On the Origin of Species: Jynx: Investigating the inspirations behind Pokémon

[PDL]

I think the instance in Stadium is just a case of the makers of the side games just making stuff up because they can.

If this is true, then why on earth do the Pokédexes don't show any footprints for Jynx?

And we can't really say "Pokédex info is bullshit" because this is in the RPGs that the rest of the franchise is based upon.

 

[Bikini Miltank]

See, this is exactly WHY I have ire towards Carole Weatherford.

Even if you accept that the show's Japanese creators wouldn't have realised that Jynx would cause offense, there are plenty of other people involved in bringing the show to air on US television who perhaps should have picked up on the unfortunate implications. Nintendo of America, the anime's localisation team, the channel itself... none of these would have the excuse of blackface not being part of their culture.

And even if it WAS intended to be a caricature that they didn't realize would be offensive, I'm sure they could make something up to calm everyone down.

In which case, we wouldn't be getting the true origin... so what would be the point of that?

The thing about noting when Ganguro "peaked" really hold very little sway over whether or not it was a contributing factor.

It's not a matter of peaking, it's a matter of existing. Ganguro simply may not have existed when Jynx was created. The mid-nineties estimates of its origins are the earliest ones; other sources place the origin close to the end of the decade. If there was no such thing as ganguro when Jynx was designed, it's a little hard to argue that's what she was based on.

 

[rafaelluik]

That article is embarrassingly out-of-date

One thing I will point out, in regards to the "Jynx is just a bunch of armor floating in space" theory, is that we do see its feet in that one Orange Islands episode that takes place on the show boat.

I think the instance in Stadium is just a case of the makers of the side games just making stuff up because they can.

The feat is just as purple as its "hands". The feet can be a "shoe" just like the hand is just a glove in the reallity.
Jynx being void covered by clothes, make-up and hair is a very exciting idea...! :-D
I might go play Pokémon Stadium 2 in my cousin's old N64 just to see Jynx!

For me Jynx was changed by GameFreak from black to purple to avoid all those controversies (but they created more instead! ). Then Gen III came and they showed in her sprite that Jynx is somewhat related to opera... the high note sang in the sprite.
And opera is a very famous art form in Nordic lands. Nordic lands... The ice-type! The blonde hair! The clothes "fat lady" thing... ;-)

But I think she can be based on the godness cited too.

Racist or ruler of the underworld? Definitely not! o.o

 

[DRaB]

Even if you accept that the show's Japanese creators wouldn't have realised that Jynx would cause offense, there are plenty of other people involved in bringing the show to air on US television who perhaps should have picked up on the unfortunate implications. Nintendo of America, the anime's localisation team, the channel itself... none of these would have the excuse of blackface not being part of their culture.

And if they didn't raise a fuss, it's clearly because they didn't see it. Even if the heads of Nintendo of America were racist, they wouldn't want to put out a product that could cause them to lose money.

And furthermore, it's because in her essay, Carole Weatherford attacks Japan in general for having used blackface (not the localization teams) for other purposes such as Mr. Popo, even though the history of usage is completely different there. I'll admit, once it was pointed out to me, Mr. Popo does look pretty bad to my American eyes, but before that, I just saw him as another character in the Dragon Ball mythos. What is he? An alien? A spirit? Who knows? But he was the servant to a god, which is essentially what an angel is. *shrug* The localization team didn't make him purple.

In which case, we wouldn't be getting the true origin... so what would be the point of that?

I'll give you that one. No, we wouldn't get the true origin IF that were the case... (which is highly unlikely... "Yes! We purposefully made a racist caricature! We also gave it a long blonde wig and made it Ice-type to throw you off the scent! Curses, foiled again!") ...then they would simply retcon the origin.

But honestly, that was just a sidenote for the insane possibility that they were looking to upset some people and then wanted to take it back when they realized they did. The main point was that somebody should bother asking because whatever answer they give will probably give a more solid answer than "maybe it's any of these things."

It's not a matter of peaking, it's a matter of existing. Ganguro simply may not have existed when Jynx was created. The mid-nineties estimates of its origins are the earliest ones; other sources place the origin close to the end of the decade. If there was no such thing as ganguro when Jynx was designed, it's a little hard to argue that's what she was based on.

Well, various sources give various timeframes for the trend. The Dogasu article says that Ganguro was at its height in 1995, a year before Red and Green came out in Japan. It was probably around for a while before then as well. And if they were still tweaking the designs up until release for Gold and Silver, as someone previously mentioned, I'd say it's not a stretch of the imagination to say that Jynx's design may have been influenced by Ganguro in the final stages, even though I sincerely doubt it is the main influence. The Nordic Ice Princess, as stated before, is probably the closest we're going to get without asking someone.

 

[Mijzelffan]

There's another icy legend that bears certain similarities to the original Jynx. Meet Zwarte Piet, the companion of Santa Claus in Dutch folklore. In essence, Zwarte Piet fulfils the same role as Santa's elves in other versions of the Christmas mythos, and the character seems to have been based at least partly on a Moor (Santa himself originating from Spain in Dutch traditions). Whether or not this figure had an influence on Jynx's original design, it was almost certainly a major factor in the anime special Holiday Hi-Jynx, which depicted Jynx as Santa's assistants at the North Pole.

Wrong wrong wrong. Zwarte Piet is not the companion of Santa Claus in Dutch traditions. It's the companion of Sinterklaas. No he is not the same as Santa Claus, Santa Claus is called the Kerstman in Dutch (christmasman) and originated from Sinterklaas. Sinterklaas being mistaken for the Dutch version of Santa Claus really feels like a slap in the face

 

[SmearglePaints]

Wrong wrong wrong. Zwarte Piet is not the companion of Santa Claus in Dutch traditions. It's the companion of Sinterklaas. No he is not the same as Santa Claus, Santa Claus is called the Kerstman in Dutch (christmasman) and originated from Sinterklaas. Sinterklaas being mistaken for the Dutch version of Santa Claus really feels like a slap in the face

They're the same character. Just because Santa Claus was re-adapted into the source culture as a different character doesn't change the fact that they're cultural counterparts.

 

[Mijzelffan]

They're the same character. Just because Santa Claus was re-adapted into the source culture as a different character doesn't change the fact that they're cultural counterparts.

If they're the same character, then please kindly explain why Sinterklaas comes to give Dutch children presents on December the 5th, and then Santa Claus comes December the 25th to do the exact same thing to Dutch children. They're not the same character. Also Santa Claus is an adaption of Sinterklaas, not the other way around -.-

If you don't know anything about the subject, then don't discuss it. Geez.

 

[Bikini Miltank]

I acknowledge that that was an oversimplification, but with the article as long as it was, I really didn't want to get into the difference between Santa Claus and Sinterklaas.

And anyway, it's Father Christmas >.>

 

[SmearglePaints]

If they're the same character, then please kindly explain why Sinterklaas comes to give Dutch children presents on December the 5th, and then Santa Claus comes December the 25th to do the exact same thing to Dutch children. They're not the same character. Also Santa Claus is an adaption of Sinterklaas, not the other way around -.-

They appear on different dates? Perhaps it's due to cultural differences wherein the Netherlands and America apply a more relevant meaning to different dates. I suppose you're of the opinion that the Chinese Jesus in China is a different character than the (usually) white Jesus celebrated in America. It's just cultural difference.

I never said that Sinterklaas was an adaptation of Santa Claus. I said the opposite.