@@JetTheBaron On a serious note, just make sure you don't give the audience 4, give them a 'cool' 2 + 2 And when the time is right (turning point) you can give them the 'view shattering' 4 + 1' (make sure it still makes sense in hindsight and that the answer isn't obvious until it's revealed)
13:40-14:31 I just have to mention a little detail for my friend, Gladion. All of his pokémon evolve through friendship. He really, REALLY cares about those who are close to him.
I’d say his story was alright but functionally just takes away from the game. It just seems like the game guilting you for playing it well. It’s like sparring with a kid that bursts into tears every time things don’t go his way and expecting you to be fine with doing it over and over while his tantrums get worse and worse.
i think he and team star have a similar thing going on. like, the game is set up so that you haveto beat them, but the narrative makes you feel bad about it. i think it’s a clever way of working with the inevitability of the player winning, it’s not just repetitive, mechanical victories anymore.
One of my favorite details about N is that every single time you battle him, he has a different team of Pokemon, all of which can be found in the surrounding routes. This is such a great way of showing how he treats Pokemon as friends not tools, as he seemingly releases his Pokemon as he leaves their natural habitats
@@KitomiKotiri That is correct. By doing a Memory Link between BW and BW2, you can find N's other Pokemon in various places, usually in the places where you battle him. And they have several perfect IVs, if I recall.
@@montyeggman3075 yeah it was a retty cool feature honestly I don't think I ever got to use it because figuring out how to do the memory link when I played them was pretty much impossible but you didn't have go through that to get the zoarark/zorua from a sage
i would have to say arven is probably the best written character in the series, not just because of his compelling story arc, but the writers/localization team for scvi actually managed to write natural sounding english dialogue for once.
Nah, it's definitely N. Characters reached a top in gen 5. Gen 7 was again really good, but this last gen is kinda over hype and it won't last until people realize Arven and it's parents are not that well written and are actually gigantic plot holes
N is way better imo, my issue with Arven is that while he is the most relatable characther, but he lacks agency to his characther. Like the same way with shadow in adventure 2, like Arven really just does things because something/someone forces him too. Like saving mabostiff was a very touching moment, but it felt undermined for me because a scene later ai Sada/Turdo basically just asks the player and arven to go ai zero to go stop the time machine which yeah makes sense, but like I wish Arven came to that decision himself rather than having sada/turo basically give him an ultimatum of "YOUR THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN GET INTO THE LAB". Later in the post game, when arven does find out what he is good at, I was disappointed that he became a chef because while YEAH it's so obvious that he was good at cooking, it felt kinda weird that he would strive for such a basic goal compared to like penny being recruited by Geeta and Nemona being the rival of a new champion.
While she wasn't in this Top 20, I feel like a good honorable mention can go to Nemona. She doesn't have too tragic of a backstory like many others but her subtle arc is pretty heartbreaking when you think about it. It's a shame they don't talk about it at all in the story proper. Her parents are basically too busy for her and she's the strongest trainer in the region, meaning literally everyone is too scared to battle her. Literally all she longs for is someone who can measure up to her full potential, which is why she cheers you on so hard throughout the story. She wants you to succeed so she can finally have a true rival and challenge. I think it's sweet. I love Nemona as a character and I hope maybe DLC will flesh out a backstory for her a little bit more.
not just a true rival but a proper genuine friend as well; in the postgame, it's heavily hinted that, despite her popularity in the school, she doesn't have much if any real friends, since most people are just too nervous or intimidated by her, so you end up becoming her one true friend as well (along with Arven and Penny of course)
Here’s a great detail about Ghetsis In BW2, his Hydreigon knows the move Frustration at full power. He is so evil that his most powerful Pokémon hates his guts (which is also hard to do since you can make your Pokémon happier just by walking around) He went from using the guise of Team Plasma and their goal of freeing Pokémon for his own benefit to straight up becoming so maniacal from his original plan going awry that he becomes the most evil character in the series. And when you beat him again, he straight up becomes delirious. All he knows is to be evil. It’s great.
I find it noteworthy how all of these characters (except Wally) debut in Generation 5 and above. And even with Wally, he made the list because of his ORAS counterpart. Starting in Gen 5, they got a lot more ambitious with storytelling. Which games did or didn't live up to that ambition is a subject of debate, but I don't think you can deny that they'll putting in the effort.
I'm so glad to see Hugh get some love! He is easily my favourite rival. I honestly think it's the only time Pokemon made a Friendly Rival correctly. In that, you and Hugh are friends. And he treats you like a friend. Like someone he actually knows and gets along with. And since his goal is different from yours (wih you getting the badges and him chasing Team Plasma), your rivalry feels, well, friendly. Also, I love Lillie and her story absolutely made me cry when I first played SM. So did Arvens story in SV.
Leon is easily the most fleshed out champion of any pokemon game. A champion that keeps wondering if there were new highs for him to reach after becoming the strongest and with a great sense of responsibility with the trainers of Galar.We know literally everything about him. Where he lives (even including how his room looks), how he started his gym challenge, which trainers where his friends and rivals during that time (Sonia and Raihan) and how he relates to them in current times, who trained him, how he got his signature pokemon, how much time he has been the champion, how he influenced the gym leaders and trainers (like Kabu, Raihan and Hop), how they think of him and its pretty fleshed out how much Leon has inspired the competitive side of the other gym leaders of his region and how much they aim to beat him (even in twilight wings when we can see the opinion of each of them about him) and we also know which ones are considered in the region to be the closest candidates to the champion title after him (something rarely seen about gym leaders from other regions), his connection with Rose and Professor Magnolia (who raised Sonia), who is part of his family and how he relates to them, how the people in the region think of him, the kind of aspects that he considers his responsability as a champion, his influence over Hop as his older brother, how much he likes the pokemon battles, he has a key role in the story not only as the final boss and we also know his entire personality overall (including aspects of him like catchphrases, the fact that he tends to get lost easily, etc) and even what happened to him after he lost his title and which is his new dream and how he even started Galar's battle tower and founded the Galarian star tournament for such goal as well. By the way, Sonia's arc is also interesting because her story was that she was the only one of her social group (Leon, Nessa, Raihan, Hop, etc) that wasn't aiming for any goal (that's why the only thing that Leon could say about her when he introduced her to the player is that she cooks well). Something that got her mad (even if she herself could only say that she used to be Leon's rival in the past but nothing about her present). And we also learned that she gave up on the gym challenge in Opal's gym thanks to Opal's notes about her. She pretty much was using "being her grandma's assistant" to excuse the fact that she wasn't really doing anything with her life and she got scolded by her grandma by it and tasked with researching the mysteries of legend of Galar on her own. She then actually got committed with researching for such goal and eventually became a pokemon professor that uncovered the truth of the legend of Galar, that also discovered the existence of two legendary pokemon, an ancient tapestry with a hidden part of the legend and that even ended up writing and publishing a book with her findings (a book that you can actually see in the Paldea region now). And she also had to learn how to be a pokemon professor. Being betrayed by her own assistant and eventually taking Hop as her new apprentice and she didn't stop moving forward after her research of the legend of Galar ended since she also kept pursuing new goals by starting a new research in the isle of armor and crown tundra. Hop's arc is awesome as well and we actually see him progressing towards his new goal thanks to Sonia as well. And Nessa, Klara/Avery and the rest of the Galar gym leaders and notable trainers/rivals are also pretty fleshed out in the game and Twilight wings as well.
