r/TopCharacterTropes • u/mp3help • 18d ago

miscellaneous [Interesting Trope] Attempts at fanservice/virality that failed not because they were hated, but because nobody noticed them or cared at all.

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1) Hoopy the Hoop, Portal (2007) When you defeat GLaDOS and her room is destroyed at the end of the game, debris rains down in the final cutscene, including a big metal hoop that bounces around a bit. Developer Erik Wolpaw said the team dubbed it "Hoopy the Hoop" and expected it to become the big meme of Portal. Of course, none of the fans paid much attention to the hoop since "The Cake is a Lie" became the biggest meme of the game, and overall one of the biggest video game memes of all time.

2) Burgh, Pokemon Black and White (2010) When designing Burgh, developer Yusuke Ohmura said Gamefreak had many of their female employees give input on his design to create their ideal handsome man. However, as someone who's been in the Pokemon fandom for almost 3 decades, in the 15+ years since Pokemon Black and White released, I have personally never seen any fans swoon over Burgh, or even mention him in general. If anything, characters like N and Colress are far more well-known within the fandom as the most handsome and beloved male characters of Pokemon Gen 5.

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687

u/Few-Advantage2538 18d ago

Also from Pokémon, zeraora, known by some as zero aura

159

u/Spaghestis 18d ago

People would've liked it more if they at least made it the first Electric/Fighting type (signature move is literally called Plasma Fists) but nope, just pure boring Electric

55

u/Conocoryphe 18d ago

It also really didn't help that it was a mythical. Players couldn't use it on their team in a playthrough.

And even as a mythical, it was just kinda there. There was no memorable event or sidestory to explain who he was and what his deal was.

18

u/ElementalNinjas96 18d ago edited 18d ago

That's unfortunately been the case for a lot of Mythicals from Gens 6 to 8. At least Pecharunt broke the cycle in Gen 9 and that extended a little to Zeraora in Z-A, where it was fleshed out a bit more

182

u/Cyberbug7 18d ago

They really thought they cooked with him. Pushed him in everything for a bit

22

u/Sonic_Roach 18d ago

Yea I really liked his design

39

u/Conocoryphe 18d ago

There's nothing wrong with his design. It's the same general design philosophy as Lucario and Zoroark, both of which are fan favorites.

But it's a mythical. So unlike Lucario, you can't actually use it on your team in a playthrough. This is the same problem Zoroark suffered from, until it was available in-game in Black and White 2.

16

u/saltydoesreddit 18d ago

Zorua basically being locked behind an event was my first experience with frustration that wasn't a skill issue as a kid.

"So the only way I can personally get one is that I have to cheat?" was roughly my thought process back then.

8

u/Jaszs 18d ago

Events were kinda nice and a great way of getting hyped with friends tbf... unless you were living in a town w/5000 people and you'd need to drive a few hours to your nearby city

8

u/saltydoesreddit 18d ago

Or me, who was a shy kid and didn't personally know anyone who played Pokemon, and even then was too scared to ask.

2

u/Jaszs 18d ago

Oh thats sad (seriously who'd downvote that lol). Couldn't you go on your own?

1

u/saltydoesreddit 18d ago

I was too scared to consider asking my peers if they played Pokemon and wanted to trade. I couldn't even fathom potentially bothering either of my parents with "hey, can you take me to the Toys R' Us 15 minutes away just so that I can get a green time-traveling onion Pokemon?"

1

u/Jaszs 18d ago

Oh yeah, I get that feeling... it's a bummer tbf. I almost miss my leafy hedgehog because of that...

Well, tell me, did you at least get that magical now?

3

u/aitathrowaway987654 18d ago

Fuuuuuck man. When B&W came out I knew literally one person in a 3 county radius who even had wifi.

1

u/Jaszs 18d ago

Times have changed a lot haha

5

u/ActivateGuacamole 18d ago

i do think it's a worse design than lucario and zoroark, plus it's also clearly aping them without bringing anything novel.

3

u/aitathrowaway987654 18d ago

It's also jacking some of Luxray's style too tbh.

6

u/Icanfallupstairs 18d ago

I always thought it gave huge digimon vibes

1

u/Lungseron 18d ago

He looks so much like a sequel to Lucario, if i didnt knew better i'd believe you if you told me that this guy is some new side evolution of Riolu lol.

