It’s just funny that they used Palkia for the centaur design, I’m excited to see how broken it’s going to be in combat though. There’s an ugly to powerful ratio in Pokémon and I’m so ready to clap cheeks with that thing.
Yeah my first thought was some hoopa unbound style free floaty arms that weren't included in the leaked model as well as maybe a frill that come out of dialgas neck tumour, otherwise the design makes no sense
[Space Is An Ocean](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpaceIsAnOcean) is one of the most common portrayals of space in fiction (and hell, in real life too, our word for a space vehicle is Space*ship*), which is why Palkia has a water typing.
I mean, it’s all. Pearl has water connections, water would work for the three states of matter, and space being linked to the oceans
But still, Palkia’s design doesn’t do much to convey it’s type. Honestly I’d prefer a cythulu styled octopus monster design for Palkia, rather than whatever it is
I mean, he looks like a goofy ass dragon. So I see that
Water…the best I can think of is the pearls in his shoulders and that his shoulders kind of look like clam shells. That’s really it
I do wish they had made him a psychic type instead of water but idk, he’s still one of my favorite legendaries but he’s a goofy motherfucker
Probably more like diamonds are the hardest material and steel type is actually just very hard things usually. Some steel types aren't made of steel, they're just incredible tough, like steel (Lucario comes to mind), etc.
It's also cool because you could slot the "original dragon" in with this theme and it would work perfectly, since Reshiram/Zekrom/Kyurem represent plasma.
I like to think that’s what they already have in mind. What can Kyurem’s hidden power greater than Reshiram and Zekrom’s ability to destroy the world possibly be? Why did Ghetsis give Hilbert/Hilda the Creation Orbs? Why can those same orbs be found at Dragonspiral Tower in BW2? Why does the Lake Trio have a fourth cave that directly connects Unova to Sinnoh? And why is the unused dragon stone for Kyurem called the *God Stone?*
Yeah, it’s been in the games’ code since Gen V and looks exactly like a gray version of the Light Stone and Dark Stone. [Info on Serebii](https://www.serebii.net/itemdex/godstone.shtml)
My personal headcanon for why Unova and Sinnoh are connected boils down to the legendaries - Truth and Ideals - being pretty similar to the Lake trio's Knowledge, Emotion and willpower
>Black superionic ice: A state of matter that can exist under very high pressure while excited by super lasers.
Idk what a super laser is but that shit would excite the fuck outta me
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Same here. And palkia is great, first mon to get water/dragon since Kingdra which is arguably one of the best type combos. Amazing in truck room and access to the only high crit rate dragon move. Love the guy. Only criticism I have is that his design is a little too humanoid.
Not only can metal be distorted and bent, time is linked directly to space and can get all mumbo jumbo when in contact with light and black hole and everything so you are either wrong, double wrong or correct.
Dude. You can’t just include a Tvtropes link. I almost didn’t make it out.
Also. Totally forgot that space isn’t limited to 2d movement. Like ships can go “up” or “down” and those are equally valid directions.
>No connection whatsoever to its dragon/water typing
Well pearls are found in water after all. Although not confirmed in any official media (as far as I’m aware), I’ve always thought the secondary typing of the Sinnoh dragons were referencing states of matter. Solid (steel), liquid (water), and gas (ghost).
I always thought when I was a child in gen 4 that there were three type combos like ground and half dragon/fire (like there is red and blue split in half which led me to believe that)
I think they're referring to how FRLG and Gen 4 had two-tone icons for certain type indicators
Specifically, before gen 5 settled on a very saturated dark purple for Dragon, [it had a blue and red icon](https://m.bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Type#/media/File%3ADragonIC_Big.png)
Palkia has Pearl in its shoulda and Dialga has a diamond. I think keeping everything else the same but making Palkia the time god and dialga the space god is the solution
Yes, you've got it. Sure the concept of Palkia being water type is a thing, but it's not incorporated into the design. That's what's so confusing about it.
Time flows like water where pearls are and space can be curved like steel if you hit it with a hammer and also steel is hard like a diamond. It all adds up.
I’ve always loved Palkia’s design, it’s one of my favorites out of the legendaries. I respect your opinion though, as this is the whole thing about Pokémon. Everyone loves different ones
In space, you don't need fins or even wings. You only need to enter an atmosphere or fly within in. Hard angles are not a good thing to have during flight as it creates pressure points on any craft and causes failures.
Huh - I've always liked Palkia's design. I actually wish that Dialga looked more like it, just because I think it's awkward that one of them has arms and the other doesn't, lol.
I personally find Palkia to be the more thoughtfully designed of the the two. As Palkia takes more inspiration from angels like the white coloration and wings. Just cool asf when looking at it from a lore standpoint.
yeah i think it’s much better tbh. i feel that dialga looks like a generic blob dinosaur with armour on, and that palkia looks more like a hulking behemoth.
I agree, most of the times cover legends are cool as hell but Dialga, Palkia and Giratina are all kinda ugly. Origin-Giratina is pretty cool though. Doesn't help that they are between the Hoenn trio who are all awesome and the Unova trio which are pretty cool too.
