A former Game Freak character designer has revealed new context for the unusual Ultra Beast creatures from Pokémon Sun and Moon. According to the designer, those alien-looking entities were shaped by repurposed, rejected concept art and an undercurrent of resentment that influenced their final forms.

  • Origins: Ultra Beasts did not spring from a single cohesive plan but were assembled from discarded or unused Pokémon concepts.
  • Emotional input: The designer says negative feelings inside the studio — frustration and resentment — played a role in pushing the creatures away from the franchise's usual aesthetic.
  • Design divergence: That creative pathway helps explain why Ultra Beasts looked and felt radically different from traditional Pokémon, contributing to their controversial reception.
  • Timing: These revelations arrive as Sun and Moon mark their tenth anniversary, prompting new reflections on the pair’s development and bold design choices.

Fans and critics who found the Ultra Beasts jarring now have a clearer sense of the production backstory: they were, in part, the byproducts of ideas that didn’t make the cut and the emotional climate of the team that reworked them. Whether that knowledge softens opinions or deepens the mystery of the designs will likely vary among the community.

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Source: Eurogamer