Let's Talk About Pokemon - Spearow and Fearow

021 - Spearow

Having one early bird wasn't enough, so they included a second for this, seemingly just to boost Kanto's biodiversity a little bit. At least, I don't know what other function this line would serve OTHER than to step on the Pidgey line's toes. Even besides also being a Normal/Flying type, it's called "Spearow" in english! A sparrow is what "Pidgey" was, you fools! Though its Japanese name also alludes to a sparrow, so maybe joke's on me.

Spearow at least has a bit more visual interest by being a bit more nondescript, in terms of being a bird. Pidgey is pretty undeniably a sparrow, but Spearow almost looks a bit like they just made up their own bird, at least I can't seem to identify what it could be based on. There's quite a number of bird species that are red-faced on brown bodies, but not the other way around, from what I can tell. It feels most similar to a red-headed finch, just reversing its colors. And having a sparrow and a finch would cover both grounds for "especially common birds." And finches are quite similar to sparrows.

Course, you know what makes cursory research for the purposes of this series a pain in the ass? When everything is flooded with images generated by AI, cause boy red seems to be a favorite color to make fake birds. Sigh.

All that aside, Spearow's design is neat in how it has a bit more visual intrigue than Pidgey does, with its non-descriptness, but not a boring kind of non-descript, since it uses its rather vague nature to have that rough and spiky hairstyle, all across its face to denote that this is Pidgey's meaner cousin. It's not ground-breaking, but it's at least a little more neat.

022 - Fearow

Fearow does that old Gen 1 thing of being a grab-bag of animal features, having the body plan of a vulture or condor, mixed with a bit of heron with the long, narrow beak, and having a mohawk that looks a bit like the comb of a rooster, and all these features somehow managing to slot together into something actually pretty coherent-looking.

I think Fearow is underrated. Not that I love Fearow, but I oft see it just forgotten, especially in relation to is more famous cousin, but I've always felt it was a Normal/Flying bird with a bit more personality to it. I especially dig its crooked neck, combined with that beak giving off a meaner, more menacing vibe than Pidgeot, which is kinda just content with looking cool. Again, Fearow's not mind-blowing, but I have a bit of a soft spot for the thing.

Personal Score: 6.5/10

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