Image 1: Final image, darkened (Pokédex stats and description can be found here)
Image 2: Final image, true colors
Image 3: All seven iterations side by side
Image 4: Line art, compose of four separate pieces of printer paper
Image 5: Base/Normal Form (line art)
Image 6: Greater Origin Form (line art)
Image 7: Lesser Origin Form (line art)
Image 8: (slightly outdated now) comparisons of the forms
UPDATE: First off, thank you so much to the mods for restoring this. One of my comments caused some confusion, so I'll try and clear it up here:
For all intents, purposes, and mechanics, Shadogaire is still 100% a fakemon. He makes a prominent appearance in all three generations of my series, and has hints and implications that extend all the way back to the first generation of Pokémon. The big mystery throughout my whole series is who Shadogaire is, what his backstory is, and what he is. Other legendaries, which are actual characters in the continuity, can give you hints and details, and it's up to the player to piece the story together. Shadogaire himself will give the player hints, but he never gives a straight answer because he prefers people figure things out themselves. He himself has basically run out of things to learn, so seeing others not attempting to do so irritates him. The big implication though is that Shadogaire is a supremely eldritch being taking the form of a Pokémon, but that there's far more to him than the thing you see in the game.
This form is meant to be a gotcha that drops the notion that he is like any other Pokémon, or even any other Legendary. It's the form that's meant to make you realize that you fucked up by picking a fight with him. The whole battle prior to the form change is meant to feel "off", mixing in some horror vibes that slowly build until the big reveal. I added a comment on the deviantart image (which is the first link above) that describes how the battle is meant to go. I'd link it here directly, but I unfortunately can't find how to link DA comments directly, :/
Shadogaire is meant to look like he doesn't belong in the game. If you somehow transferred him to the Yu-Gi-Oh, Digimon, Bakugon, etc worlds, his level of detail would proportionally increase to look alien there as well. His other forms are much more Pokémon-esque, keeping a charade up that he's just another (Albeit dangerous) legendary. Once this form drops, the charade ends. But even this isn't what he actually looks like; that is impossible for us mortals to comprehend.
Hopefully this clears up some confusion. I know my writing isn't the best, but I'd really appreciate it if you took a quick look before jumping to the comments. You can read more about him and his lore in the links provided above, or I can provide more if asked
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Good god this was a long journey… From start to finish, this took me probably a good month to finish, minus all the original concept sketches, rough drafts, and failed attempts. But I did it, it's finally done!
There is a lot of backstory to this guy, which you can read some in the descriptions of the linked images, him being my primary antagonist of my entire series. To sum up as best as I can:
-Is the mascot of Pokémon Tourmaline, counterpart Celestine and sequel Galena
-Is a former member of the Creation trio (quartet) and current member of the Destiny Quartet along with Eowenah, Maxlormew, and Yinyanro
-Legendary of energy, magic, and now darkness, evil, and shadows
-"Brother/father" of Lugia, also the reason XD001 was possible (and why they looked different)
-Lord of the "True Shadow Pokémon", which are shadow type Pokémon rather than plain shadow Pokémon. Shadow Pokémon are lesser versions of True Shadows, and dark Pokémon are lesser versions of shadow Pokémon
-Is an eldritch-eldritch-eldritch being, this part only being the tip of the iceberg. Not actually a true Pokémon, hence why he doesn't look like a Pokémon – It's on purpose.
-Uncatchable, see the comments on the top link to see why
-My second-oldest continuous character at approximately 20 years old
-Shapeshifter, master manipulator, extremely charismatic, nearly all knowing, and increadibly bored. Also the most powerful "Pokemon" aside from the true forms of Arceus, Jeruceus, and Nahatoa. By a lot. Like it's not even close. Also the oldest (again aside from Arceus, Jeruceus, and Nahatoa), and, most importantly, is whole
Feel free to ask any questions you might have, I'm really excited about this!
by Legendguard