Pokémon Black and White/Characters

The fifth generation of Pokémon contains new Pokémon, new adventures, and a whole new world. Have fun.

For the Pokémon introduced in these games, refer to this page. Tropes applying to characters Post-Time Skip in Black 2 and White 2 are on that character sheet.

Main Characters

 * Deuteragonist: Cheren and Bianca
 * Freudian Trio: Cheren is the superego, Bianca is the id, and the player is the ego.
 * Power Trio
 * Theme Naming: Cheren comes from "black," contrasting with Bianca coming from "white." In the Japanese version, this is taken further, as Touya and Touko come from "transparent," establishing the player as the middle and leader of the main trio.
 * Three Amigos: No matter which gender you choose, the main group will have this set-up between the player, Bianca, and Cheren. However, Cheren's always a guy, Bianca's always a girl.
 * True Companions: The player and their friends definitely give off this vibe, and are sticking up for each other no matter what.
 * Two Guys and A Girl/Two Girls and A Guy: If you play as Hilbert/Hilda, respectively. This doesn't stop most fanfiction and fanart where Hilbert/Hilda is the protagonist from including Hilda/Hilbert as a member of the Nakama, though. The most common explanation is that they're Half Identical Twins.

Hilbert (Touya)

 * Brown Eyes
 * The Cameo: If you picked Hilda, you only team up with him during double battles in the Battle Subway. Otherwise, he doesn't appear in the game.
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Cute Shotaro Boy
 * Disappeared Dad: As the protagonist. Interestingly enough, if you check out the television in his room before choosing your starter, it mentions his father bought it for him. He never appears in the game, though.
 * Eighties Hair
 * Expy: Out of all of the playable males, he looks the most like Red, especially when compared to Red's appearance (including his official artwork) in Generations III and IV. Considering the amount of throwbacks to the first and second gen, this was very much intentional.
 * Fan Nickname: Black, since that was the name they used for him in the trailers, and male player characters are always labeled with the "first" game's name. Plus, nobody had done multi-battles and thus seen his Canon Name yet. "Kuro" was also coined by screenshots on the official website and "Blair" by the demos that were played at the mall tour.
 * Meaningful Name: Hilbert means "magnificent in battle" or "battle bright." Touya comes from "fight" (which makes his English name fitting), "transparent" or "untainted" which establishes his role as the middle and leader of the group.
 * Nice Guy: His nearly-unanimous Fanon interpretation.
 * Nice Hat
 * Spear Counterpart: To Hilda. Their default names are even gender flips of each other in both Japanese and English.

Hilda (Touko)

 * Blue Eyes
 * The Cameo: If you picked Hilbert, you only team up with her during double battles in Battle Subway. Otherwise she doesn't appear in the game.
 * Disappeared Dad: As the protagonist. Interestingly enough, if you check out the television in her room before choosing your starter, it mentions her father bought it for her. He never appears in the game, though.
 * Distaff Counterpart: To Hilbert.
 * Eighties Hair
 * Exposed to The Elements: During the winter months and whenever she pays the Cold Storage a visit. Especially noteworthy in the latter case, as the Workers there are all wearing protective clothing and Cheren and Zinzolin won't stop griping about how cold it is.
 * Fan Nickname: White for the same reasons as Hilbert above. "Shiro" was also coined by screenshots on the official website and "Whitlea" by the demos that were played at the mall tour.
 * Hair Antennae: On her ponytail. Shown a bit more in this official art of a Battle Subway scene.
 * The Ladette: One of her most common Fanon interpretations.
 * Meaningful Name: Hilda means "Battle Maiden." Touko comes from "fight" (which makes her English name fitting), "transparent" or "untainted" which establishes her role as the middle and leader of the group.
 * Nice Hat
 * One of the Boys: Her design certainly has this feel.
 * Pettanko: As flat as Misty.
 * Rule Thirty Four: Much like Zoroark, the porn of her started showing up almost immediately after she was revealed.
 * Strong Family Resemblance: When she's the main character, her mother has her eye and hair color.
 * Tomboy: Her appearance suggests this.
 * Tomboyish Ponytail
 * Who Wears Short Shorts: She does!

Cheren
For tropes pertaining to his appearance in the sequel, see here.


 * Bishonen: Not as much as N or the Striaton triplets, but it's there. Some even thought he was female at first!
 * Break the Haughty: He's not overbearingly arrogant, but he still has to work out some ego issues.
 * Cats Are Mean: Purrloin. He's more fitting since N released it.
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Deadpan Snarker: Shows definite traces of this. For example, he calls Team Plasma a "Waste of oxygen."
 * Giving Someone the Pointer Finger: His Vs. sprite.
 * Idiot Hair: He seems pretty intelligent, though.
 * Informed Ability/Gameplay and Story Segregation: His battle prowess and superiority in battles to Bianca is put into question by his rather weak team makeup, which is objectively worse than hers. Bianca doesn't (1) have an Unfezant, which has awful special attack (while decent physical attack), use exclusively special attacks, or (2) run defensive sets on pure offensive Pokémon like said Unfezant and Liepard, while half their team pools from the same options (depending on your starter choice).
 * Early in the game, you and he have a double battle against two Team Plasma Patrats. If you have Tepig and he has Oshawott, he might use Water Sport, which in this situation does nothing except HARM YOU.
 * Megane
 * The Rival: He shares this trope with Bianca, but their Character Development in that regard is quite different. Cheren begins his journey as determined and, arguably, overconfident. He gets better once he starts realizing his limitations and that simply becoming the Champion for the sake of it is a pointless goal.
 * Stoic Spectacles
 * Theme Naming: His name is Slavic for "Black".
 * To Be a Master: He explicitly states that his goal is to become the Champion.
 * Theme Naming: His name is Slavic for "Black".
 * To Be a Master: He explicitly states that his goal is to become the Champion.

Bianca (Bel)
For tropes pertaining to her appearance in the sequel, see here.


