Shrimp 2

“	If Shrimps are so good, why don't they make Shrimp 2?	”
	— My stupid friend Jeremy thinking he's so fucking clever

“	Truly monumental.	”
	— Me

We better watch out... I hear these are some murky waters...

Shrimp 2 Crustacean Pokémon エビ Romanisation #001 Images on the Bulbagarden Archives
Type Water Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown	Ability Shrimp Time Cacophony Cacophony Cacophony Hidden Ability Cacophony Hidden Ability Cacophony Cacophony
Gender ratio Unknown 50% male, 50% female	Catch rate 3 (1.6%)
Breeding Egg Groups Water 1 and Water 3 Hatch time 3855 - 4111 steps
Height 10" 0.254 m Shrimp 2 0'0" 0 m {{{form2}}} 0'0" 0 m {{{form3}}} 0'0" 0 m {{{form4}}}	Weight 0.02425085 lbs. 0.011 kg Shrimp 2 0 lbs. 0 kg {{{form2}}} 0 lbs. 0 kg {{{form3}}} 0 lbs. 0 kg {{{form4}}}
Mega Stone [[|]] [[|]]
Base experience yield 4 Gen. IV Unknown IV 2,147,483,647 V+	Leveling rate Unknown
EV yield Total: 100 Shrimp 2 2 HP 90 Atk 1 Def 2 Sp.Atk 2 Sp.Def 3 Speed 0 HP 0 Atk 0 Def 0 Sp.Atk 0 Sp.Def 0 Speed 0 HP 0 Atk 0 Def 0 Sp.Atk 0 Sp.Def 0 Speed 0 HP 0 Atk 0 Def 0 Sp.Atk 0 Sp.Def 0 Speed
Shape	Footprint File:F000.png {{{form2}}}
Pokédex color   red, usually	Base friendship Man's Best Friend
External Links

Shrimp 2 are the second Shrimps in the Shrimp series of animals, a sequel to shrimp. It was released in the Tethys Ocean on Doudecember 14th, the Lower Jurassic period.

Shrimp 2 is set two years after the events of Shrimp 1. The Shrimps have found a home in "water", the first of the four elements and the most important. Since the brand debuted in 3015, innumerable Shrimps have been designed, manufactured and marketed, with many iterations upon the classic Shrimp design.

Development

Comparison showing the change between Shrimp 1 and Shrimp 2

Origins

There are 3 major styles Shrimps have gone through by the time Shrimp: Shrimpus Shrimpled had been released. These eras are divided between the launch era, the "Shrimpmania" era, and the Stefanov era. In 1981, Herston Loff, the creator of Shrimp, created the official Shrimp magazine, which ran from its inception to 2003. The art was done by Clawdius, Loff's pet Norway Lobster. The business eventually was able to switch from magazine production to Shrimp making, Loff claims the Shrimp idea was inspired by "...the sheer beauty of Clawdius's perfect body plan. That small armored body with the curve of the abdomen. Those beady eyes that communicate both nothing and everything. Those wonderful antennae... Clawdius had struck me with inspiration, with a uh… Crustacean Revelation,". Loff began pondering over the idea of a new crustacean.

His first draft was similar in design to the Norway Lobster, only with much smaller claws, and being "built more for swimming than for walking, which was a very strange idea at the time". When Loff pitched the idea to various publishing companies, all considered the project “too risky”, fearing copyright issues from Big Lobster, so he decided to fund it himself. Loff would finalize his original design, adding a slight curve to the abdominal segments, and would proceed to showcase it at E3 1982. The initial reviews were poor, the audience finding it too unoriginal, and some feeling the removal of the large claws a “direct downgrade”.

Concept art for the Fairy Shrimp

One audience member had a differing opinion though, Christophe Hyacinthe Dufort, a carcinologist with a notable amount of renown in his local area, but still otherwise unknown at the time. He saw the vision Loff set forward, and wanted to see it through to completion. As Loff was leaving the venue, “head held low in shame”, Dufort approached him and inquired about his creation, believing in its potential. “When Christophe approached me I thought I was about to receive another verbal thrashing… but he ended up surprising me with his kind words. After the initial response to Shrimp, I felt ready to give up on the project, but Christophe encouraged me to persevere… I owe so much to him and the help he has given me,”. Loff invited Dufort to his studio, the small apartment he lived in at the time. Together, they began to workshop a new Shrimp design, which would later revolutionize the world.

