Ghost-Type]] would mean that they'll have blown themselves up [[NoSell for]] [[AllForNothing nothing]]. Do keep in mind, though, that Ghost-Types tend to be [[GlassCannon Glass Cannons]] and that Geodude and Graveler are (in)famous for their [[MightyGlacier high physical Attack and Defense.]]
** They're quite fond of the move Defense Curl, which increases their already-high Defense stat and powers up Rollout (a STAB snowballing move). They're slow enough that you can generally easily run away from a fight with one in the wild, though.
** They're even more fun from Gen V on, where they have a 50/50 chance to have the Sturdy ability, which ensures they can't die in one hit. There's nothing so annoying as bringing a Graveler to 1 HP and then to see it [[SpitefulAI blow up and take your own Pokémon down with it.]] Thankfully, Gen V also weakened Self-Destruct and Explosion by eliminating their Defense-halving quirk, so they're not as irritating. Unlike Zubat, however, Geodude was completely excluded from the Galar Pokédex even after the Crown Tundra.
** They're a plague in ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'' as well, as they're found in every map and frequently attack the player while they're mining Tumblestones for Poké Balls. Additionally, they exhibit "aggressive" behavior in the overworld, meaning their species attacks humans on sight and hinders exploration.
* Speaking of Pokémon who are a little bit too trigger-happy with suicidal moves, the Pokémon Koffing (whose original Japanese name is "Dogas", possibly partially derived from the onomatopoeia for explosions and the word for "poison gas") and its evolution Weezing are similarly loathed.
* Voltorb (and its evolution, Electrode) is a pain in the butt as well: in the Power Plant, they appear on the field looking identical to Poké Balls; and Trainers with them love to use them to spam Self-Destruct and Explosion. They also have extremely high Speed (in Gen I, Electrode has the highest base speed of ''any Pokémon''), which not only makes them difficult to escape from, but also gives them the ability to move first and blow up in your face before you can do anything.
* Another example is the Tentacool and Tentacruel in watery areas. Aside from also learning Supersonic, they learn a move called Poison Sting, which come with [[StatusEffects a possibility of poisoning your Pokémon and eating its HP every turn while battling]], and once every four steps while moving about the world. The fact that the screen does this flashy-glitchy thing every other second to remind you adds to the irritation.
** For even more fun, Tentacool often know Wrap, which can prevent you from fleeing/switching, causes damage at the same time, and lasts 2-5 turns. This was even worse in the first generation of games, as Wrap prevented the target from doing ''anything'' (though it ironically didn't prevent switching).
* Also in watery areas (starting from the third generation) are Wingull, who can learn Supersonic, like Zubat, but fortunately can't naturally learn Confuse Ray or other status moves. They are also fast. Fortunately, due to their typing, they are extremely weak to Electric attacks -- meaning that strong Electric Pokémon can engage in Wingull massacres.
** Wingull's evolution, Pelipper, isn't much better, as it's going to use Roost repeatedly and restore whatever HP your mon takes from it. You're in for a long fight if you can't OHKO it or at least knock it down into the red. In later games, such as Ancient Poni Path from ''Sun and Moon'', wild Pelipper up their game to also spamming Protect (wasting your PP) and often Stockpile. Stockpile is usually paired with Spit Up (for damage) or Swallow (for healing), but wild Pelipper will often just have Stockpile by itself in order to waste your time.
* Diglett in ''[=FireRed=]'' and ''[=LeafGreen=]''. Diglett's Cave is full of them, they're fast, and there's a 50/50 chance of them having an ability that prevents you from switching or running way. Add in Sand Attack to lower accuracy and possibly Dig to avoid nearly all attacks for a turn and they get to be a pain.
