What it is about Misty that mades people like her as a character?

[Adelon]

I've never thought she seemed very sympathetic, but people seem to love her in spite of that abrasive personality.

 

[swiftgallade46]

Personally I found her anger really funny, especially as a kid. And back in the 90s-early 2000s when they weren’t afraid of a little anime-style slapstick violence was a good time for her character to really shine for some humor outside of the TRio. Plus there was the Psyduck gag.

Maybe it’s just because I was young, but I did also find the little romance cues between her and Ash to be endearing. Especially the scene in M2 when she swam out to sea to rescue him.

 

[Cinnabar]

I've always liked Misty in a way, she was always a good traveling companion, admired her beauty in a reserved way, and was always mad at Ash. I think after the series matured and her appearance in Sun and Moon, that's when I really started liking her more.

I always knew she grew up in the gym with her overshadowing sisters, and hoped to join them one day, but it was really great to see her running the gym independently. She didn't always show compassion for Ash, but there were a few episodes where that was very apparent.

 

[Beatsy Ray]

Legitimate chemistry with Ash (not in a shipping way, stop), which is a surprisingly rare trait when you look at all of his other travelling companions. She was able to push his buttons in a way that got a consistent response and allowed him to express himself more, and vise versa. They had a back-and-forth that was always a joy to watch.

Compare that to Iris's one-sided teasing, which Ash hardly reacted to, or Serena's crush that Ash was completely oblivious to. These friendships seem superficial in a way because Ash is unable to empathize and engage with them.

 

[Silktree]

Legitimate chemistry with Ash (not in a shipping way, stop),

There were definitely shipping hints, but they were organic. 10-year olds aren't supposed to know the difference between friendship and something deeper. Most of them, anyway.

I mostly liked Misty's chemistry with Ash, Brock, TRio (at times), Psyduck and Togepi. She also bounced off recurring characters and COTDs quite well (Gary, Casey, Sakura and Melody come to mind). She was mature at times and immature at other times, which made her believable as a somewhat precocious girl.

The writers could have done a lot more with her over 274 episodes, but she got a more satisfying conclusion than the other companions did, I'd say. We know that she's a good gym leader and her sisters were put in their place, but she also has time to do other stuff every now and then. I'd like to see her come back so that she can get a win against Nessa or maybe even Lorelei/Siebold.

 

[Neo Blaze]

I've always liked Misty. I like her (mostly) tomboyish personality and her chemistry with Ash and Brock. She could definitely be abrasive at times, but in my opinion it made her an interesting and lively character, and not just some bland friend who tagged along. Besides, anyone who has seen a bunch of OS episodes knows that Misty also has a softer side that often came through. She definitely cared a lot about Ash and Brock as friends and I think that has always been apparent. She also bounced off Ash and Brock really well since all three displayed different qualities and character traits, which made them a balanced group.

I also like her crush on Ash. It has always felt natural to me and was never too forced into the show, because it wasn't brought up every episode and they just dropped hints from time to time. Her goal could have been a lot better, but I'm willing to give the show a pass on that, since they were still figuring out how to write companions in the early days of the anime. The conclusion to her story was great however.

 

[game3524]

I like Misty a lot as a character. In fact, I think I appreciate her character now more then I did back in the day. She could be sweet, rude, superficial, and fiercely loyal. The writers were never afraid to portray her in a negative light, which is something they have shied away from in more recent series with both Ash and his companions and it has made the character interactions feel a bit vanilla.

 

[ii kanji]

Misty was my idol when I was 6/7 years old. She never was a sympathetic character. Instead, she was fiesty and unafraid, always went toe-to-toe with the guys and was unapologetically herself. As a girl who was not in with the girls, and not quite one of the boys despite my interests aligning more with them, I could really relate to her. Of course it helped that she was a water type-specialist which everyone knows is the best type...

