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SPOILERS! Characters
- Thread starter BARABOY
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Cresselia~~
Junichi Masuda likes this!!
The man dressed as a Hypno and asked money from you.
Great Japanese humor.
Great Japanese humor.
Hapu is criminally underrated. Fairly young, but still a very assertive and spunky character. She even journeys across the islands to train to be worthy of the title whereas Hala spends more time with Sumo and Olivia and Nanu pretty much just idle most of the time.
Also, Gladion deserves a mention - way more character and expression than every other edgelord and is a more interesting take on the rival concept as he doesn't really care about your goals. Also, most characters supporting you take on the villain teams just stand at the sidelines and cheer for you (like Cynthia), Gladion not just actively fights with you, but actually takes the lead when inflitrating the Aether Paraside.
Also, Gladion deserves a mention - way more character and expression than every other edgelord and is a more interesting take on the rival concept as he doesn't really care about your goals. Also, most characters supporting you take on the villain teams just stand at the sidelines and cheer for you (like Cynthia), Gladion not just actively fights with you, but actually takes the lead when inflitrating the Aether Paraside.
Considering only the major characters, I'd pick the following:
-Detective Badd Nanu (what is striked out should show why I liked him)
- Acerola (for breaking the mold of Ghost-type trainers with her cheerfulness, while still being able to be taken seriously)
- Gladion (starts off somewhat like Silver, but instead of "not nice guy turns out good", it becomes a "quest" to discover he was actually good to begin with, even if aloof. Bonus points for being the only rival who actually has real significance to the story, instead of being just someone you come across multiple times)
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- Acerola (for breaking the mold of Ghost-type trainers with her cheerfulness, while still being able to be taken seriously)
- Gladion (starts off somewhat like Silver, but instead of "not nice guy turns out good", it becomes a "quest" to discover he was actually good to begin with, even if aloof. Bonus points for being the only rival who actually has real significance to the story, instead of being just someone you come across multiple times)
I found myself liking Gladion a lot more than I thought. Like I was going in with a likeness for him just because he's ridiculous, but he has a great lines, great expressions and his conversations with Hau are fantastic. And the way he takes charge after Lillie is kidnapped is great, so was him leading everyone during the lusamine confrontation.
And he's the one that names Silvally and his clothes are maximum chuuni because Null accidentally tore them so he sewed them up and that's adorable.
shout out to finding him in the akala motel where is sole line is "Get out."
But really, I could gush about all of Sun & Moon's cast. Just about everyone is likable and full of personality to varying degrees. Before this game I'd probably dig Bianca Shauna and Looker the most, everyone else either got no focus, did get focus but was a total miss (BW1 Cheren, N as a whole) or only had a few good lines/backstory that you kidn of had to dig out of random npcs (Wattson). BW1 & 2 really enjoyed that last one, which is fine, I liked the bits I was able to squeeze out but it's hard to list them as "favorite" anything, you know?
And he's the one that names Silvally and his clothes are maximum chuuni because Null accidentally tore them so he sewed them up and that's adorable.
shout out to finding him in the akala motel where is sole line is "Get out."
But really, I could gush about all of Sun & Moon's cast. Just about everyone is likable and full of personality to varying degrees. Before this game I'd probably dig Bianca Shauna and Looker the most, everyone else either got no focus, did get focus but was a total miss (BW1 Cheren, N as a whole) or only had a few good lines/backstory that you kidn of had to dig out of random npcs (Wattson). BW1 & 2 really enjoyed that last one, which is fine, I liked the bits I was able to squeeze out but it's hard to list them as "favorite" anything, you know?
Hmmm... I've never posted in OI before today, but I felt I had to second all of the above sentiments regarding Gladion, Nanu, and Lillie. Gladion is particularly memorable for me. He has one line during the whole "stop Lusamine!" arc where Hau mentions how nice Lusamine is. In response, Gladion says something like "sure, she's nice--if you mean nothing to her." That was such a shocking and memorable line to me; I feel it really makes Lusamine's abusiveness and general insanity clear at just the right point in the story. On the topic of Lusamine, I personally found her to be one of the more interesting of the major antagonists (being the first female one is pretty cool too). Her backstory regarding Mohn (her husband) and the UBs was super intriguing as well.
I should also mention how much I adore Nanu. He's my favorite Kahuna, by far. His relation to the coolest trial captain, Acerola, only makes it better. I particularly love his no-nonsense attitude and refusal to become one of the Elite Four. I was so pleased when I discovered his little scene in Sushi High Roller too... I also love how he has an absurd number of Meowth in his station on Route 17--it makes sense with him being descended from the fallen Alolan royalty as well (due to Alolan Meowth's lore).
