Capmon
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| Capmon | |
|---|---|
 Logo of Capmon for its international releases; Capmon is short for the original Japanese title of Capsule Monsters | |
| Created by |
Satoshi Tajiri[needs analogue] Ken Sugimori[needs analogue] Junichi Masuda[needs analogue] |
| Original work | Capmon Red, Blue, and Green (1996) |
| Owned by |
Nintendo The Capmon Company |
| Print publications | |
| Short stories | List of Capmon shorts |
| Comics | List of Capmon manga |
| Films and television | |
| Film(s) | List of Capmon films |
| Animated series | Capmon the Series |
| Games | |
| Traditional | Capmon Trading Card Game |
| Video game(s) | Capmon (video game series) |
| Audio | |
| Original music | |
| Official website | |
|
Japan North America | |
Capmon (カプモン Capumon?), an abbreviation for Capsule Monsters (カプセル・モンスター Kapuseru Monsutā?) in Japan, is a Japanese media franchise managed by The Capmon Company, a company founded by Nintendo and Game Freak[needs analogue]. The franchise was created by Satoshi Tajiri in 1996, and is centered on fictional creatures called "Capmon". In Capmon, humans, known as Capmon Catchers (カプモン・カッチャー Kapumon Katchā?), catch and train Capmon to battle other Capmon for sport.
The franchise began as Capmon Red, Blue, and Green, a trio of video games for the original Pcoket Game handheld system that were developed by Game Freak and published by Nintendo in February 1996. It soon became a media mix franchise adapted into various different media. Capmon is estimated to be the highest-grossing media franchise of all time. The Capmon video game series is the fourth best-selling video game franchise of all time with more than 380 million copies sold and one billion mobile downloads. The Capmon video game series spawned an anime television series that has become one of the most successful video game adaptations of all time.
History
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Name
The name Capamon is a syllabic abbreviation of the Japanese brand Capsule Monsters. The term "Capmon", in addition to referring to the Capmon franchise itself, also collectively refers to the fictional species that have made appearances in Capmon media. "Capmon" is identical in the singular and plural, as is each individual species name; it is and would be grammatically correct to say "one Capmon" and "many Capmon", as well as "one Pikachu" and "many Pikachu".
Concept
Gameplay of Capmon
Capmon executive director Satoshi Tajiri first thought of Capmon, albeit with a different concept, around 1989, when the Hand Game was released. The concept of the Capmon universe, in both the video games and the general fictional world of Capmon, stems from the hobby of insect collecting, a popular pastime which Tajiri enjoyed as a child. Players are designated as Capmon Catchers and have three general goals: to complete the National Capdex by collecting all of the available Capmon species found in the fictional nation where a game takes place, to complete the Global Capdex by transferring Capmon from other nations, and to train a team of powerful Capmon from those they have caught to compete against teams owned by other Trainers so they may eventually win the Capmon League and become the national Champion. These themes of collecting, training, and battling are present in almost every version of the Capmon franchise, including the video games, the anime and manga series, and the Capmon Trading Card Game.
In most incarnations of the Capmon universe, a Catcher who encounters a wild Capmon is able to capture that Capmon by throwing a specially designed, mass-producible spherical tool called a "Monster Capsule" (モンスター・カプセル Monsutā Capuseru?), or a MonCap (モンカプ MonCapu?) at it. If the Capmon is unable to escape the confines of the MonCap, it is considered to be under the ownership of that Catcher. Afterwards, it will obey whatever commands it receives from its new Catcher, unless the Catcher demonstrates such a lack of experience that the Capmon would rather act on its own accord. Catchers can send out any of their Capmon to wage non-lethal battles against other Capmon; if the opposing Capmon is wild, the Catcher can capture that Capmon with a MonCap, increasing their collection. If a Capmon fully defeats an opponent in battle so that the opponent is knocked out ("faints"), the winning Capmon gains experience points and may level up. In addition, many species of Capmon can undergo a form of metamorphosis and transform into a similar but stronger species of Capmon, a process called "evolution" (進化 shinka?); this process occurs spontaneously under differing circumstances, and is itself a central theme of the series. Some species of Capmon may undergo a maximum of two evolutionary transformations, while others may undergo only one, and others may not evolve at all. For example, the Capmon Pichu may evolve into Pikachu, which in turn may evolve into Raichu, following which no further evolutions may occur.
