Is Vivillon really the devil?

[coltonsmogon]

Discuss your opinions in the comments... Vote in the poll while you're at it if you have to.

Edited December 5, 2018 by coltonsmogon
A year-late typo fix.

[evandixon]

Is Vivillon the Devil?

Abstract

In the words of the shortest abstract ever, "probably not" ¹.

Introduction

Some believe that Vivillon is the devil because its number in the Pokédex is 666. Interpreting biblical prophesy is always challenging because it is not always clear what is literal and what is figurative. This report shows the analysis of what is known shows a logical fallacy, combined with existing research, to suggest Vivillon is not the devil.

Analysis

Chapter 13 of Revelation refers to a beast that comes out of the earth. It is commonly believed that this beast is in fact the devil. For the scope of this report, this will be assumed true. What the Bible says about the beast and the number 666 is as follows ²:

Quote

Then I saw a second beast, coming out of the earth. It had two horns like a lamb, but it spoke like a dragon. ... And it performed great signs, even causing fire to come down from heaven to the earth in full view of the people. ... It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads, so that they could not buy or sell unless they had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of its name.

This calls for wisdom. Let the person who has insight calculate the number of the beast, for it is the number of a man. That number is 666.

The verse says that the beast has a number which is 666, but not that something with the number 666 is the beast.

In terms of Boolean logic, if A = something is the beast from the earth and B = the something's number is 666, then A implies B (A => B). We cannot think of it in reverse. B does not imply A. If B is not true, then A is not true, but that's the only inference that can be made. Just because Vivillon has the number 666 does not mean it is the beast from the earth. The only thing we know for sure is that Vivillon's number is 666, but that does not necessarily mean anything. As shown in Figure 1, it is possible for things to have the number 666 without being the Beast Out of the Earth that the Bible describes.

Figure 1. Categorization of Vivillon and the Beast Out of the Earth.

Comparing the beast to Vivillon in terms of their actions does not support your conclusion. The beast appears to have fire power, but according to researchers of TV Tropes, Vivillon instead possesses powers such as poison, psychokinesis, and wind ³. Serebii, fellow Pokémon researcher and ally of the Project Pokémon research institute, reports that the only fire type move Vivillon has is Sunny Day, which can hardly be compared to fire power ⁴. While this does not necessarily prove Vivillon is not the beast, it is at the very least evidence to suggest otherwise.

Conclusion

There is not enough evidence to suggest that Vivillon is the beast referenced in the Bible. The very premise relies at best on faulty logic, and there is evidence to suggest Vivillon does not possess the powers used by the beast. In order to prove or disprove the claim beyond all doubt, either the true beast would need to be identified or conclusive research would need to be performed to determine if Vivillon has the potential to use fire or regulate commerce.

References

1. http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2014/01/shortest_science_papers.html
2. http://biblehub.com/niv/revelation/13.htm
3. http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanonPokedex/Scatterbug
4. http://serebii.net/pokedex-sm/666.shtml

[Edit/Moderator Note] Since this thread is actually pretty on-topic to Pokémon, I'm moving it to the Pokémon Franchise section.

Edited April 26, 2017 by evandixon

[theSLAYER]

Evandixon pretty much covered all the reasons.

If anything, I think that Game Freak is aware that 666 represents the devil in Christian cultures,
and went as far as to try to create a Pokemon with no Satanism Imagery.

The reason for that is simple:
They don't want another Pokemon Satanic/anti-Christ controversy.

[Guest]

-

Edited December 22, 2019 by Guest

[feralidile5]

Maybe

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-J320AZ using Tapatalk

[coltonsmogon]

On 4/26/2017 at 6:02 AM, Purin said:

There is no devil, so Vivillon can't be the devil.

qed

Technically, according to biblical philosophy, the devil DOES exist, but is an invisible entity waiting for just the right moment to strike the world with it's pure terror (& with a lot of zombies in his force (& who knows? The devil probably has a signature move of his own, just we don't know what it is).

[crown trainer]

Technically, according to biblical philosophy, the devil DOES exist, but is an invisible entity waiting for just the right moment to strike the world with it's pure terror (& with a lot of zombies in his force (& who knows? The devil probably has a signature move of his own, just we don't know what it is).

Seeing as the devil supposedly has the ability to cause plagues, poison, rains of fire, disease, pain, healing, etc. his signature move is probably metronome.
Thus it could be concluded that Togepi (having horns on his head and the capability to use metronome) is probably the devil

Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk

[coltonsmogon]

2 hours ago, crown trainer said:

Seeing as the devil supposedly has the ability to cause plagues, poison, rains of fire, disease, pain, healing, etc. his signature move is probably metronome.
Thus it could be concluded that Togepi (having horns on his head and the capability to use metronome) is probably the devil

Sent from my XT1635-02 using Tapatalk
 

That's just anticlimactic, but the thing is, Togepi falls under the same category as Vivillon does in this case. Just because Togepi has horns (oh wait, they aren't even real horns :P) doesn't mean they make it the devil in any way, shape, or form unless it's been proven that it either is the devil or has been possessed by the devil.

[CorniFan]

LOL! A thread about vivillon's dex number!!! XD I don't know how to answer, honestly. But I can't help but laugh a little.

 

Well, i'll just add this much;

Pokemon has over 800 monsters now. Sadly.....one is going to have the devil's number :/