Pokémon HeartGold & SoulSilver are widely considered to be one of the greatest entries in the long-running franchise, but did you know that the games' male protagonist was actually altered to look more like a ninja for the DS remakes?
That's according to a magazine translation discovered as part of DidYouKnowGaming's comprehensive dive into HeartGold and SoulSilver, with Art Director Takao Unno stating that, yes, he actually is a ninja. Who knew..? When asked about the design of the male protagonist - commonly known as 'Ethan' - Unno stated "We wanted to make him more Japanese - or rather, make him look more like a ninja."
When asked directly if Ethan really is a ninja, Unno said "He sure is, he has the tapered pants and the tight clothes". Now, he could well be joking, but he also might not be. Hmm...
So there you have it. HeartGold and SoulSilver's male protagonist is apparently a ninja. The video also goes on to say that the exclusion of the original female protagonist from Gold and Silver in the remakes was largely accidental since Unno had started designing a new character without consulting Ken Sugimori's original artwork. Thus, the new character 'Lyra' was introduced in place of 'Kris'.
What do you make of this ground-breaking, mind-blowing revelation? Okay, it's neither of those things, but it's a fun little detail. Let us know your thoughts with a comment below.
[source youtube.com]
Comments 16
It's interesting to me that Lyra was designed wholly separately from Kris because I always kind of thought it feels like Kris was a starting point for the design. They obviously look radically different but color aside their hair is fairly similar and both have red undershirts, plus Lyra's socks and shoes together resemble Kris's shoes.
I much prefer his old design. In my opinion the new one looks a bit lifeless.
Makes sense, when I think of Ninjas I always think of Ethan. Some games come to mind:
Mark of the Ethan
I-Ethan
Ethan: Shadows Die Twice
Tenchu: Stealth Ethans
and of course all games with those green things, Teenage Mutant Ninja Ethans.
I do love the original protagonist. That cocky look and overall 'chunkier' design. Ethan is fine but look a bit souless.
I will say Heartgold/Soulsilver remain the best remakes by a long shot. It really felt like they put everything they could into it rather than meet bare minimum expectations.
I always liked the old art style more honestly. It felt more unique, more Pokémon. As such I'm not the biggest fan of his redesign either.
Give me non-ninja Ethan!
... well, at least he was still in. They completely sidelined Kris in favor of Lyra aka female cameltoe'd Mario. Ew.
He's still Gold to me. Also best protagonist (especially if you read the Adventures manga)!
of course.
@Turnips Strong agree. The old Sugimori watercolor roughness art still stands out today. Gold/Ethan in the Hg/Ss design is too clean and slim as a lot of art began to take up after now, bleh.
I loved the video, who would have thought that the old art style was influenced by Akira Toriyama and Dragon Ball. That makes it even more special to my 90s kid heart 🤣
So they renamed the canonical character to Ethan instead of Gold eh? But did they change Silver, given he's actually kind of an important character outside of the games as well, being Giovanni's kid? I missed out of HG/SS (Skipped from Diamond so long ago to Sun when it came out,, due to money), so I'm unsure.
@HellbladesFFXI Well, I believe even Crystal renamed him to Chris. I guess as a sort of wordplay to have Chris be the name of the male and Kris the name of female, because Crystal (the first version with a gender option).
(Yes, I know that's not completely gender-specific, since there are plenty of female "Chris" and I have met at least one male "Kris" in my life. But I could see the intent.)
@Axecon Except when I almost typoed his name as God once in a run.
Old one was better. Had that cocky attitude most Pokémon protags didn’t have in the game. It fit thematically too since Silver contrasts from most rivals too.
As much as I love the old art style (thanks Sugimori-sensei!), the new one is far from "soulless", it's just different and I also like it in its own way.
@Axecon Glad whenever someone remembers and references the Pokémon Adventures/Special manga and yes, that version of Gold is indeed the best characterwise!
Interesting that they seemed to feel Gold’s original artwork didn’t feel Japanese enough.
@Lizuka It's weird, cuz in Pokemon Adventures they're the same person, but in the anime & Pokemon Masters EX they're different people...
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