105+ Fabulous Pokemon Tattoo Designs – The Great Epoch Is Back
Pokemon tattoo is a picture of an iconic creature first thought up in 1989 by their creator Satoshi Tajiii. It came from his habit of collecting insects, which inspired the small creatures and the notion of catching them all.
With the recent rise of the Pokemon Go augmented reality app that has been taking over the mobile world, Pokemons have become more popular than ever, with people becoming obsessed with the franchise or even individual Pokemon.
As we all know, when someone starts to dwell on something they will inevitably want to show off their commitment to their obsession with a new tattoo. We’re going to explore the phenomenon and see how it is impacting tattoo culture.
Contents:
The History of the Franchise
As we said earlier, Pokemon was created around 1990 by Satoshi Tajiii. He was inspired by the launch of the Game Boy game system. An avid insect collector, Tajiri found a way to channel the obsession one can feel to complete a collection into the premise of a video game.
He had the idea that instead of just collecting the creatures, the player should be able to train them in order to battle. This gave rise to the game itself, where players move around a region battling Pokemon in order to capture them.
The player seeks stronger and stronger Pokemon in order to eventually enter a tournament and win.
The video game was popular enough to inspire a television show, a manga series, as well as a collectible trading card game.
Since then the series has had several more video games, culminating in the recent launch of the smash hit app Pokemon Go, which has millions of downloads and stole the news for weeks, with stories about players still appearing in common popular news services.
With the booming popularity of the app, the franchise has been introduced to millions of new players across the world. It seems that the world of Pokemon still has a long history left to be written.
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The Cultural Impact of the Pokemon Phenomenon
When Pokemon first came to the shores of America in 1998 it was labeled a cute and amusing fad.
Most people expected the craze to die down soon enough, and there was even an episode of the hit series South Park which predicted that the fad would die as soon as parents understood it enough to talk to their children about it. That turned out not to be the case.
Today Pokemon is a business that generates more than a billion dollars a year, that’s no chump change! What makes the success of the Pokemon so surprising was the fact that it was all of a sudden everywhere.
The trading card game, video game, and TV show were all released at once. The phenomena survived, however, giving its adherents a deep, expansive, and immersive world to follow.
Pokefans now eagerly await the release of new video games, which contain the newest Pokemon the creators have come up with.
Today there are over 700 Pokemons, with more being added with the release of every new video game.
Another reason for the series popularity and durability is that it has focused on making games for mobile platforms like the game boy series, so fans of the games and the show could take their favorites with them wherever they went.
This is especially huge because it predates the rise of cell phone games.
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Common Tattoos of the Pokemons
Most Pokemon tattoos focus on the individual’s affinity toward a particular Pokemon. Squirtle, a turtle like a creature that has the power to shoot jets of water and has a flower growing on its back.
The iconic Pikachu is another common tattoo. The face of the franchise since having a starring role in the original cartoons.
Most of these tattoos are render as either just the creature or the creature on a stylized background representing the type of environment where it can be found in the game world.
For example, Squirtle frequently appears on a splash of water or wave, Pikachu is drawn with arcs and bolts of lighting behind it, as it has power over electricity. The other most common Pokemon tattoo is the Pokeball.
The Pokeball, red and white separated by a black band and white circle in the center, is the device that is used in the Pokeverse to capture Pokemon, and where they live after being captured.
It is also the logo for the series, so it is no surprise that fans who cannot pick just one Pokemon as their favorite might have the logo that symbolizes the world as a whole.
The Pokeball is frequently inked on in clusters that indicate dramatic action is taking place, or in stylized abstract or outline forms.
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Body Placement of Pokemon Tattoos
By far the most popular placement for Pokemon tattoos is on the underside of the forearm. If you choose to scroll through any collection of Pokemon tattoos you will see a series of people sporting their favorite Pokemon on the underside of their forearms.
Other common places for Poketats are on the leg or the foot. For the most part, people seem to treat their Pokemon obsession sort of like a secret club, with the ability to either cover up or display their dedication as needed.
There is some variation on placement depending on what sort of Pokemon enthusiasm people are showing.
With those who choose to display a specific Pokemon being more likely to opt for the bottom of the forearm and those who want to show a more general love of the series with the trademark Pokeball, the ubiquitous logo of the series generally choosing it to display it on the hand or foot.
This may be because the Pokeball logo is small and discreet, or because its round shape simply looks better on the hand or foot. However, Pokemon fans should not limit themselves by what others have done.
There are several other places that fans can put their tattoos in order to display (or hide!) their affinity for the franchise.
Some thoughts include a battle scene between your favorite Pokemon on the back or chest, representations of the legs or arms of their favorite Pokemon on their own arms or legs.
Fans in relationships may also get ink over their heart using two Pokemon to represent the people in the relationship. One could even adopt the design of the Pokeball to be a nifty wedding ring tattoo.
