With Blood Moon Ursaluna being much more aggressive than its counterpart Ursaluna, I can definitely see some allusion to Kesagake, the infamous Sankebetsu Brown Bear
From my own research, Bloodmoon Ursaluna could also simply pull from a yokai called the onikuma (literally “demon bear” or perhaps even “ogre bear”), a bear yokai that forms when a bear has lived for many years. They are frequently said to walk upright and come down from the mountains to steal livestock. Now look at Bloodmoon Ursaluna. It also walks upright, is an Ursaluna form, which is based on Kim-un-kamuy, the Ainu god of bears and mountains (where onikuma are said to come from), and it formed after settling in a new land for a long time, like how onikuma are bears that have lived for many years. And this new land happens to have themes of oni/ogres too, so it makes sense that a bear in the land with a big oni mountain would become an onikuma. Add in the blood moon because of old beliefs about them turning animals crazy, and you get our new crazy bear Pokémon. Overall, the concept of an Ursaluna outside Hisui being this ferocious beast makes sense given that in Ezo (Hisui), bears were worshipped by the Ainu through the Iomante ceremony, whereas bears are scary yokai in other parts of Japan.
It also makes sense geographically. Kitakami has plenty of Johto references, and Nagano Prefecture (where this Yokai is from) is near where Johto is based on.
@@tyranitararmaldo some cool things to note is kitakami is the first region since gen 1 to share a name with a real place i japan, that being kitakami in iwate. but supposedly the in game area is geographically similar to that of Mt Iwaki, and if you look at a map of the area, it lines up really damn well! this would put the irl inspiration directly south of Sinnoh and Almia's inspirations. but north of Kanto and Johto. it not only fills in more of the map for japan Pokemon regions but also adds in more real world japanese culture with kaiju and junbei and even oni being diretly mentioned which have never been in universe that i can remember. not to this extent. hgss johto and hisui are both suuuuper japanese compared to kanto. but it being smack between them is genuinely fantastic too.
Now I'm hoping that Beartic, Pangoro and Bewear will all get an extinct evolution stage and a new evolution form to be equal with Ursaring since they are all part of an unofficial Bear quartet.
You made the depression joke but I really hope you’re keeping well. I always look forward to your videos and my daughter is always excited to hear the latest folklore and history behind new Pokémon. I’ve even shown her a few videos (the age appropriate ones of course) Keep it up, you’re my only source of Pokemon lore and without you I would have to actually read words and books and stuff.
Yup I also sensed the fake joke, it felt like a hint to anyone willing to dig through the joke, I hope he gets through whatever is going on in his life, it may not be depression but something bad enough to make you feel like crap for a week (or whatever time that was).
@MasterFL77 it's not rocket science, he wasn't hiding it it's just an explanation for something he wanted to share. Which is good, helping to destigmatize men's struggles
I know the depression/weight thing was partially a joke, but I really hope you’re doing ok mentally and physically. You inspired me to lose 100 pounds last year. You deserve to be happy and healthy, so I hope everything works out for you
Right me too I hope he s doing good most ppl who make those kinda jokes are usually depressed but he has also lost a lot of weight since I first started watching him so on that level he’s awesome
I named my Ursaluna Beowulf since Beowulf's name potentially stems from the word "Bee-wolf" or "Bee-hunter", a term used for bears to avoid directly saying their name and summoning one, back in the age when bears were revered asnear-supernatural entities due to how powerful they were. Similarly, Beowulf is also renowned for his feat of swimming across freezing seas either in competition or to hunt down the monster Grendel, who hunted men in the dead of night
your comment unintentionally explained the reason behind something in Wizard101 that i never payed much attention to basically, in Wizard101, there is an area with bear people, and one of the enemies you fight are called grendels and i never knew that "beowulf" was ,effectively, the word for "bear", so i never realized that specific reference some other notes: the location with the bear people is called Grizzleheim, and the bear people have a viking/norse aesthetic
Theory: so you know how in legends Arceus there were these things called space-time distortions? And you know how they sent Pokémon from the future to the past? But any Pokémon in the dome will disappear. I think that the Pokémon that disappear go to the future. That’s why we see Perrin with a Hisuian Growlithe and how other Hisuian Pokémon or in the future. Like a blood moon Ursaluna that probably appeared in Kitakami and started adapting to the environment.
I like to think that the pokemon getting reversed LA player is true, but also that they can still happen naturally in the modern day, sinnoh has just changed so much form when it was hisui, that they're just extremely rare. Like shiny levels of rare.
I named my Bloodmoon Ursaluna "Mor'du" because when I first saw it, it pretty much looks like Mor'du from Pixar's Brave. They both share those grizzly features, and how they looked corrupted compared to their former selves.
I named mine Crimsageddon, a combo of crimson and Armageddon. Crimson because of the blood red spot on its head. Armageddon because the blood moon is often associated with the end of times. And armageddon is a synonym for the apocalypse.
I named mine Ivan because bear + red= comrade 😅 Also Russians are scary as bears. And big bear with the power of the blood red moon is Soviet levels powerful and scary.
My only nitpick with Bloodmoon Ursaluna is that with its zombified form, it would be so much better as ghost ground type, which could then be explained by the lore as Ursaluna have all died since the days of Hisui, but this one holds on, becoming zombified and going from part normal to part ghost type in the process, which would be amazing. That, and the blood moon move does not fit aesthetically as a normal type move at all imo, it would be much more fitting as a ghost type move. Or even dark for that matter. Other than that though, S tier Pokemon!
