Summary
A prolificPokemonfan artist has shared their reimagining of the Caterpie evolutionary line. The reinvented Caterpie evolutionary tree bears a resemblance to its officialPokemonseries counterpart, but has added numerous elements that revitalize the design and add features from real-world inspirations, too.
Caterpie has the honor of being one of the first Pokemon that players encounter inPokemon Red and Blue. Players likely run into Caterpie, Metapod, or Butterfree during their time exploring the Viridian Forest, which is packed with Bug-type Pokemon and trainer enthusiasts. Caterpie and its evolutions also played a pretty big role in the early days of thePokemonanime, including a legendaryheartbreaking story about Ash’s Butterfreefurther cementing the bug-type in the minds of fans.
Now, Reddit user andPokemonfan necrovvi has shared their idea of what a reimagined Caterpie family tree could look like. The artist has shared illustrations of Caterpie, Metapod, and Butterfree in both their standard and shiny variants.Caterpie still bears a strong resemblanceto the original version, but its eyes have become cuter with more exposed whites of the eye, and it’s become a little rounder and shorter-looking. Metapod also looks similar to its original counterpart, but now has a droopy pose, as though the Pokemon is sleeping inside its hard shell. The fan has also revealed that Metapod’s “eyes” are just fakes, intended to keep predators away.
Butterfree Takes Inspiration From The Real-Life Caterpie
Finally, Butterfree has seen the biggest changes of the evolutionary line. Though it maintains the basic color scheme of Butterfree on its body, its wings and overall shape have changed dramatically. Butterfree now has shorter but wider wings, more colorful patterns, and a bit of a fuzzy mane around its neck. While several fans thought that it might have been based on the classickaiju Mothra, the artist explained that they looked to real-life Swallowtail butterflies, as Caterpie’s original design seems to be heavily inspired by Swallowtail caterpillars.
This creation was well-received, and necrovvi doesn’t seem to be slowing down. The artist noted that they’re working on theWeedlefamily tree next, and asked for recommendations from fans. A number of requests have been made, but the artist accepted the challenge of trying to redesign Raichu to “top perfection,” as the requester put it. It will be interesting to see what necrovvi’s next redesigns look like and if they draw from real-life inspirations like this one.
Pokemon
Pokemon is a franchise that needs no introduction. One of the most successful media empires in history, Pokemon spans games, television, films, manga, merchandise, music, and more.
