Player character

From Bulbapedia, the community-driven Pokémon encyclopedia.

The contents of this article have been suggested to be split into a page for the Pokémon controlled by the player (such as "Pokémon player character" or "playable Pokémon").
Please discuss it onthe talk page for this article.

This article is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this article to add missing information and complete it.
Reason: Zany Cards and Puzzle League characters

Theplayer character^[1] (Japanese:主人公(しゅじんこう)protagonist) is the central character in the plot of mostPokémon games. They are also referred to as themain character^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6] orprotagonist^[4] and previously, thehero/heroine.^[7]^[2]^[8]^[9]^[10] The player character is an avatar that represents the real player in the world of the game, and they are characterized by rarely speaking outside of occasional short dialogue options.

In the core series games

In thecore series games, the player characters arePokémon Trainers beginning theirPokémon journey. They usually start their journey in theirhometown by getting afirst partner Pokémon, a Pokémon that appears very early in their nativeregion'sPokédex, and is usually of theGrass-,Fire-, orWater-type. The region's residentPokémon Professor will usually be the one to give them this, as well as a Pokédex. Starting inPokémon Crystal, players can also choose their character's gender. Usually, they haverivals 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 aPokémon League's eightGym Leaders andElite Four, and become theChampion. Several additional side quests 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. InGeneration II and theGeneration IV remakes, whenEthan orKris/Lyra travels toMt. 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 first partner Pokémon temporarily surpassed the standard set in Gold and Silver until the release of their remakes, HeartGold and SoulSilver). Red reappeared inPokémon Black 2 and White 2 in theChampions Tournament of thePokémon World Tournament, in theAlola-basedGeneration VII games as the leader of theBattle Tree withBlue, and inPokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! as the highest-level Trainer in the game, who presents himself to the player once they've defeated enoughMaster Trainers.

The player character can be named in all core series games at the beginning of the game using the same interface as that for enteringnicknames for Pokémon. FromGeneration I throughGeneration V, the player name character limit was five in Japanese and Korean and seven in Western languages. FromGeneration VI onward, the character limit was increased to six in Japanese and Korean and 12 in Western languages.

The following is every player character in the core series games. Note that while these characters are usually identified as either the male or female player character by fans, starting inPokémon Sun and Moon, the game will ask what the player looks like, rather than specifyinggender. The character picked will still determine certain outfit choices and pronouns, among other things.

	RG B Y	FRLG	GS	C	HGSS	RS	E	ORAS	DP	Pt	BDSP
Male
Male	Red		Ethan			Brendan			Lucas
Female	None		None
Female	None	Leaf	None	Kris	Lyra	May			Dawn
	BW	B2W2	XY	SM	USUM	PE	SwSh	LA	S	V	ZA
Male
Male	Hilbert	Nate	Calem	Elio		Chase	Victor	Rei	Florian		Paxton
Female
Female	Hilda	Rosa	Serena	Selene		Elaine	Gloria	Akari	Juliana		Harmony

Pokémon as playable characters

Main gameplay

InPokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee!, it is necessary to play as thePartner Pikachu^P orEevee^E for a short time. This is done in order to enter the vents and walk over the walls at theTeam Rocket Hideout for the purpose of obtaining theLift Key.

InThe Indigo Disk expansion for Scarlet and Violet, they can also useSynclaire'sSynchro Machine to travel across theTerarium from a Pokémon's perspective.

Riding Pokémon

In certain circumstances, the player is able totravel the overworld by controlling a Pokémon.

In all games up toGeneration VI, as well as inPokémon Brilliant Diamond and Shining Pearl, the player may travel to cross certain terrain with the use of anHidden Machine, such asSurf,fly orRock Climb. Additionally,Lapras inPokémon X and Y had its own overworld model when using the HM for Surf.Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire expanded the roster of unique Pokémon while using Surf andDive, these includeWailmer,Sharpedo andKyogre.

