Theories Behind Pokemon Weaknesses

[Djaco75]

Hey everyone,

Just thought of a cool discussion idea. We could try to come up with a mini-encyclopedia on the real-life stories behind type weaknesses. I think someone made a video on Youtube about this.

We could all contribute a few reasons why each type is super effective on each other. I'll start to give an example.

Fire is good against grass because of bushfires.

Water is good against fire because water puts out fire

Grass is good against water because plants drink up water.

Looking forward to your ideas and thoughts!

Djaco

 

[Darius_Oak]

I would like to start this with a comic by the ever-hilarious Awkward Zombie. Funny thing is I found this for someone else earlier tonight.

Spoiler: Awkward Zombie: Type Advantage

 

[doof]

Fire is weak to Rock/Ground because dirt/rocks smother flames.

Water is weak to electricity because it conducts electricity (I think that's right.)

 

[Djaco75]

Water is weak to electricity because it conducts electricity (I think that's right.)

I think you're right there, but another reason is that electricity passes through the water, killing all the living animals. That's another point to consider.

 

[Luka S.J.]

Psychic is weak to Ghost, Dark and Bug because the human psyche's most common fears would be the fear of bugs, ghosts and the dark.

Grass is weak against poison because chemicals like bleach kill (poison) weeds. It is also weak against the Bug type since bugs eat herbs. Grass that is covered in snow or frozen during winter is susceptible to mold during the thawing process; which is why Grass could be weak to Ice. And the reason Grass is also weak to Flying could possibly draw a parallel to birds making their nests from vegetation.

 

[Djaco75]

Psychic is weak to Ghost, Dark and Bug because the human psyche's most common fears would be the fear of bugs, ghosts and the dark.

In addition to the fear of the dark, people are often afraid of evil, which is what the Dark Type is in Japan. In addition, Psychic is weak to bug because not much is known about bugs and the venom they have. As Psychic is the 'smart type' in Japan, this could be another reason.

Also, Psychic is good against poison because we know heaps about it - chemicals inside it, what its makeup is and the chemicals on Earth.

 

[Alaguesia]

Iron is known to be bad for fairies in fairy tales, thought how bad is it depends, it could be deadly or just repel them (thought this could be because it is deadly, I mean, you wouldnt just walk into a dead trap if you know its there). Althought I do not know of any media that has used steel agaisnt fairies, steel its mostly iron, and the only equivalent of any metal for that matter in pokemon types. There is also that steel wasnt even a thing when these old fairy tales were around.

As for why dragon are weak to fairy, I guess its because there are many hero vs evil dragon stories out there, and a lot of heroes also happen to have a magical item/sidekick/whatever, for example, swords blessed by the spirits/fairies, so if a sword blessed by a fairy can defeat a dragon why cant the fairy do it?

The first one its probably on point, the second one its just me trying to make sense of it without investigating. Maybe dragons are weak to ice since they have a very dinosaur like structure?

 

[Luka S.J.]

I never understood Fighting type being super effective against Ice, Rock or Steel. I mean ... have you ever tried punching any of those? I have. It wasn't like in the Pokemon games. Ice 1 - Luka 0.

 

[Alaguesia]

I never understood Fighting type being super effective against Ice, Rock or Steel. I mean ... have you ever tried punching any of those? I have. It wasn't like in the Pokemon games. Ice 1 - Luka 0.

With karate you can break rocks and ice, and steel...well when "fighting" comes to mind, you associate it with strong, and if you are strong enough, you could bend steel I guess. Also throwing ice its more effective than punching to break ice, and fighting moves have some throws.

 

[TechSkylander1518]

The first one its probably on point, the second one its just me trying to make sense of it without investigating. Maybe dragons are weak to ice since they have a very dinosaur like structure?

I personally thought that it was because dragons are usually reptilian, and so would be cold-blooded-and cold-blooded creatures don't do too well in cold areas.

