ALL Pokemon Based on Yokai and Japanese Folklore

Okay guys, today I bring to your eyes and ears Pokemon based on Japanese folklore and yokai. It's a lot of Pokemon, so let's get started real quick. Alright, let me know if I missed any. Let's talk about the obvious ones first. Vulpix and Ninetales. So there are a bunch of Pokemon based on kitsune, which are foxes. The word kitsune literally means fox. It doesn't mean specifically ninetaled fox like some people on the internet have said. It just means fox. But in Japanese folklore, the fox is no ordinary animal. They have powers, and there's nothing they like better than to use those powers to trick humans. They can shapeshift into human form and seduce you. They can perform illusions. Their shenanigans range from tricking you into shaving your head, a harmless thing, to sucking the life out of you, a wonderful thing, I mean terrible. How can you tell how powerful a kitsune is? By counting its tails. More tails means more power. A kitsune grows a tail every hundred years or so. It can have up to 9 tails. A ninetaled fox has lived over a thousand years. You can argue that all fox Pokemon are based on kitsune, so I won't list them all, but I'll talk about some. Vulpix and Ninetales are both fox Pokemon. Vulpix has 6 tails. Remember, kitsune grow more tails as time goes on. So when Vulpix evolves into Ninetales, it has 9 tails and lives up to a thousand years. Oh real quick, one thing I have to tell you. This video is magical. If you watch all the way until the very end, a random Pokemon will visit you. That's right. Now is that a lie? I don't know, only one way to find out, innit? Zorua and Zoroark are also fox Pokemon, and they can cast illusions like the kitsune. When Zorua transforms into a human, you can still see its tail. This is related to the kitsune, because they have trouble hiding their tails while in human form. So if you suspect someone of being a kitsune, just stare at their ass until the tail pops out. Fennekin is also a fox Pokemon. It evolves into Braixen, then Delphox. Now kitsune can possess people. They can enter someone's body to control them. This is what Braixen and Delphox are based on. They look kinda half human and half fox. They also look like witches or sorcerers. That's intentional because they're also based on kitsune witches, which were supposedly people who could control kitsune and order them to possess people. Next we have the favorite Pokemon of a 33-year-old babyface catfisher. Pikachu is an electric mouse type Pokemon. It's based on a yokai called Raiju. Raiju has a body of lightning, or has lightning crackling around its body. It's usually drawn like a wolf or a dog, but it can look like non-cool animals too. You know how some people like to sleep surrounded on all sides by pillows? You know who you are. Raiju like to do the same thing. But instead of pillows, it likes to be surrounded by your flesh. It likes to sleep in people's belly buttons. This is the one case where an outie is better than an innie. The problem is, when the thunder god Raijin wants to wake up his pet Raiju, he would shoot lightning arrows at it. This can result in a rotten day for the person to whom the navel belongs. So some people prefer to sleep on their stomach when there's a storm to prevent a Raiju from crawling up in there. So basically any electric four-legged animal type Pokemon you can say was based on the Raiju. I won't say them all, but you have ones like Raichu, of course, Pichu, Magnectric, and a bunch of others. Meowth, the cat Pokemon with a coin on its head. He's based on the manakineko, or the beckoning cat. It's that cat thing you see in Asian stores with its paw going up and down like, come here, spend money. It's supposed to bring good luck and fortune, that's why you see it in Asian businesses everywhere and pachinko parlors. One legend on the origin of the beckoning cat is that one day during a storm, a lord was hiding from the rain under a tree near a temple. He saw the temple's cat wave at him like it was telling him to come over, so he did. Right before lightning slammed into that tree he had been hiding underneath. The lord said the cat saved his life, and he became a patron of that temple, and it became really big. This channel runs on patrons, so we know they're super important. When the cat died, they made a statue of the cat, waving. Meowth is also based on the bakaneko, or monster cat. Not bakaneko, that's different. Baka means stupid, and neko means cat. Put them together and they just mean people who don't wear masks in a pandemic. The bakaneko is a cat yokai that prefers to walk on its hind legs and use its powers to cause trouble, even kill its owners. It can summon fire and control dead corpses. The longer a bakaneko's tail, the