In November 2000, Geller sued
video game company
Nintendo for £60 million over the
Pokémon species "
Yungera", localized in English as "
Kadabra", which he claimed was an unauthorized appropriation of his identity.
[94][95] The Pokémon in question has psychic abilities and carries a bent spoon. Geller also claimed that the star on Kadabra's forehead and the lightning patterns on its abdomen are symbolisms popular with the
Waffen SS of
Nazi Germany.
[95] The
katakana for the character's name, ユンゲラー, is visually similar to the transliteration of Geller's own name into Japanese (ユリゲラー). He is quoted as saying: "Nintendo turned me into an evil,
occult Pokémon character. Nintendo stole my identity by using my name and my signature image."
[95] As of 2008, the situation was still ongoing.
Pokémon anime director and storyboard artist Masamitsu Hidaka confirmed in an interview that Kadabra would not be used on a
Pokémon Trading Card until an agreement was reached on the case. As of 2019, the agreement has not been reached and the last Kadabra card released was in the
Skyridge e-Reader set (2002/2003).
[96]