Pokémon Legends: Z-A’s Mega Starmie Is a Meme Now, Thanks to Its Horrible Legs

If you’ve been anywhere on the internet this week, Pokémon Legends: Z-A leaks were probably hard to avoid — particularly Mega Starmie and its bizarrely humanoid legs.

Warning! Spoilers for Pokémon Legends: Z-A follow:

With Pokémon Legends: Z-A now released and more players encountering Mega Starmie for themselves, the reaction to this odd-looking new Mega Evolution is only growing. Most Mega Evolutions add some new element to a Pokémon’s design, be it Mega Dragonite’s extra set of wings, or Mega Meganium’s blossom-like collar.

But for Starmie — essentially a starfish with a jewel in the center — its two legs are now just… a little bit longer, allowing it to run around in a rather odd, bipedal fashion.

Is it because Mega Starmie’s two legs just look oddly stretched out? Is it because it now looks slightly more human-like, though still missing any form of head? It’s hard to say exactly why Mega Starmie looks so weird, though there’s a wide consensus among Pokémon fans that the design is one of the franchise’s goofiest in some time.

Comparisons have been made between Earthbound villain Starman, DC Comics alien Starro, and Patrick from Spongebob Squarepants, with fan art now showing Mega Starmie’s legs dressed up in fishnet stockings.

https://twitter.com/yevguineapig/status/1977429763078902224?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/BluishDude/status/1975737764261077236?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

https://twitter.com/notstevely/status/1978503015792341223?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

There’s plenty of love, too, for the way Mega Starmie now scuttles around on those two legs, changing its movement from a more graceful roll to something out of a Saturday morning cartoon.

“Its movements have become more humanlike,” reads the creature’s new Pokédex entry. “Whether it’s simply trying to communicate or wants to supplant humanity is unclear.” If it is trying to communicate, it’s so far unclear what Mega Starmie might be trying to say. And also, what was that about supplanting humanity?

https://twitter.com/PJSpadez53/status/1979100390059643238?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw

IGN’s review-in-progress of Pokémon Legends: Z-A is now live, if you want to check out our impressions of the first 24 hours, with a full review coming next week. If you’re jumping into Pokémon Legends Z-A, choose your Starter Pokémon, then check out our in-progress Pokémon Legends: Z-A Walkthrough, plus our Side Missions List to make sure you don’t miss anything. We’ve also got a Pokémon Legends: Z-A Pokedex, and most importantly, a guide to All Clothing Stores and Clothing in Pokémon Legends: Z-A so you can catch ’em all in style.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social