Pikachu with no fur?

[Starcutter]

I'm sure that you noticed the redesigns of donkey kong and fox had realistic looking fur. What I'm wondering is why pikachu doesn't. he the "electric mouse pokemon", and mice have fur, so it would make sense.
Although I really like pikachu's design now, I'm not really sure if it should of had a little bit of fur or not. I mean, what would it look like?

 

[splat]

Pikachu never had any fur. Sparky excepted, of course.

 

[Tanea]

Im enjoying this design it fits him perfectly!!! just like the cartoon series

 

[BridgesWithTurtles]

Game Freak and the Pokemon Company have most of the control over how their characters appear in Smash Bros, so they probably wanted Pikachu to remain closer to his cartoony, cel-shaded look as he appears in X and Y. Besides, at some point, Pikachu with realistic features would start to enter the uncanny valley.

 

[DakotaBonez]

...he is a mouse, and mice have fur...

No, he is a Pokemon, more specifically he's a Pikachu. But for the sake of giving an idea of what a pikachu with fur would look like...

http://lilchan16.deviantart.com/art/furry-Pikachu-11961944

There should be some similar pictures of furry pikachus to the right of this image.

I wouldn't recommend googling the words "furry" with anything pokemon related...just a heads up.

 

[Starcutter]

I see a lot of fanart of pikachu with a little tuft of fur right above his forhead, between his ears, like this picture here, and I think it works out and looks good.

I don't prefer one over the other, but it seems the general audience likes the smooth design. that's just as fine as well. he's still cute, that's all that matters.

 

[ShowdownBro721]

I had to give it a shot...

FYI, I was working off of a memory of a Pikachu stuffed animal I had when I was a kid.

To be honest, nowadays I can care less of how realistic the characters look. Indeed, I found the detail in cloth, like Mario's denim overalls, fascinating, but I like the style shown in this game as it visually shows the relevant details while keeping the characters true to who they are in their games. But to each his own, I guess.

 

[IsmaR]

Quoting myself from another topic for convenience. Was regarding on why it seems that DK seems to be taking Pikachu's usual spotlight.

I think they just chose to show DK off because he's all Beast-pretty now, and has several DKCR shenanigans to hype up.

They can make Pikachu as HD, 'adowable' and cuddly as they want. It's still gonna be Pikachu.

Personally, as much as I love the new look, I honestly think everyone is looking forward to a different face for Pokemon in Smash.

I think it's more fitting. Going off of the most recent memorabilia, Pokedex 3D Pro, anime, all promotional media and in the actual games, it's the best representation of him that's ever been in Smash. I do hope small tidbits will be noticeable in the final version, like an alt that lets you be female Pikachu with the cleft in the tail.

 

[ChozoBoy]

Sakurai probably wasn't allowed to add it. TPC probably would never allow anyone to do that unless they did first. It certainly shouldn't be super furry like that image. Just a close, short-haired coat. That said, TPC wants to keep it's icon's design simple rather than realistic for now.

Bonus edit: Pika probably lost air-time to DK because he was less visually impressive compared to DK's fur.

 

[bobadz]

Because it'd look weird. Like how it wood on Sonic.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Chronic_Sonic_6351.jpg

 

[KingofPhantoms]

I thought he never had fur.

 

[SmashShadow]

I had to give it a shot...
View attachment 966

FYI, I was working off of a memory of a Pikachu stuffed animal I had when I was a kid.

To be honest, nowadays I can care less of how realistic the characters look. Indeed, I found the detail in cloth, like Mario's denim overalls, fascinating, but I like the style shown in this game as it visually shows the relevant details while keeping the characters true to who they are in their games. But to each his own, I guess.

That actually doesn't look too bad. Still, I prefer him bald just because he's always been that way.

 

[ChozoBoy]

Because it'd look weird. Like how it wood on Sonic.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Chronic_Sonic_6351.jpg

No, even closer and shorter haired. Almost unnoticeable... just a light fuzz. Less than Fox, too. Maybe a quarter of that.

 

[Mr.Showtime]

No, even closer and shorter haired. Almost unnoticeable... just a light fuzz. Less than Fox, too. Maybe a quarter of that.

What's the point of having it then if its barely even noticeable?

 

[asia_catdog_blue]

Ugh, just looking at that thing.

I wish the pokemon did look like a wild animal/beast and not a plush toy.

 

[ChozoBoy]

What's the point of having it then if its barely even noticeable?

Because knowing when to be subtle in art and animation is an important skill that takes some time to learn properly.

And smooth Pikachu is looking like Kirby nowadays.

 

[Knight Dude]

Pikachu has fur. It just doesn't need to be emphasized like Fox or Donkey Kong. A lot of Pokemon in general have very smooth/sleek designs to them. It would be weird to see alot of them be given any kind of realism. Also, Fox and Donkey Kong's designs have been played with before to certain extents, Pikachu, like most Pokemon have also been very consistent design as well too.

 

[ChozoBoy]

Pikachu has fur. It just doesn't need to be emphasized like Fox or Donkey Kong. A lot of Pokemon in general have very smooth/sleek designs to them. It would be weird to see alot of them be given any kind of realism. Also, Fox and Donkey Kong's designs have been played with before to certain extents, Pikachu, like most Pokemon have also been very consistent design as well too.

