SITPW: Golurk

[Anime Psyclone]

This is Science in the Pokemon World. We will be looking at various Pokemon and things in the Pokemon series and explain the science behind them.

Ah, Golurk. Nobody really knows what you are… A golem that can fly… Ok. I am sure I am not the only person confused by Golurk. We need to know what it is.

“It flies across the sky at Mach speeds. Removing the seal on its chest makes its internal energy go out of control.” “Golurk were created to protect people and Pokémon. They run on a mysterious energy.” Those dex entries show that a weird energy powers this Ghost type. But why Ghost? It could be a Ground/Steel, a Ground/Psychic, or just a Ground type.

The Ghost type is referencing a jewish myth known as the Golem, a clay(Ground) statue with a spirit(Ghost) in it. Praque Golems even have a cracked chest that is sealed off, like Golurk.

The energy that we can safely say is the strange spirit in a golem allows it to fly. I didn’t do much digging even in my own religion’s culture, but I couldn’t find anything about flying golems.

So, as we learned, Golurk is just a Praque Golem that is still active. And 9 feet tall. Now that I think about it, Golurk is more of the size of modern depictions of golems, being taller then most humans. Strange.

P.S. I plan to post a SITPW every Tuesday and Thursday.

 

[Maniacal Engineer]

Golurk's typing makes perfect sense, given its real world inspiration.

In the story of the Golem of Prague, the Maharal, a Jewish Rabbi, built the body of the golem out of dirt, ground, and infused it with a living spirit, ghost.
The golem was meant to both act as a protector to the Jewish population of Prague, which was under constant attack by the local non-Jewish population, and to help the Maharal maintain the local synagogue and act as his aide.

The original golem did not have a crack on its chest, instead, to bring it to life, the Maharal inscribed the Hebrew word אמת, or Truth, on to the forehead of the golem. When the golem had served its purpose, the Maharal erased the first letter of the word and changed it to מת, or death. The spirit then left the dirt, making it just dirt again.

As for why Golurk can fly, that I have no answer to, at least based on the story of the Golem of Prague. However, as the Golem of Prague is just one of the inspirations for Golurk, perhaps the answer lies elsewhere.

Incidentally, I themed the Golem of Prague for a bit on this forum.

 

[Enzap]

I assume it can fly since it also takes inspiration from mecha anime. Pokémon very rarely just have one real life or cultural origin. As for HOW it can fly... Pokémon physics

 

[Anime Psyclone]

As for why Golurk can fly, that I have no answer to, at least based on the story of the Golem of Prague. However, as the Golem of Prague is just one of the inspirations for Golurk, perhaps the answer lies elsewhere.

Maybe it’s based on a large robot? That’s what Bulbapedia says... Maybe that explains why it can learn fly, but it tucks in it’s arms and legs and shoots fire out of it’s ‘skirt’ to do so. A robot would use a jetpack. And it being based on robots is a reason why Ground/Steel would work.

 

[CrystaI]

Well, it is not like there doesn't exist giant mecha that fly by tucking its leg.

Spoiler

In this case, it doesn't even have leg from the very beginning.
BTW, this one is in fact quite a VERY famous robot in Japan. If you don't know...... Well, you don't know the culture of Japan at all.

 

[ManUtd22]

Well, I really love golruk, and I take one, which was awesome, however it take a time to reach it in the games. The most difficult thing is to know that it is a ground