Paras? All this time... I've been underneath Paras?

046: Paras

Paras here is one of the tragically underrated designs in Gen 1 that I don't see get that much love. This little guy is a baby cicada, or nymph, as it has a lot fo its behaviors such as burrowing underground and staying there most of its life cycle. That and it's yet another of the very few bugs with a somewhat bug-like mouth. And of course, the thing's overall demeanor is adorable, but what really carries it is the concept.

Paras is oddly infected as an entire species, where they always have parasitic fungus growing off of their backs that apparently keep them in dark damp areas, even when it's ready to molt and grow into an adult. To get into the meat of things, we're gonna have to move on to Parasect, but a lot of the positives I give Parasect applies to Paras as well.

Before The Last of Us made it cool.

047: Parasect

Pokemon's no stranger about getting into deceptively dark territory for a kid's game. Paras, like any normal cicada, SHOULD be able to dig to the surface and then molt its skin and enjoy the rest of its life flying around and being the most obnoxiously loud bugs in existence. Parasect doesn't turn out that way because the mushroom on its back has other plans. Yes, if you didn't read much on Parasect before, the Pokedex states that the giant mushroom on Parasect's back takes full control over Parasect's body.

And those dead, pupiless eyes are what say it all that you basically have a zombie of a Pokemon for a pet. At least, it's implied the Parasect itself is dead and that the fungus merely pilots its corpse. Or it's even possible that Parasect is still conscious in there, just not able to move from its brain being infected by fungus spores. That line of logic would line up to the real-like equivalent.

CONTENT WARNING: Insects, animal death, generally gross imagery

The real life examples of cordyceps are only able to control their host to a minimal extent, and make their host move to an optimal spot to spread its spores before it plants itself in place for the remainder of its life. That and, the fungus itself ruins the host's body beyond recognition anyway. Parasect's cordycep equivalent has full cognitive control over its host. If that's not among the darker things of Pokemon history, I dunno what is.

The Crystal entry even goes so far to say that, when the Parasect body becomes useless, the mushroom infects the eggs. That's right, Paras isn't just a Pokemon that manages to fall victim to this fungus most of the time. The entire species are doomed to be vessels to grow these parasitic shrooms inside of them from birth. And there comes tons of lore implications about the history of the species. Both the mushroom, and the poor unfortunate cicada underneath it. An entire species of insect being infected by a hyper-intelligent (by fungus standards) cordycep is just an infinitely rad idea for a monster. That's something you'd expect more out of Metroid than something with such an aura of purity as Pokemon.

As for the designs themselves, I've found myself favoring Paras just a bit more, mostly because it has a more adorable face. While the dead eyes of Parasect is good, I'm less-so fond of the mouth it has, which is a lot more "normal" looking. I preferred other interpretations of it where it had no mouth at all, or if it had a mouth similar to Paras'. Still though, Parasect is a very cool interpretation of the idea of a mind-controlling mushroom taking over this poor insect.