You can render hair that is smooth and unemphasized, like a mouse, doberman, deer, etc. I did my thesis on hair simulation, so I do know a bit about this. It would just look nicer in closeups, like Link's chainmail in this game. They should have at least given him some hair sim on the brown part of his tail.

 

[Knight Dude]

You can render hair that is smooth and unemphasized, like a mouse, doberman, deer, etc. I did my thesis on hair simulation, so I do know a bit about this. It would just look nicer in closeups, like Link's chainmail in this game. They should have at least given him some hair sim on the brown part of his tail.

Hmm, True. When I was typing my post I was actually thinking that something like that might actually might be possible. Giving the fur extra detail can work so long as its very subdued and smooth looking.

 

[xpnc]

Pikachu has smooth yellow flesh

Prove me wrong

 

[verysleepywolf]

@KillerCRS

 

[Rocket Raccoon]

It looks good on him

 

[Katatopeth]

Pikachu comes from a cartoon, There for he must me sort of cartoon like. A realist Pikachu just is to much for my taste, I think the model they have suits him well. The furry Fox though makes sense to me.

 

[κomıc]

I honestly thought they ripped that art from Pokemon X and Y.

I don't really think Pikachu having fur would necessarily make him look better... Okay, maybe a little more cuter...

 

[Supermario12]

Im happy he's no longer a fat ass hahaha he looks a lot better

 

[IsmaR]

... Okay, maybe a little more cuter...

 

[κomıc]

Looks like it's made of paper or something :/

 

[IsmaR]

Well yeah, it's most likely papermache. The only furry thing is Entei in the back.

I was just pointing out the more realistic Pikachu gets, the less cute.

 

[Dark 3nergy]

The redesign looks fantastic <3

 

[Reznor]

I like Fat Pikachu and new Pikachu but the fatty is special to me because of nostalgia

 

[Crystanium]

Pikachu is really Bart Simpson.

 

[oxyborb]

I feel like they could add fur to pokemon that would not look like the garbage from deviantart. I just don't think Nintendo believes that detailed characters are kid friendly, although they're wrong. Look at Pixar movies. Specifically the Monsters Inc. Those characters look good with fur. I believe Nintendo just wants pokemon to look like plastic because they don't get it.

 

[Superyoshiom]

I feel like they could add fur to pokemon that would not look like the garbage from deviantart. I just don't think Nintendo believes that detailed characters are kid friendly, although they're wrong. Look at Pixar movies. Specifically the Monsters Inc. Those characters look good with fur. I believe Nintendo just wants pokemon to look like plastic because they don't get it.

Lucario clearly has fur in his art:

I don;t think that is the issue

 

[pupNapoleon]

@ xpnc

This is the best thing I have ever seen.

 

[Zapster]

Pikachu never had any fur. Sparky excepted, of course.

No... Pikachu definitely has fur. Sparky, like you said did.

After looking at this it is obvious Pikachu has fur.

I was surprised when I saw that DK and Fox had fur but Pikachu didn't. It really makes Pikachu look bland... very Kirby-esque like the guy above said. For Kirby the smooth look works, but for Pikachu... eh not so much. Same with Charizard for that matter. I was surprised by how smooth he looks too. Iirc he was more detailed in brawl! He had little hints of scales.

 

[Zapster]

I'm not advocating for something like this

but a little more detail would've been nice!

 

[D-idara]

A Sparky alternate costume would do wonders.

EDIT:

I feel like they could add fur to pokemon that would not look like the garbage from deviantart. I just don't think Nintendo believes that detailed characters are kid friendly, although they're wrong. Look at Pixar movies. Specifically the Monsters Inc. Those characters look good with fur. I believe Nintendo just wants pokemon to look like plastic because they don't get it.

OK, NO...the Mario characters are pretty detailed on the latest releases, Bowser's pretty ****in' detailed, Megaman looks very detailed...they do get it, they just don't want Pikachu to look realistic because he's not supposed to look realistic, Pikachu looks fine right now and you're comparing apples and Oranges, Monsters Inc. had plenty of detailed characters that didn't need fancy fur effects to look detailed. You're one of those people who ask for a Pokemon MMO with realistic graphics, aren't you?

 

[Aninymouse]

Game Freak and the Pokemon Company have most of the control over how their characters appear in Smash Bros, so they probably wanted Pikachu to remain closer to his cartoony, cel-shaded look as he appears in X and Y. Besides, at some point, Pikachu with realistic features would start to enter the uncanny valley.

The Uncanny Valley, aka Western fan art.

May I just say, "ew."

Pikachu should just remain an unrealistic cartoon character, like most Pokemon.

 

[supercopper64]

I think he looked cuter being fat

 

[Wasp]

the only problem i have with pikachu is the face expressions he doesn't really have... Like Sparky above, he looks focussed and angry... They don't really accomplish this on the Pikachu in Smash bros. he always looks te same... I would had loved a little fur texture too, but I understand the reason people give about keeping it's design closst to how he is in media and other games.

but yeah, Pikachu still looks a bit poor in detail with the same face expression in almost every attack: