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Unpopular opinions
- Thread starter antemortem
- Start date
"GF" stands for "get fucked"
I retract literally almost every bit of this. Approaching the final stretch of my XY scramble playthrough and oh my god Lysandre SUCKS SO MUCH ASS what the hell was I thinking calling him "decent" he's undercooked traaaash. His dialogue isnt even funny bad, it's just hackneyed "THIS WORLD IS IMPERFECT" shit with no flavor or spice. Only thing that stands is the banger music and the "Why are you crying" scene but that's it, fuck this dude he makes Chairman Rose seem as complex and iconic as Heath Ledger Joker. At least he aint RSE Maxie/Archie or Archer i guess
Team Flare is imo the undisputed worst part of XY but that's for another time
I never understood why Electivire is so hated in Gen 4 OU.
Game Freak are a LOT more receptive to fans than we often think or assume. Perhaps they're not on the same wavelength often, but if you think about it, they are in a good place at least. Gen 6 not having the weather wars of Gen 5, for instance, and Gen 7 nerfing Aegislash competitively. The fact they decided on a DPP remake for the anniversary instead of another Gen 1 remake, them making much better and more engaging characters in both ORAS and SM/USUM after XY fell flat in that area...HGSS, though I find it overrated, is literally fanservice galore.
Now they just need to nerf Stealth Rock, tired of seeing that move on every team almost...
Game Freak are a LOT more receptive to fans than we often think or assume. Perhaps they're not on the same wavelength often, but if you think about it, they are in a good place at least. Gen 6 not having the weather wars of Gen 5, for instance, and Gen 7 nerfing Aegislash competitively. The fact they decided on a DPP remake for the anniversary instead of another Gen 1 remake, them making much better and more engaging characters in both ORAS and SM/USUM after XY fell flat in that area...HGSS, though I find it overrated, is literally fanservice galore.
Now they just need to nerf Stealth Rock, tired of seeing that move on every team almost...
They already did, it's called Heavy-Duty Boots.
Not to mention the terribly inconsistent characterization. In one moment he goes "Oh, I'm sorry [Xerosic] prevented your attempts to stop the weapon" and then, no more than 10 or 15 minutes later he cosplays Doctor Octopus, his team gains nearly 10 levels, and he's all like "I don't care you got rid of the power source, I'm firing the weapon anyways!" (And how does the Ultimate Weapon work, if you disconnected the legendary?)
His USUM incarnation, with way less screentime, looks like a masterpiece in comparison.
(Though I disagree in that RSE Maxie/Archie are worse than XY Lysandre - they might be more stupid, but their characterization is better and their stupidity is consistent)
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Lysandre just really suffers from X and Y's big, big problem of failing to portray its characters in a good way. I think he had potential to be an interesting antagonist given his backstory, but even that is not touched upon very well and it's unfortunate that the game did a poor job of expanding on its characters in a good way.
An NPC in Snowbelle who was an old friend of Lysandre describes his backstory: he was a benevolent man who only wanted to help others in need, but people repeatedly took advantage of his kindness and combined with his own limitations, drove him to insanity as he got mad at how greedy people were and was also frustrated at the fact that he as a person could only do so much for other people, which drove him to become a misanthrope and ultimately led to his own suffering in an ironic twist of fate, believing that the world was beyond redemption. That actually shows Lysandre in a much more compelling light: a kind, benevolent man who dedicated himself to helping others, and dreamed more than anything of making the world better, but eventually being driven insane because of the fact that 1. People took his kindness for granted, and 2. He had to face his own limitations as a person, because he alone could only do so much for the world.
In that sense, Lysandre was not only a well-intentioned man at one point, he dreamed of making the world better and in that sense was an idealist. But his inability to realize his ideals given his limitations drove him to insanity and ultimately attempting extreme methods to get his ideal world: essentially becoming a "the end justifies the means" character. Unfortunately, that aspect of him was only described in an offhand NPC dialogue that is very easy to miss, and X and Y did a poor job of showcasing that aspect of him otherwise.
An NPC in Snowbelle who was an old friend of Lysandre describes his backstory: he was a benevolent man who only wanted to help others in need, but people repeatedly took advantage of his kindness and combined with his own limitations, drove him to insanity as he got mad at how greedy people were and was also frustrated at the fact that he as a person could only do so much for other people, which drove him to become a misanthrope and ultimately led to his own suffering in an ironic twist of fate, believing that the world was beyond redemption. That actually shows Lysandre in a much more compelling light: a kind, benevolent man who dedicated himself to helping others, and dreamed more than anything of making the world better, but eventually being driven insane because of the fact that 1. People took his kindness for granted, and 2. He had to face his own limitations as a person, because he alone could only do so much for the world.
In that sense, Lysandre was not only a well-intentioned man at one point, he dreamed of making the world better and in that sense was an idealist. But his inability to realize his ideals given his limitations drove him to insanity and ultimately attempting extreme methods to get his ideal world: essentially becoming a "the end justifies the means" character. Unfortunately, that aspect of him was only described in an offhand NPC dialogue that is very easy to miss, and X and Y did a poor job of showcasing that aspect of him otherwise.
So in the end he was Cyrus with an even worse sense of fashion.
Of course, they give you this backstory after the story is already resolved and Lysandre is too, well, buried under tons of rubble to say or do anything concerning this revelation. Also, it's the same song and dance as Cyrus, meaning they made the same terrible writing mistake twice except for a worse villain who needed the context and build-up way more.
Why is Team Flare
I actually want to hear your thoughts on team galactic as a whole, considering you said that cyrus and lysandre are quite similar
They good. Not exceptional, not mindblowing, but good. They provide a nice recurring threat, their appearances and actions are striking (e.g. the bombing of Lake Verity), 2/3 admins while kinda shallow personality-wise have memorably challenging boss fights, and Cyrus is an intimidating baddy, especially in Platinum which contextualizes the grunts by explaining how Cyrus sees them as dumbasses he's exploiting for his own gain. Flare felt like it was going for something similar with the whole "megalomaniac leader who wants to forcibly remake the world to suit their twisted ideal of superiority" thing except... y'know... worse in every way. It especially stings when you realize they're sandwiched in between the two games which are generally accepted to have the best stories in the series
Lysandre said the Ultimate Weapon absorbed enough energy to fire once.
"Oh no you just did not"
My theory is that after the seriousness of Team Plasma they were split of either having a silly team or keep on with the serious villain, so they did the bad idea of doing both: the team grunts are silly but the leader & his goals are serious.
What makes Lysandre looks worse imo is that his genocidal goals are something that Pokemon storytelling were just NOT ready to handle properly.
Something over the top crazy like recreating the universe or expanding ocean/landmass (although this one has some real life inspirations) can and were handled better to fit in the narrative, while still being a core aspect of the team leaders. Genocide is another level, Lysandre's objective is to flat out kill everyone that doesn't fit in his agenda. This essentially needs to be handled with much more care than other motivations: either a more insightful introspection of Lysandre's character, maybe making him feel more of a threat than other villains prior (manga and anime succeeded at this), or making him more sympathetic and genuinely close to the player (game attempted to do this but he acts so bloody obviously as a bad guy even before the """big reveal""") so that his rant feels genuinely tragic instead of a painfully edgy tirade.
Something over the top crazy like recreating the universe or expanding ocean/landmass (although this one has some real life inspirations) can and were handled better to fit in the narrative, while still being a core aspect of the team leaders. Genocide is another level, Lysandre's objective is to flat out kill everyone that doesn't fit in his agenda. This essentially needs to be handled with much more care than other motivations: either a more insightful introspection of Lysandre's character, maybe making him feel more of a threat than other villains prior (manga and anime succeeded at this), or making him more sympathetic and genuinely close to the player (game attempted to do this but he acts so bloody obviously as a bad guy even before the """big reveal""") so that his rant feels genuinely tragic instead of a painfully edgy tirade.
My unpopular opinion:
Gardevoir and lucario are more overrated than charizard and they are trash because their reason of popularity is terrible
Gardevoir and lucario are more overrated than charizard and they are trash because their reason of popularity is terrible
As much as I despise Lucario (and don't really care much about Gardevoir - it's fine but that's it)... what other people think of it shouldn't influence your opinion.
