Why the hate on Popplio?

[Benermerut]

Are you familiar with the concept of of ugly-cute? Where something, usually a small animal, has an overall ugly appearance and yet somehow still looks cute?

Well for me, popplio is the opposite. It's like the designers slapped on so many cute features that they went overboard and now it's, well, ugly.

I've never disliked a starter's design before. Some of them are meh, but only popplio is unappealing.

 

[Mawa]

As she said above, the derpyness will grow to be loved. Also, both Froakie and Oshawott got the most anime exposure out of their respective trios, and Piplup was also made the mascot of DP's female lead Dawn, so it wouldn't be surprising if Popplio ends up getting a lot of anime exposure as well. Goes to show that GF and even the anime writers secretly favour the Water starters.

This. I love this.


Because I always say the anime make me change my mind. I can find a Pokemon unattractive and dislike it, I can't totally judge them before I see the anime: before I see them move, have a personality, "talk"...
As an example, Froakie is the starter I liked least in the 6th generation. But now I have a lot of respect for Ash's froakie (and evo).
Same for Piplup. I love Piplup now, even if EMpoleon is the final starter I like least (I mean, I tend to forget his existence).
Back in the days, the starter I disliked most was Chimchar! Now I love Infernape, after I watched the anime!

So yeah, I am not a fan of Popplio. I criticized it at the begining. But then I saw the fan art and all the stuff, I see it in another way. Still, it's not my favorite, but I don't hate it!

 

[Majestic Electric]

If you can't tell from my avatar, I for one am on #TeamPopplio. I don't know, there's something about the little sea lion that I find cute and he has so much personality. If the past two generations have taught us anything, it's that to not underestimate the unpopular guy. I remember how much hate Oshawott got back in Gen 5 and then everyone loved him after Samurott was revealed (l for one only picked Oshawott because I loved his final evo). Same thing happened last gen, but not nearly to the extent of Gen 5. Not too many people liked Froakie, and then he exploded in popularity after Greninja was revealed. I won't be surprised if something similar happens with Popplio. Just watch.

 

[Spinosaurus]

Was Froakie really unpopular?

I wasn't keeping up with the hype here during XY, but between my group of friends and various other place I've been to I remember Froakie being neck to neck with Chespin when it comes to who was the top pick and well, Froakie ended up winning in the end. Either I'm remembering things really wrong or he was only (un)popular within a specific group.

I also remember everyone hating Samurott. It was Dewott that people loved.

 

[Esper]

Personally, the clown collar is a little silly and looks more like a costume than part of the creature itself. I don't really see the appeal of animals in costumes. It's similar to the Machop line where they have belts and shorts. It looks like clothing which is a weird thing to see since most Pokemon look like animals (or whatever) and animals don't wear clothing normally.

 

[OuterTsuchinoko]

Personally, the clown collar is a little silly and looks more like a costume than part of the creature itself. I don't really see the appeal of animals in costumes. It's similar to the Machop line where they have belts and shorts. It looks like clothing which is a weird thing to see since most Pokemon look like animals (or whatever) and animals don't wear clothing normally.

I think the nose might be what's making people hate it so much. I disliked the nose when I saw it originally and still do a little. It would have been better had he only used that as a trick or for an attack rather than it actually be his nose. It makes him look a little awkward when his head is positioned normally.

 

[dopamine]

I dunno. I don't mind Popplio's design. It's actually Litten's I have a problem with. It looks so odd and scraggly.

 

[Mawa]

I dunno. I don't mind Popplio's design. It's actually Litten's I have a problem with. It looks so odd and scraggly.

I kinda feel the same. I *can* like it, but like I said in some posts, the "personalty" of the Pokemon help (for me). Like, a Pokemon we see much in a Anime can be love more than one we tend to forget. The problem for Litten is that we see a lot of fan art on the Internet, many about Popplio and Rowlet, but I don't see much about Litten. And the one I've seen, he looks like he's boring. I like Litten's desing more than Popplio, but Popplio looks fun. My love for this Pokemon as grew already.
I hope the anime/other arts can make me change my mind.

 

[starseed galaxy auticorn]

I don't hate any of the new starters. I'm just #TeamLitten because I'm a cat lover, and it's my duty to support it. Not only that, but it's the first time we've had a starter that was a cat. All the other cats were mainly supporting pokemon.

But in all honesty, I do think I'll the starters are cute. ^^

 

[Gandhi Savage]

I'm a little late to the party but I was insanely hyped watching the trailer for the first time. I was literally getting chills down my spine! It really helped cause I wasn't exactly having a great day up until that point haha.

At first glance of the starters I was kinda disappointed though. They just seemed more like Digimon to me, especially Popplio. Looking again though I was really digging Litten and I thought that its design was amazing, followed by Rowlet which I thought was cool and then I just didn't really like Popplio much, if at all,

The more I think about it though the more I think Popplio will be awesome. I just think that it will have an amazing evolution chain similar to Oshawott in Unova. I'm not sure if it'll be Fairy or Psychic, whether it'll be a clown or anything else but it just is really grasping my attention atm.

I'm kinda glad too cause I have always picked the Water starter (except Cyndaquil).​

 

[Spinosaurus]

"Looks like a digimon" is always a weird complaint because it implies Digimon design philosophy is somehow bad or it's just a really weird and unnecessary way to say you don't like a certain design. You could just say they look overdesigned or something. (And you wouldn't be wrong about Popplio really.)

But I'm going off tangent here. Just nitpicking.

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

The hate towards Popplio isn't new; there's always that one member of the trio that's judged negatively by its appearance when compared to the other two members. I disagree with Spino's statement about the seal concept being done twice as the reason why Popplio's hated, because the owl concept has been before in Pokémon once, and the cat concept has been done almost every generation, but that didn't stop Rowlet and Litten from being well-received by the fans.

 

[Spinosaurus]

I disagree with Spino's statement about the seal concept being done twice as the reason why Popplio's hated, because the owl concept has been before in Pokémon once, and the cat concept has been done almost every generation, but that didn't stop Rowlet and Litten from being well-received by the fans.

It's one of the reasons, not the reason. Popplio's bad reception is a combination of multiple factors. And I also said that a water type seal in particular has been done twice, whereas this is our first grass owl and our first fire cat.

There's a lot of things that separates Popplio from what came before, but I also wouldn't blame anyone for thinking that another water seal isn't particularly creative, and it's definitely a complaint I'm seeing a lot right now. Rowlet and Litten definitely get compared with older Pokemon too, but there's a reason Popplio is getting bad rep for it specifically.


Also saying a member of a starer trio always gets hate is overblown. You're right about Oshawott, but I looked up people's reactions towards XY's first stage starters, and they were all well liked generally. There wasn't a single one that got any negative attention. There's nothing wrong with liking a Pokemon design a lot that most don't, or even disagree that it's a bad design, but please don't sugarcoat people's problems with Popplio by saying that this always happens to a starter during a reveal.

 

[Pinkie-Dawn]

It's one of the reasons, not the reason. Popplio's bad reception is a combination of multiple factors. And I also said that a water type seal in particular has been done twice, whereas this is our first grass owl and our first fire cat.

There's a lot of things that separates Popplio from what came before, but I also wouldn't blame anyone for thinking that another water seal isn't particularly creative, and it's definitely a complaint I'm seeing a lot right now. Rowlet and Litten definitely get compared with older Pokemon too, but there's a reason Popplio is getting bad rep for it specifically.

Technically, a fire cat has been done before in the form of Pyroar, since lions are also cats. The best reason that could excuse using a similar concept is if the Pokémon is based on a sub-species. The Seel line is based on a generic seal, and the Spheal line is based on a walrus. Popplio is based on a sea lion, but it's been debatable if that concept has already been done with Samurott.

Also saying a member of a starer trio always gets hate is overblown. You're right about Oshawott, but I looked up people's reactions towards XY's first stage starters, and they were all well liked generally. There wasn't a single one that got any negative attention. There's nothing wrong with liking a Pokemon design a lot that most don't, or even disagree that it's a bad design, but please don't sugarcoat people's problems with Popplio by saying that this always happens to a starter during a reveal.

In other sources I went to when XY was first announced such as /vp/, it was mostly Chespin that got the most hated out of the three Kalos starters. Relying on people's reactions on youtube shouldn't be the only source to determine how well-received the starters were. And since Gen V, I should always expect one member of the trio to be the unloved one.

 

[Psywing]

I don't hate Popplio, I just prefer the design of the others, but I have a feeling the final evolution is going to be pretty cool. The only water starters I actually love from the get go is Squirtle and Totodile, I did not like the others. But the others final evolutions were pretty dang cool, Swampert, Samurott, Empoleon and Greninja. I think Popplio will surprise people when it's other stages come out.

When you look at it, almost all, if not all, water Pokemon are based on aquatic animals. So their first stages may not be very impressive. Unlike fire/grass which can can pretty much be designed to fit any kind of animal or beast. That is the way I see it anyway.

 

[Spinosaurus]

Well I wasn't going off Youtube alone, and I was also only considering the first stages. Anyway this is all anecdotal.

My point is that saying that Popplio is getting all this bad rep because of a nonexistent pattern kinda demeans people's problem with it here which doesn't sit well with me. I'd rather read about why you or anyone else think it's a good design, that'd a lot more interesting to me.

 

[classiccartoonsftw]

I personally think Popplio's ears are really weird-looking.

 

[LilBueno]

I'm going to enjoy when Popplio gets the best evolution and it turns out the first stage was subtly implying another theme.

 

[Spinosaurus]

I feel I may have botched this explanation, but do let me know!

Mm yeah, you're right. Demeaning wasn't the right word in retrospect, and I just nitpicking for the most part. My bad.

But, I think when someone asks why something is hated, saying that it happens all the time isn't exactly helpful. That's where I'm mostly getting at.

 

[Hikamaru]

And I'm pretty sure the reactions to Quilladin weren't entirely positive, unless I'm wrong on that? And then Chesnaught disappointed a lot of people, while Delphox and Greninja were received pretty well.

Just wanted to make a statement about this. :<

Actually, Delphox also had its fair share of disappointments. Fennekin was the most popular Kalos starter upon initial reveal and a good chunk of the huge fanbase felt that Delphox was not as designed as well as they hoped.

I could definitely see how the Rowlet fans (Rowlet is currently the most popular Alola starter) would react if the evolutions weren't what they were expecting or hoping, like how Chespin fans reacted badly to Quilladin.