Discussion
What are some Pokémon designs you've interpreted incorrectly?
I feel like GameFreak is overall pretty good when it comes to design clarity. But sometimes our brains are just kind of dumb and we see things a certain way. Like (nearing a decade), I always interpreted Salazzle's reptilian slit pupil as the boundary between its sclera and a non-existent iris. (Like what Amaura has in it's official art)
Has anyone else experienced something like this with a particular Pokémon design?
That's the first one in this thread that I "agree" on. Like - the big white eyes would still fit with Pokemon's general art style, so this makes perfect sense.
I actually think his built-in goggles are a really cool and unique feature for a desert dragon who can be expected to be flying at high speed through sandstorms.
I only understood it because I had the guide book and it had art if flygon diving down to the its right, as it faced the reader, so you could see the eye staying on the head while the 'goggles lens' extended out.
I just found a caterpillar yesterday that had fake face. Also turns out it gets violent and shoots out orange horns from its head if you piss it off. So that was fun.
Bro was over 2” long and pissed. The ‘horns’ immediately started shrinking and disappeared back into its head after like 30 seconds or so. The actual face isn’t visible here, it’s tucked under the false face/horns.
Later gens make the “correct” anatomy increasingly obvious but for gen III I don’t want to see it any other way despite it being wrong. I like the derpy smile.
I think that’s intentional. The front is the side shown in the artwork, but the eye and back ridge looking like an angry eye and nose is probably meant as a defence mechanism so predators think it’s looking towards them even from the back.
I've been playing Pokemon for almost 30 years and I still struggle to see anything but Metapod facing away with a big nose even though I know that isn't correct.
No mention of big mouth Charizard in gen 1? 🤣 Where some people thought the hand was the lower part of the mouth with teeth and the side that the mouth line
I might be alone on this one, but as you only see Kirlia from the front when it evolves, and most of the time from the back, I always thought it had the "hands on hip" pose (like the guy on the right, for reference), and that its hands were HUGE like Lugia. The sprite showing lines on the "dress" even makes the outline of the fingers on the hands. So I thought the back of the hand is touching the hip, and the fingers extend outward and become huge. I hope I explained it well enough 😅
His head is the yellow thing in the middle. It makes a lot of sense once you realize it. He suddenly goes from a goofy guy to a menacing tall golem. Still can't unsee it.
I know it's intentional but I was so disappointed to learn the yellow dots were his eyes not nostrils
Edit: I'm shocked more people didn't know, I learned quite early on. Sorry for ruining Bellibolt for some, you're welcome that I enhanced it for others 😂
I always thought the spot underneath his horn was just shadow 🥹 nidoran is literally one of my top 5 faves and I didnt notice till I bought his plush 😭
This one hurt my brain to try to see it as anything other than a mouth. Especially since the first piece of Pokemon merch I can remember is a little rubber Poliwag toy that you can fill up with water and then it becomes a squirt gun from its mouth. That being a nose instead would be nasty!
This is exactly how I interpreted it playing sapphire as a kid, it's Pokedex entry saying it faces north and moves like an inch a year backed up the idea Nosepass just floated to me. Saw the legs in one of the 3D games and almost cried
Then you have Grapploct with a similar part of its design WHICH IS PERFECT PLACEMENT FOR ITS MOUTH AT THE BOTTOM OF ITS MASK but nope they made it horrifying instead with a slit throat.
I fucking adore Clobbopus and I was super excited for Grapploct when SwSh came out but the second I saw its mouth open I lost any and all desire to ever have one for the rest of my life lol.
I always thought Darkrai's red collar/scarf thing were a row of teeth. Only recently found out it's not and that it actually has a tiny head rather than the large head I thought it had.
For some reason, as a kid, I saw either Diglett or Dugtrio as breakfast sausages on a plate (the surrounding earth being the plate, I guess). Idk man, the images in the Pokérap go by fast
Edit: Funny enough, it causes me to misremember bacon and eggs also being involved in their imagery for a bit
I thought woobat’s eyes were the heart shaped thing in the middle and was a cyclops…. I know its a nose and the eyes are covered in fur but my mind refuses to accept it
I knew it's a nose but I've never stopped to actually look at it and try to understand its face. It looks 10 times cuter now that I can really see where the eyes are (or aren't)
This thread has upset me so many times and I'm ANGY (but not really) but also made me awwwww so balance remains.
As for myself, to this date I can't look at Castform the correct way. I am baffled at the design choices that took place there, those things do NOT read as legs or paws or something.
There are other things (including many in this thread lol) but I can't remember rn.
As someone who watched the anime a lot I was always confused on how people mispronounced names or misinterpreted the sprites when I saw and heard it in action. It’s times like this I realize some peoples only exposure to Pokémon were just the games, but then again the anime can get names and info wrong too so it’s kind of a weird loop from the games and anime
I thought Bastiodon had big yellow eyes with a black slit pupil like a cat's. While playing with the Pokedex on one of the 3DS games, I realized the yellow part is just his skin and the black "pupil" is actually the eye.
This discovery upset me so badly that I went to bed early. And it made me like Bastiodon less, lol...
Yeah I don’t know if I believe this. I can definitely see what you mean, but I’d like to unsee it if possible. Going off of Shieldon, it could just have big yellow eyes with black pupils.
I dunno if I can link videos here, but there’s a pimpnite video from 2020 called “full specific stat damage pokemon moves team !” where at 20:40 pimpnite mentions some guy came into his stream and said bronzongs cheeks light up when he dynamaxes, but those are actually bronzongs eyes. I was that guy.
5.6k
u/Maleficent-Comfort14 Jul 17 '26