@@bidoof367 Even that has a great explanation since Leon met Charizard as a Charmander in the isle of armor (when he went to train with Mustard) and Charizard itself helps Leon to get to the places he needs since he tends to get lost easily.
My issue with Leon is that there wasn’t more of him on screen, SWSH would be a lot better if we went with him and Sonia to deal with all the interesting things he does
@@asprinjuice8877 He appears a lot through the game. Heck, probably more than any other champion from any other pokemon game. And it fleshes out Leon's role as a champion and the opinion that people have about him a lot. And there's a good reason for you to be focusing in the gym challenge. That's how you learn about the darkest day and it also develops Sonia's and Hop's arcs.
I love how almost all of these are from gen 5+ 😂 (Even Wally is mostly helped by his ORAS version). They really stepped it up with their characters in more recent generations. Great video as always, and I’m happy to see so many of my favorites on here. Lillie, Guzma, Hop and Arven have my whole heart.
I've got to say, Scarlet and Violet have introduced me to my favourite characters, which is all of them! The gym leaders, Team Star, the teachers, Director Clavell, Clive, Arven, Nemona, and Penny are so memorable! I even felt my heart string being tugged when I finished the main story and the end credits rolling with Celestial playing in the background and the photograph of us and Arven, Nemona, Penny, the ai Professors and the box art legendary really drove an ominous stake into my heart...
gen 7 has to be one of my favorite gens because i remember the plot and characters to actually be enjoyable, which also kinda makes me hesitant to ever replay them just because i dont want to taint my positive memories of the games when i get bombarded with cutscenes.
The gen 7 games were actually really nice and refreshing to play for the first time, but they are not enjoyable for replaying them, mainly because it's a gigantic tutorial that handholds you throughout the game. Pokemon Black and White while also having a really good and enjoyable plot, which i perfectly remember, leaves pretty much everything for the end, while the main game just develops your rivals and N. It's not overwhelming nor boring when replaying the games, and the end is always as epic as the first time. If Sun and Moon left you on your own more times (and I'm looking at you Hau) it would be much more enjoyable.
The same Sada/Turo who loved Scarlet/Violet's book since childhood, became deeply desperate with their own treasure hunt: A "paradise" from the past/future, this while they forgot about their present treasure: Arven, who was left without a proper childhood, since the professors gave priority to their own. But at the end... Sada/Turo's obsession became self-destructing for them. In contrast, we had Arven who wasn't even attentive to his treasure hunt, because of Mabosstiff's situation, an indirect result of the negligence of his parents. It is interesting how the situation leads to Arven investigating, similarly to the professors, while finding an answer at his parents favorite book. Also cooking involves some science chemistry knowledge (but maybe I'm just overthinking). The difference is that Arven is doing it for the one who was truly there for him. It is little by little that thanks to himself and all those around him that he ends up creating his own treasure: A family. I love how the titan path involves the bond between people and pokemon in a more personal and familiar way. How through the relationship that Arven has with Mabosstiff and Koraidon/Miraidon we slowly understand him better, and develop a precious friendship. To me the titan path it is the start of a healing process for the professor's family, the most direct victims of them. Arven has such a fight against loss and grief. One can see and understand how the lack of love has shaped him into the person he is, in his vision and at first resentment of many things: Parents, Koraidon/Miraidon, himself... and from that same pain the deep need to care and love is born, that is why at the end of the day, he goes after the search for a closure and understanding, thus growing as a person and becoming stonger in diferent ways, all while still trying to find himself.
While some can be changed around depending who you ask, I could agree on the 20 spots here are definitely the most deserving, and the top five specifically I'd agree would be set in stone. Though Pokémon has a lot of loveable characters, the ones that are written interestingly is surprisingly low. It's understandable how a good lot of the ones here, such as N or Guzma, would be fan favourites.
I'd have put Alder in there somewhere. The guy spent his entire life trying to be the Champion and eventually reached that goal, but then had his starter Pokemon die shortly afterwards. He was so focused on his ultimate goal that he neglected to enjoy the journey as well and came to regret it. That's why he retired in BW2, he wanted to help the next generation of trainers realize that you have to find a deeper meaning in your life besides pursuing a goal for its own sake. Hell, it even got me to think about some of what I want to accomplish in real life and why I want to do them.
I'm so glad you see how well written Hop is I get so annoyed seeing people ignore the little things they did with him. Even how he throws his PokeBall and changes his team
@@c0mpu73rguy Pokemon XY postgame, that gen 4 detective looker has some missions and she's a girl that the story of that revolves around. You can see her in a pokemon generation episode as well. She's by far the best written character in series alongside N imo
@@neouma5382 Oh, the one that was hypnotized or something like that. I only know her through cutscenes I watched on youtube which I thought were part of the main game. She didn't left that big of an impression on me.
Emma is certainly a well-written character, but she just doesn't get enough screentime compared to most characters listed. I would put her in over Zinnia, but I guess she doesn't deal with the lore of the series nearly as much, which is probably why Ron didn't include her.
in my opinion, Colress deserved a spot on this list. My favorite Pokemon character next to Maxie, his motives aren't that grey- he's evil all around, but damn he has this sly witty feeling to him that makes you truly understand why team plasma is as powerful as they are. I ALWAYS gravitate toward villian teams and not rivals, so I might be biased. I could say soooo much about Colress but I kept it short :')
While I understand why she's not on this list, I still wanna mention Nemona. She doesn't have an arc as much as revealing her true self (the theme of SV). She is the protagonist before the protagonist, a talented trainer who put in the same work you did to make it to the very top, becoming far too powerful for anyone else to handle. She started to hold herself back just so others would actually battle her but she never found the same fun in those battles like she had back then. So when she meets you she honours you by helping you grow, as well as training a whole new squad of pokemon, before finally using her new pokemon and her full battle prowes to take you on. She might not be using her strongest pokemon, but to her it's not about how much physical power she can output, it's about her own strategies, which is something I think a lot of people don't understand about Nemona. She's a wonderful character who might not have an in-game arc but is still written quite well. My main complaint is that it is quite easy to misunderstand her motivations and desires, there's barely any dialogue devoted to this side of her, and the fact that she waits for you to arrive to battle her puts some people off, being an exaggerated part of that characterization.
Really appreciate the write-up about some of SV's characters here, as I think it has far and away the best writing in the franchise! I do feel like a character from it was sorely missed here, maybe for the sake of wanting variety from different games - but I think Director Clavell deserves a spot. The idea of an authority figure who initially acts rashly in threatening to expel Team Star but actually works to slowly gain an understanding of them and recognize how both he and the system have failed these students is such a powerful example of a character, and such a down-to-earth concept for such a goofy, silly old guy who managed to beat ALL of the twist villain allegations. I could write a lot more about him, but I just think it's a shame he didn't make it on here.
Hau in USUM (not SM) is an extremely underrated character. He always looked up to his grandfather Kahuna Hala and wants to be like him, but his laid-back attitude prevents him from growing stronger alongside the protagonist. Eventually he realizes this through interactions with Gladion and Guzma and decides to become stronger than even his grandfather, proceeding with much more motivation. This results in him ultimately challenging the protagonist, who he had mainly just played around with in low-stakes matches before, for the title of champion. There's a lot more I could say for USUM Hau, but overall he would be in the top 10 or even top 5 best-written characters for me. He's just overlooked because of SM Hau, who was indeed very bland.
