Pokémon Special/Characters/Enemies

Everything About Fiction You Never Wanted to Know.


Team Rocket

Giovanni

The Leader of Team Rocket and the ex-Viridian City Gym. An evil man who uses both Pokémon and people to accomplish his goals. Though he specializes in Ground types, he also has powerful Pokémon that are other types as well. He's Silver's father.

  • Affably Evil: He's no Anti-Villain, but he still has some admirable qualities and seems genuinely pleasant when he chooses to be. He's also a Worthy Opponent to Red, among other things.
  • Big Creepy-Crawlies: his signature Pokémon, interestingly enough, is Beedrill. This is allegedly due to him being a trainer of the Viridian Forest, like Yellow and Lance.
  • Badass
  • Big Bad: Of the R/B/G arc and the Fire Red/Leaf Green arc.
  • Big Damn Heroes: He of all people does this, saving Yellow from Lance in a manner that is eerily similar to how Red did so two years previous. Well, Giovanni did run away afterwards when Lance outmanuvered him...
    • More of a 'Live to fight another day' thing, since he was also starting to look for Silver
  • The Chessmaster: All his plans seem to go off flawlessly. At least, they would, if it weren't for those meddling kids...
  • Clock King: He shows a bit of this in his first battle with Red.
  • Diabolical Mastermind
  • Faux Affably Evil: When we first meet him.
  • Kick the Dog
  • Knight Templar Parent: He pretty much had most of the Sevii Islands destroyed in his quest to capture Deoxys just so that he could find his son.
  • Magnificent Bastard: Very much one!
  • Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: in the Yellow Arc, while under Enemy Mine, Giovanni arriving in Cerise Island is this, allowing Lance to steal Giovanni's badge for the amplifier.
  • Noble Demon: He can be this when he's not perfecting Kick the Dog, and all said he's less evil than some of the other major villains out there.
  • Pet the Dog: Debatable in one case, as rescuing Red from Lorelei's ice figured into his plans. The end of the FRLG arc definitely counts as this and a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming, though.
  • Soap Opera Disease: Has some sort of degenerative disease, though it's never explained. Even so, the guy is still kicking, and, despite the above, probably will be for awhile. Just because he's Giovanni...
  • Squee: The anime started the fangirl base, and the manga just made it bigger.
    • Though, with the above stuff, can you blame them?
  • Worthy Opponent: Most notably to Red, whom he regards in turn as his Worthy Opponent.

Triad

Lt. Surge

A Gym Leader who used the SS Anne to transport stolen Pokémon. Specializes in electric-types. Now uses SS Anne for legal ventures.

Koga

Another Gym Leader who joined Team Rocket, he specializes in poison-types. Once missing along with the rest of the Johto Elite Four, he is now officially recognized as such.

  • But for Me It Was Tuesday: In regards to his involvement in the torture of Misty's/Red's Gyarados.
  • Disappeared Dad: To his daughter Janine, though they've probably reunited now that he's back in the public eye.
  • Heel Face Turn: Becomes a member of the Johto Elite Four.
  • Ninja: He uses his Pokémon for ninja-esque techniques and modifies his Pokéballs into shuriken. The Pokémon thing is justified as real life ninjas actually did use animals.
  • Poisonous Person
  • Torture Technician: Particularly in his battle with Green in the RGB arc.

Sabrina

The Leader of the Saffron City Gym who specializes in Psychic Pokémon and is a powerful Psychic in her own right.

  • Bodyguard Crush: It's implied that she really has a thing for Giovanni. When trying to kill Red and Green in Silph Co., she says it's a pity to finish them off as they'd probably be as handsome as her boss if they ever got the chance to get older (many would agree). Also, after her trip from the Mt. Silver hot springs, she wonders why she was so nice to Red, and muses that it's probably because he reminds her of Giovanni (one translation said as good-looking) with a faraway, happy smile on her face. Hm...
  • Dark Action Girl
  • Heel Face Turn: Becomes a legit Gym Leader again alongside Lt. Surge.
  • No One Gets Left Behind: Even if that person is a former enemy (in Sabrina's case, Blue).
  • Pettanko: And pretty sensitive about it, too.
  • Psychic Powers: Aside from her type, she actually has powers of her own, which include being able to see even if physically blinded as well as tracking and guiding things using spoons.
  • Tall, Dark and Bishoujo
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Calls Blue out for not bothering to tell her about her Lorelei-defeating strategy: she was never actually chained to Sabrina to start with.

