I remember hearing at one point that Cacturn is meant to reference a Bubak, a type of monster that looks like a scarecrow and steals people and children traveling alone. Which is said in it's Pokedex entries. Combining this with the idea of a jumping cactus makes it really fun!
@@robertlupa8273at this point should be like 10, remember pokemons like sandighast and paloosand (the sand castle pokemons because idk if i wrote them right) one literally possess kids that try to touch the shovel in it's head, and the other literally devour kids and steal theyre life energy of them inside the sand castle, literally You can see the bones inside of it before your death
You know what would work really well on Cacturne? A big yellow poncho. It'd cover up its empty torso area, look scarier, cooler, it'd look both more like a scarecrow, since they often have draping rags on them, but also it'd look like a desperado or a cowboy. Damnit now I wanna draw that.
Agreed!!!! Especially if it was made of dead foliage or something! Maybe change the “hat” a little too. I love Cacturn but he is definitely a little plain now that he’s 3D
I always thought cacturne was kind of a representation of a Cowboy. With cacnea being a younger version with childish wonder and cacturne being the jaded older version.
I always got a cowboy theme from Cacturne too! I guess it's the headpiece part? Cacturne looks ready for an old west shootout with its arms away from the thighs (where a gun holster would be).
@@drakensgreed2350It could also be from the original Ruby/Sapphire sprite's pose, with its arms bent much more and its back arched more than the model shown. It almost looked like he could be reaching for his big iron(s) while peering at you from under its makeshift hat. I totally see it now.
Cacturne stays immobile and camouflaged during the night with his homies and beat the ever living crap out of anyone they see as easy picking That info adds so much malicious character to cacturne's design and that's why I'm really found of it
I still wish it had a yummy fruit on its head so it could lure prey in, but not attack immediately. Let the prey take its fruit but oh oh~ the fruit is poisonous underneath the yummy, so now the prey will be weakened enough to not even think about escaping from this pursuit predator. If Cacturn didn’t ride off in a posse, this totally should’ve been what they did.
@@togekiss1995their style of hunting is more similar to somewhere in the middle of human and polar bear, they stalk you much like a polar and they make their move when you don't have the energy to run or fight kinda like humans used to do (although for us it came down to the ability to cool off so even if the pray out speeds you, you get less tired and you regain your stamina faster so you catch up, for them it's down to being able to not waste energy during the day to catch up during the night when it's easier to move, also bc they do big area pack hunts they most certainly know where you are)
@@matiaspereyra9392 Maybe they have some kinda heat detection ability then if they are pursuing prey in peril during the night? I still like the idea that Cacturn should have at least an evolution that does the fruit lure thing.
"Imagine how creepy Cacnea be with pure black eye sockets" In that case Cacnea wouldn't looked creepy at all instead it'll digivolve into *TOGEMON* V2 lmao
Let’s not forget the adorableness that is James’s Cacnea. I miss that prickly hugger for James. It was his best itteration of the Victreebel gag alongside Mareanie
Cacnea and Cacturne were always some of my favorite pokemon. It started back during the gen 3 anime with that guy dressed as one (can't remember his name) and I've loved the cactus ever since. It's a crime that they didn't make Cacnea also evolve into Meractus tho
I do love how sinister Cacturne's face is, with the mouth being made of essentially a bunch of holes, it goes from Cacnea's mouth holes giving off a Jack-o-lantern sort of vibe, to Cacturne looking like it had no mouth so it stabbed a bunch of holes in the shape of a sinister grin. But yeah, once you get below the neck that concept falls apart. If they played less into the cactus part and way more into the evil scarecrow part I feel like Cacturne could have been a slam dunk
There's actually a comic of how to take care of your cacti Pokémon and the creator treats them like actual cacti plants, I recommend it for cuteness overload
Cacturne gives me Freddy Kruger vibes for some reason, I think it's the early sprites with its head tilted down to look like it's wearing a fedora like Kruger.