Aside from the SM cast, it's hard for me to pick out any particularly memorable characters. But, if I had to, it'd probably be: Bianca, Elesa, Caitlyn (the whole Psychic thing was a very nice touch), Cynthia, Wally, Wallace and Steven, Silver, and Iris. Valerie and the Kalosian E4 get shoutouts too, I guess, but mostly because their respective "stages"/locations (Laverre city/gym and Kalos E4 Cathedral) were ridiculously cool.
As an aside, I didn't mention Lillie, because I could go on for many, many, many paragraphs about her. She was way too good of a character. sigh
I should also mention how much I adore Nanu. He's my favorite Kahuna, by far. His relation to the coolest trial captain, Acerola, only makes it better. I particularly love his no-nonsense attitude and refusal to become one of the Elite Four. I was so pleased when I discovered his little scene in Sushi High Roller too... I also love how he has an absurd number of Meowth in his station on Route 17--it makes sense with him being descended from the fallen Alolan royalty as well (due to Alolan Meowth's lore).
Aside from the SM cast, it's hard for me to pick out any particularly memorable characters. But, if I had to, it'd probably be: Bianca, Elesa, Caitlyn (the whole Psychic thing was a very nice touch), Cynthia, Wally, Wallace and Steven, Silver, and Iris. Valerie and the Kalosian E4 get shoutouts too, I guess, but mostly because their respective "stages"/locations (Laverre city/gym and Kalos E4 Cathedral) were ridiculously cool.
As an aside, I didn't mention Lillie, because I could go on for many, many, many paragraphs about her. She was way too good of a character. sigh
What 0_0
I missed this person, could you sum up their story?
you find her in the hauli cemetery at night (after beating hala?). She & the machamp are visting the grave of her husband/its trainer who died in a car crash. At the last second, he recalled Machamp to its pokeball which is why it's fine. But since then, it refuses to stay in its ball and always makes sure to carry the wife if she goes anywhere.
Lillie really surprised me on how much I liked her character and arc. Skipping to the wild theories when she was first revealed, when playing through the game I liked how, despite not being a trainer (something she annoying likes to keep pointing out) she did all she could to help Nebby, thus showing to be a proactive person. This came to a head after the whole Aether Paradise incident where she sheds her shy personality for her "Z-powered form" one (a name which would have made more sense had it been "Mega form" as Mega Evolution is the transformation up-grade technique not Z-Moves wich are just a super attack, but I digress). She goes through Poni Valley by herself, awakens Nebby's true potential with help from the player, and finally gave a talking down to her insane mother (and eventually freed her from Nihilego control).
Her relationship with Nebby and to the player was sweet; her care for Nebby showing she was not only kind-hearted and determined but also meant to be compared and contrasted with Lusamine's: Lillie is in practice what essentially Lusamine says she herself was, a person who wanted to protect Pokemon with their love. Her relation the player helped give the player a place in a story as not only muscle but also as an inspiration to Lillie to take that "Z-powered form" step and confront her mother. And her side relations such as with Professor Kukui, Burnet, and Hau were also sweet. I only wished they may have found a way to expand her relation with Gladion, we only get a short bit about Lillie being angry she left her when he ran and that's really it. Maybe at some point have it hinted Gladion sent the third Type: Null to Lillie, trusting that when she becomes a strong trainer she'd be able to use and evolve it much like him and the player.
Overall Lillie is a great character, her story arc being right up there with Silver's, N's, and Emma's.
I'm sure we can list off a batch of the one off NPCs. So how about the one group that really stood out to me: The Eeveelution Users.
Sun & Moon brought a lot of hard facts of life into the Pokemon world, one being about the effect growing up has on you. We always saw these games through the point of view of a kid/teenager who's ready to take on the Pokemon World, but what happens after that? Well we see most trainers who can't be masters just live normal lives and making it by as we all do. Kagetora was a strong Eevee user but was never able to get beyond that point and eventually settled down, started a family, and is working a job to pay mortgage bills. But it gets sad (or rather sadder) as we face the other Eeveelution Users who are all elderly. One has Alzheimer's, another is constantly in and out of the hospital (though this has been a life long problem for him), one used all her money for medicine and operations to keep looking young but she still had old week bones, and one even passed away so you had to fight her granddaughter instead. Its a really grounding side quest, the point being you should make all you can with your life as its fleeting.
While I like Nanu for his non-caring attitude, for me he really came into his own in the Looker Missions. He has a lot of hidden depths, and though he acts like he doesn't care he actually deep down does, which is why he stays near Po City and helps Looker to assure Abigail's safety (and prepares the player via a battle). He also has his goofy side as we see during the times he does his Z-Move pose.Nanu. Between having an actual aura of couldn't-care-less and ditching his own Elite Four role because he felt like it, he's definitely one of the most memorable characters, if not the best just because of that personality.
