Overused Animal Bases in Pokémon Chat Forum

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Overused Animal Bases

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Coolsteph

Overused Animal Bases

Lead

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Suggestions Board Regular

Posts: 1553

Mar 26 12 10:39 AM

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Although I have not went through Fakedexes on DeviantArt lately, I have gone through several, and I still encounter Fakemon outside dex-wide compilations.
I have noted that several animals are used frequently in Fakemon designs. For example:
Pigs
Dogs
Cats (domestic)
Goats
"Monkeys"* (Orangutans seem a common specific variety)
Lions
Sharks
Koalas
Bats
Tasmanian Devils

Are there any other animals frequently used as the bases for Fakemon designs? Is it important to use "original" animals, or does the execution matter more?

*"Monkey" does not refer to an animal, but a group of animals. Chimpanzees and capuchins are both "generic" "monkeys", but "monkey" is an animal as much as "bird" is.

Sableye, Lvl. 9 (approx.) (male)

Tiquail, Lvl. 7 (female)

Normgon, Lvl. 6 (female)

Sunny (Sunkern) Lvl. 7 (female)

Grubva, Lvl. 7 (male)

Dark Ariados is released.

Most recent battle: Against a Grubva

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SCD

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Posts: 674

Mar 26 12 2:00 PM

PF Executive

Hyenas and Tardigrades in my experience are extremely common due to the fact that so many people use them in an attempt to be original and different, ironically enough.

And my personal opinion is that one should not splurge on unknown/inconspicuous animals in an attempt at originality, lest you end up alienating the audience through what amounts to a boast on your own breadth of zoological knowledge. Execution of the idea is key.

On that note, I will say that I will forgive none of you for suggesting any cats or dogs of any classical element! Tongue

Coolsteph

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Suggestions Board Regular

Posts: 1553

Mar 26 12 2:19 PM

...my "dogs" were Normal-types, (not Fire/Water/Grass-types) and they were technically coyote-prairie-dog blends.
Obscure animals (and concepts) are clearly not beyond Pokémon's grasp, if Wooper, (the axolotl is obscure in the U.S.) Sableye, Mawile, Manaphy, Phione, Shellos, Gastrodon, Kabuto and Kabutops, Omanyte and Omastar, Anorith and Armaldo, Lileep and Cradily, Trapinch, Alomomola, Huntail, Gorebyss, Dunsparce, Bronzong and Relicanth are any indication. I doubt most Americans (and maybe people from other places other than Japan) would be able to identify what those Pokémon were based on. (without Bulbapedia's help, anyway.)

Sableye, Lvl. 9 (approx.) (male)

Tiquail, Lvl. 7 (female)

Normgon, Lvl. 6 (female)

Sunny (Sunkern) Lvl. 7 (female)

Grubva, Lvl. 7 (male)

Dark Ariados is released.

Most recent battle: Against a Grubva

BonzaiRob

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Posts: 2646

Mar 26 12 2:23 PM

Pokémon Factory VIP

Apes aren't monkeys and chimps are apes (and so are we!); monkey is a wide enough classification without adding apes to it. Primate might be what you were thinking of?

Yes, execution is the be-all and end-all. It has to be a pokemon first, an animal/plant second. Manaphy is based on plankton, but it isn't planktonic-sized; only insects have cocoon forms in life but Pupitar and Shelgon apply it to reptiles (loosely).

Most Americans don't make pokemon! If you make pokemon, you should be an amateur biologist, if only for the research and inspiration. Sableye's a goblin, but I can name the naimals the rest are based on without looking at bulbapedia (except maybe Huntail/Gorebyss but they're just eel things anyway)

Last Edited By: BonzaiRob Mar 26 12 2:26 PM. Edited 1 times.

SCD

[-]

Posts: 674

Mar 26 12 2:53 PM

PF Executive

Huntail is ostensibly a gulper eel, gorebyss is most definitely a snipe eel.
As for the mythic monsters, remember that pokemon is a japanese franchise first, so more people there will know what a futakuchi-onna (mawile) is that over in the west.

A bad example of species anonymity, as I call it, is in my potential water-starter line, who are cladocerans. No-one will know what a cladoceran is unless they ask, go to wiki or are taking a module in freshwater biology. Granted the first two forms are recognisably water fleas, but the last one will make people go "dafuq is that?"
So don't make the same mistake I did!

Coolsteph

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Suggestions Board Regular

Posts: 1553

Mar 26 12 2:58 PM

I feel people are yelling at me for being atypically knowledgeable about biology, rather than noting "oh, yeah, the same animals are used over and over again. Hey, [animal] is also frequently used as a basis" and maybe adding some specific examples from specific projects.

Sableye, Lvl. 9 (approx.) (male)

Tiquail, Lvl. 7 (female)

Normgon, Lvl. 6 (female)

Sunny (Sunkern) Lvl. 7 (female)

Grubva, Lvl. 7 (male)

Dark Ariados is released.