I think Cacturne is a victim of pokémon being targeted to children, it looks like they tried to make a scary design but had to soften it to keep it from being too scary, which is a shame since Cacnea is a really solid design by itself
I love them both but I do wish they’d gone just a teeny bit further with spooky-scary-scarecrow Like a disenfranchised child who grew into an emo phase he never left
Amazing, he's basically a succulent mimicing a cacti, no spines/needles!! I wish I could have a sculpture or a plant with some hollowed out bits and modeled pieces to mimic this awesome pokedudd
I always thought Cacturne looked more sinister and scary in its official art, where the angle of its head made its hat double as both a furrowed brow (giving it a sinister smile) and something of a crooked villain nose. Really loses some of the punch in the third dimension... They could have at least furrowed its eyes under the hat, but it just looks silly as is
I love Cacturne actually, a cactus scarecrow that stalks you in the desert is such an S-tier monster idea. Just it would easily be one of my top-favorites if it had seams down its body and more needles. And perhaps, if in the 3D games, it stood perfectly still for an idle animation to get the creepy scarecrow idea across better. One of the rare instances of a Pokemon managing to be both under-designed and over-animated. It's just a 9/10 Pokemon for me that's painful because I can very easily see how it'd just instantly become 10/10 for me, because the changes to get there would be very minor.
I definitely dont disagree, and yet I love cacturne. Edit: Like id be cool if the design changed, but I want them to keep whatever element there is that I find so charming. Edit: i think if they leaned into the pumkin king/ scarecrow king Oz-ish aesthetic it would work better. Perhaps an evolution?
I like Cacturne bc he looks like a guy in a mascot costume (which you also pointed out he looked like) and the idea of a costumed guy running around pretending to be a Pokemon is really funny to me. Also he reminds me of the Final Fantasy catus.
I think Cacturne is a victim of the jump to 3D, as are so, *so* many pokemon. I remember it looking a lot better, even kinda menacing, because the payterns looked... *Spikier* in 2D.
I feel like Cacturne is really an eye of the beholder kind of monster. If you love creepy scarecrows, you’ll love Cacturne, and you can probably guess who one of my fave Batman villains is based on that statement in Cacturne’s defence lol 😂
I like cacturne but yeah, with a few minor tweaks it could've been a really sick design, love the stats too and how it can be played as a mixed attacker with sucker punch
Personally, I love Cacturne. It’s like my fourth favorite Pokémon (though the three ahead of it are all tied for first so it’s also kind of second?) it’s so neat. It stands around like a cactus and then stalks people in the night to eat them. That’s cool as hell. It was also my first shiny in an old Pokémon fan game that was technically my first Pokémon game in general, and I love its shiny, so there’s bias there too lmao
Maractus really looks like it would have been a Cacnea evolution. It's weird how gen 5 has pokemon like that one and Alomomola that look like they should have evolved from older pokemon but don't.
Cacturn’s body proportions do remind me of tall branched cacti. I do like its design but i wish they went a little more creepy with it, like those stories about cacti that walk at night to search for water. I think its legs could use more spikes Also I see the scarecrow design but if im honest I thought of it like a cowboy. I know that its “hat” looks nothing like a cowboy hat but the idea at least is charming to me
I remember when I was a kid, I really liked Cacturne, just because it felt like a western villain. It's very rogueish, and it feels like it should have two big irons on its hip that it's ready to grab.
This is the first time I've seen the Cacturn 3D sprite and omg was he done dirty. The original gen 3 sprite looks way better imo, a lot more intimidating with the piercing orange eyes being a lot more noticeable as well as a more characterful stance
I've always loved Cacnea... which makes it hurt that I haven't found the opportunity to use it for in-game. Yes, James' Cacnea contributed to this love.
Tbh I think cacturne looked good in its 2D sprites, but looks bad in 3D. I wish they'd had it sway gently from side to side like in its Black and White sprite. That fit it so much better
I think cacturne has a lot of potential for an alternative form. I think the design isn't that bad, especially the haunting face being covered by the hat, and the fact it stalks people in deserts is so cool. If it leant more to that creepy aspect I think it would be very good.
Cacturnes pixelated sprite emanates the ominous vibes a lot better than the 3D one does though! The pose and colors make it a lot more spooky! They’ve always been one of my favorites though!!
cacturne's design looks almost acceptable in its gen 3 sprite, where its dumb proportions and weird body are squished in such a way that it looks 'right'. its other sprites are not very good and it's one of the pokemon that got murdered by the transition to 3D models.
I think you should do 2 different types of reviews for Pokémon designs. How they work in pixel form vs how they work in 3D form. old gens had a different energy due to the 2d flat pixel, allowing the art to be the focus. while 3d takes the design and focuses more on the character model.
