Black characters

[GengarsRevenge]

I just realized, are there any black characters in any of the pokemon games at all?

 

[serabeth]

I'm pretty sure Jynx was supposed to be based on a stereotype of black women. That's why the original series episode in America at first was banned, and later showings of the episode had her appear purple instead of black.

Other than that, I don't think there are any black people in the games...Isn't Ash's newest female companion in the anime supposed to be black, though? There weren't any black kids even in the anime so far that I can remember....The only skin tone difference I really saw in any of the main characters was Brock has a bit darker skin.

Edit: I was just thinking about what I can remember hearing about the newest character. Isn't she supposed to be a "jungle girl," and the people of Isshu are supposed to be highly suspicious of any pokemon not native to their region? Black stereotypes again much, perhaps :P? Maybe not; I'm just going off what I've vaguely seen on google. I haven't actually watched any of the new Japanese episodes yet or even really browsed these forums about the BW series.

 

[Fever]

There was a couple of dark skinned (I don't know if they were supposed to be black) characters in the first 2 series of the anime.
I can't for the life of me remember which episodes they appeared in though.
They weren't main characters, they were just sort of there. Popped up and disappeared all in one go and weren't seen again.

 

[fenyx4]

I just realized, are there any black characters in any of the pokemon games at all?

Hmm...there was trivia written earlier on Bulbapedia that Pokemon Ranger Barlow was black, but there appears to be no evidence in-game to support that claim:

IMO, Arcade Star Dahlia, one of Sinnoh's Frontier Brains, is black. Very disappointed that she hasn't appeared in the anime yet! :cer_pissed:

I'm pretty sure Jynx was supposed to be based on a stereotype of black women. That's why the original series episode in America at first was banned, and later showings of the episode had her appear purple instead of black.

Other than that, I don't think there are any black people in the games...Isn't Ash's newest female companion in the anime supposed to be black, though? There weren't any black kids even in the anime so far that I can remember....The only skin tone difference I really saw in any of the main characters was Brock has a bit darker skin.

Edit: I was just thinking about what I can remember hearing about the newest character. Isn't she supposed to be a "jungle girl," and the people of Isshu are supposed to be highly suspicious of any pokemon not native to their region? Black stereotypes again much, perhaps :P? Maybe not; I'm just going off what I've vaguely seen on google. I haven't actually watched any of the new Japanese episodes yet or even really browsed these forums about the BW series.

I thought Iris looked like a Filipina/Latina mix, for some reason... Her skin tone seems to slightly vary between depictions, though... Aloe might be considered black, but for now until official confirmation, Your Mileage May Vary. Maybe the English releases will confirm origins of some characters...? :\

 

[Wings Don't Cry]

I'm pretty sure Jynx was supposed to be based on a stereotype of black women. That's why the original series episode in America at first was banned, and later showings of the episode had her appear purple instead of black.

That's how housewives saw it. In reality it it's based off a Japanese drama queen or something, with dyed hair and a lot of make up on. It's something along those lines but it wasn't based off a black person, some American lady(she was white) just assumed it was and caused a huge fuss over it.

 

[fenyx4]

That's how housewives saw it. In reality it it's based off a Japanese drama queen or something, with dyed hair and a lot of make up on. It's something along those lines but it wasn't based off a black person, some American lady(she was white) just assumed it was and caused a huge fuss over it.

Yeah, I just refer to the following quote regarding the whole Jynx controversy, as for right now Jynx's actual design origins seems up to interpretation, and it seems we'll never know for sure. :\ *sigh* It could just be a misinterpretation. I personally didn't associate Jynx with negative connotations and stereotypes, and thought the black coloration made her look similar to Gastly; being a void of energy... (suggested by Jynx's fainting animation in Pokemon Stadium 2):

[FONT=Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif]
Was Jynx based on a black person? No, but it's still close enough to the old stereotypes to be offensive to some people. That's why the character's caused so much controversy.[/FONT]

Source:
https://dogasu.bulbagarden.net/bashing/racist_jynx_01.html
https://dogasu.bulbagarden.net/bashing/racist_jynx_02.html

 

[Planetes.]

well most believe its ninendo has excluded black characters to avoid criticism if they unintentionally use a stereotype.
Dahlia is of spanish or middle eastern descent.
Iris, Aloe, and Renbu, the fighting type member of the Isshu elite four. Along with other trainer classes.
Since Isshu is allegedly based on New York City, this may be to show the cultural diversity in the NYC.

