We Turned 20 Iconic Game Characters Into Pokemon With an AI Tool & the Results are Truly Disturbing

A new, free artificial intelligence program called Lambdal is currently taking over the Internet. By typing in a prompt, the AI can generate a Pokemon design based on the words you fed to it. It takes about a minute or so to generate the results, but people are using it to create all sorts of unique Pokemon designs.

We had some fun generating our own Pokemon designs using Lambdal, each of which are based on the names of different video game characters. Some of them work extremely well as Pokemon that we would actually want to have in our games. Others… not so much.

Take a look below at 20 of the video game characters that the Lambdal program turned into Pokemon designs based on their names.

Kratos

The Lambdal program turned Kratos from God of War into this humanoid-like Pokemon. We think he would definitely be a pure Fighting-type Pokemon based on this design since it looks somewhat similar to Machamp. Look at those abs! Any enemy Pokemon would be terrified if you sent this one out into battle against it.

Pac-Man

Pac-Man ended up with a bit more of an abstract design. We’re not quite sure where the extra colors came from, but at least the program got his round shape correct. Pac-Man as a Pokemon looks like he would probably be a Psychic-type.

Crash Bandicoot

The Lambdal program might have mixed up Crash Bandicoot and his partner Aku Aku a bit here. This design looks like a combination of the two, sort of. It looks somewhat like Crash but has more of the colors of Aku Aku. In any case, this Pokemon looks like it might be a dual Psychic/Rock-type.

Link

Here’s what Link from the Legend of Zelda series would look like as a Pokemon. All of the colors look correct here for Link, and he even retained his pointy ears. Based on this design, we think that Link would be a dual Fighting/Fairy-type Pokemon.

Princess Zelda

Princess Zelda got a bit nicer of a Pokemon design than Link did. The Lambdal program got the colors and pattern of her dress right, and it looks like she would probably be a dual Fairy/Poison-type Pokemon based on this design.

Mario

Okay, the Lambdal program didn’t do such a good job with this one. It’s supposed to be Mario as a Pokemon. We’re not sure what happened here! Maybe this creation would be a dual Fire/Water-type Pokemon. Let’s-a-go back to the drawing board.

Sonic the Hedgehog

Sonic the Hedgehog has a winning Pokemon design. Just look at how cute he is! This could easily be the regional mouse Pokemon of its generation. He’d probably be an Electric-type in that case, and he would absolutely would have an extremely high speed stat.

Mega Man

Honestly, this creation looks more like a Mega Man boss than Mega Man himself. Still, it’s not one of the worst designs for a Pokemon. It looks like it would make a killer Steel-type Pokemon, and maybe even a powerful dual Steel/Electric-type.

Tom Nook

We can’t decide if this Pokemon version of Tom Nook is super cute or super creepy. He looks like he could use a hug, but he also looks like he wants to kill anyone that comes near him. He would probably be a Normal-type that knows the move Pay Day —after all, how else is he supposed to make back the money he lent to his trainer?

Lara Croft

The Pokemon design that the Lambdal program generated for Lara Croft is actually super on point. Yes, it’s a bit of a waifumon (check out those hips), but it also has an animal-like quality to the face that makes it something that could legitimately work well as a Pokemon. We think this Lara Croft Pokemon would be a dual Ground/Fighting-type.

Sans

Apparently, this is what Sans from Undertale would look like if he were a Pokemon. His face looks enough like a skeleton, but we’re really not sure what the rest of the design is inspired by. Maybe a nightmare caused by Flowey? In any case, this Sans Pokemon would probably be a Dark-type with very high stats all around.

Master Chief

The Lambdal program took some liberties with its design for Master Chief. Where did all of the red in his design come from? At least he looks kind of soldier-like. This Pokemon would definitely be Steel-type, and perhaps even a dual Steel/Fighting-type.

Tifa Lockhart

Every generation of Pokemon needs a design that looks a little too much like an actual human woman. It really shouldn’t be a surprise that Tifa Lockhart from Final Fantasy VII ended up looking like this as a Pokemon. She’ll be a fan favorite, without a doubt, and would most likely be a dual Fighting/Fire-type.

Ness

Ness from Earthbound is somehow a super adorable lamb-like Pokemon… well, besides the random claws coming out of his head. The color scheme works out really well, and it has the exact sort of cute yet horrifying look that any Earthbound Pokemon should have. He would probably be a Psychic/Electric-type.

Banjo-Kazooie

Well, there’s a lot of Banjo here and not enough Kazooie. Somehow, Kazooie turned into giant green cannons on Banjo’s back. This design is a bit more of a mystery overall, and it looks like this Pokemon might just be one of those single-stage Normal-types that you always forget exists.

Aloy

This design for Aloy from the Horizon series is pretty great. It sort of resembles Scizor, so maybe it could be within the same evolutionary line. As for her typing, there are a lot of possibilities here, but she would most likely be a Steel/Poison-type based on this design.

Minecraft Steve

This isn’t exactly what we had in mind when we asked the Lambdal program to generate a Pokemon to resemble Steve from Minecraft, but we absolutely love it anyway. It’s the right sort of abstract in its design that works well for a Pokemon and retains the blockiness from Minecraft. We’re going to go with Rock/Ground-type for Steve as a Pokemon.

Garrus Vakarian

This one actually isn’t too bad as a Pokemon representation of Garrus from Mass Effect. Sure, he’s a bit stockier in this design, but other than that, the look fits him pretty well. Clearly, Garrus would be an Ice/Steel-type Pokemon based on this design.

Yoshi

Yoshi looks a bit different than usual as a Pokemon. Instead of one long tongue, he has two shorter tongues. He also has some more features that a dinosaur should have, like spikes and claws. Overall, it’s not a bad design. Yoshi as a Pokemon would be a pure Grass-type.

Pikachu

Finally, we just had to see what the Lambdal AI program would do if we asked it to create a Pokemon out of an already-existing Pokemon! Here’s what it thinks Pikachu would look like if Pikachu were a Pokemon. Don’t think about it too hard. This design isn’t too bad, actually. Maybe we’ll see something like this in a future Pokemon game as the regional “Pikachu clone.”