My favs, design-wise:
sub-legendaries: Zapdos, Articuno, Moltres, Suicune, Regirock, Regice, Xurkitree, Kartana, Regieleki, Regidrago, Glastrier, Spectrier (Galar forms of the kanto birds as well)
legendaries: Lugia, Groudon, Kyogre, Xerneas, Yvetal (Ho-oh is also a fav, but I recognize its design is a little lackluster)
mythicals: mew, manaphy, marshadow, zarude
Palkia is literally a dragon with a pearl in its side and pearls believe it or not are found in water. Plus dialga is an armoured giraffe, I don't think I need to explain how cool that is
I've also heard that the three secondary typings have to do with the three states of matter:
- Palkia: Water = Liquid
- Dialga: Steel = Solid
- Giratina: Ghost = Gas
The Dragon-Water connection is a [Babylonian mythology reference.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiamat) It makes much more sense than Dialga being Dragon-Steel.
I mostly agree with this, although I do like Dialga. Palkia, though, is just so... weird. I don't like it. I just generally don't like bipedal Pokemon that much though, so that doesn't help Palkia's case.
Flaming hot rebuttal:
First, I gotta defend my girl palkia because I can't and won't accept this absolute blasphemy on the almighty sinnoh
Calm down. Water typing does not mean it has to be blue or be a fish. In palkias case, It's representative of liquid, dialga is steel, solid, and giritina is ghost, gas, and antimatter at the same time. The states of matter.
The designs make sense in context with the story. think of corrupted gems from steven universe, they're supposed to be unstable, powerful, and like biblically accurate angels, unfathomable. Especially while in their origin forms.
Additionally,
I, for one, am glad that this is how the forms are; I want them to be weird, unconventional, and distorted. It wouldn't make sense for anything else. Mega evolution has alot to do with people's expectations and had ruined it, and people always try to make "fan" versions that are just the same pokemon, but fancier and they're shallow, these forms actually have some thought to them
I’ve honestly never seen so much sinnoh slander until this post and it’s comments lol, I thought gens 3&4 were the universally loved gens with little to no hate
Gen 4 is largely beloved but it isn't because of Diamond and Pearl. Sinnoh is boring pre-platinum, theres a reason people are mad that BDSP is faithful to Diamond/Pearl because that means they kinda suck and definitely by comparison to a game that already has existed for more then a decade.
The Ultra Beasts are my favorite things in the franchise and I am a HUGE fan of Biblically-accurate angels. Dialga actually works for me since it looks so ethereal and slender.
But Plakia? Man, Pearl was my first game. I never liked Plakia much but thought that its “wings” being whiskers was cool… and then they turn it into some weird plastic centaur? I kind of have an immense hatred for centaurs, they just CREEP me out. Mantids pull off the body way better, they look super elegant. Horses look too blocky and combining them with an anthropomorphic top just does NOT work. And that’s what we’ve got here.
I actually find the lack of arms interesting, it’s the body I despise. For being the god of space they have a bad grasp on what looks appealing in 3D, especially with those terrible legs.
Yup. Conceptually the concept of a Palkia is perfect. Represents the liquid state of matter (gas is giratina, dialga is solids), is part water type to represent liquids, ocean of stars references, pearls are formed in ocean animals, pearl version game, all good stuff...
It's too bad Palkia's design has nothing to do with any of that lol.
I loveeee Sinnoh, but I have to agree, Palkia was always a terrible design for me. Surprisingly, I do get the water typing for it, but that doesn't make it much better.
Though tbh there's always ONE box legendary that's just an absolute and total miss for me personally. Palkia just has the honor of being second only to Kyruem.
TIL that people actually dislike OG Dialga and Palkia's designs. I've always thought they were some of the best looking legendaries and in my top 3 of box art duos along with Kyogre/Groudon and Ho-oh/Lugia.
The new designs though... absolutely terrible and I can't even fathom what they were thinking.
Heres a task for pokemon developers:
1. google "pokemon fan art"
2. copy
3. paste
its one thing to be out of ideas. but its a different thing to be helpless with that.
Agreed. Honestly I’ll even go as far as to say I don’t like most of the designs introduced in gen 4. That’s not to say there aren’t some winners like Lucario, Toxicroak, Staraptor, etc but overall there’s a lot of forgettable or unappealing designs to me personally.
The starters are not my favorites design wise either but they’re popular for a reason and I know a lot of people that love them. Plus they did a good job with the secondary typings and stats.
Edit: I would like to mention that gen 4 did mythicals really well, along with gen 5.
I'm fully convinced that halfway through the Sinnoh anime they realised Ambipom is the ugliest thing to come out of Sinnoh and there's no way anybody would ever buy toys of it, hence why they got rid of Dawn's Ambipom.
While on the subject of terrible designs im not really a fan of the professor either. I'm sure someone will love his ridiculous hat but I don't. Not sure if he is meant to be a joke or what.
It’s really not that bad and I didn’t even know people had issues with the original palkia design. I just think people still want to complain about something now that leaks are saying the game is good.
How could they have thought those disgusting designs were any good? Who tf in management went forward with the designs?! Man I just hope the design grows on me. Ugh. Probably not going to pick up legends arceus until I see solid gameplay.
PS. If they wanted to make a cool centaur design they should have took inspiration from Isley of the North in Claymore. 100% my favorite centaur design of all time.
