Missingno
The infamous glitch
Missingno is known as "glitch Pokémon," and they happen because of something weird in the programming of Pokémon Red and Blue . This is why Missingno can sometimes look like a messed up barcode, and why it has a type that doesn't actually exist in the game. In addition to that, while all of those sprites might have different characteristics from one another, the most famous type of Missingno—the backwards L-shaped one—can sometimes appear well over the normal level 100 limit placed by the game, and it knows the move "water gun" not once, but twice. The ghost and fossil versions of Missingno, meanwhile, have movesets that are determined based on Pokémon that a player has in their party. The version of Missingno that players encounter in the game depends on the player's in-game name. Finally, none of these Pokémon can evolve, though funnily enough, Missingno has the highest base attack stat in Red and Blue, as well as the lowest base defense stat.
Unless you're actively looking for Missingno, chances are slim that you'd ever encounter the glitch randomly, especially if you don't have the right in-game name. But, you can go hunting for the Pokémon through something known as the "old man glitch."
Here's what you need to do.
Way to surf in Cinnabar Island Old man you need to talk to before searching for Missingno Battle scene with Missingno
Unless you're actively looking for Missingno, chances are slim that you'd ever encounter the glitch randomly, especially if you don't have the right in-game name. But, you can go hunting for the Pokémon through something known as the "old man glitch."
Here's what you need to do.
- Talk to a man found in the northern part of Viridian City, a location in Pokémon Red and Blue.
- You'll want to let him teach you how to catch a Pokémon
- Fly to Cinnabar Island
- From there, you need to surf on the eastern coast of the island. The trick is that you can't go off into the water—you have to keep "surfing" on the land touching the water, like so
Way to surf in Cinnabar Island Old man you need to talk to before searching for Missingno Battle scene with Missingno
While doing this, you might encounter random Pokémon with all sorts of wild levels—but occasionally, you might encounter Missingno.
And you can find a breakdown of what letters in a player's name leads to what specific Pokémon appearing while surfing here. If you want the 'classic' Missingno, however, Bulbapedia says it'll appear "if the character in the third, fifth, or seventh slot of the player's name is the end-name marker, G, H, J, M, S, T, :, ], a, b, c, m, o, p, or v."
A side effect of encountering Missingno is that the sixth item in a player's bag will be multiplied. Want more than a hundred Master Balls, or more than a hundred Rare Candies? Try the Missingno glitch.
Nintendo was questioned about Missingno in an interview
"MissingNO is a programming quirk, and not a real part of the game. When you get this, your game can perform strangely, and the graphics will often become scrambled. The MissingNO Pokémon is most often found after you perform the Fight Safari Zone Pokémon trick.
To fix the scrambled graphics, try releasing the MissingNo Pokémon. If the problem persists, the only solution is to re-start your game. This means erasing your current game and starting a brand new one."
Four of Five possible ways to see Missingno
And you can find a breakdown of what letters in a player's name leads to what specific Pokémon appearing while surfing here. If you want the 'classic' Missingno, however, Bulbapedia says it'll appear "if the character in the third, fifth, or seventh slot of the player's name is the end-name marker, G, H, J, M, S, T, :, ], a, b, c, m, o, p, or v."
A side effect of encountering Missingno is that the sixth item in a player's bag will be multiplied. Want more than a hundred Master Balls, or more than a hundred Rare Candies? Try the Missingno glitch.
Nintendo was questioned about Missingno in an interview
"MissingNO is a programming quirk, and not a real part of the game. When you get this, your game can perform strangely, and the graphics will often become scrambled. The MissingNO Pokémon is most often found after you perform the Fight Safari Zone Pokémon trick.
To fix the scrambled graphics, try releasing the MissingNo Pokémon. If the problem persists, the only solution is to re-start your game. This means erasing your current game and starting a brand new one."
Four of Five possible ways to see Missingno