cauldronmaster
Well-Known Member
Though i'm technically a newbie to the forums, i've been watching this show since about the middle of season 1. That said, one of the most interesting things i've noticed over the years is the way the writers handle each protagonist's set of recurring rivals as an aid to advance their development and story.
The writers have created and recycled five different persona slots (discussed below) for recurring characters that are NOT: 1) people of important distinction to the general population (ie. Ash's mom, Prof. Oak, Gym Leaders) or 2) people who have, at one point, been a member of the main cast (ie. Misty, Tracy, May). Each protagonist (which in recent times is Ash and the regional girl), is assigned five recurring rivals, one for each of the aforementioned slots, at the beginning of each main region. While some slots may be left vacant throughout the general story (while the protagonist is acquiring badges/ribbons), all five slots will be filled for the GF/League, with the vacant ones filled by what you people call "GF/League-only rivals" (Harrison, Tyson, Solidad, etc.)
For the sake of keeping this post from becomming too long, i will only analyze the sinnoh rivals.
Persona slot 1: Main Rival
This one should be obvious. This Rival is the most heavily featured of the five, and is usually the first one to be introduced in a region. They have a specific quirk which mentally puts them at a higher level than the protagonist (meaning they are better able to come up with on-the-spot strategies to outsmart their opponents); one of the protagonist's goals in the the region is to meet or suprass this rival's level. That said, they also have the honor of being the only rivals that recieve quirk-related character development that is both onscreen and is in itself recurring. They upstage the protagonist at nearly every appearance during the story and are only properly defeated by the protagonist in battle at the region's League/GF. If the rival appears in more than one region, they are defeated at the final League/GF in which they are still considered as a rival to the protagonist (the examples of this being Drew and Gary).
Ash's main sinnoh rival is Paul, while Dawn's is Zoey.
Persona slot 2: Passionate Rival
As the name implies, this character is portrayed as extermely passionate towards battles/contests (depening on the protagonist). For this rival, victories and defeats are negligible: regardless of the outcome of a situation, they are always portrayed as either happy-go-lucky or overly dramatic. While they too are introduced with a specific, unique quirk, that quirk is never elaborated on and is nothing more than a running gag. While they are shown with above-average skill, they are effortlessly defeated by the protagonist whenever they battle.
Ash's Passionate rival in sinnoh is Barry, while Dawn's is Jessalina
Persona slot 3: Calm/Intelligent Rival
This rival is always given either a gentle or an assertive voice and a calm air always follows the character, even under intense situations. These rivals are one of the few characters in the entire anime who lack any form of grudge, thus having a superior level of intelligence in battles, usually rivaling that of most gym leaders. In fact, they are shown to be at a superior skill level to not only the protagonist, but sometimes the main rival as well. In most cases, this is the League/GF only rival that defeats the protagonist in their respective competition.
In sinnoh, Nando fills this slot for both Ash and Dawn.
Persona slot 4: Arroagant Rival
This rival is portrayed as a loner, who is easily offended by even the most petty of "insults". Upon receiving said insult, this rival vows to stop at nothing to bring "justice" upon the protagonist for their insult. They are shown to have considerable battling skill and consistently keep the protagonist on his/her toes until the very end. Even though they rarely actually defeat the protagonist in battle, any victory the protagonist has over this rival involves not only DEM, but also taking advantage of the rival dropping his/her guard by being cocky. As such, they are on par with the main rival in threat level, although are inferior mentally to said rival.
Dawn's Arrogant rival is Ursula.
As of this time, Ash does not have a specific rival for this slot in sinnoh. Though it can be argued that Paul doubles as both his Main and Arrogant rival, I suspect they are saving this slot for this legendary pokemon owning COtD in the League, as a way to have a COtD realistically match Paul in threat and intelligence level, while maintaining the character's average mentally in battle.
Persona Slot 5: Experiemental Rival
This rival, unlike the previous four, isn't exactly a true rival; rather, their main purpose is for the wirters to experiement with personalities outside of the other four for possible use in future regions. As such, their interaction extends to the entire main cast, not just the protagonist. Their goals, intelligence, and skills vary largely depending on the needs of the writers. Since they interact with the entire main cast as opposed to a single protagonist, the writers choose two characters for this slot relatively unassigned.
