GhastlyGastly
Crazy Pokémon Lady
- 128
- Posts
- 12
- Years
- Lumiose City
- Seen Oct 12, 2015
Okay, so, this is something which has bugged me for a while... Mewtwo is very different from Mew, yet he is described as a clone; yet elsewhere he is described as a mutant created using parts of Mew's DNA. So which is it?
I have come to conclusion that both are partly correct. (It should be noted that depending on one's attitude towards the canon of the Pokémon movies and the Pokémon games, there may be some speculation and discrepancies in the following; in large part, this is my attempt to reconcile the two.)
Firstly, it is notable that both Mew's and Mewtwo's names are derived from myūtanto, the Japanese word for mutant. This has been one of the supports for the hypothesis that Mewtwo is a mutated Mew. However, in that case, why would both of their names have that common root? Why not only Mewtwo's? I believe the answer lies in the development of the first Pokémon games, way back in 1996. It is a little-known fact, confirmed by the trademark applications, that Mew was the very first Pokémon ever officially registered as under copyright; on March 31, 1994, years before 'Pokémon' itself was registered as a trademark. Originally, Mew was spelled ミュー (myu-), rather than the now-standard ミュウ (myū); (the name in its current spelling was re-registered for trademark in 1999).
It has also been confirmed by Mew's creators, Tsunekaz Ishihara and Shigeki Morimoto, that Mew was designed and programmed into the original versions of Pokémon Red & Green without the knowledge of Nintendo, only two weeks before the development of the games was finished. This confirms that, while the concept of Mew (and even the concept of Mew as a sort of cryptid Pokémon: a 'mirage Pokémon') existed for years before the first games, the design of Mew was only added within the last two weeks of development; ergo, since it is known that Mewtwo and the documents at the Pokémon Mansion on Cinnabar Island were included earlier in development, Mewtwo was designed first. This is also supported by the content of the journals in the Pokémon Mansion, which imply that Mew is an extinct Pokémon, and that Mewtwo was an attempt to recreate an extinct and extremely rare Pokémon species from Guyana. All this goes to support the probability that Mew was originally intended to be an unseen, extinct Pokémon species, with Mewtwo the sole living representative of the species, having been cloned scientifically at the Pokémon Mansion; Mew was not decided to be a seeable, obtainable Pokémon in the games until two weeks before the end of development.
I hitherto propose my theory: that Mewtwo is, in fact, the fully-mature form of Mew.
Mew is based largely on an embryo or fetus; an undeveloped infant. Mewtwo is clearly not embryonic in nature. If one examines the original Red & Green sprite of Mew, the embryonic notion is very apparent; it is also notable that the protuberance at the crown of the head is reminiscent of a potential embryonic, early development of the prominent tubular structure attaching Mewtwo's skull to his back (which is possibly a secondary spinal cord or neural system, enhancing his psychic powers by increasing the blood and/or neurological connections to his brain). Mewtwo, of course, is also notably much larger than Mew; yet remains a remarkably plausible maturation, presuming that Mew is indeed an embryo or infant form.
However, Mewtwo, as is made clear in his Pokédex entries, is not a perfect clone. Much like real-life projects to clone extinct mammoths and Neanderthals, no clone can be truly perfect, since a sequenced and regenerated genome must be fertilized and gestated within the egg of a close relative; close, but not the same. Presuming that indeed Mew's species was extinct (or was thought to be at the time of Mewtwo's creation), no close living relative would be available, and thus experimental alternatives would need to be explored. It is also alluded to in the first Pokémon film that Mewtwo was born within a test tube; ergo, that no surrogate mother could be found, and the cloning was conducted entirely in vitro. This would allow for the most optimal cloning possibilities, since genetic contamination from related species would not be pollinated into the genome during development. However, it is notable too that since no body was recovered in Guyana during the expedition to find Mew, only a trace of DNA, it is possible that the DNA was contaminated or fragmentary, and thus Dr. Fuji and his geneticists were forced to make assumptions in order to complete the structure of the genome. This was very likely the cause for the numerous failed cloning attempts which are referred to in the journals at the Pokémon Mansion (I am of the opinion that Ditto is the result of these failed experiments; but that is best left for another thread).