What forms of "art" people make with them is not the Pokémon's fault.
Yeah i know but if a pokemon's whole popularity is based on something that wasn't even supposed to be part of pokemon but rather uneccesory fanfiction which is bad influence makes ne despise it. We all know over 90% of people who like those pokemon don't like those as pokemon at all
My big issue with Lucario is that it is both the most popular Steel-type, and utterly awful at being a Steel-type. So whenever there's a crossover or something, there's nobody saying that it needs more Steel-types because it has Lucario, but I'm still disappointed because my favourite type doesn't have anything with its aesthetic or something that uses moves of its type.
Uhh... *Looks at the Trainer Card I made for the Trainer Card thread*
... Hehe, at least the bottom row aren't popular picks?
Sadly I think the reason Steel is under-looked is due to being a defensive Typing and not really having the offense Moves that it could use to spring itself to the forefront. Like Body Press should have been a Steel-type move or Steel-types should get a clone of of it (call it something like "Shield Bash"). Steel also needs a Slash copy ("Razor Blade" sounds appropriate enough), we got plenty of Pokemon with metal (or at least metal-like) blades but no Steel-type move to go with it (infact I'm surprised we still haven't gotten one when they introduced the Pawniard family, Honedge family, Kartana, or Galarian Meowth; Metal Claw ain't cutting it, GF). Finally, while Iron Head is nice, I also think it could use a generic "strong arm" attack like maybe a copy of Hammer Arm ("Iron Hammer", the Speed decrease not only shouldn't bother most Steel-types but could help them on Trick Room teams).
Uhh... *Looks at the Trainer Card I made for the Trainer Card thread*
... Hehe, at least the bottom row aren't popular picks?
Toxtricity definitely is, and from what I can see it's up there as an immediate fan favorite nowadays. If there's any Pokemon in Gen 8 who has a Lucario-esque popularity, it's Toxtricity.
(Not that I mind though, Toxtricity is awesome and deserves its immense popularity).
You forgot to add hydreigon as well. Hydreigon is a popular mon nowadays and ranks within other fan favs. Its ranked st 27 as one of the most popular pokemon in general at the official pokemon of the year poll
In fairness you just described Smart Strike. It has deceptively wide distribution, especially for a Steel-Type attack that isn’t Metal Claw, but Steel-Type’s fairly poor offensive prowess means it’s often still not the best option (unless you’re Kartana looking for STAB) because most non-Steel-Type Pokémon prefer other coverage and most Steel-Type Pokémon get Iron Head. Gunfisk just suffers with neither.Uhh... *Looks at the Trainer Card I made for the Trainer Card thread*
... Hehe, at least the bottom row aren't popular picks?
Sadly I think the reason Steel is under-looked is due to being a defensive Typing and not really having the offense Moves that it could use to spring itself to the forefront. Like Body Press should have been a Steel-type move or Steel-types should get a clone of of it (call it something like "Shield Bash"). Steel also needs a Slash copy ("Razor Blade" sounds appropriate enough), we got plenty of Pokemon with metal (or at least metal-like) blades but no Steel-type move to go with it (infact I'm surprised we still haven't gotten one when they introduced the Pawniard family, Honedge family, Kartana, or Galarian Meowth; Metal Claw ain't cutting it, GF). Finally, while Iron Head is nice, I also think it could use a generic "strong arm" attack like maybe a copy of Hammer Arm ("Iron Hammer", the Speed decrease not only shouldn't bother most Steel-types but could help them on Trick Room teams).
You don't get it from the English name, but Smart Strike is a horn-based move; It's Japanese name is "Smart Horn". So the only Steel-types that get it are Aggron, Excadrill, Escavalier (prevo had a horn), Cobalion, & Celesteela. Meanwhile, if they made a Steel-type Slash (or preferably Leaf Blade for the higher Power) then Alolan Sandshrew family, Galarian Meowth family, Scyther family, Skarmory, Mawile, Lairon & Aggron, Empoleon, Excadrill, Escavalier, Ferrothorn, Pawniard family, Durant, Cobalion, Genesect, Honedge family, Klefki, Solgaleo, Kartana, Corviknight, & Zacian would get in addition with other Pokemon that can learn Slash & its variants.