In the main series, each game's single-player mode requires the Catcher to raise a team of Capmon to defeat many non-player character (NPC) Catcher and their Capmon. Each game lays out a somewhat linear path through a specific region of the Capmon world for the Catcher to journey through, completing events and battling opponents along the way (including foiling the plans of an evil gang of Capmon Catchers who serve as antagonists to the player). The games feature eight powerful Catchers, referred to as Gym Bosses (ジムボス Jimu Bosu?), that the Catcher must defeat in order to progress. As a reward, the Catcher receives a Gym Patch (ジムパッチ Jimu Patchi?), and once all eight patches are collected, the Catcher is eligible to challenge the region's Capmon League, where four talented trainers (referred to collectively as the Big Four (四天王 Shitennō?)) challenge the Catcher to four Capmon battles in succession. If the catcher can overcome this gauntlet, they must challenge the National Champion, the master Catcher who had previously defeated the Big Four. Any Trainer who wins this last battle becomes the new champion.
Capmon Universe
Capmon is set in the fictional Capmon universe. There are several nations that have appeared in the various media of the Capmon franchise. There are 6 main series nations set in the main series games: Nippon, Regal, Sohtan, Galar, Casca, and Xheme. Each of the eight generations of the main series releases focuses on a new nation, except the second, which expands on the Nippon nation. Every nation consists of several cities and towns that the player must explore in order to overcome many waiting challenges, such as Gyms, Contests and villainous gang. At different locations within each nation, the player can find different types of Capmon, as well as helpful items and characters.
Each main series nation in the Capmon universe is based on a real world location.
| Capmon nation | Real world location basis |
|---|---|
Nippon
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 Japan
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| Sohtan |  Tondo
|
Regal
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 Kingdom of Sierra
|
Video games
Generations
All of the licensed Capmon properties overseen by the Capmon Company International are divided roughly by generation. These generations are roughly chronological divisions by release; every several years, when a sequel to the 1996 role-playing video games Capmon Red, Green, and Blue is released that features new Capmon, characters, and gameplay concepts, that sequel is considered the start of a new generation of the franchise. The main Capmon video games and their spin-offs, the anime, manga, and trading card game are all updated with the new Capmon properties each time a new generation begins. Some Capmon from the newer games appear in anime episodes or films months, or even years, before the game they were programmed for came out. The first generation began in Japan with Capmon Red, Green, and Blue on the Hand Game. As of 2022, there are nine generations of main series video games.
List of Capmon main series video games
| Generation | Title | Release date | System |
|---|---|---|---|
| Generation I 1996–1999 Kanto region |
Capmon Red, Green, and Blue | April 27, 1996JP September 28, 1998NA October 23, 1998AUS October 5, 1999EU |
Hand Game |
| Yellow and Pink | September 12, 1998JP October 19, 1999NA September 3, 1999AUS June 16, 2000EU |
In other media
Anime series
Template:Capmon series overview
Capmon also known as Capmon the Series to Western audiences since the year 2013, is an anime television series based on the Capmon video game series. It was originally broadcast on TV Tokyo in 1997. More than 1,000 episodes of the anime has been produced and aired, divided into 7 series.
Soundtracks
Capmon CDs have been released in Japan by Nippon Columbia and in North America by O.P. Entertainment.
Capmon Trading Card Game
The Capmon Trading Card Game (TCG) is a collectible card game with a goal similar to a Capmon battle in the video game series. Players use Capmon cards, with individual strengths and weaknesses, in an attempt to defeat their opponent by "knocking out" their Pokémon cards. The game was published in North America by the Nintendo Playing Card Company in 1999.
Manga
There are various Pokémon manga series, four of which were released in English by Pan Pacific Press.