I wanna be...

[rom hunter]

Whose personality interests you the most?

Remember that you should consider the the psychology, the behavior, the attitude of the person and not the sex, the looks, and the status or the role he is given in anime or his achievements in the same (which means it may even be a bad guy such as James in Team Rocket). I am limiting the poll options to Kanto-Johto characters only. In case one of your favorites is post-Johto, hit "other" and specify the character.

(NOTE: I am giving Meowth and Pikachu a human status. Sorry for being biased.)

 

[Aquacorde]

Honestly, I wouldn't pick many OS characters. They didn't get nearly as much proper development time as other characters considering how long they were around (besides like Gary/Ash/the TRio). They were good characters, yeah, but they never really intrigued me and had me wanting more episodes focused on them.
Besides TR. Because wow, likeable villains that have extensive backstory? People pretty incompetent at their jobs but clearly very good at other things? Jessie's princess persona covering up her poverty as a child and missing parents. James' humble follower behaviour masking his innate creativity and problem-solving skills. Meowth's mess of a life cumulating in him finding a place with friends that will stick with him forever. TR IS SO GOOD WOW

Other than those three, I love the heck out of Unovan rivals. Luke, Stephan, Burgundy, Georgia, and Bianca were the best ever; I loved their interactions and their personalities; it's really too bad that the writers didn't capitalize on the wonderful characters they created. Cilan had a similar problem; he was vastly interesting and entertaining but never really developed. He's still my fav ever tho~
Clemont seems to be the best-written main guy so far; his struggles are laid out pretty plainly and he's already been working to overcome them. And he's still extremely likeable- his running gag isn't overused or as in-your-face as Brock or Cilan's, but at least he has one (unlike Tracey). His interactions with the rest of the cast are great and he isn't just slotted into one role- the nerd, the navigator, the exposition-giver- he's an active component of the story and takes the initiative.

tbh I'm interested in a lot of the characters and their journeys; I can see points of interest in every character on the show. But those are my favs as of now~

 

[Lizardo]

Shinji's the only Pocket Monsters character whose personality I truly find interesting, and not just entertaining. And with the exceptions of Satoshi, Kasumi in the earliest episodes, and Team Rocket, I honestly find most OS characters to be really boring.

 

[rom hunter]

Honestly, I wouldn't pick many OS characters. They didn't get nearly as much proper development time as other characters considering how long they were around (besides like Gary/Ash/the TRio). They were good characters, yeah, but they never really intrigued me and had me wanting more episodes focused on them.
Besides TR. Because wow, likeable villains that have extensive backstory? People pretty incompetent at their jobs but clearly very good at other things? Jessie's princess persona covering up her poverty as a child and missing parents. James' humble follower behaviour masking his innate creativity and problem-solving skills. Meowth's mess of a life cumulating in him finding a place with friends that will stick with him forever. TR IS SO GOOD WOW

Yeah TRio is the best. But I don't agree with what you said about Gary and Ash. They both have their own persona. In fact I seen people in real life that have striking resemblance with Ash if not Gary. Even Gary's character is too much dramatic I believe they have done justice with the character at least until they relegate him to a researcher rather than a trainer. But that's another thing. We are talking about the psychology and not the role in anime. I know the role is important but if we know the persona of a character we can definitely judge him for a role. In that sense, I believe Gary has been denied justice. I would have liked to see him as Ash's rival till the very end. Ash and Gary do not have disturbing past like the TRio but they something of their own - self-belief(both), rashness(Ash), logical sense(Gary), self-centerd attitude (more in Ash than Gary). So I guess they are quite the characters even they don't have a history.

 

[Aquacorde]

That's... what I said tho? That few OS characters were really developed BESIDES Gary/Ash/the TRio? I didn't talk about them much because they're not my favs ever but I do like them and certainly recognize that they are fleshed out characters.

 

[rom hunter]

@Aquacorde I guess I should have added some more characters even post Johto one. But I wanted to focus on the prime characters. That is why I even kept out even the gym leaders from Kanto and Johto. I never watched pokemon much after Advanced series but when you talked of Unova rivals being good I guess I should start all over again from where I left behind (i.e Battle Frontier). From reviews I always thought Best Wishes was a bore.

 

[Itcheeee]

Been a while scince I watched the Orange Islands but I always wished Tracey could of been around longer. Funny thought if Tracey was in Diamond Pearl instead of brock :P But Tracey wasn't inspired by a game character or Gym Leader, so maybe that's why they decided not to really bring him back. He's so far the only they have not brought back and is most likely past his time for that to happen. Would be interesting to see him in Kalos, as he would have some interesting things to study sketching.

I always had a soft spot for Misty, but being mostly a Water-type trainer I did at times wonder what it would be like seeing other types of trainers (Steel, Dark and Bug even would of interesting as they are lesser shown) but think I'm happy seeing Ash's other traveling companions have different types of Pokemon(May, Dawn), and some being more type-oriented (Iris). Personally I'd like to see new characters instead of Misty coming back long-term but that's just me, even though I quite like her character.

As far as the series per-Advanced goes I think Team Rocket's characters were actually the most developed. Tons of flash backs, entire episodes dedicated to learning more about them and bits here and there. Seeing the anime for the first time as a kid I -loved- the fact they were showing so much about characters, but wished they did the same for some other characters. I'd of loved to see more about Oak, besides the Celebi movie(forget if they considered this cannon though, I need to re-watch this >_< )

Gary too I'd of liked to see more of. Look how much we see Paul in DP, maybe even, he could of been a interesting traveling companion for Ash? If I recall he was much friendlier to Ash in Johto. I still need to re-watch/see for the first time most of DP and BW/XY will be new to me but I don't know if Gary even appears anymore :/