252

u/Heliozen 18d ago

Zeraora could have become popular if it was a regular pokemon instead of a mythical. People won't care for a pokemon they can't have in their team

52

u/Few-Advantage2538 18d ago

Honestly, we can never know what will become or not popular. But I don't like the design much, too furry for me

-3

u/PlagueKing27 18d ago

It looks like a furry that 7 year olds designed

25

u/Druid-T 18d ago

People won't care for a pokemon they can't have in their team

Except other legendaries and mythicals do achieve a level of widespread popularity (Marshadow, who's from the same generation as Zeraora, is a pretty popular mon), Zeraora is just that much of a nothing burger

11

u/ElementalNinjas96 18d ago

Zeraora is more popular than Marshadow though? In the official popularity poll, Marshadow was the 18th most popular Alolan Pokémon while Zeraora came in as the 5th most popular

-5

u/[deleted] 18d ago

[deleted]

10

u/ElementalNinjas96 18d ago

Held in the lead up to Pokémon Day in collaboration with Google

1

u/[deleted] 18d ago

[deleted]

2

u/ElementalNinjas96 18d ago

And what does that have to do with the poll? If the average player isn't participating, who cares? The poll's for fans anyway.

0

u/Cleansing4ThineEyes 18d ago

We're talking about popularity, popularity isn't something exclusive to fans and if anything what fans think is irrelevant because they're outnumbered a ton by casuals.

1

u/ElementalNinjas96 18d ago edited 18d ago

I never said Zeraora was popular among casuals. No one did! Zeraora is/was popular among fans, which is what industry plants are supposed to cater to, and my claim is supported by the poll.

Whether or not Zeraora is popular among casuals is a different, irrelevant question given fans are the only people who care about Mythicals due to their event nature.

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5

u/RileyKohaku 18d ago

People are obsessed with Celebi. It just depends

9

u/TheKingsPride 18d ago

Tons of mythicals are very popular, but most of them are cute. This thing goes for cool and flops

9

u/Conocoryphe 18d ago

Deoxys was pretty popular in gen 3, and its design is definitely more cool than cute.

Though unlike Zeraora, it was a really unique Pokémon at the time with its form change gimmick, its min-maxed stat spreads, and its origin as a mysterious alien (the Deoxys movie and a handful of gen 4 game events also helped).

Zeraora was just yet another humanoid furry Pokémon and doesn't really have anything to set it apart from others. It's just there.

1

u/Elihzap 18d ago

I'd say that people don't care for cool mons that they can't have in their teams. it's a different feeling, cute mons get a pass if they're in movies and plushies and such.

0

u/Azhrei_Vep 18d ago

Are you not allowed to catch the guy? Pokemon has really changed since I played if they're throwing in 'mons you can't even have.

9

u/leonden 17d ago

Mons you can’t catch has been a thing since the first game…

-1

u/Azhrei_Vep 17d ago

Well, technically yes, some came from events or the like. I thought they meant there was a mon in the game you just can’t get at all.

And that definitely wasn’t the case in the originals. You could get more mons than actually existed, thanks to the bugged critters like Missingno.

-5

u/Bcadren 18d ago

Lucario was very post-game. I never used one in Gen 4, myself.

14

u/Andami 18d ago

Post game? You get a Riolu egg halfway through the game.

-2

u/Bcadren 18d ago

It was late enough I'd cemented my team and didn't want to change for anything short of a pseudo...could have swore it was post game or late late, like optional area or something? Been too long. I've used the mega in Go some, bit frail for my tastes for general use, but does its job as a raid dps and unique candy boost type combo.

3

u/Saphl 18d ago

Iron Island, which is around the 6th Gym. Very much not halfway through.

0

u/Bcadren 18d ago edited 18d ago

Not post-game normally (or at least intended), but need empty slot to receive the gift Pokémon, and it's late enough that keeping an empty slot would be odd and have to walk through whole dungeon again to get the egg (if no empty slot first time), so didn't bother until postgame. (I think that's the correct reconciliation of my memory of it being postgame with reality).

116

u/MrCobalt313 18d ago

Cat Lucario

3

u/Reasonable-Youth418 18d ago

Shonen pikachu

104

u/Miquel101 18d ago

gamefreak industry plant

2

u/DuelaDent52 18d ago

What’s with Game Freak’s plants beginning with Z? Though it’s a shame Zorua/Zoroark didn’t take off, I really like them a lot.

4

u/Miquel101 18d ago

Zeraora had everything in the past games and pokemon content

Dlc mega? Zeraora Unique Z move? Zeraora Pokemon unite character? Zeraora Cards and toys? Lots of zeraora

They want to make people REALLY like it when novody actually cares

1

u/ElementalNinjas96 18d ago

Zeraora doesn't have a Z Move. The only special treatment it's actually gotten is a movie, a signature move, and a Mega.

