You could argue it's supposed to always have rings of yellow fur, and it can THEN also light those up, but I dislike this interpretation. The rings glowing is more impressive and impactful if they normally AREN'T there by contrast. Plus think about it, having bright yellow fur rings by default is clearly shit for nocturnal camouflage. The rings should be black like the rest of the fur when not glowing.
I really think Umbreon shouldn't have visible rings most of the time. Especially not in 3d games. It should dynamically glow and unglow, glowing bright during attack animations but only faintly flickering most of the time and complete turn off when fainted or when about to sneak up on someone.
umbreon was supposed to be poison at first and was probably changed to dark pretty late in development based on the pokedex entry, probably makes more sense if the rings were purple
Cooper Roberts
>umbreon's just a black cat you know what? i actually kinda like that
I mean yes clearly those lights are impactful either way, but they would be even moreso if they were dark when not lit. I mean literally, physically as a fact it would be more of a contrast if they were black when not glowing. I feel like Umbreon an fireflies isn't a great comparison tho cuz of the size difference.
>>umbreon's just a black cat
I mean yeah it is, it's based on the nekomata/bakeneko like Espeon is, but also the maneki neko. I don't fully understand this, and I only learned this recently, but apparently these good luck cat statues Meowth is based on often have a black cat variant, and white and black variants often have these yellow rings (I think to convey wealth/fortune or something) which is where Umbreon gets its colors. The black cat statues are supposed to ward off evil. And Espeon was supposed to be white originally.
Recall that Japan sees black cats as a symbol of good luck. Umbreon's Japanese name Blacky is supposed to sound like lucky, like a lucky black cat. But Umbreon clearly also borrows from the overseas idea of black cats being unlucky, which is why it's a Dark Type and the dex portrays it as kinda sinister. It's a mix of all this stuff. But it being a black cat/maneki neko primarily was always deliberate.
Wait oh my fuckin god, was beta espeon's forehead gem supposed to be a black maneki neko ring like pic rel?? And they just changed it into a red gem when they redesigned it and made it a Psychic Type? Regardless if the cat is black or white or red, these gold rings with black insides are super common on these statues
Maybe it was just a gem tho, it has that white pixel on it after all. Idk
I have never heard of this idea and I will immediately accept his idea as canon forever
>The rings should be black like the rest of the fur when not glowing. I disagree. The physiology behind the rings' luminescence would confer some sort of external physical distinction to those areas of the body - illumination or not. It makes sense to have them visible at all times, but not illuminated unless in times of environmental stress or emotional expression.
Jonathan Ross
>try to sneak up on prey >prey can clearly see your bright-as-fuck rings in the darkness regardless if they aren't lit
This dum, u dum
Oliver Martin
that squid scares me the fuck off
Noah Bailey
Typhlosion does that but all it it accomplished was turning it into a joke
exhibit A
Xavier Reyes
>calls me dumb >completely misunderstands what i'm trying to say Re-read the post - if you still don't get it, withhold future judgments on other peoples' intellect.
