Palworld plagiarism tier list

When Pal World was first revealed in 2021, it immediately caught my eye as an absurdest parody of Pokémon. I thought it was hilarious but assumed it would be a terrible game to actually play. However, after a few days of actually playing it, I’ve changed my mind. The game is more than just a parody. I’ve been having a lot of fun with it. Adding Base Management to Pokémon turns out to be a really cool idea with a lot of potential.

Introduction to Pal World

There is, however, one issue with the game. After looking at some of these Pals, I can’t help but feel I’ve seen them before. I’m not alone in this; many have claimed that Pal World is openly copying and plagiarizing Pokémon. Others argue it’s merely parody and inspiration. But which is true? I decided to investigate, ready to make both sides of the argument angry. I planned to rank every pal in Pal World on a tier list from “original idea” to “potential lawsuit territory.” What started as a joke might actually reveal some truths.

Evaluating Pal World’s Characters

First up is Lamb Ball, a little sheep Pal that rolls around. It’s very similar to Wooloo, who has the same gimmick, both being sheep with overgrown coats. However, the design is distinct enough to avoid being called plagiarism.

Next, we have Catvia, a pretty generic cat. Considering the existence of cat Pokémon and real-life cats, Pokémon isn’t the first to cartoonize them. Even if this design feels bland, it’s not a ripoff. Chickapea is, frankly, just a chicken. The design is minimal, making it perhaps the laziest in the game, but it doesn’t rip off any existing concepts.

Lith Monk is a grass chipmunk. It’s another generic design but doesn’t stir controversy. Fox Sparks, a Firefox, is another elemental animal without causing controversy. Finally, Flack is an angry little platypus. It might resemble Ducket, but since it’s based on real platypuses, it’s not controversial. The pun in its name, however, remains puzzling.

Continued Character Evaluations

This design here, but someone please explain what the pun is supposed to be. Next up, we have Spark It. Here we go, this is when that actually is treading on some Pokémon territory. From the front, it doesn’t look like anything too terrible, right? But look at this tail, that’s Raichu. This is just Raichu with enough changes made to it so you couldn’t prove that it’s supposed to be Raichu in a court of law. Maybe a bit of a mix with some Electabuzz as far as the first stripes go. But this is pretty much the exact same process you’d see someone making their OC Sonic the Hedgehog character. So, we’re putting this in a “legally distinct” tier.

The Case of Tanzy

This one’s name is Tanzy. This one’s definitely aping on Panage. They, uh, definitely took Panage here, changed the ears a bit, and then changed the plant on its head to uh, something a bit more fun. But you’re not fooling me. Couldn’t even change the number of leaves on the tail. You didn’t put a lot of work into making this one unique. This is uh, definitely another one going into OC territory.

Assessing Ruby

Ruby is just another generic Elemental animal, but I don’t really know what animal it’s supposed to be. I couldn’t even tell if those are hooves or feet, and I’d say this is AA, but it has that big tail and ears like a fox, so it’s, I have no idea what’s going on with this. But on the plus side, uh, if I have no idea what’s going on with this, that means I’m not seeing any Pokémon in this one either, so it’s almost certainly its own thing.

Exploring Pullet and Ping King

Pullet, uh, this is a penguin. Not a very unique idea, but nothing to worry about; they’re allowed to make penguins. Then we have Ping King, the King pirate penguin, or maybe an 18th-century Admiral. Maybe the most unique one yet, honestly. I kind of like it, putting this down in original.

Jol Talk and Gum Moss

Now, I’ve heard a lot of people talking about Jol Talk. People are claiming that this one’s just a ripoff of Shaman. And I mean, on the surface, sure, I can kind of see it. But they’re both just hedgehogs. That’s just what hedgehogs look like. Shaman just takes the “Hedge” part a little bit more literally. Any design based off a hedgehog is just going to look like this. Not to spoil things, but there’s much more uh, blatant inspiration if there’s something you want to get angry about here. But this one, I’m just going to have to give them the benefit of the doubt. It’s just a hedgehog with colored quills, same idea at worst.

And you know, at first, I didn’t see anything wrong with Gum Moss. It’s just a little drop of tree sap wearing a little acorn hat. But uh, looking at that face…

Depresso and Suspicious Familiarity

This is Depresso, a depressed, uh, thing. It kinda looks like Indeedee mixed with an Espurr. Changed up the hair a bit. It’s just so generic, it’s hard to really say if it’s just a mash-up between these two Pokémon or just some guy. So, I’m just going to put this one under the suspiciously familiar tier, just to be sure.

Kemis and Potential Lawsuit Territory

Okay, now remember how I said Vixie was Eevee if they just changed the head a bit? Well, Kemis is Eevee. That’s it, Kemis is Eevee. This is just straight up Eevee, particularly Gigantamax Eevee, with the extra poofy fur. I can’t actually believe they put this into the game, so I’m going to be putting this one in potential lawsuit tier. Now, I do think it’s ever so slightly different enough where you couldn’t sue over this pal itself.

However, it’s important to remember that little instances of borderline plagiarism can add up. The more of them you have in a game, the more likely it is you actually get served with a lawsuit, and that a court actually finds against you. And, believe it or not, this is in no way, shape, or form the worst one they’ve put in here.

Character Comparisons Continued

I’d call it a copy, but the fact that they both have that single snaggle tooth like that is kind of suspicious. In the larger design scheme, there’s pretty much nothing matching the two, so I’ll have to call it fairly unique.

