A talented Pokemon artist has shared a fan art that gives some Pokemon a makeover inspired by Japanese mythology. Pokemon has a universe rich in stories and designs and has even quite complex mythology for a children's game. To create this universe Game Freak seeks diverse inspirations, whether regional aspects, real-life animals and everyday objects, or others more complex such as mythologies and folklore.
Infernape is a powerful Fire-type Pokemon inspired by mythology, based on Sun Wukong. Known as the Monkey King, Wukong is a humanoid ape and an excellent martial fighter who appears in the Chinese epic Journey to the West. Widely reproduced in pop culture, Wukong has also inspired the creation of other characters like Goku. Another famous example is Magikarp and its evolution into Gyarados, referencing the Dragon Gate of Chinese mythology. According to this legend, if a carp can swim to the top of a waterfall in the Yellow River, it will transform into a mighty dragon.
Reddit user CanadianTurt1e posted on the Pokemon subreddit a fan art that reimagines some Pokemon with designs inspired by Japanese mythology. Ekans appear as a classic Japanese snake tattoo. The flowers are modeled after Soul Badge, and the sword has "Koga" engraved on it as a clever reference to the gym leader. Dragonite can be a fierce Pokemon, and the fan art imagines the Dragon-type as the yokai named Umibozu, a water monster from Japanese mythology. The design references the Pokemon anime episode where Ash sees a Dragonite in a lighthouse. Slowpoke is depicted as a hypnotized hippo and could be associated with a water monster.
The fan art reimagines Arcanine with a fierce design based on the Japanese statue of the lion-dog known as Komainu. In an interesting easter egg, the statue's emblem is similar to Cinnabar Island's Fire Badge. Ninetales is inspired by Japanese mythology, but the artist makes the Pokemon a bit more Japanese by giving its tails a flame design like from Japanese ukiyo-e art. Finally, Jinx, one of the Pokemon with the most controversial origin in the franchise, is transformed into a Yamamba, a mountain witch from Japanese mythology, with long yellow hair and a menacing look.
CanadianTurt1e's work is based around giving pop culture works a Japanese-themed look, with fan art dedicated to Courage the Cowardly Dog, and SpongeBob SquarePants. The artist has also done the same with other Pokemon such as Hitmonlee, Scyther, and Pinsir. Like their other works, this impressive Pokemon fan art achieves a beautiful result thanks to the impactful design. Another highlight is the artist's ability to keep the original visual identity of the Pokemon while satisfactorily incorporating the desired inspirations.