I Want This To Be My Car Someday!

Very well done analysis of Adaman.

Adaman the Symbol of Time

 p(An Analysis on the character design of Adaman from Pokemon Legends of Arceus and it’s relation to time and art history.)

A lot of the characters form PLA are similar in terms of design. The characters that do not follow the standard hoodies, tunics, guild jumpsuits ,and kimonos have a lot of interesting art history associated with them.  I love Adaman’s design in particular since he is literally a symbol of time. 

Well…isn’t this obvious since he is the Diamond Clan leader and associated with Dialga? Yes, but there is a lot more subtle aspects to his design that link him with a specific form or Japanese Art.  But let’s first look at the obvious references to Dialga .

In Adaman’s design they use a lot of blues and and silver that you can see shared with Dialga.  They also use the Diamond clan symbol that is shaped to look like Dialga’s chest gem repeatedly in the coat and accessories.  Adaman’s coat/jacket is most likely a nod to the Japanese Haori.  It is even tied with a fancy beaded Himo chord to keep it closed. If you look at the shoes you can see in the concept art that even the bottom of them are supposed to look like Dialga’s feet in their regular form and on the top of the shoe like the legendary Pokemon’s face.  All this information is very interesting and nice seeing how the character and the Pokemon are related even thematically.  

However, it’s crossed your mind (even briefly) that Adaman’s design is not directly one to one with Dialga. He isn’t a Dialga gijinka. There are elements and colors that Adaman uses that the legendary Pokemon does not.  We can brush it off as Adaman having a flair and his importance as a Diamond Clan leader to set him apart. But this is where it gets interesting. His outfit is generally just fashionable and we can choose to look at it like that on a surface level.  But if you look deeper you see a more symbolic meaning.

Adaman is Kintsugi . What is that? Kintsugi is a Japanese art technique that repairs pottery using lacquer and gold dust.  Adaman also has similar gold veins running through his clothing.  For someone who is so “put together” looking, why would you intentionally create jagged and uneven elements other than for aesthetic? This is because for my understanding, this is yet another way the character designer chose to express Adaman’s connection to time.

Kintsugi is a beautiful form of art and philosophy.  The idea is not to hide the cracks and flaws, but to turn it into something more beautiful and strong.  It represents the passage of time and a documentation of the harsh conditions in which we pass through. But ultimately it is a celebration of survival and growth.  It is also a metaphor for embracing your flaws and imperfections.

One translation defines the word  kintsugi as golden “golden seams”. So, Adaman is kind of a symbol of kintsugi pottery and philosophy.  The part about this design that confused me the most was his hair since it’s also not standard colored and is quite unique. But I realized that if we are equating him to pottery, the hair might be colored that way to imitate pottery glazes (the stuff they put on ceramics to give it color.)

On another interesting note, Adaman has lots of signs of past injury. We see this with the bandages on his arms and hands, the cut brow which is a remnant of injury and survival, and then the very intentional jagged gold claw marks on his back.  The back gold lines are sharp looking and contrast with the rest of the designs which is fluid and rounded.  It’s bringing attention to the marks.

Image sources: 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6

We can interpret a lot from this design. It also raises many questions. The jagged golden marks and Adaman’s bandaged arms implies that he has been “damaged” or “broken” in some sense. This could be taken literally or symbolically. We don’t know what happened to him.  Maybe he was attacked by an alpha Pokemon and survived a severe injury that he now incorporates into this aesthetic as a way to show that he was able to come back from that.  Or maybe it’s referring to his leadership as a young Diamond Clan leader and the mistakes he made and had to learn from. 

So in conclusion. From what I can understand , if we were to wrap up all the motifs, Adaman’s design ultimately seems to just represent a passage of time. Breakage and repair are just proof of time passing and represent history and life. And I think that is really cool.  

These are all my speculations and none of it is canon you can disagree if you want. These are just things I have observed and made note of that I believe makes the character far more interesting and fleshed out.  There is a lot of deep and meaningful things you can pull from this if you want to expound further through fanart and fanfic.  