Now, Rushor, though, when I caught this one, between the time I caught it and actually looked at it in the pal deck, I had completely forgotten what it had looked like. And just looking at the icon, I thought this was going to be a Zigzagoon ripoff. Like, you can see it’s got the collar and the fur that’s exactly the same as Zigzagoon, but when you look at the full body, it’s uh, it’s actually pretty clear that it’s just a generic boar with a little bit of a mane on it. Not a particularly amazing design, but it’s a unique animal, at least unique to anything in Pokémon, that is.

But then we have Noox, this one is also just Eevee. Now, it’s no Criis level of Eevee; it’s definitely in a legally distinct tier. Those ears, that’s H. This could definitely be a ghost evolution of Eevee.

Fuddler’s Subtle Differences

Fuddler, on the other hand, though, this one’s just a mle. I could see a little bit of Abusel in the face, but uh, I think that any small mammal is just going to look similar if you give it orange or brown fur like that. So uh, nothing really raising any red flags here.

Kilari and Legal Distinction

Kilari, though, this one’s giving me strong Eevee vibes. So much so that when I first saw it in the game, I thought for sure that it was going to be a ripoff. Uh, now that I look at it up close, though, it, it’s legally distinct. I can definitely see the inspiration.

Innovative Design of Ma

This one’s named Ma, and this is what I like to see when taking ideas from Pokémon. It’s got the same idea as Meowth, you know, money cat, but rather than just gluing a coin to its head, they took the same basic idea and put a new twist on it. Now, that twist is that they just took a more realistic cat and put a bunch of gold jewelry on it.

So a bit boring in practice, but taking the ideas that a Pokémon represents and twisting it into a new thing is actually a pretty good practice. That feels like it builds on the ideas from Pokémon rather than just ripping them off. I’d love to see more Pals do this in the future, just maybe not in such a generic, boring way. This one, I’ll put in the same idea tier.

Debating Dire Hell

Now, at first glance, Dire Hell looks like Lycanroc, and I’ve heard other people say this as well. And that’s because it does; it looks like Lycanroc. But there’s been a particularly hot debate around this one because people are just claiming that the developers behind Pal World stole Lycanroc’s model and used it for this Pal. However, when you put the two models side by side, it’s pretty clear that they’re just entirely different. The most you could really claim here is that Dire Hell is based on Lycanroc.

Dire H and Animal Inspirations

I think they’re both just pretty generic wolves overall, and since Dire H doesn’t have any rocks or stones in its fur like Lycanroc does, I’m going to have to put it in the same idea tier. It’s not really enough to be suspicious when they’re both just based on the same animal. Of course, they’re going to look similar in that case.

Toko Too and Its Zatu Resemblance

Toko Too, on the other hand, is a much more interesting comparison because this one doesn’t look like they started with an animal and made a pal from it. It looks like they took Zatu and just turned him into a different bird. They both have these same wacky designs and the exact same color scheme on them, too. Toko Too doesn’t even have the same psychic lore to explain the patterns like Zatu. Definitely some OC stuff at play here.

FY and Its Unique but Familiar Design

Then we have FY, uh, this is just some generic grass Sprite thing. A bit bland of a design, but it doesn’t appear to be a ripoff of anything, as far as I could find. So, we’re just going to have to give this one the clear. Although, I do feel like I’ve seen that hair somewhere.

Bristol’s Composite Design

Bristol is not a ripoff of another thing, though, uh, because it’s a ripoff of two things. This looks like a lance and a Gossifleur blended together. Now, I’m pretty sure that smashing enough plant parts together does make this legally distinct, but man, they really just stuck a bunch of parts together and called it a day. I can see the scene where they stitched this together.

Gobin’s Unique Shark Design

Gobin, though, Gobin’s fine. It’s just a goofy little shark goblin. I don’t see anything wrong with this one. Maybe the colors are a little similar to Sharpedo, but it’s a shark, it’s just kind of the colors you’d expect from it. The whole design is radically different from any Pokémon I’ve seen, though, so I’m not going to pretend that this is any kind of a ripoff. This one’s good. I like this one.

Kingu’s Circular Simplicity

Kingu is another fun one. He’s just a little ball with two long arms. He gives me a bit of Chimecho energy, but I think that’s just ultimately because their bodies are cute little balls. And if we’re going to start calling having a circle for a body plagiarism, I am in trouble. So, uh, I’m fine with this one. He’s just a little guy. He could never do anything wrong.

Mossander’s Unique Panda Concept

Mossander, this is a panda covered in moss. There are multiple Panda Pokémon, and this looks like none of them. So good on that, Pal World. Not a fan of this pal, honestly, but I don’t think I’ve seen anything like it before.

Alchemy and Its Doubtful Originality

I’ve seen this before; this is Alcremie. It’s even got the sweets in the hair and the double ponytails in the exact same way. Like animals made out of candy isn’t a unique idea to Pokémon, so it’s plausible this is just an example of convergent thinking, but I highly doubt it. I’m putting this in suspicious category.

Caer’s Minimal Creativity

Uh, Caer is even less creative. This is just a Gogoat that’s been packing on a few extra pounds. Like, there’s some changes here and there; he looks a bit happier, so that’s nice. Like, clearly just a legally distinct Gogoat knockoff. Going to have to put this one in OC tier.