Final design and release

Loff and Dufort reintroduced Shrimp at the EA Summer Showcase in July 1988. Loff and Dufort agreed it would be best to have a variety of Shrimps, so they set out to make a plethora; the first batch of taking six years to design everything, almost bankrupting the two of them. Their hard work payed off with the extremely positive response at the Ea Summer Showcase and the sales after release. With the money, Dufort quit his job and moved in with Loff, citing a desire to "be able to work more closely together".

"Shrimp 2", as the redesign of Loff's project was dubbed, was released three months later. On October 10th, 2007 Shrimp 2 was included at retail stores as part of The Orange Box compilation pack, priced at each gaming platform's recommended retail price.

Shrimp 2 received a U.S. laserdisc release. A VHS version was released by Home Vision Cinema, and a DVD by The Criterion Collection. Commenting on the DVD release in 2006, The Los Angeles Times reported that Shrimp 2 had a new 5.0 sound mix. The DVD came with additional bonus features which included commentary tracks from various academics, an interview between Hideo Kojima and creators Herston Loff and Christophe Dufort, and a documentary about the making of the crustacean titled Stagnant Change which would later get a stand alone re-release a few years later under the title Stagnant Change: How One Man Revolutionized The World. Shrimp 2 was the third best-selling animal released by the BFI for the year 2015, and the highest-selling overall as of that point. Criterion released a Blu-ray version in October 2010.

Initial Cast

Shrimp features an uncountable amount of characters, but the initial cast consisted of only five Shrimps. Loff and Dufort designed each Shrimp to be visually distinct, even at range, both citing a focus on the silhouette of each character.

Whiteleg Prawn

The Whiteleg Prawn is the leader of the Shrimp Crew, have close personal relations with each and every member, and being the founding member. The Whiteleg Prawn is very well balanced, relying on their teammates for specialization, and can rally the other character behind them without too much difficulty.

Loff wanted to keep some of the charm of the original with the Whiteleg Prawn, but for it still be a further departure from the Norway Lobster inspiration, swapping out its red coloration for white.

Rock Shrimp

The Rock Shrimp is the Whiteleg Prawn's right hand Shrimp, and occasional rival. Often tired with the crew's antics, the Rock Shrimp is a loner and rebel by nature with "discipline issues" that resulted in their expulsion from the Coral Coalition. Despite their put-together exterior, the Rock Shrimp can be a little bit of a mess, jealous of the attention and hero status that the Whiteleg Prawn receives.

Dufort wanted to provide a narrative foil to the Whiteleg Prawn. While the Whiteleg Prawn is very level-headed, the Rock Shrimp is prone to outbursts of anger. The Whiteleg Prawn is a cool white, the Rock Shrimp is a warm red.

Tadpole Shrimp

The Tadpole Shrimp was the second member to join the team, being childhood friends with the Whiteleg Prawn. They are beating heart of the group, fiercely loyal, and strong as an ox. They generally view their teammates as their new family. Their survival instincts are sharper than any other Shrimp, being able to scrounge for food and shelter in even the most dire of scenarios. The Tadpole Shrimp also always keeps medical supplies on them in case of an emergency.

Dufort originally suggested the idea of a more defensive Shrimp, able to take lots of hits and generally help with the survival of the team. After Clawdius drew the concept art, Loff commented how the body plan resembled that of a tadpole, leading to its name.

Fairy Shrimp

The Fairy Shrimp is the youngest and newest member of the team, still full of childhood naivete. Prone to getting into trouble, the Fairy Shrimp likes to stick by the Tadpole Shrimp for safety. They also seem to be a big fan of napping whenever possible.

Loff thought that the idea of a child that would stick with the group initially out of necessity would provide some interesting dynamics, an idea Dufort would later expand upon withe Pistol Shrimp.

Cleaner Shrimp

The Cleaner Shrimp is quiet, confident and disciplined. they're a bit younger than most of the other Shrimps but just as fierce. An analytic and independent thinker, they are a whiz at anything involving logic, like chess, checkers, and almost any sort of puzzle.

Loff wanted to make a character that wasn't much of a fighter to balance out the team composition. Loff also released that "while the others were all decently intelligent none of them was smart...", which lead to the creation of the Cleaner Shrimp

Follow-Up Release

Two years after the success of the first batch of Shrimp 2, Loff and Dufort, flooded with fanmail praising the designs and asking about future plans, decided to make a second set of designs.

Clam Shrimp

The Clam Shrimp is a very guarded Shrimp, keeping all of the other characters at claw's length. Despite their emotional weakness, the Clam Shrimp is very potent in battle, being a very powerful and skilled warrior that focuses on defense.