 * Absolute Cleavage: Though she wears a blouse under it.
 * Break the Cutie: Right from the start, her father almost completely prevents her from going on her journey. She tries her best and still loses to the player, and then her Munna is stolen by Team Plasma (it's given back later), causing her to feel weak. Later, in Nimbasa, her father goes all the way there to attempt to drag the poor girl back home. Thank goodness for Elesa's interference.
 * Though it's possible for Bianca to win against the player, you still have to beat her to continue the plot.
 * Cute Clumsy Girl
 * The Ditz
 * Desperately Looking for A Purpose In Life: The point of her character development.
 * Dumb Blonde: She is described as a bit of an unreliable airhead.
 * Everything's Precious With Puppies: Lillipup.
 * Expy: Her design bears similarities to Barry, and she is shown to be energetic when she is happy like him. However, she is the exact opposite in terms of pacing--she is always late to gatherings between her, the main character, and Cheren.
 * Forehead of Doom: Not commented on, but her hairstyle greatly emphasizes it.
 * Genki Girl: Usually, anyway, unless she's troubled.
 * Genius Ditz: She ends up having a pretty good team.
 * Green Eyes
 * Hair of Gold
 * Hartman Hips
 * Iconic Item: The Pokémon Munna is very heavily associated with her in fan art.
 * Nice Hat
 * One Steve Limit: She's gonna cause some problems with this one. Pokémon Heroes also had a Bianca.
 * Overprotective Dad: She has one. At one point, he actually shows up to try to take her home!
 * Plucky Girl: Don't think anything's going to stop her from finding her own dream. Not losing in battles, not having her Pokemon stolen, not even her dad's interference. Hell, she doesn't even back down or flinch during their conversation in Nimbasa City!
 * The Rival: Despite sharing this trope with Cheren, their character development in that regard is very different. Bianca starts her journey without many expectations or hopes to become anything, and discovers her abilities as her journey progresses.
 * Rule Thirty Four: With hips like that, are you really suprised?
 * Shrinking Violet: Somewhat. While she's usually perfectly outgoing, she is also shown to be frightened pretty easily. It doesn't help that her father is constantly worrying over her journey, and his sheltering of her all her life probably caused her insecurities to start with.
 * Spell My Name With an S: Is her Japanese name spelled Beru, Bel, Bell, or Belle?
 * Because of this, her German name is Bell, Italian is Belle and Spanish is Bel.
 * Theme Naming: Her Japanese name, Bel, is Slavic for "white"; her American name is Italian for the same.
 * Urban Legend of Zelda: It was widely believed that she was the Champion.
 * Dummied Out: After this rumor was quashed, another rumor sprung up that there was data in the game files that had her as this. The data was actually Saturday rebattle data like Barry's in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, and all of her data gives her the title "Pokémon Trainer".
 * Wide Eyed Idealist: She's constantly looking on the bright side of things.
 * Dummied Out: After this rumor was quashed, another rumor sprung up that there was data in the game files that had her as this. The data was actually Saturday rebattle data like Barry's in Pokémon Diamond and Pearl, and all of her data gives her the title "Pokémon Trainer".
 * Wide Eyed Idealist: She's constantly looking on the bright side of things.

Professor Juniper (Dr. Araragi)
The Pokémon Professor of Unova. She studies the origins of Pokémon.


 * All There in the Manual: According to the official English guidebook, her first name is "Aurea." This is never seen in-game.
 * Brainy Brunette
 * Ditzy Genius
 * Eighties Hair
 * Generation Xerox: Apparently she is very similar to her father in terms of looks, personality, and general work.
 * Genki Girl
 * Green Eyes
 * Hot Scientist: Being the first female scientist of the series, it'd be hard to believe if the creators had passed this trope up.
 * Like Father Like Daughter
 * One Steve Limit: In the Japanese version, she and her father are both referred to as "Araragi." In the English version, her father is given a first name- Cedric.
 * Theme Naming: Once again, the professor is named after a tree.
 * However, it is noteworthy that she also breaks the pattern -- somewhat. All of the previous professors are named after deciduous trees, but she's named after a coniferous one.

Fennel (Makomo)
A scientist and close friend to Prof. Juniper. She studies dreams using Munna's Dream Smoke. She has a fairly larger role in the Dream World.


 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Custom Uniform: Her design is heavily based off of the other females of the Scientist class, but she has a flower hairclip to set her apart.
 * Hair Decorations: Her clip matches the pattern on Munna.
 * Every Proper Lady Should Curtsy - Does this in her anime introduction. With her lab coat, oddly enough.
 * Hair Color Dissonance: Well it's sorta... purple... Are they going for blue, actually?
 * Hot Scientist: Whether or not she surpasses Juniper in this regard is up to you.
 * Purple Eyes
 * Meganekko
 * Rapunzel Hair
 * Stop Helping Me: She was rather unpopular once the Dream World website launched in North America given how many a user saw her very image saying nicely that they needed to wait a little more until they could enter the site.

Cedric Juniper (Dr. Araragi Sr.)
Prof. Juniper's father who wanders the Unova region for his own research.


 * Big Ol Eyebrows
 * Cool Old Guy: Or middle-aged guy, anyway.
 * Early Bird Cameo: You don't actually see him, but if you check out one of the pictures in his daughter's lab, it mentions her standing with a smiling man hinted to be him.
 * Eighties Hair
 * Expy: Is somewhat similar to Professor Birch- both are bumbling father bearded professors with a child who is in their line of work or planning on going into it.
 * Fan Nickname: Is often referred to as "Papa Juniper" by the fans.
 * Mid Season Upgrade: He's the one who upgrades the Pokedex (not to National-level, though; that's for after finishing the game) upon first meeting him in Mistralton City.
 * One Steve Limit: In the Japanese version, both he and his daughter are referred to as "Araragi." In the English localization, he has a first name of "Cedric" to avoid having two characters being referred to by the same name.
 * Only One Name: Played straight in the original Japanese, averted in international releases. For example, the English translation gives him the full name and title of Professor Cedric Juniper.
 * Parents As People: Well, his role sure isn't limited to the backstory!

