Pokemon

[BlueKrono]

As you may or may not be aware, many of the hundreds of Pokemon depict prehistoric creatures, but some of the newer ones that the 151 folks may not be familiar with quite clearly depict some very specific and sometimes even rather obscure ancient critters. While they just launched another batch bringing the grand total to over 800(!) Pokemon, I've compiled a list from the most recent and complete wood pulp publication available (the Deluxe Essential Handbook, circa 2015) which includes more than 700 of the little monsters. I've done my best to pin down what genus or at least family of prehistoric critter most closely corresponds to each Pokemon, but many are frightfully difficult to peg, being little more than generic bipedal reptiles or wingless dragons. That being said, I did not include dragon Pokemon or things like lizards or crocodilians (unless they're bipeds; then they're Suchomimus of course!). If anyone has any suggestions for more accurate genera labels for these cartoony beasts please feel free to share. Sorry for the lack of pictures; there are quite a few of them, and it's taken long enough to even come up with the list below. If you want to see a particular Pokemon remember Google is your friend... or just buy the book.

Aerodactyl - pterosaur
Aggron - theropod
Amaura - Amargasaurus
Anorith - Anomalocaris
Archen - Archaeopteryx
Archeops - Archaeopteryx
Armaldo - theropod
Aron - ankylosaur
Aurorus - Amargasaurus
Axew - Parasaurolophus
Bagon - Cryolophosaurus
Bastiodon - Pentaceratops
Bayleef - sauropod
Breloom - theropod
Bulbasaur - ankylosaur
Cranidos - Pachycephalosaurus
Croconaw - theropod
Cubone - theropod
Deino - sauropod
Dialga - sauropod
Feraligator - Suchomimus
Fraxure - Tsintaosaurus
Gabite - theropod
Garchomp - theropod
Giratina - sauropod
Goodra - Plateosaurus
Grotle - ankylosaur
Groudan - theropod
Grovyle - theropod
Haxorus - theropod
Ivysaur - ankylosaur
Kangaskhan - theropod
Krokorok - Suchomimus
Krookodile - Suchomumus
Lairon - ankylosaur
Lapras - plesiosaur
Larvitar - theropod
Mamoswine - Mammuthus
Marowak - theropod
Meganium - sauropod
Nikoking - ceratopsian
Nidoqueen - ceratopsian
Nidorina - ceratopsian
Nidorino - ceratopsian
Omanyte - Ammonite
Omastar - Ammonite
Palkia - theropod
Piloswine - Mammuthus
Rampardos - Stygimoloch
Relicanth - Latimeria (coelacanth)
Rhydon - ceratopsian
Rhyhorn - ceratopsian
Rhyperior - Ceratosaurus
Sceptile - theropod
Servine - Plateosaurus
Shieldon - ceratopsian
Snivy - Plateosaurus
Torterra - Ankylosaurus
Totodile - Suchomimus
Treecko - theropod
Tropius - sauropod
Tyranitar - theropod
Tyrantrum - Tyrannosaurus
Tyrunt - Nanotyrannus
Venusaur - ankylosaur
Yanma - Meganeura
Yanmega - Meganeura


Gotta catch 'em all!

[EmperorDinobot]

I'm not sure this belongs here, but Totodile is totally NOT a Suchomimus, nor are Krookodile and those guys. Those are crocodilians. Snivy is a gecko. Servine is a boa. The Rhyhorns are obviously rhinos. The Nidos are monstruous lagomorphs. Aron and its evolutions are not theropods or ankylosaurs, but they ARE ceratopsidae. Kanghaskhan is a monstruous kangaroo. Bulbasaurids...I don't know what they are but they are not dinos. Breloom is definitely a hardosaur. Garchomp and those guys...I'm not sure. They'e got more in common with ground burrowing lizards. I'm not sure where to put those. Armaldo is still an anomalocaris but with legs. I'm not sure Mamoswine and its kin are mammoths, I think they're more related to pigs than they are to elephants.

You forgot Kabutos and Kabutops. Horseshoe crab and then mantid. I don't know how one turned into another totally different organism.


Oh and Aerodactyl was probably based on a stereotypical pre 90's pterosaur look, but Raeticodactylus is eeerily similar to it.

[CityRaptor]

The Nidos are clearly inspired by Baragon. And Tyrannitar is clearly Godzilla.

If you want a japanese Mon franchise with Dinosaurs ( that is not specifically focused on Dinosaurs, like Dinosaur King ), I would say that Digimon makes some far more convincing critters.

[EmperorDinobot]

Ah yes! They look a lot like Baragon! Clearly! I saw somewhere though that they were meant to be really beefy rabbits. I guess Baragon is a really beefy 1800's dinosaur/rabbit/rhino thing.

[BlueKrono]

As a general rule I tend toward inclusiveness rather than leaving something out that might be pertinent. As I said in the opening paragraph, if it's a bipedal reptilian with a long, crocodilian snout I classified it as Suchomimus. Quadrupeds like Sandile did not make the cut. Since Snivy is a biped I included it as a dinosaur, as I did with Treecko who is even more gecko-like. Many unidentifiable bipeds I simply labeled as "theropods". Servine has four legs and looks quite dinosaur-like. Don't be fooled by names - the Rhys look much more like armored dinosaurs than modern-day rhinoceroses, as do the Nidos in comparison to rabbits. Aron was kind of a toss-up - it has a face shield but also a shell on its back. Rather than classify it as a turtle I went with ankylosaur. Lairon I couldn't classify as anything but an ankylosaur with the shield plates on its back, and Aggron, while possessing ceratopsian-like horns, has big carnivore teeth and is a biped, so I went with theropod on him. I don't know of any theropods that have two big horns above their eyes so I wasn't more specific.

Bulbasaurids are clearly inspired by dinosaurs, but they are quite generic. I went with ankylosaurs because the bulb could be interpreted as a shell. Breloom was probably the most difficult for me to classify. What characteristic makes you think it is "definitely a hadrosaur"? Garchomp and the gang are combinations of two very different things, as are many Pokemon - in this case, sharks and theropod dinosaurs. Armaldo is half bug and half theropod dinosaur, with sharp teeth, a long neck and a long saurian tail. I classified Piloswine and Mamoswine as woolly mammoths due to their thick hair and tusks, making them closer to mammoths than pigs in my eyes, but Swinub lacks tusks entirely and is more pig than anything. I intentionally left out Kabuto and Kabutops, which most closely resemble a beetle and a half horsehoe crab/half humanoid respectively. Kabuto is actually the Japanese word for the helmets that samurai wear, so the Pokemon is basically some kind of horseshoe crab samurai. I didn't include the crabs since they are still extant, but now that we know that coelacanths are still around maybe it's hypocritical not to include horseshoe crabs anyway... Aerodactyl has two horns on the back of its head unlike any known pterosaur. Raeticodactylus had a protuberance on its nose, while Aerodactyl doesn't. Hence I left it as merely "pterosaur".

[BlueKrono]

And we all know that kaiju were initially inspired by dinosaurs (confirmed in 1991 with the revelation of Godzillasaurus - http://gojirastomp.tripod.com/gfacts/godzillasaurusm.html). The clumsy, tail-dragging giant monsters of the 50's harken back to the earliest depictions of theropods.