Yeah, i like the added interactions/(his scenes with guzma were awesome) confrontations (his own pokemon getting pissed at him) Hau got in USUM which ultimately resulted in him wanting to grow. I personally interpret him to not just be laid-back but actively hating to lose in a genuine battle where he put in the effort (given that he actually cried after losing to you in the usum champion battle + the anime) so he just has lowstake "fun" battles where he doesnt have to confront that. I dunno where but there was also dialogue somewhere how Hala made him cry once bc he got really angry so since then he has been very soft on him. Hau is probably a very sensitive kid. Also i like his sarcastic side, he isnt purely an over-friendly doormat rival like i see a lot of people interpret him as. Though i understand if youre not interested in a character to begin with you are less likely to pay attention to them
I've come to appreciate Hugh more recently because his rival fights are to make sure you're as strong as he expects you to be instead of just mere competition. His aggressiveness makes sense because he's waited too long just to be old enough to travel and finally bring back his sister's Purrloin. Despite his looks, the fact that Gladion uses 4 pokemon that evolve by max friendship shows an endearing side to him, and his battle theme is really good in my opinion.
You just know GameFreak wanted SOME characters to be the actual main characters, but didn't do it because the formula didn't allow it. N, Lillie, Arwen, and maybe even Hugh
I think Nemona could have a place on this list. She loves battling, but not even the self-appointed Top Champion had been able to give her a challenge, so when she sees potential in the protagonist, she becomes excited and encourages them to become strong. When the protagonist becomes a champion themselves and defeats her, she is happy because there is finally someone she can go all-out against. While there's less to her arc than Arven's and her story isn't as connected with the world as Penny's, she is still a very well-written character.
I'd rank Irida above Adaman personally. The writing shows us how she goes from a nervous/inexperienced leader who is wary of you at first and also struggles with being the leader that can make the right decisions for her clan to a respectable one by the end. Adaman already had all that and didn't undergo much change throughout PLA, which made him less well-written in my eyes (but still a fantastic character tho).
He is better appreciated in manga. Not treated as someone who always loses, helps Schilly (the female protagonist) find one of her missing Pokémon, and gets along well with marnie since they both have accomplished older brothers.
Excellent video! I just want to add, an extra part of what makes the writing for the Sword and Shield characters so good is the incredible use of British colloquialisms and phrases. As a British raised person myself, the dialogue in SwSh made me incredibly happy and the adapters did such a good job of not only writing the English dialogue well but writing it well in *British English*. I know that may not enhance their arcs and stories but it makes their dialogue fun and then more believable as real people 😊
Yay so glad Hop got a mention! :D Easily my favourite rival since Silver for me, for completely different reasons of course. I want to support him so much, when you battle him in the league I remember wishing there was a way for the story to let him be the winner! But he will make an amazing professor some day! :D Lillie, Arven and N were fantastic picks for the top three, all brilliant characters! Great list :D
This video is amazing and changed my mind about one character: Hugh. I love BW and B2W2, but Hugh did seem one note for me, but I now see how wrong I was. A caring older brother who learns really aren’t as black and white as they might seem, who’s a pretty damn good fighter as well. Now definitely one of my top rivals
@@shorewall Pff, they're exaggerating, I played this game twice (Moon and Ultra Sun) and it never bothered me that much. At least it was implemented through cutscenes instead of pop up boxes. It is a lot better in ScarVio though, I agree with that (and it did look better in SwSh but I can't say for sure, I skipped this game).
As someone who’s a fan of the later generations, it’s great to see that the list is completely made up of gen 5+ characters, and in Wally’s case, a character who’s best iteration comes from a remake made in gen 6. It makes me happy to see Hop and Hugh so high up, since they’re some of my favorite rivals. I’m also glad you made a point to mention the original Sun and Moon when talking about Lusamine and Lillie, since I personally doubt they’d be on the list if we got Ultra as the one and only Alola game. The top 3 being Arven, Lillie, and N is also very fitting.
This is definitely one of your best videos yet! I'm a gen 5 fan and Alola just has great characters. Your top 5 are amazing and honestly Hugh is SUCH a well-written character for a Pokémon game.
Zinnia has been my favorite character since she was announced. I've always been a Gen 3 fanboy (Sapphire was my first game when it came out), and my favorite Pokemon has always been Salamence. When they revealed this cool-ass girl with a signature Salamence and a BANGER theme, it was over for me That being said, Lillie is my 2nd favorite right behind her
I enjoy the majority of this list. Because it shows you really took a look into the characters and how they are written like Hop and Hugh. Lotta people dismiss them for one reason or another, but as characters they are pretty neat!
It’s gonna be hard to create a more perfect character than N. Incredible story of someone who thinks he’s doing right thanks to Ghetsis’ manipulation, and he is in his mind. Returns 2 years later and gets redemption against his father and saves the player and Kyurem, eventually releasing the final key to the original plan: his dragon fit for a king
He was, is and will forever be a discount Hilbert. An unworthy hero who still chooses to keep his dragon despite knowing he is unworthy. Arguably the most self obsessed character and the last 5% of BW1 is arguably the worst part of the Pokemon franchise ever. And this includes them hospitalizing kids in the infamous porygon episode. In my eyes he was the #2 worst thing to happen to the Pokemon franchise behind gen 7
This was a great list with great perspective! When I look at how well a Pokémon character is written, I always find myself reading heavily between the lines, so I always see how much potential they have and fall in love with that aspect. I really appreciate this video for that reason
Same, really! I get that Pokémon characters may not be the most fleshed out in comparison to other games, but this intentionally designed and required reading between the lines is honestly what I enjoy about them!
I loved this video ! The music and your commentary really made shine through the beauty of some of this characters, that would otherwise seem to be pretty dull and forgettable. I don't think pokemon characters are badly written in general, you just don't spend enough time with them to realise their potential, and that's why characters like Cynthia, who are more visually appealing, are more popular. The story of pokemon games fells almost secondary sometimes, while it totally has the potential to be something absolutley beautiful, and this video made me realise it. sry for bad english
Great video. Really pleased to see AI Turo, Guzma and even Hop this high up. Can't agree with Hugh though, he looks like a Silver-type edgelord and instead he comes off as a totally all-for-good guy chasing down a household cat. But I'm glad to know he's got a supporter out there so cheers for putting your points forward. We're especially spoiled that this was a Top 20 when it could've easily been a Top 10! Would love to see more like these
The main problem with Arven and Lillie for me is that Pokemon is a game that's main character will always be a silent protagonist. Lillie and Arven feel like they should be main characters because of big events in the story. Sometimes I feel like a background character but now I have to face their problems. The AI Professor and Ultra Beast Lusamine don't feel like my fights to win.
One thing I love about cheren is his pokemon use held items in bw and at the post game battle I lost to him this made me think about what he said before the battle about using held items since then I used held items in main playthrough and no just competitive
Oh thank god. An overwhelmingly positive video. I've drudged through bald faced liew, back handed compliments and Cinemasins level complaints in the last twelve Pokemon vids I watched.
I hated arven at first, he seemed annoying. But now I really love him! His story was just so interesting and heartbreaking. Still, no one will ever beat N, but Arven is now on second place for me!
