Wooper

Upah (ウパー) is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon media franchise. First introduced in Pokémon Gold and Silver, it was designed by Ken Sugimori, and was later featured in multiple sequels. It also appears in Pokémon Go and the Pokémon Trading Card Game, as well as various merchandise.

Classified as a Water and Ground-type Pokémon, Wooper is a creature resembling an axolotl, featuring blue skin, external gills, and a flat tail. It eventually evolves into the Pokémon Quagsire. A beta version of Wooper was shown to exist in a leak of Pokémon Gold and Silver, showing a Wooper that is chubbier and walks on two legs. A regional variant was added in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet called Paldean Wooper. It has brown skin and bones protruding from its head, and its types are Poison and Ground. Instead of Quagsire, this Pokémon's final form is Clodsire.

Wooper has received generally positive reception for both of its forms, with the original form noted for becoming a meme and an iconic design. Its Paldean Wooper form also received praise for its design, identified as one of the best new designs revealed at the time for Scarlet and Violet. The original Wooper's beta design was also the subject of commentary, with some fans preferring it to the final design.

Concept and creation
Wooper is a fictional species of Pokémon created for the Pokémon franchise. Developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo, the series began in Japan in 1996 with the release of the video games Pokémon Red and Blue for the Game Boy. In these games, the player assumes the role of a Pokémon Trainer whose goal is to capture and train Pokémon. Players use the creatures' special abilities to combat other Pokémon, and some can transform into stronger species through a process called evolution via various means, such as exposure to specific items. Wooper is a blue creature with no arms, a flat tail, external gills, three curved lines on its stomach, and a large head with antennae protruding from it.

Wooper's name comes from the term "wooper looper," a term coined in Japanese for pet axolotls. A feature introduced in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl saw certain Pokémon, including Wooper, given gender differences. Female Wooper were given shorter antennae. Another design was later introduced, dubbed Paldean Wooper. Unlike Wooper, the pattern on its stomach resembles a rib cage, and instead of antennae, it has bones protruding from its head.

Appearances
Wooper originally appeared in the video games Pokémon Gold and Silver as one of its one hundred new Pokémon designs added to the game, having a Water/Ground typing. It has since been made available in many different sequels in this series of Pokémon games, such as Pokémon Diamond and Pearl and Pokémon Sword and Shield. In all instances, this Wooper is capable of evolving into Quagsire. In Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Wooper does not appear outside of an in-game trade, though a regional Paldean variant appears instead. Instead of evolving into Quagsire, this Pokémon evolves into Clodsire. Regular Wooper eventually appeared in the downloadable content for Scarlet and Violet. Both forms of Wooper appear in Pokémon Go and the Pokémon Trading Card Game. A Pokémon mini themed after Wooper was also released.

Wooper has appeared in a variety of spin-off media. It appears in multiple entries in the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series. It is one of the starting Pokémon that players may select in the Storm Adventure Squad version of Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Adventure Team for WiiWare, and was featured as part of a new quest in Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky, a new version of Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness. In Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, Wooper is one of a handful of Pokémon available that were not from the fifth generation of Pokémon species. It also appears in Pokémon Go and New Pokémon Snap. It has also appeared in the Pokémon anime and Pokémon Adventures manga.

Both forms of Wooper have received multiple pieces of merchandise, including stuffed animals, figurines, apparel, and jewelry. A large yawning Clodsire plush was also released, with buyers able to choose one that comes with two, five, or thirty Paldean Wooper.

Reception
Wooper has received generally positive reception, noted by IGN writer Rebekah Valentine as being "historically beloved" and the subject of frequent memes, while Game Rant writer Michael Brandon Ingram called it one of the most iconic designs in the series. Inside Gamer writer Benjamin Ben considered Wooper among the best designs added to Pokémon Gold and Silver, saying that its simple smile made people happy and that its innocent look makes it more appealing. He also noted that its axolotl inspiration helped contribute to that, noting that this is because axolotls stay cute. Following the leak of unused Pokémon in Pokémon Gold and Silver, Wooper's beta design became a particularly popular one, identified by Polygon writer Patricia Hernandez as the most popular among them, noting that some fans have said they prefer the beta Wooper to the final one. She praised it for being short and cute, finding it unsurprising that people became so enamored with it, noting that it became the subject of a large amount of fan art. Hobby Consolas writer Javier Escribano noted that, due to its chubbier design compared to Wooper, it has become a meme.

Upon being revealed in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Paldean Wooper became a popular Pokémon among fans, being given the nickname of "Pooper". Polygon writer Cass Marshall thought that Wooper was "always cute" due to its "silly expression." Game Rant writer Benjamin Jones suggested that its reveal was among the best at the time, noting how it being a Ground/Poison-type Pokémon was a notable change, arguing that the type combination was a powerful one, especially in combination with its ability, Water Absorb. GamesRadar+ writer Hope Bellingham also noted its Poison/Ground typing as a notable one, noting how it's the first time since Pokémon Red and Blue to have the type. They described it as a cute Pokémon, though noted that its type combination and abilities Poison Point and Water Absorb showed potential. Vice writer Renata Price noted that Wooper was a favorite Pokémon of theirs, appreciating that it got a new form that they made it a "dirty, grimy boy." Famitsu writer Count Tsukune appreciated the reveal, saying it was the cutest of the Pokémon revealed at the time, both in its game model and art. They stated that they decided to buy Scarlet and Violet after seeing Paldean Wooper. Despite the positive reception for Paldean Wooper, Fanbyte writer Imran Khan was critical of it, arguing that it was an example of a less inspired regional variant. He felt that Paldean Wooper was a less interesting idea for a Ground/Poison-type Pokemon than they could have done.

Critics have discussed the influences behind both Wooper and its Paldean form. Author Jean-Bruno Renard, while discussing fictional representations of axolotls, discussed Wooper, noting its various design and conceptual inspirations, citing its external gills and flat tail. While multiple authors noted that Wooper is based on an axolotl, GamesRadar+ writer argued that the Paldean form is based on the iberian ribbed newt. They argued that multiple design choices correlate between the two, including their brown skin, rib-like pattern, and their use of poison as a defense mechanism.