EDITS/NOTES:

So a lot of people asked if the arm and hand wraps are for fighting. They aren’t. In every form of fighting and martial arts that involves wrapping(taping) your knuckles, you wrap between each finger and around your knuckles several times to cushion them.  You do their for wrist stability, prevent injury, and joint restriction.  Failing to wrap your hands correctly will result in fractures, broken fingers and knuckles, and metal carpet boss.  Not only are Adaman’s knuckles exposed when he clenches his fists, there is no wrapping supporting his wrists on the left hand.  If he is wrapping them to fight, he is doing a very bad job at it.

I did research on this before writing the initial post and came to this conclusion, but I guess I’ll add it now for those that had questions.

Another interesting note is that the Diamond Clan symbol also looks like a stylized version of the characters for gold.  This same character also does appear in the work kintsugi.

Adaman’s name is interesting too since it’s not really a common name.  In fact, it seems to be a play on word “adamant” which usually refers to someone who is not willing to change their mind or opinion.  HOWEVER , Adamant is an archaic diamond found in Greek/Roman mythology.  It is a bit of a legendary diamond of sorts. The name is derived from the Greek word for diamond. “adámas”.

If you remember, in the Diamond and Pearl games you can use the “Adamant Orb” to increase the dragon/steel type moves of Dialga by 20% if they hold it. In Pokemon Legends Arceus you can get the “Adament Crystal from Adaman.  This can be used to switch Dialga between Origin and normal form.  

Also random interesting thought. The diamond clan settlement is located in the crimson mirelands. Out of the different areas, this one has the most ideal conditions to create pottery clay next to bodies of water (Lake valor) , the scarlet bog, and the mountainous areas surrounding the settlement. Very similar to the Mashiko and Hagi pottery villages in japan.

Would you eat a purple carrot?

Considering purple carrots are a real thing, I'll try it.

Just as long as it's cooked first. But I'll do that to an orange carrot. 🥕

Random idea: IF the Dreamers are still alive in the real world, then you should SEE them in Godhome. AND get bonuses for keeping them alive.

Team Cherry could totally pull this off as it's still the Dream Realm AND the Godseekers are calling just about everyone there.

Now, I am not saying that we should get Dreamer Boss fights (though that would be cool even if impossible to pull off if you know the original concept of the Dreamers), but what about finding a secret room and BOOM! The Dreamers are there.

Now, finding the Dreamers would be cool and all, as you get extra dialogue with all three and get to see everyone's character (especially you Lurien). But what if they would give you boosts and insights into the Boss Fights you are about to do?

What if Lurien could analyze the Boss fight weaknesses, specifically the glitches and loopholes in them such as False Knight's/Failed Champion's cheat or White Defender's cheat? What if Monomon ran tests in the background to help you figure out how to get the Lifeblood seeds, not to mention help you get them? What if Herrah would randomly help you in battle? Though I would not be opposed to her taking care of Godseeker for me due to all the times Godseeker calls Little Knight a worm as in the earthworm.

And finally, when you reach the final bosses in Pantheon of Hallownest, the Dreamers actively help you during the final bosses fights, each one taking turns (depending on lore or character) until all three help you take on Absolute Radiance. Say goodby to Fall Damage! Also, the idea of Monomon launching an explosive at the Radiance's face looks so lovely.

And of course, the ending cutscene where all three Dreamers wake up and the Hollow Knight is freed to a world without an Infection...please?????? Canonically, the Godhome ending and cutscene STILL play if the Dreamers are alive, but we don't SEE the Dreamers waking up. So please can we see them? Can we see all the hugs?

Anyway-what do you all think?

Do you think Team Cherry or any community modders could pull this idea off? If so, would you play it?

[ID: Hollow Knight and Ghost asleep on the floor. /End ID]

Hollow Knight is the silliest looking animal I have ever seen I love them so much

Horse,,, .

Why is this so true?????

Cool.

How To Paint Pearls

by koklico

Results are in! 19 votes!

Each Dreamer's house will go up in an individual post!

Honestly, I am quite grateful as I finally got a chance to count how many pages my essay is. Herrah has 9 pages, Monomon has 10 page, and Lurien...is still a work in progress, but looks like he'll have 30 pages.

What Should I do? Post Everything or Separate?

Hello please reblog this if you’re okay with people sending you random asks to get to know you better

This is so cool!

Pokemon | Dreaming of good times | Rayquaza and Entei