Rank the Villain Team Arcs

[SammyW27]

Now that Team Flare has been dealt with (and we're on a break), now feels like a good time to talk about how they rank among the other Villain Teams.

I'll get started
*ahem*

Galactic
Flare
Plasma
Aqua & Magma

If you want to throw in Rocket in your rankings that's fine. I just couldn't fit them in because they've never really had an arc and are just an excuse to keep Jessie, James, and Meowth around.

 

[PokeWizardCali]

Now that Team Flare has been dealt with (and we're on a break), now feels like a good time to talk about how they rank among the other Villain Teams.

I'll get started
*ahem*

Galactic
Flare
Plasma
Aqua & Magma

If you want to throw in Rocket in your rankings that's fine. I just couldn't fit them in because they've very seldom have arcs and are just an excuse to keep Jessie, James, and Meowth around.

1st Flare: What a spectacle that was! So much action and drama, virtually every major character was involved though it would've been interesting if Astrid and the Mega Garchomp and Furfrou trainers from the League made an appearance. However it was incredible.

2nd Aqua and Magma: Set the standard and was the first main series arc to involve both version mascots, so it was a marvel concept at the time and well worked.

3rd Plasma: The roles each character had in the arc was well worked and it was very interesting IMO

4th Rocket (Whirl Islands): I'm referring to the one with the two Lugia. It was small and relatively insignificant compared to the others. But it was still a bit emotional and gripping and enjoyed it.

5th Rocket (Landorus, Thundurus, Tornadus): Ash finally meets Giovanni, but other than that pales in comparison to the others.

6th Galactic: I need to rewatch it but it wasn't quite as memorable. That Croagunk vs Toxicroak rivalry, nice to see Croagunk step up like that. Also it's cool how Ash, Dawn, and Brock each connected to a lake spirit.

 

[Arceus the Dragon]

1. Team Flare arc - great arc. Enjoyed most and is highlight of Kalos.
2. Team Galactic - I always loved Sinnoh and the arc is no exception.
3. Aqua and Magma - Pretty decent for me.
4. Plasma - Okay but there was problems with this arc.
5. Team Rocket - Unova had okay but the rest wasn't so good.

 

[Nicolas721]

1. Flare - Maybe it relies too much on anime tropes but overall it was exiting and well-executed.
2. Unova Rocket - A bit predictable, but it was nice how it expanded on Giovanni's character.
3. Plasma - Great buildup and nice drama are sadly followed by some anticlimatic scenes.
4. Galactic - I like the dark vibe it gives but the battles weren't memorable.

I don't remember much about Aqua and Magma.

 

[Silktree]

Team Rocket had four notable arcs in Johto: Mewtwo Returns, Whirl Islands, Lake of Rage and Legend of Thunder. None of those were an "excuse" to keep the Rocket trio around; the difference from the other villains is that the arcs were independent. Regardless, Mewtwo Returns is easily my favorite.

 

[Mr. Bell]

1. Team Flare- I really liked how they built up this arc from the 1st Mega Evolution Special, and also how they were able to connect the OMAS story to the XYZ one.Alain was a very interesting character in term of personality and motives. It is actually a much better story than the one in the games with the stupid ultimate weapon.
2. Mewtwo/Rocket Arc- Even though it was less significant to the overall plot of the series, it was a very interesting story. Sadly there was no direct confrontation between Ash and Giovanny.
3. Team Galactic- The DP series was very good, with some of the best battles to date. The major setbacks for me in this arc is the fact that Cyrus never used pokemon to battle, and the overall stupidity of the Space/Time mambo jambo.
4. Team Plasma
5. Team Rocket in BW
6. Aqua & Magma
--
I don't consider the lake of rage, whirl islands and the legends of thunder as actuall arcs, as they are just a merely 2-3 episodes with the same focus, as opposed to an arc.

 

[Olive]

5. Team Magma/Aqua - The fact that I only have a vague recollection of something about orbs and both teams being defeated in what was I think a two episode conclusion, and I can't really award Magma/Aqua anything more than last place. I do give points for them both having a few interspersed appearances throughout AG leading up to their finale to show that they were building up to some grander plan, but that alone is not enough to make up for an evil team plot that I quite frankly didn't even bother remembering in whole.

4. Team Plasma - It was okay. The mind control part was pretty unoriginal, their motivations were pretty limited -- if I remember correctly -- to wanting to take over the world for the sake of taking over the world, and the whole arc was crammed into a pretty meandering chunk of episodes at the end of BW. Not really anything particularly subtle or earth-shattering about it.

3. Team Flare - Without going on at length rehashing things that just happened in the recent past, Lysander's vision was extremely well-rationalized. Like Cyrus, Lysander gave a very solid and very passionate justification of his reasoning for wanting to execute his master plan. Team Flare had a real motivation. Add onto that all the sub-stories and characters that were tied to the arc, plus the fact that it just had a pretty epic tone in general, and Team Flare certainly earns the number three spot.

2. Team Galactic - Besides the fact that Cyrus's master plan with the creation of a whole new universe devoid of emotion was perhaps one of the most ambitious of evil team plans, the execution of this plan is what really lands Team Galactic at second place. As presented, we were shown an episode with Team Galactic here or there with huge disappearances in between, before finally building up to the several episode conclusion. This is really what I like about an evil team as presented in the anime; they need to have the appearance that there subtly building up their plan over a long period with all sorts of off-screen mechanizations. Thus, I appreciate just how elaborate and drawn out their plan was, how many players they had to involve to realize it, and the fact that Cyrus may have actually succeeded in escaping to his alternate universe, thus avoiding capture.

