Let's Talk About Pokemon - Capsakid and Scovillain

Scarlet/Violet model gifs ripped by Twitter user adamsb0303!

I'm your worst nightmare! Here comes the pain!

951: Capsakid

Man, Gen 9 really is spoiling us for good Grass types. Capsakid is a funny little creature, being a flowering jalapeno plant in the shape of a cartoon baby dinosaur. It's perhaps a bit basic of a plant critter at first glance, with it being solid green and vaguely humanoid with leafy bits for arms, but we like how the jalapeno flower goes over its head like a silly bonnet or even being a take on that cartoon trope where a baby animal wears half of its eggshell over its head.

And we like how its leaves LOOK like arms, but don't actually function like arms, lil dude just trots around on a pair of legs. And that face has a lot to love too. We'll get into the main reason with its evolution, but the beaky lil face with a single buck tooth is very fun.

Feed me, Seymour!

952: Scovillain

Our first-ever Grass/Fire type being a chili pepper feels really predictable, so THAT much about Scovillain is a lil lame, but it's hard to complain about otherwise. It picks up an even more saurian body, which in and of itself is a little pepper-shaped. And its body itself could perhaps use a bit more interest, with it being mostly an animal body with some leafy bits dangling off of it. But the main attraction is easily those two gnarly heads.

Dangling off spindly little stalks are a red pepper head and a green pepper head, with the red-head having a huge scowl on its face while the green pepper has a mischievous grin. This feels like a play on Melpomene and Thalia, AKA those frowning and smiling "theater masks" representing tragedy and comedy respectively. What this has to do with chili peppers is beyond us, but a minor visual motif does no harm. It could be perhaps where it gets the "Villain" part of "Scovillain". Which is easily one of the most fun names this generation, by the way. "Scoville" being the scale used to judge a food item's level of spiciness.

Their faces are a couple of the coolest visages out of this Gen too, with the two of them having crooked, beaked faces that look bulbous but scrunched like a habanero. Combined with the saurian body, it really works to make them look like a funny gap between dinosaur and bird in a way that still gives it its own unique edge.

The best part probably has to be the way their heads are actually mostly hollow. Just like real peppers! And if you cut a pepper just right, it really looks like a screaming (or gleeful) face. Even their eye sockets are completely empty! And what makes the effect all the cooler is how they have the seeds embedded in their mouths to look like teeth!

We feel like the only complaint about the design itself that we have is that the color scheme feels a little off-balance. Yeah, the two heads are just representing the ripeness of a pepper, but feels a little strange to have so much green with a little side of red. Especially since you can use leaves to emulate the appearance of fire so much!

Either way, Scovillain is a nice little treat of a design. And it's so refreshing for a Grass type too, because Grass types lately have really had a tendency to be either a literal plant or a plant-like humanoid. It's nice to get a BEAST that's just made of plant for a change. Like yeesh, the last time we got something like this was like? Carnivine? Other than the color thing, we just feel like the one thing keeping Scovillain from being a 10/10 is that we just wish it was a BIT more beastly. Again, it's another design that feels like it should evolve one more time, but doesn't.

Personal Score: 9/10

Prev           Archive            Next

Got your own input? Leave a comment!