Ken, Al, and Harry

Known as the Team Rocket Elite Trio, these three were directly under the evil Gym Leaders.

  • Butt Monkey: Despite all three of them actually being competant trainers who used their Pokémon's abilities well, these three got their asses kicked in every scene they were in, usually in a comedic manner.
  • Elite Mook
  • Terrible Trio

Beast Trio

Sird (Saque)

(Storc in Coronis' translations)

A female admin who makes her first appearance in the FRLG arc. The leader of the beast trio and is treated as second to Giovanni in FRLG. Seems loyal to Giovanni throughout the arc, and helps him find Silver...and then things get weird.

  • Bigger Bad: In the Emerald arc, though it's implied she's this for more than that.
  • Complete Monster: Riley describes her aura as being one of pure evil.
  • Dracula: The creature she was based off of.
  • The Dragon: To Giovanni in FRLG, and has never been defeated in battle.
  • For the Evulz: Seems to be her reason for giving the cursed armor and sword to Archie after he kills Maxie.
  • Improbable Hairstyle
  • Karma Houdini: After doing one of the most successful cheap shots in history.
  • The Mole: Revealed to be working undercover in Team Rocket for Cyrus.
  • New Powers as the Plot Demands: She can turn kids to stone with no explanation? And escape Lorelei's ice voodoo with very little effort while severly injured? She also somehow managed to access Archie and Maxie after they got stuck in an energy bubble that Ruby needed Celebi to get out of? And has access to cursed armor? Even in a series with psychics and ice voodoo, this stuff seems a little out there.
    • Don't forget she received a direct explosion, fell from a moving airship, and literally crawled from Viridian to Vermillion city. I swear that woman is not human. (Though she wasn't smart enough to break the statues at the spot)
    • She probably had other plans. Wouldn't put it past her.
    • And now she has the power to brainwash people just by poking them in the forehead.
    • The DP arc revealed that the "turned into stone" thing was the result of Mewtwo canceling out Darkrai's attack. So THAT'S what she had in the Pokéball!
  • Wild Mass Guessing: She causes a lot of it. Not hard to see why.
  • You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: To Deoxys individual 1.

Carr (Chakra)

(Jagara in Coronis' translations)

The beast Trio's mechanical and computer expert. He faces Red in battle in FRLG. The designer of the trainer tower's machines and "R". First appearing in FRLG and later appears in HGSS.

Orm (Ouka)

(Orca in Coronis's tanslations)

The beast Trio's "muscle". The one who kidnapped Professor Oak and fights Green in battle.

  • The Brute
  • Disney Villain Death
  • Frankenstein: The creature he was based off of.
  • Gentle Giant: His choice of Pokémon kinda give this vibe...
  • Heart Is an Awesome Power: The man fights with nothing but Shuckle and the Hoppip line, neither of which are terribly renowned for their strength. And yet, he easily holds his own in battle with Green and Silver (not at the same time), arguably two of the strongest Dex Holders.
  • Just Following Orders: For the most part, anyway.
  • Kick the Dog: He attacked Six Island on Giovanni's order and kidnapped Green's grandfather. That said, he's still less evil than either Carr or Sird.
  • Never Found the Body
  • Pet the Dog: He's the most loyal of the Trio to Giovanni, the only one without ulterior motives, and seems overjoyed by the thought of Giovanni reuniting with his son.
  • Zerg Rush: With his large army of Shuckle.

The Four Generals

Archer

The Leader of the Four Generals. Not much is known about him at this time, other than what we know from the games.

Ariana

Again, not much is known about Ariana yet, but some fans believes that she might be Silver's mother, based mainly on her hairstyle, her position in Team Rocket, and her apparent age.

  • Art Shift: Several fans have pointed out that the promotional material, as well as her first appearance, showed her thin with wide hips, but that now she looks...fat.
    • Word of God says this was intentional, because they had never done a villain like that.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: She beat Crystal's team easily, and then had Silver beat her in a similar fashion.
  • Evil Gloating: To Crystal. Archer shuts her up.
  • Evil Redhead

Petrel

The Master of Disguise. He's actually extremely good at it, unlike the games.