1. Team Rocket - As someone who holds that Team Rocket is really a SPECTRE-like organization always operating just behind the scenes and on a much larger scale than what we see on screen with the TRio, I believe that the entire anime as been one massive Team Rocket arc. Occasionally their secret plans manifest themselves into mini-arcs such as those listed above, of which my favorite is certainly Operation Tempest. I also note that Team Rocket, with their arc still ongoing, is the only evil team that has yet to be disbanded or have their leader killed or arrested, a testament to just how good Giovanni is at never biting off more than his team can chew.

 

[Kairyu]

Galactic and Flare is top tier, Team Rocket in BW was so-so, and the rest is utter garbage.

 

[Almonds]

1. Flare: Best arc ever. Unique setup where it directly follows the final league battle? check. Double-champion action? check. Professor in action? check. All the gym leaders in action? check. Expansion on Lysandre's story + scientists having personalities + tying in with Zygarde? check. Bonnie befriending a monstrous legendary that almost killed her? check. Lysandre dying? check. Steven Stone? check.

2. Galactic: I don't remember much, but they did follow closely to the games as possible with the addition of Hunter J.

3. Rocket (Unova): The meloetta arc was okay. Giovanni in action is always awesome.

4. Plasma: Dedicating an entire arc to N was a good choice, but they could have done it better. So many wasted opportunities... for instance, Cheren...

5. Aqua vs magma: No Steven Stone? Auto-worst.

 

[RetroPokeFan]

1: Team Flare, best arc hands down (in my personal opinion), so much tension, nice character moments, Alain finally getting his vengeance back and one amazing final battle involving every important character in the series which ended with the death of Lysandre. What more could you want?

2: Team Galactic, while i felt this one could have been longer it managed to saty true to the game and the final ep was visually stunning none the less.

3: Team Plasma, while i felt BW was just trash Team Galactic made up for it in the end, sure it could have been better and after the earthquake and the release of B2 and W2 some stuff felt shoehorned in at the last minute but i thought there were still some nice moments. Not as amazing as Galactic and Flare but still decent.

4: Team Rocket (BW), This one was also good, Giovanni going full on insane and Pikachu just whooping his ass made it for me. Sure like Plasma it's not as good as Flare and Galactic but still decent enough.

5: Team Aqua and Magma, hoo boy this one really stank like a sore thumb. Piss poor animation and no Steven Stone killed it for me. At least Iwane did better with the Kyogre stuff in the third Mega Evolution special.

 

[TheBlazingInfernape]

Here are my rankings!
1. Team Galactic, this may be due to my love for Cyrus but I digress. Cyrus was pretty damn close to completing his chore in creating his own universe in which he was supposed to be ruler. He has a great theme and an amazing team in Platinum.
2. Team Magma, Maxie is my main man when it comes to the Gen 3 groups, trying to cause the world to go into a massive drought and eliminate all sources of water. He also tries to take control of one of my favorite legends, Groudon which I applaud.
3. Team Skull, IT'S YA BOY GUZMA! The demo is more than enough of what I need to see that Guzma is going to be an entertaining villain. Team Skull is already goofy looking in appearance and Guzma just looks amazing and enthusiastic in the trailers. I just want to see what his plan is whenever November 18th shows it's pretty little head.
4. Team Rocket, annd we are at the crime boss himself Giovanni. Gym Leader? Check. Ruler of a feared organization? Check. Owner of the Pokemon equivalent of the mafia? Check. Yep Giovanni is classic money villain done right (CHARON).
5. Team Aqua, As much as I dislike Kyogre as a Pokemon due to a rivalry with my friend who chose Sapphire and I choose Ruby for our Gen 3 games, I will admit, Archie is pretty damn cool. Not as great as Cyrus, serious as Maxie or intimidating like Giovanni, but Archie is a pirate for crying out loud! He is a good villain (one hell of an oxymoron isn't it?) trying to flood the world and make it 100% water.
6. Team Plasma, now we get into the bittersweet villain, Ghetsis. Honestly, I didn't like this villain at all. Sure his theme is great, but his plan is basically Cyrus' but poorly written. I honestly wasn't a fan on N either, in my eyes, he was someone who just got in the way of the story. The only reason Team Plasma is not at the bottom is because of ONE character that I like, Colress. Good theme, great team, good motions and greatly designed character.
7. Team Flare, we've hit the bottom of the barrel folks! Team Flare is hands down my least favorite Pokemon team, Lysandre is a cool character sure but his ambition has no backstory or very little of it. He is literally just pissed and wants to destroy Kalos. Kalos' story was already dreadful to get through in the first place so why not make this guy's story better? I honestly want to do a re-written story of XY and see how I can make it better.
That's my list! Sorry not sorry for the lengthy post.

 

[ii kanji]

I think someone may have misunderstood which subforum they were posting in...

 

[TheBlazingInfernape]

I think someone may have misunderstood which subforum they were posting in...

Now that I look at this, you are right. I honestly thought nothing about the villains in the anime rolls but instead thought about the game roll. Whoops.

 

[ii kanji]

 

[TheBlazingInfernape]

 

[Mr. Bell]

This thread reminded me that the arc that i was most hyped for is actually the original plan for Team Plasma vs Team Rocket in BW. This led me to think that as opposed to all villainous team that came after it, Team Rocket has no ideology other than profit and business. I think it could be really cool to see them interact with other teams, like selling them weapons, technology, etc.

 

[danh19]

team galactic would be hard to top for me the way arc was handled was near perfect not feeling rushed with some depth to it

 

[SinnohEevee]

1. Team Flare: I really liked that epic battle they had.