Question

Are the Eeveelutions based upon felines or canines?

Answer 1

Eevee's designer, Motofumi Fujiwara, said in a 2018 interview that he designed Eevee on purpose to make this ambiguous:

Since Eevee has very different evolutions, we thought it might be a good idea to make Eevee a Pokemon without a type, as well as a Pokemon that can’t be identified as any specific animal based on its appearance. We decided it was best to create a ‘blank slate’ Pokemon. [...] We imagined something that’s not a fox, a dog, or even a cat. Something cute with four legs, but not really anything in particular.

Ken Sugimori later adds:

...Even though the Eeveelutions are all part of the same family, it’s a fact that they’ve been influenced by the times and changed accordingly. What makes things easy is that since it’s still an Eeveelution, they all retain that same kind of plain design and charm.

Then later again:

Maybe it’s a fox, or a dog, or a cat. Maybe Eevee isn’t actually anything in specific, but somehow that’s what makes people around the world feel special about it.

So I would say the official answer is neither, or both, depending on your interpretation. If you want a more specific answer for each Eeveelution, then you can look in the trivia sections of their Bulbapedia articles.

Answer 2

"Eevee is a mammalian creature with brown fur, a bushy tail that has a cream-colored tip, and a furry collar that is also cream-colored. It has four short, feline-esque legs with three small toes on each foot. Eevee has brown eyes, big ears, and pink paw pads. It has traits of rabbits, raccoons, foxes, dogs, and cats."

-Bulbapedia

http://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Eevee_(Pokémon)

Eevee and the eeveeloutions are usually accepted to be based off of either a fox (Eevee, Jolteon, Umbreon) or a cat (Espeon, Glaceon, Flareon, Vaporeon), depending on the form.

Comments

Wait, what are Leafeon, and Sylveon based on? pls answer

Answer 3

I’ve always thought that Eevee was a dog, as it resembles a dog; its physical characteristics are that of a dog along with its personality traits depicted in the anime, etc. But I could see fox too, which would still make it a member of the canid family.

Those that are saying cat: I could see that as well, but only in some of Eevee’s evolutions, and not because cats are smarter. That’s just laughable. Cats are killing machines and not really all that affectionate unless it gets them something. They’re also solitary animals, with the exception of lions. The smartest animals on the planet are Humans, apes, chimps, dolphins, dogs, seals, and some birds. They all have one thing in common: they’re all highly social animals, which contributes to their intelligence as a whole, and can’t thrive on their own.

Cats don’t need that, because they are simply not wired that way, resulting in limited intelligence. And using the litter box is not a sign of intelligence, it’s instinctual for them to cover and hide their scent from other predators.

Dogs are simply more intelligent than cats, that’s not even a debatable fact. Glad I could clear that up for you all.

Like I said, if I had to guess - Eevee is more dog like. And the reason the eevolutions look so much different, could be to let the trainer evolve to their preference: whether they’re a dog person, or a crazy(overexposure to cat poop causes toxoplasmosis, which makes one more prone to mental illness) cat person.

-Someone that’s owned both cats and dogs.

Answer 4

They are based on cats because if it were dogs thier claws woulkd be coming out of thier paws instead of being retracted. And in a way they all look like cats.

Comments

Lots of dog pokemon don’t have claws being shown. For example, Arcanine, Boltund, and Furfrou.

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All of the eveelutions are technically dogs, knowing that they're all foxes and foxes are canids.

Answer 5

I truly believe eevee is a mixture of both, because Eevee itself seems to be based off of a vulpine. So in theory when it evolves, either have more canine or more feline characteristics. Especially with Sylveon now, that thing looks straight up like a cat. Along with Espeon and Glaceon, where Leafeon and Vaporeon could really go either way. Jolteon also looks like a fox or vulpine to me, where Flareon and Umbreon look more like dogs. In my eyes, they are probably all vulpines that associate more with dog or cat like qualities and traits.

Comments

Sylveon is not completely a cat. The tail and ears are different. The tail is of a dog’s and the ears are obviously rabbit like.

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A lot of pokemon look like cats even if they're not, even if it's just because of their short muzzles. It's just the style, really. However, ALL of the eveelutions are foxes and foxes are canids. So really, all the eveelutions are dogs.

Answer 6

All of the Eeveelutions are foxes. But, some, like Umbreon, Jolteon, Sylveon and Flareon look a lot like dogs. Others, like Espeon, look like cats. However, foxes are canids, so technically, all of the Eveelutions are dogs and not cats.

Comments

Espeon is clearly based on Nekomata, a two-tailed Yokai cat from Japanese folklore, Vaporeon, from his posture, facial structure and animations, is obviously a cat, Sylveon is based on Tsukimi, the moon rabbit from Chinese-Japanese folklore.