Irida

About

Irida is a character and the leader of the Pearl clan in the 2022 video game Pokémon Legends: Arceus, depicted as a blonde girl with a red top and white shorts. After the game's release, Irida's character became prominent online among the game's community, generating a significant fandom and a high amount of fan art around the web.

Origin

Irida first appeared in the December 15th, 2021, "New Faces" trailer for Pokémon Legends: Arceus (shown below). In the trailer, Irida is featured prominently alongside other characters from the game.

In Pokémon Legends: Arceus, released January 28th, 2022, Irida is portrayed as the leader of the Pearl clan. She appears periodically throughout the game's story and has a rivalry with Adaman, the leader of the Diamond clan.^[1]

Spread

Much like Azeru and Volo, two other "new faces" who appeared in the December 15th, 2021 trailer, Irida was a quick hit with Pokémon fans. On the day of the trailer's release, December 15th, 2021, Twitter user @gonzarez1938^[2] posted fan art of the character, gaining over 1,900 retweets and 8,000 likes (shown below, left). On December 16th, user @simure460^[3] posted art that gained over 1,300 retweets and 6,900 likes (shown below, right).

The Irida fandom continued after the game's release and expanded to include shipping between Irida and the female player protagonist, often depicting the protagonist as more enthusiastic and Irida more awkward. On February 8th, 2022, Twitter user @hamachamu0404^[4] posted shipping art between the two characters, gaining over 17,000 retweets and 105,000 likes (shown below, left). On February 21st, Pixiv^[5] user うに posted art of the two characters, gaining over 600 likes (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References