** Diglett and Dugtrio were even worse in Generation I. Not only did they have good physical sweeper stats (high speed and attack) and powerful attacks, but the game mechanics at the time based critical hit rate off of speed. Diglett's moves crit 18.6% of the time and Dugtrio crits 23.4% of the time with regular moves. If they have Slash, a crit is almost guaranteed. If you didn't level up your bird, these guys become DemonicSpiders.
** In Alola, players will find Alolan Diglett and Dugtrio; while easier to run away from due to not having Arena Trap and being slower than their regular forms, they're still a nuisance. Their Tangling Hair ability reduces the speed of any Pokémon that makes contact when attacking, and resist several types of attacks thanks to having the Steel type. While not quite as fast as the regular form, they're still faster than most of the Pokémon available in the game, and can appear in most caves. They also get to start an SOS battle and call for help, which forces the player to fight two of them at once. Alolan Dugtrio also appear in the desert in Alola, where a Sandstorm rages at night and activates their Sand Veil, to make them even more annoying, while also giving them a chance to summon a powerful Gabite to attack the player instead.
* Continuing the trend in the fourth generation, there is Bronzor, which is a Steel/Psychic type whose only weaknesses are Fire and Ground, and both of its abilities can cancel out one of the two weaknesses, meaning that each time you fight one, [[LuckBasedMission you have no idea which it's weak to]]. In addition to that, they also come with the move Hypnosis [[StatusEffects that can send a Pokémon to sleep]], and have [[StoneWall some of the greatest defense stats in the game.]] And there's only two Fire-type Pokémon (not counting their evolutions) in ''Diamond/Pearl'' [[ExtendedGameplay pre-National Dex]]. Luckily, they're rather slow, so you can get away. Thankfully, they lose their Ghost- and Dark-type resistances in games from [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Gen VI]] and onward, making them easier to take down. In ''Legends: Arceus'', not only do they attack the player on sight, but their cries draw attention from nearby Pokémon, meaning players must be wary lest they be swarmed.
* And then there are the inevitable power station levels, in which the Magnemite are customarily flying so thick it's amazing your character can actually walk through them. This would be merely annoying if you lead with a Ground type, which is immune to their Electric attacks... if they didn't have one move that does a flat 20 damage with no resistances ([=SonicBoom=]) and a confusion move (Supersonic). Did we mention that the Geodude family, the easiest Ground types to locate (seriously, they're everywhere), has a fairly low HP stat because [[ArmoredButFrail it depends mainly on good Defense]] and resistance to Normal-type damage?
* If a game has a ghostly area, expect Gastly and sometime Haunter to be infesting the place, as well as Trainers that use said family. This line comes with the [[SarcasmMode lovely]] combination of Confuse Ray and Hypnosis, the latter of which [[TheComputerIsACheatingBastard always seems to hit you despite its poor accuracy]]. They're also pretty damn fast, so expect to be locked in a loop of hitting yourself and sleeping before you can land a hit on them. Haunter is even worse, as it hits stupidly hard for a middle-stage Pokémon and has even greater speed. Thankfully, they're offset by their [[FragileSpeedster poor defenses]], so if you do manage to get a hit off of them, chances are they'll go down rather easily.
* '''Any''' Pokémon with the ability Cute Charm (of which there are mercifully only 12...), which has a 30% chance to make a Pokémon that just hit it with a physical attack infatuated. Conveniently enough, the Pokémon that can have it (with the exception of Milotic) also have skewed gender ratios in favor of females...
* While Trapinch only appears in about one area for every game it's in, it will appear every third step you take, and most will have the ability Arena Trap, which prevents your Pokémon from running away. Most likely they will also know Sand Attack, making killing them painful in and of itself. This is even worse in Emerald, as you have to climb Mirage Tower, which is full of the things.
* Kanto and Johto veterans will cringe when you ask them about the first forest areas they encounter. That's because Ilex Forest in ''Gold'' and ''Silver'' and Viridian Forest in ''Red'', ''Blue'', ''Green'', and ''Yellow'' have a VERY well known and unbelievably annoying Bug-type there. Weedle. This damn thing will use Poison Sting on you the first chance it gets and once you're poisoned you either have to use an Antidote from the store or go right back to the Pokémon Center (except if you chose Bulbasaur, which is half Poison-type and thus cannot be poisoned). On top of that, in the Kanto region, Bug Catchers are everywhere in that forest so you have to deal with the Bug Catchers, your own poisoned Pokémon, and being forced to walk through the tall grass due to the fact that you don't have any Badges yet (the first Gym is THROUGH the forest). This gets unbelievably annoying really fast!

