Why did the writers remove Misty?

[Meganium]

So, why do YOU think the writers removed Misty? Were they sick of Water Pokemon, or do you think they just wanted someone new? Post your opinions in this thread!

Note:THIS IS NOT A "Is Misty going to come back?" THREAD. Deal with it.

This is just for you to say WHY did the writers remove Misty. So lets make this a spam-free thread!

 

[Misty]

My guess is that they felt they had exhausted her character of its value, and they wanted to put someone new(May) in without having to keep up with 5 characters, so...

 

[Mozz]

1) To replace her with a cute girl who surprisingly likes to do those new contests that just happen to be in the new games.

2) To springboard the Housous.

 

[FabuVinny]

Her goal of being a Water Pokémon Master wasn't being met with Ash. (She only beat him in the Whirl Cup because of his stupidity, and then lost the next round.)

But being a Water Gym Leader allowed her dream to become more of a reality.

 

[Cybersai]

1) After being in the show for over 200 episodes and 5 seasons, the writers realized there was nothing more they could do with her. Afterall, in most episodes of Johto she just stood in the backround holding Togepi. That's not really a compelling reason to leave her in.

2) The writers don't want two girls in the group at once. They wanted to introduce May since she's the main character of Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald and wanted to promote contests, and they didn't want Misty to interfere with May being the "female lead".

3) Misty's dream was dead with Ash. Afterall, how in the world was Misty trying to become a Water Pokemon Master by tagging along with Ash? She wasn't doing anything to further her goal, she just acted as Ash's cheerleader wherever he went.

By taking control of a Water Pokemon Gym, not only is she becoming a better battler, but the best way to understand Water Pokemon IS to be Gym leader. That's why the Cerulean Gym is the perfect place for her. It's not only her home, but it helps her advance with her Water Pokemon and to become a great trainer.

In reality, in the 1st season Misty was too immature to accept the responsibility of being a Gym leader. This is why she was away from the Cerulean Gym when we first met her, and why she tagged along with Ash. Ash was her "escape" from her responsibilities.

However after Johto, Misty began to become more mature and realise what being a Gym leader is all about.

And heck, even after Hoenn it's obvious that Misty LIKES being the Gym leader. The episodes in Kanto after Hoenn just sealed it. Misty now realises her responsibility is her Gym, and she now ENJOYS defending it from challengers.

This is also a reason why I believe that Misty will probably never become a main character in the show again. Her main goal IS the Gym. Tagging along with Ash does nothing for her. Not to mention if they did bring her back she would be doing the same things she did before...which was absolutely nothing.

Bottom line, Misty is exactly where she belongs.

 

[Meganium]

Couldn't have said it better myself Scott85!

 

[fruitsmoothierevenge]

I think that they not only didn't have much to do with Misty anymore, but they needed a more "green" character to start off Hoenn. Advanced Generation, being a new series, would obviously bring in viewers that had nothing to do with the original, and so those viewers could learn along with May, who had no experience.

 

[Kasumi]

It was just an advertisement plot for the new games. They needed to put May in to advertise Ruby and Sapphire and they were afraid of writing Brock out because they did it before.

Is still a stupid thing they did, because Misty was the most developed character in Pokémon followed by Team Rocket.

 

[Unregistered]

Misty lost her character as the series went on. I can't imagine Misty in Hoenn. We already have Brock and Max doing nothing, we don't need it even worse with 3 characters doing nothing.

It was the best decision the writers made, Misty would just be dead weight if she were in Hoenn.

 

[FabuVinny]

Well she can still return. She likes Ash, so if the writers' gave her a new goal, she could fulfill it with Ash by her side.

Obviously, that means a new Gym Leader for Cerulean City other than her sisters, (her parents?), but if there is such a thing as a water Pokémon Ranger, then she might be interested.

But she is happy at the Gym for now, so she won't be running away from it, even if it is only to keep Daisy away from the Gym badges.

Misty lost her character as the series went on. I can't imagine Misty in Hoenn. We already have Brock and Max doing nothing, we don't need it even worse with 3 characters doing nothing.

It was the best decision the writers made, Misty would just be dead weight if she were in Hoenn.

In AG, she has gained character again. Maybe it is just losing Togepi, but the time off the show has certainly been beneficial.

 

[Unregistered]

In AG, she has gained character again. Maybe it is just losing Togepi, but the time off the show has certainly been beneficial.

That's only because we saw her in short intervals. If she were a main character again, she'd just be standing there holding her Azurill. It's basically the same thing all over again. The writers ruined her character by turning her into a mother, now she's just too mellow.

 

[FabuVinny]

She has been losing that mellowness, though. If she were to return, the writers would have to justify it, but Azurill has already proved that it is not just another Togepi.

 

[Unregistered]

She has been losing that mellowness, though. If she were to return, the writers would have to justify it, but Azurill has already proved that it is not just another Togepi.

