Along with Mewtwo, Mew is one of the original and most recognized legendary Pokémon. It has appeared in tons of crossover games and is very sought after by Pokémon gamers, card collectors, and those who just like it because it's cute.
A mechanic in the games that makes Mew unique is that it can learn nearly every single teachable move. That is very powerful and has endless possibilities in terms of strategy in Pokémon battles.
Being one of the first legendary Pokémon has given Mew quite the reputation and there is actually a lot of trivia most do not know about the adorable creature. Here is what we have found.
10 Mew Was A Little-Known Secret At First
When Pokémon Red and Green were first released in Japan, very few people who worked at Nintendo actually knew that Mew was in the game. This is because Mew was added just two weeks before game development finished!
"We put Mew in right at the very end," said Shigeki Morimoto, who created Mew. "The cartridge was really full and there wasn’t room for much more on there. Then the debug features which weren't going to be included in the final version of the game were removed, creating a minuscule 300 bytes of free space. So we thought that we could slot Mew in there. What we did would be unthinkable nowadays!"
9 It's The Only Gender-Less Pokémon That Can Learn Captivate & Attract
Like many legendary Pokémon that came over it, Mew is neither male or female. When it comes to certain battle moves, this can complicate things since there are some moves that influence a Pokémon based on gender.
Since Mew can learn almost any move in the game, it is the only gender-less one that can learn gender-based moves like captivate and attract. Typically these moves only work if they are used on a Pokémon of the opposite gender. In the case of Mew though, it will only work on other gender-less Pokémon such as Ditto or Staryu. So while being gender-less and able to learn those moves is awesome, it may not be the best move to teach Mew strategy-wise.
8 Mew's Stats Are Perfectly Balanced
Without taking nature into account, Mews stats are perfectly equal. Each of its traits - HP, Attack, Defense, Special Attack, Speed, and Special Defense - will hit 100 at max level. While it means Mew will not be an expert in a single area, it is well rounded for any technique.
This began a tradition of each generation having a legendary Pokémon having with equal base stats. Today, Mews stats are more on par with "pseudo legendary" Pokémon like Lucario and Dragonite rather than regular legendaries.
7 There Is A Theory That Ditto Are Failed Mew Clones
This is one of the more popular assumptions out there among the ocean that is Pokémon theories. Fans have gathered evidence that Ditto could be the result of an experiment gone wrong to clone Mew. They were made before Mewtwo.
The evidence is actually pretty convincing. Both are pink, gender-less, have the same height and weight, can naturally learn the move Transform, have the same shiny colors, have perfectly balanced stats, and - in the original games - both of them could only be found on Cinnabar Island.
6 There Are Few Legitimate Ways To Get Mew
Back in the day, the internet was full of rumors on how to obtain Mew. Most were illegitimate or outright fantasy, such as finding Mew under a certain truck.
Most players had to get Mew through hacking, special events, or trading with someone else who hacked the game or attended a special event. There are less used ways that implement glitches, but those have been so mixed with false rumors that a lot of players do not bother. Luckily though, more recent games have made obtaining a Mew much easier.
5 Can Learn Every TM & HM Move
This fact is one of the most attractive aspects of Mew for competitive players. Lore-wise, Mew is said to have the DNA of all Pokémon and that all Pokémon came from Mew. This is why Mew is able to learn so many moves of all types. Due to this, most official Pokémon tournaments ban the use of Mew.
The only moves that Mew cannot use are exclusive to very certain Pokémon. These include skills like Blast Burn, Frenzy Plant, Hydro Cannon, Rock Wrecker, Draco Meteor, and Sacred Fire.
4 Is Tied With Muk For Shortest Pokémon Name
With a lot of Pokémon out there, way more than the original 151, it is some significant trivia to know Mew has one of the shortest names. The only other that shares the title is Muk. Both are from the original Kanto generation too.
Of course, you are now curious as to which has the longest name, right? Well, that would be Fletchinder!
3 Pokémon: The First Movie Was The USA's Highest-Grossing Anime Film Of Its Time
Mew brought in the big bucks as one of the stars of Pokémon: The First Movie. The film made about $163,644,662 worldwide. This made it the highest-grossing anime film in the United States at the time and the fourth highest-grossing animated film based on a television show worldwide. While many more Pokémon films were made after, none were as successful.
A theory regarding the film's popularity with kids is that Mew was cute and attractive to little girls while Mewtwo's power and coolness impressed the little boys.
2 It's Unclear How Many Mews There Are In The Anime
When it comes to games, there will always be an uncountable amount of Mews. However, what about the lore? In the anime, how many Mews actually exist? There is no denying that they are as rare in the anime as they are in the games, so there are likely very few.
Besides the first movie, a Mew also appears in the 8th film, Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, but we never learn if the Mew from that movie is the same one from the first. We do know that Mew is not a one of a kind Pokémon since scientists have used a Mew fossil for their experiments.
1 Mew Contradicts Arceus
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There are many sources in Pokémon media that Mew is the original Pokémon to which all others have descended from. However, there another legendary that claims to have created the entire universe, Arceus. Therefore, wouldn't Arceus then be the original Pokémon instead? Did Arceus or Mew come first?
This paradox has been widely discussed among Pokémon lore fans. There is a very interesting theory that both of them were first and Mew just split Arceus into many Pokémon. That is just one of many theories fans have thought up. The real answer is unknown for now.