Magnemite Family
After a long hiatus, Character Critiques is back to continue Pokémon reviews!
Just as quickly as the concept was introduced, the Pokédex highlights another sentient creature built out of otherwise inanimate objects. Whereas Geodude is constructed out of natural rock, Magnemite is comprised of man-made parts.
If you ask me, Magnemite still isn’t the most exciting “everyday object” Pokémon you can find. It’s yet another ridiculously bare-bones design. But at the very least, Magnemite gives a small taste of the themes Game Freak is willing to explore for their characters.
In this case, Magnemite is a mechanoid of unknown origin that takes advantage of human technology. As the giant magnets on its sides give away, Magnemite harnesses electromagnetism both as a defense mechanism and as a food source. It can generate its own gravity-defying magnetic field, or discharge a dangerous electrical shock to intruders. Its most significant interaction with humans is clustering together in groups and causing widespread power outages from overloaded wires.
As far as lore goes, that’s the full extent of Magnemite’s biography. Personally, I wish there was more behind this character. The Pokédex speaks of the Pokémon’s behaviors, but nothing of its origin. It doesn’t even make references to the lack of information.
Was Magnemite created by humans? Did some science fiction mumbo jumbo cause electricity to gain sentience and house itself in a robotic shell of its own creation? Even more, why does Magnemite randomly appear on ancient carvings for promotional material of the trading card game?
Why (at least in my research) is this almost never mentioned in the games or even the Animé?
Now, Bulbapedia claims that AZ references Magnemite during his plot dump in X and Y Versions, but I honestly have no memory of that happening. Allegedly, this Pokémon is at least 3,000 years old, but such a detail must have been treated as insignificant in those games. Regardless if it’s true, it still doesn’t explain how Magnemite came to exist, especially before Phillip’s head screwdrivers were invented.
With such a plain biography and only its looks to go off of, I don’t find Magnemite a particularly interesting, nor offensively terrible design. Arguments can be made in favor and against the incredibly simple shapes it’s comprised of. Magnemite’s body is a generic perfect sphere, with Phillip’s head screws and basic u-shaped magnets tacked on. It has the signs of a slapdash character design, yet it doesn’t anger me that Game Freak took such an approach. A part of me feels like the clash of basic parts is the point of its design, as if this metallic being gathered whatever scrap it could find to build itself.
Again, the lack of a proper backstory can make it feel like I’m writing excuses for Magnemite’s bare-bones design. As such, I don’t feel obliged to defend this character as secretly being a masterpiece. I fully admit that its simplicity is reason enough to love or hate it.
Another oddity about Magnemite is that the video games actually contradict a part of its restricted lore. In several instances, the Pokédex explicitly talks of Magnemite floating in the air. Logically, this should prevent it from being touched by Ground-type attacks, similar to Pokémon who have the ability Levitate. However, no such skill naturally exists for Magnemite, meaning its Electric-Steel typing is quadruple weak to Ground attacks.
Luckily, there’s a small silver lining to this discrepancy. Since the Generation IV games, Magnemite can learn a move called Magnet Rise and temporarily gain an immunity to Ground attacks. It sounds like a clever compromise to fix a small (yet significant) plot hole.
However, it’s worth noting that Pokémon are limited to how many attacks they know at once. This means that not every Magnemite will have Magnet Rise. So no, Magnemite isn’t just born to automatically float like the Pokédex claims. Many of them will still crumble to a well-timed Earthquake, just like all of the fish Pokémon that can inexplicably hover (and no, I won’t let that go. Where’s the consistency, Game Freak? Huh? HUH?)
So far, I’ve been talking nothing but smack about all of Magnemite’s shortcomings. There is one feature of its design I like, and I don’t want it to go without discussion. Despite being a creature of metal construction, its single eye can actually express emotions as if it’s an organic being. They’re very basic expressions, but they get the point across clearly.
Personally, the best memory I have of Magnemite is its appearance in Pokémon Snap. Offering it an apple brings out its personality, as it displays its gratitude through an adorable dance!
Pokémon Snap gives a rare glimpse of what Game Freak has sort of done with Magnemite. It has the capacity to be more than “just” a machine. This concept also exists in the current games, but only if you bother to interact with it in the Poké-Amie or Poké Refresh mini games. Magnemite’s personality is hidden away as an Easter egg, rather than clearly communicated in most of its animations. Machines becoming self-aware with feelings is a heavily used trope in science fiction, but one that would still be fun on Magnemite if only Game Freak emphasized it better.
