Mr. Mime: Behind the Makeup

In an attempt to face that which terrifies me the most, I’ve decided to focus this article on Mr. Mime and it’s prevolution, Mime Jr. Stand kindly by my side, dear reader, and perhaps we can make our way through this nightmare sandwich together. That, or we’ll both be driven mad; either way, at least we’ll have company.

The Mimes:
Evolution is the Universe's biggest crapshoot. It takes millennia for a creature to grow and develop and become the things we see every day... but the Mime family throws this supposition in the face of everything we think we know about evolution. Look at them: they're clowns. How does something come about naturally that looks like an artificial idea that has been created (in the grand scheme of the history of the Universe) relatively recently?

Let's try and figure that out. But first, a little exposition...

The History:
Miming is acting out a story through body motions without use of speech. The performance of pantomime originates at its earliest in Ancient Greece, with the name being taken from a single masked dancer called the “Pantomimus” (plural “pantomimi”, given here for no reason other than that the word makes me laugh). The earliest recorded evidence we have of mimes comes from the play Seven Against Thebes by the Greek playwright Aeschylus, who is known (suitably, I think) as the Father of Tragedy.

Because NOTHING about this is anything but tragic. 

The Creature:

Mime Jr.
(Pearl Dex): It likes places where people gather. It mimics foes to confuse them, then makes its getaway.
(Platinum Dex): It mimics the expressions and motions of those it sees to understand the feelings of others.

Mr. Mime
(Ruby/Sapphire Dex): Mr. Mime is a master of pantomime. Its gestures and motions convince watchers that something unseeable actually exists. Once it is believed, it will exist as if it were a real thing. 

The Mimes resemble human beings, but only just: two arms, two legs, and a face that contains the bare minimum of features necessary to still be considered as such. Moreso, they not only resembles a human, but a very particular kind of human: a clown. In fact, it wouldn't be incorrect to say that Mr. Mime resembles more of the idea of a clown than a real, human clown. (This is important.)

Mime Jr. is an expert at mimicry, a necessity if it wants to make it to maturity, since a Mime Jr. can only evolve into a Mr. Mime if it knows the move “Mimic”. In game, this just means that you have a Mime Jr. forever, but the real-life connotations imply that those who are not adept at mimicry will not survive. (Also important.)

Mr. Mime is able to emit force fields from its hands, and even create illusions that become reality if people begin to believe they exist. (Super, crazy important.)

The Breakdown:
The Mimes are Psychic type Pokémon: they are creatures of the mind. They can create illusions that only require belief to become reality. They are excellent mimics, and they enjoy being around people.

The Theory:
The Mimes are not flesh and blood creatures, or if they are now, they did not begin their existence that way. Thousands of years ago, they were simply formless psychic energy, drawn to, and perhaps fed by, the most prevalent source of psychic energy on the planet: human beings.

Then, one of them saw a play.

Probably somewhere like this

Something about the notion of the suspension of disbelief that is necessary to enjoy a play (Example: "Yes, I know that the actor playing Peter Pan is a girl, and Tinkerbell is just a candle; now shut up and watch the show.") drew the formless pre-Mimes.

"If they can believe in these people in makeup, what will stop them from believing in us?" might have thought one of the cleverer pre-Mimes. And so, it created an illusion. It might not have worked at first, requiring multiple tries in different forms with several different people, but eventually, one of them mimicked something just right when they landed on a form that someone believed in... and the rest is history.

They probably didn't look like they do now: the white-face-and-funny-hair clown image is fairly recent. Perhaps 2,000 years ago they resembled members of the Greek Chorus; then perhaps court jesters, or harlequins.

Nothing wrong with that. Not at all.



You can almost feel for these guys right around now, can't you? They just wanted to exist. As someone currently in the act of existing, I've got to admit it's a pretty good time. I can't really blame them. But there's one more thing that the Pokedex says that you should probably know about before you go believing in Mr. Mimes all willy-nilly:

Mr. Mime
(LeafGreen Dex): If interrupted while it is miming, it will suddenly DoubleSlap the offender with its broad hands. 

It could just be that these guys are really in to performing, and consider it rude when people come along and interrupt them. But we've already established that they probably need belief to exists (maybe it's like, I don't know, a FOOD SOURCE), and people are more likely to suspend disbelieve during a performance. If you interrupt the believing, they get violent. In fact, there's a 12.5% chance that they'll DoubleSlap you five times.

My point is, that they're getting to like existing so much that they'll get violent if anyone gets in the way of that goal. What happens when we don't want to believe anymore? Are the Mr. Mimes of the world going to unite, go all Catholic School and beat the belief back in to us?

And here's another scary thought: what happens when a Mr. Mime learns to believe in itself? Will they even need us anymore?

So there you have it, Dear Reader: that smiling exterior hides a dark, chewy center that will do anything to survive, and whose food source comes out of your head. Perhaps these are just the paranoid ramblings of someone with too much time on his hands... but perhaps they aren't so paranoid, and now you know to be on the lookout. And as the man said, Dear Reader: knowing is half the battle.