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Is it ok for the writers to make antagonistic Pokemon?

Bluelatios

Bluelatios

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Recently in the anime, we've seen several Pokemon that have antagonistic roles in the show. A Scrafty that actually held ransom Iris' Axew, Litwick and Lampent that tried to kill Ash and co., and even though it turned back to help, Purrloin almost left the gang to die in a sinkhole after tricking them and stealing their backpacks. These examples violate the saying "There are no bad Pokemon, only bad trainers", introduced early in the show's history. Sure there were created Pokemon like Mewtwo that turned violent for a while, and mischievous Pokemon like Gastly, Haunter, and Gengar. There were Pokemon who stole things too like Murkrow and even Clefairy. But even if some of the new ones turn out good in the end, I still think they are going to far in making wild Pokemon that are initially doing worse crimes than in past sagas. What do you all think?
 
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I'm pretty O.K. with it actually. I'm glad the writers are doing making more evil Pokémon since it pretty much contradicts the annoying "OMGZ letz b freindz! :D" feeling the show's been giving us nonstop.
 
I think it's pretty fun as long as it is fitting for the dex entry. Say, if that cute baloon with two ropes with hearts at the each end is supposed to be a child kidnapping demonic spirit, make it a child hunting demonic spirit. But if it is something that contradicts it's nature, unless it is played for laughs(such was the case with evil Togepi), it can be pretty bad.

It is certainly worse if certain Pokémon are continually used as antagonists without being given proper battling screentime or an episode that puts them in a more sympathetic light, say Ariados in DP, or a good chunk TR Pokémon.
 
I have no problem with it. I refuse to believe there are no evil Pokemon; animals are just as capable of heinous acts as humans are. But more importantly, it gives the show some much needed variety; I got very fed up with the TRio being the only antagonists of the show, but Ash now battles more than just their Pokemon outside of Gym battles.
 
This isn't even a new concept, it's just the fact that there isn't a constant source of antagonism (ie. Team Rocket) present in the show on an episode-by-episode basis any longer, which has pretty much forced them to increase the rate of these type of situations. Even before BW, we've had several 'bad' pokemon throughout the series (off the top of my head; Primeape, the manipulative Teddiursa, the gang of steel types that were picking on Torkoal for no particular reason, the Carvanha who were dead set on ripping Ash a new one, the Zangoose that attacked Chimchar), so that 'pokemon aren't bad' thing was always a bit of a dubious claim. They're certainly not evil, but the show's history has shown they're more than capable of being dickish, sometimes with little or no motivation.


Though in any case, I'm cool with it. It makes the 'mons feel more realistic in the sense that it allows them to stick closer to their pokedex entries, in addition to making for more interesting stories. Litwick sap human souls, Purrloin are theiving tricksters and Scrafty are thuggish. That's pretty much in their nature.


Additionally, I don't care much about human villains for the most part, so that's a bonus too.
 
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More realistic and better than the same old same old thing each and every week. Pokemon aren't infallible, they can be every bit as complex as humans are, and its the flaws that can make them more interesting. I want more variety in how they are portrayed, so this is a good step.
 
Well, I don't really think Pokemon are evil so much as they have no actual concept of "right or wrong" but rather what they like doing and their instincts pretty much drive them if they're wild. Just like with wild animals. They're not civilize so they don't know about morals or rather they could just care less.

Sadly, some people (not naming anyone) don't seem to understand these gray characterizations. A bit like how some say that Sailor Moon maliciously kills the monsters of the day, despite the fact that they're created to further the bad guys' goals. If she didn't, the villains would win. How's THAT for a downer ending? But that's beside the point.

Speaking of gray characterizations, Ash and co. are in desperate need of them.
 
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As much as the show might have emphasised that there are some trainers out there who really mistreat Pokemon and make them bad, they also emphasise the idea that Pokemon are intelligent creatures with their own personalities and motivations, much like any other human out there. In this sense, it makes complete sense that there are a few bad apples in the bunch and to have this diversity in the show makes it all the more interesting.

