![]() |
Most forgotten characters?
Everybody knows who Red, Blue, and Prof. Oak are, as well as Brock and Misty. They are all some of the most widely-recognized and iconic characters from the franchise. Even people who haven't touched Pokémon since 1999 know who they are.
But, what about those characters who didn't *quite* get that far? The ones that even the fandom barely remembers, let alone the mainstream? While the first two Generations don't have as many of these characters as later Gens (for better or worse), they still have their fair share: 1. Kris. She was the game's first female player character ever, and yet, she's been completely forgotten, long since overshadowed by newer, more heavily promoted female PCs like May, Dawn, and Hilda. I guess that's what getting cut from the remakes will do to you, alas. (Remember that Crystal came out before many younger fans were even born.) It's a shame, too, since she has one of the coolest designs of any player character, male or female. |
I kind of disagree about Kris and Leaf, because the fandom tends to bring up these two a lot from what I've seen. People were complaining about how Lyra wasn't Kris in HGSS, and I saw a few complaining about Leaf's lack in HGSS too.
However, I can agree about Lorelei and Daisy Oak though. Lorelei is my favorite Pokemon human design of all. (Probably because of non-cartoony, generally realistic, and librarianlike she looks. I have a thing for bookish girls) And I really would love to see more of her. And Daisy Oak is so forgettable that the coffee in guy in Viridian is remembered more than she is, because he bars your path. Also, I think Copycat is kind of forgettable. She's just this weird thing that only appears in the first two generations and nowhere else. They don't even make similar characters based on her later on. |
Quote:
Quote:
Believe it or not, you're more likely to find fanfic/art for Youngster Joey than Lorelei, and what you do find is 90% degrading, sexist fetish crap. (Because, people are incapable of finding depth in female NPCs that aren't Cynthia, apparently...) It's criminal, I tell you! How would you like to see her reappear in the games? (Besides a Gen 1 remake.) I wouldn't mind seeing a Sevii Islands-based game (set during Gen 2) that fleshes the islands out into a full region and has her return as Champion of the Sevii League. Quote:
Quote:
|
Quote:
Quote:
Sevii Islands would be a nice way for her to reappear. And as champion to boot! But I guess I'd just like to see her appear in the latest installment as a semi-important character who is recurring. Maybe she moves to a different region entirely and that's why we don't see her so often. And you get to have a double battle with her because she accompanies you for a bit there. Just kind of having her do something important in another region. She could also be a researcher of whatever the latest Legendary box arts are. Quote:
|
I was about to say Kris, but it's because she's forgotten that fans (particularly older ones) care about her so much and push for a return in some shape or form.
Paradoxical much? |
Quote:
(Slightly OT, but am I the only one who wants to see more games that directly tie in with previous ones, whether through returning characters or even, returning regions, instead of everything taking place in an isolated region with a completely brand new cast of characters? That's a big reason why I love Gen 2 so much.) Quote:
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
Trying to think up of some other forgotten characters... |
Daisy oak didnt really had a major role in the game as we all know, i dont agree with lorelei being forgotten, cause she was one of the best e4s in kanto. and ris i would say was one of the underrated characters.
|
Quote:
Quote:
Quote:
|
When it comes to Daisy Oak was the back in RBY, she was the one that gave you the Town Map. As for in GSC, she was useful if you felt like getting your Pokemon a massage, but it was only at a certain time of day. As for Kris, I don't think I recall using her since I don't think I played Crystal. Now when it comes to Lorelei, she is certainly the bookish sort and a great Elite Four member. Plus I have seen fan art of her.
|
Quote:
Quote:
|
I'm going with Karen. I wouldn't say she's really forgotten because I believe she is liked and everyone always quotes her line, but in the games there is so little on her and she was undoubtedly so cool. Pretty sure she wasn't in the anime either :(
|
Quote:
Even to this day, only 12 of the 31 total Elite Four members have even appeared in the anime--Lorelei, Bruno, Agatha, Lance, Koga (who appeared as a Gym Leader), Drake, Aaron, Bertha, Flint, Lucian, Caitlin, and Siebold. (In other words, the entirety of Gens 1 and 4, and one from each of the other Gens.) The fact that the anime seems to deliberately minimize the Elite Four's role by ending every arc with a tournament (complete with random plot device to make Ash lose) doesn't help matters. I like Karen, myself (in fact, she's one of my favorites), and it's a shame that she never got more development. She was the games' first ever Dark specialist and a strong woman, to boot. That being said, I don't think she's as forgotten as Lorelei; even though the latter got far more development in the games (hard as it is to believe), the former last appeared far more recently (5 years ago as opposed to 10), and her "Strong Pokémon, weak Pokémon" quote is too memorable. |
My absolute favorite character is probably Liz picnicker. She always had the greatest phone calls. even though she was useless, i always avoided removing her from my contacts, especially when she confuses you for Tania.
|
Quote:
I always liked the three Cooltrainers you could get the numbers of on Routes 26-27: Reena, Gaven, and Beth (Jamie in HGSS). Being Cooltrainers, they were a good source of money and EXP, and they had some great phone calls, too. I loved how snotty and overconfident Reena was. (And, like most male Cooltrainers, Gaven was pretty easy on the eyes. :3c) Those Twins in the Dragon's Den (Lea & Pia in Crystal; Clea & Gil in HGSS) have always intrigued me, too. Not only are they the only trainers there who aren't Cooltrainers, but one of them tells you this after beating them: "It was like having to battle Lance." This suggests that they're close relatives of his, such as nieces, younger cousins, or possibly even younger sisters. (It also suggests that he might babysit them often.) It wouldn't have minded seeing this explored more. (Lance being a cool babysitter/older brother figure sounds soooo adorable! ^_^) |
some of them are decent, but LIz is my alltime favorite....the way she responds with "listen! listen!"
|
I definitely agree with Kris. She was practically forgotten in HGSS which is a shame because I found her way more badass than Lyra who took a more cute girl demeanour.
|
Quote:
|
Kris is still remembered even to newer fans. Especially those who skipped the remakes and went to the originals.
