It seems that these Character Salute posts are becoming a little more weekly. Though how long they’ll stay that way I have no clue. Anyway, for this post I’ll be talking about the original evil mastermind of the Pokemon franchise, Giovanni.
Giovanni is most well known as the leader of the criminal organization known as Team Rocket. Not too much is known about Giovanni’s background, though in the anime cannon it was revealed that Team Rocket was originally run by Giovanni’s mother, a woman simply known as Madam Boss. From what I’ve read, Madam Boss was a bit of an airhead and had an obsession with finding Mew. Anyway, somewhere along the line Giovanni took over control of Team Rocket from Madam Boss, and Giovanni proved to be a much more effective leader. Good for Team Rocket I guess, and very bad for the rest of the world.
For much of the anime Giovanni has unfortunately played somewhat of a minor role, especially in the beginning. In those days, Giovanni would only appear briefly to communicate with Jessie, James, and Meowth. During those appearances Giovanni’s face was hidden by shadow and his voice was digitally altered. It was not until the eighth gym when Giovanni was fully revealed. When Ash’s original archrival Gary challenged the Viridian City Gym, it was revealed that Giovanni was the gym’s leader (like in the games).
It’s around this time that the very first Pokemon movie came out, and we learn that Giovanni funded the project to create the Legendary Pokemon, Mewtwo. This of course was to create a super weapon that would allow Giovanni to take over the world. For a while Mewtwo worked for Giovanni, but eventually the Legendary Pokemon rebelled and fled, destroying the original base of Team Rocket in the process. Giovanni then became a little obsessed with hunting down Mewtwo, finally tracking the feline clone down in Johto. In the end, Mewtwo is forced to wipe out parts of Giovanni’s memory to put an end to the hunt. Since that epic clash, Giovanni’s appearances in the anime went back to being relatively minor, though his most recent appearance in the Black and White anime has been a little more significant. But I’ll get to that in a bit.
The thing I like most about Giovanni is that he’s an evil mastermind, and I usually like evil masterminds. And in spy villain fashion, Giovanni is usually seen with a cat. But rather than the stereotypical furry white cat, Giovanni’s feline is a fierce Persian. The thing I don’t like about Giovanni is his fashion sense. I mean an orange suit with a green vest, yellow shirt, and a red tie? That is just horrid. And the outfit Giovanni sports in the Black and White anime isn’t much better. He looks like a doorman! Seriously, if you haven’t seen that outfit, take five minutes to go find a picture and you’ll see what I mean.
In the Games: I think my favorite part of the Generation One games is fighting Giovanni. The first encounter with Giovanni takes place in the Team Rocket base beneath the Celadon City Game Corner. When Giovanni is defeated there he flees and the player obtains the Sliph Scope. The next encounter takes place in Saffron City when Team Rocket takes over the Sliph Co. building to find the Master Ball. After that, Giovanni is fought in Viridian City, where he is revealed to be the city’s gym leader in a somewhat interesting if not surprising twist. Once defeated for the final time, Giovanni officially disbands Team Rocket and flees, never to be seen again.
In Generation Two, Giovanni does not make an appearance. But he is mentioned several times by the members of the revived Team Rocket, and this new organization makes an attempt to call Giovanni back to lead them again. However in HeartGold and SoulSilver it is possible to battle Giovanni one time, but it requires a Celebi from a special event. When the event starts, Celebi takes the player back in time to a scene that reveals that Giovanni is in fact the father of the game’s main rival, who is commonly known as Silver. Yeah, great parenting job Giovanni (he said sarcastically). After this little revelation, Celebi takes the player to a secret cave in Tohjo Falls during the time of Team Rocket’s takeover of Goldenrod City. There, the player has to battle Giovanni to stop him from rejoining Team Rocket while the player’s past self deals with the organization in Goldenrod. Once defeated, Giovanni’s flees yet again, never again to be seen.
Latest Evil Plot: This next part is something of a spoiler for the Black and White anime, so a few of you may want to stop reading now. In a recent two-part episode that has aired in Japan, Giovanni comes to Unova in a scheme to use the Legendary Pokemon, Meloetta, to take control of a group of Legendary Pokemon known as the Kami Trio. This plan from what I can tell involves using an ancient mirror found in Black 2 and White 2 to transform the trio into their Therian Forms. In the anime this transformation causes the Kami Trio to go berserk and start a rampage. Using the mirror seems to have an odd effect on Giovanni as well, as his eyes begin glowing red.
In the end though, Ash and his friends foil Giovanni’s plot, free Meloetta, and return the Kami Trio to their senses. Afterward, Giovanni manages to flee before the cops show up. This is the first time in awhile that Giovanni has had such a major role in the anime. In part one he even has a brief battle with Ash using Persian. So this poses a question for me… WHY COULDN’T THEY HAVE DONE THIS WHEN THE ANIME WAS STILL GOOD?
Oh well, that wraps up this Character Salute. In the next Character Salute post, per special request, I’ll be doing another Kanto Gym Leader. If you want a hint, think gym number four. In the meantime, stay tuned.