Proton

One of the Four Generals of Team Rocket.


Kanto Elite Four

Lorelei

The first of the Elite Four Yellow faces, and the one who imprisoned Red in ice. She joins forces with the Kanto Dex Holders years later when Team Rocket threatens her home, the Sevii Islands.

  • An Ice Person
  • Defrosting Ice Queen: Literally happens in the few years between the Yellow arc and the FRLG arc.
  • Freudian Excuse: Her own Pokémon were hurt by humans' polluting the waters, which enabled Agatha to convince her to turn on humanity as a whole for their sake.
  • Harmless Freezing: She has the power to create dolls of people with her Jynx's Ice Beam. When she draws on a limb on the doll with her lipstick, an cuff of ice will appear on the actual person. Said cuff will expand until completely encase the victim. Nonlethal, but it will cause severe frostbite. She got Red, Sabrina, and Storc/Sird, who somehow managed to escape despite being severly injured with this.
  • Heel Face Turn: Shows up as a major ally in FRLG.
  • Scary Shiny Glasses
  • Unwitting Pawn: For Blue.

Bruno

The Elite Four member who challenged Red. An otherwise honorable trainer, he is the only Elite Four who actually needs to be brainwashed in order to go along with their tactics. He is now officially a member of the League recognized Elite Four.

Agatha

The oldest member of the Elite Four, she was once a friend of Prof. Oak until their differences in Pokémon research caused a break-up. She specializes in ghost-types, though she has poison-types on her main team as well.

Lance

The Leader and most powerful of the Elite Four, Lance specializes in dragon Pokémon. Like Yellow, he is one of the special few born in Viridian Forest, meaning he also can heal and read the minds of Pokémon. He can also instantly control any dragon-like Pokémon he comes across.

Neo-Team Rocket

The Masked Man (AKA the Mask of Ice, Pryce)

The Big Bad of the GSC chapter, he gathered the reminents of Team Rocket for his own plans. His motive is to gain the power to control time so he can reunite his Lapras with its parents.

  • Adaptational Villainy
  • Anti-Villain: His motivation reveals him to be a mix of Types II and III.
  • Big Bad: Of the G/S/C arc.
  • The Chessmaster
  • Complete Monster: The Masked Man's persona certainly indicates him to be this trope. The man behind the mask, however, turns out to be far from it!
  • Cool Mask: His is made up of the same metal that Gym badges are made of, clueing the heroes that he is one of the Gym Leaders.
  • An Ice Person: Not only is he an ice specialist, he can freeze a huge area in seconds and instantly create almost anything out of ice.
  • Healing Factor: having a body made of regenerating ice helps. Unless extreme sunlight is involved.
  • Pet the Dog: He has two...
    • The issue with his pair of Lapras, and their kid. He truly loved them.
    • In a flashback before the FRLG chapter, he seems really sad about Silver and Blue leaving him. Hell, he even made an ice statue of himself with the six "children" together as a family! This shows that deep down he cared for them, but couldn't express it due to his heart being so "frozen over", and he could only treat them like weapons instead.
  • Mini-Mecha: His ice body works on the same principle, with Pryce himself sitting on his wheelchair, positioned where the head should be.
  • Redemption Equals Death. Or at least, lost in time.
  • Worf Had the Flu: earlier in his time, he a has lapse of weakness for his constant pursuit of Celebi. Exploiting this was how Blue and Silver escaped from his forces in the first place.

Will

One of the Masked Kids who are directly under the Masked Man, Will is a psychic-type specialist who enjoys doing things for the thrills alone (but not the danger). After the Masked Man is defeated, he joins Koga and Bruno since he doesn't have anything else to do.

Karen

Another one of the Masked Kids, Karen specializes in the dark type. Though a little sadistic and twisted, she goes off with Koga and Bruno in good graces after the final battle.

Team Magma and Team Aqua

Maxie

The Leader of Team Magma, he hoped to use Groudon for his plans.


Courtney

(Marge in the Chuang Yi version)

One of the three Three Fires, Courtney prefers to use straight forward brutal force. Develops an...interesting relationship with Ruby over time. She used to be a happy-go-lucky Coordinator who was good friends with Daisy Oak.

Tabitha

(Mitch in the Chuang Yi version)

Another of the Three Fires, this burly man specializes in putting people to sleep with his Torkoal's smoke.