Riding Pokémon as a form of travel outside HM usage has been in every game since X and Y.

In X and Y, the player can ride on numerous Pokémon to get around small locations. These includedRhyhorn,Mamoswine,Skiddo andGogoat.
In Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, the player rides onMega Latios^OR or MegaLatias^AS whensoaring in the sky.
Following this feature, introduced inPokémon Sun and Moon, there are severalRide Pokémon the player may take in place of HMs.
Two unique forms of Ride Pokémon were introduced inPokémon Ultra Sun and Ultra Moon:Mantine inMantine Surf andLunala andSolgaleo inUltra Warp Ride.
Pokémon: Let's Go, Pikachu! and Let's Go, Eevee! had selectable Pokémon that the player couldride on by taking them out of their Poké Ball.
InPokémon Legends: Arceus, there are otherRide Pokémon as well.
InPokémon Scarlet and Violet, the player rides onKoraidon/Miraidon to travel around thePaldea region.

Minigames

InPokémon Yellow, the player controls the first partner PokémonPikachu in thePikachu's Beach minigame.

InPokémon FireRed, LeafGreen, andEmerald, the player is able to control certain Pokémon in the minigamesPokémon Jump andDodrio Berry Picking.

InPokémon HeartGold and SoulSilver, the player controls Pokémon in thePokéathlon events.

InGeneration VI, theHead It minigame forPokémon-Amie allows the player to play as three Pokémon to bounce balls of yarn.Super Training, another feature introduced in Generation VI, allows a single Pokémon to gainEVs by controlling them to fight against a giant balloon in a soccer field.

In the side series games

This section is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.
Reason: Battle Revolution and Champions

Stadium series

Three unnamed player characters appear inPokémon Stadium series. Japanese-onlyPokémon Stadium featured one male character, whose design was likely based onRed. However, forthe sequel, a brand new male character was created. This player was also inPokémon Stadium 2, where he was given a female counterpart. She appears when a player uses aPokémon Crystal Game Pak. Like thecore series player characters, these three characters remain silent throughout the games.

Additionally, the Pokémon Stadium series includes variousminigames featuring Pokémon as playable characters. For instancePikachu orVoltorb are the player characters in "Thundering Dynamo" fromPokémon Stadium, whileCleffa andIgglybuff are the player characters in "Streaming Stampede" fromPokémon Stadium 2.

Orre games

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 asWes andMichael inPokémon Colosseum andPokémon XD: Gale of Darkness who are called to defeatCipher and free all of theirsnagged Pokémon from theirShadow state.

Gallery

Stadium^JPN	Stadium &Stadium 2	Stadium 2	Colosseum	XD	Battle Revolution		Champions

Male		Female	Wes	Michael	Nate	Cyndy	Willem	Becca

In the spin-off games

This section is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.
Reason: Missing info about player characters from New Pokémon Snap, and many, many other games

Mobile

Pokémon GO

InPokémon 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.

The default male player character originally wore a gray weave hat, no glasses, a shirt that came with fingerless gloves, a green and red backpack, red and black pants and leggings, and green shoes. After an update the overhauled the Trainer's wardrobe, the default male player character wears a gray Trainer visor, no glasses, a light blue classic hoodie, a yellow trainer backpack, yellow fingerless gloves, trainer shorts, gray leggings, and yellow running shoes. Both designs feature the character with brunette hair, teal eyes, and light skin.

The default female player character originally wore a white and red cap, no glasses, a maroon shirt that came with a choker and gloves of the same color, a red backpack, an orange ball buckle belt, gray and black pants, and orange shoes. After an update that overhauled the Trainer's wardrobe, the default female player character wears a black ball cap, no glasses, a black ribbon choker, a crimson classic long-sleeve, a teal urban pack, black fingerless gloves, crimson ball buckle, crimson sprint suit, black long leg warmers, and red running shoes. Both designs feature the character with brunette hair, teal eyes, and light skin.

