Tomohiro Kitakaze

Tomohiro Kitakaze (Japanese: 北風友裕, born April 8th, 1983 in Kobe) is a freelance illustrator. He is an Osaka University of Arts graduate and previously worked at Monolith Soft as a 2D designer, providing concept art for characters, monsters, and machinery. He later worked for Game Freak, again as a 2D designer, providing concept art and designs for Pokémon characters, though it is unknown how many Pokémon he has designed.

Kitakaze in 2020

In addition, he also provided artwork for one card from the Pokémon Trading Card Game. Kitakaze's subjects are initially drawn traditionally, and then enhanced digitally afterwards. His cartoon strips and characters are created in anime style, though his more detailed illustration work draws inspiration from mythical creatures and the occult, sometimes incorporating mechanical motifs.

He claims that his design for Mega Mewtwo Y was influenced by his adoration for Mewtwo Strikes Back as a child.^[1]

Designs

Pokémon

The following is a list of Pokémon designed by Kitakaze.

Generation V

Venipede^[2]

Whirlipede^[2]

Scolipede^[2]^[3]^[4]

Escavalier^[4]

Shelmet^[3]

Generation VI

Mega
Mewtwo Y^[1]

Generation IX

Charcadet^[5]

Armarouge^[5]

Ceruledge^[5]

Artwork

Official artwork

This is a collection of official Pokémon artwork drawn by Kitakaze.

Minccino (Next Destinies 84)
Crown Tundra key art from Sword & Shield^[6]

Staff artwork

This is a collection of unofficial Pokémon artwork drawn by Kitakaze.

Mewtwo Strikes Back—Evolution Release Celebration art^[1]
Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl Release Celebration art ^[7]
Legends: Arceus Release Celebration art ^[8]

Works

Games

Title	Platform	Release date	Position
Super Robot Taisen OG Saga: Endless Frontier	Nintendo DS	2008-05-29	Staff, Monolith Soft
Pokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver Versions	Nintendo DS	2009-09-12	Special Thanks
Pokémon Black and White Versions	Nintendo DS	2010-09-18	Pokémon Character Design/2D Dot Graphics
Pokémon X and Y	Nintendo 3DS	2013-10-12	Pokémon Characters Design/Concept Illustration
Pokémon Sword and Shield	Nintendo Switch	2019-11-15	Key art for The Crown Tundra
Trinity Trigger	Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch	2022-09-22	Trigger Designer
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet	Nintendo Switch	2022-11-18	Pokémon Design

Other illustrations

Title	Date	Publisher
Pokémon Trading Card Game illustration	2011-09	The Pokémon Company
GanGan online illustrations	2011-11	Square Enix
Dark Bound ~Saiyū Senki~ illustrations	2012-11	Rekoo Japan Co., Ltd
Force of Will Trading Card Game illustrations	2013-01	Force of Will Co., Ltd

References

External links

Pokémon designers

Emi Ando • Hitoshi Ariga • Kanako Eo • Hiroki Fuchino • Motofumi Fujiwara
Misaki Hashimoto • Mana Ibe • Asuka Iwashita • Tomohiro Kitakaze • Fumie Kittaka
Yusuke Kozaki • Kazuyuki Kurashima • Lee HyunJung • Megumi Mizutani • Shigeki Morimoto
Keiko Moritsugu • Kensaku Nabana • Atsuko Nishida • Yusuke Ohmura • Tomohiko Ohkubo
Muneo Saitō • Ken Sugimori • take • Reiko Tanoue • Aimi Tomita • Kenkichi Toyama
Saya Tsuruta • James Turner • Takao Unno • Emi Yoshida • Hironobu Yoshida

[Mewtwo-1] 1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Twitter post by Tomohiro Kitakaze about the release of Mewtwo Strikes Back Evolution

[DesignTwitter-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Twitter post by Tomohiro Kitakaze about the Venipede family he designed

[Art-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Tomohiro Kitakaze's response to a comment on DeviantArt

[DesignTwitter2-4] 4.0 ^4.1 Twitter post by Tomohiro Kitakaze mentioning he designed Scolipede and Escavalier

[CharcadetFamily-5] 5.0 ^5.1 ^5.2 Kitakaze's tweet confirming he designed Charcadet, Armarouge and Ceruledge.

[CrownTundra-6] Tomohiro Kitakaze on Crown Tundra key art

[7] Twitter post by Tomohiro Kitakaze celebrating the release of Pokémon Brilliant Diamond & Shining Pearl.

[8] Legends Arceus Release Celebratory fan-art (retrieved April, 2022)

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