The announcement could have remained innocuous if the Pokémon in question had not long been the object of a very particular craze. At the beginning of February, the Pokémon Company announced the release of a life-size plush (about 1m60) of its Pokémon Gardevoir, intended to celebrate the year of the wood snake. If the Psychic/Fairy pocket monster introduced in the third generation of the license is not the first to to offer a life-size version, it surrounds itself with an unrivaled fantasy.
The most searched Pokémon on X sites
Introduced in Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire in 2002, Gardevoir has captivated fans with its elegant, almost humanoid design and graceful posture reminiscent of a dancer. While its description in the video games presents it as a loyal protector, ready to sacrifice itself for its trainer, it also quickly became one of the most fetishized Pokémon in the history of the license. Featured in fanart, unofficial fiction and other content with more or less explicit subtext, the Pokémon quickly rose to the top of Pokémon searches on adult sites, far surpassing Pikachu, Eevee and Charizard.
Since the beginning of the license, the sexualization of Pokémon is not new. Lockpin and Sucreine have also suffered a similar fate, fueled by their forms deemed too humanoid. However, Gardevoir has reached an unprecedented level of fetishization. The announcement of a life-size plush toy - currently reserved for Japanese Pokémon Centers only - is therefore far from trivial. It's impossible for the Pokémon Company not to know what it's getting into with its new spin-off.
Bowsette and the others
The fetishization of fictional characters, especially those from the world of video games, is not limited to the Pokémon universe. We find a similar dynamic with Bowsette, the feminized (and unofficial) version of Bowser, who triggered a media tidal wave in 2018 after the publication of a fanart. For communities, these characters become the supports for the projection of a fictosexual fantasy. If some see it as a simple artistic and community craze, others point to a trend towards hypersexualization in pop culture.
The Gardevoir plush toy is not immune to the phenomenon, and despite itself relaunches a broader discussion on the place of fetishization and sexuality in the fandoms. It remains to be seen how the product will be received by fans.
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