Pokemon is surging back into headlines these days thanks to its new games, and they’ve got fans thinking about where the series came from. It has been decades since the series was thought up as little more than a pitch. With artist Ken Sugimori onboard, the Pokemon team had their work cut out for them. If they wanted to pitch a solid game to Nintendo, they needed eye-catching pocket monsters, and Sugimori came up with one which King Kong would approve of.
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After all, one of Pokemon‘s first-ever designs was a giant ape. The adorable figure never made it into an actual game, but the kaiju is what helped Sugimori and the team persuade Nintendo into approving Pokemon for order.
As you can see below, Pokemon historian Dr. Lava posted two of Sugimori’s first designs for the game. One of them is a Godzilla tribute, but the second confused fans. Gorillaimo is adorable even with its unclear origins, but fans of King Kong were quick to claim credit while others pinned the character to Donkey Kong.
Gorillaimo:
Created by Ken Sugimori, Gorillaimo can be found in Pokemon’s Pre-Gen 1 concept art. But he was probably just created to illustrate the game’s mechanics — not to become an actual Pokemon.
Pre-Gen 1 Concept Art • Fan Recreation (source: https://t.co/qZDuOEGGnr) pic.twitter.com/bcTKwkgIIK
— Dr. Lava’s Lost Pokemon (@DrLavaYT) November 25, 2019
“Created by Ken Sugimori, Gorillaimo can be found in Pokemon‘s Pre-Gen 1 concept art. But he was probably just created to illustrate the game’s mechanics — not to become an actual Pokemon,” Dr. Lava shared.
Gorillaimo may not have made it into the game, but fans would be happy if The Pokemon Company revived this monster. Sure, the franchise has already introduced its own Ape Pokemon, but there is always room for more. Tyranitar could use a King Kong-esque rival, so here’s to hoping Generation 9 delivers such a beast!
What do you think about this original design…? Let me know in the comments or hit me up on Twitter @MeganPetersCB to talk all things comics and anime!
Pokemon: The Series is now airing new episodes weekly in Japan, but unfortunately is still not officially licensed for an English language release as of this writing. Staff confirmed for the new series include Daiki Tomiyasu serving as chief director for OLM, Maki Odaira as series director, Kunihiko Yuyama as creative supervisor, Shoji Yonemura overseeing series construction, Shuhei Yasuda serving as character designer, Masafumi Mima as sound director, Yuki Hayashi as series composer.
