Most overrated character of all time!

[Tsukuyomi56]

Likely going with Serena, much it is to do with Showcases not being well developed and her rivals not as good as May’s or Dawn’s.

 

[shoz999]

Paul, SM Ash, SM Pokegirls, Charizard (Ash and Alain), Origins Red, Manga Red, Misty

It's Adventures or Special Red. There's more than one manga Red. Although to be honest I suppose we could just say Red and all his counterparts in-general would count as overrated lol.

 

[Twilight-Kun]

Ash, his pokémon, and Jessie, James, and Meowth

They've overstayed their welcome and have been spinning their wheels for far too long to the point people rejoice when they regress as characters for some bizarre reason

 

[horrahforyou]

For the current season SM. I'll say Lillie and Rowlet.

 

[Sushi]

This one deals a lot with fandom opinions, which clashes a bit with rule 2a, but I'll allow it for now.

I think a lot of people mix up "This character is overrated" with "I don't like this character / This character was bad / I want this character to leave". They're not the same thing. A character that is already widely disliked or at least gets mixed reactions can't be overrated by definition, unless you carry it to an extreme and think the character in question doesn't deserve anyone liking them at all. If that's the case... Oof, that's harsh.

For instance, I think trying to squeeze the likes of Ash and Serena into the "Overrated" category is a bit of a stretch. Not because I think they're awesome and immune to criticism, which they are absolutely not, but... have you seen how people talk about these two? There are people who want Ash dead because of "Aim for the horn" or somesuch nonsense. Because he doesn't hold a candle to game Red, whatever the hell that means because game Red is just the players themselves - I guess people stan themselves? In which case, good for them I guess?

And this isn't just some unusual opinion you come across once in a blue moon - people are extremely split on Ash, with a good number of them being "meh", and an overwhelming number of them just straight-up hating his guts. I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound overrated to me. Within the series, sure, there's been numerous instances where other characters talk him up or are lenient on him when it's not really warranted, but in real life? Hm.

Same with Serena tbh. It's not just SPPf where people were mostly unimpressed by her quest (both concept and execution-wise), by her crush, by her story in general. She has the cuteness/prettiness factor protecting her on occasion, but for the most part, she's a pretty controversial character to begin with. Not seeing the "inexplicably und almost universally adored" thing that's so typical for overrated characters.

I think characters like Paul, Alain, Mairin and Bonnie come closer to garnering the sort of hype and love that may, for some people, be unfounded. I like Paul a lot as a character, but he and Alain get a lot of credit "for free" just for representing the opposite of the general nature of the series. They're dark, edgy and broody where the main cast is happy and carefree. A typical 13-year-old who equates being a jerk with maturity would award them brownie points for these different, but still very basic personality traits alone. Writing a broody or downright mean character isn't any more difficult than writing a kind and open character, yet the former is bound to automatically receive praise simply for clashing with the happy and colorful environment they're thrown into.

If you ignore all that and focus on the question whether more effort and thought than usual was put into their development, whether their story was coherent and wrapped up nicely, opinions on whether all the love is justified may vary. As mentioned before, I love Paul but hate Alain, but if I was asked if I thought everyone likes them for different reasons and the praises for one are justified and unjustified for the other, then the answer is clearly no. If Alain were to be considered overrated then Paul would be too, personal preferences be damned.

Bonnie and Mairin are a similar example in which the writers didn't really have to put a lot of work into the characters to make them well-liked. They're these cute, uwu (=^ω^=) types of girls which just praise and are in awe of everything, which appeals a lot to the other half of Millennials and Gen-Zs, namely the one that's either depressed as hell or tired of the gloominess of reality, and that receives healing energy just from witnessing exuberant positivity and childlike innocence. Granted, I think at least Bonnie was a bit more nuanced than that, but still, I occasionally caught myself just hyping Bonnie because she was excitedly ranting about something for the 89329283th time.

