Illustrator

Ken Sugimori

1,109
cards: 101
sets: 15
eras: 1999 – 2022
active

Best-known card: Shining Tyranitar (neo4)

ABOUT

Born 27 January 1966, Ken Sugimori is the art director of Pokémon and a co-founder of Game Freak — the person whose hand defined what a Pokémon looks like.

He met Satoshi Tajiri in 1981, illustrating for Tajiri's self-published Game Freak fanzine while intending to become a manga artist. The two turned the magazine's name into a company on 26 April 1989.

For Pokémon Red and Green he led the design team behind the original 151 creatures — but drew all of the official artwork himself, a deliberate decision to give the series one uniform style. That choice is why the first generation looks like a single world rather than a collection of separate artists' work.

He has since served as the franchise's main art supervisor, approving designs produced both inside Game Freak and by the external illustrators whose cards sit alongside his on this site.

Reviewed 2026-08-25 · Sources: Wikipedia — Ken Sugimori, Wikipedia — Game Freak, Bulbapedia — Ken Sugimori