The alpha_pokémon tag is up to 11 uses, and I have some concerns about it. The new Pokemon Legends Arceus game introduced the idea of Alpha Pokémon, which are pokemon that are slightly larger and meaner/tougher than normal, with glowing red eyes. However, currently the tag is populated solely by much-larger pokemon (or sometimes just barely larger ) that otherwise appear normal. Since the main visual distinction of Alpha Pokemon is the glowing red eyes, which these posts lack, and we already have tags for large characters, the current use seems rather superfluous.

In contrast, posts with dynamax pokemon (from Sword and Shield) more often than not has the identifiable swirly purple clouds associated with dynamaxing (though I do see some posts that don't, and just have a large pokemon; that should probably be fixed).

I'm not necessarily calling for the tag to be invalidated, but what are other peoples' thoughts on the matter? Should the tag be removed from the current crop that just have a macro or larger_anthro/feral pokemon? Should the tag require the pokemon to be larger with glowing red eyes? Or is the pokemon simply being a bit or a lot larger with the artist's say-so of it being an alpha pokemon enough?

There is now 40 posts with the alpha_pokémon tag, and by my count, only three posts (maybe four ) have the glowing red eyes indicative of alpha pokémon. The others are merely big characters (which I sometimes question are actually big ), or is just a low-angle view to give the impression of being big, or is normal-sized looking with the text's say-so.

If there's no objections, I can write up a wiki specifying it should only be used when the pokémon appears large and has glowing red eyes, and an otherwise normal pokémon is just a large character should instead be tagged macro or larger_* depending on how large it is compared to other characters. Then I can clear up the current mistags.

This feels a bit like splitting hairs. Can't "alpha" (or whatever the kids these days are calling them) pokémon close their eyes?

If the pokémon is noticeably larger than usual and the artist's intention was to portray an "alpha" pokémon, I don't see the harm in tagging it as such. Even the examples you give of them being "not actually that big" seem a bit nitpicky. You can't require them to be measured with a ruler or something, art is inherently subjective. I'd agree with you if they were next to a "normal" pokémon of the same species and both were the same size.

"Slightly larger" and "macro" are very different concepts. I also don't see how a larger_* tag is useful or justifiable, let alone necessary.

gattonero2001 said:
This feels a bit like splitting hairs. Can't "alpha" (or whatever the kids these days are calling them) pokémon close their eyes?

They can, just as a male can cover up their genitals. Since we're working on TWYS, if you see a normal pokémon, it should be tagged as a normal pokémon. Not to mention, this isn't the first time the concept of a large pokémon has been introduced. What's the difference between an alpha pokémon without their red glowing eyes (or at least the icon used in the game's UI) and a dynamax pokemon without the swirling red clouds? Nothing, really, and if two tags can cover the same exact idea, they should be aliased to a common tag, but that would do a disservice to images that actually portray dynamax and alpha pokémon properly.

gattonero2001 said:
If the pokémon is noticeably larger than usual and the artist's intention was to portray an "alpha" pokémon, I don't see the harm in tagging it as such. Even the examples you give of them being "not actually that big" seem a bit nitpicky. You can't require them to be measured with a ruler or something, art is inherently subjective.

My point is there's nothing indicating they're alpha pokémon except for some text or the artist's say-so, which we don't base our tagging on. In a number of examples, the pokémon isn't actually "noticeably larger than usual", and even when it is, it's not like there haven't been drawings of large pokémon before alpha pokémon were introduced, so simply being large shouldn't in itself qualify for the alpha pokémon tag any more than it would the dynamax pokemon tag.

gattonero2001 said:
"Slightly larger" and "macro" are very different concepts. I also don't see how a larger_* tag is useful or justifiable, let alone necessary.

larger_anthro, larger_feral, and larger_humanoid already exist, as well as smaller_human, which is what we use to indicate a character simply being larger than another. Macro also covers cases of a character being larger than normal for their environment, even if no other characters are visible. And since 99% of posts with "alpha pokémon" fall into this category, the current use of the "alpha pokémon" tag doesn't seem justifiable. Especially if people want to find posts of actual alpha pokémon, rather than merely large pokémon, the tag is nearly useless.