Alpaca’s Unique Appeal

Alpaca, though, this one’s good. I like this one. It’s just a pink alpaca. Um, the pun here, though, I, I don’t, I don’t get what Melpa is supposed to mean, but whatever. I’ve seen some people say that it looks like Flaaffy, which I, I guess I can see. They are both pink, but um, that, that might actually just be a coincidence. Definitely distinct enough to be its own thing, either way.

Iker’s Mythical Inspiration

Iker, however, is not exactly a distinct idea. You can tell from its name what it’s actually based on: Iker, a mythical Norse stag. The exact same mythical Norse stag that Xerneas is based on. Iader is a bit more of a direct depiction of a stag, though, with less of the magical life powers, so it’s definitely another case of them taking an existing idea and making their own monster from it, rather than copying Xerneas directly. I do wish they did more with it than just deer, but it’s not plagiarism.

Nightwing’s Vague Distinction

Unlike Nightwing, however, uh, this is a Staraptor with the hair turned up, and they made it a vulture instead of whatever kind of bird this is, like a big sparrow. What is Staraptor, not a vulture? That’s what makes Nightwing le distinct enough for Game Freak not to sue here.

Rib Bunny and Sylveon Resemblance

Just like Rib Bunny. Rib Bunny is rabbit Sylveon. There’s no other explanation for the ribbon tentacles; it’s just what if Eevee was a bunny. I’ve never seen anything other than Sylveon have these ribbon tentacles. I’m going to be honest, it’s a pretty unique trait, at least. Ribon isn’t as lazy as Incam, though.

Incam’s Obvious Influences

Just look at this; this is Zoroark but with maybe a little Houndoom mixed in. Just look at those arms, though; they’re the exact same ovals with the three fingers and the tips of fur near the elbows. It’s not even subtle; this is actually just a Zoroark.

Cin Moth’s Cinnamon Concept

This one, though, is named Cin Moth. It scales taste like cinnamon, apparently, because it’s brown, I guess. I, I don’t know; the idea is not super well reflected in the design. Uh, than being a moth doesn’t really resemble any Pokémon I’ve ever seen, though, so at least there’s no plagiarism here.

Our Sox’s Elemental Originality

Our Sox is pretty unique too. It’s a, it’s a fire goat. I mean, there’s, there’s Elemental goats in Pokémon, but like, are we really going to knock Pal World just for having a goat in it?

Fire Goat Concept

I think a fire goat’s a pretty neat idea, pretty new element for a goat. Can’t say I’ve ever seen this one before, except um, except the Devil. He’s a fire goat, isn’t he? Never mind, this one isn’t a unique idea, but it’s not a ripoff of anything, as far as I know, so we can put it in the unique category.

Dum Mud’s Legal Risk

Uh, this one’s Dum Mud. Dum Mud is, uh, again, just mashing two Pokémon together, but way less subtly than some of the other ones. Uh, it is a Clauncher but with Sableye’s fin. It’s not even that it just resembles Sableye’s fin, either; it’s just Sableye’s fin, straight up. If there was a lawsuit with the Pokémon Company, this pal would definitely be making an appearance. Got to put this in the lawsuit tier.

Cognito’s Unique Design

Now, Cognito, though, this is actually one of the best Pals in the game. It’s just a little plague doctor bird. It’s not the most unique idea in the grand scheme of things, using a plague doctor in your design is a pretty common motif, but it’s really well-executed here and not already being done by Pokémon, so I got to give them some props here. This is a nice, fresh idea. Love to see more of these.

Les Punk’s Suspicious Inspiration

Um, Les Punk, though, doesn’t quite meet the same bar of freshness. I do like him; he’s a little rapping lizard, but it’s, uh, it’s clearly inspired by both Scraggy and Toxtricity. They didn’t rip off the designs here directly, but they do sort of have the same inner-city music theming going on. And if it wasn’t for some of the other Pals that were coming up, I’d give it the benefit of the doubt, but as it stands, I’m going to put it in the suspicious tier. I think the design in isolation is pretty okay, though.

Loot Moon’s Lack of Originality

Uh, you know what’s not okay, though, is uh, is Loot Moon. Loot Moon is, uh, just Zoroark. They ripped off Zoroark twice. This one isn’t a fox, though, so you got to give them that. They uh swapped the head out. I don’t know what animal that’s supposed to be, but hey, again, creatively bankrupt but legally distinct. What more can you ask for?

Gail Claw’s Acceptable Design

Uh, Gail Claw seems fine, though. He’s just a bird. I uh, I think he’s supposed to be a bald eagle, but it doesn’t have the same Native American motif that Braviary does. It’s just a straight-up eagle. It’s kind of the same level of design as Ekans; it’s hard to uh, make a ripoff when you’re just drawing an animal in an anime art style. While it might be hard to call this original, it’s certainly not a ripoff of anything.

Robin Quill’s Blatant Copying

Ah, this one, though, this one’s absolutely a ripoff. Robin Quill is somehow a blatant ripoff of both Gallade and Decidueye, but they didn’t even get rid of the archer aspect of this one, so it just feels like they ripped off Decidueye even harder. Like, usually, when you’re blending two Pokémon together, it ends up feeling too different from either one to feel like a direct ripoff, but they just put so many aspects of Decidueye on this Gallade body, it feels like they just wanted to play jousts with Decidueye. Now, there’s enough differences in color choices and feather patterns here; we have to say it’s in the OC tier.

Evaluating Uniqueness in Character Design

I don’t think it copies anything closely enough to be used as evidence in a court of law, but just barely. Now, Goror Rat, Goror Rat is a monkey, that’s it. It’s not, it’s nothing too special, doesn’t really look like any other monkey that I’ve seen in Pokémon either, as far as I can tell, so uh, we’re good here.

Beard and Its Unremarkable Nature

This is Beard. It’s a bee. Nothing particularly special here, honestly. It doesn’t look like any bee Pokémon I’ve ever seen. It’s more of just a bumblebee, but hey, I’m just judging if these are unique, not if they are good. So here we go.

Elizabe’s Regal Reference

And Elizabe, Elizabe is the queen bee. I think it’s supposed to be like Elizabeth, like Queen Elizabeth; that’s the pun. It’s a bit of a stretch and requires historical knowledge of previous British monarchs to work, so uh, bad name in my book, but uh, design’s fine though, just a larger bee.

Guard Grin Tail’s Controversial Design

Guard Grin Tail, at first glance, is just a fat cat, but that face, I’ve seen that face before because it’s ripped right off of a Galarian Meowth. It’s not even that it’s similar; just look at those teeth. It’s the same face, with the same number of line strokes and everything. This was, at best, copied, and at worst, literally ripped out of a Pokémon game and just pasted onto this model. Like, this is the kind of thing that you could actually use as evidence in court. One-to-one recreations of assets from other games is explicitly illegal. You can’t do that.

Swo’s General Acceptability

Swo seems fine. It’s just a big clump of hair with some cat ears, kind of looks like Alolan Vulpix, but that’s a very superficial and loose similarity, both just being big, white, fluffy boys. A similar design concept, but I can’t really say that one’s based on the other here.

Gillette’s Distinct Appeal

Gillette is a nice one, though. He’s just a big, furry boy you can ride around on him too. I love this guy. The closest Pokémon I’ve seen is Furret, but they’re both just, you know, ferrets, maybe not even that. I’m not sure what animal this actually is, but you know, Pokémon doesn’t have a monopoly on ferrets, so this one’s unique enough not to draw any criticism from me.

Exploring Unique and Not-so-Unique Designs

It is an electric zebra, just like Zebstrika. It’s a radically different design, but I’m not really aware of any electric zebra trope, so the fact that Pal World has an electric zebra makes me feel like they’re taking the idea directly from Pokémon on this one. Radically different design, though, so we can’t knock this one any harder than just stealing the idea.

Foxal’s Icy Theme

Then we have Foxal. Uh, this one’s a fox. It doesn’t really resemble any particular Pokémon, just like Univolt, but there’s obviously the ice fox, Alolan Ninetales. The thing with ice foxes, though, is that white foxes are just a real-life animal. So unlike an electric zebra, it’s really hard to call this idea unique to Pokémon. Uh, they’re both just kind of looking at a real-life animal and assigning the most obvious element to it.

Puring’s Flaming Design

Uh, Puring, though, is a little less unique. It’s a, it’s a fire horse, just like Rapidash. The design is a little different, but if the fur wasn’t black, it would be almost exactly the same. They really did just change the fur color and then add some extra fire decals onto the side. The fire decals do make it go faster, though. So, cool design, honestly. It is just a touch too far away from Rapidash to call it a Rapidash OC, so I’m just going to split the difference and put it in suspicious tier.

Rrick’s Winter Theme

Rrick is an ice deer whose fur is a Christmas sweater, so that’s cool, very cozy. This does feel more like a dog wearing antlers than an actual deer when I look closely at it, but as far as I know, this one’s entirely original.

Rhound’s Suspicious Similarity

Now, Rhound, though, Rhound feels like it wants to be Boltund. The naming scheme and the idea behind these monsters are identical but executed entirely differently. But unlike Norse deer or money cats, I’ve never heard of a common trope or myth that both of these monsters are drawing from. I think Rhound is just directly ripping off Boltund’s idea, but since there’s no visual similarities other than, uh, dog, I’m just going to put this under suspicious.

Kitsun’s Mythical Reference

Kitsun is based off the idea of a Kitsune, I’m assuming. It’s a, it’s a fire fox thing, looks more like a wolf, but uh, whatever. It, it doesn’t appear to be ripping off anything directly, as far as I can tell. It does look like a furry OC, though.

Dazzy’s Nature Inspiration

Dazzy, though, uh, Dazzy is a little bit less original, but, you know, also in a way, you can’t sue over. It’s clearly inspired by the Forces of Nature Pokémon, but all these Pokémon have the same origin, being based on Japanese nature gods. The mythical being on a cloud trope is far older than Pokémon, and even if you just play Nintendo games, you’ve probably seen it before. So, you can’t really get upset about Pal using it too.

Lunaris and Overwatch’s Echo Similarities

I have no evidence of this whatsoever, and some people might call this a stretch, but Lunaris and Echo from Overwatch have the same color scheme, same general silhouette, and even have the same blue fingertips going on. I’m not crazy; there’s got to be some commonality between these two. Maybe they’re both pulling from a third thing I’m not familiar with, but the similarity is striking. I obviously can’t put this any higher than suspicious because this is all just personal suspicion, but I’m feeling it. There’s something here.

