Exeggutor is a Jinmenju a tree that grows human heads http://hyakumonogatari.com/2012/06/03/jinmenju-the-human-face-tree//
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Should designs be based off animals only?
- Thread starter antemortem
- Start date
Oh my Arceus, they just went nuts with object Pokemon in Gen III!
Nosepass & Probopass:
Ah the moai statues, the Japanese just love these guys. The Nosepass family is actually similar to the Porygon family in term of evolution except here its recent findings that shape the evolution.
But let's start with Nosepass. Nosepass isn't only a moai statue but also a compass, hence the coloring and the bright red nose that would otherwise look out of place. Had it been a moai statue it actually would probably have been a boring design, but the additional compass (and the magnetism aspect that comes with it) I feel helps makes Nosepass work. Now if only it Gen III sprite had been better, I seriously didn't know what it was suppose to be in Gen III until I saw official art.
Moving onto Probopass, it took the Nosepass concept and built upon it. The moai statue? As it turns out moai statues had false eyes and a hat (called a pukao) so Probopass was given false eyes and a hat. The compass (and magnetism)? It had draw in metal filings creating a mustache (making it look a bit like Mario) and it has grew "mini-noses" it controls with magnetism. Now I can admit the eyes are a bit jarring (and its resemblance to Mario), but once you get used to that I think the design works. Oh, and once again they never try to be anything else but statues, all they want to do is just point north.
Gulpin & Swalot:
So you're probably wondering what these Pokemon are based on? Well looks like Bulbapedia changed its opinion that it was the heavily damaged specimen of the blobfish, but I more prefer the original thought that they're based on stomachs. Yeah, just stomachs, because their whole gimmick is eating things whole.
So because they ever want to be stomachs their design work, right? Well, not exactly. Stomach is a both a loose and limited concept to begin with, and what they choose to do is make them into I guess cartoony looking stomach creatures. They're blob monsters, but rubbery looking ones which make them even look more unnatural. And on top of that they also have additional details that I have no idea where they come from. Gulpin has a feather on its head making you think it could be some kind of bird, but then Swalot has those whiskers and diamond body pattern making it look like... a fish I guess? I honestly don't know what they were going for, it feels like they made them without the additional details, thought they looked boring, and just added random features to make them look more visually intriguing. However that's all they are, intriguing.
Carvanha & Sharpedo:
Our first hybrid on this list, and it's only for Sharpedo. Getting Carvanha out of the way, it's mainly based on a rather brightly colorful piranha with some features that'll later be brought over to Sharpedo (mainly the yellow X scar). I guess you can also say its a bit based on a rounder missile, but it would be a stretch in my opinion.
Sharpedo is why they're on this list. It's not only based on a (great white) shark, but also has traits of a torpedo. An interesting combination and make for an equally interesting design that I think works, though that doesn't stop it from having problems. I feel they shortened it too much, when I first saw it I thought it was just a shark's head. I feel they could have made it longer (it would also help with its torpedo trait by making it longer and slender). So I like it, but I think it could be better (and I also imagine fans of sharks would prefer a more traditional shark Pokemon).
Wailmer & Wailord:
Continuing with the hybrid Pokemon (and we're actually going to say with that theme for a while), we now have whales combined with objects filled with air. Wailmer is a whale + beach ball, a kind of odd combination but was more done to benefit the evolution. I don't think Wailmer's design works and the reason is because of the face. It's too squished and by having the eyes on the front of the face it just looks like a creepy smiley emoticon.
Where it all comes together is with Wailord, who's a whale + blimp. This design works as it looks like a whale in both looks and, most importantly, size. And yes, not all whales are big, but Wailord is based on a Blue Whale, the biggest living mammal, it NEEDS to be big. And though its whale traits are more apparent I can also see a bit of its blimp traits like the ways its fins are positions are reminiscent of a blimp. So yeah, Wailmer design didn't work, but Wailord's does (also helps Wailord's eyes are where a whale's eyes should be).
Numel & Camerupt:
Camel + Volcano. However its a bit clever how they did the evolution as Numel is a dromedary camel (one hump) + a lava dome while Camerupt is a bactrian camel (two humps) + volcano cone(s). You could also say their colors reflect their stage of evolution, Numel being yellow which shows it being a calm creature (which also makes it look the most camel-like) while Camerupt is red showing its much more fiercer (making it more focused on its volcano aspect). They're a nice design, even if they are a bit stubby looking but I would say that's how a lot of Gen III artwork is.
Torkoal:
Some some may think Torkoal is just a tortoise + volcano, but I think Torkoail is a tortoise + a furnace. While I wouldn't say it doesn't have some aspects of a volcano (like the ash cloud is very volcano-like), its just the way the shell looks constructed with the glowing red vents on the side reminds me more of a furnace (and that it does keep coals in its shell like a furnace helps too). After the Squirtle family filled the role as being the "basic turtle animal" I feel that let the creators have more room to play around with the concept of it by having the turtle/tortoise be that but then doing something creative with its shell (as we'll see next gen). Anyway, yeah, I like Torkoal's design even though I hate Flannery's (at least the one in the original Gen III, stupid Attract).
Swablu & Altaria:
Bird + Cloud. Actually there's a mythical side to this as Altaria's part Dragon-type is a reference to a Peng, a giant mythical bird (and also its Japanese name references a star in the Draco constellation). I'm honesty a bit iffy on their design as it both works and doesn't work. Like conceptually having their wings be the clouds seems like a good idea, but when you see it in practice it leaves more to be desired. I don't like how they did the cloud wings, I feel they could have looked more like wings then clouds (Ataria looks so ridiculous when flying most of its official art just have its wings folded up... which doesn't help really as now it looks like its just a bird stuck in a floating cloud). Their bird aspects look fine enough, but they were kind of banking on the cloud aspect to make them a bit more unique but it just wasn't implemented right, at least to me. So bit of a design fail, at least with how they did the cloud wings.
Lunatone & Solrock:
Moving on from the hybrids we have meteors which are shaped like the moon and sun. Loves these guys, a bit of a complex yet subtle design. They looks exactly what you'll think they would look like (okay, Lunatone does have that odd beak but I think that's just to give it some more mass in he middle of it). They even have little details like Lunatone having circles like where asteroids struck holes in the moon and Solrock having yellow stones around its body like how the sun has flare spots. Also I like how Solrock is squinting, like how you would be if you tried looking at the sun. Neat designs, one of the best in Gen III in my opinion.
Baltoy & Claydol:
Next batch of object Pokemon have a bit of a Japanese mythology to them. First is the Baltoy family which aren't just spinning tops + clay dolls but the type of clay doll they are is known as a Dogu, specifically the Shakoki-Dogu. There's a bit of a mystery to what exactly the Dogu are representing, but we're not discussing that. Still they have a bit of an alien appearance which translates to how odd the Baltoy family looks. Not only that, but their spinning top aspects adds on top to the oddness as Baltoy looks evenly balanced so it could spin while Claydol has eyes all around its face, making it look like its already in a spinning motion (however upon seeing its back sprite I think its slanted eyes are suppose to be its "real eyes as it only has two eyes like that, which makes sense for a Dogu). I don't really know how to judge them, I don't really see anything wrong with their design so I guess that means they work, they just seem a bit strange which I guess is the point since their Dex descriptions mention how mysterious they are. *shrugs*
Castform:
Based on a teru teru bozu, a Japanese charm doll to wish for good weather, I always liked Castform. It has a simple design, its basically a cloud wisp with a bulbous head, with it forms helping to build up on the design. While the forms are a bit more complex, they aren't too overly designed. Sunny Form is a sun-shaped globe on a fluffly white cloud body, Rainy Form is a water droplet globe on a grey cloud body, while Snowy Form has the most complex "globe" which covers its whole body with a twirly and twisty design. I like all the designs, I just wished they had also made a Sandstorm Form too to complete the set.
Shuppet & Banette:
Another teru teru bozu, at least in its basic stage, for the Shuppet family they're more focused on the doll/puppet aspect. Shuppet is as close to a stereotypical ghost as you're going to get with Pokemon, though that's more because of it being a teru teru bozu and possibly also a simple hand puppet (its dark coloring just a reference to its type). Its as simple as a design as you can get with a ghost though it does have some tiny details that I think makes the design work, maybe not standout, but work.
Bannette moves away from its Japanese roots as its more based on a voodoo doll (if its zipper mouth wasn't a clue, it likes sticking pins into itself to casts curses). Its a bit more complex then a simple puppet design, but its simple colors and lack of details aside from a zipper mouth (and whatever the tail is suppose to be) I think helps make the design work. Honestly what makes Banette work is its creepy Dex descriptions, but we're just talking design here.
Chingling & Chimecho:
The final Japanese objects, Chingling isn't just a bell but a Suzu bell, bell used in Shinto shrines (and wouldn't you know it, Chingling was released in Gen IV, who's region Sinnoh was based on Shinto). Once again its a bell so its a simple design. The bell's opening has been turned into a mouth which is a neat idea, though after that it just had arms and legs attached and a ribbon tied to its back. The ribbon confuses me, is it suppose to be it hair or something? Anyway I think it works, the ribbon does add more to it making it more then just a bell and I do like what they did with the mouth being the bell's opening.
Chimecho is another Japanese object, a furin wind chime. Honestly Chimecho always seemed a bit too manmade. The main body and even the sucker cap is fine, but I always thought the chime cloth itself a bit too distracting. It makes up almost 3/4 of the Pokemon making Chimecho seem a bit insignificant in its own design. Obviously they need to work it into the design, but I don't think it worked out so well (maybe if they made it into a tail instead of something sticking out of its stomach?).
Spheal, Sealeo, & Walrein:
The final hybrid, only Spheal really counts toward this list. Its a seal + a ball which is a bit funny since, well, its a common act for seals to balance a ball on their nose. Unlike Wailmer, they do try to keep a seals general shape, just make it rounder, so I think Spheal's design works (also helps that its suppose to be a young seal which are just balls of fluff).
Sealeo is sort of the transition stage away from the ball concept, and also the seal concept. It's more getting ready to turn into a walrus Pokemon, Walrein. I think their design is nice too, I like how they did the whiskers. But being we're talking about object Pokemon I think it's time we moved on.
