This is what happens if you adapt anime into live-action.
What if Pokémon were SCPs?
is a series of videos detailing an alternate take on the Pokémon universe, inspired by the SCP Foundation, where the titled creatures are not depicted as everyday, anime-styled animals, but rather dark, mysterious, and occasionally dangerous creatures.
This page contains the following tropes:
- Adaptation Deviation: The Dark Balls were created first before the SCP Foundation made the Poké Ball (Pocket Ball) we are familiar with.
- Adaptational Abomination: Downplayed. While plenty of Pokemon are monstrous and eldritch, they're typically seen in-context as no different from animals in the wild. Making them into SCPs acknowledges just how unusual they really are, the Foundation capturing them in order to isolate them from humanity and maintain normalcy.
- Adaptational Heroism: Downplayed. While the SCP versions of Jessie and James are not like their cartoonish villain counterparts, they are still part of an organization who have done many morally questionable acts.
- Adaptational Protagonist: In the Pokémon franchise, Professor Samuel Oak in the games just shows up to give the Player Character their starter Pokemon, their Pokedex, and some Poke Balls to start their journey, and in the anime series, he's a supporting character who helps Ash out with whatever he's doing at the moment. In Christian's Pokemon as SCPs series, however, (in addition to other SCP videos) Professor Dresden Oakland is basically the main character, seeing as he's the narrator expositing the lore behind each entity kept in containment by the Foundation, along with detailing their struggles to prevent individuals like Ash from breaking The Masquerade they work so hard to maintain, and a later episode details how Oakland ends up becoming one of the main villains of Christian's original Tales of the Multiverse series.
- Adaptational Ugliness: To match the Darker and Edgier nature, the Pokémon are drawn to be less cute-looking and more nightmarish.
- Arch-Enemy: The SCP Foundation's greatest threat to their Masquerade is a young teenager named Satoshi Matsumoto, who seems to be dead-set on exposing the SCPs to the world, an act that the Foundation is trying hard to prevent.
- Been There, Shaped History: Several of the SCPs are ancient leading many of the Foundation personnel to speculate that some had played roles in inspiring various mythologies.
- SCP-P491 (Darkrai) could have inspired the Greek god, Morpheus who possessed dream-related powers.
- SCP-P382 (Kyogre) and SCP-P383 (Groudon) might be the true Leviathan and Behemoth of Hebrew mythology.
- The Foundation are willing to believe that SCP-P384 (Rayquaza) maybe Quetzalcoatl, a flying serpent of Aztec mythology.
- Creepy Good: SCP-P778 (Mimikyu) is this that the Foundation gave it the "Safe" status.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: The Foundation sent in their forces, including allied SCPs, to try and contain SCP-P493 (Arceus). P493 took them down in seconds.
- Darker and Edgier: This is not the cutesty and colorful anime world you watched as a child, but a more nightmare-inducing and realistic take based on the SCP universe.
- Everyone Has Standards: While the SCP will commit morally ambiguous deeds to accomplish their goals, murdering a teenager is one of the things they won't cross.
- Evil Is Not a Toy: Well, labeling SCP-P212 (Scizor) as evil would be inaccurate but it is extremely dangerous as the tech mogul that bought the creature found that out the hard way...
- It Amused Me:
- SCP-P122 (Mr. Mime) is staying with the SCP Foundation because he is happy entertaining the members there. The SCP members genuinely enjoy his shows.
- SCP members believe that SCP-P094 (Gengar) can escape from its containment at any time, but it chooses not to as it's having way too much fun tormenting the people the Foundation sacrifices to it.
- Mythology Gag:
- Professor Oakland is obviously based on Professor Oak.
- Jessie has a surname that is based on her original Japanese name, Musashi.
- This world's version of Ash Ketchum's real name is Satoshi Matsumoto, a mix between his Japanese name, Satoshi, and his voice actress's name, Rica Matsumoto.
- Blaine being the creator of Mewtwo is a good call-back to the character's role in Pokémon Adventures.
- The SCP version of Mewtwo bears markings similar to the Cloned Pokemon from Pokémon: The First Movie.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: SCP-P-425 (Drifloon) can take away small children since they are very light, but they can't take fat children since they are… you know, fat. One fat kid encountered and captured a Drifloon because of this.
- Tragic Abandoned Toy: SCP-P354 (Banette) in Episode 6 has, in the rare occasions where it actually speaks to its captors at the SCP Foundation, repeated that it "must return to someone", and that this someone abandoned them. The Foundation have theorized that the doll which P-354 possesses was thrown away by a child beforehand, and that it seeks to track down its past owner. They have also speculated that perhaps P354 would stop being a Serial Killer of children if it did find and kill its original owner (who, based on what little information they have, threw the doll away in California and now lives on the East Coast of America), but the Foundation is not willing to let that happen.
