Some things I don't mind. Like, in Voltorb's case, you could put a spin on it that the engineers of the Pokéball modelled it after Voltorb to make it a more memorable design. I actually quite like Nosepass and its evolution, but I always kind of justify them with "well, people made the Mowai (sp?) statues based on that Pokémon" since, you know, Pokémon can be a total AU. But it doesn't explain the ones that LOOK LIKE NOTHING. D8
Hm, it really depends. I could say that Arbok was based on a cobra whilst Magby was based on a child playing with fire. Sure, the last explanation sounds surreal, but it still serves as an explanation. I'm sure (if I wanted to try hard enough, of course) I could list off things that could have inspired every design of Pokémon that has been drawn*. Someone will always have an idea and that idea will eventually pass off as fact. Take Pikachu, for example. I used to think the little yellow guy resembled a dog with a really spiky tail. A couple of weeks later I read in a book that it was an electric mouse. People's views are prone to changing based on how realistic the views presented to them are, but so long as there is a view in front of them, they will take it.
Read over that, it sort of sounds like a riddle, so let me say it in a clearer manner:
You have Probopass, who resembles a giant rock and really doesn't seem to serve a purpose. People are too close-minded to just accept something new into their minds; they have to make it relate to something in order to describe it. So, instead of saying it's a Probopass, they'll say it's a giant rock. Then someone will come along and say that it was based on the Mowai statues and people will instantly go along with that because it sounds much more interesting and profound.
Damn. I miss the days of not being able to describe a Kadabra. Now, thanks to Alter Ego and Jax Malcolm, and can tell you it looks like a fox. I could tell you much more, but I'll refrain. I'm sure you have enough boredom in your life without me adding to it.
For DP, the only legendaries I "approve" of are Dialga & Palkia (I don't mind them. They're the main legendaries and that's okay),
Agreeing with you here. The twin versions need to have two mascots. However, just because their reasons for existence are valid doesn't mean they should exist. As far as designs go, I wasn't really impressed. I still don't understand how they resemble dragons, either. Palkia looks like a giant frog and Dialga looks like an orb with legs.
Manaphy (and Phione because it's an interesting spin--a legendary that can breed!), and I suppose Giratina, since they need a third one to sell Platinum with.
Manaphy is okay. They needed a Pokémon to follow the line of Mew, Celebi and Jirachi and Manaphy was created. However, making a plot twist to try and look original was a bad decision. If Legendary Pokémon aren't able to breed, keep it that way. Never ever break the canon in order to make it more original.
Giratina was okay. I don't understand how it is classified as a dragon either (the thing has six legs and six wings on its neck?) but if they needed a third mascot, they needed a third mascot.
By 'they', I mean Nintendo/Gamefreak.
Though I'd much prefer if they'd do it like they did in GSC and base the third game on one of the existing legendaries. I hate the Pixies though. They aren't interesting and I have no will to go catch them. (Same with the Regis, to be honest.)
See, the thing I liked about the Regis was that it was actually quite a challenge to catch them. I can't quite remember how you unlocked them (I was only ten or so when I played the games and I haven't revisited them since) but I recall needing a Relicanth and a Wailord in your party and then you had to go underwater to try and unlock the doors to the temples the Regis resided in. After that you would have to pass another challenge (with Regice, you had to stand there reading the writing for five minutes without moving, with Regirock, you had to do something stupid maneuver with Strength and I can't even remember what you had to do with the last member of the trio) and then you would catch them. I enjoy a challenge and ended up catching them all. It took effort, though.
The pixies are boring. Well, Azelf and Uxie definitely are. You just walk into a cave and battle them. Nothing exciting. With Mesprit, you have to chase like you chased the legendary beasts back in the day. Good for the nostalgia factor, bad for the fact that not everyone has the patience to chase a legendary Pokémon that doesn't really have the best stats ever anyways.
The Regis were okay. You could see that the people in charge of Pokémon were trying to take it into a new direction (gradually, mind) and thinking they succeeded, they went ahead with a trio of Pokémon that were the same type.
