Pokemon players began paying special attention to the starters a few generations ago. While each region’s Pokemon Starters don’t seem to have much of a rhyme or reason, enthusiasts have noticed that the Fire Starters have a name: the Chinese Zodiac. Every animal that a Pokemon Fire Starter is based on can be found in the Chinese Zodiac, as seen here:
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DragonCharmander
One may argue that Charmander’s final form is more lizard-like, whilst Cyndaquil’s final form is less “fire mouse-like,” but this idea holds up, or has held up, very well. Before its debut, many speculated that the Gen 9 Fire starter for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet would be a Fire ox, Fire snake, Fire horse, or Fire sheep.
What are the foundations of the fire starters?
- Charmander, Cyndaquil, Torchic, Chimchar, Tepig, Fennekin, and Litten are all based on the Chinese Zodiac: Charmander represents the Dragon, Cyndaquil represents the Rat, Torchic represents the Rooster, Chimchar represents the Monkey, Chimchar represents the Monkey, Tepig represents the Pig, Fennekin represents the Dog (Foxes are part of the dog family), and Litten represents the Cat.
- Only Bulbasaur and Rowlet are dual-type starters in their basic form.
- Except for Chespin and Rowlet, all known Grass-type Starters have reptile-like characteristics, and each has a plant on their bodies that grows larger with time.
- The final evolutions of most Fire-type Starters are of two types. Typhlosion is the lone exception.
- With the exception of Eevee, Torchic, Fennekin, Chespin, Mudkip, Popplio, and Piplup, Ash has collected every known Starter Pokmon.
- All of the Kanto, Johto, and Unova starters have been captured by Ash.
- All of the bugs have been caught by Ash.
Based on your zodiac sign, which Pokmon starter are you?
Based on your zodiac sign, which Water-Type Pokmon are you?
- Cloyster is the first sign of Sagittarius. Cloyster is the Sagittarius of Water-type Pokmon.
- Kyogre is the second Scorpio.
- Piplup is the third sign of the zodiac, Libra.
- Milotic is the fourth sign of the zodiac.
- Squirtle is the fifth sign of the zodiac.
- 6 Krabby – Cancer
- Totodile is the 7th Gemini sign.
- Froakie is the eighth sign of the zodiac Taurus.
What are the foundations for the Gen 5 starters?
A different theme can be discovered if you go back a generation to the X and Y generations. These starters have a knight, mage, and rogue theme. All of these classes are common in RPGs. With its grass-fighting type and massive spike shield, Chestnaught is a knight. Delphox is a mage candidate since he has a wand and utilizes it to perform special moves. Finally, like a rogue or assassin, Greninja bears the word “ninja” in its name and a special move where it throws water shurikens.
The Generation 5 starters appear to be inspired by various forms of aristocracy. This generation’s final evolutions all have a reference to monarchy in their names. Emboar, the fire-fighting beginning, is clad in oriental clothing and resembles the word emperor. Serperior is a majestic serpent with a name that clearly conveys the word “superior.” Samurott is modeled on the Japanese samurai and almost has the term samurai in its name.
Finally, there’s generation four, which looks to be the first in which the starters have a distinct theme. These Pokemon appear to have a mythological motif. The giant grass-ground tortoise Torterra is based on the “world-tortoise myth.” Empoleon is based on the Greek god Poseidon, as seen by his use of the legendary trident. Finally, the fire-fighting ape Infernape is based on the Chinese mythology of the Monkey King.
What are the foundations for the Gen 7 starters?
The seventh generation’s starters use the conventional Grass/Fire/Water trio composition. The player must choose between the Grass and Flying-type Rowlet, the Fire-type Litten, and the Water-type Popplio at the start of the game.
What are the foundations for the Gen 8 Starters?
Grookey is a Grass-type, Scorbunny is a Fire-type, and Sobble is a Water-type. The eighth generation’s starters, like the previous seven areas’ starters, follow the Grass-Fire-Water triangle, with Grookey being a Grass-type, Scorbunny being a Fire-type, and Sobble being a Water-type.
What Zodiac does snivy belong to?
Leos enjoy being in the spotlight as long as it is the spotlight that they desire. Despite the fact that Snivy is a Grass-type, Leo and Snivy are one and the same when it comes to acclaim from their peers or the satisfaction of victory on the battlefield.
