"We dreamed of creating the world's strongest Pokemon... and we succeeded."
Name: Mewtwo
Height: 6' 7" (Supposedly)
Weight: 269 lb (Supposedly)
Background: Mewtwo is the genetic Pokemon, a legendary, and one of the strongest beings to ever appear in the Pokemon anime. He was originally created from the DNA of the legendary Pokemon Mew, who is thought to be the origin of all Pokemon life. He created alongside several other clones in a research lab on New Island, funded by Giovanni of Team Rocket. However, the technology used to make them was imperfect, and every clone but Mewtwo perished, leaving him completely alone. After finally waking up and realizing he was viewed as nothing more than a copy, an experiment, or a servant, he grew to hate humanity and made it his life's goal to prove himself stronger than Mew (and take over the world if you're watching the 4Kids dub)
Personality: As a child, Mewtwo was shown to be highly curious and friendly. However, that changed when he grew up and he became very hateful towards most humans, viewing them as nothing but manipulative. After watching Ash sacrifice himself, he cooled down somewhat and began to dedicate himself to protecting the clones he had created, while he tried to find a place they could call home.
Pokemon: Pokemon are the creatures that inhabit this world instead of (or possibly in addition to, it's not really clear) animals. They might resemble normal animals, but they are a lot more powerful. They fight in battle using what are known as attacks or moves. More on those later. They also have passive abilities that aid them in battle.
Type: Each Pokemon has one or two of eighteen elemental types that help determine their weaknesses and what types of attacks they can use. Mewtwo is a psychic type, so most of his attacks involve various psychic abilities
Trainer: The term for humans who catch and train Pokemon. They use their Pokemon to battle other trainers to find out who is the very best, like no one ever was.
Legendary: This is the term for the absolute most powerful Pokemon in the world. They are typically extremely hard to find and very dangerous if found. They range from simply very powerful Pokemon to literal gods. The legendary mentioned here other than Mewtwo is Mew.
History[]
Approximately twenty years ago, Team Rocket discovered that a Mew was living in Guyana. Many years later, under the orders of the new boss, Giovanni, an expedition team of Team Rocket scientists traveled to the area to search for a fossil of Mew, and succeeded in finding an eyelash belonging to it. Giovanni hired Dr. Fuji to clone Mew for him and create the most powerful Pokémon in existence. Fuji agreed, but only in order to continue his research into cloning his deceased daughter, Amber.
One month after the discovery of the eyelash, Mewtwo was successfully created and stored at New Island. At this point, it was still not fully grown and lived in a large tank beside others that contained Bulbasaurtwo, Squirtletwo, Charmandertwo, and Ambertwo. Fuji and the other scientists thought that Mewtwo was unconscious inside its tube, but it was able to communicate telepathically with Ambertwo and the other clones. However, because the cloning process requires a strong life force, all four other clones died. Before this, it is stated that Mew is said to have an immortal life force, and this is why Mew's DNA sample made a successful clone in Mewtwo.
Over the years, Mewtwo matured and grew confused over its origin and place in the world. After resolving to figure out where it belongs, Mewtwo broke out of its tank. The Team Rocket scientists were happy that they had succeeded in creating the most powerful Pokémon in the world, but that joy turned to horror once Mewtwo retaliated. Realizing that it was just an experiment of mankind, Mewtwo unleashed its fury upon them. Despite the efforts of the security systems that were designed to control it, Mewtwo destroyed the laboratory on New Island and all of the scientists in it.
Immediately thereafter, Giovanni found Mewtwo and convinced it to help with Team Rocket's goal of controlling the world. Mewtwo's power was focused as well as restrained by a robotic suit of armor as it performed tasks, such as battling for Giovanni in the Viridian Gym and helping Team Rocket capture Pokémon. Mewtwo eventually became tired of being used by Giovanni. It developed a strong hatred for humans and felt that they were weak and selfish beings who were only interested in power and wealth; it also despised the Pokémon who served humans. Mewtwo escaped from Giovanni, destroying Team Rocket headquarters in the process, and relocated to its birthplace on New Island and built a castle there.