Now, I don't want to get into whether these characters truly are overrated, or just prone to being overrated (or neither?). That's anybody's guess.

 

[AznKei]

I put Ash as overrated, not only because I dislike him, but he's the character we heard him the most, even though he's the main character along with Pikachu.

Team Rocket can be tiring as recurring characters from the anime but I won't call them overrated. I doubt they were mentioned as much than the Pokegirls imo, despite the latters make their appearences full-time in one-two regions only.

 

[Pokegirl Fan~]

Paul is probably overrated as well. He's a decent character though

 

[KyogreThunder]

Ash's Swellow, Bulbasaur and Buizel, Dawn's Piplup, Misty's Togepi, Brock's Croagunk, Giovanni, Hunter J and Paul are pretty overrated.

 

[Power Up]

This one deals a lot with fandom opinions, which clashes a bit with rule 2a, but I'll allow it for now.

I think a lot of people mix up "This character is overrated" with "I don't like this character / This character was bad / I want this character to leave". They're not the same thing. A character that is already widely disliked or at least gets mixed reactions can't be overrated by definition, unless you carry it to an extreme and think the character in question doesn't deserve anyone liking them at all. If that's the case... Oof, that's harsh.

For instance, I think trying to squeeze the likes of Ash and Serena into the "Overrated" category is a bit of a stretch. Not because I think they're awesome and immune to criticism, which they are absolutely not, but... have you seen how people talk about these two? There are people who want Ash dead because of "Aim for the horn" or somesuch nonsense. Because he doesn't hold a candle to game Red, whatever the hell that means because game Red is just the players themselves - I guess people stan themselves? In which case, good for them I guess?

And this isn't just some unusual opinion you come across once in a blue moon - people are extremely split on Ash, with a good number of them being "meh", and an overwhelming number of them just straight-up hating his guts. I don't know about you, but that doesn't sound overrated to me. Within the series, sure, there's been numerous instances where other characters talk him up or are lenient on him when it's not really warranted, but in real life? Hm.

Same with Serena tbh. It's not just SPPf where people were mostly unimpressed by her quest (both concept and execution-wise), by her crush, by her story in general. She has the cuteness/prettiness factor protecting her on occasion, but for the most part, she's a pretty controversial character to begin with. Not seeing the "inexplicably und almost universally adored" thing that's so typical for overrated characters.

I think characters like Paul, Alain, Mairin and Bonnie come closer to garnering the sort of hype and love that may, for some people, be unfounded. I like Paul a lot as a character, but he and Alain get a lot of credit "for free" just for representing the opposite of the general nature of the series. They're dark, edgy and broody where the main cast is happy and carefree. A typical 13-year-old who equates being a jerk with maturity would award them brownie points for these different, but still very basic personality traits alone. Writing a broody or downright mean character isn't any more difficult than writing a kind and open character, yet the former is bound to automatically receive praise simply for clashing with the happy and colorful environment they're thrown into.

If you ignore all that and focus on the question whether more effort and thought than usual was put into their development, whether their story was coherent and wrapped up nicely, opinions on whether all the love is justified may vary. As mentioned before, I love Paul but hate Alain, but if I was asked if I thought everyone likes them for different reasons and the praises for one are justified and unjustified for the other, then the answer is clearly no. If Alain were to be considered overrated then Paul would be too, personal preferences be damned.

Bonnie and Mairin are a similar example in which the writers didn't really have to put a lot of work into the characters to make them well-liked. They're these cute, uwu (=^ω^=) types of girls which just praise and are in awe of everything, which appeals a lot to the other half of Millennials and Gen-Zs, namely the one that's either depressed as hell or tired of the gloominess of reality, and that receives healing energy just from witnessing exuberant positivity and childlike innocence. Granted, I think at least Bonnie was a bit more nuanced than that, but still, I occasionally caught myself just hyping Bonnie because she was excitedly ranting about something for the 89329283th time.