Also
Another interesting thing about Nanu: he and Molayne (Sophocle's cousin) convinced her to take the Pokemon League challenge. While its probably them trying to encourage a strong trainer to get out of the rut she put herself in, at the same time I wonder if at least Nanu is trying to find someone else to be Kahuna. He's only Kahuna because you can't really say no to a Legendary choosing you, and had Molayne been worthy he would have been chosen already. So maybe helping to get Plumeria on track would get Tapu Bulu considering her (at least in my headcanon, I also think Guzma should become Champion after these games, not because he wanted the position but his reason for taking it is that he's "holding it" for someone he wants to battle when they come back (thus hinting the player character, like all the others, had left on another journey)).
Maybe I'll comment on other characters later and add my own. I'm surprised no one had mentioned Kukui, Hau, or Guzma yet.
Honestly, Kukui was really good because of the dialogue choices you can make in the game. Like the whole immediately calling him out on the "Masked Royal" thing to which he indignantly responded that he's the Masked Royal. Or, calling him out for not wearing a shirt on top of Mount Lanakila and watching him goofily respond to it.
Though finding out he's the final challenge in the initial run of the Elite Four was a nice surprise and change of pace and may even be a reference to the Professor Oak battle that was dummied out
I do have to say that I love Lillie. I did not at all expect to feel for a character in the Pokemon games, but here I am. I feel the games are really about her and you're just the "narrator character". Most of the game is her character arc. In fact, the game's story is practically complete outside of the Elite Four when you finish it. I would love to say more but I'd just be repeating everyone in this thread.
I'm surprised no one brought up Team Skull and ya boi Guzma yet. Their whole dialogue is gold, and they are also proof that an evil team doesn't need some bs genocidal plan to be memorable; you just need some straight-up thugs with attitude.
I like how Guzma was handled in this game. He definitely came across as a formidable adversary that you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley; going through Po Town was enough to send a shiver down my spine, especially after Nanu's grim promise. Yet at the same time, he wasn't necessarily crazy or evil, he was just a normal guy who lost his way after feeling rejected by the Captains and the Kahunas. In spite of being an antagonist, he still felt human, which is more than most other criminal bosses can claim.
Another feat that Team Skull can claim is that it's not just the boss and maybe the admins that are memorable; even the grunts are great. Their dialogue is comedy gold, and every encounter with them is memorable, with special shoutouts to the Po Town interactions (The Pokemon center grunts, the two female grunts fighting over which outfit belongs to who, the two male grunts by the pool trying and failing to converse with each other, the list can go on). That's something no other criminal gang in the franchise can claim; the closest competition would be the single rocket grunt that steals the power plant part in GSC whom you later meet in B/W, and while he is memorable in his own right, one grunt compared to a whole team of grunts is a pretty big difference.
I could go on about every other character in these games, but everyone else has pretty much covered them, and this post would be way too long if I included my thoughts on all the other characters. Basically, S/M are hands down the best games in the series when it comes to the cast of characters.
I like how Guzma was handled in this game. He definitely came across as a formidable adversary that you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley; going through Po Town was enough to send a shiver down my spine, especially after Nanu's grim promise. Yet at the same time, he wasn't necessarily crazy or evil, he was just a normal guy who lost his way after feeling rejected by the Captains and the Kahunas. In spite of being an antagonist, he still felt human, which is more than most other criminal bosses can claim.
Another feat that Team Skull can claim is that it's not just the boss and maybe the admins that are memorable; even the grunts are great. Their dialogue is comedy gold, and every encounter with them is memorable, with special shoutouts to the Po Town interactions (The Pokemon center grunts, the two female grunts fighting over which outfit belongs to who, the two male grunts by the pool trying and failing to converse with each other, the list can go on). That's something no other criminal gang in the franchise can claim; the closest competition would be the single rocket grunt that steals the power plant part in GSC whom you later meet in B/W, and while he is memorable in his own right, one grunt compared to a whole team of grunts is a pretty big difference.
I could go on about every other character in these games, but everyone else has pretty much covered them, and this post would be way too long if I included my thoughts on all the other characters. Basically, S/M are hands down the best games in the series when it comes to the cast of characters.
It's funny that the Grunts were all named Grunt, even if they're just making fun of the nameless grunts from other regions. I love all of the important characters in Alola.
Kukui's battle was a nice surprise as well. I wonder if the battle against him for Title Defense was a reference to the dummied out Oak battle in Classic Kanto, though.
Kukui's battle was a nice surprise as well. I wonder if the battle against him for Title Defense was a reference to the dummied out Oak battle in Classic Kanto, though.
On my first (and second I guess) run of the game, First Impression / Razor Shell almost wiped my team. This thing surprised me.
