Psychoanalytics and the Order Pokémon
Last week’s topic addressed the potential connection between Freudian theory and two of the aura trio, Xerneas and Yveltal. This left one out: Zygarde. However, Zygarde also has some areas of connection with Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, including both specific language choices and themes.
In the world of Pokémon, Zygarde is made up of multiple Cells and Cores. These individual components aren’t able to accomplish much on their own, with only the Core being capable of independent action. These parts are scattered throughout the area in which they’re found. Zygarde can then be assembled or assemble itself into a 10%, 50%, or 100% (or complete) forme.
In Sigmund Freud’s writings in Beyond the Pleasure Principle (Freud, 1922), much of his writing uses a cellular metaphor for the drives he identified as the life instinct and the death instinct. With regard to the life instinct, or Eros, Freud described it as part of a biological necessity for the union of two germ cells to reproduce and create more multicellular organisms. With regard to the death instinct, or Thanatos, Freud discussed the role of this instinct in guiding the organism toward death as only occurring in multicellular organisms. Tying this further to Zygarde, Freud used the words “cells” and “core,” though applied these in a way not necessarily metaphorically connected to Zygarde.
On a thematic level, Zygarde’s role in the Pokémon universe also connects to Freudian theory. Zygarde’s role as the Order Pokémon occurs when the natural ecosystem is threatened, particularly when the balance between Xerneas and Yveltal is disturbed. In these situations, Zygarde complete forme is unleashed. Zygarde has also appeared in its complete forme in order to protect the environment. In Freud’s description of the activities of Eros and Thanatos, he also described what happened when those two urges became unbalanced. An abundance of Eros can lead to narcissism. An abundance of Thanatos can lead to violence. Freud believed that Eros and Thanatos could become intertwined to result in sadism or masochism (Feist & Feist, 2009).
Freud would later articulate the idea that the instinctual processes of the life drive and the death drive were part of the psychic processes of the the id, the part of the human mind that operates on instinct and considered an unconscious process. The id was believed to be the first psychic structure to develop and present from birth. As a way of mastering these drives, the Ego was believed to emerge, whose goal is self-preservation and dealing with reality. In this way, we can also connect the instinctual nature of Xerneas and Yveltal with the order of Zygarde: Zygarde, in its complete forme, is said to be stronger than both Xerneas and Yveltal; the id is, in many ways, mastered by the ego in successful functioning. Additionally, Freud included the sueprego, which includes morality and conscience (Lapsley & Stey, 2012).
It is perhaps not as direct a connection between Freud and Zygarde as displayed in Xerneas and Yveltal, but the role of Zygarde in this metaphor seems to be more background overlap between Freud and Pokémon. Taken as a whole, the connection between Freudian psychoanalytic theory and the aura trio of the sixth generation of Pokémon games seems fairly clear.
Feist, J. & Feist, G. J. (209). Theories of personality (7th ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.
Freud, S. (1922). Beyond the Pleasure Principle: Authorized Translation From the Second German Edition. London, The International Psycho-analytical Press
Lapsley, D. & C. Stey, P.C. (2012). Id, Ego, and Superego. Retrieved from https://www3.nd.edu/~dlapsle1/Lab/Articles%20&%20Chapters_files/Entry%20for%20Encyclopedia%20of%20Human%20Behavior%28finalized4%20Formatted%29.pdf
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