In sinnoh, these characters are Kenny and Conway
What do you guys think?
The writers have created and recycled five different persona slots (discussed below) for recurring characters that are NOT: 1) people of important distinction to the general population (ie. Ash's mom, Prof. Oak, Gym Leaders) or 2) people who have, at one point, been a member of the main cast (ie. Misty, Tracy, May). Each protagonist (which in recent times is Ash and the regional girl), is assigned five recurring rivals, one for each of the aforementioned slots, at the beginning of each main region. While some slots may be left vacant throughout the general story (while the protagonist is acquiring badges/ribbons), all five slots will be filled for the GF/League, with the vacant ones filled by what you people call "GF/League-only rivals" (Harrison, Tyson, Solidad, etc.)
For the sake of keeping this post from becomming too long, i will only analyze the sinnoh rivals.
Persona slot 1: Main Rival
This one should be obvious. This Rival is the most heavily featured of the five, and is usually the first one to be introduced in a region. They have a specific quirk which mentally puts them at a higher level than the protagonist (meaning they are better able to come up with on-the-spot strategies to outsmart their opponents); one of the protagonist's goals in the the region is to meet or suprass this rival's level. That said, they also have the honor of being the only rivals that recieve quirk-related character development that is both onscreen and is in itself recurring. They upstage the protagonist at nearly every appearance during the story and are only properly defeated by the protagonist in battle at the region's League/GF. If the rival appears in more than one region, they are defeated at the final League/GF in which they are still considered as a rival to the protagonist (the examples of this being Drew and Gary).
Ash's main sinnoh rival is Paul, while Dawn's is Zoey.
Persona slot 2: Passionate Rival
As the name implies, this character is portrayed as extermely passionate towards battles/contests (depening on the protagonist). For this rival, victories and defeats are negligible: regardless of the outcome of a situation, they are always portrayed as either happy-go-lucky or overly dramatic. While they too are introduced with a specific, unique quirk, that quirk is never elaborated on and is nothing more than a running gag. While they are shown with above-average skill, they are effortlessly defeated by the protagonist whenever they battle.
Ash's Passionate rival in sinnoh is Barry, while Dawn's is Jessalina
Persona slot 3: Calm/Intelligent Rival
This rival is always given either a gentle or an assertive voice and a calm air always follows the character, even under intense situations. These rivals are one of the few characters in the entire anime who lack any form of grudge, thus having a superior level of intelligence in battles, usually rivaling that of most gym leaders. In fact, they are shown to be at a superior skill level to not only the protagonist, but sometimes the main rival as well. In most cases, this is the League/GF only rival that defeats the protagonist in their respective competition.
In sinnoh, Nando fills this slot for both Ash and Dawn.
Persona slot 4: Arroagant Rival
This rival is portrayed as a loner, who is easily offended by even the most petty of "insults". Upon receiving said insult, this rival vows to stop at nothing to bring "justice" upon the protagonist for their insult. They are shown to have considerable battling skill and consistently keep the protagonist on his/her toes until the very end. Even though they rarely actually defeat the protagonist in battle, any victory the protagonist has over this rival involves not only DEM, but also taking advantage of the rival dropping his/her guard by being cocky. As such, they are on par with the main rival in threat level, although are inferior mentally to said rival.
Dawn's Arrogant rival is Ursula.
As of this time, Ash does not have a specific rival for this slot in sinnoh. Though it can be argued that Paul doubles as both his Main and Arrogant rival, I suspect they are saving this slot for this legendary pokemon owning COtD in the League, as a way to have a COtD realistically match Paul in threat and intelligence level, while maintaining the character's average mentally in battle.
Persona Slot 5: Experiemental Rival
This rival, unlike the previous four, isn't exactly a true rival; rather, their main purpose is for the wirters to experiement with personalities outside of the other four for possible use in future regions. As such, their interaction extends to the entire main cast, not just the protagonist. Their goals, intelligence, and skills vary largely depending on the needs of the writers. Since they interact with the entire main cast as opposed to a single protagonist, the writers choose two characters for this slot relatively unassigned.
In sinnoh, these characters are Kenny and Conway
What do you guys think?
