Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire/Characters

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


For the Pokémon introduced in these games, refer to this page.

Main Characters

Brendan (Yuuki)/May (Haruka)

The hero. Whichever one you don't choose becomes your rival. Also, note that, unless examples for both are given, what applies for May does not apply for Brendan, and vice versa.

As the protagonist

  • Badass Adorable: The protagonist has no problem standing face-to-face with a beast that can shift continents, raise the sea, or Hyper Beam them to death, depending on the version. Or all three of them in Emerald.
    • Took a Level in Badass: The protagonist saves the world from utter annihilation of the awakened pissed-off Legendary (depending on version of course) by either defeating or capturing them.
      • Averted in Emerald, as technically Rayquaza is the one to solve the crisis. You just go to awake him.
  • Free-Range Children: As with all of the games, no one seems to care that you're traveling around the country and fighting villains even though you're only 11.
  • Disappeared Dad: So far, the only aversion in the main series—the protagonist's father is Norman, the Petalburg Gym Leader.

As the rival

  • Break the Haughty: You do this to Brendan if you play as May.
  • Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Despite May's depiction as an airhead, she can be a really tough opponent, especially the fight on Route 110. Brendan as a rival also uses the same pokemon in these battles, but his mannerisms do match his battle talent more (his wish is to "become a gym leader" and such), so this trope doesn't apply to him nearly as much.
  • Cute Clumsy Girl: NPC May gives off this vibe.
  • Gotta Catch Em All: NPC May, somewhat; after you fight her in Lilycove City, she seems to be more interested in filling her Pokédex than continuing training.
  • Plucky Girl: NPC May is clumsy and shy but never lets any losses get her down.
  • The Rival: Quite obviously, though to a lesser extent than the previous rivals.
  • Ship Tease: In Emerald, the rival states "I just saw a huge green Pokémon flying across the sky!....I wish you were there, <player's name>." Take of that what you will, but the way NPC Brendan acts toward you..
  • Tsundere: Brendan plays a Type B version of this as a NPC.
  • Totally Radical: In Emerald, their Poké Nav nickname is "Rad Neighbor."

As both

  • Blue Eyes: May.
  • Brown Eyes: Brendan.
  • Meaningful Name: Their Japanese names. Haruka means "Spring flower" but also means "far away", which goes with Norman's name Senri which can also refer to "1000 li" (2440 miles, but also an idiomatic way to say far away). Yuki, also known as Brendan, just means "bravery".
    • Two of Brendan's default names are Landon and Sean; referring to the 2 legendary Pokémon.
    • Two of May's default names are Terra and Marina; also referring to Groudon and Kyogre.
    • In Emerald, one of Brendan's default names is "Rald."
  • Nice Hat: As is tradition, both protagonists have stylin’ hats - a ski cap/head band for Brendan and a bandanna for May.
  • One Steve Limit: Very nearly broken in Emerald, as Brendan's name is similar to Pyramid King Brandon.
  • Skirt Over Slacks: May.
  • Sleeves Are for Wimps: In Emerald.
  • To Be a Master: May as the protagonist, and Brendan as either role. (NPC Brendan states that he wants to take over a gym, while NPC May goes help Birch with the research)

Wally (Mitsuru)

A sickly boy that starts his journey when you help him catch his first Pokémon.

Professor Birch (Odamaki-Hakase)

The Hoenn region's professor, an expert on Pokémon habitats. Also the father of your rival.

  • Fan Nickname: Some people call him "Professor Bitch" for being chased around by a level 2 Poochyena/Zigzagoon[1] at the beginning of the game.
  • Happily Married: With a kid (two in Emerald).
  • Nice Guy
  • Professor Who Actually Does Something: He's the first Regional Professor to actually go out into the field himself to study Pokémon in the wild, instead of just sending a kid to do it and leaving it at that. He kinda sucks at it, though.
  • Theme Naming: Once again, a regional professor named after a tree.

The Gym Leaders

Roxanne (Tsutsuji)

Rustboro Gym Leader--The Rock-Loving Honor Student!

The Rock-type gym leader of Rustboro city. She is the first gym leader fought by the player. Her gym is close to the Pokemon Trainer's School which she attends. Like Brock from Kanto before her, she serves as a Secret Test for newer players who haven't learned to take advantage of type weaknesses yet, since Normal-type attacks will do very little against her pokemon.

Brawly (Touki)

Dewford Gym Leader--A Big Wave in Fighting!

Brawly is the leader of the Fighting-type Dewford city gym. He trained in the "pitch-black cave" (referring to Granite Cave next to Dewford) and, appropriately, his gym has a gimmick involving the room being dark. He's characterized as a Surfer Dude, which makes sense due to the setting; Dewford is on a small island in a rather tropical region.