Dinos’ Resemblance to Goodra

What’s a little easier to argue over, however, is Dinos. Uh, this is Goodra. It’s just grass Goodra. It has the same tail, the same ears, the same curvy body. He just took a Goodra, painted it green, and copy-pasted the Lan’s flower onto its head. Like, I feel this one just did not get enough work to make it unique. We are straddling the line between OC and something the Pokémon company could actually sue over here, but given there’s a few Pals that actually present legal troubles, I’m going to have to put this in OC tier, but just barely.

Serpent’s Generic Design

Serpent, though, he’s fine. Just a generic sea serpent sort of monster. It’s fairly unique, not copying anything as far as I can tell. Bit of an underbaked design, in my opinion, could use a bit more pizazz.

Marath’s Over-the-Top Design

Marath, on the other hand, has too much pizzazz. I don’t like it. It’s just all the fire, the death mask. It’s supposed to be a sort of Death Angel sort of thing, but it’s on four legs for some reason. Uh, I’ve never really seen anything like this before, so uh, unique. We can definitely call it unique.

Dig Toys’ Familiar Aspect

Dig Toys doesn’t really feel like it’s ripping off anything in particular either, but man, when I see that spiky shell, I can’t help but feel like I’m looking at Bowser. Now, spiky shells are definitely not unique to Mario, even if it’s the only place where I really see them regularly. So, I’m just going to put this in similar ideas tier, but I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that it took some inspiration.

Tomat’s Unique Magic

Up next is Tomat, the magic cat. He superficially reminds me of Gliscor, but it’s, it’s different. Completely different animal, this one’s a magician instead of a vampire bat thing, and they both, they both just kind of fly. That’s, uh, that’s pretty much where the similarity ends. I’m going to have to put this one under Originals.

Lavender’s Controversial Design

This is the big one, number 69, Lavender, which is exactly what it looks like. They took a Salazzle and leaned into the “I want to have sex with this Pokémon” motif. The pal deck description even says as much. There’s a lot of people saying that this one might be made from stolen assets, but when you actually pull up the models for this pal and the original Pokémon side by side, they’re, they’re clearly two different models.

Like, the skulls are slightly differently shaped, if you look at the trunks of the bodies, the pal is one polygon wider. Like, there’s no way you can claim these are the same models. It’s definitely wouldn’t get them into any legal trouble.

Lavender’s Parodic Nature

So, I’m going to be putting this in the OC do-not-sue tier, but honestly, out of everything in this tier so far, I think this one might be my favorite because it’s just an actual parody of the Pokémon. It might not be the most original joke, but hey, it’s more than a legally distinct Pokémon, it’s more than you can say for most of the things in this tier.

Fella’s Evolved Design

Fella, on the other hand, is a little Lava Girl with some goopy hair and a little flame on the top of her head. I’m pretty sure they just started with a Litwick and turned it into a new idea entirely. But I do like where they went with it. It’s evolved enough to the point where I’m not actually sure if it’s based on Litwick or if it just happens to look kind of similar. So, I’m going to put this in suspicious tier.

I think for a game that’s trying to satire Pokémon, this is a pretty good place to have Pals be just taking the idea behind a Pokémon and tweaking it into its own unique thing. I think if this is the closest you ever got to copying anything in Pokémon, there’d be a lot less controversy around this game.

Beacon’s Distinctive Approach

Beacon is more or less in the same camp but even further removed from the Pokémon of the same idea. It’s an electric bird, like Zapdos. I think the black mask is sort of similar to the Galarian Trio of birds, but looking closely at it, it’s not really an exact match with any of them. So, they’re definitely not stealing any assets here, as far as I can tell. And, uh, given how unafraid Pal World is of just copying things from Pokémon sometimes, it might actually just be a coincidence this bird has a mask. So, I’ll just put this down as an idea of convergent thinking.

Catris’s Unique Witchcraft

But I’m not aware of anything that resembles this too closely, so I’ll put this down as original, at least original enough. Cis’s rival of Wixen, though, yeah, no, this is just a recolored Delphox with a hat on. Like, there’s enough little differences here, along with the fact that, uh, fire witch isn’t the most unique idea in the first place, so that will definitely keep Pal World from getting sued over this one. But this one radiates OC, do not steal energy here.

Bird Dash’s Creativity

Bird Dash, uh, probably the same level of creativity here, honestly. This is just a grass Scorbunny. This is also going in OC, do not sue. Valet is a flower fairy, not a not a super unique idea, widespread trope, and as far as I can tell, the design is entirely original. So I’ll put it down in Originals tier.

Cilic’s Combination

Cilic, though, that’s uh, that uh, that just looks like they mashed together a Hatchet and a Frosmoth. Definitely legally distinct territory here. I don’t think you could actually sue over this, but I can see where they stitched these two Pokémon together. Definitely can’t call this original in any way, shape, or form.

Aladan’s Dinosaur Design

Aladan, though, is just a dinosaur with wings. Uh, also not like an original idea, pretty boring but legally, uh, entirely distinct. They’re in the clear here, along with Kelpsey, who is also fine legally, but um, uh, since I’ve seen the discourse, I’m going to bring it up here. A lot of people have been accusing this game of using AI to generate Pals. However, most of these designs have been around for at least 4 years before the modern wave of AI generation tools existed, and on top of that, I’ve found no actual evidence that AI was used in any portion of this game. So as it stands, I’m going to have to say for now that I think that the AI allegations are false.

