…………………………………………………

Top Ten Pokémon Characters

Pokémon as anime is not the most well known for its characters and surely most of them are either rehashes, boring entities or quite annoying. However, the villains are great as is going to be evidenced by my list and some of the companions are actually pretty good. So without further ado, here are Pokémon’s ten best characters.

10. Bonnie

Now admittedly I did not care for this girl at all and her brother is the more memorable part of the sibling duo. However, that all changed with Bonnie’s subsequent better and bigger roles in some episodes and the highlight was her moving relationship with Squishy as well as her sweet song.

9. Gary Oak

Gary is the oldest rival of Ash’s from the first couple of seasons and it was great following their rivalry. I do realize that they overpowered him a bit too much and he became less interesting later on, but the rivalry itself was pretty good and it provided us with some terrific fights.

8. Clemont

Clemont is actually a pretty strong late companion for Ash as he is for once a different male companion than all the rest that came before him. That’s why I liked him quite a bit. His scientific side brought a breath of fresh air to the show and his constant bad naming of his inventions was a funny running gag for sure.

7. Paul

Paul started off as a rehash of Gary Oak for sure, but eventually he became better and better to the point of overthrowing Gary Oak as Ash’s finest rival. That’s because he treats his Pokémon harshly and brutally, he has an air of coolness around him and is overall a terrific sort of villain for the protagonist. Their relationship was so well established.

6. Brock

The weakest of the original trio, but still a valuable member of the team is Brock who is arguably the most risqué character for this kids show. His constant urge for pretty girls and obsession with them provided a lot of funny moments as such a terrific, never again rivaled running gag.

5. Ash Ketchum

Ash is a pretty memorable anime protagonist for being more of a brat instead of hero and for losing constantly instead of winning. That made him quite relatable. His relationship with Pikachu is great as are the interactions with his friends. However, I found his constant losing streak to be problematic eventually as he needed to win at least one league. He never progressed as a character which made the entire show pointless in a way.

4. Misty

Yes, the best part of the original hero team is easily Misty who’s my personal favorite Pokémon gal. Whereas Dawn and others in her wake are bland and too good, Misty can be an annoying brat with a bad attitude while still caring for Ash in spite of their constant fighting. She also served as Brock’s reminder to cool off in front of all the girls. She has the most personality and spunk of all the positive female characters on this show which is why she’s ranked highest.

3. Meowth

The weakest but still terrific part of Team Rocket trio belongs to this cat Pokémon. Meowth is such a fun creation who is the only Pokémon with the ability to speak and that instantly made him unforgettable along with his amusing accent. He can be quite funny, but his loving relationship with his human counterparts made him a winner in my book.

2. James

James can be pretty hilarious as this obviously gay male character and those jokes that hinted at his sexuality proved to be the funniest. He’s probably the smartest part of Team Rocket which made him a valuable member and I particularly liked his voice performances with the first one being the finest.

1. Jessie

Yes, the number one goes to Jessie, the best member of great Team Rocket (and this team is the sole reason to watch this middling show for sure) and all around finest character. So well acted and memorably designed with her long, red, spiky hair being her signature trademark, she is the most purely evil and vain of the three and thus the most entertaining. She made me laugh quite a number of times and her use of the word “twerp” was always a lot of fun to hear.

Honorable Mentions:

Serena – Serena may have been a somewhat incapable female character, but what set her apart from all the other girls was her infatuation with Ash which was an interesting development.

Professor Oak – The first professor remains the best. Professor Oak is such an endearing, all knowing old man who is one of the souls and hearts of this show.

Butch and Cassidy – This evil duo was the perfect rivaling team for Team Rocket as their motto was also a lot of fun and their more competent nature was a great counter-balance.

Nurse Joy and Officer Jenny – These two are by far the blandest characters on this list, but still the necessary personas from this show as well as games and thus deserve their place here.

May and Max – This sibling duo is individually either bland in the first case or annoying in the second case, but together they are such a sweet sibling duo with warm interactions.