Type advantage is one of the key mechanics in Pokémon. While 17 out of 18 types can hit at least one other type for super effective damage, one type stands alone: Normal. Normal type can hit everything but Rock, Ghost and Steel for neutral damage, while hitting one of those other three types deals not very effective damage or no damage at all.
Thus, this is me, bored on a Monday asking: What moves can never hit for super effective damage?*
-ate for the win
Normally (heh), Normal type moves can never hit for super effective damage. But thanks to the abilities that change Normal type moves into other types, that is the only time they can hit super effectively. So let's list off all Normal type attacking moves first:
Barrage, Bide, Bind, Body Slam, Boomburst, Chip Away, Comet Punch, Constrict, Covet, Crush Claw, Crush Grip, Cut, Dizzy Punch, Double Hit, Double Slap, Double-Edge, Echoed Voice, Egg Bomb, Explosion, Extreme Speed, Facade, Fake Out, False Swipe, Feint, Flail, Frustration, Fury Attack, Fury Swipes, Giga Impact, Head Charge, Headbutt, Hidden Power, Hold Back, Horn Attack, Hyper Beam, Hyper Fang, Hyper Voice, Judgment, Last Resort, Mega Kick, Mega Punch, Multi-Attack, Natural Gift, Pay Day, Pound, Quick Attack, Rage, Rapid Spin, Razor Wind, Relic Song, Retaliate, Return, Revelation Dance, Rock Climb, Round, Scratch, Secret Power, Self Destruct, Skull Bash, Slam, Slash, Smelling Salts, Snore, Sonic Boom, Spike Cannon, Spit Up, Stomp, Strength, Struggle, Super Fang, Swift, Tackle, Tail Slap, Take Down, Techno Blast, Terrain Pulse, Thrash, Tri Attack, Trump Card, Uproar, Vice Grip, Weather Ball, Wrap and Wring Out. 83 attacks.
Some of these attacks, obviously, are weird. Hidden Power could technically be a Normal type attack, but then that'd get flagged by -ate abilities so it doesn't count. Terrain Pulse, Techno Blast Revelation Dance, Multi-Attack, Natural Gift, Judgment and Weather Ball all get affected by various environmental factors, so they're good. Struggle is bizarre and I don't think it gets affected by -ate. That's eight moves eliminated already.
*Finally, I'll admit that Electrify would make everything written here invalid. However, I think it's still a fun thought experiment and I've already put too much time into it.
Now let's look at the Pokémon with -ate abilities that change typing:
Mega Pinsir and Mega Salamance with Aerilate, Sylveon with Pixilate, Glalie, Amaura and Aurorus with Refrigerate and Galvanize with Alolan Geodude, Graveler and Golem.
So now we go through the movesets. Every time I see a Normal type move, I flag it:
Pinsir has Vice Grip, Bind, Double Hit, Thrash, Return, Frustration, Hyper Beam, Facade, Round, False Swipe, Giga Impact, Fury Attack, Flail, Feint, Slash and Snore. That's 16 moves eliminated for a total of 24.
Without repeats, Salamance gets Rage, Headbutt, Hyper Voice, Cut, Strength, Secret Power, Swift and Body Slam (last moves are from transfer). That's eight more moves for a total of 32.
Sylveon gets Tackle, Last Resort, Take Down, Retaliate and Trump Card. That's four moves eliminated for a total of 36.
Glalie gets Explosion, Super Fang and Self Destruct (from transfer) to eliminate three more moves for a total of 39.
Aurorus gets nothing new. Still at 39.
Golem gets Mega Kick to take us to 42.
So here are the 42 moves that cannot hit super effective (without Electrify): Barrage, Boomburst, Chip Away, Comet Punch, Constrict, Covet, Crush Claw, Crush Grip, Dizzy Punch, Double Slap, Egg Bomb, Extreme Speed, Fake Out, Head Charge, Hold Back, Horn Attack, Hyper Fang, Mega Punch, Pay Day, Pound, Rapid Spin, Razor Wind, Relic Song, Rock Climb, Scratch, Skull Bash, Slam, Smelling Salts, Sonic Boom, Spike Cannon, Spit Up, Stomp, Tri Attack, Wrap and Wring Out.
