I liked that dude from BW2 that punched villain team mooks in the fricking face.
Something about his righteous seething anger that was just compelling to me.
you mean Hugh.
he hunted down team neo plasma because they took his sister's purrloin years ago and when he reunites with it, it had evolved into a liepard
IMO peak for me would be >Friendly rival who's not really all that into Pokemon battling and would rather be your friend over being an actual rival >Aggressive dickhead rival like Hugh that's actually pissed off for various reasons and isn't actually that bad all things considered >Actual dickhead rival who's a real motherfricker and extremely prideful to the point of getting extremely focused solely on beating you
The problem with multiple rivals is that eventually one becomes "underdeveloped" as compared to the others. With XY we got friendly rivals, but only Serena/Calem (depending on your choice) matter. >Shauna gets a role in the furfrou quest, that's it >Tierno dances and you battle him a couple times? >Redhead midget is a nobody, irrelevant to the story and even the friend group
Friendly rivals don't work. I'd rather have the dickhead (so someone that picks the starter with a type resistance is a must), and ideally someone that is stronger than the other trainers in the area AND doesn't heal you before the battle.
friendly rivals didn’t work in X/Y because there was too many of them and they were poorly written so the player never gets a chance to give any fricks about them.
An overly smart, nihilist. Battles to prove to the world how moronic the whole thing is. Always overleveled for that point of the story. Losing to him is fine, but if you win he calls you a try hard cheater (his smell ya later). Of course along the way he learns the value of friendship and finds purpose in life through the experiences he has.
Rivals should, generally, be someone you want to beat.
And unfortunately for pokemon, the MC is a mute who can only respond with shit like "yeah" and "okay", so they can't form any kind of dynamics with other characters. This limits the type of rivals that could actually work.
Friendly rivals are not one of them. The way you can't respond to them just makes some of these people just feel like stalkers, especially the spanish b***h. I mean, I guess fighting off your stalker is a fairly compelling reason to want to beat them, but I don't think that was the intended impression.
So ones more like Green/Blue and N are the ones that are going to work more. The former is the dickhead you're racing who always manages to be one step ahead, and the latter is some crazy dude that directly opposes you and the objective of the game and he may or may not steal your pokemon. Archetypes that can function even if the MC doesn't react verbally.
tl;dr I dunno homie but they actually have to OPPOSE the MC in some way
The one where the game refuses to acknowledge how many fricking times you've kicked their asses and still pretends that they're somehow better than you.
This was kinda Mystery Dungeon.
I remember oneshotting Grovyle with an electric type move and then jobbing even though I didn't even get touched.
Then he proceeds to waste all my reviver seeds when you team up with him.
I hate him.
Kaiba is pretty much the best example of a rival in any media. Completely over the top, competant, extremely confident, looks down on you, constantly radiating winning energy. All of it makes you want to beat him. A rival shouldn't be a friend. Friends can have friendly rivalries, but a true rival requires at least some level of hatred. You don't just want to do your best, or win in general, you specifically want to beat them. You can work with them, respect them, even consider them allies at times, but they should never be friends.
so basically an inferiority complex where the mc lives rent free inside the rival’s head to the point where the rival has an unhealthy obsession over them. got it
Somewhat. It's more like a stain. You have this person who's winning at life in nearly every aspect, but then gets beat in one specific way by some rando nobody. He's still winning afterward and could probably just ignore it as a one-off, but that small little mark on his otherwise perfect record eats at him. So it turns into an obsession that he needs to correct.
This doubles as a motivator for the player. You as some random frick managed to hit this person who seems so above you, right where it hurts. The fact that it matters so much to him is what makes it worthwhile. If it were some friendly rival who just smiled and went "Well gosh gollie looks like I lost best buddy, I'll be rooting for you!" you wouldn't really get much satisfaction out of the win. But making the billionaire playboy genius philanthrophist who thinks he's leagues better than you in every way seethe and throw a tantrum is it's own reward.
Kaiba or Vergil are what I believe most people consider to be the pinnacle of the rival trope. Stuff like Gary is good too. A good rival should be someone you want to compete against but not necessarily hate, even if they might hate you.
Ronald from TCG GB
Brat that needs correcting.
I was able to enjoy these rivals. I like Nemona but I didn't buy scarlet or violet due to the lack of polish.
replace bianca with cheren and I'll believe you
They were both bad.
Tsundere childhood rival who secretly does things to help you because they want to fight you at your strongest
arsehole rival like green, silver or n
Friendly bro like Hau as a balance to all my negativity. I'm his edgy rival.
Porn addicted e-girl who uses ghost pokemon and constantly talks about yuri and yaoi
I liked that dude from BW2 that punched villain team mooks in the fricking face.
