Canon Pokémon characters in fan games

[Orion☆]

Call this ironic, but one thing that fascinates me about Pokémon fan games is seeing canon characters from the official games appear as NPCs in games with mostly original casts, or take the spotlight if they're not already the protagonists in the official games. Here's some questions:

-Do you think fan games with mainly original casts benefit from including a canon character to establish a connection with the official games, or does that work against the fan game? Why/why not?
-Do you like fan games that attempt to expand on canon characters' backstories (e.g. Pokémon Parallax, P.S. The First Journey), give them something new to do (e.g. Pokémon Glazed), or present an alternate universe with new possibilities for them (e.g. Pokémon Altair and Sirius, Pokémon Omegatastrophe)? How well did they work and why/why not?
-Combining the above two questions, how involved should the canon characters be in a mostly original story? Do you prefer short cameos, or would you rather involve them in the main story somehow?
-In your opinion, what was the most noteworthy/memorable appearance or mention of a canon character in a fan game you have played? You can talk about both positive and negative ones (but do try to be respectful about the latter!).

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For one, I am always taken aback when characters who aren't canonically jerks or villains turn into such in fan games. I'm not saying it's wrong (and I've got an idea for it myself floating around for a while), but given that the main series has not done it yet (and only adaptations like PokéSpe had some non-villainous characters become jerks/evil), it's still surprising. For example:

-Two separate fan games have painted Johto Gym Leader Bugsy in a negative light. Reborn had him be neglectful towards his OC younger sister Shelly (who became insecure as a result of his treatment), and Insurgence mentions that he lost his position due to being involved in a match fixing scandal. I barely see Bugsy around in fandom stuff as it is, so it comes across as odd.
-Altair and Sirius had Steven and Wallace be the resident villainous team leaders for... not very clear reasons. Again, amongst all the stuff that was out of place in those games, that was the most striking.
-Xenoverse has not one, but two spoileriffic examples. One can be summed up in a single quote said in-game: "I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree." The other is Youngster Joey, who turned into an internet troll sort of character. Somehow, the latter shocked me more, because I actually find Joey an endearing character and never thought he'd become... that. I'm just spoiling this so you'll be able to decide whether you will see him for yourself or not.

Any other thoughts? Share 'em!

 

[FL]

In my game (Pokémon Island) there are several canon characters on a tournament and I tried to stay game faithful on their parties (only using World Tournament pokémon as last resort). Besides one character that has a bigger development, there small interactions, like finding Surge's Black Glasses, since my game isn't story driven.

Call this ironic, but one thing that fascinates me about Pokémon fan games is seeing canon characters from the official games appear as NPCs in games with mostly original casts, or take the spotlight if they're not already the protagonists in the official games.

I don't think that this is ironic. This is very common on fanfictions audience.

Do you think fan games with mainly original casts benefit from including a canon character to establish a connection with the official games, or does that work against the fan game? Why/why not?

I like when this makes sense. I dislike things like introducing Ash in game based stories, without something like a good explanation about multiverses.

Do you like fan games that attempt to expand on canon characters' backstories (e.g. Pokémon Parallax, P.S. The First Journey), give them something new to do (e.g. Pokémon Glazed), or present an alternate universe with new possibilities for them (e.g. Pokémon Altair and Sirius, Pokémon Omegatastrophe)? How well did they work and why/why not?

I like this too when well done. Other pokémon media, specially manga Pokémon Special do this very well.

During a time, I didn't like when canon characters turn into villains or vice-versa, but Pokémon Special did this well, so I see no problem now.

Combining the above two questions, how involved should the canon characters be in a mostly original story? Do you prefer short cameos, or would you rather involve them in the main story somehow?

I can't decide. I like boths. Some fits better for game stories/universes.

In your opinion, what was the most noteworthy/memorable appearance or mention of a canon character in a fan game you have played? You can talk about both positive and negative ones (but do try to be respectful about the latter!).

Raptor's one was memorable for me:

Spoiler:

In the original region you meet characters like Cynthia and Steven trying to prevent the evil team to get the 16 Plates do summon Arceus (this more than 10 years before Legends: Arceus was released). Later is revealed that all are part of a secret organization called Gaia Wings. So, you go to the Gaia Wings sky base, where time flow more slowly to train, so you can be strong enough to defeat the evil leader. In practice, this is a E4 style battle with canon champions, plus Ash, before the final battle.

I like it besides having Ash with Red's party.

 

[Lynker]

I personally think it's a cool idea to have canon characters in fan games! I might have to steal that idea....lol

 

[giradialkia]

I'm all for seeing canonical characters in fan-games, but it's often a little bit too obvious that they've been written by a fan; rather, someone who has their own ideals for the character that don't actually fit with what we officially know of that character. More often than not, it comes off as a little bit cheesy.

Primary example that comes to mind is Pokémon Light Platinum, a ROM hack. It had entirely custom graphics and in the earlier days of hacking, looked super impressive for a Ruby hack. But before you have a single Gym badge, you encounter Gold (or Ethan from GSC/HGSS), Red, and a bunch of other characters that just… have no reason to be there. Okay, I'll fight Red and his level 12 Croagunk. But why is he here? And why is he speaking?

I'm all for a bit of development for characters we know and love, but I'll agree that its cheap when they turn around and say "Whoa, Lance/Steven was the bad guy all along!". In most cases it makes more sense to use an original character.

And I have no time for seeing anime characters in games. Hard pass.

 

[Orion☆]

Good takes so far! I do agree with giradialkia's opinion that it's sometimes too obvious that the writer's interpretation has seeped into what was supposed to be an accurate portrayal of a canon character. Yet, I cannot help but have a laugh with it sometimes. That's why I'm willing to excuse cheesy portrayals, especially if they are done for explicitly humorous purposes or in fan games that are less serious or more comedic in tone.

I don't mind seeing game-ified versions of anime characters if the situation calls for it, but I do tend to dislike when people mix up portrayals of characters from different canons for no reason. For example...

Spoiler:

Pokémon Xenoverse seems to be game canon compliant at first sight, and has some neat references like one of the Gym Leaders being an ex-Team Skull member and a close friend of Guzma's. Yet... it also borrows elements from PokéSpe, like Silver and Green having a close relationship since childhood (and later marrying, the product of such a union being the game's protagonist), and Lt. Surge having been once been a member of Team Rocket, which proves to be pivotal in stopping Team Dimension. That... admittedly bugged me a lot, especially because I'm not a big PokéSpe fan myself.

(I do admit I'd like to play around with the idea of game!Silver and game!Green eventually meeting and hitting it off, but, again, that's best left to a comedic fan game.)