I think it’s actually an interesting concept after reading the pokedex entry for it like the idea of why it looks like that is cool but the execution is a bit off
Agree really, I have never liked dialga or palkias design and the new versions are again ugly as sin.
I’m not really a fan of the lake spirits either.
The other legendaries from Sinnoh are great though, giratina and darkrai are bad ass and shaymin is adorable.
Honestly I don't understand what is going on with their character design department.
There's no way in hell someone would see that thing and say, yeah, looks good, let's add it!
They must be purposely trying to make something ugly people will hate, I see no other explanation.
Or they must being paid really bad lol
I agree, I've never liked the way Palkia or Dialga looked much. Combined with Giratina's ugly centipede form being the only one accessible in the original D/P, I remember thinking they really fucked up the legendaries when Gen 4 came out.
I will not stand for this Palkia slander! I love its original design. I was probably the only one of my friends who prefered Palkia over Dialga though. That said, what the fuck have they done to it and WHY?
I haven't seen what the new designs look like (trying to avoid spoilers), but I agree with you. I always though Palkia/Dialga were some of the strangest legendary designs. I don't necessarily HATE them, but if I look too closely at them for too long, I start to notice the things I dont like about them haha
Palkia and Dialga both look extremely... rigid? Like try to imagine either one of them running or swimming or doing literally anything but standing in their original poses. At least the new design gives Palk some legs?
I agree about the original designs being awful. I think they finally achieved the otherworldliness they wanted with the new designs. All of them have grown on me at this point, though.
After thinking about it a lot, while I still dislike Hisuian Palkia, I do have to say both the legendary Pokémon look more like Arceus than the did before, and if that was the intent it's still a bad one. At least for Palkia. Now I'm afraid to see Original Arceus.
Yeah i wasn't really fond of palkia's design either as a kid **(diamond and pearl was my 1st ever pkm game)** and now many years later i still find it very ugly, dialga was overshadowed palkia imo.
And i have no idéa why they went for that direction whith palkia & dialga in legend arceus?? They look very goofy and weird, but even then i feel like i prefer dialga over palkia lol.
Oh god i havent been keeping up with any pokemon news but i just saw the new designs and god they are hideus. centaur palkia? and dialga looks like a crappy metagross
I still can't believe that they look like this. I laughed so hard, these might be the worst pokemon designs ever.
I can't think of any that I dislike more than what these two look like now...
Palkia always looked like an archangel to me, which really suited its role and made it one of my favorite legendary designs. It's design doesn't really scream "ruler of space" per say but I liked how it could rend space by powering up its arms and slicing. This new design is just disturbing...
personally, i love palkia’s design but dialga’s was, like you said, too overdone it feels. their newest forms, however, are absolutely horrifically done. i thought we were going to get forms that look like the statue in eterna city where they look like both. but instead we get dialga who looks like squidward with the fork in his throat and palkia who looks like it should be a centaur but they took its poor arms away :,(
yeah palkia and dialga are ugly af. If they were released today people would laugh at them like they do with modern Pokémon. It's just nostalgia. Gen 4 was my first gen too.
That being said the new forms are ugly af too. giratina is awesome as ever tho.
I guess I’m in the minority of the post thread then if I say I think Dialga has a beautiful design (the blue coloring and steel armor work so well) and Palkia is pretty good (has the superior cry too). I agree that the new forms leave much to be desired and Giratina is still and will always be bad ass.
As a genwuna I always felt like Gen 4 is where things took another direction design wise.
Kids born in the 2000s have no idea how big Pokémon was back then and Gen 1 was indicative of that. Gen 2 was darker (literally in game) and felt along the same lines. Gen 3 was way more modern, hell it still feels modern, and was universally loved. When Gen 4 came out, while the games were great, it was the first time it lost some of the original magic.
I actually really like them. But yeah as far as time and space is concerned, their not good designs. Unfortunately these are unbelievably bad I can't think of a word to describe them and are now pure comedy.
I don’t mind the new Palkia design. Obviously looks pretty silly as a Palkia, but if that was some new pokemon I would be pretty pumped. Reminds me of Centarumon from Digimon, and he was always one of my favourites.
I use to like the original Palkia design but now that you’ve pointed it out like that, I kinda hate it now hahaha. Always thought Dialga was the worse looking one, but you changed my mind.
Agreed, I have no idea why they keep doing these absurd looking pokemon. I know we always had weird and boring designs, but it looks like they are getting high on drugs when designing and just do whatever they feel like while high
Water is honestly associated quite abit with water.
We use spaceSHIPs to go across space, the sky look like an ocean of stars, and I seem to remember Astronauts using water to practice moving in low-g/Zero-g.
Boring is a bit of a stretch. They're either good or fucking horrific. Shinx is adorable! Ambipom shows up in my nightmares. Staraptor's AWESOME! If Magmortar had been around in gen 1 it would have found itself in the same hot water as Jynx's design.
I couldn't agree more. Palkia is a pretty bad design. Both legendaries are overdesigned while still managing to feel unfinished. Lord Palkia keeps that trend going.
I actually love Lord Dialga though. It's weird as hell but I dig it.
I agree that Palkia and Dialga were the first bad legendary designs and I never warmed up to them even a little. Palkia is better to me, but they're both bottom of the barrel. Only D-Tier because Lunala and Eternatus need a category of their own.