more powerful it is. Some bakaneko can shapeshift into humans and even learn human speech. Basically, you can say any cat pokemon that stands on two legs and or has a long tail is based on the bakaneko. Like Purrloin, Espurr, and Meowstic. Maybe Mew and Mewtwo? They're not cats, but their tails are pretty long and they act a bit cat-like. Espurr and Meowstic are also based on the nekomata, which is a different cat yokai with two tails. They're super powerful, smart, and evil. When a normal cat or bakaneko turns into a nekomata, its tail splits into two. That's why Espurr has one tail, and when it evolves into Meowstic, it has two tails. Growlithe, Arcanine, and Entei. They're based on the komainu. Komainu are also called lion dogs. They're those statues you see in front of shrines guarding the entrance. They look like they can rip your heart out, but they also look noble. Lycanroc. Lycanroc is a wolf pokemon that has three forms. The midday form, the midnight form, and dusk form. Midday Lycanroc is calmer and more careful. Midnight Lycanroc is aggressive and loves to fight. And dusk Lycanroc is a hybrid of the two. Lycanroc has similarities with the okuri inu. This yokai is a dog or a wolf that follows people who are walking at night. The good news is that it protects you from animals or other yokai. The bad news is if you happen to stumble or fall, that triggers it and it'll pounce and kill you. That's similar to Lycanroc, who has a calm and loyal midday form, but also an aggressive midnight form. Now you may say, yeah but Lycanroc's obviously based on a werewolf. To which I say, yes, but no one likes to know it all, okay? Electabuzz. It's an electric pokemon with tiger stripes and two tips on its head that are kinda like horns. It's loosely based on oni, which is usually translated as ogres or demons. Oni are everywhere in Japanese folklore. They're often drawn wearing loincloths made from animal hides, often tiger hides. They're usually horny, as in they have horns, that's their most recognizable feature. Pokemon related to oni also have horns, like Grimmsnarl and Glalie. Alright let's talk dragons. Japanese dragons are mostly water animals, but they are shown flying in the air as well. Pokemon based on the Japanese dragon are Rayquaza, Dratini, Dragonair, and Gyarados. Now Dratini, Dragonair, and Gyarados are more specifically based on wani, which are dragons that live in the sea. Sea dragons. They can turn into humans and talk and act exactly like humans, but sometimes their disguise may drop, like during childbirth. In Japanese mythology, the grandfather of Japan's first emperor married a wife who, upon giving birth, revealed that she was a fearsome dragon. So a normal marriage. I already did a video about it, so I won't talk about it here. Dunsparce is based on the tsuchinoko 土の子, which is basically a really short, funny-looking snake. These yokai act pretty much like snakes, except they hibernate in the winter, they like drinking alcohol, and they snore when sleeping. That's why people also refer to them as your husband 20 years from now. Zygarde, in its 50% form, may be partially based on the tsuchinoko 土の子 because it does look like a short snake. Moltres. Moltres looks like a bird called Suzaku スザク that originally came from China. It's also called the vermilion bird. It looks like a pheasant wrapped in flames and represents the fire element in Taoism. Now you may say, Moltres looks more like a phoenix though, and people are more familiar with the phoenix anyways. It's a stretch to say it's based on anything else. To which I say, true, but you just lost all your friends right now, so who really came out the winner here? Hou. This is pretty easy. It's based on the Hou, which is one of the most sacred creatures in Japanese folklore. It also came from China and is supposed to be beautiful, having all 5 colors of the Chinese elements. Black, white, red, yellow, and green. These creatures were birthed from the sun. They're symbols of everything good, like peace, purity, fortune, and happiness. When humanity is suffering difficult times, the Hou flies away to heaven. It returns during good times, so if you see one, it's a sign of prosperity. Hou, the Pokemon, has some of these features, like whoever sees a Hou will have eternal happiness. And it's currently flying around searching for a trainer with a pure heart. Bastard flew right past me. There is a class of yokai called tsukumogami, which are objects, like common household objects, that have become self-aware. There was a common belief that objects that survived for 100 years would become yokai, so you better check around your house for old things like old sofas or shirts or husbands because who knows, they may be self-aware. There are a lot of Pokemon that are