Emmet (Kudari) and Ingo (Nobori) (Subway Bosses)



 * Badass Longcoat
 * Creepy Twins
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Cute Psychos - Yanderes: The most popular characterization they get in Fanon. Specially if it involves Twincest
 * Dual Boss: On the Multi and Super Multi Lines.
 * Go Nagai Sideburns
 * Gray Eyes: Both of them.
 * Meaningful Name/Theme Naming: For the Japanese names, Nobori comes from "nobori-sen" (in-bound line) and Kudari comes from "kudari-sen" (out-bound line). In the English localization, Ingo comes from "in-going line" and Emmet comes from "emit" (again, out-bound). Both of these tie into their train motif.
 * Theme Twin Naming
 * Names the Same: The name of one brother should sound familiar to anyone who's played The Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time, in which there was a greedy ranch worker with the same name.
 * Nice Hat
 * Perpetual Frowner: Ingo
 * Perpetual Smiler: Emmet
 * Sibling Yin Yang: Seems to be the intention -- Ingo is frowning in his official art, whereas Emmet is smiling. Ingo dresses with a black theme, and Emmet wears lots of white.
 * Stepford Smiler: At least Emmet. Though there's something odd about them that makes them both feel like Stepford Brothers.
 * Tag Team Twins
 * We Meet Again / We Will Meet Again: Their only real dialog to the player sounds like this.
 * White Gloves
 * White Haired Pretty Boys





Cilan (Dent), Chili (Pod) and Cress (Corn)
Striaton City Gym Leaders--Triple Trouble!


 * Adorkable: Cilan especially.
 * Alphabetical Theme Naming: All three of their English names start with a "C."
 * Badass Adorable
 * Bishonens
 * Bow Ties Are Cool
 * Chromatic Arrangement
 * Curtains Match the Window: Also their bowties and monkey of choice.
 * Deadpan Snarker: Cress.
 * Dude Looks Like a Lady: Cress, to some fans.
 * Edible Theme Naming: In Japanese, it's more subtle; their names are parts of corn.
 * Elemental Powers:
 * Green Thumb: Cilan
 * Playing With Fire: Chili
 * Making a Splash: Cress
 * Everything's Better With Monkeys: Pansage, Pansear, and Panpour.
 * Everything's Precious With Puppies: Lillipup.
 * Eye Colors:
 * Green Eyes: Cilan.
 * Red Eyes Take Warning: Chili, but only if you forgot to catch something to cover your Snivy's weakness to Pansear.
 * Blue Eyes: Cress.
 * Fiery Redhead: Chili, near literally.
 * Hollywood Genetics
 * Hot Blooded: Chili.
 * Improbable Hairstyle: Cilan and Chili.
 * Large Ham: Chili. "Yeeeeooow! Time to play with FIRE!! I'm the strongest of us brothers!"
 * Meaningful Name: Their names indicate their elements.
 * Names the Same: Cress's English name is the same as the name the main character of Tales of Phantasia has in that game's official English translation (the latter is subject to Spell My Name With an S in fan translations).
 * Non Standard Character Design: Cilan is one of the very few characters in the franchise to have Skintone Sclerae.
 * Poor Predictable Rock: Averted. Rather than screw over the players who picked Fire (or in Falkner's case, Grass), the Leader you battle here depends solely on your choice of starter and, as such, will always have the type advantage over you.
 * Red Oni Blue Oni: Chili and Cress.
 * Peek a Bangs: Cress
 * Power Trio: Cilan is ego, Chili is id, and Cress is superego.
 * Sharp Dressed Men
 * Skintone Sclerae: Cilan
 * Shrinking Violet: Cilan. It's to be noted that he's the only one of the three that stutters before, during, and after battle and doesn't seem as confident in his battle skills as his brothers.
 * Spell My Name With an S: Cilan's Japanese name, Dent can be translated as Dento, too. Cress's Japanese name, Corn, can be read as Koon as well. Chili's Japanese name, Pod, can also be called Poddo. The usual translation problems.
 * Theme Naming: Trident, tripod, tricorn.
 * Also, they're all named after corn (some more subtly than others).
 * Their English names all have to do with food.
 * The food theme also matches with their types. Cilan comes from the herb cilantro, Chili is named after the spicy pepper, and Cress comes from watercress, a vegetable.
 * Waistcoats of Style
 * What Happened to the Striaton Gym Leaders?: They are the only gym leaders
 * You Gotta Have Green and Blue Hair: Cilan and Cress, respectively.

Lenora (Aloe)
Nacrene City Gym Leader--An Archeologist with Backbone


 * Adventure Archaeologist: If her English title wasn't enough to convince you, she got to one of the stones before Team Plasma even went on the hunt and hid it right in plain sight! Mock her now.
 * BBW
 * Blue Eyes
 * Chef of Iron: One interpretation of her, although it is never shown in the game.
 * Chessmaster: Her battle style. Easier to see in the anime and manga, but still shows up in the game. Example? No matter which of her Pokemon you face, you're in to get hit hard with Retaliate after beating it, which is going to be a base 140 STAB because of it..
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Everything's Precious With Puppies: Herdier.
 * Happily Married: To the Curator of the museum that her gym is located in.
 * Mammy - by appearance but not by personality
 * Meaningful Name: LeNora = Normal.
 * Non Elemental
 * Team Mom: Of the gym leaders. She was apparently designed to be motherly according to Word of God. Sadly, everyone misinterpreted said intention.
 * Wake Up Call Boss: Much harder to take down than the trio. Her Pokémon's levels are 18 and 20, which is a steep jump up from what you've been facing, and both hit like tanks. Using a Roggenrolla won't help you much either, since they both know Dark moves to get around its resistance to normal attacks. The Watchog even knows Hypnosis, to make things worse (you did give those Chesto berries that Cheren gave you to your Timburr, right?).
 * And the first thing Watchog uses is Retaliate. Which is immediately after you faint her Herrdier, therefore it's going to be a base 140 STAB attack. There's gonna be a really long time before you see a move with so much base power again.
 * Not just her Watchog, they both know it. So if you forced her to switch out the two somehow, you're still not safe.
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair

Burgh (Arti)
Castelia City Gym Leader--Premier Insect Artist


 * Ambiguously Gay: His appearance screams this trope.
 * Ambiguously Jewish: Depicted as this in Fanon.
 * Big Creepy Crawlies
 * Big Ol Eyebrows
 * Engrish: His Japanese title- "Most Insect Artist"- is so grammatically incorrect it's not even funny.
 * Green Eyes
 * Hurricane of Puns: He seems quite fond of insect-based puns in his dialogue in the gym. It's really insectible--er, incredible.
 * Meaningful Name: Burgh = Bug.
 * "Burgh" also has the word "burg" in it, which means "city." Where is Burgh's Gym? Castelia City!
 * Nice Guy: Has a Pokémon that only evolves with happiness, Leavanny.
 * Even better, his Leavanny's at Level 23 - only three levels higher than the level it evolves into Swadloon!
 * Performance Artist
 * Pungeon Master: Doesn't show till his in-battle quotes. Made all the more painful by Pokémon's otherwise subtle puns.
 * Scarf of Asskicking
 * Unlucky Childhood Friend: To Elesa.

