Pokemon Fans Rediscover Poliwag’s Horrifying Anatomical Secret

Pokemon fans, you should know there is a downside to being too invested in the series. The franchise has kept millions entertained for decades now, but there is a dark side to Pokemon which few fans ever toe into. After all, the inspiration behind some of your favorite pocket monsters is not pleasant, and fans were grossly reminded of that as of late.

That’s right. If you thought Poliwag was just an adorable water-type creature, then think again. The Pokemon has been hiding a secret for years in plain sight which fans are finally realizing. Well, only fans who haven’t been listening to ComicBook.com’s official Pokemon podcast, A Wild Podcast Has Appeared!, where Christian Hoffer broke down the traumatizing details in a previous episode.

Recently, Pokemon historian Dr. Lava took to Twitter to further showcase one of the little-known facts about Poliwag. It turns out the monster’s distinct swirly stomach is not the cute design fans assumed. It turns out the swirl is really his intestinal track filled with excrement and organs.

“The swirl on Poliwag’s stomach is modeled after the intestinal tract a real-life tadpole. Gross,” Dr. Lava shared.

Of course, fans were horrified to learn this fact about Poliwag, one of the most innocuous of Pokemon. For those who did not know, tadpoles have their intestinal tracks coiled up at the bottom of their translucent bodies. Until they grow older, these tracks are fully visible, so it makes since Poliwag would have one. In their evolution chain, Poliwag would be the tadpole of Poliwrath, but don’t get things twisted! In the world of Pokemon, not even that final evolution does away with its swirly stomach, so Pokemon fans can gag over that as they will.

So, on a scale of 1 to 10, how horrified are you to learn about this Pokemon’s anatomy? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!