Pokemon Designer Confirms One Monster's Shojo Origins

Nintendo Dreams magazine recently spoke to one of the designers of the Pokemon series and the [...]

By Evan Valentine

Nintendo Dreams magazine recently spoke to one of the designers of the Pokemon series and the artist was kind enough to break down the designs of EVERY Pokemon that he took a part in creating. While Ken Sugimoro gave new insights into numerous pocket monsters, one "starter" Pokemon was given a unique path for its origin. The starter Pokemon, Serperior, was revealed to have been modeled after an old anime in the form of the Rose of Versailles!

Online source Anime News Network broke down the recent article that laid out the inspiration for Serperior, a starting Pokemon in the video game, Pokemon: Black and White:

Specifically, Seperior is "connected" to the character of Oscar Francois de Jarjayes from the Rose of Versailles, or just Oscar for short. Oscar is one of five daughters who is raised by her father as if she were a man, trained in becoming one of the top generals in the "Royal Guards" once her father ends his career for a nice, quiet retirement. Eventually being dragged into the French Revolution, the series eventually sees Oscar joining the "commoners" and rising up against her status and comrades in the monarchy.

Serperior is a giant, grass like Pokemon that takes the appearance of a snake. The evolved form of Servine, this ultimate Pokemon had appeared in the anime series, Pokemon: Black and White as a road block for Ash to overcome from the trainer Trip. Much like several of Ash Ketchum's Pokemon, we saw Serperior evolve from lowly Snivy to the colossal form it takes in its strongest evolution.

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(Photo: The Pokemon Company and TMS Entertainment)

Ken Sugimoro specifically said the following about the link between Serperior's design and that of Oscar from Rose of Versailles:

"Seperior was designed with the concept of a European knight in mind, kind of like Lady Oscar from The Rose of Versailles."

What do you think of this hidden design information about this regal Pokemon? Have you heard of Rose of Versailles before and are looking for a resurgence of the series? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics and anime.

Rose of Versailles is a manga series with 13 volumes that was originally created in 1972, running only a year originally, but managed to return in 2013 for a five year run. An anime series was also released in 1979 that ended up having a run for 40 episodes. Rose of Versailles also received a television special along with a theatrical film that was released in 1990 from TMS Entertainment.

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