What does Diglett look like underground? Theories and fanart

Diglett, Pokemon’s iconic mole, has long been recognized as a brown, pill-shaped nub poking out of the ground. As the underside — or whatever exists beneath the earth — of Diglett is obscured by overturned dirt in virtually all official art, the mystery of what constitutes an entire Diglett has been up for debate ever since its inclusion in generation one. This has allowed many fan theories to take hold about the ground-type Pokemon’s true form.

Diglett is just a mole

For Diglett to be able to carve effortlessly through the earth in order to move and attack, it would have to be small, dynamic, and nimble enough to squeeze through thin tunnels. Where Diglett’s head seems to be the top half of an elongated oval, many have speculated that his bottom half would be the other half of this equally shaped and sized oval, complete with ambulatory claws. After all, it wouldn’t be able to move as effectively if it were unreasonably large or abnormally shaped beneath the ground, right?

Diglett is an underground hand

Rumors circulating Diglett’s full shape eventually reached Junichi Masuda, the Pokemon series’ composer, programmer, and eventual project lead. When asked about what lies below Diglett’s head, Masuda admitted that he himself didn’t know, and was curious to find out. Masuda also theorized that Diglett was one finger of a much larger, underground hand.

Related: How does the Grand Underground’s Diglett Bonus work in Pokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl

With the series lead’s blessing, this led many fan artists to create some to-scale pieces of underground hand Diglett nightmare fuel. Many of the pieces of fanart that support this theory also extend the hand’s wrist into an arm, and eventually into a much larger, anthropomorphic Diglett-like beast. Despite Masuda’s tacit agreement, this creepy rendition of Diglett is still far from canon.