One thing I'm pretty sure of is that Bloodmoon is not supposed to be the last Ursaluna. Perrin speaks of it as a specific, special Ursaluna she is looking for, rather than the only one. She also says Ursaluna were not uncommon long ago, not that they only lived long ago. If nothing else, logically the conditions to evolve an Ursaring can still be created in captivity.
If anything it's her Growlith that makes less sense like IF they still exist in that form then where the hell have they been this whole time especially considering that modern Sinoh doesn't even have regular Growlith?! Does she have the last 2? Do they live that long?! At least with Ursaluna we can make the case of the Peat that Ursuring's need to interact with being much rarer in the modern world but CAN still pop up
@@dracotias I would assume Hisuian Growlithe have been available in captivity at least this whole time, but are simply much rarer and less popular than other Growlithe, perhaps due to having more difficult temperaments, being harder to train, etc. Similar to how some real world ancient dog breeds are rare and not suited for most people.
@@Ryodraco I could see this being a thing but then her just giving one away to some random kid because they just happened to wrestle a bear once feels very...irresponsible lol
@@dracotias well we aren't exactly random to her at that point. We've filled at least 150 pokedex entries, protected her and helped rekindle her love of photography, basically saving her career.
Blood Moon Ursaluna's face is also roughly-shaped like a taijitu with the two dots being either the red moon patch and mouth or its eyes. The moon patch could also be a blood moon over Mt. Fuji with the shape of the peat on its snout being roughly shaped like the iconic volcano.
There's a series of books about bears called seekers. The author's name is erin hunter. I mentioned this cuz i thought you would enjoy the series in case if you never heard or read the book series.
dont know if you mention this yet but during the quest its stated that "they believe it to have travveled from sinnoh back when it was called hisui" meaning this thing is well over 150 years old at its youngest and also its possible its even the ursaluna that we ride in legends
Obviously you went into why it changed, but I am still curious as for HOW it changed. Such as the stat distribution forsakes the role of a normal ursaluna as a beefy, physical brickhouse and changes it into a bulky special attacker instead. Basically, it's a complete 180 in terms of its mechanical use; not to mention that the ability of Bloodmoon Ursaluna allows it to hit ghost types specifically when it normally could not. Were blood moons thought to make ghosts more tangible? Sounds like something that might appear somewhere in mythology...🤔
I was expecting a detailed breakdown of the “Red Helm Bear” trope In the Boshin War, some Japanese officers wore what were known as Shaguma, or “Red Bear” helmets. Over a hundred years later, in 1983, the manga series Silver Fang: Shooting Star Gin (extremely popular in Japan, but only officially reaching North America in 2020) was released. In this story, a hunting dog (Gin) must train and gather other dogs in order to hunt the terrifying Akakabuto (“Red Helm”): a giant grizzly bear who has a bleeding open wound on its head. This injury caused brain damage leading the Akakabuto to be extremely violent and somewhat immune to pain. I can’t confirm it, but I *think* this is supposed to be a play on the shaguma Red Bear Helms. Since then, the “Violent Red Helm Bear” has become something of a trope in Japanese media. Bravely Default has the Red Helm monster recolor, and Monster Hunter has Redhelm Arzuros.
Oh yeah, I remember that; the Spinning Dog Missile anime that claims as facts that bears are dogs that lost their honor and that nothing is faster than a dog!
*Fun fact:* Pirates didn't wear eye patches due to missing eyes. Instead, it was used to keep one eye adjusted to seeing below deck, where it was darker. Just like Ursaluna's left eye!
Always love these explanation videos! It gives a lot of insight on some of these mons and it shows that GF does at least try very hard for these Pokemon.
There's also the common lesson that native Americans and other traveling groups teach their kids: "There are two bears inside of you. One is fed when you're happy, relaxed and otherwise at peace. The other is fed when you're enraged, stressed and otherwise hostile. The bear that wins within you is the one you feed the most."
This makes me wonder if another hisui Pokémon will get love in indigo disk, because ursaluna was unexpected. It also gives off Bigfoot vibes, being a cryptid of an extinct version of a modern creature or species.
This might just be me, but I think Bloodmoon Ursaluna might also be loosely based on some of the monster bears that appear in the classic manga/anime "Silver Fang - The Shooting Star Gin". The main villain, Akakabuto (Red Helmet), is a monstrous bear with one eye. I could be wrong, but I think there was also another bear featured that had swam across the Tsugaru Straight from Hokkaido (Sinnoh/Hisui) to Aomori (Kitakami).
Now that we see ursuluna in a new much more aggressive form And we've seen It's evolutionary line To have a heavy association with the moon cycles I wouldn't be surprised if Ursaluna might be a reference to the general pop culture concept of a werebear And if that is the case that's interesting, cause in a way that would kind of make it like a Counterpart to Lyconrock Which would be an interesting connection considering That was not previously the case before the introduction of bloodmoon ursaluna
It’s amazing how a 10/10 design Ursaluna is for different reasons. It’s regular version is such a big boy and the peat making a funny eye brow expression gets me every time. Meanwhile Blood moon looks super terrifying and is an excellent attempt at almost redoing ursaluna. Interestingly, blood boom ursaluna reminds me a lot of Monster hunter and it’s Deviant monsters. To elaborate, Deviant monsters are a regular monster that has gone through an extremely rare great change of some kind, be it something like a genetic mutation or surviving impossible odds and growing stronger. Like as an example from that game, Bloodbath diablos vs regular diablos, the former lost its horn and half of its tail, but they grew back warped and now is extremely violent. Comparing the two Ursalunas, regular ursaluna is the ‘default’ ursaluna and is a natural progress of its evolution line. But blood moon went through the impossible, swimming across the sea to escape man’s growing territory taking its own, surviving and thriving in a new land, parts of its fur and eye being damaged, and even how it fights is completely backwards to a regular Ursaluna, now being a special attacker unlike the rest of its evolution line. It’s definitely coincidental, but it’s an interesting parallel
Blood Moon Ursaluna's weird patchy fur also reminds me of post-hibernation bear fur, like maybe this Oldsaluna is fresh from a good hundred year nap and has been shedding
When you go so far from the norm you circle back around to being even more normal Like antivaxxers suggesting small doses of disease to enhance the immune system
I feel the Bloodmoon Beast (or at least it's storyline) also references Bigfoot stories since all of Perrin's pictures of it are mentioned to be blurry and out of focus. Then again, that's a common excuse for all cryptids and mythical creatures stories. But one for certain is that I wish the picture survey thing was a recurring minigame in other areas. Pokemon Snap to me works best as a minigame or mechanic in the main series rather than a standalone game.