Pokémon Masters EX

InPokémon Masters EX, the player character,Scottie orBettie, is a Pokémon Trainer who travels to the artificial island ofPasio to participate in thePokémon Masters League tournament.

All player characters from the core series games (with the exception ofPaxton andHarmony fromPokémon Legends: Z-A) also appear as playable characters. So far,Red,Ethan,Brendan,Dawn,Hilbert,Rosa,Serena,Gloria,Rei, andJuliana are confirmed to be based on the player characters of their respective games.Lyra,May,Lucas,Hilda,Nate,Calem, andAkari are confirmed to be based on theirnon-player character depictions.Florian is from adifferent version of Paldea than Juliana and the otherPaldea characters, hailing fromPokémon Violet, where he attendsUva Academy. Red and Juliana are the only characters based oncore series player characters that are confirmed to beChampions, as it is unclear whether any of the other characters based on the player characters have won their respective region'sPokémon League.

Pokémon: Magikarp Jump

InPokémon: Magikarp Jump, the player plays as a person of ambiguous gender always referred to as "you", who fishes and trains Magikarp to jump as high as possible.

Game Boy Color

Pokémon Trading Card Game series

InPokémon Trading Card Game andPokémon Trading Card Game 2: The Invasion of Team GR!,Mark andMint do not use actual Pokémon themselves, but cards instead.

Pokémon Puzzle Challenge

In the Challenge mode ofPokémon Puzzle Challenge, the player character isEthan. In this mode, he challenges theGym Leaders and theElite Four ofJohto, as well as some other characters, in puzzle games.

Game Boy Advance

e-Reader games

There are several player characters in thee-Reader games.

Pokémon player characters:

Aipom (Harvest Time)
Butterfree (Flower Power)
Cleffa (Ride the Tuft)
Corsola (Diving Corsola)
Ditto (Ditto Leapfrog)
Doduo (Jumping Doduo)
Drowzee (Dream Eater)
Farfetch'd (Leek Game)
Hoothoot (Follow Hoothoot)
Kingler (Kingler's Day)
Machop (Machop At Work)
- It is able to evolve intoMachoke andMachamp in the cutscene after the game ends.
Pichu (Hold Down Hoppip)
- Two Pichu (Tokotoko Truck)
Pikachu (Pika Pop)
Poliwrath (GO, Poliwrath!)
Rapidash (Fire Hoops)
Sudowoodo (Sneak and Snatch)
Totodile (Big Fruit Strategy!)
Tyranitar (Mighty Tyranitar)
Tyrogue (Punching Bags)
Ursaring (Berry Tree)
Voltorb (Rolling Voltorb)
Wobbuffet (Watch Out!)
Wooper (Wooper's Juggling Game)
Zubat (Night Flight)

Human player characters:

Imakuni? (Imakuni?'s Ball)
Severalplayer characters (Construction: Action)

Nintendo DS

Pokémon Conquest

InPokémon Conquest, the player character is theWarlord ofRansei's kingdom ofAurora. Their objective is to unite the seventeen kingdoms of the region, stopNobunaga, and meetthe legendary Pokémon that created Ransei. As more stories are unlocked, more characters become playable.

Pokémon Ranger series

In thePokémon Ranger series,Lunick,Solana,Kellyn,Kate,Ben andSummer are not Pokémon Trainers, but insteadPokémon Rangers. They use the Pokémon they have captured with theCapture Styler to help them along the way. They also havepartner Pokémon that follow them wherever they go.

Pokémon Trozei

InPokémon Trozei!, the main protagonist isLucy Fleetfoot, who must release all the Pokémon stolen byPhobos Battalion.

Pokémon Dash

InPokémon Dash, the player character isPikachu.

Learn with Pokémon: Typing Adventure

InLearn with Pokémon: Typing Adventure, the player can choose from four preset outfits, two for each gender, at the beginning of the game.