It still sits in her arms all day and Misty acts motherly to it.

At least May puts her Squirtle in a Pokeball. The writers made sure they didn't make the same mistake with May as they did with Misty. So when May got her baby Pokemon. she keeps it in a Pokeball and it can actually battle.

Sure, Azurill launches attacks, but it's still a baby. And like Togepi, it sits in Misty's arms barely animated. They just replaced one baby with another, there is no difference.

 

[Roses Ablaze]

I don't think it was a smart or stupid decision, but I do think Misty had untapped potential. She was one of my favorite characters :-(. If Azurill evolved she wouldn't be a mother.

 

[Kasumi]

Azurill is unlikely going to evolve, since Tracey has a Marill. Unless Tracey's Marill evolves, there's no change for Misty's Azurill to evolve at all. In any case, even out of the show, Misty still had character development, even more than Brock or Max. If they should get rid of dead weight, it should have been Brock and Max, not Misty. Or at least the writers should have gave them more stuff to do than just sit in the background doing nothing.

At the end, is the zero capacity of the writers to keep a decent development for the characters and not the characters themselves what have turned Pokémon into a dull series, except for a few episodes like the Chimecho one.

 

[The Dude]

I'm sick and tired of people bitching and moaning about how Misty should not have left the cast, that she still has potential, and that she still might come back. The writers made a good decision necessitated by one of their bad ones. They made the mistake of giving her Togepi, which wrecked her personality by turning her into a mother. They finally saw fit to rectify their error by removing her from the show and giving her a couple of specials. Oh, and getting rid of Togepi via the Mirage Kingdom arc. She has no potential outside of future specials. Especially since the writers decided to saddle her with another baby. But, they probably thought that since she is no longer a main character, they can do anything they want. Including hints at Orangeshipping. She won't come back because she has no desire to do any more travelling. She is over her childish crush on Ash, having learned to live without him and become truly self-sufficient. Anyway, she's a gym leader, and if she doesn't keep shop, who will? You can cry all you want to about it, but that's the way it is.

 

[BenRG]

Alas, poor Misty

I should start out by declaring an interest. I am a Misty fan (mostly because I'm also a PokéShipper) and would have liked to see her in the show again in season 2 of AG (having given May time to 'settle in'). However, I think I understand the reasons that The Powers That Be had for pulling the character from the main thread of the show.

There is no doubt that the Pokémon animé lost its way in the first two seasons of Johto. All the characters (not just Misty) became cardboard cut-outs. Character development ended. Hell even character activity practically ended. We were reduced to having the five regular (human) characters simply acting as cyphers through which Nintendo promoted the GSC-generation of games.

After two seasons of this, not unnaturally, the Producers must have thought that something had to be done. Major changes were necessary to re-invent and re-invigorate the animé. Amongst those changes were the possibility of new characters (I wonder if the Raikou Special was a test to see if it was going to be possible to totally replace the Kanto characters with the Johto characters).

As has been regularly mentioned, of the five main human characters, Misty was the one without any real role. Brock was the big brother, comic relief and sage of all things Pokémon. Jessie and James were the providers of character conflict and, occasionally, allowing the scriptwriters to challenge assumptions about the nature of heroism and villainy. Ash was and remains, basically, the main character whose progress and viewpoint was typically the prime motivator for events.

What role did Misty have? I would argue none (and remember that this is a PokéShipper saying this ). If any attempt had been made to have the character of Misty develop independent of Ash (or, hope springing eternal, on the framework of her developing relationship with Ash as a friend), then the character would have been worth saving. As it was, she had degenerated into nothing but a bit of mobile background.

So, when plans for the re-invention of the animé were laid (the thing that we now call "Pokémon Advance Generation") and the possibility of changing some of the characters was doubtless raised, Misty was inevitably the most vulnerable to being canned.

I remain quite surprised that Brock survived; I can only assume that while Max gets to be a 'know-it-all', his youth prevents him from having the 'sage' authority that Brock's expositions automatically enjoy.

So, we lost Misty and gained May (who is a character in her own right; probably a bit more multi-dimensional than any except Ash, Jessie and James). I think that the jury is out if this was a good thing in terms of the animé's success. While the animé enjoys sustained good ratings, it is difficult to be sure if it is the new characters that have delivered this or whether it is the new region and concepts (like Contests) after the long stagnant period of Johto.

 

[Cybersai]

At the end, is the zero capacity of the writers to keep a decent development for the characters and not the characters themselves what have turned Pokémon into a dull series, except for a few episodes like the Chimecho one.

All in your opinion of course, because I think Advanced Generation is the best Pokemon has ever been.

Kanto and the Orange Islands were great too, but Advance Generation is just as great and even better in some aspects.

 

[Shockie]

Like someone else said, Misty can get boring after 200 episodes.

 

[Unregistered]

If people think Misty is so boring shouldn't they think the same thing about Brock?I'm not saying that I hate them or anything I'm just asking.