Realistic Pokémon Biology | Part I

Have you ever wondered what Pokémon might look like as realistic lifeforms? An analysis of the hypothetical biology of RJ Palmer’s incredible realistic Pokémon.
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By their very nature, Pokémon are highly stylized, so reimagining them as biologically feasible lifeforms presents an exciting challenge. This concept is the idea behind the Realistic Pokémon project, a series by RJ Palmer, aka ‘Arvalis’ who is so talented he was hired to assist with the designs for movies like Detective Pikachu.

His art imagines what kind of biology a more scientifically grounded version of a Pokémon might have — often with fascinating results.

So, this entry into the archive will be a Pokémon nature documentary of sorts, examining Palmer’s redesigned Pokémon as if they were real animals.

0:00 Realistic Pokémon
1:38 Venusaur
2:46 Charizard
3:30 Blastoise
4:30 Dragonite
5:17 Eevee
5:49 Arcanine
6:29 Nidoking
6:52 Honchkrow
7:22 Garchomp
7:47 Scyther
8:15 Gengar
9:00 Zoroark
9:25 Reshiram
9:56 Groudon
10:39 Outro

Copyright Disclaimer: Under section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for “fair use” for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, education, and research. All video/image content is edited under fair use rights for reasons of commentary.

I do not own the images, music, or footage used in this video. All rights and credit goes to the original owners.

♫ Music: Infinite
SergePavkinMusic

Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

#CuriousArchive #Pokémon #SpeculativeBiology

[RJPalmer]

Wow it came out so great! Thanks very much for the kind words and thorough explanation of my works.

[haram]

The gengar bats are actually creative, the idea of a ghost type being represented by illusions and all, like real life, how animals were depicted as evil spirits before

[tropicaldragicorn]

I love that the eyes on Ghastly are now the ears of the bat- it’s genius

[philiptaram]

This reminds me of when you translate a sentence into a different language, then back to the original, and it's something new, that's what this artist has basically done with these pokemon, translating what were originally inspired by real world animals back into realistical animals. I love it.

[BHuang]

This would be a fascinating yet nightmarish world with some very op and potentially world ending

[riohudson]

Charizard's bipedal stance as an intimidation display rather than a normal walking gait really gives charizard the vibe of a winged reptilian Grizzly Bear rather than a dragon, which I personally think is even more badass.

[sayospecter]

Not gonna lie, turning Gastly's comical eyes into a pair of large bat ears is pretty smart.

I'd like to think people from the ancient times mistook the ears for a pair of big eyes staring at them from the darkness in their panic, and thus Gastly's depiction as spectral floating heads came to be.

[Alteori]

I've always loved realistic art of Pokemon

[Inky_]

I had an idea that the bulbasaur and oddish had a symbiotic relationship cause they’ve got features of the same flower on them idk just thought that idea of a oddish chilling on a venusaurs back would be adorable 🥺

[officersoulknight]

I’d imagine The Eevee line as actually being a bunch of subspecies with identical Cubs but distinct adult forms. Also, Realistic diglett is cuter than canonical diglett.

[Geartomb]

You know, in a weird way, this all feels very similar to monster hunter, many of the monster hunter designs are based in real world biology but turned up to 11, and seeing garchomp look something like a cephadrome actually makes me appreciate both series

[gianaepps]

anybody else feel like arcanine/growlithe should look more like a canine? loved the detail in the reimaginings but always felt like they were kind of a cross between feline and canine

[aeonmatter]

I like how people would take something so simple into something so complicated like realistic Pokemon

[keeganh]

His version of the Dragonite line actually looks like related Pokémon unlike the originals

[Ambassador-..]

Love how he made Ghastly's ears look like the cartoon counter parts, eyes. Awesome!

[ryonhatcher]

I look forward to the other Pokemon Designs Arvalis has in store. I may not be an expert on Pokemon, but My favorite is Zapdos, who was based off of the Thunderbird from Native American Mythology.

[yourstruly]

Man, groudon really lived up to his title as a legendary Pokemon in that realistic art

[danielo]

Please please continue this as a series. Mixing one of my favorite topics and favorite new channels… love it

[aihlle]

I don’t even watch pokemon but the speculative-biology-ish description adds a unique combination of realism and scientific fantasy in its world that it fascinates me

[FlyToTheRain]

i used to follow this artist on dA years ago! i remember detective pikachu coming out and hearing that the film worked with them on the project. i'm so glad this was made with consent from the artist, i'll definitely be seeing if i can get my hands on their book