Pokemon's starter types are a Rock Paper Scissors cycle: Fire beats Grass, Grass beats Water, and Water beats Fire. The full type chart, though, has 18 types, immunities and dual typings, so beyond the starters the analogy only holds loosely. Here is where it works and where it doesn't.
The starter triangle
Every main-series game offers a Fire, Water or Grass starter, and the three form a clean cycle in both directions: each type deals double damage to the one it beats and takes only half damage from it.
| Attacking type | Super effective (2x) against | Resisted by (0.5x) |
|---|---|---|
| Fire | Grass, Ice, Bug, Steel | Fire, Water, Rock, Dragon |
| Water | Fire, Ground, Rock | Water, Grass, Dragon |
| Grass | Water, Ground, Rock | Fire, Grass, Poison, Flying, Bug, Dragon, Steel |
Just the Fire-Water-Grass part is exactly Rock Paper Scissors: no type in the trio is best, and your rival picks the starter that beats yours. It is a neat bit of design. A new player learns the idea of counter-picking with three options before facing the full chart.
Other cycles in the chart
The starter trio is not the only loop. A second well-known one:
- Fighting beats Dark
- Dark beats Psychic
- Psychic beats Fighting
Here too each link is 2x damage. Players spot other partial loops too, but many break because of one-sided relationships, which is the next point.
Where the analogy breaks
It isn't symmetrical. In Rock Paper Scissors, if A beats B then B always loses to A, and every throw beats exactly one other. Pokemon types beat different numbers of types. Fire hits four types for double damage; Water hits only three; Grass is resisted by seven. The game is balanced across many other factors, not by equal matchups.
There are immunities. Some matchups deal no damage at all. Electric moves do nothing to Ground types, and Normal moves do nothing to Ghost types. Rock Paper Scissors has nothing like that.
Dual types multiply. A Pokemon with two types takes both multipliers. A Fire/Flying Pokemon takes 4x damage from Rock moves because both of its types are weak to Rock. Two weaknesses can stack, or a weakness and a resistance can cancel out.
Moves aren't locked to your type. A Water Pokemon can learn an Ice move to cover its Grass weakness. In RPS, a rock is a rock.
Choices aren't simultaneous in the same way. In a battle you can see the opponent's Pokemon before you choose your move. The guessing comes from switching and predicting switches, which is closer to the mind games of competitive RPS than to a single random throw.
Why designers love the RPS structure
A cycle guarantees there is no single best option, so players must read their opponent instead of always picking the strongest choice. That is the same reason Rock Paper Scissors is studied in game theory: in a pure cycle, the unbeatable long-run strategy is to mix your choices evenly, and any habit an opponent can spot becomes a weakness. Pokemon layers enough extra rules on top that the "right" answer is never simply random, but the core tension is the same.
If you want the pure three-way version without any type chart, you can play Rock Paper Scissors online. For more on the game showing up in films, shows and games, see pop culture.
FAQ
Is Pokemon just Rock Paper Scissors?
The starter types are, but the full 18-type chart with immunities and dual types is far more complex.
What beats what in Fire, Water, Grass?
Water beats Fire, Fire beats Grass, Grass beats Water. Each also resists the type it beats.
How many Pokemon types are there?
Eighteen. The most recent addition was Fairy, introduced in Generation VI (Pokemon X and Y).