That's it. I've finished the list.

1

u/Miquel101 18d ago

Iirc zeroaura also got a lot of pkmn cards for him

Mb about the z move, i forgot about that

And you forgot abt the pokemon unite thing, it was important when people cared about the game

2

u/ElementalNinjas96 18d ago

Pokémon get featured on spin-offs all the time. Should we start saying Urshifu is an industry plant now due to being featured in Unite too and getting two Gigantamax forms?

1

u/ReasonableAdvert 18d ago

when novody actually cares

That just isn't true, though?

35

u/bottomsupfellas 18d ago

Furry industry plant

7

u/ElementalNinjas96 18d ago

The more things change, the more they stay the same

Lucario from Gen 4, Zoroark from Gen 5, now Zeraora from Gen 7

23

u/CorgiConqueror 18d ago

Oh jeez. I actually like Zeraora I didn’t know he was unpopular…

25

u/Few-Advantage2538 18d ago

Every pokemon is someone's favourite and I think its literal. I once spoke with a person who had Spinarak as their fave

12

u/CorgiConqueror 18d ago

They’re kinda real for that

3

u/Trunksshe 18d ago

In their defense, I thought Ariados was dope for the longest time as a kid. So maybe they liked the cuter version and they commit to their favs.

6

u/Even_Statistician385 18d ago

good news about ariados they won competitive pokemon regional

3

u/Sea-Writer-6961 18d ago

Tbh there's much worse pokemon than spinarak

2

u/Waddlewop 18d ago

Yeah, I’ve never seen a single person say Blipbug is their favorite. Any Blipbug fan care to chime in?

1

u/Saeizo 15d ago

blipbug is just a funny little guy tbh, theres def fans out there

0

u/Waddlewop 15d ago

Sure there are, every Pokémon is liked to some extent, but to say that Blipbug is their favorite? I’ve still yet to see one

7

u/ElementalNinjas96 18d ago

It's not, you just see more negativity than positivity. In an official popularity poll, it was the 5th most popular Alolan Pokemon

1

u/JadeTheCatYT 18d ago

SAME, that's been my whole experience with this thread, LMAO.

24

u/GargoyleJupiter 18d ago

Even gave them a mega that nobody gives a shit about

8

u/Ok_Shine_6533 18d ago

I literally forgot about that.

6

u/Few-Advantage2538 18d ago

Wouldn't be surprised if it's completely overshadowed by Raichu honestly

34

u/Devlord1o1 18d ago

i thought this was from palworld, i never would have guessed it was a pokemon

Also alot of the pseudo pikachus throughout the games also count i think

15

u/Bcadren 18d ago

The pika clones do their jobs. Not every Pokémon is designed to be a popularity powerhouse. Oddly enough Mimikyu (the ghost in a tattered pikachu costume) is the only one to be monstrously popular, but...much like there are regional rodents and regional birds, the pikachu clone is more world-building and/or drawing attention to a specific mechanic (Plusle and Minun designed as double battle supports) than designed to be as popular as the mascot.

3

u/JadeTheCatYT 18d ago

Plusle and Minun are EASILY both the GOAT in the Pikachu-clone field in my eyes.

12

u/Wardock8 18d ago

Hop off Zeraora, it's not his fault Pokémon somehow does too much and not enough with him at the same time.

7

u/Particular-Long-3849 18d ago

Bro is not him

8

u/ElementalNinjas96 18d ago

I really don't get the Industry Plant allegations. The thing got a movie, a signature move, a Mega, and that's it. What makes it an industry plant? If anything, Lucario is a bigger industry plant; got a movie a generation before its debut, it got a Mega that you got for free in XY, was Ash's Journeys ace that took down the ace of Cynthia and his only Mega, a Shiny one was part of an event that got unique artwork, got a second Mega that was the ace of a DLC-exclusive character, and in Horizons a Shiny one was given to Roy off-screen and has both Megas avalible to it.

Heck, even Magearna and Diancie are arguably more industry plants than Zeraora—they got movies, signature moves, and Megas too but have more special treatment: Diancie was the only Mega Mythical for a decade and Magearna has both a signature Ability and a non-Shiny alternate color form.

1

u/[deleted] 18d ago edited 17d ago

[deleted]

1

u/ElementalNinjas96 18d ago

Z-A comes pretty close, though it’s undercut by only being avalible at the literal end of the game and even its DLC

3

u/Stretch5678 18d ago

Honestly, I like a lot about Zeraora. I just wish they’d done SOMETHING to make him memorable.