I feel like the reason it looks like this could be a number of factors. Ursuluna evolves from exposure to special peat during a full moon. SO maybe this pokemon evolved from a Blood Moon and that's what effected it and why it's so rare. Think like Dusk Form for Lycanroc. Maybe instead of Hisuian peat, it was exposed to Kitakami peat and that's what made the change, maybe plus the Blood Moon. There's so much to gleam from this and just increases the possibilities of new and unique evolutions.
I reay hope we get more unique versions of normal Pokemon like this in the future. It's such an amazing concept that it would be downright criminal if GameFreak just abandoned it after this gen
Hey lockstin! Great stuff as usual. I was thinking, do you think there’s a possibility yanmega gets an evolution in the next installment? Yanmega is the “ogre darner” Pokémon and he is one of Kieran’s stronger and more reliable options. You think since he couldnt have the real ogre, he could settle for the first bug dragon in the game ? Let me know what you thin
It is most likely just a coincidence but I can't help but think of Akakabuto; a giant, violent bear from a manga/anime series called Ginga Nagareboshi Gin. He has lost an eye (tho it's the opposite of Bloodmoon Ursaluna's) and has red fur on his head/back.
White striped basculin is in kitegami and you can evolve it into basculegion there so probably if we return to sinnoh we will see does evolutions and some more.
I consider Bloodmoon Ursaluna to have some cyborg influences, weird as it sounds. Violet dex mentions how its mud is as hard as steel, his left eye could be seen as missing the "natural" overlay, exposing the mechanics underneath, and the red moon itself alongside how Blood Moon plays makes me think of your generic robot laser trope.
Symbolism and lore in Pokemon never ceases to amaze me. Where GameFreak lacks in... programming... they at least make up for in this area, and their creativity. And the fans peeling back the layers of information make it that much more enjoyable!
I feel like Bloodmoon at least design wise is also extremely inspired by the idea of Zombies in media, how it stands with little energy, it's peat cracking exposing its fur like how zombies dried skin crack and expose the raw muscle underneath, and of course, the Giant red moon on it's head, looking like an exposed brain, for eating brains, and of course the idea that a zombies weakness is the head/brain. Also fits well for Ursaluna as it's a practically extinct species, many more passed than alive.
As someone who works at a planetarium and has been teaching people about eclipses for months in preparation for the solar eclipse coming up in October, it's always nice to see people bringing more attention to them.
I remember when blood moons weren’t a thing. And then one happened a couple of years ago and we were told how rare that event was. Now they are a monthly event….
small correction, Heian is pronounced like "Hey-ahn", not "hi-ahn", because in japanese the vowels pretty much sound similar to latin vowels, so E sounds like "eh".
I saw a theory that the reason Bloodmoon Ursaluna came to Kitagami because of the White Stripe Basculine in the Timeless Woods. Part of this theory comes from the information that Basculine always goes back to the pond they are born in and look at that, a pond filled with the White Stripe variant. Oh and its ability to hit ghost types might be because it wants to eat Basculegion. Due to its ghost typing. Btw, you missed the part where its left eye has night vision and it uses the peat in the swamp as its armor. I dont think this pokemon was created from rage or lonliness like many people think. I dont think its even that violent. Remember, it casually walks up to you and the photographer in a curious and friendly manner. It only got violent after the camera flash. I think it was the result of an Ursaring evolving on a bloodmoon. You know, since you need a specific lunar phase in order to get an Ursaluna in the first place. So I think what happens is that the specfic moon phase and a bloodmoon happened at the same time to an Ursaring, resulting in a Bloodmoon Beast.
I actually had a dream one time that a Sun Bear came rushing out of the woods to save me from an alligator that made its way into my pond. No clue why it was in the woods of the southeastern United States. But the uglycute derp bear acted like a dog and protected me and hung around. It was a nice dream.
Hope you're doing alright brother, I know the feeling of depression all too well. You inspired me to hop onto keto and make myself into a better version. I have lost 93 pounds in 7 months because of you and I cannot thank you enough.
One thing I noticed that goes along with the sun and moon, yin and yang, is that one half of the face is the blood moon as light and the other is peat soil as darkness. The 2 swirl in the typical way the yin-yang are depicted
Is it just me or does Bloodmoon Ursaluna look almost like an evolution of Ursaluna, which seems supported by the Dex entry saying it gained new powers? IDK, we've seen evolutions that changed less, lookin' at you, Pawmot.
