Meowth Family
Arguably Pokémon’s “other” mascot, Meowth is another prominent member of the Pokémon franchise.
I’ve always loved that Meowth undeniably looks like a cat, but a highly stylized and cartoony one. Attached to its body are lanky arms and an oversized head, complete with giant whiskers that even grow on its forehead. Depending on how exaggerated Meowth’s face is drawn, its mouth can take up more space than its huge eyes.
It’s great that Meowth’s design simultaneously plays up on being an everyday housecat (you won’t see it shooting fireballs or secreting toxins), but with a wonderful cartoony flair to it.
As a member of Team Rocket’s gang, Meowth has a lot more screentime in the Anime than other Pokémon to showcase its quirky personality. Just like with Pikachu, a lot of a character’s appeal comes from how it moves and interacts with the world it lives in. Meowth is another one of those characters who can easily communicate a wide variety of expressions, both in the games as well as the TV show.
For the meaning behind the character, Meowth represents what Westerners know as the “beckoning” or lucky cat. They’re the small statues seen in homes or businesses of a cat holding its paw up. Maneki-nekos (as they’re called in Japan) are believed to bring good luck or fortune to the household they live under. Different colored cats bring different kinds of luck, with calicos being the luckiest of them all.
This is why a lot of Meowth’s earlier concept art featured a paw raised above its head, beckoning the player to approach it. To Westerners, it may appear as if it’s waving, but it actually harkens to a classic Japanese gesture.
I don’t know why Game Freak took out that raised hand in the newer games. Meowth now has its arms casually resting at its sides, and it looks significantly less interesting as a result. The beckoning gesture still shows up in some recent artwork, but it’s either in spin-off games (e.g. Super Smash Brothers Brawl) or on merchandise that never left Japan.
Maneki-nekos are commonly seen holding a giant coin known as a koban, an old form of currency from Edo-period Japan. Essentially, it’s a symbol for wealth for the cat to bring in. Instead of carrying one around, however, Meowth adorns one on its face!
The koban connection is also why Meowth is the only Pokémon to naturally learn the move Pay Day – it attacks its foes with the money it collected! Using Pay Day also results in magically finding more money after a battle, which again ties right back to the maneki-neko.
Meowth is such a wonderful Pokémon. I love everything about it, from its visual look, to its personality in the Anime, and especially with the impressive representation of its source material.
Highest Praise!
Meowth is such a great concept, that its evolution is-
Oh… that’s it?
This is all Meowth turns into? A generic feline? Game Freak had an a fantastic thing going with their lucky cat concept, and it just peters out once it becomes Persian. There are zero traces left of what it once was.
That’s not to say that Pokémon isn’t allowed to have a straightforward cat monster. It’s the Raticate argument all over again; it’s not inherently bad that Persian exists, but it’s a rather weak design for Meowth to become. No wonder Team Rocket’s Meowth doesn’t want to evolve.
It’s a shame, too, because Persian’s simple and clean design has allowed artists to show off some awesome dynamic poses. But it doesn’t sway my opinion away from saying it’s still a bad Pokémon.
Look at how cool all these art pieces are. I still hate Persian.
An evolution for Meowth would benefit from sticking to its source material. I think it’d be great to see a chubbier Persian, with a body shape closer to the actual maneki-neko statues. This Persian could be spoiled from all the riches it earned, and consequently gained a lazy and “posh” attitude towards other people and Pokémon alike. It could be holding a giant koban, sit atop its personal stash of coins, or even have an aura of kobans!
This idea would also fit with Persian’s early 3D models, where it refused to leave its resting position even when attacking.
Alas, Meowth is instead doomed to take the “generic cat” slot when it evolves into Persian. What a huge disappointment. This mascot character deserved so much more than it got.
Ridicule-tier
It’s about time Meowth got an alternate form! Pikachu’s gotten all the attention with special gimmicks, exclusive attacks, and even its own unique Z-Crystal. The Alola region gave Pokémon’s other mascot some much deserved love.
Alolan Meowth hasn’t changed much, aside from a new coat of paint. However, the rest of its visual appeal comes from its personality.
Somehow, this Meowth is even sassier than the original. Its cheeky stare is spot-on with the attitude cats typically throw at their humans. Its posture is also noteworthy, as if it doesn’t want to soil its delicate hands from some “lesser” person or Pokémon.
It’s too bad Alolan Meowth doesn’t cross its legs in the games like how Sugimori’s art depicts. It would have been icing on the cake for its animations. However, I’m also familiar with modeling and rigging characters, and can understand the artists at Game Freak avoiding a potential nightmare. It’s difficult to have a 3D character rotate their legs that far without crumpling the geometry around the hip.
There’s only a little information on Alolan Meowth, but it gives decent insight into why it changed appearances. Turns out this Meowth was specially bred for royalty. Before the monarchy fell, it was heavily pampered, causing it to become the bundle of sass shown above. Eventually, it became feral and exploded in numbers in the wild.
I’ve only reviewed a few Alolan Pokémon so far, but it’s fascinating how many of them are actually alien species to Alola. It fleshes out the lore of the region, and helps drive home one of Pokémon’s key themes of the relationships between humans and the magical creatures they live around.