Nintendo 3DS

Pokémon Art Academy

The player is a student at thePokémon Art Academy. The player's appearance is not seen in-game, although they are identified by their name and gender (male or female). The player's ID card also displays their student level and signature.

Anon-player character of the opposite gender often interacts with the player as a friendly classmate: eitherLee orLily.

Pokémon Shuffle

InPokémon Shuffle the unseen player character goes on aPokémon journey. They are initially assisted byAmelia, a journalist who leaves to write a report on this journey. The player captures many Pokémon, and battles other Trainers they meet. The first of those Trainers taught them how toMega Evolve Pokémon.

Pokémon mini

Pokémon Zany Cards

InPokémon Zany Cards, the player character is a boy with a baseball cap obscuring his face. The baseball cap similar to the one used byRed inPokémon FireRed and LeafGreen. The player is referred to as "You" (Japanese: キミYou).

Nintendo 64

Pokémon Snap

InPokémon Snap,Todd Snap must strive for something different from Trainers. He must capture all the Pokémon onPokémon Island—on film.

Hey You, Pikachu!

Main article:Player (Hey You, Pikachu!)

InHey You, Pikachu!, theplayer uses the PokéHelper to talk toPikachu. The player is shown as a silhouette.

Pokémon Puzzle League

Pokémon Puzzle League is game based onPokémon the Series: The Beginning. The player characters come from the animated series instead of theircore series counterparts. In the 1P Stadium mode, the player character isAsh Ketchum. In the 2P Stadium mode, there are 15 player characters to choose: Ash Ketchum,Gary Oak, theTeam Rocket trio,Tracey,Ritchie,Brock,Misty,Lt. Surge,Erika,Koga,Sabrina,Blaine,Giovanni,Lorelei, andBruno.

Wii

PokéPark series

InPokéPark Wii: Pikachu's Adventure, the player character is aPikachu. InPokéPark 2: Wonders Beyond, the player characters arePikachu,Snivy,Tepig, andOshawott.

Nintendo Switch

Pokémon Quest

Main article:Player (Quest)

InPokémon Quest, theplayer takes a boat toTumblecube Island, aiming to acquire the precious loot hidden on the island with the help of their droneMoBee and a number of Pokémon they befriend along the way.

This player is never seen within the game, though they are a human. Unlike most player characters in the Pokémon franchise, they have a defined personality and set lines of dialogue.

Pokémon UNITE

InPokémon UNITE, the player is a Trainer who became interested inUnite Battles and went toAeos Island to participate.Professor Phorus andErbie welcomed them, and Erbie taught the player the rules of Unite Battles. Phorus allows them to use anenergy rewards system that convertsAeos energy into items.

Pokémon UNITE has intricate customization features. However, all players start off wearing the Orange Unite Set, with one of eight default appearances.

Arcade

Pokémon Battrio

Main article:Avatar (Battrio)

Players with Memory Keys have the ability to create anavatar (Japanese:アバター) that will serve as their profile for all activity while playingPokémon Battrio. Players can select either a male or female avatar of varying types, and give their profile a nickname of up to four characters.

Pokémon Ga-Olé

InPokémon Ga-Olé, the main protagonist can be played in the arcade game as either a male or a female.

Pokémon Mezastar

InPokémon Mezastar, players pick a male or female avatar and can unlock customization parts from winning battles with special trainers or through events.

Pokkén Tournament

InPokkén Tournament, the player takes control of a character who wishes to rise to the top of theFerrum 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.

Pokémon Tug of War Tournament

InPokémon Tug of War Tournament: Absolutely Get Medal!, the player characters available for this tug-of-war game are:Ash's Pikachu,Iris's Axew,Cilan's Pansage,Ash's Tepig,Ash's Snivy, andAsh's Oshawott.

Windows

Pokémon Play It! series

InPokémon Play It! andPokémon Play It! Version 2,Julie talks directly with the player. In the introduction of both games, Julie says that she and the player are Pokémon Trainers. However, they play theTrading Card Game rather than train Pokémon.