The Controversy Around Azro

However, looking at this thing, if there’s any pal that was generated with AI, oh my God, it’s this one. It is just a fish blob with no mouth and some fins haphazardly glued on. It is so generic, uncanny, and underdeveloped as a concept, I am kind of surprised a human thought this was okay. Probably my least favorite pal.

Azro definitely isn’t AI, though; it’s just a lawsuit waiting to happen. Uh, this is far and away the worst one in the game, and I’m sure, looking at it, you can see the problems. It just took Serperior’s body and slapped Primarina’s hair on it. But uh, that, that’s not just me saying that. People have actually looked at the models and compared them. Primarina and Azro have almost identical hair, which is wild given how unique that hairstyle is. I can see some small differences in shape, and there’s a couple of places where the triangles aren’t exactly the same in these models, but it’s obvious where they pulled the design from.

Bron Cherry’s Parodic Design

Now, Bron Cherry, though, yeah, I’ve seen this one before. This uh, this is a souped-up Meganium. It really redid the whole design from the ground up here, so definitely nothing that wouldn’t be covered under parody law, certainly nothing they would get sued over, like some of the other Pals we’ve looked at. But uh, we, we all know what this is really supposed to be. We’re slapping this an no tier.

Pellia’s Generic Nature

Pellia is similar, a girl in a grass dress. Now, there’s plenty of Pokémon that look like this, but uh, you can’t really nail this down to anyone in particular. Uh, so just for that, we’re going to have to bump this down to just using the same idea.

Ryro’s Unique Flare

Ryro, though, uh, this one, this one’s fine, just a big fireball, kind of similar to Heatran, but entirely unique design. Has to go an original.

King Paca’s Noble Design

Now, King Paca, I like this one. I think he’s a really nice design. Uh, there’s a lot of people who have issue with the trident, and I see it. It does look just like Empoleon’s trident, but Pokémon did not invent the idea of a trident being a sign of nobility. Uh, pretty sure we have to give that one to Poseidon, and Poseidon’s been around a lot longer than Pokémon. So, I’ll put it down in the same idea category, but honestly, I really love this one.

Mest’s Environmental Trope

Mest is another good one. It’s running the same idea as Torterra, being an animal so large that it’s essentially its own living ecosystem, but that’s a trope as old as the human race. So, we’ll, we’ll just put this down as the same idea.

Wo’s Distinctive Elements

Then we have Wo. Wo reminds me of a lot of things. He’s got some Snorunt and My Neighbor Totoro energy, but he’s pretty distinct from both of them. Honestly, he also has that Tangela thing where his face is in the shadows, but that’s not really something we can pin down as being unique to Tangela. Shadows just kind of exist in real life. This one seems to be pretty unique overall, but…

Exploring Character Inspirations

I just can’t shake that feeling that I’ve seen this guy somewhere before. There’s something I missed here, be sure to let me know. Up next, we have War. At first glance, it uh, looks like Mega Heracross, but when you actually compare the two designs, it becomes obvious that this one’s akin to more of an actual real-life Beetle than Heracross is. But honestly, you can’t ding it for anything more than that, so it might ultimately be inspired by Heracross, but at the end of the day, they’re both just interpretations of the same thing: a beetle.

Fang Lope’s Uncanny Resemblance

These next couple, though, are going to be uh, a little harder to explain away. Uh, this is Fang Lope. Can you see where they got the inspiration for this one? I do think it’s just so slightly different enough where they can’t get literally sued for it, but uh, it’s uh, it’s clear what’s going on with this one. Going to put it in see.

Felbat and Fop’s Close Calls

Just like with Felbat, this is Darkrai, straight up Darkrai. They barely tried with this one, just gave it some shoes and a horn, and called it a day. Same thing with Fop. This isn’t an asset flip; they clearly came up with their own design of the the same thing, but they are treading a dangerous line here.

Quivver’s Angelic Originality

Uh, Quivver is fine, though. It’s just a big angelic dragon. I do get Neopet vibes from this, but I couldn’t find any Neopets that this was actually stealing from, so I’ll put this down in the original tier.

Pleas Me and Bracados’ Similar Features

Now, Pleas Me was another one I’m going to put down in the original tier. I don’t think it’s ripping anything off, but Bracados from Monster Hunter has the exact same rock pillar arm thing going on in its design. Everything else is super different, of course, so I can’t really accuse this design of being a copy of that one, but it definitely feels inspired here. There might be some common DNA or a third thing they’re both based on that I’m just not aware of.

El Zephyr’s Unique Design

El Zephyr also seems fine. Its moon-shaped wings immediately triggered some red flags for me, for some reason, when I saw it, but the closest Pokémon I could find is just Lunala, and it’s, it’s pretty different overall. So, I’ll just mark this one down as being unique for now.

Aagon’s Suspicious Similarities

Now, Aagon, he’s been catching some flack online for looking a little bit too much like Mega Aggron, and yeah, it’s pretty similar. The front of this helmet’s definitely got the same general design, and the whole armor motif is the same as well, but the armor does have a different plating pattern entirely. So, it’s definitely not an asset rip, but given how close the design is overall, I’m going to stick this in the suspicious tier.

Gutina’s Inspired Design

Uh, another pal that took some uh, inspiration, this is Gutina. This is Gutina if it was a scorpion instead of a centipede. Now, while the inspiration on that mask is pretty clear, it’s, it’s not a copy. It does look different.

