Litten, Torracat, and Incineroar

Litten, Torracat, and Incineroar are a trio of Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. The three were introduced in the 2016 video games .
Concept and design
The Pokémon series of video games focuses on battling and capturing fictional creatures known as Pokémon. Within each game, the player is tasked with picking one of three starter Pokémon, each having an elemental type of either water, grass, or fire. These Pokémon can evolve into more powerful forms as they level up, with starter Pokémon each having three evolutionary forms.
Litten, Torracat, and Incineroar first appeared as the fire-type starters in . When developing the games, director Shigeru Ohmori wanted to put the spotlight on the Pokémon themselves, re-examining the concept of them as living creatures and how humans interact with them. In an interview, he described "nature" and "abundant life" as two of the central themes of the game, while also wanting to explore concepts of "Pokémon that have a more playful element or a gimmick". As the games also represented the 20th anniversary of the franchise, the development team were encouraged to explore a "funny element" to Pokémon design, as it was seen as a special occasion. Consideration however was also given to "find a balance of cool serious" Pokémon designs that would fit the game's Alola region, which was based on Hawaii.
Litten is a cat Pokémon, who can attack opponents with flaming hairballs. Incineroar has a belt that resembles fire that it uses to unleash its moves. Litten evolves into Torracat and Torracat evolves into Incineroar. In the game, Incineroar has an exclusive "Z-Move", which is a powerful attack that can be used once per battle, named "Malicious Moonsault". In the attack, Incineroar body slams and uses a ball of fire against an opponent in a ring erected around them. The trio are not available in the base game of , but are available through the . Litten and its evolution are also in a few Pokémon spin-offs, including and .
Incineroar is a playable in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.
In the anime Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon, both Professor Kukui and Ash Ketchum have an Incineroar.
Reception
Upon reveal, Litten became popular with fans. Brian Feldman stated: "Litten is, like, the meta Pokémon, who understands that Pokémon is a grind. Litten’s just trying to make it to Friday." Others commented on the humorous etymology of the name. Ashlie Coon, writing for WGYC praised the cuteness of the design and how "colors perfectly show what type of Pokémon it is". Catrina Dennis, writing for Inverse, commented that fans love of the Pokémon was "assisted by the internet’s overall obsession with cats". In a poll of the Polygon staff ranking the stater Pokémon in Sun & Moon, Litten got second place. Litten was described by as the best of Nintendo's attempts to make a cat Pokémon.
Torracat's older and angrier look was enjoyed by some fans. Polygon described it as looking more like an actual feline. Others called the design conservative and boring.
Incineroar initially received criticism for looking like it would be part fighting type, as fire and fighting type starter Pokémon are common in the franchise. However, after Nintendo announced Incineroar was dark type, not fighting type, fans dropped that piece of criticism. Inceroar's design was criticized for not being quadrapedal like Litten and Torracat; many fans had hoped that Incineroar would maintain the pet-like appearance that fans saw in Litten. Additionally, Incineroar has been described as a dominate force in competitive Pokémon. Eric Bartlett, writing for Game Haus, stated Incineroar was the "Swiss Army knife of a Pokemon." Cass Marshall, writing for Polygon, characterized it as, "please, do not turn the weed cat into a bipedal man."
Wolfe Glick has stated that Incineroar is his "fourth most hated" Pokémon because it reduced the diversity in Pokémon used in competitive Pokémon games. Despite this, he has used it in most of his competitive teams. Because of its longtime use by Glick, Incineroar has become Glick's signature Pokémon. Glick brought Incineroar to 6 out of the 7 championships he entered in 2024. Both of his wins in that year were with Incineroar. stated Glick's win in the 2025 European International Championships "hinged on the usage of Incineroar". As a promotion for the Pokémon 2025 North America International Championships, The Pokémon Company gave fans an Incineroar named "Wolfe Glick's Incineroar," which had the same moveset as the one Glick used to win the European Championship of that same year.

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