Thread: What is Slowpoke?

I've been thinking about this off and on for years, ever since Generation I. Just what is Slowpoke... like, what real-world animal does he represent?

I was thinking either:
- hermit crab - since Slowbro is the "hermit crab" Pokémon, having a shell on the tail... and the fact that they both live on the beach near water
or
- hippopotamus - looks a bit hippo-like in my opinion, and there's the whole water thing

Other possibilities are:
- sloth - both are slow, have widely spaced eyes, and some sloths live near water
- gecko or other such lizard because of the regernative tail thing
- giant salamander - I have no idea why, but that was listed on Bulbapedia

Or is it based on something else?
Or just completely made up?

A lot of people in the old days used to think it was some sort of pygmy hippo.

But this article by Pokemon fandom member sycthemantis shows that it may be based off an obscure Yokai, the Sazae-oni, which possibly inspired Shellmon as well.

I like his theory. :)

It's when somebody pokes you reaaaally slowly.

Originally Posted by Quattro ~ Bajeena

A lot of people in the old days used to think it was some sort of pygmy hippo.

But this article by Pokemon fandom member sycthemantis shows that it may be based off an obscure Yokai, the Sazae-oni, which possibly inspired Shellmon as well.

I like his theory. :)

This.
Bogleech totally figured this one out before I did ^_^ Slowpoke was one of those Pokemon I just knew had to be based on something very specific, but I didn't know what.
The "Hermit crab" thing is kind of a red herring: Slowbro is only very obliquely similar to a hermit crab. The Japanese term for hermit crab can also mean a tenant or someone renting a house... so maybe those are closer to the intended meaning? I dunno, the species name doesn't make that much sense no matter how you interpret it.

I remember reading somewhere that if the main translator had his way, Slowbro would have been known as the "Tenant" or "Free-loader" Pokémon or something to that extent.

Actually, the same problem plagues Pokémon like Shuckle (It's known as the "Mold" Pokémon when "Fermentation" would be more accurate) and Azurill (It should have been known as a "Water Ball", but it got labeled as the less-then-intuitive "Polka-Dot" Pokémon).

A lot of those species names have multiple meanings. "Mizutama" does mean polka dot, but "Mizu" is water and "Tama" is ball. While it's much harder to accurately reflect meaning when dealing with individual words, I do think the translators slipped up on a lot of species names from Gens I-III. I don't recall having any specific issues with Gen IV's species names, and Gen V's were really good (I was impressed when they actually called Duosion the Mitosis Pokemon, instead of some less-technical synonym).

Originally Posted by Quattro ~ Bajeena

A lot of people in the old days used to think it was some sort of pygmy hippo.

But this article by Pokemon fandom member sycthemantis shows that it may be based off an obscure Yokai, the Sazae-oni, which possibly inspired Shellmon as well.

I like his theory. :)

I'm glad that there may be some relation to Shellmon since that digimon reminded me of Slowbro despite only being similar because of its shell.

The Sazae-oni theory is very interesting, someone should suggest that be added to Bulbapedia.

I think it's a mini hippo with a tail made for fishing...

I may be going to hell for this,but I wonder if their slow because they are.And here comes a sh*itstorm of dislikes and a moderator sending me a message.

Originally Posted by Isamu Akai

The Sazae-oni theory is very interesting, someone should suggest that be added to Bulbapedia.

I typed "Sazae-Oni" theory into google and the top hit was:"Afterwards,the Sazae-Oni will tear off the testicles and eat the bodyfor unknown reasons.".

XD

I know. I looked up Sazae-oni.

It's more than likely that the only part about them that could be based on the Sazae-oni, is the fact that both of Slowpoke's evolutions wear the same kind of shell that the Sazae-oni wears.

Wow. Sazae-Oni!

Slowpoke just got more awesome after this.

Pokemon is a lot of japanese cultural references. It's actually pretty cheesy once you start looking into the origins and the actual meanings of their names.

We clearly need a Joint Evo for Slowbro and Slowking that is closer to the original Sazae-Oni.