The United States military once explored the development of a weapon inspired by a notorious incident from a Japanese children’s cartoon, *Pokemon*. This unusual concept emerged following a 1997 episode in which rapid flashes of blue and red light caused approximately 700 viewers to suffer from seizures and other symptoms.
According to a declassified document from the Army’s National Ground Intelligence Center, the military aimed to create a “seizure gun” that would utilize electromagnetic pulses to disrupt voluntary muscle control in targets. The report indicated that this weapon could potentially induce seizures in nearly all individuals exposed to it, regardless of their susceptibility to epilepsy. The Army speculated that the weapon would be effective at distances of “hundreds of meters,” with induced seizures lasting between one and five minutes[1][3][5].
The inspiration for this weapon was directly linked to the *Pokemon* episode featuring Pikachu, whose lightning bolt attack triggered the photic-induced seizure phenomenon. The Army’s analysis noted that this incident demonstrated the potential for such visual stimuli to induce seizures, leading them to consider harnessing this effect as a non-lethal means of incapacitating adversaries[2][4].
Despite the theoretical groundwork laid out in these documents, the military ultimately abandoned the project. Concerns over public backlash and the negative press surrounding the *Pokemon* episode contributed to its discontinuation. A spokesperson for the Joint Non-Lethal Weapons Directorate confirmed that no experimental evidence had been gathered to support the development of such a weapon, leaving it firmly in the realm of conceptual exploration[1][3][4].
This peculiar intersection of pop culture and military innovation highlights how even children’s entertainment can inspire serious considerations in defense strategy, albeit with controversial implications.
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[1] https://www.eurogamer.net/how-pokemon-inspired-the-us-military-to-devise-a-seizure-gun
[2] https://thediplomat.com/2015/08/pokemon-warfare-one-form-of-military-robotics/
[3] https://www.livescience.com/23530-pokemon-army-seizure-weapons.html
[4] https://theweek.com/articles/471912/armys-conceptual-seizure-gun-inspired-by-pokemon
[5] https://www.polygon.com/gaming/2012/9/26/3412906/pokemon-seizure-inducing-episode-inspires-army-to-create-an
[6] https://www.reddit.com/r/pokemon/comments/2l2t73/military_themed_team/
[7] https://killscreen.com/previously/articles/evidence-pokemon-inspired-seizure-gun/
