Let's Talk About Pokemon - Venonat and Venomoth

048: Venonat

Man, looking back a second time REALLY sets in just how many Bug types in Gen 1 had completely insectoid faces. How many Bug Pokemon these days have that? Buzzwole, and that's it?

Venonat is a cute fuzzball of a bug that seemingly is an odd stylization of those fuzzy caterpillars, but obviously in a much more "fuzzy critter" shape. Makes it kind of have the same vibe as a Mario enemy. The design itself is peculiar in that it bares a number of similarities to Butterfree, which has gotten people to speculate that it was originally intended to evolve into Butterfree before that changed for some reason.

Venonat is nice though, it's one of those quaint designs that isn't hyper-adventurous but is still nonetheless competently executed and as a nice bonus, is very much its own original creature in a lot of ways. And despite how much it doesn't quite look like an insect, it still very much passes as one too.

049: Venomoth

While a lot more definitely a moth, Venomoth isn't really any one moth in particular. I always thought the shape of its head was cool, and gives it a bit of "I'm poisonous" flare that otherwise could've been represented in a more vibrant color scheme. That's really my only problem with Venomoth, it's all simply one color and could've done with something more to make it "pop". Not that I beg for monster designs everywhere to be realistic, but Pokemon does have a tendency to have a lot of zoological bases that ground it in reality just enough. But there is actually a reason why being bright and colorful deters predators, and that's simply because so many small but dangerous things tend to be colored that way so predators see the pattern and learn to avoid it. Anyway, all this to say Venomoth could've used some more color to actually look venomous.

That aside, Venomoth is still a cool and distinct design that I feel has gotten unfairly overlooked over the years. Not just by fans, but by Pokemon company themselves. (Seriously, Pokemon like this and Paras only get merch if it's a collection where all the Gen 1 Pokemon are getting the same merch!) Even if I wish it had more color, it's a nice subdued purple appropriately a little fuzzy looking. Again, quaint, but still nice.

Personal Score: 7.5/10

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