Is Ash a good main character?

[CaptainBuggles]

I'm in the camp where he's not bad, I just wish he were handled a little better.
To elaborate:

Battle style: I wish for more internal consistency on how Ash battles, because it often strikes me as like... "consistently inconsistent". They made him like speedy offense mixed with general wildcard vibes, someone who goes in with bare-bones planning and then takes risks and looks for further insight as he goes... But sometimes it feels like it just became an excuse to have him do things that shouldn't have worked, or at least without foreshadowing or prior knowledge that he could, which essentially feels like the same thing. There's a big difference between "That surprised me because I hadn't thought of it," and "That surprised me because there was no prior indication it was possible,". (and the first is pretty much always better than the second) However, I do still think the battle doesn't need to be "realistic" or "perfectly following the games". I just want as much internal consistency and follow-through as possible.

By extension, this would also make it easier to accept whenever he is doing really good. He'd be going solely by what has been established as a possibility, not just by whatever the plot suddenly does or doesn't let him have.

Character: His attitude is good, but I wish he had at least a little more depth. Not a ton, that would only bog the show down... And I do know that the audience is often supposed to insert themselves into him, so that's another thing to keep in mind. But still, a couple more layers wouldn't be a bad thing.

 

[KrspaceT]

Let's not compare the guy to a Light Novel protagonist: that would just be offensive to the poor pride of Pallet.

 

[Muur]

He does teach kids the value of friendship, to be nice and such whilst on the flip side also teaches them that no matter how hard you try there will always be someone better than you and that you probably wont succeed but as long as you have fun and do your best it's all good. I do think he's too reckless though which can be a bad idea to show to kids

 

[Jared DiCarlo]

If he’s lasted this long, then, yes, I’d say he’s a good main character.

 

[Greninjaman]

If he’s lasted this long, then, yes, I’d say he’s a good main character.

Agreed. If Ash was not a loved character, they would have swapped him out instead of keeping him.

 

[TheGoldenToon]

Hey what's up?! I'm new so hey everyone!
This particular thread caught my eye so I thought I post here first!

If you ask me Ash is good, he just suffers a case of "depends on the saga", or at least that's how I always view it. On one hand he's a generally a pretty good trainier or atleast moving further into the orange islands I'd say he was begining to improve. Being the runner up in the Kalos Leauge made me proud to follow Ash as a protaginist this long even if he was screwed over again.

On the other hand there are some battles I sit down watching, thinking things like: "Ash, buddy, why did you use vicegrip on Misty's Psyduck's head?" You know how that duck functions. Otherwise he was consistently getting better in Jhoto. He can be experienced and dumb in the same saga, season whatever. I'm forcing my self to watch black and white right now (I skipped it after watching alittle and am trying to get into it now) and I thought he did okay for his first gym battle in unova, only to completely botch up catching a pokemon a little later. Old news I know, but I find the whole soft reboot thing with Ash to be an odd choice. I watch XY and I thought "man if he had a bad run in black and white than they definitely made some improvements in here!" Of course I'm won't pretend he's perfect in Kalos but say him do some pretty awesome stuff in terms of gym battling and strategies only losing 2 out of 8 gym matches total. As for his characterization in sun and moon well....it's still ongoing so I can't say much right now I guess.

 

[SerenaToAlola]

I feel like it depends on what you mean by good huh?

I feel like the good thing about Ash to the franchise that he has gotten so iconic that he could mean anything and also nothing at all. They had no problems changing his character/ his art style and yet keep him relevant.

If you are talking about his character, well I thought the Ash in XY(Z) was lovely and totally my type. I like how he was the leader of the group and very supportive of the others. Ash in SM is a little goofy so not exactly my type.

 

[TheGoldenToon]

I feel like it depends on what you mean by good huh?

I feel like the good thing about Ash to the franchise that he has gotten so iconic that he could mean anything and also nothing at all. They had no problems changing his character/ his art style and yet keep him relevant.

If you are talking about his character, well I thought the Ash in XY(Z) was lovely and totally my type. I like how he was the leader of the group and very supportive of the others. Ash in SM is a little goofy so not exactly my type.

Oh yes, absolutely, he's great in XY(Z)! My favorite Ash by far. He was so much more inspiring and dare I say heroic than ever!

I just don't feel to comfortable talking about his SM characterization. All I can say at this moment is he is is different to say the least, but I feel he is missing something he had with his XY(Z) buddies. A bond that made them seem like a family as much as friends. With the SM gang well their interactions with Ash just makes them all look like friendly classmates more than anything. With the exception of Lillie and Kiawe. Hypothetically if the SM anime took the same route a previous sagas I believe those two would be Ash's travel companions. Maybe still add Mallow so they have a chef. Ash has got to eat!

 

[EscLucy]

If he’s lasted this long, then, yes, I’d say he’s a good main character.

I don't think that's the best way of assessing a character in my view. I think he's probably lasted this long because of marketing and the amount of money they get. To someone who doesn't know much about Pokemon, the duo of Ash and Pikachu is well known and popular. It would ruin their ratings as lots of people hate change.

 

[Greninjaman]

lots of people hate change.

Why is that?

 

[Ashketchum205]

He's the best,
In spirit, strategy, style, kinda great,or something like that,(and little dense too)
I will always prefer him

 

[Antiyonder]

Why is that?