Elesa (Kamitsure)
Nimbasa City Gym Leader--The Shining Beauty

For tropes pertaining to her appearance in the sequel, see here.


 * Bare Your Midriff
 * Blue Eyes
 * Combat Stilettos
 * Cool Big Sis: Certainly gives off this vibe when she reasons with Bianca's dad in her introduction, and promptly earns Bianca's respect.
 * Cool Horse: Zebstrika.
 * Emotionless Girl: Word of God says she was intended to come off as this.
 * Not So Stoic: When you beat her, despite being very calm up until that point, she is overwhelmed with excitement and immediately becomes embarrassed over it.
 * Everything's Nuttier With Flying Squirrels: Emolga. Two of them, actually.
 * Hair Decorations: Or, technically, headphones. Justified, as she seems to be based on a Vocaloid.
 * Iconic Item: Her headphones; fanart loves to leave them on when portraying her in swimsuits (or less). When her outfit got completely overhauled for the sequels, she still wears headphones, just of a different design (they even inherit her old pair's color motif).
 * Informed Ability: She, for no reason at all, says she's a model in her first appearance, but unlike the other Unova leaders' careers, this doesn't pop up in any way aside from her sprite being dangerously thin (the waiter triplets have a restaurant for a gym, the archeologist has a museum and reference library for a gym, the painter has a gallery in the city, and she has... a roller coaster) and the comments of a few random NPCs. She does mention that she has a TV gig after she calls Clay to lower the bridge to Driftveil City, so she probably does model work for television. And it does explain her outfit (all gym leaders in Unova have outfits tied into their day jobs)
 * Meaningful Name: Elesa = Electricity.
 * Rule Thirty Four: Not as much as Skyla, but still.
 * Shock and Awe

Clay (Yacon)
Driftveil City Gym Leader--The Underground Boss


 * Americans Are Cowboys: Subverted- Word of God says he was designed as a Japanese immigrant who got rich in America by finding oil.
 * Fauxreigner
 * Brown Eyes
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Dishing Out Dirt
 * Eaglelander - Type I, though again, not a born American.
 * Everything Is Big in Texas
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold: He comes off as pushy and lazy at first, but he turns out to be a good guy.
 * Meaningful Name
 * Names the Same: An earth-elemental cowboy named Clay? Where else have we seen this before.
 * Nice Hat
 * Non Idle Rich: He is one of the richest people in the history of the Pokémon games so far, and still runs a gym.
 * Self Made Man: He even waits for trainers at the bottom of his Gym/mine as a symbolic reminder of how he started out with nothing.

Skyla (Fuuro)
Mistralton City Gym Leader--The High-Flying Girl


 * Ace Pilot
 * Bare Your Midriff
 * Blow You Away
 * Blue Eyes
 * Hair Decorations
 * Expy: Of Birdy.
 * She also resembles Yoko of Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann, in terms of hair color and Stripperiffic choice of outfit.
 * Fashionable Asymmetry
 * Fiery Redhead
 * Genki Girl: Just look at her official art.
 * Meaningful Name: Skyla.
 * Ms. Fanservice
 * Nice Girl: A very noticable characteristic of her's.
 * Beware the Nice Ones: And not just for her strength; the way she's designed her gym will take you out!
 * Rule Thirty Four: Got hit with this hard.
 * Stripperiffic
 * Shorttank
 * Wind From Beneath My Wings

Brycen (Hachiku)
Icirrus City Gym Leader--Ice Mask


 * An Ice Person
 * Badass: He senses the presence of the Shadow Triad before they even appear, and fights Team Plasma alongside Cheren. All of this is done after your gym battle with him.
 * Black Eyes
 * Cool Mask
 * Everything's Worse With Bears: Beartic.
 * Fashionable Asymmetry: He's wearing what looks like half a robe.
 * Meaningful Name: Brycen.
 * Mythology Gag: In Pokémon Special's third arc, the main villain was the "Mask of Ice."
 * His English name is also very similar to Pryce's.
 * The Stoic: Word of God says he's like this because he used to be a movie star, and went into depression after his career ended. He then went to an icy cave alone to train and become more knowledgeable, and feels he must keep his identity a secret.
 * Warrior Monk
 * You Gotta Have Blue Hair

Iris
Opelucid City Gym Leader (White)--The Girl Who Knows the Hearts of Dragons


 * Affirmative Action Legacy: She's already one in White and aiming to become one in Black.
 * Ambiguously Brown
 * Bratty Half Pint: Her dialogue certainly gives her this feel.
 * Brown Eyes
 * Genki Girl
 * Girlish Pigtails
 * Heir to The Dojo: She's Drayden's apprentice, training to take over the gym when he retires.
 * Instant Awesome Just Add Dragons
 * Little Miss Badass: She's both the youngest and the eighth Gym Leader in White, and uses Dragon-Type Pokémon.
 * Painting the Fourth Wall: If you select Kanji View in the Japanese version, she'll still speak only in kana.
 * Pettanko
 * Purely Aesthetic Gender: The only real difference between her and Drayden is that her Pokémon are female; they're the same species and have the same moves. Their Druddigon's abilities are different, too; hers has Sheer Force.
 * Rapunzel Hair: Not as much as Caitlin, but enough.
 * Raised By Dragons: Word of God says she was raised in a forest by them.
 * You Gotta Have Purple Hair

Drayden (Shaga)
Opelucid City Gym Leader (Black)--The Spartan Mayor


 * Authority Equals Asskicking: He is the mayor of Opelucid City, and the eighth Gym Leader in Black.
 * Badass Beard: So badass it covers the entire bottom half of his face.
 * Badass Grandpa
 * Eyes of Gold
 * Gentleman and A Scholar: He studied abroad to learn more about Dragon-types, but is still quite the gentleman.
 * Instant Awesome Just Add Dragons
 * Purely Aesthetic Gender: The only real difference between he and Iris is that his Pokémon are male; they're the same species and have the same moves. Their Druddigon's abilities are different, too; his has Rough Skin, which could be a nasty surprise.
 * Red Baron: Spartan Mayor.
 * Retired Badass: In White.
 * Theme Naming: In the Japanese version, his name is Japanese for "iris," complementing... Well, Iris.

