6th Gen Why Alpha and Omega?

What do you think is the significance of Alpha and Omega? At first, I thought that the symbols would somehow be related to Team Aqua and Team Magma, but I researched more and they did not. In Greek "alpha" means the beginning and "omega" means the end. Could this be the beginning and end of a brand new era? What could that era be?

That's a good question!

I really don't know! Made me think of the symbols on the two legendaries, but the point you brought up with the two teams is a good one.

I think it might be following the pattern of X and Y in a way, considering that α and Ω are letters, except in the Greek alphabet.

I'm pretty convinced OR/AS will be a decade or so in the future from R/S/E in order to include mega evolutions without leaving a gaping plot hole. In that amount of time, anything could have changed in Hoenn, including new bad guy teams called Alpha and Omega. Though that would be a bit predictable, wouldn't it?

The letters are embedded in the designs.

Look at how the M is cut in the Magma symbol. The aqua symbol is alpha turned on its side.

There is also the boxart, notice the glowing on their bodies.

There could be a certain meaning behind it, but if I'm gonna be honest, I think they might just be spewing out ideas for titles at this point. I remember everyone was speculating about how X and Y might've been related to chromosomes in some way, or something about perspective with the x- and y-axis, but in the end, the titles had nothing to do with the games. There wasn't really any significance to the names of Heartgold and Soulsilver either. So I wouldn't get my hopes up about some specific meaning behind the names, at least not anything related to the actual storyline of the game.

They sort of sound cool, and they sort of sound like they should mean something without really meaning anything specific.

And I'm pretty sure that that's it. As already noted, there was lots of speculation about possible deep meanings to X and Y, and as it turned out, there is no deep meaning. They just sort of sound cool and sort of sound like they should mean something without meaning anything specific.

The legendary pokémon of Hoenn are all based on Hebrew mythology (Kyogre = the Leviathan, Groudon = the Behemoth, Rayquaza = the Sziz, and the Regi trio being based on guardian golems), so it may play into that motif, with the Abrahamic God referring to Himself as "The Alpha and the OMega" in the Bible's Old Testament.

NiirB said:

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Lilith just posted that.

As far as the reasoning, I do hope that there's a me involved story included, having something to do with Greek influences or something. I can see some sort of God complex within hopefully Team Magma/Aqua or whoever the new villains are

Alpha and omega... or A and Z in our alphabet. AZ anyone? What is this? Do we have Pokemon Z right here? Are these games remakes/sequels AND the 3rd version? Groudon and Kyogre sure know how to screw up the ecosystem. Interesting...

Liberal Army said:

Alpha and omega... or A and Z in our alphabet. AZ anyone? What is this? Do we have Pokemon Z right here? Are these games remakes/sequels AND the 3rd version? Groudon and Kyogre sure know how to screw up the ecosystem. Interesting...

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Kyogre and Groudon already had the Greek symbols before XY was even a thing so I doubt it.

Alpha and Omega seem more suited to Xerneas and Yveltal's themes (with beginning=creation and ending=destruction, respectively) in my opinion, but whatever... I can see how OmegaRuby could tie into the "From dust you came, and to dust you shall return" phrase (based off of Genesis 3:19 from the Bible), although that particular phrase/comparison doesn't seem to leave room for water...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ash_Wednesday#cite_note-4 Maybe AlphaRuby (OMG, I keep typing AlphaRuby instead of AlphaSapphire!) is referring to the principle that water is essential for all life/living things (with water commonly being perceived as a restorative, nourishing, life-giving agent)...?

Terabyte said:

I think it might be following the pattern of X and Y in a way, considering that α and Ω are letters, except in the Greek alphabet.

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Hmm; that could be plausible, too - other than "XY", the only letters I see paired up frequently enough are "AZ"/"α and Ω".. (/inb4theoriesrelatedtothecharacterAZofKalos)

vocis said:

I'm pretty convinced OR/AS will be a decade or so in the future from R/S/E in order to include mega evolutions without leaving a gaping plot hole. In that amount of time, anything could have changed in Hoenn, including new bad guy teams called Alpha and Omega. Though that would be a bit predictable, wouldn't it?

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I don't think that the absence of Mega Evolutions would be that much of a plot hole, especially since they are triggered by Mega Stones, so one could just say that people didn't dig hard enough for whatever Mega Stones are lying around in Hoenn, if any.. XD (or that people in Kalos were more inclined to master Mega Evolution and news didn't spread around to Hoenn or something).. I just see Mega Evolutions as another "feature" (akin to Abilities), and I didn't see Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen go out of its way too much to explain the existence/presence of Abilities and holdable items...

Olli said:

There could be a certain meaning behind it, but if I'm gonna be honest, I think they might just be spewing out ideas for titles at this point. I remember everyone was speculating about how X and Y might've been related to chromosomes in some way, or something about perspective with the x- and y-axis, but in the end, the titles had nothing to do with the games. There wasn't really any significance to the names of Heartgold and Soulsilver either. So I wouldn't get my hopes up about some specific meaning behind the names, at least not anything related to the actual storyline of the game.

