Ah, Greavard! One of the first Pokémon revealed for the Paldea region in an eerily spooky video where the person encountering it… dies?
But there’s more to this Pokémon than just a life-sucking dog. It has a burning candle, for instance.
Now, when we think of candles, we tend to think of the ones made up of wax, right? But, for most of human history, candles made from wax were a luxury item only afforded by the Church and Nobles.
So, what material did the peasants use for their candles?
Well, they used candles made from tallow, which is rendered animal fat.
In today’s world, tallow is used mostly as cooking fat and dog food! Greavard says woof woof.
Anyway, the process of rendering animal fat to make tallow leaves behind a solid material as residue known as cracklings or… wait for it… greaves and even graves .
Yep, Greavard is a major pun, It’s a ghostly dog with a tallow candle on its head and it grieves for the dead in a graveyard, and it is made of greaves, a by-product of tallow used mostly for dog food. Wonderful!
A dog who likes to dig holes and hide like a corpse underground? Greavard does this:
Also, Greavard has real-life dog inspirations, starting with the adorable Briard!
Briards are a French sheepdog. The Spanish equivalent (Paldea) is the Catalan sheepdog.
Coming to Greavard’s Ghost typing, there are a couple of ghost stories that fit this Pokémon.
The first is known throughout Central America, an area having heavy Spanish influence. The Cadejo is a shaggy ghost dog, that is either all white if it’s good, or all black if it’s bad.
Cadejo are spirits that appear at night to travellers. The white one will protect them like a sheepdog while the black one will try to kill them.
These spirits are also said to have a goat-like smell, sometimes even mimicking their appearance with goats.
Now, off to Portugal, the Santa Compaña is a procession of the undead walking among the living. It’s a procession of souls in anguish led by a local parishioner under a curse. They would wear long white hooded robes just like Greavard’s long white fur.
They could be identified by heavy fog and the smell of wax in the air since the procession always carries many burning candles.
However, they never go out of their way to trouble you as they are non-violent. However, if you happen to stumble across them, be wary. Being in their presence would slowly drain you of your life, making you fall asleep and die from exhaustion.
That’s precisely what happens in the video added earlier!
And there you have it! Greavard’s origins, based on a bunch of lore and inspirations neatly wrapped in one adorable but spooky ghost dog!
Interested in reading more such articles of other popular Pokémon ? Then give these a read:
Dragapult | Morpeko | Cresselia | Mega Salamence | Dialga & Palkia Origin | Garchomp | Baxcalibur | Hydreigon | Zygarde| Druddigon | Naganadel | Gardevoir | Drampa | Enamorus | Wooloo & Dubwool | Houndoom
Have fun, trainers!
