>"they didn't make Gyarados Dragon Type cuz it would be too overpowered for gen I"

I'm sorry?? Isn't being an overwhelming powerhouse the POINT of Gyarados? Isn't the whole IDEA supposed to be that the weakest Pokemon in the game evolves into one of the most devastatingly powerful? And since when does Gen I ever give a SHIT about competitive balance???

>but it's based on a wind sock...

Look motherfucker, if it can be based on a dragon, and not be Dragon Type, it can also be based on a wind sock and not literally be Flying Type. Gyarados absolutely should have been Dragon Type

>>57987798 (OP)
>cuz it would be too overpowered for gen I
As if gen 1 wasn't already a broken unbalanced mess a dragon type gyarados wouldn't make that much of a difference

>>57987798 (OP)
I personally think it is way more likely that it wasn't given Dragon due to how Dragon was handled in Gen I; namely as a typical JRPG final boss type that is specifically designed to fuck you over, as it resists Water, Fire, Grass, and Electric and reserved for it and it alone.

at no point did gen 1 ever take power into account for choosing typing

>>57987798 (OP)
You can tell the flying type was a last minute change because it's almost never depicted flying despite being able of doing so

>>57987798 (OP)
they should've made a proper damage dealing dragon type move then

>>57987822
This. Gen 1 was designed around being a typical jrpg

>>57987822
It was also mostly a secret type. There was a good chance you wouldn't see a single dragon until reaching Lance.

>neutral to ice to quad weak
Yeah nah gyra benefits

>>57987798 (OP)
Inb4 A regional Dragon variant of Gyarados happens

>>57988739
>Iron heads your ice type
Shitmon

>>57988739
???????? Water resists Ice, take your meds

>Gyarados doesn't fl-ACK

It's actually because Dragon type was a very late addition to Gen 1 and Charizard, Gyarados and Aerdoactlyl were already designed before it was added.

They could have used Mega Gyarados to "correct" this, but they probably figured that Dark type fit Gyarados better than the more "regal" power that the Dragon type came to embody.

Where do you guys get your headcanon from?

>>57988988
>everyone knows Gyarados can fly
>it takes until PLA to see it actually flying in a game made by Game Freak
>it STILL can't learn fly
Why is Game Freak so autistic about Gyarados?

>>57988923
>steel in gen 1
>>57988968
>reading comprehension

>>57990466
>Using ice type in gen 1

>>57990471
>what is gen 1 blizzard?

>>57990478
>Miss

>>57987839
Flying doesn't make a lot of sense as a last minute decision. The whole point of Gyarados is that it's a reference to the myth of the dragon gate, where a carp that can jump the waterfall it's located on will fly away as a dragon.

>In Chinese mythology, Longmen (lit. 登龍門 "Dragon Gate") is located at the top of a waterfall cascading from a legendary mountain. The legend states that while many carp swim upstream against the river's strong current, few are capable or brave enough for the final leap over the waterfall.
>The Jade Emperor promised that if those carp could leap over the Dragon Gate, then they would become mighty dragons. Thus, all the carp competed at a yearly competition to leap the Longmen falls; those who succeeded were immediately transformed into dragons and flew off into the sky.

I'd be tempted to say >>57987822 is the best answer. But even ignoring that, has gyarados *remained* water/flying because they just couldn't figure out which type would be replaced by dragon?

Getting rid of water doesn't make a lot of sense. Eastern dragons are associated with water instead of fire (example, the dragon from spirited away is the spirit of a river) so it's not just that magicarp is a fish and a holdover. And Gyarados' design doesn't fit flying at all. He *looks* aquatic.
I honestly think Gyrados is never depicted flying simply because it just looks dumb. It's too (relatively) short and squat to do so gracefully, look at this dumb bastard >>57988988.

But get rid of flying and you remove the connection to the myth he's literally based on. It's just weird.

>>57990484
90% accuracy, 120BP, 30% chance of permanently deleting someone from the battle. This screams as someone whose never played Gen 1 and is just applying current gen logic to it

>>57990652
Many such cases.

>>57990652
>30% chance of permanently deleting someone from the battle
that's only in red/green

>>57990466
Did you think people were implying Gyarados should be dragon/flying? You shouldn't insult others reading comprehension when you can't grasp the opening post.

>>57991280
Not only that, he forgot Gyarados already has a quad weakness.