So this is a lot, and that was a lot. If I goofed, lemme know and I'll fix it and credit you. Other than that, thanks for reading! It was fun.
Thus, this is me, bored on a Monday asking: What moves can never hit for super effective damage?*
-ate for the win
Normally (heh), Normal type moves can never hit for super effective damage. But thanks to the abilities that change Normal type moves into other types, that is the only time they can hit super effectively. So let's list off all Normal type attacking moves first:
Barrage, Bide, Bind, Body Slam, Boomburst, Chip Away, Comet Punch, Constrict, Covet, Crush Claw, Crush Grip, Cut, Dizzy Punch, Double Hit, Double Slap, Double-Edge, Echoed Voice, Egg Bomb, Explosion, Extreme Speed, Facade, Fake Out, False Swipe, Feint, Flail, Frustration, Fury Attack, Fury Swipes, Giga Impact, Head Charge, Headbutt, Hidden Power, Hold Back, Horn Attack, Hyper Beam, Hyper Fang, Hyper Voice, Judgment, Last Resort, Mega Kick, Mega Punch, Multi-Attack, Natural Gift, Pay Day, Pound, Quick Attack, Rage, Rapid Spin, Razor Wind, Relic Song, Retaliate, Return, Revelation Dance, Rock Climb, Round, Scratch, Secret Power, Self Destruct, Skull Bash, Slam, Slash, Smelling Salts, Snore, Sonic Boom, Spike Cannon, Spit Up, Stomp, Strength, Struggle, Super Fang, Swift, Tackle, Tail Slap, Take Down, Techno Blast, Terrain Pulse, Thrash, Tri Attack, Trump Card, Uproar, Vice Grip, Weather Ball, Wrap and Wring Out. 83 attacks.
Some of these attacks, obviously, are weird. Hidden Power could technically be a Normal type attack, but then that'd get flagged by -ate abilities so it doesn't count. Terrain Pulse, Techno Blast Revelation Dance, Multi-Attack, Natural Gift, Judgment and Weather Ball all get affected by various environmental factors, so they're good. Struggle is bizarre and I don't think it gets affected by -ate. That's eight moves eliminated already.
*Finally, I'll admit that Electrify would make everything written here invalid. However, I think it's still a fun thought experiment and I've already put too much time into it.
Now let's look at the Pokémon with -ate abilities that change typing:
Mega Pinsir and Mega Salamance with Aerilate, Sylveon with Pixilate, Glalie, Amaura and Aurorus with Refrigerate and Galvanize with Alolan Geodude, Graveler and Golem.
So now we go through the movesets. Every time I see a Normal type move, I flag it:
Pinsir has Vice Grip, Bind, Double Hit, Thrash, Return, Frustration, Hyper Beam, Facade, Round, False Swipe, Giga Impact, Fury Attack, Flail, Feint, Slash and Snore. That's 16 moves eliminated for a total of 24.
Without repeats, Salamance gets Rage, Headbutt, Hyper Voice, Cut, Strength, Secret Power, Swift and Body Slam (last moves are from transfer). That's eight more moves for a total of 32.
Sylveon gets Tackle, Last Resort, Take Down, Retaliate and Trump Card. That's four moves eliminated for a total of 36.
Glalie gets Explosion, Super Fang and Self Destruct (from transfer) to eliminate three more moves for a total of 39.
Aurorus gets nothing new. Still at 39.
Golem gets Mega Kick to take us to 42.
So here are the 42 moves that cannot hit super effective (without Electrify): Barrage, Boomburst, Chip Away, Comet Punch, Constrict, Covet, Crush Claw, Crush Grip, Dizzy Punch, Double Slap, Egg Bomb, Extreme Speed, Fake Out, Head Charge, Hold Back, Horn Attack, Hyper Fang, Mega Punch, Pay Day, Pound, Rapid Spin, Razor Wind, Relic Song, Rock Climb, Scratch, Skull Bash, Slam, Smelling Salts, Sonic Boom, Spike Cannon, Spit Up, Stomp, Tri Attack, Wrap and Wring Out.
So this is a lot, and that was a lot. If I goofed, lemme know and I'll fix it and credit you. Other than that, thanks for reading! It was fun.