About
Pokémon Fusion, also simply known as Pokéfusion, refers to the fan art practice of splicing the sprites of two or more creatures from the Nintendo video game franchise Pokémon to create a new hybrid character either through hand-drawing or web-based generators.
Origin
The concept of creating a hybrid character has been illustrated through Pokemon fan art since as early as November 2008 with a contest hosted by the Kongregate[3] message board to see who could create the best fused sprite out of Pokemon creatures in canon. The winning submission (shown below) incorporated various features from Infernape, Giratina, Metang, Articuno and Alakazam.
Spread
In February 2009, a thread for Pokemon Fusion fan art appeared on the Nintendo fan community Nintendopeeps.[4] In December of that year, a Pokefusion flash animation was shared on the MIT Scratch community[5], which depicted a Darkrai, a Cubone and a Charizard fusing into a new creation. In January 2010, a fan artist who goes by the handle Kurcio showcased a number of hand-drawn hybrid sprites on Soul Boards.[6] By May 2010, a number of Kurcio’s works had been uploaded to deviantART.[7]In July, the deviantART group #PokemonSplicers[8] launched, becoming the first Pokefusion-specific fan group, and in August, a second group labeled #FUSE-Corp[9] was created. As of May 2013, the two groups have nearly 650 members between them and there are more than 18,000 search results for “Pokemon Fusion” on deviantART.[16] In addition, similar fan art threads dedicated to Pokefusion also have surfaced on 4chan[17], Pokememes[18] and Tumblr.[19][20] A subreddit[22] was created for the trope in May 2011.
Pokemon Fusion Generator
On August 8th, 2010, web developer Alex Onsager[2] launched the Pokemon Fusion Generator[1], which fuses the body and shape of the first selected Pokemon with the color and face of the second. It also blends the names, yielding a new character. It was first advertised on the Psypoke forums[10] by a friend of Onsager’s. Throughout September, the generator and its creations were discussed on the message boards of Blockland[11], IGN[12], Newgrounds[13], GameFAQs[14] and the Escapist.[15] As of May 2013, 121 Pokemon have been added to the generator, but Onsager intends to add all of the original 151 Pokemon.[21]
Pokemon Fusion Generation Game
On October 5th, 2012, YouTuber VvElectrovertvV uploaded a trailer (shown below) for a fan made game based on fusion creatures. The game was released in November 2012, after which updates were made available to fans via the game’s official Tumblr.[23] By January 6th, 2013, the game had reached 1,000 downloads.[24] As of May 2013, the game is consistently being updated.
Search Interest
External References
[1]The Pokemon Fusion Website – The Pokemon Fusion Website
[2]Alex Onsager’s Website – Alex Onsager’s Website
[3]Kongregate – ATT: All Poke-fusion makers!!! [Competition Over, winner’s announced!] (locked)
[4]Nintendopeeps – poke fusion sprites
[5]Scratch – Pokefusion
[6]Soul Boards – §Curse’s Poke-Fusion Showcase§
[7]deviantART – synchro593: PokeFusion 1
[8]deviantART – #PokemonSplicers
[9]deviantART – #FUSE-Corp
[10]Psypoke Forums – Pokemon Fusion
[11]Blockland – Pokemon Fusion
[12]IGN– What’s that site that fuses two Pokemon together?
[13]Newgrounds – Fuse pokemon!Golduck and Golbat.
[15]The Escapist – Pokemon Fusion
[16]deviantART – Search Results for “pokemon fusion”
[17]Foolz Archive – Search results for “pokemon fusion”
[18]Pokememes – Posts tagged Pokefusion
[19]Tumblr – Posts tagged “pokemon fusion”
[20]Tumblr – Posts tagged “pokefusion”
[21]Twitter – @aonsager’s Tweet
[22]Reddit – /r/PokemonFusion
[23]Tumblr – Pokemon Fusion Generation
[24]Tumblr – Pokémon Fusion Generation has reached 1,000 downloads!