Pokemon Black And White’s N Original Design Looked Really Creepy

A Nintendo Dream interview featuring Game Freak developer Ken Sugimori ahas been translated into English.

In the interview, a couple of details concerning Pokemon Black and White were revealed for the very first time. Thanks to Youtube channel Lava Cut Content we can share with you some highlights from the interview today.

First, Sugimori talked about how N’s concept artwork came about. He revealed that Junichi Masuda, director of these games, was the creator who came up with the design specifications for N. He asked the designers at Game Freak to “design a kind of genius character”, so they made him look like a cool guy with an androgynous appearance.

Here’s Masuda’s original design of N, which looks more menacing than his final design. The design team heavily revised N’s design to what we know today, far from Masuda’s vision for the character.

Sugimori also talked about Ghetsis, the leader of Team Plasma. Game Freak wanted him to look like an unusual man wearing extraordinary clothes. In early concept art Ghetsis looked shorter, creepier, and more priestly:

Sugimori also spoke about Professor Juniper, the first female professor in the games. Originally Professor Juniper was going to be a “fat man”, as the designers were ordered to make a fat professor and an old professor. Sugimori complained to Masuda about these requirements and asked whether he could make Juniper an woman. In the end, Sugimori designed Juniper into a kind of career woman.

Another highlight discussed was the gym leader Lenora. During the development of Pokemon Black and White, Game Freak wanted the games to have a “multinational and multiracial” vibe. They decided to create a character that’s a black woman with “motherly” and “strong” qualities, so that’s how Lenora and her apron came about. Later on, Lenora’s apron turned into a cape after controversies about her design in the west.

If you are interested to read the full interview, check it out here.

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