Concept Corner: Man-made Monsters

Apologies...Okay, before we begin let me say a couple things. First off, I apologize for this article not going up until Tuesday. Jay has a job now, and had to do all-day job training all weekend. Between that and schoolwork, I just didn't have time to get the article ready in time. Plus, I honetsly REALLY needed a little time to chillax, after the busy weekend and day yesterday. Now that this has occured, I know to plan more in advance. Apologies to anyone who was annoyed by this.

Secondly, as you can tell by the title of this article, we are done with Monochrome. The idea I was going to use for this week's article turned out to not really have much good content, and I didn't want to deliver a lackluster article as Monochrome's finale. So, unable to find a good capper, I decided it would be best to leave things with the Unova legendaries article, one of my favorites, and move on to new things. From now onward we'll be going back to traditional articles, on more general topics. I was planning on doing so anyway, it's just one article earlier than expected. 

SO, on to the topic. Before we begin, let me thank Travis for mentioning this idea to me on the Podcast, and to listener Rosario for emailing me supporting the idea. Thanks for the feedback, which I endlessly appreciate!

Man-made Pokemon are subtlely tied into the fabric of the Poke-universe, most prominently with Mewtwo, who was a clone of Mew. But we'll save that for the end of this discussion, because there's actually a lot of stuff to go through here. So, let's put on our lab coats and enter the world of Poke-science!

Porygon/2/Z

Porygon and its evolutions are comprised entirely of data and programming, allowing them to exist in cyberspace. Their physical forms are merely vessels for this programming, which can apparently be exited and re-entered at will. According to one Pokedex entry, Porygon is even capable of space travel. Porygon2 elaboorates on this, as several pokedex entries claim that it was designed to work in and explore the depths of space. Porygon2, equipped with upgraded AI, is also capable of learning from its surroundings. Porygon-Z was an upgrade to the system designed for inter-dimentional travel. However, the program contained glitches that caused Porygon-Z's form and erratic behavior. Porygon-Z is programmed with the ability to express emotion, and so it is possible that the two factors are linked.

   Porygon's design is based on an origami paper crane, as rendered with primitive 3D graphics(which were state-of-the-art at the time of Red and Blue's release). Porygon2 shares this resemblance, adding traits of the duck and drinking bird, mainly in the shape of its head. The smoothness of its body represents subdivision, a process of 3D rendering that makes 3D images appear smooth. Porygon-Z also carries on the same asthetics, adding the disjointed, segmented appearence suggesting Porygon2 to be corrupted by a virus when it evolves. The name Porygon, oddly enough, comes from the Japanese pronunciation of "L" sounds as "R" sounds. Therefore, Porygon=Polygon.

Grimer and Trubbish

These two are getting grouped together, becasue their origins are pretty much the same. Grimer was created from pollution in streams that became exposed to X-rays from the moon.

Yeah, okay Pokemon logic, whatever you say.

Trubbish's creation is similar, but more vauge. Black and White's pokedex entries claim that the creature was formed when a garbage dump went under a chemical change. I would guess that the two formations are connected, and therefore deem it safe to say that Trubbish was probably affected by the same kinds of X-rays as Grimer. How this can create sentient life is beyond me, but whatever. Grimer and Trubbish are also linked in their conception being based on the fear that pollution and improper disposal of toxic waste could create new, undesired forms of life. Good ol' science, huh?

Golett and Golurk

Golett and Golurk are the earliest known man-made Pokemon, created by an ancient civilization, presumably one that resided in or around Dragonspiral tower, the only place where Golett can be found. They were created as guardians of the people and Pokemon who lived in the city at that time. This is very similar to another Pokemon, Sigilyph, which was the guardian of the city that once resided in the Desert resort. One possible reason for this link is that the two civilizations may have been at war at one time, and so employed Pokemon to guard them. Golett and Golurk are said to have a very unstable power housed inside their bodies, placed there by their ancient creators. This power is described as continuously "burning" inside the Pokemon, but what it feeds on is unknown. Once Golett evolves, the power becomes so unstable that if the seal on Golurk's chest is removed, the energy will burst out of control.