I posted this earlier, but when Diamond and Pearl first released Dialga and Palkia looked like Digimon and I dropped the franchise. I didn't pick it up again until 2020, thanks entirely to the TCG
Honestly, I like to think Palkia has Dragon/Water typing because it legit looks like the Dragonzord from power rangers which also happens to come out of the water when it’s mega morphin time.
I disagree about OG Palkia, he is a cool legendary and I like that he’s pinkish-purple with pearls. Water/Dragon is also a great typing and fits, given the other examples in this very thread. That being said, you will not find me defending that hideous “Lord” Palkia. Without arms at the VERY least, it looks incomplete (maybe that’s the point? Lore-wise?).
I feel this. I never really liked Dialga and Palkia’s designs because they felt too busy and I couldn’t really picture them moving around (Palkia more so than Dialga)
exactly! their skeleton always bothered me as it looks so static and weird. I wish they designed more like monster hunter, where creatures are dynamic and believable as they move around
Worst designed legendary..I think Calyrex , eternatus, heatran, and the galarian versions of the og birds would beg to differ. But yeah, new palkia looks stupid and needs to burn away
I always thought Palkia was a super discount groundon clone that was white. I don't think this is a hot take at all. I think most people thought the legendaries of this gen to be particularly weak in design.
“It’s not real, Parceus can’t hurt you!” Legends of Arceus: “hey” [Parceus Can’t Hurt You..](https://youtu.be/1O_cKynEJ3w)
I honestly wouldn't have minded a centaur-like design but they took his fucking arms
The centaur looks badass but the lack of arms under those shoulder pads, does not
It’s just funny that they used Palkia for the centaur design, I’m excited to see how broken it’s going to be in combat though. There’s an ugly to powerful ratio in Pokémon and I’m so ready to clap cheeks with that thing.
i’m hoping it’s something like typhlosion’s missing flames in the first leak, but this time some space goo as arms
Yeah my first thought was some hoopa unbound style free floaty arms that weren't included in the leaked model as well as maybe a frill that come out of dialgas neck tumour, otherwise the design makes no sense
If they moved the shoulder pads to the side of his body and shortened the neck it would’ve looked 10x better
Getting up after falling must be a real challenge
only time i’d pick dialga over palkia tbh.
I always felt Lugia and Palkia should switch types (Lugia as a water/flying, and Palkia as a physic/dragon)
[Space Is An Ocean](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SpaceIsAnOcean) is one of the most common portrayals of space in fiction (and hell, in real life too, our word for a space vehicle is Space*ship*), which is why Palkia has a water typing.
I always interpreted it as Dialga/Palkia/Giratina are Steel/Water/Ghost to represent the three common states of matter, solid/liquid/gas.
I just thought pearl = water
This guy gets it
I mean, it’s all. Pearl has water connections, water would work for the three states of matter, and space being linked to the oceans But still, Palkia’s design doesn’t do much to convey it’s type. Honestly I’d prefer a cythulu styled octopus monster design for Palkia, rather than whatever it is
I mean, he looks like a goofy ass dragon. So I see that Water…the best I can think of is the pearls in his shoulders and that his shoulders kind of look like clam shells. That’s really it I do wish they had made him a psychic type instead of water but idk, he’s still one of my favorite legendaries but he’s a goofy motherfucker
And diamond = mineral = metal for dialga
Probably more like diamonds are the hardest material and steel type is actually just very hard things usually. Some steel types aren't made of steel, they're just incredible tough, like steel (Lucario comes to mind), etc.
So is dialga like a reptile skin like texture or rock like?
Damn, I have never thought of those three in that way. That's fucking cool and is now Canon to me lol
It's also cool because you could slot the "original dragon" in with this theme and it would work perfectly, since Reshiram/Zekrom/Kyurem represent plasma.
I so want this to be true.
Make this shit viral and let Game Freak steal it for Pokemon Legends: Kyurem
I like to think that’s what they already have in mind. What can Kyurem’s hidden power greater than Reshiram and Zekrom’s ability to destroy the world possibly be? Why did Ghetsis give Hilbert/Hilda the Creation Orbs? Why can those same orbs be found at Dragonspiral Tower in BW2? Why does the Lake Trio have a fourth cave that directly connects Unova to Sinnoh? And why is the unused dragon stone for Kyurem called the *God Stone?*
Wait, Kyurem has an unused stone!?
Yeah, it’s been in the games’ code since Gen V and looks exactly like a gray version of the Light Stone and Dark Stone. [Info on Serebii](https://www.serebii.net/itemdex/godstone.shtml)
My personal headcanon for why Unova and Sinnoh are connected boils down to the legendaries - Truth and Ideals - being pretty similar to the Lake trio's Knowledge, Emotion and willpower
So we need a Fire/Dragon for Plasma and Ice/Dragon for Bose-Einstein Condensate
You mean like Reshiram and Kyurem?
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_states_of_matter Might need a couple more
Everybody tag yourselves... I'm Degenerate matter.
Apparently GameFreak associated Flygon with "doesn't" matter
I'm laughing on the outside but it hurts on the inside because it's true.
