
Shadow Mewtwo is quite a big deal in Pokkén Tournament, at least in terms of marketing. Revealed last year with quite a bit of hoopla (not Hoopa, that's different) the character will even have its own amiibo card included in pre-orders and first-run copies of the game.
That prominent role in the upcoming fighting game doesn't secure its place in Pokémon canon, though. Developer Bandai Namco has been chatting to Polygon about the character and acknowledged that its inclusion isn't indicative - as far as it's aware - of a broader role. The game's producer, Masaaki Hoshino, said the following:
When we were originally coming up with the design, we worked very closely with The Pokémon Company and Game Freak to make sure everything was right. What happened was, we at Bandai Namco had the idea of making a really cool dark-colored Mewtwo, so we had one of our designers take a crack at it and then presented that to The Pokémon Company and Game Freak. They all thought it looked really cool, so then we worked together to brush it up.
Because everyone really liked Shadow Mewtwo, I have a personal hope that they'll continue to use it, but it's not really our decision, unfortunately.
Tekken veteran and fellow Bandai Namco game maker Katsuhiro Harada also pitched in, acknowledging that the new fictional area in the game - the Ferrum Region - could give Game Freak and The Pokémon Company room to ignore the character in future, though if Shadow Mewtwo is popular with fans that could boost it's prospects.
For this game, it is kind of a spin-off from the main series. It takes place in this area called the Ferrum Region, which means something like 'Iron Region,' playing back into the Tekken connection.
So, within the context of this spin-off, [Shadow Mewtwo] is obviously a canonical character. Of course, how The Pokémon Company and Game Freak decide to use the character is up to them, but I think Mr. Hoshino's passion for the character might inspire them and encourage them to use it!
The Pokémon Company, intriguingly, has simply given a 'no comment' on the question of whether Shadow Mewtwo is canon. Either that's a surprise for a future time, or Game Freak simply hasn't decided yet.
Let us know what you think, and keep your eyes peeled for our Pokkén Tournament preview later today.
[source polygon.com]
Comments 24
I hope it becomes canon. Having a shadow Mewtwo in the actual Pokemon games would be great.
I'm not bothered. Koei invented characters for Hyrule Warriors, Squeenix invented characters for Mario RPG.
Nintendo won't care and Game Freak probably won't either. Shadow Mewtwo is just a Fighting game boss that Tekken is famous for.
I'm guessing "canon" in 3,2,1...
And I'm still waiting on the X + Y Pokemon to be added to the $15 3DS Pokedex Pro, or are they not canon either? $15 for what can basically be had for free elsewhere and they can't update it after 3 years?
It will only ever be as canon as all the other Shadow Pokemon were in Gale of Darkness.
Yeah shadow luigia never became canon despite how awesome it is I think the same will happen here maybe one day a distribution might happen but that's unlikely :-/
I thought he was holding a knife in the image for the article! >(
Shame I don't care at all about Pokémon, this looks well-made.
@Sanicranfast
This. (Sad to say, yeah, this.)
Have you ever seen Geno after Super Mario RPG? Oh, sure, he was in Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga!... as a puppet, yeah!
But he's also in Sm4sh, right? Sure thing... as a Mii costume.
Same thing for Shadow Mewtwo. Guys, look up Devil Jin from the Tekken series. Pikachu is a stand-in for the Mishima family in Pokkén, and Shadow Mewtwo is similarly a Tekken expy. Simple as that.
Since it's an amiibo card, by all means this can have some use in future Pokémon titles.
I'm even curious if Smash Bros will recognise Shadow Mewtwo as Mewtwo?
Would be great if the pokemon becomes canon. I don't have high hopes though, yet I think it's more possible than shadow Lugia.
I could see shadow mewtwo as a new mega in z. Maybe it could be activated with a new move to out power creep mega rayquaza.
Part of me would love to see it but I doubt it'll ever find its way to a main Pokémon title. Weren't Shadow Pokémon limited to Gen III console titles?
What would be really really cool would be like that the next Tekken game could have Shadow Mewtwo in it as a boss/guest character. I mean it's not likely, but it would be really cool.
@Yorumi Well I mean, Pokken is kind of it. Just not RPG Pokemon, but rather a fighter. I find this to be better considering it's a fresh approach compared to the constant RPG Pokemon games with very minor differences to the formula.
Hmm, no interest in pokemon at all but this has me interested along with the special controller.
I'm gonna amazon perorder it now!
Maybe shadow mewtwo is the antagonist in the detective pikachu game.
I hate these canon arguments. It makes me think of when people would fight over if Giga Bowser from Smash is Canon. I remember for like a month people were like HE IS CANON. How? He's in no games but Smash. Alright then.
Shadow Mewtwo for Smash 5?
Pokemon: Saiyan Version.
Canon Mewtwo tried to destroy the world searching his place in the world, what would this one do?
i want it to be cannon so they can make a new shadow pokemon game like pokemon XD, remember shadow lugia? they were super fun and you feel extra motivated to catch and use every pokemon you encounter. the return of mirror b and the rainbow sixtuplets! kinda wanna see a cross promo with osomatsu...
I'd rather they didn't bother making it canon somehow... it still screams Edgy Character Edit to me and looks like a 13 year old designed it.
Then again, I'm probably in the minority and deep down I'm not that bothered either way.
So this doesn't confirm a sequel to colosseum and XD? 😓
Eh. I like his design, but I think he'll just get pushed aside after this, similair to the shadow Pokémon from Colosseum and XD: Gale of Darkness.
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