Who's that Pokemon (based on)?

[The Qu]

Thanks, bro! Always nice to get some encouragement, no matter how much I've gotten before.

[TV Eye]

Yeah, Black and White seemed to have some Godzilla influences in the designs...

[The Qu]

Here's a new one, complete with an answer to something Johans asked on July 19, 2010- almost exactly a year ago!

#223 Remoraid & #224 Octillery
This particular family has been a bafflement to Pokemon Players going back to the release of Generation 2. I remember when I first picked up a book that translated Generation 2 from Japanese- at Wal-Mart!- and was convinced it was a misprint. After all, why did the funny little gunfish evolve into the octopus? To this day, I don't know why they chose this evolutionary lines, beyond the gun to cannon slash tank. But, both have origins beyond guns 'n tanks, so let's hop to it!

Remoraid is one that any lad who watches too much History Channel and Discovery Channel will know of- the famous Archerfish. Archerfish are small fishes- 5-10 cms-, and don't look especially notable, with their only real notable physical characteristics being that they are slightly compressed compared to other fish. But they have one ability that sets them apart from other fishies. They can spit water to knock prey- mostly insects- out of the air and into the water. Archerfish are really really accurate with this too, with both great eyesight and the frankly amazing ability to compensate for light refracting through the water. Unlike Remoraid, Archerfish spit their water through a groove in the top of its mouth, forcing water through the groove using its gills.

The streams of water they can shoot can be 2 to 5 cms long, but can only accurately shot up to 2 cm. Archerfish can be found in the Philippines, India, Polynesia and Australia. There are seven species known.

Remoraid doesn't just take inspiration from that species. The commensalism it demonstrates with Mantine, a notable case of one Pokemon appearing in another's sprite, is based on aquarium favorite, the remora. Remora are notable fish that can attach to other organism, including, yes, manta rays. The remora feeds off of leftovers from the host, although there is some debate that it may primarily feed off of the feces of the host. The host doesn't benefit from the remora, but it also looses nothing from it- one of the clearest examples of commensalism, a form of parasitism where the host looses little from it. Remora cling to their host through a disc shaped organ on their underside that creates a suction force that allows it to stick to the host. Yeah, it's essentially a suction cup.

Remora have a mythological role too. Pliny the Younger reported that the Remora- who's name means delay in Latin- was capable of stopping ships by clinging on them. He blamed Mark Antony's defeat in the battle of Actium on Remora, and indirectly the death of Caligula. The ever so helpful Book of Imaginary Beasts by Borges has this Remora in it.

Now, on to the ever elusive Octillery. At face value, Octillery is a play on artillery, wheeled cannons and the like. But it's based on Japanese depictions of octopuses. Quick note here: Octopi is actually an incorrect pluralization. Only words derived directly from Latin ending in -us can be pluralized with -i. Octopodes is correct, but considered pedantic.

The appearance of Octillery is based on the Common Octopus, Octopus vulgaris. This species is found off the coast of Hokkaido, Japan, in addition to many, many other places, and is common in Japanese cuisine. In particular, takoyaki is a popular Japanese type of dumpling made from octopus. Tako, in case you couldn't tell, is Japanese for octopus. See the DataEast game Captain America and the Avengers, which had a large octopus robot called Mech Taco, a pretty funny mistranslation whether you know why it's wrong or not. The O. Vulgaris appears red when boiled, from what I can tell.

The snout is based on a physical feature of the octopus, called the funnel. The funnel is used in inking, but it isn't what releases the ink. The ink, a cloudy concoction of melanin, is released from an ink sac. The funnel releases a jet of water, which helps spread the ink through the water, allowing the octopus to escape. For whatever reason, this funnel eventually became exaggerated in Japanese art to be octopuses' mouths. It's since became standard for creatures that shoot things out of their mouth, like Sniffits in the Mario series, or Deku Scrubs in the Zelda series. This is why Octillery can learn all beam moves save Solar Beam. The funnel's purpose as a jet explains why this Pokemon is the Jet Pokemon.

In addition to the thigns immediate to this family, there is something more I am going to tackle with this PokeOrigin. Octillery is one of many Pokemon to have event specific versions released, this one released with a Focus Band equipped. There was even official art of a Focus Band wearing Octillery released with the event! The PokeWalker also has an Octillery with the Focus Band available for capture in the Beyond the Sea route. Now, the focus band seems based on a type of Japanese headband called a Hachimaki, which translates to helmet scarf, and is often given to show perseverance, hence the item's ability to survive a lethal hit with one hit point. Japanese takoyaki chefs often wear the headband, hence the depiction of cartoon octopuses wearing them. This even extends to American animation, with an octopus wearing a Hachimaki in the American animated film Monsters, Inc. at the restaurant Harryhausen's. I can't really find any reason for why the chefs wear the headbands, but it is worth nothing that Hachi is Japanese for eight. It's not a big leap to think that's why.

