<p>In the first movie, Dr. Fuji, the head scientist who worked on Mewtwo's creation in the anime, has this conversation with Mewtwo:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Dr. Fuji: &quot;For years we struggled to successfully clone a Pokémon to prove our theories, but you're the first specimen to survive. That is Mew, the rarest of all Pokémon. From its DNA we created you, Mewtwo.&quot;</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>Mewtwo: &quot;Mewtwo? Am I only a copy? Nothing but Mew's shadow?&quot;</p>
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>Dr. Fuji: &quot;You are greater than Mew, improved through the power of human ingenuity. We used the most advanced techniques to develop your awesome psychic powers.&quot;</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Then later in the movie, when Jessie, James, and Meowth are sneaking around in Mewtwo's cloning lab, they find a recording which Dr. Fuji made about Mewtwo's creation in which he says this:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>There was sufficient genetic material [in the fossil his team had found] to replicate Mew. <strong>But</strong> [emphasis mine] Giovanni, who financed our experiments, insisted we try to create super-clones, more powerful than any living Pokémon.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>All that, to me, implies strongly that Mewtwo was not just cloned directly from Mew, but also subjected to heavy genetic modification to enhance his psychic powers. The other clones did not go through this process, and so they resemble the Pokémon they were cloned from.</p>
<p>This would also seem to fit in with Mewtwo's general backstory in other versions of the Pokémon world. In the <em>Pokémon Adventures</em> manga, it's explicitly stated that Mewtwo was created by blending human DNA with the DNA from Mew, and in the games, Mewtwo's original Pokédex entry states that</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It was created by a scientist after years of horrific gene splicing and DNA engineering experiments.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>I don't see why anime-verse Mewtwo would be any different, and there's nothing in the movie that suggests he is.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-10-23T09:15:25.657Z
2020-10-23T09:15:25.657Z
TMary
<p>I believe this is a plothole, stemming from the discrepancies between Mewtwo's origins in the games, and its origin in the anime.</p>

<p>In the games, Mewtwo is not a clone of Mew, but actually its child: the journals in Cinnabar Mansion refer to Mew giving birth to it. Mewtwo was then subjected to "years of horrific gene splicing and DNA engineering experiments", which explains why it only vaguely resembles Mew - its DNA is no longer solely that of Mew.</p>

<p>In the anime, however, Mewtwo was cloned using Mew's DNA, and there is no mention anywhere of it being subjected to any further experiments, only of it "maturing" into its present form. Prior to maturing, it resembled Mew more closely:</p>

<p><a href="https://i.sstatic.net/vMgps.jpg" rel="nofollow noreferrer"><img src="https://i.sstatic.net/vMgps.jpg" alt="enter image description here"></a></p>

<p>It's still possible that Mewtwo was experimented upon in a similar manner to the games, but in the absence of any evidence, I have to chalk this up to a simple plothole: there is no clear explanation for why Mewtwo should differ so drastically from the Pokémon it was cloned from, when the other clones exhibit no differences besides dark splotches.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-02-07T13:37:16.410Z
2020-02-07T13:37:16.410Z
F1Krazy
<p>Mewtwo is an altered version of mew, so that means it looks different. The scientists that created the Pokémon altered its structure and powers to be stronger than mew itself. And that's why Mewtwo is looks different.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2023-04-10T19:48:08.917Z
2023-04-10T19:48:08.917Z
MarvMew1921
<p>In the <em>Pokémon Adventures</em> manga, Mewtwo was given human DNA as well as Mew DNA so Mewtwo should look different then Mew. More human. I don't see why this couldn't also have been the case in the anime and games. However, the Pokemon that Mewtwo cloned were given hardly any changes but the change of that they would obey Mewtwo. <em>They were not injected with human DNA but with Pokemon DNA</em>.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-05T14:47:51.767Z
"Mewtwo was given human DNA" - do you have a source for this?
F1Krazy
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-09T22:38:59.247Z
Yes, in the Pokemon manga, which i get if you don't agree, Blaine, the former team rocket   member gave an injection of his DNA to Mewtwo. I don't see why the TV shows and movies have difference.
Bluetuber
CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-09-05T13:53:07.020Z
2020-09-10T21:04:50.607Z
2020-09-10T21:04:50.607Z
Bluetuber
<p>Mewtwo was cloned from Mew. It is possible that Team Rocket made some modifications for the clone, whereas Mewtwo did not do any modifications to the DNA of the pokemon it cloned. Anyways, it is just an assumption.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2020-08-06T09:01:32.573Z
2022-01-19T01:53:34.327Z
2022-01-19T01:53:34.327Z
Tejas
<p>I think it's because Mewtwo is not connected with the Tree of Life. Being connected to the Tree gives Mew shapeshifting ability, but it may also affect his appearance altogether.</p>