“If a traveler is going through a desert in the thick of night, Cacturne will follow in a ragtag group. The Pokémon are biding their time, waiting for the traveler to tire and become incapable of moving.” so yeah they hunt humans too
Right around the time of Red and Blue, I actually created a cactus fakemon based on Cactot from the Final Fantasy series and it evolved into a muscular Suarro Cactus... but this was before the Dark type so it was pure grass type
Huh, I actually never noticed the jack-o-lantern smile on either of them. I always just saw the one big O-shaped hole in the middle of their faces. Neat.
I remember hearing at one point that Cacturn is meant to reference a Bubak, a type of monster that looks like a scarecrow and steals people and children traveling alone. Which is said in it's Pokedex entries. Combining this with the idea of a jumping cactus makes it really fun!
If I had a dollar for everytime a pokemon snatched children
@@thesheerwoodcrow5465That would be like... 3? Hypno, Drifloon, now this.
@@robertlupa8273at this point should be like 10, remember pokemons like sandighast and paloosand (the sand castle pokemons because idk if i wrote them right) one literally possess kids that try to touch the shovel in it's head, and the other literally devour kids and steal theyre life energy of them inside the sand castle, literally You can see the bones inside of it before your death
@@robertlupa8273 don’t forget duskull
Conceptually cool, aesthetically.....
Cacturne is a cactus scarecrow that jumps you in the desert. I love em.
Prickly hug daddy.
Sitting in a dead field by on old dusty road in the middle of nowhere he doesn't seem that bad
It's quite under-designed though 🙈🌵👨🏻🌾
You know what would work really well on Cacturne? A big yellow poncho. It'd cover up its empty torso area, look scarier, cooler, it'd look both more like a scarecrow, since they often have draping rags on them, but also it'd look like a desperado or a cowboy. Damnit now I wanna draw that.
That sounds frickin' awesome.
This is a great recommendation!
Perfect for a wild west pokemon game!
I've seen many pokemon fan artists draw just that and it always looks fire
Agreed!!!! Especially if it was made of dead foliage or something! Maybe change the “hat” a little too. I love Cacturn but he is definitely a little plain now that he’s 3D
i see your point, however Cacturne will forever be my babygirl
I hope this doesn't have anything to do with the fact that Cacturne is in the human-like egg group
So true bestie
I too love my water asorb cacturn
It is such a good grass type! It's way cooler than Shiftry too.
@@strombreakr if it didn't at first, I'll make it so
Cacturne definitely would benefit from a yellow accent and more spikiness
Mega cacturne anybody?
Yeah he needs spiker spikes. His spikes dont look like it would hurt on contact.
@thefilipinokid123I suppose its eyes? I meant more in other regions of his body, like at the head or spikes
Imo, Maractus fits leagues better as a Cacnea evo than Cacturne ever will
Just needs a 3rd form.
I always thought cacturne was kind of a representation of a Cowboy. With cacnea being a younger version with childish wonder and cacturne being the jaded older version.
I dig this interpretation a lot 👍
I always got a cowboy theme from Cacturne too! I guess it's the headpiece part? Cacturne looks ready for an old west shootout with its arms away from the thighs (where a gun holster would be).
@@ReynalldayIt's the pose too, classic gunslinger with wide legs, both arms ready to reach holstered pistols in an instant.
You would love to know that Cacturne has a regional variant and mega in fangame Pokémon Insurgence.
@@drakensgreed2350It could also be from the original Ruby/Sapphire sprite's pose, with its arms bent much more and its back arched more than the model shown. It almost looked like he could be reaching for his big iron(s) while peering at you from under its makeshift hat.
I totally see it now.
Cacturne stays immobile and camouflaged during the night with his homies and beat the ever living crap out of anyone they see as easy picking
That info adds so much malicious character to cacturne's design and that's why I'm really found of it
"Let's go bois, take his lunch money!"
@@sirreginaldfishingtonxvii6149"No, Take HIM as Lunch!"
I still wish it had a yummy fruit on its head so it could lure prey in, but not attack immediately. Let the prey take its fruit but oh oh~ the fruit is poisonous underneath the yummy, so now the prey will be weakened enough to not even think about escaping from this pursuit predator.
