In this subseries, I will analyze the potential origins of the Pokemon in order to discover hidden details and potential. As part of June’s Pokemon Direct, we saw several Pokemon revealed including Corviknight.

Corviknight is the Raven Pokemon. While it may at first glance appear to be a Dark-type, due to its black color scheme and bright red eyes, it actually has Steel as its secondary typing.

This may have been done to distinguish itself from Murkrow and Honchkrow, which are Pokemon based on crows. Aren’t ravens and crows basically the same? Not at all. The Audubon Society has put together a useful guide to the differences. Ravens are often much larger, organize in pairs instead of larger murders (murders here meaning a collection of crows). Ravens will make a low-pitched croak instead of a caw.

Looking at the two Pokemon side-by-side, you can very quickly see that Corviknight is much larger and more intimidating.

Looking closer at its design, it seems to resemble a knight in its overall design. As we can see in the screenshot below, its body seems to be slightly metallic, with its eyes peaking outside of its helmet-like head. This knight aesthetic could explain its Steel typing.

Corviknight’s name is a combination of “corvidae”, the genus that includes both crows and ravens, and “knight”.

In-game screenshots of Corviknight put it at level 60, which makes it pretty advanced.

The association between knights and ravens is not unheard of in the folklore of England and neighboring countries. It makes sense, as knights were a big part of medieval culture, and ravens are also very common birds in that region. Bulbapedia suggests its design is based on the western jackdaw. It also suggests an allusion to the Black Knight, although it lacks the evil connotations.

Ravens are also a part of English folklore. There are six ravens that are kept in the Tower of London, with a legend suggesting that the tower and the nation would fall if the ravens left. This could be pretty interesting to dive into further, if there were legendary Pokemon based on ravens which lived in a tall tower. However, Corviknight isn’t a legendary Pokemon, so this will probably not come up in the game.

Another interesting piece of folklore, from Danish culture, is the valravn. These are mythical ravens which come into their form through ravens who eat the body of the dead on the battlefield. If a valravn eats the whole heart of a child, they will have the power to transform into the form of a knight. It’s also said that if they eat the heart of a king, they will gain “human knowledge”, act as a bad influence, and gain superhuman strength.

The reference to intelligence is interesting, as the Pokemon website released a short piece of information about it. Emphasis is mine.

It is said that Corviknight is the strongest Pokémon living in the skies of the Galar region. It can often be seen fearlessly soaring through the air. Many say that any Pokémon foolish enough to challenge Corviknight are sent running with just a sharp glare and cry from this fearsome Pokémon. Corviknight possess superb flying skills and high intelligence. Because of this, many of them work for the company called Galar Taxi, helping transport people from town to town.

So this could be the Pokemon equivalent of a valravn, with its half-bird, half-knight form. Valravn are also said to be able to transform into wolves, but that seems to be an alternative version.

Vilderavn artwork from Pathfinder

As a quick aside, Valravn also appear in the tabletop RPG Pathfinder under the name Vilderavn. They appear in the fifth bestiary as a type of monster that players could encounter. Looking at the Pathfinder art for the creature, you can see that there’s definitely a resemblance.