The characters of Legends: Arceus - trivia, speculation and theories!

[WyndonCalling]

Ever since some of the earliest reveals of Legends: Arceus, the cast of characters has been the subject of much speculation - who is related to who in the 'modern' era, where are they from, and what is their relationship with Pokémon? Now that the game is in our hands, we can discuss these questions with a little more detail, as well as share both the things we've learned for certain and the crackpot theories we've developed! Obviously, spoilers abound, so please be careful.

• Kamado says that his suit of armour is a traditional piece from Galar - and it also happens to exactly match Wikstrom's armour in every detail except colour. This doesn't mean that Wikstrom is from Galar (he explicitly states that his family is Kalosian), but it is further evidence of a strong shared history and culture between Galar and Kalos; perhaps the knights of the former wore black, and the latter, brighter colours?
• 'Volo' is Latin for 'I wish', or perhaps more accurately, 'I want'. Words with a similar Latin root include 'volunteer' and 'volition'.
• Someone who definitely is Galarian is Professor Laventon. Some people have interpreted Raichu's new 'Dex entry (with a reference to Copperajah) to arrive at the conclusion that he's from a new, India-inspired region, but Laventon just lays it on too thick to be from anywhere else, from my perspective - even besides from the clues in his appearance, he writes in the Galarian alphabet, is fond of afternoon tea, and uses phrases such as "botheration" and "silly sausage". In non-English versions of the game, he even interlaces his speech with English. To be clear, an 'India region' almost certainly exists in the Pokémon world, and perhaps we'll visit there someday, but it's not Laventon's home culture.

What else have you found that's intrigued you, Trainers?

 

[Space Umpire]

I have this dumb theory/headcanon that Pesselle becomes the first Nurse Joy and starts the whole Nurse Joy dynasty... thing... her hair is also similar to Mira's, which makes me think that Mira is also part of the Nurse Joy family.

 

[prog rocker]

Now that I think about it, is it me, or Kamado also has Chuck vibes? If so, that would mean at least three different characters have the same ancestor.

Same with Laventon, who gives me Birch vibes and might be Leon/Hop's ancestor.

I have this dumb theory/headcanon that Pesselle becomes the first Nurse Joy and starts the whole Nurse Joy dynasty... thing... her hair is also similar to Mira's, which makes me think that Mira is also part of the Nurse Joy family.

If I recall correctly, wasn't Joy a last name in the anime? I kinda remember a Joy there with a first name. It wouldn't surprise me if you were right.

 

[Space Umpire]

If I recall correctly, wasn't Joy a last name in the anime? I kinda remember a Joy there with a first name. It wouldn't surprise me if you were right.

Marnie and Paige - Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia

bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net

 

[Cute Charm]

• Kamado has a picture of him and his wife on his desk. His wife is probably Galarian given the western dress she's wearing.
• Arisu is probably not only related to Mars, but also Ariana and Silver.
• The little girl in the Diamond setlement that info dumps about how she's the third child and Adaman and Mai are both adopted is Maxie's direct ancestor.
• Wulfric's Avalugg is a decentant of the Noble Avalugg.
• Iscan and Palina are Ilima's ancestors.
• All of the pokemon that are in the DPPt dexes but not in the Hisui dex were introduced to the region later on. Hence why, for example, there are no Wooper.
• Hisuian Braviary aren't extinct, they just moved to surrounding areas like Poké-Russia.
• In a similar case, White Stripe Basculin are just very good at hiding and haven't been seen for 120 something years because all they do is run away.
• Johtonian Sneasel is an invasive species and killed off the Hisuian variant due to fighting over the same food.
• Sanqua's kid marries Charm's kid and this is how Agatha is still Karen's grandmother.
• The Alder-looking guy is neither Alder himself or his ancestor. Alder just thought he looked similar to the depiction of the ancient hero that he purposely modeled his whole look after him.
• Given the minor ancestors' names, a lot of them seem to have Galarian, Poké-Dutch, Poké-Spanish, or Poké-Italian ancestry. I'm looking at you Gardenia. (I don't know if they have Japanese names in the Japanese version since they're so minor.)
• Former Noble Arcanine is another Ghost Marrowak situation. He's very much dead and gone but his spirit is still watching over his son.
• It's even possible that he possessed his son for the Noble fight and it was Ghost Marrowak II: The Arcanining where you're fighting an actual ghost.

Someone who definitely is Galarian is Professor Laventon. Some people have interpreted Raichu's new 'Dex entry (with a reference to Copperajah) to arrive at the conclusion that he's from a new, India-inspired region, but Laventon just lays it on too thick to be from anywhere else, from my perspective - even besides from the clues in his appearance, he writes in the Galarian alphabet, is fond of afternoon tea, and uses phrases such as "botheration" and "silly sausage". In non-English versions of the game, he even interlaces his speech with English. To be clear, an 'India region' almost certainly exists in the Pokémon world, and perhaps we'll visit there someday, but it's not Laventon's home culture.

I say he's from Poké-Indian descent. I headcanon Hop, Leon, Rose, and Peony the same way, too.

 

[silurica]

So, a common theory that I've seen is that Beni is Wally's ancestor, and I agree their hair match. However, I can't shake off the feeling that Beni being both a food server and a ninja may have been a reference to the Striaton triplet and the Shadow Triad... or specifically, to an early concept where the two sets of characters were more closely related.

A little background info: back when BW was the hot new thing, there was a running theory about how the Striaton triplet and the Shadow Triad may have been one and the same. This theory was supported by the Shadow Triad having suspiciously familiar hairstyles in their concept art, and how the triplet conveniently didn't show up to fight Team Plasma with the rest of the gym leaders in BW's story finale. Fast forward to BW2, this theory was debunked when a memory link story showed the triplet fighting the Triad.

Regardless, I want to make a case that Beni may have been a reference to this historical tidbit. It's too specific to be a mere coincidence imo. Maybe my BW/BW2 bias is just that strong, but honestly I was surprised when I found out people thought Beni is related to Wally since from the first moment I saw him at the Wallflower, all I thought was "is this Cilan with a moustache?" So when Beni revealed his other side what I thought wasn't "holy shit it's Wally" but rather "holy shit they remembered the old concept and theory" lol

My other BW/BW2-related theory is that the Alderface character, whose portraits we can see in Diamond Clan and Pearl Clan settlements, is the ancient hero of Hisui's legend. This is why both clans put up portraits of the same person in their homes despite their disputes; they revered the same person who had the approval of their ten nobles.

'Volo' is Latin for 'I wish', or perhaps more accurately, 'I want'. Words with a similar Latin root include 'volunteer' and 'volition'.

Volo's name has a fun duality with a character introduced late into the story: Cogita. If we assume that Cogita's name came from "cogito, ergo sum" ("I think, therefore I am"), we can infer that Volo's name came from an alternative of the phrase: "volo, ergo sum" ("I wish/desire, therefore I am"). It's pretty neat putting this in the context of their motivations (or at least the little we could glean). Cogita was satisfied in passing down the myths of the Celestica people and encouraged studying them as a way to think and learn more about ourselves and the world we live in. Meanwhile, Volo learned about the myths and wished more from them.

 

[WyndonCalling]

My other BW/BW2-related theory is that the Alderface character, whose portraits we can see in Diamond Clan and Pearl Clan settlements, is the ancient hero of Hisui's legend. This is why both clans put up portraits of the same person in their homes despite their disputes; they revered the same person who had the approval of their ten nobles.

That's a great fit - my own additional pet theory on this is that not-Alder founded the original single clan, and that the not-Maxie and not-Archie characters could be his sons, nephews or other close relatives, who went on to disagree on how to interpret his legacy and created a schism.

P.S. don't be surprised if any of this content appears on the Bulbagarden Twitter over the coming days...

