Black People in Pokemon

Why is everyone getting all fired up about this? Not everyone is like Barney where they feel obligated to have a white guy, an Asian girl, a black guy and a Hispanic in a wheelchair. If racism didn't exist, then issues like these wouldn't be raised up. I personally wouldn't find it offensive if there was a game with nothing but black people in there (although I'd find it very odd if the game wasn't based in Africa or some other mostly-black area). It actually kinda bugs me when people feel like they HAVE to include all the races. If people want to include a Mexican in an otherwise-all-white group, fine. If somebody wants an all-Asian cast, fine. Only when racist remarks are made should it then be an issue (like Jynx may or may not have been).

Well, as long as the subject of Jynx has been brought up, I believe it WAS intentional by Game Freak to design her the way that they did. They just probably didn't realize all of the baggage that came with it. You see, Mr.Mime and Jynx were supposed to be parallels of one another. Mr.Mime was obviously a mime, or a "whiteface." Mimery is a style of comedy. There was also a style of comedy called "blackface." (Wikipedia article here) It's pretty obvious that this was the basis for Jynx's design, and I think that the producers in Japan just saw it as another comedy act. It was only after it came out in the US that people started making a big deal out of it and they realized they had made a mistake. That's my take on things, anyway.

Bluerang1 said:

Wait a second, they'll most likely be one of a few Dark Skinned people in Black and White. We can see that they're slowly adding in other races. So we should expect a Gym Leader, Elite Trainer or even Frontier Brain in B/W. Hopefully it won;t cause controversy with the Game names...

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man, everything causes controversies in America!:laugh: I've already seen some people online that have turned it into a black/white thing...one even said 'I'm gonna lmao if white outsells black.' I wonder which one will sell more in Japan.

ChrisTom said:

Well I don't think that you should-

Wait a minute...

You agreed with me! Praise the lord! It's a miraculous sign from heavens! PiPVoda actually agreed with me. A new era of prosperity will arise!

JK, it's just you were seeming a bit stubborn before.


Secondly Koolboyman, you are epic win.


Thirdly, I never thought about that before poster whose name I can't remember. We have found an African American in Pokemon everybody! I am pretty sure of it anyways:



Arcade Star Dahlia. Of course she could be Indian (India Indian, not Native American Indian)...


EDIT: Now that I think about it she also looks very Hispanic... Nevermind then I guess...

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I didn't mean to sound ignorant...darn internet..you can never tell how someone really is feeling behind it. And yeah Dahlia looks Indian to me, either that or Arab (Egyptian maybe?). Dahlia has to be an Indian or Arab name for sure.

ChrisTom said:

Well I don't think that you should-

Wait a minute...

You agreed with me! Praise the lord! It's a miraculous sign from heavens! PiPVoda actually agreed with me. A new era of prosperity will arise!

JK, it's just you were seeming a bit stubborn before.


Secondly Koolboyman, you are epic win.


Thirdly, I never thought about that before poster whose name I can't remember. We have found an African American in Pokemon everybody! I am pretty sure of it anyways:



Arcade Star Dahlia. Of course she could be Indian (India Indian, not Native American Indian)...


EDIT: Now that I think about it she also looks very Hispanic... Nevermind then I guess...

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She's middle eastern.
Which is why the arcade has arabian music, and the arcade is an arabian building.

Pokemon Trainer Kevin said:

I would LOVE to see black people in pokemon. (no I'm not black although I wish I was lol)
We need more Asians too I think Brock is Asian (explains why he's so smart lol)

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Explain to me why we need more Asians? The whole show is made up of Asians...Ash, Brock, etc...all Asian...

DarkAlucard said:

The true is that is BEATIFUL!!! And not because i'm from here, really is a beauty of country (same as yours, i've plans to go for the Olympic games in 2016) but is a little bit unsecure, too much thiefs haha. In the other side my state is a complety mess (a lot of people killed by shots, drug carters, whatever) but is a beauty too. I recomend that you come, you'll not regret but be careful (if you're gonna be to a beach, is a little more secure) =)

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You forgot to add that the air is hard to breath when your not used to it and some places to get food or drinks are just nasty...Yes I've been to Mexico I'm not pulling this from my arse...just be careful if you go...

Calder said:

Explain to me why we need more Asians? The whole show is made up of Asians...Ash, Brock, etc...all Asian...

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Indians are Asian. No wonder people say "African". Indians are Asian but are singled out because of their skin colour I guess.

I wish I could say something on-topic...

It's be funny if the Dark Skinned Trainer is a Dark type Trainer, or Psychic and uses Jynx xD Oh the media frenzy 0:3

DarkAlucard said:

The true is that is BEATIFUL!!! And not because i'm from here, really is a beauty of country (same as yours, i've plans to go for the Olympic games in 2016) but is a little bit unsecure, too much thiefs haha. In the other side my state is a complety mess (a lot of people killed by shots, drug carters, whatever) but is a beauty too. I recomend that you come, you'll not regret but be careful (if you're gonna be to a beach, is a little more secure) =)

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Around here´s not that much secure either.
Just last month there has been something like a frenzy killing of some kind of black list, they killed about 35 people in 2 weeks.
And drugs, that´s like water around.
It´s kind stressing to know about everything that happens....:(
But heck the people might be junk but our beachs are BEATUFIL.

nintendo is racist!!! oh well the game's are too good to make acomplaint though boohoo

Just saying, I think Dahlia is black (whatever her origin is, she's beautiful :D). I thought Brock and Spenser were similar to being Phillipine or a darker-toned Asian...