%%[[folder:Gen I]]

%%[[folder:Gen II]]
%%
%%[[/folder]]

* Zubat, and their evolution Golbat, were part of the original 151 Pokémon introduced in the first generation, serve as the TropeCodifier for GoddamnedBats, and recur throughout the series. There are multiple factors as to just why they are so annoying to gamers:

***





** Zubat example expressed neatly [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRrRp49iILU in song]] [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFlAzzApiWs form]].

In terms of moveset,



[[GoddamnedBats Goddamned (Zu)bat]].

[[/folder]]

* [[VideoGame/PokemonXAndY Kalos]] only has Zubat in one small cave (called, appropriately enough, "Zubat Roost"), and even there they are rarer than a Pokémon fan may have come to expect -- but the Woobat are all over the Coastal portion's caves. They like to swoop down at you if you cross easy-to-overlook shadows on the floor, and ''Repels have no effect on this''.
* You thought it couldn't get any worse? ''HOOOOO BOY.'' In [[VideoGame/PokemonSunandMoon Alola]], Zubat and Golbat are again found in nearly every cave. Because most of the Pokémon in Alola are fairly slow compared to other regions, running from them is harder, a problem compounded by the new SOS battles, which cause them to call for help and summon another copy of themselves. This is further exacerbated by 1.) Leech Life, one of Zubat's evolutionary family's signature moves, having its power increased from 20 to ''80,'' and 2.) the Alolan Diglett and Dugtrio that appear in most of the same places, causing use of the Magnemite line to be risky; however, the Zubat and Golbat outnumber them, even in Diglett's Tunnel. It's to the point where, if you don't think that you can knock out a Zubat or a Golbat in one hit, just ''RUN''.
* Just when you thought that "Dexit" cut them for good in ''VideoGame/PokemonSwordAndShield'', the Zubat line returns in the Crown Tundra ExpansionPack. Here, though, they appear in PreexistingEncounters rather than random ones, so they're much more avoidable.
* While Zubat itself isn't too bad in ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus'', its evolution Golbat can be frustrating to deal with. They're common to find in the Wayward Woods of the Coronet Highlands, are aggressive, and fly around quickly, so they can distract you while you're trying to sneak up on a more valuable wild Pokémon. In battle, they're fast enough to outspeed slower Pokémon, and while they don't have Zubat's usual annoying trick of Supersonic, they instead pack Air Slash to deal surprisingly high damage to less specially bulky Pokémon, so Rock-types like Graveler aren't a surefire answer to them.
* Here's a bit of trivia: The Zubat line has appeared in ''every'' regional Pokédex as of ''VideoGame/PokemonLegendsArceus''.
* They're worse in ''VideoGame/PokemonMysteryDungeon'', where their constant Supersonic attacks confuse you and mess your controls around.
* ''VideoGame/PokemonGo'' eliminates needing to battle anything (there is battling, but all of it is optional), so how bad can Zubat be? Just as awful as any of its previous appearances. For one, when encountered, it's far from the player, making it difficult to aim at properly, particularly with curved throws (which give a bonus to catch rate when they connect), so it's naturally tricky to hit at all, let alone in the target circle to get a bonus to experience/catch rate. Plus, they fly a bit erratically even when not performing their dodge/attack animation, so it's even harder to connect with a throw. Finally, their dodge animation involves them zipping around the screen randomly, making it nigh impossible to connect with a throw if they start it (and woe betide the player if they start spamming their dodge). It's rather telling that, despite having much lower base catch rates, players rather would attempt to catch Golbat and Crobat (its evolutions) because the latter two are much easier to target with throws due to eliminating pretty much all of the things that make Zubat so frustrating. There are other Pokemon in the games with similar behavior (like Yanma), but Zubat is still the game's gold standard for frustrating catches.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The ''LITERAL'' Goddamn Bat]]
* In almost every installment of the ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'' games, you will have different RandomEncounters in different areas of the map. Pokémon that are numerous in one place are often unknown in another, and even then, you have a decent mix of what Pokémon you'll encounter in said route... except when it comes to the bats. '''[[TropeCodifier Zubat]]''', that is. Each and every [[UndergroundLevel cave]] is filled with them. Unlike the great outdoors, where you would usually be able to avoid random encounters by staying away from the tall grass, when you're in a cave ''everywhere'' is a danger zone and you find yourself traversing vast underground mazes laden with complex rock-smashing and [[BlockPuzzle rock-pushing]] puzzles while every third step you take, the [[FightWoosh screen flashes]] and you find yourself fighting yet another [[GoddamnedBats Goddamned (Zu)bat]]. These things are very fond of using a move called "Supersonic" to [[StatusEffects confuse your Pokémon]] into attacking itself half the time. Later in the game, they learn "Confuse Ray," which is like Supersonic but 100% accurate, and even gain the power to prevent you from running away, or even switching Pokémon, with the move "Mean Look" (They're hard to run away from even when they don't use Mean Look, because running is determined partially by speed, and the bats have pretty darn good speed stats), quickly turning them into borderline DemonicSpiders. To exacerbate things further, they happen to be unusually popular among whatever evil team you're foiling. Popular enough to warrant carrying three or four of them. In Gens 3 and 4, they (logically, but frustratingly) even appear when you're surfing over water.

* In later games, Zubat's evolved form, Golbat, is even worse: gets Poison Fang at high levels, which has a decent chance of [[StatusEffects inflicting high-strength poison]] on its target. If you didn't stock up on Antidotes or don't have the extremely rare "Aromatherapy" or "Heal Bell" moves on any of your Mons, you'll either have to leave the cave to visit the [[TraumaInn Pokémon Center]] and start the dungeon over again or just watch as your monster's HP is slowly whittled down while you walk (and in earlier games, they ''will'' faint from this). Golbat also gets Air Slash and Bite, which have a 30% chance of making the target ''flinch'', essentially forcing it to skip a turn. Bear in mind that Zubat and Golbat do not learn too many moves while leveling up, so they can still be expected to have Confuse Ray and Mean Look at those levels. With all those Textbook Annoyer moves, it's almost like Zubat was ''designed'' to be such a pest. The saving graces are that it isn't ridiculously fast (Base 90 Speed), will more than likely be a lower level than the Pokémon in your team, its flinch moves can only trigger the secondary effect if the user is faster, has poor defenses (75/70/70), and poor typing.
** There is one small upside that applies in certain games. Golbat may be frustrating to engage, but they also [[PinataEnemy tend to give fairly good amounts of EXP]].

Technician/Performer Team-Up

A [[TechnicianVersusPerformer Techician-type and Performer-type]] join forces to achieve a goal, complimenting each other's strengths and covering weaknesses.

The TechnicianVersusPerformer battle has been raging since time immemorial. The "technician" is technically skilled and highly knowledgeable about what they do, but often lacks warmth, heart, and charisma. The "performer" is the complete opposite, lacking those skills and knowledge (at least relative to the technician), but is charismatic and appealing. When they decide to join forces toward a common goal, the result is often exponentially more successful than what either can achieve alone.

A common scenario has a "technician" create something new, it can be tangible like a new product or intangible like an idea to achieve, but in either case has difficulty getting support and buy-in for it. The "performer" then becomes an expert salesperson for the product, promoting it and using their charisma to gain support for it, despite not having a full understanding of ''how'' it works. The technician can be seen as the "brains" of the operation while the performer is the "face".