Shauntal (Shikimi)
A member of Unova's Elite Four. Specializes in Ghost types.


 * Apologetic Attacker: When you beat her, she apologizes for hurting your Pokémon.
 * Badass Bookworm: She's an author, her room is at the top of a huge mound of books, and she's an Elite Four member.
 * Butterfly of Death and Rebirth: Presumably what that huge ruff is meant to resemble.
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Dark Is Not Evil
 * Dramatic Thunder: In the room you fight her in, lightning occasionally flashes in the window.
 * Foreshadowing: The first time you challenge her, she reads a passage from a book she's writing based on a previous challenger.
 * Meaningful Name: Shauntal.
 * In addition, it's a French name meaning "a circle of stones", or more specifically, a tomb.
 * Meganekko
 * Perky Goth
 * Purple Eyes
 * Soul Power
 * The Southpaw: She's left-handed in both her sprite and official artwork.
 * Stealth Pun: She is an author who uses Ghost Pokémon. In other words,
 * You Gotta Have Purple Hair

Grimsley (Giima)
A member of Unova's Elite Four. Specializes in Dark types.


 * Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: Per Word of God, the colors of his clothes match common colors for roulettes.
 * Bishonen
 * Blue Eyes
 * Casting a Shadow
 * Dark Is Not Evil
 * Eighties Hair: Looks like somebody on the design team is a fan of A Flock of Seagulls.
 * The Gambler: What he turned to after his family had been ruined.
 * Impoverished Patrician
 * Meaningful Name: Grimsley
 * Unfortunate Name: It's practically a Name to Run Away From Really Fast, and he's not even a villain!
 * My Rules Are Not Your Rules: He has a level 50 Bisharp - Outside of hacking the game, there is no way for you to have a Bisharp at that level. Considering what Dark-types are known for, it actually does make sense in a way.
 * Pointy Ears
 * The Unfettered: Grimsley has absolutely no problem fighting dirty and actually advises the trainer to use any means necessary to win a fight.
 * Combat Pragmatist
 * Scarf of Asskicking
 * Sharp Dressed Man: Literally.
 * Shout Out: To Dracula, as speculated by some and confirmed by Word of God.
 * Tall Dark and Handsome: Very much so.

Caitlin (Cattleya)
A member of Unova's Elite Four. Specializes in Psychic types.


 * Adaptation Dye Job: She was a darker blonde in in her last appearances, but her hair is noticeably brighter in Generation V.
 * Ascended Extra: Castle Valet Darach from Gen IV's Battle Frontier took great care to tend to Lady Caitlin. Caitlin, however, never said or did much... Until now, that is.
 * Blue Eyes
 * Brilliant but Lazy: If her sleeping before battle is any indication.
 * Defrosting Ice Queen: She's cold and hostile towards the player at first, but gradually loosens up as they battle and is impressed when defeated.
 * Expy:
 * Her affinity for the supernatural, Brilliant but Lazy personality, regal-like mannerisms, really long hair... She's like a more benign Rachel Alucard.
 * She also bears more than a passing resemblance to Nunnally.
 * Hair of Gold: Changed from brown hair in the previous titles.
 * Heavy Sleeper
 * Mighty Glacier: Her Pokémon have high Defensive stats, an oddity among Psychic-types.
 * Nice Hat
 * Princesses Prefer Pink: Or royal ladies in general, anyway.
 * Psychic Powers: She has them herself in addition to them being her specialty type--if you look at her battle sprite, she has pink, glowing bits of energy floating around her. She didn't have complete control of them when she was younger, though.
 * Rapunzel Hair: Doubled in length from her last appearance.
 * And floats. She may hold it up with psychic power.
 * Rich Bitch: To a degree.
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something: Her relationship to Darach in Gen IV has her come off as quite royal (Battle Castle?)-- Or very rich, at the least.
 * She Is All Grown Up: In more ways than one. Young Caitlin did not respond well to losing a battle and would erupt into highly destructive psychic tantrums. Darach battling in her stead was a measure to prevent this.

Marshal (Renbu)
A member of Unova's Elite Four. Specializes in Fighting types.


 * Big Ol Eyebrows: That somehow merge with his hair.
 * Black Eyes
 * Blood Knight: See Not So Different below. It's still applicable to his character, but he probably had it worse before.
 * Dark Skinned Blond: His hair's kinda orange, really.
 * Fingerless Gloves
 * Not So Different: Alder mentions that Marshal used to be solely driven by strength like Cheren.
 * Walking the Earth: What he used to do in search of strong trainers before he was offered a place on the Unova Elite Four.

Alder (Adeku)
The Champion of the Unova League. Like Champions in previous generations, he shows up in the main game every so often to give advice to the protagonist.


