How far do you think the Fairy type has progressed?

[Fairy Queen]

I love the Fairy type (obviously), but it still has a ways to go. It needs more physical support, more type combos (I want the Fairy/Ground type!), etc.

 

[Mega Altaria]

I think they saved the next physical fairy move for gen 8. Like, they are planning for the long-term here.
I could see a base 75 power fairy punch coming our way

Possibly. But I at least expect some sort of progression with physical Fairy-type moves over time. I don’t think it’ll be too quick.

 

[raichu27]

I think the Fairy type is nice to have. It gives Poison moves and Pokemon another advantage. Poison was only strong against one type compared to Fire(which is strong against four types) in Generations 2-5. It's also the first type to be weak against Steel that's not weak against Fighting.

More physical Fairy type moves would be nice to see.

I would also like to see a Fire/Fairy , Ground/Fairy, and a Dark/Fairy Pokemon.

 

[janejane6178]

Perfect type <3

 

[Victreebong]

Should have made them weak to bug, as the type just needs one more strength to make it viable. Most bugs just rely on tinted lens or quiver dance to do anything

There should be an ability for bug-types (or move) called Fairy Eater. Reverses the half damage to double damage against the Fae. Bug still has absurdly bad offenses, but that’s one less sure counter down.

 

[shoz999]

I love the Fairy type (obviously), but it still has a ways to go. It needs more physical support, more type combos (I want the Fairy/Ground type!), etc.

One of my favorite fairy-types is Granbull the Fairy Pokemon, literally that's his categorization. Apparently he's based on Irish folklore of Cu Sith or literally dog fairy. One of the things I liked about Granbull is that he literally represents a physical heavy-hitting tank, not just having strong physical moves but his stats and abilities support that too. How many Fairy-types do you know that has the ability Intimidate? Mostly physical-heavy hitters have intimidate. You know what's the funny thing about Granbull though? This mean-looking Pokemon and it's pre-evolution Snubull are often depicted as a very popular Pokemon for girls. The funny thing about this is that Granbull's male to female ratio is 25% to 75%. Most Granbull's are female. I think it's a neat little detail but you have to wonder what GameFreak was thinking when designing the background of this Pokemon? It's pretty unexpected once you look past Granbull's mean-looking design.

It's because of this, I kind of hope GameFreak comes up with similar deceptive-looking Pokemon like Granbull. They look intimidating and full of muscle, but you look at it's fairy-typing and it's surprising background and your thinking "Whut?". I suppose Mimikyu can also be thrown in there for similar reasons too.

 

[KyogreThunder]

Fairy type is a mixed bag for me. It does have a decent number of Pokemon I really like (Azumarill, Togekiss, Gardevoir, Alolan Ninetales, Clefable, Primarina, Sylveon, Mega Altaria, and, to a degree, Mega Diancie, Xerneas, Klefki and Mimikyu), but a pretty large chunk of Fairy types don't appeal to me at all (Dedenne, Whimsicott, Mr. Mime, Carbink, Shiinotic, all the Tapus barring Tapu Koko). The Tapus deserve special mention for how overpowered they are, outclassing both Sylveon and Mega Altaria.

 

[xXSceneDean92Xx]

Fairy is used as a primary type only in the Togepi-line and monotype Fairies

Can anyone answer as to why this is the case?

I’d already noticed in gen 6 that Fairy is only used as a primary type in monotype Fairies and the Togepi line and that pattern hasn’t been broken in gen 7...

 

[ReneEnjolras]

That is strange. We need more primary Fairy combinations. Then the type can really take off and shine. Right now, I think it still needs work. More physical moves for one.

 

[Trainer Yusuf]

Can anyone answer as to why this is the case?

I’d already noticed in gen 6 that Fairy is only used as a primary type in monotype Fairies and the Togepi line and that pattern hasn’t been broken in gen 7...

Historically speaking, it is because it was introduced later, so most of the established type combinations were additions. Only Togepi and Clefairy-line got retconned into primary Fairy-types.

In-universe it is because Fairy exists as a midway point between Normal and Psychic and thus represents "natural magic" and paganism. So, just like some Normal and most Psychic-types, most of the combinations are not primary.

