The idea of predictive media, that TV shows can foresee future events, goes back a long way.Matt Groening’sThe Simpsonsis a popular source of these predictions, famous for its uncanny ability to see the future. However, that’s hardly the result of any extraordinary power onThe Simpsons’ part, and any series that goes on long enough will eventually get something right by accident.
Still, it’s always impressive when things line up just right, such as how the long-running Nickelodeon showSpongeBob SquarePants“predicted” something fromPokemon Sun and Moon. OnePokemonfan on Reddit recently demonstrated how the Ultra Beast Guzzlord fromPokemon Sun and Moonlooks suspiciously like a statue Squidward made in aSpongeBobepisode from several years ago.
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Reddit user PARADlSE posted an image to thePokemonSubreddit under the title “Spongebob literally predicted the future and teased us Guzzlord.” It shows Squidward standing next to his masterpiece, a statue of Mr. Krabs with a crooked nose and covered in spikes. However, the statue’s most prominent feature is the gaping void in Mr. Krabs' stomach, which is lined with a ring of jagged teeth. The result is something strikingly similar toGuzzlord fromPokemon Sun and Moon.
For anyone who wants to verify it for themselves, the image comes from Season 7 ofSpongeBob SquarePants. The episode is titled “The Masterpiece” andoriginally aired on Nickelodeonin 2010. The plot revolves partly around Mr. Krabs commissioning Squidward to create a statue that would serve as the Krusty Krab’s mascot, believing that it would help him steal customers from a rival restaurant. However, Squidward decided to insert his own creative flourishes, adding the spikes and giant stomach mouth as a metaphor for “the gaping, gnashing maw of consumerism.”
Meanwhile, Guzzlord is one of the extradimensionalUltra Beasts introduced inPokemon Sun and Moon. It resides in the Ultra Ruin, a post-apocalyptic version of Hau’oli City from a parallel dimension. Also known by the codename “UB-05 Glutton,” it is essentially a giant mouth with arms and legs. It’s characterized by a seemingly limitless hunger, with the Pokedex fromPokemon Sunremarking on its purported ability to devour entire buildings and mountains.
The similarities between Guzzlord and the statue fromSpongeBobmake more sense when one considers what the creators of both properties were going for. A mouth on a character’s stomach is a common artistic representation of gluttony and greed, and it’s not a giant leap from “consumerism” to literal consumption. It’s thus unsurprising that the artists who designed Guzzlord and those who worked on that episode ofSpongeBob SquarePantslanded on similar designs to express similar concepts.
Pokemon Sun and Moonare available on Nintendo 3DS.
