Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Most Lovable Starter Pokemon Has a Horrific Potential Origin

By Christian Hoffer

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's most lovable Pokemon has its potential roots in something horrific, in classic Pokemon style. Last month, The Pokemon Company announced plans to release a pair of new Pokemon games - Pokemon Scarlet and Violet – later this year. So far, all we know is that the region where the games take place are inspired by the Iberian Peninsula, the region of Europe where Spain and Portugal are located, and the Starter Pokemon of the new region. While new Pokemon Sprigatito and Quaxly have pretty obvious inspirations (Sprigatito is a cat...with leaves! Quaxly is a duck....on water!), the Fire-type Pokemon Fuecoco was a little more nebulous. 

Fuecoco's name is a portmanteau of "fuego," the Spanish word for fire, and "coco" and is described as a fire crocodile. The use of "coco" in Fuecoco's name seems confusing at first, until you look a little deeper into Spanish and Portuguese folklore. The Coco is actually the name of a monster common in Spanish and Portuguese folklore that's considered to be a bogeyman of sorts. While the Coco (also known as the Cucuy) has different potential descriptions and origins, one general commonality is that the Coco likes to eat children who misbehave. 

Although there's no consensus as to what the Coco looks like (it various based on local tradition), the Brazilian version of the Coco is called the Cuca and is described as a female humanoid alligator. And while alligators and crocodiles are technically different creatures, we wouldn't be surprised if that depiction of the Coco is what inspired Fuecoco in the games. 

Of course, the knowledge that Fuecoco could be inspired by a child-eating monster opens up the Pokemon's potential evolution line to more horrifying possibilities. Will Fuecoco evolve into a Fire/Ghost-type monster? Or perhaps Fuecoco will be the dreaded bipedal evolution and turn into the female alligator monster from Brazilian folklore? There's a whole lot to speculate upon, but we won't know for certain until Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are released later this year. 

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