Random: KISS' Gene Simmons Has Something To Say About New Pokémon, Obstagoon

Okay, that's pretty freaking amazing that they love it, hahaha.

https://www.twitter.com/genesimmons/status/1159171625809403904

What's interesting though is that I can't find a link to his quote. Newsweek says he said it but they don't technically have proof he did. His Twitter response to the news seems less excited.

Even the second article just links the quote to Newsweek. I wonder if he really said what they claim.

Also, I demand furret gets a 3rd evo that is music related!

I'm a raging, card carrying #bringbacknationaldex dude, but I can appreciate some wholesome stuff when it pops up ♥️

Still not sure this is intended, it's a very Pokémon style badger but if it wasn't for the tongue I'd be sure this was a coincidence. The fact that Kiss are a US and not UK band doesn't help the theme.

@AJWolfTill Pretty cool coincidence though.

@AJWolfTill Could do some kind of Ska Evolution with a bigger tongue, then it could be modelled after Buster Bloodvessel ^_^

Going forward... sigh

@AJWolfTill It's the fact KISS aren't British that confused me about this too. It seems like a big coincidence to me.

I have to admit I'm surprised. Typically you get a bunch of whining and threatening over stuff as a sad cry for attention and to attempt to extort a few dollars. To read a simple bit like that ending in flattering is refreshing.

@AJWolfTill
I do think the multitude of obvious glam metal tropes incorporated in the design pin it down as a deliberate reference.

The Japanese name has no pun referencing any specific band though, so this COULD be referencing Iron Maiden, Black Sabbath, or Motörhead, if they wanted to be strictly British, but man, none of them really look as KISS as this guy does.

And didn't Sun & Moon incorporate quite a few tropical island tropes that weren't strictly Hawaiian as well?

KISS was actually very popular in Japan. So I'm sure it is intentional. There's no way it isn't.

All I know is, this Pokemon has increased my odds of purchasing the game. Seriously how can you not love this thing? Look at it. I'm almost willing to overlook all the apparent flaws with S&S now.

EDIT: And I just found out this thing is an evolution of a galaxarian Zigzagoon. I've always loved that Pokemon for it's ridiculous name and design, so even better!

Seeing as we have whipped cream and ice cream Pokémon, can we have a crumpet Pokémon too?

OH! I've just had an idea!

A tea set family! A little tea cup, which evolves into a teapot, which evolves into a kettle (reminiscent of the Litwick family).

Genius.

If it was the other way round Nintendo would release a cease and desist.

Just sayin

I hoped he would follow in Uri Geller's footsteps and launch a lawsuit. Reality is often disappointing.

@Silly_G
Fudge flavour themed mons too, please.

I don't really see the smiliarity tbh. It's a bit of a stretch in the same way that Lickitung covered in black and white paint pays KISS homage. That said, glad the response to this new pokemon is positive. So I can't really complain (not that I'm trying to )

@Preposterous
With Geller, I think what triggered an actual lawsuit was that the name also referenced him. ^^

@NinjaWaddleDee Hit the nail on its head, KISS are very popular in Japan, they definitely designed the pokemon after rock musicians. Sure, having a Ringo Starr-lookalike British pokemon would've been even cooler, but I'll take it.

Surprised to see he’s not demanding royalties.

@Pod : Fairy/Fire Galarian Slurpuff?

With a delicious fondue attack, a fairy-type move that may cause burning.

Cool! I’ll be training one.

I can certainly see the resemblance, at least in their faces. Obstagoon's black parts go hand in hand with the makeup. Lines going towards the nose, check. 3 pointy parts going towards hair, check. Triangle shape that connects to hair, check. The tongue and only showing upper teeth, check. Combine that with the fact that Galarian Zigzagoon has stars around its eyes. I'd be shocked if they didn't get any inspiration from Kiss. Would be quite a coincidence.

It's nice to see something like this for a change rather than trying to sue Nintendo for ripping off their style or whatever. Respect +10 for Gene!

Now that they mention it I can see the resemblance.

Gene has done enough of these lawsuits to know the line between trademark infringement and homage.

If anything it keeps him in the public eye whilst on the road plugging the final tour.

@Kalmaro Read the link man, not just tweets

@Edu23XWiiU I read the link AND the tweets, said so in my comment.

The Newsweek article has no link to his quote, it's just them saying he said what he did. Every other article mentioning his quote links to the same Newsweek article.

@ThatNyteDaez Well, the star mark on the eye of each evolution matches Paul Stanley's makeup (see Zigzagoon or Linoone for a far clearer example.) which is the strongest tie by far. The tongue hanging out, the color scheme and the fur 'outfit' just reinforce the idea that it's KISS.

Nintendo is making a huge mistake. As a FORMER Kiss fan, I know Kiss is stting with their lawyers now figuring out how to sue Nintendo.