Whenever I look at it I cant help but think its an Ursaluna thats losing its Ursaluna-ness being away from Hisui and is somekind of middle stage between Ursaring and Ursaluna
I'd like to mention that, when I was looking on Bulbapedia to see some of the mechanical differences between Ursalunas, I saw something strange in the Origins section. Apparently someone thought that Bloodmoon Ursaluna might be a cyborg? Here is the line that mentions that copied from Bulbapedia: "Bloodmoon Ursaluna might in addition be inspired by cyborgs, given parts of his body being clad in iron-like mud and one of his eyes having enhanced sight." I didn't think this made sense at all, but figured I should share it in case it gets removed for being wrong.
@@minaashido518IKR? Like, I can kinda see where they're coming from on a visuals level? But I immediatly chalked it up as false because, let's be honest, they would have made it a Steel type in that case. And I haven't played the DLC yet, but I'm gonna guess that the lore in-game (beyond what we learned in the vid) doesn't help the case in the slightest.
Ursaluna getting a second form is really random considering how new it is but at the same time it’s one of my favorite Pokémon already so I’m glad to see it
He is not alone in loving bears. I sometimes see a little bit of myself as a bear. Ursaring is one of two pokemon from Johto that are my favorites. The second was Donphan. So like Lockstin is with bears, mine is elephants and their many variations.
I like that your talking about the blood moon Ursaluna because I was confused because Ursaluna’s a legend game not a modern Pokémon game. And how they in the game aren’t they supposed to be extinct?!
And they're not the only one. White-striped Basculin can just be caught. We also know Perrin had at least two Hisuian growlithe, since she gifts one to the player
Love the lore info. I have found more and more that these videos do exactly what Team Gnoggin sets out to do: Teaches real world facts through Pokemon. I recently visited family and found myself dropping so many facts I had learned from these videos. Also, depression is such a struggle, I hope Lockstin finds himself doing better soon.
With Blood Moon Ursaluna being much more aggressive than its counterpart Ursaluna, I can definitely see some allusion to Kesagake, the infamous Sankebetsu Brown Bear
It's so perfect.
In the right place too!!!
or cocaine bear from californian reality
Hisui is Hokkaido after all.. so are the similarities
@@nachinisHA
From my own research, Bloodmoon Ursaluna could also simply pull from a yokai called the onikuma (literally “demon bear” or perhaps even “ogre bear”), a bear yokai that forms when a bear has lived for many years. They are frequently said to walk upright and come down from the mountains to steal livestock. Now look at Bloodmoon Ursaluna. It also walks upright, is an Ursaluna form, which is based on Kim-un-kamuy, the Ainu god of bears and mountains (where onikuma are said to come from), and it formed after settling in a new land for a long time, like how onikuma are bears that have lived for many years. And this new land happens to have themes of oni/ogres too, so it makes sense that a bear in the land with a big oni mountain would become an onikuma. Add in the blood moon because of old beliefs about them turning animals crazy, and you get our new crazy bear Pokémon. Overall, the concept of an Ursaluna outside Hisui being this ferocious beast makes sense given that in Ezo (Hisui), bears were worshipped by the Ainu through the Iomante ceremony, whereas bears are scary yokai in other parts of Japan.
It also makes sense geographically. Kitakami has plenty of Johto references, and Nagano Prefecture (where this Yokai is from) is near where Johto is based on.
@@tyranitararmaldo some cool things to note is kitakami is the first region since gen 1 to share a name with a real place i japan, that being kitakami in iwate. but supposedly the in game area is geographically similar to that of Mt Iwaki, and if you look at a map of the area, it lines up really damn well! this would put the irl inspiration directly south of Sinnoh and Almia's inspirations. but north of Kanto and Johto. it not only fills in more of the map for japan Pokemon regions but also adds in more real world japanese culture with kaiju and junbei and even oni being diretly mentioned which have never been in universe that i can remember. not to this extent. hgss johto and hisui are both suuuuper japanese compared to kanto. but it being smack between them is genuinely fantastic too.
explain the peat aspect
I also wonder if any of it’s aggressiveness is based off the incident in Japan where a bear ate 10 people supposedly
That’s interesting. Definitely stories like the Sankebetsu Brown Bear incident might have increased the number of Yokai Bear stories.
I’m so happy Lockstin’s finally explaining the lore behind a metallic, bipedal murder bear!
The rabbit hole begins now.
gay theory reddy fastair
metallic?
the lockstin & gnoggin to matpat pipeline
Metallic? It's the same type it always was.
*You'll be treated to a classic Fnaf jumpscare*
Now I'm hoping that Beartic, Pangoro and Bewear will all get an extinct evolution stage and a new evolution form to be equal with Ursaring since they are all part of an unofficial Bear quartet.
I don’t know about Bewear. Doesn’t fit as well with the others.
@@EpicRandomness555 It's a stuffed bear!
Instructions unclear made new evolutions for Snorlax and Urshifu
@@testerwulf3357 Right, that’s why an extinct evolution along with the other bears wouldn’t make much sense
Fr after Ursaluna, Beartic and Pangoro now look like middle evos to me
You made the depression joke but I really hope you’re keeping well.
I always look forward to your videos and my daughter is always excited to hear the latest folklore and history behind new Pokémon. I’ve even shown her a few videos (the age appropriate ones of course)
Keep it up, you’re my only source of Pokemon lore and without you I would have to actually read words and books and stuff.
Yup I also sensed the fake joke, it felt like a hint to anyone willing to dig through the joke, I hope he gets through whatever is going on in his life, it may not be depression but something bad enough to make you feel like crap for a week (or whatever time that was).