Beldum, Metang, & Metagross:
FINALLY! Last ones (the Golem Trio are, well, golems so we'll talk about them later).
Beldum is sort of a combination of several things, and even then I'm not sure if that's what they're going for. It's an arm, a weight, a bullet, and a spaceship; all in one, gets your's today! Its very robotic and somewhat alien-looking, I'd say it would be banking on looking cool which it does. Too bad it only learns a few moves but when it evolves that gets fixed.
Metang is best I can describe a flying saucer with arms (missiles?). It's probably the most funny looking of its evolution with that spike nose but without it it would look a bit bland in front. If anything the spike nose gives it a bit of personality so I'll give it a pass, it's just going through a phase anyway.
Metagross, I don't know what it is. An alien spider robot walker? Eitherway it looks awesome and is awesome. It wisely replaced the silly spike nose with a giant X on its face which you can say maybe looks like a battle scar? Okay, that's stretching it, but still when you see that X walking toward you you know it means the end of you! If you haven't guessed already I like its design, even though I have no idea what its suppose to be (according to its Dex is a super computer as well, take from that what you will).
Ah the moai statues, the Japanese just love these guys. The Nosepass family is actually similar to the Porygon family in term of evolution except here its recent findings that shape the evolution.
But let's start with Nosepass. Nosepass isn't only a moai statue but also a compass, hence the coloring and the bright red nose that would otherwise look out of place. Had it been a moai statue it actually would probably have been a boring design, but the additional compass (and the magnetism aspect that comes with it) I feel helps makes Nosepass work. Now if only it Gen III sprite had been better, I seriously didn't know what it was suppose to be in Gen III until I saw official art.
Moving onto Probopass, it took the Nosepass concept and built upon it. The moai statue? As it turns out moai statues had false eyes and a hat (called a pukao) so Probopass was given false eyes and a hat. The compass (and magnetism)? It had draw in metal filings creating a mustache (making it look a bit like Mario) and it has grew "mini-noses" it controls with magnetism. Now I can admit the eyes are a bit jarring (and its resemblance to Mario), but once you get used to that I think the design works. Oh, and once again they never try to be anything else but statues, all they want to do is just point north.
Gulpin & Swalot:
So you're probably wondering what these Pokemon are based on? Well looks like Bulbapedia changed its opinion that it was the heavily damaged specimen of the blobfish, but I more prefer the original thought that they're based on stomachs. Yeah, just stomachs, because their whole gimmick is eating things whole.
So because they ever want to be stomachs their design work, right? Well, not exactly. Stomach is a both a loose and limited concept to begin with, and what they choose to do is make them into I guess cartoony looking stomach creatures. They're blob monsters, but rubbery looking ones which make them even look more unnatural. And on top of that they also have additional details that I have no idea where they come from. Gulpin has a feather on its head making you think it could be some kind of bird, but then Swalot has those whiskers and diamond body pattern making it look like... a fish I guess? I honestly don't know what they were going for, it feels like they made them without the additional details, thought they looked boring, and just added random features to make them look more visually intriguing. However that's all they are, intriguing.
Carvanha & Sharpedo:
Our first hybrid on this list, and it's only for Sharpedo. Getting Carvanha out of the way, it's mainly based on a rather brightly colorful piranha with some features that'll later be brought over to Sharpedo (mainly the yellow X scar). I guess you can also say its a bit based on a rounder missile, but it would be a stretch in my opinion.
Sharpedo is why they're on this list. It's not only based on a (great white) shark, but also has traits of a torpedo. An interesting combination and make for an equally interesting design that I think works, though that doesn't stop it from having problems. I feel they shortened it too much, when I first saw it I thought it was just a shark's head. I feel they could have made it longer (it would also help with its torpedo trait by making it longer and slender). So I like it, but I think it could be better (and I also imagine fans of sharks would prefer a more traditional shark Pokemon).
Wailmer & Wailord:
Continuing with the hybrid Pokemon (and we're actually going to say with that theme for a while), we now have whales combined with objects filled with air. Wailmer is a whale + beach ball, a kind of odd combination but was more done to benefit the evolution. I don't think Wailmer's design works and the reason is because of the face. It's too squished and by having the eyes on the front of the face it just looks like a creepy smiley emoticon.
Where it all comes together is with Wailord, who's a whale + blimp. This design works as it looks like a whale in both looks and, most importantly, size. And yes, not all whales are big, but Wailord is based on a Blue Whale, the biggest living mammal, it NEEDS to be big. And though its whale traits are more apparent I can also see a bit of its blimp traits like the ways its fins are positions are reminiscent of a blimp. So yeah, Wailmer design didn't work, but Wailord's does (also helps Wailord's eyes are where a whale's eyes should be).
Numel & Camerupt:
Camel + Volcano. However its a bit clever how they did the evolution as Numel is a dromedary camel (one hump) + a lava dome while Camerupt is a bactrian camel (two humps) + volcano cone(s). You could also say their colors reflect their stage of evolution, Numel being yellow which shows it being a calm creature (which also makes it look the most camel-like) while Camerupt is red showing its much more fiercer (making it more focused on its volcano aspect). They're a nice design, even if they are a bit stubby looking but I would say that's how a lot of Gen III artwork is.
Torkoal:
Some some may think Torkoal is just a tortoise + volcano, but I think Torkoail is a tortoise + a furnace. While I wouldn't say it doesn't have some aspects of a volcano (like the ash cloud is very volcano-like), its just the way the shell looks constructed with the glowing red vents on the side reminds me more of a furnace (and that it does keep coals in its shell like a furnace helps too). After the Squirtle family filled the role as being the "basic turtle animal" I feel that let the creators have more room to play around with the concept of it by having the turtle/tortoise be that but then doing something creative with its shell (as we'll see next gen). Anyway, yeah, I like Torkoal's design even though I hate Flannery's (at least the one in the original Gen III, stupid Attract).
Swablu & Altaria:
Bird + Cloud. Actually there's a mythical side to this as Altaria's part Dragon-type is a reference to a Peng, a giant mythical bird (and also its Japanese name references a star in the Draco constellation). I'm honesty a bit iffy on their design as it both works and doesn't work. Like conceptually having their wings be the clouds seems like a good idea, but when you see it in practice it leaves more to be desired. I don't like how they did the cloud wings, I feel they could have looked more like wings then clouds (Ataria looks so ridiculous when flying most of its official art just have its wings folded up... which doesn't help really as now it looks like its just a bird stuck in a floating cloud). Their bird aspects look fine enough, but they were kind of banking on the cloud aspect to make them a bit more unique but it just wasn't implemented right, at least to me. So bit of a design fail, at least with how they did the cloud wings.
Lunatone & Solrock:
Moving on from the hybrids we have meteors which are shaped like the moon and sun. Loves these guys, a bit of a complex yet subtle design. They looks exactly what you'll think they would look like (okay, Lunatone does have that odd beak but I think that's just to give it some more mass in he middle of it). They even have little details like Lunatone having circles like where asteroids struck holes in the moon and Solrock having yellow stones around its body like how the sun has flare spots. Also I like how Solrock is squinting, like how you would be if you tried looking at the sun. Neat designs, one of the best in Gen III in my opinion.
Baltoy & Claydol:
Next batch of object Pokemon have a bit of a Japanese mythology to them. First is the Baltoy family which aren't just spinning tops + clay dolls but the type of clay doll they are is known as a Dogu, specifically the Shakoki-Dogu. There's a bit of a mystery to what exactly the Dogu are representing, but we're not discussing that. Still they have a bit of an alien appearance which translates to how odd the Baltoy family looks. Not only that, but their spinning top aspects adds on top to the oddness as Baltoy looks evenly balanced so it could spin while Claydol has eyes all around its face, making it look like its already in a spinning motion (however upon seeing its back sprite I think its slanted eyes are suppose to be its "real eyes as it only has two eyes like that, which makes sense for a Dogu). I don't really know how to judge them, I don't really see anything wrong with their design so I guess that means they work, they just seem a bit strange which I guess is the point since their Dex descriptions mention how mysterious they are. *shrugs*
Castform:
Based on a teru teru bozu, a Japanese charm doll to wish for good weather, I always liked Castform. It has a simple design, its basically a cloud wisp with a bulbous head, with it forms helping to build up on the design. While the forms are a bit more complex, they aren't too overly designed. Sunny Form is a sun-shaped globe on a fluffly white cloud body, Rainy Form is a water droplet globe on a grey cloud body, while Snowy Form has the most complex "globe" which covers its whole body with a twirly and twisty design. I like all the designs, I just wished they had also made a Sandstorm Form too to complete the set.
Shuppet & Banette:
Another teru teru bozu, at least in its basic stage, for the Shuppet family they're more focused on the doll/puppet aspect. Shuppet is as close to a stereotypical ghost as you're going to get with Pokemon, though that's more because of it being a teru teru bozu and possibly also a simple hand puppet (its dark coloring just a reference to its type). Its as simple as a design as you can get with a ghost though it does have some tiny details that I think makes the design work, maybe not standout, but work.
Bannette moves away from its Japanese roots as its more based on a voodoo doll (if its zipper mouth wasn't a clue, it likes sticking pins into itself to casts curses). Its a bit more complex then a simple puppet design, but its simple colors and lack of details aside from a zipper mouth (and whatever the tail is suppose to be) I think helps make the design work. Honestly what makes Banette work is its creepy Dex descriptions, but we're just talking design here.
Chingling & Chimecho:
The final Japanese objects, Chingling isn't just a bell but a Suzu bell, bell used in Shinto shrines (and wouldn't you know it, Chingling was released in Gen IV, who's region Sinnoh was based on Shinto). Once again its a bell so its a simple design. The bell's opening has been turned into a mouth which is a neat idea, though after that it just had arms and legs attached and a ribbon tied to its back. The ribbon confuses me, is it suppose to be it hair or something? Anyway I think it works, the ribbon does add more to it making it more then just a bell and I do like what they did with the mouth being the bell's opening.
Chimecho is another Japanese object, a furin wind chime. Honestly Chimecho always seemed a bit too manmade. The main body and even the sucker cap is fine, but I always thought the chime cloth itself a bit too distracting. It makes up almost 3/4 of the Pokemon making Chimecho seem a bit insignificant in its own design. Obviously they need to work it into the design, but I don't think it worked out so well (maybe if they made it into a tail instead of something sticking out of its stomach?).