[TV Eye]

Ha, I remember bringing up that Monster's Inc. octopus awhile back. He also happened to be red ;D

Though, one thing that's always bugged me about Japanese art...creativity tends to lack in certain aspects. Is it really hard to make an octopus without the funnel for the mouth and have him a different color than red?

[kirbychu]

It's probably just that that depiction of octpuses has become so well-known. Like how all frogs in Western media make that ribbit sound, when actually only a certain breed of frog in california does that. Or how western media always puts mice and cheese hand-in-hand, when real mice don't even like the stuff.

[Koopaul]

Well that's habits of animals. But actual appearances? Do Westerners draw particular animals in unusual exaggerated ways that aren't necessarily true?

[kirbychu]

Well, western ducks almost always have a Donald Duck style beak (wide and turned up at the front), even though it doesn't look a great deal like a real duck's beak (thin and turned down at the front). There's the trend of drawing mice with a Mickey Mouse-style shape around the facial features, too, but that happens a little less. There are bound to be others, but I can't think of any right now.

[asiacatdogblue]

Jul 25, 2011 14:02:50 GMT -5 kirbychu said:

It's probably just that that depiction of octpuses has become so well-known. Like how all frogs in Western media make that ribbit sound, when actually only a certain breed of frog in california does that. Or how western media always puts mice and cheese hand-in-hand, when real mice don't even like the stuff.

*ahem* Octopi.

[kirbychu]

Nice try, but octopi is actually incorrect.

[asiacatdogblue]

Wait, really? So, would "Cacti" be incorrect, as well?

[Manspeed]

No, "Cacti" IS correct.

[The Qu]

Jul 30, 2011 9:30:27 GMT -5 asiacatdogblue said:

Jul 25, 2011 14:02:50 GMT -5 kirbychu said:

It's probably just that that depiction of octpuses has become so well-known. Like how all frogs in Western media make that ribbit sound, when actually only a certain breed of frog in california does that. Or how western media always puts mice and cheese hand-in-hand, when real mice don't even like the stuff.

*ahem* Octopi.

*Ahem*

Quick note here: Octopi is actually an incorrect pluralization. Only words derived directly from Latin ending in -us can be pluralized with -i. Octopodes is correct, but considered pedantic.

[The Qu]

#28 Ralts, #281 Kirla & #282 Gardevoir
This family has quite a subtle inspiration, glanced partly through their names. It's an interesting mix, as well, mixing 19th century Mysticism with dance.

The first aspect can be seen in the names of the first two members, Ralts and Kirlia. Ralts is, among other something else, a partial anagram of the word astral. In German and French, it's name is Trasla, which is a full anagram of Astral. The phrase here pertains to astral bodies, which is to say, the soul. Or, more accurately, a sort of soul body that lies inbetween a fully physical body and a fully intangible soul. These crop up in philosophies from the ancient world to modern New Age crack pot philosophies.

The concept of astral bodies is rather old, dating back to the Platonic philosophies of Ancient Greece. However, Plato wasn't the fellow to coin the phrase; it was a late Neoplatonist named Proclus, who theorized that the soul was, and I quote, immortal and celestial, from which astral is derived. The concept stayed around till the Modern-ish day, when it was brought back in force in full in the late 19th century by proto-New Age occultists like the Order of the Golden Dawn and Madame Blavatsky and her Theosophists. Needless to say, it is not terribly well regarded by the modern scientific institution.

Ralts' name may also derive from the dance Waltz. The Waltz is a dance, characterized by being played in triple and involves gliding and spinning moves. The Waltz is an old dance, dating to the Middle Ages. Interestingly, it causes a large fuss when it first came about, being referred to as “Godless” by a fellow named Kunz Haas. The primary reason for this was how close the dancers were. The backlash continued into at least the 18th century. Personally, I have always found the backlash against the Waltz funny.

Kirla's name, which is consistant in Japanese, English, German and French, and transliterated in Chinese, refers to a type of photography called Kirlian photography. Discovered in 1939 by a fellow named Semyon Kirlian, Kirlian photography is a type of photography where an electric charge is connected to an object on a photographic plate. The resulting photograph displays the object with a sort of aura around it. The most circulated examples are photographs Kirlian himself developed, showing a leaf with varying portions torn off. A faint aura displayed the portions of the leaf that were torn off, making it as thought the leaf had an intrinsic aura of some sort. However, a more likely explanation, put forth by professional skeptic James Randi, is that the plate was not cleaned in between uses.