 * Actually I Am Him: in the previous games, the story keeps the identity of the Champion remains a secret until you actually fight him/her (save for when checking a guide), and that that champion is always there to give you aid at appropriate times. Alder is the first in line to actually introduce himself as Champion before the mandatory Elite Four Challenge.
 * Anime Hair
 * Antiquated Linguistics: Japanese version only.
 * A Load of Bull: He has a Bouffalant.
 * Badass: He is the only Champion so far to
 * He also jumps off a freaking tall cliff. Without as much as a scratch or a grunt. Plus the stairs are right there.
 * Big Creepy Crawlies: He specializes in Bug types with half of his team being bugs. The rest of his team are various types, which try to cover his weaknesses somewhat (such as an Ice type to beat Flying types).
 * Uncatty Resemblance: To his signature Pokémon, Volcarona.
 * Big Good
 * Big Ol Eyebrows
 * Black Eyes
 * Cool Old Guy: While his age is never made explicit, he is easily older than most of the previous champions appearance wise and uses Antiquated Linguistics in the Japanese language.
 * Dead Sidekick: It's mentioned several times throughout the game that Alder spends a lot of time wandering when he's not taking challengers due to
 * Expy:
 * Wanders the world, is the league Champion, and enjoys a good battle. Sounds like Ryu.
 * His design is similar to Dakim's from Pokémon Colosseum.
 * Fiery Redhead
 * Leitmotif: Alder's theme is a calm flute solo, reflecting his age and wisdom.
 * Meaningful Name: His English name refers to the Alder species of moths, as well as the Alder plant--a diet of many species of moths and butterflies. Both these reference his Volcarona. In addition, an "alderman" is a person who is recognized as the eldest and most influential member of a council. This is exactly the capacity he serves as Unova's champion.
 * Perma Stubble
 * Supporting Leader
 * Walking the Earth: He spends most of his time in the games doing this.
 * Walking the Earth: He spends most of his time in the games doing this.
 * Walking the Earth: He spends most of his time in the games doing this.
 * Walking the Earth: He spends most of his time in the games doing this.

Team Plasma

 * Animal Wrongs Group
 * Blue Eyes: The grunts.
 * Dark Is Evil: They usually use Dark types (Purrloin, Scraggy, Sandile lines).
 * Light Is Not Good: And there is the fact that Team Plasma is rather strongly based on Christianity, with their Templar-like uniforms, talk about "saving" Pokemon, and use of the Chi Rho, an ancient symbol used to represent Jesus, as a symbol. They're also a deranged hypocritical terrorist cult
 * Evil Redhead: The grunts, though they aren't necessarily evil.
 * Heel Face Turn:
 * Several can be witnessed considering this at N's Castle toward the end of the initial story mode due to how close they've grown to their Pokémon.
 * One can locate a man in Opelucid City who was a former Team Plasma member who performed one of these.
 * Hypocrites: One of the grunts explicity says that while it's bad for regular trainers to keep Pokémon, it's fine for Team Plasma to have them. This only applies to some of them though, other grunts keep using Pokemon because they've grown attached to them.
 * Tautological Templar
 * Informed Ability: The Seven Sages are said to be some of the smartest men in the world but never really show it. One decides it's a bright idea to put their evil lair across the street from Burgh's gym and is shocked when they're discovered in short order. To be fair, he did it because he thought it would be funny.
 * Jerkass: One of the first grunts you battle repeatedly kicks a Munna to get it to release some Dream Mist. This while still saying they want to help separate Pokémon from abusive trainers. There are also several jerkass grunts at the castle in the end, though they are counterbalanced by some more sympathetic ones.
 * Jerkass Has a Point: Capturing sentient, intelligent creatures in mobile prisons, forcing them to fight for your satisfaction and keeping them dependent on you for things like medicine and food? If they weren't such arseholes, they'd be pretty damn convincing.
 * Knight Templar: Literally.
 * Large Hams: "PLASMAAAAA!"
 * Meaningful Name: They aim to separate Pokémon from people "controlling" them. Plasma is a state of matter where atoms separate from the electrons they "control" and become ions.
 * Minion With an F In Evil: Some grunts have grown to like their Pokémon given them by Ghetsis, and don't want to let them go. Lampshaded of course!
 * Space Christians: A cult where the grunts wear uniforms similar to the armor worn by medieval knights, has an emblem that resembles a Chi Rho, wants to "save" your Pokémon,
 * The Unfought: The Seven Sages.
 * Well Intentioned Extremist: They all seem to have the same goal, they just do it in a REALLY wrong way. Most of the grunts have this personality, though there are a few that are just bloody hypocritical Jerkasses.
 * Well Intentioned Extremist: They all seem to have the same goal, they just do it in a REALLY wrong way. Most of the grunts have this personality, though there are a few that are just bloody hypocritical Jerkasses.

N /

 * Adorkable: If his weird mannerisms don't put a given player off, chances are he's coming off like this for them.
 * Ambiguous Disorder: He has a strange enough personality that he can probably be diagnosed with something.
 * Ambiguously Evil:
 * Awesome Moment of Crowning: The focus of the opening sequence before the title screen.
 * Badass:
 * Badass Long Hair
 * Bishonen
 * Black and White Morality: He starts out with such belief regarding his goals, and says it as a Title Drop. Word of God says the connection to the title was intended from the start. This of course, makes him (and the rest of the game) in-fact, Grey.
 * Black and White Insanity: Get it? Actually, he views humans (save for those with his beliefs) as bad and Pokémon as good, hence why he wants to separate them. He even lampshades it at one point by saying how when humans and Pokémon are separated, "black and white will be clearly distinct."
 * Chekhov's Gunman: He's introduced in the second town, but it isn't until later that you find out that.
 * Climax Boss
 * Creepy Child: Or rather, Creepy Man Child. His theme plays no small part in this.
 * Curiosity Is a Crapshoot: N was raised to believe humans are, to a one, needlessly cruel to Pokemon . Then he meets the player character, whose starter suggests otherwise. The more the two interact, the more N starts wondering whether his worldview is right.
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Ermine Cape Effect: His outfit in the cinematic preceding the title screen.
 * Expy: Shares some similarity to Pokémon Special's
 * Chekhov's Gunman: He's introduced in the second town, but it isn't until later that you find out that.
 * Climax Boss
 * Creepy Child: Or rather, Creepy Man Child. His theme plays no small part in this.
 * Curiosity Is a Crapshoot: N was raised to believe humans are, to a one, needlessly cruel to Pokemon . Then he meets the player character, whose starter suggests otherwise. The more the two interact, the more N starts wondering whether his worldview is right.
 * Curtains Match the Window
 * Ermine Cape Effect: His outfit in the cinematic preceding the title screen.
 * Expy: Shares some similarity to Pokémon Special's
 * Ermine Cape Effect: His outfit in the cinematic preceding the title screen.
 * Expy: Shares some similarity to Pokémon Special's