That said, it probably won't continue this gen. We don't exactly have tons of Fairy-type combinations left (only Fire/Fairy, Poison/Fire, Dark/Fairy, Fighting/Fairy, Ground/Fairy), and GF seems consistent about introducing tons of Fairies each gen, while restricting them in other areas like moves, Abilities etc. So they will likely introduce more primary Fairies simply because they will run out ideas soon.

 

[AztecCroc]

In terms of power, Fairy is in strong contention for the best single type, and I think this is well borne out by the number and proportion of Fairies in OU. In Gen 7 the type didn't have the chance to truly flex its muscles due to a relatively limited species list, but the rise of the Tapus has demonstrated how easy it is to staple good stats onto the type and create a monster.

Mechanically, I don't have a massive issue with this. Dragon, Dark and Fighting all were and mostly still are very potent types. Poison has been Ice-level dross for years and Steel badly needed more offensive utility.

Thematically, I have no idea what's going on. I know there's almost certainly a cultural thing I'm not getting here, but Fairy very much feels like an arbitrary sticking plaster, a number in an equation rather than a thematically coherent grouping. I don't know why it hits those types super-effectively other than the fact that they are mechanically powerful types, and I have no idea why it is weak to those types other than the fact that they were mechanically limited types. I especially don't know why it resists Bug, which now needs a buff as badly as Rock and Ice.

It also irritates me that the type is so explicitly feminine. The series has done a good job of reflecting multiple shapes, sizes and colours in every type so that very few feel remotely exclusionary (bar maybe Fighting?), but Fairy is stuffed with pinkish hues, flowers and delicate imagery to the point that it strikes me as stereotypically 'for girls'. It feels almost... patronising? Funnily enough, the Tapus are the ones who have bucked this trend to the greatest extent thus far.

Can anyone with serious Japanese cultural knowledge fill in the blanks on this one? What manner of fey creature is the bane of dragons and martial artists in Japanese mythology? I'd hate to think that this is just a generic 'effeminate' type that beats up bad things because they are bad, but I struggle to see it as much else.

It has nothing to do with Japanese culture and everything to do with European myths/pop culture about the fae. In mythology, fae creatures are repelled by iron (Steel-type) and in pop culture are weakened by pollution and destruction of nature (Poison-type), meanwhile they are generally (especially in pop culture) considered good and dragons are considered evil, hence Fairy beats Dragon and Dark (which is Evil-type in Japanese), the Fighting thing probably has more to do with magic/wizards in rpgs than anything.

Aesthetically, most Fairy-types are pink or similar colors for the same reason Water-types are usually blue, Fire-types are red/orange etc., because that's just the color associated with the type. Also, the Tapus bucked the trend the most? Not the key-beast or the ghost-demon that stalks Pikachu and will kill anyone or anything that sees under its cloak?

 

[Dragalge]

I find it weird that they were promoting Fairy Pokémon to balance out dragons but then release Mega Rayquaza haha

 

[RileyXY1]

That is strange. We need more primary Fairy combinations. Then the type can really take off and shine. Right now, I think it still needs work. More physical moves for one.

A lot of Pokemon, especially the Tapus, need more physical Fairy-type moves.

 

[Akkipeddi]

I find it weird that they were promoting Fairy Pokémon to balance out dragons but then release Mega Rayquaza haha

I think Mega Rayquaza was just made for the lols. Can Mega evolve without a keystone, and can hold any item. Surely Gamefreak were thinking about how broken they could make a Pokémon.

 

[UltimateNinja]

It was introduced to balance out the Dragon type but they failed since the Dragon type Pokemon were so OP because of their high base stats and ended up making the Dragon type more worse than it already was.

At the end, it was still a good addition since it now there's a reason to use Steel and Poison type moves and I feel like the meta game just got a bit more balanced because of it.