A common means to showcase this type of relationship is to have the "performer" stumble when explaining the technical details of how product/idea actually works, deferring to the "technician" if available. Conversely, the "technician" may have to take on some of the "performer's" duties to show off how awkward they are.

{{Tech Bro}}s seems to especially prone to forming this sort of partnership, with one actually "developing" the product and the other promoting it (charming investors, inspiring employees, schmoozing the media, etc.), but it can happen in any sort of business or relationship. For example, this is a popular TagTeam composition in ProfessionalWrestling, pairing a technically skilled wrestler who may not be the most charismatic with a less-skilled but better talking/acting partner.

This pair frequently overlaps with RedOniBlueOni, with the "performer" as the passionate "red" and the "technician" as the rational "blue". Similarly, they are often an EnergeticAndSoftSpokenDuo, with the "performer" the former and the "technician" the latter. If they are a combat oriented duo, ForceAndFinesse is common, with the performer as "force" and the technician as "finesse".

!!Examples

%%Examples have been alphabetized. Please add new examples in proper order.

[[AC:Live-Action TV]]
* ''Series/{{Columbo}}'': In "[[Recap/ColumboS01E01 Murder By the Book]]", Ken Franklin and Jim Ferris are equally credited as the authors of the "Mrs. Melville" mystery series, but Ken has been suffering from WritersBlock for years and barely contributes to the books any more. So instead he handles all the interviews, book signings, and other publicity events (the performer) that Jim (the technician) would rather not deal with. Of course, this partnership breaks down when Jim decides he'd rather go solo and write more "serious" literature — [[spoiler:and Ken responds by murdering him]].
* ''Series/SuperPumped'': Garrett is the technician, being an actual software engineer who first came up with the idea for Uber, but taking a backseat to T.K. and serving as a rather distant board member. T.K. is the performer, being the public face of the company and, at least initially, its undisputed charismatic leader. When issues come up, Garrett tends to awkwardly defer to and support T.K. As T.K. breaks laws, crosses multiple lines of morality, and really ''becomes'' Uber, his support erodes, but he knows that between his and Garrett's voting shares, he can't be ousted as CEO. Garrett, tired of T.K.'s showmanship and not giving him the credit he's due, [[EtTuBrute sides with the rest of board]] and ousts T.K.
* ''Series/WeCrashed'': Of the [=WeWork=] founders, Miguel is the technician, being an awkward architect who put in most of the original seed money and designed the initial workspaces, but is hopelessly lost actually having to promote or lead the company. Adam is the performer, capable of charming nearly anyone ranging from potential investors, to employees, to the media, but his lack of business sense overextends the company and ultimately leads to its dramatic downfall.

[[AC:Professional Wrestling]]
* Wrestling/ClaudioCastagnoli (aka Antonio Cesaro) is one of the greatest technical wrestlers in the sport and tends to be the "technician" whenever he joins a tag team, pairing up with more of a "performer" type like Wrestling/ChrisHero (as The Kings of Wrestling) or Wrestling/TysonKidd (as Wrestling/TysonKiddAndCesaro) who handles more of the mic-work and whipping up the crowd.
* Wrestling/{{Edge|Wrestler}} and Wrestling/{{Christian}} fit this early in their careers, with Edge more of the charismatic "performer" (who'd go on to a much more successful singles career after, embracing the less-technical "main event style" popular in the WWE at the time) while Christian being the more technical "worker" in the ring, famous as being one of the best at "putting over" other wrestlers in the ring. As their careers went along, each evolved to include some traits of the other archetype.
* The Hardy Boyz, featuring real life brothers Wrestling/MattHardy (the technically sound "technician") and Wrestling/JeffHardy (the good-looking, high-flying "performer"). As they gained experience, Matt grew to excel in more "performer" traits (mic-work, pumping up the crowd), becoming more well-rounded.


[[AC:Video Games]]
* ''VideoGame/RedDeadRedemption2'': The leaders of the van der Linde gang, Dutch and Hosea, take on "performer" and "technician" roles, respectively. Dutch is a ByronicHero, being intelligent relative to the setting, highly charismatic, extremely passionate about the gang, and has an intense drive and determination to live out his philosophy. He can rally the gang with a great RousingSpeech at the drop of a hat and blend in with the upper echelons of society to scope them out for robbery... But he's by far the least active gang member when it comes to actually committing crimes and his planning skills tend to amount to an IndyPloy at best. Hosea is a cranky but CoolOldGuy, with plenty of cunning and experience as an outlaw during the golden years of the Old West, making him the gang's expert planner and Dutch's voice of reason. [[spoiler:When he is killed, it signals the beginning of the end for the gang, as things only get worse under Dutch's solo leadership and SanitySlippage]].

