(and exclude the really antagonistic ones like Masked Marauder and Annie and Oakley).
Cheater! The villians are the best parts!
Wait, you don't consider (first movie) Mewtwo or Butler to be in that catagory? M2 tried to KILL ALL HUMANS RAWR and Butler...well, Butler was crazy with revenge and more than a bit evil. Sure, they both reformed in the end, but their past actions remain.
And you don't consider Molly in there either? Molly turned the whole city into her personal playground and didn't care what happened to anyone that lived there. And she kidnapped someone so she could play Pretend Family with her. Sure, she claims later that she thought Delia was her mother, but she sure didn't seem that way when she ordered Entei to go get her. It was more like "I need a mother. Her, she'll do," than anything else.
Out of the options, I voted for her. But my favorite would be Jirarudan, from movie 2. On the surface, a two-dimensional character, but he became something so much more than that. I don't know if the writers intended for him to be so fascinating. He isolates himself from the rest of the world, prefering to surround himself with things of beauty. And yet he talks constantly--to his computer, to the Birds, to the captured kids, to himself...for someone who keeps to himself, it seems that he needs constant vocalizing. The only thing that ever shuts him up is having his whole world destroyed, and even then, in English there's an added line about how he's going to start over.
I like this change, actually, because it showcases the fact that he didn't learn anything from his mistake. Throughout the movie, delusion seems to be his primary character trait. Not only does he live in what amounts to an artificial world, he knows the legend and yet only follows the parts that tell him how to draw Lugia out of hiding--not the parts about, you know, the death and disaster that would follow. And with his ship hovering above the clouds, he never really knows that his actions *are* causing all this. I wouldn't be surprised if he never put two and two together about that after his ship crashed.
And when that did happen, he didn't seem to care that his collection was gone. He had Lugia in his sights, and screw that he wouldn't have any place to put it. If he could capture it, his collection would be above anyone else's, and that was all that mattered.
He didn't want power like so many others, he wanted Lugia to posess, like an object. He has a distinct lack of empathy, but I don't think he was wicked, just greedy and shortsighted.
And you know what? I think he was *right* about something. The legend never said the Birds had to be *free*, just that they had to be in balance.
His image song says so much about him too. And I think it's a shame that 2 was the only film they did image songs for, because think of what we're missing!
....ok, that turned into an essay. But I get long-winded when it comes to my favorite characters, and he's my favorite overall. Be glad I didn't get into his mental condition any deeper. I can go on for ages.
