The Pokemon franchise began in 1995 and it has grown in size and popularity ever since. It’s not just games that continue to be released for the series now, but films, TV shows, collectibles, and more. One of the most popular collectibles going on in the Pokemon community is the trading card game series.
The great thing about the TCG is that the artwork on the cards is created by a whole variety of artists, offering some beautiful and stunning images of beloved Pokemon. However, this also means that there are some rather strange looking cards out there too.
10 Bunnelby
This Bunnelby card is rather psychedelic looking, which is almost fitting as it presents itself as an almost Alice in Wonderland-like card with Bunnelby taking on the role of the March Hare. The move on this card is also called “Mad Party”, which is in keeping with this idea.
This card was part of the Pokemon Sword & Shield Darkness Ablaze expansion that released in 2020, and the artist is Tomokazu Komiya, who is known for creating quirky and strange illustrations for TCG.
9 Eevee GX
Eevee is one of the original 151 Pokemon from Pokemon Red & Blue, the first two titles that were set in the Kanto region. Eevee quickly became a fan-favorite, not just because of its adorable appearance, but because of its interesting branching evolutionary line.
That’s why this Eevee GX card is a little strange. Rather than utilize the Pokemon’s super cute design, the artist instead gave Eevee a really bizarre and unflattering expression that makes it rather less adorable. The bottom of the card lists the illustrator as Q-rais.
8 Sudowoodo
Some of the artwork on TCG cards is enough to give any player pause for thought as they are nightmare fuel. This Sudowoodo card from the EX Unseen Forces card series expansion that released in 2005 is particularly creepy.
The Sudowoodo on this card looks so unbelievably angry that anyone who sees this is sure to never look at the Pokemon the same way again. The artist for this card is Tomokazu Komiya, who often purposefully deforms the Pokemon in his images, or makes them appear strange in other ways.
7 Dedenne GX
Similar to the earlier Eevee card, this Dedenne TCG card gives this poor Pokemon a rather strange expression that looks as if it’s squashed up against a pane of glass, rather than presenting it as its otherwise adorable self.
This Dedenne GX card was released in 2019 as part of the Broken Bonds expansion set, but this particular version is the alternate art print card. The artist of this card is Kanahei, who has only worked on a handful of TCG designs.
6 Grimer
This Grimer card was part of the Aquapolis expansion that released in 2003. The weird thing about this card is Grimer’s expression, as it looks horrified. Even more disturbing is that Grimer appears to be frightened at the sight of whoever is viewing the card.
The artist for this card is Keiji Kinebuchi and he was one of the first 3D artists to be used for TCG artwork. Due to the technological limitations at the time that Kinebuchi first worked on TCG, the 3D images used on the cards were often rather simple.
5 Recall Trainer Card
The Recall Trainer card was released as part of the Gym Heroes expansion in 2000. It depicts a rather scary-looking Slowbro, which appears to have experiments being carried out on it, with some kind of hammer smashing down on a bulb that is attached to its head.
Between the clown-like expression on the Pokemon’s face and the strange situation, you probably won’t forget this card in a hurry. The artwork for this card is by the artist Sumiyoshi Kizuki, who has contributed work to many cards over multiple TCG expansions.
4 Clefairy
This Clefairy TCG card has a few weird things about it. Firstly, something is clearly up with Clefairy, likely as a result of some psychic move that the Hypno lurking in the background has used.
Secondly, due to Clefairy’s eyes being swirls, it’s actually really easy to mistakenly see this as a Jigglypuff card at first glance, as the two pokemon are very similar with their eyes being the main difference between the two. Lastly, is Clefairy in a graveyard? The artist for this card is Tomokazu Komiya. Interestingly, in the same series, there is a Hypno card that features a Clefairy in the background.
3 Imakuni?’s Doduo
At first glance, this card is particularly strange as it portrays a little cartoon man chasing after a Doduo that looks rather frightened. For those who aren’t aware, this character is Imakuni (often referred to as “Imakuni?”).
Imakuni is an eccentric Japanese musician that contributed to the music for the Pokemon anime series. He eventually went on to work on some of the games, books, and even did the artwork for some of the TCG cards, such as the one shown above.
2 Ditto
There’s something particularly unnerving about this Ditto TCG card. It shows a Ditto in the middle of transforming into a Pikachu, or one who has failed spectacularly at transforming properly. Either way, it’s creepy.
This Ditto card is a promo card, which in Japan was given to customers in select retailers when they purchased a Phantom Gate booster box. In America, it came as part of one of the Primal Clash Blister packs. The artwork is attributed to 5ban Graphics, a group of artists who have worked on a number of TCG cards.
1 Imakuni?
Imakuni resurfaces on a Pokemon TCG card again, but this time, he’s surprisingly in photo form, which is understandably rare for a TCG card given that its subjects are normally fictional. In fact, it was the first card to feature a photo and, as such, it has no credits for the illustrator.
You’re sure to raise a few eyebrows if you play this strange-looking card in a game. That’s if you even want to play it, as playing the card results in the player confusing their own active Pokemon.
NEXT: 10 Pokémon TCG Card Arts That Are Unlike All Others