Wattson (Tessen)

Mauville Gym Leader--The Cheerfully Electrifying Man!

Wattson is Mauville city's gym leader, specializing in Electric type pokemon. He not only used to lead the Sea Mauville & New Mauville projects but is also responsible for Mauville city's power grid. Later on in the story he asks the player to check up on the abandoned New Mauville, giving you a Thunderbolt TM once you do so.

  • Beneath the Mask/Stepford Smiler: Shows strong hints of this, especially in ORAS where you get to talk to him more. Since Sea Mauville and New Mauville shut down, the people who lead those projects have been full of regrets. Wattson likely included.
  • Big Fun
  • Cool Old Guy
  • Gadgeteer Genius: He's in charge of the underground power plant, New Mauville, so he might count as this.
  • The Hyena: Just look at his battle sprite!
    • His pre-battle speech reflects it too; "Wa ha ha!"
  • May-December Romance: In ORAS you get to talk to his wife... Who uses the female Ace Trainer sprite, which are young trainers in their twenties at most. Meanwhile Wattson is definitely an old man, said to be way older than the main character's father. Wattson and his wife must have a 40 year age difference, likely more.
  • My Greatest Failure: Under his cheerful laugh, he seems to have a lot of regret over the whole New Mauville construction.
  • Punny Name: Wattson.
  • Shock and Awe
  • Took a Level in Badass: In Emerald, like many other gym leaders, Wattson has been upgraded to be a lot tougher. He uses both a Magneton and a Manectric, therefore having two fully evolved pokemon under his belt. Even if you're using a Ground type, Wattson's pokemon have other ways of messing you up, such as inflicting confusion or using Sonic Boom to deal a guaranteed amount of damage (20 HP to be exact, which is quite a large amount of health this early in the game).

Flannery (Asuna)

Lavaridge Gym Leader--One With a Fiery Passion that Burns!

The Fire-type gym leader of Lavaridge town. Her grandfather was once a member of the Elite Four; she does her best to live up to his reputation, but tries a little too hard to be just like him.

Norman (Senri)

Petalburg Gym Leader--A Man in Pursuit of Power!

Norman is both the father of the main character and the gym leader of Petalburg city. He uses Normal-type pokemon.

Winona (Nagi)

Fortree Gym Leader--The Bird User Taking Flight into the World!

Winona is the Flying-type leader of Fortree city. She is described as "elegant" by several NPCs. She gives the Feather Badge to those who defeat her, which appropriately enough enables you to use the HM fly.

Tate and Liza (Fuu and Ran)

Mossdeep Gym Leaders--The Mystic Combination!

Tate & Liza are twins leading Mossdeep city's Psychic-type gym. They are unique because their gym battle with the player is a double battle. They give the Mind Badge to trainers who defeat them.

  • Dual Boss: Thus far the only Gym Leaders to engage you in a double battle.
  • Hair Decorations: Liza's bow.
  • Finishing Each Other's Sentences
  • Half-Identical Twins: Tate is a boy, Liza is a girl.
  • Meaningful Name/Punny Name: All Gym Leaders have a punny and meaningful name, but theirs is really clever. Reverse the order of their names, and you get Liza and Tate. Liza and Tate really fast sounds like "Levitate".
  • Psychic Powers
  • Single-Minded Twins: They claim that their thoughts are in perfect unison.
  • Stock Foreign Name: They have Chinese names in the Japanese versions.
  • Took a Level in Badass: While they weren't slouches in Ruby/Sapphire, Tate and Liza are brutal in Emerald. Even if you have a Dark- or Ghost type, several of their pokemon know Earthquake which obviously can really hurt, and all of their pokemon are immune to Ground type moves, which means it cannot be used against them.
  • Twin Telepathy: They're psychic twins.
  • "Wake-Up Call" Boss: Even experienced Pokemon players could definitely be caught off guard and subsequently swept by them in Emerald. You'll want to have a Dark- or Ghost type prepared for this fight, lest you learn the hard way.

Wallace (Mikuri)

Sootopolis Gym Leader (Ruby and Sapphire)--Artist, and Lover of Water!; Champion (Emerald)

Wallace is the Water-type gym leader of Sootopolis city in Ruby/Sapphire and ORAS. In Emerald he is the Pokemon Champion instead.

Juan (Adan)

Sootopolis Gym Leader (Emerald)--The Gym Leader with the Beauty of Pure Water!

Juan is the Water-type gym leader of Sootopolis city in Emerald. Plot-wise, he used to be the city's gym leader and a mentor to Wallace, who eventually became the gym's leader. Juan returned to his position once Wallace relinquished his own gym leader status.

