Although the Pokémon isn't exactly cuddly in the games, one fan has managed to make Gengar significantly creepier with some super-realistic 3D art.
A Pokémon fan has given the Dark-type Pokémon Gengar the Detective Pikachu treatment in a new piece of digital fan art. Artistic tributes are nothing new to this franchise's fan community, with players regularly envisioning different versions of their favorite Pokémon. One fan even turned Elden Ring enemies into Pokémon via some creative drawings.
As the Pokémon franchise grows each year, so does the roster of catchable creatures. These monsters can be big or small, but they have consistently memorable designs that typically tie into their type and borrow traits from real-world animals. While the series regularly adds new Pokémon, the fanbase as a whole seems to be most fond of those from earlier generations. Pokémon from the earlier days of the series tend to have more simplistic designs that are more closely connected to the common animals they are inspired by. Though it has always been a popular franchise, Pokémon's relevance has skyrocketed in recent years thanks to viral sensations like Pokémon GO, which one fan played so much it burned Pokémon GO into their phone screen.
The prevalence of Pokémon in pop culture can be clearly observed through detailed pieces of fan art. Reddit user HFthiel recently shared one such piece featuring Gengar as its subject. The ghostly Pokémon takes on a CGI appearance that recalls the hyper-realistic visual style of the Detective Pikachu film. The original design for Gengar looks sleek and ghostly, however, the fan art depicts a creature covered in fine fur, with yellowed teeth and angry red eyes. The overall design is similar to a purple pug instead of a haunting spirit.
While HFthiel has received no shortage of praise for this piece, many commenters have noted just how creepy it is. Unlike soft and cute Pokémon like Leafeon, Gengar is decidedly more creepy and mischievous. It's one thing to present this in a 2D or low-detail 3D art style, but seeing this Pokémon rendered in such high fidelity could seem a bit uncanny to many viewers. This could cause the same unease some may have felt about the Detective Pikachu film's hyper-realistic art choices.
Regardless of whether someone finds this piece creepy or not, it is undeniably impressive and sure to draw the attention of many fans of the Pokémon franchise. The attention to detail on display in this Gengar 3D model is astonishing, and HFthiel did a good job of translating the character's personality to this drastically different art style. It is likely more hyper-realistic 3D Pokémon fan art will come out of this passionate fan community, though they may not be quite as unsettling as this one.
Source: HFthiel/Reddit