Perhaps the effectiveness of the character execution and how well the character develops despite being a flat character are more important factors on this list than the characters' complexity as evidenced by their actions, philosophies, and morals. I agree about N being No. 1 though.
I honestly believe that due to thematic reason pokemon black is the best game to choose since in that game n gets zekrom who represents ideals which n at the time whole heartedly aggrees with the ideals of team plasma. But we come along with reshiram who represents truth so that we can show n the truth about the world.
All in all, very agreeable list! As someone whose favorite part of any Pokémon experience are its human characters, it always makes me happy seeing their stories, arcs and personalities explained well and shown in a positive light. They're all dear to me in one way or another, thank you so much for hyping them up! EDIT: Watching this video a few times over suddenly made me realize why the newer half of generations tend to appeal to me so much more than the older ones do. Seriously, I feel so ridiculous for not making this connection sooner, this game series has been with me for ages and I only made sense of my preferences when realizing that, when counting Wally as Gen 6, not a single pre-Gen 5 character made this list. So... thank you again, I guess. 😅
It's kind of funny how there are no gym leaders hear despite being the most recognized group of trainers each region. I feel like by design, they kinda can't be fleshed out, you spend max 5 minutes actually with a given leader and you usually don't see them again. Even the more "well written" gym leaders are like a kiddy pool being compared to a puddle. This just really shows off how good Pokemon's character design is, with it doing a lot of heavy lifting in order to give more of a kiddy pool feel to these puddles.
We know quite a bit of the gym leaders in gen 8 and 9 but they don't have arcs or evolve in the games while cheren is a gym leader he had a whole game being a rival before that
Gen 7. Definitely, by far, my favorite video games. Above all others, the storyline was my favorite, the characters, Pokémon, all of it was fantastic. That’s just me though. Also the OST- also my favorite (besides BoTW, of course)
I'm so proud of myself for not liking Volo from the start. He's overbearing and a little too obsessed and that threw me off. Then finding out he was the bad guy all along? Felt amazing
My favorite thing about arven is how in the beginning we see so many things about him like his random anger and especially his search the herbs and we don’t know why. This makes him seem like a badly written character but when we finally find out why he does these things it’s makes for a satisfying and great character
I think Arven is easily the best and benefits from having a much more grounded story overall as opposed to someone like N who in being so grandiose, makes it easy to disconnect from him and makes him seem more pretentious than anything else. Edit: Plus his mental resilience is truly admirable. Dude gets completely traumatized over the course of his life and the adventure in area zero and picks himself back up quickly. Actually admirable.
I think the coolest thing about Arven is how life has treated him so poorly at nearly every step. He turns to his Pokémon for comfort after being abandoned by his parents but even that goes down poorly. Can you imagine essentially losing your parents and then nearly losing the only friend that kept you pushing through life? And then it fucking turns out your parents DID die anyway and you had no idea so long ago so you never had a chance to talk to them about things? He is so beaten up which makes his efforts so much more admirable.
N was indoctrinated by the beliefs of his parental figure. That's a story a lot of people can also relate to. I think you're being a bit unfair in that regard.
This was such a good list! So many characters who made an impact on me made it on. Legends Arceus and Scarlet Violet among alot of others have such good writing! Especially Black and White, Sun and Moon, Sword and Shield, all so good..
Something about Hop that I feel people put him down for, is that like Hau, he picks the starter weak to yours But he doesn’t He picks the starter strong against the one Leon was going to take
No one talks about how Hop changes his team to try to become stronger, but eventually figures out that his original Pokémon work just fine and you don’t have to have the strongest or most popular Pokémon to be good in battle. I completely agree with his placement on this list. I do like Hugh a lot, but I think he should go closer to Adaman and Irida.
For Penny, I wouldn't said she made the code for Team Star, that's Giacomo. She did say that the method to take down the leaders via battle was her idea so it's safe to assume that the code was a collaborative effort amongst the whole crew. Giacomo likely made a baseline draft, get everyone to input what they believe is best for the team, then likely have a vote to see if all members agree to this new code, if not he make changes until everybody agrees to this new code. This is all head cannon, but given that Penny added parts to the code and the whole group agrees to not get help from their parents, it make sense that the code was made as a group effort. This also works as a means to show that Giacomo had changed for the better as the best way to know if the action is logically sound is to have the people involved in that field given their insight.
Lillie, Arven and N could be called the ‘Tragic Childhood’ Trio
So thats how to make a good character, got it
And also give them connections to legendaries
@@JetTheBaron On a serious note, just make sure you don't give the audience 4, give them a 'cool' 2 + 2
And when the time is right (turning point) you can give them the 'view shattering' 4 + 1'
(make sure it still makes sense in hindsight and that the answer isn't obvious until it's revealed)
daddy issues, mommy issues, and both 😭
The 3 of them need therapy
What about silver?
13:40-14:31
I just have to mention a little detail for my friend, Gladion. All of his pokémon evolve through friendship. He really, REALLY cares about those who are close to him.
I have always thought Hop had such a good character arc that everyone just overlooked! Glad you agree!
Ok
I felt so bad when he boxed his Wooloo
I’d say his story was alright but functionally just takes away from the game. It just seems like the game guilting you for playing it well. It’s like sparring with a kid that bursts into tears every time things don’t go his way and expecting you to be fine with doing it over and over while his tantrums get worse and worse.
i think he and team star have a similar thing going on. like, the game is set up so that you haveto beat them, but the narrative makes you feel bad about it. i think it’s a clever way of working with the inevitability of the player winning, it’s not just repetitive, mechanical victories anymore.
Overall, he's just a better Hau in my opinion.
One of my favorite details about N is that every single time you battle him, he has a different team of Pokemon, all of which can be found in the surrounding routes. This is such a great way of showing how he treats Pokemon as friends not tools, as he seemingly releases his Pokemon as he leaves their natural habitats
I know you can get his Zorua/Zoruark with trainer name but I think you were also able to get some of his other pokemon too
@@KitomiKotiri That is correct. By doing a Memory Link between BW and BW2, you can find N's other Pokemon in various places, usually in the places where you battle him. And they have several perfect IVs, if I recall.
@@montyeggman3075 yeah it was a retty cool feature honestly I don't think I ever got to use it because figuring out how to do the memory link when I played them was pretty much impossible but you didn't have go through that to get the zoarark/zorua from a sage
One of my favorite things in games is when gameplay is tied to the story. The teams N uses is an excellent example of this.
i would have to say arven is probably the best written character in the series, not just because of his compelling story arc, but the writers/localization team for scvi actually managed to write natural sounding english dialogue for once.
"Player flexed on them and they ran off."
The English script perfectly captures the gen z dialect.
Nah, it's definitely N. Characters reached a top in gen 5. Gen 7 was again really good, but this last gen is kinda over hype and it won't last until people realize Arven and it's parents are not that well written and are actually gigantic plot holes
N is way better imo, my issue with Arven is that while he is the most relatable characther, but he lacks agency to his characther.
Like the same way with shadow in adventure 2, like Arven really just does things because something/someone forces him too. Like saving mabostiff was a very touching moment, but it felt undermined for me because a scene later ai Sada/Turdo basically just asks the player and arven to go ai zero to go stop the time machine which yeah makes sense, but like I wish Arven came to that decision himself rather than having sada/turo basically give him an ultimatum of "YOUR THE ONLY ONE WHO CAN GET INTO THE LAB". Later in the post game, when arven does find out what he is good at, I was disappointed that he became a chef because while YEAH it's so obvious that he was good at cooking, it felt kinda weird that he would strive for such a basic goal compared to like penny being recruited by Geeta and Nemona being the rival of a new champion.
@@WildWeavile I’m fine with him being a cook lol, let the man rest
These games were actually originally written in English. LOL
Arven, Lillie and N, a perfect top 3. I especially appreciate how alot of these characters are from the later half of the franchise, gen-wise
9, 7, 5.
It makes one smile.
While she wasn't in this Top 20, I feel like a good honorable mention can go to Nemona. She doesn't have too tragic of a backstory like many others but her subtle arc is pretty heartbreaking when you think about it. It's a shame they don't talk about it at all in the story proper.
Her parents are basically too busy for her and she's the strongest trainer in the region, meaning literally everyone is too scared to battle her. Literally all she longs for is someone who can measure up to her full potential, which is why she cheers you on so hard throughout the story. She wants you to succeed so she can finally have a true rival and challenge. I think it's sweet. I love Nemona as a character and I hope maybe DLC will flesh out a backstory for her a little bit more.
not just a true rival but a proper genuine friend as well; in the postgame, it's heavily hinted that, despite her popularity in the school, she doesn't have much if any real friends, since most people are just too nervous or intimidated by her, so you end up becoming her one true friend as well (along with Arven and Penny of course)
and she feels like she has to intentionally nerf herself so ppl aren't scared of her
I don't know much about characters in the game, but Guzma in the anime is definitely the best written character
I agree he was epic but like can we talk about how good kakui’s food looked in the anime?
@@GingerVixen delicious
@@GingerVixen fr
Here’s a great detail about Ghetsis
In BW2, his Hydreigon knows the move Frustration at full power. He is so evil that his most powerful Pokémon hates his guts (which is also hard to do since you can make your Pokémon happier just by walking around)
He went from using the guise of Team Plasma and their goal of freeing Pokémon for his own benefit to straight up becoming so maniacal from his original plan going awry that he becomes the most evil character in the series. And when you beat him again, he straight up becomes delirious. All he knows is to be evil. It’s great.
Arven is such a well written character, he deserves to be a protagonist for a Pokemon anime.
Trust me, if arven and penny aren't there the Fandom might kill someone
I find it noteworthy how all of these characters (except Wally) debut in Generation 5 and above.
And even with Wally, he made the list because of his ORAS counterpart.
Starting in Gen 5, they got a lot more ambitious with storytelling. Which games did or didn't live up to that ambition is a subject of debate, but I don't think you can deny that they'll putting in the effort.
I'm so glad to see Hugh get some love!
He is easily my favourite rival. I honestly think it's the only time Pokemon made a Friendly Rival correctly. In that, you and Hugh are friends. And he treats you like a friend. Like someone he actually knows and gets along with. And since his goal is different from yours (wih you getting the badges and him chasing Team Plasma), your rivalry feels, well, friendly.
Also, I love Lillie and her story absolutely made me cry when I first played SM.
So did Arvens story in SV.
Leon is easily the most fleshed out champion of any pokemon game.
A champion that keeps wondering if there were new highs for him to reach after becoming the strongest and with a great sense of responsibility with the trainers of Galar.We know literally everything about him.
Where he lives (even including how his room looks), how he started his gym challenge, which trainers where his friends and rivals during that time (Sonia and Raihan) and how he relates to them in current times, who trained him, how he got his signature pokemon, how much time he has been the champion, how he influenced the gym leaders and trainers (like Kabu, Raihan and Hop), how they think of him and its pretty fleshed out how much Leon has inspired the competitive side of the other gym leaders of his region and how much they aim to beat him (even in twilight wings when we can see the opinion of each of them about him) and we also know which ones are considered in the region to be the closest candidates to the champion title after him (something rarely seen about gym leaders from other regions), his connection with Rose and Professor Magnolia (who raised Sonia), who is part of his family and how he relates to them, how the people in the region think of him, the kind of aspects that he considers his responsability as a champion, his influence over Hop as his older brother, how much he likes the pokemon battles, he has a key role in the story not only as the final boss and we also know his entire personality overall (including aspects of him like catchphrases, the fact that he tends to get lost easily, etc) and even what happened to him after he lost his title and which is his new dream and how he even started Galar's battle tower and founded the Galarian star tournament for such goal as well.
By the way, Sonia's arc is also interesting because her story was that she was the only one of her social group (Leon, Nessa, Raihan, Hop, etc) that wasn't aiming for any goal (that's why the only thing that Leon could say about her when he introduced her to the player is that she cooks well). Something that got her mad (even if she herself could only say that she used to be Leon's rival in the past but nothing about her present). And we also learned that she gave up on the gym challenge in Opal's gym thanks to Opal's notes about her.
She pretty much was using "being her grandma's assistant" to excuse the fact that she wasn't really doing anything with her life and she got scolded by her grandma by it and tasked with researching the mysteries of legend of Galar on her own.
She then actually got committed with researching for such goal and eventually became a pokemon professor that uncovered the truth of the legend of Galar, that also discovered the existence of two legendary pokemon, an ancient tapestry with a hidden part of the legend and that even ended up writing and publishing a book with her findings (a book that you can actually see in the Paldea region now).
And she also had to learn how to be a pokemon professor. Being betrayed by her own assistant and eventually taking Hop as her new apprentice and she didn't stop moving forward after her research of the legend of Galar ended since she also kept pursuing new goals by starting a new research in the isle of armor and crown tundra.
Hop's arc is awesome as well and we actually see him progressing towards his new goal thanks to Sonia as well.
And Nessa, Klara/Avery and the rest of the Galar gym leaders and notable trainers/rivals are also pretty fleshed out in the game and Twilight wings as well.
not to mention he has a charizard
@@bidoof367
Even that has a great explanation since Leon met Charizard as a Charmander in the isle of armor (when he went to train with Mustard) and Charizard itself helps Leon to get to the places he needs since he tends to get lost easily.
My issue with Leon is that there wasn’t more of him on screen, SWSH would be a lot better if we went with him and Sonia to deal with all the interesting things he does
@@asprinjuice8877
He appears a lot through the game. Heck, probably more than any other champion from any other pokemon game. And it fleshes out Leon's role as a champion and the opinion that people have about him a lot.
And there's a good reason for you to be focusing in the gym challenge. That's how you learn about the darkest day and it also develops Sonia's and Hop's arcs.
I love how almost all of these are from gen 5+ 😂 (Even Wally is mostly helped by his ORAS version). They really stepped it up with their characters in more recent generations.
Great video as always, and I’m happy to see so many of my favorites on here. Lillie, Guzma, Hop and Arven have my whole heart.
@Truegreen0 wow this is definitely real and not a bot!!
I've got to say, Scarlet and Violet have introduced me to my favourite characters, which is all of them! The gym leaders, Team Star, the teachers, Director Clavell, Clive, Arven, Nemona, and Penny are so memorable! I even felt my heart string being tugged when I finished the main story and the end credits rolling with Celestial playing in the background and the photograph of us and Arven, Nemona, Penny, the ai Professors and the box art legendary really drove an ominous stake into my heart...
gen 7 has to be one of my favorite gens because i remember the plot and characters to actually be enjoyable, which also kinda makes me hesitant to ever replay them just because i dont want to taint my positive memories of the games when i get bombarded with cutscenes.