Team Aqua

Archie (Aogiri)

Team Aqua's leader, he aspires to awaken Kyogre and expand the seas. Unlike Giovanni before him, his motives are very much selfless, but it doesn't change the fact that his activities are criminal in nature, and his underlings are all dicks. Therefore, you must stop him. Even though you're eleven.

Matt (Ushio)

Shelly (Izumi)

Team Magma

Maxie (Matsubusa)

Team Magma's leader, he aspires to awaken Groudon and expand the landmass. Unlike Giovanni before him, his motives are very much selfless, but it doesn't change the fact that his activities are criminal in nature, and his underlings are all dicks. Therefore, you must stop him. Even though you're eleven.

  • Anti-Villain: Like Archie, he thinks he is doing justice to the world, since draining the sea would allow humans to travel more easily and would make more room to live. He also pulls a quicker Heel Face Turn than Archie in Emerald.
  • Badass Longcoat
  • Badass Long Hair
  • Big Bad: In Ruby.
  • Big Badass Wolf: His Mightyena.
  • Bishounen: To a lesser extent than some, but still....
  • Dual Boss: In Emerald, you have to battle him three times. The third time, he faces you in a double-battle alongside Tabitha. You get to fight them both alongside Steven, and each person is allowed no more than three Pokémon to balance the odds.
  • Evil Redhead
  • Gender Blender Name: Sort of, at least in English...
    • It's not as bad as Tabitha, though.
  • Gone Horribly Right: He succeeds in awakening Groudon, and it promptly proceeds to cause a lot more drought than he had hoped for.
  • Heel Face Turn: After releasing Groudon and having his What Have I Done moment. He later returns the Red Orb to Mt. Pyre.
    • In Emerald, he makes one even sooner once he realizes the potential destruction in releasing Groudon and Kyogre.
  • Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds
  • Morality Pet: His Crobat, almost certainly- it even gets a decent amount of focus in fanart.
  • Mr. Fanservice: Possibly, to a greater extent than Archie.
  • Playing with Fire
  • Recurring Boss: In Emerald, he's fought three times in total (once in a Dual Boss situation on both sides). This sharply contrasts Archie, who is only fought once (after all three battles with Maxie).
  • Red Oni, Blue Oni: The blue to Archie's red. Ironic considering their team's signature colours. Maybe this is the secret reason why both chose the wrong coloured orb in Emerald.
  • Sensitive Guy and Manly Man: Gives the impression of being the Sensitive Guy to Archie's Manly Man.
  • Sharp-Dressed Man: In a manner of speaking.
  • Sympathetic Criminal: While he is leading what is essentially an eco-terrorist group, his cause to make the rather rare Fire-type more common and dry up the sea is considered to be rather sane compared to Archie's plot to make Water-types even more common when the Water-type is already is the most common Pokémon type in the whole series.
    • Especially given how Fire types are among the rarer and and less diverse elements - in fact, Gen. V is the first time since Gen. I that any new Pokémon which evolve via Fire Stone were introduced. Not to mention that Hoenn does have one of the smallest number of Fire type species introduced to the overall list (6, not including Castform).
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: He wants to make more land so that land based Pokémon have more places to live, and like Archie, he has a Crobat to prove that he is not really an evil person.
    • Obliviously Evil: Like Archie, he doesn't seem to realize the bad parts of his plans until it is too late.
  • What Have I Done: After awakening Groudon and finding out that it will dry away all the water in the world, leaving humanity and Pokémon to die of thirst.
  • You Fail Geology Forever: Waitwaitwait - You want to expand the landmass by using a meteor to (somehow) trigger a volcanic eruption in THE MIDDLE OF THE CONTINENT? (Ruby and Emerald) And when that works, you want to JETTISON A LOAD OF ROCKET FUEL INTO SAID VOLCANO? (Emerald) To MAKE IT ERUPT?! How many science classes did you sleep through, Maxie?
    • There's some implication that in Emerald at least, the plan was actually to empty out the volcano's contents in order to search for Groudon inside it (hence why their base is later built at the Jagged Pass near Mt Chimney, and why Team Magma is absent for a while). The "jettison a load of rocket fuel" was likely the start of a Villainous Breakdown since Maxie's plans were failing, and he was clutching at straws before finally realising he was wrong.

