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Was this the most pointless thing done for Generation 4?

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Sprinter1988

Well-Known Member
One of the differences brought in for generation 4 was the concept of pokemon having different appearances based on their gender. This included the retconning of many pokemon from all previous generations and ranged from highly noticable, such as the shape of Pikachu's tail to the subtle, such as the length of Raticate's whiskers.

A good amount of effort must have been put into this as quite a number of pokemon were retconned for this, however since generation 4 gender differences have only been impremented for Unfezant, Frillish, Jellicent, Meowstic and Pyroar. These, however, all fall into the "more noticable" level of gender differences, and no "subtle" differences are made anymore.

Was all this effort as utterly pointless as it appears?
 

BCVM22

Well-Known Member
No. Not every animal species exhibits sexual dimorphism. Beyond that, isn't it more pointed for them to do large and noticeable differences for a few species instead of tiny and easily missed differences for many, rather than less pointed?
 

Sprinter1988

Well-Known Member
But with the exception of four evolutionary lines where the difference is highly noticable, no pokemon introduced since generation 4 has shown any kind of sexual dimophism. It's like they introduced it, retconned a load of old pokemon, and then mostly gave up on the notion, except for two pokemon in each generation.
 

Vikings

Oracle
I don't think it was pointless at all. I think it paved the way for later, more prodominant changes between the genders, such as Pyroar. Pyroar's female and male forms are awesome, and I think it makes specific Pokemon truly interesting. Same could be said for Meowstic.
 

BCVM22

Well-Known Member
It's like they introduced it, retconned a load of old pokemon, and then mostly gave up on the notion, except for two pokemon in each generation.

"Gave up" is subjective. Again, what they elected to do was use it more sparsely but far more visibly. Aren't a few very visible gender differences better than a handful of very easily missed ones?
 
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Sprinter1988

Well-Known Member
"Gave up" is subjective. Again, what they elected to do was use it more sparsely but far more visibly. Aren't a few very visible gender differences better than a handful of very easily missed ones?

I'm not saying that the visible gender changes are a bad thing, in fact I find differences like the ones between male and femal Pikachu, Unfezant or Pyroar quite an interesting addition that does increase the variety in the pokemon world. But for many pokemon it was so unnoticable that it was pointless, which was my original point - they went to all the effort to add all these little changes and now don't bother with the concept except in extreme cases.
 

Lorde

Let's go to the beach, each.
Imo, yes. I understand what Game Freak was going for when they decided to make gender differences starting in Diamond/Pearl, but the execution of the idea left a lot to be desired. I remember thinking that all Pokemon would have gender differences, or that the gender differences would at least be more dynamic, but I was thoroughly disappointed.
 

Sohryu

Be a Man!
Although it's rather pointless in my opinion,
it wasn't a bad idea. I like the gender differences when they ARE more noticeable but it's not like that. What I mean by "noticeable" is those likes Unfezant, Pyroar, Meowsic, Nidos.
Barring certain cases, it's actually pretty pointless. But I hope GF use them more as they did this gen (6).

I remember thinking that all Pokemon would have gender differences, or that the gender differences would at least be more dynamic, but I was thoroughly disappointed.

And I too.
 

Rebeka

New Member
As with the idea of baby variants, I thought it was nice to simply have the aesthetic variety. As long as they don't change the hue to denote another sex, striving for a little more complexity whilst remaining subtle, I think it's great as an idea for the sake of biodiversity among pocket monsters. It's the details!
 

Sprinter1988

Well-Known Member
As with the idea of baby variants, I thought it was nice to simply have the aesthetic variety. As long as they don't change the hue to denote another sex, striving for a little more complexity whilst remaining subtle, I think it's great as an idea for the sake of biodiversity among pocket monsters. It's the details!

The trouble is though they haven't bothered to keep it going.
 
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