After Porygon, I decided to randomly pick one of the other 'themed' Infinite Fusion templates that I said I wanted to do. It was either the Duskull line, the Grimer line, the Solosis line, Cofagrigus, Unown or Mimikyu. (I didn't want to do the Klink line back-to-back with Porygon).
Obviously, Mimikyu won! And... I do like it. One thing that I wasn't really feeling with the Porygon one was that... a lot of the fusions are samey, so it's a bit hard for me to say stuff without repeating myself too much. Mimikyu's whole deal is that he wears a felt-cloth costume of other Pokemon, so there's inherently a lot more adorable variation going on here, as well as some more twisted ones.
Again, similar introduction to the rest of the Infinite Fusion posts -- Infinite Fusion is a fan-game that features fusions of Pokemon as the gimmick, and often times this includes some excellent sprite-work by artists.
I did a more in-depth explanation of the fusion process in the first review. Basically, the Infinite Fusion calculator has two different combinations, with one Pokemon as the body, and the other Pokemon as the head + colours, and vice-versa. But the most interesting ones are the crowdsourced custom sprites for the fusions, the bulk of which is what we'll be talking about here!
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A lot of the 'Mimikyu as the base body' fusions very understandably just switches out the Pikachu base of the felt-cloth puppet with whatever Pokemon it's fused with. And it's honestly something I kind of wished Pokemon did as regional variants -- surely this makes more sense than giving us seven different outfits for Pikachu?
The starters and baby Pokemon make for some really adorable ones, and I love the creativity that gose into the concept of Mimikyu making these cosplays out of scrap material. Mimikyu/Turtwig here is pretty basic, but I like that just like regular Mimikyu's wooden Pikachu tail, the leaf prop he's using for Turtwig's head is falling off. Meanwhile, Mimikyu/Cyndaquil inherits Cyndaquil's slit-like eyes, and this one apparently managed to get a fake flame effect behind him. Is it cardboard? It's probably cardboard.
Some more cure ones. Mimikyu/Torchic is pretty dang cute, and I featured Mimikyu/Mudkip in a previous post. Mimikyu/Jigglypuff goes a bit more anime with it, with the face being scribbled on with a blue felt-tip marker, and it's even holding a microphone with its ghost hand. I feel like a Jigglypuff Mimikyu would be adorable as it tries to sing, but people get freaked out by its face.
We've got Mimikyu/Pichu and Mimikyu/Raichu. I really think the Pichu fusion is really cute! The Raichu one is... uh... yeah, that scribbled-on face does look a bit disturbing, despite it trying to mimic regular Raichu's mouth instead of the creepy psycho zigzag that canon Mimikyu has. I like that the tail is still a wooden or cardboard chunk.
We'll get another couple of simple, cute ones out of the way. Mimikyu/Squirtle and Mimikyu/Chimchar. I'm not the biggest fan of Chimchar (I'm not a big fan of monkeys in general) and so I think this design is infinitely better than the actual monkey. A whole bunch of wholesomeness!
Honestly, though, these feel less like proper 'fusions' and more like just creative variants of Mimikyu. Which, by the way, is not a complaint. I'd love for a region to have like 30 different Mimikyu variants. It sure would be more appealing to collect than like 30 different Vivillons or Alcremies!
Some of these really do get creative! It's not always just a felt-cloth doll like canon Mimikyu. Mimikyu/Tentacruel here makes its disguise with a blue trash can, with scribbles to represent the red orbs on Tentacruel. It completes its disguise with a bunch of black felt tape, and a sharp 'beak' or 'nose' that seems obviously glued on. It's probably fitting that it's made out of pollution too, you could probably guess that this guy hung out near the oceans.
Mimikyu/Gyarados also gets creative! Always love any design that has two glowing eyes peering out of a black abyss of a mouth, and it makes perfect sense here since Mimikyu's using a costume for the Gyarados. But Mimikyu's true shadow form is holding the little stick that keeps the Gyarados body up, as if it's like a dragon dance in a Chinese New Year festival. That's pretty cute. I like the little stitched-up seam running down Gyarados's body as well!
The bases that use the other Pokemon as the 'main' body also can be really cool because... guess what? Mimikyu himself is pretty damn cool! The effect is kind of amplified with already spooky Pokemon, like Misdreavus/Mimikyu here. We keep most of Misdreavus's anatomy, but she now has jet-black, hollow eyes and stitches running up and down her now presumably felt body. And of course we've got Mimikyu's usual giant shadow claw jutting out from beneath her body.
I'm not sure why I find Mimikyu/Politoed here a bit more unsettling. I guess it's that stitched-up grin and the black button-eyes? I like that the 'leaf' on Politoed's head is also clearly salvaged from some plant or other. I kind of headcanon some of these other-Pokemon-as-the-base-body fusions as a Mimikyu with a better costume, so much that it doesn't have to scuttle around in the somewhat conical shape that traditional Mimikyu does.
Chandelure/Mimikyu is another pretty interesting one in that the design seems to be adapting Mimkyu's inner shadow form taking the form of the traditional chandelier. I like that it's got a bunch of goopy wax everywhere, and that there are chunks of Mimikyu's original Pikachu-based costume that lay tattered around the chandelier hands.
I like Klinklang/Mimikyu here, where the real Mimikyu's this shadowy pair of hands using yellow strings to puppeteer a bunch of rusty gears arranged in the rough shape of a Klinklang. The puppeteer strings isn't exactly what a Mimikyu is themed after, but using scrap as a costume still fits with what this little guy is doing!
As per tradition, we need to see what the 'squared' fusion is, and Mimikyu/Mimikyu is... just a Gigantamax Pikachu version of Mimikyu. I guess it makes sense! I didn't find this as funny as I should, but it's a good gag.