@MasterFL77 it's not rocket science, he wasn't hiding it it's just an explanation for something he wanted to share. Which is good, helping to destigmatize men's struggles
We are here for you Lockstin, you are great man, thanks for brightening up my days man
I know the depression/weight thing was partially a joke, but I really hope you’re doing ok mentally and physically. You inspired me to lose 100 pounds last year. You deserve to be happy and healthy, so I hope everything works out for you
Glad to see I'm not the only one worried about Lockstin
Right me too I hope he s doing good most ppl who make those kinda jokes are usually depressed but he has also lost a lot of weight since I first started watching him so on that level he’s awesome
I literally just finished the mission to catch Ursaluna! This could not have come at a better time
I did too, and then got this notification lol
I saw the thumbnail and realized this was an actual pokémon and went about how to catch it 😂
At this point, Ursaluna is more Werewolf-like than Midnight Form Lycanroc.
It’s a Werebear
@@aurawarrior1367Werebear and a Werewolf. Sounds like a scary combo😅😂
Its more like a warbear: a bear that has been in war and survived.
At least a Werebear is a better idea than a Werehog
@@bossbrozork3022Wojtek!
I named my Ursaluna Beowulf since Beowulf's name potentially stems from the word "Bee-wolf" or "Bee-hunter", a term used for bears to avoid directly saying their name and summoning one, back in the age when bears were revered asnear-supernatural entities due to how powerful they were.
Similarly, Beowulf is also renowned for his feat of swimming across freezing seas either in competition or to hunt down the monster Grendel, who hunted men in the dead of night
I named mine Fuzzy
your comment unintentionally explained the reason behind something in Wizard101 that i never payed much attention to
basically, in Wizard101, there is an area with bear people, and one of the enemies you fight are called grendels
and i never knew that "beowulf" was ,effectively, the word for "bear", so i never realized that specific reference
some other notes: the location with the bear people is called Grizzleheim, and the bear people have a viking/norse aesthetic
Theory: so you know how in legends Arceus there were these things called space-time distortions? And you know how they sent Pokémon from the future to the past? But any Pokémon in the dome will disappear. I think that the Pokémon that disappear go to the future. That’s why we see Perrin with a Hisuian Growlithe and how other Hisuian Pokémon or in the future. Like a blood moon Ursaluna that probably appeared in Kitakami and started adapting to the environment.
I think that adaman actually just kept breeding hisuian growlithe to stay ancient so his ancestors could experience them. A bit like conservation
I like to think that the pokemon getting reversed LA player is true, but also that they can still happen naturally in the modern day, sinnoh has just changed so much form when it was hisui, that they're just extremely rare. Like shiny levels of rare.
I named my Bloodmoon Ursaluna "Mor'du" because when I first saw it, it pretty much looks like Mor'du from Pixar's Brave. They both share those grizzly features, and how they looked corrupted compared to their former selves.
Hehe…grizzly..
I named mine Crimsageddon, a combo of crimson and Armageddon. Crimson because of the blood red spot on its head. Armageddon because the blood moon is often associated with the end of times. And armageddon is a synonym for the apocalypse.
I named mine Ivan because bear + red= comrade 😅
Also Russians are scary as bears. And big bear with the power of the blood red moon is Soviet levels powerful and scary.
My only nitpick with Bloodmoon Ursaluna is that with its zombified form, it would be so much better as ghost ground type, which could then be explained by the lore as Ursaluna have all died since the days of Hisui, but this one holds on, becoming zombified and going from part normal to part ghost type in the process, which would be amazing.
That, and the blood moon move does not fit aesthetically as a normal type move at all imo, it would be much more fitting as a ghost type move. Or even dark for that matter.
Other than that though, S tier Pokemon!
One thing I'm pretty sure of is that Bloodmoon is not supposed to be the last Ursaluna. Perrin speaks of it as a specific, special Ursaluna she is looking for, rather than the only one. She also says Ursaluna were not uncommon long ago, not that they only lived long ago. If nothing else, logically the conditions to evolve an Ursaring can still be created in captivity.
If anything it's her Growlith that makes less sense like IF they still exist in that form then where the hell have they been this whole time especially considering that modern Sinoh doesn't even have regular Growlith?! Does she have the last 2? Do they live that long?!
At least with Ursaluna we can make the case of the Peat that Ursuring's need to interact with being much rarer in the modern world but CAN still pop up
@@dracotias I would assume Hisuian Growlithe have been available in captivity at least this whole time, but are simply much rarer and less popular than other Growlithe, perhaps due to having more difficult temperaments, being harder to train, etc. Similar to how some real world ancient dog breeds are rare and not suited for most people.
@@dracotiasi’m guessing it’s just continuity issues, fingers crossed that we can at least obtain the hisuian forms again when we revisit sinnoh
@@Ryodraco I could see this being a thing but then her just giving one away to some random kid because they just happened to wrestle a bear once feels very...irresponsible lol
@@dracotias well we aren't exactly random to her at that point. We've filled at least 150 pokedex entries, protected her and helped rekindle her love of photography, basically saving her career.
Blood Moon Ursaluna's face is also roughly-shaped like a taijitu with the two dots being either the red moon patch and mouth or its eyes. The moon patch could also be a blood moon over Mt. Fuji with the shape of the peat on its snout being roughly shaped like the iconic volcano.
There's a series of books about bears called seekers. The author's name is erin hunter. I mentioned this cuz i thought you would enjoy the series in case if you never heard or read the book series.
I know who Erin Hunter is! She wrote the Warrior cat books, too! I loved that series! I might need to look into this Seekers bear series now.
dont know if you mention this yet but during the quest its stated that "they believe it to have travveled from sinnoh back when it was called hisui" meaning this thing is well over 150 years old at its youngest and also its possible its even the ursaluna that we ride in legends
the ride ursaluna is considered special so it would be pretty cool and make sense if this was the same one
Does that mean it’s been a teenager twice
Maybe that’s why it’s so edgy
That's what my theory is too. It could very well be the Noble Ursaluna. Poor thing got poisoned and now this...