Mewtwo then issued a challenge to several strong Pokémon Trainers, including Ash Ketchum. It used its powers to create a storm that would serve as a test to see who could make it to the island. Only a handful of Trainers decided to brave the storm and arrive, including Ash and his friends. Upon revealing itself, Mewtwo challenged the Trainers with its clone Pokémon—Venusaur, Blastoise, and Charizard—to prove its superiority to human Trainers and the superiority of cloned Pokémon in comparison to trained Pokémon. To do this, Mewtwo used a variation of the Poké Balls used by Trainers. Once caught in the Balls, the Trainers' Pokémon were cloned in a downstairs laboratory. However, before Mewtwo could defeat the Trainers and move out into the world, Mew appeared. Mew and Mewtwo fought at length, ceasing only when Ash—exasperated over the drawn-out and fruitless battling—ran into the fray and was caught in their crossfire, which turned his body to stone. After Ash was revived by the tears of the nearby Pokémon, clone and original alike, Mewtwo experienced a change of heart and no longer sought to conquer the world. Mewtwo reasoned that it would be best if no one remembered the events that had transpired, so it erased the memories of all the people and Pokémon and transported everyone but Team Rocket back to the mainland. Mewtwo and Mew left New Island with the cloned Pokémon to seek a proper place for themselves.
Moves
Being a Pokemon, most of Mewtwo's combat ability comes from the various moves or attacks that he can use. Mewtwo uses the attacks:
Psychic: Mewtwo telekinetically picks up and throws around his opponent
Barrier: Mewtwo forms a shield of psychic energy around himself.
Counter: Mewtwo psychically deflects any attack launched at him, sending it back at his opponent. Can also be used on physical attacks.
Shadow Ball: Mewtwo forms a ball of shadowy energy in his hands and launches it at his opponent. (Mewtwo is the first Pokemon in any media to ever use shadow ball)
In addition, in the Japanese only radio show "The Birth of Mewtwo", he used the attacks Hyper Beam, Recover, and Swift. However, he has not been shown to use these attacks in the actual show or movie.
"You say this armor protects my body... yet it suppresses my powers!"
"Your powers are not being suppressed. They're being focused. Learn to use them to accomplish your purpose."
This armor was created by Giovanni for Mewtwo after the two allied. It is designed with the purpose of helping Mewtwo to control his impressive abilities. It also theoretically protects him from damage, though this is never shown (as he is never hit while he has it one). As the armor does not actually boost his power, just helps him focus it, it can be assumed that any feat accomplished while wearing the armor can be accomplished without it.
Now on to some actual feats.
Psychic abilities
Without a doubt, Mewtwo's greatest powers are his psychic abilities, and they have always been extremely powerful. Just after waking up, he:
Shatters the tube he is contained in.
Shatters several tubes of fluid, sends multiple people flying, tears apart a labratory, and destroys several robotic arms.
Tears apart the lab some more with a glance.
Disperses fire.
Blows the place up completely for good measure.
After being placed in his armor, Mewtwo:
Sends an Onix flying into the back wall. (Onix weighs 463 lb)
Lifts up a herd of Tauros and holds them in the air long enough for a squad of Rocket grunts to capture them. (A single Tauros weighs 194.9 lb)
Overpowers Alakazam (a powerful psychic in its own right)
Blocks a powerful bolt of electricity and then sends it back at his opponent.
Easily defeats Gary Motherfucking Oak
Blows up an entire labratory (again)
In the main events of Mewtwo Strikes Back, he:
with a wave of his hand, creates a storm stated to be the largest on record, and which he claims will wipe out human civilization. Also, note that the storm leaves New Island completely unharmed.
Holds a man in the air and causes him extreme pain, and then casually tosses him aside.
Sends Gyrados' attack flying back, and describes doing so as child's play.
Easily stops a charging Rhyhorn, and then sends it flying back
Shields himself from Charizard's flame, and then berates Ash for how poorly trained it is.
in a power clash with Mew, creates enough energy to reduce a human being to stone.
In the events of Mewtwo Returns, he:
Stops a bus in midair and sets down, while watching the events on television from a long distance away. For reference, Mewtwo is at the top of what is described as the highest peak in Johto, and the bus was just begining to climb along the side.
Disintegrates several Rocket Balls with a wave of his hand
While tanking a huge amount electricity, sends two hovering robots flying back and produces enough power to tear up the ground.
Easily lifts several Pokemon into the air, and then flies with them at high speed. For reference, the Pokemon he is lifting are Wigglytuff (26.5 lb), Blastoise (188.5 lb), Meowth x2 (9.3 lb each), Pikachu x2 (13.2 lb each), Pidgeot (87.1 lb), Ninetails (43.9 lb), Golduck (168.9 lb), and Gyarados (518.1 lb).
Creates a poweful gust of wind just by landing.
Moves Team Rocket's entire strike team (as well as an advanced hellicopter) from the top of a tall mountain to the base.
