Poll: Should Eevee have been the mascot of Pokemon?

[RedDeadFred]

No. Not for the reasons you'd think though. I just think Eevee looks too much like a normal animal for it to be the mascot of a series that prides itself on interesting and unique (although I think they're running out of ideas) creatures.

There's probably a better option than Pikachu though.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Don't get me wrong I'm sick of Pikachu, but Eevee just never caught my fancy. He doesn't look particularly unique. Actually he doesn't look much different from a regular dog. An electric yellow rat on the other hand...

 

[Asita]

I would say no. Even though it's true Eevee does have the benefit of turning into many different forms to suit people, Eevee alone is kinda boring. Cute, and adorable yes, but everyone immediately wants to change it into something else the moment they get it. I don't think that's a good mark of a mascot.

Don't forget that it doesn't really stand out on its own. Pikachu's a yellow mouse with bunny ears, a lightning tail, clown cheeks and the ability to pump 1.21 gigawatts of electricity into its foes. Eevee's a fluffy brown fox/puppy whose moveset includes such novel abilities as growl, tackle, bite, take-down, and baby-doll-eyes. Really, it's pretty bland if you don't take its evolutions into account and doesn't really evoke the more fantastical nature of the Pokémon world, at least not without the eeveelutions standing alongside it. Not exactly good mascot material for the series.

 

[Ieyke]

Eevee is...okay. Kinda boring. Really generically cute.
Any random kitten is cuter as are dozens of other Pokemon. And basically ANY Pokemon is more interesting.
Even its evolutions aren't interesting. They're just basically Eevees in elemental cosplay. Not very imaginative.

The only really interesting thing about the Eevee family is the way they evolve (not what they evolve from or into), and that's not remotely mascot material.

So no. Pikachu is a waaay better mascot than Eevee.

Pikachu has an incredibly iconic design.
Eevee just...doesn't. Eevee's a very generic fox/dog/cat/rabbit mammal thing.

 

[EeveeElectro]

I think they chose Pikachu as a gender neutral choice and a more eye catching option.

?
How is Pikachu more 'gender-neutral' than Eevee?
All I can think of is that you mean that Eevee is one of those Pokemon that have more males than females, but in the first gen you couldn't even tell if they were male or female.

In any case, Pikachu is more recognizable.
Eevee might represent what Pokemon are about more, but just seeing it doesn't communicate that idea at all.

I meant Eevee is much cuter than Pikachu and looks like more little girls than boys would be initially interested in Pokemon if it was the mascot.
Pikachu is cute but looks more "cute but also cool looking with the tail and colour scheme" sort of thing whereas Eevee is just adorable and fluffy. To me, I don't think either gender minds a bit of Pikachu but young boys might be hesitant to have a duvet cover plastered in Eevee's.

That might not make sense, I'm trying to watch Bugs Life.

 

[Silvanus]

I agree. I loved pokemon, collected the cards, watched the anime, played (a couple of) the games, and never liked Pikachu very much.

Koffing would have made a pretty great mascot, though.

 

[SD-Fiend]

I'd say it's a good thing it wasn't Eevee. If it was then we would have endless arguments about what Ash should evolve it into.

 

[Dragonbums]

I'm going to say no for the simple fact that Eevee is just not something that really makes the franchise stands out. Yes it's adorable. But lets' be real here. This is basically your baseline brown fox monster. In fact the average person who sees this without knowing what Pokemon is would probably say it's just a regular old fox. They wouldn't think for a second that it may be attributed to a game about fighting monsters. Pikachu however has a color that stands out. It appeals to both sexes very well. Boys can see it as cool, and girls can see it as cute without having to alter anything in it's appearance.

 

[ace_of_something]

I only just started playing pokemon with my sons. I don't get the love of Pikachu. It seems like they just arbitrarily picked one and went with it.
I wanted to say my sons have eevee t-shirts from teefury, one of which you posted. Mostly cuz they like fielding teams of just eeevee's various forms.

 

[Charli]

Should he be? Probably.

Would he have been? Probably not, the other contender for Ash's starter pokemon was Clefairy, I'm told.

Eevee I don't think was even under consideration. He's cute, but then so are alot of pokemon.

And pikachu just kind of fit the bill. Bright, very unisex looking, with the potential to have a bit of attitude injected into the formula. Eevee is just...cute.

