Pokemon fans think PewDiePie’s new VTuber avatar looks like a Gym Leader

Screenshot of Pokemon Sword & Shield protagonist challenged by PewDiePie avatar.Game Freak / YouTube: PewDiePie

Popular YouTuber Felix ‘PewDiePie’ Kjellberg went viral after Pokemon fans drew comparisons to his VTuber avatar and Trainers from the Nintendo RPG.

[jwplayer WBrfVSNN]

PewDiePie stunned fans after his return from his month-long break in January,when he announced he was turning off his facecam in favor of a digital avatar for the foreseeable future.

The Swede went viral when the Pokemon community couldn’t help but notice that his new VTuber character looks awfully similar to Trainers from the wildly beloved Game Freak RPGs.

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Screenshot of PewDiePie Vtuber avatar.YouTube: PewDiePie
PewDiePie’s new VTuber avatar sparked comparisons to the Pokemon franchise.

PewDiePie’s new avatar looks like a Pokemon character

Kjellberg debuted his new VTuber look during a Minecraft stream on January 25. The YouTuber quickly went viral on social media platforms as Pokemon fans began to claim he looked like a generic character from the games.

“Why does pewdiepie’s vtuber avatar look like he’s going to run up on me and demand a pokémon battle?” one fan wrote on Twitter. Many agreed with the comparison, with another user joking, “I bet he’s that one trainer that just has multiple of a single pre-evolution, and then a final of the second evolution.”

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Another viral tweet said that the creator’s new digital avatar looked like a generic NPC from the Game Freak RPG. “Pewdiepie’s vtuber avatar looks like a generic pokemon game npc,” they said.

Screenshot of PewDiePie avatar as Pokemon tweets.Twitter
Several tweets compared the YouTuber’s new avatar to Pokemon NPCs.

While PewDiePie’s new digital avatar was inspired by popular creators such as Dream or Corpse Husband, many viewers couldn’t help but notice the similarities between it and random trainers featured in the Nintendo games.

Screenshot of Pokemon Sword & Shield protagonist challenged by PewDiePie avatar.Twitter: @ProxFallout / Game Freak
Pokemon fans couldn’t help but compare PewDiePie’s new avatar to an NPC from Sword & Shield.

Kjellberg is actually quite a big fan of the Pokemon series. In a November 2020 upload, the star was thrilled when a fan made a custom holographic Trading Card Game item featuring his photo.

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While not intentional, Pewds’ latest comedic stunt has left Nintendo fans in stitches. Only time will tell if the 31-year-old will continue to rock the new avatar look or drop it altogether. But for now, it’s inspiring some pretty hilarious memes.