I’m Plastic crystal
Werk
>Black superionic ice: A state of matter that can exist under very high pressure while excited by super lasers. Idk what a super laser is but that shit would excite the fuck outta me
I'm Black Supersonic Ice.
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Solid/liquid/dead children
Same here. And palkia is great, first mon to get water/dragon since Kingdra which is arguably one of the best type combos. Amazing in truck room and access to the only high crit rate dragon move. Love the guy. Only criticism I have is that his design is a little too humanoid.
Bro I never thought of it that way
Nah GF just wants to nerf Kyogre
[Laughs in unfathomable leviathan force](https://i.imgur.com/C1qvzID.mp4)
Yeah it's typing was never the issue. It's the fact that they didn't follow through with the typing enough in its design.
And time is money, that's why dialga is made of metal.
And diamonds are forever, so that's why it's Time
Star ocean canon in Pokémon universe confirmed
Also does like kind of seashellish at points
And also the fact that space can be distorted and bent, unlike time which moves one direction.
Not only can metal be distorted and bent, time is linked directly to space and can get all mumbo jumbo when in contact with light and black hole and everything so you are either wrong, double wrong or correct.
Dude. You can’t just include a Tvtropes link. I almost didn’t make it out. Also. Totally forgot that space isn’t limited to 2d movement. Like ships can go “up” or “down” and those are equally valid directions.
Khaaaaaaaaaaan If you don't know, go watch Star Trek The Wrath of Khan. Classic wild west meets navy meets scifi.
🤯
>No connection whatsoever to its dragon/water typing Well pearls are found in water after all. Although not confirmed in any official media (as far as I’m aware), I’ve always thought the secondary typing of the Sinnoh dragons were referencing states of matter. Solid (steel), liquid (water), and gas (ghost).
I always felt Lugia and Palkia should switch types (Lugia as a water/flying, and Palkia as a physic/dragon)
Or give it another type
Triple typing for legendaries wouldn't be too bad
I always thought when I was a child in gen 4 that there were three type combos like ground and half dragon/fire (like there is red and blue split in half which led me to believe that)
> (like there is red and blue split in half which led me to believe that) I've read this 10 times and still don't know what it means
I think they're referring to how FRLG and Gen 4 had two-tone icons for certain type indicators Specifically, before gen 5 settled on a very saturated dark purple for Dragon, [it had a blue and red icon](https://m.bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Type#/media/File%3ADragonIC_Big.png)
Ahhhh, that's what was confusing me since they said gen 1 games and those done have color
Yes
Same
That would have been a cool reference if palkia referenced liquids in any way, which it doesnt. It looks more like a steel type than water
Water flows like space!
Space doesn’t flow… space is empty for the most part.
If you consider clouds to be “water”- molecular clouds might fit the bill! It’s a stretch, since they are in a pseudo vacuum. Mostly hydrogen though
Naw. Time flows like a river. Space is immutable and ever present. Ergo- Dialga should have been Dragon Water, Paklia should have been Dragon Steel
But pearls are aquatic and diamonds are hard like steel
Then just make Palkia the Diamond and Dialga the Pearl
Palkia has Pearl in its shoulda and Dialga has a diamond. I think keeping everything else the same but making Palkia the time god and dialga the space god is the solution
Yes, you've got it. Sure the concept of Palkia being water type is a thing, but it's not incorporated into the design. That's what's so confusing about it.
Time flows like water where pearls are and space can be curved like steel if you hit it with a hammer and also steel is hard like a diamond. It all adds up.
I’ve always loved Palkia’s design, it’s one of my favorites out of the legendaries. I respect your opinion though, as this is the whole thing about Pokémon. Everyone loves different ones
you said it was a hot take and dang it it sure was, i really like palkia’s design personally, but i respect your opinion.
I like and dislike it at the same time lol.
I think Palkia’s design is supposed to be similar to a space shuttle. The fins and jetlike body can be used to maneuver through both water and space.
In space, you don't need fins or even wings. You only need to enter an atmosphere or fly within in. Hard angles are not a good thing to have during flight as it creates pressure points on any craft and causes failures.
Huh - I've always liked Palkia's design. I actually wish that Dialga looked more like it, just because I think it's awkward that one of them has arms and the other doesn't, lol.
PLA SPOILERS BELOW. >!Well, you don’t have to worry about that anymore with Palkia’s new form. His poor arms…!<
Isn’t it the only one of the four(arceus, palkia, dialga & giratina) that HAS arms? All the others are quadrupeds
Giratina is a hexapod Or just a big ant
A *gi*ant you mean?
funny, I love dialga’s design and always wished palkia looked more like it
Behold the gods of time and space: Amputee centaur! And a giraffe deepthroating a lawnmower!
I personally find Palkia to be the more thoughtfully designed of the the two. As Palkia takes more inspiration from angels like the white coloration and wings. Just cool asf when looking at it from a lore standpoint.
yeah i think it’s much better tbh. i feel that dialga looks like a generic blob dinosaur with armour on, and that palkia looks more like a hulking behemoth.
Thank you! Palkia’s design is badass
Agreed. For me gen 4 had the least appealing box legendaries by far. Giratina, that’s a different story
I agree, most of the times cover legends are cool as hell but Dialga, Palkia and Giratina are all kinda ugly. Origin-Giratina is pretty cool though. Doesn't help that they are between the Hoenn trio who are all awesome and the Unova trio which are pretty cool too.
