To Christian fans of Pokemon

Cybrisk · Fri Jan 29, 2016 8:04 pm

How do you respond to the allegation that the pokemon Giratina is supposed to represent Satan? It was banished to another dimension for its violent nature by Arceus (the creator of the Pokemon world), it is listed in the Pokedex as the "renegade pokemon", it's a dragon type and has an alternate form resembling a serpent, and it has 6 legs, 6 neck bracers, and 6 colored spokes on its wings (666). Does any of this bother you? It sort of bothers me, and I'd like to see some discussion on this topic.

ChickenSoup · Fri Jan 29, 2016 9:21 pm

Not even remotely.

Anyway,

It has 6 legs, 6 neck bracers, and 6 colored spokes on its wings (666)

First, this statement just literally tries to find things there's 6 of. Second, there appears to be three neck bracers.

But what about the 8 uncolored wing tips and the 5 neck stripes and the 2 mandibles? What do those numbers represent?

Sstavix · Sat Jan 30, 2016 1:05 am

Cybrisk wrote:How do you respond to the allegation that the pokemon Giratina is supposed to represent Satan? It was banished to another dimension for its violent nature by Arceus (the creator of the Pokemon world), it is listed in the Pokedex as the "renegade pokemon", it's a dragon type and has an alternate form resembling a serpent, and it has 6 legs, 6 neck bracers, and 6 colored spokes on its wings (666). Does any of this bother you? It sort of bothers me, and I'd like to see some discussion on this topic.

I would think that the bigger issue would be that you could capture God (Arceus is the creator of the world, so that makes it... what?), keep it in a ball that fits in the palm of your hand, and train it to obey your every command.

Personally, I think you're looking too much into it. It's like the furor that erupted because people thought there was a Nazi symbol on Kadabra's head. It's a fantasy world, and not even close to resembling Earth. As long as people don't confuse the fantasy with our reality, it'll be OK.

BlockHeadLewie · Sat Jan 30, 2016 5:50 am

Sstavix wrote:
Cybrisk wrote:How do you respond to the allegation that the pokemon Giratina is supposed to represent Satan? It was banished to another dimension for its violent nature by Arceus (the creator of the Pokemon world), it is listed in the Pokedex as the "renegade pokemon", it's a dragon type and has an alternate form resembling a serpent, and it has 6 legs, 6 neck bracers, and 6 colored spokes on its wings (666). Does any of this bother you? It sort of bothers me, and I'd like to see some discussion on this topic.
I would think that the bigger issue would be that you could capture God (Arceus is the creator of the world, so that makes it... what?), keep it in a ball that fits in the palm of your hand, and train it to obey your every command.

Personally, I think you're looking too much into it. It's like the furor that erupted because people thought there was a Nazi symbol on Kadabra's head. It's a fantasy world, and not even close to resembling Earth. As long as people don't confuse the fantasy with our reality, it'll be OK.

In fact my personal opinion would be, and it also relates to several hundred topics as well so no offence truly meant, but why does Satan honestly get so much attention? Are we not to focus on Jesus so we can have a better reception of The Holy Spirit whereas we can see God better and do as He does like Jesus did?

Also this:

Sstavix wrote:...Personally, I think you're looking too much into it...As long as people don't confuse the fantasy with our reality, it'll be OK.

Sstavix · Sat Jan 30, 2016 6:21 am

BlockHeadLewie wrote: In fact my personal opinion would be, and it also relates to several hundred topics as well so no offence truly meant, but why does Satan honestly get so much attention? Are we not to focus on Jesus so we can have a better reception of The Holy Spirit whereas we can see God better and do as He does like Jesus did?

That actually is a great question! I have to wonder if part of it has to do with our tendency to focus on the negative. Pessimism tends to be a pretty big driving force in our lives in this nation. And, of course, there's the tendency of people to focus on what they don't have, rather to be grateful for what they do have.

Perhaps Satan gets so much attention because people aren't focusing more on Jesus. They're looking down all the time when they should be looking up.

BlockHeadLewie wrote:
Sstavix wrote:...Personally, I think you're looking too much into it...As long as people don't confuse the fantasy with our reality, it'll be OK.

Basically, I was thinking that it's merely a coincidence. I don't think it was Game Freak's intention to make Giratina into a Satan figure (and as C$ has indicated, attempts to do so are a bit of a stretch). Whenever a Japanese company tries to insert Christian iconography into a work, it's usually much more obvious... and often incorrect.

According to the Bulbapedia entry, Giratina's design is based more on a creature from Japanese folklore. So while it is considered to be a destructive force in the world of Pokemon, I don't believe that it was inspired by Satan.

BlockHeadLewie · Sat Jan 30, 2016 7:01 am

Well, truth be told (and it will either here and now or later in front of EVERYONE!) I honestly know very little about Pokémon. I do know it's short for "pocket monsters". My wife was attracted to the cuteness of the cartoon and I've even got some games to play as she watches. Her favorite is Dewgong btw, mine is Meowth. (Pokémon Stadium as well as Blue, Red and Yellow GameBoy Color games.)

So far I've only collected 72 in all games. Gotta Catch Them All! (Yeah right... LoL!)

FamilyFriendlyGaming · Mon Feb 15, 2016 10:27 pm

Cybrisk wrote:How do you respond to the allegation that the pokemon Giratina is supposed to represent Satan? It was banished to another dimension for its violent nature by Arceus (the creator of the Pokemon world), it is listed in the Pokedex as the "renegade pokemon", it's a dragon type and has an alternate form resembling a serpent, and it has 6 legs, 6 neck bracers, and 6 colored spokes on its wings (666). Does any of this bother you? It sort of bothers me, and I'd like to see some discussion on this topic.

There are many things about Pokemon that bother me. I did not notice this before. May be a bit of a stretch. However I can definitely respect your beliefs in this matter.

If you feel the Holy Spirit telling you to stay away from Pokemon. Then stay away. Each of us believers needs to be consistently sensitive to what the Holy Spirit is telling us to stay away from.

I personally believe 1 Corinthians 10 applies here.

ImperialR · Sat May 28, 2016 7:59 am

Yeah, Christian stuff they stay away from, as far as I know, really more Japanese lore, mythology, lost cultures, and such are the ideas behind some of supernatural pokemons' designs and lore. examples: ghosts with burial masks, hypno leading children away into the woods, golems, balloons that try to kidnap children, stumps filled with the souls of children lost in the woods...

...Huh. Did hypno do that?

Also, the next region is based on Hawaii, so more likely than not; we'll see pokemon patterned after Hawaiian idols and the like, the supernatural theme can go with the region theme. like more native american-esc ones in Black and White.

rambo919 · Tue Aug 02, 2016 7:55 am

Pokemon is not directly satanic in the western sense, the pokemon are demons though. Japanese culture is full of spirits and demons which tends to shock Christian outsiders when they first learn it, others ignore it by saying that what the Japanese call demons is different to what westeners call demons.... this is self-deception however since Japanese culture at the core views demons almost the same way but has been deeply bonded with the demonic realm a spiritual marriage almost. As such the big difference is the western belief that all demons are evil and can be nothing else is completely alien to the Japanese mind.

Christ Centered Gamer

Christ Centered Gamer

To Christian fans of Pokemon