The Origin of Farfetch'd

Wild Duck Pokemon

THAT.Is a wild duck.
Alright, honestly, its Farfetch'd is the pokemon shown in the picture and its fat,plump and most likely would be delicious if eaten.The onion leek it holds doesn't help.
When I was younger at 8 years old,I would often ask myself why Farfetch'd had a leek and where its origins were.If Probopass came from a compass-fused Moai Statue it seems fair that the others get their own story behind their origin.

Following text by George Hutcheon (alebit slightly edited by me) ,text in brackets are by me and "I" refers to George Hutcheon unless in a bracket in which it refers to me






When I first sat down to research Farfetch'd, I wasn't really sure if there would be enough material for a good article. The legend that inspired its creation, numerous websites assured me, was that of a wild duck that carried a green onion, which would appear in forests to offer itself up as a meal for starving travelers. (I can attest to that;I've heard of that legend before) As odd and faintly amusing as this tale was, there didn't seem to be a lot to it, and so I set out to research it further in the hope that I might discover additional details that would be of interest.
     And what I found was... nothing. Searching through numerous online archives of Chinese and Japanese folklore, I couldn't find any reference to this legend at all. In fact, the only places that did make reference to such a legend were... Pokémon sites. Could the tale of the onion-bearing duck offering itself to travelers actually be a creation of the fandom? (See,there are always rumors spreadingaround the fanbase,some would call it fan spectaculation while others might call it gospel truth.)
     Given the enormous scope of Eastern mythology, consisting of countless tales, each of which have countless variations, it's very difficult to say for certain that a story doesn't actually exist. But after combing through every source at my disposal and consulting a number of people in Japan, I have to conclude that there appears to be no such legend.(For now, we'll assume that the origin given above is false.)
      So, where does Farfetch'd come from? My research suggests that the true origin actually isn't a million miles away from the version above; only rather than being inspired by a legend, it comes from a certain Japanese saying: Kamo ga negi wo shotte kuru (鴨が葱を背負って来る), literally meaning 'a duck comes bearing green onions'. The phrase can be shortened simply to kamo negi (鴨葱)... which, when written in katakana, is Farfetch'd's Japanese name (カモネギ).(That's how japanese pokemon naming works.)
      Its Japanese name is made up of kamo (鴨 or カモ), meaning 'duck', and negi (葱 or ネギ), which refers to a variety of green onion, Allium fistulosum – specifically, the onion leek stalk that Farfetch'd can be seen carrying. Pokédex entries over the years have made several references to its rarity, and in the original Red and Blue games, only a single Farfetch'd is available, as a trade from an in-game trainer. The pokemon anime and the game Pokedex has also stated that the reason for this Pokémon's rarity is that it is a delicacy.
     And culinary matters are central to the origins of Farfetch'd. Duck and green onion are the primary ingredients for a good duck stew, and so finding a duck carrying green onions would be a surprising but convenient occurrence. (Yes,duck stew has these ingredients as important aspects.)This is the first meaning of the idiom: something not asked for, but very convenient; a serendipitous event. In Red and Blue, the player's acquisition of the very rare Farfetch'd, traded for a common Spearow, could be seen as just such an event. The phrase is given a literal portrayal, as the AI player actually obtains a duck carrying a green onion.There is a second meaning to the phrase, however. A duck bearing a green onion is a creature walking naïvely towards a nasty fate, and the idiom has come to refer to individuals who are easy to deceive. One dictionary gives the meaning 'along comes a sucker just begging to be parted from his money'. As a result, somebody who is easy to take advantage of through trickery can be referred to in Japanese as a kamo (鴨) or 'duck'.
     Perhaps this, too, has relevance to Farfetch'd. Trading away a Spearow in order to get the otherwise-unobtainable Farfetch'd seems like a very good deal indeed. But Farfetch'd doesn't evolve, has quite poor stats all round and is of very limited use. (In fact,it is rather weak in battles.)Spearow, on the other hand, evolves into the far-superior Fearow, which proves to be a viable competitor throughout the game. (Fearow can learn better moves,has higher stats and Individual and Effort values [IV and EV].)Viewed in this context, might the duck {refer to previous paragraph}in question be the player themselves, having traded away a potentially strong Pokémon for one that's all but useless?(That is,to be tricked by the alleged "duck" instead.)
     Farfetch'd stands out amongst the Generation I Pokémon as one of the few that still have no evolution family. People have been calling for an evolution to Farfetch'd for years now, (Most probably to increase its stats or just let it grow stronger?)but in a way, I hope this never happens. It seems to me that Farfetch'd's poor battle potential reflects wonderfully the phrase that spawned its creation: the unsuspecting duck, unaware that it could be made into a delicious meal at any time. And if the perpetual loser can rise up and defeat a stronger opponent despite their handicaps, then doesn't that make victory all the sweeter? Here's to Farfetch'd, then: a celebration of the loser in all of us.
[Half] copied text ends here


To be honest,Farfetch'd is although weak,but is still popular among many fans,even having an airy,"act-cool" and calm personality.I personally like it in terms of look and attitude ("This stalk I bear......its not just for looks."---Farfetch'd) and I truly think that it is just a Pokemon all the same---why hate it?And it would seem that the trainer who requests to trade is after all,the duck---it is the ONLY Farfetch'd in the game and with that you can finally complete the national pokedex.So cheers to the fat,suave loser once again:Farfetch'd!