As for inclusion, I don't necessarily think Game Freak should be forced to diversify Pokemon characters. If they happened to try to feature more races in the media, though, it would be a kind gesture, I guess, to show awareness and acknowledge the diversity of the actual Pokemon fanbase.

And that Jynx controversy just annoyed me... Eventually, everything has a potential to offend someone (i.e., there could be Caucasians that are offended by Mr. Mime, even with its/his main focus/representation of being a 'mime'.) And what about all those animalistic Pokemon that could 'offend' actual animals (if animals were sentinent, that is). Finally, the Poklemon Battle Revolution character recoloring was strange. Just because someone recolors skin tone is not going to solve the problem of lack of diversity. It's more than just skin color that defines people... (and from a design viewpoint, some of the recolors did not sit well with me since some colors clashed, IMO).

Finally, I really hope the Black/White naming does not stir up stupid controversy. They are just colors. Next you have people arguing that Pokemon Blue offends people affected by cyanosis (thus indicating a medical condition) because it opposes Pokemon Red, which is the normal color of some body tissues (inciting a unneeded clash between 'healthy' people and people 'affected by a medical condition')...

And please, I do not mean to offend anyone. It's just that there seem to be certain issues that people blow way out of proportion and bash things for reasons totally uncalled for.

remember the whole jynx fiasco? they had to change its colouring cause it was too much like a racist caricature...

The fact that the new games are called "black and white" could be seen as racist-but in japan this wouldn't even be considered, as people have said, less ethnic minorities,less crazy ideas about what is "offensive", different culture. mabye if the games has been developed in britain/america from scratch, they would have included a couple of black people/gingers.. etc..:P

although there is a vague reference to gay people..two chubby guys say "whats wrong with two buff guys standing side by side?"
the message behind pokemon is inclusion/tolerence/trying new things etc etc..
although im pretty sure thats a spiel dreamed up by nintendo to sell it to the parents. Generally it just encourages people to sit and IV their shiny eevees as the day turns to night :D Ah well. Beats burning stuff...

I've always wondered about the lack of different races in video games. Especially African Americans. This thread reminds me of how there are no black people in GTA IV aside from main characters.

Really I don't have any ideas why they wouldn't put black people in it... but I suppose it's just because it makes it a bit less complicated(though how much I can't see) to just put one type of person in there.

The thing I don't get is why everyone inflates it. A perfect example is Jynx. I honestly never noticed the "controversy" behind her/it. I just thought it was a humanshape pokemon like the pokedex said. Imagine, me thinking a Pokemon is a Pokemon in a POKEMON game?! Poor, silly, ignorant, oblivious me.. Why does Dahlia have to come up? For all you know, she could be a japanese girl who went to a tanning booth and got blue contacts. Stop trying to categorize everyone in a game. Furthermore, stop trying to categorize everyone in a POKEMON game. Does it really matter what race the trainers we battle are? In case you haven't noticed, they're all pixelated sprites. Branding them with stereo-typical remarks or culture assumptions won't affect anything.

This is why I dislike certain members of forums. They tend to over-inflate, melodramatize every single detail. It's not like while playing the game, you'll take note of whether "BIRDKEEPER BABETTE" is black, white, or asian. Honestly people, it's a Pokemon game. Stick to training the little creatures instead of calling out irrelevant topics.

Whats the deal? Pokemon is japanese.

Kenpari said:

I've always wondered about the lack of different races in video games. Especially African Americans. This thread reminds me of how there are no black people in GTA IV aside from main characters.

Really I don't have any ideas why they wouldn't put black people in it... but I suppose it's just because it makes it a bit less complicated(though how much I can't see) to just put one type of person in there.

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why do they have to be american to be black :P what about an african OMG xD

Seriously I think it shows more of a closed mind to think about where people in a game come from, rather than not even nthinking about it...

Technically no-ones "White" or "Black" (I think) too much sun/the lack of it cause people to be either too pale or dark. So "Black" and "White" shouldn't cause controversy, though it will. Who even started "Black" and "White" people anyway T__T

I agree with Penumbra :)

Weatherman said:

I'm totally in favor of having Black People in Pokemon.

The close they got to it on thier own was Brock, who atleast I think is a Black-Asian.
I believe someone made Nintendo make the American version of the Roserade Cosplayer in Revolution Black, but that was more forced. By anti-racism extremists.

But, basically everyone in the Pokemon games is asain, since it's a company in Japan, I don't see that changing anytime soon. :/

Quite frankly, I don't think it bothers people that much, anyway.

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You know what I want in the game? Pokemon controlling humans :D.

Yknow what's weird? In other american games, we mainly see white or black people. What about asians? I don't see anyone complaining on that end, so why are we complaining here? It's the same thing.

The reason why they took Brock out when it went international, was because they thought people would think of it as racist. They don't want people to mistakenly think they are being racist by drawing a character to fit a certain stereotype. That's probably why they avoid making characters of other ethnicities, because they may not know much about it. They don't want to offend anyone by portraying someone in a certain way. Anyway, does the color of a person's skin or a pokemon trainer's skin matter? We're all people.

African Americans aren't the only black people guys -.-
Hahhaa I'm Pacific Islander and I've noticed a lot of Pacific references particularly in the 3rd gen; for instance Pacifidlog town,Nosepass(based off Moai statues)and finally phoebe the elite four member,she has island style clothes, islander skin tone and she uses ghosts which I guess in reference to ancestor worship and superstition?
Also in the 4th gen they gave us Heatran which could easily be a form of a volcano deity!

well, it never really bothered me, and im half-black. but seeing a couple would be nice.
and dahlia does not count, she's indian, not black.