Talk:Variant Pokémon
Shapeshifting and forms
Somebody please explain to me why is it that some Pokémon that have either shapeshifting abilities (Ditto and Porygon) or alternate forms (Arceus, Genesect and Kyurem) are mentioned in the article, whereas other Pokémon with similar abilities, such as Deoxys and Darumaka, aren't. - Ericss (talk) 18:17, 4 September 2013 (UTC)
- Form differences recognized by the Pokedex go on the Form differences article; this page is for shape- or form-changing capabilities not recognized by the Pokedex. I believe that satisfactorily answers why Ditto, Porygon, Arceus, Genesect and Deoxys are on their respective pages — the former four are not recognized by the Pokedex, but Deoxys is.
- My opinion is that Kyurem should not be here because it is recognized by the Pokedex. I'll go remove that now, but if someone has a compelling reason that it should stay, they are welcome to revert my edit.
- Darumaka has neither alternate forms nor shapeshifting capabilities; I believe you may be thinking about Darmanitan, whose form differences are recognized by the Pokedex, which is why it's on the other article instead of here.
- Does that answer all of your questions? Pumpkinking0192 (talk) 18:54, 4 September 2013 (UTC)
- I see. I guess that makes sense, thanks for the clarification. And yes, I meant Darmanitan. My bad, I got their names mixed up. - Ericss (talk) 01:36, 6 September 2013 (UTC)
Carbink
Because there are Carbink variations which are under the names of Daii, Majima, Knight and Joke for the new movie, are we allowed to add it or just leave it as it is? --Cinday123 (Talk) 23:42, 22 March 2014 (UTC)
Xerneas and Yveltal
Since we've had the Stone-forms of Reshiram and Zekrom in this article, should we add the Tree-form Xerneas and Cocoon-form Yveltal too? --Yen01 (talk) 08:24, 11 March 2015 (UTC)
Zygarde
Zygarde's Core Form has a Red one (Squishy) and a Blue one (Z2) We should mention this. Not only the Core has this but the 10% forme does as well. Theexploringgamer (talk) 20:43, 24 May 2016 (UTC)
Rotom Pokédex
Just asking, where would the Rotom Pokédex be included? It cant be in the form differences because it isn't a form that is recognized by the Pokédex, ironically enough. Zakor1138 (talk) 20:41, 5 September 2017 (UTC)
Not variants
Porygon, Solgaleo, and Lunala do not belong on this page.
This page is called "variant Pokemon". Reasonably, this is just what the intro says: Pokemon that are—inherently—different from others of their species. This is also what most of the things on this page are.
This is not Porygon. Porygon's section only describes temporary or else willful transformations (that it could revert at will). All Porygon can do it.
It is not Solgaleo and Lunala. The Radiant Sun phase and Full Moon phase are temporary transformations. All Solgaleo/Lunala could do it, and return to exactly what they were before the transformation. It's no species variant.
This is not the page for anything that doesn't go somewhere else. Not as it's currently titled. I don't know where any "orphans" should go, but it does not have to be this page—at least not like they're currently included. I could see adding them as trivia points perhaps or at the end of the intro, as "a few things aren't forms but also aren't variant species". (There may even be a better page of some sort to mention them on.) In the meantime, IMO it's not even a huge loss if they're not on this page; they should still be in the Pokemon's Biology sections. FWIW, I also think all the things that are currently on this page would also be fine on a page called "Pokemon variants" (a small but very significant difference).
Tiddlywinks (talk) 12:11, 31 January 2018 (UTC)
- This has been resolved. Tiddlywinks (talk) 03:14, 3 February 2018 (UTC)
What about Cosplay Pikachu from ORAS? Is that considered a variant or not? Also, what about Alolan forms? SharkDude (talk} 10:52, 31 March 2018 (UTC)
AZ's Floette
While AZ's Floette hasn't been released in the games, at the least, it still makes an appearance in-game, and should probably have a mention here. After all, it has a unique color scheme, a unique flower, and unique stats. - unsigned comment from DialgaTheTimeLord (talk • contribs)
- I think it should only be mentioned if it is actually released and playable in the games. There seems to be no exception to that. GrammarFreak01 (talk) 19:22, 22 June 2018 (UTC)
- I don't have an opinion either way, but most of the Pokémon listed on this page are not released or playable in the games either. --Celadonkey 19:24, 22 June 2018 (UTC)
- Oh, okay. GrammarFreak01 (talk) 19:25, 22 June 2018 (UTC)
- I don't have an opinion either way, but most of the Pokémon listed on this page are not released or playable in the games either. --Celadonkey 19:24, 22 June 2018 (UTC)
Article clean up
I believe I pitched a similar change to the list of form differences, although I think this is a completely different thing altogether. The short hand is, it feels like a lot of fluff on both pages because we don't really know what some things necessarily are . I've been trying to make distinctions a bit more clear, but in the end a lot of this seems to fall under fan designation, and while it's important to document how fans interpret things, I think we need to be careful about where they're being put.
What classifies as a "variant Pokemon?" As far as I am aware, a variant Pokemon is a fan-term used to indicate unique differences with a Pokemon that may not fall under another distinction (such as a form). The Hisuian Ride Pokemon are a great example with this, as are shiny Pokemon, as these are unusual compared to how a Pokemon may normally appear. Shadow Lugia (and Shadow Pokemon as a whole!) is another great example, it's never identified as a form, has a name, etc. A good chunk of this is describing physical abnormalities in a species, such as some lobsters being blue compared to the usual brownish ones.
The mentioning of form differences and grouping them under a type of variation seems fine to me, however, Gender differences, Regional Forms, Pokemon fusions, and Totem Pokemon (which are under the Totem-like form mechanically), are already covered on the list of form differences already, and including them separated from form differences on a list about variants reads off to as if they're not forms. I imagine regional forms were here as they were once known as regional variants, but the distinction between them and a usual "variant" has been made clear from my personal understanding. Paradox Pokemon and Ecologically similar Pokemon are also listed here, them being under this list implies something like Diglett and Wiglett are related in some capacity, but this is only the case mechanically (aesthetically?) and I am having trouble identifying as to what would count as a variant. I'm not really opposed to those two groups, but higher explanation as to why we would otherwise consider them would be nice. Why is Wiglett on the same level as Shadow Lugia? Ecological mimicry between species are identified as the same type of difference as an physical abnormality between two members of the same species? There is another discussion from 8 years ago also asking how far this could potentially go, asking about the phases of Solgaleo and Lunala, but the final comment directly mentions Cosplay Pikachu *and* the regional forms, one is on here one is not.
The Starmobiles are listed on the list of forms page, (and please correct me if I am wrong), are listed as unique forms of Revavroom, but they never classify it as such in-game (maybe internally? again correct me), Is there any reason to identify these Revavrvoom as forms, there is literally 5 variations of the starmobiles artificially created by one of the admins, and it's not mentioned here.
Where is the line of distinction here? I feel as though things keep being added to this page without much review. TrainerSplash (talk) 07:58, 10 July 2025 (UTC)