Why Pokemon Fans Are Unhappy With the Scarlet and Violet Protagonists

Pokemon fans both in and outside Japan are discussing Scarlet and Violet, and an interesting debate on the protagonists has been making waves.

Nintendo, The Pokemon Company, and Game Freak revealed Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Gen 9. The reveal trailer, included below, most notably featured the two protagonists of the game, and several fans have been discussing their character design, and their faces in particular.

Why Pokemon Fans are unhappy with the Scarlet and Violet protagonists’ faces

Ever since Pokemon Scarlet and Violet was announced on the Pokemon Day showcase, the words “主人公の顔 / the protagonists’ faces” have been trending on Twitter, with many fans in Japan saying their faces “don’t feel like Pokemon“. You can find several tweets with thousands of likes and retweets if you look up these keywords.

Several fans on the English side of Twitter made similar remarks as well, which in turn has been picked up by Japanese players, mentioning “even overseas fans dislike it”.

Moreover, some of fanbase also pointed out that the 2D artwork style has changed in Scarlet and Violet. Until now, human characters in Pokemon always had oval-shaped eyes, keeping the style of original character designer Ken Sugimori.

However, the protagonists of Scarlet and Violet have round-shaped eyes both on their 2D artwork and in their 3D models in-game. I translated some of the fans’ reactions below.

Fans on Twitter react to the protagonists’ faces in Scarlet and Violet

• “Happy I’m not the only one who thought the new protagonists’ faces look weird. It’s not like the visuals are bad, but it just doesn’t feel like Pokemon. These are my favorites btw”.

• “This is the new Pokemon games’ protagonist”.

• “Am I the only one who thought the protagonist looked like this?”

• “The 2D illustrations look so good, so why did the 3D models’ faces turn out like this…”.

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet will launch in late 2022 on Nintendo Switch

Needless to say, Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is still in development, so the 3D models will be improved by the time the game releases. Last but not least keep in mind that Twitter isn’t necessarily an accurate reflection of reality, and it’s not like every single Pokemon fan is hating on the protagonists’ faces.

What did you think of the new character design in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, be it in 2D or the 3D models? Let me know in the comments below!