Mr. C's ENG4U Jungian Reviews
Would you like to react to this message? Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue.

Jungian Archetypes in Pokemon Blue

2 posters

Go down

Jungian Archetypes in Pokemon Blue Empty Jungian Archetypes in Pokemon Blue

Post  zephyrcg Sun Feb 13, 2011 5:15 pm

Pokemon Blue Jungian Analysis

Plot Summary

In the Gameboy video game Pokemon Blue Version, the hero (whose name is chosen by the player, but will be reffered to as “Blue” from here on) is sent on a mission by Professor Oak to catch every type of Pokemon in Kanto region, in order to complete Oak’s “Pokedex” encyclopedia. Along the way he takes on many other Pokemon trainers, including the leaders of Pokemon gyms, and eventually works his way up to battling the “Elite Four”. Blue also has a childhood friend (who will be reffered to as “Red”) who Oak has also sent on this quest, and constantly competes with the hero over who is completing these tasks with greater efficiency.

Character Archetypes

The Hero

Blue, the protagonist of the game, fits into the Hero archetype. When he is introduced in the game, the player knows little to nothing about his past, although he still appears to be fairly young. Like most heroes, he is sent on a quest at the beginning of the story. In this case is it Professor Oak’s task of filling the Pokedex by capturing every Pokemon. He also achieves victory over both a king and a great wild beast. At the end of the game Blue takes on the Elite Four Champion (who turns out to be Red, his long time rival) and the player must win for the story to continue. The champion could be considered the “King” of Pokemon battling. After this, Blue gains access to the Unknown Dungeon where he battles Mewtwo, the most powerful Pokemon, and either captures or defeats it.

Friendly Beast

The Pokemon in the game fit into the archetype of the Friendly Beast perfectly. They are creatures who seem loyal to humans and whose sole purpose in the game is to assist the hero, either by battling other Pokemon or by helping the hero reach new areas. Not all of the Pokemon is the game are friendly, however. The wild ones will attack the player, but once they are captured they instantly become faithful servants. The Pokemon could also fit into the Loyal Retainer archetype.


Situational Archetypes


The Quest

The main plot of Pokemon Blue is a combination of many of Jung’s situational archetypes, but I think it is best suited to The Quest. Blue is asked by Professor Oak to capture every type of Pokemon, and travels the entire region of Kanto in order to fulfill his request. Although there is no mention of the region in the game being any kind of wasteland, the basic theme of searching for something (or in this case, many things) makes the plot fit into The Quest. Blue’s “Quest” also shares elements with many of the other major situational archetypes, such as The Task and The Journey. The request that Blue takes on could be considered superhuman, as there are over 150 kinds of Pokemon and capturing every single one would be an extremely time-consuming and difficult job. Hence, it is similar to the Task archetype, which describes a superhuman deed. In the Journey archetype, the Hero is sent in search of information or some intellectual truth. This information would be the data on each Pokemon that Blue captures. Whenever a new Pokemon is obtained in the game, a new page is filled out in the “Pokedex” containing facts about that species. Once every Pokemon is captured, the player has a full encyclopedia of information.


Symbolic Archetypes

Good vs. Evil

The most prominent symbolic archetype in the game is Good vs. Evil. Throughout the game, there is a group called Team Rocket who constantly attack the protagonist. They believe that Pokemon should be used as tools for world domination, while Blue treats Pokemon as friends as Oak has taught him. Their differing views create an ongoing conflict with the Hero being the “good” side and Team Rocket being “evil”.

Magic Weapon

The various Pokemon in the game could be considered magical weapons, or more specifically their powers would be the weapons. Throughout the game the player uses the Pokemon’s magical powers to fight off enemies. These powers represent the bond that Blue has with his Pokemon, as Professor Oak always tells him that his love and care for his Pokemon are what makes him such a successful trainer and battler.


By Zephyr Christakos-Gee

zephyrcg

Posts : 1
Join date : 2011-02-08

Back to top Go down

Jungian Archetypes in Pokemon Blue Empty Re: Jungian Archetypes in Pokemon Blue

Post  Mr. C Fri Apr 01, 2011 10:42 am

Good analysis Zephyr. It's interesting that you mention capturing the Pokemon. Is it capturing them with pokeballs (or something similar)? Once all of them are captured and the encyclopaedia is complete, does something happen to the region? A lot of video games have some kind of "golden age" once the game is complete. And does Pokemon Blue have shadow Pokemon?
Mr. C
Mr. C
Admin

Posts : 52
Join date : 2011-01-16
Age : 53
Location : Toronto

https://mrchris.canadian-forum.com

Back to top Go down

Back to top

- Similar topics

 
Permissions in this forum:
You cannot reply to topics in this forum