Star Wars built its transmedia legacy through cinema first, expanding into books, toys, comics, and shows, and today features hundreds of named characters across its galaxy. Pokémon started with a game and within three years went global—growing into anime, film, cards, toys, and now over 1,000 unique characters, eventually surpassing Star Wars as the world’s most valuable franchise. For me, Pokémon inspires my approach to transmedia design the most, because character creation is the heartbeat of its world-building.
Star Wars works with massive budgets but tighter profit margins, while Pokémon achieves enormous returns from smaller budgets.
Question for everyone:
Who do you think is the better example of transmedia success?
What’s the most characters you’ve ever created for your own story world?
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I think they're both incredible examples of transmedia success, Dwayne Williams 2. I've created thousands of characters for my big-budget scripts. Maybe more. They didn't have a lot of screen time though. They were armies of characters shown during battle scenes.
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Pokémon makes money, but no one knows who created it. Star Wars gave fame to many people involved in the franchise. There's a huge difference between the two.
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I personally prefer Pokémon to Star Wars, but both of them are major successes in their own right. Pokémon I think also has the advantage of a large periphery demographic; its target audience is kids but anyone can get into it.
As for how many characters was my biggest amount... I'm not sure lol on average I have no more than 10 characters per story entry, but my novel Seed has lots of factions (main ninja group, rival ninja group, mafia family, rival mafia family, mafiya, yakuza) so it's gotta be something like 30+ just for that one. Finding Elpis also has a lot of characters spread throughout the series though two of them have since been cut/reduced to mention.
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Incredible Maurice Vaughan 5 you surprise me all the time, haha. What’s your favorite genre to make characters in and worlds?
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My favorite genres to write are Horror and Action, Dwayne Williams 2, but my favorite genre to make characters in and worlds is Fantasy.
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Arthur Charpentier Satoshi Tajiri (creator) + Ken Sugimori (illustrator).
Star Wars = George Lucas (creator) + Ralph McQuarrie (visual architect/illustrator).
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Banafsheh Esmailzadeh Yes, I agree. Both can be directed to kids (or families) depending on tone and theme. By the way, the world you’re building sounds really interesting! Curious, if Pokémon had launched as a feature film first (before games/cards), do you think it would’ve been seen as more for adults, like Star Wars, or still mainly kids/family?
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Maurice Vaughan 5 oh yeah! I think fantasy is the best too; it’s so much more flexible, and you can layer in more details, lore, and backstory to really expand the world.
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Dwayne Williams 2 thanks! Seed is part of my Petal series and honestly the only entry I would be open to getting a live action adaptation (the series is heavy on the surrealism with Seed being the odd one out where the surrealism is light but the action is high, and it's also the only mainline entry without a companion story but its own prequel, Iron Rain). Hopefully I'll get back to it when Finding Elpis as a series is done haha my writer's block for novels has been on since 2022 if memory serves ^^;
I think Pokémon still would've been for kids and family since back in the 90s anime was largely seen as a kids' medium anyway, especially with the pokémon themselves being cute and colourful. It probably would've appealed more to adults if it was grittier, but I think then it wouldn't be Pokémon nor half as popular lol
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Banafsheh Esmailzadeh That sounds really exciting, no rush at all. Sometimes the best stuff takes time. And yes, you’re right about Pokémon in the 90s, I read it was toned down as well but originally imagined more goliath-like and aggressive.
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Maurice Vaughan 5 Arthur Charpentier Banafsheh Esmailzadeh How do you all feel about an R-rated version of both films, or new spin-offs for adults of each film franchise?
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I think an R-rated version of Star Wars and spin-offs for adults could be hits, Dwayne Williams 2, but I don't think a lot of people would watch an R-rated version of Pokémon. I think it would be too big of a change. Maybe Pokémon spin-offs for adults though.