If Cacturn didn’t ride off in a posse, this totally should’ve been what they did.
@@togekiss1995their style of hunting is more similar to somewhere in the middle of human and polar bear, they stalk you much like a polar and they make their move when you don't have the energy to run or fight kinda like humans used to do (although for us it came down to the ability to cool off so even if the pray out speeds you, you get less tired and you regain your stamina faster so you catch up, for them it's down to being able to not waste energy during the day to catch up during the night when it's easier to move, also bc they do big area pack hunts they most certainly know where you are)
@@matiaspereyra9392 Maybe they have some kinda heat detection ability then if they are pursuing prey in peril during the night? I still like the idea that Cacturn should have at least an evolution that does the fruit lure thing.
"Imagine how creepy Cacnea be with pure black eye sockets"
In that case Cacnea wouldn't looked creepy at all instead it'll digivolve into *TOGEMON* V2 lmao
Let’s not forget the adorableness that is James’s Cacnea. I miss that prickly hugger for James. It was his best itteration of the Victreebel gag alongside Mareanie
What about Carnivine?
Cacnea and Cacturne were always some of my favorite pokemon. It started back during the gen 3 anime with that guy dressed as one (can't remember his name) and I've loved the cactus ever since. It's a crime that they didn't make Cacnea also evolve into Meractus tho
Harley.
@@ExpandDong420 You take that back about my boy
The holes for the smile I think also represent the holes that cacti often get from animals burrowing inside, which I think is cool!
Cacnea: *is holding a Pokéblock, looking puzzled and anxious*
Pikipek: I gotchu *pecks cacnea a mouth*
Cacnea* ^_^
Honestly, cacturne must be doing SOMETHING right, because a cactus scarecrow is literally exactly what it is!
Cacturn is a Pokémon that to this day looks like a middle stage and would love if they get the flowers back in their future.
@@devilkeraCacturne with eviolite
I do love how sinister Cacturne's face is, with the mouth being made of essentially a bunch of holes, it goes from Cacnea's mouth holes giving off a Jack-o-lantern sort of vibe, to Cacturne looking like it had no mouth so it stabbed a bunch of holes in the shape of a sinister grin. But yeah, once you get below the neck that concept falls apart. If they played less into the cactus part and way more into the evil scarecrow part I feel like Cacturne could have been a slam dunk
"imagine how creepy It would be with pure black eye sockets"
*Digimon just entered the chat
Then again, going from a cactus Jack'o lantern to a cactus scarecrow makes perfect sense.
There's actually a comic of how to take care of your cacti Pokémon and the creator treats them like actual cacti plants, I recommend it for cuteness overload
What's the name :0
I think the old sprites actually do look pretty menacing
To be fair to Cacturne, a lot of IRL cacti have weird bulbous limbs like that
Cacturne should've leaned harder into it's cowboy hat design like a cacturn spine slinger
Cacturne gives me Freddy Kruger vibes for some reason, I think it's the early sprites with its head tilted down to look like it's wearing a fedora like Kruger.
Less isn't always more, sometimes less is just less
Say what ever you want Cacturn, however you can’t denied that you would sh!t yourself you saw one let alone a horde of them following you at night.
Cacturne worked better as a 2D sprite for me since the scarecrow-like hat was angled in a way that made them look more menacing.
I loved how Harley's Cacturne in the anime could extend the spines on its arms, wish they'd incorporated that into its 3d animations
I remember loving the cacnea James had and how it would immediately hug him first chance it got even if it poked him with it's needles
I think Cacturne is a victim of pokémon being targeted to children, it looks like they tried to make a scary design but had to soften it to keep it from being too scary, which is a shame since Cacnea is a really solid design by itself
Nice argument… however… cacturne is god and I won’t hear anything different from my precious little guy
I love them both but I do wish they’d gone just a teeny bit further with spooky-scary-scarecrow
Like a disenfranchised child who grew into an emo phase he never left
Cacturne has always been one that I think needed a 3rd stage, it just screams middle form
I think cactus-scarecrow is a great idea on paper, but giving it round shapes fumbles a bit.
Amazing, he's basically a succulent mimicing a cacti, no spines/needles!! I wish I could have a sculpture or a plant with some hollowed out bits and modeled pieces to mimic this awesome pokedudd
They should make a regional form for Cacturne that's Grass/Fairy and builds off the the crown to become like an emperor/empress of the oasis.