Spheal, Sealeo, & Walrein:
The final hybrid, only Spheal really counts toward this list. Its a seal + a ball which is a bit funny since, well, its a common act for seals to balance a ball on their nose. Unlike Wailmer, they do try to keep a seals general shape, just make it rounder, so I think Spheal's design works (also helps that its suppose to be a young seal which are just balls of fluff).
Sealeo is sort of the transition stage away from the ball concept, and also the seal concept. It's more getting ready to turn into a walrus Pokemon, Walrein. I think their design is nice too, I like how they did the whiskers. But being we're talking about object Pokemon I think it's time we moved on.
Beldum, Metang, & Metagross:
FINALLY! Last ones (the Golem Trio are, well, golems so we'll talk about them later).
Beldum is sort of a combination of several things, and even then I'm not sure if that's what they're going for. It's an arm, a weight, a bullet, and a spaceship; all in one, gets your's today! Its very robotic and somewhat alien-looking, I'd say it would be banking on looking cool which it does. Too bad it only learns a few moves but when it evolves that gets fixed.
Metang is best I can describe a flying saucer with arms (missiles?). It's probably the most funny looking of its evolution with that spike nose but without it it would look a bit bland in front. If anything the spike nose gives it a bit of personality so I'll give it a pass, it's just going through a phase anyway.
Metagross, I don't know what it is. An alien spider robot walker? Eitherway it looks awesome and is awesome. It wisely replaced the silly spike nose with a giant X on its face which you can say maybe looks like a battle scar? Okay, that's stretching it, but still when you see that X walking toward you you know it means the end of you! If you haven't guessed already I like its design, even though I have no idea what its suppose to be (according to its Dex is a super computer as well, take from that what you will).
A lot of my favorite Pokemon were based(lol) off of inanimate objects or they are inanimate objects such as Magnemite, who is well, made of Magnets. Exploud, who is based off of a Boombox & Deoxys, a genetically mutated computer virus or some shit so because of that, I think Pokemon designs should NOT be limited to just animals, because when a Pokemon is based off of something not an animal, it feels more unique & unordinary rather than just a plain bird, or a plain rodent.
*Slaps head* How could I forget the Whismur family? Oh well, I'll catch them again when I do concepts next.
As for Deoxys, he's actually a organic virus, not a computer virus. He's more meant to be based on DNA... which now thinking about it means I should have also covered him. *sigh* Another one for the concept list...
Anyway, here's Gen IV object Pokemon. Not as many as Gen III but still you may want to find a comfy place to sit for a few minutes:
Turtwig, Grotle, & Torterra:
Told you we'll be covering them. As I said with Torkoal, with the Squirtle family covering the "basic" turtle/tortoise this lets Game Freak be a bit more creative with future turtle/tortoise Pokemon. However the Gen IV Grass-type Starter also took some inspiration from mythology.
Honeslty Turtwig and Grotle really have nothing to do with this list, they just build up to what will eventually become Torterra. They're not bad designs in themselves, though I always felt they were a bit clunky. Turtwig's head is almost as big as its body, and yes I know its suppose to be a snapping turtle but I feel like it would eat more then it could digest wit one bite.
Grotle is where we start seeing hints on what Torterra will be, but its still developing. I guess one could say its back resembles a simple garden with 3 plowed strips of land and two bushes which can grow berries. It's not a bad design, though since the shell goes over Grotle's head and tail it looks like it would be pretty stiff. I suppose that gives it some encouragment to evolve.
At least the reason why this family is on the list! Torterra is now only a turte + a landscape (with a tree and a mountain) but also a mythical creature called World Turtles. Several mythologies would depict a giant turtle which, like Torterra, would carry entire lands or even the world on/as its back. So how does this work for Torterra? What they did for Torterra was pretty neat, though you have to look at it in the right perspective (from the front right side). Looking at Torterra this way gives an illusen of distance, with the tree right in front of you and far away in the distance some mountians. Of course looking at it any otherway would break the illusen as the "mountains" are just 3 spikes which are smaller than the tree, but still its a neat effect when looking at it right. This also means Torterra's design is assymetrical, something you don't often see in a Pokemon's design. Not much to say about the turtle/tortoise part, but then again that's not where mose people would be looking (though it does have some mean spikes coming from the side of its head, which it looks like it can freely move now).
Cranidos, Rampardos, Shieldon, & Bastiodon:
Everyone knows the inspiration of the Gen IV Fossil Pokemon. If you don't, it comes from a Chinese legend of a merchant selling a spear that can piece anything and a shield that can block anything. When asked what would happen if you used the spear on the shield, the merchant doesn't know how to answer revealing he's a liar. Its an example of the Irresistible Force Paradox, what DOES happen when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? The existence of one contradicts the existence of the other!
Cranidos and Rampardos are based on the Pachycephalosauria dinosaur (the ones which have hard heads to headbutt) + the unstoppable spear. This is not only reflected in their HUGE Attack stat but their design. While shaped like a typical Pachycephalosauria, their design is much more spiker and their hard head is much more pointier, akin to their spear trait. This is much more obvious with Rampardos's design, who I'd also assume is parly based on a battering ram due to its name and also the additional inspiration for its counterpart's design, Bastiodon. The design gets their point across, but I do have some issue with Rampardos's design, like with Grotle it looks a bit bulky. I suppose it fits the battering ram aspect a bit better, but goes against its spear aspect in contrast.
Shieldon and Bastiodon are based on the Ceratopsia dinosaur (though oddly not the most famous of them, the triceratops) + the immovable shield. This is not only reflected in their HUGE defensive stats but their design... Huh, what do you mean deja vu? Copy and pasting, I don't know what you're talking about... Anyway, as you probably imagined, the look like Ceratopsia except their head is shield shaped. For Bastiodon this goes even further as its head also resembles a front of a fortress/castle/bastion. This coincides with Rampardos being part battering ram, as in ancient times a battering ram was used to try to knock down/through a fortified wall. On the Pokemon themselves, Shieldon looks fine having a simple shield face. Bastiodon fairs better than Rampardos in my opinion, though it does look a bit silly with those window-like spots on its fortress wall head.
Combee & Vespiquen:
Combee is more honeycomb than honeybee. Actually I'm kind of confused by it. Unlike most Pokemon with multiple heads that just share a body, Combee's 3 heads have different parts of a bee. The bottom has the body behind it while the top two have an antenna each and their side of the wing meaning they need to coordinate to fly. But if the bottom part has the body, does that mean the top two heads don't need to eat? Or do they all have some control of each part of their body? Or is Vespiquen control over them so strong they don't really do anything consciously? Anyway, I find Combee to be a bit odd, especially since they aren't only workers but also the hive walls itself! Its a design with a neat concept but probably could have been done better.
Vespiquen is more like it! It ditched the multi-head concept and instead uses the honeycomb to make a dress which is a neat idea (and also creepy since it also stores grubs in their (though its implied the grubs aren't the same as Combee)). Despite the creepy factor, I like Vespiquen and its queenly appearance combined with being a living beehive.
Drifloon & Drifblim:
So exactly how do balloons relate to being ghosts? Well notice that yellow X on their faces? Those aren't just body marks, those are patches. They're ghosts of POPPED balloons, mostly likely ones which were let go of by little hands.
Drifloon is a simple design and because of that I kind of like it. Of course it does get bonus points for trying to be an evil spirit that drag kids away to the afterlife... only to be too light and end up being dragged along by the kid instead, lol.
Drifblim is a hot air balloon and its design is a bit more complex than Drifloon's but I think it still works. And to match its pre-evolutions problems of being a ghost balloon, while it's now bid enough to carry someone away, if it gets caught in the wind it ends up going where the wind takes it. Poor ghost balloons, they just can't seem to catch a break. XD
Bronzor & Bronzong:
You may find it odd that a bronze mirror evolves into a bronze bell, luckily Bulbapedia has an article which explains why.
Bronzor is a simple design with bits of detail here and there to give it some complexity. Does the design work as a Pokemon, I guess? I see nothing really wrong with it, its never presented as anything else but a mysterious relic so there's not much to get from it. I'd say its a bland design but I think that might have been the point, one of its Dex entry says it used to be reflective so its meant to be a rusted over bronze mirror (sort of like the Statue of Liberty, minus the mirror part).
Bronzong has a more complex design for being a bell, and it's kind of creepy with the face that its making (not helped by the red eyes). Actually its based on a bell called a dotaku which are thought to ring in a good harvest. That said, I do think it might be a bit too stylized as when I saw it I didn't get it was a bell (I thought it was a weight). So personally I consider that a bit of a desing fail, but once you know its a bell you can see how so I guess it breaks even.
Chatot:
A parrot + musical eighth note & metronome. I like Chatot's design, its essentially a parrot except the color and crest on its head makes it look like a musical eighth note and its tail resembles a metronome. They didn't try to complicate things, they just saw two spots to stick in its musical theme and Chatot's design comes out better for it.
Rotom:
Rotom itself isn't an object Pokemon, rather its a poltergeist which poses objects AND if the object has a motor it can transform the object and move around while in it (which is something I see not a lot of peope get. I see all sorts of artwork of new Rotom forms of electrical appliances which don't have motors, which means Rotom shouldn't be able to possess them. Its why in DPP you find it in a normal TV, TVs don't have motors so it couldn't move around in it).
Sorry, with that little rant out of the way I'll just say normal Rotom is a simpe but slick-looking design and gets the point accross its an electrical ghost (bonus points for also having a resemblence to Pulseman). It also has some gremlin traits, being it likes to short circuit electronics as it likes to possess them, and ball lightning phenomenon, so there's a lot going on in its simple design.
However we're here to talk about Rotom's forms. One thing to remember about Rotom's forms is that they are suppose to look silly, unlike previous object Pokemon they really ARE the objects, just possessed by Rotom. My favorites is Wash which has the water pipe dragging alongside it, Fridge just for the image of a giant fridge floating around (its official art also has a serious face which makes it even more funny), and Mow because of that slasher smile. Like Voltorb family, you can say they're sort of a parody of the concept of putting a face on an object and calling it a Pokemon. I give them all my approval except for Fan, Fan will only get my approval once it has a different Ability (Flying-type with Levitate, what were they thinking).
