Player character

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Reason: Pokkén Tournament player characters

The beginning of Red's Pokémon journey.

A player character (Japanese: 主人公 protagonist) in the world of Pokémon is the main character in the plot of the Pokémon games. Remarkably silent, players are represented by an avatar; it is left up to the real player to "fill in" what they imagine the character is feeling, thinking, and acting, thus immersing him/her within the world of the game.

Core series

Gameplay

The player characters of the core series games

In the core series games, the player characters are Pokémon Trainers beginning their Pokémon journey. They start their journey in their hometown by getting a starter Pokémon, a Pokémon that appears very early in their native region's Pokédex, and is usually of the Grass-, Fire-, or Water-type. The region's native Pokémon Professor will always give them this, as well as a Pokédex. Starting in Pokémon Crystal, players can also choose their character's gender. Usually, they have rivals who begin their journey at about the same time. Players take part in several events, and meet a great number of Pokémon and people during their adventure. A common target is to conquer a Pokémon League's eight Gym Leaders and Elite Four, and become the Champion. Several additional sidequests occur during and after each game's main plot.

To date, only one player character has reappeared from an older generation in a role other than that of the player. In Generation II and the Generation IV remakes, when Ethan or Kris/Lyra travels to Mt. Silver and reaches the deepest point of the cave, Red is found, utterly silent as he was under the player's control. At the time of these games' respective releases, Red's Pikachu was the highest-leveled Pokémon owned by an in-game Trainer (Barry's fully evolved starter Pokémon temporarily surpassed the standard set in Gold and Silver until the release of their remakes, HeartGold and SoulSilver).

The player character can be named in all core series games at the beginning of the game using the same interface as that for entering nicknames for Pokémon.

Characters

Male
RGBYFRLG GSCHGSS RSEORAS DPPt BW B2W2 XY SM

FireRed LeafGreen Red.png

HeartGold SoulSilver Ethan.png

Omega Ruby Alpha Sapphire Brendan.png

Platinum Lucas.png

Black White Hilbert.png

Black 2 White 2 Nate.png

XY Calem.png

Sun Moon Protagonist male.png

Red Ethan Brendan Lucas Hilbert Nate Calem ???


Female
C RSEORAS FRLG DPPt HGSS BW B2W2 XY SM

Crystal Kris.png

Omega Ruby Alpha Sapphire May.png

FireRed LeafGreen Leaf.png

Platinum Dawn.png

HeartGold SoulSilver Lyra.png

Black White Hilda.png

Black 2 White 2 Rosa.png

XY Serena.png

Sun Moon Protagonist female.png

Kris May Leaf Dawn Lyra Hilda Rosa Serena ???


Side series games

Stadium series

Three unnamed player characters appear in Pokémon Stadium series. Japanese-only Pokémon Stadium featured one male character, whose design was likely based on Red. However, for the sequel, a brand new male character was created. This player was also in Pokémon Stadium 2, where he was given a female counterpart. She appears when a player uses a Pokémon Crystal Game Pak. Like the core series player characters, these three characters remain silent throughout the games.

Stadium (JPN) Stadium (ENG) & Stadium 2 Stadium 2

SJP Player Boy.png

File:S S2 Player Boy.png File:S2 Player Girl.png


Orre series

Aside from the standard that many of the games' player characters take in their journey, there are also several other ways in which other player characters complete their journey, such as Wes and Michael in Pokémon Colosseum and Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness who are called to defeat Cipher and free all of their snagged Pokémon from their Shadow state.

Colosseum XD

Colosseum Wes 3D.png

XD Michael.png

Wes Michael


Spin-off games

Pokémon Card GB series

In the Card GB series, Mark and Mint do not use actual Pokémon themselves, but cards instead.

TCG1 & TCG 2 TCG 2

Mark.png

Mint 2.png

Mark Mint


Pokémon Ranger series

In the Pokémon Ranger series, Lunick, Solana, Kellyn, Kate, Ben and Summer are not Pokémon Trainers, but instead Pokémon Rangers. They use the Pokémon they have captured with the Capture Styler to help them along the way. They also have partner Pokémon that follow them wherever they go.