 

[Djaco75]

Just thought I'd post a little update comparing all of our ideas:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1q_KFFXz3u6GuoesPnbDQjGfdWl2Ifw20WSHXCfxiiNQ/edit

It's basically a table with all the Pokemon Weaknesses explained (the ones we have got to)

Can't wait to see more ideas!

 

[Fontbane]

I'll fill in a couple:

• Fire beats Bug: Bugs are really flammable I guess, especially since they spend so much time in forests and trees.
• Flying beats Bug: Bugs' main predators are usually birds.
• Rock beats Bug: You can squish a bug by dropping a rock on it.
• Fairy beats Dark: Evil forces are usually defeated in most fairy tales. Same reason for Fairy vs Dragon basically.
• Fairy beats Fighting: Similar to Psychic, Fairy magic is outpowers brute force.
• Bug beats Dark: Japan has a lot of superheros, etc, based on Bugs (for example, Kamen Rider).
• Ground beats Electric (and is immune to it): Grounding circuits, plus lightning hits higher things first so being on/in the ground protects you from it.
• Electric beats Flying: Lightning strikes higher things first.
• Water beats Rock: Erosion

 

[Djaco75]

I'll fill in a couple:

• Rock beats Bug: You can squish a bug by dropping a rock on it.

I was always puzzled by this one, but it kind of makes sense now. There are still many bugs that can make their homes in rock, so I thought it would be opposite. I'll put it down on the table though.------------------------

I'll fill in a couple:

• Electric beats Flying: Lightning strikes higher things first.

Also, birds are often hit by lighting and birds that place their feet on two opposite wires can be electrocuted.

 

[TheDarkRattata]

Adding to the Bug -> Dark one, since dark types often fight dirty and break the mind and willpower of their enemies (like psychic), they would obviously have difficulty against the mindless nature of insects. At least that is how I've always seen it.

 

[Evan]

Hm...gonna try to fill in some of the blanks in the sheet--

• Flying beats Fighting - FIGHT vs. FLIGHT. Guessing the fight or flight reflex errs on the side of flight being the "right" choice.
• Ice beats Grass because plants die in the wintertime
• Fire beats Ice from melting
• Psychic beats Fighting--mind over matter. Brains over brawn.
• Ice beats Flying -- birds fly south for the winter, clearly don't like the cold.
• Rock beat Flying--Two Birds, One Stone.
• Rock beats Ice--Rocks can smash a sheet of Ice

 

[Fontbane]

Have some Steel ones!

• Steel beats Rock and Ice: Pickaxes
• Ground beats Steel: Earthquakes destroying structures like skyscrapers
• Fire beats Steel: Melting

 

[entei]

I'm wondering what the middle ground is for Bug weaknesses. You can say that bug is weak to rock as a bug would die if you drop a rock on it, but the same can be said if you drop metal on a bug or drown a bug.

I feel like for weaknesses to work, you've gotta consider logic but also balancing in the game.

In terms of actual theory behind the weaknesses themselves, I feel like this dA post explains them pretty well:
http://kirbymasterultra.deviantart.com/journal/Trying-to-explain-Pokemon-Type-Weaknesses-548041739

 

[Dragonite]

I'm wondering what the middle ground is for Bug weaknesses. You can say that bug is weak to rock as a bug would die if you drop a rock on it, but the same can be said if you drop metal on a bug or drown a bug

You could also argue that bug should resist Rock because if you pick up any given rock on the planet you're probably going to find bugs living underneath it.

 

[Djaco75]

You could also argue that bug should resist Rock because if you pick up any given rock on the planet you're probably going to find bugs living underneath it.

I guess you could say that, and it is a fair point, but I think that the reason why it's super-effective is because the bugs would get crushed if the rock was moved. To put into more relevant terms, we can live under the roof of a house, but if the house moved, we would be crushed.

 

[Marin]

You could also argue that bug should resist Rock because if you pick up any given rock on the planet you're probably going to find bugs living underneath it.

Does that make them strong against that rock though?