 

[nickdt]

Palina reminds me so much of 3 characters - Milo, Burgh and Sycamore.

Some people think Iscan is the ancestor of Nessa. This would be extra funny, since that gives another dimension to the Nessa and Milo rivalry, since they potentially share common ancestory via Palina and Iscan (Who are implied to be in a relationship and funnily enough, Not-May doesn't seem to mind, while Palina feared people would look upon that relationship).

Noble Arcanine being dead but still watching over his son mimicks the Lion King storyline.

 

[FelipePR]

From the beginning, some people were assuming some correlation between Irida and May. And while I don't deny that there is a certain similarity in the two's appearance, especially with that tuft of hair pulled back, and the fact that they wear some kind of tiara, I was a little uncertain about this assumption.

But when playing the game and realizing that Irida's best friend and biggest rival, Palina, wears a bandana extremely similar to that of hoenn's protagonist, I had no doubt that in a way these two new characters are referencing the aforementioned heroine. Added to this is that Palina's hair color is close to Caroline's, as is her eye color too. I believe that even their overall appearance are a bit similar.

On the other hand, while the fact that Glaceon is Irida's main Pokémon is fully justified in the games, it also sounds like another reference to the third generation protagonist.

 

[nickdt]

From the beginning, some people were assuming some correlation between Irida and May. And while I don't deny that there is a certain similarity in the two's appearance, especially with that tuft of hair pulled back, and the fact that they wear some kind of tiara, I was a little uncertain about this assumption.

But when playing the game and realizing that Irida's best friend and biggest rival, Palina, wears a bandana extremely similar to that of hoenn's protagonist, I had no doubt that in a way these two new characters are referencing the aforementioned heroine. Added to this is that Palina's hair color is close to Caroline's, as is her eye color too. I believe that even their overall appearance are a bit simlar.

On the other hand, while the fact that Galceon is Irida's main Pokémon is fully justified in the games, it also sounds like another reference to the third generation protagonist.

Haircolor doesn't have to mean anything, especially so early in a family tree. But if you look at hairstyle though, there are three characters that have similair hairstyle as Palina's and those are Sycamore, Milo and Burgh.

Like, Adaman can be related to Gordie and what ties them together is that blue stone necklace, which can be a family heirloom.

 

[WyndonCalling]

I think my position on trying to spot relatives is that it's probably only the characters who are very obviously the ancestors of contemporary characters who actually are, and we could tie ourselves in knots for months attempting to distill something for every individual. It would be odd for Game Freak to create so many characters with massive tells re. their families trees - Kamado, Cyllene, Lian - only to then expect us to make the same connection for, say, Palina and Iscan. My personal rule of thumb is that if it isn't obvious from looking at them for two seconds, you're probably not expected to draw a connection, and you might slightly risk devaluing the characters which have been created from fresh.

 

[FelipePR]

Haircolor doesn't have to mean anything, especially so early in a family tree. But if you look at hairstyle though, there are three characters that have similair hairstyle as Palina's and those are Sycamore, Milo and Burgh.

Like, Adaman can be related to Gordie and what ties them together is that blue stone necklace, which can be a family heirloom.

I believe you didn't read my post as you quoted Adaman's necklace and a farfetched hairstyle comparison.

What made me believe that there would be any correlation between these characters and May was, then, the reasonably similar hair style between Irida and May and the extremely similar, except for the color, bandana that Palina and May share, plus the fact that these new characters are quite close. Other attributes like comparison between hair and eye color were minor inferences from there. It also doesn't help that Palina has a motherly relationship with her lord, or that her headband's knot forms the image of a butterfly, or that Irida main Pokémon is a Glaceon.

I also didn't say they belong to the same family tree, as that would be one assumption on top of another, just that it seems likely to me that the developers were somehow referencing the third-gen protagonist.