Mimikyu/Pikachu is interesting. At first glance it just seems like it's a reverse cosplay -- a Pikachu wearing a Mimikyu hoodie. I think Pokemon Go even has a PIkachu costume like this. But we've got an actual Mimikyu shadow tendril claw peeking up from underneath that skirt, so who knows what's going on under there?
Mimikyu/Cradily is adorable as all hell! Neither Cradily nor Mimikyu has those massive giant chompers in the green maw, but it doesn't feel out of place. Mimikyu's eyes glint within the dark void, while -- just like canon Cradily -- two yellow buttons act as fake 'eyes'. It's such a clever adaptation of the real Cradily's fake eye-spots and real eyes. And, of course, he's got a bunch of socks that are used as the materials for Cradily's tentacles.
Big daddy satan Mimikyu/Giratina also looks pretty fun! We've got a small cosplay of Giratina as a puppet, but instead of a formless glob bursting out as a shadowy appendage, we've got a full-on monstrosity with tendril-ribcage-claws just like the Origin Forme of Giratina. Pretty cool!
More cuties! Man, there's a lot less 'creepy' Mimikyu fusions than I thought! I'm actually quite surprised, but I guess the Pokemon fandom recognizes Mimikyu as a cute baby that needs to be protected. Mimikyu/Pidgeot here doesn't quite have the same 'this costume is cobbled from trash' vibe that most of the Mimikyu fusions have, but I love that face. I can't not put this little guy in this page.
Mimikyu/Dusclops is just adorable, okay? Dusclops is based on a paper lantern, so it's already ripe to become a Pokemon 'made out of trash', but I love how this Mimikyu goes around completing the look, with what looks like goopy wax or cream to make Dusclops' tail, and two little white pom-poms on sticks to represent Dusclops' hands. That's adorable.
Mimikyu/Roselia here is adorable! Look at it. It's got the Roselia body down pat, with stitches and duct tapes, but what gets me the most is that he's using two differently-coloured sink rags for Roselia's rose arms.
Appreciate how cute Mimikru/Raikou is. Honestly, regular Raikou already has a tail that looks like it's salvaged from somewhere and glued on! I really do like the face on this one, though, particularly the eyes and the whiskers.
Ponyta/Mimikyu is just a rocking horse! That's cute. I love that we still have canon Mimikyu's wooden tail, but the wood's extended to the horse feet and handles as well. I like that Mimikyu's using his shadow hand as the 'fiery' mane of this rocking horse, too.
This one goes a bit more 'meta', but Mimikyu/Krookodile literally has Mimikyu hold up a cardboard cutout of the game screen's format, with HP bar and everything.
Mimikyu/Umbreon is a pretty cool one, with the Mimikyu entity having created a whole Umbreon suit, but since it's a bit more complex compared to its little Pikachu cosplay, Umbrekyu here has to use its shadow hands to puppeteer the Umbreon entity. Love it.
Mimkyu/Shuckle is another one that uses a bunch of creative trash to create a fascimile of the creature. In this case, it's some guy's biker helmet serving as Shuckle's shell, and a mass of black tendrils ending in yellow socks representing Shuckle's wormy tentacles. That's pretty cool, and I just really like the idea of a biker helmet as a dome-shaped piece of trash that 'naturally' has a lot of holes.
Mimkyu/Octillery is another cute one, with the main octopus body being made up out of salvaged material. It's not quite as clear as the Tentacruel or Shuckle one what the red material are, but the octopus cannon is definitely a toilet roll, isn't it? The scribble eyes are always cute, too.
Mimikyu/Kabuto I just really liked the look of. Again, it's not quite clear what Mimito here is making its cosplay out of, but Kabuto's anatomy is already a very distinct shelled creature with a shadowy understide, so it feels natural that Mimikyu would feel at home in a Kabuto cosplay. I like that the shadow arms are replacing Kabuto's upper claws.
Mimikyu/Dratini is just here because I find it cute! Not much to say, it sure is cute.
Mimikyu/Gible is a cute one! Its costume is a cardboard box with a bunch of things taped on, like the fin and hammerhead shark greebles, and a bunch of stuff drawn on it. It's another one that I find cute!
As the other 'artificial' Pokemon, Golurk makes for very fun fusions with Mimikyu! The first Mimikyu/Golurk is a Mimikyu hiding within the rift in Golurk's chest, with eyes and claws lurking out of the chest. I like that the regular Golurk eyes are hollow. It's a weird but nice touch that the left arm is wooden, too, and it even looks like this is a golem cobbled together and repaired, not to dissimilar with the concept of Regirock. Pretty neat! Is this a Mimikyu that cobbled together a Golurk golem, or a Mimikyu that infiltrated a dead or empty Golurk?
I just find the reverse to be adorable, a Golurk plushie with mismatched eyes, and Mimikyu's eyes peeking out of the stitched-up seams within. It's just adorable.
Mimikyu/Ariados is pretty cute! I really like everything that goes on here. Apparently this particular Mimikyu was able to get some more high-quality material in making Ariados's face and legs, but the visual imagery of Mimikyu's regular conical doll body scuttling around on four spidery legs is pretty creepy-cute! This Mimikyu should be proud, his cosplay is pretty good.
Mimikyu/Wailmer is an interesting one, where Wailmer himself is already sorta artificial-looking, being a whale patterned after a beach ball. The spriter decided to re-interpret it into a hot-air balloon... or just a balloon, I guess, with Wailmer's face scribbled hastily onto it. The 'true' Mimikyu is suspended below it, covered in a hilarious cartoonish white sheet like a cartoon ghost. I do really like the end result. It's not quite a 'proper' fusion but I like the creativity that goes into this.
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