just self-aware objects. Too many to count, but here are some. Voltorb, Banette, Rotom, Honedge, Clefky, Lidwick, Chimecho. Also Duskull, Dusclops, and Dusknoir. Now these guys are based on a specific type of tsukumogami called chōchin obake or paper lantern ghost. When a paper lantern is old enough, it wakes up, a mouth opens, and a tongue rolls out. An eyeball blinks into existence, or two, it's not picky. The chōchin obake became most famous for being in a play about the tragic story of Oiwa, where a ghost emerges from a paper lantern, a play which I made a video about. Duskull, Dusclops, and Dusknoir are all ghost-like, have a round shape, and they have a single eye like the flame inside of a paper lantern. Grousey, Hypno, Munna, Musharna. These Pokemon are based on the baku, the nightmare eaters. These guys are weird looking. They say baku were created by the gods from leftover pieces after they made all the other animals. It has an elephant's trunk, a rhinoceros' eyes, an ox's tail, and a tiger's paws. What do I mean by them eating nightmares? A child who wakes up from a nightmare could call out three times, Bakusan, come eat my dream! And a baku would come devour his nightmares so he could go back to sleep and have good dreams, until he remembers that a freakish monster just came into his room. You gotta be careful how often you do this though, because if the baku isn't full from your nightmare, it may just eat your hopes and dreams for the future as well, giving you a life of emptiness. This would be really unfair to your parents, because that's their job. Children used to have a little charm of baku next to them when sleeping to protect themselves from nightmares. Grousey, Hypno, Munna, and Musharna can all eat your dreams, and Grousey even has a trunk like a baku. Lotad, Lombre, Ludicolo, Golduck. They're all based on the popular kappa, or pervert squirtle. This yokai hangs around water. You better watch your ass when you're around a kappa, literally. People used to think that there was this organ, this ball, that people have right inside their butts. It's called a shirikodama, which means small anus ball. Stories differ on what this ball is. Some say it's your soul in a ball of flesh. Whatever it is, the kappa really wants it and it'll reach up in there to take it out. Sometimes the kappa will even suck it out with its mouth. Luckily, you can defend against this nasty attack by farting when it tries to come close, so I encourage you to practice this as often as possible. I'm getting pretty good at it. You can recognize a kappa by its beak and this plate on its head. Its head is dented inwards like a plate. It's the source of the kappa's strength and its weakness. You see, the plate must always be filled with water. That's where its power comes from. But if all the water spills out, the kappa would be paralyzed and may even die. Flotad, Lombre, and Ludicolo all live around water, have beaks, and a plate on their heads. Now Golduck is probably mainly based on a platypus, but you can see kappa characteristics as well, like the beak, the webbed hands and feet, and the fact that it walks on two legs. Lickitung and Lickilicky. These pokemon are based on the akaname, or filth lickers. Akaname are dirty dirty, and they like to lick dirty things. Anything dirty or smelly or stained, they'll lick it right up. Kids are told that if they don't clean their bathrooms, an akaname may make its home in there. They're often drawn with one toe and one claw on each foot. Lickitung and Lickilicky both like to lick things up. The Pokédex for Lickitung says it licks filth clean with its tongue. And they both only have one claw on each foot, and also on each hand. Celesteela. Okay, this pokemon is definitely based on Kaguyahime from the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter, which I did a video about. I feel like I've said that a lot. How many times has it been? Kaguyahime was born from a bamboo stalk, and she came from the moon. Celesteela kinda looks like a woman with long hair in a dress. No really, if you look closer, squint your eyes a little, and consume some shrooms, it looks exactly like a princess. Its arms look like bamboo stalks. And overall, it looks like a spaceship, and it can fly into space, maybe even to the moon. Mawile. Mawile looks sweet, but has a terrifying second mouth in the back that'll ruin your day. This one's based on Futakuchi Onna, or Two-Mouthed Woman. This yokai looks like a normal woman, but part her hair from the back and you reveal a second mouth. This mouth loves to eat, and she uses her hair like tentacles to grab food and shove it into that mouth. Froslass. This pokemon's body looks like a woman wearing a kimono. Froslass lives in snowy mountains, and if she finds a handsome