... so, anyone hoping they make more Rotom forms? They can still do a vacuum, blender, power tool, excercise equipment, electric tooth brush... do you think a car would be going too far? Ooh, how about a toy robot?... Okay I'm done.
Heatran:
Though its not exactly known what Heatran is based on its assumed it might have something to do with a planet's core. Most solid planet's cores are liquid metal and/or solid metal (if you're wondering, Earth's Inner Core is solid and Outer Core is liquid), both under extreme pressure and molten hot. Thus explaining Heatran's Fire- and Steel-type, but what about its design?
Heatran just seems to be a quadruped of some kind, at best I can describe it as being a shell-less turtle. Honestly its body does look like its missing something like a metal shell (its Dex description hints parts of its metal body is melted, so maybe the shell melted off?), otherwise it looks fine (its face also looks almost skeletal). Kind of wish it had a more "complete" design (maybe for its Mega?), but what it has to show is just fine but a bit bland.
Cresselia & Darkrai:
They're not called the Lunar Duo for nothing.
Cresselia's design is a combination of a bird (possibly a swan) + a crescent moon (and also maybe planetary rings and auroras). It's a slick design and does make it look like a space swan. Its colors are also pretty striking, though it makes sure to have its crescent moon part yellow to make its theme clear. It looks like something that'll come from a sweet dream. Too bad it didn't become part Fairy-type though.
Darkrai looks like something from a nightmare, a ghostly creature in all black (a reference to it representing a new moon) except for a smoky white crest, a red collar, and blue eyes. Now I can assume the blue eyes are meant to be striking and the white crest to be like streaky clouds in a dark night sky, but I'm not so sure where the red collar comes from. Eitherway, it looks awesome and something to be feared.
Told you we'll be covering them. As I said with Torkoal, with the Squirtle family covering the "basic" turtle/tortoise this lets Game Freak be a bit more creative with future turtle/tortoise Pokemon. However the Gen IV Grass-type Starter also took some inspiration from mythology.
Honeslty Turtwig and Grotle really have nothing to do with this list, they just build up to what will eventually become Torterra. They're not bad designs in themselves, though I always felt they were a bit clunky. Turtwig's head is almost as big as its body, and yes I know its suppose to be a snapping turtle but I feel like it would eat more then it could digest wit one bite.
Grotle is where we start seeing hints on what Torterra will be, but its still developing. I guess one could say its back resembles a simple garden with 3 plowed strips of land and two bushes which can grow berries. It's not a bad design, though since the shell goes over Grotle's head and tail it looks like it would be pretty stiff. I suppose that gives it some encouragment to evolve.
At least the reason why this family is on the list! Torterra is now only a turte + a landscape (with a tree and a mountain) but also a mythical creature called World Turtles. Several mythologies would depict a giant turtle which, like Torterra, would carry entire lands or even the world on/as its back. So how does this work for Torterra? What they did for Torterra was pretty neat, though you have to look at it in the right perspective (from the front right side). Looking at Torterra this way gives an illusen of distance, with the tree right in front of you and far away in the distance some mountians. Of course looking at it any otherway would break the illusen as the "mountains" are just 3 spikes which are smaller than the tree, but still its a neat effect when looking at it right. This also means Torterra's design is assymetrical, something you don't often see in a Pokemon's design. Not much to say about the turtle/tortoise part, but then again that's not where mose people would be looking (though it does have some mean spikes coming from the side of its head, which it looks like it can freely move now).
Cranidos, Rampardos, Shieldon, & Bastiodon:
Everyone knows the inspiration of the Gen IV Fossil Pokemon. If you don't, it comes from a Chinese legend of a merchant selling a spear that can piece anything and a shield that can block anything. When asked what would happen if you used the spear on the shield, the merchant doesn't know how to answer revealing he's a liar. Its an example of the Irresistible Force Paradox, what DOES happen when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object? The existence of one contradicts the existence of the other!
Cranidos and Rampardos are based on the Pachycephalosauria dinosaur (the ones which have hard heads to headbutt) + the unstoppable spear. This is not only reflected in their HUGE Attack stat but their design. While shaped like a typical Pachycephalosauria, their design is much more spiker and their hard head is much more pointier, akin to their spear trait. This is much more obvious with Rampardos's design, who I'd also assume is parly based on a battering ram due to its name and also the additional inspiration for its counterpart's design, Bastiodon. The design gets their point across, but I do have some issue with Rampardos's design, like with Grotle it looks a bit bulky. I suppose it fits the battering ram aspect a bit better, but goes against its spear aspect in contrast.
Shieldon and Bastiodon are based on the Ceratopsia dinosaur (though oddly not the most famous of them, the triceratops) + the immovable shield. This is not only reflected in their HUGE defensive stats but their design... Huh, what do you mean deja vu? Copy and pasting, I don't know what you're talking about... Anyway, as you probably imagined, the look like Ceratopsia except their head is shield shaped. For Bastiodon this goes even further as its head also resembles a front of a fortress/castle/bastion. This coincides with Rampardos being part battering ram, as in ancient times a battering ram was used to try to knock down/through a fortified wall. On the Pokemon themselves, Shieldon looks fine having a simple shield face. Bastiodon fairs better than Rampardos in my opinion, though it does look a bit silly with those window-like spots on its fortress wall head.
Combee & Vespiquen:
Combee is more honeycomb than honeybee. Actually I'm kind of confused by it. Unlike most Pokemon with multiple heads that just share a body, Combee's 3 heads have different parts of a bee. The bottom has the body behind it while the top two have an antenna each and their side of the wing meaning they need to coordinate to fly. But if the bottom part has the body, does that mean the top two heads don't need to eat? Or do they all have some control of each part of their body? Or is Vespiquen control over them so strong they don't really do anything consciously? Anyway, I find Combee to be a bit odd, especially since they aren't only workers but also the hive walls itself! Its a design with a neat concept but probably could have been done better.
Vespiquen is more like it! It ditched the multi-head concept and instead uses the honeycomb to make a dress which is a neat idea (and also creepy since it also stores grubs in their (though its implied the grubs aren't the same as Combee)). Despite the creepy factor, I like Vespiquen and its queenly appearance combined with being a living beehive.
Drifloon & Drifblim:
So exactly how do balloons relate to being ghosts? Well notice that yellow X on their faces? Those aren't just body marks, those are patches. They're ghosts of POPPED balloons, mostly likely ones which were let go of by little hands.
Drifloon is a simple design and because of that I kind of like it. Of course it does get bonus points for trying to be an evil spirit that drag kids away to the afterlife... only to be too light and end up being dragged along by the kid instead, lol.
Drifblim is a hot air balloon and its design is a bit more complex than Drifloon's but I think it still works. And to match its pre-evolutions problems of being a ghost balloon, while it's now bid enough to carry someone away, if it gets caught in the wind it ends up going where the wind takes it. Poor ghost balloons, they just can't seem to catch a break. XD
Bronzor & Bronzong:
You may find it odd that a bronze mirror evolves into a bronze bell, luckily Bulbapedia has an article which explains why.
Bronzor is a simple design with bits of detail here and there to give it some complexity. Does the design work as a Pokemon, I guess? I see nothing really wrong with it, its never presented as anything else but a mysterious relic so there's not much to get from it. I'd say its a bland design but I think that might have been the point, one of its Dex entry says it used to be reflective so its meant to be a rusted over bronze mirror (sort of like the Statue of Liberty, minus the mirror part).
Bronzong has a more complex design for being a bell, and it's kind of creepy with the face that its making (not helped by the red eyes). Actually its based on a bell called a dotaku which are thought to ring in a good harvest. That said, I do think it might be a bit too stylized as when I saw it I didn't get it was a bell (I thought it was a weight). So personally I consider that a bit of a desing fail, but once you know its a bell you can see how so I guess it breaks even.
Chatot:
A parrot + musical eighth note & metronome. I like Chatot's design, its essentially a parrot except the color and crest on its head makes it look like a musical eighth note and its tail resembles a metronome. They didn't try to complicate things, they just saw two spots to stick in its musical theme and Chatot's design comes out better for it.
Rotom:
Rotom itself isn't an object Pokemon, rather its a poltergeist which poses objects AND if the object has a motor it can transform the object and move around while in it (which is something I see not a lot of peope get. I see all sorts of artwork of new Rotom forms of electrical appliances which don't have motors, which means Rotom shouldn't be able to possess them. Its why in DPP you find it in a normal TV, TVs don't have motors so it couldn't move around in it).
Sorry, with that little rant out of the way I'll just say normal Rotom is a simpe but slick-looking design and gets the point accross its an electrical ghost (bonus points for also having a resemblence to Pulseman). It also has some gremlin traits, being it likes to short circuit electronics as it likes to possess them, and ball lightning phenomenon, so there's a lot going on in its simple design.
However we're here to talk about Rotom's forms. One thing to remember about Rotom's forms is that they are suppose to look silly, unlike previous object Pokemon they really ARE the objects, just possessed by Rotom. My favorites is Wash which has the water pipe dragging alongside it, Fridge just for the image of a giant fridge floating around (its official art also has a serious face which makes it even more funny), and Mow because of that slasher smile. Like Voltorb family, you can say they're sort of a parody of the concept of putting a face on an object and calling it a Pokemon. I give them all my approval except for Fan, Fan will only get my approval once it has a different Ability (Flying-type with Levitate, what were they thinking).
... so, anyone hoping they make more Rotom forms? They can still do a vacuum, blender, power tool, excercise equipment, electric tooth brush... do you think a car would be going too far? Ooh, how about a toy robot?... Okay I'm done.
Heatran:
Though its not exactly known what Heatran is based on its assumed it might have something to do with a planet's core. Most solid planet's cores are liquid metal and/or solid metal (if you're wondering, Earth's Inner Core is solid and Outer Core is liquid), both under extreme pressure and molten hot. Thus explaining Heatran's Fire- and Steel-type, but what about its design?
Heatran just seems to be a quadruped of some kind, at best I can describe it as being a shell-less turtle. Honestly its body does look like its missing something like a metal shell (its Dex description hints parts of its metal body is melted, so maybe the shell melted off?), otherwise it looks fine (its face also looks almost skeletal). Kind of wish it had a more "complete" design (maybe for its Mega?), but what it has to show is just fine but a bit bland.
