shoz999
Back when Tigers used to smoke.
I've seen many Pokemon fans these days call the Kanto female protagonist, Green or Blue these days ever since the Let's Go games came out. It's honestly kind of rarity these days to see fans call the Kanto female protagonist "Leaf" but when you see it, it's honestly kind of surprising, makes you wonder why they continue to use that name. One time in YouTube, I've seen the name "Leaf" brought up again, confusing some Pokemon fans on what this person was talking about. Whether you like it or not, the Let's Go games did a lot in making people forget about Green/Blue's other official name "Leaf". It got me wondering if Pokemon history will repeat itself as this is not the first time it's happened.
Before I get into this, I want to clear some things up based on my understanding. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. The name "Leaf" is never canon but it is still an official name licensed by GameFreak thanks to the marketed figurine a few months back. Confused yet lol? First off what is "canon". Canon normally means that it actually happened in the main story or universe. This is the one roadblock I've seen many "Leaf" fans get into because the name "Leaf" was never featured in any of the games outside of unused files. For "Leaf" to be canon, it has to be featured in at least the Pokemon main series games. I know some people boast how the "Leaf" figure marketed months ago is "canon" but that marketed figure is as much as canon as the character Broly from Dragon Ball Z before the canon Super movies came out. For those who don't know there was a character named Broly that a lot of fans loved even though I personally think his movies weren't that good. Some fans I knew thought he was canon because of his movie appearances alone but they were especially obsessed because they thought he was an awesome character. They didn't realize he was non-canon until the creator of Dragon Ball Z stated so, unveiling his plan for an actual canon story of the character "Broly" through the recent Dragon Ball Super movie. For "Leaf" to be canon, that name actually has to appear in the games lore, the world, the characters somehow or at least acknowledged as canon in the games by GameFreak themselves. What the marketed figurine does prove is that Leaf is technically an official name, as in GameFreak does acknowledge it's existence and that's really it. Who knows though? Maybe one day they will make "Leaf" canon in the future but right now, it isn't canon. So why did I bring this up? Because again, Pokemon History could repeat itself, all of this isn't the first time it's happened and it has to do with a character named Red.
I was not surprised when the Kanto female protagonist's name was confirmed to be Green/Blue, I was excited but not really surprised and I was not among the several fans who jumped to conclusions that Green/Blue's canon name was Leaf because this isn't the first time this has happened. We've seen this with Lyra and Krys however the most interesting name change I've seen is the character Red as unlike Lyra and Krys who are confirmed to be different characters, Red is still for the most part the same character and is actually similar to the history of the name, "Leaf". Similar to how Blue/Green never got a canon name when she first appeared in the games, Red never actually had a canon name during Gen 1. Unlike the Pokemon fans who stretched the idea of a canon name quite a lot with a figurine, Red's "original name" wasn't a figurine but was teased by GameFreak directly themselves in an endorsed and official Pokemon guide for the fans. Red's original teased name is "Satoshi", as in the same Japanese name used for Ash Ketchum in the anime. As of now Red's original name "Satoshi" has become a "Did You Know Fact", forgotten by most casual and even some hardcore Pokemon fans. How did this happened? Well, how are so many fans forgetting the name "Leaf" nowadays? It was the games that determined which names were canon. Like how Let's Go officially determined "Green/Blue" as canon, it was Pokemon Gold & Silver that determined the name "Red" as canon.
So this asks a very interesting question? Will the history of Pokemon repeat itself? Will people forget the name "Leaf" to the point it will become a "Did You Know" fact several years later? Similar to Satoshi, many fans jumped to conclusions that "Leaf" was canon due to outside merchandise and similar to Satoshi and Pokemon Gold & Silver, the name "Leaf" quickly fell apart when the Let's Go games came out. So we could naturally assume that like "Satoshi", the name "Leaf" will be largely forgotten and one day become a "Did You Know" fact ten or twenty years later.
However there are some other factors to consider, the differences between Satoshi and Leaf's history. The name "Satoshi" appears early on almost exclusively in Japan during a time when the internet was still pretty new back when "Pikablu" rumors were spreading. Second, the name "Satoshi", even though it was teased by GameFreak directly, ended quickly in around two years with the release of Gold & Silver. Due to this, it's pretty understandable that the name "Satoshi" was forgotten quite fast as there was little knowledge on it outside of Japan to begin with. "Leaf" on the other hand has the benefit of being data-mined from both English and Japanese releases of FRLG during an internet age where more and more people begun understanding how the internet worked. Unlike how the name Satoshi fell swiftly in around two years to the name Red, the name Leaf fell after over 10 years to the names Green/Blue since the original FRLG's release. Basically, Leaf has far more acknowledgement than the name "Satoshi".
