The Dark type was introduced in the second generation of Pokemon games as a measure to balance the types. In particular, its resistance to Psychic cut down Psychic's advantage by a long way. When paired with the Ghost type it is the only type combination to have no weaknesses.
Dark moves are super-effective against:
Dark moves are not very effective against:
These types have no effect on Dark pokemon:
These types are not very effective against Dark pokemon:
These types are super-effective against Dark pokemon:
The chart below shows the strength of the Dark type against every type combination. The numbers in the squares show the fraction damage the move will do (i.e. ½ means 50% damage and not very effective, while 4 means 400% - super-effective).
For example, look where the Grass and Poison types intersect to see how good a Dark-type move would be against a pokemon like Venusaur. You will see that it is 100%.
| nor | fir | wat | ele | gra | ice | fig | poi | gro | fly | psy | bug | roc | gho | dra | dar | ste | fai | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fire | ||||||||||||||||||
| Water | ||||||||||||||||||
| Electric | ||||||||||||||||||
| Grass | ||||||||||||||||||
| Ice | ||||||||||||||||||
| Fighting | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ||||||||||||
| Poison | ½ | |||||||||||||||||
| Ground | ½ | |||||||||||||||||
| Flying | ½ | |||||||||||||||||
| Psychic | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | |||||||||
| Bug | ½ | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Rock | ½ | 2 | ||||||||||||||||
| Ghost | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Dragon | ½ | 2 | 2 | |||||||||||||||
| Dark | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ¼ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | |||||
| Steel | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ¼ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ¼ | ||||
| Fairy | ½ | 2 | 2 | ½ | ½ |
Note: the exact strengths and weaknesses of the newly revealed Fairy type are not yet confirmed.
There are 39 Dark-type pokemon.
See also: