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The new fossil Pokémon

Orphalesion

Well-Known Member
Just shows that you can't argue about taste. Especially designs like these, that hinge on a joke will always be divisive, since humour is extremely subjective. And no explanation, no matter how well argued or well explained/sourced has much of a chance to convince the other side.

With me, I still love the idea, and hate the execution.
 

Kingudora

My favourite
I think part of the reason why the new fossils are so divisive, is because that they are more cartoony than most pokémon, especially when compared to the other fossil pokémon. Even before taking account their mish-mashy nature, they already look a bit "off" compared to other pokémon.

For some, a less cartoony design may have appealed more for them. Ultimately I think that Game Freak went with the goofy designs to make them seem less horrifying, but that doesn't work for everyone.
 

Bolt the Cat

Bringing the Thunder
Yeah, these things are total eye vomit. I like the idea of hybrid fossils, but to make them so horrifying and make it look like they're in constant pain instantly puts me off to them. If you want to make them look like mistakes, then fine, but at least make it look like they won't flat out die in 5 seconds.

I really have to wonder how these designs even got greenlit. Game Freak has spoken about their process in creating and approving Pokemon designs, and they've said that the designs need to be endearing enough to be appealing to kids. So how do these designs qualify? If even the older fans are horrified by these designs, you can only imagine how the kids will react to witnessing these abominations.
 

Orphalesion

Well-Known Member
If you want to make them look like mistakes, then fine, but at least make it look like they won't flat out die in 5 seconds.

Yeah, that's my problem with them as well. Because in real life all the many paleontology errors that were made in reconstructing extinct animals...they always at least looked like something that could have plausibly existed by the standards of knowledge at the time.
The new fossil Pokemon....don't.
 
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Bolt the Cat

Bringing the Thunder
Yeah, that's my problem with them as well. Because in real life all the many paleontology errors that were made in reconstructing extinct animals...they always at least looked like something that could have plausibly existed by the standards of knowledge at the time.
The new fossil Pokemon....don't.

Exactly. I looked at some of the RL designs and the redesign ideas you posted earlier in the thread, and those are MUCH closer to what I would've wanted out of this idea. The idea of having chimeras produced from mismatched fossils is good, that's a very creative idea, but the execution is what puts me off to these designs. The two halves look like they're completely incapable of creating a functional, living being and the Pokedex reinforces this notion by pointing out all of the evolutionary disadvantages that prevent the poor things from even surviving. And this is supposed to be endearing to kids and something you want to be friends with? I can only imagine the nightmares these designs would cause.
 

Dragalge

"Orange" Magical Girl
Exactly. I looked at some of the RL designs and the redesign ideas you posted earlier in the thread, and those are MUCH closer to what I would've wanted out of this idea. The idea of having chimeras produced from mismatched fossils is good, that's a very creative idea, but the execution is what puts me off to these designs. The two halves look like they're completely incapable of creating a functional, living being and the Pokedex reinforces this notion by pointing out all of the evolutionary disadvantages that prevent the poor things from even surviving. And this is supposed to be endearing to kids and something you want to be friends with? I can only imagine the nightmares these designs would cause.
This is the same franchise where you can befriend death-dealing furniture/candles and a sentient shell that kills you upon looking behind its back. Or hell just about any Ghost Pokemon you can think of! These four fossil things aren’t even close to that amount of horrifying for people to bond with lol.
 

Captain Jigglypuff

Leader of Jigglypuff Army
This is the same franchise where you can befriend death-dealing furniture/candles and a sentient shell that kills you upon looking behind its back. Or hell just about any Ghost Pokemon you can think of! These four fossil things aren’t even close to that amount of horrifying for people to bond with lol.
There’s also Quilladin’s creepy blank serial killer stare. That’s the reason I outright refuse to use the Pokémon and use EXP Share evolve Chespin without sending it out to battle.
 

Ophie

Salingerian Phony
Yeah, these things are total eye vomit. I like the idea of hybrid fossils, but to make them so horrifying and make it look like they're in constant pain instantly puts me off to them. If you want to make them look like mistakes, then fine, but at least make it look like they won't flat out die in 5 seconds.

I really have to wonder how these designs even got greenlit. Game Freak has spoken about their process in creating and approving Pokemon designs, and they've said that the designs need to be endearing enough to be appealing to kids. So how do these designs qualify? If even the older fans are horrified by these designs, you can only imagine how the kids will react to witnessing these abominations.