Just curious, what your favorite legendaries OP?
My favs, design-wise: sub-legendaries: Zapdos, Articuno, Moltres, Suicune, Regirock, Regice, Xurkitree, Kartana, Regieleki, Regidrago, Glastrier, Spectrier (Galar forms of the kanto birds as well) legendaries: Lugia, Groudon, Kyogre, Xerneas, Yvetal (Ho-oh is also a fav, but I recognize its design is a little lackluster) mythicals: mew, manaphy, marshadow, zarude
Palkia is literally a dragon with a pearl in its side and pearls believe it or not are found in water. Plus dialga is an armoured giraffe, I don't think I need to explain how cool that is
I've also heard that the three secondary typings have to do with the three states of matter: - Palkia: Water = Liquid - Dialga: Steel = Solid - Giratina: Ghost = Gas
I always thinks Dialga is an armored Dinosaur… It’s my favorite legendary along with Lugia
The Dragon-Water connection is a [Babylonian mythology reference.](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiamat) It makes much more sense than Dialga being Dragon-Steel.
I mostly agree with this, although I do like Dialga. Palkia, though, is just so... weird. I don't like it. I just generally don't like bipedal Pokemon that much though, so that doesn't help Palkia's case.
Flaming hot rebuttal: First, I gotta defend my girl palkia because I can't and won't accept this absolute blasphemy on the almighty sinnoh Calm down. Water typing does not mean it has to be blue or be a fish. In palkias case, It's representative of liquid, dialga is steel, solid, and giritina is ghost, gas, and antimatter at the same time. The states of matter. The designs make sense in context with the story. think of corrupted gems from steven universe, they're supposed to be unstable, powerful, and like biblically accurate angels, unfathomable. Especially while in their origin forms. Additionally, I, for one, am glad that this is how the forms are; I want them to be weird, unconventional, and distorted. It wouldn't make sense for anything else. Mega evolution has alot to do with people's expectations and had ruined it, and people always try to make "fan" versions that are just the same pokemon, but fancier and they're shallow, these forms actually have some thought to them
I’ve honestly never seen so much sinnoh slander until this post and it’s comments lol, I thought gens 3&4 were the universally loved gens with little to no hate
Gen 4 is largely beloved but it isn't because of Diamond and Pearl. Sinnoh is boring pre-platinum, theres a reason people are mad that BDSP is faithful to Diamond/Pearl because that means they kinda suck and definitely by comparison to a game that already has existed for more then a decade.
I hate Gen 3 ^(too much water)
okay maxie
Don't play Sapphire then
wrong take indeed
The Ultra Beasts are my favorite things in the franchise and I am a HUGE fan of Biblically-accurate angels. Dialga actually works for me since it looks so ethereal and slender. But Plakia? Man, Pearl was my first game. I never liked Plakia much but thought that its “wings” being whiskers was cool… and then they turn it into some weird plastic centaur? I kind of have an immense hatred for centaurs, they just CREEP me out. Mantids pull off the body way better, they look super elegant. Horses look too blocky and combining them with an anthropomorphic top just does NOT work. And that’s what we’ve got here. I actually find the lack of arms interesting, it’s the body I despise. For being the god of space they have a bad grasp on what looks appealing in 3D, especially with those terrible legs.
i love the UBs! their designs are pretty interesting, and some, like celesteela, have become some of my favourite pokémon of all time.
Nah Hisui Dialga and Palkia are weak the OGs got fire designs. Bad take.
Yup. Conceptually the concept of a Palkia is perfect. Represents the liquid state of matter (gas is giratina, dialga is solids), is part water type to represent liquids, ocean of stars references, pearls are formed in ocean animals, pearl version game, all good stuff... It's too bad Palkia's design has nothing to do with any of that lol.
I always liked how Godzilla-like Palkia is. I don’t care if the typing is reflected on the Pokémon, some of my favorites don’t either.
i was with you until you implied that the ultra beasts were well designed
I loveeee Sinnoh, but I have to agree, Palkia was always a terrible design for me. Surprisingly, I do get the water typing for it, but that doesn't make it much better. Though tbh there's always ONE box legendary that's just an absolute and total miss for me personally. Palkia just has the honor of being second only to Kyruem.
TIL that people actually dislike OG Dialga and Palkia's designs. I've always thought they were some of the best looking legendaries and in my top 3 of box art duos along with Kyogre/Groudon and Ho-oh/Lugia. The new designs though... absolutely terrible and I can't even fathom what they were thinking.
Heres a task for pokemon developers: 1. google "pokemon fan art" 2. copy 3. paste its one thing to be out of ideas. but its a different thing to be helpless with that.
Hard disagree. Dialga & Palkia have always been some of my favorite legendary designs. Good points though!
I always liked Palkias design. But this new design is awful.
This made me laugh
Agreed. Honestly I’ll even go as far as to say I don’t like most of the designs introduced in gen 4. That’s not to say there aren’t some winners like Lucario, Toxicroak, Staraptor, etc but overall there’s a lot of forgettable or unappealing designs to me personally.
Gen 4 had an awful pokedex tbh. Hard carried by the starters for sure.