Hard to say really. I mean if such a thing is a turn off, I'd suggest picking a single episode from each show and just watching that one over and over until you tire of it rather than expecting the entire series to follow suit.

But sometimes I tend to think it goes back to how attempts at specials not focusing on Ash/Pikachu, may under perform. Now said specials might not hold up for various reasons.

Pokémon Origins for example can be enjoyable as it has that energizing feel of the original games and it's lead isn't stuck in the same role. But it's not perfect as it's ironically too short for many peoples' tastes and certain moments like Giovanni's Turn face heel isn't built up to properly.

But when other types of anime material under perform, I think arguably the higher ups just assume it's due to the lack of their favored leads.

 

[HiroHunter]

Hard to say really. I mean if such a thing is a turn off, I'd suggest picking a single episode from each show and just watching that one over and over until you tire of it rather than expecting the entire series to follow suit.

But sometimes I tend to think it goes back to how attempts at specials not focusing on Ash/Pikachu, may under perform. Now said specials might not hold up for various reasons.

Pokémon Origins for example can be enjoyable as it has that energizing feel of the original games and it's lead isn't stuck in the same role. But it's not perfect as it's ironically too short for many peoples' tastes and certain moments like Giovanni's Turn face heel isn't built up to properly.

But when other types of anime material under perform, I think arguably the higher ups just assume it's due to the lack of their favored leads.

And to add on to Origins point. I hate Origins Red because I feel like he's bland and boring and his hyper focus on Charizard over his other pokemon and saying in the Giovanni Gym battle "If I don't win this with Charizard then its pointless." made me hate him even more.

 

[Antiyonder]

And to add on to Origins point. I hate Origins Red because I feel like he's bland and boring and his hyper focus on Charizard over his other pokemon and saying in the Giovanni Gym battle "If I don't win this with Charizard then its pointless." made me hate him even more.

Yeah for that reason and what I posted earlier you could say that aside from the marketing and being more recent that Origins and the main anime are for better or worse two sides of the same coin.

Heck while it didn't turn me off quite so much his reliance on Charizard kind of unintentionally contradicts that he really bonded to each of his Pokémon as Oak later claimed.

 

[HiroHunter]

Yeah for that reason and what I posted earlier you could say that aside from the marketing and being more recent that Origins and the main anime are for better or worse two sides of the same coin.

Heck while it didn't turn me off quite so much his reliance on Charizard kind of unintentionally contradicts that he really bonded to each of his Pokémon as Oak later claimed.

What didn't help is that it felt like all his other pokemon were weak. Charizard seem like his only strong pokemon even the legendary birds felt weak. Origins as a whole felt like it was trying to make Charizard the strongest out of them all and it made me hate Charizard even more.

 

[FluffleFi]

I honestly don't know why SM Ash gets so much hate. The art's different but this version of Ash is so much more expressive and lively now. Kinda reminds me of the way he was back in the OS days. This is my favorite version of him, and while people are welcome to their own opinions, but the XY(&Z) Ash was my least favorite. He was just so bland in that series. Ash isn't the most complex guy around but I felt like he had lost his charms.

 

[CrashBash]

I don't have a problem with Ash's personality that much in S&M, although he seems overall a whisker too childish. Not in a bad way like the insufferable jerk he was in the original series, but still not in a good way.

What I DO have a problem with is his characterization. I don't get why the S&M series had to make him the butt-monkey of the show, but it seems in practically 95% of the episodes, he's forced into a slapstick scenario that ends with him getting hurt, and some of those feel REALLY forced (like the most recent episode for example...and that Diglett). His friends, by comparison, seem to only get into the same scenario about 25% of the episodes, and that's counting all five of them combined. Also, when they DO end up playing the butt-monkey card, their injuries are nowhere near as slapstick brutal as Ash's (with the most recent episode again being an example - and considering Kiawe, Lana and Mallow should have ended up with a broken nose, skull and jaw, respectively, that's saying a lot).

 

[TheGoldenToon]

I know it's to early to think about this, but I do wonder how his characterization will be in the Gen 8 anime. Will it be like his SM depiction again or will it be something like XY(Z). I myself prefer an Ash that has a balance in his character. Not too silly, not too serious. Heroic, smart in battle and also flawed in other areas. Always able to bounce back when he gets stuck. My favorite thing about him in XY(Z) was the leadership role he played.

And okay, I'll admit I miss his occasional snark. Of course that might not work with the anime nowadays since that might be considered out of character for Ash compared to his Kanto days where he didn't care who he mouthed off to at least for the most part. I suppose a way to make this work with a modern depiction of Ash would be to have him only make wise cracks at the antagonists like the TRio (I'm thinking sort of Spider-Man-like) or any less-than-friendly rivals he may encounter. That way he doesn't come across as a jerk towards his friends since he's only directing his snarkiness at characters that really deserve it. But, this is really just me throwing an idea around, so don't mind me.

Basically my vision of what I like Ash to be is XY(Z) Ash, but with some added snark to mix things up a little. What everyone's definitive take on Ash is will vary depending on your mileage.

 

[Greninjaman]

I have decided to change my vote, only because of the fact that Ash has become stale to me. If they swapped characters, I would be more inclined to watch. I don't mind when protagonists are swapped. It keeps the show fresh (in my opinion).

Yeah, my opinion about Ash has changed drastically.

 

[MarshiyanMisutaa]

Yeah, my opinion about Ash has changed drastically.

Well, that was fast.