This is a sub-page of Development:Pokémon Black and White.
|
|
'...But what does it mean?' |
Gym Leader Profiles#
In HaveSomeFun__RandomFromBoxEnt.7z\WB.zip\WB, there are four files containing character profiles for each gym leader that eventually made it to the final game. These pitches contain information such as characters' ages, appearances, and preferences, and personalities, even listing their preferred first-person and second-person pronouns (i.e. how they say "I"/"me" and "you," which is a major indicator of self-expression in the otherwise pro-drop language of Japanese). Each file is a revision of the profiles, with names that suggest their dates. For ease of reading, this page is ordered by the gym order in the final games, using the final English name of each character, with a table containing every revision (column headers contain the file name). Note that the profiles in Japanese do not include any names for neither the leaders or the cities they live in (cities are mentioned by number, like "C1" meaning "the city of the first gym").
Cilan, Chili and Cress#
WBジムリーダー設定080901.xls |
WBジムリーダー設定081002.doc |
WBジムリーダー設定081006.doc |
WBジムリーダー設定081119.doc |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lenora#
WBジムリーダー設定080901.xls |
WBジムリーダー設定081002.doc |
WBジムリーダー設定081006.doc |
WBジムリーダー設定081119.doc |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Burgh#
WBジムリーダー設定080901.xls |
WBジムリーダー設定081002.doc |
WBジムリーダー設定081006.doc |
WBジムリーダー設定081119.doc |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Elesa#
WBジムリーダー設定080901.xls |
WBジムリーダー設定081002.doc |
WBジムリーダー設定081006.doc |
WBジムリーダー設定081119.doc |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Clay#
WBジムリーダー設定080901.xls |
WBジムリーダー設定081002.doc |
WBジムリーダー設定081006.doc |
WBジムリーダー設定081119.doc |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Skyla#
Skyla's pitch went though several prominent overhauls. Among other traits, her specialized type is changed from Dragon to Flying (swapping roles with Iris), her age is raised from 22 to 26 before being knocked down to 18, her occupation is changed from "musician" to "pilot" (reflecting her change in type specialty), "anata" is added as an additional preferred second-person pronoun, and her attire is altered to be much more revealing.
Most significantly, Skyla's ethnicity is changed from "South American" to the comparatively nonspecific "Hispanic." Worth noting in this regard are the two celebrities listed as her inspirations: Isabeli Fontana and Jennifer López, who are mentioned in every iteration of Skyla's pitch. Her initial occupation as a musician closely reflects López, who isn't from South America, but is nonetheless Hispanic (being an American of Puerto Rican descent; incidentally, López was born and raised in New York City, the inspiration for Unova). Fontana, meanwhile, is South American but not Hispanic on account of being Brazilian (Brazil is a Lusophone country, making it one of few non-Hispanic parts of Latin America). Given these contradictions, the "South American" and "Hispanic" labels appear to have been used interchangeably when designing Skyla.
Also of note is Skyla's complexion. While all four iterations describe her as dark-skinned, the first one specifically describes her as "slightly dark-toned," which her final design reflects. Furthermore, her early overworld sprite features much darker skin, while an accompanying in-battle sprite depicts her as light-skinned, indicating that Game Freak tossed around multiple alternatives before returning to the initial "slightly dark-toned" look.
WBジムリーダー設定080901.xls |
WBジムリーダー設定081002.doc |
WBジムリーダー設定081006.doc |
WBジムリーダー設定081119.doc |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Brycen#
WBジムリーダー設定080901.xls |
WBジムリーダー設定081002.doc |
WBジムリーダー設定081006.doc |
WBジムリーダー設定081119.doc |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Iris#
Whereas Skyla went from being a Dragon-type gym leader to a Flying-type one, Iris experienced the opposite. Her nationality is also changed from "indigenous" to "Middle Eastern," her age is gradually reduced from 12 to 10, and her personality is changed from "Pure, innocent and childish" to "Innocent, cheerful and a bit spoiled," reflected in her preferred first-person pronoun changing from "uchi" to the more conventionally "girly" choice "atashi." Interestingly, "uchi" is associated with residents of the Kansai region in Japan, who are often stereotyped as brash loudmouths, indicating that the "childish" part of her initial personality blurb is used here as a byword for "bratty." Her preferred second-person pronouns also change to reflect her altered characterization, going from "anata" to both "kimi" and referring to the person she's talking to with the casual honorific "-chan."
Of note is that various parts of Iris' pitches provide hints as to the specifics of her planned ethnicities. Her initial pitch describes her wearing "Aztec-style" hair decorations, implying that she was originally conceived as Mesoamerican. Meanwhile, the pitches which describe her as Middle Eastern appear to mix and match elements from different MENA territories: the galabeya is generally associated with rural Egypt, yet she's also stated as having a close connection with dragons, who don't appear anywhere in Egyptian mythology. Rather, dragons appear in Canaanite, Persian, and Mesopotamian mythology, implying that the later iterations of Iris are written as multiethnic.
WBジムリーダー設定080901.xls |
WBジムリーダー設定081002.doc |
WBジムリーダー設定081006.doc |
WBジムリーダー設定081119.doc |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Drayden#
WBジムリーダー設定080901.xls |
WBジムリーダー設定081002.doc |
WBジムリーダー設定081006.doc |
WBジムリーダー設定081119.doc |
|---|---|---|---|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|