[Theory] Religions in the Pokémon World

[ShivaDF]

IMPORTANT NOTE: This may be a touchy subject. I don't mean to offend anybody.

Here is something I've wondered about for a while--what are the major religions of the pokémon world? religion exists in some form, since there are Shinto and Buddhist temples and shrines, Team plasma uses the Chi Ro, and the Seven Sages quote Taoist texts. But in the alternate history of the pokémon world, how were these religions born?

In fact, are there pokémon equivalents to deities? If Arceus is like the Judeo-Christian God, what about gods from other mythologies?

For instance, if Team Plasma adapted the Chi Ro symbol, does that mean people worship Arceus? Or some other god? If Arceus isn't worshiped, what does the symbol mean? Since the Chi Ro symbol (in the real world) originally indicated Mithras, does that mean Arceus is Mithras as well as being a Judeo-Christion God analog?

Here's where my theory comes in. I believe that the religions of the pokémon world, whatever they may be, are more closely related to being one with nature (as in Taoism and Buddhism) than being about worship. Consider Celebi, Ho-Oh, and Lugia; they are heralded as guardians of nature, and as protectors, but there doesn't seem to be an enitre religion or cult based around them.

Due to information about Arceus, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina from the games, I think (at least the ancient) people in the pokémon world were aware in their roles as creators and sustainers, but I don't see evidence of a large group of people worshiping them all the time.

Oh, and to clear up people's confusion about how one can, say, capture Giratina and use it in battles--a bodied incarnation of a deity is not the whole deity. It is more like a projection. For example, Krishna is not all of Vishu. Krishna has to eat and sleep and use the bathroom live everybody else. Vishnu does not.

Anyway, what do you guys think of religions in pokémon?

 

[Bulbadon]

You see nobody really cares about religions in Pokemon games. I mean it's a game and religion doesn't really matter. I mean nobody cares if the game is connected with a religion they just simply play it and enjoy it. They only added Pokemon you talked about to make more sense and I think there are no religions in Pokemon, intentionally. I mean why would the creators of Pokemon indicate a particular religion while every person is free to believe what they want. You see nobody really cares about what another person's religion is in real life. Why talk about a religion when you are free to believe what you want. And religion in Pokemon games is absolutely ridiculous and Pokemon shouldn't be connected with religion. Didn't mean to offend anyone.

 

[GeraldTheTheroiest]

You see nobody really cares about religions in Pokemon games. I mean it's a game and religion doesn't really matter. I mean nobody cares if the game is connected with a religion they just simply play it and enjoy it. They only added Pokemon you talked about to make more sense and I think there are no religions in Pokemon, intentionally. I mean why would the creators of Pokemon indicate a particular religion while every person is free to believe what they want. You see nobody really cares about what another person's religion is in real life. Why talk about a religion when you are free to believe what you want. And religion in Pokemon games is absolutely ridiculous and Pokemon shouldn't be connected with religion. Didn't mean to offend anyone.

Well why not connect pokemon to religion? In the world of pokemon Arceus is stated to have created everything, connecting him to the Christian God, while Giratina is similar to Satan.

 

[Bulbadon]

Well why not connect pokemon to religion? In the world of pokemon Arceus is stated to have created everything, connecting him to the Christian God, while Giratina is similar to Satan.

It's a game that was made for people to enjoy. Yes Arceus created the Pokemon world and it is the god of Pokemon that doesn't mean it should be connected to any religion. Why should it be connected to religion? I mean religion is a different thing itself, different people believe in different things, you might believe in one thing and another person might believe in another thing. Connecting it to religion doesn't make anything out. The creator of Pokemon didn't intend to connect the game with religion so Pokemon has nothing to do with religion. It is just a game that we play and enjoy. It's pointless to connect it with religion.

 

[PinkCatDragon]

IMPORTANT NOTE: This may be a touchy subject. I don't mean to offend anybody.

Here is something I've wondered about for a while--what are the major religions of the pokémon world? religion exists in some form, since there are Shinto and Buddhist temples and shrines, Team plasma uses the Chi Ro, and the Seven Sages quote Taoist texts. But in the alternate history of the pokémon world, how were these religions born?

In fact, are there pokémon equivalents to deities? If Arceus is like the Judeo-Christian God, what about gods from other mythologies?

For instance, if Team Plasma adapted the Chi Ro symbol, does that mean people worship Arceus? Or some other god? If Arceus isn't worshiped, what does the symbol mean? Since the Chi Ro symbol (in the real world) originally indicated Mithras, does that mean Arceus is Mithras as well as being a Judeo-Christion God analog?

Here's where my theory comes in. I believe that the religions of the pokémon world, whatever they may be, are more closely related to being one with nature (as in Taoism and Buddhism) than being about worship. Consider Celebi, Ho-Oh, and Lugia; they are heralded as guardians of nature, and as protectors, but there doesn't seem to be an enitre religion or cult based around them.