Anyway, my favourite character is....mabye...I can't decide. The entire cast is so damn good in this game, as people have said. It's not just one or two stand out characters like past gens, it's the whole lot. From Lillie to Hau and Gladion (and their interactions), Nanu and all the others, all feels so amazingly well done for a Pokemon game. Saying that, I want to talk about Kukui. He's definitely the most involved Pokemon professor yet. He's on every island and is very heavily involved on the first two islands (the last two less so, but that's because
he's building a Pokemon league.
Well, if you look at Guzma more as a character and less as a boss, he is actually pretty intimidating. He wasn't set out on destroying the world like most other bosses, he was just some big bad boss who wanted to fuck shit up and he wasn't afraid to do anything to get to his goal. He made Team Skull seem like actual threats instead of just a bunch of goofballs, and the line dropped by Nanu about your remains being returned home really set it home for me that Guzma and Team Skull were more than idiots and by far my favorite evil team in Pokemon.
But yeah, besides for Lillie, I'm going to go with Lusamine as a very cool character who caught me off guard. Bitch was legit crazy and actually gave off the vibe she was nuts. Her dialogue was great and she seemed like a villain you could actually fear.
But yeah, besides for Lillie, I'm going to go with Lusamine as a very cool character who caught me off guard. Bitch was legit crazy and actually gave off the vibe she was nuts. Her dialogue was great and she seemed like a villain you could actually fear.
I agree with most of what has been said.
I guess Lana really surprised me with how much attitude she has. She really isn't the steriotipical innocent little girl I expected her to be. At some of her lines I was like: bitch, what did you say?
Hau does this too sometimes. I guess it's a good thing that Lana and Hau break through their steriotypes, because it leads to unexpected and therefore funnier or stronger lines.
There's also this not so important guy at the berry fields that gave me flashbacks to prof Rowan. He just completely ignored the team skull members that tried to rob him to have a nice conversation with you as the player. The grunt's reaction was really funny too, but hey it's team skull.
I guess Lana really surprised me with how much attitude she has. She really isn't the steriotipical innocent little girl I expected her to be. At some of her lines I was like: bitch, what did you say?
Hau does this too sometimes. I guess it's a good thing that Lana and Hau break through their steriotypes, because it leads to unexpected and therefore funnier or stronger lines.
There's also this not so important guy at the berry fields that gave me flashbacks to prof Rowan. He just completely ignored the team skull members that tried to rob him to have a nice conversation with you as the player. The grunt's reaction was really funny too, but hey it's team skull.
Talking about Kukui, I noticed something very wrong about him. He doesn't breath.
In the cutscene before the E4, where you can tell him about his shirtlessly nature, I noticed he doesn't breath like the character does. While clearly speaking.
And even the poke ride mounts breathe (at the same time as the player but that could be how the breathing is coded)
Considering that Kukui doesn't breath, doesn't feel cold, and doesn't seem to feel pain (he lets pokemon try attacks on him) I jumped to the conclusion Kukui is actually undead. A zombie proffesor.
In the cutscene before the E4, where you can tell him about his shirtlessly nature, I noticed he doesn't breath like the character does. While clearly speaking.
And even the poke ride mounts breathe (at the same time as the player but that could be how the breathing is coded)
Considering that Kukui doesn't breath, doesn't feel cold, and doesn't seem to feel pain (he lets pokemon try attacks on him) I jumped to the conclusion Kukui is actually undead. A zombie proffesor.
I've posted about this one in the "little things" thread, but the father + son at the trash processing plant outside Malie City is a really good story.
I guess it was alright? The father essentially rewarded his son for attempting to battle the protagonist, despite the notion that he fared less chance of winning since he used Grimer (unlike his dad's Muk). Iirc it was a lesson in fighting your own battles. At least it was presented in a way that wasn't recycled from an old game.
My favorite character is Nanu for reasons previously mentioned in this thread
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My favorite character other than Lillie (because basically everyone loves her as a character) is probably Acerola. She's a pretty interesting character, with several quirks that I just love about her. For one, her cheerful nature contrasts so much with the characterization of previous Ghost type trainers in the series it makes her even more memorable than she already is. Also, being completely and utterly adorable is also a major plus for her.
Another character who deserves a mention despite being talked about a fair amount here is Gladion. He's one of the best rivals in the series, with lots of character development, as well as being a non-friendly rival without falling into complete jerkass territory like Silver, the rival he is most commonly compared to (and for good reasons, there's lots of parallels between the two and they both go through a lot of character development).
Another character who deserves a mention despite being talked about a fair amount here is Gladion. He's one of the best rivals in the series, with lots of character development, as well as being a non-friendly rival without falling into complete jerkass territory like Silver, the rival he is most commonly compared to (and for good reasons, there's lots of parallels between the two and they both go through a lot of character development).