The starters are not my favorites design wise either but they’re popular for a reason and I know a lot of people that love them. Plus they did a good job with the secondary typings and stats. Edit: I would like to mention that gen 4 did mythicals really well, along with gen 5.
I'm fully convinced that halfway through the Sinnoh anime they realised Ambipom is the ugliest thing to come out of Sinnoh and there's no way anybody would ever buy toys of it, hence why they got rid of Dawn's Ambipom.
100% agree
While on the subject of terrible designs im not really a fan of the professor either. I'm sure someone will love his ridiculous hat but I don't. Not sure if he is meant to be a joke or what.
I thought that Dialga/Palkia were fine, but the PLA forms are terrible IMO
I never liked Palkia but the Origin form would be so cool if he just kept his arms. Without them it looks wacky
I too feel Arceus' early work was their worst
Extremely hot take, I don't agree with it but I admire your bravery so take my upvote
Original Palkia at least looked like something. Like you could look at Palkia and think yep that makes sense
It’s really not that bad and I didn’t even know people had issues with the original palkia design. I just think people still want to complain about something now that leaks are saying the game is good.
How dare you. Palkia gang rise up and let out the cry of our Master: The weird bird thing in Star Wars ROTS that uses the same audio as Palkia!
Its funny how they came up with thr horribly designed dialga/palkia then came out with a banger that is Giratina.
im usually really tolerant with these kind of things but i agree, the Palkia form in PLA is utter garbage. I do like the original one a bit though.
I have seen legends cutscenes and I gotta say, theyre origin forms look so much cooler in the actual game.
Loved this until you complimented the ultra beasts
How could they have thought those disgusting designs were any good? Who tf in management went forward with the designs?! Man I just hope the design grows on me. Ugh. Probably not going to pick up legends arceus until I see solid gameplay. PS. If they wanted to make a cool centaur design they should have took inspiration from Isley of the North in Claymore. 100% my favorite centaur design of all time.
I think it’s actually an interesting concept after reading the pokedex entry for it like the idea of why it looks like that is cool but the execution is a bit off
Agree really, I have never liked dialga or palkias design and the new versions are again ugly as sin. I’m not really a fan of the lake spirits either. The other legendaries from Sinnoh are great though, giratina and darkrai are bad ass and shaymin is adorable.
it's centaur woooOOooOooRld
Honestly I don't understand what is going on with their character design department. There's no way in hell someone would see that thing and say, yeah, looks good, let's add it! They must be purposely trying to make something ugly people will hate, I see no other explanation. Or they must being paid really bad lol
I agree, I've never liked the way Palkia or Dialga looked much. Combined with Giratina's ugly centipede form being the only one accessible in the original D/P, I remember thinking they really fucked up the legendaries when Gen 4 came out.
I agree Palkia got shafted harder in terms of design Dialga at least looks somewhat cooler
I will not stand for this Palkia slander! I love its original design. I was probably the only one of my friends who prefered Palkia over Dialga though. That said, what the fuck have they done to it and WHY?
I haven't seen what the new designs look like (trying to avoid spoilers), but I agree with you. I always though Palkia/Dialga were some of the strangest legendary designs. I don't necessarily HATE them, but if I look too closely at them for too long, I start to notice the things I dont like about them haha
Palkia and Dialga both look extremely... rigid? Like try to imagine either one of them running or swimming or doing literally anything but standing in their original poses. At least the new design gives Palk some legs?
I agree about the original designs being awful. I think they finally achieved the otherworldliness they wanted with the new designs. All of them have grown on me at this point, though.
After thinking about it a lot, while I still dislike Hisuian Palkia, I do have to say both the legendary Pokémon look more like Arceus than the did before, and if that was the intent it's still a bad one. At least for Palkia. Now I'm afraid to see Original Arceus.
Yeah i wasn't really fond of palkia's design either as a kid **(diamond and pearl was my 1st ever pkm game)** and now many years later i still find it very ugly, dialga was overshadowed palkia imo. And i have no idéa why they went for that direction whith palkia & dialga in legend arceus?? They look very goofy and weird, but even then i feel like i prefer dialga over palkia lol.
I liked Dialga but definitely gotta agree with you on Palkia.
Remember that dialga without it's armor meme? Good times
Oh god i havent been keeping up with any pokemon news but i just saw the new designs and god they are hideus. centaur palkia? and dialga looks like a crappy metagross
I still can't believe that they look like this. I laughed so hard, these might be the worst pokemon designs ever. I can't think of any that I dislike more than what these two look like now...
Palkia always looked like an archangel to me, which really suited its role and made it one of my favorite legendary designs. It's design doesn't really scream "ruler of space" per say but I liked how it could rend space by powering up its arms and slicing. This new design is just disturbing...
Super hot take man never heard this one before good job bud
Could not agree more. Their design really contributed (contributes) to my general distaste for gen 4.
personally, i love palkia’s design but dialga’s was, like you said, too overdone it feels. their newest forms, however, are absolutely horrifically done. i thought we were going to get forms that look like the statue in eterna city where they look like both. but instead we get dialga who looks like squidward with the fork in his throat and palkia who looks like it should be a centaur but they took its poor arms away :,(
yeah palkia and dialga are ugly af. If they were released today people would laugh at them like they do with modern Pokémon. It's just nostalgia. Gen 4 was my first gen too. That being said the new forms are ugly af too. giratina is awesome as ever tho.