The journals at the Pokémon Mansion suggest that Mew was captured by Dr. Fuji and that it gave birth directly to Mewtwo. This is seemingly contradicted in the first Pokémon movie, where only Mew's DNA is recovered, not Mew itself. I believe that a simple misinterpretation of the journals can explain this.
Mew was not captured by Dr. Fuji, he simply discovered the traces of the (presumed) extinct Mew, in the form of DNA; this DNA was used in his experiments at the Pokémon Mansion to clone Mewtwo, which is described as Mew 'giving birth' to Mewtwo.
The journals record that the first traces of Mew were found in the jungles of Guyana on July 5th, that Mew was officially named on July 10th, that Mewtwo was born on February 6th (of an unspecified year, though presumably at least one or two after the previous journal entry), and that by Semptember 1st (of an unspecified year; it could be same as the year of Mewtwo's birth, or after) Mewtwo had grown too powerful for the scientists to control. Presumably, the experiments in cloning were conducted from mid-to-late July clear through to February of at least the following year (though the ambiguity with the dates leave open the possibility that it was more than a single year) , and Mewtwo matured at the very least a full seven months (though the possibility of intervening years is open) before it became uncontrollable.
Anyway, after all that, I will simply restate my conclusions: that Mewtwo is in fact that adult form of Mew, but that Mewtwo/Mew became very nearly extinct (somehow). Mew also appears not to age; Mewtwo is perhaps the adult form which can only be reached through modification. Mew is said to contain the DNA of all Pokémon in its genome; thus, Mewtwo would have the same, or very nearly the same genes. It is possible that during the genetic engineering of Mew's DNA during the attempts to clone it that Dr. Fuji either added, activated a dormant gene, or inhibited a gene which prevented aging: which ultimately caused Mew to mature into its adult state, Mewtwo.
Alright then... any thoughts?
I have come to conclusion that both are partly correct. (It should be noted that depending on one's attitude towards the canon of the Pokémon movies and the Pokémon games, there may be some speculation and discrepancies in the following; in large part, this is my attempt to reconcile the two.)
Firstly, it is notable that both Mew's and Mewtwo's names are derived from myūtanto, the Japanese word for mutant. This has been one of the supports for the hypothesis that Mewtwo is a mutated Mew. However, in that case, why would both of their names have that common root? Why not only Mewtwo's? I believe the answer lies in the development of the first Pokémon games, way back in 1996. It is a little-known fact, confirmed by the trademark applications, that Mew was the very first Pokémon ever officially registered as under copyright; on March 31, 1994, years before 'Pokémon' itself was registered as a trademark. Originally, Mew was spelled ミュー (myu-), rather than the now-standard ミュウ (myū); (the name in its current spelling was re-registered for trademark in 1999).
It has also been confirmed by Mew's creators, Tsunekaz Ishihara and Shigeki Morimoto, that Mew was designed and programmed into the original versions of Pokémon Red & Green without the knowledge of Nintendo, only two weeks before the development of the games was finished. This confirms that, while the concept of Mew (and even the concept of Mew as a sort of cryptid Pokémon: a 'mirage Pokémon') existed for years before the first games, the design of Mew was only added within the last two weeks of development; ergo, since it is known that Mewtwo and the documents at the Pokémon Mansion on Cinnabar Island were included earlier in development, Mewtwo was designed first. This is also supported by the content of the journals in the Pokémon Mansion, which imply that Mew is an extinct Pokémon, and that Mewtwo was an attempt to recreate an extinct and extremely rare Pokémon species from Guyana. All this goes to support the probability that Mew was originally intended to be an unseen, extinct Pokémon species, with Mewtwo the sole living representative of the species, having been cloned scientifically at the Pokémon Mansion; Mew was not decided to be a seeable, obtainable Pokémon in the games until two weeks before the end of development.
