A part of the original 151 Pokemon in generation one from the Pokemon Red, Blue, and Green games, Haunter is a dual type ghost and poison Pokemon. It evolves from Gastly and will evolve into Gengar upon being traded. Despite being a generation one Pokemon, it has not appeared all that frequently throughout the anime’s history. This guide will showcase Haunter’s appearances in the anime, its capabilities in battle, as well as other general facts about Haunter.
About Haunter
Haunter made its first appearance in the original series with the episode The Tower of Terror where Ash catches a Haunter in hopes of defeating the gym leader Sabrina. This mischievous ghost is often portrayed as goofy mostly at the expense of the trainers around it. Despite its rather playful behavior, the Pokedex states that a Haunter’s lick is dangerous as it can cause convulsions until an untimely death, its touch can also cause endless shuddering and it is capable of stealing your life force away. A rather grim Pokemon that evolves from Gastly at level 25 and will evolve into Gengar upon being traded.
| First appearance in anime | Pokemon Original Series The Tower of Terror |
| First appearance in game | Red/Green (Japan) Red/Blue (International) |
| Region | Kanto |
| Evolution | Evolves from Gastly, evolves into Gengar when traded |
| 1st Evo level | 25 |
| 2nd Evo level | Evolves from Haunter into Gengar upon trading |
| Pokedex Entry | By licking, it saps the victim's life. It causes shaking that won't stop until the victim's demise. |
Haunter Base Stats
| HP | 45 |
| ATTACK | 50 |
| DEFENCE | 45 |
| SP. ATTACK | 115 |
| SP. DEFENCE | 55 |
| SPEED | 95 |
| TOTAL | 405 |
Appearance
Haunter is a purple Pokemon with an ethereal body that has two pointed hands with three spikes on each, a spiky body and a long purple tongue. Its hands are not connected to its main body and it can leave them detached in order to control any Pokemon that it touches. Haunter’s body ends in a disheveled tail and it is capable of flying and phasing through walls. Not only that, it can twist and distort its appearance to become more frightening or friendly.
Behavior
Typical of a ghost Pokemon, it tends to hide in the shadows. Haunter will stalk humans and Pokemon alike, beckon them towards a point of interest and then lick them with its long purple tongue. The Pokedex states that its tongue can cause convulsions until the victim’s untimely death. In the anime, it appears to be more of a prank than a life-ending threat but it is capable of doing grim things. Despite its rather troublesome behavior, it is known to feel intense loyalty even to deceased trainers.
Strengths and Weaknesses
As a middle evolution, Haunter has some impressive stats. Its special attack can rival even fully evolved Pokemon and its speed stat is respectable especially considering it is not the final evolution. On top of this Haunter comes with access to the ability Levitate, making it immune to any ground type moves. That means to defeat a Haunter, you will want to use ghost, psychic or dark type moves. It will resist poison, bug, grass and fairy but is completely immune to normal, fighting, and ground type moves.
Shiny Haunter
For people who are colorblind, and even those who are not, pay close attention to when a Haunter enters battle in order to spot a Shiny Haunter. Regular Haunter and Shiny Haunter are almost entirely identical with the exception of the color of its tongue. Shiny Haunter has a purple tongue instead of a pink tongue and its body color is ever so slightly more muted than its regular version. That’s why, on the safe side, look for the starry animation that plays if Shiny Haunter enters battle to distinguish between a regular and a shiny version.
Best Moveset
While Haunter has not made the biggest impact on competitive play, you can consider running it in the NFE (Not Fully Evolved) bracket of battle but otherwise you will mostly want to stick to Gengar. If your goal is to succeed in competitive play, consider running Life Orb, as a held item, and use Haunter as an offensive sweeper. Run moves like Shadow Ball, Sludge Bomb, Hidden power Ground and Destiny Bond. Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb benefit from STAB (Same Type Attack Bonus) and serve as Haunter’s primary source of damage, Hidden Power Ground functions as type coverage and Destiny Bond will ensure that if Haunter faints after an opponent’s attack, the attacking Pokémon also faints.
| Shadow Ball | Sludge Bomb |
| Hidden Power Ground | Destiny Bond |
How to Catch Haunter in Pokemon Go
If you want to catch a Haunter in Pokemon Go, your best bet would be to evolve a Gastly into a Haunter. Finding a Gastly in the wild is far easier than finding a Haunter in the wild as their spawns are more frequent near residential areas, churches and cemeteries. You will need 25 Gastly candies in order to evolve it into Haunter and another 100 candies to evolve it into Gengar. Haunter has also appeared as a tier two raid boss in the past, so you could search for nearby raids in Pokemon Gyms to skip the process.
Trivia
- In the beta versions of Pokemon Red and Blue, Haunter’s original name was going to be Spectre.
- Of all the Pokemon in the franchise, no other Pokemon has the same type combination of Haunter and its evolution line.
- The name Haunter comes from the word haunt, it could also be a play on words with hunter and haunt.
FAQ
Does Haunter evolve into Gengar?
Haunter will evolve into Gengar. You just need to trade your Haunter to another trainer and it will evolve into Gengar. There is no level requirement that you have to meet in order to evolve your Haunter. You can evolve your Haunter into Gengar as soon as it becomes a Haunter at level 25.
What Pokemon is Haunter the ghost of?
There is no specific Pokemon that Haunter is the ghost of. At least, there is no official answer from the developers or any other branch of Nintendo. Most ghost Pokemon have some tragic backstories to supplement their ghostly nature but Haunter’s has never been stated.
What Happens if You Get Licked by a Haunter?
The Pokedex states that Haunter’s lick can cause constant convulsions until the death of the Pokemon or person that Haunter licked. It also mentions that Haunter’s lick will suck the life force away from whatever it licked. In the anime, it’s use has been far more tame and Haunter’s licks are more for comedic effect than they are to murder anything.
Conclusion
Congratulations, you now know just about everything there is to know about this gas Pokemon. Haunter is one of the original 151 Pokemon of the first generation of Pokemon. Even 25 years later, Haunter’s rather simple design remains memorable in the hearts of fans. Its evolution line continues to make waves in competitive play, its roles in the anime continue even up to the X and Y season and it is not likely to be forgotten. Haunter is a good representative of the original Pokemon games.