Cresselia & Darkrai:
They're not called the Lunar Duo for nothing.
Cresselia's design is a combination of a bird (possibly a swan) + a crescent moon (and also maybe planetary rings and auroras). It's a slick design and does make it look like a space swan. Its colors are also pretty striking, though it makes sure to have its crescent moon part yellow to make its theme clear. It looks like something that'll come from a sweet dream. Too bad it didn't become part Fairy-type though.
Darkrai looks like something from a nightmare, a ghostly creature in all black (a reference to it representing a new moon) except for a smoky white crest, a red collar, and blue eyes. Now I can assume the blue eyes are meant to be striking and the white crest to be like streaky clouds in a dark night sky, but I'm not so sure where the red collar comes from. Eitherway, it looks awesome and something to be feared.
You can catch up on Diglett while you're at it - he's clearly based on Whac-a-Mole.
But your coverage so far has been pretty in depth. Props to you.
Should Pokemon only be based off of animals? No. Some of my favorites aren't based on animals, and I struggle to think how Ghost types would be handled if they couldn't be based on things like a shadow or a possessed washing machine. There's always going to be some designs that... don't really work too well, (Dedenne's rather weak and all Wormadam forms are garbage) and some that their functionality is the bigger problem, (Vanilluxe, Klinklang, why must your move pools suck?) so I can't really see everything being based on just animals or objects or even legendary creatures/beings (Groudon's based on the Behemoth) as solving any problems we may currently have with these lovable fictional critters. Just my opinion, anyway.
I'd like to point out that I am among the folks who generally appreciate the more humanoid Pokemon designs, such as Machoke, Jynx, and Toxicroak, for example. As a psychology student, I have heard some research suggesting that simulated entities that look more human offer a more comforting impression on some people than entities looking much less human.
On my next sweep through I'll look through each Pokemon's Bulbapedia page instead of a list and trying to remember if it had any object/concept/mythology inspiration.
I think the question with human-shaped Pokemon is when is the shape TOO human that you stop looking at it as a creature and as some guy wearing a costume. Machoke has reptilian traits, Jynx has exaggerated features, Toxicroak is a bipedal frog, etc.. Those still have traits which, while human-shape, makes them just feel like bipeda/upright creatures. Then you have Pokemon like Sawk and Throw which are suppose to have some oni traits but those were reduced due to the Kami Trio (who some say have their own problems looking too human) so they look like just a karate and judo expert wearing a blue and red morphsuit.
Also, sorry if I'm late on the Gen V object evaluation, it's just that I'm running out of things to say. I think I'm going to redo the way I evaluate and just say whether I think the design works or not. Gen V has a lot of object and semi-object Pokemon.
OK, so time to put down my thoughts on object Pokémon.
Well the way I see it, there are no "animal Pokémon" and "object Pokémon". Pokémon that draw inspiration from various objects are still Pokémon, oftentimes being some of the more interesting ones. I love the stories behind Pokémon designs and all the like, but it has to be said that when a Pokémon is based off a certain object, it's not obvious from the start. When I first saw Whismur, for example, I didn't immediately think "oh look, a boombox Pokémon!" I just thought that it was a cute little pink thing. The underlying design of a boombox/stereo/whatever just helped to differentiate it. Inspiration via objects only contributes to the variation and design throughout the Pokémon world, and if every Pokémon was clearly based off of some breed of animal, it'd get boring really fast.
A perfect example of this is Xatu. How many birds do we have as Pokémon? Quite a few. Over time, a few of these get forgotton (like Fearow and Tranquill) because they just aren't as interesting designs as some of the other birds like Xatu, Skarmory and Altaria. This is because Fearow and Tranquill are really just based on birds (well, Fearow is also based on a drill in a way) whereas Xatu is obviously mixed with a totem pole, Skarmory armour and Altaria clouds. Having these extra design elements makes a Pokémon's design more popular as a whole, because it's just interesting to learn about and fun to look at.
Well the way I see it, there are no "animal Pokémon" and "object Pokémon". Pokémon that draw inspiration from various objects are still Pokémon, oftentimes being some of the more interesting ones. I love the stories behind Pokémon designs and all the like, but it has to be said that when a Pokémon is based off a certain object, it's not obvious from the start. When I first saw Whismur, for example, I didn't immediately think "oh look, a boombox Pokémon!" I just thought that it was a cute little pink thing. The underlying design of a boombox/stereo/whatever just helped to differentiate it. Inspiration via objects only contributes to the variation and design throughout the Pokémon world, and if every Pokémon was clearly based off of some breed of animal, it'd get boring really fast.
A perfect example of this is Xatu. How many birds do we have as Pokémon? Quite a few. Over time, a few of these get forgotton (like Fearow and Tranquill) because they just aren't as interesting designs as some of the other birds like Xatu, Skarmory and Altaria. This is because Fearow and Tranquill are really just based on birds (well, Fearow is also based on a drill in a way) whereas Xatu is obviously mixed with a totem pole, Skarmory armour and Altaria clouds. Having these extra design elements makes a Pokémon's design more popular as a whole, because it's just interesting to learn about and fun to look at.
I suppose when talking about this particular subject we also have to consider the evolutionary process and dex entries - unreliable as they may seem - in this whole thing. Basically, I kind of have problems understanding why Pokémon cannot be based off of people or objects. Hell, to get a little technical, if Pokémon are only supposed to be based on animals then I don't see why that wouldn't include human-like species -- perhaps certain offshoots of Primates that evolved parallel to humans; eventually coming to have more in common with what is known as a Pokémon -- Ralts, Jynx families, etc. As for objects, many of their dex entries describe many reasons for them such as nuclear waste - Garbodor - , being possessed objects, or being influenced by their environment. I think there are certain species of animals irl that incorporate human-made objects and such into their body over time and as part of their evolutionary process, and I don't see why that can't be applied to Pokémon - hell, if you want to get technical, just about every non-normal type could be classified as this. When was the last time you could see a monkey breathe fire? A bat shoot out supersonic waves? A panda that could deliver a punch with the properties of ice? To me it seems as if most Pokémon are the result of animal species coming, at one point, into contact with humans and ending up incorporating their properties, norms, and creations as part of their evolutionary process. This is of course more pronounced in some species than others; with some species only incorporating these things as parts of themselves while other species almost become these objects, but ask yourself if a floating amalgamation of magnets, screws and balls is weird when you wouldn't give the same classification to a snake with a sword for a tail.
Cresselia~~
Junichi Masuda likes this!!
Pokemon based on inanimate objects, huh.
I can see where you are coming from, but if no Pokemon are based on inanimate objects, you are shutting down a door to a large room, creativity wise.
We all know that the Gengar line is not based on animals, but they are incredibly successful. And I'm sure Metagross is popular.
However, I'd rather they not overdo it. Otherwise, everything can become a Pokemon, and it looks less creative this way, as if they are running out of ideas.
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I don't see why people have to bring up humanoid Pokemon in any "Pokemon should be animals" topics, especially when people say "Pokemon should just be animals, not humans."
Humans are animals, and there's nothing you can do to change this fact. If you don't know that humans are animals, you need to revise your biology.
I have no idea why people from the English speaking world have such major problem with humanoid Pokemon. (Is it to do with education?)
Japanese people never had a thing against them. Machamp and Jynx often appears on their fan-comics. They voted vigorously for Mr. Mime and Gallade in the Pokken Tournament votes.
I must say I'm very tired of seeing people whining about humanoid Pokemon.
(I just don't know why they do. Perhaps you can try explaining to me?)
I can see where you are coming from, but if no Pokemon are based on inanimate objects, you are shutting down a door to a large room, creativity wise.
We all know that the Gengar line is not based on animals, but they are incredibly successful. And I'm sure Metagross is popular.
However, I'd rather they not overdo it. Otherwise, everything can become a Pokemon, and it looks less creative this way, as if they are running out of ideas.
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I don't see why people have to bring up humanoid Pokemon in any "Pokemon should be animals" topics, especially when people say "Pokemon should just be animals, not humans."
Humans are animals, and there's nothing you can do to change this fact. If you don't know that humans are animals, you need to revise your biology.
I have no idea why people from the English speaking world have such major problem with humanoid Pokemon. (Is it to do with education?)
Japanese people never had a thing against them. Machamp and Jynx often appears on their fan-comics. They voted vigorously for Mr. Mime and Gallade in the Pokken Tournament votes.
I must say I'm very tired of seeing people whining about humanoid Pokemon.
(I just don't know why they do. Perhaps you can try explaining to me?)
But that's just it: virtually anything can become a Pokemon. I think the problem of appearing to run out of ideas is when it's only the one thing as the basis. Like Pachirisu is kind of just a squirrel with the typical 'electric rodent' cheeks slapped on, or Klink is just a pair of gears spinning together. But when there's more to a Pokemon's design, there's less people having a problem with it. Like the Honedge line being based around the idea of possessed/cursed swords and a coat of arms, or how both Manectric and Raikou are based on two forms of the same mythical Japanese creature. The easiest way for Game Freak to avoid the sense of 'okay, they're starting to run out of ideas' is what they did already in gen 6: just not introduce as many new Pokemon. Fewer new designs they have to come up with, the stronger what they do put out for us to enjoy when the games come out are... in general, at least. Let's face it: not all of them can be winners to everyone.
Yeah, I've never understood why some people have such an issue with the humanoid Pokemon. If GameFreak are going to base many of the designs of Pokemon off of animals, then every animal should be eligible for consideration, which includes us. Most people are fine with this, the huge popularity of the likes of Gardevoir, Lopunny and Lucario is testament of this, but some people refuse to accept it, and I can't figure out why lol
I don't think it should solely be based off animals. Rotom's various forms and the Klink evolution line are good examples of pokemon that aren't animals but have great designs. True its a lot easier to use animals as a reference or base for pokemon but I wouldn't say its the only way
The problem isn't that some designs are based on humans, but problems arise when they're based on humans repeatedly. I'm fine with an evolution line or two based on humans, but when there pop up more lines based on "humans wearing different clothes", it gets both uncreative and repetitive really fast. I mean, we have a bunch of dog-based Pokémon out there too, but at least they are based on distinctly different breeds of dogs, each with different attributes. How fun would it be with several evolution lines based off poodles, only with slight colour differences, all sold to us as "totally meant to be entirely different monsters which have nothing to do with another"? Could we accept "Here's a Poison Pokémon based on a poodle wearing a hat, and here is a Steel type based on a poodle wearing shoes" if the monsters were served to us through different games of different generations? We'd tick off the "lazy" box faster than it'd take a Smeargle-Studiogoer to make fanart of those designs. Yet we're supposed to accept "human wearing a dress", "human wearing a ball gown", "human wearing a judo suit", "bodybuilding human wearing a speedo" and "human wearing boxing equipment" time after time after time.
