Should Ash Be Replaced?

[Yuki's Sword]

Ash has been in the anime for a very long time, hasn't he? Do you think it is about time we get a new main character when Generation VI comes out? So far as we know Ash has yet to be replaced...but Misty, May, Dawn, Max and Brock have been. The only person of which hasn't bee replaced is Ash and he's gone through all five of the confirmed regions. Perhaps we need a new young man to take his place. What do you guys think?

I definitely think he should be replaced. For one thing, I absolutely hate Ash Ketchum. I wish he was replaced a long time ago but he has yet to be replaced...and honestly I feel that it is time. 3D Generation leaves room for a new hero. I'm tired of seeing him by now.

[AlexOzzyCake]

I would love to see Ash replaced, the whole "enters a new region -> acts like a total noob" deal is getting very tiresome, having some new blood in the show would be a very welcomed change. Plus it'd finally let Ash win a league or two which would be a wonderful way to end his focus in the show and he could still come back in the future for supporting roles like his past companions all have so I'd love to see this happen. They'd have to keep at least one character I reckon, otherwise the story just loses all continuity from previous seasons and after five generations that's a bit risky, but there's no reason it has to be Ash. Perhaps have Cilan travel with Iris to the new region before they split ways and the story focusses on one of the two with their new friends? At any rate I don't mind how it happens, I just want to see it haha.

[Pinkie-Dawn]

Seeing that Yu-Gi-Oh! and Digimon replaced their main protagonists and received mixed results from fans, I doubt Ash will be replaced anytime soon.

[KriegStein]

Ash should be kil...I mean replaced as soon as possible. I liked him in the 1gen of the show and even in the 2nd and 3rd. But he is just a terrible protagonist. He cant battle very well (he just cant okay?), he is not a great trainer (he doesnt evolve pokemon as often as he could), he is still 10 years old (both physically and mentally...could be a disease but still) and he is overshadowed by almost every other character.
Today they showed pokemon movie 12 at the tv. I watched a little and he was still the same ash as he was years ago, both in good and worse.
What Im getting at is that he should either be replaced OR he should finaly have some character development namely maturing as a person or atleast as a trainer.
Yeah thats what I think for now. :D

[DarkRisingGirl]

A lot of people want Ash replaced, but it won't happen and to be honest, it shouldn't. Ash's Inner Character is what should be replaced, not him as a whole. By simply making him more mature and a better battler, the whole "Replace Ash" riot would go away. We're all just tired of the same Syndrome reset that he goes through every generation. The X & Y saga would be a perfect place to bring in a more mature version of Ash. They've already got the attention of the younger audience just now getting into Pokemon, so why not make Ash grow just like the younger viewer's that are watching? We all grow up sometime, so hopefully they don't make the same mistake and keep resetting Ash just to satisfy a new younger audience that get into Pokemon with each passing year. Don't make him Too Serious, just allow him to show growth.

[Ash493]

Originally Posted by DarkRisingGirl

A lot of people want Ash replaced, but it won't happen and to be honest, it shouldn't. Ash's Inner Character is what should be replaced, not him as a whole. By simply making him more mature and a better battler, the whole "Replace Ash" riot would go away. We're all just tired of the same Syndrome reset that he goes through every generation. The X & Y saga would be a perfect place to bring in a more mature version of Ash. They've already got the attention of the younger audience just now getting into Pokemon, so why not make Ash grow just like the younger viewer's that are watching? We all grow up sometime, so hopefully they don't make the same mistake and keep resetting Ash just to satisfy a new younger audience that get into Pokemon with each passing year. Don't make him Too Serious, just allow him to show growth.

I believe BW was a better point for him to change... since writers did not do it there, they won't do it again...
BW was a new beginning and X&Y is in a meaning just a continuation of BW trend...

[Superqami]

In Black and White I did not understand that He Did NOT know who Nurse Joy was and He was Like "Hey you are the same one as the one in ______ Town!"

[Xeninacra]

YES, PLEASE! One of the Pokemon anime facts I hate the most is "Why keeping Ash as the main character every season?!"

They should have changed the main character each time a new season got started... Now, it's too late.

(They should change Pikachu too.)

[Tomoe]

Digimon has another "Workflow". However I disagree with changing Ash in Pokemon series. I would like to see more legendaries in the movies though.

[speedokaggen]

I hope ash remains, really like the character!

[XanderO]

TPC has already stated that they will never think about replacing Ash. It was in an interview some long time ago with the director of the anime. Ash IS the face of the Anime as well as a metaphorical representation of Tajiri Satoshi. They even said that Ash will be used to showcase future regions and adventures as more came along.

They have also tried replacing Ash with a few other show changes. One with the Johto MC renamed Jimmy which received negative reviews. The second was the attempt at the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon anime which also received negative reviews.

His reset is to lure in new fans rather than cater to the older ones. The anime's target is solely children of younger age groups. Its also easier to show the character messing up and learning as he goes for the children rather than blatantly explaining everything after the fact has passed in nonchalant ways.

He's never going to be replaced or removed due to his iconic status as the sole major character(by association majority of his pokemon are protected this way as well) while all his companions are minor characters to varying degrees.

[Hikari10]

Originally Posted by XanderO

TPC has already stated that they will never think about replacing Ash. It was in an interview some long time ago with the director of the anime. Ash IS the face of the Anime as well as a metaphorical representation of Tajiri Satoshi. They even said that Ash will be used to showcase future regions and adventures as more came along.

They have also tried replacing Ash with a few other show changes. One with the Johto MC renamed Jimmy which received negative reviews. The second was the attempt at the Pokemon Mystery Dungeon anime which also received negative reviews.

His reset is to lure in new fans rather than cater to the older ones. The anime's target is solely children of younger age groups. Its also easier to show the character messing up and learning as he goes for the children rather than blatantly explaining everything after the fact has passed in nonchalant ways.

He's never going to be replaced or removed due to his iconic status as the sole major character(by association majority of his pokemon are protected this way as well) while all his companions are minor characters to varying degrees.

Xander basically explained it all, but he is right in a sort-of way. The reason why Ash is apparently not getting replaced is because he's the face of the anime, the main protagonist (and based on Red for that manner) and not to mention his signature Pokemon is Pikachu, the mascot of Pokemon in general.

The resets are, like Xander said, to lure new fans to the series. While there are older fans who still watch the anime (some are even around my age) it's the younger audience they put first.

Even though there have been several attempts to replace Ash, they all didn't do as well as they thought and they decided to keep Ash. He simply won't be replaced.

[Ash493]

Originally Posted by Hikari10

(and based on Red for that manner)

Red WAS replaced in manga if we want to be exact :D

[Mr Cat Dog]

Because of the nature of this thread, I'mma move it to Character Discussions & Shipping.

Moving on up

[D Dog master of war]

NO!Ash is not that bad,I mean In real life it well be hard too even get into the poke lugeds,just make him older like 14 or 15

[XanderO]

Originally Posted by Ash493

Red WAS replaced in manga if we want to be exact :D

Red was never replaced as there were never characters that acted as him. Red reappears in roughly every saga by other main characters seeing as Red is based off of the game version. He can only extend to where he's supposed to be in the games (RBY; Red and Yellow's series, GSC; Gold and Silver series, FR/LG/E; FR/LG retelling and Battle Frontier. Never once was he replaced, they just constantly added to the Main Character list)

[Keiran777]

I don't think they'll ever replace Ash, but that doesn't stop me from hoping they make a spinoff that follows the games closely. (sort of like the BW2 trailer, which was amazing)

Honestly, the anime is so stale because it's like every region is the same. The first BW season was painful, but the second one is bearable so far.

[Otter Mii-kun]

As much as I'd like to see a new main character, I don't think they'll ever replace Ash, at least not anytime soon. Even though they replace his traveling companions every time he goes to a new region, Ash has been considered a key part of the Pokémon saga, has been since the beginning.

