Are All Ghost Pokemon Dead Spirits?

I wanted to see what everyone's opinion on this was. I know Yamask is a dead spirit, but what about the other Pokemon? Personally, I never really thought of Ghost Pokemon as actual Ghosts, but people just called them that because of the traits they have that are similar to actual ghosts. What do you think?

Nope. Ghost pokémon are not dead pokémon in any way, shape, or form; they just play on the base fears of their targets, inspiring (and interweaving themselves with) ghost stories and myths.

in my opinion of course

Well, Yamask is a dead spirit. This, as we know is stated in its pokedex entry.

Gastly, on the other hand, is not a dead spirit, as it is stated in its pokedex entry that Gastly is formed by toxic gasses.

Shedinja is the undead Carcass of an evolving Nincada, as inferred by the means in which is it obtained; and we all know by the myths and lore about Spiritomb that it is in fact many dead spirits.

I don't think Drifloon and Drifblim are dead spirits; I think they are ghost-types because of their tendency to just kind of float around and do creepy things, like kidnap children.

Banette has been described as the grudge-holding spirit of a forgotten/abandoned plaything in its pokedex entry, so.

Rotom I believe is a ghost-type to illustrate its plasma-like makeup and ability to possess inanimate objects, similar to that of a poltergeist.

Mismagius is a mystery to me, honestly.

Giritina... I don't know, its the kind of ghosts, and therefore must be one?

I don't know how to explain things like Sabyleye, Dusknoir, Frosslass, Jellicent, Golurk, and Chandelure. They just are ghost-types.

So there's my sentiment on that.

But but but pokedex entries are vanillite manure! Cool, but useless.

Magcargo's BW entry said:

Its body temperature is roughly 18,000 degrees F. Flames spout from gaps in its hardened shell.

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Twice the temperature of the sun.

Manure can be burned, or spread on plants! Not useless at all!

Personally I think some of them are spirits, but some of them aren't. Like Litwick, which also eats other spirits, and Gastly, respectively.

I think Magcargo can have any internal temperature it wants. It's made of lava. That, and both of its abilities imply a very hot body. It can have Magma Armor or Flame Body. Mayhaps 18,000 is stretching it a bit, but I believe Magcargo is intensely hot, I mean look at it its shell is a flaming rock.

Lava is usually only as hot as 2400 degrees Fahrenheit. Melting rock isn't very hard, either at high temperatures and pressure. :/

As for abilities, it honestly isn't hard to burn living things, and magma is still just magma.

(though isn't the Earth's core about the same temperature as the Sun's surface?)

Edit: and I forgot to discuss the topic, but yeah, what Squorn said. Most ghosts are just energy and sometimes attached to a physical object, but some are implied to be dead things.

The point is, though, that the pokédex often makes mistakes or says things that obviously aren't viable scientifically.

Apparently garchomp the land shark can fly at the speed of sound.

I feel like we're getting a little off-topic here... But when it comes to pokedex entries, I believe them to a point. Although I do believe the Litwick line entries. It seems so natural for them.

Blastoise said:

The point is, though, that the pokédex often makes mistakes or says things that obviously aren't viable scientifically.

Apparently garchomp the land shark can fly at the speed of sound.

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why is that not viable scientifically?

That was just another example of pokédex oddness, not a specific example of unscientificness. I could have phrased that better, I guess.

There's a fan theory somewhere that Pokedex entries are mostly observations, but sometimes giant exaggerations, that the 10-year-old kid you play as enters. So things like Ponyta clearing Ayers Rock in a single leap or Pidgeot flying at Mach 2 probably don't actually happen.

And Misdreavus is the headless ghost of Lisa Simpson.

I think the Ghost type is more broadly the "woooo scary" type than the "these are literally the spirits of dead things" type. Except in cases like Spiritomb which are specifically stated to be spirits.

The Chandelure line is sort of like will-o-wisps, so they're ghosts, in a sense. or swamp gas. Froslass is based on ancient japanese mythology (I think). My personal opinion on the Golurk line is that they're ghost type because they are the last reminders of an ancient civilization, so they're ghosts, in a sense. I believe Jellicent is sort of like a will-o-wisp that is found around water, so again, actual spirit or swamp gas.

Just because some pokédex entries are unreliable doesn't mean they necessary all are, and when no other evidence has been provided to the contrary then what else do you have to go on, exactly? Especially when there's no reason to believe that the statement is as ridiculous as magcargo's temperature or ponyta's jumping ability or alakazam's IQ or whatever.

That and the anime and other aspects of the game and other canons do in fact support what the pokédex says about some pokémon (e.g. garchomp can fly, though I don't know if it can fly that fast). You can't really just throw them all out, although it does make it difficult to sort out what's worth believing and what's just an amusing common misconception or, at best, a report of a one-time anomaly like a super-ponyta or something.

This is entirely my personal headcanon and not grounded in fact, pokédex or otherwise, in any way, but I've decided that shedinja are the ghosts of dead nincada that are jealous about dying before getting a chance to evolve and so go around stalking living nincada and waiting for them to vacate their old exoskeletons when they evolve. Yes.

In general I am inclined to say that ghost-types are a wildly varying group of completely unrelated spirits, entities or beings of some sort (actual dead things, discarded exoskeletons, stuffed animals, antimatter beings, etc.) that are classified as the same type not because of any biological similarity, the way that all/almost all fire-types presumably have an actual physical fire-producing organ, but because for whatever reason all of them possess (or are possessed by, I guess?) the same kind of "elemental" energy. Not sure entirely why, but I guess elemental ghost energy (presumably the stuff that gives types their common weaknesses/resistances and fuels most of their attacks) just isn't as picky about what it likes to live in as the other energy types. Space dragon? Vengeful amalgam of spirits? Children's toy? Headless ghost of Lisa Simpson? Sure, why not, I'll move in! Hell if I know what they have to do with one another but sounds cozy! :D

oh pokemans you make so much sense

Yeah, I guess it doesn't make sense to ignore the whole 'dex... I just think, personally, that ghosts are pokémon just like any other type and they just happen to be a lot like the common perception of the supernatural, and that real ghosts in the pokéworld i.e. the marowak from Lavender are something entirely different. I'm all for ooh magic magic ghosties but why do they have to be dead to do that?

Although a shedinja is probably bound to the thrown-off shell for some reason, probably psychological?

Blastoise said:

The point is, though, that the pokédex often makes mistakes or says things that obviously aren't viable scientifically.

Apparently garchomp the land shark can fly at the speed of sound.

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Questions?

Anyways:

Golett/lurk are Golems. Beings created from mystic/elemental/etc. components, and has a spirit sealed inside, bound to follow commands of it's owner.

Yeah, I wasn't taking the anime into account. Whoops.

Just because they're based off of golems doesn't make them just like the myth.

Blastoise said:

Yeah, I wasn't taking the anime into account. Whoops.

Just because they're based off of golems doesn't make them just like the myth.

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Well it would make sense that they were, specially their dex entries (I know, I know, not entirely accurate...)

Yeah, I suppose you're right there, at least for Golurk.

i found this interesting