| Machop, Machoke, and Machamp | |
|---|---|
| Series | Pokémon series |
| First game | Pokémon Red and Blue |
| Designed by | Ken Sugimori |
Machop, Machoke, and Machamp, known in Japan as Wanriky (ワンリキー Wanrikī), Goriky (ゴーリキー Gōrikī), and Kairiky (カイリキー Kairikī), are three Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Machop and its evolutions first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels. They have later appeared in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise.
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Machop, Machoke, and Machamp were three of several different designs conceived by Game Freak's character development team and finalized by Ken Sugimori for the first generation of Pocket Monsters games Red and Green, which were localized outside of Japan as Pokémon Red and Blue.[1][2] Originally called "Wanriky", "Goriky", and "Kairiky" in Japanese, Nintendo decided to give the various Pokémon species "clever and descriptive names" related to their appearance or features when translating the game for western audiences as a means to make the characters more relatable to American children.[3] While the three of them were originally to be known in English as Kara-Tee, Kung-Foo, and Ju-Doh in the beta version of Red and Blue, their names were changed. According to IGN, Machop, Machoke, and Machamp's names are derived from a combination of "macho" and "chop", "choke", and "champ", respectively.[4][5][6]
Machop, known as the Superpower Pokémon, are human-like bipedal creatures that have gray skin, with three brown ridges on top of its head. They have large eyes and also have small tails. Machop, though small, has enough strength to hurl an adult human.[7] Machop's special muscles will never tire or cramp no matter how long it trains.[7] Machop spend their time and energy practicing all different forms of martial arts and trying to improve their abilities.[8] Machop will lift boulders and Gravelers as if they were dumbbells in order to strengthen their bodies.[9] Machop live in mountains, in foreboding areas where they can hone their skills.[10] Although some travel the world to master different types of martial arts.[9]
Machoke is nicknamed as one of the bodybuilders of the Pokémon world, due to its humanoid appearance, huge muscles and the fact that it wears (what looks like) black Speedos. The belt around a Machoke resembles that of a professional wrestler and is worn as a means to keep Machoke's strength in check. It's been said that, without Machoke's belt, it would be considered very dangerous, but no one in the Pokémon world has ever tried to remove it to prove or disprove the theory. Machoke's thoroughly toned muscles are harder than steel. Machoke are very strong, and can lift heavy objects with one finger (particularly sumo wrestlers and dump trucks). Because of this, Machoke are often employed for manual labor in the Pokémon world.
Machamp is very similar in appearance to Machoke, except that Machamp has four arms instead of two. Machamp use the extra arms to deliver thousands of punches a minute, and can even execute moves so amazing they can knock the opponent over the horizon.
Machop and its evolutions first appeared in Pokémon Red and Blue and has appeared in every main title in the series following it including Red and Blue's remakes Pokémon Yellow and Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. Machamp are never encountered in the wild, although the previous evolution are frequently encountered at a wide variety of levels. Machamp can only be obtained by trading a Machoke to another copy of the game.[11] The three of them appear in other Pokémon games, including the Pokémon Pinball titles, Pokémon Trozei!, the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon titles, the Pokémon Ranger titles, and Pokémon Rumble. Machop by itself appears in Pokémon Channel and Machamp by itself appears in PokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure. In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Blue Rescue Team and Red Rescue Team, Machop is available Pokémon to be the main character. Pokémon Trading Card Game cards of Machop, Machoke, and Machamp were bundled with the Game Boy Advance accessory e-Reader and features a special code on it that, when all three cards are scanned into the e-Reader, allows users to play a mini-game featuring Machop punching rocks.[12]
Machop first appeared in the anime "The Punchy Pokémon". This Super Power Pokémon was the first opponent for Ash's Primeape in the P1 Grand Prix.[13] Dewford Gym Leader Brawly used a Machop to battle Ash in "Brave the Wave" and "Just One of the Geysers".[14][15] Machop was also in "Sitting Psyduck" when a Machop, Machoke and Machamp chased after Emily's run away Psyduck.[16] It also appeared in "Pikachu's Rescue Adventure" as one of the wild Pokémon who help the trainers' Pokémon and Elekid save the Exeggcute nests and Togepi in a storm.[17] A Machop also appears in "To Thine Own Pokémon Be True!".[18] Machop has also been seen in Pokémon Adventures manga as one of Brawly's Pokémon. Machoke has had relatively few anime appearances, most of which were in the Johto region, most notably in "Machoke, Machoke Man!", in which Machoke was Chuck's signature Pokémon, and shared a very close bond with its trainer.
IGN called Machop a decent Fighting type Pokémon though also that it is handicapped by its poor defense and speed. They added that players "shouldn't waste too much time on turning it into a major player in your team".[4] Destructoid's Jim Sterling included it in his list of the 30 "rubbish" Pokémon in Red and Blue. He wrote that it looked similar to the lizard from The Magic School Bus.[19] GamesRadar's Brett Elston wrote that Machop and its line were the antithesis of Abra and its line; where Abra focuses on Psychic powers, Machop and its line focuses on "brute strength". He adds that while it has some problems in this form, once it evolves it will become much stronger.[20] The Escapist's Keane Ng wrote that Machop was one of few examples in Red and Blue of Pokémon that are not of the "cute and/or cuddly variety" but not "muscle-bound monstrosities".[21]
IGN gave similar reception to Machoke as they did Machop; they wrote that Machoke was less effective than fellow Fighting types Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan.[4] IGN's Pokémon Chick wrote that Machoke was the "showiest" of the Fighting types and is "almost too humanoid for comfort". Despite this she called it a "force to be reckoned with".[22] Elston wrote that "you can't argue with its unchecked strength".[23] IGN wrote that Machamp has one of the highest attack stats in the game but still lacks defense, special, and speed stats along with a lack of "truly good" Fighting techniques which "handicaps what otherwise is a fighting powerhouse".[6] The Pokémon Chick wrote that the Pokémon Hariyama served as the only alternative to Machamp in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire if players "are sick to death" of it. She adds that she is "a tad sick of seeing Machamp all over the place".[24] IGN's Jack DeVries used Machamp as an example of the "terrible models" used in Pokémon Rumble and described it as having "four amputated nubs instead of arms".[25] GameSpy's Justin Leeper compared Machamp to the Mortal Kombat character Goro.[26] Elston wrote that "few Pokemon can match this brute's overpowering muscle".[27] While discussing the potential of a more masculine version of the Pokémon Lopunny, a GamesRadar staff member wrote that such a form would be a "Machamp-esque bunny".[28] Author Harry Schlesinger wrote that Machamp was popular among boys.[29] 1UP.com's called the Pokémon Timburr "Isshu's Machamp".[30] In a poll conducted by IGN, Machamp was voted as the 94th best Pokémon, where the staff stated that "Outside of Abra/Kadabra/Alakazam, the Machop/Machoke/Machamp series of Pokémon was my favorite evolution line", further elaborating that "I’ve always been a fan of fighting-based Pokémon, and to me nothing has come close to these wrestler-esque creatures". They went on to compare it to Timburr, Gurdurr, and Conkeldurr, stating "They don’t even come close".[31]