man, she would freeze him with her icy breath and take him home for her man collection. Which is like a stamp collection, but more socially acceptable. During snowstorms, she would also go around knocking on people's doors. Froslass is clearly based on the yuki onna, or snow woman. A yuki onna looks like a beautiful woman with snow white skin, skin as cold as ice. She also lives in snowy mountains and targets travelers. She uses her breath to suck the life out of her victims and freeze them. She also breaks into houses to freeze the people within. Sligu and Gura. Alright this may be questionable, not gonna lie, but they're probably based on Shusebura and Mizuchi. There are these gigantic snail creatures called giant tritons. If they live long enough, like a few thousand years, they turn into these dragon-like yokai called Shusebura. That's Sligu, a snail Pokemon. If a Shusebura lives a few thousand more years, it turns into a Mizuchi, a type of Japanese dragon. Gura may be based on the Mizuchi because it evolves from Sligu and it's a dragon-type Pokemon. What do you think? Sneasel and Weavile. These Pokemon are based on the kamaitachi, or sickle weasel. These are sharp-clawed, wind-surfing weasels with an attitude. They usually live in cold mountains and they like to surf on whirlwinds and cut you with their long claws as they pass by. They move so quickly that you can't see them. They were used to explain why people got little cuts and cracked skin in cold weather. Sneasel and Weavile both have sharp claws like the kamaitachi, and Weavile's scratch can give you frostbite, a reference to the kamaitachi living in cold weather. Shiftry and Nuzleaf. They're based on the popular Tengu, the big ol' nose gave it away. Tengu are usually drawn with long, knotty noses, though sometimes they have beaks too. They live high up in the mountains and usually dress in the outfit of a mountain ascetic monk. They're powerful and have been known to kidnap children who venture too far into the mountains. If you look at Shiftry's feet, they look like the sandals that a Tengu wears. These are actually called tenguketa, or tengu sandals. Now Nuzleaf, the unevolved form of Shiftry, could also be a koutengu or a lesser tengu. Koutengu are smaller and look more like birds. Alright, 36 more Pokemon to go. I better pick up the pace. Whiscash. This Pokemon can cause earthquakes. It's based on the onamazu, or great catfish. This yokai also causes earthquakes. People believed that they swim in underground caverns and when they brush up against rock, it causes earthquakes. I also did a video about onamazu and how it became a fighter for the poor. Exeggutor. This cute Pokemon is based on the horrifying jinmenju, or human face tree. Perfect name. This tree has flowers that look like human faces. They even have fruit that look like faces. The faces can't talk, but they can smile and laugh. If you ever want to pick up one of these face flowers as a gift for your girlfriend and end that relationship, but they're too high, there's one easy way to do it. You just gotta laugh at them and they'll laugh back. If they laugh hard enough, they may just break off and fall into your hands. Mistrevus. So this Pokemon flies around looking like a disembodied head. This may be based on the nukekubi. The idea is that a woman may catch a curse where at night, her head would float right off her body and fly around sucking people's blood. She can also bite you until you die, so she's not all bad. Lampent. This Pokemon visits dying people and absorbs their spirit to feel its flame. Okay, this is a stretch, but Lampent may be partially based on hitodama, which are human souls that float about after they die. They like to hang around places of death like graveyards and funeral houses. They don't attack you, so they're pretty harmless. Greninja. Greninja is basically a frog ninja, right? The inspiration for this Pokemon comes from an old story called The Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya. I did a video about it. Naruto actually borrows a lot from this story, including the character of Jiraiya. In the old story, Jiraiya learns toad magic and even rides on a giant toad. Combine frogs and toads with Naruto and you get a frog ninja. Greninja. Ghastly. Ghastly is this floating head thing surrounded by gas. A long time ago, there was this monk named Sogen who stole money from his temple all his life. After he died because of his crimes, he became a floating head surrounded not by gas, but by flames. This yokai is called Sogenbi, and it's what ghastly is based on. Frillish and Jellicent. They're based on this jellyfish yokai called Kurage no Hinotama. It glows and it floats in the air. It's more of a ball of light shaped like a jellyfish. One story tells of a