143: Snorlax

Snorlax is a Pokemon that's managed to hang on as one of Gen 1's most iconic, and I think that's for good reason. It's a nice design, and I'm sure it stood out since it served as a unique roadblock in the original games. Not to mention that it's gotten quite a bit of attention over the years. Gen 4 gave it a pre-evolution, Gen 7 gave it a unique Z-Move, and Gen 8 gave it a Gigantamax form. And Snorlax is bound to get something else in the coming gens as well.

Snorlax is clearly taking off of the My Neighbor Totoro type of appeal, whether a deliberate inspiration or unintentional similarity. It's a big fella with its defining trait being sleeping and eating, I'm a little not so keen on portraying fatness as something unanimously associated with overeating or laziness, but I'll hand-wave it since it is consistent with animals with a need to conserve a lot of energy and/or have fairly low-fi lifestyles. And besides, Snorlax is a little more active these days, so good for it!