Religion In The Pokémon World

[BlackButterfree]

As fans, we clearly have our own jokes about religion in the Pokémon World (Lord Arceus, Lord Goomy, Lord Helix, Bird Jesus, etc.) but in the Pokémon games themselves, the actual canon we've had people worship Arceus (the Sinjoh people), Rayquaza (the Draconids) and possibly the Tao Trio.

But every single region has a cemetary. (Lavender Town for both Kanto/Johto, Mt. Pyre for Hoenn, Lost Tower for Sinnoh, Celestial Tower for Unova, and Route 14 in Kalos) While not inherently Christian, as most cultures bury their dead, these sites are considered sacred, with the Lost Tower even sharing the same route as the Hallowed Tower, a holy tower where Spiritomb was imprisoned for its sins. Sacred ground, or consecrated ground, is very much a Christian ideal.

Also, in Sinnoh, there's what appears to be a MASSIVE Catholic Church in Hearthome City, just Southwest of the Pokémon Center. There's also many similarities between Arceus and God, and we've all heard the "Giratina is Poké-Satan" theory. And with Kalos being based on France (a country whose very architecture is highly intertwined with its religion), albeit unintentionally, they make reference to Christianity, particularly with the Tower of Mastery and the Pokémon League, with Diantha's Radiant Chamber in particular drawing attention.

Then again, multiple religions might exist in the Pokémon world. Unova's Pokémon league is very reminiscent of Ancient Greek and Roman architecture, and both cultures were polytheistic (AKA worshipped more than one God).

And then there's the question if gods are worshipped, or legendary Pokémon.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Sacred ground is universal religious concept. You'd be hard pressed to find a religion anywhere that doesn't have some sort of holy land

I've already talked about the Arceus = God concept in a blog, so I won't repeat my thoughts here. However, I've always thought that the religion was kind of spotty. This is understandable, since on the whole Japanese people don't get too bothered about religion. To me, the worship of legendaries always looked more like a sort of poké-Shintoism than anything else. I mean, there are hardly any temples to them, no code of laws, next to no formal worship - all traits of Shintoism

The church is a bit of an odd one. I suspect it wasn't elaborated on much further to keep the games nice and religiously neutral. In fact, I suspect it was really there to look pretty, which is quite understandable. Christianity has produced some great architecture

EDIT: Just to clarify, I'm aware that Shintoism has priests and temples. My point is that it is a much looser religion compared to other major world religions

 

[BlackButterfree]

Sacred ground is universal religious concept. You'd be hard pressed to find a religion anywhere that doesn't have some sort of holy land

I've already talked about the Arceus = God concept in a blog, so I won't repeat my thoughts here. However, I've always thought that the religion was kind of spotty. This is understandable, since on the whole Japanese people don't get too bothered about religion. To me, the worship of legendaries always looked more like a sort of poké-Shintoism than anything else. I mean, there are hardly any temples to them, no code of laws, next to no formal worship - all traits of Shintoism

The church is a bit of an odd one. I suspect it wasn't elaborated on much further to keep the games nice and religiously neutral. In fact, I suspect it was really there to look pretty, which is quite understandable. Christianity has produced some great architecture

EDIT: Just to clarify, I'm aware that Shintoism has priests and temples. My point is that it is a much looser religion compared to other major world religions

I do like that it seems to be part of a pantheon. I don't really know much about Shinto gods, but the Greek ones were immortal until they were killed (if they weren't killed by another sentient being, they'd never die of any other cause), and it seems to be that way with the legends as well.

 

[DasManiac]

Religion in the Pokemon World is not a widely presented subject. We know that certain Pokemon are worshipped as deities. Ghetsis confirmed that Reshiram and Zekrom are worshipped as deities in Unova. In Sinnoh there is obviously Arceus and there are some worshippers in the Johto region. Hoenn throws a bone in it by having different religions. The Draconids worshipped Rayquaza but Team Aqua mentions Poseidon meaning that at some point in time, some people in the Pokemon world believed in that Pantheon.

 

[Esserise]

Hmm. Well, it has always seemed to me that religion has kind of been phased out by modern progress in the Pokémon world. Obviously not entirely, as there are still religious buildings like the church/Foreign Building (Suggestive of a non-native religion? But then why have a stained-glass mural of Mt. Coronet?) in Hearthome, and the people in there seemed to worship the relationship between people and Pokémon. But on the whole, I have always gotten the impression that the Pokémon world's society has become so technological and science-based that religion has sort of faded into the background, although the general populace still appears to respect most cultural beliefs and sacred constructs, like Snowpoint Temple and the Ruins of Alph. However, most of what we see or hear that would indicate a religion usually comes from elderly people, or from people who study myths. Or the Draconids, who are a secretive cult.

