least favorite crime syndicate in the main canon?

[ReturnofMCH]

even including ranger and coliseum/XD
just want to know.

 

[jayrachi]

I chose the Go-Rock Squad because the name always just sounded so stupid and I couldn't ever take them as anything greater than comic relief. The fire at the beginning of the game felt more threatening than they ever did.

 

[godiego]

I chose Plasma because it was yet another team where the leader had ulterior motives that were kept more or less hidden from the rest of the team (see: Team Galactic, Team Flare). Honestly, I think Team Rocket is the best villainous organization.

 

[Hector]

Cipher 2.0 because the name is just so lazy.

 

[Osprey]

Neo Plasma. After their original incarnations, they felt like pirate-themed Team Rocket expies. Well, that flying ship of theirs was interesting... ludicrous, but interesting...

 

[Kallyle]

[strikethrough]Cipher hands-down are the best villains in the franchise. Their goal was straightforward, and they hardly messed around like the other evil teams did from time-to-time. Cipher knew exactly what they were doing, and they did whatever it took to reach their goal of world domination.

EDIT: Never mind, I thought it read "favorite crime syndicate in the main canon?"

My LEAST favorite crime syndicate would have to be the majority of Team Flare due to how goofy they were. By the way, what happened to the strikethrough option?

 

[Sakuraa]

Team Plasma. Their motives were completely idiotic and hypocritical, their leader's overall true goal was pathetic in comparison to other leaders imo, and I just see no appeal in N. Overall they pretty much bored the hell out of me.

 

[Norzan]

Definitely BW Team Plasma. I always expect a little bit of light-heartdness (either from grunts or the admins), but Team Plasma as a whole has to be the most boring, dull and uninteresting evil team of all.

Not to even mention their leader which has to be the most generic, one-dimensional and dull leader of all, he never even tells why it wants to conquer Unova or why it came up with such a convoluted plan and that just makes him "evil for the sake of being evil". It's like when they finished writing BW story they noticed it lacked a proper villain, so they made a guy with a robe, a burned arm and a Saiyan Scouter.

 

[Team Gaara]

Without a doubt, it's Neo Team Rocket. I've said many times that I find that in GSC and HGSS, this iteration of Team Rocket have the absolute worst "evil plan" of any villain in this series. Their motive was to take over the Radio Tower with the sole purpose of sending out a message to Giovanni to head Team Rocket again. There are so any problems with this plan, I don't know where to begin.

First of all, this plan entirely relies on the fact that Giovanni will be near a radio when Neo Team Rocket sends out this message, something which they have no way of guaranteeing. Assuming Giovanni does what most people speculate and goes on some training journey after being defeated by Red, then the chances of him even being near civilization to have access to a radio are pretty slim. Hell, even if he is in a city or town, who's to say he won't be out getting some Starbucks right before they decide to broadcast the message?

Second of all, even if we assume that he has a PokeGear on him or is even, in fact, near a radio at the time they give this message, we have no way of knowing if he'll even be on the right station to be able to hear the message in the first place. This plan has so many flaws, it's almost absurd to think anyone thought it was a good one and was worth going through.

Third of all, what if Giovanni said no? Okay, let's say they get away with it all; beat up Gold/Ethan/Kris/Lyra, and get their message out there, and Giovanni does hear it. What if his answer, whether they hear it or not, is just a flat out no? What the hell then? What's next? Do they have a Plan B? Does that in itself force them to disband? What's the point of it all in that case? Again, there are just to many factors they have to rely on to assume this plan succeeds.

Fourth of all, these games advertise Lugia and Ho-oh, yet this team's plan has absolutely nothing to do with them. I don't think they even mention either one. Even in HGSS when they managed to get forced into the plot, Neo Team Rocket STILL does not in any way affect the box Legendaries. If they wanted to go the route of having them want Giovanni as a leader again, why not go after the Legendaries as a way to try to impress Giovanni or something? Surely that's something that would get around the region quickly, so there's probably a much better chance of Giovanni finding out something like that.

I don't mean to go on and on, but I just feel like Neo Team Rocket could have been so much better and they're just utterly disappointing as a Villainous Team.

 

[Absent]

Neo Rocket. Just a bunch of sore Grunts and Admins that have no purpose in life, so they rely on Giovanni. What's wrong with continuing his legacy without him?

When I play a Pokemon, I acknowledge that the evil Team has to be stopped and is a risk to the region. When I played Crystal and HeartGold, I could care less for them. They provided nothing but annoyance.

 

[DasManiac]

Neo Rocket. They're even duller than the original Team Rocket which is a difficult feat to achieve. Their whole plan is silly and they pose little threat at all. The original Team Rocket comes a close second because they're dull villains. They're out to steal Pokemon but make no attempt of stealing the legendary Pokemon? The Legendary Pokemon are worth far more in terms of money and for experimental research than whatever they're stealing. Stealing common Pokemon is hardly going to net you a fortune.

Team Flare comes in the third place for being somewhat interesting but ultimately handled very poorly. They had potential but like X/Y in general, it was completely squandered. I use to say Aqua/Magma were terrible villains but OR/AS has managed to redeem them.

 

[XYZ Nexus]

Neo Team Rocket, somehow they managed to become even duller and dumber after the Kanto games. Their radio plan is just too poorly thought out, like why couldn't they just try and capture a legendary like the box legends to impress Giovanni enough to make him return.

Original Team Rocket had their moments such as killing Marowak and I guess Giovanni in the Origins special (which I loath), but yeah they were really dull and unmemorable aside from a few things. The manga did try and spice it up but it just felt forced and not really that interesting, almost like bad FanFiction IMO.

Team Flare are also pretty bad. Their fashion is nonexistent, orange suits just doesn't even make sense at all. Their admins were forgettable, I can't even remember their names aside from Xeroic and that's because he was actually recognizable. Their battle themes are also forgettable and bland, much like the rest of the XY OST as well. Team Aqua and Magma were admittedly pretty stupid in the original RSE, but they got saved in ORAS at least. So yeah basically DasManiac said it best.

 

[vivian20]

For me, Aqua and Magma were the worst. Especially aqua. They were trying to expand oceans so that water types would have more living space. But... oceans are huge, much bigger than land. I actually like team flare i dont know why people think theyre so bad as villains. Yeah, theyre weak, so are team aqua in AS, due to exp share.

 

[ReturnofMCH]

I still think magma/aqua.

 

[Almonds]

Neo Rocket. The executives were interesting, but doing criminal stuff to bring back Giovanni sounded lame when they were already disbanded once

 

[Muur]

Despite being great games, BW2 Plasma were eh

Although saying that, gen 2 TR were worse, didn't see them till after I voted.