In the end, with respect to certain physical similarities, It could be that they were just taking advantage of semi-finished models, something to be expected from Gamefreak, but that bandana will always raise questions.

 

[FelipePR]

I do wonder if Rei/Akari have lost some of their memories like Ingo, or if they just like Hisui rather than their home region better...

There are several selectable dialogue options that say "I don't Know" or "I don't remember", so I think it's quite likely that she/he finds itself in a situation similar to Ingo's. I don't know if they they like Hisui more than their home region, I haven't completed the game yet, but maybe they just don't know how to return to their original world and, then, they conformed to the new reality.

 

[Cute Charm]

I think my position on trying to spot relatives is that it's probably only the characters who are very obviously the ancestors of contemporary characters who actually are, and we could tie ourselves in knots for months attempting to distill something for every individual. It would be odd for Game Freak to create so many characters with massive tells re. their families trees - Kamado, Cyllene, Lian - only to then expect us to make the same connection for, say, Palina and Iscan. My personal rule of thumb is that if it isn't obvious from looking at them for two seconds, you're probably not expected to draw a connection, and you might slightly risk devaluing the characters which have been created from fresh.

I can't speak for anyone else, but at least for me thinking they're related to Ilima, for example, has the thought process of:

• Iscan really didn't look like anybody after he was revealed.
• After Palina was leaked, it looked like she could be somebody's ancestor, but it was too hard to pin down since she's kind of the standard big sister type character that's to prevalent in the series.
• But then, after finding out they're both in the early stages of a relationship, their combined features make sense: Iscan's eyes and skin tone, Palina's hair and body type.

I think there are still some characters created from scratch. Like Tao Hua, Meli (Possibly...), Adaman, and Laventon (just because he's of Indian decent doesn't mean he has to be related to Hop and Leon). But considering that a lot of the characters are ancestors, there's going to be people speculating on who's related to who. Especially given the setting of the game and the sheer number of apparent ancestors there are.

 

[prog rocker]

I think Adaman reminds me of someone, but I can't remember who, which is weird seeing how Irida screams "May" to me and seeing how he's her counterpart, I feel there might be something there.

 

[FelipePR]

I think there are still some characters created from scratch. Like Tao Hua, Meli (Possibly...), Adaman, and Laventon (just because he's of Indian decent doesn't mean he has to be related to Hop and Leon). But considering that a lot of the characters are ancestors, there's going to be people speculating on who's related to who. Especially given the setting of the game and the sheer number of apparent ancestors there are.

Regarding Laventon, I believe he can be both British and Indian, after all he seems to be a character from the Victorian era, that is, the time of exploration and integration of British India. In this way, all wishes and considerations would be appreciated Lol.

 

[Cute Charm]

Regarding Laventon, I believe he can be both British and Indian, after all he seems to be a character from the Victorian era, that is, the time of exploration and integration of British India. In this way, all wishes and considerations would be appreciated Lol.

True. I mean I did say that in my original reply. It's just the whole "he's tan and from Galar. He must be related to Hop and Leon!" thing is kind of getting out of hand when it comes to theorizing about ancestors.

 

[WyndonCalling]

True. I mean I did say that in my original reply. It's just the whole "he's tan and from Galar. He must be related to Hop and Leon!" thing is kind of getting out of hand when it comes to theorizing about ancestors.

(It's more a 'thing' on social media, but I quite agree - the assumption than every character with tanned skin must be related to another character with tanned skin is, charitably, a little odd.)

 

[prog rocker]

(It's more a 'thing' on social media, but I quite agree - the assumption than every character with tanned skin must be related to another character with tanned skin is, charitably, a little odd.)

Well, in the case of Laventon, there's the fact that he also wears purple. Sure, it's a minor thing, but that might also contribute to the association.

EDIT: Also, how true is the trivia tab on his Bulbapedia page?

 

[WyndonCalling]

EDIT: Also, how true is the trivia tab on his Bulbapedia page?

It's all accurate - Laventon uses a lot of English idioms.