Anubis’s Dubious Originality

So, I’m just going to have to stick this in the OC do-not-steal tier. Honestly, I think this one is just absolutely hilarious. I do kind of like this one. What I’m not a fan of, though, is Anubis. Anubis is creatively bankrupt. Yeah, can’t pretend this pal isn’t a stolen idea. A lot of people have been saying it’s just like Lucario. Uh, that’s not what I think they’re stealing from. I think it’s, you know, just Anubis, the dog-man god.

Any bipedal dog is just going to look like that. Now, the good thing about Anubis is it is a 5,000-year-old character, so it’s, I’m pretty sure it’s in public domain at this point. So, I guess we’ll just put it in the same idea if we count humanoid dog as the same idea.

Jde’s Sea Serpent Theme

Now, Jde has some obvious inspiration behind it. On the surface, it does look pretty similar to Gyarados, but it’s important to remember that the idea of a giant sea serpent is as old as seafaring itself, and there’s a lot, a lot of variations of it out there. I feel like this design leans more in the direction of being a sea serpent monster that you would hear tales about from sailors, rather than the sort of mystical Asian water dragon trope that Gyarados is clearly based on.

So, I’m going to have to put this in the camp of the same idea. While I could see this being directly inspired by Gyarados, it’s not a very unique idea at its core, and they’ve changed it up enough here to the point where it’s edging into a different theme entirely.

Suzaku’s Uniqueness

Suzaku, though, I have no idea what the idea behind this thing is. I’ve um, I don’t think I’ve ever seen anything like this before in my life, and I couldn’t find anyone online talking about this guy, no matter how hard I searched. Maybe there’s some niche design that I missed out there, but uh, this one seems entirely unique from anything I’ve seen.

My Neighbor Electrobuzz

You know who’s not entirely unique, though? My neighbor Electrobuzz. Yeah, this is not unique at all. Gis Bolt is 100% if Totoro and Electabuzz had a child. It’s uh, it’s legally distinct for sure, it’s definitely getting into OC tier, but uh, there is not an original thought behind this man. Not that I hate it, mind you. I love this. This is hilarious, and I want to see more things like it, but I have to call it what it is: just a two-for-one ripoff.

Lyen’s Inspired Fusion

Lyen is um, another inspired design. It looks to just be another girl in a grass dress, perhaps a mix between Lilligant and Mega Gardevoir. Like, I can see the inspirations, but it’s just slightly too different of a design to really pin it down on anything in particular, you know.

Glaris’s Royal Bird Theme

And here’s Glaris. Glaris is another bird. Uh, it’s got some royal Egyptian theming, I think. Not really sure exactly what that’s supposed to be, but I haven’t been able to find any similarities between this and anything else, so we’ll put it uh, in original enough.

Berserk’s Subtle Similarities

Now, here’s Berserk. On the surface, pretty unique, but pull up a Garchomp and look at these two. That hunched-over posture, that pointed nose that hooks over into a little bit of an overbite.

Berserk’s Design Analysis

I mean, other than those two things, this one’s pretty unique, but uh, I’m a sus out by that head design. I’m putting this in suspicious tier. There’s no way you get that exact same snout without a little bit of inspiration, you know.

Shadow Beak’s Familiar Crest

Speaking of suspicious heads, we have Shadow Beak, a quadrupedal bird thing whose crest looks suspiciously familiar to Salamence. There’s a few differences to it, maybe they’re both just using the same bird of prey motif, but I’m going to also have to put this one in suspicious tier.

Pus: A Paladin Centaur

Then up next is Pus. It’s just a paladin centaur. It’s not really a unique idea, is it? Just slapping a D&D class onto a mythical animal and calling it a day, but it doesn’t rip off any other design as far as I can tell. So, I feel pretty safe throwing it down in the Originals tier.

Ncus: The Antithesis of Pus

And Pelus’s counterpart, Ncus. Exact same design idea, but evil. Uh, still going in the original tier, right next to Pus. You’re allowed to rip off your own designs. That’s fun.

Frost Alien: A Frost Pegasus

Next up is Frost Alien. It’s a frost Pegasus. Not a not a unique idea at all, but the closest thing to it that I’ve ever seen is like, what, that Queen Pony thing? Uh, Princess Celestia. Is there a different My Little Pony princess? I’ve never seen a single episode, and I really don’t plan to. Regardless, I don’t think this is copying anything in particular, so we can just stick it down in original with the last few.

Jet Dragon’s Disappointing Blend

Uh, that, however, is going to be the last time we’re putting something in the original tier because up next, we have Jet Dragon, who is an unholy blend of Salamence and Latios, with the holographic diamonds from a Paradox Pokémon. There are multiple jet Pokémon, and this is somehow worse than all of them. My one rule, if you’re going to rip something off, is either make it cooler than the existing thing or make it funny. Like Grisal, this is just disappointing. I don’t like it at all. OC tier, definitely. It’s not close enough to any particular Pokémon to be plagiarism. I just wish they took the opportunity to do something better, you know.

Honorable Mention: The 112th Pal

And with that, we’re done with every pal in the pal deck. However, there’s one honorable mention. I have a 112th pal that isn’t even in the game now. This one has been shown in trailers.