The gen 7 games were actually really nice and refreshing to play for the first time, but they are not enjoyable for replaying them, mainly because it's a gigantic tutorial that handholds you throughout the game. Pokemon Black and White while also having a really good and enjoyable plot, which i perfectly remember, leaves pretty much everything for the end, while the main game just develops your rivals and N. It's not overwhelming nor boring when replaying the games, and the end is always as epic as the first time. If Sun and Moon left you on your own more times (and I'm looking at you Hau) it would be much more enjoyable.
The cut scenes were really well done in my opinion, and only added to the great plot. I'd say replay them!
@@noahberan6498 If there was voice acting, they would've actually been pretty good. I really enjoyed them as they are, of course.
Gen 2, 4 and 5 ARE GOATS
The same Sada/Turo who loved Scarlet/Violet's book since childhood, became deeply desperate with their own treasure hunt: A "paradise" from the past/future, this while they forgot about their present treasure: Arven, who was left without a proper childhood, since the professors gave priority to their own. But at the end... Sada/Turo's obsession became self-destructing for them.
In contrast, we had Arven who wasn't even attentive to his treasure hunt, because of Mabosstiff's situation, an indirect result of the negligence of his parents. It is interesting how the situation leads to Arven investigating, similarly to the professors, while finding an answer at his parents favorite book.
Also cooking involves some science chemistry knowledge (but maybe I'm just overthinking). The difference is that Arven is doing it for the one who was truly there for him. It is little by little that thanks to himself and all those around him that he ends up creating his own treasure: A family.
I love how the titan path involves the bond between people and pokemon in a more personal and familiar way. How through the relationship that Arven has with Mabosstiff and Koraidon/Miraidon we slowly understand him better, and develop a precious friendship. To me the titan path it is the start of a healing process for the professor's family, the most direct victims of them.
Arven has such a fight against loss and grief. One can see and understand how the lack of love has shaped him into the person he is, in his vision and at first resentment of many things: Parents, Koraidon/Miraidon, himself... and from that same pain the deep need to care and love is born, that is why at the end of the day, he goes after the search for a closure and understanding, thus growing as a person and becoming stonger in diferent ways, all while still trying to find himself.
While some can be changed around depending who you ask, I could agree on the 20 spots here are definitely the most deserving, and the top five specifically I'd agree would be set in stone. Though Pokémon has a lot of loveable characters, the ones that are written interestingly is surprisingly low. It's understandable how a good lot of the ones here, such as N or Guzma, would be fan favourites.
I'd have put Alder in there somewhere. The guy spent his entire life trying to be the Champion and eventually reached that goal, but then had his starter Pokemon die shortly afterwards. He was so focused on his ultimate goal that he neglected to enjoy the journey as well and came to regret it. That's why he retired in BW2, he wanted to help the next generation of trainers realize that you have to find a deeper meaning in your life besides pursuing a goal for its own sake.
Hell, it even got me to think about some of what I want to accomplish in real life and why I want to do them.
I'm so glad you see how well written Hop is
I get so annoyed seeing people ignore the little things they did with him. Even how he throws his PokeBall and changes his team
Emma from the looker stories in xy is easily one of the best written characters in the series, it's so sad that she is so overlooked :(
Literally who?
@@c0mpu73rguy Pokemon XY postgame, that gen 4 detective looker has some missions and she's a girl that the story of that revolves around. You can see her in a pokemon generation episode as well.
She's by far the best written character in series alongside N imo
@@neouma5382 Oh, the one that was hypnotized or something like that. I only know her through cutscenes I watched on youtube which I thought were part of the main game. She didn't left that big of an impression on me.
Emma is certainly a well-written character, but she just doesn't get enough screentime compared to most characters listed. I would put her in over Zinnia, but I guess she doesn't deal with the lore of the series nearly as much, which is probably why Ron didn't include her.
yeah she's the most underrated character in my opinion
in my opinion, Colress deserved a spot on this list. My favorite Pokemon character next to Maxie, his motives aren't that grey- he's evil all around, but damn he has this sly witty feeling to him that makes you truly understand why team plasma is as powerful as they are. I ALWAYS gravitate toward villian teams and not rivals, so I might be biased. I could say soooo much about Colress but I kept it short :')
Emma? From XY? I think she deserves an honorable mention because it is true that she had few moments, but her story is really good
_Agreed. I love Wally but Emma should be here instead of him._
While I understand why she's not on this list, I still wanna mention Nemona. She doesn't have an arc as much as revealing her true self (the theme of SV). She is the protagonist before the protagonist, a talented trainer who put in the same work you did to make it to the very top, becoming far too powerful for anyone else to handle. She started to hold herself back just so others would actually battle her but she never found the same fun in those battles like she had back then. So when she meets you she honours you by helping you grow, as well as training a whole new squad of pokemon, before finally using her new pokemon and her full battle prowes to take you on. She might not be using her strongest pokemon, but to her it's not about how much physical power she can output, it's about her own strategies, which is something I think a lot of people don't understand about Nemona. She's a wonderful character who might not have an in-game arc but is still written quite well. My main complaint is that it is quite easy to misunderstand her motivations and desires, there's barely any dialogue devoted to this side of her, and the fact that she waits for you to arrive to battle her puts some people off, being an exaggerated part of that characterization.
Really appreciate the write-up about some of SV's characters here, as I think it has far and away the best writing in the franchise! I do feel like a character from it was sorely missed here, maybe for the sake of wanting variety from different games - but I think Director Clavell deserves a spot. The idea of an authority figure who initially acts rashly in threatening to expel Team Star but actually works to slowly gain an understanding of them and recognize how both he and the system have failed these students is such a powerful example of a character, and such a down-to-earth concept for such a goofy, silly old guy who managed to beat ALL of the twist villain allegations.
I could write a lot more about him, but I just think it's a shame he didn't make it on here.
Hau in USUM (not SM) is an extremely underrated character. He always looked up to his grandfather Kahuna Hala and wants to be like him, but his laid-back attitude prevents him from growing stronger alongside the protagonist. Eventually he realizes this through interactions with Gladion and Guzma and decides to become stronger than even his grandfather, proceeding with much more motivation. This results in him ultimately challenging the protagonist, who he had mainly just played around with in low-stakes matches before, for the title of champion.
There's a lot more I could say for USUM Hau, but overall he would be in the top 10 or even top 5 best-written characters for me. He's just overlooked because of SM Hau, who was indeed very bland.
Yeah, i like the added interactions/(his scenes with guzma were awesome) confrontations (his own pokemon getting pissed at him) Hau got in USUM which ultimately resulted in him wanting to grow. I personally interpret him to not just be laid-back but actively hating to lose in a genuine battle where he put in the effort (given that he actually cried after losing to you in the usum champion battle + the anime) so he just has lowstake "fun" battles where he doesnt have to confront that.
I dunno where but there was also dialogue somewhere how Hala made him cry once bc he got really angry so since then he has been very soft on him. Hau is probably a very sensitive kid. Also i like his sarcastic side, he isnt purely an over-friendly doormat rival like i see a lot of people interpret him as. Though i understand if youre not interested in a character to begin with you are less likely to pay attention to them
PENNY!!!!