  • Even Evil Has Standards: He gets scared of Archie's Kick the Dog moments, and even saves the Aqua Elite Mook that attacked him when Archie left both of them for dead.
    • Even though he failed, you have to give the guy credit for assisting Flannery in attempting to revive Mt. Chimney after Team Aqua killed it.
  • Heel Face Turn: At the end of the arc.
  • Sanity Slippage: He goes insane since he attempted to control Groudon, even if it was for a brief moment. Thankfully, he apparently got better, as he is seen in the epilogue visiting the Lavaridge hot springs.
  • Ship Tease: With Flannery.

Mack

Third member of the Three Fires. Only appears in this manga.

Archie

The Leader of Team Aqua, he hoped to use Kyogre for his plans. He would later appear during the Emerald arc as Guile Hideout.

Shelly

(Angie in the Chuang Yi version)

One of Team Aqua's Sub-leaders of Sea Scheme.

Matt

(Ark in the Chuang Yi version)

One of Team Aqua's Sub-leaders of Sea Scheme.

Amber

One of Team Aqua's Sub-leaders of Sea Scheme.

Team Galactic

Cyrus

The Leader of Team Galactic. He wishes to control Time and Space. The Sinnoh Trio first met him at Mt. Coronet, where he attacked them with Probopass and Magnezone.

Mars

One of the three admins in Team Galactic. She first encountered the DPP trio at Valley Windworks.

Saturn

One of the three admins in Team Galactic. He fired a cannon that transported Platinum's real bodyguards to what is possibly the Distortion World.

Saturn: "I am clearly the most important member on the team!"

Jupiter

One of the three admins in Team Galactic. One of her leg appears injured.

  • Badass: She defeats Platinum, Maylene, and Candice by herself without much difficulty. And even when she's overcome by the latter two later, she still goes down fighting.
  • The Brute: Probably the most individually powerful of the three admins, at least in terms of brute force.
  • Dark Action Girl
  • Determinator: The last commander to go down in the final battle; she stayed in the game long after Mars and Saturn had been knocked unconscious.
  • Evil Counterpart: To Platinum.
  • Heel Face Turn: At the end of the Platinum arc.
  • Hot Amazon: Unlike most continuities, she seems really buff here. And then there's her ass.
  • Karmic Defeat: By Maylene and Candice, the same ones she defeated and gloated over earlier.
  • The Stoic: For the most part, but can occasionally slip into Not So Stoic in battle.

Galactic Grunt

This refers to the unnamed grunt who has had more encounters with the DPPt trio than the other grunts, whom Cyrus seems to be give as much responsibilties to as the four commanders. He shows great interest in the Pokédexes.

  • Anti-Villain: Type I. He arrives to release Mr. Berlitz and Professor Rowan early, stating that he sees no point in making them suffer unnecessarily. He also mentions that he prefers to avoid a fight with Platinum. The worst things he does he only does because Sird is controlling him.
  • Brainwashed and Crazy
  • Helpful Mook: and he also tells her about TG's plans to detonate the Galactic bomb in a week's time. Later, he also tells Diamond where the three lake guardians are being held.
  • Genre Savvy: After over 400 chapters rounds, someone finally notices that all dex holders tend to get involved in battles that could decide the fate of their regions/world.
  • Mook With An Agenda: He (subconsciously) places priority of obtaining the Pokédexes over that of guarding the three lake guardians due to Sird's brainwashing.
  • No Name Given: Despite having as much personality and screen time as the commanders.
  • Nonuniform Uniform: He can be differentiated from the rest of the grunts by the cloak that he wears over his Galactic uniform.
  • Personal Mook: To Cyrus and Sird.

Charon

The chief scientist of Team Galactic. Appears briefly in the Diamond/Pearl arc and goes on to become the main antagonist of the Platinum arc.