Thumbs Up!
Not the most groundbreaking of alternate forms, but I like the thought that was put into Alolan Meowth. Plus, that sass is just perfect!
Hey wait a minute, Alolan Meowth means there will be an Alolan Persian, too! Let’s see if Game Freak made any improvements-
NO! No no no no NOOO!
You were so close, Game Freak! Alolan Meowth had even more reasons to become a giant, spoiled cat, and all that happens to Alolan Persian is that its head inflates.
There’s no excuse for Alolan Persian to be drawn this way when it can have the ability Fur Coat, which doubles its Defense stat because of how thick its fur is.
For reference, Fur Coat used to be an ability exclusive to Furfrou, who looks like this:
That’s a Pokémon with a pelt that could absorb a lot of damage. I don’t believe for a second that Alolan Persian’s fur is any different from its regular form’s. Had its body been fluffed out more to match its bigger head, I think it would have been a passable design in my eyes.
As it stands, not even that silly face redeems Alolan Persian from being a downright lazy alternate form. I know that sounds hypocritical from me when I gave positive points to Alolan Dugtrio, which literally just added hair and called it a day. The difference, however, is that Dugtrio had a complete and fully fleshed out concept behind that simple change. Alolan Persian, with its head being the sole “fluffier” part of its body, looks like only half of its concept was executed.
And that really, really sucks. I feel that Game Freak almost had something going with Alolan Persian, but they skimped out. It’s like they were concerned Persian would look too silly being a big, fuzzy cat in contrast to its skinnier, sleeker counterpart. Its official design does look silly, but in a completely unappealing way.
TRASH
Generation 8 Review: Added June 6, 2020
Meowth has been downright spoiled with two generations in a row of (much deserved) attention. This time around, Meowth has become literally ironclad (Steel type) from life as a “seafaring peoples’” pet.
Admittedly, the design took a while to grow on me. At first glance, I assumed Galarian Meowth was a plump, oblique-shaped furball. But I quickly learned otherwise with its backside turned to the camera…
I felt ripped off at this revelation; Meowth with an oversized beard is silly and charming, but I didn’t expect it to be loosely hanging in front of its default body. Where’s my fuzzy egg gremlin? You lied to me, Meowth!
Eventually, the disappointment dissipated, and I grew to accept the quirkiness of the real design. Galarian Meowth’s unkempt beard flapping in the wind is still hilarious in its own right.
I love how Viking Meowth’s eyes stand out against its subdued grayish-brown and black body. My favorite touch has to be its “zipper mouth,” a term I invented as a kid to describe the zigzag shape present when the teeth interlock. It’s one of my favorite simple design elements that brings a cutesy twist to a supposedly “deadly” character.
Galarian Meowth deceived me with its steely beard, but I can’t be angry at it even if my expectations were shattered. It’s a comical regional variant that I’m happy exists.
Thumbs Up!
Truth be told, Galarian Meowth would have received a Two Thumbs Up rating… if there wasn’t a delightful surprise it evolved into.
I’m glad to see Game Freak reintroduce new evolutions to older Pokémon. Until now, the concept wasn’t really implemented since Sinnoh (Sylveon is literally the only exception). Once again, Meowth was the perfect returning cast member to give this treatment.
The punny-named Perrserker is a fantastic alternative to the drab letdown that is Persian. Even if ever so slightly, its shrunken body and limbs provide a compromise to my extremely specific criticisms with Galar Meowth. It’s still not my imagined “egg gremlin,” but I’ll happily settle with this design.
As a bonus, Perrserker expands on the previous “cutesy deadly” design by throwing “totally edgy I swear” into the mix. Multiple horns atop its head, piercing red eyes, a spikier beard, and dark patches of fur that can be interpreted as spiky bangles all contribute to this aesthetic. Oh, and the cheesy awesome Wolverine claws that (as seen on the official art above) can fuse into one giant knife-spike on command. Those retracting claws are the bow on the package that is this character design.
Perrserker is a Hot Topic-tier concept too cute and goofy to be taken seriously, but it’s aware of that fact. It respects Meowth’s lighthearted cartooniness, even when trying to act tough.
Two Thumbs Up!
Because two alternate forms and a new evolution weren’t enough, Kanto’s original Meowth is capable of Gigantamaxing. The first time this Meowth revealed itself in a Sword/Shield trailer, I laughed out of pure amusement.
Long Cat is such an established and recognizable part of meme culture, that it wouldn’t be surprising if Game Freak drew inspiration from it. Stretching Meowth’s body to such a ludicrous length is a simple yet brilliant change.
I only wish Giga Meowth didn’t have to suffer from Game Freak’s stiff animation pipeline. Imagine the springy Slinky-like movements this giant tube cat could perform when leaning forward for a scratch attack. Unfortunately, the reality is significantly blander.
Perhaps someday, the Anime will bring out more personality to the design.
Even if held back by its animations and likely tied to an ancient meme, Gigantamax Meowth is still a fun character design. Of the hundreds of Pokémon that exist, Meowth is a great fit for an Internet inside joke.
Thumbs Up!
