Good day, Pokémon Trainers! Have you ever noticed how certain events in Pokémon GO give special attention to a single Pokémon or the community itself tends to hype a new Pokémon up? Have you ever wondered why this Pokémon specifically and what its origins are?

Well, that’s where the Dashing Design series comes in! I’ll be your guide as we take a look at the franchise history, concept, and potential design inspirations of specific Pokémon. We have a primate-themed research day coming up. With Oranguru and Passimian being the highlights. We already took a look at Oranguru. So today, let’s continue looking at these strange simians with, Passimian!
Franchise History

Passimian (Top Left) and Oranguru (Top Right). Source: GO Banner

Passimian and Oranguru are not part of the same evolutionary line, but they both did make their debut in the same generation, Generation Seven. Generation Seven encompasses The Pokémon Sun, Pokémon Moon, Pokémon Ultra Sun, Pokémon Ultra Moon, Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Let’s Go, Eevee! lineup of mainline video games.

Oranguru and Passimian are what the fans refer to as “Version Exclusive Pokémon”, Pokémon that appear in opposite games are referred to with this term. In this case, Passimian first appeared in Pokémon Sun and Oranguru first appeared in Pokémon Moon.

Their anime appearance actually has an interesting story to it. Oranguru first appeared in Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon Ep. 39. But Passimian first appeared in the English dub of the anime much much later in Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon Ep. 81. This is because episode 64 of Pokémon the Series: Sun & Moon was not dubbed in English. As there was a scene where Ash Ketchum disguises himself as Passimian, which could be seen as a negative racial stereotype in the US.
Etymology And Design

Passimian

Etymology

Passimian is a combination of “Pass” (Meaning to move or cause to move something, commonly used in sports when a ball is given to one teammate by another) and “Simian” (Referring to a large pool of primates such as monkeys). As we shall see soon this name is pretty much spot on when it comes to Passimian.

So much so that Passimian’s Japanese name is more or less the same. Nagetukesaru is likely a combination of “Nagetsukeru” (Meaning to throw) and “Saru” (Meaning Monkey). Now on to the design!

Design

Source: Official Site

Well, to start off, it isn’t hard to tell that Passimian is a primate. But unlike Oranguru, we can’t gather what type of Primate with Passimian’s name alone. So let’s look at Passimian’s design to find out.

If you look at Passimian’s tail it has a ring shape. That, along with the fact that it’s in on fours in official art and its general color scheme leads me to believe Passimian is based on a Lemur. In fact, we can go further. See the excess fur around Passimian’s spiking up in the shape of a crown? Well, that’s very common with the appropriately named “Ruffed Lemurs”. And in fact, there is a species called Black and White ruffed lemurs, which happens to be Passimian’s exact color scheme!

Source: Photo by Anthony on Unsplash

What Else?

Now you might be thinking “So Passimian is based on a lemur. That’s quaint. But surely that’s not all right?” Well, you’d be correct. Passimian does have more going on. That’s where Passimian’s other design elements come in.

Of course, the most noticeable part of Passimian’s design is the half-cut green coconut/berry it’s wearing on its head (In its recently released shiny form it actually looks like a ripe brown coconut). Keen-eyed trainers might also notice that Passimian’s fur is black specifically on its shoulders and feet, which gives a strong impression of shoulder pads and boots. These all lead us to Passimian’s other main source of inspiration:

Source: Photo by Jan Böttinger on Unsplash

American Football! Passimian takes strong inspiration from American Football Players. Particularly the Quarterbacks I reckon. Passimian even carries and throws a coconut/berry around like a ball! When you realize this you start to notice how far they go with this inspiration. For example, in the Pokémon Violet Pokédex:

The boss chooses 10 members of the group to go out hunting. The hunting party will evenly split the food they find with the rest of the group.

Counting in the boss, that makes 11 Passimian. The exact number of players active in an American Football team at any given time. It goes even further. You may notice that Passimians have leaves on their shoulders and chests. According to the Pokémon Ultra Sun dex, these are meant to signify which troops they are in:

They use their saliva to stick leaves to their shoulders. You can tell what troop they belong to from the position of the leaves.

Much like how Football team players have their number and/or team insignia on their uniform’s shoulder and chest areas. So ya, Passimian is an American Football Player Lemur. This is probably done to apply the idea of teamwork to the more communal/societal living structure seen with Lemurs.
The Common Thread

So far we’ve taken a look at Oranguru and we have taken a look at Passimian. We know that they’re starring on the same research day. And we know that they were on opposite games during their mainline debut. So why are these two Pokémon connected together other than the fact that they are both primates?

Well, it has to do with not just real-life inspirations but the lore of the Pokémon franchise itself. It’s well-known that mainline Pokémon games come in twos. And these games’ names typically share opposing concepts based on a central idea. Black and White, Sun and Moon, Sword and Shield, and so on. Opposing games also have Pokémon exclusive to them as we’ve taken a look at twice now.

Source: Official Trailer

With Passimian and Oranguru this idea of opposing concepts on a central base is taken further. Despite being primate Pokémon everything about Passimian and Oranguru are in opposition. Passimian is a Fighting type because American Footballers are tough! In contrast, Oranguru is a Psychic type because Gurus are wise. Likewise Passimian are social because lemurs are social. Oranguru is a loner because Orangutans are solitary.

You could even see this as a complimentary relationship. Thinking about sports teams, Passimian are the players skilled in playing the game, whereas Oranguru is the coach guiding the players!
Conclusion

And there we go! Both of our simian friends have now been accounted for. In some ways, the idea of opposition is a core fundamental of Pokémon as a franchise that was there from the very beginning. And Passimian and Oranguru take that idea and apply it wholeheartedly to the Pokémon’s designs as well. And this is why, Passimian’s design, as well as Oranguru’s design, is quite dashing! 

Goodbye for now, Pokémon trainers. Priom-out!

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