A different mascot for Pokemon

You know, I'm not sure if there is a better alternative for Pikachu for the mascot of the franchise, and I think the legendary Pokémon fit the games quite well.

I will say this though, Clefairy was originally meant to be the mascot-- not Pikachu. No joke, look it up.

 

I really do think Pokémon should get some new mascots. Maybe not for the entire franchise, because how many people would protest their beloved Pikachu stepping down? :/ But maybe for the main series games. I'd say going back to starter Pokémon, really. I don't really have many ideas, but the whole "hey here's a legendary" thing is getting a bit old for me. It's usually what the plot is based around, and that same plot gets old quick.

 

I don't see anything bad with the whole "Legendaries as mascots" thing. I've viewed this to be a core aspect of Pokémon that won't change. It's like a sneak preview to the plot. As Cobalt said, the plot is getting a bit old, but I don't mind anymore. I think it's just cute now how they stick to traditions.

But if I had the chance to change the franchise mascot, I'd make it Mew and Mewtwo. They represent cute and cool, which I believe is what Pokémon's reputation has become over the years. I understand that they're both legendary, but come on! They never appeared as box arts...

 

In all franchises with a mascot, once that mascot has become synonymous with the franchise, it's very hard to imagine that mascot 'slot' played by a different character. I don't know if it's just me, but Pikachu has received more hate nowadays and I can't really understand why. It appeals to the young, old, male or female and I personally think it's played it's role as the mascot well. As for the video-games, the legendary Pokémon of the game should be the draw-card or main feature. They are the so-called strongest Pokémon of that region and deserve a bit of flash and attention. If you were to have Bidoof on the front cover of D/P/P would you have bought the game?

 

I honestly think Pikachu has long been obsolete and thats why they started to use the legendaries, especially now because Pikachu is so old

 

I'm guessing Lucario would end up on a cover. He's loved by a lot of people so I could see him help market the games.

 

I really can't imagine another mascot for the franchise aside from Pikachu and I agree with what Fooze said about the legendaries being the focal/traditional point of each game. If Clefairy had been the franchise mascot from Day One, I can only imagine that it would be getting the same amount of hate that Pikachu seems to be getting lately. That's bound to happen no matter which Pokémon is franchise mascot. The Legendaries might be overused as a plot point but I think it still has a lot of twists left. I can't imagine how Xerneas and Yevatl are going to figure into the Gen 6 game's plot and if Gen 6 is as every bit as awesome as Gen 5 was, it can only get better.

 

I don't have much problem with the mascots as they are now. The legendaries aren't exactly a bad plot idea, and since all the legendaries are different there are some changes in the plot from game to game in order to catch the legendaries. That's not to say that the two versions of the games aren't just about the same thing, but they do demonstrate the big differences in the legendaries.

As for Pikachu, that was a good mascot. Yes, he's overrated now, but any mascot would be. I have to say that I think Pikachu is the perfect mascot for the series. He's cute enough for girls to like him, and cool enough for boys to like him. The fact that he's both of those is something I do like about the little guy. The reason he's yellow is because at the time there weren't very many yellow mascots out there. The fact that they put that much thought into the thing that would represent their series is something I like and I'll give Pikachu a bit of support as the mascot for that.

However, if you were to pin me to a wall and hold a gun to my head I think I'd make the new mascot Mewtwo. For a long time Mewtwo was the only thing I could think of when I heard "Pokémon". Not Pikachu. The legendary I liked using because he seemed able to destroy just about anything. He was the biggest part of the first movie, which I didn't see until just a couple years ago... Don't bother me about that... He just seems like the best candidate for a replacement mascot to me.

 

I must have phrased it wrong but what I meant was people who are newcomers to the franchise. Personally, I don't think I would have started playing Pokémon if I saw a beaver on the front cover of the box. A dragon is far more appealing to me. That sounds pretty shallow but that's just how I see it.

 

I don't have a problem with legendaries being mascots mostly because the games usually have plots centered around that Pokémon. If the games, for example, were centered around something Lucario or Dragonite did to the region, I'd expect to see those as the mascots, and since the legendaries are the focal point of the newer main series games, then the legends should keep being the mascots. In gen 1 the legendaries weren't as big a deal in the plot as they are now in the newer games.

 

Even Pokémon Conquest wasn't immune to legendaries being the focal points when you think about it. You have Groudon, Mewtwo, Articuno, and Zekrom on the cover. The only one that didn't fit was Jigglypuff.

The ironic thing is that the legendary everyone is after is Arceus and I consider the game's "mascot" to be Eevee (your starter in the game). Yet neither is seen on the cover. The legends I mentioned (as well as the other five legends in the game) you can only locate and link with in the post-game episodes and of those five, two (Terrakion and Reshiram) require a special downloaded episode to get. Arceus is a special case: you link with him in the main game but it doesn't carry over to post-game. You have to go through "Two Heroes of Ransei" to get both him and Nobunaga's Shiny Rayquaza.

But their purpose remains the same: play the post-game and link with some awesome legends.

 

Yeah, I think the Legendaries is a good move as using as "mascots". The legendaries play a huge part in the plot, and as Fooze said, they look awesome so they are most likely to bring in new players. The reason the Kanto games use the starters instead is because the legendaries don't really play any role in the plot at all. I wouldn't replace the mascots with anyone else because they chose the Pokémon that play the biggest role in the plot, and replacing it with anything else just wouldn't make sense.

 

If they were to change the face of Pokémon, I would like to see it be Dratini!!! But, if we are going into legendaries, I would love to see Thundurus- T as the mascot, I mean who can go wrong with him!! I guess I should add my reasoning for Dratini, and really he lies with one answer, and that is being from gen. 1. I mean I would actually be fine if the mascot would happen to change to another Pokémon of gen. 1, they are my favorite!

 

Personally, I'd like to see the main character along with his/her friends and a few Pokémon; kinda show of what the entire game's "Theme" is about, rather than just show a legendary. You only get one first impression after all.

 

I'm glad that the legendaries on the games, they gave the whole thing a great look

 

Legendaries...always.

 

I hate Pikachu. He's got nothing going on for him. His stats are pretty lame. He is a lousy Pokémon and Professor Oak himself said so in the anime, first chapter. And I hate how he got little clones on every generation. I'd like a minigame where you kick Minun and Plusle in their tails and the farthest they travel the better your score.

I think the mascot should just not be a Pokémon, make it just a pokéball logo or something. And the covers don't really need to be a huge Pokémon taking all of its space. It'd be better if it were the trainers instead, and maybe a little picture of a drawn battle (Like the intro to RBY kind of) and the generation's starters. And, sure, throw in the main legendary somewhere, but you don't need to make it appear on ALL of the cover...