Snivy is notorious for its arrogance, which can border on smugness at times, and is often regarded as Generation V’s most popular starter Pokmon. Leos are known for putting a premium on their appearance and how they are perceived by others, but it doesn’t imply they are all vain. Protective, just, and natural leaders are all characteristics of Ash’s Snivy from the Pokmon anime.
Gemini is a Pokemon type.
Gemini twins indicate adaptability, curiosity, and a desire to understand everything there is to know about the world. They are both fascinated by the world as a study object. They’ll relish the opportunity to learn as much as possible from as many different sources as possible. It’s a commendable quality that demonstrates a high level of awareness.
Psychic Pokemon are also attempting to have a better understanding of the world around them. They have a natural ability to read circumstances and environments, and they can alter their fighting tactics dependent on their opponents. There’s a reason they’re so feared in anime, for example, since they’re difficult to defeat in battle.
Snivy is based on what?
I’m back with another wacky Pokemon origins theory. As you might have guessed from the three species depicted above, today I’ll be discussing Generation V’s Grass-type beginning family: the Snivy line. Here’s some music to get the party started.
As usual, I’ll ask you to consider what you believe these characters are based on. Needless to say, snakes. Despite their limbs, Snivy and Servine are based on snakes. However, there is an unusual small species that could explain their tiny limbs and legs: the skink.
Skinks are lizards (the evolutionary forerunners of snakes) with undeveloped limbs; they’re functional, but not as useful as other lizards. As a result, you get a lizard with snake-like mobility, which is essentially what Snivy and Servine look to be, at least based on their anime mannerisms.
When it comes to real-life snake species, despite there are thousands of different sorts of snakes, there are several general archetypes that this line of Pokemon could have been inspired by. The garter snake, green vine snake, emerald tree boa, and royal python are all suggested by Bulbapedia. I’d recommend the anaconda as a probable inspiration, given Serperior’s amazing length of approximately 11 feet and even more impressive girth. All of these options muddy the genuine model’s line, but there are certain commonalities among them: all and/or most of these species are known for:
- Lack of venom or (in the case of the garter snake) a very small amount of venom.
- Habitat that is grassy and/or arboreal.
- Constriction is preferred for hunting.
What makes these features so crucial? For starters, unlike its forebears Ekans and Seviper, these snake Pokemon lack the Poison type, making them non-venomous snakes. Furthermore, their natural link with the Grass-type and role as Grass starts makes perfect sense in light of similar snakes’ plant-heavy biomes in real life. Finally, Snivy’s line, which can learn moves like Wrap, Coil, and Wring Out but strangely lacks access to attacks like Crunch or Poison Fang, demonstrates the non-venomous snakes’ predilection for constriction as a key means of killing.
I’d like to go back to the limbs section. With each evolution, notice how they get smaller and more primitive. As our skink pal explained, this is how snakes are thought to have developed over time. Snivy’s arms and legs are fully visible, and while little and frail, they are plainly capable of use and support. Servine, while having functional legs, prefers to slide down the ground, according to the Pokedex. Servine’s arms have similarly been reduced to two leaf-like, seemingly ineffective hands. Servine has completely lost its legs by the time it grows into Serperior, and its hands appear to be nothing more than leafy ornamentation on its back. Despite the fact that its limbs decrease with each evolutionary stage, this Pokemon grows more agile, swift, and efficient at what it does, almost as if the monster were hinting to the natural selection and evolution of species’ niche specialization. Scientists aren’t the only ones who attribute snakes’ origins to the amputation of limbs. The first chapter of the Bible contains what has been taken as the origin of modern snakes.
And the LORD God cursed the snake, saying, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all livestock and above every beast of the field; thou shalt go upon thy belly, and eat dust all the days of thy life: – Genesis 2:14 (KJV)
After convincing Eve to take the fruit from the tree of knowledge in the Garden of Eden, God condemns the snake (commonly thought to be Satan) to a limbless life on the ground. The Snivy line, which is likewise related with trees and gardens, has been depicted as gloomy and deceiving, and it also loses its legs, presumably alluding to the Biblical snake and its retribution.
Let’s move on from zoology and into the realm of abstraction. Another factor in this line’s shadiness, as well as their Grass kind, could be the common proverb “A Snake in the Grass,” which compares a devious or dishonest person to a snake attacking from its hiding location in the grass. “They dodge assaults by sinking into the shadows of heavy forest,” Servine’s White edition Pokedex entry says. They respond by using expert whipping tactics.”