Now, I don't want to get into whether these characters truly are overrated, or just prone to being overrated (or neither?). That's anybody's guess.

Be whatever their reasons, more than 35,000 people supported a Serena to Alola campaign way back then. Even removing all the troll votes if any, you still have a sizable chunk of people supporting a campaign that would ultimately never work

You’re telling me you can find 35,000 Serena haters? Doubtful. Serebii is a small sample size

The allusion that the fandom is divided over Serena is a pretty false illusion.

And I’m not saying Serena is a perfect character or she doesn’t deserve criticism, I’m saying a lot more people like her than the people who don’t

 

[ash&charizardfan]

Paul is probably overrated as well. He's a decent character though

Paul is a great character but overrated trainer people just overhype him way too much for no reason, i think gary is overrated as well there are still some people who think he is ash's best rival to date even though there rivalry could have been handled much better.

 

[PorcelainVulpix]

I was going to pick Serena, but I agree with the fact that Serena is already a controversial character to begin with. From what I’ve seen in the fandom on twitter, tumblr, discussion forums, etc there’s a lot of mixed opinions on her so I guess she doesn’t count. Just like Max and Iris and certain iterations of Ash doesn’t count.

So, in that case, my pick goes Bonnie. I’m sorry but I cannot get into the hype. I tried, I really did. Her dub voice is terrible.

 

[ash&charizardfan]

Pretty much most of the companions are overrated to some extent but most overrated character of all time has to be misty, she was basically a background character for most of OS, most of later pokegirls got much better screentime and character development than her and still her fandom consider her as a goddess, i think replacing her with may was one of the best things anime ever did.

Be whatever their reasons, more than 35,000 people supported a Serena to Alola campaign way back then. Even removing all the troll votes if any, you still have a sizable chunk of people supporting a campaign that would ultimately never work

You’re telling me you can find 35,000 Serena haters? Doubtful. Serebii is a small sample size

The allusion that the fandom is divided over Serena is a pretty false illusion.

And I’m not saying Serena is a perfect character or she doesn’t deserve criticism, I’m saying a lot more people like her than the people who don’t

Most of the people who generally try to make her bad or make her look controversial are fans from other ships since she has killed all the other ships, especially pokeshippers and misty fans who are still delusional to think that there ship which was sunk decades ago still has a chance and misty fans generally try to make her a girl with no personality other than being a shipbait despte her getting more development than misty ever got.

 

[PorcelainVulpix]

Pretty much most of the companions are overrated to some extent but most overrated character of all time has to be misty, she was basically a background character for most of OS, most of later pokegirls got much better screentime and character development than her and still her fandom consider her as a goddess, i think replacing her with may was one of the best things anime ever did.




Most of the people who generally try to make her bad or make her look controversial are fans from other ships since she has killed all the other ships, especially pokeshippers and misty fans who are still delusional to think that there ship which was sunk decades ago still has a chance and misty fans generally try to make her a girl with no personality other than being a shipbait despte her getting more development than misty ever got.

You know it’s okay to state your opinions when you dislike a character, but you constantly pass the line between stating an opinion and straight up bashing. You’re obsessed with Misty and Pokeshippers and constantly bring them up and break serebii rules. I’m not a mod, but I’ve seen people constantly complain about you on other social sites when people discuss this forum and it’s just like, why can’t you have a normal discussion like everyone else? Control the obsession with bashing some. Stop bashing users who have different opinions and don’t call them “delusional.” We don’t all share the same opinions and there’s nothing wrong with that.

 

[ash&charizardfan]

You know it’s okay to state your opinions when you dislike a character, but you constantly pass the line between stating an opinion and straight up bashing. You’re obsessed with Misty and Pokeshippers and constantly bring them up and break serebii rules. I’m not a mod, but I’ve seen people constantly complain about you on other social sites when people discuss this forum and it’s just like, why can’t you have a normal discussion like everyone else? Control the obsession with bashing some. Stop bashing users who have different opinions and don’t call them “delusional.” We don’t all share the same opinions and there’s nothing wrong with that.