Well, it is a matter of opinion. I like all four of them, and if they made plushes of them, I'd get them. They remind me of that human-bird chimera in the South Park episode in which Stan joins PETA. When Stan meets him, he's just there in the corner asking Stan to kill him. Later in the episode, the chimera geta ahold of a gun and shoots himself in the head.

There's also how kids are terrified of different things than adults. (And in fact, kids sometimes find funny things that would terrify adults.) Clowns are a good example, where adults find clowns either creepy or obnoxious, but kids are often quite fond of clowns. Some kids are afraid of them too, but illustrations of clowns are used non-ironically on a lot of candies and snacks where I live, and there are clowns who show up at events like farmers markets and county fairs here that the kids love. (Apparently, Nintendo encountered this head-on with Lola Pop in ARMS, in which the kids took to her while the adults largely found her offputting.)
 

Bolt the Cat

Bringing the Thunder
This is the same franchise where you can befriend death-dealing furniture/candles and a sentient shell that kills you upon looking behind its back. Or hell just about any Ghost Pokemon you can think of! These four fossil things aren’t even close to that amount of horrifying for people to bond with lol.

The Ghost types are mainly just horrifying because of their dex entries. If you took out the dex entries, they'd just be fairly cute and innocent looking ghosts that would only be as "scary" as a kid's Halloween party. With the fossils, it's everything, the designs, concepts, lore, dex entries.

Well, it is a matter of opinion. I like all four of them, and if they made plushes of them, I'd get them. They remind me of that human-bird chimera in the South Park episode in which Stan joins PETA. When Stan meets him, he's just there in the corner asking Stan to kill him. Later in the episode, the chimera geta ahold of a gun and shoots himself in the head.

I've seen that episode several times. I don't remember that scene in particular, but usually when shows like South Park make jokes about horrifying creatures like that they're not trying to make them endearing to the audience. In fact it's the exact opposite, they're making them look like horrifying mistakes. I mean, if the poor thing itself doesn't want to be alive, do you think the audience is going to want it to be?
 

Orphalesion

Well-Known Member
With me the fossils made me think of that frog creature Bart creates in that Simpsons episode that "parodies" Harry Potter. "Every moment of my life is unbearable pain!"

But well, that's one of the reasons I don't like them. While I like myself some dark humour (I like South Park, for example), that exact type of joke (a innocent creature born only to suffer every second of its existence) always makes me upset.Thankfully in practice the Fossils seem to be happy, healthy and jovial in the games (because yeah there was no way Pokemon would have gotten away with it otherwise)

But aside from that joke...I don't find the fossils "horrifying" as much as I find them silly. Which, in my opinion, is worse. As I said joke designs are gonna be divisive, since humour is divisive.
 

Taodragon

Training Anaylst
Yeah, these things are total eye vomit. I like the idea of hybrid fossils, but to make them so horrifying and make it look like they're in constant pain instantly puts me off to them. If you want to make them look like mistakes, then fine, but at least make it look like they won't flat out die in 5 seconds.

I really have to wonder how these designs even got greenlit. Game Freak has spoken about their process in creating and approving Pokemon designs, and they've said that the designs need to be endearing enough to be appealing to kids. So how do these designs qualify? If even the older fans are horrified by these designs, you can only imagine how the kids will react to witnessing these abominations.

The kids don't care, they either are using them in their playthroughs or stuffed them in a box. These designs, no matter how you feel about them, are no where near the point where children would get nightmares over them and I don't understand the notion of trying to use the kids as a way to justify your personal dislike of them.
 

Dragalge

"Orange" Magical Girl
I find it more odd people are OK with Silvally happening but are thinking these fossil hybrids, which have the same concept of being a hybrid like Silvally but with only two different Pokemon/creature, is now a problem? Especially when the former has it a lot worse due to being used as a killing machine and was cryogenically frozen?

hatching-chick.png
 

Bolt the Cat

Bringing the Thunder
I find it more odd people are OK with Silvally happening but are thinking these fossil hybrids, which have the same concept of being a hybrid like Silvally but with only two different Pokemon/creature, is now a problem? Especially when the former has it a lot worse due to being used as a killing machine and was cryogenically frozen?

hatching-chick.png

It's because Type:Null and Silvally feel professionally constructed as opposed to the fossils just being two halves mashed together randomly. Type:Null and Silvally are chimeras as well, but their body parts are all fit together to make a uniform, working body. The fossils were just lazy cut and paste jobs and the two parts tend to work against each other. You have a small dinosaur mashed together with a large dinosaur. A warm dwelling dinosaur with a cold dwelling dinosaur. A land breathing dinosaur with a water breathing dinosaur. It's not that they're made up of different parts, it's how they fit the different parts together.
 
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