Like others have mentioned she had plenty of negative traits to offset her being genuinely kind at heart, which I really appreciate as an adult. Her being this precocious kid often meant she was an utter hypocrite, and she didn't always get away with that which was fun to watch. Her spunky personality and interfering nature meant she had amazing chemistry with her companions and the Rocket TRio. I was not at all suprised that she and Suiren kept in touch as we saw her in the Hoso specials being someone who made an effort to maintain relationships she had made on her journey, even those we as viewers wouldn't have considered as important.

All in all, best girl? Quite probably, yeah.

 

[Islander Princess]

Misty is my all time favorite character so I can answer this one pretty easily!

I've watched Pokémon from the very beginning, and it started when I was pretty young (4-5 years old). I was a really shy, quiet, timid kid, and I loved that Misty was basically the total opposite of me because I would watch her do all the things I wish I could do but was way too afraid to actually execute So I kind of lived vicariously through her in a way!

I also think that sometimes, her being abrasive gets made out to be a bigger deal than it actually is. She could definitely get pretty angry at times, and I can see why it would turn some people off, but in her defense: she grew up around three older sisters who weren't overly nice to her and more than likely used her overconfidence to compensate for it, which in turn made her a 10 year old with overconfidence which is pretty much just a recipe for trouble (lol), and, let's all be real with each other here: Ash was also a pretty big brat back then and deserved quite a few of Misty's jabs. And it's not like he didn't return her energy! Honestly, all of that back in the day felt much more realistic for 10 year olds. Now, all of the characters for the most part are nicey-nice almost all the time. You ever met a real 10 year old? They are not super nice all the time

And honestly, that relationship with Ash was one of the biggest highlights for me. And while I'll admit to being a longtime Pokeshipper, I'm not even talking about romantically. The chemistry between them was, to me, the best there has ever been between Ash and a female companion. Because yes, they'll butt heads and they'll fight and they'll tease each other, but it's also very obvious how much they care about each other and how much they've each helped each other grow as trainers. It just comes across as something that's very genuine and just feels so realistic.

I could probably write an entire personal essay about all the reasons I love Misty, honestly. For me, she's just

 

[DynoStretch]

I'm probably not going to make many friends here by saying this, but while I liked Misty just fine in the beginning, her character started to wear on me over time.

Don't get me wrong, she was a fine companion at first in early Kanto, but it feels like around the time she got Togepi her personality started to deteriorate. It didn't happen immediately, but it feels like throughout Orange Island and Johto, when she wasn't getting significant focus around her water master dream like the Poliwag capture episode and the Water Cup, her character consisted solely of being Togepi's carrier and little else. And when the writers did try to do anything with her, she was rather obnoxiously arrogant and condescending (one of her worst moments was the Totodile capture episode). It's like they drained her of all her positive and funny qualities in place being Togepi's mom and kept all her bad traits. Frankly it's understandable they replaced her with May in Hoenn.

 

[Insanish Danish]

I ADORE Misty, she's always been one of my favorite characters in the anime if not my absolute favorite. She's feisty, she's snarky, she's funny, and her chemistry with Ash and Brock was unbeatable. I've always thought that people really overstate her "meanness" and she's not the unsympathetic bitch that so many people seem to think she is - she's really quite a sweetheart, she just also has a bit of a temper sometimes and isn't afraid to speak her mind. The two aren't mutually exclusive and I think this made her a really well-layered character as opposed to someone who's all nice or all mean all the time. She's just a fantastic character who's been really important to me ever since I was a kid, and even though in hindsight her leaving the show was inevitable and understandable, I still miss her. She'll always be my favorite Pokegirl.

 

[Kanto Pikachu]

For me nostalgia.

 

[Galactic_V]

I think one of the reasons people like her is because she's part of the original trio. As for me, I neither like nor dislike her, I just don't really care. The first female companion I grew to like was Haruka actually.

 

[RexX]

The only thing I like about misty is her Gyarados