On the topic of physical characteristics, a closer look at Golett shows that its arms and legs(and presumably its head) can retract into its body to render it in the shape of a round boulder. This is similar to Golurk, in its ability to use the move Fly. It does so by retracting its hands into its arms and its legs and feet ingto its body, and taking off like a rocket. Another note about Golurk is its resemblance to a suit of armor. The civilization that created Golett and Golurk may have discovered a way to embedd human spirits in inanimate objects, which would explain the power housed inside the Pokemon.

Mewtwo

Well, here it is. Mewtwo. The big one. Mewtwo was the first Pokemon seen by viewers of the first episode of the anime, appearing in front of earth in the opening. In generation 1, Mewtwo had a considerably higher base stat total than any other Pokemon, and still remains one of the tronegst Pokemon in the game, with Special attack surpassed only by Attack-form Deoxys. It can learn offensive moves of every type, except for Dragon, as well as stat-enhancing moves that can make it an insanely formidable foe.

But we're not here to talk stats, we all know that. Mewtwo's origins can be traced back to Mew, the Pokemon that is said to be a sort of "blank slate" for all other Pokemon(We'll talk more about that in the future). In the universe of the games, an exploration team was sent to South America by scientists to locate a Mew. One was found, and taken back to the Pokemon Mansion on Cinnabar Island, where a team of scientists, including Blaine and Mr. Fuji, impregnated it with a genetically spliced and altered fetus. Many more splicings were made to Mewtwo during its growth, to alter and perfect it into the ultimate fighting machine. What wasn't expected was that Mewtwo would become vicious as a side-effect, and break free of its captive home, destroying it and killing many scientists in the process. All of this is told through scientific logs found in the charred remnants of the mansion.

The anime, in the form of the first movie, tells a similar, but much more developed story. In the anime, the science team that created Mewtwo was funded and working under Giovanni. The team's orders were to create a clone of Mew that could function as the ultimate fighting machine, but would stay obedient. Mew DNA is discovered in South America, and used to create a genetically modified clone. Upon awakening, Mewtwo's mental facilities are tested by the doctors, who tell him that he is a clone of Mew. Gradually understanding this as his brain begins functioning, Mewtwo becomes enraged, killing everyone in the facility and destroying it. Giovanni, informed of the event immediatley, comes to the island to contact Mewtwo, offering him a purpose without telling him that it was he who ordered his creation. Mewtwo agrees, and begins working for Team Rocket.

Eventually, Mewtwo grows more and more intelligent, and becomes tired of working for Team Rocket. He escapes, returning to the island where he was "born". He ponders his creation, deciding that if he was a clone of Mew, than he was Mew, too. Therefore he brands himself with the name Mewtwo, and decides that he must find Mew, proving his worth and legitimizing his existence by defeating him in battle. Mewtwo is bred as a fighting machine, and doesn't know any better than to fight to settle things.

From there, the rest is history. In order to bring out Mew, Mewtwo stages a challenge, sent to strong Pokemon trainers, and steals their Pokemon for cloning. This serves the dual purpose of bringing out Mew, who seems to somehow know what's going on(omnipotent powers, I don't know), as well as creating more clones like Mewtwo, subconsiously validating Mewtwo's existence in his own eyes by giving himself others who are like him. Mew and Mewtwo fight, but neither reigns victorious over the other. Ash ends the battle in one of the dumbest scenes I have ever seen in all of anime(i.e. turning into stone and being ressurected with tears), and Mewtwo departs, taking the cloned Pokemon he has created with him. Mew lets him go, deciding that Mewtwo knows himself to be Mew's equal. 

Well, boys and girls, this seems like a good place to stop. There's actually a lot more Pokemon we can talk about, so we'll be continuing with more discussion of man-made Pokemon, including the second half of Mewtwo's anime legacy, next time on Conept Corner.!

So, until hell ice beams over,

I'm IatosHaunted, signing off.

Concept Corner is (c) Jay Petrequin, 2011