Pokémorph: Difference between revisions

A Pokémorph is a popular term used among fans to describe two things; it is used as a term for either a character (usually a human) that has the ability to transform into one or more Pokémon, or an anthropomorphic Pokémon.

The term and its meanings are not used in any Pokémon canon; all Pokémorphs of either kind (though more so the anthropomorphic kind) are within the realms of fan fiction, fan art, fan comics and dōjinshi, role playing forums, and various MUSHes.

History

It is not known exactly how or when the term "Pokémorph" came into existence within the Pokémon fandom and accurate information pertaining to the history of the term is scarce. It is presumed that the term and/or its initial meaning existed since around the time that Pokémon Red and Blue were released worldwide. "Pokémorphs" were first used to describe a fictional characters that could shapeshift into various Pokémon species. These characters, a derivative of "Pokémon" and "polymorphism", were usually based upon the Animorphs book series by K. A. Applegate.

Over time however, "Pokémorphs", this time derived from "Pokémon" and "anthropomorphism", were then used to describe fictional Pokémon characters who had a combination of both human and Pokémon attributes. These Pokémorphs usually have the physical shapes and sizes of humans, with the appearances and powers of a single Pokémon, as well as mixtures of both human and Pokémon abilities, behaviours and characteristics, such as various forms of communication (e.g. verbal speech between both humans and Pokémon). This "anthropomorphic Pokémon" explanation increased in use as these kinds of fan characters became more prevalent over the years while the original "polymorphic Pokémon" term faded in popularity. Currently, "Pokémorph" is almost always used to refer to an anthropomorphic Pokémon, though its older "polymorphic" meaning is still used in some newer fan fiction to this day.

Relations to the furry fandom

It is assumed by several Pokémon fans and some non-fans who are aware of Pokémorphs that most, if not all, Pokémorphs of the anthropomorphic kind are either closely related to or are the Pokémon-based version of furries, which are fictional anthropomorphic animals that are part of the furry fandom subculture. The furry fandom has been rather infamous for various perceptions and portrayals by non-fans and the media that those who relate to this fandom are believed to have a strong sexual interest in anthropomorphic animals. Likewise, several Pokémon fans tend to look down on anthropomorphic Pokémon because of their negative views and beliefs that they are "Pokéfurries", such as in this biased definition of a Pokémorph in a "Guide to Writing Non-Sucky Pokémon Fan Fiction":

Pokémorph - I shudder as I write this, but it is a sacrifice I as an author am required to make. A Pokémorph is a creature that is a combination of a Pokémon and a human. It is essentially the Pokémon equivalent of a furry. (If you don't know what a furry is, consider yourself lucky.) Pokémorphs (and the stories that include them) are very popular in furry circles, and should be avoided at all costs.

^{Taken from an archive of a former GeoCites website written by a user known as "Stinkoman" around March 2007.}

However, contradicting the above "definition", the furry fandom does not generally see Pokémorphs as a part of their fandom, rather seeing Pokémorphs as an extension of the Pokémon fandom.

As a general rule, not all people with Pokémorph characters are furries. In point of fact, these people play such characters out of a kind of fandom for the video game they were based on. As such, unless a person with such a character says they are a furry, they should not be considered to be a furry. To them, it is more of an interest in the subject and fandom of the game which is thought of as separate from the furry fandom, although there are some with Pokémorph characters who are actually furries and also have separate furry characters. In some general consensus, the number of actual furs with such characters is low, though this is not confirmed and is subject to shifting even lower, or higher as time passes.

^{WikiFur's article on Pokémorph, section "Pokémorphs, furries, and people".}

Types

The simple naming scheme of a specific species of Pokémorph is adding the suffix, "-morph", to the name of a Pokémon species (e.g. "Pikachu-morph"). However, despite the basic descriptions above, Pokémorphs come in a variety of different forms, beyond being simply humans mixed with different species of Pokémon.

List of Pokémorph types

Most of these different types are based off of the anthropomorphic meaning of Pokémorphs:

• Pokémorphs that look much like humans, but are still referred to as "morphs" due to that they are able to use a Pokémon's attacks or abilities. Rarely, they may also have some of a Pokémon's behaviours and instincts.
• Polymorphic Pokémorphs - As aforementioned, these Pokémorphs are usually humans who have the ability to transform into a Pokémon, usually at will. They were usually based off of K. A. Applegate's Animorphs books.
• Moe anthropomorphic Pokémorphs, also known as "Gijinka Pokémon" - Anthropomorphic Pokémon that look mostly human, but contain moe qualities. Most, if not all of these Pokémorphs tend to look like humans in cosplay, though they often have some Pokémon features, such as tails, ears, fins, and wings.
• Taur Pokémorphs - Based off the centaurs of Greek mythology, these Pokémorphs have the upper body (head, arms, and torso) of a human, but the body (and, occasionally, the ears) of a Pokémon with a quadruped or other multi-legged body. Bipedal variations of these Pokémorphs are very rare.
• Traditional anthropomorphic Pokémorphs - Currently the most common form of Pokémorphs, they basically look like Pokémon with humanoid body forms.
• Combiomorph - A rare kind of Pokémorph, combiomorphs were created by fan fiction writer, pikachuhunter1, in the fan fiction, "Pokémon Periwinkle: It's Real". They are described by pikachuhunter1 as "a combination of two Pokémon and a human. The human side of them is the most prominent, and whoever is afflicted with being a combiomorph is able to turn into either [one] of the Pokémon associated with them." Their appearances look similar to that of chimeras, which are mythical creatures composed of different animal parts.

Notable Pokémorph fan projects

• The Gijinka Pokédex Project - A deviantArt group that focuses on anthropomorphic Pokémon. An overwhelming majority of the fan art in this group are based off of the moe anthropomorphic (gijinka) type of Pokémorphs.
• Moemon - A hack of Pokémon FireRed that changes all Pokémon into gijinka.
• Morphic - A fan fiction written by "Dragonfree" that is known as a well-written deconstruction of Pokémorphs. It is one of TV Tropes' few recommended Pokémon fan fiction stories has its own article on the site.
• Pokémorph Combat Academy - A community fan fiction/comic series created by Shawntae Howard, who also created the furry comic series, Extinctioners. The series takes place at a boarding school-style high school in an alternate universe Pokémon world where Pokémorphs have evolved from regular Pokémon and humans no longer exist.
  • PokéCombat Academy also has groups on FurAffinity and deviantArt. (The latter group is somewhat deprecated.)
• Pokémorph MUSH - According to WikiFur, it is "the longest-running successful Pokémon-themed MU* on the Internet, without offline periods longer than a month."
• Transformation and Pokémorph stories - A FanFiction.Net community (called a C2 on the site) that's focused on stories about Pokémorphs as well as Pokémon transformations, which is currently the third-largest such Pokémon community on the site based on both archive size (number of stories) and subscriber count.