4th Gen Barry or Silver?

[Dragon]

Barry is at times childish, impatient, and rash, Silver is equally as serious, uncaring, and sometimes even cruel. No doubt comparing these two is like apples to oranges. However, as different as they may be, they still carry the characteristics of all Pokémon rivals. They are both determined and they each have a desire to be the very best~

Both of them are pretty easy to take care of in the games (at least in my opinion anyway), so it really comes down to their personality, point of view, and training and battling style that makes up their rivalry characteristics and differentiates the two from each other.

In your opinion though, who would you say is your preferred rival? Or rather, the better made up rival of the two? Seeing as how different they both are, I'd say it's up to personal taste in how one likes their rival to be; whether that be someone who is more serious, more focused and darker or someone who is more free spirited, jokes around every now and then, yet still able to hold their own in a fight~!

 

[Count]

I prefer rivals to have a bit less of a friendly demeanor. When the rival is introduced as friend of yours, I always find it a bit boring. Probably because as a kid, it was Blue first and then later on Silver, who is more badass and even comes across as a bit evil. So that sets an expectation which Nintendo hasn't seemed to live up to since.

In terms of difficulty I remember struggling with Silver more, especially in Gen 2 mainly because, well, I was a kid. Even in gen 4 though, the types and moves Silver chose were a lot more of a hassle to combat. Ghost, Poison, Dark, Steel - awesome type choices, but with moves like Hypnosis (which might just have been in gen 2) and Confuse Ray it really made for good matches especially earlier in the game. I remember losing to Silver in Azalea Town time and time again because I was too lazy to train my newly hatched Togepi before the battle, especially in gen 2.

All In all I think Barry is my least favourite of the rivals in the main games. In terms of character design I find him to be very plain, he lacks a bit of attitude for my taste and I don't remember him being much of a challenge.

 

[Nah]

my preference would be Silver, as he's one of the literal few characters in Pokemon that actually has even a shred of character development

 

[colours]

I like Barry more.

Maybe it's just me, but I find Barry to be the perfect blend of jerk rival and friendly rival. He's not really moving too much in one direction or the other. He's friendly, but not without giving you a challenge and something to aim for, which is kicking his ass. I cannot honestly find anything cringeworthy about Barry like I can easily find in every other rival past Gen IV. I mean, I at least like his running gag about owing him a gazillion pokedollars or whatever for no particular reason lmao.

Silver is ok, but he's really just that. What you see is essentially what you get -- an asshole rival that motivates you to beat him on the basis that he's just that -- an asshole. The thing is, there's nothing... memorable about Silver in particular. At least with Blue, he's memorable not really just because you see him everywhere, but because he's the Champion, so he's essentially the end goal to beat. With Barry, at least he's memorable because of his general personality and the fact that his presence extends beyond the main story (let's not forget about Tower Tycoon Palmer!), and I think that's important to have in a rival.

 

[Amy May]

That's a very difficult question for me to answer.

With Silver... I think he's the best represention of a person you may run into irl. A complete opposite to what the hero supposed to be and with far more edge than Gary or any of the others.

With Barry... He's perfect balance, more in the video game respect. A good reprensation of someone irl, but more like a childhood friend. A bit more depth to his "personality" than Silver. But then Silver is epitome of an evil more found in "bad guys", even pushing it further than N.. maybe even Giovanni too.

... I don't think I could choose between the two tbh. They're my two favorite rivals in the entire span of Pokemon games.

 

[VisionofMilotic]

Unquestionably Silver. He is exactly the type of rival I like. I have always preferred more confrontational rivals like Blue, Silver, Gladion, my personal favorite being the zealous N, who likes you but is trying to overthrow the current world order and will take you out to fulfill that destiny.

I don't object to a rival being your friend like Barry, but when there is a choice like this between a rival who is closer to a friend/ally like him, and one who is closer to an enemy like Silver, then I am generally going to lean towards the latter. Story-wise I see more potential benefit from rivals who take more aggressive actions towards the player, and potentially more room for growth too.

Even among the friendlier rivals Barry comes up low on my list. I am sorry to say it because it seems a lot of pokefans like him, but honestly he's too cartoonish for my taste, zipping back and forth around Sinnoh.

