Palkia and Dialga’s Origin Formes are Terrifying

I’ve been holding off on this article for a while, because I don’t own Pokemon Legends: Arceus, and never had any decent way of seeing how Origin Form Palkia and Dialga look, outside of game screenshots. But now that I have managed to catch a couple in Pokemon GO, I can finally see how horrible they are. And they’re genuinely not great. A friend of mine went “WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?” when they saw Origin Dialga for the first time, and I had to explain that it was Dialga but in a different form. Seriously, these guys aren’t great.

The thing is, these are supposed to be the Origin Forms for the legendary Pokemon Dialga and Palkia. The same way that Giratina has two forms, one where he’s in the real world, and his true form within the Distortion/Reverse World, these two also have Origin Forms, which they can change into when you give them the Adamant or Lustrous Crystals in Pokemon Legends: Arceus. They only really appear in Pokemon Legends: Arceus and in Pokemon GO, and turn back to normal Dialga and Palkia in Pokemon Home. However, unlike Giratina, whose appearance changes based on location, its strength and its orb and the two forms are distinct, Dialga and Palkia’s Origin forms are based on the appearance of Arceus.

Problem is, it kinda doesn’t really work. I like the idea of Dialga and Palkia mimicking the divine being that created them, but they just look bad. Especially since Arceus looks cool and elegant*.

Like, for example, Arceus has a long neck, but on Dialga and Palkia, their necks seem really long, to the point that they’re too long, and feel like they need something there. Palkia actually wouldn’t look that bad if it had a pair of arms near where its wings are, but that would take away from the whole “looks like Arceus” theme. Maybe if the wings were smaller and Palkia’s chest was shorter and less wide, then Palkia would be okay, but a centaur look would have been better. Funnily enough though, the lower half of its body is honestly pretty fine. Maybe a bit too horse-like, especially since Palkia’s typing is still Dragon/Water, but it IS definitely alright. Just alright.

Dialga though is a complete mess. It’s both too thin and too thick. The poor thing looks like it tried to swallow a Beldum and it got stuck in its throat. And its legs are weirdly sized. Dialga’s front legs are big and stompy, kinda like a Metagross, but they have a weird, stupidly thin and pointless spike coming off the knees. Its rear legs though are fucking tiny and spindly. Normal Dialga doesn’t have mismatched legs, so why does Origin Dialga? And the cool metal plate on normal Dialga’s back becomes its tail, instead of remaining as a piece of armour. Losing its normal long lizard tail just makes Dialga even worse.

Both Origin Forms also have the floating ring around their stomach, but for both Dialga and Palkia, the rings kinda fall flat. On Arceus, the golden rings really stick out from its body, giving it most of its width. On Dialga and Palkia, they’re too obscured by the rest of the Pokemon, so they kinda fall flat and useless.

It’s a shame because other Origin, Mega and Primal Pokemon we’ve had have all been excellent. Mega Rayquaza and Origin Form Giratina are some of the coolest Pokemon overall. We could have had something amazing with these two Origin Forms, but, instead, we got… this…

*As an aside, have you ever seen Beta Arceus?

It’s cute as fuck. It also has this weird, otherworldly vibe to it that I absolutely adore. The idea that this confused, slightly scared creature that doesn’t quite understand what it has created really resonates with me. Yes, it is just a blob, bit it’s a cool blob.