Most recent battle: Against a Grubva

SCD

[-]

Posts: 674

Mar 26 12 3:29 PM

PF Executive

We are not yelling at you in the slightest, just attempting to disseminate sound advice.

But yeah, I see so many grass cat starters I'm starting to think that people are stealing them from one another (or I'm going senile and seeing the same ones over and over again but forget each time ' 3').

I am particularly incensed by jellojolteon2000's cat starters, since they seem to be the first fakes she made and she doesn't seem to see how un-pokemon-like they really are, especially in comparison to the rest of her dex.

Par99ker

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Suggestions Board Regular

Posts: 89

Mar 26 12 4:48 PM

Foxes. I see at laest 1 fox in almost every fakedex I see made. I don't know quite why they're so popular, they just are.

Eggnite

Catchling

Inphernix

Scroot (community)

Vegetunnel (community)

Habrew

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BonzaiRob

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Posts: 2646

Mar 27 12 1:23 AM

Pokémon Factory VIP

Moppnttef: I didn't recognise cladoceran, but as soon as I saw water flea I knew what it was. Using scientific names doesn't make things very readable/recognisable :P (Although if you'd said daphnia I would have known it...)

Coolsteph: No we're certainly not yelling. The point I was making is that it doesn't really matter what other people do. Make you rpokemon, pick animals that fit the idea. If it's really different to anything else, great! If it's similar to someone else's pokemon, so long as it's not PF, it really doesn't matter. And even if it is, well, look at Pidgey/Spearow/Hoothoot/Taillow/Starly/Pidove.

Par99ker: I think it's because Game Freak had made plenty of cats and dogs, but only really have Vulpix and maybe Ninetales representing foxes. Foxes are surprisingly widespread and variant in the real world, so it's understandable.

Cacapulse

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Posts: 1460

Mar 27 12 1:28 AM

Pokémon Factory Worker

Furries my friend. Furrries (jk maybe foxes are just too adorable to not include. But seriously...)

BTW Manaphy is a Sea angel and Sableye is the Hopkinsville Goblin, which are somehow both popular in Japan. The more weee knoooooow

I won't make this long, just stay away from using a 'generic' for anything. Find a unique genus or species or breed to base your animal/plant suggestions on. The keyword is "unique" here, no one will probably care if one makes a suggestion from an extremely rare species of rodent on the internet that's otherwise unremarkable in appearance. That's just me though.

ALL GLORY TO MIENSHAO

SCD

[-]

Posts: 674

Mar 27 12 7:03 AM

PF Executive

Bonzairob: I said cladoceran because only the first two stages are actually water fleas, and only the latter of those is Daphnia. The final stage is based on this.

General public: Now you may call me out on being a massive hypocrite here thanks to that, but I maintain that as long as one wants to suggest a pokemon to PF then the concept has to be clear to everyone involved. I am afraid of the scenario wherein someone submits a concept and everyone who views it has to ask them what the hell it's based on, and they respond with "oh it's just something I am interested in that you've probably never heard of", or "oh it's based on ____ _____, fancy you not knowing that." It risks becoming an invitation for hipsterism.

RichardDawkins

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Registered User

Posts: 5

Apr 1 12 12:50 AM

Personally, I would think a better method of creating a more original Pokemon would be to start with the environment that the pokemon evolved in, over millenia. The traditional process of evolution, that is, and not simply the method of a Squirtle becoming a Wartortle. If you consider the environment that they would be found in, the other pokemon that would inhabit, and start from perhaps some sort of prehistoric pokemon or creature, or perhaps, any modern day animal, and then theorize on how the environment would change over thousands of years and how the pokemon would adapt, you will, if you follow the process long enough, come up with some completely new creature and concept that will seem much more organic than anything else you may create.

Speaking as an evolutionary biologist, I personally believe it would greatly enrich the realism and detail of the creation.

NeildeGrasseTyson

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Registered User

Posts: 6

Apr 1 12 1:15 AM

From an astrophysical point of view, you must also consider the situation of the planet that the Pokemon can be found in. Let's say we have a planet that is towards the inner edge of the "Goldilocks Zone", a concept I trust most of you are familiar with. If the planet were more dry, we would naturally expect larger roots of plants and thick bark to prevent quick evaporation of water due to the heat.
This will directly affect the inhabitants of the planet. A planet of plants with a larger root mass will harbor herbivorous Pokémon that are more proficient in digging, and will have larger teeth for subsisting on said roots and to bite through thick bark. Most likely, the rest of the fauna, including the carnivores, will also adapt burrowing capabilities to protect itself from heat during day and to prowl for underground prey during the night.
Pokémon on this planet will then have relatively few optic organs, but very large and sensitive olfactory orifices.

Unova Star

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Suggestions Board Regular

Posts: 617

Apr 1 12 1:45 AM

. . . excuse me?

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