I have this theory, or at least something that I've noticed, whatever you want to call it. I feel like Landorus-T doesn't really exist in public perception as an actual Pokémon or strictly interpreted as a direct part of the franchise, but rather as an implicitly associated representation of the competitive scene. I cannot for the life of me recall any time that I've seen any casual fan of the series ever mention it in a context that wasn't directly related to a competitive metagame of some sort. No discussions of its role in any Pokémon media stories or the lore, not even really the "bad design" fingers pointed that always go towards the Incarnate trio, nothing about any kind of role or significance it holds to the mainstream franchise. If Landorus-T is mentioned, it's always because it's relevant to something regarding Smogon or VGC.
And likewise, I feel like this cause-and-effect relationship sort of applies in reverse. If Landorus-T is mentioned in a casual Pokémon conversation in basically any context, it will be assumed that some kind of statement or joke about the competitive scene is being made, even if it's not directly implied. To name one possible example out of infinite, if I say that I want Landorus-T to be the next Smash DLC character, nobody really assumes that I'm serious or just trying to throw some public support in favor of what might be my favorite overlooked underdog Pokémon choice, but rather making a joke about how it'd be a Smogon metagame rep and giving it funny special moves like Stealth Rock and U-turn. Whatever context I mention it in, it seems like the "haha Smogon meta" joke is always automatically implied and Landorus-T itself is never taken for what it is at face value.
I can't really think of any other Pokémon that this really applies to. Heatran is a very long-standing icon of the competitive scene that gets a lot of talk related to that, but it also had its own standalone story with Stark Mountain and Buck, its own Pokémon Generations episode, stuff that make it far more likely to see Heatran come up in a casual Pokémon conversation that has nothing to do with Smogon. Ferrothorn and Toxapex are reasonable contenders, though I don't think that they've reached quite the same level of competitively-discussed ubiquity that Landorus-T seems to be overwhelmed by. I'd have thought that Politoed could be a decent pick too, but a quick Google search for Politoed-related memes showed a surprising lack of Drizzle posts. I don't need to mention tons of other competitive staples like Garchomp or Tyranitar or Scizor that are clearly more well-known in the general public for their designs and being seen as generally cool.
So yeah, I'm curious how this theory holds up. Talk about Landorus-T in the random public and see how people respond. Let me know what you think or share any interesting responses you might get. Or just post Landorus-T memes, for some reason those never manage to get old for me.
And likewise, I feel like this cause-and-effect relationship sort of applies in reverse. If Landorus-T is mentioned in a casual Pokémon conversation in basically any context, it will be assumed that some kind of statement or joke about the competitive scene is being made, even if it's not directly implied. To name one possible example out of infinite, if I say that I want Landorus-T to be the next Smash DLC character, nobody really assumes that I'm serious or just trying to throw some public support in favor of what might be my favorite overlooked underdog Pokémon choice, but rather making a joke about how it'd be a Smogon metagame rep and giving it funny special moves like Stealth Rock and U-turn. Whatever context I mention it in, it seems like the "haha Smogon meta" joke is always automatically implied and Landorus-T itself is never taken for what it is at face value.
I can't really think of any other Pokémon that this really applies to. Heatran is a very long-standing icon of the competitive scene that gets a lot of talk related to that, but it also had its own standalone story with Stark Mountain and Buck, its own Pokémon Generations episode, stuff that make it far more likely to see Heatran come up in a casual Pokémon conversation that has nothing to do with Smogon. Ferrothorn and Toxapex are reasonable contenders, though I don't think that they've reached quite the same level of competitively-discussed ubiquity that Landorus-T seems to be overwhelmed by. I'd have thought that Politoed could be a decent pick too, but a quick Google search for Politoed-related memes showed a surprising lack of Drizzle posts. I don't need to mention tons of other competitive staples like Garchomp or Tyranitar or Scizor that are clearly more well-known in the general public for their designs and being seen as generally cool.
So yeah, I'm curious how this theory holds up. Talk about Landorus-T in the random public and see how people respond. Let me know what you think or share any interesting responses you might get. Or just post Landorus-T memes, for some reason those never manage to get old for me.
Last edited:
