Bikini Miltank
A magical girl, transforming very slowly
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2007
- Messages
- 2,375
- Reaction score
- 15
Okay, here's a question I don't think I've ever seen asked before.
Pokémon have always had a height given in their dex entries. But for some species, I've never been clear on what this refers to.
For bipedal Pokémon such as Dragonite, Mawile, Mr Mime and so on, this seems to simply be head-to-toe measurement, as in humans.
For serpentine Pokémon such as Dragonair, Arbok and Onix, it definitely refers to length.
For quadrupeds, such as Tauros, Houndoom and Arceus, it seems to be back to height again - albeit height from the ground to the head/highest point, much like a horse's height would be measured in real life.
Certain arthropod-like Pokémon (Paras, Spinarak, Anorith) seem to be back to length again, although it's hard to tell in many of these cases.
Length would also be the logical way of measuring fish, although I can't say with certainty that it's always done that way.
Then there are the borderline cases: many species straddle the border between biped and quadruped. Pikachu and Sandshrew are depicted as being both, for example. Meanwhile, Kabuto is technically a quadruped but would seem to have more in common with the arthropod-like Pokémon. All of these considerations would alter how their heights were measured.
My hunch is that the way height/length is determined is dependent on the Pokémon's body style - that otherwise baffling classification introduced in the new games. There must be some in-house method for determining relative sizes of Pokémon based on the Dex heights, especially for the anime. Maybe the body style feature was based upon something the designers have been using privately for a long time.
Anyway, I'd like to know what you think. Is this how sizes are worked out, or is it something even more complicated and arbitrary?
Pokémon have always had a height given in their dex entries. But for some species, I've never been clear on what this refers to.
For bipedal Pokémon such as Dragonite, Mawile, Mr Mime and so on, this seems to simply be head-to-toe measurement, as in humans.
For serpentine Pokémon such as Dragonair, Arbok and Onix, it definitely refers to length.
For quadrupeds, such as Tauros, Houndoom and Arceus, it seems to be back to height again - albeit height from the ground to the head/highest point, much like a horse's height would be measured in real life.
Certain arthropod-like Pokémon (Paras, Spinarak, Anorith) seem to be back to length again, although it's hard to tell in many of these cases.
Length would also be the logical way of measuring fish, although I can't say with certainty that it's always done that way.
Then there are the borderline cases: many species straddle the border between biped and quadruped. Pikachu and Sandshrew are depicted as being both, for example. Meanwhile, Kabuto is technically a quadruped but would seem to have more in common with the arthropod-like Pokémon. All of these considerations would alter how their heights were measured.
My hunch is that the way height/length is determined is dependent on the Pokémon's body style - that otherwise baffling classification introduced in the new games. There must be some in-house method for determining relative sizes of Pokémon based on the Dex heights, especially for the anime. Maybe the body style feature was based upon something the designers have been using privately for a long time.
Anyway, I'd like to know what you think. Is this how sizes are worked out, or is it something even more complicated and arbitrary?