I believe that there should be more diversity with the Pokemon's personalities, as it appears that they've settled into certain archtypes with the odd surprise every now and again (such as the evil Togepi). Ghosts-types, for example, are always portrayed as michevous and hell-raisers but misunderstood rather than evil and sinister like their nature suggests they should be. Just about every Elekid and Electabuzz we've met have been very overly agressive, while your typical large powerhouse Pokemon like Machamp, Tyranitar, Salamence and Ursaring etc. are shown to be nothing but dumb destroyers. It's a bit predictable, and it would be nice to perhaps one day see a Ghost Pokemon being evil for the sake of being evil, or big destroyer type Pokemon actually attacking with some intelligence and not just blowing up everything in its path.
 
Well I guess to be more specific, I could understand why Pokemon would sometimes do mischievous things like stealing. It just seems that going as far as to seriously threaten the life of another living Pokemon or person is a bit extreme.
 
Bluelatios said:
Well I guess to be more specific, I could understand why Pokemon would sometimes do mischievous things like stealing. It just seems that going as far as to seriously threaten the life of another living Pokemon or person is a bit extreme.
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What the hell?! This has been happening since Season 1!

The Squirtle Squad threatened Misty's life and threw bombs at the townsfolk! Primeape beat up Ash and stole his hat. The flock of Spearow and Fearow tried to kill Ash.

Seriously, have you been completely oblivious to the fact that its always been like this?
 
It actually sounds like something that would make me watch the animé again
I mean it sounds just so "Friendship is magic XDDD" feeling, which I dislike (not bashing MLP fans, it just happened to be ...)
But really, as long as it fits the nature the Pokemon was imposed to have (as in Ghost types being mischievous and stuff like that) I don't really mind it
 
Gliscor'd said:
Bluelatios said:
Well I guess to be more specific, I could understand why Pokemon would sometimes do mischievous things like stealing. It just seems that going as far as to seriously threaten the life of another living Pokemon or person is a bit extreme.
Click to expand...

What the hell?! This has been happening since Season 1!

The Squirtle Squad threatened Misty's life and threw bombs at the townsfolk! Primeape beat up Ash and stole his hat. The flock of Spearow and Fearow tried to kill Ash.

Seriously, have you been completely oblivious to the fact that its always been like this?
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I can understand people missing the Misty one. The death threat was changed to dying her hair purple in english.

Though I agree. Pokemon has always been like this since episode one.
 
Pikaminccino said:
I can understand people missing the Misty one. The death threat was changed to dying her hair purple in english.

Though I agree. Pokemon has always been like this since episode one.
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They still show the scene of Misty falling off the cliff even if the dub altered the dialogue.

This thread is bizarre. What about all the Tentacool and Tentacruel that destroyed an entire city? The Ursaring that constantly chase after and try to kill anyone who goes on their territory.

The Spiritomb that tried to drain peoples souls or whatever the hell that was about.

All of a sudden this is some, "brand new event?" I feel like a fell into a time warp into another dimension where Pokemon was the "love and care" show. What's next, someone complains that Ash kicked a Pokemon in the face? (which has happened a few times)
 
Yeah, I think it's good that they're introducing Pokemon with different personalities and goals. If all the Pokemon were good, it'd be pretty boring. Not to mention a lot of episodes wouldn't have happened. It'd only make sense that Pokemon would have different personalities, too, with or without a trainer to guide them.
 
When BW was first announced and it was sure that there wouldn't be any contests after a few weeks I was afraid that many Gen 5 Pokémon wold get terrible episodes featuring them such as many Pokémon back in Johto. The old and tired formular of a weak Pokémon that grows stronger during a TR battle made many Jotho Pokémon look boring and characterless in my eyes.
Contests were always a nice because many Hoenn Pokémon got proper debuts in battles in order to really shine.
BW uses more antagonistic Pokémon than previous series as the main 'problem' of many episodes and this makes up for the lack of contests in my opinion.
BW isn't the strongest Pokémon series out there, but I can't complain about those evil Simisear,Swoobat,Scolipede or Litwick.

As said before I prefer 'evil' Pokémon over the new TR anyway.
 
It's been done before, but it hasn't been used often. Also, wasn't Groudon considered to be the most evil Pokemon according to Movie 6, or was that one of 4kids' terrible dub changes?
 
It's always been done. I just think we're noticing it more and that it happens on a more regular basis because of Team Rocket's near-disappearance from the show, which honestly is a plus in my book as I was tired of TR's schtick in past series and vastly prefer this.
 
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