Wo-Chien

About

Wo-Chien is a snail-like legendary Pokémon introduced in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. It is one of the four Treasures of Ruin Pokémon alongside Chien-Pao, Ting-Lu, and Chi-Yu. Online, the Pokémon has become the subject of memes, and is particularly popular as the subject of Live Tucker Reaction reaction image parodies titled "Live Wo-Chien Reaction."

Origin

Wo-Chien was introduced in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, which was released on November 18th, 2022. It is a Grass/Dark-type Pokémon.^[1] It is one of the four Treasures of Ruin Pokémon. To catch it, players must find eight stakes scattered around the open world, at which point Wo-Chien emerges from the Grasswither Shrine and can be encountered. An image of the character from the Paldea Pokédex can be seen below.

Spread

In the weeks following the game's release, Wo-Chien developed a reputation as the worst of the four "Treasures of Ruin" Pokémon due to its non-viability in competitive play.^[2] This is largely due to the underwhelming stat distribution that should make Wo-Chien a slow, tank-like Pokémon, but its many type weaknesses render its decent defensive stats essentially useless. On January 15th, 2023, YouTube^[5] user Chompy uploaded a video explaining why Wo-Chien is the worst Pokémon of the four from a competitive standpoint, gaining over 19,000 views in one month (shown below).

While the Pokémon underwhelmed competitive players, it became popular in memes. In particular, a Live Tucker Reaction parody dubbed "Live Wo-Chien Reaction" became a popular reaction image on Twitter among Pokémon fans (shown below). It's unclear where the "Live Wo-Chien Reaction" image originated.

As the meme became one of the more notable aspects of the Pokémon, others in the community began creating variations. For example, on January 29th, 2023, Redditor DreadFuryDK posted a "Pre-recorded Wo-Chien Reaction" meme on /r/stunfisk,^[3] gaining over 1,700 points in three weeks (shown below, left). Memes also centered around its perceived uselessness in competitive play. For example, on January 15th, Redditor Wo-chienenjoyer posted a meme hyping the Pokémon up to /r/stunfisk,^[4] gaining over 1,900 points in one month (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References