Obviously you went into why it changed, but I am still curious as for HOW it changed. Such as the stat distribution forsakes the role of a normal ursaluna as a beefy, physical brickhouse and changes it into a bulky special attacker instead. Basically, it's a complete 180 in terms of its mechanical use; not to mention that the ability of Bloodmoon Ursaluna allows it to hit ghost types specifically when it normally could not. Were blood moons thought to make ghosts more tangible? Sounds like something that might appear somewhere in mythology...🤔
I was expecting a detailed breakdown of the “Red Helm Bear” trope
In the Boshin War, some Japanese officers wore what were known as Shaguma, or “Red Bear” helmets.
Over a hundred years later, in 1983, the manga series Silver Fang: Shooting Star Gin (extremely popular in Japan, but only officially reaching North America in 2020) was released. In this story, a hunting dog (Gin) must train and gather other dogs in order to hunt the terrifying Akakabuto (“Red Helm”): a giant grizzly bear who has a bleeding open wound on its head. This injury caused brain damage leading the Akakabuto to be extremely violent and somewhat immune to pain. I can’t confirm it, but I *think* this is supposed to be a play on the shaguma Red Bear Helms.
Since then, the “Violent Red Helm Bear” has become something of a trope in Japanese media. Bravely Default has the Red Helm monster recolor, and Monster Hunter has Redhelm Arzuros.
Oh yeah, I remember that; the Spinning Dog Missile anime that claims as facts that bears are dogs that lost their honor and that nothing is faster than a dog!
*Fun fact:* Pirates didn't wear eye patches due to missing eyes. Instead, it was used to keep one eye adjusted to seeing below deck, where it was darker. Just like Ursaluna's left eye!
Always love these explanation videos! It gives a lot of insight on some of these mons and it shows that GF does at least try very hard for these Pokemon.
There's also the common lesson that native Americans and other traveling groups teach their kids:
"There are two bears inside of you. One is fed when you're happy, relaxed and otherwise at peace. The other is fed when you're enraged, stressed and otherwise hostile. The bear that wins within you is the one you feed the most."
Call me ignorant (and I'll take it), but is this the origin of that "Two Wolves" meme?
@@zeekslider Most likely! I just learned about this lesson last week, so- lol
@@zeeksliderYeah but that's copyrighted apparently
7:11 as a Japanese mythology fan I can say you actually said those names right
As a Naruto fan I agree
This makes me wonder if another hisui Pokémon will get love in indigo disk, because ursaluna was unexpected. It also gives off Bigfoot vibes, being a cryptid of an extinct version of a modern creature or species.
Kleavor is in the Indigo Disk Pokedex and Perrin returns in the Indigo Disk
This might just be me, but I think Bloodmoon Ursaluna might also be loosely based on some of the monster bears that appear in the classic manga/anime "Silver Fang - The Shooting Star Gin". The main villain, Akakabuto (Red Helmet), is a monstrous bear with one eye. I could be wrong, but I think there was also another bear featured that had swam across the Tsugaru Straight from Hokkaido (Sinnoh/Hisui) to Aomori (Kitakami).
So in Chinese, Dragoon, Driger, Draciel, and Dranzer turned a bear man into the earth, the forests, the sun, and the moon. Damn! Bit Beasts OP!
Now that we see ursuluna in a new much more aggressive form And we've seen It's evolutionary line To have a heavy association with the moon cycles I wouldn't be surprised if Ursaluna might be a reference to the general pop culture concept of a werebear And if that is the case that's interesting, cause in a way that would kind of make it like a Counterpart to Lyconrock Which would be an interesting connection considering That was not previously the case before the introduction of bloodmoon ursaluna
It’s amazing how a 10/10 design Ursaluna is for different reasons. It’s regular version is such a big boy and the peat making a funny eye brow expression gets me every time. Meanwhile Blood moon looks super terrifying and is an excellent attempt at almost redoing ursaluna.
Interestingly, blood boom ursaluna reminds me a lot of Monster hunter and it’s Deviant monsters. To elaborate, Deviant monsters are a regular monster that has gone through an extremely rare great change of some kind, be it something like a genetic mutation or surviving impossible odds and growing stronger. Like as an example from that game, Bloodbath diablos vs regular diablos, the former lost its horn and half of its tail, but they grew back warped and now is extremely violent.
Comparing the two Ursalunas, regular ursaluna is the ‘default’ ursaluna and is a natural progress of its evolution line. But blood moon went through the impossible, swimming across the sea to escape man’s growing territory taking its own, surviving and thriving in a new land, parts of its fur and eye being damaged, and even how it fights is completely backwards to a regular Ursaluna, now being a special attacker unlike the rest of its evolution line. It’s definitely coincidental, but it’s an interesting parallel
Blood Moon Ursaluna's weird patchy fur also reminds me of post-hibernation bear fur, like maybe this Oldsaluna is fresh from a good hundred year nap and has been shedding
BM ursaluna looks more like an ursaring evolution than the original
Is that weird to say 😅
When you go so far from the norm you circle back around to being even more normal
Like antivaxxers suggesting small doses of disease to enhance the immune system
I feel the Bloodmoon Beast (or at least it's storyline) also references Bigfoot stories since all of Perrin's pictures of it are mentioned to be blurry and out of focus. Then again, that's a common excuse for all cryptids and mythical creatures stories. But one for certain is that I wish the picture survey thing was a recurring minigame in other areas. Pokemon Snap to me works best as a minigame or mechanic in the main series rather than a standalone game.
