Electabuzz

Electabuzz
Pokémon character
Electabuzz artwork by Ken Sugimori
First game	Pokémon Red and Blue (1996)
Designed by	Ken Sugimori (finalized)
Voiced by	Unshō Ishizuka Kōichi Sakaguchi Kenta Miyake
In-universe information
Species	Pokémon
Type	Electric

Electabuzz (/əˈlɛktəbʌz/), known in Japan as Elebu (エレブー, Erebū), is a Pokémon species in Nintendo and Game Freak's Pokémon franchise. First introduced in Pokémon Red and Blue, it has appeared in multiple games including Pokémon Go and the Pokémon Trading Card Game, as well as various merchandise. In media related to the franchise, Electabuzz has been voiced by various voice actors, including Unshō Ishizuka, Kōichi Sakaguchi, and Kenta Miyake.

Classified as an Electric-type Pokémon, Electabuzz is a large yellow creature with a long tail and a striped pattern across its body, which generates a massive amount of electricity. Originally part of a trio of similar Pokémon during development, one was cut from the final game leaving its counterpart to be the Fire-type Pokémon Magmar. Though it does not evolve in the original games, it was later given a pre-evolution in sequel titles Pokémon Gold and Silver in the form of Elekid, and in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl can evolve into the Pokémon Electivire.

Electabuzz has received a mostly positive reception since its debut, being highlighted for its design and various unique design aspects, such as its rivalry with the Pokémon Magmar and its voice in the Pokémon anime series.

Conception and design

Electabuzz is a species of fictional creatures called Pokémon created for the Pokémon media franchise. Developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo, the Japanese franchise began in 1996 with the video games Pokémon Red and Green for the Game Boy, which were later released in North America as Pokémon Red and Blue in 1998. In these games and their sequels, the player assumes the role of a Trainer whose goal is to capture and use the creatures' special abilities to combat other Pokémon. Some Pokémon can transform into stronger species through a process called evolution via various means, such as exposure to specific items. Each Pokémon have one or two elemental types, which define its advantages and disadvantages when battling other Pokémon. A major goal in each game is to complete the Pokédex, a comprehensive Pokémon encyclopedia, by capturing, evolving, and trading with other Trainers to obtain individuals from all Pokémon species.

When making the games, the design first started as pixel art sprites by the development team, created with a single color identity chosen to work within the Super Game Boy hardware limitations. While conceived as a group effort by multiple developers at Game Freak, once development was complete Sugimori re-drew the species along with the others in his own artstyle in order to give the game a unified look and finalize any design elements, while also trying to maintain the original sprite artist's unique style. Standing 3 ft 7 in (109 cm) tall, Electabuzz is classified as an Electric-type Pokémon. It is a bipedal creature covered in yellow fur with black stripes throughout it, a round stomach, and a striped tail. Electabuzz's head and mouth are wide with two fangs protruding from the upper lip, and a black "V" shaped patch of fur between its eyes. Two tuffs of hair extend upward from the center of it head, with antenna-like protrusions on either side. Its forearms are englarged and end in four fingered hands, while its feet have two clawed toes each with a talon in the rear. In-Universe, Electabuzz's body generates a massive amount of electricity which it uses to communicate with others of its kind, and will become enraged upon seeing the color red.

Called Elebu in Japan, during development it was part of a trio of thematically similar Pokémon that consists of the Fire-Type Magmar, called Booba in Japan, and another Pokémon called Buu. However, Buu was cut from the final release, leaving just itself and Magmar. When the games were localized for English-speaking audiences, Nintendo of America gave the various Pokémon species descriptive names related to their appearance or features as a means to make them more relatable to American children. Its name was localized to Electabuzz, a combination of "Electric" and "Buzz". Though it is not part of an evolutionary line in the original games, the sequels Pokémon Gold and Silver introduced Elekid, a Pokémon that evolves into Electabuzz. Years later, the games Pokémon Diamond and Pearl introduced Electivire, a Pokémon Electabuzz will evolved into if traded while equipped with a "Electirizer" in-game item. Later games in the series simplified the latter, removing the trade requirement and allowing Electabuzz to evolve by using the Eletirizer item on it.

Appearances

Electabuzz first appeared in the games Pokémon Red and Blue. It has since gone on to appear in several other games in the series, such as Pokémon X and Y, Pokémon Sun and Moon, Pokémon Sword and Shield, and Pokémon Legends: Arceus. Electabuzz has additionally appeared in other Pokémon media, such as Pokémon Go, the Pokémon Trading Card Game, and the Pokémon anime.

