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Religions in the Pokemon World?

Almonds

Almonds

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After I made my blog post, I got curious... does religion exist in the Pokemon World?

Like, the Sinnoh Myths having Arceus as the "Original One" and the creator of the universe. So I assume there are religious groups that worship Arceus or something?
 
I believe there are some tribes that worship some Pokémon. For instance, tribes in desert, jungle and so on :3 but that´s only how I see it due to customizing the world to myself, when writing FF :3 However, I don´t know if there´s a global religion like christianity, islam etc. :eek:
 
I think Arceus is the main deity, but there may be other surviving religions that worship Pokémon such as Volcarona or Ho-Oh.
 
There are predominantly Shinto-like beliefs, most of which associated to certain pokémon, but not necessarialy.

There's also Buddhism, or something similar to it, as seen in Sprout Tower and other places in Johto.

There's a clear belief in an afterlife and heaven, that takes many forms. There are also church-like or temple-like buildings, and in particular the "Foreign Building" that is very clearly inspired on a church, and another smaller one in BW whose people make me think something like Christianism exists as well.

So I'd say there's a wide variety of religions.


Then there are the ancient buildings and monuments, but those almost exclusively honor pokémon. (And of course, this being an RPG, ancient myths are always right)
 
I'm sure it does, with references to spirits and the afterlife, along with the presence of the church in Hearthome and temple-like structures as Infinity mentioned.

Just like in our world they probably vary based on geography and the times.
 
Because Pokemon is mainly aimed at pre-teens and teens, Pokemon officially shouldn't have any religion in it. But, honestly, it's relatively easy to distinguish religious influences and/or practices in Pokemon. As mentioned by both Infinity and Kakuna, afterlife and temple-like structures exist. Especially in the spinoff games and even in the anime. In that Darkrai movie, there's the Temple of Time. In that obnoxious Arceus movie, that obnoxious girl who I can only remember for her annoying "Transcend the combines of time and space" is looks pretty damn similar to a priestess. The same can be said about... Damien I think it was?

There are also myths which historically are associated with polytheism. Then there is the influence of the number three (though you could argue that it came from the Greeks, but they still had religion). Or you can have the dualistic relationships between deities like Ho-oh and Lugia. Honestly, Pokemon is presented in a way so that anyone can support practically anything. Pokemon religion then would then depend on the individual. But then again religion is the basis of tradition, and so, in combination with language, is responsible for the binding of people and nations. So if you really get into it, there has to be something that binds the people and Pokemon together. Pokemon would be the obvious answer, but religion is the practical answer. And who says it can't be a combination?
 
Religion is about believing at something stronger than you. The Pokeworld have the Pokemon themselves that are stronger than ordinary people. Whatever they need can be found on the Pokemon species, and the most powerful of them are considered legendary because of all the legends that surround them.

That's kinda religion, isn't it?
 
Definitely. There are temple-like structures, and the mere existence of the mythology around Arceus (and a lot of the legendaries, actually) suggests there are religions in the pokémon world because, y'know, the pokémon probably didn't write/think those up themselves.
 
I'd say their religion is probably polytheistic. And each region worships their own Legendaries as gods.

It's very easy to see Lugia being worshiped as the Johtoian/Kantoian God of Storms and Kyogre as the Hoennese sea god.
 
Coincidentally, I just re-watched the Episodes of the Whirl Cup in Johto,
in which Maya, the Sea Priestess said a prayer to the Sea Spirit.
There are numerous such instances seen throughout the Pokemon world during the Anime.

Even if there isn't exactly a strong religious organization in the the Pokemon World,
each region seams to have their own beliefs and rituals unique to them.
Religion doesn't seam to be a powerful influencing factor on the Pokemon world as a whole,
just what seams to arise from within small communities, not extending beyond those regions.

Quite Ideal, if I do say so.
 
I would say they do. They have all that stuff related to Ho-oh worship in GSC and HGSS. Although that doesn't stop me from making characters in my fanfics talk about Jesus.
 
There's religion. There's probably Islam and Christianity and Judaism, too. It's just that, even including Unova, the games are based on a secular, formerly polytheistic society, so it makes sense that Japanese-made games include Japanese-style religion as the predominant denominations.
 
I have a huge headcanon about religion in the Pokemon world, but I'll spare everyone the details. Most of it boils down to the people in the regions worshipping the main legendaries of their region, eg people from Sinnoh mostly worship Arceus as the creator of all, but also worship the Lake Trio and Dialga and Palkia, but they fear Darkrai and Giratina. People in Johto worship mainly Ho-oh and Lugia, although people living near Ilex Forest may leave offerings out for Celebi and the people of Azalea have a deep reverence for slowpokes. Stuff like that.
 
Depends on the place... Usually you find people worshiping Pokemon from their respective regions (also with prophecies and legends). Pokemon may be worshiped due to what they've done in the past to help the world or at least that particular place. The religions probably would be diverse and not just limited to a few and the common religions you find in the real world would probably not be found in the Pokemon world.
 
There is no religion in the games, nor in the anime.

We have some coincidences between Pokemons, characters and themes associated to religion, though.
 
I guess, but I love fan interpretations. You should read this one fanfic where the author makes Grimsley Jewish.
 
zakisrage said:
I guess, but I love fan interpretations. You should read this one fanfic where the author makes Grimsley Jewish.
Click to expand...

Grimsley? Jewish? Oy vey.

Anyway, I can safely say there's still Legendary worship to some extent. The church in Hearthome City reminds me of the National Cathedral in Washington DC; the NC is mostly Episcopalian, but it's used as an interfaith chapel fairly often. I imagine the Hearthome cathedral is just an interfaith building built in the Christian cathedral style. Non-Pokemon religions could exist, but they don't factor into the plot too much, and are not mentioned. It's like the Pokemon world's government or military organizations: they undoubtedly exist, but they aren't plot-relevant, so the developers don't feel they need to be brought up.
 
Please note: The thread is from 13 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.
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