Courtney (Kagari)

  • Ascended Extra: In Pokémon Special, she receives a surprisingly strong level of characterisation and a larger role.
  • Dark Chick
  • The Dragon: To Maxie, but only in Ruby. In Emerald, she surrenders this role to Tabitha.
  • Demoted to Extra: Worse than Matt (from Team Aqua) in this regard. While both only cameo in the game opposite their team's role (in her case, Sapphire), she doesn't have any importance in Emerald and only appears at the Seafloor Cavern.
    • And given how the admins and grunts have the same overworld sprites in these games... It's relatively easy to miss the fact that it's supposed to be her in the Seafloor Cavern.
  • Nice Hat
  • Satellite Character: She's just there to provide a battle (in Ruby).
  • Theme Naming: Her Japanese name means "bonfire".

Tabitha (Homura)

  • Ascended Extra: In Emerald, he's more important and more prominent than in Sapphire or even Ruby.
    • Also in the anime, where he appears to be Maxie's sole lieutenant and appears in most Team Magma episodes.
      • He's fleshed out even more in ORAS.
  • Badass Cape: in the GBA originals.
  • The Dragon: To Maxie, but only in Emerald. More so because he's fought thrice, and the third battle makes him a new...
  • Dual Boss: Along with Maxie himself, when you face the two at the Mossdeep Space Center.
  • Evil Genius: Somewhat characterized as such.
    • Even more heavily so in ORAS where it's revealed he used to work at Devon Corporation, Hoenn's equivalent of Silph Co. He could be a (former) scientist.
  • Gender Blender Name: "Homura" can go both ways or be a last name, but Tabitha is always female. The game translators may have gotten confused by the way the sprite looked, although 4Kids used the much more masculine "Harland" for his first appearance in the anime before lining up with the games.
  • Heel Realization: In ORAS Tabitha actually shows hints of this at multiple moments throughout the story, asking himself just what the hell Maxie is planning. He also begs Maxie not to awaken Groudon then Maxie does it anyway.
  • Nice Hat: In the GBA games. Averted in ORAS where he doesn't wear anything on his head.
  • Psycho Supporter
  • Recurring Boss: Fought three times in Emerald.
  • The Big Guy: of Team Magma in ORAS.
  • Theme Naming/Meaningful Name: His Japanese name means "flame".

Elite Four

Sidney (Kagetsu)

Phoebe (Fuyou)

  • Ambiguously Brown: Arguably the first in the game series; although some might think she's Hawaiian because of her rather stereotypical dress.
  • Bare Your Midriff
  • Does Not Like Shoes
  • Flower in Her Hair: And for bonus points, they're her (Japanese) namesake.
  • I See Dead People: Gained the ability to communicate with ghosts while training on Mt. Pyre.
  • Mana Burn: Her first Pokémon in Emerald, Dusclops, has Protect, which, coupled with its Pressure ability, was specifically designed to wear down the Power Points (PP) of your Pokémon. The second one, Banette, is no slouch either, with Spite in its arsenal (in Emerald, Spite is replaced with Grudge).
  • Soul Power
  • Stone Wall: Her Badass Boast before your battle, openly challenges you to try and damage her team. She certainly isn't bluffing, with her team sharing immunities to several types, plus her usage of Dusclops, a very tanky pokemon.
  • The Pollyanna: Most Ghost-type trainers are brooding, gloomy people... Not Phoebe. She's a cheerful woman even though she spent countless days being surrounded by ghosts. She trained on Mt Pyre, essentially a towering mountain of graves, with a smile.
  • Took A Level In Badass: Phoebe used two Dusclops in the GBA games. In ORAS, one of those Dusclops is now a Dusknoir. This thing is not only tanky, it knows three elemental punches (Fire- Ice and Thunderpunch), giving it some really dangerous type coverage. Its fourth move is Hex, which doubles in power if your pokemon, say, gets paralyzed due to the secondary effect of Thunderpunch, or burned through Firepunch. Ouch.

Glacia (Prim)

  • An Ice Person
  • Luck-Based Mission: Her Walrein knows Sheer Cold. Unless you outlevel her (meaning you have effectively already won), you have at least a 30% chance of losing.
  • One Steve Limit: Glaceon's Japanese name is also Glacia.
  • Took A Level In Badass: Originally she used two Sealeo, which is a non-fully evolved pokemon. In the remakes both these are replaced by two Froslass, effectively removing the Fighting-type weakness. If you thought Ghost-type shenanigans were over once you beat Phoebe, think again.

Drake (Genji)

Steven Stone (Daigo Tsuwabuki)

Frontier Brains

Noland (Datsura)

Greta (Kogomi)

Tucker (Heath)

Lucy (Azami)

Spenser (Ukon)

Brandon (Jindai)

Anabel (Lila)

  1. ↑ Poochyena in Ruby and Sapphire, Zigzagoon in Emerald
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