Thoughts on Game Characters being in just ONE episode?

[SammyW27]

We've seen it happen a LOT over the years. Though some series aren't as bad about it as others. (Most of the OS being the worst offender ). Though to be fair, making them into recurring characters organically isn't as easy one might think.

It's better than them not appearing at all...but I wish they'd get to be in a few more...

 

[skynerel]

It’s okay for gym leaders and some minor characters, but it’s disappointing when they do this with characters who had a much bigger role in the games.

 

[Nicolas721]

It would certainly be cool to have more appearances from them, but if their impact on the big plot is minimum maybe is better to shrug them off, quality is better than quantity with secondary characters. Of course, I loved Kalos' leaders returning during the Flare climax and the Kahunas being the referees of the Alola League, so a happy medium can be found if there is a cool situation where they can return.

Something interesting about gym leader "arcs" got is that their obligatory debut episode could be very generic with only exposition + TR shenanigans (Pryce, Byron, Brycen, Korrina, Ramos) or very creative and memorable (Whitney,Tate&Liza, Maylene, Crasher Wake, Burgh, Valerie) depending on the writer. But I would have rather Journeys attempted them, it would have certainly given battles more weight (Marnie ).

 

[Charmander4]

The Elite 4 is the obvious one. For all generations.

 

[Rockapheller]

If they are going to be forced in the story, it is better to have them for one episode only. But I think the writers could have done more with some characters in particular, such as Eusine, Wally, Benga, Sina and Dexio. They could have expanded stories or at least introductions, but ended up being just wasted opportunities.

 

[PokeMasterLA]

I wish we could've seen more of Marnie too. She was one of my favorite characters from the Sword and Shield games, and it was unfortunate that she only had one full speaking appearance in the anime. I guess that's better than the treatment that Bede got (my 2nd favorite character from the games).

 

[Emelie]

Better to be in one episode than none at all. There are so many great characters like Silver, Bede, Volo, Wally, Hilda, Leaf, Zinnia, Emma and many more who never got to appear at all.

 

[Charmander4]

If they are going to be forced in the story, it is better to have them for one episode only. But I think the writers could have done more with some characters in particular, such as Eusine, Wally, Benga, Sina and Dexio. They could have expanded stories or at least introductions, but ended up being just wasted opportunities.

I thought Euisine was in at least two?

 

[Okido]

It never really bothered me much for the most part. If a character from the games ended up being recurring — cool! If not, I don't usually see the problem as long as they were given a good role/depiction where they appeared. I'd rather have most minor characters stick around for just one or two episodes than end up overstaying their welcome. Then again, I could understand the frustration if your favorite character was one that ended up relegated to less than a full episode.

Still, I think what disappoints me a bit more are all the game characters that never got an appearance at all, since so many of them had tons of potential but ended up getting the short end of the stick. (Off the top of my head, we could've gotten Leaf and Hilda as temporary companions, Wally and Silver as rivals, tons of Elite Four members never appeared... heck, we got Solana as a recurring presence, but never even a cameo for Lunick? )

 

[DigitalGen6]

What disappoints me a bit more are all the game characters that never got an appearance at all, since so many of them had tons of potential but ended up getting the short end of the stick. (Off the top of my head, we could've gotten Leaf and Hilda as temporary companions, Wally and Silver as rivals, tons of Elite Four members never appeared…)

YES finally another person said it (although Silver WAS in the Japanese OP of Legend of Thunder movie), but the excuse for Leaf was because no male protag in Gen 1 but the least they could do was put her in Gen 3 for a while. I saw a video of this dude telling us why Hilda and Selene (who you forgot) weren’t in the anime (and I guess Selene wasn’t in there because of Serena)
The Elite Four members we never saw:

• Sidney
• Phoebe
• Glacia (NOT Glaceon)
• Drake
• Shauntal
• Marshal
• Grimsley

The Paldea ones get a pass because we’re still like 15 episodes into Horizons