Every Banned Pokémon Card & Why

If you’ve spent any time in the Pokémon card community, you’ve probably come across the term “banned Pokémon cards” and it’s an interesting rabbit hole. These are the cards that never made it to Western markets in their original form, with artwork that was changed before international release due to cultural sensitivities, legal issues, or content that didn’t translate well globally. Some are surprisingly subtle. Some aren’t subtle at all.

This post covers cards with changed artwork, not cards banned from competitive play (that’s a separate list entirely that we’ll get to at some point!) And because Pokémon cards are always released in Japan first, the original banned artwork is on Japanese cards.

A quick note before we get into it: some of these cards feature content that was considered offensive or inappropriate, which is exactly why they were changed. We’re covering them factually.

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Sabrina’s Gaze · Gym Heroes (2000)

In the original artwork, Sabrina’s hand position, with her middle finger extended slightly higher than the others, was deemed close enough to an obscene gesture to warrant a change. It’s subtle enough that many people don’t see it immediately, but Wizards of the Coast decided it wasn’t worth the risk for a card primarily aimed at children. The international version replaced the artwork entirely, showing Sabrina throwing a Poké Ball instead.

Sabrina’s Gaze · Gym Heroes on eBay

Sabrina’s Gengar · Gym Heroes (2000)

The Japanese version of this card shows Gengar standing in front of a cemetery with visible gravestones and crosses in the background. For the international release, rather than redrawing the background entirely, Wizards they covered it with an aggressive holofoil treatment that obscures everything behind Gengar. The card is still holographic in both versions, but the English version uses the foil to solve the problem rather than redrawing the art.

Sabrina’s Gengar · Gym Heroes on eBay

Grimer · Team Rocket (2000)

In the original Japanese artwork, Grimer’s eyes are angled upward toward a girl walking by in a skirt, an implication that wasn’t accidental according to some who analyzed the illustration at the time. For the international release, the fix was simple: Grimer’s eyes were redirected to look straight ahead. It’s one of the more subtle changes on this list but one of the most discussed.

Grimer · Team Rocket on eBay

Koga’s Ninja Trick · Gym Heroes (2000)

This is one of the most well-known entries on the list. The original Japanese artwork features a manji, a Buddhist symbol used in Japanese temples and maps, in the top corner of the illustration. The manji and the Nazi swastika are distinct symbols with different orientations, but the visual similarity was enough that the artwork was changed for international release. Every print of the card, including later Japanese reprints, used the updated artwork.

Koga’s Ninja Trick · Gym Heroes on eBay

Misty’s Tears · Gym Challenge (2000)

The original Japanese artwork for this card was changed before it reached international markets due to its depiction of Misty. Rather than editing the original, The Pokémon Company commissioned an entirely new illustration from Ken Sugimori showing Misty crying while Squirtle tries to catch her tears. The original Japanese card is one of the more sought-after pieces in the banned artwork collecting community.

Arcade Game · Neo Genesis (2000)

The original Japanese artwork for this card, which translates directly as “Slot Game”, shows what is clearly a row of slot machines in a casino setting. For the international release, the artwork was zoomed in on the game screens to remove the obvious casino context, and the name was changed from Slot Game to Arcade Game. The gambling theme in Pokémon games had already drawn criticism from parents, and this card would have added fuel to that fire.

Arcade Game · Neo Genesis on eBay

Card-Flip Game · Neo Genesis (2000)

Released in the same set as Arcade Game and changed for the same reasons. The original artwork depicts another gambling machine popular in Japan at the time. Like Arcade Game, the international version zooms in on the game screen to obscure the broader casino setting. Both cards are often collected together as a pair.

Card-Flip Game · Neo Genesis on eBay

Moo-Moo Milk · Neo Genesis (2000)

The original artwork for Moo-Moo Milk shows a Sentret being fed from what appears to be a cow-shaped waterskin. It’s one of the stranger entries on this list and was changed for international release. The English version swaps in a different illustration entirely, showing Miltank milk in cartons inside a barn with a Clefairy peeking through the window.

