Digital Artist Turns Pokémon Characters Into Humans (25 pics)

Twenty-one years after its creation the Pokémon phenomenon is still going strong.

After a few years on the down-low, Pokémon has made a resurgence in 2016 with the release of the mobile app Pokémon Go, which has been downloaded over a half-billion times worldwide since its July 2016 release.

It all started with a game on Nintendo and then morphing into a collectible card game, where people would "capture" Pokémon (from the Japanese Poketto Monsuta , or "Pocket Monsters") and train them to battle each other. In all there are over 700 species of these fictional monsters, led by the face of the franchise, Pikachu, and fans of Pokémon could probably tell you most of their names, let alone abilities.

But while these fictional characters come from hundreds of species, one artist has begun transforming them into human forms -- and she's already drawn over 250 Pokémon Gijinka , or personification.

178. Xatu

251. Celebi

081. Magnemite

245. Suicune

128. Tauros

162. Furret

South Korean illustrator Tamtamdi has put in hundreds of hours digitally morphing these characters into their human forms. She says it "normally" takes her "30 minutes to one hour to draw one". She uses a Cintiq tablet and Photoshop CC to draw them all.

Tamtamdi pays no regard to the sex of the characters, so don't be surprised to scroll through and see that Pikachu is a girl! And for those not in the know, the number next to each one is their index number

242. Blissey

045. Vileplume

006. Charizard

080. Slowbro

241. Miltank

As per Tamtamdi's Facebook page, she does have some personal rules and an FAQ on tumblr ; and she maintains that the whole gijinka trend was started long ago and she doesn't want any of the credit for inventing "the whole concept".

"I know it sounds spicier, but I don't want to take the credit that I don't deserve," she writes humbly, but not ungratefully.

169. Crobat

114. Tangela

164. Noctowl

139. Omastar

091. Cloyster

"[T]his whole long-post doesn't mean I don't appreciate [the attention] I am receiving. I feel very lucky, thankful, and motivated!"

It's a "personal (fun) daily design challenge" and the more that see it is good, but she's not up for becoming famous or having her stuff become "one of the nameless [memes] on the internet."