Jolly good, an avid reader has arrived to assist me in this matter. Let me first do you the courtesy of a formal introduction, even though the keenest and eager of minds might have already spotted me on the ABOUT page of this blogging endeavour.
My name is detective: Pinkelett Wellington-Oxley-Birminghamshire-Diggersby-Pinkerton-Cherrlyblossom. Feel free to call me Detective Pinkie though! Together with my trusted Ditto called Evidence we solve mysteries, deduce theories and analyse enigma’s.
Unlike the former crudely called ‘Theory-Thursdays’ I shall not only discuss theories but rumors as well. Today however we for an hypothesis about the identity of the final legendary in Pokémon Sword and Shield and for that we will look at Norse mythology. Are you ready little Watsons? Let us take a trip across the bifrost.
Kalos and Galar
My utmost apologies, before we can depart I must relay some factoids about Pokémon topography. For the sake of logical deduction one should know that different Pokémon regions are based on different countries. Their geographical location in the Pokémon world oftenly mirrors the once in the real world. Kanto, Johto and Sinnoh (as well as the islands from minor games like pokémon snap) are all based on Japan and thusly are described as being close to one another. Unova was our first trip to another country! Mimicking the american east coast. New York and New Jersey are referenced in this region and the region is to be described as very far away from the original four. Alola was based on Hawaii and is assumed to be relatively close to Unova though the island theming and vastly different culture makes his hard to deduce. The Alola region in fact was so different and secluded from the rest of the world it felt like it’s very own world. Kalos was, not so subtle based on france. This games legendaries featured a lot of nordic elements which seem to return in Sword and Shield. Galar which is even more obviously being based on Britain by process of extrapolation of the trend should be very close to Kalos, in fact their maps do seem to be connectable.
Fan theories state we might venture into the 6th generation region, last time two railways connected we could travel across the lands as well after all! Safe to say if the player can cross the border, it would not be that hard for it’s mythos to do the same.
Most legendaries have an important role in shaping their respective regions as well, so it could be possible that Arceus created these legendaries together, but over time these lands segregated. With that being said let’s take a peek at some mythology. We will start in Kalos first. Where all legendaries seem to be inspired by this picture! But also have a much deeper connection. Keep this pictue in your mind Watsons you will need it.
Yggdrasil and Xerneas
At first glance you would not directly connect this:
and this:
However truth lies a layer deeper within my Watsons! If we look we can certainly see a mimicking in the colour pattern from Yggdrasill towards Xerneas but that is not the only evidence. Yggdrasil is the life tree. Xerneas pokédex entry calls it the Life Pokémon. Which in it’s dormant state in fact is a tree. Although not as massive and world connecting. Xerneas is described as a small blue true connected to the very essence of life. A life tree if you will.
Now before you yell out that this still is poppycock let us move a bit further into the northern mythology itself. Yggdrasil is not just a tree it also has some animal friends living inside and around it. Four of these magnificent creatures are called Dáinn, Dvalinn, Duneyrr and Duraþrór These creatures are all deer that feed of the branches of Yggdrasil. Much like Xerneas all these deers are stags and they all wear gems in their antlers. Much like Xerneas. These colours are Red, blue, yellow, and purple, all these are represented in Xerneas design. While Xerneas uses his gems he has to power to grant things everlasting life.
Hræsvelgr and Yveltal
Though it is not too hard to see, the eagle sitting in the world tree in Yveltal it’s connections go quit a bit deeper then it just being an eagle.
First of all the eagle in the life tree as depicted in the image shared above is rumored to be blind. It is not hard so see an aspect of blindness in Yveltal. It’s eyes are a completely evil blue, while design trends really focussed at that time of bringing eyes to live a lot more. Pokémon almost always had pupils, with only extreme rare exceptions. and those usually just being hidden. Yveltal’s empty eyes could easily hint at it being blind. Yet Hræsvelg is not that eagle in the tree so why bring it up? This giant in the form of an Eagle, is known as the corpse eater. Yveltal is the Pokémon of death. Some people even claim that Hræsvelgr actually IS the eagle in the life tree, but this is up for debate. The Eagle in the life tree has the ability to peer into ones soul and this ability is never found in mentions of Hræsvelgr nor is something like this hinted at in Yveltal’s pokédex lore.
However since there isn’t much officially know about these two it makes sense to combine them. The Corpse Eater is is sit to dwell at the end of the world. The player in Pokémon Y encounters Yveltal when it is about to end the world as they know it, when Lysandre uses it to empower his doomsday weapon to destroy all life.
