Ho-Oh

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Fig

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Well, we had one of the two, so I figure we might as well add in the other.

Ho-Oh is, we all know, based on the Phoenix. But what does Ho-Oh actually looks like? The game depict it almost parrot-like in coloring, with well ordered colors on the wing; the anime openings agree with this. ON the other hand, when it appeared in the anime, it was a golden, shiny creature, with no traces of such coloring.

The pokédex descriptions throws another spin on the whole story :

Gold Legends claim this Pokemon flies the world's skies continuously on its magnificent seven-colored wings.
Silver A legend says that its body glows in seven colors. A rainbow is said to form behind it when it flies.
Ruby Ho-oh's feathers glow in seven colors depending on the angle at which they are struck by light. These feathers are said to bring happiness to the bearers. This Pokemon is said to live at the food of a rainbow.
Sapphire HO-OH's feathers glow in seven colors depending on the angle at which they are struck by light. These feathers are said to bring happiness to the bearers. This POKeMON is said to live at the foot of a rainbow.
FireRed A legend says that its body glows in seven colors. A rainbow is said to form behind it when it flies.
LeafGreen Legends claim this POKeMON flies the world's skies continuously on its magnificent seven-colored wings.
Emerald Its feathers--which glow in seven colors depending on the angle at which they are struck by light--are thought to bring joy. It is said to live at the foot of a rainbow.

Note that the dex commonly bring back the SEVEN-colored theme; neither the game nor anime reflect this seven-color scheme (one would assume the seven rainbow colors, seeing as Ho-Oh is constantly called the rainbow pokémon).

Now, of course, in terms of looks, Ho-Oh, being an eastern Phoenix, is a close relative of the crane (bird) (and not remotely related to the turkey, contrary to its popular nickname, basedon a particularly ugly depiction on the game pictures)
 
Well, he's definitely a Phoenix.

One thing that made me always wonder is why in the anime and in the games themselves you cannot see the supposed SEVEN colours of the rainbow in his body. But looking at the pokédex entries, this is related to the angle the light is striking Ho-oh's feathers so I guess you have to be really lucky to get to see a rainbow coloured Ho-oh. As if encountering one wasn't hard enough.
 
Kasumi-san said:
Well, he's definitely a Phoenix.

One thing that made me always wonder is why in the anime and in the games themselves you cannot see the supposed SEVEN colours of the rainbow in his body. But looking at the pokédex entries, this is related to the angle the light is striking Ho-oh's feathers so I guess you have to be really lucky to get to see a rainbow coloured Ho-oh. As if encountering one wasn't hard enough.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Maybe it's gold-coloured in the anime because of how the sun's reflecting off of it. Maybe its feathers have prism-like qualities. The angle of the sun determines the colors that show. Or maybe it's just attuned to its environment, and that reflects what colors show.
 
That'S a good point, right there. Though they could have recolored for RSE FRLG. And Stadium.
 
That rainbow trailing after Ho-Oh raise one question. It is at all possible that, rather than having "rainbow-colored" wings or any such, Ho-Oh is actualy a colorless creature, and that the colors we perceive it as being as the result of a prismatic effect of some sort (ie, light passing through Ho-Oh's feather is broken down to its primordial seven colors?)

Just a random theory of mine *shrugs*
 
Damian Silverblade said:
That rainbow trailing after Ho-Oh raise one question. It is at all possible that, rather than having "rainbow-colored" wings or any such, Ho-Oh is actualy a colorless creature, and that the colors we perceive it as being as the result of a prismatic effect of some sort (ie, light passing through Ho-Oh's feather is broken down to its primordial seven colors?)

Just a random theory of mine *shrugs*
Click to expand...

I completely agree and point to my previous post in this thread.
 
Ooops, had missed that post. Well, yes, that seems sensible to me. So, a prismatic-winged pokémon. Really interesting, but I can certainly see where that'd be interesting.
 
And it's certainly not like it couldn't happen. Look at the shaft of a bird's feather, specifically where the feather part actually appears. It seems a little clear. Certainly, coming from a bird that can apparently breathe fire, a simple thing as a slightly different material in the wings wouldn't be impossible.
 
That'S another possibility. Would be neat if you could track down some pictures of those hummingbirds, though.

I don't think we should take the "seven colors of teh rainbow" stuff ENTIRELY literally if we don't go with the prismatic notion, though.
 
We should also keep in mind that its anime appearance after the first season was more in line with the game appearance.

(P.S. Congratulations on your 4000th post, Damian.)
 
HOWEVER, it's anime appearance in the first season is more in line with the description given in the pokédexes.

And thanks :)

(BTW - check out the pokéballs thread again. I'd like to have your take on a question I asked there).
 
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