User:Bearsona/Poliwhirl

Poliwhirl (ニョロゾ), is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. Created by Ken Sugimori, Poliwhirl first appeared in the video games Pokémon Red and Blue and subsequent sequels. They have later appeared in various merchandise, spinoff titles and animated and printed adaptations of the franchise.

Design and characteristics
As a child, Satoshi Tajiri collected insects and other small animals around his Machida, Tokyo home. Tajiri drew inspiration for Poliwhirl from the tadpoles that he collected; the swirl on the Pokémon's stomach comes from Tajiri's memories of being able to see tadpoles' intestines through their transparent skin.

Poliwhirl's English name came from a combination of the word "tadpole" and "whirl"; the later half of the animal name was combined with the symbol on Poliwhirl's stomach.

Poliwhirl can evolve into either of two other Pokémon: Poliwrath with the use of a water stone, or Politoed when Poliwhirl is traded to another game while holding a king's rock.

Known as the Tadpole Pokémon, is a large, amphibious, froglet-like Pokémon. Its hands make it seem as though it is wearing white boxing gloves. It is capable of living in or out of water; in order to live out of water, it must sweat to keep its body slimy. It prefers to live underwater in ponds where there is less danger. In battle, it subtly undulates the spiral-shape on its belly to put the foe to sleep, using a type of hypnosis. It is also capable of easily escaping the grasp of foes due to its greasy skin.

In anime
In the Pokémon anime, Misty had a Poliwhirl in the Johto series, which later evolved into Politoed.

In other media
In the Pokémon Adventures manga, a Poliwhirl named Poli was Red's first Pokémon and was obtained as a Poliwag before the first chapter. Along with Pika and Saur, it is one of Red's most frequently used Pokémon. In Buzz Off, Electabuzz!, Poli evolves into Poliwrath to save Red from drowning after touching a Water Stone, one of the four stones speculated to be at the bottom of Vermilion Harbor. During this, Red has a flashback to his little Poliwag evolving to save him from drowning before.

Merchandising and promotion
Poliwhirl has been one of the most marketed of all the Pokémon. It was featured, along with Pikachu, Charmander, and Gengar, in a line of chewable vitamins shaped like Pokémon characters. He was one of the Pokémon that Sensodyne turned into a child's toothbrush.

Critical reception
IGN strongly criticized Poliwhirl, especially the extensive use of the Pokémon by marketers. They argued that it is neither cute nor useful, and that it is not popular among most Pokémon fans. The reviewer went as far as to say, "when are you PR people going to figure out that nobody likes Poliwhirl? It barely even qualifies as having a face!" They expressed a desire "to kick his designers", and warned against using Poliwhirl in any type of serious battle situation.

Another reviewer called Poliwhirl "mediocre."

GameDaily named Poliwhirl the eighth weirdest looking Pokémon, citing its odd swirl and what they saw as its hypnotizing properties.

Time Magazine called Poliwhirl a "disk with bulging eyes."