What's wrong in stating the fact? Isin't misty massively overrated and this thread is about overrated characters, i haven't brought her up in other unrelated thread for quite some time. Besides the people that complain about me are your fellow pokeshippers since i always get on there nerve with some true facts. I do admit i do get a little carried away.

 

[PorcelainVulpix]

What's wrong in stating the fact? Isin't misty massively overrated and this thread is about overrated characters, i haven't brought her up in other unrelated thread for quite some time. Besides the people that complain about me are your fellow pokeshippers since i always get on there nerve with some true facts. I do admit i do get a little carried away.

It’s not that you said that Misty is overrated, it’s that’s you called her fans and Pokeshippers delusional and I’m sure you wouldn’t want people calling you a delusional amourshipper. No one was even talking about shipping, it’s rude and could start an unnecessary ship war. Also you can’t state your opinion as a “fact” no matter how hard you believe it. This whole thread is nothing but opinions but there’s no need to be so rude.

 

[shoz999]

Seeing how no one here mentioned Cynthia, I am right to assume the majority of the anime fanbase here thinks she's a terrific character whose appearances demand your attention rather than an overrated one that you can easily skip over?

 

[PorcelainVulpix]

Seeing how no one here mentioned Cynthia, I am right to assume the majority of the anime fanbase here thinks she's a terrific character whose appearances demand your attention rather than an overrated one that you can easily skip over?

Hmm, I’ve never been a huge Cynthia fan girl like everyone else but I wouldn’t necessarily skip over her appearances. However I can definitely see how she’s considered overrated, even though she is one of my favorite champions.

 

[Sham]

Be whatever their reasons, more than 35,000 people supported a Serena to Alola campaign way back then. Even removing all the troll votes if any, you still have a sizable chunk of people supporting a campaign that would ultimately never work

You’re telling me you can find 35,000 Serena haters? Doubtful. Serebii is a small sample size

The allusion that the fandom is divided over Serena is a pretty false illusion.

And I’m not saying Serena is a perfect character or she doesn’t deserve criticism, I’m saying a lot more people like her than the people who don’t

And thank goodness that poll did nothing to effect SM. Anyway I don’t think a random poll about her going to Alola is a good indication where she stands in the fandom.

And I’m not saying this to be a “Serena hater” but it’s a literal paradox to say her character didn’t revolve around shipping but want her to go to Alola just for the sake of following Ash and not to succeed in her goal.

 

[Zoruagible]

Red aside, these are the overrated characters.

1. Lana - She is literally a writer's pet and popular for some stupid reason
2. Bonnie and Clemont - Why do they get so much praise....? He did as much as Cilan but didn't have a cool unique personality that made his presence fun. He was just a nerd and a stereotype nerd at that, out of shape, can't get a girl.... Bonnie was just pure annoying, anytime her gag came up.... ugh. Just bring back Brock if you want romance gags, at least he says different stuff all the time. Bonnie just goes "Miss, will you marry my brother?" while Brock makes speeches and unique dialogue and actually makes it enjoyable, especially when Croagunk joined.
3. Alain
4. Sawyer - lol, should have just used Wally.
5. Kukui - He isn't Ash's dad -_-

 

[DatsRight]

1. Lana - She is literally a writer's pet and popular for some stupid reason

My problem with Lana is that, while she'd arguably make a great recurring supporting character, as a MAIN COMPANION, she just lacks. She doesn't have many distinct chemistries with the rest of the group or even any personality flaws (quirks maybe, but nothing to really put an arc into) and while her bubble agenda is kind of funny as a brief gag it doesn't really work as a proper goal arc to be taken earnestly. She's only really a small cut above Acerola in terms of fleshed out character and agency thus she likely would have worked better appearing as often as her since she's comical and shrewd enough to work in small doses.

Lana is probably a case of when an ensemble dark horse type should only be used that way.