Religion in the Pokémon Universe

[Appletree]

(I have no clue if this thread already exists, if yes, I'm sorry)

Like the title says, how about religion in the Pokémon Universe? Is Arceus everyone's God? How about the Foreign Building in Hearthome City? How about the Slowpoke thingy in Azelea Town?

 

[Falconwing]

Well, the foreign building has been said to be a church of Arceus considering the presence of Mt. Coronet in the stain glass window.

Personally, I feel that Arceus is the main deity, but certain areas have their own traditional beliefs, Azalea town being on of the most pronounced.

 

[The Outrage]

I don't get why people act like people in Sinnoh worship Arceus as a current religion. All mentions of it refer to old mythologies and no recent beliefs.

 

[YamBO]

Different regions. Different beliefs. They worship praise the legendary pokemon advertised available in each region.

 

[GengarEatBanana]

Shaymins and such exist, we know that. Animalism and the worship of deities like Pokemon (ledgendaries mostly, but with exception) would be pretty big.

 

[floracat]

People in the Pokemon world worship the legendary Pokemon, some more than others. People probably believe in Arceus as their creator, but this has never been acknowleged. And even so, lots of people probably don't treat Arceus like God, but more like a deity, like the Greeks with their gods. They all worship more than one being. Does that make sense?

 

[proserpina]

I am along the same lines as floracat - I don't think they have a religion, as such, just that they worship/praise various deities in different places for different things and pass down mythology/folklore concerning them.

 

[Green Zubat]

I am along the same lines as floracat - I don't think they have a religion, as such, just that they worship/praise various deities in different places for different things and pass down mythology/folklore concerning them.

I concur, whilst it doesn't seem like they have a unified, universal religion as such I think they do have traditional folk religions which vary according to the locale. Generally speaking these religions would probably share many features associated with Buddhism, Taoism & Shintoism, given the franchise's country of origin and the in-game evidence (such as the "shrines" constructed in Azalea & Celestic); these would be mixed in with specific beliefs & customs developed around the native Pokemon (though not necessarily the legendaries, for example the Unown, Slowpoke & Volcarona cults) and incidents involving them, which may be exchanged and incorporated between nomadic members of the cults of different regions. This is exemplified strongly in Gen IV with the Solaceon & Sinjoh ruins as well as the Embedded tower.

As for how popular these folk religions remain, I believe it is very similar to the modern day world, where religion has fallen more into the background. Its probably more the domain of the elderly nowadays, who'd naturally have the most time on their hands with which to practise this religion and pass on the tales, rituals & other aspects to their grandchildren. This is exemplified throughout the franchise, where - more often than not - it is a senior figure (or someone who gets their information form a senior figure) that tells us about a local legend or myth and/or is in some other way associated with the supernatural e.g. Cynthia's grandmother (Sinnoh), The elderly woman that informs us about Torandus/Thundurus (Unova), the three children who recount the Landorus myth to us at fertility shrine as heard from their Grandparents (Unova), the old woman in Lacunosa that recounts the Kyurem legend (Unova), Mr. Fuji who takes care of the Soul House (Kanto), The elderly couple at Mt. Pyre and so on. The only adults ever associated with the traditional folk religions are those whose job it is to research them or those who are both interested in it & whose job affords them large quantities of free time to delve further into it, such as Phoebe & Cynthia.

 

[-Gray-]

I think that people in Pokemon have the same religions as real people, but the Pokemon were worshiped as deities long ago. Like, for example, not many people (If any at all) in Greece worship the Greek gods, do they?

 

[Green Zubat]

I think that people in Pokemon have the same religions as real people, but the Pokemon were worshiped as deities long ago. Like, for example, not many people (If any at all) in Greece worship the Greek gods, do they?

Well, it is true that the Hellenic ["greek"] deities were lost for a long time. However, recently - with the advent of the New Age movement - many "reconstructionist" religions have sprung up attempting to revive & replicate ancient, pre-christian religions as best they can, such as:

*Hellenismos (the religion of the ancient greeks),
*Kemetic Revivalism (the religion of the ancient egyptians)
*Roman Polytheistic Reconstructionism
*Celtic Polytheistic Reconstructionism

So who knows, maybe the Pokémon religion is also a reconstructionist one too.

 

[Karpi]

Let's not forget the old people worshipping the giant Bellsprout in Sprout Tower, either. How bizarre

 

[diglettden]

Religion in the games can be described as an outdated trend not preached to younger audiences. Myths of Legendary Pokemon create evidence for true tales, but overall the world relies on Pokemon and their lessons for support rather than a doctrine. I'd say that the idea of Animalism is definitely the most prevalent in the games, no matter the region. Reliance on Pokemon, in pretty much every aspect of life, causes man to create tales and values that the Pokemon possess. It's hardly any different than the religions mentioned such as the worship of the Greek gods. I wouldn't necessarily say most people worship Pokemon. I would say that they present themselves in a reliance to Pokemon that fosters the idea animalism, but with no organizational practice.

 

[Danny-boy]

Considering the legendaries
Kanto-Atheism
Johto&Sinnoh-Shinto
Hoenn-Jewish mythology
Unova-Taoism

 

[TFSpock]

^ Well, there's always the case of Mew in Kanto, but there always will be people, in, say, Unova, with the beliefs of Shinto.