According to Loff, the Clam Shrimp is based off of early designs for the Tadpole Shrimp. This can be seen when looking at the number of sections in the thorax (10 to 32), the varying number of legs, and how their size decreases from front to back, all characteristics also found in the Tadpole Shrimp. Loff said he imagines the Clam Shrimp to originally hail from California, explaining the character's accent and fondness for peppermint.

Pistol Shrimp

The Pistol Shrimp is a lone warrior who is the sworn archenemy of Nerpa and occasionally comes into conflict with the main team. The Pistol Shrimp was once a honorable warrior who fought for justice and peace. After the death of their child due to a car crash, the Pistol Shrimp decided to blame Nerpa for some reason, and also became motivated by their vengeance and disregarded their former noble ideals, vowing to stop at nothing to avenge their child by shooting Nerpa.

The Pistol Shrimp ends up bonding with the Fairy Shrimp, who believes in their goodness. The Fairy Shrimp also reminds the Pistol Shrimp of their child, both admiring them, being joyful, and getting into trouble.

Dufort says the initial concept for the Pistol Shrimp was to add a shrimp that had a gun and a shrimp that was a sort of "anti-hero". When Dufort combined these two ideas, he came up with the Pistol Shrimp.

Blue Bolt Shrimp

In the Coral Coalition, the Blue Bolt Shrimp was the fastest of the face; an up-and-coming racer who could keep up with and even outpace the best of them. Since joining the team Since, however, they've discovered that their not quite as perfect—or as well-liked—as they once thought they were.

Dufort says that in the original plans for the follow-up, the Blue Bolt Shrimp was still superfast but in contrast to this they talked in a very slow manner. Loff convinced Dufort to change this, since he figured a slow talking character would be found tedious by the audience.

Reception and Legacy

Shrimp 2 received widespread worldwide critical acclaim, with overall scores of 102/100 "universal acclaim" on Metacritic and 300% on the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. Many reviewers praised the use of distinct personalities and appearances for each Shrimp, with GamePro stating that "until now crustaceans just haven't had it".

Shrimp 2 was nominated in the category of "Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction" at the 8th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.

Concept art for the collaborative "Clawitzer" design, which would go on to become the greatest Pokémon ever due to its Shrimpy nature

In late 2011, Game Freak reached out to Loff and Dufort to discuss a collaboration for the then upcoming games, Pokémon X and Pokémon Y. Loff, Dufort, Ken Sugimori, and Yusuke Ohmura all worked closely together to create the greatest Pokémon ever. Finalization of the collaborative designs took about 12 months, twice as long as normal. At the end of the year, the four of them had produced the fruits of their labors, Clauncher and Clawitzer. Director Junichi Masuda was a big fan of the designs and agreed to include them in the upcoming games, but Secret Director Garry Tendus believed that the designs would outshine every other Pokémon that had been created and would ever be created, and planned to shut down the collaboration and scrap the designs. Loff killed him with a shovel.

It is also said that X and Y's Fairy Type were inspired by the Fairy Shrimp, though these claims have not been commented on by either Game Freak or Loff and Dufort

Gabe Newell, a big fan of Shrimp 2, revealed that Team Fortress 2's "Teufort" is named after Christophe Dufort, and that the 2 in the title is a reference to Shrimp 2

It's also been speculated that Shrimps have been referenced in Toby "Radiation" Fox's UNDERTALE (the guy who does Homestuck music) in this iconic sequence at the end of the Neutral Route:

The Seven Shrimp Souls

*NO!! NO!!!!!

*YOU CAN"T DO THAT!!!

*YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO OBEY ME!!

Themes

Shrimp 2 is a genre-defining piece that contains themes of tradition and change, hope in the darkest of times, justice, morality, and the destructive power of vengeance. Shrimp 2's drama focuses on the core group of Shrimp and their heroism, both the Whiteleg Prawn and the Fairy Shrimp are very optimistic, believing in the opportunity for peace at nearly every turn. Most of the other cast, especially the Rock Shrimp and the Pistol Shrimp, disagree with that position. However, both sides of the belief have their troubles, though the more pessimistic group is proven wrong more often. When the first of Nerpa's commanders, the Ghost Crab, was sent to attack the team, Whiteleg was able to appeal to the Ghost Crab's sense of honor and convince them to stop fighting for Nerpa by revealing Nerpa's heinous crimes. The Ghost Crab was conflicted by learning this information, and left Nerpa's army. When asked to join the Shrimps' cause, the Ghost Crab declined, saying they "could not bring [themself] to fight against [their] former brethren...". The rest of the team regarded this a fluke, and the Rock Shrimp says as much to Whiteleg's face, but Whiteleg regarded the event as proof of their belief.