[[AC:Western Animation]]
* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBros'': This is the nature of the partnership and relationship between The Monarch and Dr. Mrs. the Monarach (formerly Dr. Girlfiend). The Monarch is the ultimate performer when it comes to costumed villainy, being utterly passionate in his hatred of ArchEnemy Dr. Venture with a genuinely menacing EvilLaugh and [[LargeHam dramatic villainous speeches]]. However, he is also [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain utterly inept]] on his own, falling into all of the classic ContractualGenreBlindness trappings. Dr. Mrs. the Monarch is a highly intelligent engineer (technician) who failed as a solo villain in part due to a ''lack'' of passion and [[RulesLawyer knows the rulebook]] of the [[WeirdTradeUnion Guild of Calamitous Intent]] inside and out. She makes the Monarch far more competent and deadly. For a time, after he was a little ''too'' passionate, she left him and returned to her ex, [[TouchOfDeath Phantom Limb]], a ManOfWealthAndTaste-styled supervillain whose primary form of "villainy" is dealing in stolen art. She's reminded of why she left him, with Limb lacking the Monarch's passion and treating her as arm candy, not allowing her to actually use her skills and knowledge. By the end of the series, she is on the Guild's [[OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness Council of 13]] and he has reached "[[PowerLevel Level 10 Villain]]" status.

----

[[https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/query.php?parent_id=128241&type=lnf Trope Finder Query]]

Indexes:
* DuoTropes
* {{Foil}}
* HarmonyVersusDiscipline
* ASeriousIndex

A [[TechnicianVersusPerformer Techician-type and Performer-type]] pair up to achieve a goal, complimenting each other's strengths and covering weaknesses.

The TechnicianVersusPerformer debate has been raging since time immemorial. The "technician" is technically skilled and highly knowledgeable about what they do, but often lacks warmth, heart, and charisma. The "performer" is the complete opposite, lacking those skills and knowledge (at least relative to the technician), but is charismatic and appealing. When they decide to join forces toward a common goal, the result is often exponentially more successful than what either can achieve alone.

* ''Series/{{Columbo}}'': In "[[Recap/ColumboS01E01 Murder By the Book]], Ken Franklin and Jim Ferris are equally credited as the authors of the "Mrs. Melville" mystery series, but Ken has been suffering from WritersBlock for years and barely contributes to the books any more. So instead he handles all the interviews, book signings, and other publicity events (the performer) that Jim (the technician) would rather not deal with. Of course, this partnership breaks down when Jim decides he'd rather go solo and write more "serious" literature — [[spoiler:and Ken responds by murdering him]].

* ''WesternAnimiation/TheVentureBros'': This is the nature of the partnership and relationship between The Monarch and Dr. Mrs. the Monarach (formerly Dr. Girlfiend). The Monarch is the ultimate performer when it comes to costumed villainy, being utterly passionate in his hatred of ArchEnemy Dr. Venture with a genuinely menacing EvilLaugh and [[LargeHam dramatic villainous speeches]]. However, he is also [[IneffectualSympatheticVillain utterly inept]] on his own, falling into all of the classic ContracualGenreBlindness trappings. Dr. Mrs. the Monarch is a highly intelligent engineer (technician) who failed as a solo villain in part due to a ''lack'' of passion and [[RulesLawyer knows the rulebook]] of the [[WeirdTradeUnion Guild of Calamitous Intent]] inside and out. She makes the Monarch far more competent and deadly. For a time, after he was a little ''too'' passionate, she left him and returned to her ex, [[TouchOfDeath Phantom Limb]], a ManOfWealthAndTaste-styled supervillain whose primary form of "villainy" is dealing in stolen art. She's reminded of why she left him, with Limb lacking the Monarch's passion and treating her as arm candy, not allowing her to actually use her skills and knowledge. By the end of the series, she is on the Guild's [[OmniscientCouncilOfVagueness Council of 13]] and he has reached "[[PowerLevel Level 10 Villain]]" status.

This pair frequently overlaps with RedOniBlueOni, with the "performer" as the passionate "red" and the "technician" as the rational "blue".

asdf

[[folder:The Former Council as a Whole]]
The other former members of the Council of 13n before the Sovereign's purge, most of whom were killed in the process. Membership:
->Councilman 1: Vendata\\
Councilman 2: Wild Fop\\
Councilman 3: Red Mantle (See above)\\
Councilman 4: Boggles the Clue Clown\\
Councilman 5: Dr. Z (See above)\\
Councilman 6: Monseñor\\
Councilman 7: Don Hell\\
Councilman 8: Dragoon (See above)\\
Councilman 9: Steppenwolf\\
Councilman 10: Unnamed (referred to as "Bug Sumarai" in creator notes)\\
Councilman 11: Mommy Longlegs\\
Councilman 12: The Nerve\\
Councilman 13: The Sovereign (See above)
----

* KilledOffForReal: Hence why they are ''former'' members of the Council, all (save for Clue Clown, who died of natural causes before the Sovereign's purge) being killed by the Sovereign in his bid to take out the Investors; Wild Fop is torn apart by his own guard dogs using baited perfume, Councilman 10 and Steppenwolf are killed via , Don Hell is ''melted'' by a drink spiked with HollywoodAcid, Monseñor is gassed in his own seat, and Mommy Longlegs is killed in the crossfire between the surviving council members and one of the Sovereign's slaughterbots.]]
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Vendata - Councilman #1]]
[[quoteright:210:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/vendata_the_venture_bros_101.jpg]]
->'''Voiced by''': Doc Hammer