Perdue series

InPokémon Team Rocket Blast Off,Pokémon Poké Ball Launcher, andPokémon Seek & Find, the player characters areAsh Ketchum andMay.

Pokémon Team Turbo

InPokémon Team Turbo, there are 20 racers available:Bulbasaur,Venusaur,Charmander,Charmeleon,Squirtle,Blastoise,Pikachu,Treecko,Torchic,Blaziken,Mudkip,Skitty,Plusle,Spheal,Metagross,Kyogre,Groudon,Rayquaza,Deoxys, andMunchlax.

Sega consoles

This section is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.
Reason: Add the player characters from more Pico games

Sega Pico games

InPokémon: Catch the Numbers!, there are several minigames with different player characters:Ash,Nurse Joy's Chansey,Jigglypuff (recurring character inPokémon the Series), orAsh's Pikachu.

Advanced Pico Beena games

InPokémon Advanced Generation: Pokémon Number Battle!,Ash andMay are the player characters in different game modes.

Various

Pokémon Rumble series

InPokémon Rumble, the player starts as aToy Rattata. InPokémon Rumble Blast, the player starts as aToy Pikachu. InPokémon Rumble World, the player starts as their Mii character.

Pokémon Mystery Dungeon series

This section is incomplete.
Please feel free to edit this section to add missing information and complete it.
Reason: What exactly is the number of available Pokémon in DX?

In thePokémon Mystery Dungeon series, players play as actual Pokémon. Unlike most other Pokémon games, the player actually talks, but is given preset responses to say to questions. InRed Rescue Team, Blue Rescue Team,Explorers of Time, Explorers of Darkness, andExplorers of Sky, after defeating the final boss, 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 ofGates to Infinity.

Available player characters:

All 386 Pokémon up toGeneration III inPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team, Blue Rescue Team, andRescue Team DX.
- In Rescue Team DX, pre-Evolutions and Evolutions that were added in later generations are now available, such asMunchlax andSylveon.Riolu andLucario are also added, bringing the total number of playable Pokémon up to 418.
491 Pokémon up toGeneration IV (Shaymin andArceus are unavailable) inPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Time and Explorers of Darkness.
492 Pokémon up to Generation IV (Arceus is unavailable) inPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers of Sky.
All 493 Pokémon up to Generation IV inPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Keep Going! Blazing Adventure Squad, Let's Go! Stormy Adventure Squad, and Go For It! Light Adventure Squad.
144 Pokémon up toGeneration V inPokémon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity.
- 5 Pokémon inVictini's V-Spin Dungeon:Pikachu,Snivy,Tepig,Oshawott, andAxew.
720 Pokémon up toGeneration VI (Volcanion is unavailable) inPokémon Super Mystery Dungeon.

For the starting player character and their partner, seehero Pokémon andpartner Pokémon.

Super Smash Bros. series

TheSuper Smash Bros. series of fighting games includes characters from multiple franchises other than Pokémon. The playable characters from the Pokémon franchise found in Smash Bros. games are:Pikachu,Jigglypuff,Pichu,Mewtwo,Lucario,Squirtle,Ivysaur,Charizard,Greninja, andIncineroar. InSuper Smash Bros. Brawl andSuper Smash Bros. Ultimate, Squirtle, Ivysaur and Charizard are playable under the control of thePokémon Trainer, who is based on the player character versions ofRed andLeaf and represents the concept of player characters in the Pokémon games.

Detective Pikachu series

InDetective Pikachu, the protagonist isTim Goodman, who teams up withDetective Pikachu to solve several mysteries and search for his missing father. InDetective Pikachu Returns, Tim returns as the protagonist, but there are a few occasions over the course of the story where the player can control Detective Pikachu directly. There are also occasions where the player can control another Pokémon that Detective Pikachu is riding on:Growlithe,Galarian Darmanitan,Luxray, orPangoro. In addition, during a certain part of the story, the player assumes control ofHarry Goodman.