With 150 Pokémon appearing in Pokémon Red & Blue, it’s hard to imagine the developers had the problem of having too many Pokémon ideas and needed to cull a few from the ranks. What’s even more impressive is that there were a few dozen that were ultimately pulled.
While this isn't an exhaustive list of the Pokémon cut from the games this does display some of the more interesting entries that could have made an appearance. What’s interesting is that many of these would go on to inspire later Pokémon added to the series.
10 Kabiin
This Pokémon is just plain weird, it only appeared in a sketch before it was scrapped from the game and it’s easy to see why they felt it would be a bad inclusion. This human-like head with attached limbs looks like a very unfortunate Jigglypuff.
It’s possible this was a joke, or a potential easter egg as the head is said to resembled the Pokémon game designer Koji Nishino. Fans have been wondering if this was in fact a legitimate inclusion at first what the potential attacks would have been.
9 Omega
With an epic sounding name, this Pokémon could’ve been one of the more powerful Pokémon on the generation I roster, ranking up there with Nidoking. It has a large bill shaped mouth, sort of like a duck's, with a body that has horns and spikes jutting out of its armored carapace.
Many fans have noted the similarities between this Pokémon and Aggron who has the same general shape, stance, and horns. It might have been cut for how similar it appeared to Nidoking and Nidoqueen or it just wasn’t a fully fleshed out creature at the time and needed some more thought put into it.
8 Buu
Fans have speculated this weird looking Pokémon might have served as a male counterpart to Jynx, much like Nidoking and Nidoqueen or the designers may have decided to switch it to a female at some point.
What’s interesting is that the Japanese names of Electabuzz and Magmar are Erebuu and Buubaa respectively suggesting there could have been an elemental trio between this Pokémon and the other two, similar to Evee transforming into Jolteon, Vaporeon, and Flareon. Ultimately Buu was scrapped or possibly redesigned into Jynx.
7 Deer/Diaa
Apart from the boring English name of Deer, this Pokémon looks genuinely interesting. It possesses features of a deer like antlers and hooves, but also possesses more reptilian traits like horns and scales. Given that it had both an English and Japanese name it’s likely this lasted a little longer on the drawing board before being cut.
Many fans believe this Pokémon would be the inspiration for Stantleer, who possesses many of the same deer-like qualities, though this could be entirely coincidental.
6 Crocky/Kurikkii
This eerie looking Pokémon was meant to resemble a bipedal crocodile with large bird-like eyes. It’s unclear if this would have been a water, grass, or normal type Pokémon. It’s likely this Pokémon was cut because of it’s strange appearance that would’ve made it a rough fit with the other Pokémon.
A number of Pokémon bear an uncanny resemblance to Crocky. Sandile has many of the same features but moves around on all fours, Krookodile matches the body better and walks upright but doesn’t have the large eyes, and possibly Totodile who is a little more broad with slightly smaller eyes.
5 Jag/Jaggu
Jag is an interesting looking shark Pokémon that looks like it would have fit in well with the other Pokémon in Pokémon Blue & Red but was cut for an unknown reason. It resembles a large shark with a spear on the ends of it’s nose, rather than the traditional snout or even the iconic hammerhead snout found in real life.
Many fans believe that the game designers would ultimatly use this Pokémon down the road and rename it to Sharpedo. Although Sharpedo lacks the obvious spear nose, it does bare many resemblances, though this could have coincidental as they’re both sharks.
4 Tigrette/Kotora
This fascinating Pokémon never made it to the final cut, but would have made for a great addition. Tigrette is a tiger with electrical abilities. Many fans feel the game is a little sparse on solid electrical Pokémon and this tiger could have made a welcome addition.
It’s possible developers cut it because there was already a cat Pokémon, Meowth, in the game. It could be this Pokémon was cut for appearing too similar to Pikachu, but some feel it may have been rejected in order to avoid the potential controversy of kids catching tigers in the wild and keeping them as trophies. A controversy they’d become embroiled in any way.
3 Minicorn/Puchiko
Ponyta and Rapidash have had a special place in the hearts of some gamers for being the only horses in the original games. They’ve both developed a dedicated fanbase and a considerable amount of fan art.
Given the widespread fandom of cute horses it’s strange the developers decided to cut the pre-evolved form of Ponyta, Minicorn. This Pokémon was created in the Pokémon fangame Pokémon Uranium and has been considered one of the more popular inclusions.
2 Meowsy/Konya
The Pokémon universe is no stranger to the presence of cute and cuddly Pokémon so Meowsy would’ve fit right in. The pre-evolved state of Meowth, Meowsy would have been a smaller kitten with unknown powers.
It’s unclear why Meowsy was scrapped as the popularity of cute Pokémon, such as Jigglypuff, Pikachu, or Clefairy, has only grown over time with the fan base. It also seems to be one Pokémon the game designers really wanted to include in their games as Meowsy would appear again on the drawing board for Pokémon Gold & Silver only to be scrapped again.
1 Gyarados
While the iconic water dragon was present in the final game, this version of Gyrados never made the cut. Instead of the familiar sea serpent characteristics everyone has come to love, this one would have made Gyrados absolute nightmare fuel.
Trading out the snake-like face for a more circular insect-like mouth would have made this a true terror of the deep. Perhaps concerned it would be too intimidating for kids this concept was utimately cut, although it would have been an entertaining moment for kids to have their doofy Magikarp transform into this monster.