Team Plasma

N

Ghetsis

  • Abusive Parents: To N, whom he's raised in solitary confinement and literally brainwashed against humanity, even to the point of using Hypnosis to disorient his mind. And then when he's failed to serve the purpose Ghetsis intended for him, he disowns him, calling him worthless and stating that he'd only ever viewed him as a "decoration" for his plan.
  • A Sinister Clue: His left eye and left arm are the only ones he keeps visible.
  • Ax Crazy: Though you wouldn't be able to tell at first, torture and murder appear to be his automatic response to any opposition he faces.
  • Big Bad: Of the Unova arc.
  • Bitch in Sheep's Clothing: He's very polite and usually always smiling with good cheer, but it's all part of the mask he wears - in reality, he's a complete and utterly sadistic psychopath.
  • The Chessmaster: His master plan has been years in the making and he even has a contingency plan to fall back on in the case it doesn't work out as he'd hoped.
  • Complete Monster: His true nature, once revealed, certainly paints him as this.
  • Dangerously Genre Savvy: Best shown in how he matches up Pokemon that have type advantages against Black's team during his and Black's battle, and then is able to free himself from his Rock Tomb prison and send Black towards Reshiram as it's reverting to the Light Stone, ensuring that Black and all his Pokemon are sealed inside while he makes his escape.
  • Diabolical Mastermind: What he truly is beneath all the pretenses of majesty and righteousness.
  • Faux Affably Evil: Even moreso than his game counterpart, which makes his underlining depravity that much more horrifying.
  • Karma Houdini: At the end of the BW Chapter.
  • Kick the Dog: Where to begin? The dude is pretty much a habitual dog kicker! The biggest example comes at the end of the Black/White arc: as Reshiram is being absorbed into the Light Stone (due to Zekrom's resealing), Ghetsis, in a final act of spite at his enemy, uses Colress' Beheeyem to force Black into the pull so that he too is absorbed into the Stone (after using its psychic powers to defend himself). After which he escapes and plans to regroup.
  • Kill It with Fire: At the BW arc's climax, he tries to have Black and all his Pokemon burned alive in order to erase the "inconvenient facts" of N and Zekrom's defeat by Black and Reshiram.
  • Kill It with Ice: In the B2W2 arc, Ghetsis goes around freezing many populated cities in Unova and plans on unleashing Kyurem's full power upon Unova so that the entire continent would be engulfed by ice, putting a fatal chill over all the inhabitants until they surrender all control of Unova to him in fear for their lives and to end the suffering they'd be made to endure.
  • Knight Templar: Even if he doesn't believe in the cause of Pokemon liberation, he does sincerely view himself and the world order he envisions as being perfect and necessary enough to justify the cruel, villainous deeds he takes in the name of this goal.
  • Knight of Cerebus: Given how vile he is, things take a turn for the grim and serious whenever he shows up.
  • Lack of Empathy: Holds no one who isn't himself in high regard, seeing all people and Pokemon as merely tools for him to use and ultimately throw away as he pleases.
  • Manipulative Bastard: One of the series' shining examples of this trope.
  • Man Behind the Man: To N in the Black/White arc and to Colress in the Black 2/White 2 arc.
  • Rousing Speech/BastardlySpeech: His successfully convinces some people into releasing their Pokémon.
  • Sinister Minister: Really gives off this vibe. He holds public sermons where he preaches about the cause behind Team Plasma's crusades, the liberation of Pokemon, to crowds of people he hopes to convert into followers, and appears very kindly and charming...even as he's doing horrible, horrible things.
  • The Sociopath: This is man who puts his own ambitions and desires ahead of the lives, feelings, and well-being of others, treats his Pokemon and even his own son as tools for his uses, looks at his followers as being extensions of his own will, and who would destroy anything and use or throw away anyone in order to get what he wants, all while grinning serenely, carrying a casual air about him and giving no thought to people he harms, even flat out enjoying their suffering.
  • Soft-Spoken Sadist: He always looks kind and acts polite, even when doing truly horrific things that he clearly enjoys doing.
  • Torture Technician: Seems very fond of violent torture using his Pokemon team, as well as some emotional and mental torture of others.
  • Well-Intentioned Extremist: Poses as one, but this is purely a facade, as he actually wants to enslave all Pokemon for himself and his Team Plasma.
  • You Gotta Have Green Hair

Shadow Triad

  • Ascended Extra: Are much more prominent in this manga than in the games.
  • Character Tics: Each of the Shadow Triad tends to place their arms in a certain location. One places his behind his back, another puts his on his hips, and the last one crosses them in front of his chest.
  • Ninjas
  • Spies in a Van
  • Terrible Trio
  • The Unfought: Averted. Unlike the games, where they are never fought at all, they are actually seen battling with Pokémon in this canon.