What is the point of height/weight of Pokémon in dex entries and such

[Moltres Rider]

all Pokémon have a height/weight attached to them and any Pokémon database with tell you what it is, so what is the point? it's not really going to help in the anime or game if you know the height/weight. my only purpose for it is artwork and or photoshop stuff, it makes it EXTREMELY easy to make images accurate. other than that (because I don't think that is Nintendo's purpose) why do they provide height and weight for Pokémon? how is it going to benefit fans?

 

[Khoshi]

It helps with moves that require weight in calculating for damage (e.g. Grass Knot's damage changes per every few kilogram - take it as Gengar taking virtually nothing, while Groudon getting hit almost always ensures an OHKO).

 

[Black Dynamite]

they're incredibly ridiculous aswell if you've seen jwittz video on youtube on pokemon height/weight.
it's important but sometimes it looks like they just pick a random number without thinking about it.

it's important for moves like grassknot and there is a few others as sonic pointed out

 

[moon]

What. I really think it's not strange at all that they add height and weight to a pokédex entry (or to a TCG card for that matter). Why wouldn't they? Without it, a Caterpie could be as big as an Onix while a Rhyhorn could be a Joltik-sized iron rat sorta.

In the anime, pokémon aren't always of the exact same sizes. I like to think of the pokédex height and weight as an average, just as you could say that a Labrador dog is averagely this size and weighs this much.

@ Black Dynamite, you mean this, right? I think he's overreacting. Some games might depict pokémon as similar sizes even if they are a bit different in the pokédex, because it's easier and looks better depicting them like that. And the anime, it's pretty much a well known fact that they stretch the rules of the main series games quite often, to try and step away from the mechanics and limitations of the games.

Spoiler:

All in all, I don't think it's strange at all that the makers of pokémon include height and weight in the pokédex, or anywhere for that matter. It's both as Classic Sonic says, to help with some moves, and to give the player a general sense of how big and heavy their pokémon are.

 

[MrBananaMan212]

I think the point of them is to just get a visual in your head how big one is compared to something in the real world. Sometimes it is fun to compare the height and weight of yourself to random pokémon. Also, like others have pointed out, it is used for weight based moves like low kick.

 

[bobandbill]

It helps with moves that require weight in calculating for damage (e.g. Grass Knot's damage changes per every few kilogram - take it as Gengar taking virtually nothing, while Groudon getting hit almost always ensures an OHKO).

To play devil's advocate, such moves and in fact importance of weight wasn't a factor in the 1st generation, when they were first available. You have the Heavy ball as well, but really it was only really notable since those 4th gen moves in having a 'use'.

On the flip side, it isn't actually meant to have a use or benefit as much as just be a flavour text. You don't 'need' a dex that gives you dubious information about each Pokemon either. But as the Pokedex is supposed to be an in-game encyclopaedia, including the common weight and height of a Pokemon makes sense to be included. It's categorising Pokemon for a professor, so naturally they'd want to know things like weight and height of the specimens, if you will.

In the anime, pokémon aren't always of the exact same sizes. I like to think of the pokédex height and weight as an average, just as you could say that a Labrador dog is averagely this size and weighs this much.

Indeed. I feel it's also implied in the games too - for example, the Magikarp guy in GSC asking for a larger Pokemon each time, and the Barboach/Shroomish duo in RSE too.

 

[PlatinumDude]

As already mentioned, weight is an important factor on how much damage the Pokemon in question takes from Grass Knot and Low Kick. As for height, it's an interesting tidbit on how tall/short the Pokemon is compared to you.

 

[Aeroblast]

I thought initially height and weight were just there for data's sake, but height did become an important factor in determining the damage of moves like Low kick and Grass knot, and some other perks with certain abilities that I can't remember the name of off the top of my head.

 

[Black Dynamite]

@RHCP, i agree with the sizes, i just think the weights are way too small unless the gravity is less.. they're perfect in the anime but in the game... the numbers just seem off?

 

[moon]

@RHCP, i agree with the sizes, i just think the weights are way too small unless the gravity is less.. they're perfect in the anime but in the game... the numbers just seem off?

Ohoho. Do we here see evidence for Pokémon being set on a different planet with different gravity? 8D

But yeah, I can agree on that :/ Maybe the creators don't really have a good grasp of the proportions.

 

[Shrew]

Ugh. Anyone who's saying the only point is for moves like Grass Knot and Low Kick are missing the point of why they were added, considering that weight-related move effects were not introduced until Gen IV.

The Pokemon games take place within a fictional world. It's Gamefreaks goal to immerse their players into the world. Because of sprite limitations... erm, let me show you:

If were were to judge a pokemon's size visually, Caterpie's sprite takes up approximately half the amount of space as a Snorlax... so Caterpie is half the size of a Snorlax? Or what if we were to judge a pokemon's size based on what we've seen in real life... so then a Caterpie is smaller than our pinkie. Snorlax is the size of a grizzly bear? A great panda? A teddy bear?

If not for the anime, I think a majority of us would have disagree with what size pokemon are. Even the anime would get it wrong (cough, more frequently) if not for the games explaining to the animator's what size pokemon

We should be glad that Gamefreak took the time to include this information in-game. Sure, it's not perfect and may seem like "random numbers" some times, but I think we're taking this information for granted.

they're incredibly ridiculous aswell if you've seen jwittz video on youtube on pokemon height/weight.
it's important but sometimes it looks like they just pick a random number without thinking about it.

it's important for moves like grassknot and there is a few others as sonic pointed out

I've seen Jwittz's video about this. He spends half the video whining that in-game Charizard isn't the same size as anime Charizard, as if it was the game was wrong. -_- His entire video just says how either the anime or his personal opinions disagree with the games, as if the games were wrong. The only arguments where he compares how unrealistic a pokemon is to its real-life counterparts, such as Wailord, he then (rightfully) refutes his own arguments.

 

[KaTomic★12]

To make the pokedex that more fundimental and realistic.

 

[CoffeeDrink]

Floating land mines for everyone, koff~

At 2', Koffing is a decent size and weighs about 2 lbs. Seems about right to me. Some others are a bit weird. Like I mentioned before, Joltik can take on a Wailord and destroy it. So, if one were to measure terms of power in size, Joltik is a nightmare considering they're bugs and there are thousands of them, koffi~

 

[Elaitenstile]

Search filters and in-game effect. But mostly it's just a bit more of trivial info so it does not look like a die-hard game that is purely for playing and has no realism. It's not going to benefit fans, but there isn't any promise on them either (nowhere is it mentioned "Height and weight will change the Pokémon drastically!" or such) so I'd leave it at that. It's like asking why Pokémon have cries. They're not realistic and we don't benefit from them either, but they're just so-so, they don't need attention.

The height/weight is often disproportional (seen by how tiny Infernape is) but mostly I didn't care a lot. When I caught Groudon and proceeded to moon over it, I saw it's weight and I was like "this must be the heaviest Pokémon, wow!" and I felt a bit proud/piqued. I did, however, know that from now all I will aim all Low Kicks (later the more efficient Grass Knot) at it.