Due to information about Arceus, Dialga, Palkia, and Giratina from the games, I think (at least the ancient) people in the pokémon world were aware in their roles as creators and sustainers, but I don't see evidence of a large group of people worshiping them all the time.

Oh, and to clear up people's confusion about how one can, say, capture Giratina and use it in battles--a bodied incarnation of a deity is not the whole deity. It is more like a projection. For example, Krishna is not all of Vishu. Krishna has to eat and sleep and use the bathroom live everybody else. Vishnu does not.

Anyway, what do you guys think of religions in pokémon?

Well i believe Arceus created religions similar to Christianity and Islam.
The other legends Kyoga(Loki),Groundon(Odin) and rayquaza(Thor) could make Nordic gods
combining the legendarys makes similar religions to Hindu,Egyptian,Greek and roman gods
Gartina would be worshiped by satanists.

 

[SnowpointQuincy]

Comparing Arceus to God is boring and incomplete, there are other creator gods in other religions.

Haven't you ever wondered about the 1,000 arms in his pokedex entry? He ain't the god you are thinking of. Also An Egg hatched in a void of Chaos relates to many other myths that arn't connected to the 1,000 arms thing.

 

[Bulbadon]

Well i believe Arceus created religions similar to Christianity and Islam.
The other legends Kyoga(Loki),Groundon(Odin) and rayquaza(Thor) could make Nordic gods
combining the legendarys makes similar religions to Hindu,Egyptian,Greek and roman gods
Gartina would be worshiped by satanists.

Well what you said doesn't really make much sense to me. I mean you said Arceus created religions similar to Christianity and Islam but did Arceus even create religions? It is just a Pokemon that hatched from an egg and created everything but it doesn't make sense that Arceus created religions "similar" to Christianity and Islam and the nordic gods theory you said. I mean how could Kyogre relate to Loki. Loki is the mischief maker which Kyogre isn't. Kyogre represents the ocean, Groudon represents the land and Rayquaza represents the sky. So land, air and sky that means the nordic gods theory you made doesn't make much sense and why is everyone talking about Giratina being a satan. Guys it's just a Pokemon, it doesn't mean it relates to satan. Giratina was created by Arceus and it lives in the distortion world. I mean it's just a ghost type Pokemon and it didn't do anything bad and it was proved to be good in the anime movie so it doesn't make sense of Giratina being the satan. All I want to say to everybody is that don't try to compare Pokemon with religions. Pokemon has no intention to cook up debates about religion. It's just a game made for us to enjoy. Not to compare it to religion. Did not mean to offend anybody. Sorry if I have offended anybody in any way.

 

[ShivaDF]

Haven't you ever wondered about the 1,000 arms in his pokedex entry? He ain't the god you are thinking of.

Are you referring to Chenrezig? Because Arceus doesn't seem to be connected to compassion. And Chenrezig isn't a god, either.

Also, when I say that Giratina is a Satan analog, for instance, I don't necessarily mean that Giratina is evil. I just mean that he fills a similar role in the pokemon mythology. Besides, Satan just means "adversary," and being the Renegade probably isn't a bad thing. Who knows, Giratina could be more like... Enki... or something. Like picked on by the others.

But what I meant was more is the sense of, "Are there religions in the pokemon world? Sure looks like it." And I should be abel to talk about religion in that fictional world, because, you know, there are temples there!

 

[Bulbadon]

Here is something I've wondered about for a while--what are the major religions of the pokémon world? religion exists in some form, since there are Shinto and Buddhist temples and shrines, Team plasma uses the Chi Ro, and the Seven Sages quote Taoist texts.

I didn't quite get what you said about the Shinto and Buddhist temples and shrines. Were you talking about the Pokemon world or real world?
And about the Chi Rho. The Chi Rho is a P with an X but Team Plasma's sign has a difference, it's more like a thunderbolt going through a P. So it isn't exactly the Chi Rho.

But what I meant was more is the sense of, "Are there religions in the pokemon world? Sure looks like it." And I should be abel to talk about religion in that fictional world, because, you know, there are temples there!

There is only one temple I know about in the Pokemon world. The Snowpoint Temple but it does not necessarily connect to any religion. Yes it may be created in honor of Regigigas but it does not necessarily connect to any religion. The temple could have been made to worship Regigigas and I'm not blaming your sense. I said that religions in Pokemon world don't make sense. Yes there might be temples but only made to worship Pokemon and there might be sages but they are called sages because they are very wise people. Yes there are are Taoist texts but those texts might be considered wise so they made the seven sages say it as sages are wise people.

