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Love or Hate: Team Rocket trio

Today's episode Mimikyu beats Totem Raticate and Team Rocket gets the Darkinium-Z, granted they don't know the pose for it.
 
Jessie should do Contests (if we get DP remakes), but I dunno what should James do.
It was bad when the sole purpose of the TRio was to annoy Ash.
 
I agree, I actually prefer it when Team Rocket isn't chasing anyone. They are interesting characters with pretty deep backstories, well defined personalities and interests, etc. I like seeing them used in other ways than just trying and failing to steal Pokémon, because they are much more than that.
 
Conceptually, I find the TRio fascinating as they are the antagonists and villainous characters tend to be of interest as it raises questions as to why they made the decision to deviate from societal/moral norms of the universe they occupy - and their villainy brings up what the societal/moral norms of that particular universe. Some people feel that in some media, the antagonists are what carry the show/novel/play on its back - they're what challenge the protagonist's moral outlook as well as their security.

Though retconned and such a few times, the three of them have fascinating and somewhat dark backstories - both Jessie and James suffer through storylines of abusive or neglectful parents despite their vastly different socioeconomic backgrounds and Meowth lived in a state of abject poverty, resorting to thievery as not to starve. Actually one of my favourite episodes is Ignorance is Blissey! because it introduced such a bizarre concept as Jessie attending a nursing school for Chansey.

Being a show aimed at children, the Team Rocket trio do have a limit of how much hold they have over the series' progression - unlike Iago in Shakespeare's Othello, and their morality as a whole is curtailed by the age range of the target audience which leads to the three of them engaging in petty crime. Though their morality has dipped into darker hues, such as in The Legend of Dratini, where James points a gun at the Kaiser's head. Though, considering the tone of the series in recent years, I doubt we're going to see them plunge to that side of the moral spectrum any time soon again.

I think one of Best Wishes' good ideas with the trio was not having them appear in every episode - I didn't feel it was beneficial to their characters and sometimes they were just shoehorned into the episode in order to fulfil a quota. However, changing their personality and leaving large gaps between their appearances was not something I appreciated - if you're going to have them as serious characters, having them constantly never achieve their goals really diminishes them as a threat. It also makes it look ridiculous as to why they constantly were on the losing side despite looking so competent. This is a superficial note, but I remembered XY curtailed on the more facially expressive pieces in comparison to SM but for some reason, Team Rocket had some decent zany expressions given to them. I enjoy how the animators have drawn Team Rocket through the seasons - they're not afraid to give them the more quirky expressions or frames.

I wouldn't really say I love them or hate them. There's ideas that I have really liked in regards to their characters, but at the same time, I'm not a loyal fan of theirs (that's what interests me the most about the TRio - their dedicated fanbase) and the series' success doesn't hinge on their appearance for me, however I would say it's amazing testament to their popularity of their characters that it might for some people. There's some episodes where they have just bored me, and there's some where they have saved the episode for me. I'm ambivalent about them, I suppose.
 
Honestly, I'm neutral toward them. I don't hate them, but I don't love them either.

Personally, I think they were at their best in OS, where they got fleshed out as characters and got very interesting backstories. I also liked seeing Jessie partaking in Pokémon Contests and James participating to other competitions, like the Poké Ringer, during the AG and DP sagas.

Since then, they have become mainly a source of conflict and comedic relief, which is quite… disappointing. Even SM didn't help much in this matter, but in my case it's mainly because I'm annoyed by the general comedic tone of the series, which makes their comedic antics just add to my disdain of the series. Otherwise, on their own, they would be quite entertaining.

So yeah. To me, they are one of the clearest examples of Character Decay we could get, but I wouldn't really like to see them being kicked out of the show. At least, not until they got some proper closure, like pursuing their true dreams (maybe after abandoning Team Rocket) or something like that.
 
James' goal is to be a good servant to his boss.
Kojiro's goal is, also, be a good servant to his boss.
 
HATE. But I’ve already said why, haven’t I?
Well, just leave them behind! They are boring. Maybe if more members popped up or the main team in the games filled TR’s role in the anime it would make sense.
They go to such lengths to catch a Pikachu though they know their boss won’t care, as he doesn’t care about even the rarer Togepi. Besides, he can’t tell the difference between a wild one and Ash’s. If Ash’s had a special mark on it that separated it from others(I hope Ash’s Pikachu had that, honestly) it would make sense for Giovanni to want it, but still.

And not to mention they have the worst disguises ever. Learn from Mimikyu now that you have one.
 
Last edited:
Wishy-Washy said:
Team Rocket gets the Darkinium-Z, granted they don't know the pose for it.
Click to expand...
I believe Ash also did not know the Z-Dances for Gigavolt Havoc or Breakneck Blitz when he received the respective crystals but somehow managed to pull them off. The same can be applied to Team Rocket as well, and what they need is to look for a Pokémon with a Dark-type move. Inkay and Gourgeist are in the HQ enjoying life, and Meowth, while knowing Bite, does not have a Trainer. Maybe, if Mareanie or the wild Bewear (if someone catches it) knows one...
 
Personally I love Team Rocket as characters but I hate them when they are used as Plot Devices.
 
Harryghost said:
I believe Ash also did not know the Z-Dances for Gigavolt Havoc or Breakneck Blitz when he received the respective crystals but somehow managed to pull them off. The same can be applied to Team Rocket as well, and what they need is to look for a Pokémon with a Dark-type move. Inkay and Gourgeist are in the HQ enjoying life, and Meowth, while knowing Bite, does not have a Trainer. Maybe, if Mareanie or the wild Bewear (if someone catches it) knows one...
Click to expand...

Mimikyu can learn a Dark-type move.
 
Please note: The thread is from 7 years ago.
Please take the age of this thread into consideration in writing your reply. Depending on what exactly you wanted to say, you may want to consider if it would be better to post a new thread instead.

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