On the Origin of Species: Jynx: Investigating the inspirations behind Pokémon

[Casual Cnidarian]

I think in the pokemon stadium 2 pokedex, if you rotate her image, you can see that there isn't anything below her waist.:-/

I think that's what I was talking about...

Pokemon Stadium 2 is a spin-off, so what does it matter?

It's just a thought to keep in the back of the mind.

 

[The Outrage]

In the end, though, I decided to leave the matter of whether Psyduck is actually a platypus for another day, and talk about Jynx instead.

You know it fucking isn't :banghead:

Interesting... I'd never heard that before, but it might tie in with the yuki-onna idea (some descriptions of them are quite similar).

Well, the way Jynx is portrayed in Stadium when she faints suggests there is nothing under there. She disappears into her hair.

Personally, when I was a child I always thought Jynx was just that, an empty space.

 

[SharKing]

Psyduck's apparent lack of feathers and ability to fly, along with its claws, suggest that its design draws inspiration from a platypus with some influence from ducks.

'Nuff said.

 

[PDL]

'Nuff said.

Please don't kill the joke.

 

[TTEchidna]

Pokemon Stadium 2 is a spin-off, so what does it matter?

It's a battle arena game. Not a spin-off. Spin-offs have no connection to the main series. Stadium 2 practically requires you to have at least one main series game from Gen I or II.

Anyway, as for Jynx, what I wonder is how many of you acknowledge its controversy when you see one, or in the nicknames? I swear I've named at least one Jynx I've caught "Carole", after the woman who brought up the controversy. Horrible of me to do? Not horrible? What? I mean... I do have my fair share of not-appropriate names... Robert(Bob the Snorlax, Fucker Wow the Nidoran♀...

 

[Ivysaur]

It's a battle arena game. Not a spin-off. Spin-offs have no connection to the main series. Stadium 2 practically requires you to have at least one main series game from Gen I or II.

It was developed independently from the main series, and it's not a handheld adventure title. It's a battle arena game, but also a spin-off. Pokemon Stadium 2 also doesn't require a main series game; nearly every mode is completely playable without one.

Pokemon Dash and Pokemon Channel can connect to the main series games too, but they're still spin-offs as well.

Anyway, to be on-topic, this was a very well-written article, despite the fact I was already aware of Jynx's potential origins.

 

[winstein]

Wow, this is the longest article I had read from your series, and you weren't kidding when you said it will be longer! Anyway, because I live in a country where racial unity is pretty much blended in culture, I couldn't understand the implications for this kind of bias. To me, Jynx is just another Pokemon to have.

 

[SharKing]

^ I deeply wish the rest of the world could understand racial unity. But it's just wishful thinking.

 

[DRaB]

http://pokemontruth.blogspot.com/ <-- Pokemon is a Communist/Satanist conspiracy.

@TTEchidna: That's a pretty mean thing to do. Jynx deserves better treatment than that.

Honestly, if the designers noticed the resemblance to a racist caricature, I'm pretty sure they would have tweaked it BEFORE release, as they know that it would only hurt their sales to keep it in. And since when do blackface actors wear long blonde wigs anyway? I can't stand Carole Weatherford.

And as far as determinisng Jynx's true origin is concerned... can't someone just ASK the designers? Nintendo doesn't kill them all off after they've finished the job, right?

 

[SharKing]

http://pokemontruth.blogspot.com/ <-- Pokemon is a Communist/Satanist conspiracy.

Whoever made that site just failed so hard, there aren't enough facepalms for it.

 

[Ivysaur]

http://pokemontruth.blogspot.com/ <-- Pokemon is a Communist/Satanist conspiracy.

I just read the first couple of paragraphs on the top of the page, and I already have a headache.

 

[lmao]

http://pokemontruth.blogspot.com/ <-- Pokemon is a Communist/Satanist conspiracy.

That person has to be a troll; such lollery. It's just sad that some (very few) people think like that.

-
OT: Anyhow, I loved reading this article; very interesting. I've always loved Jynx.

 

[Some_Gamer_Dude]

I think Jynx had more appeal black, design wise. The purple is rather bland.

As for the controversy, ah, I never really thought about it until I read about it. Same goes for Golliwoggs. I don't see how it's offensive at all unless the depiction is all 'LOL BLACK PEOPLE ARE SILLY BECAUSE THEY'RE NOT HUMANS AND THEY'RE NOT WHITE LOLOLOL' or some such rot. It'd be like The Simpsons demeans White People or 1920s Mickey Mouse demeans Mice. Reading things into things that aren't there.

As for this Carole woman, just by the name of her article she strikes me as a PC Thug.

 

[Youngster_Joey]

http://pokemontruth.blogspot.com/ <-- Pokemon is a Communist/Satanist conspiracy.

Wow that is the next best thing to a site dedicated to Obama being the anti-christ.

Anyway, I was personally never offended by Jynx's design... Probably because I didn't really understand those connotations back when I was about 10 years old.

It's a great read as always. It's a shame how all these controversies come up due to a cultural misunderstanding.

 

[Bug Catcher Wade]

The mountain spirit makes the most sense to me. it fits the physical description of the blong hair, lips, and red dress, and fit the ice type well.

the black skin, im inclined to think came from the fact that it made the face easier to make out on the sprite, so the art was done to fit that.

 

[Chicken Nugget]

I am glad to see this article. I think it is important to recognize that some characters and pokemon get misconstrued when distributed to different cultures that have different perceptions. Especially since we have new characters which there is no ambiguity about their ethnicity.

I know some people will take it the wrong way, or intentionally create controversy where there ought to be none. I have never considered Jynx a racist based pokemon. I am glad to see more diversity put into the characters. To me, this is more realistic of what a population looks like. In fact, if they continued to make all characters with similar appearances, then that sort of ignorance where we refuse to acknowledge diversity would be far more racist and insulting than allowing for there to be varying degrees of ethnic groups.

 

[Dogasu]

Well, this article certainly blows the one I wrote for my site out of the water. Great job.

There are two things I would have mentioned, though:

1) Musashi and Kojirou dress up like ganguro girls in two episodes; "The Battle of the St. Anne" and "The Legend of Miniryuu."
2) What about Moochul / Smoochum?

Regardless...great job.

 

[SmearglePaints]

Well, this article certainly blows the one I wrote for my site out of the water. Great job.

I'd post it up anyways. There's a variety of opinions to be had and tons of ways to express them. Would love to read your take after this.

2) What about Moochul / Smoochum?

I always saw Smoochum as an attempt to solidify Jynx as a purple creature and to cater to people that mistakenly thought it was tangible.

 

[m190049]

Just came to mentioned that that Psyduck bit in the beginning made me laugh for about 5 minutes strait.

Oh, and that PokemonTruth blog posted in the thread was also hilarious.
You can tell by the way it was written that it was meant to be a joke.
Too bad they didn't write more. I would have enjoyed it.

 

[V Faction]

There are two things I would have mentioned, though:

1) Musashi and Kojirou dress up like ganguro girls in two episodes; "The Battle of the St. Anne" and "The Legend of Miniryuu."
2) What about Moochul / Smoochum?

And as an added coincidence, I was rewatching some of the classic episodes today, and was a viewer to that very scene.

I'd love an addendum about Smoochum. Something that makes it out to be more than (what I see it as) a down-sized Jynx charicature.