Fantasies Realized

High energy creatures excite feelings deep within us. Power and mystery mix to make us come alive inside with the majestic unseen. Trolls, unicorns, werewolves, ghouls, and fairies are among the many creatures that have filled tales told for generations. Stories peppered with danger and conquest meant to goad youth to act cautiously for the fear of the unknown lurking in the shadows. Dragons top the mythical creatures list in depictions across the world today. Embodying fire and associated with the dynamic, powerful, indomitable, and destructive. The progress seen around the world has allowed great strides to be taken in bringing increasing numbers of creatures into our daily lives.

Poke & Digi Peoples or Parks

Pokemon, Digimon, and Yu-gi-oh are a few that extend the idea of extranatural animals roaming the world regularly. There are actually famous dragon creatures in each series. The feature that stands out in the worlds created is the representations of the powers through the elements each creature originates. Many dragon creatures coming from the expect flames but also from water, air, and earth. The foundations of the societies are different than what we follow today but the possibilities of creatures such as these existing is less fantasy as new discoveries and technologies arise.

Media has explored the ideas around created beings and creatures both positively and negatively. The idea of bringing back past creatures found encased in amber and creating parks for them has been a popular concept. The progression then arrives at the possibilities of mixing breeds of prehistoric creatures as is done with fruits and vegetables grown and sold for the masses. Creating unique flavors and features through selective mixing. How people would react to a island of digimon or pokemon is a cultural question difficult to explore outside of context. All of the development in the shows is around creatures fighting at the direction of their caretakers. A world where setting pets against each other were the standard feels more distant than the mass appeal and celebration would have you think.

Borne creatures

The technologies available today are allowing extensions to the possibilities of dragons.

The features that come to mind, in the illustration above, for conceptualized creatures come alive are able to draw from examples we see throughout nature. We see shows touching on the idea of making new unseen creatures but those new borne creatures are often relegated to a separate part of society. The "mon" portion of digimon and pokemon actually stands for "monsters". Digital monsters and pocket monsters are not showings of respect but are actually less equitable or empowering focused concepts. However, the goals of the creatures as they appear in the shows are not centered around these tenets and likely should be explored along different lines. The actual versions of how these creatures would come to be would likely be dramatically different from the depictions as we see them shown today.

The use of bodies to allow pockets of the internet to express would be another possible path seen. How would the Watson, Google, Siri, and Alexa type systems of tomorrow change what is possible for the creatures borne to motive extranatural bodies of tomorrow? Hiring Alexa for home security in dragon form while away on a trip sounds a dynamic future. How would we react were we to find that Pikachu or Charmander were child development and survival experts aiding in the growth of the young people with whom they travel? The language of communication being nonverbal and the control ceded being developmental tools in an open world school building motivation, strategic thinking, and focused self actualization? Chat rooms alive with the real thoughts of Pikachu* would change our views of the once denigrated monsters quickly, when that side was ready to be reveled to the mature Ash & Co.

* Survival expert Charmander shares no secrets outside of the wilds of the classroom.