Also, it kind of takes the "monster" aspect out of it when the only thing separating a Pokémon from a cartoonized human is a weird nose and an unconventional skin colour. Especially bad when they're even wearing clothes for no reason (Sawk and Throh are the worst offenders in my eyes, with Jynx a close second and Hitmonchan hovering around third place). Note that I'm not against humanoid designs, but humanlike designs grind my gears a little. GameFreak have shown they can make humanoid Pokémon clearly distinguished from humans (Blaziken, Greninja, Mewtwo, Alakazam, Electivire, etc.) by tricking with proportions or poses, adding animalistic features, adding or taking away limbs or joints, or simply just slapping on a tail. It doesn't take much to make a humanlike design just humanoid. Timburr's evolution line is balancing that line well, in my eyes. Clearly based on humans, yet not humanlike to such a degree that they look like humans in a costume. Contrast Sawk, Gothitelle or Kirlia, which are so almost human that they veer on the edge of the uncanny valley.
Inanimate object 'mons are what distinguish Pokemon from Earth animals. Do note that not all inanimate object Pokemon are materialistic constructs; some are even animals!
To add to the list, Minccino is also based on a feather duster. Unown are essentially the Pokemon equivalent of Digimoji (look it up on Wikimon, the #1 Digimon wiki; just add the katakana alphabet, and you're good to go), but how were people lazy enough to not write by themselves? Did they breed glass-like materialistic constructs in the shape of letters?
To add to the list, Minccino is also based on a feather duster. Unown are essentially the Pokemon equivalent of Digimoji (look it up on Wikimon, the #1 Digimon wiki; just add the katakana alphabet, and you're good to go), but how were people lazy enough to not write by themselves? Did they breed glass-like materialistic constructs in the shape of letters?
I doubt it, but they're always going to be Pokemon's equivalent of the chicken or the egg question. Regardless, there's always going to be those designs that one way or another someone will find irksome. This wouldn't change if they only based off of animals or objects.
...though I'm not so sure where Codraroll's getting almost uncannily human-like from Kirlia. Not even gonna touch Gothitelle.
What is a humanlike Pokémon to you? It appears to be a biped with two limbs and somewhat familiar facial features, if said Pokémon isn't clearly and obviously based on something else, which is blatantly wrong IMO. Sawk and Throh are definitely the most commonly brought up human-based Pokémon, and I completely agree that they are. However, even though Sawk and Throh are clearly humanlike, that's because their concept is karate and judo respectively. You can't use that concept without the Pokémon looking humanoid in turn. The same can be said for Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan, based on kickboxing and regular boxing respectively. The martial arts/sports which are the true inspiration for these Pokémon shine in their designs perfectly, so I don't see an issue anyway. There is also more than meets the eye with Machamp, your "bodybuilding human wearing a speedo", because of its four arms. If it had two I'd throw it in there with Sawk and Throh without it even having the concept of a martial art to save it, but Machamp only ever tries to be one thing, a bodybuilder. To assist it in this, it has evolved over time to have four arms, as opposed to its pre-evolution Machoke's, who also only tries to be a bodybuilder (though quite possibly a new one), two. This Pokémon is based on evolution and adaptation itself, but in a somewhat subtle way.
As for some of the Pokémon you mentioned in your post, Jynx is honestly one of the greatest Pokémon designs of all time IMO. Her classification is "Human Shape Pokémon", which, while it confirms that Jynx is shaped like a human, is extremely vague besides. Jynx being based on one of these concepts is a popular opinion: A Nordic princess, an opera singer, a viking woman (possibly Hel), ganguro, a Yama-uba, and a Yuki-onna. Jynx isn't based on one of these, she encompasses all of them into a completely uncluttered design. She is irrefutably based on an opera singer, or singing in some way, since her Emerald animation shows here singing upon entrance, as does her appearance in Pokémon Snap. A viking? Female opera singers are connected to vikings stereotypically. A Nordic princess? Basically a viking. This gives her the Ice-Type she needs. But if she were just based on these concepts, she wouldn't be classified as just the "Human Shape Pokémon", so she makes a statement. A fashion statement. She is furthermore based on the concept of ganguro, which is incorporated into her design as both frostbite and both her and her pre-evolution's obsessions with kissing everything with her rouged lips, referenced in her Japanese name Rougela. But that's not all, because they need to throw in a couple of references to some uokai! To fit in with the whole opera singer theme, they got rid of Jynx's feet beneath her dress akin to the Yuki-onna. Speaking of the dress, they made it a tattered red kimono to reference the Yama-uba, who, coincedentally, is the yokai which ganguro is based on. Jynx as a Pokémon is an excellent design based on several human creations: fashion (the dress) and make up, composed music, and royalty, while keeping the clear illusion if it being a monster with throwbacks to a couple of yokai. How can you just say that Jynx is based on a "human wearing a dress" and leave it at that? The real mystery concerning Jynx is why she's a Psychic-Type, because honestly I've got nothing.
Gardevoir, your Pokémon who is a "human wearing a ball gown", is once again so much more than this. It is based on emotion, loyalty and duty. Yeah, I know that everyone will have heard this one before, but trust me, I've got something new to say. Yeah, Gardevoir is based on a human, but it has to be. Gardevoir's whole concept is relating to their trainers emotionally, and the best way to do this is to literally be the shape of their trainer. The design of Gardevoir itself is the pure concept of emotion. It is extremely minimalistic, lacking any facial features besides eyes, concealing them within its hair. It has a long flowing ball gown to distract onlookers from seeing what it's really feeling inside. Emotion in itself is a timid thing, including the emotions otherwise considered powerful such as anger. Andrea Gibson, for example, once said "Do you think anger is a sincere emotion or the timid motion of a fragile heart trying to beat away its pain?". People perceive Gardevoir's simplistic and minimalistic design as a dull one, lacking inspiration. It's the exact opposite. I also personally see inspiration of motherly instinct and bonds with this design, which is assisted by the humanoid and feminine looks, though I haven't seen this mentioned anywhere else. That's the magic of art: perception. Most of this paragraph also relates to Kirlia besides the motherly instinct part. Yes, this line also has the theme of dancing (Kirlia being ballet and Gardevoir ballroom), but have you ever heard of "dancing your troubles away"? Setting up a facade to hide what you truly feel with human concepts to entertain? Yeah.
Gothitelle is based on a human concept again, sure, and unlike Jynx the fashion is more blatantly obvious with it (if Jynx had retained her black skin I think it'd be more obvious though) and she is, again like Jynx, based on a certain human occupation (fortune telling), but once again she is so much more than this. Gothitelle, as you can tell by the first four letters of her name, is based on the gothic fashion sense. However, it is moreso based on astral bodies. If you are unaware of the concept of astral bodies, they are the bridge between your soul and your physical body. Of course, it's just a theory, but it's incredibly popular. The concept has been adopted by religions who believe in an afterlife, which state that your journey to heaven or hell is an otherworldly experience where you are one with your astral body and can see into your soul, an otherwise impossible feat. What does this have to do with gothic fashion? Well the obvious thing is the morbidness of the clothing style, and the relation to the one time you are in touch with your astral body: death. This is also referenced in Gothitelle's German name, Morbitesse, a fusion of morbit and the suffix "esse", used in French to mean female. Oh, and about this whole fortune telling thing? The specific gothic fashion Gothitelle is based upon is Gothloli, a fashion which (somewhat unsurprisingly) originated in Japan. There are two clear distinctions between Gothloli and the other gothic fashions: 1) Gothloli tries to maintain a pure, natural looking makeup, and 2) Gothloli uses the makeup on eyes to, instead of shadowing them to conceal them as per the norm, exemplify them and make them stand out. The pureness of the Gothloli fashion sense is again a reference to astral bodies, but the main thing to focus on with fortune telling is point number 2. Stereotypically, fortune tellers and the like have HUGE eyes, as they are "seeing" into you and your future. Gothloli being referenced is a very clever way of incorporating this into Gothitelle's design. Oh, and don't believe me that this is an actual concept incorporated with Gothitelle? Just look at her Pokémon Conquest artwork:
Furthermore, you said that the issue only arises here when Pokémon are based on humans repeatedly, and then proceeded to give 6 examples: Sawk/Throh, Hitmonchan/Lee, Gothita line, Machop line, Ralts line, and Jynx. IMO, as long as they keep using the human design in different, meaningful ways the concept is never gonna get old anyway, but that's subjective. What isn't is that there are too many humanlike Pokémon. Even if you want to write off all of your 6, technically 8, examples as "human wearing martial art clothes/sporting outfit/Gothloli demeanor/efficient bodybuilding clothing/dancing outfits/dress" it's not old yet. How many Pokémon are based on turtles at this point? Squirtle line, Tirtouga line, Torkoal, Shuckle and Turtwig line. About as many. How many birds do we have? More than I can count. There's a hell of a lot less differentiating a Pidgey from a Spearow than there is even a Sawk from a Hitmonlee, never mind a Machamp from a Gothita.
This does pose a question though, which I want to see if I can find the answer to: Why do many humans write of humanlike Pokémon, or hate them even? I personally think it's for one reason, which is that, whether we like to admit it or not, we consider Pokémon tools to fight with. Many people blatantly aren't comfortable having that much power over something that is somewhat reminiscent of a human, hell, possibly even someone close to them. Pretty much every human in a western society is raised learning that they are the greatest life form on the planet and that they are better than animals, so when a Pokémon is based on their favourite animal they're fine "using" it. When a Pokémon reminds them of their neighbour they suddenly feel too in control and don't use the Pokémon because of it. Codraroll said that Sawk, Gothitelle and Kirlia veer on the edge of uncanny as far as their humanlike appearances go, which, while perfect for their design, lead to many western audiences disliking said Pokémon. This isn't going to change though, because in the east culture is different, and Pokémon like Gothitelle, Jynx and Gardevoir are incredibly popular over there.
