Our software update is now concluded. You will need to reset your password to log in. In order to do this, you will have to click "Log in" in the top right corner and then "Forgot your password?".
Welcome to PokéCommunity! Register now and join one of the best fan communities on the 'net to talk Pokémon and more! We are not affiliated with The Pokémon Company or Nintendo.
I've got a co-worker that, while he's heard of Pokemon, he doesn't know a single detail about the franchise. He even claims to be a hardcore gamer, but he was drawing a huge blank when I was at his place playing Skyrim and I made a comparison between its dragons and a charizard. XD
I imagine there are people that are now about the ages of 10-13 who were either born JUST when Pokemon was hitting its stride or just after that, so they probably wouldn't have been aware of the massive cultural zeitgeist that it was around the turn of the millenium. At least, I could say that for the UK; I have no idea how the franchise has been marketed elsewhere, but after 2002, the marketing for Pokemon stuff went down the toilet, only to sporadically appear when a new game came out.
Adults, mostly. If some grandparents are active with their grandchildren, then they've probably heard of the franchise. If not, then they haven't, chances are.
Most people I've met know about Pokemon, if only vaguely.
Older adults general knowledge of it doesn't really extend farther than Oh yeah, the pokermans thing from the TV.
If you've never heard of a Mudkip, you haven't lived. And, I've never really met someone who has no idea what it is, but I met people who can't really name any pokemon other than Pikachu.
One of the ultimate (if not the ultimate) example(s) of such unawareness in play, evident by many of the comments going as far to equate the question of "What color is Pikachu?" to "What color is the sky?" and variants thereof, ridiculing the question's supposed difficulty. The "kiiro means yellow" moment and Jim's outburst were especially funny, though. All Pokemon fans should be $16,000 richer, even. (Actually, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? is a great place to observe such cases of where viewers-at-home/contestants/the audience are unfamiliar with what most would label as "things everyone should know about".
Spoiler:
Thankfully, the contestant does manage to get the answer right, although at the expense of his "Ask the Expert" Lifeline.
I always considered Pokemon to be a part of pop-culture and that most people should have a general understanding; my mom of all people knows more than a few Pokemon by name. That being said, I was a little shocked when discussing Pokemon with friends at work, several people our age actually had no idea what we were talking about. So yes, while it may seem strange, there are people out there that do not know.
Not to mention the kids of the overly religious parents that thought/think Pokemon is from the devil and should not be watched, but in a sense tehy do know about Pokemon's existance, but not really more than that. And there's of course, the adults that claim to "be a kid's game" so they never got into it
5-10 years ago, it would have been hard to find anyone who had never heard of anything Pokemon. Kids around the world were infatuated and parents everywhere knew about it through them. Pokemon was used in Game shows (such as Who Wants to be a Millionaire) and I'm sure it's been referenced on different shows. There will be a portion of people who have never heard of it, just like there are people who have never heard of the Beatles.
I'm sure they exist, but really, not many people lived through the nineties without at least hearing about it. And those who don't know Pokémon itself probably know Pikachu's face just from the merchandise.
Basically all of the above...particularly adults who aren't/weren't involved with the Pokemon series themselves and/or do not have children who are/were involved with the series. Yeah, it's a bit hard to believe due to the sheer incredulity such an issue would raise, but for everything present in popular culture, there's most likely at least one person in the world who has never heard of it. There are some franchises that even I've heard of, but aren't familiar with. For example, I'm generally familiar with most of the elements and characters The Little Mermaid, but AFAIK, I still have not seen the original The Little Mermaid movie in its entirety, even though Ariel and co. pop up in quite a few works of media. And for a videogame example, my first playthrough of Super Smash Bros. 64 was the first time that I heard of many of Nintendo's franchises (other than Super Mario and Pokemon), despite those franchises having existed for years before the Nintendo 64 (granted, I was quite young at the time).
I've got a co-worker that, while he's heard of Pokemon, he doesn't know a single detail about the franchise. He even claims to be a hardcore gamer, but he was drawing a huge blank when I was at his place playing Skyrim and I made a comparison between its dragons and a charizard. XD
If you've never heard of a Mudkip, you haven't lived. And, I've never really met someone who has no idea what it is, but I met people who can't really name any pokemon other than Pikachu.
And given Mudkip's memetic popularity which arguably rivals that of Dragon Ball Z's "Over 9000" meme, you're bound to come across a mudkipz reference on the Internet at some point.