Something about his righteous seething anger that was just compelling to me.
you mean Hugh.
he hunted down team neo plasma because they took his sister's purrloin years ago and when he reunites with it, it had evolved into a liepard
I like Hugh as a character but as a rival he was lacking because he wasn't competing with you but just doing his own thing.
IMO peak for me would be
>Friendly rival who's not really all that into Pokemon battling and would rather be your friend over being an actual rival
>Aggressive dickhead rival like Hugh that's actually pissed off for various reasons and isn't actually that bad all things considered
>Actual dickhead rival who's a real motherfricker and extremely prideful to the point of getting extremely focused solely on beating you
The problem with multiple rivals is that eventually one becomes "underdeveloped" as compared to the others. With XY we got friendly rivals, but only Serena/Calem (depending on your choice) matter.
>Shauna gets a role in the furfrou quest, that's it
>Tierno dances and you battle him a couple times?
>Redhead midget is a nobody, irrelevant to the story and even the friend group
Friendly rivals don't work. I'd rather have the dickhead (so someone that picks the starter with a type resistance is a must), and ideally someone that is stronger than the other trainers in the area AND doesn't heal you before the battle.
friendly rivals didn’t work in X/Y because there was too many of them and they were poorly written so the player never gets a chance to give any fricks about them.
Hau and Hop didn't work. Hau was "better" in USUM but Gladion was still the better rival, although just a friendly edgy friend
Paul
Goku with breasts
An overly smart, nihilist. Battles to prove to the world how moronic the whole thing is. Always overleveled for that point of the story. Losing to him is fine, but if you win he calls you a try hard cheater (his smell ya later). Of course along the way he learns the value of friendship and finds purpose in life through the experiences he has.
The tried and true dynamic of
>Edgy dickhead rival
>Friendly rival who tries to get the edgy dickhead to lighten up, fails miserably
tsundere love interest
Rivals should, generally, be someone you want to beat.
And unfortunately for pokemon, the MC is a mute who can only respond with shit like "yeah" and "okay", so they can't form any kind of dynamics with other characters. This limits the type of rivals that could actually work.
Friendly rivals are not one of them. The way you can't respond to them just makes some of these people just feel like stalkers, especially the spanish b***h. I mean, I guess fighting off your stalker is a fairly compelling reason to want to beat them, but I don't think that was the intended impression.
So ones more like Green/Blue and N are the ones that are going to work more. The former is the dickhead you're racing who always manages to be one step ahead, and the latter is some crazy dude that directly opposes you and the objective of the game and he may or may not steal your pokemon. Archetypes that can function even if the MC doesn't react verbally.
tl;dr I dunno homie but they actually have to OPPOSE the MC in some way
A combination of him and Kaiba/Paul
I like Green and Blue
The one where the game refuses to acknowledge how many fricking times you've kicked their asses and still pretends that they're somehow better than you.
This was kinda Mystery Dungeon.
I remember oneshotting Grovyle with an electric type move and then jobbing even though I didn't even get touched.
Then he proceeds to waste all my reviver seeds when you team up with him.
I hate him.
You just posted him.
Any rival with a Miror B form is beyond top tier.
Kaiba is pretty much the best example of a rival in any media. Completely over the top, competant, extremely confident, looks down on you, constantly radiating winning energy. All of it makes you want to beat him. A rival shouldn't be a friend. Friends can have friendly rivalries, but a true rival requires at least some level of hatred. You don't just want to do your best, or win in general, you specifically want to beat them. You can work with them, respect them, even consider them allies at times, but they should never be friends.
so basically an inferiority complex where the mc lives rent free inside the rival’s head to the point where the rival has an unhealthy obsession over them. got it
Somewhat. It's more like a stain. You have this person who's winning at life in nearly every aspect, but then gets beat in one specific way by some rando nobody. He's still winning afterward and could probably just ignore it as a one-off, but that small little mark on his otherwise perfect record eats at him. So it turns into an obsession that he needs to correct.
This doubles as a motivator for the player. You as some random frick managed to hit this person who seems so above you, right where it hurts. The fact that it matters so much to him is what makes it worthwhile. If it were some friendly rival who just smiled and went "Well gosh gollie looks like I lost best buddy, I'll be rooting for you!" you wouldn't really get much satisfaction out of the win. But making the billionaire playboy genius philanthrophist who thinks he's leagues better than you in every way seethe and throw a tantrum is it's own reward.
A hot, b***hy girl
Kaiba or Vergil are what I believe most people consider to be the pinnacle of the rival trope. Stuff like Gary is good too. A good rival should be someone you want to compete against but not necessarily hate, even if they might hate you.
Green, Silver, Ronald, N, Gladion.