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Dwayne Williams 2 thanks yeah, that's definitely true hehe I had to learn about Buddhism a little bit since the protagonist and deuteragonist of Seed are raised Buddhist but had to become shinobi to survive the gang-riddled world they live in (and Mishin the protagonist really struggles with this because she never wanted to be a shinobi, while the deuteragonist Kenshin, her twin brother, accepted it more readily). I'm not used to writing straight action, and with shinobi being particularly prominent it has spy elements as well so it will naturally take me longer to write it haha. Plus it's a death story as a matter of course (Petal's stories are divided into life, death, and [re]birth) so it'll take a toll on me if I do it right lol
I think an R-rated version of Pokémon would be strange lol but not impossible. As for Star Wars, I didn't get into it to really take it in so I can't comment but I imagine it lends itself better to adult-oriented content.
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Maurice Vaughan 5 Star Wars would have some wicked visuals if it went darker. As for Pokémon, that’s about as far as I got—imagining an apocalyptic world, maybe even with most standing upright like Hitmonchan, protecting a stronghold or environment, with wars breaking out between different elements or even rival trainer clans. What was your very first thought on the kind of world Pokémon would need to be set in to really feel R-rated?
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Banafsheh Esmailzadeh Wow, I really like the research you put into your story. That’s one of my favorite parts of creating too, diving deep and shaping the world with that kind of detail. Keep up the great work!
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My first thought was a R-rated live-action movie set in the regular world of Pokémon, Dwayne Williams 2, but the Pokémon are freakish and really dangerous.
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Dwayne Williams 2 thanks yeah, normally I don't like researching but it was fun this time, especially since a friend of the twins is a sukeban and has much of the stereotypical view of Buddhists and she doesn't know that they're actually shinobi XD Buddhism is honestly pretty misunderstood, I've found, and I still want to learn more about it since during my cursory readings I started to see a lot of neat possibilities for how Mishin wishes she was and how she's forced to be, and whether or not she even wants to be either in the grand scheme of things. Thanks, though, I will! I'm super choked that Seed is on hiatus lol but in due time I'll get back into it and maybe draw up some storyboards. I know it'll help to have it written out so I can then write out Iron Rain (which luckily I doubt will be a very long prequel anyway, and so far I know most of it will be foregone conclusions that bleed right into Seed haha)
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Maurice Vaughan 5 I can see that. Those freakish Pokémon would be fun to make, or even to create darker versions of the main Pokémons we all know. I think one thing Pokémon does really well is constantly updating and evolving its creatures.
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Banafsheh Esmailzadeh Nice, that’s really honest and warming to hear. I love how much thought you’re putting into the layers of your story; it makes the world feel alive.
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I have to go with Pokémon here, the way the franchise has maintained a tightly woven, intentional canon across so many formats is genuinely impressive. From the games to the anime, movies, trading cards, and even mobile apps, each new addition feels purposeful and in harmony with the world’s core themes and lore.
There’s something brilliant about how character creation is at the center of it all—each Pokémon is distinct, memorable, and part of a larger ecosystem that expands the world without breaking it. It’s a perfect example of how transmedia storytelling doesn’t have to mean bigger, just better integrated.
As for my own characters… I think I’ve lost count…
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Ashley Renee Smith The way Pokémon can jump seamlessly between an indie-budget or a high-budget game, show, or film is masterful. It really shows how flexible and well-built the world and its characters are.
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Completely agree, Dwayne Williams 2! And Pokémon Go is one of the most brilliant mobile game concepts ever designed. I still play it regularly, and my husband and I get a huge kick out of playing it in different cities when we travel or go on vacation.
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Ashley Renee Smith Pokémon Go, I think, really solidified Pokémon’s domination in transmedia. It feels like the pinnacle of what transmedia can do, taking a beloved universe and blending it with real-world interaction in a way that reaches beyond just games or shows.
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100%!!! And the fact that they made it part fitness app is truly genius!
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Thank you Dwayne Williams 2, I usually have the stories cook in my consciousness for months, even years at a time, and it's especially important for Petal since the universe loves expanding (I'm strongly considering a continuation so far known as The Second Movement). I love a world that feels lived-in.
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I think the setting of the Star Wars franchise is already adult. There's a lot of killing and dying, and the lack of blood, sex, and swearing is a convention. I would watch an R-rated Star Wars movie. However, I'm not sure if other viewers would appreciate it.
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Personally, I'm not attracted to violence in Pokémon. An R rating won't make me go to the movies or buy the game.