 

[Kirbychu]

well most believe its ninendo has excluded black characters to avoid criticism if they unintentionally use a stereotype.
Dahlia is of spanish or middle eastern descent.
Iris, Aloe, and Renbu, the fighting type member of the Isshu elite four. Along with other trainer classes.
Since Isshu is allegedly based on New York City, this may be to show the cultural diversity in the NYC.

I'm surprised it took this long for this answer to come about. There are many black people in BW, plus you have Iris in the anime.

 

[King Gumball]

I just realized, are there any black characters in any of the pokemon games at all?

5th Gen has included a few black characters as it is based in America. The other games were in Japan and Japan isn't exactly a very multicultural country or didn't make very much contact with Africa in the past (when the Africans were kept as slaves ); )

Iris isn't black.... She just has olive sking.

Aloe is an American Indian it appears. Who would still be classed as black I guess.

 

[Sydian]

I thought Aloe was Jamaican or Caribbean. She just looks like she'd have an accent from there, idek.

 

[Pokémandias]

I think dahlia is definitely black, she's awesome too! the cutest trainer ever

 

[Pyrax]

I'm pretty sure Jynx was supposed to be based on a stereotype of black women.

For the last time, Jynx was based on a fad in 90s Japan.

well most believe its ninendo has excluded black characters to avoid criticism if they unintentionally use a stereotype.
Dahlia is of spanish or middle eastern descent.

And possibly the fact that there aren't a lot of black people in Japan.

 

[Kirbychu]

Iris isn't black.... She just has olive sking.

Because we all know black people only come in one exact shade. >.>

For the last time, Jynx was based on a fad in 90s Japan.

Nobody knows for sure, except for Game Freak itself.

 

[ANARCHit3cht]

Renbu seems to be black to me. But, it is perfectly okay that they don't have black people, becaues, Japan isn't very.. varied. They base off what they have, which isn't black people.

 

[Bluerang1]

Wow, I absolutely LOVE what GameFreak did in black and white. We now have 3 black people (thanks for the spoiler about Renbu :P but I love it anyway) in mainline Pokemon. All different personalities. Thank you GameFreak! This is just what I wanted. wouldn't have minded another for a Plasma Admin though. Or do they even have Admins? I don't know the storyline nor do I want to know it, thanks.

 

[Amore]

It's pretty obvious the lack of black people in pokemon is simply reflecting the lack of black people in Japan (I mean, c'mon, in the eyes of most people I know, everybody in Asia has black hair, squints, and is small.They have to have some slight evidence about the lack of diversity, it didn't just come out of nothing).

Jynx most likely was based on this 90s Japanese fad, seeing as it was designed in the 90s, in Japan. Political Correctness gone ott ruined a perfectly fine design.

It makes sense there should be a few black people in Isshu, being based on New York City, however they obviously felt the need to keep the majority white, as they do give the impression most games that black people are un-common in the pokemon world. And I'm pretty certain that there are more white people than black people in America, too.

Whoever put a comment about "not black, just olive-skinned", may I point out something? "Black" people are actually brown, therefore you can't really just decide that one shade means they're white and another doesn't, can you?

 

[Planetes.]

Guys, I'm pretty sure all of the former posts are just being repeated here T_T
I mean, I already made the point that since Isshu is NYC, there's cultural diversity, it doesn't need to be repeated 3 times.
And the lack of black people in Japan is getting spammed now.
Can we stop before this becomes completely pointless?