As you said, Arceus and Rayquaza do have modern worshipers (some few people in Johto who carry on the traditions of the Sinjoh clan, and the Draconids, respectively), but in the wider scheme of things, they don't garner much recognition. Rayquaza is barely ever seen anyway, so not many people even know that it exists, and similarly, Arceus has faded into obscurity so bad that not even Sinnoh natives who know of it can tell you what its actual name is.

Most people seem to regard Legendary Pokémon (particularly the A-listers; i.e. most of the ones that are banned from Battle Facilities) as mere myths, if they have even heard of those myths. But then there are ones such as Tornadus, Cresselia, Heatran, and even Xerneas/Yveltal, which some people have actually seen for themselves or have legitimate historical records of, but few think of them as being anything more than remarkably powerful Pokémon.

Don't ask me about things like the Punk Girl in Kiloude who gives you the DNA Splicers or the Hiker/Street Thug looking for a Genesect; I just don't know.

but Team Aqua mentions Poseidon meaning that at some point in time, some people in the Pokemon world believed in that Pantheon.

Really? Wow, that's very interesting. I wonder what their version of Poseidon (and, presumably, the rest of that pantheon) is like; are they comparable to ours, or do they have their own spin on it? I highly doubt that we will ever get an answer, but that is fantastic food for thought.

 

[Boshi234]

Religion in the world of Pokémon? A world where you can capture god like supernatural creatures. There are probably more than one group that worships Legendary Pokémon which would make it polytheistic whoever Sinnoh seems polytheistic as well since many people in ancient times in the real world worshipped more than one diety but still believed one old god created reality. It seems the worship of Legendary Pokémon has faded in the world since many haven't seen these beings so they doubt their existence or are surrounded in myths and legends, hence them known as Legendary Pokémon.

 

[CrystaI]

From my POV of the Pokemon world, together with the understandings of Japanese culture, I wouldn't even called such things as "religions" within the Pokemon world, as those are not "religions" from literal meanings.

If I have to state out an equivalent comparison with our real-world, I'll rather go take the Roman and Greek mythologies. Roman and Greek mythologies is not a kind of "religion", but merely a collection of traditional myths and ancient legends passed down by ancestors, where mostly are stories related to the natural aspects or its embodiments, historical heroes and cultural origins, etc. There are a few selected people such as tribes from such ancient culture worship it as a form of religion, there are even ancient buildings and historical ruins and monuments around the world to suggest the truth of those myths. But to the overall general POV of the whole world, it is not "religion" by nowadays general meaning.

From my POV, I take the same Roman/Greek mythologies logic to the Legendary Pokemon in the Pokemon world.

 

[Det]

I don't believe Arceus is actually god, but people worship him like a mythologic creature. Maybe by ignorance or maybe because they feel conected to it the same way some real people have strong conection to nature and the earth.

 

[SquadalaGuy]

I'd love to see a parody of snake cults like Conan the Barbarian, but instead of worshiping snakes, you worship Lucy as your goddess.

I'd do that

 

[Beth Pavell]

As a Christian myself, I hope Pokemon stays away from (monotheistic) religion. I am angry enough with them making Arceus...

Why? The only thing Arceus has in common with the Christian God is that it is a creator. Something that is shared by any number of deities (Off the top of my head, Brahma, Izanagi and Izanami, the God of Judeism, Islam, Zoroastianism)

 

[Boss1708]

Why? The only thing Arceus has in common with the Christian God is that it is a creator. Something that is shared by any number of deities (Off the top of my head, Brahma, Izanagi and Izanami, the God of Judeism, Islam, Zoroastianism)

It just bugs me that the supposed god of the Pokemon World can be captured into a Poke Ball... But you are right that it is too vague to be a problem... Also, it kinda comes to show that none of the Pokemon is really a god in the Pokemon World.

Tbh I am more annoyed with fans using the "Arceus jokes" than with the actual Pokemon. But that's off topic.

 

[Beth Pavell]

Tbh I am more annoyed with fans pullin the "Arceus jokes" than with the actual Pokemon.

