10 Times Pokémon Games Were Censored For Western Audiences

5. Registeel's "Nazi Salute"

Pokemon Censored
Nintendo

In Pokémon Diamond, Pearl, and Platinum, Registeel's sprite had one arm in the air that to many resembled a Nazi salute. The developers lowered Registeel's arm for the western copies. This was especially important for the release in Germany where all Nazi depictions are banned, and are punishable by law.

The new sprite used for Registeel eventually became the one used for all future games.

Registeel's incident hasn't been Pokémon's only backlash in regards to Nazism. The card version of the game also came under fire for featuring a card called 'Koga's Ninja Trick', which depicted a left-facing swastika.

Interestingly, the use of Nazi imagery in this context can be seen as a miscommunication between cultures. Although the swastika is seen as representing the Nazis in Europe, it was originally a symbol of good luck commonly used across the Asian continent.

In this post: 
pokemon
 
Posted On: 
Contributor
Contributor

I'm technically an adult but no one in their right mind would ever call me a man. Freelance writer interested in wrestling, television, film, literature, and video games.