>>51707862A Pokémon's design has to be the perfect blend of:
>Will fuck your shit up>Would make a good companion>Has a bit of a humorous sideFor example, whoever designed Hydreigon was leaning a bit too hard in the first category, and just made a soulless edgemonster (even then its design is still alright). This is also where something like Giratina goes wrong. Tries too hard to be intimidating, especially if you started with Gen 4 (like me) and remember that cutscene with Cyrus. Come on that's trying too hard.
A case of leaning too hard into "friendliness" for lack of a better descriptor is Wigglytuff. It's just a formless blob that is supposed to be cute and friendly.
A design going too hard on the humorous angle is Whiscash. I just see a fat fish with a "W" on its head.
Houndoom's design nails it perfectly. A fire-breathing, Jasmine-eating (according to vp) badass, but isn't out-and-out trying to be scary. Houndoom's an ordinary pupper at the same time...and his shiny comes in blue. Pic related.
Been my favorite Pokémon ever since the Rocket Executive in the Radio Tower busted one out in my first HeartGold playthrough.
Something like Dragonite is more on the humorous derpy side design-wise, but battle one. He'll fuck you up.
Another tidbit on the edginess point:
I'm adjusting for the fact that it's Pokémon. I would be a lot more lenient if say, a Digimon were colossal, black and red, and was covered head to toe in swords. That's that series's thing for the bigger monsters. Some shit like Madleomon (look him up) is waaaay edgier than Giratina but that's the point.