Let’s check at botany since these are grass-types. There are a variety of plants that could appear in the designs of this range. The strelitzia bird-of-paradise, on the other hand, is the most plausible contender.
The strelitzia has the same yellow extensions that Snivy and Servine have in the form of collars, as well as a yellow-colored husk on the inside, as well as Serperior’s hood-like features that branch out around its head. These Pokemon may also be inspired by the acanthus plant, which was used extensively in Renaissance and 18th-century architectural designs.
The Snivy family is definitely modeled on European monarchy, particularly French rulers, as has been confirmed. Ken Sugimori’s explanation makes so much sense that you’d think he was in an early modern French history class. The decision to model the snake starter after European aristocracy is understandable. Snakes don’t give a damn about their offspring, and neither do most monarchs (instead hiring maids to do that for them). Snakes are frequently thought of as “slimy, ugly creatures,” therefore it’s understandable that many people would assign the same label to royalty.
However, it goes a step farther. Beginning in France under Cardinal Richelou in the mid-17th century, the political governing style of absolutism grew to rule most of Europe. In a nutshell, this thought held that absolute monarchical power was the ideal political system at the time, elevating the ruler to a position of significance and authority second only to God. Even nobles, who had previously been more powerful than kings in many states, now had significantly less authority than the Crown. King Louis XIV of France was the first ruler to popularize and implement absolute monarchy. And this approach appeared to work, as he drove France into the world’s preeminent power during his record-setting 72-year reign.
Louis pushed the concept of absolutism to its logical conclusion. In terms of authority, he was second only to God, and he held himself in high regard. His self-importance was so great that he considered himself as a god on Earth, performing divine acts from his rightful throne. In other words, old King Louis established the snobbish Frenchman caricature. These royal Pokemon are all clearly built with a bit of a pretentious air about them, so there’s little doubt that this self-loving air rubbed off on them. What other way could the Smugleaf meme have begun?
Serperior may absorb sunlight and use its rays to strengthen itself. This is most likely a result of Grass-types’ innate capacity to photosynthesize, as well as true snake behavior: exothermic (cold-blooded) serpents would spend half a day lounging around and absorbing all the heat they can so that they can hunt at night, when there is no sun to keep them warm. Serperior’s association with the sun, on the other hand, could be a reference to Louis XIV, who famously dubbed himself “The Sun King” after portraying the sun in a stage performance.
Louis was a fan of theater and other emerging, unpopular art forms. In that way, he was a hipster, but only as a reason to understand why the Snivy family is so arrogant. After this celestial-level performance, Louis assumed the title of Sun King and embraced the idea, displaying solar imagery throughout his opulent Versailles palace, which included a monument of Apollo (the Greek sun god) and a gorgeous garden that functioned as a chart of the sun’s location. Speaking of the garden, Serperior’s nature-French monarch combination may have been aided by another link with nature. Louis was a true outdoorsman who enjoyed strolling through his garden and going on a nice hunt (as did his father, Louis XIII, who enjoyed hunting so much he gave up governing for it). Serperior’s glaringly obvious pale skin, especially when juxtaposed to the more beige, natural skin tones seen on Snivy and Servine, suggests that Louis, like many monarchs of the time, had a fondness for whitening his skin, as did many monarchs of the time.
Serperior, in example, has an intricate pattern that, if not replicating the acanthus plant, could be a reference to the baroque art style that was prominent in Europe during Louis’ reign. The emphasis is on great extravagance, with intricate, decorative features intended to elicit emotion in the observer. In truth, Louis admired the look, as did the majority of rich Europeans who saw him as a trend-setter.
Serperior’s front also looks to be adorned with a fleur-de-lis. The fleur-de-lis is a symbol of European royalty that has been observed for hundreds of years and has been employed by various royal dynasties, like the House of Bourbon, which Louis XIV belonged to. Many French-descended North Americans, notably people in Canada and the former Louisiana region, see the fleur-de-lis as a sign of French identity today.
Given that I’ve been babbling for much too long, I suppose I’ll simply conclude this now. Most of what I described is unlikely to have been considered when the Snivy line was created; these may be coincidental at best. Regardless, I still regard the line as artsy, snooty, and regal, and while there’s little inspiration in these ideals, there’s still a connection. Wherever the seeds of this Pokemon were planted, it grew up to be as haughty as its appearance suggests.