CC BY-SA 4.0
2022-01-19T00:28:53.993Z
2022-01-19T00:28:53.993Z
user65109
<p>Mewtwo is a man-made Pokémon, created from the DNA of Mew. All the other cloned Pokémon in the movie <em>Mewtwo Strikes Back</em> look like the one they cloned from, but not Mewtwo. Mewtwo looks totally different from Mew. Why is this?</p>

<pokemon>
Why does Mewtwo look so different from Mew?
# Why does Mewtwo look so different from Mew?
Posted by: username_0 on 2020-02-07
Mewtwo is a man-made Pokémon, created from the DNA of Mew. All the other cloned Pokémon in the movie *Mewtwo Strikes Back* look like the one they cloned from, but not Mewtwo. Mewtwo looks totally different from Mew. Why is this?
**Tags:** pokemon
---
## 6 answers
### Answer by username_1 on 2020-10-23. Score: 2 | Accepted answer
In the first movie, Dr. Fuji, the head scientist who worked on Mewtwo's creation in the anime, has this conversation with Mewtwo:

> Dr. Fuji: "For years we struggled to successfully clone a Pokémon to prove our theories, but you're the first specimen to survive. That is Mew, the rarest of all Pokémon. From its DNA we created you, Mewtwo."

> Mewtwo: "Mewtwo? Am I only a copy? Nothing but Mew's shadow?"

> Dr. Fuji: "You are greater than Mew, improved through the power of human ingenuity. We used the most advanced techniques to develop your awesome psychic powers."

Then later in the movie, when Jessie, James, and Meowth are sneaking around in Mewtwo's cloning lab, they find a recording which Dr. Fuji made about Mewtwo's creation in which he says this:

> There was sufficient genetic material [in the fossil his team had found] to replicate Mew. **But** [emphasis mine] Giovanni, who financed our experiments, insisted we try to create super-clones, more powerful than any living Pokémon.

All that, to me, implies strongly that Mewtwo was not just cloned directly from Mew, but also subjected to heavy genetic modification to enhance his psychic powers. The other clones did not go through this process, and so they resemble the Pokémon they were cloned from.

This would also seem to fit in with Mewtwo's general backstory in other versions of the Pokémon world. In the *Pokémon Adventures* manga, it's explicitly stated that Mewtwo was created by blending human DNA with the DNA from Mew, and in the games, Mewtwo's original Pokédex entry states that

> It was created by a scientist after years of horrific gene splicing and DNA engineering experiments.

I don't see why anime-verse Mewtwo would be any different, and there's nothing in the movie that suggests he is.
---
### Answer by username_2 on 2020-02-07. Score: 2
I believe this is a plothole, stemming from the discrepancies between Mewtwo's origins in the games, and its origin in the anime.

In the games, Mewtwo is not a clone of Mew, but actually its child: the journals in Cinnabar Mansion refer to Mew giving birth to it. Mewtwo was then subjected to "years of horrific gene splicing and DNA engineering experiments", which explains why it only vaguely resembles Mew - its DNA is no longer solely that of Mew.

In the anime, however, Mewtwo was cloned using Mew's DNA, and there is no mention anywhere of it being subjected to any further experiments, only of it "maturing" into its present form. Prior to maturing, it resembled Mew more closely:

[![enter image description here](https://i.sstatic.net/vMgps.jpg)](https://i.sstatic.net/vMgps.jpg)

It's still possible that Mewtwo was experimented upon in a similar manner to the games, but in the absence of any evidence, I have to chalk this up to a simple plothole: there is no clear explanation for why Mewtwo should differ so drastically from the Pokémon it was cloned from, when the other clones exhibit no differences besides dark splotches.
---
### Answer by username_3 on 2023-04-10. Score: 1
Mewtwo is an altered version of mew, so that means it looks different. The scientists that created the Pokémon altered its structure and powers to be stronger than mew itself. And that's why Mewtwo is looks different.
---
### Answer by username_4 on 2020-09-05. Score: 1
In the *Pokémon Adventures* manga, Mewtwo was given human DNA as well as Mew DNA so Mewtwo should look different then Mew. More human. I don't see why this couldn't also have been the case in the anime and games. However, the Pokemon that Mewtwo cloned were given hardly any changes but the change of that they would obey Mewtwo. *They were not injected with human DNA but with Pokemon DNA*.
> **Comments:**
> **username_2** (2020-09-05): "Mewtwo was given human DNA" - do you have a source for this?  
> **username_4** (2020-09-09): Yes, in the Pokemon manga, which i get if you don't agree, Blaine, the former team rocket   member gave an injection of his DNA to Mewtwo. I don't see why the TV shows and movies have difference.  
---
### Answer by username_5 on 2020-08-06. Score: -1
Mewtwo was cloned from Mew. It is possible that Team Rocket made some modifications for the clone, whereas Mewtwo did not do any modifications to the DNA of the pokemon it cloned. Anyways, it is just an assumption.
---
### Answer by username_6 on 2022-01-19. Score: -1
I think it's because Mewtwo is not connected with the Tree of Life. Being connected to the Tree gives Mew shapeshifting ability, but it may also affect his appearance altogether.
---
