Anubis VS. Lucario

1. Anubis VS. Lucario Erin Palmer Mythology

2. Anubis • Anubis is the jackal headed god of mummification, and death • He is also known as the Guardian of the Scales. On one side of the scale is the feather of truth, and on the other is the heart of the deceased. If the heart is lighter than the feather, than the person lived a pure life. If the heart weighs more than the feather it means that the heart is full of sin, and the person lived a sinful life • When the heart weighed more it was then thrown to Ammit the consumer of hearts, and the person was then sent to duat(hell). • If the person passed the weighing of the heart than they were blessed to join RA in the Elysian Fields(heaven) for eternity. • Also known as the god of embalming • The Egyptian people would make sacrifices to Anubis, as to please him so he would take pity on them in the after life • People would also praise him and make requests of him in the book of the dead asking for mercy as he weighed their heart, and so that he would prepare their body well so that nothing decays in the after life.

3. Modern Context: Lucario • Lucario is a jackal headed Pokémon that stands on two legs with predominantly blue and black fur • Can understand human language, and has been reported to have communicated with humans through telepathy • Can sense aura, and can control energy in the form of explosive spheres of aura energy • When sensing others aura Lucario can predict their movements, feelings, and thoughts • Said to have a profound sense of justice, and is very prideful in nature • Has blue fur on its thighs that resembles shorts • Has four small black appendages on its head, which rise when Lucario reads or manipulates aura

4. My Opinion • I believe that the creators of Pokémon choose to base the creation of Lucario off of the Egyptian god Anubis because Anubis is powerful and they wanted to create a powerful Pokémon figure. The whole goal in Pokémon is to catch the most powerful Pokémon and be the strongest Pokémon trainer. Pokémon is not only a show, but also a video game. To make the game more interesting they use strong characters, that will lead the players to victory as they play the game. With Anubis being the god of death and mummification he represents that powerful Pokémon character the creators are searching for. • So to make Lucario similar to Anubis the creators made it so both are jackal headed and stand on two legs • Also: • Lucario has blue fur on his legs that resemble pants, like Anubis wears clothing over his legs • Lucario can sense the aura of others to see if they a good of bad, like Anubis weights the hearts of the dead to see if they lived a pure life • Lucario has four black appendages on the back of his head that is similar to the head dress that Anubis wears

5. My Opinion Cont. • So with these similar traits we can tell that Lucario is a strong Pokémon that people will go after in games to strengthen their collection and help them win in battles against other trainers • Although the creators kept many characteristics they had to change some. • Lucario does not rule over the dead like Anubis does, and nor does Lucario have sacrifices made towards him to ask for mercy in the afterlife • The creators of a child's show/video game can’t really bring up religion or death all that much or they would lose customers and buyers