If nothing else, Magnemite’s design is efficient in depicting a mechanical Frankenstein’s monster. It’s not a design I’d award a medal for, but I can see the appeal behind it.
"Meh"
This review simply cannot continue without addressing the elephant in the room. Once again, a Pokémon has been duplicated a couple times and treated as a full “evolution.” Welcome to Pokémon design philosophy in 1995.
I don’t actually hate the idea behind Magneton. Like a swarm of insects, three Magnemite have clustered together to strengthen their powers. Magneton’s silhouette is far more interesting than Magnemite’s, but the quick copy-paste job to its design completely undermines whatever it’s going for.
3 Digletts being called “Dugtrio” is silly and charming in the context of it pretending to be a Whac-a-Mole. 3 Magnemites being called “Magneton” is a great pun, but pathetic to look at.
There’s no doubt in my mind that, had Magneton been introduced after Generation I, it would have been treated as an “alternate” form, rather than an anticlimactic evolution. Previously, I’ve mentioned how today’s Pokémon can effortlessly swap attributes in battle, but Game Freak only cares about implementing such concepts on their newer Pokémon. Magnemite simply evolves into Magneton at level 30 because that’s been the norm for twenty years, and I doubt it will ever change.
Personally, I’d find it thematic for Magnemite to generate a field with Magnet Rise and attract others of its kind, causing it to swap over to its “Magneton Form.” After the effect dissipates, so too would the additional Magnemite. Plus, this extra form wouldn’t interfere with its ability to evolve into Magnezone (as I’ll discuss later) if the battle ends with it still in “Magneton Form.”
I tried my hardest to avoid writing a one-sentence liner of, “Magneton is a lazy and stupid design.” The real problem is that its concept – however simple – just isn’t integrated well in the franchise. In my time writing Character Critiques, I’ve noticed two factors that have a huge impact on a character’s appeal: personality and lore. If a character is lacking in both of those departments, they come across as an afterthought from the artist. Magneton shouldn’t be a basic level-based evolution to Magnemite that brings nothing else to the table. It needs more effort behind it to not feel like such a lazy design.
Thumbs Down
It took three generations of Pokémon, but Magneton eventually earned a much-needed facelift with the option to evolve into Magnezone. I don’t know if this was a design that fans of Magneton were wanting when Diamond and Pearl Versions were revealed, but I’ve personally grown to like it for what it is.
Here, the three Magnemites have physically melded to each other, resulting in a discernable flying saucer shape! Magnezone may not be drawn in the sleekest or most fashionable way (it looks like a childproofed toy robot), but I find its appearance loads better than Magneton’s copy-paste job. It looks silly, but there’s a charm to it being as such. Since Magnemite isn’t explicitly trying to appear “cool” or “edgy,” it can get away with evolving into something campy.
Of the smaller features, I love Magnezone’s central red eye, and how the other two Magnemite retain their original design. The ridge that circles Magnezone’s body breaks up its silhouette and makes for an eye-catching detail.
Magnezone’s Pokédex entries don’t add much to its family’s biography, but there is one amusing detail. Apparently, no Pokémon scientist has figured out exactly what Magnezone’s yellow antenna is transmitting or receiving. At last, the Pokédex admits that this evolutionary line has a lot of unsolved mysteries. If a character is purposefully designed to be a mystery to the audience, I believe it helps to bring it up in the lore. Otherwise, not saying anything at all can create plot holes – like the technologically advanced Magnemite showing up on ancient tablets for no rhyme or reason.
A major gripe I have with Magnezone is actually the antenna itself. I find its bright yellow color incredibly distracting to the rest of its design. It’d be better if it was black or grey to match the rest of Magnezone’s color palette. Since no other part of its body is colored yellow, the antenna sticks out like a sore thumb.
My other complaint is that Magnezone is borderline infuriating to obtain in the video games. Trading a Pokémon or using a specific stone to make it evolve is one thing. Forcing a player to find a specific boulder that only appears in a single room of one (and only one) location in the entire game, and leveling up Magneton near that boulder to evolve it into Magnezone, is a tad ridiculous. Worse still, this boulder was literally absent in a couple games, namely HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions, making Magnezone impossible to obtain through normal means. This isn’t the only Pokémon to pull such a stunt, either, so this topic is guaranteed to resurface in a later review.
All that aside, Magnezone is still a decent addition to its evolutionary line. It looks a little silly, but I don’t think it’s entirely out of left field, especially when placed next to Magnemite and Magneton. Magnezone isn’t one of my top favorite character designs, but I appreciate it for what it is.
Thumbs Up!
