Luvdisc

Luvdisc (ラブカス, Rabukasu, Lovecus in original Japanese language versions) is a fictional species found in the Pokémon franchise. It was first introduced in the 2002 Game Boy Advance Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. Luvdisc has been received notably poorly due to its simplistic design and low stats.

Design and characteristics

Luvdisc lives on masses in shallow seas in the tropics. Luvdisc nests in both coral reefs and the branches of the coral-like Corsola Pokémon. During the spawning season, countless Luvdisc congregate at coral reefs, turning the waters pink. Luvdisc are said to shoot water at other Luvdisc to show a sign of love. It is a long held custom to give a Luvdisc to someone to express feelings of love. The Japanese name is a portmanteau of "Love" and "Discus", after the discus fish.

Appearances

Luvdisc first appeared in the Game Boy Advance Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire games and have appeared in every game in the series since. The Pokémon is quite common due to its low stats. Two Luvdisc play a major role in the episode "Luvdisc is Many Splendored Thing" of the Pokémon anime series.

Reception

Readers for IGN resulted in Luvdisc being ranked as the fourth worst Pokémon of all time. IGN's Jack DeVries wrote that "Luvdisc has sparked so man[y] "Worst Pokemon Ever" lists that we could run a "Top 10 Luvdisc Haters" as its own feature." He listed other flaws of it such as its heart shape, it being a "filler Water Type", and its "absolutely useless[ness]".^[1] Kat Bailey for IGN noted it as the worst Pokémon design introduced in Ruby and Sapphire. She added that it was the worst Pokémon overall and that it had a number of flaws, including uselessness in battle, it being so common, and it being "stunningly boring to look at." She added that "it deserves to remain the butt of every Pokemon joke for the rest of time."^[2] The Huffington Post‍ '​s Taylor Casti included it in his list of "20 weirdest, most random Pokemon that have been created since the beginning of the series." He suggested that the designers ran out of ideas for fish Pokémon and "someone just drew a heart."^[3] 1UP.com named Luvdisc the third "Lamest Pokémon" in the franchise, describing it as one of the "filler Pokémon" for the games and adding "...we'll just go on making fun of whoever thought a heart-shaped Pokémon was a good idea".^[4] 1UP.com's Michael Vreeland called it "oft-derided".^[5]

The Escapist's John Funk speculated that Alomomola was the evolution of Luvdisc and that Luvdisc was "perhaps the single dumbest-looking Pokemon of all time".^[6] IGN's Pokémon Chick called the designers "blasphemous" for how low its stats were and wrote that "it looks REALLY stupid".^[7] wrote that it was "inordinately fun to rip on because it sucks so bad in every sense of the word".^[8] An IGN editor wrote that we should "just forget Luvdisc even exists".^[9] In IGN's description of their Pokémon Face-Off, they wrote "who is the best? We don't know, but it sure as hell isn't Luvdisc".^[10] Early in its reveal, the Pokémon Alomomola was thought to be the evolution of Luvdisc.^[5] GamesRadar's Jake Magee included it in his list of the 20 laziest Pokémon designs. He criticized it for its simplistic design and suggested that the designers should have put fins or gills on it.^[11] Kotaku's Patricia Hernandez noted that Luvdisc was the worst Pokémon design people could cite for the quality of Ruby and Sapphire‍ '​s Pokémon, yet said that it was "kind of funny" and used it to suggest that Ruby and Sapphire had fewer bad designs than Pokémon Red and Blue.^[12]

References