An artist shows what Paradox Pokemon from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet might look like if they were in Paper Mario. Pokemon fans have a long history of celebrating their fandom through art. The Paradox Pokemon of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet have been particularly inspiring, prompting many artists to share their takes on these Pokemon of the past and future. Rather than create new Pokemon, however, this artist has decided to portray the Paradox Pokemon in an intriguing new style.
For those unfamiliar, Paradox Pokemon first appear in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, the latest main series Pokemon releases for the Nintendo Switch. They're dubbed Paradox Pokemon as they're quite literally pulled from the past and future via a time machine. Pokemon Scarlet draws inspiration from ancient times, while Pokemon Violet pulls from the future. Due to their strange nature, Paradox Pokemon are provided their own names rather than receiving a derivative based on the names of their modern Pokemon relatives.
Artist TimDrawsStuff recently shared their creative endeavor on the Pokemon subreddit. The title of their post is "The first few Paradox Pokemon for my Paper Paldea Project," along with a note saying that the project is already harder than they thought. The Paper Paldea Project is, assumedly, the artist's effort to translate all the Pokemon from Scarlet and Violet into the style of Paper Mario.
The four Pokemon that TimDrawsStuff chose to start with are all ancient Paradox Pokemon, meaning they're from the past. There's Great Tusk, an ancient form of Donphan, the Jigglypuff ancestor Scream Tail, Brute Bonnet, which is a form of Amoonguss, and the Misdreavus Paradox form Flutter Mane.
All four Paradox Pokemon have been remade with the Paper Mario style. Their features have been simplified into a more cartoonish style, their eyes are now small black circles, and their mouths are simply drawn lines. TimDrawsStuff even went so far as animating all four Pokemon, giving them a basic idle animation where they bob up and down. The Flutter Mane is especially impressive, given its many feathers.
Translating all of Paldea's Pokemon to the Paper Mario artistic style is quite the endeavor, but there's no question that TimDrawsStuff has the talent to make it into something special. These four Paradox Pokemon genuinely look like they'd fit perfectly in an official Paper Pokemon game. Perhaps with a bit of fan support, Game Freak might see the art and consider whether making a Paper Pokemon is a realistic possibility.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available now on Switch.