I always thought Cacturne looked more sinister and scary in its official art, where the angle of its head made its hat double as both a furrowed brow (giving it a sinister smile) and something of a crooked villain nose. Really loses some of the punch in the third dimension... They could have at least furrowed its eyes under the hat, but it just looks silly as is
I think if Cacturn had his arms lowered his neck slumped over and slowly breath. Can give it this disconnected dead creature waiting to attack.
I love Cacturne actually, a cactus scarecrow that stalks you in the desert is such an S-tier monster idea. Just it would easily be one of my top-favorites if it had seams down its body and more needles. And perhaps, if in the 3D games, it stood perfectly still for an idle animation to get the creepy scarecrow idea across better. One of the rare instances of a Pokemon managing to be both under-designed and over-animated. It's just a 9/10 Pokemon for me that's painful because I can very easily see how it'd just instantly become 10/10 for me, because the changes to get there would be very minor.
The Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Music
Thank you 🙏🏽
I definitely dont disagree, and yet I love cacturne.
Edit: Like id be cool if the design changed, but I want them to keep whatever element there is that I find so charming.
Edit: i think if they leaned into the pumkin king/ scarecrow king Oz-ish aesthetic it would work better. Perhaps an evolution?
The best thing about Cacnea is how they move around in the New Pokemon Snap game. They just roll around! Extremely cute design
I like Cacturne bc he looks like a guy in a mascot costume (which you also pointed out he looked like) and the idea of a costumed guy running around pretending to be a Pokemon is really funny to me. Also he reminds me of the Final Fantasy catus.
I think Cacturne is a victim of the jump to 3D, as are so, *so* many pokemon. I remember it looking a lot better, even kinda menacing, because the payterns looked... *Spikier* in 2D.
Losing the crown also sucks. The gold made the design pop compared to the completely green evolution
I feel like Cacturne is really an eye of the beholder kind of monster. If you love creepy scarecrows, you’ll love Cacturne, and you can probably guess who one of my fave Batman villains is based on that statement in Cacturne’s defence lol 😂
I just feel like its a middle evolution without a final evolution.
He deserves a split evolution, come on Gamefreak
I like cacturne but yeah, with a few minor tweaks it could've been a really sick design, love the stats too and how it can be played as a mixed attacker with sucker punch
You can say what you want about Cacturn, but the Majora's Mask Moon's eye is plenty enough for me. Sold
Personally, I love Cacturne. It’s like my fourth favorite Pokémon (though the three ahead of it are all tied for first so it’s also kind of second?) it’s so neat. It stands around like a cactus and then stalks people in the night to eat them. That’s cool as hell. It was also my first shiny in an old Pokémon fan game that was technically my first Pokémon game in general, and I love its shiny, so there’s bias there too lmao
Cacturn's hat reminds me of that one guy from the Moomins with the long name. Rumplestilt... I don't member
Maractus really looks like it would have been a Cacnea evolution. It's weird how gen 5 has pokemon like that one and Alomomola that look like they should have evolved from older pokemon but don't.
Cacturn’s body proportions do remind me of tall branched cacti. I do like its design but i wish they went a little more creepy with it, like those stories about cacti that walk at night to search for water. I think its legs could use more spikes
Also I see the scarecrow design but if im honest I thought of it like a cowboy. I know that its “hat” looks nothing like a cowboy hat but the idea at least is charming to me
I love your design takes and critiques. Learning what to consider for designing my own characters
I remember when I was a kid, I really liked Cacturne, just because it felt like a western villain. It's very rogueish, and it feels like it should have two big irons on its hip that it's ready to grab.
I'll argue that Cacturne is enough in the uncanny valley with its more human proportions to be unsettling, so I'd give the whole line a C+.
Now lets talk about Cacturne's beta design :)
This is the first time I've seen the Cacturn 3D sprite and omg was he done dirty. The original gen 3 sprite looks way better imo, a lot more intimidating with the piercing orange eyes being a lot more noticeable as well as a more characterful stance
Cacturne became emo...
I love Cacturne and him being half scarecrow half cactus, makes his pokedex entry all the more interesting/terrifying
That music takes me back, thank you.
I think cacturn should have more of a rigid body, more sharp, leaning to that scare crow idea.