Previously, Councilman 1 of the Guild, Brock Samson and the OSI try to manipulate him into giving up information on the Guild. His whereabouts afterwards were unknown and his seat on the Council was given away. For more information, see [[Characters/TheVentureBrothersTeamVenture The Blue Morpho]].
----
* AmbiguousSituation: He has no memory of what happened on the night of the Movie Night Massacre, so it's unclear if he killed Jonas Venture Sr. or not.
* TheBusCameBack: Returns for "Arrears in Science", after having been presumed dead since the events of "Bot Seeks Bot".
* ButtMonkey: He's openly disrespected by his fellow Councilmembers, who think of him as a "stick in the mud" and a "killjoy," and his date with Ghost Robot is really just a setup so the OSI can tap him for information. It isn't even initially clear if he survives afterwards since the Sovereign immediately asks Doctor Mrs. The Monarch if she wants his seat on the Council. It turns out he survived, and his life may have been even worse before becoming a cyborg.
* ChekhovsGunman: Originally Vendata just seems like a throwaway character who would only have importance in the episode "Bot Seeks Bot." Then "Arrears in Science" comes along and it's revealed he's the original Blue Morpho and the long lost father of the Monarch, in addition to ''possibly'' being responsible for the Movie Night Massacre and therefore the death of Jonas Venture Sr.
* TheComicallySerious: Due to being an--apparently--emotionless cyborg who prioritizes doing things by the book, he remains stoic and nonplussed when faced with the insanity surrounding him.
* CoolOldGuy: Of Red Death's NYC-based '80s team. Although, funnily enough, this is an opinion only Red Death holds, as he cites his tactical genius and ambition with the utmost respect.
* {{Cyborg}}: He's still got his human face and brain despite the rest of him being robotic.
* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: In his original appearances as a silhouetted member of the Council of Thirteen, his voice isn't as loud or droning.
* EvilFormerFriend: Of Dr. Jonas Venture and the rest of the original Team Venture, though we also learn Jonas' friendship was anything but genuine. Furthermore, Vendata is pegged to be the most likely culprit of the Movie Night Massacre, which resulted in Jonas' death.
* {{Expy}}: Of Alex Murphy from ''Franchise/{{Robocop}}''. Both are cyborgs who possess more emotion than they show, both talk in a similar manner, and both of them were heroes brought back from the dead through cybernetics courtesy of a VillainWithGoodPublicity. Both of them also seek out the people who wronged them in life for revenge.
* {{Foreshadowing}}: In "Bot Seeks Bot" Vendata begins shifting between his current memories and those he had before becoming a cyborg. At one point he mentions having a wife and being in a plane crash. The Monarch's parents died in a plane crash.
* TheFriendNobodyLikes: [[DownplayedTrope Downplayed]]. While his council-mates on the Guild ubiquitously can't stand his irritating and dull demeanor and total lack of tact, they do seem supportive, if still teasing, of him finally seeming to get a date and socialize, and it is implied that a lot of their ire for him comes from his asocial behaviour. They're also sympathetic to him when it appears his "date" is ditching him in "Bot Seeks Bot". Completely [[AvertedTrope Averted]] with Red Death and his old group, who respected and looked up to him.
* FromNobodyToNightmare: While he was feared as The Blue Morpho, he started his villainous career as a piece of discarded Venture technology before managing to climb the ranks of the Guild and eventually taking a seat on the Council of Thirteen.
* GenerationXerox: Just like his son, he went behind the Guild's rules and regulations to antagonize a Venture.
* GoOutWithASmile: He smiles right before dies, after hearing The Monarch call him "Daddy".
* HoneyTrap: Brock Samson and the OSI set him up on a date with Ghost Robot to pry information out of him.
* MachineMonotone: He's only able to speak in a loud, droning, robotic voice after his resurrection. This continues even after he's regained his original personality.
* NeverFoundTheBody: When the Guild's new leadership is trying to fill seats on the Council of Thirteen, Vendata is mentioned as missing, but they decide they can't wait for him to resurface. It's revealed in "Arrears in Science" that Vendata regained his original memories and spent the entire time since "Bot Seeks Bot" walking back to his home in Newark.
* NotSoHarmlessVillain: After spending his entire spotlight episode as the comedic relief villain, it turns out that used to be a highly-respected cohort of [[TheAce Red Death]], and that he single-handedly planned, and (almost) successfully pulled off, a hijacking of ''Gargantua-1'' with a RagTagBunchOfMisfits, which led to [[ThrownOutTheAirlock the Movie Night Massacre.]]
* PunnyName: A mash-up of "vendetta" and "data". May overlap with MeaningfulName, with the implication that Vendata perpetrated the Movie Night Massacre out of a [[CriminalAmnesiac subconscious desire for vengeance against Jonas Venture.]]
* ReforgedIntoAMinion: Zig-zagged. Dr. Z reveals he found Venturion's remains in a dumpster outside the Venture Compound (after having been destroyed by Kano) and decided to rebuild him as a tool to arch Jonas Venture, giving him an EvilMakeover and installing a MoralityDial. However, Dr. Z was arrested in a drug bust before Vendata awoke, leaving the abandoned cyborg to become a wholly independent villain rather than a lackey of Z. This is played straight for being made into a servant of Jonas. Even his friends and [[EvenEvilHasStandards Dr. Z were disgusted by this, though Dr. Z decided to exploit him anyways and turn him against Jonas because it was too poetic.]]
* TheStoic: Even when he's surprised, his tone and facial expression barely change.
-->'''Red Death:''' [...] But Vendata wasn't laughing. No, he suddenly got this real serious look on his face.\\
'''Red Mantle:''' Did he have any other look?\\
'''Dragoon:''' The man was a genuine cy-''bore!''
* TinMan: As a machine, others claim him to be an emotionless husk, although his inner self shows that this is far from the truth and Red Death seems to have picked up on his subtler emotional cues.
* WalkingSpoiler: It becomes much more difficult to talk about him after "Arrears in Science" reveals he's the original Blue Morpho, the Monarch's father and the possible murderer of Jonas Venture Sr., though he claims he has no memory of that last one.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Wild Fop - Councilman #2]]
->'''Voiced by''': Christopher [=McCulloch=]
----

