Summary
Despite being fictional creatures, Pokemon are often based on real-life animals, plants, and even objects. Gen 9 marked the series' 1000th Dex entry - Gholdengo - so there’s certainly plenty of Pokemon to love. Of the animals represented in thePokemonseries, bunnies seem to be few and far between, with the first rabbit Pokemon not being introduced until Gen 2 and none at all being added in the Gen 9 games. While there are only a handful of bunny Pokemon, the ones that exist are certainly iconic.
Updated July 28, 2025, by Ben Painter: Pokemon are based on all sorts of things, including plants, objects, and mythical creatures, but the main ones are animals. At this stage, there are only so many animals that have taken inspiration from the designs of Pokemon. There are many based around the fluffy, lovable creatures, rabbits. Some are loosely based, but others are just straight-up rabbits. This update gives readers more context on each Pokemon and information on where to find them in the latest entry in the franchise,Pokemon Scarlet & Violet.
15Whismur - The Whisper Pokemon
Generation 3
Some of the Pokemon on this list are a lot more based on rabbits than others. Whismur just touches on that inspiration with its large, floppy ears, an iconic trait of rabbits.
Whismur loses this bunny style when it evolves into Loudred and definitely when it becomes Exploud, which takes its origins from a pipe organ.With an evolution line based on sound, it makes total sense to have the base form be a rabbit, as they have exceptional hearing thanks to their large ears.
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Generation 1
This references both forms of Nidoran (male & female), who are currently considered separate species of Pokemon. They appear to be based on a few different forms of mammals, but they do have a lot of things that are akin to a rabbit.
Both sets of Pokemon have large ears and buck teeth and have a similar posture to how a rabbit sits. The evolved forms of Nidorino and Nidorina keep some of these features but definitely are more of an amalgamation of a rhinoceros. The final forms almost have no features of a rabbit, but fans can see some sort of resemblance there.
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13Magearna - The Artificial Pokemon
Generation 7
At the outset,the Mythical Magearnaisn’t a rabbit at all, but if gamers look deeper, then they can see a rabbit inspiration somewhere. The Steel/Fairy-type is based on Pokeball, its original coloring is much more reminiscent of this, and the idea of this human-origin Pokemon is that it would fold up into a sphere to make a Pokeball.
But in its unfolded state, it has some characteristics of a bunny. The large ears, large eyes, and small mouth make for a very rabbit-like appearance to it. It certainly is stretching it, but there is definitely something in Magearna to base this on.
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Generation 5
There is a common theme here; a Pokemon that has large ears certainly has some rabbit influence. This is no different to Audino’s case,it certainly is based on a mammaland the closest thing it represents is a rabbit.
Audino is a Chansey reboot, and it was even given a mega evolution, which makes it more rabbit-like with its white coloring. It is known as the Hearing Pokemon and even has a little round tail, just like those found on rabbits. There are a lot of points to make this one a bunny ‘mon.
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Its pre-evolution Jigglypuff is an iconic Pokemon known for putting Ash and friends to sleep with its singing in the anime. However, there is no rabbit in the Normal/Fairy type ‘mon.
Its final form in Wigglytuff has a much more rabbit-like appearance thanks to its ears and overall shape. Not only that, Wigglytuff may be based on the Chinese mythical figure, the moon rabbit, which is based on markings on the moon that resemble a rabbit. The fact that Wigglytuff evolves from Jigglypuff thanks to a Moon Stone is even more evidence for this being the case.
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The original Pikachu clone, as in Generation 2, Pichu was introduced as a pre-evolved form of the mascot, so it’s not entirely a clone. Plusle is normally paired with Minun as its ability, Plus, increases its Sp. Atk if Minun (with the Minus ability) is on the field with it. This makes use of the double battle feature introduced inPokemon Ruby and Sapphire.
Although Plusle’s design takes a lot of inspiration from Pikachu’s mouse-like features, it also looks a lot like a rabbit with its long ears which are rounder than Pikachu’s. Looking a lot more like a bunny.
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Minun is Plusle but blue instead of red, meaning it also looks like a cute little electric rabbit. Introduced in Generation 3, it set the precedent for Pikachu clones introduced in later generations. The next in line was Pachirisu, which is a squirrel and not a rabbit. The only difference in-game between the two is that Plusle is slightly more attack-minded and Minun is slightly more defensive.
Minun even has a little tail, just like a bunny, in the shape of a minus symbol, whereas Plusle has a plus symbol, a reference to them working together and electricity as a battery. It may be a reference to the Duracell bunny, which first appeared in commercials in 1973. However, this may be a stretch.
The first ever bunny Pokemon was Azumarill, a cute Water/Fairy type fromPokemon Gold & Silver. This Pokemon evolves from a rodent - Marill - into a rabbit at level 18. Its design resembles bubbles coming up from the water – a camouflage tactic designed to confuse and hide from enemies.
Azumarill made several appearances in the anime and is in charge of the request counter inPokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity, where players can accept or cancel job requests. It’s also a strong Pokemon inScarlet & Violet, as its ability and moveset make it apowerful raid Pokemon.
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7Buneary - The Rabbit Pokemon
Generation 4
Buneary is a cute, normal-type bunny Pokemonintroduced in the Gen 4Pokemongames. It shares its category with its evolution, Lopunny, as well as Scorbunny and Raboot, which are all known as Rabbit Pokemon.
While it looks to be cute and friendly, it is the only Pokemon with 0 base friendship that isn’t a Legendary, Mythical, or Ultra Beast. Players will, therefore, have to work hard to earn this rabbit’s trust.
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Lopunny is the final evolution of Buneary, whichevolves with high friendship. It is likely based on a Lop bunny, a type of rabbit that has long, floppy ears instead of ones that stand up straight. Its fur placement resembles a fashion model wearing women’s fur or faux fur-cuffed gloves and boots.
It is a Normal-type Pokemon with a Normal/Fighting-type Mega Evolution that evolves when exposed to Lopunnite inOmega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire. Interestingly, its mega evolution has the highest speed stat of any Normal-type Pokemon.
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