Yeah, not a good idea at all. I'm not sure whether it's the stats, the designs or the crazy concept of the legendary pixies that puts me off. It's probably a mixture of all those reasons and more, but the pixies are the definition of epic fail in my book.
But lmao, I DID forget Giratina, despite the fact that just now I mentioned it. See? There are so many freaking legendaries in DP that I can't POSSIBLY name them off the top of my head. They aren't memorable--aren't legendaries supposed to be the ones that EVERYONE knows just because they're so highly regarded? Now it's just like... "oh, there are MORE to catch in this game? Oh well." :(
Indeed. I miss the days when Legendary Pokémon were few and far between. Nowadays, they're as common as starter Pokémon. No one wants what everyone else has. It's what made Legendaries special back in the day. Everyone has at least one legendary Pokémon. They just are recognised as something worthy of celebrating a capture of anymore, which is sort of sad. Yes, they may have good stats and they may play a prominent role within the games, but they are just Pokémon. That's not the attitude the people had when the first and second generation games were around, but it is now, unfortunately.
Honestly, this is an entirely different topic in its own. I've been whining about the amount of legendaries since RSE and when DP came along, I was just FLOORED by how many there are. This is my biggest complaint with the Pokémon series and, instead of fixing it, it looks like they're going to take it further and further each time. At least MOST of the legendaries are ones I can safely ignore. (I only went out of my way to catch Giratina and Heatran last month in Diamond despite having it for over a year!)
Haha. Yes, how did it go from Platinum to quality over quantity regarding legendary Pokémon? But yes, I've agreed with you already.
As for Heatran and Giratina, I've had my Diamond for more than a year and I haven't caught them yet.
Also the fact that they're contradicting each other now, like the Arceus and Mew thing. And then you could even go so far as to say Lugia and Kyogre interfere with each other. In the anime, Lugia controlled the seas. When the birds got all out of whack, it threw a fit (lmao, I have such a way with descriptions XD) and then all the sea currents were messed up and then weather started going berserk everywhere. And then Kyogre also controls the seas and oceans? But it apparently MADE them. However in other games everything goes crazy underwater if Kyogre's angered or something. SO WHICH ONE IS IN CHARGE? It's so annoying. D': Rayquaza is (I think) the guardian of the skies... but so is Ho-oh? Dialga controls time, Celebi controls time travel. How close is too close? :/
If you think the Lugia/Kyogre, Rayquaza/Ho-Oh and Dialga/Celebi debacles are bad, you've realised that the Mew/Arceus predicament jumped the shark, right? Mew was the Original One. The ancestor of all Pokémon. Then this massive dog comes out of nowhere and calls itself a god.
Lawl continuity.
Latias and Latios are actually two very random Pokémon. D: Kyogre and Groudon were the equivalents from third gen.
My bad. Random indeed. However, they do seem to pair up nicely with Cresselia & Darkrai.
It's just ridiculous. Not to mention so many legendaries are events now. Like, I can see why people think that's exciting but Canada does not get event Pokémon. The only reason I have a Darkrai is because Aegis (the member here) visited in May and I gave him my cartridge to take back to the US with him and he mailed it back with Darkrai.
At least you can do stuff like that. I'm Irish, remember? No countries near me, let alone my city, gets events. The closest I'll get to a genuine event is a hack off the GTS.
That said; I wouldn't really care. Legendaries are no longer novelty items seeing as everyone has them.
This is the most interesting conversation I've had in blog comments so far! I'd never really thought of the "master" thing in legendaries before, but it makes a lot of sense. It's a new way for me to categorize them because I'd always had such weird ways of justifying some and not others. This makes more sense. XD
Thanks. Hang on and I'll link you to a thread explaining the masters thing in greater detail.
Oh, by the way; do you get a blog comment notification? Just curious.
*I could do it if you gave me a blog XD
Just kidding.