With all things considered? Do you think the name "Leaf" will eventually be forgotten to the point that people will come to see it as an interesting "Did You Know" fact rather than common knowledge for the average die-hard Pokemon fan?
Before I get into this, I want to clear some things up based on my understanding. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. The name "Leaf" is never canon but it is still an official name licensed by GameFreak thanks to the marketed figurine a few months back. Confused yet lol? First off what is "canon". Canon normally means that it actually happened in the main story or universe. This is the one roadblock I've seen many "Leaf" fans get into because the name "Leaf" was never featured in any of the games outside of unused files. For "Leaf" to be canon, it has to be featured in at least the Pokemon main series games. I know some people boast how the "Leaf" figure marketed months ago is "canon" but that marketed figure is as much as canon as the character Broly from Dragon Ball Z before the canon Super movies came out. For those who don't know there was a character named Broly that a lot of fans loved even though I personally think his movies weren't that good. Some fans I knew thought he was canon because of his movie appearances alone but they were especially obsessed because they thought he was an awesome character. They didn't realize he was non-canon until the creator of Dragon Ball Z stated so, unveiling his plan for an actual canon story of the character "Broly" through the recent Dragon Ball Super movie. For "Leaf" to be canon, that name actually has to appear in the games lore, the world, the characters somehow or at least acknowledged as canon in the games by GameFreak themselves. What the marketed figurine does prove is that Leaf is technically an official name, as in GameFreak does acknowledge it's existence and that's really it. Who knows though? Maybe one day they will make "Leaf" canon in the future but right now, it isn't canon. So why did I bring this up? Because again, Pokemon History could repeat itself, all of this isn't the first time it's happened and it has to do with a character named Red.
I was not surprised when the Kanto female protagonist's name was confirmed to be Green/Blue, I was excited but not really surprised and I was not among the several fans who jumped to conclusions that Green/Blue's canon name was Leaf because this isn't the first time this has happened. We've seen this with Lyra and Krys however the most interesting name change I've seen is the character Red as unlike Lyra and Krys who are confirmed to be different characters, Red is still for the most part the same character and is actually similar to the history of the name, "Leaf". Similar to how Blue/Green never got a canon name when she first appeared in the games, Red never actually had a canon name during Gen 1. Unlike the Pokemon fans who stretched the idea of a canon name quite a lot with a figurine, Red's "original name" wasn't a figurine but was teased by GameFreak directly themselves in an endorsed and official Pokemon guide for the fans. Red's original teased name is "Satoshi", as in the same Japanese name used for Ash Ketchum in the anime. As of now Red's original name "Satoshi" has become a "Did You Know Fact", forgotten by most casual and even some hardcore Pokemon fans. How did this happened? Well, how are so many fans forgetting the name "Leaf" nowadays? It was the games that determined which names were canon. Like how Let's Go officially determined "Green/Blue" as canon, it was Pokemon Gold & Silver that determined the name "Red" as canon.
So this asks a very interesting question? Will the history of Pokemon repeat itself? Will people forget the name "Leaf" to the point it will become a "Did You Know" fact several years later? Similar to Satoshi, many fans jumped to conclusions that "Leaf" was canon due to outside merchandise and similar to Satoshi and Pokemon Gold & Silver, the name "Leaf" quickly fell apart when the Let's Go games came out. So we could naturally assume that like "Satoshi", the name "Leaf" will be largely forgotten and one day become a "Did You Know" fact ten or twenty years later.
However there are some other factors to consider, the differences between Satoshi and Leaf's history. The name "Satoshi" appears early on almost exclusively in Japan during a time when the internet was still pretty new back when "Pikablu" rumors were spreading. Second, the name "Satoshi", even though it was teased by GameFreak directly, ended quickly in around two years with the release of Gold & Silver. Due to this, it's pretty understandable that the name "Satoshi" was forgotten quite fast as there was little knowledge on it outside of Japan to begin with. "Leaf" on the other hand has the benefit of being data-mined from both English and Japanese releases of FRLG during an internet age where more and more people begun understanding how the internet worked. Unlike how the name Satoshi fell swiftly in around two years to the name Red, the name Leaf fell after over 10 years to the names Green/Blue since the original FRLG's release. Basically, Leaf has far more acknowledgement than the name "Satoshi".
With all things considered? Do you think the name "Leaf" will eventually be forgotten to the point that people will come to see it as an interesting "Did You Know" fact rather than common knowledge for the average die-hard Pokemon fan?