I've always loved Cacnea... which makes it hurt that I haven't found the opportunity to use it for in-game.
Yes, James' Cacnea contributed to this love.
Cacnea and Cacturne feel like Digimon designs just through the eyes alone.
Now I wanna see an animated short where Cacnea scares off someone by hiding its eyes and looking creepy 😂
I think the mix of pleasant and scary makes it give an uncanny vibe where your mind doesn't know how to respond. Which is really cool to me
Cacnea's shiny is Orange. When I caught one i nicknamed him pumpkin
Cacturn really needs an evolution. Maybe it withers away and becomes Ghost/Dark?
Yes, Cacturne isn't bad, but it's quite under-designed 🙈🌵👨🏻🌾
Cacturne follows you until you collapse from exhaustion.
If you want to see more Cacnea, there are moments in the anime. Still funny and adorable when he hugs James just after leaving the Pokeball.
Even the cacnea's crown has no meaning after evolving, all the cacnea's joy suddenly disappear
Tbh I think cacturne looked good in its 2D sprites, but looks bad in 3D. I wish they'd had it sway gently from side to side like in its Black and White sprite. That fit it so much better
Cacturn's 3D design would absolutely be popular in those toddler mascot horror games, tbh
Cacturn feels like a middle evolution for some reason... like he's halfway between adorable and spooky.
Cacturne's posture in the Genius Sonority 3D games went a long way.
Cacturne’s 3D model really sucked the scariness away from it. Why’s he doing a little dance 😭
ikr its supposed to stay still... love playing cacturn with sand veil
I have never noticed the smiles
I think cacturne has a lot of potential for an alternative form. I think the design isn't that bad, especially the haunting face being covered by the hat, and the fact it stalks people in deserts is so cool. If it leant more to that creepy aspect I think it would be very good.
cacnea might be a top-10 contender for translation to 3-d imo, what a fun and evocative walking animation
Cacturne’s eyes haunt the living bejewelled out of me
"Guy in a mascot costume + scary doesn't meld at all"
Scott Cawthon: hold my Monty Mix
Cacturnes pixelated sprite emanates the ominous vibes a lot better than the 3D one does though! The pose and colors make it a lot more spooky! They’ve always been one of my favorites though!!
Cacturne radiates "middle stage" energy. It needs an evolution that doubles down on the scarecrow idea.
They need a Halloween-cactus-themed third-stage.
Cacturn follow prey in a group for miles at night, once prey collapses from exhaustion they jump them.
For the longest time I thought cacturne had a nose
Trying out a teensy Cacturne
I love Cacturne, but I never noticed before how desaturated it gets compared to Cacnea. I feel like that hurts its design a lot.
You could even say they were outstanding in its field
cacturne's design looks almost acceptable in its gen 3 sprite, where its dumb proportions and weird body are squished in such a way that it looks 'right'. its other sprites are not very good and it's one of the pokemon that got murdered by the transition to 3D models.
Cacturne looks like the green mascot version of fiddlesticks
An evolution would do them justice probably
I think you should do 2 different types of reviews for Pokémon designs. How they work in pixel form vs how they work in 3D form. old gens had a different energy due to the 2d flat pixel, allowing the art to be the focus. while 3d takes the design and focuses more on the character model.
Cacturne just feels like an awkward middle stage for a final evolution we never got.
I live in the desert I know the truth it’s not the big spikes you need to worry about it’s the soft fuzzy looking cacti you need worry about.
“If a traveler is going through a desert in the thick of night, Cacturne will follow in a ragtag group. The Pokémon are biding their time, waiting for the traveler to tire and become incapable of moving.”
so yeah they hunt humans too
Right around the time of Red and Blue, I actually created a cactus fakemon based on Cactot from the Final Fantasy series and it evolved into a muscular Suarro Cactus... but this was before the Dark type so it was pure grass type
On a side note the Northern Desert theme from PMD EoS is so damn good
Idk why but I think cacturn is adorable and I would genuinely love a life size plushie of it
Huh, I actually never noticed the jack-o-lantern smile on either of them. I always just saw the one big O-shaped hole in the middle of their faces. Neat.
Cacturne would go so hard if they were designed to be a cowboy gunslinger, shooting seeds at its oppenednts with a signature grass priority move