I feel like the reason it looks like this could be a number of factors. Ursuluna evolves from exposure to special peat during a full moon. SO maybe this pokemon evolved from a Blood Moon and that's what effected it and why it's so rare. Think like Dusk Form for Lycanroc. Maybe instead of Hisuian peat, it was exposed to Kitakami peat and that's what made the change, maybe plus the Blood Moon. There's so much to gleam from this and just increases the possibilities of new and unique evolutions.
I reay hope we get more unique versions of normal Pokemon like this in the future. It's such an amazing concept that it would be downright criminal if GameFreak just abandoned it after this gen
You know, Blood moon Ursaluna possibly being the last of his kind DOES raise an old question of mine: can Pokémon, like, die of old age?
Yes. Ash's litten had a friend that was a stoutland that died in the show, it was depicted very old. Also lavender tower.
Yes. Legendary probably can’t though.
Blood Moon Ursaluna also reminds me of cryptids, specifically the Nandi bear, who's sort of like a giant African cyclops bear
Hey lockstin! Great stuff as usual. I was thinking, do you think there’s a possibility yanmega gets an evolution in the next installment? Yanmega is the “ogre darner” Pokémon and he is one of Kieran’s stronger and more reliable options. You think since he couldnt have the real ogre, he could settle for the first bug dragon in the game ? Let me know what you thin
Hey dude, your videos always bring me great curiosity and honestly reignites my joy for Pokémon. Love you! Hope you’re doing well overall!
Bloodmoon Ursaluna is the scariest regional form I think we've gotten, but it's also so cool! I love it!
It is most likely just a coincidence but I can't help but think of Akakabuto; a giant, violent bear from a manga/anime series called Ginga Nagareboshi Gin. He has lost an eye (tho it's the opposite of Bloodmoon Ursaluna's) and has red fur on his head/back.
White striped basculin is in kitegami and you can evolve it into basculegion there so probably if we return to sinnoh we will see does evolutions and some more.
I consider Bloodmoon Ursaluna to have some cyborg influences, weird as it sounds. Violet dex mentions how its mud is as hard as steel, his left eye could be seen as missing the "natural" overlay, exposing the mechanics underneath, and the red moon itself alongside how Blood Moon plays makes me think of your generic robot laser trope.
GameFreak decided to nerf Ursaluna by making a more powerful Ursaluna that would make Flutter Mane go to the Super Afterlife
I love how this new form looks like sonething straight out of Reborn or Rejuvenation
Would have loved it if the only way you can get more Blood-moon Ursaluna is if you gave Ursaring peat-moss when we got a blood moon.
Bro! That art is epic! Is that custom or is it official? If it's custom, can I use it?! 🙏
Symbolism and lore in Pokemon never ceases to amaze me. Where GameFreak lacks in... programming... they at least make up for in this area, and their creativity. And the fans peeling back the layers of information make it that much more enjoyable!
I'm surprised you didn't talk about how undead/corrupted Bears are a very prominent trope
To elaborate, Warcraft, Fallout, Red Dead, Cocaine Bear, etc
I feel like Bloodmoon at least design wise is also extremely inspired by the idea of Zombies in media, how it stands with little energy, it's peat cracking exposing its fur like how zombies dried skin crack and expose the raw muscle underneath, and of course, the Giant red moon on it's head, looking like an exposed brain, for eating brains, and of course the idea that a zombies weakness is the head/brain. Also fits well for Ursaluna as it's a practically extinct species, many more passed than alive.
Darkrai after seeing Bloodmoon ursaluna: *"Finally. A worthy opponent. Our Battle will be LEGENDARY!"* (See the joke is that they're both edgy)
sloth bears hold their own against tigers, and have claws that can cut through termite mounds, they're that hardcore
As someone who works at a planetarium and has been teaching people about eclipses for months in preparation for the solar eclipse coming up in October, it's always nice to see people bringing more attention to them.
THE BLOOD MOON RISES ONCE AGAIN
I remember when blood moons weren’t a thing. And then one happened a couple of years ago and we were told how rare that event was. Now they are a monthly event….
That's because we're in the end times
Jk
Blood moons have always been common, we just didn't have nearly as much global communication as we do now.
Blood moons have always been common, we just didn't have nearly as much global communication as we do now.
10 miner crew
Sweet, Lockstin update.
7:10 You actually got it pretty much right, though the enunciation of the "tsuk" part was a just the _slightest_ bit off.
small correction, Heian is pronounced like "Hey-ahn", not "hi-ahn", because in japanese the vowels pretty much sound similar to latin vowels, so E sounds like "eh".
I saw a theory that the reason Bloodmoon Ursaluna came to Kitagami because of the White Stripe Basculine in the Timeless Woods. Part of this theory comes from the information that Basculine always goes back to the pond they are born in and look at that, a pond filled with the White Stripe variant.
Oh and its ability to hit ghost types might be because it wants to eat Basculegion. Due to its ghost typing.
Btw, you missed the part where its left eye has night vision and it uses the peat in the swamp as its armor.
I dont think this pokemon was created from rage or lonliness like many people think. I dont think its even that violent. Remember, it casually walks up to you and the photographer in a curious and friendly manner. It only got violent after the camera flash. I think it was the result of an Ursaring evolving on a bloodmoon. You know, since you need a specific lunar phase in order to get an Ursaluna in the first place. So I think what happens is that the specfic moon phase and a bloodmoon happened at the same time to an Ursaring, resulting in a Bloodmoon Beast.