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It kind of does look like there aren't that many creative things to "oppose/act as counterparts" to each other that would make much sense for the Pokemon franchise, although; "Alpha" and "Omega" for Kyogre and Groudon do seem a bit out of left field (and more fitting for Xerneas and Yveltal, in my opinion). Although there usually aren't direct meanings and you kind of have to stretch to extract meanings out of most of the core series Pokemon game titles other than Pokemon Gold/Silver and Pokemon Black/White, XY tie in somewhat with the Cartesian coordinate system and using (x, y, z) coordinates to interact in 3 dimensions (assuming that Zygarde ties into Xerneas and Yveltal somehow by representing depth or something).

As for Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver, I can't find any immediate significance for the term "SoulSilver", but with "HeartGold", you could interpret it as the phrase "heart of gold" and meaning "pure-heartedness", tying into the Pokemon Crystal and Pokemon Y Pokedex entries that mention that Ho-Oh "will reveal itself before a pure-hearted Trainer by shining its bright, rainbow-colored wings"... But who knows, maybe the "Alpha" and "Omega" prefixes will have some significance revealed later on, possibly tying in with the Cave of Origin and Mt. Pyre..?

Antemortem said:

Lilith just posted that.

As far as the reasoning, I do hope that there's a me involved story included, having something to do with Greek influences or something. I can see some sort of God complex within hopefully Team Magma/Aqua or whoever the new villains are

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My bad I just quickly scrolled trough the page

fenyx4 said:

As for Pokemon HeartGold and SoulSilver, I can't find any immediate significance for the term "SoulSilver", but with "HeartGold", you could interpret it as the phrase "heart of gold" and meaning "pure-heartedness", tying into the Pokemon Crystal and Pokemon Y Pokedex entries that mention that Ho-Oh "will reveal itself before a pure-hearted Trainer by shining its bright, rainbow-colored wings"... But who knows, maybe the "Alpha" and "Omega" prefixes will have some significance revealed later on, possibly tying in with the Cave of Origin and Mt. Pyre..?

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I thought about the thing with Heartgold, so I was a bit reluctant with mentioning it, but that's about all there really is to it. Obviously it ties well together with Ho-oh, but when it comes down to it, I think it's more a matter of getting some flashy and catchy titles into it, than actually have them relate much to the games. Hence why I don't expect the alpha and omega prefixes to have much significance. They do seem a bit out of place together with ruby and sapphire though, which is why I still slightly believe they might actually mean something. But as of right now, we can't really say much with certainty haha.

fenyx4 said:

I don't think that the absence of Mega Evolutions would be that much of a plot hole, especially since they are triggered by Mega Stones, so one could just say that people didn't dig hard enough for whatever Mega Stones are lying around in Hoenn, if any.. XD (or that people in Kalos were more inclined to master Mega Evolution and news didn't spread around to Hoenn or something).. I just see Mega Evolutions as another "feature" (akin to Abilities), and I didn't see Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen go out of its way too much to explain the existence/presence of Abilities and holdable items...

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Oh, I meant the plot hole would be if they did include mega evolutions in OR/AS but the games were set before X/Y chronologically, since megas were supposed to be a new discovery in X/Y's time.

vocis said:

Oh, I meant the plot hole would be if they did include mega evolutions in OR/AS but the games were set before X/Y chronologically, since megas were supposed to be a new discovery in X/Y's time.

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Ah, you have a point there... I haven't played XY, but if Mega Evolutions are said to be recent within XY (which, from what I've read, takes place an unspecified amount of time after Black 2/White 2..?), that might be tough to explain... Maybe Celebi picked up a bunch of Mega Stones in Kalos and time-traveled to Hoenn's past or something, scattering/dumping them for "worthy Trainers" to find? {XD} I'm kind of hoping that Game Freak is just like "Screw it" (I care more about the battle implementations of Mega Evolution as opposed to the lore/'stories' about it, not to mention that the games already have a boatload of inconsistencies/plot holes due to multiplayer interaction), although on the other hand, it would be less lazy and perhaps interesting if they somehow explain the existence of Mega Evolution in the Hoenn of an older era... Maybe there'll be some implicit mention to Mega Evolution or mere rumors about it among Hoenn non-playable characters (NPCs)..

There's also a certain similarity between the evil team names and the letters. Alpha sounds a bit like Aqua, as do Omega and Magma.

Well perhaps they represent the destruction and creation aspects of nature, as nature destroys and creates. It fits with how Yvetal is death and Xerneas is life, so this gen's theme is the cycle of creation it seems.

Magmaruby and Aquasapphire said:

Well perhaps they represent the destruction and creation aspects of nature, as nature destroys and creates. It fits with how Yvetal is dead and Xerneas is life, so this gen's theme is the cycle of creation it seems.

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Or maybe Kyogre is Groudon's Alpha since Groudon is weak to water which makes him the Omega XP

Tao Dragon said:

Looking at the box art and the alpha omega, alpha stands for beginning and omega for end. Life is said to have begin as microbes in the ocean and an era of global eruptions almost erradicated life. Now that you mentioned it Groudon parallels Yveltal and Kyogre parallels Xerneas. I though of it before both being red and blue, land and sky and ocean and land. But now that you bring it up this way they also parallel those themes too. Zygarde and Rayquaza also parallel each other both being green with yellow aspects Rayquaza (markings) and Zygarde (Aura). One is sky and the other is underground and both bring order to their fellow duo siblings. This generation has brought excitment back to the pokemon games.

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They should have, the theme seems deeper than past generations.
On the topic of oceans and volcanos, it also plays into the whole darkness and light aren't completely bad and evil as volcanos are believed to have provided some of the material needed for early life, while oceans can kill.