* TheDandy: A parody of the classic 18th century "Macoroni" variety with powered wig and period appropriate clothes. He's spraying himself with perfume moments before his death.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Boggles the Clue Clown - Councilman #4]]
* ClownCar: Drove one and it contributed to his death when he suffered a heart attack. It took 20 minutes to pull out his hench clowns before they could get to him.
* {{Expy}}: A pastiche of ComicBook/TheJoker (evil clown) and ComicBook/TheRiddler (penchant for leaving clues in the form of riddles), and he happens to be Captain Sunshine's arch enemy, who is voiced by Creator/KevinConroy, the most prolific ComicBook/{{Batman}} voice actor.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Monseñor - Councilman #6]]
->'''Voiced by''': Larry Murphy
----

* MaskedLuchador: His theme, including a classic mask, while having the cliché Catholic priest theming as well.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Don Hell - Councilman #7]]
->'''Voiced by''': Christopher [=McCulloch=]
----

* HollywoodAcid: Killed via spiked drink that melts him like acid.
* NoCelebritiesWereHarmed: To Don Hill, a famous New York City night club entrepreneur.
* VampiresOwnNightClubs: While not purely a vampire, he does seem to have an "underworld" themimg which fits with his villainous surname and owns a nightclub for villains.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Steppenwolf - Councilman #9]]
->'''Voiced by''': Christopher [=McCulloch=]
----

* ExternalCombustion: Killed via car bomb along with Councilman #10 "Bug Samurai"
* WolfMan: An undersized version, he's covered in hair and has long floppy ears.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:"Bug Samurai" - Councilman #10]]
* ExternalCombustion: Killed via car bomb along with Steppenwolf.
* {{Expy}}: Is a spitting image of Series/KamenRider with a bug-like helmet and vaguely samurai armor.
* IntelligibleUnintelligible: Steppenwolf, and possibly the other councilmembers as well, can apparently understand his bug-like clicking without issue.
* TheUnnamed: His actual name is never revealed before his death. He is simply referred to as "Bug Samurai" in creator notes.
* TheVoiceless: Does not speak in any recognizable human language, simply insectoid clicking.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Mommy Longlegs - Councilman #11]]
->'''Voiced by''': Creator/PagetBrewster
----

* HiveMind: She speaks with multiple voices at once and in a "communal language of the colony" when in danger.
* SpidersAreScary: Her name, motif, and occupation as a councilor for an evil Guild all play into it. However, she actually seems to be a caring grandmother to members of her colony.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:The Nerve - Councilman #12]]
->'''Voiced by''': Christopher [=McCulloch=]
----

* BrainInAJar: A brain, plus eyes and a nervous system, in a glass jar-like body.
[[/folder]]

* '''Victor Wembanyama''' was the #1 overall pick of the 2023 Draft by the San Antonio Spurs. Sporting freakish athleticism at 7'3" with an 8' wingspan, he is widely regarded as the best prospect since UsefulNotes/LeBronJames and made for one of the most anticipated Draft Lotteries of all time. Born and raised in France where he played in the top professional league as a teenager and on the national team, his combination of size, shooting ability (including from three-point range), ball-handling skills, and shot-blocking ability made him a unique and mutiple-threat prospect.


Jerry Krause - Bulls (GM)

Sam Hinkie - 76ers (GM)

Jalen Rose

* Test - MakeMeWannaShout
* ContinuityLockout
* ExecutiveMeddling

* Test - MakeMeWannaShout ContinuityLockout ExecutiveMeddling

* Test - MakeMeWannaShout ContinuityLockout

Jalen Rose

* '''De'Aaron Fox''' is a score-first PG for the Kings who selected him #5 overall (via the 76ers) in 2017 out of Kentucky. During his first few years in the league, he was a solid scorer and a quality starter... when healthy. He played in 60 or fewer games in four of his first five seasons while Sacramento extended its NBA-record playoff drought. Despite this, the Kings somewhat controversially signed Fox to a max contract in 2021. In the 2022-23 season, Fox stayed healthy and broke out, earning his first All-Star selection, winning the inaugural Clutch Player of the Year Award, and finally guiding the Kings back to the postseason.