Pokémon being based on humans does not make them a bad design by any means, because under every design there is so much more inspiration within. The problem only arises when we as consumers aren't willing to look for it.
I personally don't have a problem with Jynx, Kirlia/Gardevoir, and Gothita family. However there's just something about Sawk and Throh which breaks my immersion. I think it's that out of all the Pokemon Celever mentioned, they're the ones who its hard not to say they're wearing clothes. Now I think the Pokemon Company insists that all Pokemon who look like they're wearing clothes aren't, that's just how they're fur and body naturally looks. But still, well, let's look through them:
Hitmonchan: Hitmonlee isn't wearing anything so no problem there. Hitmonchan though looks like its wearing boxing gloves, a shirt, skirt/loose shorts, and shoes. However what helps Hitmonchan is that they're not detailed, they're solid which makes you believe they can be just skin/fur which just so happens to be colored that way. They also have colors which nicely blend with the brown. The thing stand stands out most is the boxing gloves, but being its species have evolved to use boxing and punching as way to defend themselves you can justify there hands looking like boxing gloves because they evolved to punch in the most efficient was as possible that also wouldn't hurt their hand.
Machoke/Machamp: The only oddity with them is that its said their belt is a belt. Where do wild Machop and Machoke get their belts? Who knows, maybe like Conkeldurr they know the secret of making these power belt? Anyway, it's only the belt that's odd, everything else about them in ol' natural. And also its pointed out the belt is the exception to the rule, they're not trying to pass it off as part of its body. Though that doesn't really excuse it, being its only a belt (a rather detailed belt, albeit), it's not that big of a deal.
Jynx: Now Jynx is just weird normally, so it seemingly wearing a dress actually doesn't seem that off. In addition with its mysterious nature and odd behavior which is almost human-like, I would say its suppose to have an uncanny valley-like feel but obviously failing. It evolved to look like a human as off as it sounds, it just didn't work but that won't make them stop trying.
Kirlia/Gardevoir: I always saw them as sort of elvish/ethereal beings, confirmed when they were changed to Fairy-types and that they're not in the Human-Like Egg Group but rather the Amorphous. They never looked like they were wearing clothes to me since they were designed in a way to have their colors be on parts one would think would be either clothing or skin. Kirlia's white covers its body (a dress) and its face & arms (skin). Gardevoir actually does something interesting with its white and green. Above the waist it looks like the white is the skin and the green is sort of like hair and a jacket... but below the waist the white is the dress and inside the dress is green (though its legs are also white, but we're focusing on the dress here). So in the end their color scheme blends in all over the place you can really say they're wearing clothes (at least as we know them).
Gothita family: This family is just weird to me. Like Jynx is sort of looks like they're trying to look like a person... but at the same time don't give a s*** and do their own thing. For one thing only their face (and Gothitelle's hands) are purple, everything else is covered in black with white bow-like things. Gothitelle's body is a weird accordion/stacking cup shape and not really dress-like, and do I even need to mention about its "hair".
Sawk & Throh: And now we've come to Sawk and Throh. Sawk is blue and Throh is red... but they're gi is white with patches of red including a black belt which hangs. Not only that, their gi is detailed making it look less like fur that just so happen to look like clothes. They're full on wearing clothes, heck in the anime there was a joke about that (in an episode Ash & co. along with a friendly rival named Stephan, who owns a Sawk, enter a festival. One of the challenges was to get a certain item and Stephan's item is a Black Belt... which he tries to borrows Sawk's, however Sawk isn't having any of it).
Stephan: Come on man! We need to win the competition!
Sawk: Dude, this "black belt" is attached to me!... somehow.
Tl;dr, other Pokemon who are wearing clothes either have it look like they can be a part of it or are a rare exception but it doesn't cover a lot of their body. Sawk and Throh's is covering a majority of its body and they're colored in a way that makes them feel they're not naturally part of their body.
However, I get what they were going for with their design and if they are clothes I'd rather they say they are (we don't know what materials they're made, maybe like with Conkeldurr they just know how to weave natural materials together to make their gi). But still, if they are clothes I don't see how they serve a purpose that helps them fight so they're wearing clothes of modesty sake which is a very human thing to do
Hitmonchan: Hitmonlee isn't wearing anything so no problem there. Hitmonchan though looks like its wearing boxing gloves, a shirt, skirt/loose shorts, and shoes. However what helps Hitmonchan is that they're not detailed, they're solid which makes you believe they can be just skin/fur which just so happens to be colored that way. They also have colors which nicely blend with the brown. The thing stand stands out most is the boxing gloves, but being its species have evolved to use boxing and punching as way to defend themselves you can justify there hands looking like boxing gloves because they evolved to punch in the most efficient was as possible that also wouldn't hurt their hand.
Machoke/Machamp: The only oddity with them is that its said their belt is a belt. Where do wild Machop and Machoke get their belts? Who knows, maybe like Conkeldurr they know the secret of making these power belt? Anyway, it's only the belt that's odd, everything else about them in ol' natural. And also its pointed out the belt is the exception to the rule, they're not trying to pass it off as part of its body. Though that doesn't really excuse it, being its only a belt (a rather detailed belt, albeit), it's not that big of a deal.
Jynx: Now Jynx is just weird normally, so it seemingly wearing a dress actually doesn't seem that off. In addition with its mysterious nature and odd behavior which is almost human-like, I would say its suppose to have an uncanny valley-like feel but obviously failing. It evolved to look like a human as off as it sounds, it just didn't work but that won't make them stop trying.
Kirlia/Gardevoir: I always saw them as sort of elvish/ethereal beings, confirmed when they were changed to Fairy-types and that they're not in the Human-Like Egg Group but rather the Amorphous. They never looked like they were wearing clothes to me since they were designed in a way to have their colors be on parts one would think would be either clothing or skin. Kirlia's white covers its body (a dress) and its face & arms (skin). Gardevoir actually does something interesting with its white and green. Above the waist it looks like the white is the skin and the green is sort of like hair and a jacket... but below the waist the white is the dress and inside the dress is green (though its legs are also white, but we're focusing on the dress here). So in the end their color scheme blends in all over the place you can really say they're wearing clothes (at least as we know them).
Gothita family: This family is just weird to me. Like Jynx is sort of looks like they're trying to look like a person... but at the same time don't give a s*** and do their own thing. For one thing only their face (and Gothitelle's hands) are purple, everything else is covered in black with white bow-like things. Gothitelle's body is a weird accordion/stacking cup shape and not really dress-like, and do I even need to mention about its "hair".
Sawk & Throh: And now we've come to Sawk and Throh. Sawk is blue and Throh is red... but they're gi is white with patches of red including a black belt which hangs. Not only that, their gi is detailed making it look less like fur that just so happen to look like clothes. They're full on wearing clothes, heck in the anime there was a joke about that (in an episode Ash & co. along with a friendly rival named Stephan, who owns a Sawk, enter a festival. One of the challenges was to get a certain item and Stephan's item is a Black Belt... which he tries to borrows Sawk's, however Sawk isn't having any of it).
Stephan: Come on man! We need to win the competition!
Sawk: Dude, this "black belt" is attached to me!... somehow.
Tl;dr, other Pokemon who are wearing clothes either have it look like they can be a part of it or are a rare exception but it doesn't cover a lot of their body. Sawk and Throh's is covering a majority of its body and they're colored in a way that makes them feel they're not naturally part of their body.
However, I get what they were going for with their design and if they are clothes I'd rather they say they are (we don't know what materials they're made, maybe like with Conkeldurr they just know how to weave natural materials together to make their gi). But still, if they are clothes I don't see how they serve a purpose that helps them fight so they're wearing clothes of modesty sake which is a very human thing to do
I think that an important evolution family to remember when talking about clothing in Pokémon is the Sewaddle line. The line is actually centred around the concept of clothing which, besides being possibly the cutest image in Pokémon imagining a Leavanny wrap her newborn baby Sewaddle in a little leaf coat, confirms that in general Pokémon are well aware of clothing. Most choose to not, as I'm sure many humans would if they weren't brought up learning that they must, but what about those who don't? Well, Sewaddle and Swadloon are ironically enough the only Pokémon who actually do wear clothes, and there is one easy way to show that Sawk doesn't:I personally don't have a problem with Jynx, Kirlia/Gardevoir, and Gothita family. However there's just something about Sawk and Throh which breaks my immersion. I think it's that out of all the Pokemon Celever mentioned, they're the ones who its hard not to say they're wearing clothes. Now I think the Pokemon Company insists that all Pokemon who look like they're wearing clothes aren't, that's just how they're fur and body naturally looks. But still, well, let's look through them:
Hitmonchan: Hitmonlee isn't wearing anything so no problem there. Hitmonchan though looks like its wearing boxing gloves, a shirt, skirt/loose shorts, and shoes. However what helps Hitmonchan is that they're not detailed, they're solid which makes you believe they can be just skin/fur which just so happens to be colored that way. They also have colors which nicely blend with the brown. The thing stand stands out most is the boxing gloves, but being its species have evolved to use boxing and punching as way to defend themselves you can justify there hands looking like boxing gloves because they evolved to punch in the most efficient was as possible that also wouldn't hurt their hand.
Machoke/Machamp: The only oddity with them is that its said their belt is a belt. Where do wild Machop and Machoke get their belts? Who knows, maybe like Conkeldurr they know the secret of making these power belt? Anyway, it's only the belt that's odd, everything else about them in ol' natural. And also its pointed out the belt is the exception to the rule, they're not trying to pass it off as part of its body. Though that doesn't really excuse it, being its only a belt (a rather detailed belt, albeit), it's not that big of a deal.
Jynx: Now Jynx is just weird normally, so it seemingly wearing a dress actually doesn't seem that off. In addition with its mysterious nature and odd behavior which is almost human-like, I would say its suppose to have an uncanny valley-like feel but obviously failing. It evolved to look like a human as off as it sounds, it just didn't work but that won't make them stop trying.