 * Freudian Excuse: He was raised by abused Pokémon all his life with little interaction with other humans, therefore that's why he hates humans and wants them to separate from Pokémon.
 * Friend to All Living Things: Well, except for his fellow humans who aren't a part of Team Plasma and share his goal.
 * Green Eyes
 * Good With Numbers: He mentions that he likes mathematical formulas a couple of times, which is apparently the reason he carries around a Menger sponge.
 * Iconic Item:
 * His Menger Sponge, at least among fans.
 * He's also strongly associated with his Zorua/Zoroark friend.
 * And to a lesser extent, with the opposite-cover dragon, and strangely often with Tympole.
 * Jerk With a Heart of Gold: Comes off as a jerk on a number of occasions but his goals are well meaning and he really does want to become your friend.
 * King Incognito
 * Leitmotif: N's theme is a creepy musical box style theme (More blatant in the version used for his room) that underscores how creepy and alien he is.
 * Let's Fight Like Gentlemen:
 * Light Is Not Good/Dark Is Evil: He is an angelic-looking teen dressed in white...
 * Dark Is Not Evil:.
 * Long Haired Pretty Boy
 * Mad Mathematician: He even says he's trying to "solve the equation to change the world." Confirmed to be one by Word of God.
 * Man Child: His odd mannerisms and  hint at this.
 * Meaningful Name: Similarly to
 * Taking into consideration his constant rambling about formulas, it could also come from the common usage of "n" as a variable for an unknown value in equations... which is usually used with the intention of eventually being replaced with a different value.
 * also happens to be
 * Modest Royalty: Outside of the opening cutscene, he dresses rather casually, even long after his status as Team Plasma's king is no longer hidden. Subverted in that, according to Word of God, he believes himself to be perfect.
 * Mood Swinger: According to Word of God.
 * Motor Mouth: When you first meet him, Cheren notices this immediately. His speech itself doesn't seem out of the ordinary in terms of spacing, though- in fact, he seems to use ellipses frequently.
 * Painting the Fourth Wall: The speed that his text displays at is noticeably faster then that of other characters, though, even if one has the message speed on Fast.
 * Nice Hat: Interestingly enough, it was stated in an interview that the idea to give the protagonists baseball caps came from giving N one of his own.
 * Noble Demon:
 * N is true to his word - whenever he fights you, it's with the Pokémon that are found in the location where you fight. He releases them when he leaves the area again. His Klinklang is either this Klang from before that evolved or a new one that he caught later.
 * He also
 * Also, while
 * No Social Skills
 * Not Good With People: A Type II variation. The only humans he gets along with before he meets the protagonists are
 * Ominous Music Box Tune: Word of God said that his various musical themes, especially his overworld Leitmotif and a remix it gets in N's "room," were based around "a fragile music box."
 * One Letter Name: The Death Note jokes have already started popping up.
 * Right Makes Might: By the time he awakens the legendary dragon, N is willing to have a battle with the Player Character to decide whose philosophy is correct.
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something
 * Spoiled Sweet: Lives in a castle with what pretty much amounts to a cult around him, and he fights for Pokemon justice.
 * Strong Family Resemblance:
 * Small Name Big Ego: A literal small name, and according to Word of God, being
 * Speaks Fluent Animal: He can understand other people's Pokémon,
 * Talkative Loon: Comes off as this, especially early on when you know nothing about him.
 * Troperiffic: Just compare the length of his entry here to any other Pokémon game character's entry. Only Cyrus and Ghetsis come close.
 * Troubled but Cute:
 * Well Intentioned Extremist: Major emphasis on "Well Intentioned".
 * The White Prince: The third kind, especially with the emphasis on innocence.
 * You Gotta Have Green Hair
 * Right Makes Might: By the time he awakens the legendary dragon, N is willing to have a battle with the Player Character to decide whose philosophy is correct.
 * Royals Who Actually Do Something
 * Spoiled Sweet: Lives in a castle with what pretty much amounts to a cult around him, and he fights for Pokemon justice.
 * Strong Family Resemblance:
 * Small Name Big Ego: A literal small name, and according to Word of God, being
 * Speaks Fluent Animal: He can understand other people's Pokémon,
 * Talkative Loon: Comes off as this, especially early on when you know nothing about him.
 * Troperiffic: Just compare the length of his entry here to any other Pokémon game character's entry. Only Cyrus and Ghetsis come close.
 * Troubled but Cute:
 * Well Intentioned Extremist: Major emphasis on "Well Intentioned".
 * The White Prince: The third kind, especially with the emphasis on innocence.
 * You Gotta Have Green Hair
 * Troperiffic: Just compare the length of his entry here to any other Pokémon game character's entry. Only Cyrus and Ghetsis come close.
 * Troubled but Cute:
 * Well Intentioned Extremist: Major emphasis on "Well Intentioned".
 * The White Prince: The third kind, especially with the emphasis on innocence.
 * You Gotta Have Green Hair
 * Well Intentioned Extremist: Major emphasis on "Well Intentioned".
 * The White Prince: The third kind, especially with the emphasis on innocence.
 * You Gotta Have Green Hair

