A Pokemon fan discovered a random factoid about Zubat that even old school Pokemon fans missed. The Reddit user /u/CatHoodHero recently pointed out that the mouth of Zubat’s sprite in the original Pokemon games is shaped like a bat. Although it’s not very noticeable at first, superhero fans in particular will eventually notice that Zubat’s gaping maw and fangs resembles a stylized bat silhouette that looks almost identical to that of a logo of a certain Dark Knight that runs around in Gotham City. While it’s not a perfect match (Zubat’s mouth lacks the pointy ears of Batman’s symbol), it doesn’t take too long to see the resemblance, especially when it’s pointed out.
You can check out an extreme close-up of Zubat’s mouth below to get a better look of the bat within a bat:
Videos by ComicBook.com
Unfortunately, Zubat’s bat-symbol mouth is only present in Pokemon Red, Blue and Yellow. Game Freak updates its Pokemon sprites between generations, and the effect is ruined when Zubat’s head and mouth shifts into a different position. This especially became true after Pokemon Diamond & Pearl, as the Pokemon has always been depicted from the side instead of from the front like it was in the older Pokemon games.
Zubat’s mouth is one of those “can’t unsee it” visual tricks that makes the Pokemon games so fun. The next time you want to impress your old school Pokemon fans, be sure to point out that Zubat is actually “two bats” and show them Zubat’s old sprite for a good laugh.