samurai who saw one while he was walking at night. When he tried to cut it with his sword, it went right through the thing. Then the floating jellyfish squirted this sticky red liquid at his face and clothes. The liquid didn't seem to cause any harm, but it did ruin his washing machine. Slowbro and Slowking. They're partially based on the sazae oni. There's a small type of snail called a turban snail, and it's thought that when a turban snail reaches a certain age, it becomes a sazae oni. They live in the sea and pretend to be sexy women drowning. When men rescue them and pull them up onto the boat, the sazae oni would attack. There's one story where pirates rescued this drowning woman. They wanted to have their way with her, but she was actually willing, so she slept with all of the pirates. However, after she was finished, she detached all of their balls. When the pirates realized what she did, it probably didn't take them long, she turned back into a monster and said she would give them back their balls in exchange for the gold they had stolen. The pirates got testies at this demand, but agreed to the trade, and the sazae oni ran off with the gold. The ending is a play on words because one way to say testicles in Japanese is kintama, which literally means golden balls. So the sazae oni traded golden balls for gold. Slowbro and Slowking both have shells attached to them. Slowking also wears it like a cool turban, which we see in pictures of sazae oni. Darumaka and Darmanitan. These Pokemon are based on Daruma dolls, which themselves were made to look like Bodhidharma, the monk popularly credited with founding Zen Buddhism. These dolls are toys, but are also good luck charms. Darumaka and Darmanitan just look a lot like Daruma dolls. Darmanitan can even enter Zen mode, where he looks exactly like a Daruma doll. Zigzagoon. By appearance alone, Zigzagoon looks like the popular tanuki, or Japanese raccoon dog. I have a video about them. They're tricksy little buggers and they're not afraid to shapeshift to fool you. Zigzagoon also drums its belly, a thing that the tanuki also does. Celebi, Phantump, and Trevenant. These Pokemon are based on the kodama, which are spirits of the forest that hang around trees, tending to them. You rarely see them, but they're usually drawn as orbs of light. The movie Princess Mononoke draws them looking like this. Kodama can also refer to the trees that these spirits live in. They're linked. If a tree dies, the spirits that make the tree its home die too. Celebi and Phantump are Pokemon of the forest, and they have spirit bodies, like kodama. Trevenant is based on the actual trees that kodama are linked with. Gligar and Gliscor. These guys look like a cross between a bat and a lobster or something, because they have lobster claws. While they look a lot like these yokai called amikiri, who also look crustacean. They fly through the air, keeping an eye out for nets, because their favorite thing to do is to use their two claws to cut nets. Fishing nets, mosquito nets, any kind of nets, they love it. Ponyta and Rapidash. They look like horses with fire manes and fire tails. They're based on the kirin. This creature looks like a horse or deer or giraffe, and has holy flames covering its mane and body. It has a big horn or antlers that curve backwards. Its head looks like a dragon's head. The kirin is one of the most sacred beasts. It's a symbol of purity and goodness, and it never hurts any living thing. Even its footsteps are so light that it can walk on grass without crushing it, and walk on water without sinking. Suicune is also based on the kirin because it has big antlers that curve backwards. It can walk on water, and it can purify the water it touches. Bronzor and Bronzong. Bronzor is based on the bronze mirror, called the dokyo, and Bronzong is based on the bronze bell, called the dotaku. Way back in ancient Japan, they loved these things because they came from China, which was the most powerful country in the area. The Japanese used the bronze items in a lot of rituals. The fact that Bronzor evolves into Bronzong may be a reference to an old story, which goes like this. Long ago, some priests wanted to make a large bronze bell, so they asked the people of the village to donate their bronze mirrors so they could smelt them and make a large bell. Everyone gave their mirrors to the priests, but one woman regretted it and really wished she hadn't. She kept this regret to herself because she didn't want to seem selfish. But when the priests tried to smelt all the mirrors, her mirror wouldn't melt because her selfish soul was still attached to the bell. Long story short, she killed herself out of shame, but cast the curse that whoever breaks the bell by ringing it would become rich. So people kept