This article is over 5 years old and may contain outdated information.

People & Culture

Seven Pokémon that would be right at home in the Canadian Arctic

These seven Pokémon characters have attributes and powers inspired by real Arctic wildlife
  • Jul 13, 2016
  • 870 words
  • 4 minutes
Pokémon inspired by Arctic wildlife on an Arctic landscape photo by Robert Bergeron/Can Geo Photo Club Expand Image
Advertisement

By now you’ve almost certainly heard of Pokémon GO, the mobile “augmented reality” game craze sweeping the globe.

Although the game is not yet available in Canada (officially; unofficially some users have been able to circumvent their app store’s location settings and download the U.S. version of the game), some of the mythical creatures available for capture in Pokémon GO and featured on the collectible cards that preceded it have a distinctly Canadian feel.

First, a bit of history: Pokémon (a contraction of the Japanese words for Pocket Monsters) was created in 1995 by video game designer Satoshi Tajiri, who was inspired by his childhood hobby of insect collecting. Players of the Pokémon card and video games have two objectives: to collect all the monsters in the Pokémon universe, then train their monsters to fight and ultimately win the fictional Pokémon League.

Most of the Pokémon are fantastical renditions of actual animals, and their English names were specifically chosen to help western audiences make the connection to their real-life counterparts. For example, a lizard-like Pokémon with fire-throwing abilities is called Charmander, a portmanteau of char (to burn) and salamander.

Of all Canada’s geographical regions, the Arctic is home to some of our most unusual and specialized wildlife, so it should come as no surprise that several Pokémon and their magical powers appear to have been inspired by our northernmost reaches.

Glaceon

The Pokémon Glaceon was most likely inspired by the Arctic fox. Photo: Rudy Pohl/Can Geo Photo Club Expand Image
The Pokémon Glaceon was most likely inspired by the Arctic fox. (Photo: Rudy Pohl/Can Geo Photo Club. Glaceon illustration © Nintendo) 

Glaceon is an evolved form of Eevee, a mammalian Pokémon that exhibits characteristics of a fox, dog and cat depending on its evolutionary stage. Glaceon is most likely modelled after the Arctic fox, although its ears more closely resemble those of a fennec fox, and it appears to wear a teal toque with two dangles, one on either side of its head. Glaceon’s special powers include generating ice crystals and freezing its fur into ice needles it can fire at enemies. 

Walrein

Walrein is a Pokémon inspired by the walrus. (Photo: Capt. Budd Christman/Wikimedia Commons) Expand Image
Walrein is a Pokémon based on the walrus. (Photo: Capt. Budd Christman/Wikimedia Commons. Walrein illustration © Nintendo)

Walrein is the Pokémon version of a walrus. Its thick layer of blubber and long tusks protect it from enemy attacks, and it can also coat its body in ice and charge at opponents. Much like walruses in the wild, Walrein live and hunt in herds.  

Seel

A Seel Pokémon with a harp seal. (Photo: Clayton Hare/Can Geo Photo Club) Expand Image
The Seel Pokémon is thought to be designed to resemble a harp seal pup. (Photo: Clayton Hare/Can Geo Photo Club. Seel illustration © Nintendo)

Seel and its higher evolutionary form, Dewgong, most closely resemble the harp seal with their large eyes, silver-grey colouring and flipperlike appendages. Like Walrein, Seel and Dewgong possess a thick blubber layer that shields them from attack. Seel is described as a playful and curious Pokémon, much like its namesake: harp seals are extremely social animals, often forming large and noisy colonies. 

Beartic

A polar bear standing on its hind legs looks a lot like a Beartic Pokémon. (Photo: Nick Jeffery/Can Geo Photo Club) Expand Image
A polar bear on its hind legs resembles a Beartic Pokémon. (Photo: Nick Jeffery/Can Geo Photo Club. Beartic illustration © Nintendo)

With its blue-white fur, black paw pads and bipedal attack stance, Beartic could only be a polar bear. Its powers include the ability to freeze its own breath, either into fangs and claws of ice for fighting or ice pathways to navigate the cold northern waters it inhabits. Wild polar bears are remarkable creatures, possessing the ability to swim long distances and hold their breath underwater for up to three minutes while hunting their preferred food, seals.  

Pelipper

Pelipper is Pokémon's answer to a pelican. Photo: Deb Naaykens/Can Geo Photo Club Expand Image
The Pelipper is Pokémon’s answer to a pelican. (Photo: Deb Naaykens/Can Geo Photo Club. Pelipper illustration © Nintendo)

Pelipper is a pelican-like Pokémon whose massive bill makes up most of its body and is the source of its special abilities. These include scooping up large amounts of food from the sea at once and acting as a winged messenger, carrying eggs or smaller Pokémon in its mouth.  

Bergmite

A Bergmite Pokémon is seen against the backdrop of a beautiful iceberg at sunset. Photo: June Szasz/Can Geo Photo Club Expand Image
A Bergmite Pokémon against a backdrop of a beautiful iceberg at sunset. (Photo: June Szasz/Can Geo Photo Club. Bergmite illustration © Nintendo)

Not all Pokémon are based on animals; some, like Bergmite and its evolved form, Avalugg, are inspired by geological formations. Bergmite, as its name suggests, is a small iceberg that can summon frigid air to freeze its opponents in their tracks. Avalugg takes the form of a humongous glacier; its heavy frame of solid ice can crush everything in its path.  

Articuno

The Pokémon Articuno lives in cold climes, but in appearance more closely resembles a magpie-jay. Photo: Laurel Parshall Expand Image
Articuno is an ice-type Pokémon that in reality more closely resembles a subtropical bird, the white-throated magpie-jay. (Photo: Laurel Parshall. Articuno illustration © Nintendo)

Although its name summons visions of the Arctic and its powers include producing snowfall at will, Articuno, with its majestic head tuft and long blue tail, actually most closely resembles a subtropical bird, the white-throated magpie-jay. Pokémon legend has it that Articuno nests in the highest mountains of the coldest places in the world and appears before doomed travelers lost in icy regions. In reality, white-throated magpie-jays prefer the thorny scrublands of northwestern Mexico.

Advertisement

Are you passionate about Canadian geography?

You can support Canadian Geographic in 3 ways:

Related Content

People & Culture

The truth about polar bears

Depending on whom you ask, the North’s sentinel species is either on the edge of extinction or an environmental success story. An in-depth look at the complicated, contradictory and controversial science behind the sound bites

  • 4600 words
  • 19 minutes

Wildlife

Think like a bear: learning to coexist

Humans and bears are sharing more landscapes now than ever before. As we continue to invade their world, will we be able to coexist?

  • 4432 words
  • 18 minutes
Image of a polar bear, and the cover of

Wildlife

Walking away from the wild side

In a new book, Max Foran denounces Canada's failures in protecting its wildlife from human exploitation

  • 1968 words
  • 8 minutes

Wildlife

The ice walkers: Canada’s polar bears

An excerpt from Gloria Dickie’s book, Eight Bears: Mythic Past and Imperiled Future, which explores the planet’s eight remaining species of bears and the dangers they face

  • 2770 words
  • 12 minutes