Critical reception

Since its debut, Electabuzz has received mostly positive reception. Due to many shared aspects, such as receiving new elements of their evolutionary line in the same games, while at the same time only being available for capture in separate titles within each pair of releases for the franchise, media outlets have come to regard Electabuzz and Magmar as rivals. Meanwhile, shared gameplay buffs the pair have received in later Pokémon titles have received praise for helping them stay viable for competitive usage, and furthermore called a positive trend some wish to see continued in the series.

IGN in their "Pokémon of the Day" series of articles stated that while they had overlooked the species in Red and Blue, in Gold and Silver Electabuzz had quickly become a favorite of theirs and appreciated its "unique charms" and variety it brought to the game's Electric-type Pokémon. In another article for the site, editor Jack DeVries described the species as resembling "an electrified Sasquatch", and though he called it a "love it or hate it" sort of character observed it was not without fans. Kyle Hilliard described it as an "electric cat with antennae and clawed feet", and praised it as a "novel concept". Jerrad Wyche of TheGamer on the other hand denounced it as one of the franchise's ugliest designs, stating that part of the issue was due to how "uncanny its human-like anatomy is". Echoing DeVries' comparison to a Sasquatch, he felt that this was contrary to how many Pokémon could more readily be compared to real-world counterparts to help viewers comprehend them.

Other aspects of discussion revolved around Electivire and Electabuzz's design in light of it. Nathan Ellingsworth of Pocket Tactics called Electabuzz one of the best Pokémon designs introduced in the series, stating while he appreciated the introduction of Elekid later on, he felt Electivire was unnecessary as to him "Electabuzz was all good" being the final part of its evolutionary line and able to stand on its own strengths. On the other hand Robert Grosso of TechRaptor disagreed, stating that "Electabuzz was always a goofy-looking Pokémon" with a "somewhat silly design", and he felt by comparison Electivire "exudes confidence and presence when you first look at it." Oliver Brandt of Parade added that while Electabuzz was "fine", it always felt lacking to them and had the "vibe of a Pokémon that was meant to have an evolution but just never did". He further described Electivire as one of the "most ridiculously cool Pokémon ever to exist", calling its design perfect and that it did "the awkward teenage Electabuzz" justice.

In the anime, Electabuzz's animal cry is different from many other Pokémon in the series: instead of parroting its name, it will make a sound akin to "that which is made when rocking the head side to side while loosely "buzzing" the lips". Edd Rose of Comic Book Resources felt this was a clever way to avoid having the cry sound human, and while jarring was a memorable aspect of the adaptation. Laura Thornton in another article instead observed that the sound seemed to be a pronunciation of the species' Japanese name instead, and suggested it may be an attempt to mimic the sound of one being electrocuted. Alternatively, she suggested the character's design may be a reference to oni, a type of Japanese yokai that wear tiger skin apparel and sometimes control lightning, and in this context the cry could be intended to "inspire fear in their adversaries by invoking that resemblance". Though she noted that much later in the series the cry was changed to match other Pokémon, she felt this "removed one small touch of humor from the show in favor of a bit more gravitas", and that the initial sound team's effort's left a lasting impression of the character on viewers and presented "a unique cry that can never be imitated or forgotten".

TheGamer's Editor in Chief Stacey Henley called its perceived rivalry with Magmar one of the franchise's few long running arcs, and one of its best stories. While she pointed out they were not the only rivalry in Pokémon and how each of those others had their own stories, she felt they were inferior to "the OG head to head". Henley expressed what made it a good rivalry in her eyes was that Electabuzz and Magmar felt evenly matched, and while she personally preferred many aspects of the former, she felt the latter had more impact in the anime series overall. She expressed hope Pokemon as a series could lean into it more, though at the same time wanted it to remain in the background and more spontaneous, drawing comparison to Family Guy's Peter Griffin and his recurring feud with the Giant Chicken character, and in how the "the joy is in the unknown, in the ways it could be constantly coming to a boil, in where it might go next".

In an article for Game Developer, Caleb Compton cited Electabuzz in a comparison between the designs of Red and Blue and its sequel titles, specifically comparing it to another Electric-type Pokémon introduced in the latter named Ampharos. He observed that while both were primarily yellow with black stripes, the placement of the stripes on Ampharos felt more like a deliberate design choice, while with Electabuzz while there was design consideration the stripes seemed more a part of its fur, and an example of how Gold and Silver's Pokémon designs had shifted away from a more natural feel.

External links

• Electabuzz on Pokemon.com
• Electabuzz at Bulbapedia, a Pokémon wiki