Nintendo and The Pokemon Company are officially suing Pocketpair, the creator of Palworld. For some, this has been a long time coming ever since The Pokemon Company first announced it was investigating Palworld back in January after the comparisons between the games were too plentiful to ignore any longer. However, many Palworld players and Pokemon players alike believed the two properties would seemingly coexist given how long it’s been since anything’s been said about the topic. Nintendo is known to be particularly litigious when it comes to protecting its properties, so the lawsuit shouldn’t be that surprising given the context.
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The lawsuit alleges that Palworld “infringes multiple patent rights,” though it’s unclear what patents Nintendo and The Pokemon Company are referring to. Since there were no mention of copyright infringements, it seems less likely that the two companies are going after the Palworld creators because of shared likenesses between certain Palworld Pals and Pokemon from the long-running franchise.
But even if that’s not what the legal action is explicitly about, the comparisons between Pals and Pokemon are part of what drove interest in Palworld in the first place. Guns, crafting, and other extra elements fueled Palworld hype and it’d be unfair to Poketpair to say otherwise, but the Pals vs. Pokemon similarities are hard to ignore.
Some of the examples people shared in the past are a bit of a stretch; if you squint at two Pokemon side by side, sure, they might look a bit like a Palworld Pal, but there are only so many monster-catcher ideas to go around. That said, here are some of Palworld vs. Pokemon comparisons that have raised eyebrows more than others:
Lucario vs. Anubis
Starting with the big one, we have the fan-favorite Pokemon Lucario next to his Palworld counterpart, Anubis. Lucario is a Fighting and Steel type in the Pokemon games while Anubis is a Ground Pal, so they’re not the same in that regard, but the physical similarities between the two are uncanny. Many games have different takes on Anubis given the mythology behind the character, but the closeness to Lucario was something players quickly picked up on.
Clodsire vs. Dumud
Clodsire didn’t show up in the Pokemon series until Gen 9 with the release of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, but the newness of the Pokemon ensured it was fresh on players’ minds when Palworld came out. As such, people spotted the similarities to Dumud pretty easily. The fins are different, and Clodsire is seemingly more of an amphibious creature rather than a straight up fish like Dumud, but the shared Ground type and overall goofy nature of the two was hard to ignore.
Decidueye vs. Robinquill
One trick Pokemon has loved to pull recently is to make certain Pokemon have types that contradict their designs. Take Decidueye for example, a Grass and Ghost Pokemon that looks like a bird. Flying types are naturally good against Grass Pokemon, so it’s a clever twist on the usual formula. Unfortunately for Palworld‘s Robinquill which also happens to be a Grass type avian creature, with a grassy “hood” just like Decidueye, this particular trick is one people had already seen by the time Palworld released.
Luxray vs. Boltmane
Luxray and Boltmane is a very interesting example of the Pokemon vs. Palworld debate, and depending on who you ask, is the most egregious. Both are Electric creatures meant to resemble lions, and while the version of Boltmane you see here is orange and black, the first one ever seen was black with yellow markings to signify its type. It also happened to look a whole lot like a Shiny Luxray. Boltmane never actually released in Palworld and is unobtainable to this day, though it was first seen long ago in Palworld trailers that have since been taken private. Games often scrap ideas before they ever release, so that part isn’t atypical, but even many Palworld players feel Boltmane was probably too close to Luxray to justify its existence in the game.
Electabuzz vs. Grizzbolt
Even though we’ve gotten other Pokemon sharing its Electric type and physical similarities like Zeraora and Toxtricity, Electabuzz is the bipedal, Electric Pokemon since it’s been around since Gen 1. Given its OG status, many didn’t view Grizzbolt as favorably. The boss Pal is a bit chunkier and more sinister-looking compared to Electabuzz, sure, but the humanoid build combined with the shared type and the lightning markings again is hard to ignore.
Zebstrika vs. Unibolt
Whether you want to call them horses or unicorns or something in-between, there’s really not much to say about the likenesses between these two that can’t be expressed from just looking at them side by side. Both are horse-like creatures, both have lighting symbolism throughout their designs, both are Electric types, and both both have pronounced “horns” expressing their types.
Wooloo vs. Lamball
And finally, we have Wooloo from Pokemon next to Lamball from Palworld. A sheep’s a sheep, and people would probably be more inclined to associate sheep with being cute compared to many other farm animals, so who’s to say Palworld can’t have its own catchable, version of that animal? Both Wooloo and Lamball are round and fluffy, and the similarities honestly aren’t too egregious here. Lamball was often seen in Palworld trailers, however, and is one of the first Pals many players catch and interact with during the early stages of the game, so even if the similarities to Wooloo aren’t quite so egregious, the fact that it was pushed in front of Palworld players so much gave players time to realize it sure does look a bit like its Pokemon counterpart.
