The Nuzlocke Challenge is a set of self-imposed rules for Pokemon games: you can only catch the first Pokemon encountered on each route, and if a Pokemon faints, it is considered dead and must be permanently boxed or released. Named after a webcomic by artist Nick Franco, the challenge transforms a game designed for kids into a tense, emotional survival run where every battle carries real stakes. Losing your starter to a critical hit 30 hours in hits different when you know it is gone forever. The format spawned countless variants -- Randomlockes, Soul Links, Wedlockes -- and became one of gaming's most enduring community-created difficulty modes.