Exactly what causes this is not fully understood. The most likely explanation is that the electrical discharge bothers the carefully calculated color balance in the photographic plate. However, since its discovery, the photographic type has been considered by the fringe to show the human aura, a seldom explained theory put forth by the fringe that we all give off an aura of energy that changes with a person's emotional state. Mayhap we will get into this concept later with another Pokemon. The emotion aspect of Kirlian photography is shown in various Pokedexes, showing that it can sense emotions, like Kirlian photography is alleged to be able to.

Kirlia has a secondary influence as well, looking like a ballerina clad in tutu standing en pointe. Ballet dates back to the 15th century, in Italy, as a dance form of, of all things, fencng.. The term comes from Italian,balletto, meaning to dance. It waned in popularity through the next centuries. The tutu was introduced at some point around the 18th century from what I can tell, and doesn't seem to have any particular purpose. Pointing, however, was developed as a technique to show a dancer as weightless, or gliding. The dance aspect of Kirlia is also mentioned in various dex entries.

This brings us to the final stage of the family, Gardevoir. Physically, Gardevoir seems to be based on a combination of a traditional Japanese doll and a ballroom dancer.

Let us start with the doll. Gardevoir resembles a type of traditional paper doll called Anasama Ningyou, litterally meaning big sister doll, as they were traditionally made by the eldest sister of the family for younger siblings. The dolls were originally made from wood, rags and other things. Later, they were upgraded to paper, including chiyogami, a colored paper that allowed a wider array of kimono. Notably, the dolls often lack facial features, similar to Gardevoir. Gardevoir's flowing gown-esque body is similar to dresses worn by ballroom dancers. This fits in with Kirlia's ballet related body. Ballroom dancing is a wide umbrella term for dances that include the Waltz, the Foxtrot, the Tango, and others. In some senses, it makes sense that a ballerina like Kirlia would evolve into a ballroom dancer as an “adult”. In addition, it is of note that ballroom dancing encompasses waltzing, from which the name Ralts possibly derives from.

[TV Eye]

Wow, now I'm even MORE confused on why there are male Gardevoir's...

I suppose Gallade is a fencer?

[The Qu]

I did Gallade a while ago, actually. I'll repost it here for ya. His origin is pretty cool, but I'dve preferred a fencer now that you mention it.

#475 Gallade
Gallade is an interesting Pokemon in many ways. In addition to being one of the few split line Pokemon, it was one of the first split line Pokemon to be based on gender, tied with Burmy's two evolutions. It is also the only split evolution line to be an addition after the Pokemon it splits from were introduced. Excluding Eevee, for obvious reasons.

It is also somewhat interesting for what is likely its origin. Rather than the psychic/paper doll origins of its female relatives, it seems to be based on soldiers from the Greco-Roman era. Most obviously, its head bears a striking resemblance to the Roman helmets worn by Gladiators called Murmillo helmets. Murmillo were also a type of Gladiator, named for their helmet. It looked like a sort of fish, according to them. Murmillo, like most Gladiators wore arm guards and wielded short swords. After all, the Romans were the ones who created the gladius hispaniensis, more commonly referred to as the Gladius, which became the first widely used sword. Roman Legionaries used the Gladius as their primary weapon, whereas previous soldiers had used the sword as a secondary weapon, if at all. Murmillo class gladiators also wore arm guards, called vambraces. Gallade's arms may be a combination of that and the sword. Indeed, the word gladiator means swordsman, stemming from the word gladius. And since Gallade is likely a reference to Gladiator, this means that, in a very very roundabout way, Gallade is named after swordsmen. Fitting, considering the amount of blade based moves it can learn.

Another possible inspiration was the Greek Hoplite. Hoplites were citizen soldiers in ancient Greece that served as infantry. The most iconic feature of the Hoplites was the Corinthian Helmet, perhaps the most famous helmet of the ancient world. The Corinthian, named for the city-state Corinth and not the pillar type, features cheek guards that come all the way down to the neck and a nose guard to protect the, well, nose. Horsehair crests were often put on top of the helmet, making it look like the famous Roman Centurion helmet that never actually existed as such. The stylization on Gallade's head vaguely resembles the Corinthian's face, with the green serving as the sides and cheek guards and the light blue as the nose guard. Hoplites used spears as their predominant weapon, however, and were not skilled swordsman, so the helmet is likely the inspiration for Gallade's head and not much more.

There are a few different theories regarding Gallade's name. Most obviously, it is probably a play on gladiator, my opinion on it. Considering two of its relatives, Raltz and Gardevoir, have musical based names, it could also be based on ballade, the French word for ballad. Some of its other foreign names- such as the German Galagladi- outright reference the gladiator aspect. If you're curious, Galagladi is a combination of Galan, meaning worshiper, and gladiator.

Overall, Gallade is an interesting Pokemon for a bunch of reasons, as I spent the past four paragraphs discussing! Its inspiration coming from swordsmen from the Classical World make it that much more appealing to me.