10 Biggest Pokémon Controversies

While the swastika on Golbat’s card can be somewhat explained away, other examples of Nazi imagery in the Pokémon franchise are much more obvious.

Before we get onto the big controversial one, there’s another similar to Golbat’s card. Registeel’s original sprite seemed to show him giving the classic Nazi salute, which was changed to show both arms down in the Western version.

The anime though was quite clearly referencing the Nazi party, and while it was a tongue in cheek reference which clearly painted them as bad guys, it was deemed too lighthearted a take on a serious topic and the Western version of the episode was heavily edited.

In the episode All Things Bright & Beautifly!, there’s a sequence involving Team Rocket which sees Jessie, James, Meowth and an army of grunts all giving the Nazi salute. For the Western version, the grunts have their arms lowered, while James’ angle changes and Jessie raises both of hers. Meowth’s remain the same, though it’s hard to tell it’s a Nazi salute without context.

If that wasn’t enough, Meowth even dresses up as Hitler in another episode, though as this is the one with all the guns, it was already banned.