Ghetsis Harmonia

 * The Chessmaster
 * The Dragon: As the leader of the Seven Sages, he serves as this towards N.
 * Evil Laugh:
 * Fan Nickname:
 * "Dennis", due to misheard Ominous Latin Chanting lyric during his battle.
 * "Gaycheese" because it sounds like how the Japanese pronounce his name as "Geechisu".
 * Freudian Slip: A few times in the game, while talking about his plans, he says "I- I mean, Team Plasma",
 * Ghetsis Is A Cheating Bastard: He has a level 54 Hydreigon. Note that Zweilous doesn't evolve into Hydreigon until Level sixty four.
 * Hypocrite:
 * Iconic Item:
 * His red monocle.
 * If he has any Pokemon out in fanart, it's probably his Hydreigon.
 * Leitmotif: Team Plasma Sage Encounter, though heard with the other sages, seems to fit Ghetsis the most.
 * Luke I Might Be Your Father: Inverted for the trope: The game makes it clear that Ghetsis and N are Father and Son up until the post-game, where one of the former Plasma Sages makes a comment where he doesn't even recall how N came into play, thus implying that N might not even be Ghetsis' son (not his biological son, at least).
 * Meaningful Name: One possible romanization, "Goetis", of his name in the Japanese version ties in fairly well with his position as one of the Seven Sages (derived from the Greek word 'goeteia,' meaning 'sorcery') and his goal of
 * He also shares similarities and naming with another Sinister Minister - Goenitz.
 * Musical Theme Naming: According to Word of God, he's named after the G and C-sharp (or "Cis") timpanis of his battle theme.
 * G-Cis huh? Sounds like Jesus.
 * AND his last name is Harmonia. Play G and C-Sharp on a piano. They are a tritone, which is dissonance; unstable harmony.
 * In medieval times, the tritone itself was called the Diabolus en Musica, the Devil in Music.
 * Does that make this the "named for the Devil" variant of Names to Run Away From Really Fast?
 * The Goetis assumption is still pretty well-resounding, though. Do we have a trope for unintentional brilliance?
 * This troper initially misread it as "Ghestis", referring to geists or ghosts. Sheesh, this guy's name alone causes nightmares.
 * Red Eyes Take Warning: As well as a red monocle. Also the two eyes on his robe.
 * Spell My Name With an S: Geechis? Goetis? Geechisu? Geecis? G'Cis? Gaycheese? Dennis?
 * Well Intentioned Extremist:
 * You Gotta Have Green Hair
 * His red monocle.
 * If he has any Pokemon out in fanart, it's probably his Hydreigon.
 * Leitmotif: Team Plasma Sage Encounter, though heard with the other sages, seems to fit Ghetsis the most.
 * Luke I Might Be Your Father: Inverted for the trope: The game makes it clear that Ghetsis and N are Father and Son up until the post-game, where one of the former Plasma Sages makes a comment where he doesn't even recall how N came into play, thus implying that N might not even be Ghetsis' son (not his biological son, at least).
 * Meaningful Name: One possible romanization, "Goetis", of his name in the Japanese version ties in fairly well with his position as one of the Seven Sages (derived from the Greek word 'goeteia,' meaning 'sorcery') and his goal of
 * He also shares similarities and naming with another Sinister Minister - Goenitz.
 * Musical Theme Naming: According to Word of God, he's named after the G and C-sharp (or "Cis") timpanis of his battle theme.
 * G-Cis huh? Sounds like Jesus.
 * AND his last name is Harmonia. Play G and C-Sharp on a piano. They are a tritone, which is dissonance; unstable harmony.
 * In medieval times, the tritone itself was called the Diabolus en Musica, the Devil in Music.
 * Does that make this the "named for the Devil" variant of Names to Run Away From Really Fast?
 * The Goetis assumption is still pretty well-resounding, though. Do we have a trope for unintentional brilliance?
 * This troper initially misread it as "Ghestis", referring to geists or ghosts. Sheesh, this guy's name alone causes nightmares.
 * Red Eyes Take Warning: As well as a red monocle. Also the two eyes on his robe.
 * Spell My Name With an S: Geechis? Goetis? Geechisu? Geecis? G'Cis? Gaycheese? Dennis?
 * Well Intentioned Extremist:
 * You Gotta Have Green Hair
 * In medieval times, the tritone itself was called the Diabolus en Musica, the Devil in Music.
 * Does that make this the "named for the Devil" variant of Names to Run Away From Really Fast?
 * The Goetis assumption is still pretty well-resounding, though. Do we have a trope for unintentional brilliance?
 * This troper initially misread it as "Ghestis", referring to geists or ghosts. Sheesh, this guy's name alone causes nightmares.
 * Red Eyes Take Warning: As well as a red monocle. Also the two eyes on his robe.
 * Spell My Name With an S: Geechis? Goetis? Geechisu? Geecis? G'Cis? Gaycheese? Dennis?
 * Well Intentioned Extremist:
 * You Gotta Have Green Hair
 * Spell My Name With an S: Geechis? Goetis? Geechisu? Geecis? G'Cis? Gaycheese? Dennis?
 * Well Intentioned Extremist:
 * You Gotta Have Green Hair
 * Well Intentioned Extremist:
 * You Gotta Have Green Hair
 * Well Intentioned Extremist:
 * You Gotta Have Green Hair
 * Well Intentioned Extremist:
 * You Gotta Have Green Hair
 * You Gotta Have Green Hair

The Shadow Triad (The Dark Trinity)
Three Ninjas who serve Ghetsis.


 * Ambiguous Gender: Though they are briefly referred to as male at one point and one point only.
 * Helpful Mook: When you go into N's castle, one of them tells you that you can heal your pokemon and even access your PC.
 * Ninjas
 * Psycho Supporter:
 * Terrible Trio
 * Urban Legend of Zelda: Rumors abounded even in this very wiki that they are all females. A remaining theory is that they are.
 * Villain Teleportation
 * White Haired Pretty People
 * Urban Legend of Zelda: Rumors abounded even in this very wiki that they are all females. A remaining theory is that they are.
 * Villain Teleportation
 * White Haired Pretty People
 * White Haired Pretty People

Concordia and Anthea (The Goddesses of Harmony and Love)

 * Advertised Extra: Both appear in the intro despite not appearing until much later on. This misled some fans into thinking they'd have much bigger roles.
 * Healing Hands: Anthea heals your Pokémon.
 * Helpful Mook: They heal your Pokémon, give information on N, express pity for the poor guy, and generally aren't really evil at all.
 * Hair Antennae: Concordia.
 * Hair of Gold/Rose Haired Girl/You Gotta Have Pink Hair
 * Ms. Exposition: Concordia, who reveals N's backstory after many hints have been dropped throughout the game.
 * Meaningful Name: Concordia means "harmony" in Latin.
 * Concordia is the Roman Goddess of Harmony; Anthea is an epithet for the Greek goddess Hera.