Reddit user Pinkfluke recently posted an edit of the official Pokemon design for Tentacruel without the tentacles that are normally covering most of the frame of the Pokemon. While both Tentacool and Tentacruel have designs that usually include these tentacles, the two Pokemon are based more heavily on real-life jellyfish than squids or octopuses. Without these tentacles identifying Tentacruel as a Water-type Pokemon, however, the Pokemon looks less like an aquatic creature and more like a wingless bug.
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Pinkfluke’s Tentacruel fan art is largely unchanged from the original design other than the several tentacles missing from its body which immediately makes it look questionable given the fact that the tentacles typically compose most of the Pokemon’s body. This tentacle-free look for Tentacruel makes its floating appearance more ominous as a claw extends from its face with a symmetrical one coming from its rear. Without the tentacles between these two claws, they appear more like pincers that would be familiar to Bug-type Pokemon like Anorith, Grubbin, or Pinsir rather than a Pokemon found in the ocean.
Ever since the days of Pokemon Red and Blue, Tentacruel has been the one and only evolution of Tentacool which is commonly found in water bodies in the Pokemon franchise. Tentacruel has had slight changes to its design since it was introduced, with some versions having more tentacles than others, but the usual look for the Poison and Water-type Pokemon has over ten limbs. Because of Tentacool’s regular appearance in generations of Pokemon, Tentacruel has been a feature of many of the games from Pokemon Gold and Silver to the recently released Pokemon Legends: Arceus.
Being a Pokemon that’s normally located in water, Pinkfluke’s version of Tentacruel wouldn’t thrive without its tentacles that are necessary for water traversal. While Tentacruel may get a future regional variant as it’s been overlooked in Pokemon titles since Sun and Moon, it’s not likely that the variant will scrap the Pokemon’s tentacles as the variants usually resemble the initial design a bit more. Some fans have compared Pinkfluke’s Tentacruel design to the hand of a Claw Crane, while other Pokemon fans have noted the similarities between the tentacle void Tentacruel and the aliens of the Metroid series.
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