Bellsprout Family
Let’s be real: Bellsprout is a glorified stick figure. A design can’t get much simpler than that. However, it’s also a superb example of how the smallest adjustments can create appealing characters.
How is it that Bellsprout can be an appealing and memorable character despite the previous jab I made? I’ve certainly never forgotten about this silly little pitcher plant. Even if family members don’t know Bellsprout by name, they can still identify it as belonging to the Pokémon franchise.
I think it comes down to some advice one of my college instructors taught me.
When my class was brainstorming character designs, he brought up why a common stick figure or default smiley face is deemed “generic.” Both of them have perfectly even proportions and are comprised of primitive shapes. Basic shapes aren’t inherently wrong to utilize, but a character design risks looking “boring” or “generic” if it uses them as a crutch.
A stick figure or smiley face work great as symbols, but don’t make for very exciting characters. They’re featureless and devoid of personality. How do you fix this? By simply altering those basic shapes.
Returning to the stick figure example, its spine could be flexible and more twisted. Its body could alternate between skinny-fat-skinny shapes. The stick figure’s limbs don’t have to be perfectly proportional; its arms could be colossal in contrast to its itty-bitty legs.
For the smiley face, its head could be stretched into an oblong shape. Offsetting the eyes and mouth – even if not “anatomically correct” – can immediately help it stand out more.
This is a basic foundation to creating unique characters. They’re simple changes, but can greatly affect the outcome and visual appeal to the final product.
In fact, everything I illustrated in those examples was describing Bellsprout’s proportions!
I believe this is what makes Bellsprout’s design so effective. Sure, it uses a stick figure as a blueprint, but deviates from the basic formula by injecting variation to those simple shapes.
Plus, this concept works stupendously with the rest of Bellsprout’s concept. It’s a plant mimicking a humanoid shape by utilizing its roots as legs!
Bellsprout’s capacity to freely roam is both charming and unnerving. Similar to Oddish, it’s a poisonous plant that can easily rush an intruder. Prey and predator alike should be wary of this mobile flower!
During my childhood, there was a time I loved Bellsprout so much, I wrote a short story about it!
Well, it was more of a direct ripoff of an episode from the Anime. But that’s how much impact this pitcher plant Pokémon left on me! It has so much sass and energy in all of its movements!
Bellsprout is a charming little Pokémon that stole my heart ever since I was young. And ever since I learned a few pointers about character building in college, I’ve gained even more appreciation for its design.
Two Thumbs Up!
Also, it might be because I’m biased, but I don’t think Plants vs. Zombies’ Peashooter has the same charisma as Bellsprout.
Sorry, PopCap Games. You tried, but you just can’t compete with such a stellar design.
Sometimes, middle-stage Pokémon feel like they’re going through their awkward teen years. To illustrate what I mean, look no further than Weepinbell. Its design feels like a curveball compared to what it was, and what it will become later.
While I’m a saddened that the humanoid plant concept was scrapped, I can’t be mad at Weepinbell’s design. I can only describe Weepinbell as stupid, but in a lovable way.
Weepinbell’s face is absolutely hilarious. It has bulging googly eyes like you’d find at craft stores. Its slackjaw mouth has puckered, bright pink lips. It’s like a weird clown face drawn on a noodle-shaped plant.
According to the Pokédex, that hook at the top of its body is actually attached to its butt. Weepinbell literally hangs from a tree branch by its butt each night. Even as an adult, I find that concept stupidly funny.
And yet, Weepinbell has some blunt Pokedex entries that darken its silly demeanor. Its best to quote this flavor text directly, starting with Yellow Version:
When hungry, it swallows anything that moves. Its hapless prey is melted inside by strong acids.
I mean, I get that Weepinbell is a pitcher plant. But damn, I wasn’t expecting just two lines of text to paint a vivid image in my head.
And then there’s Silver Version.
If its prey is bigger than its mouth, it slices up the victim with sharp leaves, then eats every morsel.
Dear God. That’s making me think of the laser room from that one Resident Evil movie.
Remember, Game Freak – at least in the past – often tried to avoid explicit references to death. They’d write stuff such as, “Pidgeot hunt Magikarp,” “Paras uses its sharp claws to eat tree roots,” or “Poliwhirl prefers to live in the water to avoid predators.” Yeah, it implies that not everything is sunshine and rainbows in the world of Pokémon, but it’s not specifically detailing the demise of their prey. I always do a double-take for flavor text like this.
Somehow, I’m still being surprised by another Poison-type Pokémon having a “not-so-harmless” theme. I guess I was a naive child, and I’m only now realizing how twisted these concepts truly are.
While I prefer Bellsprout (and Victreebel, as I’ll explain later) over Weepinbell, I can’t be mad at its stupidly loveable design. With an unusual yet appealing composition, it steps away from the “Pokémon 2.0” joke like I’ve made with previous middle-stage Pokémon. Remember, this doesn’t mean those Pokémon are inferior to Weepinbell’s design; it’s just noteworthy how Weepinbell does something a little different.
Thumbs Up!
Now this is a Pokémon worth obtaining an evolutionary stone over! Weepinbell’s goofy appearance makes Victreebel’s menacing appearance pack a punch.
I love how Victreebel is colorful, yet intimidating. The bright yellows and greens aren’t at all detracting. If anything, they make Victreebel visually interesting as opposed to a duller color pallette.
As silly as those two small teeth may look, I’m glad that they’re part of Victreebel’s design. When paired with its “arm” and head leaves, it’s loosely mimicking a predatory animal. Victreebel probably doesn’t even need those teeth; it digests prey with powerful acids, just like Weepinbell. But it has them anyways, in an instance of “Because why not?” that I think works well.
Also, those eyes are awesome. Victreebel doesn’t have the generic triangle eyes. Instead, they glare from underneath its mouth. Words fail me to describe how much I love that its eyes are offset on its body. It’s just plain awesome.
In addition to deceptively sweet-smelling acids, Victreebel can also use its barbed vine to lure in prey. Most interesting, this vine is not a random detail slapped onto its design. Some species of pitcher plants (as Victreebel is based off of) suspend themselves in the air by a small tendril.
It’s such a small detail, but Game Freak managed to integrate it into Victreebel’s design and give it a bigger purpose! What an exceptionally clever use of its source material!
Despite its raw killing prowess, a sweeter side to this beast can be found once again in the Anime. Well, at least as well as it can convey sweetness.
For a whopping 204 episodes, Victreebel was a star in James of Team Rocket’s party. A running gag was its tendency to awkwardly chomp down on James’ face immediately after release from its Pokéball. The only problem is that Victreebel naturally stands at over five feet tall. More often, it ended up awkwardly swallowing James face-first.
While an arguably creepy (and kind of gross) thought, it’s humorous that Victreebel just wanted to express its affection to its Trainer. It wanted to give love bites in the same way cats will nibble on their owners’ hands. But because of its sheer size, body shape, and lack of proper arms, this is the only way it figured it could “hug” a human.
I’ve only reviewed a couple Pokémon with personalities opposite of what their Pokédex entries suggest, but I greatly appreciate that the Anime illustrates them as such. It adds more depth to the Pokémon, and breaks them from the mindless killing machine trope.
It should come as no surprise that Victreebel is one of my favorite Pokémon of all time. It doesn’t just look cool, but has impressive information behind almost every aspect of its design. The Anime gave it more character and made it more memorable. Also, it’s a giant, living pitcher plant monster.
I’ve only just begun to delve into the Grass typing, but there’s been some incredible diversity and concepts so far!
Highest Praise!
