Highlights
- Countless trivia and details from Gen 1 Pokemon games fuel fan theories, like the debated evolutionary swap between Butterfree and Venomoth.
- Pokemon can evolve, resulting in drastic changes to their appearance.
- Although some believe Butterfree and Venomoth were originally swapped, others argue shared features are common due to Gen 1 design limitations.
Countless obscure details and fun pieces of trivia left over from the Gen 1 Pokemon games have fueled fan theories for nearly three decades now, with one popular theory regarding a certain evolutionary line still being subject to debate from fans to this day. While quite a few of the creature designs seen throughout the Pokemon series have sparked the idea of them originally being designed to fit into a different evolution family altogether, there’s one particular example that stands out.
Pokemon evolution has been observed since the concepts of these creatures and the Pokemon world in general were first introduced. The vast majority of Pokemon species are able to evolve, often drastically changing their appearance and stats by doing so. The evolutionary links between some Pokemon species aren’t immediately obvious though, and while it’s fairly easy to recognize that Charmander is related to Charmeleon, for example, other species such as Magikarp would likely take newer fans of the franchise by complete surprise when it evolves into the vicious sea serpent that is Gyarados.
Pokémon: The 10 Coolest Bug Pokémon, Ranked
Normally, bugs can just be the worst. However, bug Pokémon can be really great. We take a look at the coolest ones.
With there now being more than 1,000 unique species of Pokemon altogether, some creatures invariably end up sporting features that look like they’ve been adapted from other species. This is an especially crucial detail to keep in mind when considering the design constraints and typically simple appearances of most Pokemon, but even so, many longtime fans of the franchise have likely heard of the theory that suggests Butterfree and Venomoth are “swapped” evolutions – or in other words, that Venomoth was originally designed to evolve from Metapod, and Butterfree was supposed to evolve from Venonat. An infographic post shared online by the user invertposting helps to demonstrate the similarities these Pokemon share.
How These Two Pokemon Look Way Too Similar
The mirroring of the coloring, eyes, antennae, mouth, and overall body shape between Venonat and Butterfree has long led fans to believe that these species were meant to share the same evolutionary line at one point, but were switched to fit into different families during the development of Pokemon Red and Green for unknown reasons. The creator of the above post disagrees with this consensus, instead stating that the limitations that Gen 1 sprite artists faced along with the design standards used throughout the Pokemon series makes shared features such as these an inevitability. The post includes an extensive deep dive into various Pokemon designs, and has reignited discussion around this old theory.
That said, it seems to have done little to sway the perspectives of those who believe the evolutions were swapped. Though the Pokemon series is incredibly rich in trivia, it almost always falls to the community to dig up and discuss these kinds of details. Compared to most games, official insights into development and pre-release information is scarcely released by Game Freak or The Pokemon Company unfortunately.
Pokemon
Pokemon is a franchise that needs no introduction. One of the most successful media empires in history, Pokemon spans games, television, films, manga, merchandise, music, and more.
- Created by
- Satoshi Tajiri