If nothing else we know for certain that when you battle him, there will be wailing guitars.....

I know some people are saying this is probably a coincidence, but it looks rather deliberate. Probably just a nod they tossed in and it keeps the glam rock aesthetic which looks like where the design comes from as glam rock was big in England in the '70s-'80s. It looks like it has taken notes from multiple glam rock artists of the era. Thanks to the black and white colour scheme the Kiss influences in the design come out rocking more than others.

Looks sick though!

Set move list is Rock Throw and Roll Out

I dunno why they didn’t just make a Craig David-mon.

This is amazing. I wonder if his move set will be some kind of sound wave blast with his guitar.

@SpicyBurrito16 the Pokémon itself doesn’t actually have a guitar

That Obstagoon band tweet is amazing! This definitely made my Friday!

Also, Team Yell's wardrobe in general clearly brings to mind punk, glam, or shock rock groups/artists.

@NinjaWaddleDee actually, some girl group (momoiro z) do a KISS cover of "rock and rock all night"

Wow nice a new pokemon that almost looks like the dude from the band. Amazing job here

except KISS were inspired by brazilian band secos & molhados

@AJWolfTill the prior forms literally have black stars over their eyes

totally thought he was gonna sue

Zigzagoone: I TOLD YOU MOM, ITS NOT A PHASE!

@Kalmaro Then ask him.

@Edu23XWiiU I shouldn't have to ask. They are the ones making claims, they should back it up. That's called good journalism.

They were made for lovin it, baby

I really like Obstagoon, the actual designs of Gen 8's Pokemon is probably the only redeeming thing to me so far, but I really don't like the idea of giving the Regional variant of a Pokemon a unique evolution that the old one misses out on. Now if they give the OG Linoone a similar but different evolution that's a whole different situation, but for now IDK how to feel.

I’m thinking this probably falls under parody/fair use somehow and KISS won’t sue. I’m trying to think of other non-public domain works they’ve referenced in the past.

@Kalmaro Obstagoon is KISS,
Furret should be...
Led Zeppelin!

@Reigestugatensho that or they could even do a different genre. Maybe something classical, just tottoll people, haha

@Anthracks I was thinking the same. XD

@Reigestugatensho Nah. We'd need a dog for that...a black dog.

@Kalmaro If furret gets an evolution I will finally be using my everstone

@TeslaChippie Awww, but you haven't even seen it yet!

@Kalmaro He probably send that short statement through email or something. But he must be more busy trying to sue Nintendo for using his "likeness" without his approval hahahaha. Since when do you want "good journalism" on these websites anyway?

@Edu23XWiiU When DON'T you want good journalism on a website? Who wants to risk being lied to?

I like knowing I can trust what people say, which is why I'm glad Nintendolife at least put a link to Newsweek so I could check it myself.

@AJWolfTill Excuse my ignorance, but what is the British connection here?

It’s absolutely obvious it’s a homage to Gene Simmons and if that quote was really said by him, Pokémon’s lucky that they’ve been a beloved game to his kids because he loves to protect his image/property and I think in any other case would be not commenting and instead suing

@Kalmaro someone actually disliked your comment saying journalists should back up their work lol

@Kalmaro if you scroll Gene's feef, he actually shares a CNET article stating he is taking it well, that references the Newsweek quote. That's close enough to a confirmation for me.

@Kisame83 Hmmm... That sounds good enough for me I guess. I did figure he wasn't offended at all, just wanted confirmation or something.
@SpaceboyScreams What is wrong with people these days...

@Kalmaro Nintendo Life labout everything. For instance, they didn't report what that Emily Rogers said about the new Switch with better battery life, she said that was the "pro" model both her and the WSJ teased. Did NL reported on this? No, because they would had to apologize about hyping for something that doesn't even exist.

@Edu23XWiiU Thus, I value good journalism. I won't lie and say that I think NL is the best at it. I will say that I'm glad they at least provided some links.

@Tempestryke Perhaps, Houndoom?

@Kalmaro Good journalism is really hard to find these days. Smaller websites report better. Even some Youtubers report better!

@Edu23XWiiU 100% true.
Mainstream media is full of fake news.

@Kalmaro Yes, it's weird, but sometimes you get better news from Youtube and some social media sites.

@Edu23XWiiU Makes sense to me, they don't have to depend on big corporations, who don't value truth, for money.

I just didn't notice it until after this recent election.

@Reigestugatensho I was thinking something new. England does have a legend about a black ghost dog.

@Kalmaro All the big news sites want money, it's better to get informed elsewhere.

@jswhitfield8 Well, only Peter Chris wore the star so...

@Stocksy I would LOVE to see Gene Simmons dressed as Wario though.

Very cool design.