What do you think makes a good mascot character?

What do you think makes a good mascot character?

Porn

Something that's cute, but also isn't overly annoying or feels forced into the plot for the sake of having a cute mascot character for marketing purposes.

Nothing. All maskots are shit and I can't comprehend why every fucking show has one.

something that looks good and doesn't have way too many intricate details. doesn't apply to card games

fpbp

Something that can easily appeal to everyone. And since everyone loves circles and bright colors, that’s why most mascots have them

This guy gets it

Finally an answer that isn't awful

Pikachu is the ultimate mascot because he's got so many pieces that are individually recognizable despite his relatively simple design. His ears, tail, cheeks, silhouette, face, and stripes can all be slapped on anything yellow and it would be recognizable as Pikachu-related (although the stripes have to put in a bit more work). He's a bright, gender-neutral color. When you look at him, you can tell he's meant to be a small animal of some sort, but doesn't resemble a real world mouse enough that you can tell what animal he's based on by looking at him. You can, however, get a good idea what his powers and abilities are from his design.

He's just a really, really well thought-out mascot.

Not triggering epileptic children would be a good start.

>tfw clefairy was supposed to be the original mascot for Pokemon but got usurped by the rat

If Clefairy were the mascot, Western merchandise would have probably colored it bright fuscia like they often did with Jigglypuff to make it less girly-looking.

Watch Madoka and learn.

>was supposed to be
No, Clefairy was simply considered, much like many other gen 1 monsters. There wasn't anything really special about Pikachu being chosen, either. Pikachu was already considered somewhat popular because of its status as something you can find early in the video games but is also a bit rare, meaning you need to put in some effort into actually getting it (and so players bond with it), so it was among the mascot candidates. It was chosen because it was considered to have more universal appeal than the pink and cute Clefairy. Other possibilities included stuff like Meowth. Both Meowth and Clefairy still had at least some slice of the pie, though. Meowth continues to star in the anime alongside Pikachu and Clefairy is still Red's costar in that one gag manga, AFAIK.

Was poliwhirl considered too? For some reason he was really pushed hard on early merch.

Well, at the very least Poliwhirl happens to be the favourite Pokemon of Satoshi Tajiri, so there's that. It might have been another candidate thanks to that.

Yellow.
It's scientific fact that yellow is the best color for a mascot. Pikachu, Homer/Bart Simpson, and Spongebob just to name a few notable examples.

Mew was the first Pokemon trademarked, desu Mew's cuter and has more appeal I'd say.

>Mew was the first Pokemon trademarked
>Mew is the progenitor Pokemon or whatever

Shit that's deep lore

Until they made Jesus

...

I've always figured it and Mewtwo were from some other game Gamefreak had scrapped, but they liked Mewtwo's design enough to recycle it. Since there was space, Mew was also thrown in at the last minute.

Why is it taking a pink shit?

It's a retractable dick, like a doggie dick
V●ᴥ●V

Mew WAs thrown in at the last minute. They didn't have time to put in their original plan of 190 Pokémon, but they managed to slip Mew in as a secret. Mewtwo was intentional, and probably a Giygas reference to some degree.

Yellow.

good

I'm pretty sure Pikachu was a favorite from the start because the creator made it by using the hamster of a relative who had the same name as inspiration.