Ranger Shadows of Almia Guardian Signs

Ranger Lunick.png

Kellyn.png

Ben.png

Lunick Kellyn Ben

Ranger Solana.png

Kate.png

Summer.png

Solana Kate Summer


Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series

In the Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series, players play as actual Pokémon. Unlike most other Pokémon games, the player actually talks, but is given pre-generated phrases to say to questions. In Explorers of Time, Explorers of Darkness, and Explorers of Sky, after defeating Dialga on the top of the Temporal Tower, on the way back to Wigglytuff's Guild, the player speaks in full sentences instead of silently thinking to themselves or having answer choices. This type of dialogue is used by the player on rare occasions, in small amounts, throughout the story of Gates to Infinity.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team and Blue Rescue Team
File:MDP001.png
Bulbasaur
File:MDP004.png
Charmander
File:MDP007.png
Squirtle
File:MDP025.png
Pikachu
File:MDP052.png
Meowth
File:MDP054.png
Psyduck
File:MDP066.png
Machop
File:MDP104.png
Cubone
Grass Poison Fire Water Electric Normal Water Fighting Ground
File:MDP133.png
Eevee
File:MDP152.png
Chikorita
File:MDP155.png
Cyndaquil
File:MDP158.png
Totodile
File:MDP252.png
Treecko
File:MDP255.png
Torchic
File:MDP258.png
Mudkip
File:MDP300.png
Skitty
Normal Grass Fire Water Grass Fire Water Normal
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness
File:MDP001.png
Bulbasaur
File:MDP004.png
Charmander
File:MDP007.png
Squirtle
File:MDP025.png
Pikachu
File:MDP052.png
Meowth
File:MDP152.png
Chikorita
File:MDP155.png
Cyndaquil
File:MDP158.png
Totodile
Grass Poison Fire Water Electric Normal Grass Fire Water
File:MDP252.png
Treecko
File:MDP255.png
Torchic
File:MDP258.png
Mudkip
File:MDP300.png
Skitty
File:MDP387.png
Turtwig
File:MDP390.png
Chimchar
File:MDP393.png
Piplup
File:MDP446.png
Munchlax
Grass Fire Water Normal Grass Fire Water Normal
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky
File:MDP001.png
Bulbasaur
File:MDP004.png
Charmander
File:MDP007.png
Squirtle
File:MDP025.png
Pikachu
File:MDP037.png
Vulpix
File:MDP133.png
Eevee
File:MDP152.png
Chikorita
Grass Poison Fire Water Electric Fire Normal Grass
File:MDP155.png
Cyndaquil
File:MDP158.png
Totodile
File:MDP231.png
Phanpy
File:MDP252.png
Treecko
File:MDP255.png
Torchic
File:MDP258.png
Mudkip
File:MDP300.png
Skitty
Fire Water Ground Grass Fire Water Normal
File:MDP387.png
Turtwig
File:MDP390.png
Chimchar
File:MDP393.png
Piplup
File:MDP403.png
Shinx
File:MDP447.png
Riolu
Grass Fire Water Electric Fighting
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Keep Going! Blazing Adventure Squad!
004Charmander.png
Charmander
037Vulpix.png
Vulpix
058Growlithe.png
Growlithe
133Eevee.png
Eevee
155Cyndaquil.png
Cyndaquil
Fire Fire Fire Normal Fire
216Teddiursa.png
Teddiursa
255Torchic.png
Torchic
390Chimchar.png
Chimchar
427Buneary.png
Buneary
Normal Fire Fire Normal
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Let's Go! Stormy Adventure Squad!
007Squirtle.png
Squirtle
158Totodile.png
Totodile
194Wooper.png
Wooper
231Phanpy.png
Phanpy
258Mudkip.png
Mudkip
Water Water Water Ground Ground Water
298Azurill.png
Azurill
360Wynaut.png
Wynaut
393Piplup.png
Piplup
447Riolu.png
Riolu
Normal Psychic Water Fighting
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Go For It! Light Adventure Squad!
025Pikachu.png
Pikachu
052Meowth.png
Meowth
054Psyduck.png
Psyduck
172Pichu.png
Pichu
175Togepi.png
Togepi
Electric Normal Water Electric Normal
179Mareep.png
Mareep
239Elekid.png
Elekid
403Shinx.png
Shinx
417Pachirisu.png
Pachirisu
Electric Electric Electric Electric
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity
025Pikachu PMDGTI.png
Pikachu
495Snivy PMDGTI.png
Snivy
498Tepig PMDGTI.png
Tepig
501Oshawott PMDGTI.png
Oshawott
610Axew PMDGTI.png
Axew
Electric Grass Fire Water Dragon
Pokémon Super Mystery Dungeon
001Bulbasaur PSMD.png
Bulbasaur
004Charmander PSMD.png
Charmander
007Squirtle PSMD.png
Squirtle
025Pikachu PSMD.png
Pikachu
152Chikorita PSMD.png
Chikorita
Grass Poison Fire Water Electric Grass
155Cyndaquil PSMD.png
Cyndaquil
158Totodile PSMD.png
Totodile
252Treecko PSMD.png
Treecko
255Torchic PSMD.png
Torchic
258Mudkip PSMD.png
Mudkip
Fire Water Grass Fire Water
387Turtwig PSMD.png
Turtwig
390Chimchar PSMD.png
Chimchar
393Piplup PSMD.png
Piplup
447Riolu PSMD.png
Riolu
495Snivy PSMD.png
Snivy
Grass Fire Water Fighting Grass
498Tepig PSMD.png
Tepig
501Oshawott PSMD.png
Oshawott
650Chespin PSMD.png
Chespin
653Fennekin PSMD.png
Fennekin
656Froakie PSMD.png
Froakie
Fire Water Grass Fire Water

