>>48285299>>48285423(1/2)
I disagree. I think that Buzzwole is an incredibly well-executed design and concept, and would posit that it captures what it means to be an Ultra Beast better than any other member of that cohort. As I understand them, Ultra Beasts are Pokemon that are designed to be both alien to other Pokemon designs but still very familiar to us, the viewers, on top of communicating a strong sense of danger, and Buzzwole fits those parameters flawlessly.
I will begin with the primary inspiration for Buzzwole, the mosquito. As humans living on Earth, we the consumers of Pokemon media will no doubt be all too familiar with these flying pests, but compared to all previously introduced Pokemon species it's impossible to ignore the fact that Buzzwole is the first representative of mosquitokind to grace the franchise. However, despite the fact that mosquitoes are responsible for more human deaths than any other species of IRL animal save one, most people do not instantly associate the parasitic insects with danger. Game Freak's approach to resolving this disconnect in perceptions was as simple as it was brilliant: if the second-most deadly animal isn't scary enough, just combine it with that gold medalist of human mortality: other humans.
So, now we arrive at Buzzwole at its most basic, an amalgamation of all things man and mosquito. To communicate the dangerous side of humans, Buzzwole was given a muscle-bound, thuggish appearance to bring thoughts of human aggression to the front of the mind. To communicate the most dangerous state of a mosquito, that muscular shape is composed of various vessels engorged with blood, as in a mosquito that has already fed on other animals and is likely to already be carrying all sorts of dangerous parasites to deliver to its next victim. The fact that this monster is most reminiscent of a male human, when it is female mosquitoes that actually suck blood, creates a juxtaposition that adds to the alien nature of Buzzwole.
