Mega Evolutions are beloved by Pokémon fans, but which ones are the coolest? Here are our favorite designs in the franchise.
When it comes to Pokémon, there are great ones, and then there are great looking ones. Unfortunately, these two categories don't always cross over. The most charming designs often end up never getting used because they're just, you know, bad.
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But that doesn't mean awesome Pokémon designs don't deserve recognition! Good or bad in battle, sometimes it's more important to go for the aesthetics. And when it comes to aesthetics, mega evolved Pokémon are way over the top, in an awesome way. Feast your eyes on this list of not necessarily the strongest mega-evolved Pokémon, but some of the best, most eye-catching mega designs in the series.
Mega Medicham's design is fairly minimal, adding only a few basic elements, but it just comes together well. It feels like that extra something normal Medicham was missing, which is arguably what all mega designs should strive for. Most notable are its many floating arms, which give the design a nice sense of balance.
The arms seem to imply that Medicham has finally reached the enlightened state it's been striving toward. Mega Medicham not only looks great, but it's also an incredible offensive Pokémon thanks to its ability Pure Power. Plus, it has good coverage with moves like Ice Punch and Thunder Punch.
The only thing scarier than a giant beetle is a flying giant beetle. The designers at Game Freak seem to understand this. For its mega evolution, Mega Pinsir sprouts wings and takes off into the air. Also, its eyes go a bit wild, as do the barbs on its horns. It's one of the more terrifying mega designs, but it's very cool looking, and it feels appropriate. Maybe Pinsir has always had these wings tucked away, it's just been waiting for the opportunity to use them.
Offensively, Mega Pinsir gets a lot of help from the ability Aerilate, as well as the moves Swords Dance and Return. However, its quadruple weakness to the Rock type is a major setback. Overall it's not bad, but far from great.
Mega Altaria takes the mediocre Altaria and turns it into a strong contender with an extremely unique typing: Dragon/Fairy. Its design features white, puffy tufts of feathers. The mega design retains what makes Altaria cute while enhancing its cool factor. Normal Altaria arguably looks a bit silly, but Mega Altaria looks like a dragon surrounded by billowing clouds.
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Also of note is its tail, which looks an awful lot like Articuno's tail. Maybe these two Pokémon have a shared ancestor? While it's not amazingly powerful, Mega Altaria is still a good choice in battle. That Dragon/Fairy typing is extremely solid. It also gets access to some great moves, including Dragon Dance and Roost.
Even without the evolution, a standard Mawile is pretty cool looking. From the front it has a cute bipedal appearance. It uses this form to hide the gigantic slavering maw sprouting from the back of its head. The way Mawile looks back at the viewer is reminiscent of a cool samurai pose, and its hakama-like pants seem to support this. If Mawile is a samurai, Mega Mawile is a grizzled dual-wielding veteran. Its giant, ragged mouths just look so cool.
Mega Mawile is notable. Not only is its design incredibly cool, it's an absolute powerhouse in battle, among the strongest Pokémon on this list. This is mainly thanks to its ability, Huge Power, coupled with the move Swords Dance.
Mega Beedrill improves on a design that was already excellent and iconic. With its mega form, its wings become more streamlined, and start to look like actual wasp wings. Its arm drills become larger and scarier, and it gains an extra set of drills at its sides. Finally, its main stinger becomes much larger, taking on the appearance of a power drill. Overall, the design is very intimidating, but also has a surprisingly pleasant sense of symmetry.
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Normal Beedrill is an extemely poor choice in battle. Mega Beedrill is better, but still not amazing. It gets the excellent Adaptability ability, vastly improving its damage output. Plus, it gets U-turn and Toxic Spikes, along with the necessary Speed to take advantage of these moves.
Rock/Fairy is a weird type combination, but Diancie wears it well. Mega Diancie takes the design and goes all out with it. Its rock turns into a set of big pink crystals which resemble a dress. The floating crystals beneath her body look like jewelry. To complete the design, Mega Diancie's flowing white sashes give it a beautiful, elegant appearance, like a crystaline goddess.
It's a very nice design that perfectly exemplifies the Fairy type. Mega Diancie is also a very strong Pokémon with a sound type combination, a high base power, coverage, and utility to boot. In particular, its move Stealth Rock makes it a valuable addition to any team.
When looking at Mega Slowbro, one might think "wow, that ice cream cone thing looks pretty stupid". And while it is indeed stupid, it's also charming and hilarious. For its mega evolution, the Shellder on Slowbro's tail grows large enough that Slowbro can climb inside, giving it a suit of armor. It's a fun relationship. It feels like Slowbro still doesn't care, even though now its entire body is being eaten. Instead, it's using the situation to its advantage.
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Sadly, while Mega Slowbro is more viable than Slowbro itself, it's just not in the same league as the other megas. Its ability Shell Armor makes sense thematically, but frankly, it's not the best ability. Regenerator is arguably much better, but Mega Slowbro doesn't get it, only regular Slowbro.
Banette is the creepy marionette Pokémon. Mega Banette is even creepier, with a more intense color scheme. Its zipper mouth multiplies into many zippers, pulling back to make its gray skin look more like an open robe. This hints at Banette's true form, which it keeps hidden behind a voodoo-doll exterior. The robe makes it look sort of like a powerful witch. And of course, its signature creepy smile is even wider in its mega form.
Though it's one of the coolest mega designs, Mega Banette is not particularly viable competitively. It does have an interesting ability in Prankster, but it's otherwise held back by its mediocre Speed. Beyond that, it just doesn't have the power it needs, and ends up relying on Destiny Bond to KO opponents.
Absol has always had a cool design. It's unmistakably goth, but also calls to mind yin and yang with its swirling black and white look. The red eyes are a great accent, making use of an iconic color scheme. Mega Absol goes way over the top with this look, in a good way. It has a wider stance, looking ready to pounce with its catlike hind legs. It gains a more impressive hair swoop, and a more furry appearance overall.
Oh, and it sprouts majestic eagle wings, big enough to make us wonder why it's not a Dark/Flying type. Mega Absol is far from a great choice competitively, but it does have a few things going for it. Swords Dance and Superpower always go well together, and Magic Bounce is a very fun ability.
Obviously, design is subjective, but it's hard to argue that Mega Ampharos' design is anything but amazing. Its flowing wooly locks conjure up images of hair metal. Its long tail sprouts wool as well, giving it a more cohesive sheep-like appearance. These changes represent the energy of mega evolution, but they're also a manifestation of Ampharos' new second typing: the Dragon-type. All in all, Ampharos might have the coolest, most eye-catching mega design of all.
Despite all that, it's also one of the weakest Megas to use in battle. It's incredibly slow, with almostnothing to compensate. It can be hard to justify using the only mega slot on a party for Mega Ampharos, especially since it's outclassed by Mega Manectric.
NEXT: Best Designed Pokémon, Ranked
James Austin (he/him) is a writer from the most haunted state in the U.S., Maine. When he's not ranking things for Dualshockers, he enjoys playing and designing tabletop RPGs.