 

[Jacrad]

There is mythology in the Pokemon world, therefore religion has existed in the Pokemon world. That much is canon.

Something GhastlyGastly has pointed out numerous times is that the games are very careful not to say 'Arceus created the universe.' It always qualifies it with something like 'according to Sinnoh's Mythology' or sometimes just ambiguously 'it is said that....'

You could say people's belief in Arceus as being the god of the Pokemon world parallels beliefs of a religious nature. It explains the unexplainable and is based on faith. Arceus is definitively a powerful Pokemon. But it is not definitively a god. There is certainly reason to revere him as a god. He is able to conjure up a powerful Pokemon (The Sinjoh ruins scenario.) But one could argue that he didn't create the Pokemon but rather that the Unown did. What if Arceus had the ability to gather the Unown and direct them, like a symphony composer, but did not have the ability to complete the summoning without them? Or perhaps that's intended to point to the Unown as being Arceus' 'thousand arms?' Its easy to draw either as a conclusion but neither argument is particularly stronger than the other.


Here is my personal belief. My head canon. Centralized religion does not exist in the Pokemon world. It may have at one point, but by the time of the current games it has died down enough to simply be regarded as mythology by the vast majority of the populace. Spirituality, however, definitely exists. The presence of ghost type Pokemon certainly helps fuel the belief in a 'soul.' Philosophy about the meaning of existence definitely exists. People may believe in the presence of a god but there is no strict canon that people share. In other words it is a more individualistic experience. The developers definitely derive ideas from mythologies, and religions, around the world but always leave the result of these ideas open ended.

 

[ShivaDF]

Here is my personal belief. My head canon. Centralized religion does not exist in the Pokemon world. It may have at one point, but by the time of the current games it has died down enough to simply be regarded as mythology by the vast majority of the populace. Spirituality, however, definitely exists. The presence of ghost type Pokemon certainly helps fuel the belief in a 'soul.' Philosophy about the meaning of existence definitely exists. People may believe in the presence of a god but there is no strict canon that people share. In other words it is a more individualistic experience. The developers definitely derive ideas from mythologies, and religions, around the world but always leave the result of these ideas open ended.

This makes a lot of sense to me. If there wasn't any kind of religious dogma, then that would explain the lack of talking about any kind of centralized religion. It would also explain why ancient writing in the pokemon world occasionally suggests there were once centralized religions, but why there aren't any mentioned in the present time.

It would also explain the beliefs in spiritual ideas, such as reincarnation. Ninetales and Yamask, anyone?

 

[GhastlyGastly]

I'm a rare Poké-atheist: I don't believe that the myths and legends about Arceus, etc., are true. There may be kernels of truth there, but for the most part they are very much mythological. There are clearly ancient Pokémon religions (particularly in Hoenn and Sinnoh), however, I believe that the makers of Pokémon made the Pokémon world to reflect modern (even post-modern) Japanese culture in certain ways: Japan is among the most irreligious countries in the world. I doubt that very many people in the Pokémon world believe that all those legends and such are true: they read very similarly to old Japanese folklore and Shinto mythology though (which some people today do still take seriously, but they are a minority). I think the fact that Arceus, the alleged creator of the universe, can be captured and tamed in a Pokéball by a child, demonstrates that it isn't a god in any sort of literal sense. It's a myth :pink_smile:

 

[Nakasu]

Religions based on Legendary Pokemon seems highly impossible in Pokemon. The fact that every Legendary in the Anime and the Games can be caught makes me skeptical about them being actual 'Legends'. I could see man made religions being a possibility. I would find it interesting if the Unova region had a religion that worshiped Kyurem out of fear.

 

[OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire]

Well i believe Arceus created religions similar to Christianity and Islam.
The other legends Kyoga(Loki),Groundon(Odin) and rayquaza(Thor) could make Nordic gods
combining the legendarys makes similar religions to Hindu,Egyptian,Greek and roman gods
Gartina would be worshiped by satanists.

Loki is the Norse god of fire, so Kyogre doesn't fit. The weather trio are based on Jewish apocrypha of the beasts of sea, land, and earth. They may also have elements of the main trio of Greek Paganism; Zeus (Ray), Poseidon (Kyo), and Hades (Gro) mixed in too.


Also Giratina's story I think is influenced in part by the story of Susano'O from Shintoism who was kicked out by his Father, Izanami. Considering all the sixes it's probably based on Satan too...


I know Lugia is based on a lesser Shinto Sea Dragon god. Ho-oh on a mythical bird.


I wonder if Xerneas and Yvetal in addition to being somewhat based on two aspects of the Hindu Trinity plus norse beasts if they may be based in part on Izanagi and Izanami as Izanagi is the god of Life, and Izanami after her death became the goddess of the death and the two had a feud.


I think that pagan like/style religion exists in the Pokemon world.