Cheri, Cheri ladyGoin’ through emotionLove is where you find itListen to your heart
Enamorus, the Love-Hate Pokémon has graced the Valentine’s Day celebrations in Pokémon Go and while it’s a powerhouse in battles, its design isn’t too popular among fans.
The Genie trio themselves never got too much love from the Pokémon community, except Landorus and Tornadus being viable in the competitive scene, and with the addition of Enamorus in Legends Arceus, it got less love and more hate.
Love… A Force of Nature?!
The other three Genies kind of make sense when it comes to being, well, a force of nature.
Tornadus… tornadoes…
Thundurus… thunderstorms
Landorus… keeping the two above in check and salvaging their effects.
Enamorus… love, yeah, it’s perhaps the greatest force of nature. Wars have been fought over love!
So thunderstorms create nitrates in the atmosphere, strong winds spread them everywhere, and then they fall onto the land to fertilize plants.
In a nutshell, the first two are being their destructive best while Lando is putting them to good use.
And Enamorus? Let’s check some Pokédex entries:
See the ‘love’ and ‘hate’? Also, the coming of spring is technically a force of nature. Not to mention, “across the sea” may allude to the Unova region.
Love… it’s in the name
To enamor is to be filled with a strong emotion of love, so the Fairy typing fits.
And the -us at the end? Well, that’s based on Aeolus, the Green God of winds, and so, the typing.
Enamorus Incarnate
Kami origins
Ōkuninushi & Suseri-bime
“Kami” stands for a deity in Japanese, and the Incarnate formes of the Forces of Nature are all kamis.
Enamorus Incarnate is surprisingly based on a couple of kamis:
- Ōkuninushi-no-Mikoto, a prominent deity for healing, agriculture, and magic
- Susanoo-no-Mikoto, the god of storms, fields, and harvest, marriage, and love
Wait, isn’t Susanoo-no-Mikoto a refrence to ALL four Genies?! 😯
And guess what? There’s a story connecting these two gods.
You see, Ōkuninushi fell in love with Susanoo’s daughter, Suseri-bime. Unfortunately for Ōkuninushi, Susanoo wasn’t ready to approve their relationship so easily, so she asked him to win a trial of sorts to win her.
The first test?
Survive a night surrounded by venomous snakes. But Suseri-bime gave her lover a magical scarf for protection, allowing him to survive the deadly serpents.
And guess who has a snake-like scarf?
The lady herself!
And that scarf was worn to… prove love
Ugajin
Ugajin is another kami that signifies fertility and harvest. But unlike the other kamis, Ugajin is female, like Enamorus. Well, they can switch between male and female, but prominently featured as a woman.
And as her image clearly shows, she’s a snake, or to be more precise, a snake as the neck. Enamorus.
The deity also has a headdress similar to Enamorus!
Shiva
The Hindu deity Shiva has a snake wound around his neck, leading to another reference.
And while Shiva is the epitome of manliness and the god of destruction, in stark contrast to Enamorus, Shiva’s wife Parvati is the goddess of fertility, care, and nourishment!
So Parvati-Shiva… Care-Destriction… Love-Hate… Enamorus 😉
Enamorus’ Lips
Umm, yeah. We will have to talk about that coz many of you hate them, amirite? 😡
But it has an inspiration as well and it fits very well with Enamorus being from Hisui.
Note that Hisui is based in the Hokkaido area, which has Ainu, a Japanese ethnic group, and in their culture, women often have tattoos. But perhaps the most noteworthy and distinct tattoos among them:
See? 😀
Additionally, these tattoos supposedly ward off evil, just like Enamorus resists Dark attacks. Neat, eh? 
We are sorted with the Incarnate forme, let’s switch to the Therian forme, shall we?
Enamorus Therian
This is literally a turtle-shaped, duck-footed monstrosity! 😯
And it has a heart on its nose! 😳
Cute!
But what about the snake and clouds??
Well, here you go:
Black Tortoise from Chinese Mythology
The tortoise represents longevity and it’s a moniker for ‘love living on forever.’
But it goes deeper…
The black tortoise with a snake is actually part of the Four Guardians/Symbols, in Chinese mythology, and they refer to constellations.
The tiger, phoenix, dragon, and tortoise all represent the Legendary Forces of Nature. Even the bit beasts of the heroes in Beylblade were based on these!
The tortoise is also based in the North direction, and Hisui is located in the North as well! Hokkaido (Hisui) is Japan’s nothern most point.
That’s not all as this tortoise constellation…
… represents control over winter!
Remember Enamorus’ Dex entry?
It comes to end the bitter winter and pave the way for spring.
Chinese Softshell Turtle
Note that Pokémon lore mixes up turtles and tortoises, so you end up getting elements of both in one.
The face, the soft shell being similar to a cloud, and the feet…
It all just falls in place with this species of turtle
Now, let’s get back to the deity Ugajin and Benzaiten.
Benzaiten
Check out that face on Ugajin’s head. That’s Benzaiten.
Any who’s that, you may ask? The answer depends on who you ask, as some say kami and some say Hindu goddess. But either way, she is the goddess of ‘flow.’ like water and wind.
But Benzaiten is also seen as a deity of love and feminity.
The concept of flow actually brings us back to Shiva, who is certainly the god of destruction, but when he is calm and compassionate, the form people worship, he has water from the holy river Ganga flowing from his head:
Benten Island
Not to be confused with the cartoon Ben Ten XD
Benten is a real island that… get this… is located in the southeast of Asahi-dake, the inspiration for Mt.Coronet in the Hisui region.
And Enamorus is found in the game, in the exact same location!! Crazy analogy!
Speaking of those, Benzaiten has a Hindu goddess analogy!
Saraswati & her Veena
And check out the similarities between Benzaiten and Saraswati:
Veena
The musical instrument in the hands of the goddesses is a veena, which oddly represents Enamorus’ body shape.
Swan
Both these wonderful goddesses often have a swan by their side. And what does a swan symbolize?
LOVE! 😀
And where have we seen something similar to these lovely swans hugging it out?
Oh yes…
Moreover, swans are cloudy white and also have webbed feet, something that Enamorus flexes.
Bottomline
Won’t need to say much here, Enamorus is literally a goddess with elements from Japan, India, and China, all connected by love. This Pokémon definitely deserves a lot more love from fans! 😀
Until next time, you can check out some of my other design and lore (as well as science in many cases) articles here:
Garchomp | Baxcalibur | Hydreigon | Zygarde| Druddigon | Drampa
Cheers!
