>>54887960Okay tell me what you guys think
Incineroar was ALMOST a good design
it has good expressive, recognizable features that reflect the appeal of a bully tiger that wrestles stuff like the hands and the face
Its humanoid themes arent inherently bad and fit in with the overall vibe of pokemon
But its execution fails in a few ways
It's body isn't exaggerated enough, it looks less like a anthropromorphised tiger body and more like exaggerated body of a man given tiger features
Its belt is lame: bad for characterization and utilization of its fire abilities. it's belt is an actual belt which is a literal article of clothing put on anthropromorphic character that isnt adequately stylized to look beastly, which results in both a feeling that this isnt a wild animal and is a wasted opportunity for it to use its tail as a "fake belt". Having a fake belt is something that heels do all the time with trash talk and would have worked great on incineroar thematically. It's stripes glowing would be a better use of its fire abilities because its connection to fire is the flare and showmanship aspect of pro wrestling. not only does glowing stripes give it more flare than a glowing belt(it lights up the whole body) but also has more utility when combined with his wrestling moves
clothing should be done subtley on pokemon because they are still wild creatures, which incineroar kind of accomplishes but with the combination of its body and the belt kind of pushes it over the top when it comes to feeling like a cartoon furry instead of a wild creature
>inb4 machampMachamps features reflect no clear animal, its a humanoid given monstrous features. its belt creates charm with the simplicity of its design and gen 1 overall. the idea that every machamp has a real actual championship belt that isnt apart of its biology is funny
Being lighthearted and not serious is a core theme of pokemon's design philosophy and appeal