Pokémon Rumble series

Pokémon Rumble

In Pokémon Rumble, the player starts as a Toy Rattata.

019Rattata.png
Rattata
Normal
Pokémon Rumble Blast

In Pokémon Rumble Blast, the player starts as a Toy Pikachu.

Pikachu Pokémon Rumble Blast.png
Pikachu
Electric


Pokémon Rumble World

In Pokémon Rumble World, the player starts as their Mii character.

PokéPark series

Pikachu's Adventure &
Wonders Beyond
Wonders Beyond Wonders Beyond Wonders Beyond

PP2 Pikachu.png

PP2 Snivy.png

PP2 Tepig.png

PP2 Oshawott.png

Pikachu Snivy Tepig Oshawott


Pokémon Conquest

In Pokémon Conquest, the player character is the Warlord of Ransei's kingdom of Aurora. Their objective is to unite the seventeen kingdoms of the region, stop Nobunaga, and meet the legendary Pokémon that created Ransei. As more stories are unlocked, more characters become playable.

Conquest

Conquest Hero I.png

Conquest Heroine I.png
Hero Heroine


Pokémon GO

In Pokémon GO, the player character can be chosen and customized at the beginning of the game. They can also be customized at any time from the profile screen starting in version 0.31.0.

GO
GO Player M.png GO Player F.png
Male Female


Pokkén Tournament

In Pokkén Tournament, the player took control of a character who wishes to rise to the top of the Ferrum League. The player avatar can be customized at the beginning of the game, with more customization options available to purchase in the shop as the game progresses.

Other games

Snap Trozei

Snap Todd Snap.png

Lucy Fleetfoot Trozei.png

Todd Snap Lucy Fleetfoot


In the anime

May's anime counterpart

In the Pokémon anime, six of the player characters have been given major roles, four of them in the main anime series. Ash represents Red (his game counterpart), being based on him in appearance as well as basic history (Ritchie, by extension of resembling Ash, also resembles Red, although his basic history is unknown). At the beginning of the Advanced Generation series, May was introduced in order to better represent Generation III, as both Misty and Brock are characters who originated in Generation I. Likewise, at the beginning of the Diamond & Pearl series, Dawn joined Ash. In the XY series, Serena joined Ash in order to represent Generation VI.