* '''Elton Brand''' was a power forward selected #1 overall in 1999 by the Bulls out of Duke where he famously became the first player under coach Mike Krzyzewski to enter the NBA Draft before completing his full college eligibility. He broke out quickly, winning Rookie of the Year and averaging a double-double in each of the first five years of his career. Despite strong individual performances, the Bulls struggled overall and conflicts with management led to Brand being traded to the Clippers where he continued his strong play, earning two All-Star appearances and a Sportsmanship Award, while leading the team to its first playoff series win in franchise history. An Achilles tear in 2008 brought his Clippers tenure to an end and he signed with the 76ers where he continued to battle injuries and was amnestied in 2012. After bouncing around to three other teams as a bench player, he retired in 2016, entered the 76ers front office, and was named GM in 2018. Video game fans may recognize him as the namesake of the EasterEgg InfinityPlusOneSword "Eltonbrand" in ''VideoGame/TheElderScrollsIIIMorrowind'', where one of the developers (Mark Nelson) was a huge Duke fan.

Elton Brand

* '''Thomas Robinson''' was a power forward/center selected #5 overall by the Kings in 2012 out of Kansas where he exploded in his junior season as a double-double machine and led the Jayhawks to a Final Four appearance. As a rookie, he badly struggled coming off the bench with his most notable act being hitting an opposing player in the throat, earning him a two game suspension. He was traded mid-season to the Rockets having ''never started a game'' for the Kings, and likewise never started in Houston. He played for four other teams over the next three seasons before moving on to play internationally, his 4.9 PPG among the worst ever for a top five pick in the lottery era. He was selected ahead of Damian Lillard and Draymond Green (making it the third time the Kings passed on one of the Warriors dynastic "Big Three" for a bust at the same position).

Thomas Robinson

* '''Charles Oakley''' was a power forward with a [[LongRunner 19-year career]] over four different teams, most prominently spending a decade with the Knicks through the '90s. Drafted #9 overall in 1985 out of D-II HBCU Virginia Union by the Bulls (via the Cavs), "[[RedBaron Oak Tree]]" earned his nickname with a no-nonsense attitude and quality defensive play. He also acted as a bodyguard on the court for the young UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan, intervening in fights and protecting him from cheap shots. With the development of Horace Grant at the same position, Oakley was traded to the Knicks in '89 where he continued his steady play and acted in a similar role toward Patrick Ewing. However, his Knicks could never make it past the Jordan Bulls in the playoffs and lost in the '94 Finals during Jordan's first retirement. He was traded to the Raptors in '99, where he again acted as a protector and BigBrotherMentor to a rising star in Vince Carter. He finished his career with short stints on three other teams, including a brief return to the Bulls before retiring in 2004. In 2017, he was involved in an incident at Madison Square Garden while attending a Knicks game where he allegedly had a verbal altercation with reviled owner James Dolan and was ejected. (Dolan's version of events contained additional, likely fabricated, allegations toward Oakley.) Fans and media rallied to support Oakley who sued Dolan and MSG for defamation and slander, ultimately ending any relationship with the Knicks organization and canceling plans to retire his jersey.

* '''Horace Grant''' was a power forward drafted #10 overall in 1987 by the Bulls (five picks after they selected Scottie Pippen) who became a key contributor to their first three-peat championship run. Sporting big goggles for his myopia (which became such an IconicItem that he continued to wear them even after having LASIK surgery), he quickly developed into a defensive star (earning four NBA All- Defensive Team selections) while taking over for Charles Oakley as UsefulNotes/MichaelJordan's "bodyguard" on the court by intervening in fights and protecting him from cheap shots. After Jordan's first retirement, Grant emerged as the Bulls #2 star behind Pippen and set career highs in points, rebounds, and assists while making his sole career All-Star appearance. He moved onto the Magic as a free agent in '94 where he made another Finals appearance, was traded to the Super Sonics in '99, reunited with his Bulls coach Phil Jackson on the Lakers in 2000 where he won a fourth championship, and bounced around before retiring in '04. Grant currently serves as a special advisor to the Bulls. On a more infamous note, he has long been alleged to be the main source for the controversial book "The Jordan Rules" which painted Jordan as a team bully and brought his gambling habits to public attention, souring his relationship with Jordan. His twin brother '''Harvey Grant''' also had a long NBA career with the Bullets and Trail Blazers.

* '''Jaylen Brown''' is one of the current stars of the Celtics, who selected him #3 overall in 2016 (via Brooklyn[[note]]with one of the multiple high draft picks the Nets sent in exchange for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett years prior[[/note]]) out of California. Initially a small forward, he kicked out to shooting guard when the Celtics acquired Jayson Tatum in 2017, becoming one of the larger guards in the league and the #2 star on the team behind Tatum. He made his first All-Star appearance in 2021 (in which he holds the career record for PPG) and has been a major component of Boston's success in the years since. A GeniusBruiser, he was infamously derided as "too smart to play in the NBA" by some scouts prior to the draft, became an MIT Lab Fellow while an active player, and was voted the NBAPA's youngest ever vice president at just 22. Jaylen's father is former boxing champion Marselles Brown.

Jerry Krause - Bulls (GM)

Sam Hinkie - 76ers (GM)

Thomas Robinson

Jaylen Brown