[Kenshin5]

I have a few reasons as to why they will probably not nor ever attempt to replace him.

1. Ash and Pikachu generate revenue for the company. Cash draw from them makes the company happy, making themselves happy with cash and continuing to do so will continue the trend of these static characters.

2. The possible feeling of not being able to find a character or characters iconic enough to replace him. Could they possibly find an iconic character or write one up yes, but will they yeah... that's doubtful at best. For instance N is an iconic character that will stand the test of time with his uniqueness so that proves they can at least come about with a character in some recesses of the franchise, but translating that to the Anime is definitely yet to be seen(and yes I am aware of the N saga).

3. Lazy writing seems another reason for me. Why sparse up your character or add new story lines when you can just wash rinse and repeat with the same main characters and different pokemon buddies? Even if they had a new character lets face it they would do just the same thing then we would be like "Should Character X be replaced" a few years down the road after that said characters inception. The writing needs to step up not Ash, he isn't the one that writes is own lack of competence or the fact that Pika gets nerfed every region.

I don't particularly buy the who reset drawing new audiences in solely on a learning lesson aspect. Adults still make mistakes, Ash still progressing can of course make mistakes. So rather than show him as a kid they can show him as a human and that human make mistakes regardless of how long they have been at something. If the quality of the show is great and the characters are interesting and actually go somewhere then would a franchise really need to cater to a said audience?

[jojolaw]

Digimon has been mentioned a good few times in this thread and as for receiving mixed results that was a different show, They also made the show much too complicated AND changed the main character almost every season which gave people just enough time to start to understand and then they mixed it up by changing the main antagonist every season hence making digimon irrelevant.

[Tackle]

That would be great if they replaced Ash. Ash is getting boring, and Pikachu too.
I remember his battle with a trainer who has Snivy (Can't remember the name.), aww.

[Lopnis]

I think they should make a new girl or boy the poster child of pokemon, I mean I wouldn't mind Ash if I wasn't a long time viewer, it get's annoying when he goes to a brand new region and gains amnesia or something because all the freaking information he learned through his past journey's completely dissapears and sometimes loses to a newbie trainer who just got their first pokemon, with a pikachu who has to be at least level 80 by now, I mean with a pokemon that strong even my little cousin who's like 4 could win a battle, Yet Ash can't and that annoys me to know end (Sometimes I yell battle strategies when I get really annoyed >.>)

To make a long story short so you don't need to read that paragraph if you don't like, Yes I do think he should be replaced. Only people who gain development anymore in this show is Team Rocket.

[Dragooncroft]

Yes, Ash needs to retire. We've (in my own opinion) sucked all the potential out of him, and he did his job well. Over the years he has made Pokemon fun and funny. I really think though they should move on. Sorry. Pikachu, eyyeee, this is tough. If they replaced him, people wouldn't like the new central protagonist having "Ash's pikachu". Hmm... I don't really want to make a "therefore" kind of statement about this and regret it later.

Maybe they should just take a break from Ash like they did in Chronicles. Or, have a new main character and make Ash reappear every so often as a friend of the protagonist.

As a huge fan of the Chronicles series, I would love to see a Chronicles 2. And as an admirer of Pokemon Chronicles I wouldn't mind if Kenta did a swap with Ash. He's the better Ash in my opinion.

I guess what i'm saying is I think Kenta/Jimmy or another trainer would make a good Ash for a while with Ash reappearing every so often. The least they could do is take a small break from Ash for a while, but I doubt any of this will ever happen, unfortunately.

[droomph]

I don't know, if they do it well, I'm all for it.

If they suck at the transition, then euuuuuuuugh no.

[ganesha]

I agree with people saying Ash becoming matured and older. Now a days mostly the youngsters in teens and above watch Pokemon so making Ash a bit older would be great.

If we say Ash is the only one continuous from the beginning its wrong even the Team Rocket jokers are there from the beginning.