Jimmy and Marina appeared in The Legend of Thunder! special, taking a similar role to Ash and his companions, fighting Team Rocket members to protect Legendary Pokémon. While the protagonists of Generation II did not join Ash's company, these two filled the roles as the anime counterparts to Ethan and Kris.

Lyra appears in An Egg Scramble!, and joins the group for a brief time until Bagged Then Tagged!.

Ash and his friends have also encountered several player characters from the side games. Todd Snap was the first, and a special case, as he originated in the anime before appearing in Pokémon Snap. He joins the group for a few episodes at two points in the anime: once during the Indigo League and once during Johto League Champions. The others, Solana, Kellyn, and Ben are all Pokémon Rangers that Ash and friends assisted in rescuing and protecting Pokémon.

So far, Brendan has only made a few select cameo appearances at the beginning of some of the movies, while Lucas made a cameo at the beginning of Giratina and the Sky Warrior battling Brendan. Ethan also appears with a second counterpart at the beginning of Zoroark: Master of Illusions.

None of the Generation V player characters have yet been seen in the main anime.

In the manga

Many of the characters appearing in various Pokémon manga are based on player and rival characters from the core series games. These characters usually play a major role within the series.

In the Pokémon Adventures manga

Ruby, one of Brendan's manga counterparts

Pokémon Adventures features many cross-canon counterparts for most of the player and rival characters in the games, with Red being based on his game counterpart. This is also the case for his two fellow Kanto Pokédex holders. The same applies for nearly all other main characters in the series; Gold, for example, is based on the then-unnamed player character Ethan. However, because the Yellow version, the fourth installment to the first generation, gave no additional protagonists, Yellow was created, revealed to have been the girl Red rescued in Viridian Forest before his battle with Giovanni. Emerald is another cognate case, as in the entirety of Generation III, only two player characters were given. Wally, the closest thing to a third main character, was dropped in favor of this new character designed entirely from scratch. As of the Diamond & Pearl and Platinum arcs, only the first ten main characters have met each other, as none of the Sinnoh Dex Holders have ventured out of their region.

Additionally, though Lyra is almost universally accepted as a different character from Kris, rather than a redesign like Ethan, Crystal has appeared wearing her clothes to serve as a counterpart, rather than introducing a second Johto female protagonist for the HeartGold & SoulSilver arc.

In other manga

In addition to Pokémon Adventures characters, there are many characters that have very similar character designs as player or rival characters from the games. These include Red from Pokémon Pocket Monsters, Rald from Pokémon Battle Frontier, Hareta and Mitsumi from Pokémon Diamond and Pearl Adventure!, and Black from Golden Boys.

Trivia

  • Most of the male characters that Ash, the main character from the Pokémon anime, has encountered have been from side games, like Pokémon Ranger. Only one counterpart of a male player character has met Ash, in the thirteenth movie.
  • Red's dialogue during his appearance as an NPC in Gold, Silver, and Crystal and their remakes, reflects the games' player characters' status as silent protagonists.
  • The list of default names per gender generally repeats* from game to game. Exceptions to this are character-specific names, which are names unique to a character and are usually references to the title or aspects of the game.
  • Until Generation V, the given Japanese names of the male player characters in the core series games (as NPCs) all end in ki (). This excludes Red's appearance in Generations II and IV, as he is not a player character during the games when he is an NPC. Inclusively, Lunick's Japanese name also ends in ki.


Player characters
Core series RedLeafEthanKrisLyraBrendanMayLucasDawn
HilbertHildaNateRosaCalemSerenaElioSelene
ChaseElaineVictorGloriaReiAkariFlorianJuliana
Side series WesMichaelNateCyndy
Spin-off games MarkMintTodd SnapLucy Fleetfoot
LunickSolanaKellynKateBenSummer
HeroHeroineTim GoodmanScottieBettie


Project CharacterDex logo.png This game character article is part of Project CharacterDex, a Bulbapedia project that aims to write comprehensive articles on each character found in the Pokémon games.