In Season 2, episode 9, the team first encounters the Pistol Shrimp. The Pistol Shrimp explains that they are out for revenge against Nerpa for killing their child. When one of Nerpa's commanders, the Cuttlefish, comes to attack the group, they all have to go stop them. The Shrimp Crew must intervene when they see that the Pistol Shrimp is shooting at the commander without any regard for innocent bystanders. The Shrimp Crew and the Pistol Shrimp then work together to defeat the Cuttlefish, but the Pistol Shrimp turns down Whiteleg's offer to work together with the Shrimp Crew, citing their "naivete and regard for 'peace'". Whiteleg is upset that they were unable to get the Pistol Shrimp to change, but Tadpole comforts them, hinting at them later changing their mind and believing more in peace.

The Pistol Shrimp embodies a lot of the idea of vengeance and justice that are explored within the story. In Season 3, episode 5, the Pistol Shrimp has just killed (who they believe to be) Nerpa. They begin to contemplate on their vengeance. In the Pistol Shrimps iconic monologue, they realize that after all of their murder and destruction, which lead to being outcast from their home, their friends, their family, and the Shrimp Crew, that they don't feel any better. They say they still have "a burning hole in my hollow carapace, a shell of a Shrimp that is only half alive, and who selfishly takes under the pretense of revenge. I have let go of everything I was was. My child would not have wanted this... they used to admire what an honorable warrior I was... I am truley the the most pitiful and vile Shrimp in the ocean...". The Pistol Shrimp looks into the distance to see the Shrimp Crew losing horribly against the 3rd of Nerpa's generals, the Octopus, who is defending the Ocean Obliterator. Suddenly, the spirit of the Pistol Shrimp's child appears, urging them to save the Shrimp Crew and the rest of the ocean. The Pistol Shrimps states that the warrior who was good and always did what was right is long gone, but their child tells him that it's never too late for them to fight for what is right and as long as they do they'll always be together in spirit.

The Pistol Shrimp lands a well timed shot on the Octopus, but not before suffering severe damage from one of their tentacles. As the Shrimp Crew make another attempt at reaching the core of the Ocean Obliterator, the Pistol Shrimp stops them stating that only they can stop the superweapon. They shoot some rubble above the entrance to the Ocean Obliterator, blocking the way so the Shrimp Crew can not enter. As they head towards the unstable core, the Fairy Shrimp delivers a "heartwrenching" and "deeply emotional" speach through cries, begging the Pistol Shrimp to not sacrifice themself. Although it breaks their heart, the Pistol Shrimp continues, believing themself to be "too far gone for this sea". Critic Siorus Brett views this scene as representative as even though the Pistol Shrimp has changed, they still hold onto their thinking of needing "worth" to live in the world. The Pistol Shrimp would go on to survive this event, albiet barely, their larger claw being torn off and having scars all over their body. After the reveal that the dead "Nerpa" was a fake, the Pistol Shrimp decides to not pursue the real Nerpa, signaling that they are dont entirely with revenge.

Musician Anna Trudo sees the use of music a means to express the beliefs held by each of the characters. According to Trudo, a major theme of the film's music is the leitmotif, a technique using fixed tones, melodies, and rhythms to evoke an idea. In Shrimp 2 the technique is used as the core of the film's music and is arranged around moments of characterization. There are two main themes used for the Shrimp Crew, one associated with the optimists, and one associated with the pessimists, and when the Tadpole Shrimp changes their mind, they start using the optimist track. The Pistol Shrimp's theme contains sampling from the pessimist's track and from Nerpa's theme, possibly symbolizing how despite their opposition, both of them don't care about the safety of the common folk. After their attempted Sacrifice, the Pistol Shrimp's theme is in minor key, and now has sampling from the optimist track and the main them, forgoing the previous two sources of sampling.

Controversy

Some critics have expressed displeasure about Shrimp 1 and 2, citing "allergies" as an issue. These people claim: "It is not an issue of like or dislike, its an issue of life or death for me. If I eat that shrimp, I will go into anaphylactic shock and die without medical intervention." Approximately 2% of the United States of America is "allergic" to shellfish. These people REFUSE to interact with Shrimp in any capacity regardless of how awesome and cool Shrimp is, which lead to their mass execution in 1812.

Shrimp 2 has also gained some criticism for their use of Loot boxes, which some people claim is predatory. Shrimp 2's DLC pack, Shrimptastic Dinners, has also come under fire for locking content behind a third paywall- as the DLC is only able to be used if you had purchased the Meal Kit expansion pack. Some critics also claimed that Shrimp 2 simply "repacked the postgame and sold it back to us at premium".

References

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