Boltman’s Controversial Design

So, I don’t know why it’s not in the game, but what I like to imagine is that even the developers behind Pal World thought they were flying too close to the sun with this one and pulled it out. I don’t really know how you fly closer to the sun than what appears to be a slightly modified model ripped directly from a Pokémon game, but whatever.

This is Boltman. It is Lray. This is the same creature with a little diamond added to it. Uh, this one is even lazier than the ones where they just smash two Pokémon together because they, they just took one Pokémon here. It’s just a direct ripoff.

Now, if you look at the model side by side, they’re not exactly the same, so definitely no asset theft here. In fact, you can see a number of small differences across the entire Pokémon, so on the whole, it’s, it’s legally distinct for sure.

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In this article, I bring you five mus of the best early to mid-game Pals. These consist of all types, from amazing base workers to everything in between. To celebrate the amazing release of this game, I’m giving a few lucky players a chance to win this game.

Introduction to the Power World Game

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Discovering the Ragna Hawk

In my adventures across the vast open world Power World offers, I’ve come across some amazing Pals I feel you need to know about. Some of these you can get relatively early on, others are towards the mid to end game. First up, we have the Ragna Hawk, an incredible flying mount. This bird is probably my favorite mount in the game for getting around the map.

It isn’t the fastest mount in the game; that title is owned by the level 50 World boss jet dragon, an absolute monster. However, until then, birds like the Ragna Hawk will do just fine as they are truly rapid. This bird is located on the map, typically appearing during the day. According to the power deck, the bottom left area is the only place they are found.

Battling and Work Suitability of Ragna Hawk

In regards to battling with these mounts, I find them more effective when not mounted, as their moves normally consist of being stuck in a hovering spot for a few seconds while the bird initiates its attack, which can be a downfall when fighting stronger enemies. In terms of work suitability, they have a level three kindling, which means that they will rise faster, and they also have a level three trans point.

To craft this mount’s saddle, you need to be a level 38 upon capturing this bird, and the materials needed are 25 Lea, 15 Clof, 20 Ingots, 20 Flame Organs, and 25 Pum Fragments. So, the first on my list is the amazing Ragna Hawk.

Discovering the Flame Beast

I discovered the Flame Beast, which I believe is pronounced a certain way, by accident. It was night time in the game, and everything was dark. I saw something like a flame and flew towards it, thinking it was an unclaimed fast travel point. Upon getting closer, I realized it was a Pal, a beast at that. The location of these creatures is shown on screen. I believe they can be found both day and night. You can see the location where I found mine and also where these creatures are typically located, thanks to the power deck. This fire-ground type Pal is incredibly useful as a base Pal. Though it is slow in movement, it compensates with its powerful attack.

Utility and Crafting of the Flame Beast

In terms of work suitability, the Flame Beast has a level three in both mining and kindling. This creature, alone or with others of its kind, can quickly process a bunch of ore rocks and cook them into metal. That’s primarily what I use it for now. To unlock this Pal’s saddle, you need to be at level 32 upon capturing it. Crafting the saddle requires 20 Leever, 20 Ingots, 20 Flame Organs, and 20 Powering Fragments. Although the saddle isn’t essential unless you manually mine ore, it does offer a buff, so keep that in mind.

Introducing the P-Nut

Next up, we have the P-Nut, one of the faster ground mounts in the game. This mythical-looking beast horse is quite unique, offering both fire and dark abilities. I don’t use it for its work suitability, but more so as a fast-moving battle speed mount. It offers a level two in kindling and a level one in lumbering, but there are better options out there for these purposes. This Pal’s true purpose, in my opinion, is fighting, and it excels in this role. It’s also amazing at running and charging at smaller animals to tame their loot.

The control over this Pal is exceptional; it darts in different directions, making it great for both battling larger foes and quick movement. This Pal was instrumental in my defeat and capture of the mammoth world boss, as it dealt all the damage while I attacked from a distance. When mounted, it also applies dark damage to your attacks. This Pal is located strictly at night within the location shown on screen.

Discovering the Robin Quill

The Robin Quill is an exceptional choice, especially for early players of the game. I included it in this list because of its unique qualities for base work suitability at an early stage. This grass-type Pal, resembling a vegetable superhero, is surprisingly capable of performing various tasks at your base. It offers a level one in planting, level two in handiwork, level one in lumbering, level one in medicine production, level two in transporting, and level two in gathering.

Capturing a few of these can be highly beneficial, as they can free up many base power slots, handling multiple tasks. While its combat capabilities are decent, it falls short in mounting or offering additional battle purposes, like blueprint unlocks seen in other Pals.

Introducing the Kitson

Lastly, we have the Kitson, my personal favorite ground mount in the game. It’s fast, hits hard, and excels in combat, whether mounted or not. Its work suitability includes a level two in kindling, but that’s primarily it. The Kitson isn’t meant for base work but for mounting. When on this mount, you are unaffected by extreme cold and heat, which is a significant advantage in exploring early on without the right armor. You can find this Pal in a specific area on the map, noted for its cold climate. The saddle becomes available at level 30 and requires 25 leather, 10 cloth, 15 flame organs, and 20 Podium fragments. The Kitson, resembling a mythical Warg, stands out as one of the best ground mounts in the game, offering speed and proficiency in battle.

Conclusion

There you have it, five early to mid-game amazing Pals you don’t want to miss. Looking forward to seeing you in the next article!

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