Starmie is anechinodermPokémon that resembles two violetstarfish with faceted skin and five appendages each. The front starfish has a golden formation in the center. In the center of the golden casing is its red jewel core, an exterior organ which can glow in seven colors and has developed to resemble a cut precious stone. The second starfish is semi-attached to the back of the first and can spin 360 degrees. This rotational action is how Starmie swims through the ocean. It can also launch itself out of the water and fly through the air for short periods, as seen inPokémon Snap.
From its core, Starmie can emit electrical waves that are powerful enough to reach the furthest parts of the universe. The multi-color glowing of its core is also believed to be a method of communication with other members of its species. As seen in thePokémon the Series: The Beginning episodeThe Water Flowers of Cerulean City, the core will go dark if Starmie is knocked unconscious and will sometimes flicker if Starmie is low on health. Because of its body shape and habit of sending transmissions skyward, some people believe this Pokémon to beextraterrestrial. It has been known to cause headaches on people when approached. It is rarely seen in thewild since it requires anEvolution stone toevolve, but it can be found in the deepest parts of theocean. It feeds by absorbing tiny plankton into its body while swimming, and it is preyed on byLumineon.
Mega Starmie's elongated limbs and lower body give it a more humanoid appearance, as well as being a slightly brighter shade of purple. It adopts humanlike stances and movements thanks to its limbs becoming more flexible, now able to bend its elbows and knees, walk, and sprint. Four prongs on the core's gold casing become longer, resembling an "X". The tips of Mega Starmie's legs are stumpy and somewhat squished, resembling feet. InPokémon Horizons: The Series and in its official artwork, Mega Starmie's body is shown to be distinctly glossy.
It is unclear whether Mega Starmie’s attempts to imitatehumans are done in an effort to communicate with humanity or to supersede it outright. As shown in thePokémon Horizons: The Series episodeHZ122, it is able to survive the harsh conditions of outer space unassisted.
Pokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon: A Starmie appears on the northernmost beach onRoute 15 alongside aFisherman. According to theTrainer, the Starmie has been competing in staring contests against various Pokémon for a week. It had most recently beaten aCorsola andSlowpoke and refuses to leave the beach until it is dethroned. If theplayer presents a Pokémon that knowsTickle, the player's Pokémon will use the move against the Starmie, forcing it to lose the staring contest. The Fisherman gifts the player aComet Shard for their trouble.
In the spin-off games
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity: Starmie runs the Sunken Treasure mini-game inPokémon Paradise. In this mini-game, the player collects black, blue and red treasure chests by tilting their Nintendo 3DS.Chinchou and rocks appear as obstacles in this mini-game, and touching them deducts one treasure chest, starting with black chests. Unlike Treasure Boxes obtained from dungeons, they are opened upon obtaining. Starmie's mini-game can be played once every in-game day.
The center section of its body is called the core. It glows in a different color each time it is seen.(Pokémon Red, Silver, or Crystal inserted) Regardless of the environment it lives in, its body grows to form a symmetrical geometric shape.(Pokémon Blue, Gold, or Yellow inserted)
Starmie's center section - the core - glows brightly in seven colors. Because of its luminous nature, thisPokémon has been given the nickname “the gem of the sea.”
Starmie swims through water by spinning its star-shaped body as if it were a propeller on a ship. The core at the center of thisPokémon's body glows in seven colors.
Starmie's center section—the core—glows brightly in seven colors. Because of its luminous nature, this Pokémon has been given the nickname "the gem of the sea."
Starmie swims through water by spinning its star-shaped body as if it were a propeller on a ship. The core at the center of this Pokémon's body glows in seven colors.
Starmie’s core will sometimes glow with the seven colors of the rainbow. It’s said that the light and signals it emits are its way of communicating with outer space.
Rudy's Starmie also appears in the manga. Like in the animated series, Starmie battledAsh's Squirtle, and gave the Tiny Turtle Pokémon trouble with itsThunderbolt attack.
Misty's Starmie first made a cameo inGyarados Splashes In! in itsPoké Ball. It, however, debuted later inSuddenly Starmie, where it defeatedRed in theCerulean Gym. It allowed her to read and pass on a Pokémon's thoughts using an ancient language that can be easily decoded.
Misty sent out her Starmie for Satoshi's second Gym battle challenge inPZ03. However, it could not battle him as Satoshi had trouble dealing with water, and the battle was officially called off.
When released from a Poké Ball, Starmie floats to the closest opponent and barrages them withSwift. Each hit does 3% damage, and touching Starmie itself does 12% damage. It has been replaced by its pre-evolved form Staryu in all future releases, in which it performs the same function.
Staryu was programmed to learn Egg moves inGold and Silver, but these moves were unobtainable because both Staryu and Starmie aregender unknown and so could only breed withDitto. These moves were removed inCrystal.
Staryu, Starmie, andMew are the only Pokémon species that aregender unknown but can legitimately learnAttract inGeneration II. This move has no effect when used by these Pokémon.
In the Japanese-exclusivePokémon Stadium, Starmie seems to have originally been a lot more rubbery than it is now, as its limbs stretch whenever it is hit.
Mega Starmie's base stat total is 140 points higher than its non-Mega Evolved form. That makes Starmie one of three Pokémon that gain more than 100 base stat points uponMega Evolving inPokémon Legends: Z-A, alongsideMedicham andMawile (whose stats were reworked due to the game lackingAbilities).
In Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Mega Starmie has the highest base stat total of any non-Legendary, non-Mythical, and non-pseudo-legendary Mega Evolution, at 660.
Given its ties to outer space and ability to emit light, Starmie may also be based on literalstars andmeteors. It is also reminiscent of ornatejewelry, with its central core resembling afaceted gem mounted inside a goldenprong setting. The standard color of its gem resembles aruby, while its Shiny color resembles asapphire. Its tendency to rapidly spin its body is reminiscent ofshuriken andpropellers.
Starmie’s ability to learn various beam attacks and the gem in the middle acting like a heart might also be a reference to theUltraman series, where Ultra Warriors have similar gems on their chests that start flashing when they are weak, just like Starmie's gem as shown inPokémon the Series. The possibleUltraman reference is further supported by Mega Starmie's humanoid appearance.
Mega Starmie may also reference the 1956 filmWarning from Space, in which one of the starfish-like Pairan aliens assumes a human form to communicate, much like Mega Starmie. Its humanoid appearance may also be a visual pun on 人手hitode (starfish), which can be translated as "human hand". The two longer arms it uses as legs could also reference theregenerative qualities of real starfish, which can lose arms and later regrow them, with the new arms starting out smaller before gradually matching the size of the others.
Name origin
Starmie may be a combination ofstar andmystery. Its name in English may also involveme (in opposition to theyou inStaryu). The name Starmie may also refer to ミミーMimī, theearly design of Staryu from the originalCapsule Monsters concept.
This Pokémon article is part ofProject Pokédex, aBulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each Pokémon species, as well as Pokémon groups and forms.
Silver Leaf (100%)
Stardust (50%)
Star Piece (5%)
For other sprites and images, please seeStarmie images on the Bulbagarden Archives.
