For today’s Normal-type article, we shall be looking at some possible inspirations for Normal-type. As a type, the Normal-type is really vast in what makes sense for it, so the choices here will be varied too. On the other hand, the non-specific theme for Normal-types makes it difficult to look for inspirations, unlike some of the more focused types like Grass and Bug.
If you are ready to see what’s in the list, please proceed.
Koala
(Photo taken by Diliff)
It would be nice if we got a marsupial Pokémon, especially one based on a koala. Yes, I am aware that Kangaskhan is based on a kangaroo, but it hardly looks like one (its head is monster-like). Why a koala, of all things? Well, that’s because koalas are cute, and yet at the same time, they can be battle-ready. Due to how they spend a lot of time in trees, they could be partially a Grass-type. If there were to be an Australia-based region, there most definitely must be a koala Pokémon because it is one of the most well-known animals in Australia!
Hyrax
(Photo taken by D. Gordon E. Robertson)
When you see a hyrax like here, you won’t think much about its peculiarities. Do you know that the hyrax has something in common with elephants and mice? Despite their looks, they have more in common with elephants and manatees, but they have growing incisors like rodents. Because of its characteristics, there are two ways hyraxes could be adapted into Pokémon.
The first way is the standard way, which is to just give the animal some characteristics that will fit in the Pokémon world, mainly by giving it some cool ability while retaining its animal characteristics. The second way is to give it an evolutionary relative that look like a rodent and another evolutionary relative that looks like an elephant, which will surely be a surprise for those not familiar with this Pokémon, much in the same way many are surprised with how a suckerfish evolves into an octopus.
Porcupine
(Photo taken by Andrew Butko)
As far as rodents go, there are quite a few that haven’t been properly represented yet. The porcupine is one such rodent. In case you’re unfamiliar with them, porcupines are well-known for their sharp quills that can stick to someone if they poke, which can be a painful experience. It’s similar to how hedgehogs use their spines to protect themselves, so a porcupine similarly isn’t so helpless. It could be used to continue the tradition of early-game two-staged mammal Pokémon, except this one isn’t as harmless. A Pokémon based on a porcupine could use its spikes as a weapon, so it might have decent Attack, and of course, Spikes. Its ability could be spike-related, so perhaps Iron Barbs is in order.
Toucan/Hornbill
Representing the birds that are yet to be used for Pokémon is the toucan or hornbill. What distinguish them from most birds are their large beaks, allowing them to grapple on things more easily. The difference between a toucan and a hornbill is mainly how the beak is formed, especially the hornbill’s extra protrusion above the beak (which the toucan lacks). Due to their large beaks, they have strong neck muscles to support them.
One could put both animals as a Pokémon in an evolutionary line, much like how Pidove and Unfezant are related despite being different birds. In terms of a design that stands out, they could have oversized beaks, perhaps with colour. Because of that, their main method of attacking is their beaks, either by snapping or by bludgeoning opponents with it. It would certainly bring up questions about how they can fly with their beaks, so the results could be amusing.
Fish
It’s weird that I am suggesting a fish Pokémon, isn’t it? After all, we’ve got lots of fish Pokémon already! Remember that this is a Normal-type article, and no Normal-type fishes exist. Although fish is commonly associated with Water-types since they live in water, it is not a strict requirement for aquatic Pokémon to be a Water-type. Besides, having a non-Water-type aquatic Pokémon adds variety to watery areas, so that their weaknesses are not so predictable.
Insect
Much like my suggestion for fish, this seems like a weird thing to suggest, but hear me out: have we ever had any Normal-type insect Pokémon at this time? None of the Normal-types right now are insects, so there definitely aren’t. Obviously, they will be Bug-type, which means that they will have Normal as a secondary type. Now the biggest question is: which insect best represents the Normal-type?
Usually the winged ones will become a Flying-type, so those are out of the equation. One could use a type of beetle as a Normal-type, and I am sure that there is one type of beetle that would be suitable for it. One amusing insect that could be used is the flea, because it is a common type of insect, yet it doesn’t fly. While spiders aren’t insects, it’s not an unusual idea for there to be a Normal-type spider, perhaps one based on the daddy long legs.
Centaur
For our mythical creature that isn’t done before, we have the centaur. Certainly, we already have humanoid Pokémon (look at the Human-Like group for examples) and equine Pokémon, so it would seem that combining them would be acceptable, right? Well, I imagine such a combination would be unusual mainly because there are currently no Pokémon with a body type of two arms together with four legs. As such, this Pokémon would combine the best of what Pokémon with hands can do and what Pokémon that can run fast do, meaning it would have a unique battle style.
Robot
(Illustrated by Kisilin)
Normal-types have their share of organic and inorganic Pokémon. For the latter, the main example is the Porygon family. It would thus be cool to have another inorganic Pokémon in the form of a robot. Normally, robots are of other types based on their material, so a robot made of metal will be Steel-type, or a robot made of stone will be a Rock-type.
Technically, there is a Normal-type robot already in the form of one of PokéStar’s “monster” (see above picture if you don’t know what that Pokémon is), but it’s not an official Pokémon yet. With that said, I am not opposed if this robot Pokémon becomes a real Pokémon, since I love its design.
Gigantic Hand
If Mario, Legend of Zelda and Kirby could have their own version of gigantic hand enemies (Eyerok, Wallmaster and Dark Crafter respectively), why not Pokémon? My search for gigantic hand Fakemons was futile, since such a specification is hard to pinpoint, so let’s treat this as a completely unexplored idea, OK?
There will be two versions of the gigantic hand, and it should have five or six fingers (four fingers is not a good thing for the Japanese). The hands are merely cosmetic and won’t affect gameplay, which would cater for both left-handed and right-handed people without discrimination. If you want to get even, perhaps this Pokémon are composed of two hands instead of one. Obviously, they will have moves that are hand based, such as punching moves, chopping moves and hand moves (like Follow Me and Helping Hand). They might have some magic tricks too, assuming they are floating hands instead of crawling ones.
Artificial Plant
(Image taken from UK Gardens)
To designate a certain material as a certain type is a difficult decision to make, especially if it doesn’t fit into the currently-known types. For example, what type would a glass-related Pokémon be? How about rubber? This brings us to the question of plastic. Because it’s hard to fit a certain type for plastic, it should be a Normal-type.
As for the question on what object to designate the plastic label to, I decided that a plant is one of the ways to go about it. This would fool people into thinking that it is a Grass-type because it’s a plant, but nope, it’s a Normal-type due to its fakeness, much like how Sudowoodo is a Rock-type despite looking like a tree. Some plastic plants look convincing yet discernable for the observant, which could be used as an inspiration for this Pokémon where they will look like they are a Grass-type, but the glossiness will hint at their imitative nature.
That’s all of my proposed ideas. It’s already difficult to come up with ten different inspirations, so I hope there are some inspirations to be found in such a list. I hope you enjoyed reading this as much as I have writing it.
Next Article: Specialists 1