1:05
The bear just hitting us with the “👁️👅👁️” of death
I actually had a dream one time that a Sun Bear came rushing out of the woods to save me from an alligator that made its way into my pond. No clue why it was in the woods of the southeastern United States. But the uglycute derp bear acted like a dog and protected me and hung around.
It was a nice dream.
I don't see a ring on my man's finger. I hope you are doing well. You bring us much joy. Thank you for all that you do ❤
Probably my favorite design this gen.
It's literally Akakabuto from Gin or a Skynet bear lol
More like if the villain of Splatoon 3 was a Pokemon, considering that beam attack.
I don’t have the DLC yet but I like this dark looking bear I have to trade my son for now I got him it
Though most would say that Bloodmoon Ursaluna is definitely a Pokemon version of both Redhelm Arzuros and Apex Arzuros
NEVER SAY YOU LOVE BEARS LOUDLY ON THE INTERNET! !!!
YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOU COULD END UP ATTRACTING! !
Hope you're doing alright brother, I know the feeling of depression all too well.
You inspired me to hop onto keto and make myself into a better version. I have lost 93 pounds in 7 months because of you and I cannot thank you enough.
There are only 8 species of bear in the world. You say you love bears but really you only love 2 kinds lol
I don't understand why blood moon Ursaluna isn't a Dark Type.
Everythins gonna be ok. Your content is solid and enjoyable to watch.
I'm sorry to hear that the sinnoh badges video didn't perform well. I wish you great success from now on
Ursaring fans have been eating good these past few years
They made it look like it had its eye gouged out
I mean it’s still there but from other perspectives it doesn’t look like it
One thing I noticed that goes along with the sun and moon, yin and yang, is that one half of the face is the blood moon as light and the other is peat soil as darkness. The 2 swirl in the typical way the yin-yang are depicted
Freddy fahzbear
My favorite five nights at frheddy fahzbears
Pizzahria character
I wonder if pokemon go is going to do a special event that you can get the blood moon only on a harvest moon night
Is it just me or does Bloodmoon Ursaluna look almost like an evolution of Ursaluna, which seems supported by the Dex entry saying it gained new powers? IDK, we've seen evolutions that changed less, lookin' at you, Pawmot.
1:02 How dare you, they're not stupid, they're just Docile
Freddy Fazbear: Who are you?
Bloodmoon Ursaluna: I'm you but Pokemon.
Both: har har har har har har
6:38 "blood, bad"
So we have bad circulating through our body
It took me a year of being subscribed to realize he has two different colored eyes
The fact Hisuian Growlithe is seen owned by Peerin means Hisuian Variants and the Hisui introduced evolutions still exists
Meanwhile the rest of the world having already figured out that its a werebear.
i love that you did a video for my favourite Pokémon
and a good one at that
keep on keeping on
I hope everyone nicknamed their ursaluna "uncle ruckus"
Whenever I look at it I cant help but think its an Ursaluna thats losing its Ursaluna-ness being away from Hisui and is somekind of middle stage between Ursaring and Ursaluna
Would this be Pokemon's version of cocaine bear?
I'd like to mention that, when I was looking on Bulbapedia to see some of the mechanical differences between Ursalunas, I saw something strange in the Origins section. Apparently someone thought that Bloodmoon Ursaluna might be a cyborg? Here is the line that mentions that copied from Bulbapedia:
"Bloodmoon Ursaluna might in addition be inspired by cyborgs, given parts of his body being clad in iron-like mud and one of his eyes having enhanced sight."
I didn't think this made sense at all, but figured I should share it in case it gets removed for being wrong.
It likely will that’s stupid but it’s also hilarious
Hibearious
@@minaashido518IKR? Like, I can kinda see where they're coming from on a visuals level? But I immediatly chalked it up as false because, let's be honest, they would have made it a Steel type in that case. And I haven't played the DLC yet, but I'm gonna guess that the lore in-game (beyond what we learned in the vid) doesn't help the case in the slightest.
@@nkromancerN yeah there’s no hi-tech stuff in the entire dlc that would support cyborgs
Blood Moon Ursaluna looks more sad than scary. I just want to give it a big hug.
Both ursaluna represent
Looks like could kill u is a cinnamon roll
Looks like could kill u could kill u
Ursaluna getting a second form is really random considering how new it is but at the same time it’s one of my favorite Pokémon already so I’m glad to see it
Anyone also get D&D werebear vides from bloodmoon?
He is not alone in loving bears. I sometimes see a little bit of myself as a bear. Ursaring is one of two pokemon from Johto that are my favorites. The second was Donphan. So like Lockstin is with bears, mine is elephants and their many variations.
Same
Hey man - love your stuff. Hope you’re doing ok!
I like that your talking about the blood moon Ursaluna because I was confused because Ursaluna’s a legend game not a modern Pokémon game. And how they in the game aren’t they supposed to be extinct?!
And they're not the only one. White-striped Basculin can just be caught. We also know Perrin had at least two Hisuian growlithe, since she gifts one to the player
Watch out, you really let your american show this time xD
never tought i would hear you say something like that
I'm so happy we got this monster. Ursaluna became my favorite pokemon and now I have two of them!!
Love the lore info. I have found more and more that these videos do exactly what Team Gnoggin sets out to do: Teaches real world facts through Pokemon. I recently visited family and found myself dropping so many facts I had learned from these videos.
Also, depression is such a struggle, I hope Lockstin finds himself doing better soon.
So is the bear a Faller? Or has it lived for hundreds of years?
No way he forgot to tell us to keep using our gnoggins at the end 😔
Bro is like I love bears 🐻
I’m like so does my boyfriend 😅