 

[Amy May]

Even among the friendlier rivals Barry comes up low on my list. I am sorry to say it because it seems a lot of pokefans like him, but honestly he's too cartoonish for my taste, zipping back and forth around Sinnoh.

Booooooo! :P

I had a friend who was just like him when i was 8 years old! XD

 

[professor plum]

I gotta say Barry over Silver for sure. I just feel that Barry has a lot more personality than Silver does, and I like that in a rival. Sure, he might not be ~*hardcore*~ like Silver is, but I think that's fine for this generation. I think if they fleshed Silver out more, I might like him more.

 

[Aldo]

My preference is Silver over Barry.

 

[Zeostar]

Silver.

I might be biased, having only played Platinum once. Barry had one of the best rival teams in terms of progression. Silver was okay in terms of his team, but the only battle I find challenging is the 2nd battle outside the forest.

Still, Silver had better character development, probably one of the best out of any rival. (Aside from Sun/Moon, but those were heavily story focused). I enjoyed his story of how he starts out as a cruel thief, but slowly realizes his wrong attitude halfway through after getting beaten by Lance.

 

[strangerhypno]

Silver's a jerk so I like him more. Ahole rivals are the best,

Barry's alright, but needs some ADHD meds

 

[xwingz900]

Gotta go Silver, I prefer the edgy rivals.

 

[mattthesonic]

I agree with you that he is the worst. but he is almost so bad that he is good XD

 

[Sorviknight]

Barry. I prefer his personality and I'm a much bigger fan of his team than I am of Silver's.

 

[noa]

Both are good in their own way. Silver is my favorite rival and favorite Pokemon character over all so i'm of coursed biased. Barry is fun and cute but Silver is more interesting, has more character development and I prefer his design.

 

[Uecil]

I like them both, but if I were to only chose one, I'd say Silver. There's so much more to him, than just a rival that turns up now and then in the games. I also like his cold attitude, and how he tries his hardest to obtain what he wants. Not saying Barry doesn't do the same, but it's not the same.

 

[Yue Han]

Silver. One of my favourite characters in the series and my favourite rival overall. His backstory is effortlessly interesting and was there for us to discover ourselves rather than jarringly being a core part of the main game's story.

I don't have much of an opinion on Barry but I'd take him over a decent amount of other rivals we've had.

 

[Lordgold666]

Id have to go with Silver over Barry

He may come across as a huge ass at first, but you cant help but feel for the dude. Hes been brought up in a pretty crappy environment. The way he acts, the way he treats others, it makes sense. His father Gio and TR only care about profit, and nothing/nobody else. They have absolutely no remorse for the damage they cause in their pursuit of insatiable greed. Its all he knows, but even he realizes that TR are a bunch of cowards and he doesnt even want to be like them, hes wants to be better than them. Silver is just a messed up kid who only needed to be shown that being cruel and a jerk wont get you anywhere. Once our player character shows him the right way by whooping' him time and time again, he begins to realize his old ways were holding him back. He then starts to train and battle with some honor, all bc you helped get him there when no one else would. A much more impactful rivalry, imo.

Barry, while a great rival to "grow up" with, was kind of too childish for me personally. He was the complete opposite from the player character(at least how i play). He was impatience, immature, and wouldnt think things through. All the while, us, the player character, would be utilizing type advantages, solving puzzle after puzzle, and giving the bad guys a run for their money. His father is a frontier brain after all, youd think hed try and emulate Palmer more. Fun guy, but not someone i felt i could grow and develop with and/or from.

 

[calenlily]

I'd go for Silver over Barry. I don't mind friendly rivals in general (although they've become so standard in later generations that it's getting kind of boring, more than anything I'd like a little variety). But I find Barry's personality downright obnoxious. Also I lowkey resent him for making me go into the tall grass and borrow the Prof's Pokémon without permission at the start of the game.

 

[Inner Rhymes]

I'd definitely pick Silver over Barry, mainly the because I personally felt that he was more of a step up from Blue. Not only is he stuck up, he also gives that self entitled vibe off which makes pounding him down to the ground even more enjoyable. Barry on the other hand was too "nice" for my liking, I actually ended up feeling sorry for him instead of growing attached to him as a rival. Heck, Barry just felt like a friend to me, that's all. Plus, Silver has a really good backstory that covers him and makes him so much interesting than Barry, who felt pretty bland.