Plus...Ash would have been forced to keep Eevee unevolved for brand recognition purposes and that would piss off everyone, and if he did evolve it you'd have a million kids arguing which evolution was superior.

Pikachu remains unevolved for these very reasons. And while eevee is kind of weak and unimpressive as just an eevee, pikachu's can potentially hold their own in a low-mid level battle and pack a bit of punch without becoming a Raichu.

He's really the perfect mascot to keep around sadly.

I never really took to pikachu personally, I evolved that sucker as soon as possible for a raichu.

 

[sextus the crazy]

I agree. I loved pokemon, collected the cards, watched the anime, played (a couple of) the games, and never liked Pikachu very much.

Koffing would have made a pretty great mascot, though.

Smogon got it right when they adapted him as their mascot. Love me some Koffing. Maybe it's just cuz I got a couple of 15 year old koffing plushes in my room.

 

[immortalfrieza]

Indeed; the only time I've seen Eevee take a prominent role in the franchise was with Pokemon Conquest (seriously, Koei and Nintendo need to make a sequel to that already) in which it was the first Pokemon for the player character.

That, and both of the Pokemon Colosseum games.

OT: I think that, in the end, Eevee would have made a much better mascot all things considered, even if it didn't evolve in the end in the Anime. It's sheer versatility would definitely have made it a more sensible option gameplaywise as a starter Pokemon than what we end up getting every generation, and it definitely would have had more potential storywise than Pikachu does.

 

[FPLOON]

But...

IT JUST WOULDN'T BE THE SAME!

This.

Also, I can't imagine playing as Eevee in Smash Bros. the same way I can with Pikachu... I just can't, okay?!

 

[scorptatious]

I don't know, Eevee isn't quite as eye catching as Pikachu. I mean you have a small chubby yellow mouse with red cheeks, long ears, brown stripes, and a lightening bolt tail. He has a very flashy (no pun intended) and marketable appearance.

Eevee is pretty cool though in his own way.

 

[Cruickshank]

snip

However, I do feel that Pikachu has an edge in mascot-ness just for not having an evolution with seven(?) paths. It becomes a lot easier to stick with a Pikachu by refusing to use a Thunderstone than sticking with a vanilla Eevee when Eevee's evolutions offer a ton of flexibility if you've started to build a roster and need to fill gaps (or want to center around a type that isn't Electric.) Since the whole "refusing the Thunderstone" bit is a large cornerstone of Pikachu's personality and character, as well as his relationship with Ash, I don't know that an Ash/Eevee pairing would have provided the engagement that the Ash/Pikachu dynamic has.

either they could use an everstone and never have Ash' eevee evolve, or they could make his eevee have the same ability as the one in the pokemon adventures manga, where it could evolve and devolve at will between any of the eeveelutions (although they did make it permanently evolve into an espeon later i know).

they chose pikachu over clefairy as pikachu would appeal to both genders, whereas clefairy was too pink and wouldnt appeal to male viewers. eevee has more actual potential than a pikachu (combat wise), and would work quite well, but the evolution ability from the manga would be very hard to work in since it was the result of experiments by the bad guys and didnt show up til later, and a regular eevee is rather bland to look at compared to pikachu.

while writing this all up, i had an idea for how they could work eevee in better than pikachu and actually explain why team rocket would chase them for so long for a single pokemon; the experimental eevee could be given to oak after being confiscated during a raid on a team rocket lab, oak knowing the personality that ash has, could give him the mutated eevee to care for and raise. jessie, james and meowth being the ones that lost the eevee they were ordered to find the eevee and not return until they had done so.

in my opinion, shiny eevee looks quite cool, as does most of the eeveelutions, so a shiny eevee with the ability from the manga could be both visually appealing and competent in battle, and it could a provide a better explanation for much of the plot with team rocket than just a regular pikachu.

 

[Zarkov]

I dunno, I think an electric mouse is easier to market than a... well, what animal is Eevee supposed to be anyway? Is it a cat? A bunny? Err... and Eevee may be objectively better than Pikachu in every way, but Eevee's design is kinda boring. It's brown, with some tan-ish fur. It's also a normal type pokemon, which doesn't at all help its case. Pikachu is yellow, with an electric bolt tail, red electric dimples, easily recognizable as a mouse, and, for the most part, electrocutes the shit out of everything it sees. Of course, this argument falls apart once you consider the evolutions, but it would still be hard to market 8 different evolutions of one pokemon, than just a more interesting pokemon in the first place.