Níðhǫggr Jörmungandr and Zygarde
At the bottom of the tree we see a snake in its roots. This snake is Níðhǫggr, who is more accurately described as a dragon who lives under ground in the roots of the life tree. Zygarde’s typing is a ground dragon type, so that makes sense. Yet Zygarde has many forms and these aren’t just tacked on.. these are also very much rooted in Nordic mythology. Lets begin with the serpentine form.
This seems to be based on Jörmungandr. This snake was thrown into earth ocean by Odin, and apparently it was very good at playing snake because there it grew tall enough to loop the world and bite its own tail. This apparently brought good tidings to Midgar or in other words earth where staying like that keeps our world safe. Should the snake however ever let o Midgar will fall to disarray and be destroyed Zygarde is the order Pokémon, it’s tasked is to prevent our ecosystem from collapsing and maintain balance. Thus the Midgard-snake and the Order Pokémon share a purpose in life.
The fact that Zygarde kan grow is also a reference to this origin. However to his other two forms we need to look at his father first. No it’s not Tom Hiddleston.. it’s the actual Loki… who did some very weird things.
Angrboða and Loki must have been at the daycare together at one point, because it was said that they liked to play together. Three new lives where bred. Jormungandr, Hel and Fenrir. A snake.. a half undead giant woman.. and a dog/wolf. 10% Zygarde being a doglike creature is fairly obvious and there isn’t much of a deeper connection to the wolf there anyway.
With Hel it gets a bit more interesting in the design department. Too human pokémon have oftenly be met with dislike or even hate and controversy. I am looking at you Jynx! So they had to be a bit creative. Hel is mostly know for three things. Being the giantess that rules over norse hell is one. Zygarde does not rule over any afterlife ..but it took snakes role anyway.
So let’s see if our target looks like a giant. Check on that. 100% For Zygarde is definitely a giant. The second is her spiky crown. marvel kind of exaggerated it..but we can definitely see a spiky crown on zygarde as well. Finally one half of Hel is living, the other is dead. Though we don’t see a half rotting earth giant in Zygarde 100% on one half of it’s “cloak” it dons the main colour of Xerneas.. being life.. the other half of features Yveltal’s colour .. being death. I would say these are all strong enough connections to be more than just a coincidence. But how about Galar. We do not know a lot about those yet.. what is your theory? Well it is my believe Zamazenta and Zacian are based on Freki and Geri.
The Wolves and the Raven.
Zamazenta the shield wolf and Zacian the sword wielding lobo were announced to be the legendaries of Pokémon Sword and Shield. With some people immediately comparing them to Skoll and Hati, the wolves who chase the sun and the moon, I feel other then thematically following after Pokémon Sun and Moon there is not a lot to this reference, They might be used to deduced secondary typings, as we have clearly seen Nintendo crossing figures before to deduce typings and lore alike. Geri and Freki are Odin’s pet wolves.
Where X and Y used the icon of Yggdrasil to base legendaries around, when reusing mythos again you’d need an equally strong icon. One like Odin himself. In the art shared we see the wolves sitting at both sides of his throne. One sits by his sword, the other by his shield Their names roughly translating to something insatiable, always hungry, ever eager to satisfy themselves. With a bit of good will from us, and some free interpretation of their names we get a unstoppable force and an unmovable object. A perfect theming that seems to work excellent for the route Nintendo and Game Freak chose. Though Hati and Skoll are not out of the running yet, a pretty much confirmed leak has revealed there will be a third, and evil legendary. Based on this imagine and the accompanying lore we could assume the third legendary, will be a two headed raven, wielding a spear. Huginn and Muninn were Odin’s messengers and scouts relaying him all sorts of information thusly being sometimes being connected to the virtues of knowledge and wisdom, even omniscience. This could make Huginn and Muninn the inspiration for a pokémon representing the all knowing mind. Giving us a nice trinity: the unstoppable, the unmovable and the all knowing. This may just be speculation, but if we remember Sword and Shields first trailer when Zacian and Zamazenta where facing off suddenly something else approached…from the sky!
We may have not gathered enough evidence yet for a conviction..but at least we have a suspect. A good detective always has a theory. Haven examined the evidence yourself my dear Watsons, what do you think will be the third legendary? What are you hoping for?
Maybe you even have some more evidence! Be sure to let me know and like always remember!
I am not weird, I am just very pink!
Until we read again.
Pinkie's Paradise 