Well, I can understand that. I'm not a Christian, but I'm fed up of the Arceus = God thing. It's a tired old idea, and one that doesn't really fit. I still maintain that Arceus has more in common with a Shinto deity, like an awful lot of other pokémon

 

[Det]

Nothing against other beliefs, but why some need to put Christian deity as being the only conception of god? There many others religions that have other definitions. Also, the games never relate Arceus to any existing religion. It's just a fictitious faith in a game, which is practiced on a specific region by a group of people.

At no time was specified that this was the "official religion" of all the NPCs .
But makes sense people in this world give explanation to the Pokemon as the causes of the universe. Probablt there are several religions that worship several other legendary Pokemon.

 

[Maniacal Engineer]

Just throwing my two cents in here.

The idea of graves or burial places being holy or sacred is not unique to Christianity, and, in fact, wasn't even started by Christianity.
Judaism has a concept of always burying a person on the day they die out of respect for the dead person. We also visit the graves of our family members and/or important figures and pray for their souls.
In some cultures, there is Dia de Los Muertos, which is another way of honoring the dead. IIRC, part of the tradition is to go to the graves and have a picnic.

Point is, even if graveyards are considered sacred of holy, it isn't any indication of a specific religion, or even one that currently exists.
The Pokemon world is a world that values culture and tradition, as is seen by all the mythology in the main series games, as well as the respect shown to locations that had clearly been used for religious purposes at some point, such as the Snowpoint Temple.

There may have been religion in the Pokemon world at one point, but I see no holidays, rituals, or any other indication of a widespread globally accepted religion.

 

[Beth Pavell]

I don't see why religious people in the Pokémon world would necessarily worship legendary pokémon at all. I'm not saying it makes no sense, but it would make just as much sense that they would worship gods that have nothing to do with pokémon at all

 

[CrystaI]

Before one ask about the possible religions in Pokemon World, rather ask yourself this question first: What is religion? Whether it is Christianity, Buddhism, Shintoism, Taoism, Islamism, or whatsoever, where does the religions in our world came from?

I read a few religion discussion in the Japanese light novel writing community, the writers in there are really open-minded, they don't stuck themselves within the understanding of one single religion. By looking at the origin of religion, writers can then invent many fictitious religion according to your story. It never ever have to be the Real-Life religion that we all knew of.

I apply the same logic to Pokemon World. Remember, religion is part of a culture of one specific society. As the culture of Pokemon World is obviously all based on pokemons, anthropological/ethnological/sociological background is all different from our Real-Life, so it must have religions different from our Real-Life. Why it must be Christianity, Buddhism, Shintoism, Taoism, Islamism, or whatsoever religions we knew already? Why can't it be something else completely different?

Edit: For the one who can read Japanese, you can read the discussion in here to deepen your view about religions in story-writing.

 

[Jersey Jimmy]

As I read through this thread, I came to the conclusion that the Pokemon world doesn't have religions like ours. While real-world religions worship gods that may not be real and humans that are long dead (Jesus, Muhammad, what have you), it seems that the "religious" in the Pokemon world almost exclusively worship legendary Pokemon such as Arceus and Rayquaza that can be confirmed do exist.

However, this doesn't necessarily mean they're actual deities. For example, as an atheist, I believe Jesus was a real person who did a lot of good things. I don't believe he was the son of God, could walk on water, etc. Since we're talking about a completely different universe, though, either could be true. Arceus could have very well created the entire world, but not even the Pokedex outright confirms it did. Its entries are almost always preface with "In the legends of Sinnoh" or "it is told in mythology."

In the end, I think religious people are actually a minority in the Pokemon world. Kanto in particular doesn't have any Pokemon that could feasibly be worshipped (the bird trio aren't as rare, Mew is only believed to be insanely rare instead of a deity, and Mewtwo was created from Mew). Maybe there was a time where many people worshipped these legendary Pokemon (the church in Hearthome could be an ancient structure) but religion gradually fell out of favor? I think in the end, it's best left to the player's interpretation.

 

[Pandora]

Well, I can understand that. I'm not a Christian, but I'm fed up of the Arceus = God thing. It's a tired old idea, and one that doesn't really fit. I still maintain that Arceus has more in common with a Shinto deity, like an awful lot of other pokémon

I'm with you. I'm not christian and I'm not into any religion despite sympathize with budhism and others like, but is really odd think Arceus is a god like Pokemon but can be caugh in a Pokeball. It means the Platinum trainer became the strongest creature in the universe and god is Lucas/Dawn pet, which is... at least... odd.

I think Arceus may have created most pokemons species and has a big role in the world equilibrium, but he's not God in its purest concept. The fact remains that there are religions and temples to worship him, the same way the the draconics worships Rayquiazza, and so go on...