6

u/ElementalNinjas96 18d ago

I like what they did in Z-A, establishing that it really, really, really likes to fight. I like it mainly cuz it spawned a joke between me and some friends that Zeraora is basically Goku if he was a Pokémon

2

u/Even_Statistician385 18d ago

the biggest issue with pokemon like this is, their event pokemon so you can't get them if you miss the event and its not like most mythical pokemon show up after their movie.

That said this one is not unpopular. Zarude is a better choice for this.

1

u/ElementalNinjas96 18d ago

Thankfully in recent years, we've been getting ways to obtain Mythicals outside of events. Zeraora got this treatment in Z-A, alongside Diancie, Volcanion, Hoopa, Genesect, Marshadow, Meltan, Melmetal, Magearna, Meloetta, and Darkrai. SV also let us get Meloetta and Pecharunt without events, PLA let us get Shaymin, Manaphy, Phione, and Arceus, BDSP gave us Mew and Jirachu, and SwSh let us get Keldeo

2

u/SoriAryl 17d ago

I like the spark kitty because he’s a spark kitty. Couldn’t give two fucks about anything else to do with him

6

u/DannyBright 18d ago

Zoroark was the original example of trying to recapture Lucario’s popularity and failing.

20

u/Few-Advantage2538 18d ago

Zoroark had a little bit of success at least though

3

u/ElementalNinjas96 18d ago

So did Zeraora, ranking #5 in the official Alola Pokémon of the year poll

1

u/absentminded_gamer 18d ago

I've always found lucario and blaziken's hair irredeemably ugly. same with blaziken's bell bottoms, but i digress. I was so mad when they replaced mewtwo with lucario in super smash bros brawl

1

u/FVSYS 18d ago

Zoroark at least had some effort put behind. It had its own movie, was a gift Pokemon in BW2 and if anything else, it’s N’s ace Pokemon

While it isn’t Lucario’s second coming, it’s popular alright, also considering how divisive 5th gen games were back then, and how unpopular the anime was

Zeraora just kind of spawned out of nothing, was the least interesting part about its movie and GF expected it to be popular beyond the furry community

2

u/ElementalNinjas96 18d ago

And they were right. In the official popularity poll for all Alolan Pokémon, Zeraora came in as the 5th most popular.

1

u/Logan136 18d ago

Im gonna be honest I thought it was a Digimon for a while

1

u/SuperTaster3 18d ago

My problem is the backtail. Like... just let his tail be where tails normally go. It's weird.

1

u/ravenpotter3 17d ago

It’s such a cool design too

1

u/RedWalrus94 17d ago

It kind of bummed me out when we got more New Pokemon Snap content in an update and this guy was in it. I don't hate him, but I really wish we got someone with more substance.

1

u/Cocoatrice 17d ago

One of the best pokemon designs, what do you mean? The "some" people are tasteless.

1

u/MothTwinkThing 16d ago

I mean…Zeraora IS popular…just not in the intended way or with the intended crowd.

0

u/[deleted] 18d ago

[deleted]

2

u/ElementalNinjas96 18d ago

I dunno, Shaymin is just a hedgehog. At least Zeraora's origin is interesting, being born when lightning struck an erupting volcano

1

u/Purple-Weakness1414 18d ago

Ok fair enough.

2

u/ActivateGuacamole 18d ago

Zarude is a great design but just doesn't feel mythical at all.

Also why is his signature move JUNGLE HEALING? that guy should know jungle mauling

0

u/FM1091 18d ago

Look like Lucario ate his aura to evolve into its new Mega.

https://giphy.com/gifs/8nDGfijH8G1y8OfZ3P

2

u/ElementalNinjas96 18d ago

I swear, this thing is 10x the industry plant people insist Zeraora to be

2

u/FM1091 18d ago

Yeah, this batch of Megas got a bit overblown with let's keep giving our iconic mons more forms. Meanwhile, Flygon cries in the corner.

2

u/ElementalNinjas96 18d ago

If only Ken Sugimori didn't experience Artist's Block, Mega Flygon would be real. But now it may never be due to how many fan designs there are and GF don't wanna make designs too similar to fan's

0

u/Foostini 18d ago

I don't know what they had with him, i can only assume they were like "well people want to do horrible things with Lucario and Pikachu is our mascot so what if we did both"

0

u/Aerodrache 17d ago

That’s a pretty neat digimon, it probably would have done okay if it hadn’t shipped to the wrong franchise by mistake.