Palworld’s Datamined Mewtwo Pokemon ‘Clone’ Explained

Highlights

• Palworld, an open-world survival game, has gained a massive player base but also sparked controversy due to its striking similarities to Pokemon and modern Legend of Zelda games.
• Data miners discovered a secret pal called ‘Dark Mutant’ in Palworld’s game files, which bears a striking resemblance to Pokemon’s Mega Mewtwo Y, raising more concerns of plagiarism.
• The discovery of Dark Mutant adds to the growing number of allegations against Palworld, and The Pokemon Company investigating for possible infringements of its properties may prevent Dark Mutant from being released.

Palworld stormed onto the scene with record-breaking numbers. The open-world survival game took a community of fans by pleasant surprise as many had never even heard of the title before its early-access debut on January 19th, 2024. Even since its explosive arrival, Palworld has broke its consecutive player record again and again, gaining millions more players and turning many more heads. But a new and massive player base isn’t the only reason the game is turning heads. Despite its soaring popularity, the game has faced numerous allegations due to its striking similarities to legendary titles like Pokemon and modern Legend of Zelda games. Now, the newest game from developer Pocket Pal is back in the limelight for a pal that never saw the light of day—until now.

There have been many comparisons drawn between pals and Pokemon already, with several enthusiasts drawing side-by-side comparisons with often scathing reviews on platforms like X, Reddit, and more. But none have approached the level of similarity shown by a particular pal hidden within the depths of Palworld‘s game files. Data miners recently uncovered a secret pal known as ‘Dark Mutant’ in the game’s codebase, bearing a striking resemblance to Pokemon‘s own Mega Mewtwo Y. These two creatures appear almost identical, with Palworld’s variant only differing in color and a few minor changes to shape, as shown below.

Palworld’s Data Mined Pal Is Nearly A Mega Mewtwo Y Pokemon Clone

With draping headtails, pointy facial features, a casually floating demeanor, and the same number of appendages, Palworld‘s so-called Dark Mutant looks an awful lot like Pokemon‘s Mega Mewtwo Y variant. Many have taken to the internet already to express their concern about the newly data-mined pal, saying that the company is brazenly ripping off the artistic properties of Pokemon. Claims of fraudulence are nothing new for Palworld, but the growing number of such claims raises concerns about the game’s future – especially considering that the Pokemon Company has already said it’s investigating Palworld to determine if there are any infringements of its properties.

Similarities Between Dark Mutant and Mega Mewtwo Y

• Floating in the same nonchalant stance.
• Flowing tail sprouting from the head.
• Similar spikes above the eyes.
• Similar eye shape and facial expression.
• Similar leg and torso shapes.
• Same number of claws on hands and feet.

The Dark Mutant’s Similarities to Mewtwo May Have Been a Step Too Far

As reported by Windows Central, the unreleased pal was discovered by Brian Cozzens while compiling an interactive Palworld map for users to easily find Lifmunk Effigys, Syndicate Towers, dungeons, minibosses, and more. The Dark Mutant pal is listed as a Dark-type pal and has a handful of very useful worker skills, like level 3 Medicine Production, level 3 Handiwork, and level 2 Transporting. Along with all this information, Cozzens also found a Paldex entry for the pal saying “Some say a beam from a {characterName id=|DarkMutant|/} that has perfected its technique can tear holes into other dimensions.” Much like Mega Mewtwo Y, it seems that Dark Mutant holds a sort of legendary presence within Palworld, making it even more like its Pokemon counterpart.

No one knows why Dark Mutant only exists in the game’s codebase. It could be that the pal was unfinished and wasn’t ready for the game’s release. It could also be that Pocket Pair developers knew that maybe this pal was flying too close to the Nintendo sun, and the developer didn’t want to get scorched. Regardless, considering all the other controversies the game is currently facing, it’s probably safe for the Mega Mewtwo Y look-alike to stay hidden in the game’s files. With the Pokemon Company already investigating Palworld and the recent Nintendo shut down of a Palworld Pokemon mod, there is plenty of reason for Pocket Pair to tap the brakes and steer away from any further controversies surrounding its new game.