Sends all of his clone Pokemon flying without even looking at them. In addition to the ones listed before, Mewtwo's clones include Bulbasaur (15.2 lb), Venasaur (220.5 lb), Charizard (199.5 lb), Squirtle (19.8 lb), Psyduck (43.2 lb), Vulpix (21.8 lb), Scyther (123.5 lb), Hitmonlee (109.8 lb), Rhyhorn (253.5 lb), Sandslash (65 lb), Rapidash (209.4 lb), Dewgong (264.6 lb), Vileplume (41 lb), Nidoqueen (132.3 lb), Seadra (55.1 lb), and Tentacruel (121.3 lb)
In what he describes all of his strength, takes an entire lake and moves it completely underground.
Telepathy
Mewtwo's psychic abilities are not limited to just throwing stuff around. He has demonstrated very impressive telepathic abiliites, such as when he:
Communicates telepathically with other clones just after birth
Communicates telpathically with both humans and Pokemon.
Telepathically wakes up his clones
Telepathically takes control of Nurse Joy, to the point where he can speak through her. And when he has no more need of her,he wipes her mind with a wave of his hand.
Removes the ability for any Pokemon around him to use their attacks, which forces them all to fight physically.
Wipes the memory of Team Rocket's entire strike force simultaneously.
Wipes the memory of everyone from the first movie, and he does this from a long distance away.
Energy Projection
Using the attack shadow ball, Mewtwo:
Pops a bubble created by Mew and sends it flying back. Said bubble was shown to be strong enough to catch Ash flying at high speed.
Cancels out an energy blast.
Tears apart a stadium with multiple shadow balls.
Sends Mew flying up past the cloud layer
Blasts a large hole in a thick stone roof. Here is how large the hole is.
Speed
He can fly using his psychic powers
Fights Mew in midair at high speed
Flies so fast it tears apart his armor (though he is unarmed) and flies all the way from Viridian City to New Island in a very short amount of time. (For reference, New Island is just south of Cinnabar Island.)
Flies out of a lake so fast he creates a large column of water
Durability
Mewtwo honestly doesn't take many hits throughout his appearences. Still, he has a few durability feats, such is he:
is at the center of a large explosion, and is completely fine.
is slammed into to stone stadium so hard it leaves a crater, and responds with annoyance.
is blasted by a huge amount of electricity, and slammed into solid rock so hard it shatters, and gets right back up.
Intelligence/Technology
Despite being a Pokemon, Mewtwo is shown to have some impressive technology at his disposal. He was able to construct a facility that is shown to be highly advanced on New Island, and did so in a very limited amount of time. (It's not clear how long, but I'd estimate it was about a month from leaving Giovanni to the main events of the film). He is also shown to have technology such as survelience cameras to spy on trainers, and holographic invites for trainers he deems worthy.
Clone Balls/Mewtwo Balls (No official name given)
Clone Balls are a special kind of Pokeball used by Mewtwo, and he has access to quite a lot of them. They can home in on and capture Pokemon that are already owned by a trainer (which is normally impossible in the anime). They can even capture Pokemon already inside of their balls. Though inescapable, they can be temporarily disabled with electricity. These balls are used in order to provide Mewtwo with the genetic data he needs for cloning.
Cloning Technology
Mewtwo has some very impressive cloning technology at his disposal. With just a small sample of DNA, he is capable of producing a fully formed Pokemon clone in seconds. With a large amount of DNA, he is capable of mass producing them.
It should be noted that, as stated before, the technology that created Mewtwo in the first place was far from perfect. Mewtwo was the only survivor of his batch, and he most likely owes that more to Mew's DNA than to the scientists that made him. And yet his clones were shown to be quite healthy and strong. The first clones he made (Venusaurtwo, Blastoisetwo, and Charizardtwo) were all able to beat their normal counterparts quite easily in battle, and his the clones made after that were shown to be even matches with the originals. His clones are even capable of breeding, even when they shouldn't be able to (For reference not only did they give birth to a fully evolved Pokemon, but Nidoqueen can't breed in the first place (though that might just be in game)). And again, he perfected this technology in a very small amount of time (he did have Nurse Joy's help, as he said her knowledge of Pokemon biology was invaluable, but still).
Weaknesses
Mewtwo is a psychic type which means he is weak against Dark type attacks, Ghost based attacks, and Bug type attacks. In addition, while cold towards most humans and Pokemon, he cares very deeply about his clones and is fully willing to sacrifice his life if it means ensuring their safety.