Kirlia/Gardevoir: I always saw them as sort of elvish/ethereal beings, confirmed when they were changed to Fairy-types and that they're not in the Human-Like Egg Group but rather the Amorphous. They never looked like they were wearing clothes to me since they were designed in a way to have their colors be on parts one would think would be either clothing or skin. Kirlia's white covers its body (a dress) and its face & arms (skin). Gardevoir actually does something interesting with its white and green. Above the waist it looks like the white is the skin and the green is sort of like hair and a jacket... but below the waist the white is the dress and inside the dress is green (though its legs are also white, but we're focusing on the dress here). So in the end their color scheme blends in all over the place you can really say they're wearing clothes (at least as we know them).
Gothita family: This family is just weird to me. Like Jynx is sort of looks like they're trying to look like a person... but at the same time don't give a s*** and do their own thing. For one thing only their face (and Gothitelle's hands) are purple, everything else is covered in black with white bow-like things. Gothitelle's body is a weird accordion/stacking cup shape and not really dress-like, and do I even need to mention about its "hair".
Sawk & Throh: And now we've come to Sawk and Throh. Sawk is blue and Throh is red... but they're gi is white with patches of red including a black belt which hangs. Not only that, their gi is detailed making it look less like fur that just so happen to look like clothes. They're full on wearing clothes, heck in the anime there was a joke about that (in an episode Ash & co. along with a friendly rival named Stephan, who owns a Sawk, enter a festival. One of the challenges was to get a certain item and Stephan's item is a Black Belt... which he tries to borrows Sawk's, however Sawk isn't having any of it).
Stephan: Come on man! We need to win the competition!
Sawk: Dude, this "black belt" is attached to me!... somehow.
Tl;dr, other Pokemon who are wearing clothes either have it look like they can be a part of it or are a rare exception but it doesn't cover a lot of their body. Sawk and Throh's is covering a majority of its body and they're colored in a way that makes them feel they're not naturally part of their body.
However, I get what they were going for with their design and if they are clothes I'd rather they say they are (we don't know what materials they're made, maybe like with Conkeldurr they just know how to weave natural materials together to make their gi). But still, if they are clothes I don't see how they serve a purpose that helps them fight so they're wearing clothes of modesty sake which is a very human thing to do
That doesn't exactly look unattached to me...
It's entirely possible that it started out as a costume and over time Sawk and Throh evolved into having the clothes be a part of their bodies, or I have my own theory, actually.
This is the Pokémon universe. Who's to say that Pokémon are learning from humans? I think it's the other way around. You've seen Sawk in the picture above, now check out this Black Belt:
Their suits are identical except that on Sawk it is clearly attached and goes down to its feet, and the lapel is black on Sawk and white on the Black Belt. It looks to me like the Black Belts as a community have tried to replicate Sawk's clothing as much as they can because, as it is naturally the garb worn for the Pokémon specialising in Karate, it must be the best clothing they can wear for the task.
Cresselia~~
Junichi Masuda likes this!!
My only issue with Throh/ Sawk is that they look too similar between each other. If they are ONE species of Pokemon, I probably wouldn't mind.
I actually love Jynx, Gardevoir and Gothitelle. They all look very different to me, and I don't see the "repeat design= lazy" in these 3.
As you said, Gardevoir and Gothitelle are popular in Eastern cultures, and I can confirm that for you since I'm a real East Asian living in East Asia.
Jynx and Machamp aren't particularly popular here though, but people like to talk about Jynx and Machamp in a jokingly manner. Let me rephrase it-- Jynx and Machamp are popular in a very different way than Gardevoir/ Gothitelle. We like to put her in our comics and fictions because she instantly makes the whole thing funny. We like to write/ read fictions about Jynx and male human relationships because it's bloody funny. And fictions about gay Machamps, or female Machamps. There's a legit fan-game about Machamps (that comes in 3 types-- Machamp, female Machamp, and gay Machamp.)
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Jynx actually proves that different people see things differently. My friends and I all grew up thinking that Jynx is based on a white person-- because of the blonde hair. Asians rarely interact with black people, and we just don't see them other than in the charity adverts. (That raises money for famines in Africa)
We just think that anyone can get dark skin with enough Sun, but only white people can have blonde hair.
Japanese people also think the same. (As seen on Jynx art on Pixiv-- you can see nearly all Jynx Gijinka are drawn as white people)
Jynx being psychic pretty much made us think she's superior than regular humans. Contrary to what we were bought up with, thinking white people are dominant and Africans are losers. (Yes, it's racist, but that's what we are brought up with.)
So, saying that Jynx is African is never convincing to an Asian, especially to people born prior to the 90's as they would more likely believe in racial hierarchy.
Most people will challenge you, "what about the beautiful hair?" Pretty much 90% people here think that Jynx has beautiful hair, by the way. (Even Pokesho has a comic that has a Jynx selling her hair at a high price in the market.)
But the majority of Americans and Latin Americans don't see it this way. Even white Americans would think that Jynx is based on a black person. (As seen on the Jynx art on Deviant Art). They think that only Africans can get this type of skin, but they can always bleach their hair (and straighten it?)
I personally hate it when Americans associate Jynx with black people. Mainly because of the racial controversy, but partly also due to the way I'm brought up.
It's an uneasy complex because now I know that racism is wrong, but often oscillate between what I was brought up with.
(I like Jynx a lot, you probably can tell.)
Till now, sometimes, I still think "But Jynx is shown capable of mentally calculating sums with sin/ cos/ tan, imagine an African doing that?"
(It's probably very wrong to say this on this forum, but I don't mind if the mods edit my post)
Anyway, I'm glad that Nintendo changed her to purple, because it just avoids misconception.
Back then, I was in rage against Carole Boston Weatherford. But now, knowing that a lot of Americans are thinking in the same way, then I suppose Carole wasn't one mad woman, after all-- so Nintendo actually was wise. (But still, a lot of my friends still think that she's one mad woman.)
I also hate the fact that people draw fat fetish art for Gardevoir-- fat is very despised in Asia. One simply does not associate fat with beauty.
But I see that people outside Asia don't think the same way, as reflected on Deviant Art.
Same with Machamp, people here despise muscles. People here do not like males with muscles because people associate muscles with unintelligent people. People have "intelligent people don't grow strong muscles" stuck into their minds. People want smart guys with spectacles, from a good university or play musical instrument.
This is reflected in Pokemon, in which Psychic types (especially Alakazam) are said to have very weak muscles. (And have very weak physical attack stats)
I actually love Jynx, Gardevoir and Gothitelle. They all look very different to me, and I don't see the "repeat design= lazy" in these 3.
As you said, Gardevoir and Gothitelle are popular in Eastern cultures, and I can confirm that for you since I'm a real East Asian living in East Asia.
Jynx and Machamp aren't particularly popular here though, but people like to talk about Jynx and Machamp in a jokingly manner. Let me rephrase it-- Jynx and Machamp are popular in a very different way than Gardevoir/ Gothitelle. We like to put her in our comics and fictions because she instantly makes the whole thing funny. We like to write/ read fictions about Jynx and male human relationships because it's bloody funny. And fictions about gay Machamps, or female Machamps. There's a legit fan-game about Machamps (that comes in 3 types-- Machamp, female Machamp, and gay Machamp.)
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Jynx actually proves that different people see things differently. My friends and I all grew up thinking that Jynx is based on a white person-- because of the blonde hair. Asians rarely interact with black people, and we just don't see them other than in the charity adverts. (That raises money for famines in Africa)
We just think that anyone can get dark skin with enough Sun, but only white people can have blonde hair.
Japanese people also think the same. (As seen on Jynx art on Pixiv-- you can see nearly all Jynx Gijinka are drawn as white people)
Jynx being psychic pretty much made us think she's superior than regular humans. Contrary to what we were bought up with, thinking white people are dominant and Africans are losers. (Yes, it's racist, but that's what we are brought up with.)
So, saying that Jynx is African is never convincing to an Asian, especially to people born prior to the 90's as they would more likely believe in racial hierarchy.
Most people will challenge you, "what about the beautiful hair?" Pretty much 90% people here think that Jynx has beautiful hair, by the way. (Even Pokesho has a comic that has a Jynx selling her hair at a high price in the market.)
But the majority of Americans and Latin Americans don't see it this way. Even white Americans would think that Jynx is based on a black person. (As seen on the Jynx art on Deviant Art). They think that only Africans can get this type of skin, but they can always bleach their hair (and straighten it?)
I personally hate it when Americans associate Jynx with black people. Mainly because of the racial controversy, but partly also due to the way I'm brought up.
It's an uneasy complex because now I know that racism is wrong, but often oscillate between what I was brought up with.
(I like Jynx a lot, you probably can tell.)
Till now, sometimes, I still think "But Jynx is shown capable of mentally calculating sums with sin/ cos/ tan, imagine an African doing that?"
(It's probably very wrong to say this on this forum, but I don't mind if the mods edit my post)
Anyway, I'm glad that Nintendo changed her to purple, because it just avoids misconception.
Back then, I was in rage against Carole Boston Weatherford. But now, knowing that a lot of Americans are thinking in the same way, then I suppose Carole wasn't one mad woman, after all-- so Nintendo actually was wise. (But still, a lot of my friends still think that she's one mad woman.)
I also hate the fact that people draw fat fetish art for Gardevoir-- fat is very despised in Asia. One simply does not associate fat with beauty.
But I see that people outside Asia don't think the same way, as reflected on Deviant Art.
Same with Machamp, people here despise muscles. People here do not like males with muscles because people associate muscles with unintelligent people. People have "intelligent people don't grow strong muscles" stuck into their minds. People want smart guys with spectacles, from a good university or play musical instrument.
This is reflected in Pokemon, in which Psychic types (especially Alakazam) are said to have very weak muscles. (And have very weak physical attack stats)
Obesity is more of a "perversion" anyway, even in the west the vast majority of people likes slim people.
I find odd that nobody has mentioned Diggersby, which combines the elements of humans, objects and animals all in one, with animal being the most prominent nature. Will expand on this later.
I find odd that nobody has mentioned Diggersby, which combines the elements of humans, objects and animals all in one, with animal being the most prominent nature. Will expand on this later.
Cresselia~~
Junichi Masuda likes this!!
Well it seems to become heavily used in Japanese fan comic strips. He resembles a perverted old man, that's why the popularity.
Didn't see people voting for him in Pokken twitter though.
Lopunny had a fair amount after people realized it got fewer than Jynx in the first 4 days. Then, the votes for Lopunny sharply increased.