But even so, keep in mind that these games although intended to have female PCs, we didnt see them fluorish until Ruby/Sapphire. For example, I hate Leaf. Kris still holds a torch in my eyes but she was never made fully canon which angers me. |
Quote:
Well, to be honest, the female PCs, in general, are kind of pushed aside, at least, in the games' marketing. May is undoubtedly the most well-known and popular of the lot, and yet, the ORAS animated trailer is still centered around (the considerably less popular and iconic) Brendan. And, Adventures (the most popular manga adaptation) always treats the male PCs as the primary protagonists (despite, ironically, being the one place where Kris and Leaf exist as characters, albeit with different names). The only place that has consistently marketed the girls over the guys is, of course, the anime, but even that isn't 100% positive--The girls are considered easier to shove into secondary coordinator roles, while the presumed male hero role is already filled by Ash. |
I think Kris would be mine. I prefer her design over Lyras any day. Another reason for me to pick the male character....
|
I quickly culled some statistics on the characters I named in my original post, and the results are rather... depressing.
What's a good measure of a character's popularity? Why, fanfiction and fanart, of course! And, what are the two biggest and most widely accessible resources for each? DeviantArt and FF.net. I went and searched all four of the characters--Kris, Leaf, Lorelei, and Daisy--on both sites, as well as a fifth for comparison purposes: Youngster Joey. Why Joey? Because, he's the very definition of a generic, faceless NPC, lacking any kind of personality, backstory, or even, unique sprite. These four characters, theoretically, should be much more popular than him. Here are my results. Prepare to weep (or rage): DeviantArt Stats: - "Pokemon Joey": 2,761 results - Joey: 23 stories (most recent updated 10/25/2014) Daisy, I expected to have very low numbers (all she has over Joey is a unique sprite and known relatives, after all), and Kris actually has more fanfics than I expected. Leaf, however, surprised me the most--even when you account for the Leaf Stone/Razor Leaf/etc. fanart, she still has, at least, 10,000 pieces, and she also has well over 700 stories. Even if GF has forgotten her, the fandom certainly hasn't! Much of this just begs for analysis. Why has Leaf retained her popularity far more than Kris? Why is Lorelei less popular than even generic NPCs? What causes some characters to be forgotten in the first place? |
I couldn't help but laugh at those stats...not of joy of course but a weeping laughter.
I would say Karen and what's his face are the forgettable E4 members of all games (Let me try to name all I know by name Lorelei, Bruno, Agatha, Lance, Karen, Sindey, Phoebe, Glacia, Drake, Aaron, Bertha, Flint, Lucian, Shauntel, Grimsey, Caitlin, Marshall, Malva...and that's it) They should've had Green/Leaf appear in HgSs if you picked the male character and the Red appear if you pick the female character (same teams except maybe replace Espeon for Umbreon on Leaf's team). Well Leaf who appeared in Gen III is a recent character compared to Kris who appeared in Gen II. As for Lorelei...well she isn't as recent as Joey is either...plus she's likely overshadowed by the likes of Agatha and Lance. I do find it sad how Lorelei and Agatha were shoved aside the way they were...at the very least GF referenced them in the layout of the 1st E4 and Karen's rooms (more so in the originals, but there are some bits in HgSs just as Lorelei's former room which seems to have ice cubes floating mixing both ice with psychic). |
Quote:
Quote:
On your list, the ones you missed are: Will, Koga, Siebold, Wilkstrom, and Drasna. Seeing as the last three are from the most RECENT Generation, that's pretty bad for their memorability. Quote:
Quote:
"Pokémon Lyra": 7,124 results on DeviantArt Quote:
"Pokémon Cynthia": 4,709 results on DeviantArt Just about every single female NPC has to compete with that, because neither GF or the fandom can give equal attention to more than one at a time (unless it's for degrading fanservice, of course). And, if you're stuck way back in the GBA era like poor Lorelei, you might as well not exist. (Alas, it's probably not a coincidence that my original list is 100% female. -_-) Quote:
The really sad part about all of this is that we're unlikely to ever see either of them in the games ever again unless Gen 1 gets another remake. If GF was going to put them in other games, it would've already happened a long time ago. |
| All times are GMT -8. The time now is 7:59 AM. |
![]()
© 2002 - 2018 The PokéCommunity™, pokecommunity.com.
Pokémon characters and images belong to The Pokémon Company International and Nintendo. This website is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Nintendo, Creatures, GAMEFREAK, The Pokémon Company or The Pokémon Company International. We just love Pokémon.
All forum styles, their images (unless noted otherwise) and site designs are © 2002 - 2016 The PokéCommunity / PokéCommunity.com.
PokéCommunity™ is a trademark of The PokéCommunity. All rights reserved. Sponsor advertisements do not imply our endorsement of that product or service. User generated content remains the property of its creator.
Acknowledgements
Use of PokéCommunity Assets
vB Optimise by DragonByte Technologies Ltd © 2023.