On the Origin of Species: Nosepass and Probopass: Investigating the inspirations behi

[System Error]

Re: On the Origin of Species: Nosepass and Probopass: Investigating the inspirations

I always thought Probopass was a Jewish reference. No, srsly. Big nose, mustache, but what convinced me the most is how its menu sprite's got the little hat. I'm no antisemite, but it's what first came to my mind for some reason. Keep in mind that the Japanese do view the Jews in a positive light, so if this is the case and I am not a crazy man, it's likely to be done with positive intent.

 

[Kambash]

Re: On the Origin of Species: Nosepass and Probopass: Investigating the inspirations

A question, will you ever cover the Pixie Trio(Uxie etc)?I know their apparent origins are stated very clear on bulba,but me and other people were wondering if maybe they were also related to that "see no evil ,hear no evil..." Chinese myth about a trio of monkeys?

There is a fourth monkey that was supposed to represent do no evil, i.e. rape, murder, steal. No, seriously. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Three_wise_monkeys&oldid=368218160

 

[SkyknightXi]

Re: On the Origin of Species: Nosepass and Probopass: Investigating the inspirations

Actually, I think that originated in Japan, not China, on account of wordplay involving the words for "monkey" (zaru/saru) and "evil" (waru).

 

[The_Qu]

Re: On the Origin of Species: Nosepass and Probopass: Investigating the inspirations

Me, I'm waiting for Froslass; I know Hutcheon made an allusion to covering her in the future in Jynx's column. Although there are definitely others I'd like to hear about, like Snorunt (domovoi), Sableye (wichtlein? Or some other at-least-slightly-malicious mine spirit...), and Anorith (I just enjoy hearing about anomalocarids. Now when is GameFreak going to release an opabinia-based pokemon...?).

But back to Probopass...The Tangata Manu is actually one of the earliest recruitable daemons in Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey. So, I found myself wondering if the mini-noses on Probopass might be based on Tangata, since the picture used in SJ looks kind of like those noses...

Sableye is actually based on the Hopkinsville Goblin. I did a write up on the origin of Sableye here that goes into moderate detail on how it is based on it. Still, a writeup from Hutcheon would be welcome.

 

[SkyknightXi]

Re: On the Origin of Species: Nosepass and Probopass: Investigating the inspirations

I found that out from the Bulbapedia entry on Sableye *after* I posted that. {grumble} Although all those gemstones--not just the ruby|topaz and sapphire|emerald, but also its diamond eyes--still put me in mind of mine spirits from European folklore. Hopkinsville Goblin with a touch of wichtlein or kobold?

On a side note, the fact that it can't learn Hyper Beam or Giga Impact, even via TM, is a sure sign that it's not meant to be considered a final-phase pokemon. (Mawile, on the other hand, is, since it CAN use those TMs.) Somehow, I'm anticipating a Rock/Ghost evolution for it in a future generation...

 

[Gronarak]

Re: On the Origin of Species: Nosepass and Probopass: Investigating the inspirations

People seriously need to read these articles. Then and only then will they stop claiming that Pokemon after the 2nd Gen were badly designed. Probopass is still ugly but that doesn't make it 'badly designed.'

I did say that before. Now I've changed my mind.

Awesome, awesome new articles. I always thought Nosepass was just this weird... nose... thing. And then Probopass was just some sort of Mario reference. I dunno. It was ugly. Now I like them.

TBH, I didn't bother to check up on these after Mew because I didn't think there would be any more for a long time. And now there were two to read. A half hour of my life well-spent.

Now I need more. =V