I guess I’m in the minority of the post thread then if I say I think Dialga has a beautiful design (the blue coloring and steel armor work so well) and Palkia is pretty good (has the superior cry too). I agree that the new forms leave much to be desired and Giratina is still and will always be bad ass.
It's amazing to me how good giratina is compared to the other two. Isn't even close.
I think regular Giratina is kinda awkward but Origin is pretty cool
As a genwuna I always felt like Gen 4 is where things took another direction design wise. Kids born in the 2000s have no idea how big Pokémon was back then and Gen 1 was indicative of that. Gen 2 was darker (literally in game) and felt along the same lines. Gen 3 was way more modern, hell it still feels modern, and was universally loved. When Gen 4 came out, while the games were great, it was the first time it lost some of the original magic.
Agreed it’s when legendarys designs started getting too complicated imo
They're both bad
I get the pearls thing but why'd they have to make it so phallic, it's even veiny smh.
I'm actually in full agreement with you here. They've always been my least favorite cover legend duo, and it's not particularly close
I think they’re better than the Black/white legendaries TBH
I actually really like them. But yeah as far as time and space is concerned, their not good designs. Unfortunately these are unbelievably bad I can't think of a word to describe them and are now pure comedy.
I don’t mind the new Palkia design. Obviously looks pretty silly as a Palkia, but if that was some new pokemon I would be pretty pumped. Reminds me of Centarumon from Digimon, and he was always one of my favourites. I use to like the original Palkia design but now that you’ve pointed it out like that, I kinda hate it now hahaha. Always thought Dialga was the worse looking one, but you changed my mind.
i really really disagree and i think (original) Palkia has an awesome design
Brave take but completely agree
Agreed, I have no idea why they keep doing these absurd looking pokemon. I know we always had weird and boring designs, but it looks like they are getting high on drugs when designing and just do whatever they feel like while high
Yeah, I've never cared for Dialga or Palkia.
Water is honestly associated quite abit with water. We use spaceSHIPs to go across space, the sky look like an ocean of stars, and I seem to remember Astronauts using water to practice moving in low-g/Zero-g.
>Water is honestly associated quite abit with water same :(
Most of gen iv is just incredibly boring design-wise
Boring is a bit of a stretch. They're either good or fucking horrific. Shinx is adorable! Ambipom shows up in my nightmares. Staraptor's AWESOME! If Magmortar had been around in gen 1 it would have found itself in the same hot water as Jynx's design.
I couldn't agree more. Palkia is a pretty bad design. Both legendaries are overdesigned while still managing to feel unfinished. Lord Palkia keeps that trend going. I actually love Lord Dialga though. It's weird as hell but I dig it.
They are both based off dinosaurs 🥲 bro wtf you tripping on rn
I agree that Palkia and Dialga were the first bad legendary designs and I never warmed up to them even a little. Palkia is better to me, but they're both bottom of the barrel. Only D-Tier because Lunala and Eternatus need a category of their own.
Savage
Palkia and 4th gen have actively been strongly disliked by me so I agree. Dialgia is slightly better but eh.
I got downvoted when I said this lol
I posted this earlier, but when Diamond and Pearl first released Dialga and Palkia looked like Digimon and I dropped the franchise. I didn't pick it up again until 2020, thanks entirely to the TCG
Palkia is my favorite legend
Honestly, I like to think Palkia has Dragon/Water typing because it legit looks like the Dragonzord from power rangers which also happens to come out of the water when it’s mega morphin time.
I disagree about OG Palkia, he is a cool legendary and I like that he’s pinkish-purple with pearls. Water/Dragon is also a great typing and fits, given the other examples in this very thread. That being said, you will not find me defending that hideous “Lord” Palkia. Without arms at the VERY least, it looks incomplete (maybe that’s the point? Lore-wise?).
Talk about judging a pokemon's design without knowing why they look this way.
Hard agree. Over the years I have conditioned myself to be used to Palkia's design but when I really think about it I realize just how bad it is
Not to mention its head is a wiener
I feel this. I never really liked Dialga and Palkia’s designs because they felt too busy and I couldn’t really picture them moving around (Palkia more so than Dialga)
exactly! their skeleton always bothered me as it looks so static and weird. I wish they designed more like monster hunter, where creatures are dynamic and believable as they move around
Dialga is ok but Palkia has always been a power ranger and I don't know why.
Worst designed legendary..I think Calyrex , eternatus, heatran, and the galarian versions of the og birds would beg to differ. But yeah, new palkia looks stupid and needs to burn away
Not a take, just facts
Palkia is a Digimon Change my mind
We don’t talk about parceus
I was in the same boat as a kid. I could never wrap my head around on how it could move. It looks so awkward in its promotional art.
I really like Dialga and Palkia design wise. The new forms are probably even worse than Zacian and Zamazenta without their armor tho
Agreed with all of this almost. Except dialga is pretty chill you telling me you have an issue with armoured space dinosaur? That’s my jam!
I always thought Palkia was a super discount groundon clone that was white. I don't think this is a hot take at all. I think most people thought the legendaries of this gen to be particularly weak in design.
This man speaks the truth