(this was such a good video, well done ron)
Ok
I've come to appreciate Hugh more recently because his rival fights are to make sure you're as strong as he expects you to be instead of just mere competition. His aggressiveness makes sense because he's waited too long just to be old enough to travel and finally bring back his sister's Purrloin.
Despite his looks, the fact that Gladion uses 4 pokemon that evolve by max friendship shows an endearing side to him, and his battle theme is really good in my opinion.
You just know GameFreak wanted SOME characters to be the actual main characters, but didn't do it because the formula didn't allow it.
N, Lillie, Arwen, and maybe even Hugh
An anime or game entirely focused on them? Pwease, Gamefreak-senpai!
I think Nemona could have a place on this list. She loves battling, but not even the self-appointed Top Champion had been able to give her a challenge, so when she sees potential in the protagonist, she becomes excited and encourages them to become strong. When the protagonist becomes a champion themselves and defeats her, she is happy because there is finally someone she can go all-out against.
While there's less to her arc than Arven's and her story isn't as connected with the world as Penny's, she is still a very well-written character.
I'd rank Irida above Adaman personally. The writing shows us how she goes from a nervous/inexperienced leader who is wary of you at first and also struggles with being the leader that can make the right decisions for her clan to a respectable one by the end. Adaman already had all that and didn't undergo much change throughout PLA, which made him less well-written in my eyes (but still a fantastic character tho).
Hop is definitely an underrated character with one of the best arcs in Pokémon. Good to see he made it really far into the list.
I think Blue's growth between RBY and GSC and even cameo in SM/USUM is also quite nice
Hop is so underrated. Glad some people give him the love he deserves.
He is better appreciated in manga. Not treated as someone who always loses, helps Schilly (the female protagonist) find one of her missing Pokémon, and gets along well with marnie since they both have accomplished older brothers.
more like overhated
Excellent video! I just want to add, an extra part of what makes the writing for the Sword and Shield characters so good is the incredible use of British colloquialisms and phrases. As a British raised person myself, the dialogue in SwSh made me incredibly happy and the adapters did such a good job of not only writing the English dialogue well but writing it well in *British English*. I know that may not enhance their arcs and stories but it makes their dialogue fun and then more believable as real people 😊
Yay so glad Hop got a mention! :D Easily my favourite rival since Silver for me, for completely different reasons of course. I want to support him so much, when you battle him in the league I remember wishing there was a way for the story to let him be the winner! But he will make an amazing professor some day! :D
Lillie, Arven and N were fantastic picks for the top three, all brilliant characters!
Great list :D
God, I thoroughly wish I could show Alpharad the segment 6:11 - 7:18. But alas, I still laugh at his quips about SV and the Starfall Street storyline.
This is exactly why Gens 7, 9, and 5 are my favorites. Amazing character work on top of fun gameplay
This video is amazing and changed my mind about one character: Hugh. I love BW and B2W2, but Hugh did seem one note for me, but I now see how wrong I was. A caring older brother who learns really aren’t as black and white as they might seem, who’s a pretty damn good fighter as well. Now definitely one of my top rivals
I'm happy to see gen 7 getting some love. To me it always was a great generation that people dislike for some reason.
Probably the infinite tutorial. :D Scarlet and Violet are pretty good with letting you off the leash early.
@@shorewall Pff, they're exaggerating, I played this game twice (Moon and Ultra Sun) and it never bothered me that much. At least it was implemented through cutscenes instead of pop up boxes. It is a lot better in ScarVio though, I agree with that (and it did look better in SwSh but I can't say for sure, I skipped this game).
As someone who’s a fan of the later generations, it’s great to see that the list is completely made up of gen 5+ characters, and in Wally’s case, a character who’s best iteration comes from a remake made in gen 6. It makes me happy to see Hop and Hugh so high up, since they’re some of my favorite rivals. I’m also glad you made a point to mention the original Sun and Moon when talking about Lusamine and Lillie, since I personally doubt they’d be on the list if we got Ultra as the one and only Alola game. The top 3 being Arven, Lillie, and N is also very fitting.
This is definitely one of your best videos yet! I'm a gen 5 fan and Alola just has great characters. Your top 5 are amazing and honestly Hugh is SUCH a well-written character for a Pokémon game.
Can't believe you left out the part when N saved Nate/Rosa from certain doom by Kyurem's signature move Glaciate.
Zinnia has been my favorite character since she was announced. I've always been a Gen 3 fanboy (Sapphire was my first game when it came out), and my favorite Pokemon has always been Salamence. When they revealed this cool-ass girl with a signature Salamence and a BANGER theme, it was over for me
That being said, Lillie is my 2nd favorite right behind her
When you get to the crater in SV you really can't help but wish for them to have done voice acting especially the Professors
I love how no one cared about ingo until legends arceus and everyone felt sorry for him while playing through the game
I enjoy the majority of this list. Because it shows you really took a look into the characters and how they are written like Hop and Hugh. Lotta people dismiss them for one reason or another, but as characters they are pretty neat!
It’s gonna be hard to create a more perfect character than N. Incredible story of someone who thinks he’s doing right thanks to Ghetsis’ manipulation, and he is in his mind. Returns 2 years later and gets redemption against his father and saves the player and Kyurem, eventually releasing the final key to the original plan: his dragon fit for a king
He was, is and will forever be a discount Hilbert. An unworthy hero who still chooses to keep his dragon despite knowing he is unworthy. Arguably the most self obsessed character and the last 5% of BW1 is arguably the worst part of the Pokemon franchise ever. And this includes them hospitalizing kids in the infamous porygon episode. In my eyes he was the #2 worst thing to happen to the Pokemon franchise behind gen 7
@@libertygarden8161 nice opinion bro
@@libertygarden8161 who hurt you bro
@@libertygarden8161 Discount Hilbert??? Lol Hilbert is a flat character and for just self inserts. He has no personality lol
This was a great list with great perspective! When I look at how well a Pokémon character is written, I always find myself reading heavily between the lines, so I always see how much potential they have and fall in love with that aspect. I really appreciate this video for that reason
Same, really! I get that Pokémon characters may not be the most fleshed out in comparison to other games, but this intentionally designed and required reading between the lines is honestly what I enjoy about them!
This is amazing because I just finished rewatching a ton of your Pokémon tier lists including the character ones 😂
i love how many Gen 7 characters made this list
funny how Ghetsis was at the beginning of the list and N was at the end, starting and ending with Gen 5
Refreshing to see a pokemon ranking dominated by the later gens - great video 😊
I loved this video ! The music and your commentary really made shine through the beauty of some of this characters, that would otherwise seem to be pretty dull and forgettable. I don't think pokemon characters are badly written in general, you just don't spend enough time with them to realise their potential, and that's why characters like Cynthia, who are more visually appealing, are more popular. The story of pokemon games fells almost secondary sometimes, while it totally has the potential to be something absolutley beautiful, and this video made me realise it.
sry for bad english
Arven is an amazing character man.
The first time I saw Ingo in PLA, I thought “Oh hey subway boss ancestor.” Then Irida explains how he got here I went “Oh snap it is one of them!!!”
