Pokémon seems like such a tightly run ship that it feels like final designs and products have been locked in for ages. In recent years, fans have seen via leaks and other releases how vastly things can change before release.
Many of the Pokémon designs change numerous times during the creation process and some of them get slight modifications, whereas others look alien to what was in the final release. It’s time to look at ten Pokémon who changed in terms of design before they were unveiled with the announcement of their existence. All of the art used in this article was done by Rachel Briggs (@RacieBeep) and Geordinho (Geordinho on DeviantArt).
10 Scyther
If you happened to be a kid in the late 90s then chances are you fell in love with Scyther almost instantaneously. It has a naturally cool design as it merges the best design elements of both dragons and insects. Its beta design was much more hideous and the intimidating warrior we came to admire was a pudgy and weird amalgamation. It always had its striking green color, but it was much more chubby dragon than it was an insect. Thankfully The Pokémon Company did the right thing and gave it an entire makeover.
9 Aipom
Aipom is a mischievous purple monkey that has a tiny body leveled out by a large head, and a large tip to the end of its tail. The end of its tail communicates the feeling of a hand which plays on the idea of monkeys having prehensile tails. The earlier version of its design had it’s head much more feline-like and its tail tip looked exactly like another hand. In the end, they decided that making it look more like a plastic glove filled with air was the right approach. It seems as though they exchanged its actually hands for purple nubs as well.
8 Shuckle
One would assume that the differences between a beta design and the final release version are either drastically different or very subtly not alike. Sometimes it lands somewhere in the middle where most of the colors and elements stick, but slight tweaks are made to help it look more welcoming and/or pleasing. Shuckle originally look like a worm occupying a vase of some sort, but ultimately ended up as a weird parasitic turtle. It seems like the right decision was made in the end considering fans find Bug/Rock dual-type quite adorable.
7 Marill
Before Pokémon Gold & Silver released playgrounds across the country saw the spreading of the infamous “Pikablu” rumors. It was said that the sequel games would have a blue Water-type Pikachu clone.
We all know those rumors were partially true outside of the name, but the color could have been wrong if the beta design stuck. Originally Marill was set to be a tiny pink bulbous mouse and the ball on the end of its tail was much bigger. Then again, the word “Pikapink” doesn’t roll off the tongue as cleanly.
6 Noctowl
Noctowl, the Normal and Flying-type native to the Johto region, is considered the primary example of wasted potential. On top of fans wishing for a revision in which it trades out the Normal-type for a Dark-type that seems more fitting, the leaked beta design was a real bummer. The Pokémon Gold beta version of Noctowl exudes the personality and predator-like attitude owls have much more than its final design does. It also makes the forgotten creature a lot more interesting and appealing to trainers of all ages and experience levels.
5 Pichu
Looking at how Pichu turned out you would have never guessed what its beta form looked like. Pichu ended up coming across as what it is, a smaller and younger form of Pikachu. The beta design for the electrified mouse was much more bulbous and looked more like a cousin of Marill than it did a pre-evolution of Pikachu. It was pretty much a giant yellow ball with little stubs for hands and feet, big ears, a little tail, and Pikachu’s face copy and pasted to the front of the ball. It’s rather hideous and becomes worse the more you look at it.
4 Octillery
Octillery is a Water-type Pokémon introduced in Pokémon Gold & Silver and is native to the Johto region. It is the final form of Remoraid and looks very different from its beta design. It was always intended to be a red octopus of some sort, but its final design is much more basic than its beta counterpart.
The beta design resembles a soldier or tank as Octillery is outfitted with a white helmet and body armor. In addition to the armor, its tentacles are shaped in a way that strongly resembles the look of tank treads.
3 Scizor
Pokémon as a franchise has a track record of introducing evolutions that look nothing like the base form. In the case of Scizor, it does look like a Scyther covered in armor, but the red color changes the entire tone of the Bug-type warrior. It wasn’t always intended to be red, however, as the beta design looks much more like an upgraded Scyther, as opposed to a shiny new form with its look and feel. Scizor may not have turned out green, but it seems that design feels a lot more unique and creative, so the trade-off may have been worth it.
2 Hitmontop
The first generation of Pokémon introduced a pair of Fighting-type Pokémon known as Hitmonchan and Hitmonlee, and the second generation say them both receive a shared pre-evolution. It also saw the introduction of a third final form alongside them in Hitmontop. Its design resembles that of a break-dancer, but looking at its beta design you’d be surprised it landed in the spot it did. The beta version of Hitmontop is much more inspired by yoga and meditation and is a creature meant to mimic like a decoy, as opposed to often being upside down.
1 Gyarados
Most of the designs we’ve talked about in this article show a slightly different variation on a general design of a Pokémon. For Gyarados, it seems they started in the most terrifying place possible and slowly scaled away from it. You’d assume the inspiration was a leviathan, but looking at the beta design it must have been the sandworms from Dune or the Alaskan Bull Worm from Spongebob Squarepants. Either way, it would have made Magikarp even less appealing and would have had a boring carp turning into living nightmare fuel.
NEXT: Pokémon: 15 Pokémon (Still) Desperately In Need Of An Evolution