Moo-Moo Milk · Neo Genesis on eBay

Jynx · Multiple Sets (1999-2000)

Jynx’s original design featured completely black skin, and several people raised concerns that the design borrowed elements from racist caricatures used in American and Japanese animation. Cultural critic Carole Boston Weatherford wrote an op-ed piece about the issue in 2000. In response, The Pokémon Company changed Jynx’s skin to purple across the entire franchise. Cards featuring the original black-faced design that were headed for international release had their artwork updated to reflect the new design. The affected cards span several sets including Base Set, Base Set 2, Gym Heroes, Gym Challenge, and Legendary Collection.

A Jynx card from Neo Revelation slipped through to the international release with the original design intact, an oversight that was never corrected. It’s the only English-language Jynx card featuring the uncensored artwork.

Magmortar · Dragon’s Exalted (2012)

The most recent card on this list and notable for being censored more than a decade after the others. The original Japanese artwork shows Magmortar pointing one of its hand-cannons directly at the viewer. American audiences are generally more sensitive to depictions of firearms pointed toward the viewer, and The Pokémon Company chose to use different artwork for the international release showing Magmortar in a less confrontational pose. The change happened in 2012, well into the modern era of the franchise, which is part of why this card tends to surprise people.

Magmortar · Dragon Blade Japanese on eBay

Kadabra · Team Rocket (1997) and Beyond

Kadabra’s situation is different from every other card on this list: it wasn’t censored for content reasons, it was effectively pulled from production due to a lawsuit. Uri Geller, a famous illusionist known for spoon-bending, filed legal action against Nintendo claiming that Kadabra was an unauthorized appropriation of his identity. The connections were hard to ignore: Kadabra bends spoons, and the Pokémon’s Japanese name ユンゲラー (Yungeraa) closely mirrors Geller’s own name ユリゲラー (Yurigeeraa).

The lawsuit was specifically triggered by Dark Kadabra from the Team Rocket set, which portrayed the Pokémon as an evil character, something Geller objected to strongly. Although the case didn’t result in a formal legal ruling, The Pokémon Company stopped producing new Kadabra cards entirely. No new Kadabra cards were printed from 1997 until 2023, when Geller publicly gave his blessing for the Pokémon to return to the TCG.

Dark Kadabra · Team Rocket on eBay

Not Actually Banned: Seismitoad · Black Bolt #105/086

This one comes up regularly so it’s worth addressing. The Seismitoad Illustration Rare from the Black Bolt set, illustrated by Shinji Kanda, has three vines hanging in the upper right of the artwork that look like the number 666, which set off widespread rumors that the card would be pulled from print or banned. It wasn’t. The card remained in circulation without any changes, and prices that spiked on the back of the ban rumor came back down. It’s a good reminder that banned Pokémon card rumors can create false scarcity fast, and that not every controversy leads to an actual change.

Seismitoad · Black Bolt #105/086 on eBay

Bonus: Smoking Charmander

Not a TCG card in the traditional sense, but worth knowing about. A 1997 CoroCoro Comic issue featured a Pokémon playing card insert that collectors had to cut out themselves, one of which depicted Charmander smoking. Because these were hand-cut, PSA and BGS won’t grade them, but CGC will. Real copies are quite small (roughly 1×2 inches) and fakes are common, so be careful if you’re hunting for one.

Smoking Charmander · CoroCoro 1997 on eBay

Collecting the Banned Artwork Set

The censored artwork cards have become a popular collecting category in their own right. Building the complete set means tracking down the Japanese originals of each card listed above. Grimer, Koga’s Ninja Trick, and Moo-Moo Milk tend to be the most accessible entry points for newer collectors.

Raw copies of most cards on this list can be found for under $50, with Misty’s Tears and the Jynx variants varying more widely depending on condition and whether you’re buying Japanese or English versions.

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Have you started building the banned artwork collection? Drop a comment below!

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