This is a great list, I agree with most of it. Also N is my favorite Pokémon character so I definitely agree with his placement
this video just reinforced how much i adore gen 7! definitely some of the best characters and story points in the series
Great video. Really pleased to see AI Turo, Guzma and even Hop this high up. Can't agree with Hugh though, he looks like a Silver-type edgelord and instead he comes off as a totally all-for-good guy chasing down a household cat. But I'm glad to know he's got a supporter out there so cheers for putting your points forward. We're especially spoiled that this was a Top 20 when it could've easily been a Top 10! Would love to see more like these
The main problem with Arven and Lillie for me is that Pokemon is a game that's main character will always be a silent protagonist. Lillie and Arven feel like they should be main characters because of big events in the story. Sometimes I feel like a background character but now I have to face their problems. The AI Professor and Ultra Beast Lusamine don't feel like my fights to win.
One thing I love about cheren is his pokemon use held items in bw and at the post game battle I lost to him this made me think about what he said before the battle about using held items since then I used held items in main playthrough and no just competitive
Oh thank god. An overwhelmingly positive video. I've drudged through bald faced liew, back handed compliments and Cinemasins level complaints in the last twelve Pokemon vids I watched.
I’ve been hoping for a video like this for months
Ron obliged me to watch this video after his stream. Don't regret it
That Ghetsis jump scare. Jesus Christ lol
Yes haha
I agree with this list 100%
Yet again, another excellent list from Truegreen7
I hated arven at first, he seemed annoying. But now I really love him! His story was just so interesting and heartbreaking.
Still, no one will ever beat N, but Arven is now on second place for me!
This is a really cool video idea! Could we perhaps get one about the best written characters in the anime?
i dont care if its too early but i hope gen 10 gives us more well written characters
Perhaps the effectiveness of the character execution and how well the character develops despite being a flat character are more important factors on this list than the characters' complexity as evidenced by their actions, philosophies, and morals. I agree about N being No. 1 though.
I honestly believe that due to thematic reason pokemon black is the best game to choose since in that game n gets zekrom who represents ideals which n at the time whole heartedly aggrees with the ideals of team plasma. But we come along with reshiram who represents truth so that we can show n the truth about the world.
hop is a good character and i'm tired of pretending he's not.
please do more lore videos like these :-)) loving it
Wait how did I never realize that Wally’s battle theme in OrAs is just a guitar cover of his over world theme until now
All in all, very agreeable list! As someone whose favorite part of any Pokémon experience are its human characters, it always makes me happy seeing their stories, arcs and personalities explained well and shown in a positive light. They're all dear to me in one way or another, thank you so much for hyping them up!
EDIT: Watching this video a few times over suddenly made me realize why the newer half of generations tend to appeal to me so much more than the older ones do. Seriously, I feel so ridiculous for not making this connection sooner, this game series has been with me for ages and I only made sense of my preferences when realizing that, when counting Wally as Gen 6, not a single pre-Gen 5 character made this list. So... thank you again, I guess. 😅
the top 3 are chef kiss, I totally agree with that
Penny became one of my favourite Pokémon characters when she said she had a lot of anime she wanted to binge.
It's kind of funny how there are no gym leaders hear despite being the most recognized group of trainers each region. I feel like by design, they kinda can't be fleshed out, you spend max 5 minutes actually with a given leader and you usually don't see them again. Even the more "well written" gym leaders are like a kiddy pool being compared to a puddle. This just really shows off how good Pokemon's character design is, with it doing a lot of heavy lifting in order to give more of a kiddy pool feel to these puddles.
We know quite a bit of the gym leaders in gen 8 and 9 but they don't have arcs or evolve in the games while cheren is a gym leader he had a whole game being a rival before that
Even though Anabel only got an offhand mention I am really happy to see her mentioned in any capacity
THANK YOU! Someone else who understand Hop's arc!
Some people really hate Bianca, so I’m glad you could explain why she’s a great character.
Every Pokémon character is well written that’s why they are all so beloved
They all have their own unique charm
I couldn't even remember who was who between Ingo and Emmet before, but now I really care for Ingo.
IM EARLY!! This made my day , thanks Ron!
Gen 7. Definitely, by far, my favorite video games. Above all others, the storyline was my favorite, the characters, Pokémon, all of it was fantastic. That’s just me though.
Also the OST- also my favorite (besides BoTW, of course)
Nah nah man I ain’t tappin nothin
Hey Ron, Nice Video. You definitely should help me with character development on a Pokémon game I’m working on!
I'm so proud of myself for not liking Volo from the start. He's overbearing and a little too obsessed and that threw me off. Then finding out he was the bad guy all along? Felt amazing
My favorite thing about arven is how in the beginning we see so many things about him like his random anger and especially his search the herbs and we don’t know why. This makes him seem like a badly written character but when we finally find out why he does these things it’s makes for a satisfying and great character
I think Arven is easily the best and benefits from having a much more grounded story overall as opposed to someone like N who in being so grandiose, makes it easy to disconnect from him and makes him seem more pretentious than anything else.
Edit: Plus his mental resilience is truly admirable. Dude gets completely traumatized over the course of his life and the adventure in area zero and picks himself back up quickly. Actually admirable.
I think the coolest thing about Arven is how life has treated him so poorly at nearly every step. He turns to his Pokémon for comfort after being abandoned by his parents but even that goes down poorly. Can you imagine essentially losing your parents and then nearly losing the only friend that kept you pushing through life? And then it fucking turns out your parents DID die anyway and you had no idea so long ago so you never had a chance to talk to them about things? He is so beaten up which makes his efforts so much more admirable.
@@Nintendan95 Exactly, and on top of all that dude just picks himself back up and never stops to feel sorry for himself. Actual chad.
N was indoctrinated by the beliefs of his parental figure. That's a story a lot of people can also relate to. I think you're being a bit unfair in that regard.
Yeah! My favorite character got number 1! loved the video
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Yoshi sound
This was such a good list! So many characters who made an impact on me made it on. Legends Arceus and Scarlet Violet among alot of others have such good writing!
Especially Black and White, Sun and Moon, Sword and Shield, all so good..
shoutouts to pokemon sun and moon i feel like those games dont get enough credit
Something about Hop that I feel people put him down for, is that like Hau, he picks the starter weak to yours
But he doesn’t
He picks the starter strong against the one Leon was going to take
No one talks about how Hop changes his team to try to become stronger, but eventually figures out that his original Pokémon work just fine and you don’t have to have the strongest or most popular Pokémon to be good in battle. I completely agree with his placement on this list.
I do like Hugh a lot, but I think he should go closer to Adaman and Irida.
I do not think AZ lives up to his potential enough to be higher than Kukui.
How have I never noticed Sonia swirling her hair like that untill now LOL
Personally, I think arven is the best written
The fact he has his whole origin story with his injured mabosstiff and he lost his parents is amazing
For Penny, I wouldn't said she made the code for Team Star, that's Giacomo. She did say that the method to take down the leaders via battle was her idea so it's safe to assume that the code was a collaborative effort amongst the whole crew.
Giacomo likely made a baseline draft, get everyone to input what they believe is best for the team, then likely have a vote to see if all members agree to this new code, if not he make changes until everybody agrees to this new code. This is all head cannon, but given that Penny added parts to the code and the whole group agrees to not get help from their parents, it make sense that the code was made as a group effort. This also works as a means to show that Giacomo had changed for the better as the best way to know if the action is logically sound is to have the people involved in that field given their insight.
I am SO glad somebody finally affirmed my appreciation for Hugh as a rival in B2W2.