I hitherto propose my theory: that Mewtwo is, in fact, the fully-mature form of Mew.
Mew is based largely on an embryo or fetus; an undeveloped infant. Mewtwo is clearly not embryonic in nature. If one examines the original Red & Green sprite of Mew, the embryonic notion is very apparent; it is also notable that the protuberance at the crown of the head is reminiscent of a potential embryonic, early development of the prominent tubular structure attaching Mewtwo's skull to his back (which is possibly a secondary spinal cord or neural system, enhancing his psychic powers by increasing the blood and/or neurological connections to his brain). Mewtwo, of course, is also notably much larger than Mew; yet remains a remarkably plausible maturation, presuming that Mew is indeed an embryo or infant form.
However, Mewtwo, as is made clear in his Pokédex entries, is not a perfect clone. Much like real-life projects to clone extinct mammoths and Neanderthals, no clone can be truly perfect, since a sequenced and regenerated genome must be fertilized and gestated within the egg of a close relative; close, but not the same. Presuming that indeed Mew's species was extinct (or was thought to be at the time of Mewtwo's creation), no close living relative would be available, and thus experimental alternatives would need to be explored. It is also alluded to in the first Pokémon film that Mewtwo was born within a test tube; ergo, that no surrogate mother could be found, and the cloning was conducted entirely in vitro. This would allow for the most optimal cloning possibilities, since genetic contamination from related species would not be pollinated into the genome during development. However, it is notable too that since no body was recovered in Guyana during the expedition to find Mew, only a trace of DNA, it is possible that the DNA was contaminated or fragmentary, and thus Dr. Fuji and his geneticists were forced to make assumptions in order to complete the structure of the genome. This was very likely the cause for the numerous failed cloning attempts which are referred to in the journals at the Pokémon Mansion (I am of the opinion that Ditto is the result of these failed experiments; but that is best left for another thread).
The journals at the Pokémon Mansion suggest that Mew was captured by Dr. Fuji and that it gave birth directly to Mewtwo. This is seemingly contradicted in the first Pokémon movie, where only Mew's DNA is recovered, not Mew itself. I believe that a simple misinterpretation of the journals can explain this.
Mew was not captured by Dr. Fuji, he simply discovered the traces of the (presumed) extinct Mew, in the form of DNA; this DNA was used in his experiments at the Pokémon Mansion to clone Mewtwo, which is described as Mew 'giving birth' to Mewtwo.
The journals record that the first traces of Mew were found in the jungles of Guyana on July 5th, that Mew was officially named on July 10th, that Mewtwo was born on February 6th (of an unspecified year, though presumably at least one or two after the previous journal entry), and that by Semptember 1st (of an unspecified year; it could be same as the year of Mewtwo's birth, or after) Mewtwo had grown too powerful for the scientists to control. Presumably, the experiments in cloning were conducted from mid-to-late July clear through to February of at least the following year (though the ambiguity with the dates leave open the possibility that it was more than a single year) , and Mewtwo matured at the very least a full seven months (though the possibility of intervening years is open) before it became uncontrollable.
Anyway, after all that, I will simply restate my conclusions: that Mewtwo is in fact that adult form of Mew, but that Mewtwo/Mew became very nearly extinct (somehow). Mew also appears not to age; Mewtwo is perhaps the adult form which can only be reached through modification. Mew is said to contain the DNA of all Pokémon in its genome; thus, Mewtwo would have the same, or very nearly the same genes. It is possible that during the genetic engineering of Mew's DNA during the attempts to clone it that Dr. Fuji either added, activated a dormant gene, or inhibited a gene which prevented aging: which ultimately caused Mew to mature into its adult state, Mewtwo.
Alright then... any thoughts?