trying to ring that damn bell day and night, and it became so bad that the priests had to toss it into a swamp. Kartana. This pokemon looks like an origami figure. It may be based on shikigami. It was thought that shinto ritualists could summon spirit servants that they control, called shikigami. These servants could take any form, like ghosts or demons, but the most common are pieces of paper imbued with the summoned spirits. Snorunt. Snorunt is a triangle that lives in cold, snowy environments. On looks alone, you can tell that he is based on the yuki warashi, or snow child. These are children made out of snow. One story goes, there was an old childless couple who made snow into the shape of a little boy. Magically, the boy came to life and they spent the entire winter happily taking care of their little son. But as the winter neared its end, the boy got thinner and thinner until he vanished altogether and the couple was left childless again. Absol. Absol may be based on the hakutaku, which looks like a white ox and it's usually drawn with 9 eyes and 6 horns, but those numbers vary. Sometimes it has less eyes and one horn on its head. It's very smart. Legend says that a Chinese emperor once met a hakutaku, and it taught him that there were 11,520 different types of supernatural creatures in the world, and taught him what they looked like and their behaviors. Another story tells of the hakutaku warning a village of an imminent plague. So the Absol is probably based on the hakutaku because it's white, has one horn, it's smart, and it warns people of coming disasters. Magmar, torchic, combustion, blaziken. They all look like chickens that play around with fire. They're based on the basan. It's a bird that looks like a chicken and breathes fire. They roam around at night looking for bonfires that have recently burnt out so they can eat the burning wood. That's their food, burnt and burning wood. Miss Magius. Some people claim Miss Magius is based on Nasubaba, but I think they're basing that on color alone. Don't know if I buy it, but I'll include it just in case you bastards complain in the comments. Nasubaba is a spirit that haunts the area around the famous temple Enryaku-ji. Her skin is all purple and she looks like an ugly, scary old woman. Despite her looks, she actually seems good and is supposed to warn the temple of disasters. Regi Jesus, Regigigas, Regigigas. This big guy may be based on the daidara bochi, purely because of Regimus's size and the fact that it can change the landscape, like stopping glaciers. The daidara bochi are huge yokai that can move mountains and create lakes and valleys from their footprints. They say a daidara bochi created Mount Fuji when it took the dirt around the area and put it into a huge dirt pile, then placed tourism signs everywhere. Giratina and Centiskorch. They're based on the omukade, or giant centipede. They're super venomous and they can eat people because they're that big. Stakataka. This is speculative, but this pokemon may be inspired by mokumokuren, which are paper doors that have eyes on them. So over time, paper doors can accumulate holes, and the idea is that if you leave doors like that for too long, the holes become eyes. Stakataka also has eyes on all of its stone bricks. Alright we're almost done, let's end with some big ones. The three forces of nature are legendary pokemon, so they gotta be based on really important figures. Landeras is the guardian of the fields. Its tail can inject nutrition into the soil and cause crops to grow like crazy. Landeras is based on the kami Inari, who is an important god. Inari is the god of a lot of things, like tea, rice, and sake, but it's also the god of fertility and agriculture. Tornadus controls the wind and can cause hurricanes and huge storms. He's based on the kami Fujin, who's the god of the wind. He carries a wind bag that he uses to direct the wind. When he opens it, huge gusts of wind escape from the bag. And Thundurus shoots lightning from his tail. He's based on Raijin, the god of thunder and lightning. Fujin and Raijin are BFFs, so they're often shown together. Well there you go. Alright here at the end, I do have a bonus meta connection for you. The whole Pokemon series is inspired by yokai. Think about it. Pokemon are weird creatures that are everywhere and have all kinds of powers. They're basically yokai. Alright today's quiz question is this. Which of the seven lucky gods holds a fish? Let me know in the comments and tomorrow I'll choose a winner from among the correct answers. Winner gets one of these. Good luck. We have some new patrons this week. Shane Melanson, mrsd, Iris Ravenhild from Clan Ravenhild, Wesley Neelin, and abc400. Thank you so much you guys. Alright, I love you, and spread the knowledge!