 

[Scammel]

It has nothing to do with Japanese culture and everything to do with European myths/pop culture about the fae. In mythology, fae creatures are repelled by iron (Steel-type) and in pop culture are weakened by pollution and destruction of nature (Poison-type)

Yep, get that. Poison and Steel are (by)products of industry.

meanwhile they are generally (especially in pop culture) considered good and dragons are considered evil, hence Fairy beats Dragon and Dark (which is Evil-type in Japanese)

Ehhhh... Dark I can understand, but Dragon is most definitely a 'neutral' typing in the games - in fact, the very first Dragon in the series is outright benign.

the Fighting thing probably has more to do with magic/wizards in rpgs than anything

My understanding is that Fighting has indirect connotations with 'hero' in Japanese, which contradicts the relationship Fairies have with Dark types. The resistance to Bug seems completely inexplicable.

It has nothing to do with Japanese culture and everything to do with European myths/pop culture about the fae

Except there are a number of Fairies that would never be recognised as such in European culture, namely Granbull and Azumarill, and a wide range of Pokémon that would almost certainly earn the classification by European standards, such as the lake trio, Jirachi, Meloetta, Celebi etc. Plenty of Pokémon and moves seem to draw from traditionally Japanese tropes, particularly those that revolve around the moon (Moonblast and Azumarill spring to mind). There doesn't seem to be any coherency.

Also, the Tapus bucked the trend the most? Not the key-beast or the ghost-demon that stalks Pikachu and will kill anyone or anything that sees under its cloak?

Oh, definitely; Klefki and Mimikyu are both very twee, in line with most other Fairies. The Tapus explore a aesthetic whereby a fey/mystical creature isn't necessarily a delicate, smiling flower.

 

[Orphalesion]

It has nothing to do with Japanese culture and everything to do with European myths/pop culture about the fae.

It has very much to do with Japanese (pop) culture. The fairy type is pretty much a reflection of the way Japanese pop culture perceives and adapts European myths/modern fantasy ideas about Fairies. So it's a Japanese pop culture interpretation of a Western concept, mixed with local elements (take Mawlie for example, who's based on a Youkai) . I'd also say there's a good dash of "Magical Girl" in the type in some places.

My understanding is that Fighting has indirect connotations with 'hero' in Japanese, which contradicts the relationship Fairies have with Dark types. The resistance to Bug seems completely inexplicable.

Fighting: Again, it's brute force against magic and trickery. Look into some myths were the Fair Folk appears as antagonists, the hero in those tales does not stand a chance to fight their way out, no matter how strong they are. To escape the fairies you have to trick them or resort to cold iron.

Bug...GF seems to run with the idea of Fairies as guardians and masters of nature (Xarneas, the Tapus, Florges) so you want to give them resistance against the bug type.

Except there are a number of Fairies that would never be recognised as such in European culture, namely Granbull and Azumarill,

There are Gaelic legends about the Fairy Dog...granted Snubbull and Granbull don't resemble the Fairy Dog at all, but they still exist.

 

[Shadowclaw191]

Fairy type needs to be weakened a bit. Overall in the metagame and typechart it is too strong.

For a type with 1 immunity, it has 3 resistances and the 3 types that it hits for NFE are weak to ground.
It has the second fewest weaknesses as well, poison and steel, uncommon attacking types.
That said, a pokemon with a fairy and a ground move would have options to hit everything effectively, while having low chance of being hit with a move that can kill it.

If fairy is to keep the defensive edge it has by having an immunity and low weaknesses. it should be balanced on the other end by removing 1 resistance, bug a very weak offensive typing, and making it hit psychic NFE. This allows you to throw in a pokemon that can resist fairy moves 1/4 without being 4x weak to ground.


Moonblast is already extremely powerful with STAB so its not a huge decrease in power. Also, it allows pokemon with Uturn to actually deal a bit of damage.

 

[Lord Godwin]

I believe it's introduction could've been handled better by making Drasna, aka a Dragon Trailer as the 1st gym. That way any Starter would've been weak to her and the Player would've been encouraged to use a fairy type, especially if an NPC would advice so. As there are both some potential relatively weak Dragons to be used for a 1st Gym (Goomy, Noibat or even Tyrunt) and some Fairies which would fit to be obtained early (Flabebe, Ralts etc).